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AdvertisementsThe above demo shows how a body behaves when under the influence of the gravity of a much more massive object. In our example, we have chosen this to be a moon orbiting a planet, but it could equally be a planet orbiting a star.
You can click anywhere on the demo to reposition the moon. And clicking and dragging from within the moon will display an arrow. The length and direction of this arrow gives the moon an initial velocity, which affects the overall shape of the orbit.
Newton's law of gravitation tells us that the force acting on the moon will be \[ F = \frac{GMm\hat{r}}{r^2} \]
Where \( M \) and \( m \) are the masses of the planet and moon respectively; \( G \) is the universal gravitational constant, which has a value of \( 6.67384 \times \mathrm{10^{-11} m^3 kg^{-1} s^{-2}} \); \( r \) is the distance between the centers of each body, and \( \hat{r} \) is the unit vector pointing along the direction or \( r \).
The planet will also experience a force equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the one the moon experiences. However, because the planet is much more massive than the moon, the acceleration will be much lower, and for the sake of simplicity, is ignored in this demonstration.
Credits
The starry background is based on this image: Vermont night sky stargazing by Chensiyuan.
Collision animation uses artwork from https://mrbubblewand.wordpress.com
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Hubble Directly Observes a Planet Orbiting Another Star
> Larger image Image above: Artist's concept of the star Fomalhaut and the Jupiter-type planet that the Hubble Space Telescope observed. A ring of debris appears to surround Fomalhaut as well. The planet, called Fomalhaut b, orbits the 200-million-year-old star every 872 years. Credit: ESA, NASA, and L. Calcada (ESO for STScI)
J.D. Harrington
NASA Headquarters
Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another star.Estimated to be no more than three times Jupiter's mass, the planet, called Fomalhaut b, orbits the bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis, or the "Southern Fish."Fomalhaut has been a candidate for planet hunting ever since an excess of dust was discovered around the star in the early 1980s by NASA's Infrared Astronomy Satellite, IRAS.In 2004, the coronagraph in the High Resolution Camera on Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys produced the first-ever resolved visible-light image of the region around Fomalhaut. It clearly showed a ring of protoplanetary debris approximately 21.5 billion miles across and having a sharp inner edge.This large debris disk is similar to the Kuiper Belt, which encircles the solar system and contains a range of icy bodies from dust grains to objects the size of dwarf planets, such as Pluto.Hubble astronomer Paul Kalas, of the University of California at Berkeley, and team members proposed in 2005 that the ring was being gravitationally modified by a planet lying between the star and the ring's inner edge.Circumstantial evidence came from Hubble's confirmation that the ring is offset from the center of the star. The sharp inner edge of the ring is also consistent with the presence of a planet that gravitationally "shepherds" ring particles. Independent researchers have subsequently reached similar conclusions.Now, Hubble has actually photographed a point source of light lying 1.8 billion miles inside the ring's inner edge. The results are being reported in the November 14 issue of Science magazine."Our Hubble observations were incredibly demanding. Fomalhaut b is 1 billion times fainter than the star. We began this program in 2001, and our persistence finally paid off," Kalas says."Fomalhaut is the gift that keeps on giving. Following the unexpected discovery of its dust ring, we have now found an exoplanet at a location suggested by analysis of the dust ring's shape. The lesson for exoplanet hunters is 'follow the dust,'" said team member Mark Clampin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.Observations taken 21 months apart by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys' coronagraph show that the object is moving along a path around the star, and is therefore gravitationally bound to it. The planet is 10.7 billion miles from the star, or about 10 times the distance of the planet Saturn from our sun.The planet is brighter than expected for an object of three Jupiter masses. One possibility is that it has a Saturn-like ring of ice and dust reflecting starlight. The ring might eventually coalesce to form moons. The ring's estimated size is comparable to the region around Jupiter and its four largest orbiting satellites.Kalas and his team first used Hubble to photograph Fomalhaut in 2004, and made the unexpected discovery of its debris disk, which scatters Fomalhaut's starlight. At the time they noted a few bright sources in the image as planet candidates. A follow-up image in 2006 showed that one of the objects is moving through space with Fomalhaut but changed position relative to the ring since the 2004 exposure. The amount of displacement between the two exposures corresponds to an 872-year-long orbit as calculated from Kepler's laws of planetary motion.Future observations will attempt to see the planet in infrared light and will look for evidence of water vapor clouds in the atmosphere. This would yield clues to the evolution of a comparatively newborn 100-million-year-old planet. Astrometric measurements of the planet's orbit will provide enough precision to yield an accurate mass.NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2013 will be able to make coronagraphic observations of Fomalhaut in the near- and mid-infrared. Webb will be able to hunt for other planets in the system and probe the region interior to the dust ring for structures such as an inner asteroid belt.Roughly a week ago, on a cold winters day, I went home from work to grab some lunch and found a package on my doorstep. Immediately I assumed another seasonal Amazon gift had arrived, but upon further examination I found this package to much more unique than what I was accustomed to.
After opening it my eyes swelled with tears and my heart raged with joy. WOW, the level of thought and effort put into my what I received has inspired me to give back in every way possible, just so that they someone else may experience the elated sensation of a strangers kindness. Slowly unwrapping each package, I discovered SPY Snowboarding Goggles, MULTIPLE replacement lenses, SPY Bounty Hunter Ski/Sunglasses, a brewery t-shirt for myself, Stone IPA 'Deliciously Dank' Glasses (These are SOOOOOOOOO cool), assorted stickers, coasters and just so much more. Digging deeper into the box I then discovered a gift that appears to be for my girlfriend, I mean, come on, that is just too kind. She even had signed up for Reddit Secret Santa this year and things are looking pretty bleak as far as receiving anything from her match... The very fact that someone would be so considerate as to even think of including her in my gift is a tremendous reminder of the real concept behind this practice and general human empathy.
I darted back to the box, desperate to find a name I could associate this Christmas miracle with, only to see a return address for Santa Clause.
Thank you, there are no other two words I can imagine to express just how righteous you made my VERY FIRST Reddit Secret Santa exchange. The bar has been set remarkably high for me to return the favor next year, but please, whoever you may be, know that you made a 6 ft 2", 23 year old man tear up with delight this Christmas. It's been a LONG time since I felt this exhilarated over any present and I will forever be grateful.
Come New Years, you better believe I'll be hitting the slopes for my first time and crossing another item off my bucket list. I owe it all to you (Secret) Santa Clause.
P.S
Star Wars wrapping paper? Be still my beating heart.Listed below are the dates and results for the 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the African, Asian and Oceanian zone (Confederation of African Football, Asian Football Confederation and what later would become the Oceania Football Confederation).
21 teams entered, but the entries of Congo and the Philippines were rejected.
The plans were for four rounds of play:
First Round : The 15 African teams were divided into six groups of two or three teams. The group winners would advance to the Second Round.
: The 15 African teams were divided into six groups of two or three teams. The group winners would advance to the Second Round. Second Round : The six group winners were divided into three groups and would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
: The six group winners were divided into three groups and would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round. Asia/Oceania First Round : Australia, North Korea, South Africa and South Korea would play each other twice in a round-robin tournament at a neutral venue, originally Japan but ultimately Cambodia.
: Australia, North Korea, South Africa and South Korea would play each other twice in a round-robin tournament at a neutral venue, originally Japan but ultimately Cambodia. Final Round: The Asia/Oceania winner would play the three African winners on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.
South Africa, who had been moved to the Asia/Oceania zone, was disqualified after being suspended by FIFA due to apartheid, and all fifteen African zone teams withdrew in protest after FIFA, citing logistical and competitive issues, confirmed there would be no direct qualification for an African team.
Later, South Korea were forced to withdraw due to logistical difficulties after the three team tournament was moved from Japan to Cambodia, leaving only Australia and North Korea to contest the final place. North Korea easily won both legs to qualify.
Africa First Round [ edit ]
The original group draws were:
Group 1 Ghana
Guinea
Group 2 Cameroon
Sudan
Group 3 Algeria
Liberia
Tunisia
Group 4 Mali
Morocco
Senegal
Group 5 Ethiopia
Gabon
The second round pairings were scheduled as follows: Group 1 winners v Group 5 winners, Group 2 winners v Group 4 winners and Group 3 winners v Group 6 winners, home-and-away, with the winners advancing to the final round.
As all teams withdrew to protest the allocation of places, the African First and Second rounds were scratched.
Asia / Oceania First Round [ edit ]
Originally, this was scheduled as a four-team tournament between Australia, North Korea, South Africa and South Korea, to be played in Japan.
Before the tournament began, South Africa were disqualified after being suspended by FIFA due to apartheid, and South Korea were forced to withdraw due to logistical problems after the tournament was moved to Cambodia.
Since North Korea lacked diplomatic relations with most countries and did not have a FIFA-standard venue at the time, finding a venue for the matches proved difficult until Head of State Norodom Sihanouk, an ally of Kim Il-sung, allowed the matches to be held in Phnom Penh.
Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 North Korea 2 2 0 0 9 2 7 4 2 Australia 2 0 0 2 2 9 −7 0 — South Africa disqualified — South Korea withdrew
North Korea won 9-2 on aggregate.
Due to the withdrawal of all African teams, the Final Round was scratched, meaning that North Korea also qualified automatically.
Goalscorers [ edit ]
3 goals
2 goalsEither this bizarre Berks County case is a gross instance of alleged child abuse -- or it is a baffling medical mystery. The answer may hold the key to whether a Pennsylvania mom gets her two young boys back.
6ABC in Philly reports that a second child has been taken from his mother. The woman, Jessica Battiato, is fighting back against Berks County Children and Youth for custody of both of her children.
According to 6ABC, Battiato's first child was taken two months ago after the 1-year-old boy was found to have 20 fractures across his body. The mom claims the injuries were caused by a rare genetic disorder.
The disorder, called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and coupled with a lack of Vitamin D, could cause fragile bones and mimic child abuse, the mother and her doctor claim, 6ABC notes in its detailed report.
But as the battle to regain her first son, Caesar, was ongoing, Battiato had a second child in late April, allegedly in secret.
In an interview with Battiato, she tells 6ABC she gave birth in Lancaster County -- out of the watchful eye of the Berks County authorities. The second baby was taken by Berks County Children and Youth official only after Battiato applied for state aid for then-seven-month-old Julius.
Since then, hospital records show that Julius has a fracture on his right tibia, which Berks County apparently believes is child abuse, according to 6ABC.
Berks County Children and Youth officials tell 6ABC they are legally barred from commenting on the case.
Meanwhile, the mother is vowing to keep up the fight for both of her children, buoyed by the expert opinions of her doctor, Dr. Michael Holick at Boston University. 6ABC identifies him as a specialist who diagnosed both Battiato and her first child with EDS and Vitamin D insufficiency -- and who adds it's likely Julius has the condition as well.
"I wouldn't hesitate to have the children returned to the parents," Holick told 6ABC.The Houston Astros currently sit on top of the American League West with a 2.5 game lead over the Los Angeles Angels, a team paying Albert Pujols, C.J. Wilson, Jered Weaver, and the rest of the squad a combined $146.4 million. The Astros, meanwhile, will spend less than half that figure on players in 2015. Their total payroll comes in just north of $69 million, 29th out of 30 MLB teams and a remarkable $158 million less than the Los Angeles Dodgers are spending to field a team this year.
The success of the Astros and the (comparatively) minuscule payrolls of other plucky small-budget teams is often cited by people trying to advance an egalitarian narrative: that the amount a team spends does not matter. In recent years, Time called the Royals the future of baseball. The New York Times went with Smaller Markets and Smarter Thinking. Baseball America wrote an article asserting, “if you look at competitive balance as the opportunity for teams to make the playoffs and legitimate runs at titles, baseball is truly in a golden era.” Sports Illustrated argued that the average payrolls of playoff teams show that money isn’t the factor it used to be and the Providence Journal offered, “money can’t buy success.” Andrew McCutchen, 2013 National League MVP, is the poster boy for what small-budget teams can accomplish, saying, “Payroll doesn’t mean everything. If that was the case, the Yankees would win every year.”
That’s all heart-warming, but evidence suggests that the relationship between money and winning is as strong now as it’s been any time in the free-agency era. Check out the figure below, which shows the relationship between spending and win percentage during each of the three 10-year spans since 1985. Each team season is one dot in the figure, and the red line reflects a smoothed curve fit through the points. The smoothed curves represent the general relationship between spending and performance for each team season in each decade; aggregating all the decade’s data points shows a pattern: More money generally means more wins.
The line gets steeper going from left to right, implying that in recent seasons, jumps in salary have been associated with larger gains in win percentage. Altogether, none of the 20 teams with the highest relative salaries since 1985 have finished below.500.
GRAPHIC: Using data from the last 30 years, we created win-pay curves for every team in Major League Baseball. Click here to see how well your favorite team spent its money.
J.C. Bradbury, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University, found that winning more increases revenue exponentially. “Going from 85 wins to 90 is worth more than 80 wins to 85,” he says. As a result, while it might cost more per win for a team that wins 90 games than 85, it makes financial sense because the revenue reward will be higher as well. This leads to a self-perpetuating cycle. Additionally, fans of teams that win frequently expect them to continue winning, and management pays more to do so. For a team like the New York Yankees, paying 10 percent more than anyone else for a second baseman who is only 5 percent better than his closest peer is worth the money (and they can afford it).
But though the current narrative revolves around small-budget success stories as an argument against the importance of salaries, baseball has always had small-budget overachievers. “Just because you don’t spend money doesn’t mean you can’t win,” Bradbury says. As long as there has been baseball, there have been teams with low payrolls that have exceeded expectations in the win column.
Perhaps one reason for the renewed focus on the success of small-budget teams is the importance of playoff success versus the regular season. Postseasons in American sports offer a smaller sample size than, say, soccer’s English Premier League, where the winner is determined by 38 games. In baseball, the better team (the one with the higher payroll) is less likely to prevail over the course of a short playoff series than they would be over an entire season. That, combined with the expansion of the playoffs, means it’s easier for a small-budget team to reach the World Series, as the Kansas City Royals did in 2014, losing to the San Francisco Giants in Game 7. Winning a playoff series can come down to a few factors — a couple of good pitchers and luck — that are less important during the regular season. “The formula seems to be: limp through regular season, get into playoffs, then win,” said Rodney Fort, professor of sport management in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan.
Fort, however, also thinks that the case for the relationship between payroll and wins is overstated. “When have we ever been satisfied that a simple relationship between one variable and another variable tells the whole story of the determination of winning?” he says. “What you really need to do is stop and think about what are all the other things: nothing about coaches, nothing about front office/GM acumen.” In Fort’s view, equating payroll and wins leaves out too many other variables.
He has a point, as the relationship between salary and winning can be drastically different among different franchises. Some teams don’t get results when they spend more — the New York Mets frowny face is almost too perfect given their fortunes.
For a few small-budget teams such as the Cleveland Indians and the Royals, though, there’s a strong relationship between spending and winning.
As you can see in the chart of every team’s win-pay curves, spending usually helps, but incompetent spending gets a team nowhere. It’s a waste.
Click here to see every team’s win-pay curves.Officer Jason Stockley arrested, charged with 2011 shooting where defendant can be heard saying he’s “going to kill this (expletive deleted), don’t you know it.”
A disgraced former St. Louis police officer has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder for fatally shooting Anthony Lamar Smith – an incident resulting in one of the largest wrongful-death settlements in the city’s history.
Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce’s office on Monday charged Jason Stockley, 35, presently living in Houston, Texas. St Louis police in partnership with U.S. marshals arrested Stockley at his home in the 6300 block of Chevy Chase Drive Monday evening. He is being held without bail in Harris County, Texas before facing arraignment.
“I’m disappointed because I know what fine public servants the vast majority of police officers are, and this kind of conduct on the part of this former officer doesn’t reflect the excellent work I see from them every day,” Joyce said. “So it’s disappointing in that regard, but it’s important that people understand that if you commit a crime, and we have the evidence to prove it, it doesn’t matter to us what you do for a living. Our job is to hold people accountable if we have the evidence, and in this case, we do.”
Stockley shot 24-year-old Smith in December 2011 because they suspected him of engaging in an illegal drug transaction, which led to a high-speed chase. After shooting at Smith’s car, Stockley and his partner Brian Bianchi chased the victim and deliberately crashed their SUV into the victim’s car.
Stockley can be heard on audio saying he’s, “going to kill this (expletive deleted), don’t you know it.” After wounding him significantly with the crash, Stockley then approached Smith’s car on the driver’s side and shot five times into the car, each one striking the victim.
A firearm was recovered from Smith’s car, but lab analysis revealed the presence of only Stockley’s DNA. Smith was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
“They wouldn’t let me kiss him or hug him goodbye,” his mother Annie Smith said at the time.
Initially, Stockley was put on desk duty, standard procedure for officers involved in fatal shootings, and in October 2012 an FBI investigation was officially opened.
The case was then forwarded to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division for a review which, prior to Joyce’s indictment, has not a received a response or acknowledgement.
In a statement following Stockley’s arrest, Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said, “The matter remains open, and the department declines to comment further.”
In 2013, the Board of Police Commissioners settled a federal wrongful-death lawsuit for $900,000 in connection with the shooting filed on behalf of Smith’s one-year-old daughter, Autumn.
St Louis, home to nearby Ferguson and the shooting of Michael Brown – which spurned a nationwide discussion on racial bias and use of force procedures in policing – also has had systemic problems within its law enforcement amid widespread allegations of profiling and brutality.
In April, activists staged public demonstrations calling for Stockley to be charged with murder.
“The Department of Justice has had the information on this and has not moved,” said Reverend and Civil Rights activist Phillip Duvall.
Joyce declined to comment on whether Stockley’s partner Bianchi would face any charges at this time.FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2012, file photo, Bob Dylan performs in Los Angeles. Dylan, who was named the winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature on Oct. 13, 2016, says he “absolutely” wants to attend the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony “if it’s at all possible” in December, finally breaking his silence about earning the prestigious honor. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Bob Dylan has accepted the 2016 Nobel Prize for literature, the Swedish Academy said, adding that getting the prestigious award left him “speechless.”
The academy’s permanent secretary, Sara Danius, said Dylan himself contacted them and said “of course” he would accept the prize. Danius told Sweden’s TT news agency that Dylan called her Tuesday evening and they spoke for about 15 minutes.
“The news about the Nobel Prize left me speechless,” Dylan told Danius, according to a statement posted Friday on the academy’s website. “I appreciate the honor so much.”
It has not yet been decided whether Dylan will attend any Nobel events in Stockholm in December, Danius said.
In an interview with British newspaper The Telegraph posted Friday, Dylan was quoted as saying he “absolutely” wants to attend the Dec. 10 prize ceremony, “if it’s at all possible.”
Danius said the academy will do “all it can” to have a schedule suiting Dylan if he wants to come to Stockholm, according to TT.
The 75-year-old singer-songwriter was awarded the prize on Oct. 13 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”
Dylan at first was silent after the announcement, and a member of the Swedish Academy called the silence “impolite and arrogant.”
Dylan has accepted numerous awards over the years, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for which he attended a White House ceremony in 2012. But he also has a history of taking his time acknowledging them.
In 2013, he became the first rock star voted into the elite American Academy of Arts and Letters, which made him an honorary member. According to executive director Virginia Dajani, the academy informed Dylan of the decision — through his manager, Jeff Rosen — in January of that year. Only in May 2013 did Dylan respond, through his manager.
If Dylan travels to Stockholm for the Nobel ceremony, it won’t be the first time he receives an award from Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf. In 2000, Dylan collected the Polar Music Prize from him.Is the surf up yet on Titan? As the moon of Saturn moves towards northern summer, scientists are trying to spot signs of the winds picking up. This weekend, the Cassini spacecraft plans a look at the the largest body of liquid on Titan, Kraken Mare, to see if there are any waves on this huge hydrocarbon sea.
Cassini will make the 105th flyby of Titan on Monday (Sept. 22) to probe the moon’s atmosphere, seas and even a crater. The spacecraft will examine “the seas and lakes of the northern polar area, including Kraken and Ligeia at resolution better than 3 miles (5 kilometers) per pixel,” the Cassini website stated.
Besides wet areas of Titan, Cassini will also look at dunes and the relatively fresh-looking Sinlap crater, where scientists hope to get a high-resolution image. Managers also plan a mosaic of Tsegihi — a bright zone south of the equator — and the darker dune-filled area of Fensal. The spacecraft additionally will examine aerosols and the transparency of hazes in Titan’s atmosphere.
Titan is of interest to scientists in part because its chemistry is a possible precursor to what made life possible. Earlier this week, Cassini transmitted several raw images of its view of Titan and Saturn right now — some of the latest pictures are below.Why can't people realise that all major conflicts throughout the world are all caused by religion?
Because this is possibly the most often-repeated lie in human history. Statistically, it’s not even close. The premise of this question could only be repeated by someone almost completely ignorant of history. In fact, it is my sense that questions like this are asked for the express purpose of expressing hate, not to gain useful information. A tiny minority of violent acts are religiously-motivated. To claim “all” is so far off the mark that such statements disguised as questions can only be motivated by hate and bigotry. No category of conflict, violence, or unrest is primarily motivated by religion.
Wars.
The vast majority of wars have been fought over political power, borders, or resources. George Carlin said to loud applause, “More people have been killed in the name of God than for any other reason,” and many take this idea as historical fact. Instead, this is perhaps the most often-repeated lie in history.
In their book, Encyclopedia of Wars, authors Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod document the history of recorded warfare, and from their list of 1763 wars only 123 have been classified to involve a religious cause, accounting for less than 7 percent of all wars and less than 2 percent of all people killed in wars died in religious wars.
What about murders?
In any list of murder motives, religion does not even register. Most are causes like:
Domestic violence.
Anger, obsession, hatred, jealousy, revenge, other transient emotions. (Bar fights, fighting over a significant other, vengeance, etc.)
Longer-term mental instability.
Organized crimes, gangs, drug deals.
Reckless or criminal behavior where somebody is killed unintentionally, treated as murder because of causal link.
What about mass murders?
Surely the Spanish Inquisition rates at the top? Again, not even close. The two most prolific mass murderers in history were atheists, securing their power in communist regimes: Mao and Stalin. By FAR, these two alone murdered more humans than all the religious violence in all human history. WAYYYYY more.
Slavery
Did you know that slavery in the UK and US both would have lasted longer if not for Evangelical Christian abolitionists leading the charge against the practice in both nations (as well as other places)?
And did you know that tens of thousands of Jews were saved from the holocaust by Christians, acting solely because of their faith and their belief that God wanted them to act?
Terrorism
Even terrorism is not primarily religiously-motivated. The vast majority of terrorist acts are non-religious in nature. Most acts of terror are committed by political separatists. Even animal rights activists commit more acts of terror annually than religious extremists.
Evil does not exist because of religion. Evil exists in spite of religion. To claim that even a major percentage of the world’s conflict is caused by religion is appalling ignorance, let alone “all” major conflicts.
So all the Catholic hospitals in the world do nothing but cause conflict?
All the Christian universities in the world do nothing but cause conflict?
All the missionary doctors traveling to areas where healthcare is scarce do nothing but cause conflict?
All the faith-based food aid organizations in the world do nothing but cause conflict?
All the faith-based clean water ministries in the world do nothing but cause conflict?
All the churches, synagogues, temples, mosques and other houses of worship in the world do nothing but cause conflict?
All the faith-based food pantries in the world do nothing but cause conflict?
All the faith-based substance abuse rehab facilities in the world do nothing but cause conflict?*
All the faith-based homeless shelters in the world do nothing but cause conflict?
All the faith-based women’s shelters in the world do nothing but cause conflict?
All the clergy in the world—the vast majority of whom make little or no salary—working to save marriages, counsel jobless, clothe the naked, put a roof over homeless people, feed the hungry, visit the sick, comfort the grieving, and countless other acts of service, 24/7 do nothing but cause conflict?
How many fewer hospitals, universities, homeless shelters, drug rehab centers, clean water ministries, food aid, medical aid, and countless other services would there be if religion did not exist? In some cases, MOST OR ALL of the available services would not exist if not for people of faith.
Go ahead, tell me “religion is not required for such acts of charity!”
I dare you. Say it again. Now go tell the literally millions of human beings who would be left without such services that “religion is not required” for the services that they can no longer get because some people don’t like religion.
In short, if religion went away tomorrow, we would have a dramatically worse world overnight, not a better one. Clearly anyone who believes religion is about nothing but conflict has no clue what religion even is, let alone what it does.
On the contrary, faith is a tremendous motivator for good in the world, not just conflict, and not even primarily conflict. The above services and more occur every minute of every day of every year for millennia. You cannot say the same of the “conflict” you occasionally hear on the news, or incidents centuries apart in history.
See also: Warren Kramer's answer to Has mankind ever known a greater divisor of men than religion?
When will people stop believing the most-repeated lie in history about religion being the worst perpetrator of division in the world? This is not even close to true. It’s a vicious falsehood that just keeps getting repeated by gullible people.
If you believe this constantly-repeated lie, your exercise of both history and math is faulty. For every person wronged or killed by some religious zealot, millions have been helped by religion.
We so often hear the lie that “more people have died in the name of god than for any other reason” that those gullible enough, believe it without even looking into history themselves to discover just how far wrong such statements are.
How long will it be before the gullible haters stop parroting this lie because they heard some ill-informed comedian, militant anti-theist, or other ignorant religion-basher repeat this common falsehood yet again?The new owner of Market Common Clarendon is proposing major changes to the sprawling development.
Regency Centers has filed a preliminary site plan to rezone and redevelop a group of buildings along the 2800 blocks of Clarendon and Wilson Blvds. The affected properties include an office building, IOTA Club and Cafe, the former A&R Engravers storefront and the Baja Fresh restaurant.
The redevelopment would mean the partial demolition of the building that holds IOTA and the former engraver’s shop, while preserving and restoring the shop’s “historic facade.” The work would likely force IOTA — a well-loved cafe, outdoor bar and live music venue — to close its doors or relocate.
When asked about the plans, IOTA co-owner Jane Negrey Inge said she did not expect the renovations to happen “any time… soon.”
Over the years we’ve seen a lot of excitement around us. In our first couple years Arlington County sold the public alley behind us to the owners of the Sears Building and we became landlocked! It was disappointing but we worked things out and over the years we’ve maintained a spirit of cooperation with our neighbors and various land-owners. As far as we know changes are coming again with new owners but I don’t think 2832 Wilson will come crashing down on our heads any time real soon. Spring is going [to] spring into gear, and we’ll be glad to re-open the IOTA Back Alley for the season and enjoy good weather, good beer, good friends — which sounds like a good development plan to me!
Additionally, under the plan, the renovation would add a fourth floor and approximately 26,784 square feet of additional space to the office building at 2801 Clarendon Blvd. Regency seeks to upgrade the office building’s facade, redesign the first two floors for office or retail use, add new storefronts on the ground floor and possibly use the basement for public self-storage.
The plan also calls for improvements to the open space at the corner of Clarendon Blvd and N. Edgewood Street, new private outdoor roof terraces and the installation of a “partial green roof.”
“The design and condition of the existing office building, which predates Market Common Clarendon redevelopment by many years, is not consistent with the remainder of the development,” the preliminary site plan filing says. “With the improvements proposed by the Applicant, the office building will be more effectively integrated into Market Common Clarendon and will allow for the much-needed repositioning of the vacant office space in order to attract new commercial tenants.”
“This [proposed redevelopment] creates newly competitive office and retail space in a building with high-quality architecture within easy walking distance to many community amenities in Clarendon,” the filing adds.
A representative for Regency Centers didn’t immediately provide more information about the proposed redevelopment, which is still in its early stages.
To move forward, the plan must be reviewed by the Site Plan Review Committee (SPRC), then be presented to both the Arlington Planning Commission and the County Board.Google confirmed this morning it’s now testing a new way to sign into your Google account without having to type in a password. Instead, those who have been invited to try this new method of logging in authenticate by responding to a notification sent to their smartphone. The idea is similar to Yahoo’s recently launched “Account Key,” which also offers a password-free means of signing in involving a push notification sent to your phone that then opens an app where you approve the log-in.
Passwords are often the weakest parts when it comes to securing users’ accounts, as many don’t use complex passwords or they reuse the same password across services. Two-factor authentication – like using a USB stick with a secret token or entering in a code sent via text method to your phone – can help to increase security, but many users also find this to be a hassle as it introduces an additional step to the login process.
This new password-free login option, on the other hand, is about speeding up logins by offering a different way of signing in altogether.
You only have to enter your email address when you’re signing into your Google account. Afterward, a notification will appear on your phone asking you if you’re trying to sign in from another device. Approve the login by tapping “yes,” and you’re in.
This would be especially useful for those who always have their phone nearby while using Google services on other devices, like their computer, as well as those who have long and complicated passwords that are difficult to type.
It could also help to protect against phishing – something that Google addresses today through its Password Alert tool, too.
The test was first reported by a Reddit user Rohit Paul, which was then spotted by the blog Android Police. According to Paul, he was sent an email invitation to join a test group being given access to try the new technology on their own devices.
The group is called “Sign-In Experiments at Google,” and is found here on Google Groups. While the link to the group is public, you can’t view or participate without a direct invitation.
A Google spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that this is, indeed, a new experiment now underway, noting that:
“We’ve invited a small group of users to help test a new way to sign-in to their Google accounts, no password required. ‘Pizza’, ‘password’ and ‘123456’—your days are numbered.”
[gallery ids="1254829,1254830,1254831,1254828"]
After accepting the invite and joining the group, the email explains that you’re then able to sign in without entering a password but you can continue to use your typed password if you choose. In addition, Google says it may choose to ask for your password as an additional security measure if it notices anything unusual about your current login attempt. (And it’s helpful to be able to use your password in case your phone is dead, |
corporations, for example, became successful because smoking became popular among consumers. Yes, maybe they didn’t tell us we’d get cancer and they helped persuade us to smoke with smart advertising, but then again many of us knew that smoking gave us cancer and kept on smoking anyway. This has kept the tobacco companies in business.
Monsanto’s GM strategy has been the result of the acceptance – knowingly or not – of its technology by consumers. Now only consumers can change this. Yes, we can get some laws changed and require labeling – and that is good. But only consumers can decide not to buy GM foods.
And GM food is easy to avoid because organic foods are not allowed to include GMO ingredients.
In addition, new compliance labeling by the Non-GMO Verification Project is being introduced on more and more labels, and Whole Foods has announced it will require all brands in their stores to be labeled Non-GMO by 2018.
Increasingly, consumers, retailers, action groups and brands are taking action again GMOs. Corporate change often comes from these mechanisms, because in the end, its the consumers who pay the salaries of corporate executives.
Non-GMO Project
Organic Trade Association postion on GMO labeling.
Cummins R. Monsanto National: Taking Down Goliath. Organic Consumer’s Union. Accessed May 1, 2018.
Seeds of Deception
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MoreDrivers honked horns and whistled in support as about 50 people huddled, waving signs, in front of the Bucktown-Wicker Park Library on a chilly Monday morning to protest reduced library hours at Chicago Public Libraries.
Protesters held signs such as "Restore funding," "People's library – not mayor's" and "Honk if you love libraries," demanding the city to reinstate full schedules for libraries.
After weeks of negotiations, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Saturday that the city's 76 branch libraries will reopen most Monday afternoons starting Feb. 6 and that he will hire back 65 of laid off workers.
But the libraries will still be closed most Monday mornings, and 107 library workers will remain laid off.
"The mayor took a step in the right direction," said Anders Lindall, spokesman for theAmerican Federation of State, County and Municipal EmployeesCouncil 31. "But people want their libraries fully opened and fully staffed. Not some closures and some layoffs."
The Monday morning demonstration was one of three that were organized by the library employees’ union, AFSCME. The other two protests were held in front of Little Village and Beverly neighborhood branch libraries.
Lindall, whose daughter Greta, 5, stood nearby with "I love my library" sign she made, said each branch library plays a vital role in its neighborhood besides being a community center and a gathering spot for local groups.
"It's a safe haven for people who don't have much," said Norma Sotelo, one of the protesters.
Sotelo, who has worked in libraries for 16 years, said teamwork is essential for a library to work properly; when that many people are laid off, it affects everyone.
"It's just hard to try and make the community better when they're trying to take away so much,'' said Sotelo, who works as a librarian at Mabel Manning Library.
Because of budget shortfall, cuts had to happen, Lindall said. But with the recent mayor's announcement, only about $1 million is keeping Chicago's libraries closed, he said.
"If we prioritize our libraries and place the importance people place on them," he said, "that gap can be closed."
[email protected] Dawson was "goofing around" with his brother and other relatives and friends, rapping and shooting video in Foster Park when two gunmen opened fire early Tuesday, killing Dawson and wounding four others, according to police and relatives.
“Basically like an ambush," said Dawson's aunt, Angela Mathis-Tate, 44. “One coming west of the park and one coming south."
The shooting happened around 2:20 a.m. as Dawson, 23, and a small group were “rapping around (taking) selfies with their phones” at Foster Park at 1440 W. 84th St., according to relatives.
Dawson was shot once in the back of the head and collapsed in the middle of the park, between a building and a playground. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
A 19-year-old woman was shot twice in the groin area and was taken in serious condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center. Three other men took themselves to the same hospital: a 20-year-old man shot nine times in the leg and shoulder, a 25-year-old man grazed in the leg and an 18-year-old man grazed in the back. Their conditions were stabilized.
A man was fatally shot and four others were wounded when two gunmen opened fire as the group was recording a video at Foster Park on the South Side early on April 19, 2016, police said.
The men are all related, according to Mathis-Tate. Dawson’s brother was shot, and the other two men are brothers who are Dawson’s second cousins.
“They were very close,” Mathis-Tate said. “It was like they were all brothers. They just hung out together, go to parties together, go to clubs.”
Some witnesses said the group was staging a party scene for a video titled “Two Tecs and a 50 Shot,” but Mathis-Tate said they were just having some fun in the park.
“He was really, you know, just goofing around, playing like he could rap a little bit,” she said. “He wasn’t no rapper. He was a newcomer just trying to say some lyrics.” He sometimes went by the name “Thugga,” according to family and friends.
Foster Park is trouble at night when gang members feud with those on the other side of Ashland Avenue, Mathis-Tate said.
Courtesy of family Damond Dawson, 23, was killed in a shooting April 19, 2016, in the 1400 block of West 84th Street near Foster Park. Damond Dawson, 23, was killed in a shooting April 19, 2016, in the 1400 block of West 84th Street near Foster Park. (Courtesy of family) (Courtesy of family)
“It’s always drama up there. Nothing but drama … I told my nephew, please don’t be going up to that park,” she said. “They say, ‘We’re not, we’re not,’ and that’s what they always tell us.”
The area is particularly dangerous for young men, she said.
“It’s a good neighborhood for kids, not teenagers,” she said. “It’s not good for boys 13 through their 30s. Maybe even 40s. These guys, it’s madness. It has finally struck my home.”
Mathis-Tate and her sister, Dawson’s mother, went to Advocate Christ Medical Center hoping Dawson had survived. When they found out his body was still at the park, his mother froze.
“She wasn’t blinking, she wasn’t saying anything,” Mathis-Tate said. “I said, 'You’ve got to get strong, you’ve got to get strong.'"
She was so distraught that they called a doctor out from the hospital to make sure she was OK. “She was going into shock,” Mathis-Tate said. “She’s got six boys, and now she’s only got five.”
Dawson was a “loving nephew” who didn’t bother anyone, Mathis-Tate said.
“People out here (are) just shooting people, other kids, for no reason,” she said. “It doesn’t mean anything to them but ‘oh yeah, let’s get this person.’ … They don’t have no concern for life anymore.”
At least eight other people were wounded in shootings on the West and South sides from midmorning Monday through early Tuesday, police said.
• At about 6:10 a.m. Tuesday, an 18-year-old man was shot in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, according to preliminary information from police. He was hit in both legs and the torso and went to Stroger Hospital from the 3400 block of West Chicago Avenue. His condition was stabilized.
• At 3 a.m., a 17-year-old boy was shot in the Belmont Central neighborhood, police said. He was shot in the left calf and right thigh. He went to Community First Medical Center and his condition was stabilized. He had been shot in the 5600 block of West Schubert Avenue.
• At 12:05 a.m., a 24-year-old man was critically wounded in South Austin. He was in the 5500 block of West Congress Parkway when he was shot in the chest and abdomen and grazed in the leg. He was listed in critical condition at Loyola University Medical Center.
• At about 9 p.m., a 30-year-old woman took herself to the hospital after being grazed in the head by a bullet in West Garfield Park. She told investigators she was in the 4300 block of West Wilcox Street when someone fired shots from a passing van. She got herself to Stroger Hospital and her condition was stabilized.
• At 7:35 p.m., a 19-year-old man was shot on a porch in South Shore, said Officer Veejay Zala, a police spokesman. He was sitting on a back porch in the 7200 block of South Bennett Avenue when someone fired shots, hitting him in the left leg. He went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and his condition was stabilized.
• About 6:05 p.m. a man and a woman were shot in the Homan Square Neighborhood, said Officer Kevin Quaid, a police spokesman. The two were on the sidewalk in the 3500 block of West Polk Street when someone they later told police they didn't recognize opened fire.
A 28-year-old man was shot nine times and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. A 26-year-old woman was shot once in the buttocks and was taken to Mount Sinai in good condition.
• Earlier, a 22-year-old man was wounded Monday morning in a shooting on the South Side in the city's Park Manor neighborhood.
The shooting happened about 9 a.m. in the 500 block of East 72nd Street, said Officer Nicole Trainor, a Chicago police spokeswoman. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken in good condition to St. Bernard Hospital, Trainor said.“At the beginning of 2011, I had the distinct feeling that something inside me was rotting. My insides felt like a dank cave full of stalagmites that enclosed something horrible if I only ventured deep enough to find out. So to figure out what was wrong with me, I fled my suffocating university town for the wilds of Super Natural British Columbia. To the rest of Canada, BC is known as the place with beautiful mountains and really good weed. I camped for almost a month straight; hiking up rock faces in Valhalla Provincial Park, on a bioluminescent beach, and on an island so serious about their leave-no-trace rule we had to pack up human waste too (that part was kind of gross).
It turns out I am just a blip in the timeline of spending time alone in nature to find myself. There have been countless books written by people who go out and do exactly that thing. In 2010, Sylvain Tesson relocated to a small geologist’s cabin in Siberia with a supply of hot sauce, pasta, and books. In his book “Consolations of the Forest”, he writes, “I have come to do what always intimidated me…to finally find out if I have an inner life.”
The journals he kept during his time there sketch out the arresting beauty of living on the shore of Lake Baikal: bitter winds, paralyzing silence and ice thick enough to drive over. Tesson does little more than smoke cigars, drink vodka, and read books, but over the course of six months he learns to contemplate life with a rawness usually reserved for the therapist’s chair. It is clear Tesson was not the first lonely man who believed it is “better to live joyfully in a wilderness clearing than languish in a city.”
His book list reads like an abridged history of nature hermits: “A Year in a Cabin in the Yukon” by Olaf Candau, “Treatise on Solitary Cabins” by Antoine Marcel, “Indian Creek Chronicles: A Winter Alone in the Wilderness” by Pete Fromm, and of course, “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau.
Henry David Thoreau is the patron saint of those who seek to find themselves in nature. Despite a beard that says otherwise, Thoreau was hardly a mountain man – he was an upper class intellectual. Thoreau was born in 1817 and lived in a world more heavily populated by dance cards than 4G mobile networks. Yet in 1845 he’d had enough of trying to keep up with the pace of society and decided—in not his exact words—“Fuck it, I’m building a cabin from scratch on idyllic Walden Pond.” His escape to Walden (and subsequent book about it) was a based on a desire to live on his own terms, rather than in step with the obedient townsfolk of Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau found great pleasure in scouring nature to fulfill his needs, even though his peers thought he was nuts, and the time he spent fishing in the moonlight and plucking ripe huckleberries would come to define his life and work.
The truest happiness comes from expending your energy to fulfill the bottom level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, rather than spending every day worrying about self-actualization.
Thoreau, Tesson, and I all heeded the eremitic call, and found something larger and more satisfying within ourselves by living closer to nature. I thought that camping amidst some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world would save me. I was right. Before then, I was more of an armchair environmentalist – someone with good intentions for saving the world, but who doesn’t like to get dirty. But outside my comfort zone, I learned that the truest happiness comes from expending your energy to fulfill the bottom level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, rather than spending every day worrying about self-actualization.
It is possible to find something larger and more satisfying within ourselves by living closer to nature, and when you reach this apex it almost feels like you’ve unlocked the key to the meaning of life. The happiest memories I have are completely unrelated to my current urban life of movie premieres and book launches – they are of setting up and taking down tents, cooking meals on miniature camp stoves, hiking up mountains and driving in a musty white vans singing along to the Decemberists. In British Columbia, the rot inside me started to dry up. But when I was plopped back into the detritus of everyday life, the black goo started to seep back.
The only way to extricate yourself from the heaviness and clutter of everyday existence is to find a place where the clarity of scenery reflects your ideal state of mind. The dream of a cabin alone in the woods allows us to tune out the din of pop culture and make space for clarity of thought. We do it to confront our issues; to put a mirror to our insides and judge if we see what we like. As Tesson lays it out; “It’s good to know that out there, in a forest in the world, there is a cabin where something is possible, something fairly close to the sheer happiness of being alive.” “
“A Cabin Alone in the Woods: Why it’s human nature to want an escape” by Isabel Slone, in “Alternatives Journal”, August 1 2014
http://www.alternativesjournal.ca/community/blogs/aj-special-delivery/cabin-alone-woods
Like this: Like Loading... RelatedC.U. Cycling bike rides are starting up again for 2015! Come out to our awesome and ever-fun Bicycle Picnic Club!
Looking for a nice peaceful Saturday afternoon? Want to explore our city’s pathway network? Need a quiet recovery from Friday night’s shenanigans? Join CU Cycling’s weekly Bicycle Picnic Club ride!
The BPC isn’t really a club; we just like riding bicycles and having picnics. The ride meets in front of Carleton’s University Centre at 11am on Saturdays, at which time we decide on a scenic route that will take us to a nice park, attraction, or festival where we can hang out for a bit and have some lunch. We tailor the pace and distance of the ride to whomever shows up. All kinds of bicycles and riders are welcome; just remember to pack a lunch!
Here’s the skinny:
Date: Saturday, May 2, 2015
Saturday, May 2, 2015 Time : 11am (meet at 10:50am)
: 11am (meet at 10:50am) Location : meet in front of the University Centre building on Carleton University campus
: meet in front of the University Centre building on Carleton University campus Route & difficulty: to be decided! We pick our route based on suggestions and the speed and skill level of the riders.
frequently and infrequently-asked-questions
Should I pack a lunch? Definitely!
Definitely! Can I invite my friends? Yes please! The more the merrier
Yes please! The more the merrier Can I join if I’m not a Carleton University student? For sure! C.U. Cycling is a group for Carleton students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members, but we’re all just here to bike around the city and have fun.
For more information about our rides in general, including information on where to meet and how to get to Carleton University, check out our Bike Rides page.
See you then!
AdvertisementsI have to say, this is hands down one of the best exchange hauls I've gotten. Maybe because the gifts were for the three people most special to me - Coyote Wild [cat], Gus T. Cat and Maggie May [puppy] - but it really touched my heart that my match was so thoughtful and went above and beyond. Everyone is wild, literally, for their presents and mom and pop couldn't be happier. Thank you so very much to my wonderful match and our new friend Brandy (Maggie says 'woof').
Maggie hauled in two squeaky toys she is crazy for, tasty pumpkin cookies (they're vegetarian and smell delicious so naturally I took a bite... WHAT?), a zombie toy (how did you know The Walking Dead is our favorite show?) and a puzzle ball she has nearly mastered. Coyote and Gus brought an impressive haul of tasty snacks in chicken and salmon flavors, an AMAZING massage station that they're rubbing on as we speak and a jingly toy that's hanging from my vanity, perfect for early morning amusement while I get ready for work.
You are good, you are great, you are wonderful and you've made my week. Having a puppy and two cats isn't always easy but it's changed our lives for the better and the kindness of others towards us and our animals is amazing. THANK YOU!0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
Despite HHS Secretary Tom Price’s attempt to put his travel scandal behind him on Thursday, it got much worse with new reporting that reveals he billed taxpayers more than $500,000 on international trips by flying on military aircraft instead of commercial flights.
According to Politico, the $500,000 cost of these international trips brings his total travel expenses to over $1 million over the course of his short time on the job.
More from the report:
Price pledged on Thursday to reimburse the government for the cost of his own seat on his domestic trips using private aircraft — reportedly around $52,000 — but that would not include the cost of the military flights. Price’s wife, Betty, accompanied him on the military flights, while other members of the secretary’s delegation flew commercially to Europe. HHS spokeswoman Charmaine Yoest said Price has reimbursed the agency for the cost of his wife’s travel abroad, but declined to say when he did so. Price has been under intense criticism since POLITICO revealed his extensive use of charter aircraft for domestic flights last week. His travel expenditures are subject to reviews by the HHS inspector general and the House Oversight Committee. Democratic and Republican senators have also demanded information about Price’s travel expenditures.
To put it in context, former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who served for five years under Barack Obama, never took a military aircraft “on her many overseas trips,” Politico noted.
The new reporting comes after Price tried to put an end to the controversy today by announcing he would pay back some of the cost of his travels.
But as Jason Easley and Sarah Jones noted on Thursday, Price said he would only reimburse taxpayers $50,000 – a fraction of $400,000 bill he racked up on private flights in just a few months.
Even without these additional revelations from Politico, Price’s costly and wasteful travel habits were troubling enough, particularly in the context of his and Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to strip Americans of their health insurance.
With the new reporting on Thursday, Price’s travel troubles got much worse, and his days squandering taxpayer dollars for personal comfort are likely numbered.
If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human:Nest, the smart thermostat from Google, is about to get a little faster at learning your preferences.
The company will roll out a big software update this week that includes a new, smarter algorithm for figuring out how you like the temperature set in your home and then making those changes automatically.
“Enhanced auto-schedule” will be delivered for free via WiFi to all Nest thermostats in the seven countries where they’re sold. Nest has been updating the algorithm steadily over the past few years, but the company says this is the first major re-design based on customer feedback and data from tests in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
The new algorithm will allow the device to learn more quickly how people like the temperature set in their home. If someone initially preferred a morning temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit and then began setting their device to 69, for instance, the device will pick up on that change more quickly and start to set the temperature itself automatically, the company says.
Nest received feedback from customers who said too much manual programming was needed, sometimes over a period of weeks, before the thermostat would start adjusting to the temperature they wanted, said Isabel Guenette, lead product manager at Nest.
“This makes the device faster in learning at the outset, and more adaptive later,” she said of the update. The company wouldn’t quantify exactly how much more quickly the thermostat will learn, but it’s based more on the number of adjustments the customer makes than the length of time over which they’re made, Guenette said.
The new smarts could result in additional energy savings of roughly 6 percent for cooling and heating, the company says, though the actual savings will probably depend on factors like the construction and layout of the home.
Still, “the better and more accurately we can learn users’ schedules, the greater the energy savings opportunity,” Guenette said.
How Nest’s thermostat behaves might also soon depend on how other devices interact with it. The company released an API (application programming interface) a few months ago that will let developers of other products, like fitness trackers and even cars, interact with its smart devices. By connecting to a fitness tracker, for instance, the thermostat might know it should start warming the house when a person wearing the tracker wakes and starts stirring in bed.
Some data sharing between Nest and other Google products is in the works too, by letting users control Nest’s devices through Google apps. Nest stresses that developers will be able to access only the data they need to make the integrations work.
Google acquired Nest earlier this year for $3.2 billion, and Nest subsequently bought video monitoring company Dropcam for $555 million.
The software update also includes a new viewing mode that aims to provide easier access to information about things like energy savings and the weather, and a new test mode to make sure the device is working as well as it should.
The software changes are only for Nest’s thermostat, not its Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm.The National Tea Party Federation has expelled conservative commentator and Tea Party Express spokesman Mark Williams over a fictional letter Williams wrote on his blog last week from "Colored People" to Abraham Lincoln.
"We, in the last 24 hours, have expelled Tea Party Express and Mark Williams from the National Tea Party Federation because of the letter that he wrote," federation spokesman David Webb said Sunday on CBS's "Face The Nation."
Williams wrote the blog post, which has since been taken down, in response to a resolution adopted by the NAACP accusing Tea Party leaders of tolerating racism within the movement.
"Dear Mr. Lincoln," began Williams' letter. "We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!"
Webb called the blog post "clearly offensive."Billionaires have long been pouring investments into new technologies that promise to provide life extending or enhancing properties, from Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which seeks to boost human intelligence and memory, to a controversial startup called Ambrosia, which seeks to provide wealthy old individuals with blood transfusions from young, healthy people. Dr. Nir Barzilai, the director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, has a much simpler, more practical plan that would benefit millions of people around the world—not just a handful of billionaires and millionaires.
For the past several years, Dr. Barzilai has been pushing the FDA to approve metformin, a drug that several preliminary studies have shown extends lifespan and enhances life in old age. The drug is already approved to treat type 2 diabetes, and it only costs five cents a pill. While it doesn’t directly prolong aging, it fights off the most debilitating aspects of growing old and delays common ailments that lead to natural deaths.
Wired reported on July 1 that researchers noted profound effects when comparing diabetes patients on metformin to those taking different drugs: “The metformin-takers tended to be healthier in all sorts of ways. They lived longer and had fewer cardiovascular events, and in at least some studies they were less likely to suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s. Most surprising of all, they seemed to get cancer far less frequently—as much as 25 to 40 percent less than diabetics taking two other popular medications. When they did get cancer, they tended to outlive diabetics with cancer who were taking other medications.”
Dr. Barzilai has focused his research on metformin and how to improve quality of life in old age. However, the FDA doesn’t recognize aging as a medical condition. Even if this obstacle were overcome, there is difficulty in designing a study that would prove the drug’s anti-aging qualities. Since 2014, Dr. Barzilai has been confident that metformin is the best drug to demonstrate this quality and pursue this anti-aging agenda with the FDA. Dr. Barzilai and several other researchers developed a clinical trial, dubbed the TAME trial (targeting aging with metformin) to prove the anti-aging properties of the drug. Dr. Barzilai met with FDA officials in 2015 and is optimistic the agency will make a decision once the trials are complete.
In a 2015 article for Science Magazine, the trial design was outlined: “The group—academics all—wanted to conduct a double-blind study of roughly 3,000 elderly people; half would get a placebo and half would get an old (indeed, ancient) drug for type 2 diabetes called metformin, which has been shown to modify aging in some animal studies. Because there is still no accepted biomarker for aging, the drug’s success would be judged by an unusual standard—whether it could delay the development of several diseases whose incidence increases dramatically with age: cardiovascular disease, cancer, and cognitive decline, along with mortality.” Dr. Barzilai is in the process of trying to raise funds for the study, which is estimated to cost $65 million and provides pharmaceutical companies with no profit incentive to support it given that the drug only costs a few cents per pill and is already on the market. The National Institute of Health is expected to cover a significant portion of the study, and Dr. Barzilai is trying to convince billionaires who typically invest in anti-aging startups to sponsor the study. However, billionaires can easily obtain the drug themselves, thereby lessening their incentive to donate to the study.
In the meantime, the drug has garnered the attention of researchers looking to figure out how it would tangibly reduce risks like cancer. When a person takes metformin, the drug winds up in the liver where it interrupts cells breaking down and burning nutrients and oxygen for energy. This disruption limits insulin production in the body, which researchers presuppose is the reason why metformin reduces risks of conditions associated with aging, as excess insulin has been linked to many of these conditions. As Dr. Barzilai continues trying to convince wealthy donors and those in the medical community to get behind his anti-aging research, his slow progress—despite how promising it is and the widespread benefits it could yield—stems from the fact that pharmaceutical companies only try to maximize profits, not health benefits.Darrow MontgomeryIt is a bitter cold morning in November, and the sun is just creeping up over the horizon. But for over an hour already, two unmarked vans have been idling or parked outside S.O.M.E. (So Others Might Eat), a longtime nonprofit that feeds D.C.’s homeless. These are the eviction company vans, known as “trucks,” and they are waiting for cheap, off-the-books labor.
Years of experience tells them they can get it at S.O.M.E., where men who sleep on the street or in the shelter congregate in the mornings. These men, and the occasional woman, are always looking to make a few dollars, and the eviction companies know the homeless will accept below the minimum wage of $11.50—accept even $7 total to work an eviction, which can take a few hours or most of a day. And the companies also know that, because they are homeless, these men mostly will not complain, even if the job is to make others homeless.
Mostly. Today, an argument breaks out near one of the trucks. “They only pay you $7. They ain’t giving you nothing to eat. You’re better than that,” a tall, wiry man in a Chicago Bulls hat tells his shorter, squatter friend. “It’s better than nothing,” his friend says, moving past him to get in the truck, which is already crammed with men. The tall man shakes his head in frustration. “They always get the drunks and winos,” he mutters, and walks away.
Jason James, who stands nearby sipping coffee from a Styrofoam cup, is also frustrated, because today he didn’t get on a truck. He came all the way from Oxon Hill, Maryland, to S.O.M.E. on 71 O Street NW to try to make a few dollars, but he has already spent a few dollars on transport, and now he sees it was for nothing. “They don’t often take ‘us,’” James says, pointing at himself and a few others standing beside him in fresh, clean clothes. “You gotta have an addiction [to get chosen], because he gotta take his fix, so he’ll take whatever you give him.”
Some days, as many as four or five trucks show up outside S.O.M.E, each operated by a different eviction company. On those days, it’s easier for men like James to get on a truck. But today there are only two vehicles. Clusters of men gather around them, vying to get chosen for a “crew.”
In D.C., after a landlord successfully gets a writ of restitution to evict a tenant, he or she must hire an eviction crew to haul the tenant’s belongings to the curb. For the sake of speed—and because in D.C. evictions are overseen by the U.S. Marshals Service, which has other jobs to do—that crew must be large enough to quickly carry out the eviction. The marshals require a crew of 25 people for a single-family home, 20 for a two-bedroom apartment, and 15 for a one bedroom. Enter D.C.’s eviction companies, which are paid by landlords to show up with the appropriate-sized crew.
The people waiting for crew work outside S.O.M.E. take the jobs knowing the day will not be easy. According to interviews with more than a dozen people who work the trucks, this is what they are up against: First, there is no guarantee they’ll get paid what they’re offered. Second, there are no set hours. Also, if the work lasts all day, they may be able to eat or be given water, but they probably won’t. There is no insurance if anyone gets hurt.
There are no gloves and no dollies to move heavy furniture—only trash bags. There is often no transportation back to S.O.M.E. once the evictions are over, which could be in D.C. or far away in Virginia or Maryland.
There are some benefits to working these crews, of course. It is a job that requires no papers, doesn’t include background checks, and pays cash. There are opportunities for stealing—much-needed clothing, an iPad, cash found squirreled away under a mattress. Charles Millender Jr., who worked the trucks for years to support himself while living in the shelters and eating at S.O.M.E., says, “You set somebody out, and then you steal people’s stuff to try to survive. Ain’t nobody going to have sympathy for you for that. But it’s a hurting feeling.”
In fact, the ACLU has filed a complaint with the U.S. Marshals Service over the handling of the 2015 eviction of Southeast resident Donya Williams and her daughter. The complaint claims that marshals entered with guns drawn —despite no evidence that she posed a threat— while she was naked and wouldn’t allow her to dress before marching her outside. It also claims that a tablet computer and large-screen TV went missing during the eviction.
“Losing your home shouldn’t mean losing your dignity,” says D.C. ACLU senior staff attorney Scott Michelman.
Workers also have to be hard—or hardened—because, as in the case of the Williams family, the people being evicted are often home. There might be little children or old ladies or parents who are angry. And they may react in many different ways. They might swear, or shout, or cry. They might beg not to put them out on the street.
Dupree Cross, 38, with a graying beard, has worked evictions that pick up outside S.O.M.E. and elsewhere for years, but he says he mostly stopped after a man shot himself during an eviction. The suicide was a turning point for Cross but not an isolated event or a matter of his bad luck. In 2006, multiple psychiatrists wrote a letter to a journal of the American Psychiatric Association warning that eviction had been a significant risk factor for suicide in their patients. They asked why this had not been studied before.
“I got emotional with it after someone shot his head off,” Cross says. “We were evicting someone and the wife came out screaming: ‘He shot his head off!’ After that I said, ‘I can’t do this work anymore.’”
When men like Cross drop out, the companies know dozens of others among the homeless are ready and willing to take his place.
***
D.C.’s eviction trucks have been showing up outside S.O.M.E. to find labor since at least 1999, when City Paper first published a story about how homeless people were being employed to make others homeless. Back then, eviction companies even went inside the nonprofit’s cafeteria to recruit, but S.O.M.E. put an end to that practice.
And since at least 2006, these companies have been paying their homeless day laborers below minimum wage. That year, the homeless newspaper Street Sense published an expose of their practices, which sparked a class-action lawsuit brought by a group of homeless and formerly homeless men who worked the trucks. International law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton represented the men, who alleged that six eviction companies in D.C. were paying below the minimum wage, and were even colluding to do so. Three of the companies settled before the court made its findings, including one that settled and then disappeared without making payment. In 2010, the court ordered that the remaining three companies start paying at least the minimum wage and also start maintaining wage records.
But only some of the companies complied with the court’s order. Three eviction companies—Crawford & Crawford, East Coast Express Evictions, and Platinum Realtor Services, Inc.—never showed up in court, and the court never issued any monetary judgment against them. While Platinum Realtor appears to have dissolved, the people who run Crawford & Crawford and East Coast Express continued to recruit outside S.O.M.E. as before. According to more than a dozen men who work the trucks, they are still paying illegally low wages. Some report they pay even less now. And without penalty or regulation, more companies have starting popping up to get in on the profit.
“We thought that this had been resolved years and years ago,” says Megan Hustings, interim director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit that helped the men bring the 2006 case.
***
D.C. has long struggled with the sheer number of evictions it has to handle. In 1983, the Washington Post published a story about the incredible backlog in evictions the city faced. The prior year, 2,700 families had been evicted in D.C. for failure to pay rent, and 2,000 more evictions were approved but backlogged.
Though fewer evictions are executed today, the numbers remain high. In 2015, according to D.C.’s landlord and tenant court, landlords filed 32,590 cases seeking eviction. Most of these cases are dismissed or resolved through mediation, but 1,567 were executed last year—the vast majority over nonpayment of rent. Most evictions took place in Southeast, followed by Southwest, Northeast, and Northwest, the court says.
D.C. is not alone in being overburdened by evictions and eviction requests. Several million families face forced removal from their homes across the country every year, according to estimates by the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Neighborhood Law Clinic. In his 2016 book Evicted |
as secretary of Supreme National Security Council, stated in a pro-government rally that "At dusk yesterday we received a decisive revolutionary order to crush mercilessly and monumentally any move of these opportunist elements wherever it may occur. From today our people shall witness how in the arena our law enforcement force... shall deal with these opportunists and riotous elements, if they simply dare to show their faces."[56] and led the crackdown.[57]
In the midterm elections for the third term of the Assembly of Experts which was held on 18 February 2000, Rouhani was elected to the Assembly of Experts from Semnan Province. He was elected as Tehran Province's representative to the Assembly's fourth term in 2006 and is still serving in that capacity. He was the head of the political and social committee of the assembly of experts (from 2001 to 2006), member of the presiding board, and head of Tehran office of the secretariat of the assembly (from 2006 to 2008). On 5 March 2013, he was elected as a member of the Assembly's "Commission for investigating ways of protecting and guarding Velayat-e Faqih".[58]
In addition to executive posts, Rouhani kept up his academic activities. From 1995 to 1999, he was a member of the board of trustees of Tehran Universities and North Region. Rouhani has been running the Center for Strategic Research since 1991. He is the managing editor of three academic and research quarterlies in Persian and English, which include Rahbord (Strategy), Foreign Relations, and the Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs.
Nuclear dossier [ edit ]
Hassan Rouhani, January 29, 2005
Rouhani was secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) for 16 years. His leading role in the nuclear negotiations which brought him the nickname of "Diplomat Sheikh", first given to him by the nascent Sharq newspaper in November 2003 and was frequently repeated after that by domestic and foreign Persian-speaking media. His career at the Council began under President Hashemi Rafsanjani and continued under his successor, President Khatami. Heinonen, former senior IAEA official, said that Rouhani used to boast of how he had used talks with Western powers to "buy time to advance Iran's programme."[59] His term as Iran's top nuclear negotiator, however, was limited to 678 days (from 6 October 2003 to 15 August 2005). That period began with international revelations about Iran's nuclear energy program and adoption of a strongly worded resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In June 2004, the board of governors of the IAEA issued a statement which was followed by a resolution in September of the same year, which focused on Iran's nuclear case with the goal of imposing difficult commitments on Iran. That development was concurrent with the victory of the United States in Iraq war and escalation of war rhetoric in the region. The international community was experiencing unprecedented tensions as a result of which Iran's nuclear advances were considered with high sensitivity.[16]:120–126
As tensions increased and in view of the existing differences between Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Atomic Energy Organization, a proposal was put forth by the foreign minister, Kamal Kharazi, which was accepted by the president and other Iranian leaders. According to that proposal, a decision was made to establish a politically, legally, and technically efficient nuclear team with Hassan Rouhani in charge. The team was delegated with special powers in order to formulate a comprehensive plan for Iran's interactions with the IAEA and coordination among various concerned organizations inside the country. Therefore, on the order of President Khatami with the confirmation of Ali Khamenei, Hassan Rouhani took charge of Iran's nuclear case on 6 October 2003.[16]:138–140 Subsequently, negotiations between Iran and three European states started at Saadabad in Tehran and continued in later months in Brussels, Geneva and Paris.
Rouhani and his team, whose members had been introduced by Velayati and Kharazi as the best diplomats in the Iranian Foreign Ministry,[16]:109,141 based their efforts on dialogue and confidence building due to political and security conditions. As a first step, they prevented further escalation of accusations against Iran in order to prevent reporting Iran's nuclear case to the United Nations Security Council. Therefore, and for the purpose of confidence building, certain parts of Iran's nuclear activities were voluntarily suspended at several junctures.
In addition to building confidence, insisting on Iran's rights, reducing international pressures and the possibility of war, and preventing Iran's case from being reported to the UN Security Council, Iran succeeded in completing its nuclear fuel cycle and took groundbreaking steps.[16]:660–667 However, decisions made by the nuclear team under the leadership of Rouhani were criticized by certain circles in later years.[60][61]
Following the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, Rouhani resigned his post as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council after 16 years on 15 August 2005,[16]:594,601 and was succeeded by Ali Larijani as the new secretary who also took charge of Iran's nuclear case. Larijani, likewise, could not get along with the policies of the new government and resigned his post on 20 October 2007, to be replaced by Saeed Jalili. Rouhani then was appointed by the Supreme Leader as his representative at the SNSC.[62]
Presidential campaigns [ edit ]
2013 presidential election [ edit ]
Rouhani's supporters celebrate his presidential victory in Tehran
Rouhani during his victory speech, 15 June 2013
Our centrifuges are good to spin when our people's economy is also spinning in the right direction. Rouhani during TV debate[63]
Rouhani was considered a leading candidate in the June election because of his centrist views yet close ties to Iran's ruling clerics and the Green Movement.[64] He announced his presidential candidacy on 11 March 2013 and registered as a presidential candidate on 7 May. Amid the run-up to the election, former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, together with reformists supported Rouhani on the presidential race after pro-reform candidate Mohammad Reza Aref dropped out of the presidential race after Khatami advised him to quit in favor of Rouhani.[65] On 10 June, Mehr news agency and Fars news agency, suggested that Rouhani might be disqualified prior to the election[66] and The Washington Post, in an editorial, predicted that Rouhani "will not be allowed to win".[67] On 15 June 2013, Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar announced the results of the election, with a total number of 36,704,156 ballots cast; Rouhani won 18,613,329 votes, while his main rival Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf secured 6,077,292 votes.[68][69] Rouhani performed well with both the middle class and youth, even garnering majority support in religious cities such as Mashhad and Qom (an important seat of Shia Islam and the clergy, many of whom surprisingly do not support conservatives)[70] as well as small towns and villages.[22] Rouhani's electoral landslide victory was widely seen as the result of the Green Movement from the 2009 elections, with crowds chanting pro-reform slogans. Religious Iranians equally celebrated Rouhani's victory, demonstrating what analysts described as a thorough rejection of the policies of the conservative factions.[22]
2017 presidential election [ edit ]
Rouhani saw off a strong challenge from hardline Ebrahim Raisi at the 2017 election, a fellow cleric with radically different politics, who stirred up populist concerns about the sluggish economy, lambasted Rouhani for seeking foreign investment and appealed to religious conservatives. He had gathered momentum as conservatives keen to win back control of the government coalesced behind Raisi's initially lacklustre campaign. His other rivals were Mostafa Mir-Salim and Mostafa Hashemitaba.
Rouhani ultimately won the election in a landslide, providing a ringing endorsement of his efforts to re-engage with the West and offer greater freedoms.[71] He received 23,636,652 of the votes,[29] in an election that had 73.07% turnout.
Presidency (2013–present) [ edit ]
In his press conference one day after election day, Rouhani reiterated his promise to recalibrate Iran's relations with the world. He promised greater openness and to repair the country's international standing, offering greater nuclear transparency in order to restore international trust.[72] Revolutionary Guards Major General Mohammad Jafari criticised Rouhani's administration. "The military, systems and procedures governing the administrative system of the country are the same as before, [but it] has been slightly modified and unfortunately infected by Western doctrine, and a fundamental change must occur. The main threat to the revolution is in the political arena and the Guards cannot remain silent in the face of that." In May 2017, Rouhani was re-elected as President with 23.5 million votes.[73]
He was announced the winner on the day following the election. He received his presidential precept from his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on 3 August 2013 and entered Sa'dabad Palace in a private ceremony. His work as president officially began on the same day at 17:00 IRDT. He was inaugurated as the seventh president of Iran on 4 August in House of the Parliament.[74]
Cabinet [ edit ]
Rouhani speaking after a cabinet meeting
Rouhani announced his cabinet on 4 August. He had a ten-day mandate for introducing his cabinet members to the parliament but he did not use this. Then, parliament voted on his cabinet, which was scheduled on 14–19 August. Between three reformist politicians (Mohammad Reza Aref, Eshaq Jahangiri or Mohammad Shariatmadari) that were likely for the vice presidency, Rouhani appointed Jahangiri for the position. There were also many candidates for ministry of foreign affairs: Ali Akbar Salehi, Kamal Kharazi, Sadegh Kharazi, Mohammad Javad Zarif and Mahmoud Vaezi but Zarif became Rouhani's final nominee.[75] Although several names were being circulated for the other ministerial posts before the final announcement, the office of president-elect denied these speculations. On 23 July 2013, it was reported that eight members of Rouhani's cabinet had been finalized: Jahangiri as first vice president, Zarif as foreign minister, Rahmani Fazli as interior minister, Tayebnia as finance minister, Dehghan as defense minister, Namdar Zanganeh as petroleum minister, Najafi as education minister, Chitchian as energy minister, Nematzadeh as industries minister, Hassan Hashemi as health minister and Akhondi as transportation minister.[76] This become official after Rouhani presented the list of his ministry nominates to the parliament on his inauguration day. He also appointed Mohammad Nahavandian as his chief of staff.
Rouhani with First Vice President, Eshaq Jahangiri, after a cabinet meeting
Domestic policy [ edit ]
Economic [ edit ]
The economic policy of Hassan Rouhani focuses on the long-term economic development of Iran. It deals with increasing the purchasing power of the public, economic growth, raising sufficient funds, implementation of the general policies of 44th Principle of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and improving the business environment in the short term.[77] Rouhani believes that improving the economic conditions of the people should be accomplished by boosting the purchasing power of the people, reducing the wealth gap. He also thinks that equitable distribution of national wealth and economic growth lead to all mentioned economic goals. He states that if national wealth was not created, poverty would be distributed. National wealth creation causes an increase in real income per capita and equitable distribution of wealth. His plan is targeted to increase direct and indirect assistance to low-income groups.[78]
Rouhani is urgently going to regenerate the Management and Planning Organization of Iran. His economic policies also comprise optimal distribution of subsidies, control of liquidity and inflation, speeding economic growth and reducing import. He believes that inflation results in damaging effects on the economy of families and hopes to deflate that in Foresight and Hope Cabinet.[79]
Rouhani plans urgent economic priorities such as control of high inflation, increasing purchasing power and cutting down high unemployment.[80]
Culture and media [ edit ]
According to a March 2014 report by Center for International Media Assistance, since Rouhani takeover in 2013, "Censorship of the Internet has only gotten worse, but it's more and more clear that Rouhani does not have complete control over this process".[81]
Regarding internet censorship, he has stated: "Gone are the days when a wall could be built around the country. Today there are no more walls." He has also criticized Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting for showing trivial foreign news, while ignoring pressing national matters.[82] Rouhani also appeared to pledge his support for increasing Internet access and other political and social freedoms. In an interview, he said: "We want the people, in their private lives, to be completely free, and in today’s world having access to information and the right of free dialogue, and the right to think freely, is the right of all peoples, including the people of Iran."[83]
Human and women's rights [ edit ]
Rouhani has maintained a policy of not publicly addressing human rights issues, on which he may have limited powers.[84]
Rouhani is a supporter of women's rights. In a speech after he was elected as the President of Iran, he said:
There must be equal opportunities for women. There is no difference between man and woman in their creation, in their humanity, in their pursuit of knowledge, in their understanding, in their intelligence, in their religious piety, in serving God and in serving people.[85]
Rouhani's government appointed Elham Aminzadeh, Shahindokht Molaverdi and Masoumeh Ebtekar as vice presidents; as well as Marzieh Afkham, the first female spokesperson for the foreign ministry. Rouhani has promised to set up a ministry for women. Many women's rights activists, however, are reluctant about a ministry for women; because they feel that this ministry may isolate women's issues. It has also been suggested that Rouhani will require a deputy minister position within each ministry to address gender issues and issues pertaining to women.[86]
In September 2013, eleven political prisoners were freed including noted human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and Mohsen Aminzadeh. The move came just days before his visit to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly.[87]
Critics say that little has changed in domestic policy since Rouhani took office. Iranian authorities executed 599 people during Rouhani's first 14 months in power, compared with 596 during the last year in office of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran has the highest number of executions anywhere in the world, apart from China.[88] Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has criticized Rouhani's human rights record. She cited the increase in executions, Abdolfattah Soltani's hunger strike, and the continued house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi. An Iranian spokesperson said Ebadi's comments would end up provoking animosity towards Iran.[89][90][91]
In 2015, Rouhani appointed Marzieh Afkham and Saleh Adibi, as the first female since the 1979 (the second in history) and the first Sunni Kurd respectively, to hold office as ambassadors.[92][93]
Foreign policy [ edit ]
Rouhani meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the SCO summit in China, 9 June 2018
Rouhani's foreign policy has been contained by the conservatism of Iranian Principlists, who fear change, while also realizing it is necessary. Furthermore, Iran's foreign policy, which was deadlocked by the efforts of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, needs new predecessor by cautious and decisive efforts of Rouhani.[clarification needed] The main task of Rouhani is only to develop dialogues between Iran and Political rivals including P5+1. This course can help lift sanctions that damaged the Iranian economy.[94]
In March 2015, Rouhani sent a letter to President Obama and the heads of the other five countries negotiating with Iran, explaining Iran's stance. He announced it on his Twitter account. The US National Security Council confirmed that the letter had been passed on to the U.S. negotiating team, but its contents were not released. Rouhani also spoke by phone with the leaders of all the nations involved in the negotiations, except for the United States.[95]
Rouhani with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 23 May 2016
Nuclear talks [ edit ]
United Kingdom [ edit ]
Rouhani met with British Prime Minister David Cameron, marking the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution that the leaders of Iran and the United Kingdom have met.[96] On 20 February 2014 the Iranian Embassy in London was restored and the two countries agreed to restart diplomatic relations.[97] On 23 August 2015 the embassy was officially reopened.[98]
United States [ edit ]
Rouhani with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Tehran, November 2015
Rouhani's visit to New York City in September 2013 was hailed[who?] as major progress in Iran's relations with the United States. He previously said that his government is ready to hold talks with the United States after thirty-two years. Rouhani denied reports that during his trip he had refused a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama,[99] and felt more time was needed to coordinate such a meeting.[99] On 27 September 2013, a day after the two countries foreign ministers met during the P5+1 and Iran talks, Rouhani had a phone call with President Obama that marked two countries' highest political exchange since 1979.[99][100][101] However, due to this phone call Rouhani was protested by conservatives who chanted "death to America" when he returned to Tehran.[99]
In February 2019, Rouhani condemned the United States for trying to topple Iran’s ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.[102]
Syria [ edit ]
It is generally assumed that he will follow the ruling establishment in completely supporting Bashar al-Assad, Syria's contentious president, in the Syrian Civil War, as well as "strengthening the Shia Crescent" that runs from southern Lebanon, through Syria, Iraq and into Iran.[103] In his first press conference after winning the presidential election, Rouhani said that "the ultimate responsibility to resolve the Syrian civil war should be in the hands of the Syrian people."[104]
Iraq [ edit ]
Rouhani has termed Iran–Iraq relations "brotherly" and signed several agreements with Iraq.[105] Right after the Northern Iraq offensive, Iran was the first country to send support for Iraq[106] and is a "key player" in Military intervention against the ISIL.[107]
Saudi Arabia [ edit ]
On Iran's relationship to Saudi Arabia, Rouhani wrote that during the Khatami administration, he, as the secretary-general of the National Security Council at that time, reached "a comprehensive and strategic agreement" with the Saudis, but that this agreement was not upheld during the Ahmadinejad's government. Specifically, while discussing the episode, he stated:
there was a consensus [during Khatami's administration] that we should have good relations with Saudi Arabia. No one within the nezaam [regime] was opposed to it. I went to Saudi Arabia for the first time in 1998. At that time Saudi Arabia had accused us of involvement in the Khobar Towers bombing. I went to Saudi Arabia as the secretary-general of the SNSC. From their side, [Minister of Interior] Nayef bin Abdulaziz took part in the negotiations. The negotiations began at 10 p.m. and lasted until 5 a.m. the next morning. We finally agreed on a security agreement. I returned to Saudi Arabia in [early] 2005, and had extensive discussions about the region, mutual problems between us, and the nuclear issue. We agreed with Nayef to form four committees. They were supposed to convene every few months and pursue the issues. After I left [the post of] secretary-general, none of the committees were formed and there were no meetings.[108] — Hassan Rouhani, Sterateji-ye Amniat-e Melli Jomhouri-ye Eslami-ye Iran (National Security Strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran)
Rouhani has criticized Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen, saying: "Don't bomb children, elderly men and women in Yemen. Attacking the oppressed will bring disgrace."[109]
Israel [ edit ]
Rouhani describes Israel as "an occupier and usurper government" that "does injustice to the people of the region, and has brought instability to the region, with its warmongering policies." When asked to clarify his opinion about the Holocaust, Rouhani replied: "... in general, I can tell you that any crime that happens in history against humanity, including the crime the Nazis created towards the Jews as well as non-Jews is reprehensible and condemnable. Whatever criminality they committed against the Jews, we condemn".[110] In an interview with CNN, it was claimed by the CNN translator that Rouhani had acknowledged the existence of the Holocaust, however CNN's statements were accused by Iranian state media as a fabrication created by a deliberate mistranslation by CNN.[111] Other sources, such as the Wall Street Journal, argued that their independent translators corroborated Iranian media's position, and described CNN's translation as highly inaccurate, having added to their translation many words (such as 'holocaust') that he had not said.[112] In November 2018, Rouhani called Israel a "cancerous tumor established by Western countries to advance their interests in the Middle East."[113]
Public image and perception [ edit ]
According to a poll conducted in March 2016 by Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) among Iranian citizens, Rouhani has 75% approval and 12% disapproval ratings and thus a +54% net popularity, making him the second most popular politician in Iran, after Mohammad Javad Zarif with +69% net popularity. Rouhani surpasses Hassan Khomeini (+52%), Mohammad Khatami (+43%) and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (+38%) who take the following places. The firm states with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.[114]
Rouhani during a visit of Semnan
Job approval [ edit ]
Rouhani began his presidency in November 2013 with approval and disapproval ratings near 58% and 27% respectively,[115] according to Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) which is assessing it on a quarterly basis. It gradually fell down to 48% and he recorded a 33% disapproval rating in May 2015.[115] His job approval boosted after Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, according to the survey conducted by IranPoll for the University of Maryland's Center for International and Security Studies (CISSM), standing on 88% with a large majority (61%) expressing a "very favorable view" of him (up from 51% in July 2014) and a ±3.2 margin of sampling error. The poll also indicated Rouhani has a "tough challenge" in maintaining the support due to the fact that people have high economic expectations from the deal, and it could become his Achilles' heel.[116] iPOS has recorded a 54% approval and 24% disapproval, days after the deal in August 2015.[115] The trend has continued until February 2016, with 67% and 18% approval and disapproval ratings, marking the highest level since he took office.[117]
Political positions [ edit ]
Rouhani is considered to be a moderate and pragmatic politician.[22] In 2000, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy described him as "power-hungry".[120] He was elected as president with heavy reformist support, and he pledged to follow through with reformist demands and to bridge divides between reformists and conservatives.[121]
During the 2017 presidential election, Rouhani's views moved more to the left and he fully aligned with the reformist faction.[122]
Electoral history [ edit ]
Personal life [ edit ]
Rouhani surrounded by his family at his father's funeral, Noor mosque, Tehran on 5 October 2011.
Rouhani married his cousin, Sahebeh Erabi (Rouhani),[123] who is six years younger, when he was around 20 years old[35][124] and has four children (one son and three daughters).[125] Rouhani's wife changed her last name from "Еrabi" (Persian: عربی) to "Rouhani" some time after marriage.[34] Born in 1954, she is not politically active.[123] The Guardian and the Financial Times reported that Rouhani also had a fifth child, a son who has died in unknown circumstances.[126][127] Based on a comment by Alireza Nourizadeh, some sources reported that he committed suicide "in protest of his father's close connection with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei".[128][129] This claim, apparently originating from Nourizadeh's report in the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, included the following text which allegedly came from the son's suicide note: "I hate your government, your lies, your corruption, your religion, your double standard and your hypocrisy...I was forced to lie to my friends each day, telling them that my father isn't part of all of this. Telling them my father loves this nation, whereas I believe this to be untrue. It makes me sick seeing you, my father, kiss the hand of Khamenei."[130][131]
Rouhani has three sisters and a brother.[35] Rouhani's brother, Hossein Fereydoun, is also a diplomat and politician, a former governor, ambassador,[132] and former Vice Minister of Intelligence.[133] He was Rouhani's representative to IRIB in arrangements for presidential debates.[134] Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, in a memoir dated 15 May 1982, mentions Hossein Fereydoun as the then governor of Karaj.[135] Rafsanjani later briefly mentions Fereydoon in a memoir dated 31 March 1984: "In Karaj, something has happened about Mr. Ferydoon Rouhani".[136]
Publications [ edit ]
Having the rank of research professor at Iran's Center for Strategic Research, he has written many books and articles in Persian, English and Arabic, including the following:[3]
in Persian
Islamic Revolution: Roots and Challenges ( انقلاب اسلامی؛ ریشهها و چالشها ), June 1997, ISBN 9649102507
( ), June 1997, ISBN 9649102507 Fundaments of Political Thoughts of Imam Khomeini ( مبانی تفکر سیاسی امام خمینی ), July 1999
( ), July 1999 Memoirs of Dr. Hassan Rouhani; Vol. 1: The Islamic Revolution ( خاطرات دکتر حسن روحانی؛ جلد اول: انقلاب اسلامی ), February 2008, ISBN 9786005914801
( ), February 2008, ISBN 9786005914801 Introduction to Islamic Countries ( آشنایی با کشورهای اسلامی ), November 2008
( ), November 2008 Islamic Political Thought; Vol. 1: Conceptual Framework ( اندیشههای سیاسی اسلام؛ جلد اول: مبانی نظری ), December 2009, ISBN 9789649539409
( ), December 2009, ISBN 9789649539409 Islamic Political Thought; Vol. 2: Foreign Policy ( اندیشههای سیاسی اسلام؛ جلد دوم: سیاست خارجی ), December 2009, ISBN 9789649539416
( ), December 2009, ISBN 9789649539416 Islamic Political Thought; Vol. 3: Cultural and Social Issues ( اندیشههای سیاسی اسلام؛ جلد سوم: مسائل فرهنگی و اجتماعی ), December 2009, ISBN 9789649539423
( ), December 2009, ISBN 9789649539423 National Security and Economic System of Iran ( امنیت ملی و نظام اقتصادی ایران ), August 2010, ISBN 9786005247947
( ), August 2010, ISBN 9786005247947 National Security and Nuclear Diplomacy ( امنیت ملی و دیپلماسی هستهای ), January 2011, ISBN 9786002900074
( ), January 2011, ISBN 9786002900074 Role of Seminaries in Moral and Political Developments of Society ( نقش حوزههای علمیه در تحولات اخلاقی و سیاسی جامعه ), November 2011
( ), November 2011 An Introduction to the History of Shia' Imams ( مقدمهای بر تاریخ امامان شیعه ), March 2012, ISBN 9786005914948
( ), March 2012, ISBN 9786005914948 Age of Legal Capacity and Responsibility ( سن اهلیت و مسئولیت قانونی ), October 2012, ISBN 9786002900135
( ), October 2012, ISBN 9786002900135 Memoirs of Dr. Hassan Rouhani; Vol. 2: Sacred Defense ( خاطرات دکتر حسن روحانی؛ جلد دوم: دفاع مقدس ), January 2013
( ), January 2013 Narration of Foresight and Hope ( روایت تدبیر و امید ), March 2013
( ), March 2013 National Security and Foreign Policy ( امنیت ملی و سیاست خارجی ), May 2013
( ), May 2013 National Security and Environment ( امنیت ملی و محیطزیست ), May 2013
in English
The Islamic Legislative Power, May 1994
, May 1994 The Flexibility of Shariah; Islamic Law, April 1996
in Arabic
Comments on Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence); Lessons of the Late Muhaqqiq Damaad ( تقريرات درس فقه مرحوم محقق داماد ) (Chapter on Prayers [ صلاة ]), November 2012
( ) (Chapter on Prayers [ ]), November 2012 Comments on Usul (Principles of Fiqh); Lessons of the Late Ayatollah Haeri ( تقریرات درس اصول مرحوم حائری ) (Chapter on Academic Principles [ أصول علمیّة ]), March 2013
References [ edit ]
OfficialPolice released surveillance pictures Tuesday of a man wanted in three sexual assault in less than three weeks in Huntington Beach.
The first incident occurred at about 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 28 near Huntington Village Lane and Center Avenue, close to Golden West College and multiple shopping centers, according to a news release from the Huntington Beach Police Department.
The jogger noticed a man following her and began running toward her apartment when she was pushed to the ground from behind by the man.
He attempted to sexually assault her, ripping her shirt. She as able to get away, police said.
Two similar attacks were reported between 10:40 a.m. and 11:44 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 13 in the area of Bella Terra Mall where the surveillance pictures were taken.
One incident occurred in the lingerie department of the Burlington Coat Factory. The other happened near the parking structure at 7777 Edinger Avenue, according to police.
The attacker in all three incidents was described as Hispanic with short, dark hair, 5 feet 10 inches to 5 feet 11 inches tall, and weighing about 140 pounds.
He was wearing a light gray T-shirt, dark jeans and black shoes with orange laces.
Anyone with information was urged to contact the Huntington Beach Police Department at (714) 375-5066.DURHAM, N.C. – Finding and treating a tumor without disturbing normal tissue presents challenges – sometimes the most effective therapies can be invasive and harsh.
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have devised a way they might deliver the right therapy directly to tumors using special molecules, called aptamers, which specifically bind to living tumor tissue.
They screened a large pool of aptamers in a rodent with liver cancer until they found the best molecule to bind to a tumor protein.
"We are already exploring attaching chemicals to the aptamers, so the aptamer molecules could deliver tumor-killing agents where they are needed, which is the next phase of our research," said senior author Bryan Clary, M.D., chief of the Division of Hepatopancreatobiliary and Oncologic Surgery.
The study was published in Nature Chemical Biology online on Nov. 29.
Aptamers are small pieces of RNA that bind to a specific target molecule, usually a protein. They offer ease of use because they can be easily regenerated and modified and therefore have increased stability over some other agents, such as protein-based antibodies. Notably, they have a very low chance of immune-system interference, making them great candidates for tumor diagnosis and therapy.
"Most importantly, it's not necessary to have detailed knowledge of protein changes in the disease before the selection process," said lead author Jing Mi, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Duke Department of Surgery. "This greatly simplifies the process of molecular probe development. The selected aptamers can be used to discover proteins not previously linked with the disease in question, which could speed up the search for effective therapies."
The researchers used a large pool of RNA strands and applied them to a rodent with a liver tumor, the type of metastatic tumor that often results from a colon cancer tumor.
"We hypothesized that the RNA molecules that bind to normal cellular elements would be filtered out, and this happened," said Clary, who treats colon cancer patients. "In this way, we found the RNA molecules that went specifically to the tumor."
The researchers removed the tumor, extracted the specific RNA in the tumor, amplified these pieces of RNA to create a greater amount, and reinjected the molecules to learn which bound most tightly to the tumor. They repeated this process 14 times to find a good candidate.
The team found a tumor-targeting RNA aptamer that specifically bound to RNA helicase p68, a nuclear protein produced in colorectal tumors.
"This aptamer not only binds to p68 protein in cell culture, but also preferentially binds to cancer deposits in a living animal," Mi said. "The nice thing about this aptamer approach is that it could be used to discover the molecular signatures of many other diseases."
Clary said the process could be repeated with different types of tumors. For example, a scientist might take a breast cancer line and grow it in the lung as a metastasis model and then perform in vivo selection to identify RNAs specifically binding to the lung tumor.
"This would work, theoretically," Clary said. "The idea of selecting molecules targeting a tumor growing in a body that results in a useful reagent for biologic exploration and therapy delivery in tumors is exciting."
In fact, based on earlier research done with proteins called peptides, the researchers expected that the aptamer process would find proteins in the blood vessels feeding the liver tumor, but instead they found the p68 target inside of tumor cells. "We think this is a valuable target because delivering to the sites inside of cells may make it easier to treat an entire tumor with drugs that are 'escorted' by the aptamer," Clary said.
He said that repeating the selection and amplification process with the same liver tumor could lead to development of other aptamers that bind well to proteins in tumor tissue besides p68. The team focused its initial efforts on developing an escort for p68 because this protein was known to be overexpressed in colon cancer.
Source: Duke University Medical CenterMajor players in Syria's war have traded accusations over violations of the first major truce in the five-year conflict, but the conditional ceasefire remains largely intact.
The main opposition grouping, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), on Sunday described the ceasefire as "positive" but lodged a formal complaint with the UN and foreign governments about breaches on the first day.
Al Jazeera's Omar al-Saleh, reporting from the Turkish border town of Gaziantep, said the opposition had described the violence as a "violation of the terms of the ceasefire".
"Now the Russians are saying they targeted members of al-Nusra Front, which is linked to al-Qaeda and of course are excluded from the terms of this deal," he said.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, which has seized territory in both Syria and Iraq, is also excluded from the deal.
The war in Syria has claimed 270,000 lives and displaced more than half the population.
Aid organisations hope to use the lull in fighting to deliver desperately needed supplies.
A successful truce would also create a more favourable backdrop for peace talks that collapsed in acrimony in early February as a Russia-backed government offensive in northern Syria caused tens of thousands to flee.
Referring to the humanitarian situation, our correspondent said: "We are told they [aid agencies] hope by tomorrow [Monday] to have another convoy to similar areas that received aid in previous days, but these are not in a dire situation like areas such as [the Damascus suburb of] Daraya, which has had no aid whatsoever."
"This is a logistical nightmare and you need a lot of paperwork to get into those areas."
EXPLAINER: What you need to know about the ceasefire in Syria
Salem al-Meslet, a spokesman for the HNC, said: "We have violations here and there, but in general it is a lot better than before and people are comfortable.
At the same time, an HNC letter to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, accused Bashar al-Assad's government and its allies of committing "24 violations with artillery shelling and five ground operations... in 26 areas held by the moderate opposition".
The letter, signed by HNC head Riad Hijab, also criticised Russia for conducting "26 air strikes on areas falling within the ceasefire".
Violations 'here and there'
Hijab said the ceasefire breaches had killed 29 people and wounded dozens.
The HNC says it has not receive any maps outlining which areas are included in the ceasefire or documents explaining the monitoring mechanism.
Syria's Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, said on Sunday that those maps were still being "kept secret".
Separately, Saudi Arabia, a staunch opponent of Assad's government, accused Russia of flouting the ceasefire and targeting "moderate opposition" groups.
OPINION: Syria ceasefire is impaired by opposition's pathologies
"Things will become clearer in the coming days on whether the regime and Russia are serious or not about the ceasefire," Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi foreign minister, said.
For its part, Russia, |
Tories appear poised to do some serious electoral damage to a NDP government that has been in power in Manitoba for 16 years and has spent much of the last few years caught up in internal party battles.
In 2013, there was a huge public backlash against NDP Premier Greg Selinger for a surprise increase to the provincial sales tax, something he promised in the 2011 election not to touch.
Selinger saw such a dip in approval polls, five of his most senior cabinet ministers read the writing on the wall and rebelled against the unpopular premier. That sparked a nasty leadership election that Selinger only narrowly won in 2015.
Paul Thomas, a University of Manitoba professor emeritus of political science, said part of what makes the current Manitoba election so fascinating is that revolt and the fallout it sparked.
"The sort of rule of thumb in politics is sitting premiers are almost invincible," said Thomas.
The PCs took up the PST increase as a core cause. The provincial conservatives took the NDP to court over the tax hike — but failed to reverse the increase. Pallister's party has since made the surprise tax hike the election issue of 2016.
Vague promises, sharp attacks
Throughout the campaign, Pallister acted like a front-runner set on cruise control. He's been vague on specific promises of "a better Manitoba" and focused primarily on attacking the NDP's record: the infighting, the broken promise not to raise the PST, the fact that the province has the longest emergency room wait times in the country, the overwhelming number of indigenous kids in provincial care, and so on.
If Pallister wins, there could be big change in Manitoba, but possibly on the national stage as well.
Adding another conservative premier to the mix in Canada's provinces would mean Saskatchewan's outspoken premier could have another voice in his corner on issues like a national carbon tax.
Saskatchewan's premier recently stuck his neck out and said he wouldn't sign an agreement on carbon pricing, something that six other provinces either have adopted or committed to adopting, or, as is the case with Manitoba's NDP government, have announced their intention to adopt.
Pallister's Manitoba PC party has refused to provide a clear position on a carbon pricing, meaning Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government could see further push-back as they try to move forward with a climate change framework.
Thomas said Pallister can't afford to be as ideologically right-leaning as Saskatchewan's Brad Wall.
"You don't make it that far and have enduring success [in Manitoba] by giving in to your ideological leanings so fully that you sort of antagonize a lot of Manitobans," the political scientist said.
A national priority Pallister has been incredibly clear on, even before the 2016 election campaign, has been having Manitoba join the New West Partnership.
New Democrat brand in trouble nationally
Selinger has refused to join the trade deal with every other western province, sparking heated debate both inside and outside of Manitoba.
NDP Leader Greg Selinger has dealt with a series of embarrassing moments over the past two years, including the rebellion of top cabinet ministers, following an increase to the provincial sales tax. (Chris Glover/CBC)
If Manitoba's possible blue wave flushes the NDP from power, it would be the latest in a string of blemishes for the NDP's brand across the country.
First, New Democrats ate a piece of humble pie in the 2015 federal election as they watched the Liberals sweep the nation. The Saskatchewan NDP was unable to gain traction with voters in its recent provincial election, resulting in Cam Broten stepping down as leader.
And then federal NDP voted to toss Tom Mulcair and rebuild.
Greg Selinger knows a thing or two about leadership votes. He's been through two.
The second came after that rebellion stunned political circles in Manitoba in the fall of 2014. Selinger clung to power with a narrow 33-vote margin on a second ballot. If the Manitoba NDP lose Tuesday, depending on how crushing, it could be the third leader the party loses in about two weeks.
"I'm not saying write off the NDP," said Thomas. "What I'm saying is this is tough times for the NDP as a brand across the country."
Liberal implosion in Manitoba
Manitoba Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari has failed to gain traction with voters after a series of stumbles and missteps. (CBC) While Selinger faces major hurdles heading into the election, Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari has also struggled.
At dissolution, the Liberals only held one seat in the Manitoba legislature. After the massive sweep for the federal Liberals in fall 2015 across the country, and in all but one Winnipeg riding, the provincial Liberals seemed poised to elevate themselves from the political wilderness to become a force to be reckoned with.
"They got an immediate surge from Trudeau's surprise October victory, and then they plateaued and then they've sunk," Thomas said. "How could they not translate the good fortune of the national party into greater success here at the provincial level?"
It was a bumpy road for the Manitoba Liberals as the leader struggled and the full slate of 57 candidates was reduced to 51.
A candidate resigned for misogynistic online comments, the party lost several other candidates on deadline day due to shoddy paperwork, the Leader's chief of staff quit and the list goes on and on.
The 2016 Manitoba election could spell the end for a 16-year dynasty NDP government. If it does, it'll lead to a major shakeup in provincial politics. Two parties, the NDP and Liberals, could soon be back to the drawing board, and leaving the PC party free to turn the ship in whichever way it wants.As you read this, your neurons are firing – that brain activity can now be decoded to reveal the silent words in your head
(Image: Raghu Rai/Magnum Photos)
TALKING to yourself used to be a strictly private pastime. That’s no longer the case – researchers have eavesdropped on our internal monologue for the first time. The achievement is a step towards helping people who cannot physically speak communicate with the outside world.
“If you’re reading text in a newspaper or a book, you hear a voice in your own head,” says Brian Pasley at the University of California, Berkeley. “We’re trying to decode the brain activity related to that voice to create a medical prosthesis that can allow someone who is paralysed or locked in to speak.”
When you hear someone speak, sound waves activate sensory neurons in your inner ear. These neurons pass information to areas of the brain where different aspects of the sound are extracted and interpreted as words.
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In a previous study, Pasley and his colleagues recorded brain activity in people who already had electrodes implanted in their brain to treat epilepsy, while they listened to speech. The team found that certain neurons in the brain’s temporal lobe were only active in response to certain aspects of sound, such as a specific frequency. One set of neurons might only react to sound waves that had a frequency of 1000 hertz, for example, while another set only cares about those at 2000 hertz. Armed with this knowledge, the team built an algorithm that could decode the words heard based on neural activity alone (PLoS Biology, doi.org/fzv269).
The team hypothesised that hearing speech and thinking to oneself might spark some of the same neural signatures in the brain. They supposed that an algorithm trained to identify speech heard out loud might also be able to identify words that are thought.
Mind-reading
To test the idea, they recorded brain activity in another seven people undergoing epilepsy surgery, while they looked at a screen that displayed text from either the Gettysburg Address, John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address or the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty.
Each participant was asked to read the text aloud, read it silently in their head and then do nothing. While they read the text out loud, the team worked out which neurons were reacting to what aspects of speech and generated a personalised decoder to interpret this information. The decoder was used to create a spectrogram – a visual representation of the different frequencies of sound waves heard over time. As each frequency correlates to specific sounds in each word spoken, the spectrogram can be used to recreate what had been said. They then applied the decoder to the brain activity that occurred while the participants read the passages silently to themselves (see diagram).
Despite the neural activity from imagined or actual speech differing slightly, the decoder was able to reconstruct which words several of the volunteers were thinking, using neural activity alone (Frontiers in Neuroengineering, doi.org/whb).
The algorithm isn’t perfect, says Stephanie Martin, who worked on the study with Pasley. “We got significant results but it’s not good enough yet to build a device.”
In practice, if the decoder is to be used by people who are unable to speak it would have to be trained on what they hear rather than their own speech. “We don’t think it would be an issue to train the decoder on heard speech because they share overlapping brain areas,” says Martin.
The team is now fine-tuning their algorithms, by looking at the neural activity associated with speaking rate and different pronunciations of the same word, for example. “The bar is very high,” says Pasley. “Its preliminary data, and we’re still working on making it better.”
The team have also turned their hand to predicting what songs a person is listening to by playing lots of Pink Floyd to volunteers, and then working out which neurons respond to what aspects of the music. “Sound is sound,” says Pasley. “It all helps us understand different aspects of how the brain processes it.”
“Ultimately, if we understand covert speech well enough, we’ll be able to create a medical prosthesis that could help someone who is paralysed, or locked in and can’t speak,” he says.
Decoding the brain activity behind the voice in your head could help someone who is locked in speak
Several other researchers are also investigating ways to read the human mind. Some can tell what pictures a person is looking at, others have worked out what neural activity represents certain concepts in the brain, and one team has even produced crude reproductions of movie clips that someone is watching just by analysing their brain activity. So is it possible to put it all together to create one multisensory mind-reading device?
In theory, yes, says Martin, but it would be extraordinarily complicated. She says you would need a huge amount of data for each thing you are trying to predict. “It would be really interesting to look into. It would allow us to predict what people are doing or thinking,” she says. “But we need individual decoders that work really well before combining different senses.”
This article appeared in print under the headline “Hearing our inner voice”BELLEVUE, Wash., May 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Second Amendment Foundation and Calguns Foundation have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in California, seeking to have the state's definition of so-called "assault weapons" declared unconstitutionally vague.
Joining SAF and Calguns in the lawsuit is Brendan John Richards, an Iraq combat veteran who served as a U.S. Marine, and whose arrest and six-day incarceration in the Sonoma County jail – and subsequent dismissal of all charges – was the catalyst for this legal action. Named as defendants are California Attorney General Kamala Harris, the California Department of Justice, the City of Rohnert Park and police officer Dean Becker.
Richards was jailed in May 2010 after Officer Becker, investigating a disturbance at a motel where Richards was staying, learned that Richards had two pistols and a rifle, all unloaded, in the trunk of his car. Becker arrested Richards for unlawful possession of an assault weapon. However, in September of last year, the charges were dismissed by the Sonoma County District Attorney's office, based on a report from the state Department of Justice that showed none of the guns met the state's definition of an assault weapon.
"California's law allows possession of a variety of firearms that do not meet the state's assault weapons definition, which we believe is unconstitutionally vague," noted SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. "Mr. Richards was jailed for almost a week, when he had broken no law because a police officer had a conflicting view and the District Attorney's office believed him."
"California attempts to make a distinction among firearms where no natural one exists," noted Calguns Executive Director Gene Hoffman. "The generic definition of so-called 'assault weapons' was simply an attempt to prohibit possession of guns that look scary."
Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Don Kilmer of San Jose and Jason A. Davis of Mission Viejo. Kilmer said the case is indicative of the way things have become in California.
"Now that the right to keep arms has correctly been recognized as fundamental and applicable to California," Kilmer said, "gun owners can't be faced with the practice of 'arrest them first and let the courts sort it out' for exercising constitutional rights. That is just how things are done in our country."
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
The Calguns Foundation (www.calgunsfoundation.org) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which serves its members by providing Second Amendment-related education, strategic litigation and the defense of innocent California gun owners from improper or malicious prosecution. The Calguns Foundation works to educate government and protect the rights of individuals to acquire, own and lawfully use firearms in California.
SOURCE Second Amendment FoundationThis is a love letter to a machine. It’s not quite the love Joaquin Phoenix felt in “Her,” last year’s Spike Jonze film about a lonely man’s romantic relationship with his intelligent operating system (played by the voice of Scarlett Johansson). But it’s close. In a world where the commonly held wisdom is that technology isolates us, it’s worth considering another side of the story.
Image Credit Louie Chin
It all began simply enough. I’d just read one of those ubiquitous Internet lists called “21 Things You Didn’t Know Your iPhone Could Do.” One of them was this: I could ask Siri, “What planes are above me right now?” and Siri would bark back, “Checking my sources.” Almost instantly there was a list of actual flights — numbers, altitudes, angles — above my head.
I happened to be doing this when Gus was nearby. “Why would anyone need to know what planes are flying above your head?” I muttered. Gus replied without looking up: “So you know who you’re waving at, Mommy.”
Gus had never noticed Siri before, but when he discovered there was someone who would not just find information on his various obsessions (trains, planes, buses, escalators and, of course, anything related to weather) but actually semi-discuss these subjects tirelessly, he was hooked. And I was grateful. Now, when my head was about to explode if I had to have another conversation about the chance of tornadoes in Kansas City, Mo., I could reply brightly: “Hey! Why don’t you ask Siri?”
It’s not that Gus doesn’t understand Siri’s not human. He does — intellectually. But like many autistic people I know, Gus feels that inanimate objects, while maybe not possessing souls, are worthy of our consideration. I realized this when he was 8, and I got him an iPod for his birthday. He listened to it only at home, with one exception. It always came with us on our visits to the Apple Store. Finally, I asked why. “So it can visit its friends,” he said.
So how much more worthy of his care and affection is Siri, with her soothing voice, puckish humor and capacity for talking about whatever Gus’s current obsession is for hour after hour after bleeding hour? Online critics have claimed that Siri’s voice recognition is not as accurate as the assistant in, say, the Android, but for some of us, this is a feature, not a bug. Gus speaks as if he has marbles in his mouth, but if he wants to get the right response from Siri, he must enunciate clearly. (So do I. I had to ask Siri to stop referring to the user as Judith, and instead use the name Gus. “You want me to call you Goddess?” Siri replied. Imagine how tempted I was to answer, “Why, yes.”)On September 10th in Business Insider, Former Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner mounted what he’d like readers to believe was a “strange bedfellows” defense of former Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Cantor, who recently was ousted by Republican primary voters in his suburban Virginia district, attracted the ire of Senator Elizabeth Warren for his decision to join investment bank Moelis & Company. Weiner took issue with Senator Warren’s critique of Cantor and the revolving door, insisting Warren portrayed Cantor’s move as “more troublesome that it really is.”
But in Weiner’s attempt to debunk Warren, he actually makes the Senator’s point for her.
First, despite Weiner’s reputation as a fiery progressive during his time in the House, his defense of Cantor’s revolving-door path hardly comes as a surprise. Weiner, after all, has enjoyed a lucrative post-Congress career as a corporate consultant in industries ranging from Latin American renewable energy to electronic medical records. He’s also consulted for the law firm Covington & Burling, most prominently known for defending Wall Street and employing former Department of Justice prosecutors. In fact, by Weiner’s own admission to the New York Times, he has learned to become “a good capitalist.”
But aside from perhaps taking Senator Warren’s criticism too personally (he made it a point to say that Warren was “wrong to question Cantor’s expertise”), Weiner is wrong on the nature of Congressional lobbying and what utility Cantor might provide to his future employer.
In his Business Insider piece, Weiner notes (emphasis mine):
Former Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner
“Well, who wants to buy access to Members of Congress anyway? If Congress were a hotbed of lawmaking and problem solving, maybe you can argue that hiring one of their former leaders was a play at getting in that legislative pipeline. But today? Thanks to Eric Cantor, the House of Representatives is the absolute last place to turn if you wanted to accomplish something.”
Weiner is wrong to argue that the goal of Big Business is “accomplish anything” legislatively. Often, the goal is instead to actually obstruct legislation.
The financial industry is the perfect example of this: Even after the Dodd-Frank reform law was passed in 2010, there are continued problems on Wall Street that could be well-served by more public policy intervention.
From scandals ranging from Libor manipulation to foreclosure robo-signing, and with hot button issues raging in the press like high frequency trading, significant issues in the financial industry remain unaddressed by Congress.
Rest assured, part of the reason new laws haven’t been passed to deal with these concerns is because bank lobbyists have urged Congress to remain deadlocked and obstructionist.Posted by Duke Bobber on September 14, 2014 – 1:55 pm
The following players have been declared as inactive for Sunday afternoon’s game between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Jets at Lambeau Field.
Green Bay Packers
16 QB Scott Tolzien
39 CB Demetri Goodson
54 LB Carl Bradford
59 LB Brad Jones
75 T Bryan Bulaga
83 WR Jeff Janis
91 LB Jayrone Elliott
At LB, 57 Jamari Lattimore will start in place of Jones. At RT, 78 Derek Sherrod will start in place of Bulaga.
New York Jets
18 WR Walter Powell
32 S Josh Bush
51 LB Ikemefuna Enemkpali
55 LB A.J. Edds
70 OL Dakota Dozier
71 T Ben Ijalana
99 NT T.J. Barnes
27 CB Dee Milliner is active for the Jets but not starting. 30 CB Darrin Walls will start in Milliner’s place.
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Tags: #NYJvsGB Posted in Packers.com BlogMark Paffrath, a Navy veteran who worked as a housekeeper for the Drury hotel chain, claims he was fired from his job on Saturday after posting photos and video on Facebook of dozens of vehicles from the Department of Homeland Security massed in a Missouri hotel garage. Paffrath told CNN that Drury’s head of security “called me a terrorist, saying that I dishonorably served my country for posting those pictures and videos on Facebook.”
The vehicles and a large number of people from Homeland Security’s Federal Protection Services arrived last week, apparently in preparation for the announcement of a grand jury decision on whether to charge police officer Darren Wilson in the death of teenager Michael Brown. They were parked at the hotel where Paffrath worked, a short drive from Ferguson in suburban St. Louis. Paffrath posted the video and images of rows of federal vehicles on Thursday, including one with the caption “Why are all these vehicles here, I wonder if it has anything to do with Ferguson? #Ferguson, #No justice, no peace."
Paffrath’s former employer would not comment on how the hotel learned of the posted images, some of which are still publicly viewable on Paffrath’s Facebook page. A Drury hotel spokesperson told CNN, “We do not publicly discuss confidential personnel matters. The safety and privacy of our guests and our team members has always been and will remain our top priority." The hotel management may have seen the photos as a violation of the privacy of guests.Watch above: In a winter city like Edmonton it’s easy to seek refuge indoors. But on Sunday, hundreds of Edmontonians put on their winter gear for a good old fashioned snowball fight.
EDMONTON — Hundreds of people descended on Edmonton’s Kinsmen Park Sunday afternoon for a good old fashioned snowball fight.
Under a clear, sunny, blue sky, the much-anticipated #yegsnowfight started at noon. People young and old came out for the massive battle. The Make Something Edmonton initiative is all about embracing the season and all the joys that come along with it.
“The fact that people are here just speaks volumes about the city,” said Robin Mazumder, one of the organizers. “We couldn’t be more excited. When we saw the forecast – it’s just a blue sky, the sun’s out, it’s mild, we can spend some time outside without it getting too cold.
“It couldn’t be more perfect. I’m just so impressed.”
Watch below: GoPro video footage of #yegsnowfight
The massive flash mob-style snow battle was the brain child of Mazumder and Jeff Chase. The men were strangers before coming up with the idea through a conversation on Twitter.
Since November, people were asked to sign up to receive a text message alert about the battle. Then, when the conditions were perfect the text message blast with the date, time and location would go out. That text message blast went out to 2,800 people Saturday afternoon.
“When Jeff and I originally met just for a beer to talk about having a snowball fight we thought 50 people would show up,” Mazumder said.
“#yegsnowfight was really just about celebrating winter in the city,” added Chase. “We love the snow and we love being together with Edmontonians. This is just really a way to embrace winter and build some community with people we might not know.”
And the idea was a huge success. With Edmonton’s skyline in the distance, snowballs could be seen flying through the air at Kinsmen Park Sunday afternoon.
“People just want to have a good time, I guess. And it’s a great way to enjoy winter,” said Colton Balicki, a young man who took part in the fight.
“Why not? It’s a beautiful day, family fun. I have four kids and they’re out there having a blast. So it’s awesome,” added Jaime Gonek, an Edmonton mother.
Participants were also quick to take to Twitter to share their pictures.
IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR A #yegsnowfight pic.twitter.com/TVPWPqlX1R — the Long John Index (@longjohnindex) December 7, 2014
Some industrious #yegsnowfight prep going on here in Kinsmen Park. Starts in 5 minutes! pic.twitter.com/kYLnxfCOdf — Make Something YEG (@makeitYEG) December 7, 2014
An amazing turnout for the 1st #yegsnowfight! Lots of families… pic.twitter.com/EpEf0Vpl61 — ManEatingLamb (@88ways) December 7, 2014
What a way to spend an afternoon! #yegsnowfight was a blast! When’s the next one?! pic.twitter.com/ddLx6RgGWs — Joshua Le (@joshyle) December 7, 2014
Thanks for the great snowball fight! #yegsnowfight pic.twitter.com/i8MAmTi6pk — 2015 WTS Edmonton (@WTS_Edmonton) December 7, 2014
Great to see all the @yegfoodbank donations #yegsnowfight participants are bringing! Having fun and helping out. pic.twitter.com/f2OkAw7RiF — Make Something YEG (@makeitYEG) December 7, 2014
Winter can be a lot of fun when you get to be in a crazy snowball fight #iheartyeg #yegsnowfight #yegwinter pic.twitter.com/eGcOPsuBSJ — Aasttha Khajuria (@AastthaKhajuria) December 7, 2014
The organizers also collected donations for the Edmonton Food Bank.
Follow @CaleyRamsaySince the first free software implementation of the Active Directory Domain Controller (AD-DC) in Samba 4 became available, the large variety of potential scenarios for updating Samba 3 has made it difficult for Linux distributors to add the full set of features to their installation packages. Usually, they will choose one part or the other – the Samba 4 source code includes two daemons: samba for operating an AD-DC, and the Samba-3-compatible smbd for file server or domain member operation. However, the distribution packages usually only include one daemon.
This gap has been closed by SerNet, a company that has made a name for itself by providing ready-made Samba binaries since 2003. The SerNet server offers Samba 4 packages for various distributions. These are usually more current than the distributors' packages. SerNet's dedicated Samba 4 packages now include both daemons complete with the relevant tools. A configuration file allows users to choose which daemon to use. It is possible to install them alongside existing official Samba packages, but there is no automatic way of updating, for example, a Samba 3 domain to Active Directory.
There are two reasons why the packages are of interest. Firstly, they allow developers to test the Active Directory aspect with an updated version of Samba 4 without having to compile the code and install it while bypassing a distribution's package repository. Secondly, and far more importantly, they provide a more recent SMB server than the one that is available in Samba 3.6 at present – current developments, for example in connection with SMB 2.2, can be found in this code base first. The Samba developers encourage users to adopt Samba 4 even for plain file servers.
However, SerNet has added in one hurdle: those who wish to use the free-of-charge Samba 4 packages must register with their full address and will then be sent credentials for accessing the distribution-specific repositories. SerNet has promised to only use the address data to provide registered users with specific product information.
(fab)So much for yesterday’s relative calm in the Gaza Strip.
Just one day after reports Israel was considering the resumption of attacks as well as assassinations, Israel assassinated the top military commander in the Gaza Strip, and launched several other attacks killing multiple Palestinians and sparking rounds of retaliation fire that have the strip on the brink of war.
The United States is advising citizens inside southern Israel to “take appropriate measures” as the fighting escalates, and has ordered embassy personnel to take shelter and curb all non-essential travel to the southern part of the nation.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that today is the “start of the incident and not the end” while the Israeli Embassy in the US praised the killings as a “restrained response,” while insisting that Israel has not yet targeted schools and hospitals, though setting the stage for such attacks by claiming they are housing weapons.
Egypt, which had been trying to negotiate a ceasefire in the region, has withdrawn its ambassador to Israel in response to the latest round of attacks, and is calling for an emergency meeting of the Arab League on ways to stop the Israeli attacks.
Last 5 posts by Jason DitzCity officials said Wednesday that the upcoming city vehicle sticker would not go to print after a controversy brewed that the winning design may contain symbolism associated with a notorious street gang.
Windshields will instead by adorned with a design created by Caitlin Henehan, a senior at Resurrection High School, who was the the first runner-up of the design contest.
"We will never know the intent, but we have to look at the perception," said former police Supt. Jody Weis, who now heads the Chicago Crime Commission. He said the sticker was "very suggestive of a particular gang."
Weis spent the day discussing the matter with Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza, whose office sponsored the contest and issues the stickers.
Mother, Teacher Devastated Over Sticker Fiasco
City Clerk Susana Mendoza and former police Supt. Jody Weis, who now heads the Chicago Crime Commission, agreed to pull Herbie Pulgar's vehicle sticker design due to its potential relation to the Maniac Latin Disciples Gang, which also uses hearts and hands in its symbolism. However, Pulgar's mother, Jessica Loor, argues that the allegations are completely false. Janice Gould, Pulgar's art teacher at Lawrence Hall Youth Services, says Pulgar is devastated by the controversy. (Published Monday, Feb. 20, 2012)
She called the situation "disheartening," and said she plans to sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk with the sticker's designer, 15-year-old Lawrence Hall Youth Services student Herbert Pulgar.
"Many of them do come from troubled pasts, and that's what's so disheartening about this whole situation is that this individual could very likely be a representation of a lot of kids who are troubled and are trying to get their act together," said Mendoza.
Mendoza said a decision hadn't yet been made as to whether to revoke the $1,000 bond Pulgar has yet to receive. Nor has a decision been made as to whether Henehan will receive a similar award.
Herbert Pulgar Talks About His Design
Lawrence Hall Youth Services freshman Herbert Pulgar won contest to design Chicago's 2012-2013 city vehicle stickers. (Published Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012)
"We are reviewing what to do," said Chicago City Clerk spokeswoman Kristine Williams.
More than 18,000 people voted for Pulgar's winning design, which features the Chicago skyline, the city flag and outstretched hands.
When the sticker was chosen, Pulgar told NBC Chicago on "The Talk" that he created the design to thank everyone who helped him during a tragic incident more than 10 years ago. When he was 4 years old, he said his clothes caught on fire when he was playing with a candle.
"The paramedics came and they saved my life," Pulgar said, "and I'm thankful for that, and this is how I can repay them."
Some police sources and police blogs said the design resembles the signs often flashed by Maniac Latin Disciples, along with other iconography.
Pulgar's art teacher, Janice Gould, disagrees. Gould showed NBC Chicago the picture the boy used as his guide for the hands. He drew a near-exact replica of a "reaching for the stars" photo included in the teacher's "hands" booklet she gives to kids.
Gould said she wanted to teach Pulgar to believe in himself. "This has undone that," she said.
At a press conference hours before Mendoza's decision was announced, Pulgar's mother was adamant her son had never been affiliated with a gang.
"I am very upset. I feel very upset that something so positive could be so negative," Jessica Loor told reporters, adding that she and her son had been up all night worrying about the controversy.
"'I was trying to do something positive,'" she said her son told her. "'But everybody’s just kicking me down.'"
The upcoming design is the first sticker to bear Mayor Rahm Emanuel's name. Mendoza said the competition for the unnual design will continue, but said no determination has been made on how the sticker selection will be vetted in the future.
The 2012-2013 sticker goes to the printer later this week or early next week, NBC Chicago was told, and the change in design isn't expected to delay the process.
Download our iPhone App. News breaks at inconvenient times. Take NBCChicago.com with you on your iPhone app and be in the know where ever you go. Visit the app store and download it today!The number of women with six-figure incomes is rising at a much faster pace than it is for men.
Nationwide, about one in 18 women working full time earned $100,000 or more in 2009, a jump of 14 percent over two years, according to new census figures. In contrast, one in seven men made that much, up just 4 percent.
The legions of higher-income women have grown even faster in the Washington region, further burnishing its reputation as a land of opportunity for ambitious professional women.
In the metropolitan region, one in six women earned more than $100,000 last year, the second highest ratio in the nation behind No. 1 San Jose. But Washington women had the highest median pay among all full-time working women, almost $54,000 compared with the national median of nearly $37,000.
The swelling ranks of well-paid women workers are largely attributable to almost three decades of growth in the number of women with the academic credentials to land good jobs. Women now outnumber men at almost every level of higher education, with three women attending college and graduate school for every two men. They get more master's degrees and more PhDs. Most law school students are women, as are almost half of all medical students.
"We're finally bearing the fruit from women getting so much higher education in the United States," said Robert Drago, director of research at the Institute for Women's Policy Research. "It's the result of women entering into professional managerial careers."
But women's advocates and groups representing professional women cautioned that a wage gap between the sexes remains stubbornly persistent and women are sparsely represented at the upper echelons of business. Just 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women.
"I'm happy to know there's another dollar in the pocket of a woman," said Ilene Lang, president of Catalyst, a group that works to improve business opportunities for women. "It's expected, as women get more education, that they'll earn more. But women have been getting these degrees for a long time. And they're still hitting a glass ceiling."
The gains that women continue to make in the workplace have come amid the worst recession in decades - a downturn that has been particularly harsh for men. Median pay and hours worked fell twice as much for men as for women. The share of workers earning $50,000 and up was flat for men but rose by 5 percent for women.
Those figures represent an economy in which manufacturing and construction, with more male workers than women, is declining while jobs requiring the higher education at which women excel have increased.
"Before this recession, unemployment rates for men and women used to go together," said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, an economist who heads the Center for Employment Policy at the Hudson Institute. "Over the past two years, they've diverged."
The full-time workforce remains predominantly male, with 56 million men and 42 million women. Only a relatively small segment of either sex has passed the $100,000 benchmark - about 2.4 million working women and 7.9 million men earn that much.Tap on the Ascend Tab
Tap on any of the required Evos.
The screen will now look like this:
Tap the Combine Evos button to get this!
Now you can see all of your basic Evos and the quantity of each. (yay!)
Tap on the one you want to make.
10 Larva + 10,000 Gold to make 1 Evo
10 Evos +25,000 Gold to make 1 Monarch
To make a Celestial Evo just tap on the one you want to make.
This will then show you what you need to make the Evo.
Common Celestial Evos require:
Various quantities of Monarchs 100,000 Gold 20 Gems
Rare Celestials Evos require:
Various quantities of Monarchs Various quantities of other Celestial Evos 500,000 Gold 70 Gems
The goals here were to have a functional inventory space for Evos and to allow you another path to get those elusive Celestial Evos.
Hope you enjoy this new little feature when it arrives!
require: require: The goals here were to have a functional inventory space for Evos and to allow you another path to get those elusive Celestial Evos. Hope you enjoy this new little feature when it arrives!
Hey folks.Lead Designer Greg Chapman here!By now you’ve probably read our post about guilds coming with our next big update, but let’s talk about yet another new much requested feature coming in the next update – Evo Combining.As the name implies, this will allow you to combine Larva into Evos and Evos in Monarchs. Plus, it will also allow you to combine Monarchs or Monarchs + Celestial Evos into other Celestial Evos.Additionally, we’ve heard your requests and we’re happy to let you know that this feature will also work as an inventory for all your Evos.So how will this feature work?Open any Hero information screen.You can combine:Then you can tap on the Celestial Tab and see this (Note: the Evo formerly known as "Celestial" is now known as "Astral")Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis may be a hardcore liberal who professes to represent the ordinary teacher, but that doesn't mean she wants to live like one. In addition to an annual salary and benefits totaling $235,000 annually, she owns three homes, including a vacation house in Hawaii.
For comparison's sake, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel earns a $212,000 annual salary. Lewis has clashed repeatedly and bitterly with the mayor over his efforts to rein |
come and watch their favorite players in action all weekend long. Aside from the Feature Match area—which showcases four outstanding matches every round and is accompanied by all the trailing wires, headsets, and hushed voices you'd expect from a live TV studio—virtually every match in the hall is laid out so that it's almost like sitting at the table with the players. It really is an awesome way to watch Magic, and whether you want to see the cool new take on Modern round by round or the crazy mono-black Draft deck at Table 94, you'll get a great viewing experience on Friday and Saturday.
On Sunday, the Top 8 are taken to the deepest, darkest, Feature Matchiest corner of the building, meaning getting up close and personal is tougher—but that doesn't mean you can't be part of the action. We'll have all the action live via big screen and speakers in the hall itself, and the cocktail of anticipation, excitement, strategic savvy, and in-jokes amongst the crowd (which frequently features entire rows of Hall of Famers whispering nervously to each other) is something to behold. In Atlanta, the commentary booth will also be out in the midst of the crowd, and you can expect Brian David-Marshall to be out and about, chatting with the great and the good.
"But Rich," you say. "I live in Botswana, or England, or several other places that are not within easy reach of this Cobb Galleria Centre of which you speak. What about me? How can I enjoy the Pro Tour?" Unsurprisingly, Wizards of the Coast has thought about you too. Across three days, you'll see close to 30 hours of live video coverage.
At the News Desk, I'll be joined by fellow anchor Brian David-Marshall to take you through the best of the new Draft archetypes, all the new twists and turns of Modern, and every result that matters, in the company of an ever-rotating cast of great players and analysts. If you want to up your game and be on the same page as the pros, we've got you.
Meanwhile, at the beating heart of the Pro Tour, our Feature Match coverage team will bring you all the action from the very best matches each round has to offer. Marshall Sutcliffe, Randy Buehler, Ian Duke, Tim Willoughby, and Luis Scott-Vargas (Sunday commitments permitting) will walk you through every turn in glorious 1080p HD (meaning your two-inch smart watch screen will never have looked crisper), while Neil Rigby, Maria Bartholdi, and Rashad Miller will help keep the Feature Match wheels turning behind the scenes. Some of you will no doubt have thoughtlessly volunteered to go to "work" on Friday, before your weekend of relentless coverage watching kicks in. That's okay, because there'll be a ton of written content right here on DailyMTG. Our text team of Corbin Hosler, Marc Calderaro, Jake Van Lunen, Blake Rasmussen, and Mike Rosenberg will bring you reports from standout Feature Matches, great articles on the new Draft format, our exclusive Draft viewers, plus all the Modern decklists and analyses you can shake a stick at (which has been proven scientifically to be "a lot").
Flaying Tendrils | Art by Slawomir Maniak
Of course I'm preaching to the choir here, as we know that many of you have had this weekend blocked off in your nice 2016 diary with the nice kittens on it ever since grandma gave you it for Christmas, just like she does every year. However, a few of you A) may not have a kitten diary for 2016, or B) may not know every last detail about how the Pro Tour works. Here's the summary:
Friday
Three rounds of Draft. Packs 1 and 2 are Oath of the Gatewatch and pack 3 is Battle for Zendikar. Everyone plays exclusively within their own table, so by the end of the morning you generally have one person at 3-0, three at 2-1, three at 1-2, and one still trying to get off the mark at 0-3. Every match win gets you 3 points, with 1 for a (doesn't happen very often) draw and none for a loss.
Next it's the first appearance of Modern. This is 60-card decks, plus a sideboard, and you play five rounds, each time matched up against a player with a record similar to yours. So, in Round 6, if you're 5-1 you'll play someone else who also only has one loss. If you're struggling at 2-3, you can expect to hear tales of woe from your also 2-3 opponent. At the end of the day, you can have a maximum of 24 points (eight wins and no losses). Only two or three of our 400 or so competitors will get there. That's okay, as there's more Magic to come—at least if you get to 12 points (four wins) or better. That's what lets you come back to play again on Saturday.
Saturday
Saturday features the same menu as Friday, but it's not a menu like your old-school dinners, filled with high cholesterol and tasteless disappointment. No, this is a mouth-watering menu of three rounds of Draft and five rounds of Modern, this time served up with a side dish of elimination.
As each round goes by, the stakes (but not the steaks, because that would be weird) get higher. With three losses after fifteen rounds (12-3), it may be possible for final-round opponents to agree a draw, gaining them 1 extra point that takes them both into the Top 8. For anyone who finishes on four losses (12-4), that's likely to be right on the edge of Top 8 contention. Historically, tiebreaks have played a part in whether 12-4 is good enough. The moral: don't lose four times, and if you do, try to do so as late in the tournament as possible (opposing match win percentage, the first tiebreak divider, is generally higher for you the later in the tournament you lose your matches).
Sunday
The Top 8 players return on Sunday to battle for a championship—and a cool $40,000 for the winner. The format is Modern, and sideboards are going to come to the fore. Why? Because all our Top 8 matches will run to the best-three-out-of-five games, with sideboarding all the way from Game 2 to a potential match-winning Game 5. We'll start our Sunday coverage with the first two quarterfinals running side by side, and we can promise that you'll see both matches decided live on camera. Then it's quarterfinals three and four, and again, we'll make sure that the deciding games are always shown to you as they happen, live.
After a quick spot of lunch (or breakfast or dinner, depending on your time zones), it's on to the semifinals, and we'll be showing you every turn of these epic encounters. The winners of the first two quarterfinals will meet in our first semifinal, and then the third and fourth quarterfinals will provide the combatants for the second semifinal. Then it's onto the final, and another slice of Magic history will be, as someone once said, in the books.
Is It Getting Drafty in Here?
But let's go back a bit. I can honestly say that it has been a while since I was so excited to see what the pros do with a new Draft format. You always learn a ton of stuff by listening to so many respected professionals explain their thought processes, and your weekly Draft can certainly become a lot less random once you've spent the weekend immersing yourself in OGW-OGW-BFZ Draft. But this time around, I'm struggling to think of a Draft format that is so radically different from the one that went before it, while maintaining at least some semblance of it being the same or similar. I could easily write an article every day this week about the intricacies of the new format, but to illustrate my point, here's how the ten color pairs worked in triple Battle for Zendikar Draft and how they potentially line up now that Oath of the Gatewatch is driving the Draft narrative:
White-Blue Awaken Control becomes White-Blue Tempo Flyers—Only one pack of BFZ means far fewer awaken cards, which was such a feature of the last format. You might still get a Clutch of Currents, but now it's cards such as Sweep Away and Reflector Mage that can keep the board clear while your evading flyers seal the deal.
Blue-Black Ingest becomes Blue-Black Evasive Colorless—Ingest isn't precisely dead, but it's sure on life support. All those cards you used to take that were marginal on pure stats but got a bump because of ingest (let's say Culling Drone)—well, now they're mostly just vanilla 2/2s. Mist Intruder and Oracle of Dust are definitely cards on the downgrade. But, now you get to play with Gravity Negator and Thought Harvester, which makes for a very different play pattern.
Black-Red Aggro becomes, er, Black-Red Devoid Aggro—Still very much on the front foot, the tension in the new black-red is reliably accessing colorless mana for assorted activations while simultaneously keeping your black and red mana base rock-solid.
Red-Green Landfall becomes Lands Matter Midrange—Slowing down a notch, the new red-green decks absolutely do care about lands (look for Embodiment of Fury and Embodiment of Insight to be solid players this weekend), but you're going to see a lot fewer Makindi Sliderunners and Valakut Predators, and not just because there's only one pack of BFZ.
Embodiment of Insight | Art by Marco Nelor
Green-White Go-Wide becomes Go-Wide Support—You're still going to want to get a bunch of creatures onto the battlefield. Grovetender Druids might be a nice BFZ pickup, and Scion Summoner has a familiar feel. Now, though, there are going to be +1+1 counters flying around, and if they happen to come from Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, so much the better.
White-Black Life Gain becomes White-Black Allies Life Gain—Okay, so this one kinda sounds the same, but it plays soooo differently. Before, you cast an Ally, triggered Kalastria Healer, had Drana's Emissary drain your opponent turn after turn, and did unfair things with Bloodbond Vampire and Serene Steward. Those cards still exist, but now cohort is your friend (your, ahem, ally, if you will), and the grind of "I'll draw a card and lose 1 life" and "I've tapped my Vampire Envoy, gain 1 life" and "tap this and my Zulaport Chainmage, you lose 2 life" gives white-black a very Orzhov feel. White-black is nasty.
Blue-Red Colorless Izzet becomes Blue-Red Surge—Someone at the Pro Tour is going to go 6-0 by understanding this archetype better than everyone else. It isn't easy—much like trying to evaluate prowess for Jeskai drafting, the trick with surge is working out how many "small" spells you need and just how much you need them to do to be worth a spot in your deck. How many Expedites and Slip Through Spaces is too many? And how filthy do you feel on turn four when you Slip Through Space your creature, draw a Goblin Freerunner, cast if for its surge cost, then Expedite it before attacking with both? Surge is potentially very powerful at multiple stages of the game, but building it right is something most of us really need to learn.
Black-Green Sacrifice becomes Black-Green Graveyard Colorless—This just in: green wasn't especially popular in Battle for Zendikar Draft. I hope most of you knew this. There was a black-green deck you could end up in, looking to leverage a million* (*million = six) Scions into a game-ending Tajuru Warcaller, or Tajuru Beastmaster, or Swarm Surge, or Zulaport Cutthroat combo. This time around, the graveyard will still be part of your plans, but so will cards such as Baloth Null and Null Caller.
Red-White Aggro becomes Red-White Allies—If you look up the page just a little bit, you'll see "White-Black Allies Life Gain," and that right there is part of the issue with red-white. All those white Allies have multiple homes to go to, meaning you might be competing for them hard if you want them for your red-white Allies deck. Also up the page just a little bit we mention cohort, and the inherent slowness of piecing those activations together means that red-white is no speed merchant of fiery death; it's more "tap my Zada's Commando and my Ondu War Cleric, shoot you for 1."
Five-Color Converge becomes Green-Blue Eldrazi Ramp—With so few converge cards left in the format, I think we can safely consider that archetype gone. But green pairs pretty well with Wastes, and blue has a lot of lovely Eldrazi things running around, opening up ample ground to run amok.
I Don't Just Want New, I Want Modern
In case you've been avoiding the internet tubes these past few weeks, two cards became banned ahead of the Pro Tour:
These two cards—and I'm pretty certain I'm talking to the three of you reading this who started playing Magic in the last 17 minutes, and nobody else—were/are fundamental parts of decks that have been incredibly good in Modern. I won't bore the three of you with the details, but it was getting to the point where A) everyone knew that Amulet Bloom was an amazing deck, and that the only real excuse not to play it was if it was too complicated for you to play properly (it is nutso hard to play well), and B) the existence of the threat of a game-ending Splinter Twin was substantially warping many, many games of Magic.
So what is the fate of these two pillars of the format? Can Amulet Bloom? No, it can't bloom, but it could flourish. Just like Azusa, Amulet players may have been temporarily lost, but they are seeking. Justin Cohen, who went all the way to the final last year at Pro Tour Fate Reforged, is just one who will be hoping not just to seek but to discover. Meanwhile, it used to not so much be the case that Pestermite—rather, Pesterdid. And now, Pestermite might, because everyone's favorite hyphenated combo piece (Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker) is practically screaming at Splinter Twin players that all is not lost (or seeking).
Twin is dead. Amulet is dead. Long live Twin. Long live Amulet.
Elsewhere, the format is just as deliciously mental as it has ever been. Always a fundamental part of the format, Affinity (or "Robots" if you feel the need) seems to have been positioned better with the likely downturn in the fortunes of Twin and Amulet. While Affinity will look to reach 20 damage as quickly as possible, the Tron decks (if you're in Atlanta, ask Rashad Miller to explain why they're called Tron) will want to count to seven—that's seven mana, composed of an Urza's Tower, an Urza's Power Plant, and an Urza's Mine. Since this is seven mana contained in just three lands, it becomes possible to play cards such as Wurmcoil Engine (6 mana), Karn Liberated (7), Ugin, the Spirit Dragon (8), Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger (10), or even Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (15). Emrakul, for reference, is a bit bigger than the creatures in Affinity (well...mostly).
We can expect to see Burn decks aplenty, incredibly focused Infect decks, tricksy Merfolk, the combo decks such as Scapeshift or Living End, the likes of Jund (black-red-green) and Abzan (white-black-green). Oath of the Gatewatch could play a part in Modern, providing new Eldrazi to the mix. You can even hook your tendrils into an Ad Nauseam deck, if that's your thing, if that's your thing, if that's your thing, if that's your thing…
Cards Need People Too
With Modern being such an amazingly diverse format, keeping on top of it all is next to impossible. But, in addition to giving you a floor to sleep on, money for lunch, and a sympathetic ear for your amazing jokes, that's what friends are for. Nowhere more than the Modern Pro Tour is the influence of testing teams felt, as the best players in the world prepare to battle. The ChannelFireball Pantheon has six Hall of Famers on their squad—William Jensen, Jon Finkel, Kai Budde, Gabriel Nassif, Jelger Wiegersma, and Ben Rubin—plus another half dozen who could get there one day, including Owen Turtenwald, Reid Duke, and two-time World Champion Shahar Shenhar.
Over at Team Ultra PRO (check out the article Adam Styborski penned on this super team), Hall of Famers Bob Maher, Paul Rietzl, Ben Stark, and Patrick Chapin headline the team, but Amulet man Justin Cohen and his megamind roommate Sam Black are also on this team, together with new additions Ari Lax, Mike Hron, and Corey Burkhart, who is definitely someone to watch out for. And that's barely half the talent on Team Ultra PRO.
Back at ChannelFireball, the rump of the original team (David Ochoa, Luis Scott-Vargas, and Josh Utter-Leyton) remains, but now in a hugely influential partnership with Face to Face Games—meaning standouts such as Alexander Hayne and Jacob Wilson, and a European contingent that features World Magic Cup winner Andrea Mengucci and Czech standout Ondřej Stráský. With a full 20 on their combined roster, there's every chance that this team could still have someone live coming into Sunday.
But so could Cabin Crew, headlined by Hall of Famer Frank Karsten and perennial Grand Prix master Martin Juza. So could MTG Mint Card. After all, a team of Lee Shi Tian and anyone would have a good chance of the Top 8. This time they're a true Asia-Pacific alliance, with the likes of Paul Jackson and Chester Swords of Australia and New Zealand's Platinum Pro, Jason Chung.
Don't discount Team Blitz, either. A new name for some old faces, this team includes World Champion Seth Manfield and deck brewers par excellence Brad Nelson, Gerry Thompson, and Todd Anderson—and this is also the new home of Hall of Famer Brian Kibler.
One team that will have to go some distance to match their exploits of 2015 are Team EUreka. A European alliance, they took home two Pro Tour trophies last year via Martin Dang and Joel Larsson. Their dominance has continued at the Grand Prix level, and although the bulk of them aren't true household names, don't be surprised to see the likes of Aleksa Telarov, Niklaus Eigner, or Wenzel Krautmann under the bright lights deep into the tournament.
TL;DR
This has always puzzled me, since, if you've got this far, it clearly wasn't, and you clearly did. However:
It's a Pro Tour.
This weekend.
Live coverage across all three days.
Best players in the world.
Oath of the Gatewatch in Draft action.
The new Modern format.
Prize pool of $250,000.
And, of course, most importantly:
You.
See you on Friday,
—R.WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is understood to have finalized American withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, reneging on an internationally endorsed treaty in a move critics say will deliver a body blow to efforts aimed at containing global warming Trump was slated to meet with his secretary of state Rex Tillerson later in the day to formally decide on the exit strategy and sequence, but White House officials leaked news of the withdrawal — something the US President himself has been hinting at for several days – to some news outlets.''I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'' Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning, clearly linking US greatness to withdrawal from the treaty.Trump’s case on withdrawing the US from the accord, signed by 195 out of 198 countries in the world including North Korea, is premised on the argument that meeting climate change goals by reducing its carbon footprint is detrimental to the US economy and will affect job creation.In fact, Trump and his aides and strategists maintain that fear of global warming and climate change is overstated by the liberal elites, and the establishment commitment to address the ''non-existent'' threat actually destroyed the US economy, including a once-thriving coal sector.Trump’s promise to the coal constituency and his pledge to revive the US economy by bringing back jobs is what tipped him into the winning margins in several rust belt constituencies and states such as Kentucky and Tennessee, which have extensive coal mining activity that was being wound up by the Obama administration, a strong votary of clean energy.''When Pres Trump withdraws from Climate Change agreeement, we'll join Syria+Nicaragua as only countries to say no to global action. Pitiful,'' said Nicholas Burns, a former senior administration officials who served in several previous administrations. Nicaragua, it turns out, did not sign because the accord did not go far enough.Several experts said Trump’s action would destroy American credibility and could lead to the US ceding global leadership to China.Remarkably, both China and India, whose per capita carbon footprint is much smaller than that of US, but which were dragged kicking and screaming into the Climate Change Accord, have indicated they intend to stand by their commitment to the agreement, leaving Washington as the outlier – a term once used to describe India.Much of New Delhi’s pledges were premised on US commitments of financial aid and transfer of clean technology. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is slated to meet President Trump at the White House on June 26-27, has indicated that New Delhi will stay the course, emboldened by the steep fall in the price of solar energy, which India sees as the magic bullet.Why do we like this?
Avec un nom comme Modestep, il est approprié que ce soit une bande dubstep. Mais ce qui me surprend, c'est qu'ils ont choisi de Coldplay "Paradise" de remixer. (Pourquoi j'écris en français? Je ne sais pas...)
The long and short of it is this: Modestep have pulled together a fantastic cover. It's clear that they put a good bit of work into it, and I must give them kudos for going the whole way and not simply remixing in some womp womp wobble on top of the original. Can't say too many artists are out there doing that right now.
This particular track came as a bonus for those who pre-ordered the band's recently-released EP, Show Me A Sign.
En attendant, je serai ici womp womp wobbling.Will the voting public decide that the new "pro-life without discrimination" candidates have gone too far in stripping women of their reproductive rights?
It started when Nevada senatorial candidate Sharron Angle suggested victims of rape should “make lemonade out of lemons” by having their attackers children, rather than allow them an abortion. Soon Colorado candidate Ken Buck was agreeing, as was Delaware congressional candidate Glen Urquhart.
As Huffington Post reports, it’s a new breed of Republican candidate: Pro-Life Without Discrimination, and its been ushered in by Sarah Palin.
But the extreme view for the new right may be turning off voters, and some candidates are already letting their rigid views loosen under intense disapproval and a move to the center. Ken Buck has already softened on his abortion stance, and with the onslaught of pressure from survivors of rape and incest, he may find that position evolving, too.
New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino is fighting pressure as well, from a coalition of choice leaders in the state. Via CBS6 Albany:
“New York is an overwhelmingly pro-choice state and Carl Paladino’s victory in the Republican Primary is deeply concerning for the women of New York,” reads the open letter, signed by various Planned Parenthood leaders and CEOs, state Senators, state Assembly members and other activists. “During his interview it became clear that Mr. Paladino is one of the most anti-woman candidates for governor – either Democrat or Republican – that the state has seen in a generation.”
NARAL’s Nancy Keenan points out the obvious problems that extreme anti-choice candidates will face in wooing their own core voters who believe the role of government should be as limited as possible. From the Associated Press:
“I think these anti-choice candidates are going to trip over their own hypocrisy in the next few weeks,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “They talk about no government intrusion in people’s lives, yet they’re wanting to interfere with women’s very private medical decisions.”
Candidates have six weeks to convince voters that they should vote for a politician who wants to strip away the reproductive rights of all women in any situation. Is that a position Americans are willing to buy?Former FBI Director James Comey recently went public with the fact that he had secretly been documenting uncomfortable encounters he had with President Trump prior to his termination. In one such alleged memo, Comey is said to have documented a clandestine conversation with Trump where he asked him to drop the investigation against former General Flynn. Comey’s memos have not yet been released to the public. However, while it does not necessarily reveal incriminating information about the President, one leaked memo has surfaced, detailing some very disturbing supervisory practices of President Trump toward his Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Memo Details Below:
In the memorandum, Comey explained that he was meeting with President Trump and White House Intelligence officials for a routine daily briefing. Comey did not detail what was discussed in the meeeting; rather, he wrote to document the peculiar way Trump was treating Sean Spicer.
At one point in the memo, Comey explained that Trump summoned Spicer into the Oval Office by peeking his head out the door, patting his thigh repeatedly and yelling, “Sean! Here boy! Come here, Sean. That’s a good boy!” After which, he allegedly closed the door in his face and tried to share a laugh at Spicer’s expense. Comey described this as “disturbing” and “humiliating.”
Later, Comey detailed that the President opened the door to to find Spicer still standing outside, staring at the ground, seemingly dejected. Comey wrote, “the President then tousled Mr. Spicer’s hair, and said ‘oh Sean, you take things too seriously. Grab us some coffee and come have a seat.'”
The alleged mistreatment of the Press Secretary did not stop there. After sending Mr. Spicer back to the kitchen for “fresher coffee,” the President briefed Spicer on what he wanted to relay to the media regarding the tensions with North Korea at the time the memo was written. Trump allegedly stated, “I hired you for your mouth, Sean. Don’t mess this up, because aside from your mouth, I’m not sure what else you’re good for.” Comey detailed that the President looked around the room chuckling, as if he was “looking for confirmation.” In Comey’s estimation, nobody was amused but the President.
Comey also found it worthwhile to note that Spicer seemed very tense during this entire encounter. At one point in the memo, Comey explained that “… while [the President] was standing next to Mr. Spicer, he reached up to scratch his own head while reading a document, and Mr. Spicer noticeably flinched as if he felt the President was going to slap him.”
The entire tone of Comey’s leaked memo is that of a concerned witness to a very awkward working relationship. While NewsWerthy cannot confirm the authenticity of this leaked memo, it certainly brings to light some insight into the true demeanor of the President when he is behind closed doors. If true, these allegations also serve to explain why Sean Spicer seems so aggressive while addressing the press in routine conferences, rather than adhering to successful past practices of simply creating a good rapport with the media.The Syrian government has moved most of its combat planes to Russian military bases in anticipation of further U.S. strikes, American officials have said.
The relocation of its warplanes to Hmeimim air base and the adjacent Bassel al-Assad International Airport began shortly after the U.S.’s April 6 Tomahawk cruise missile strikes on Shayrat airfield, which were carried out in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack that was believed to have been launched from that airfield.
The strikes were reported to have destroyed 24 aircraft, but planes continued to fly bombing raids out of the airfield just hours later.
The Hmeimim base in the coastal Syrian city of Tartus is under the protection of the Russian S-400 air-defence system, which has a range of 150 miles.
The U.S. has not ruled out further strikes, however doing so in future would now risk hitting one of the 30 Russian aircraft or 15 helicopter gunships as well as hundreds of personnel stationed at Hmeimim.
Washington fears a confrontation with Russia over Syria could escalate into a full-blown conflict between the former Cold War foes.
The reports came as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the UN watchdog, said “incontrovertible” test results had shown sarin gas or a similar substance was used in the April 4 attack.
Samples from 10 victims who had been treated in Turkey were analysed at four OPCW laboratories. British scientists had earlier presented similar findings to the UN security council.
Russia queried the conclusions, however. Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov, defence ministry spokesman, issued a statement Thursday questioning how the samples were collected and how the analysis could have been done so quickly.
Moscow and Tehran had jointly put forward a proposal to the OPCW to launch a new investigation but the move was rejected.Children as young as 8 admit addictions to Internet porn as smartphones and tablets make sexual images easier to find
70pc of teenagers had viewed pornography online
Linked to poor performance in school and feelings of isolation
Elementary school children are developing addictions to online pornography in a worrying trend that some scientists believe is on the cusp of becoming a national epidemic.
Several studies have discovered links between viewing online pornography and problems including social isolation, performing badly in school and behavioral issues.
Seven out of ten teenagers have viewed pornography on the Internet with boys at greater risk than girls, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation in California.
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Addiction: Seven out of ten teenagers, both girls and boys, had viewed Internet pornography before the age of 18
The study also found that 15 per cent had lied about accessing an inappropriate website.
The growing problem puts pressure on the U.S. Government after a UK campaign f or automatic blocks on porn and introduction of web filters to make adults who want to view pornography ‘opt in’.
The increasing accessibility to smart phones and laptops has led to a surge in numbers of children coping with porn addiction, according to an Australian addiction specialist Robert Mittiga.
He said that in some cases children were even watching pornography at school and sharing files with classmates.
'I BECAME ALMOST NUMB TO IT'
Nathan Haug, 17, pictured, is the oldest of eight children living in a Mormon home in Alpine, Utah.
He became addicted to online pornography when he was 12.
He told ABC: 'I became almost numb to it. It became such a part of my daily routine.' The teenager would look at images on the family computer and quickly learned how to hide his problem. His life became conflicted as his addiction sat at odds with the rest of his time spent with family, at school and being an active member of the church.
Haug eventually sought help from his parents and underwent a church program to help him confront his issues.
'I HATED THAT I COULDN'T STOP'
Breanne Saldivar, 22, pictured, from Austin, Texas, developed an addiction to online porn when she started high school. She said: 'I started to isolate myself, because I hated what I was doing. I hated that I couldn't stop.' Miss Saldivar said she looked at porn around age 12 or 13 but was too young to understand its addictive qualities. She now works with the organisation Fight The New Drug which addresses porn addiction in teenagers.
She told ABC: 'All it takes is for someone to be vocal about a situation and that person who knows they're struggling and see it and say ''I am addicted, this is an addiction.'''
Only 3 per cent of pornographic websites require proof-of-age before granting access to sexually explicit material, and two-thirds do not even include any adult-content warnings.
Under-18s can also often be mistakenly exposed to adult sex sites as email spam.
Mr Mittiga warned that children were ten times more likely to develop an addiction than adults and that getting hooked could potentially escalate into criminality.
Some of his young patients had stolen credit cards to fuel their addiction and racked up bills of more than $9,000 on pornography sites and sex lines.
Hooked: Boys were more at risk to online porn addiction than girls
Research from the University of New Hampshire showed that some children in the U.S. were trapped in the cycle of viewing online pornography from the age of eight, according to ABC's Nightline.
Pornography has not been named as a listed addiction by the American Psychological Association but there have been moves to curb a growing problem.
The New Hampshire study of 500 students revealed worrying trends. Researchers were in particular concerned about the exposure of young people to deviant sexual behavior online.
In boys, repeated viewing of violent sexual imagery threatened to link between pornography and sexual aggression.
More than two-thirds of both boys and girls who viewed porn under the age of 18 described feeling shock or surprise (65 per cent of boys and 78 per cent of girls).
Half of boys and about one-third of girls admitted they had felt guilt or shame after what they had seen online.
The university also found that three-quarters of teenager's unwanted exposure to pornography happened on their home computer with schools more likely to have more stringent blocks.
Nathan Haug and Breanne Saldivar, who spoke to ABC about their teenage pornography addictions, now work with organisation Fight The New Drug - which hopes to tackle the issue head on.
One click away: The prevalence of smartphones, tablets and laptops among young people has seen a surge in those viewing pornography online
The group explains to young people that there is nothing wrong with finding images of sex a turn-on. However it educates teenagers that porn causes surges of chemicals dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and epinephrine in the brain - leading to addiction.
British prime minister David Cameron has intervened to insist a default block on porn in the UK, deactivated only when users make an active choice to have it switched off, is put back on the table.(Note: we're using "reduce" strictly in the computer science sense in this article, lest anyone be confused.)
Flux is awesome but there are still numerous open questions. One of the toughest, which everyone has to face sooner or later is: where do API calls belong?
I am not really sure whether anybody has found a proper answer to this. Flux is agnostic: as long as your API call dispatches a new action, you are doing it "right".
I remember when I first starting using Flux, I tended to put all my API calls in Stores because this seemed most natural to me. However, after spending some time reading articles and tweets, I found that most people prefer putting the code in Action Creators. I have never been a fan of this approach. I can't shake the idea that domain logic belongs in a single place, namely the Store.
Meet Reducer, please
Lately, two concepts have taken the Flux community by storm: Atomic Flux and Reducers. If you don't know anything about Reducers, stop now and read my previous article first. The idea has been heavily popularized by Dan Abramov's Flux implementation, Redux (though we are not even sure yet if we should be calling it Flux).
I really love the idea of keeping the application state in single Atom, as well as Stores being just functions that reduce Actions to State. However, reduce in functional terms has one important requirement: the Reducer must be pure and can't have any side effects.
This is more than just semantics. If you make your Reducers pure, this has many benefits. It's pretty easy to log every action, and you will basically get features like replay and undo/redo for free. Also, when every Reducer is pure, it enables a killer feature that wasn't really possible in original Flux implementation: hot-reloading of Reducers. Dan Abramov was a pioneer in this area and it's one reason why Redux is so popular.
Let's say you are implementing a todo list app. When the user clicks on a todo item, it removes the item from the list. However, after you implement this, you change your mind and decide to leave that item in the list and turn it red. With hot reloading of Reducers, you don't need to hit the refresh button and add those todos again. You just change your implementation and all the removed items suddenly appear again in the list. In my view this is great developer experience.
Also, just imagine how awesome it is to test pure functions. There are no external dependencies and no mocking. You just need to prepare some data, call the function and expect some result.
So far, so good. Everybody is super-excited, right? It always looks so simple in some demo app. I still remember the first time I saw Facebook's Flux chat example showing how to use waitFor. In my opinion this is one of the worst examples I have ever seen. The use case in this particular example is really artificial and does not really show why waitFor is needed.
Unfortunately pure Reducers have the same problem. They sound really cool, but when it comes to real-world use cases, you discover pretty quickly that it's basically impossible to have Reducers without side effects. API calls, logging, caching, routing, local storage... any time your app interacts with the world there is potentially a side effect. However, these side effects are inevitably tied to your application's logic, which ideally should be in one place.
It's also important to recognize that in most cases we need application state to parametrize the side effect. For example, we might want to send an API call to get a list of items parametrized by page. And what about testing? We definitely want to test that we are calling the right API endpoint with the right parameters.
It's sad, but I would rather give up |
political significance. Like France on the eve of 1789, any spontaneous protests by Chengdu citizens could turn into a movement demanding clean air. When that happens, the final stage of pollution politics will have arrived.
Dr. Wu Qiang (吴强) holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. He is a researcher of social movements and a freelance writer.
Also by Wu Qiang:
The Death and Life of Middle Class Politics in China
The Four Forces of China’s Politics of Smog
What Do Lu Yuyu’s Statistics of Protest Tell Us About the Chinese Society Today?
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Like this: Like Loading...Michigan State football practice - August 6
Michigan State defensive coordinate Pat Narduzzi gives Oregon QB Marcus Mariota a great deal of credit for the Ducks' win, but he's disappointed by the breakdown in execution on his defense and indicated changes on the depth chart are ahead.
(Mike Mulholland | Mlive.com)
EAST LANSING — Pat Narduzzi had his Michigan State defense dialed in at Oregon, the Xs matched up with the Ducks’ Os at most every turn.
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, however, had more than one great escape, leading the No. 2-ranked Ducks to the 46-27 victory over the No. 13 Spartans last Saturday.
Narduzzi gave credit to Mariota, comparing him to a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, but Michigan State's defensive coordinator also made it clear he was displeased with his unit's inability to execute the game plan consistently.
“We did some good things, but we didn’t finish, we didn’t finish the game, we didn’t finish plays when we had the opportunities,’’ Narduzzi said following Thursday’s practice. “There will be some moves on the depth chart before the next game.’’
Michigan State has a bye this Saturday before returning to action at noon Sept. 20 against Eastern Michigan at Spartan Stadium.
Narduzzi had plenty to say about how his Michigan State defense, which has led the Big Ten and ranked in the top six nationally in total defense each of the past three years, let last Saturday’s game slip away.
“We missed too many sacks,’’ Narduzzi said. “We had three sacks and we could have had seven more. You have to give him (Mariota) credit, he made us miss, he’s the best quarterback we’ve faced since (Seattle Seahawks/former Wisconsin QB) Russell Wilson in my opinion.
“The guy can hurt you with his arm and his feet, and I was impressed.’’
Narduzzi said the Spartans forced Oregon to go three-and-out on seven offensive series, and it should have been nine.
Mariota had miraculous third-down scrambles on consecutive possessions, dodging no less than two would-be tacklers on each, in a pivotal third quarter that saw the Ducks rally from 27-18 down.
“We had a couple of busts, and they had two pick routes on us, and there’s no call, and you’ve got to live with it and you’ve got to stay on your guy,’’ Narduzzi said. “Sometimes they do (get called), but (in this game) they let the offensive guys do whatever they wanted, and we didn’t execute.’’
Narduzzi said he was disappointed with how his defense allowed Oregon’s run game to get more than 100 yards rushing in the fourth quarter after the Spartans had held the Ducks to 13 yards rushing in the first half and 56 yards through three quarter.
“There was a couple of bad run fits, they started running some power — a play our offense runs every day out there — and Taiwan (Jones) didn’t read his keys, to be honest with you,’’ Narduzzi said. “ … and RJ (Williamson) didn’t get down a couple times (against the run), and that’s what happens, two guys.’’
Narduzzi said in hindsight he probably should have left his first-team defense in against Jacksonville State for three quarters instead of pulling them at halftime, just so the six new starters could have gotten more experience before the Oregon game.
Secondary coach Harlon Barnett said the Spartans' defensive backs, the self-described “No Fly Zone,” will bounce back but it never should have come to the loss.
“Really some of the things, missed coverages, missed assignments, missed tackles, we felt like we coulda, shoulda won the game,’’ Barnett said. “No disrespect to Oregon, but we blew some opportunities.
“Our guys have seen their mistakes and where we need to improve, and I think we will do that.’’
* True freshman defensive tackle Craig Evans would have played, but Narduzzi said the 335-pound Evans was not well-suited to match up against the Ducks' spread and uptempo attack.
* Narduzzi said there was an occasion he wanted to get Shilique Calhoun out of the game (Calhoun had a wrist injury), but the Spartans' couldn't make the substitution on account of Oregon's no-huddle uptempo offense.
* Middle linebacker Taiwan Jones has played "pretty solid through two games,'' according to Narduzzi.
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Like MLive's Michigan State Spartans FacebookI’m not sure if he was distracted, thinking about that missed putt on the 16th, or perhaps had bending the elbow a few times too many, but Speaker John Boehner (R-BP) goofed while trying to evade the truth, so it did not come out as intended. In the process, he opened a hornets’ nest sure, not only to embarrass him and his fellow Republicans, but also, to hold them up as the corporate sycophants they are.
Earlier this week, spin doctors for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) scrambled to do damage control following his comments Monday to ABC News advocating cuts to Big Oil subsidies.
In an interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, Boehner had this to say:
It’s certainly something we should be looking at. We’re in a time when the federal government’s short on revenues. They ought to be paying their fair share…Everybody wants to go after the oil companies and frankly, they’ve got some part of this to blame.
A Boehner spokesman quickly characterized his boss’s comments as an attempt to avoid a trap sprung by ABC’s Karl:
The Speaker made clear in the interview that raising taxes was a non-starter, and he’s told the president that. He simply wasn’t going to take the bait and fall into the trap of defending ‘Big Oil’ companies. Boehner believes, as he stated in the interview, that expanding American energy production will help lower gas prices and create more American jobs. We’ll look at any reasonable policy that lowers gas prices. Unfortunately, what the president has suggested so far would simply raise taxes and increase the price at the pump.
The dial-back didn’t stop President Obama from firing off an arch letter to Boehner, writing that he “was heartened that Speaker Boehner yesterday expressed openness to eliminating these tax subsidies for the oil and gas industry.”
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said that, after Boehner’s comments opened a crack in the Republicans’ armor, Democrats will waste no time in pursuing legislation to end the subsidies. In a Wednesday press conference, he said that his party will push consideration of President Obama’s proposal to repeal Big Oil tax breaks as early as next week. “There’s no necessity for these subsidies,” he said. “The companies have broken all records for profits.”
Oil industry insiders have lashed out at the Democrats’ attempt to end oil subsidies as job killers. Reuters reports:
“This is a tired old argument we’ve been hearing for two years now. If the president were serious about job creation, he would be working with us to develop American oil and gas by American workers for American consumers,” the American Petroleum Institute’s chief economist John Felmy said.
And yet, if first quarter trends continue through the rest of the year, Exxon alone stands to net ten times as much in profits as the entire industry receives in subsidies… [emphasis added]Scientists have accumulated a substantial body of research revealing that women's mating preferences and behaviors appear to change in various ways when they are ovulating. For instance, during ovulation, women fantasize about sex more often, they are more likely to wear red or pink clothing, and they are more flirty with "bad boys." The theory uniting all of these effects argues that women have evolved to behave in ways that increase their odds of reproductive success when they are at peak fertility.
One of the most well-known and frequently cited pieces of evidence supporting this idea is a titillating study (pun intended) of professional female lap dancers in which scientists examined the amount of money these women made in tips during different phases of the menstrual cycle [1]. Eighteen dancers participated in the study and recorded information about their work shifts and earnings over the course of a 60-day online study.
The results revealed that naturally cycling women (i.e., women who were not taking any type of hormonal contraceptives) experienced an increase in tips when they were ovulating compared to other phases of their cycle. In contrast, women who were taking hormonal contraceptives (which prevented ovulation from occurring) did not show a similar peak in their earnings at any time of the month. The difference between these two groups of women translated to real money too. In fact, naturally cycling women pulled in an average of about $354 per 5-hour shift while ovulating, compared to $200 per 5-hour shift for women who were taking oral contraception.
How do we account for this effect? Did ovulating lap dancers change their behaviors in ways that made them appear more desirable and tip-worthy to male customers? Alternatively, were male customers able to pick up on when the dancers were ovulating, thereby increasing their willingness to tip? We cannot say for sure, but both explanations are plausible. For instance, other research has found that ovulating women are more likely to "dress to impress" [2]. So, perhaps ovulating dancers simply chose more enticing outfits. In addition, research has found that men experience a bigger increase in testosterone levels (a hormone related to the initiation of sexual behavior) when they sniff shirts worn by ovulating women compared to shirts worn by non-ovulating women [3]. This suggests that men may be able to subconsciously detect female ovulation through their noses. Together, these findings highlight the possibility that the amount of money men tip an exotic dancer may not only depend upon how she looks, but also how she smells.
Although this is a small study that does not pinpoint the mechanism by which the effect occurred, it is consistent with the broader ovulatory shifts literature and the general idea that women's bodies and behaviors may change in subtle ways when they are most fertile.
Want to learn more about Sex and Psychology? Click here for previous articles or follow the blog on Facebook (facebook.com/psychologyofsex), Twitter (@JustinLehmiller), or Reddit (reddit.com/r/psychologyofsex) to receive updates.
[1] Miller, G., Tybur, J. M., & Jordan, B. D. (2007). Ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap dancers: Economic evidence for human estrus? Evolution and Human Behavior, 28, 375-381.
[2] Haselton, M. G., Mortezaie, M., Pillsworth, E. G., Bleske-Rechek, A., & Frederick, D. A. (2007) Ovulatory shifts in human female ornamentation: Near ovulation, women dress to impress. Hormones and Behavior, 51, 40-45.
[3] Miller, S. L., & Maner, J. K. (2010). Scent of a woman: Men’s testosterone responses to olfactory ovulation cues. Psychological Science, 21, 276-283.
Image Source: 123RF.com
You Might Also Like:A Florida man apparently wanted to spend time with his jailed friends over the holiday season.
Instead of waiting for visiting hours, though, police say Patrick Rempe, of Vero Beach, crashed his car into a glass door at the Indian River County Jail and then into a fence at a high rate of speed, WFTV reported.
The man, who was allegedly high on flakka, then tried to climb a fence topped with razor wire.
According to the report, Rempe became entangled in the razor wire and had to be rescued.
The entire incident was captured on surveillance video.
Rempe, 24, was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, battery on a law enforcement officer, three counts of felony criminal mischief, leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and driving under the influence.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, flakka is a new, dangerous drug that acts like a cross between cocaine and meth. It can cause users to hallucinate, and even cause some users to act bizarrely and exhibit psychotic-like, aggressive behavior.Do you love golf? If you’re reading this, you probably do! And who could blame you? Over the last few decades’ golf has become a more prominent part of the sports scene and it looks as if that’s going to continue. The Golf Channel was made for people that love golf and want to keep up on the leaders in the sport.
Obviously, Golf Channel is a cable channel. Once upon a time there was no way around that. These days, streaming services make it easier than ever to watch Golf Channel online without cable. That’s right, you can watch Golf Channel streaming and not have to worry about that preposterous cable bill!
Watch Golf Channel Online without Cable Using Sling TV
What is Sling TV? Sling TV is a live streaming alternative to cable. Rather than spending hundreds of dollars on a cable subscription, with Sling TV you can get smaller packages with the most popular channels, at a fraction of the cost. The Sling TV Orange package is one of the most popular packages with over 30 channels for $20. You won’t have to sign a contract. You just pay by the month and can cancel whenever you want. Channels include AMC, ESPN, CNN, BBC America, TNT, A&E, and TBS. If you want additional channels there are other packages available or you can add on bundle packs to any package starting at just $5/per bundle. The sports package is $10/month and includes Golf Channel streaming, alongside NHL Network, NFL Redzone, NBA TV, beIN Sports, and a selection of other sports channels.
Sling TV works on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, and Chromecast. You can also watch on your computer or on mobile devices. If you want to watch Golf Channel live stream online free, there’s a free 7-day trial that you can sign up for! Make sure to check for member specials, too.
fuboTV offers the Golf Channel Live Stream
Sports fans may already know how terrific fuboTV is. The live stream network started as a sports streaming network, offering soccer, and golf. Today, fuboTV offers the best content from the NHL, NFL, Premier League and Europa League football (soccer), and various other sporting leagues. fuboTV’s bas package starts at $35 per month, and goes upward from there depending on the content you want to add. fuboTV has expanded to include popular cable channels, and the base package includes networks like Fox Sports, Golf Channel, National Geographic, BTN, FX, FXX, FXM, Sprout, Oxygen, History, Univision, and Viceland. Local channels like ABC are available on demand in areas where there is no live stream available! You can use fuboTV to watch [Network] using Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and mobile devices! fuboTV also has the advantage of coming with a cloud-based DVR.
Make sure to sign up for the seven day fuboTV free trial! Make sure to cancel before you are charged, if you do not find the service useful.
You can find out more information in our fuboTV review!
Watch the Golf Channel Live Stream with DIRECTV NOW
Are you looking for a service you can use to watch the Golf Channel on your mobile device? DIRECTV NOW Is a service that does just that! You can also watch any channel on DIRECTV NOW on Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV/Stick, and web browsers! The Golf Channel live stream is available in the Go Big package, which costs $60 per month. HBO is an additional five dollars if you want to add it to your package. Additional channels in the basic package include AMC, USA, Food Network, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Bravo, TLC, and FX. Want to watch local channels? You can do that in most places in the DIRECTV NOW VOD library. In some cities, such as Miami, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Hartford, local channels are available in live stream.
Ask about member specials, because often the DIRECTV NOW service gives away free streaming devices! You also need to sign up for the free weeklong trial!
Need all the details on DIRECTV NOW? Read our DIRECTV NOW review!
Watch Golf Channel Online with PlayStation Vue
Playstation Vue is a streaming service you can watch on devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV, android TV, Apple TV, iPhone/iPad, PS3, PS4, Chromecast, and web browsers. If you want to watch Golf Channel online, that channel is available in the Core Slim package. This package will cost you $35/month for 60 channels. Some of the channels include Oxygen, Food Network, USA, TLC, SyFy, AMC, BTN, Spike, and Animal Planet. HBO and Showtime can be added for an extra monthly fee. Local channels are only available in on demand unless you live in one of a few large cities offering live stream on these channels!
Playstation Vue offers Golf Channel online free for five days! Watch all the free episodes you can to see how valuable the Playstation Vue service really is! You can sign up for the free trial before purchasing anything! You also will not be disappointed by the cloud-based DVR that comes with every membership!
Find out more in the Playstation Vue review! All the information you need to determine whether this is the right service for your cord cutting needs is available in that review!
Can I Watch Golf Channel Online Anywhere Else?
These are definitely your best options for watching the Golf live stream online without cable. Of course, streaming service to change and add to their lineups all the time. Should one of the popular streaming services begin airing Golf, we will be sure to update this, so you know all your options when it means watching the Golf live stream.
Questions and comments about how to watch Golf online without cable can be added to our comment section!Bellwoods Brewery introduces beer in cans
Toronto – New batches of Witchshark Double IPA and Jutsu Pale Ale are the first releases from Bellwoods Brewery in 473ml cans, the brewery said this week.
Canned releases will be available in four-packs through Bellwood’s Hafis Road location only priced at $20 for Jutsu and $26 for Witchshark beginning Sunday October 1, 2017.
Other new special releases from Bellwoods Brewery celebrating its upcoming sold-out Witchstock festival – including Līgo Wild Virginia Farmhouse Ale collaboration with Pen Druid Brewing; Fruit Helmet Pale Ale with Guava, Passionfruit, Raspberry and Lactose collaboration with Evil Twin Brewing; Friendly Confines Strong Stout with Coffee, Cocoa, and Coconut collaboration with Left Field Brewery; and Passionfruit Milkshark.
Bellwoods Brewery does not yet have a canning system installed – they utilized Sessions Craft Canning mobile canning for this release.The Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia, is one of the most elegant scientific instruments ever built. Pointed to the heavens, its giant white parabolic dish – mounted on a brick tower like a windmill – glints under clear blue skies in the early morning sunshine. The ‘dish’ sits in a natural bowl of lush farmland, an hour’s flight west of Sydney, surrounded by wooded hills.
But its idyllic setting does have a few drawbacks. “We have three of the five deadliest snakes in the world on site,” warns Parkes’ operations scientist John Sarkissian, as we walk across the grass to the entrance. “You learn to live with them – stomp your feet and speak loudly, they’ll just slink away.”
The Parkes observatory began operating in 1961. Since then it has helped transform our view of the Universe. “The telescope is used to detect radio emissions from the stars,” says Sarkissian. “For millennia most of the Universe was hidden to us but, with the development of technology, new areas of the magnetic spectrum have opened up.”
The 64-metre-wide telescope has been used to map the structure of galaxies, discover pulsars – rapidly spinning dead stars, uncover black holes and track deep space missions. However, it is best known for relaying to Earth live TV pictures of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s first footsteps on the Moon on 21 July (Australian time) 1969.
The events of the day are immortalised in the 2000 film The Dish where we see engineers battling severe weather, power failures and personality clashes to ensure the world witnesses history being made.
Away from the electronic equipment racks of the control room, most of the original technology remains
Disappointingly, the original ‘60s control panel originally used to steer the telescope has been replaced by a computer. “We did have a console that resembled something out of Thunderbirds,” says Sarkissian, “with dials and globes, it looked really cool.”
Nevertheless, away from the electronic equipment racks of the control room, most of the original technology remains. Sarkissian checks the dish is locked pointing straight upwards towards the sky (the stowed position) before we clamber outside onto the circular walkway at the top of the supporting tower. Above us are the heavy-duty motors, greasy wheels and gears of the tilting mechanism.
A flight of stairs, two narrow ladders and a fright involving a trapped bird later and we are on an open gangway directly beneath the dish. With the ground six storeys below and the wind picking up, it feels horribly exposed.
“You can think of the dish as a glorified beach umbrella,” says Sarkissian. “Even when there’s a light wind blowing, it puts a lot of pressure on the dish surface so we have to be careful.”
In summer, high winds are common in this part of Australia. In winter, when the first Moon landing was scheduled, the breeze is usually light. But not when Apollo 11 touched down on the lunar surface. “They prepared for every contingency,” says Sarkissian, “even hand-cranking the dish to track the Moon in case they lost power.”
“Then just minutes before the moonwalk was due to begin, a violent squall hit the telescope with winds well over the safe operating speeds,” he says. They were, at the time, the highest winds ever recorded at Parkes. “When it was fully tipped over waiting for the Moon to rise, two sharp 110 km/h (68mph) gusts hit the dish and caused it to slam back against its pinions.”
Neil ‘Fox’ Mason was at the controls. “It shook the hell out of the dish,” he tells me when we sit down later over a coffee. “There were alarm bells going off, you could hardly hear yourself.”
Houston was switching between the signals but when they switched to Parkes, the signal was so good they stayed with it after that - John Sarkissian, operations scientist
With the circuit breakers removed from the alarms, director of the
observatory John Bolton held his nerve. “Everybody’s panicking – my instinct was to stow the dish,” recalls Mason, now in his 80s, “but I was told to carry on.”
“Just as Buzz Aldrin switched on the TV camera on the lunar module, the Moon moved into the field of view,” says Sarkissian. “The astronauts were on the Sea of Tranquillity on the Moon but it was the Ocean of Storms here.”
Parkes was one of three telescopes receiving telemetry and TV pictures from the lunar surface. “Houston was switching between the signals but when they switched to Parkes, the signal was so good they stayed with it after that,” says Sarkissian. “With a global audience of 600 million, it’s one of those few turning points in history watched by all mankind.”
But not quite all mankind. “Fox was the only man who didn’t see anything that was happening,” says engineer David Cooke, who was also in the control room that day and did get to see the live shadowy picture on a 16-inch (40cm) monitor. “Fox was told to keep watching the dials and don’t look anywhere else.”
“The pictures were coming in behind me, I could hear everyone else saying how amazing they were,” adds Mason.
“I remember one American operator who had worked on a lot of missions,” says Cooke, “and he just stood and looked at the picture and said ‘how about that’ – it was quite amazing.”
I do my best to mask my fear as I begin the climb, trying not to look down, my sweaty hands slipping on the low handrail
“When the TV transmission was over,” says Cooke, “I walked outside and there was the Moon and I thought, wow there are men up there.” He then took a picture of the Moon. Coincidentally, at the same time, Buzz Aldrin was taking a picture of Earth from the Moon.
Mason was only able to see a recording of the landing when he watched it on the evening news. “There are still people in Parkes that don’t believe it happened,” he says, “[they claim] it was all done in Hollywood.”
Back in the present day, I am right underneath the dish and starting to get a little anxious.
“We’re just going to walk along the walkway here,” Sarkissian says, setting off towards the outer rim of the dish. “It’ll get progressively steeper – and we’re going to pop out onto the surface.” I do my best to mask my fear as I begin the climb, trying not to look down, my sweaty hands slipping on the low handrail.
And then we are in the dish and the vertigo vanishes. I am standing at the edge of a vast white bowl. The sides of the parabola get shallower as we make our way down towards the centre. Our view of the ground is lost, all we can see are the walls of the dish and, above us, three pylons rising 26m (85ft), like a giant tripod, to the white hexagonal telescope detector high above us. The dish is merely the collector of signals – the detector is the focus of the telescope.
“You can think of it like a giant radio mirror,” says Sarkissian. “The surface area here is about an acre.”
The film’s producer thought he’d get people to stand in it and do something, well that’s boring, so he made them play cricket – John Sarkissian
I feel very small. And with the blazing Sun reflected off the curved surface around me, very hot. Then I notice some unexpected markings on the low pillar at the centre of the dish: cricket stumps.
“In the film, they always say it’s a big dish but very few people have stood on the dish, so how big is big?” says Sarkissian. “The film’s producer thought he’d get people to stand in it and do something, well that’s boring, so he made them play cricket – it’s both humorous and it gives people an idea how big it is – if you can play cricket on it, it must be big.”
Sadly, no-one actually played cricket on the dish in 1969. It was a sackable offence apparently. Sarkissian taped on the current stumps to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the landings.
We descend from the dish through a small circular hatch, down a series of metal ladders to eventually emerge from a door at the centre of the control room. With the equipment upgraded for a new series of observations, the dish is unlikely to be retired any time soon.
“When I was a schoolboy on the cover of my maths text book was a picture of the Parkes telescope and I used to dream about working here one day,” says Sarkissian. “You have to pinch yourself – this is a fantastic place to work, it’s a beautiful radio telescope and it generates wonder in people.”
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If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday.I’ve been having some fun with this topic and some shock value. After I shared my last post on LinkedIn, the scary side of the world reared its ugly head. I saw comments like “you weren’t born that way” and “you just want people to feel bad for you”; a surprising response in a world I feel very safe in. It’s hard to believe we’re not moving forward as quickly as we thought.
It’s a reminder exactly why things have to change and people need to be educated. Unfortunately for those haters, gay people aren’t going anywhere. According to Wikipedia, there are more than 8 million adults in the US who are lesbian, gay.... I love those kind of numbers; it means we’re creating a world where people feel OK to be who they are.
Anyway, when I asked my friends on Facebook for some more ideas for my next post I got some awesome ideas I’m sure I’ll be writing soon. I loved this idea from an old sorority (yes, I said sorority) sister:
I’ll caveat this list by saying I know people feel more comfortable being blunt with me because my personality is very open. And I am pointing to a bigger picture that impacts how everyone treats each other, not just LGBT employees. So, channeling my best Buzzfeed-esque list, here we go. These are the questions I am so very tired of answering (in general or when coming out):
Oh, is that a gay place? Yes. And I’m going there on my gay plane, with my gay shoes and my gay hat. Source: http://global3.memecdn.com/i-wouldnt-wear-the-gay-shirt_o_1831343.jpg
Are you planning to have kids? Who’s carrying them? Source: http://themommyproject.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f30ae399970b01901c5ce18...
You don’t look gay. Source: http://ct.fra.bz/ol/fz/sw/i59/2/12/4/frabz-Look-me-in-the-eye-I-don...
Did you ever date the opposite sex? Source: http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/325/428/264.jpg
Have you kissed a (insert pronoun) before? Source: https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/5270523136/hCC44A2BB/
I know I’m making this fun, but there’s an actual point. This isn’t a lesson about “best practices for conversations with LGBT employees” or that kind of boring “thought leadership” crap HR professionals seem to love so much. It’s actually a reminder: be sensitive about the questions you ask. Seriously. Just show a little self-awareness and know that when you ask a personal question, it’s likely going to be taken personally.
And personally, I can tell you that just because you’re out of the closet doesn’t mean that you want that business blasted to everyone – believe it or not, being gay isn’t an open invitation for everyone to start snooping around about stuff that any straight employee would want kept in confidence, too.
Hell, I could probably write a whole blog post about the stupid questions that cross the Great Professional/Personal divide, but if you’ve ever filled out an online application or an engagement survey, you already know what I’m talking about.
In case you haven't checked them out yet, here are a few other posts about coming out at work:Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, who garnered national attention with his postgame rant after winning the NFC championship in January, will be the cover athlete for the "Madden NFL 15" video game that hits shelves Aug. 15.
"Winning the cover is a kid's dream come true," Sherman said. "I would never be in the position without my fellow Legion of Boom members and teammates."
Editor's Picks Blount: Sherman not buying Madden curse Superstitious Seahawks fans who believe in the "Madden" curse probably wish Richard Sherman hadn't won. But Sherman isn't buying it, Terry Blount writes.
Newton: Despite loss, Cam proves popular Despite losing out on the "Madden" cover to Richard Sherman, Cam Newton has proved to be popular with the fans, David Newton writes. 1 Related
Sherman and Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton were the finalists in the online voting at ESPN.com. Sherman becomes the second Seahawks player to grace the cover. Running back Shaun Alexander had the honor in 2007.
Sherman is only the third defensive player to make the cover, joining Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis in 2005 and Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu, who shared the 2010 cover with Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
At age 26, Sherman is starting his fourth NFL season out of Stanford. He is widely regarded as the best cornerback in the game and was selected to the past two Pro Bowls. Since entering the league in 2011, Sherman has more interceptions (20) and more passes defensed (60) than any other player.
Sherman also is known for his occasional controversial comments, including his postgame rant when the Seahawks defeated the 49ers 23-17 in the NFC Championship Game at CenturyLink Field.
After a game-saving deflection on a pass in the end zone intended for Michael Crabtree (which was intercepted by Seattle linebacker Malcolm Smith), Sherman was interviewed on the field on Fox.
Star cornerback Richard Sherman is the second Seahawks player to grace the "Madden" cover and the third defensive player. Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
"I'm the best corner in the game," Sherman said. "When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's the result you're going to get. Don't you ever talk about me."
When asked who he was talking about, he replied: "Crabtree. Don't you open your mouth about the best or I'll shut it for you real quick. L.O.B. [Legion of Boom]."
That moment brought lots of criticism nationally, with some people on Twitter and elsewhere calling Sherman a thug or a gangster. But Sherman turned the tables on his critics a few days later, writing a column and speaking at a news conference about the underlying racism of those critical comments.
He has since become a national celebrity who has garnered enormous respect. Sherman recently was named one of the "100 Most Influential People" by Time Magazine. He also was invited to the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where President Barack Obama did an imitation of Sherman's rant.
Sherman last month signed a contract extension with the Seahawks that will pay him $56 million over four years.
Some people believe becoming the cover athlete for the "Madden" video game carries a jinx. Since the game started featuring players on the cover in 2000, some of the winners experienced a bad year or injuries the season they appeared.Tax Soda To Fight Obesity, WHO Urges Nations Around The Globe
Enlarge this image toggle caption Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images
The World Health Organization has already urged us to cut back on sugar, limiting added sugars to no more than 10 percent of our daily calories.
So, how might policymakers get people to follow this advice? In a new report, the WHO is urging governments around the world to tax soda and other sugary drinks.
In its report, the World Health Organization points to systematic reviews of policies aimed at improving diet and preventing lifestyle diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. "The evidence was strongest and most consistent for the effectiveness of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes in the range of 20-50% in reducing consumption," the WHO's meta-review concludes.
Dr. Douglas Bettcher, director of the WHO's Department for the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases, says that "consumption of free sugars, including products like sugary drinks, is a major factor in the global increase of people suffering from obesity and diabetes."
"If governments tax products like sugary drinks, they can reduce suffering and save lives. They can also cut healthcare costs and increase revenues to invest in health services," Bettcher was quoted as saying in a WHO release on the report.
The International Council of Beverages Associations, which represents soda companies and other beverage-makers around the globe, says it's disappointed with the new WHO report. "We strongly disagree with the committee's recommendation to tax beverages, as it is an unproven idea that has not been shown to improve public health based on global experiences to date," an ICBA release concludes.
As we've reported, Philadelphia passed a tax on sweetened beverages earlier this year. And researchers documented a decline in sales of sugary drinks in Mexico after a tax was passed in 2014.
Similar measures are on the ballot this year in San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., as well as in Boulder, Colo.
Last year, as we reported, researchers at George Washington University and the Harvard School of Public Health published a 10-year estimate of the health impacts of a 1-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks in Philadelphia.
"We'd expect over 12,000 cases of obesity prevented by the end of the 10-year period, as well as $65 million in health care cost savings over the 10-year period," Michael Long, a researcher at GW, told us earlier this year. "The evidence is clear," Long told us. "When prices go up, people buy less of things."
In the months leading up to the vote in Philadelphia, the American Beverage Association spent more than $4.2 million in media buys to turn public opinion against the tax. The ABA is currently supporting a campaign to defeat the initiatives in California.
The findings of a new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine show that the largest players in the soda industry, the Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo, spent millions of dollars between 2011 and 2015 lobbying against 29 different public health bills that aimed to either improve nutrition or reduce soda consumption.One of the more challenging concepts to address for a Christian practicing Buddhism is the answer to the question “is there a soul if there is ‘no self’?” I believe there is an answer, but can I provide it without writing a very long book? Let’s see if I can make the argument!
I attempted |
was asked to leave after attempting to gain entry into an event without a ticket. The man refused to leave and started bothering other people, Trainor said.
An off-duty Chicago Police officer restrained the man until on-duty police arrived and arrested him, Trainor said.
In the past two months, Figueroa failed to show up to court for misdemeanor cases in which he is charged with criminal damage to property and criminal trespassing at a convenience store, according to Monalinda Saldivar, a spokeswoman for the clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court. The case was later dropped.
Figueroa has a lengthy criminal record dating back three decades which includes multiple convictions for assault of a peace officer, possession of stolen car, theft and battery.
After the circus incident Saturday, Figueroa was released without having to post bond. He is scheduled to appear in court again Wednesday, Saldivar said.
Wood said the circus incident was frustrating because "the park was filled with people" who are paying money to be there at the circus and some folks who were outside of the tent felt threatened.
"There is a real problem and we all know that. The [park] staff is appalled by the number of people who should be on medication. It's a sad situation when we have to pay $1,600 for park security," Wood said, referring to the fact the volunteer group used advertising money from its circus booklet ad sales to pay for two security guards over the weekend.A group of Great Barrier Island residents are concerned by Department of Conservation plans to use poison to control pests on a nearby island.
Nearly 300 signatures have been collected by a petition urging DOC to review their decision to use brodifacoum poison on Rakitu Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf to control pests.
Rakitu Island is a small offshore island about two kilometres north east of Great Barrier Island and is home to a diverse population of native birds.
READ MORE:
* The science and ethics of using poison to protect wildlife in the Brook Sanctuary
* Small group protests brodifacoum drop planned for Brook Sanctuary
Spokesperson Elise Bishop said locals felt DOC hadn't explored other options adequately such as using A24 traps.
"They cost about the same as using brodifacoum, we don't understand why they haven't considered using the traps."
Bishop said the local community wanted DOC to work with them in an attempt to come up with a poison-free eradication programme.
"There have been studies that show this poison has been found in the liver of birds of prey, there seems to be uncertainty on the long term impact of these second generation anticoagulants."
Brodifacoum is available as an over the counter rat poison and works by causing internal bleeding when an animal eats it.
Bishop said one of their main concerns is the aerial drop will include spraying bait at seaside cliffs which could contaminate the ocean.
DOC director of operations for the Auckland region Andrew Baucke confirmed it plans on undertaking pest control on Rakitu Island using brodifacoum.
"It's likely to take place during the winter of 2018 depending on suitable weather conditions."
Baucke said they were aware of the petition and would respond once they received it.Welcome to the new home of the VAMWorld wiki! Efforts have been made to transfer the entire wiki and all images from the old wiki at Wikispaces to this new platform. You will probably notice it has a "Wikipedia" feel to it, and you should. The framework is the same as that which is used by Wikipedia. Over the next few weeks or months, there may be some growing pains while the kinks are ironed out of the migration, but in the end, it is our hope to provide you with not only all the information you are used to seeing on VAMWorld, but also an improved user experience regardless of whether you are using a 27" 4K display like the one I'm using right now, or a smartphone at a coin show.
This site is devoted to Morgan and Peace Dollar die varieties, known as VAM varieties. It is open for all members to contribute, edit and improve. Created in 2006, VAMWorld is now the go-to site for all VAM knowledge, thanks to users who have spent a lot of time creating and editing content. If you have information about VAMs, or can help populate this site, please contribute! If you wish to make contributions to the VAMWorld wiki, you will need to create an account on the Wiki, which is different from the discussion board. It only takes a few seconds and it is free. If you don't want to contribute to the wiki, you do not need an account to be able to read everything here. Note this is a moderated site. Content not about VAMs may be removed. Posting rights will be revoked if necessary.
Problems or questions? Click on Message Board and post your request there.
The old VAMWorld wiki was decommissioned on September 30, 2018. The discussion board was archived and will likely be hosted somewhere, somehow in the future.
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1880-P VAM-58A Double Date, Clashed Obverse n & st
Obverse III2 25 - Clashed die with faint partial n of In from reverse showing next to Liberty head neck and partial st of Trust from reverse showing in right hair vee of lower hair edge.
2019 VOTW
1-20 CascadeChris
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TOPFormer CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson has sued the Justice Department over the hacking of her computers, officially accusing the Obama administration of illegal surveillance while she was reporting on administration scandals.
In a series of legal filings that seek $35 million in damages, Attkisson alleges that three separate computer forensic exams showed that hackers used sophisticated methods to surreptitiously monitor her work between 2011 and 2013.
"I just think it's important to send a message that people shouldn't be victimized and throw up their hands and think there's nothing they can do and they're powerless," Attkisson said in an interview.
The department has steadfastly denied any involvement in the hacking, saying in a 2013 statement: "To our knowledge, the Justice Department has never compromised Ms. Attkisson's computers, or otherwise sought any information from or concerning any telephone, computer, or other media device she may own or use."
In the lawsuit and related claims against the Postal Service, filed in Washington, Attkisson says the intruders installed and periodically refreshed software to steal data and obtain passwords on her home and work computers. She also charges that the hackers monitored her audio using a Skype account.
The award-winning reporter says she and her attorneys have "pretty good evidence" that these efforts were "connected" to the Justice Department. She said she was caught in a "Catch-22," forcing her to use the lawsuit and an administrative complaint to discover more about the surveillance through the discovery process and to learn the identities of the "John Does" named in the complaints.
"The Justice Department has not been very forthcoming with questions," she said. "The question is, will anybody ever be held responsible?"
The multimillion-dollar damage figure relates to her loss of privacy and that of her husband and family, she said.
Attkisson learned through a Freedom of Information request that the FBI opened an investigation of the hacking case in May 2013, but says the bureau never interviewed her or even notified her of the probe.
Attkisson resigned from CBS last March after complaining that she was increasingly unable to get her investigative stories on the air. She has published a best-selling book, "Stonewalled," about her battles against the network and the administration as she investigated stories on such subjects as Benghazi, Fast and Furious and ObamaCare.
Click for more from Media Buzz.A pedestrian stands next to a refrigerator destroyed in a night of looting, in El Valle neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 21, 2017. At least 12 people were killed overnight following looting and violence in Venezuela's capital amid a spiraling political crisis, authorities said Friday. Most of the deaths took place in El Valle, a working class neighborhood near Caracas' biggest military base where opposition leaders say a group of people were hit with an electrical current while trying to loot a bakery protected by an electric fence. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — At least 12 people were killed overnight during looting and violence in Venezuela’s capital amid a spiraling political crisis, authorities said Friday.
Most of the deaths took place in El Valle, a working class neighborhood near Caracas’ biggest military base where opposition leaders say a group of people were hit with an electrical current while trying to steal a refrigerator from a bakery.
Two days of huge protests on the streets of Caracas against the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro spilled into a violent Thursday night in several parts of the city, with residents in El Valle witnessing repetitive gunfire, street barricades set aflame and more than two dozen businesses looted. Amid the confusion, mothers and newborn children had to be evacuated from a maternity hospital named after the late leader Hugo Chavez when it was swamped with tear gas.
The Public Ministry said the violence left 11 people dead in El Valle, all men between the ages of 17 and 45. Another death was reported east of Caracas in El Sucre. Six other people were injured.
“This was a war,” said Liliana Altuna, whose butcher shop was ransacked by looters armed with guns who grabbed everything in sight.
Opposition leaders accused the government of repressing protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets but standing idly by as businesses were looted. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez pointed the finger at the opposition, saying armed groups controlled by the government’s foes were responsible for the attack at the hospital.
“We reject and do not accept those irresponsible declarations,” said Henrique Capriles, a former opposition candidate for president who the government recently barred from running for public office.
Overall, at least 20 people have been killed in the unrest that erupted after the government-stacked Supreme Court gutted congress of its last vestiges of power three weeks ago — a move later reversed amid a storm of international criticism. Angry protesters are demanding new elections and denouncing a government they deem a dictatorship responsible for triple-digit inflation, soaring crime and widespread shortages of food and medical supplies.
The violence began Thursday night and stretched into Friday in El Valle, an area historically known as a hot spot for political protest. Witnesses said masked looters wielding knives and guns descended on an area known as “the little market” filled with bakeries, supermarkets and butcher’s shops.
“They left us with nothing,” said Manuel Martinez, who was directing cleanup and repairs at a destroyed grocery store.
“What they did wasn’t because of hunger,” he added. “It’s vandalism.”
The chaos turned deadly when looters entered a bakery protected by an electric fence and tried to remove a refrigerator. The accounts varied, but one opposition leader said 13 people were hit with an electrical current after tossing containers filled with water and making contact with the refrigerator’s power cord.
Earlier Friday, officials reported that one of the dead was Mervins Guitian. The young Venezuelan man was fatally shot when he was returning home late from work Thursday and got caught in the middle of late-night street clashes. Vicente Paez, a local councilman, said Guitian was an employee of a Caracas-area city governed by an opposition mayor but didn’t join the protests. It wasn’t clear who shot him and there was no immediate comment from authorities.
Venezuelan social media was ablaze late into the night with grainy cellphone videos of light-armored vehicles plowing down dark streets to control pockets of protesters who set up burning barricades in several neighborhoods.
Vice President Tareck El Aissami said Friday the country is facing an “unconventional war” led by opposition groups working in concert with criminal gangs. He said opposition claims government forces were responsible for launching tear gas at the maternity hospital were another attempt to demoralize a people who have “decided to break ties with the bourgeoisie forever.”
Opposition members said they have no intention of easing up on protests.
“Twenty days of resistance and we feel newly born,” opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara said at an outdoor news conference Thursday as residents looking out from balconies in a neighborhood at the heart of the protest movement cheered loudly in support.
The next planned protest is Saturday, when opponents are being asked to dress in white and march silently to commemorate the victims of the demonstration. Sit-ins to block major highways are planned for Monday.
General Motors announced early Thursday that it was closing its operations in Venezuela after authorities seized its factory in the industrial city of Valencia, a move that could draw the Trump administration into the escalating chaos engulfing the nation.
A number of major Latin American governments, including Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, called on Venezuela to take steps to increase democratic order and halt the violence that has been swirling around the protests.
The Supreme Court ruling reinvigorated Venezuela’s fractious opposition, which had been struggling to channel growing disgust with Maduro.
Opponents are pushing for Maduro’s removal through early elections and the release of dozens of political prisoners. The government last year abruptly postponed regional elections that the opposition was heavily favored to win and it cut off a petition drive aimed at forcing a referendum seeking Maduro’s removal before elections scheduled for late next year.
But the government hasn’t backed down.
Already drawing criticism for the GM seizure, Maduro announced late Thursday that he wanted an investigation into cellphone operator Movistar for allegedly being part of the “coup-minded march” organized by his adversaries Wednesday. That march was the largest and most dramatic the country has seen in years. He said the subsidiary of Spain’s Telefonica “sent millions of messages to users every two hours” in support of Wednesday’s protests.
As tensions mount, the government is using its almost-complete control of Venezuela’s institutions to pursue its opponents. On Wednesday alone, 565 protesters were arrested nationwide, according to Penal Forum, a local group that provides legal assistance to detainees. It said 334 remained in jail Thursday.
___
Associated Press photographer Juan Carlos Hernandez in Valencia, AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit, and Christine Armario in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.
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Joshua Goodman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APjoshgoodman
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More Associated Press reporting on Venezuela’s problems can be found at https://www.ap.org/explore/venezuela-undone.The year is 2020 something and Daniel Fogner just sent a radio wave into space expecting it to reach a base station on Mars. The only problem is that it never made it. Using a new scanning technology that can determine the bounce point of a wave, Daniel bombards the area in which he sent the signal with multiple radio waves. The data he receives back is shocking. It appears to be an outline of what can only be a cloaked alien space station.
Meanwhile 13-year-old Nathan Redding believes he’s just a normal kid. Adopted as an infant Nathan is being raised by a wealthy couple in a high-rise New York condominium. But after a small sailing accident Nathan’s doctors determine that he has several strange abnormalities. His family and the doctors start to question his origin.
Unknown to Nathan’s friends and family, and even Nathan himself, the aliens placed him on earth as an infant in order to monitor how his Alien self develops in earth’s environment with the hopes of one day settling our planet themselves.
But they didn’t expect to be found out so soon.
Let us know what you think about our ideas! Comment below to give us your opinion, add onto an existing idea, or submit one of your own!If you're wondering what the best way to spend New Year's Eve in Nashville, Tennessee was, look no further than the above poster. Deja Vu, one of Nashville's many prestigious stripping establishments, set out to distinguish itself over the New Year's weekend by enlisting both Sassee Cassee, the self-proclaimed "World's smallest stripper," and Mama June Shannon, who you might know better as the mother of the child beauty queen/reality star Honey Boo Boo. Judging from the poster alone, the event promised a dessert buffet of trashiness. I am relieved to say that it did not disappoint.
June Shannon, whom the Deja Vu DJ odiously referred to as "Honey Boo Boo's Mom" for the duration of the evening, is not exactly refined entertainment. "Mama June," as she is also known, began her unlikely rise to the reality television equivalent of stardom by managing to be even more off-putting than her fellow outlandish pageant moms on TLC's Toddlers & Tiaras, an exploitative cringefest best known for its pernicious attitude toward prepubescent sexuality and normalizing the ingestion of energy drinks by children.
That grotesque display begat a solo vehicle for the family, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, which largely exchanged the then six year-old, eponymous Alana's pageant preparations for a crash course on her mother's grammatical cock-ups and couponing.
Boo Boo captured America's attention, if not its heart, for four brief seasons before being snuffed out amidst tragic rumors that Mama June had renewed her relationship with the man—Mark McDaniel—convicted of molesting her eldest daughter in 2004. The family denied that McDaniel was back in the picture, but it was too late to save the show or the family. The victim, Anna Shannon Cardwell, remains estranged from her mother, even as erstwhile paterfamilias Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson has returned to co-star with June in the beyond-contrived Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars. In many ways, the journey for this family has been sadder than it has been strange. It arguably peaked at a strip club on New Year's.
It's a well-established fact that Honey Boo Boo's Mama June marches to the beat of her own drum. When her absurdly folksy reality show was at its peak, TMZ reported that the five-figure per episode salary the family earned went directly into accounts designated for June's children, while she and her partner Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson lived off his income as a contractor. Just three years later, after two revelations that she was involved with convicted child abusers temporarily obliterated her marketability and forced TLC to cancel the show, she's spent the year being trotted out as a strip club side show. Shannon is represented by a management company who lists among its clients Scott Disick, 2 Chainz, and several Real Housewives of various municipalities.
At around midnight, I could barely hear what the dancer literally and figuratively in rotation at our table, was trying to say over the oppressive din of Lil Jon and what sounded like every single one of the Eastside Boyz. Strip clubs are not known for their conversational atmosphere for a variety of reasons, and Deja Vu was no different. The combination of the thick granite tabletop, her even thicker high heels, and the condition of the worn, sagging leather seat cradling my ass meant that her mouth must've been a good seven feet from my ears. It was more than enough distance to turn her stoic declaration that "Nobody is here to see Mama June" into an unintelligible warble. Looking around, I wasn't so sure.
Strip clubs are filled to the ceiling with the word "no." No, I would not like a lap dance right now. No, your free cover coupon won't work tonight, you can pay at the desk. No, please don't take away the case of Keystone I lugged here because Tennessee law won't let you see nipples and buy booze in the same place. And so on. But by the look of the floor, very few people had said "no" to an invitation to the club that night. The place was standing-room only, and desperate-to-sit patrons (such as myself) were quickly being ushered off the reserved couches near the stage.
"What kind of crowd are we trying to attract here," a stripper asked no one in particular. She didn't stop dancing, but I could finally make out what she was saying once she squatted on the table like a much sexier Buster Posey. Though, yes, the place was packed to the gills with onlookers, the VIP rooms were curiously empty.
"It's so busy," a flustered and irritated dancer said to another employee as I looked on, sixer of beer in hand. "And I've only had one dance all night!"
When the time came for the meet and greet with Mama June, patrons jammed themselves in line like they thought June could be whisked away at any moment to catch a limousine and a private jet. I jumped at the opportunity to get myself out of the corner that had until now been the domain of a trash can, an ATM, and a dopey, bearded writer (me). I eased into the back of the line as the DJ played Eminem's "W.T.P.," which, given that the song's full title is "White Trash Party," felt a bit on the nose. Nobody seemed to notice.
Luckily, there was plenty of time for both meeting and greeting, first with June's bodyguard, and then with the big Mama herself. There were pictures and hugs and a lot of yelling, owing mostly to alcohol, noise, and the patent absurdity of the evening. The group of women in front of me were totally starstruck, speaking with June for longer than I talk with most of my closest friends.
Mama June's bodyguard took the pictures. "That's fuckin' bright!" June said of my phone's flash.
The author and Mama June. Photo by Mama June's bodyguard
Whatever disdain the dancers had for "Honey Boo Boo's Mom" and the crowd she attracted has disappeared around one in the morning, when Mama June's WTF Weekend co-headliner Little Sassee Cassee took the stage. According to her official website, Cassee stands at just 2'10"—the height of your average toddler—and having seen her in person, even that figure might be generous. But the crowd went wild for her. Dollar bills peppered the stage as she cartwheeled around, and the men who'd seemed glued to their seats all evening were on their feet and tipping, spurred on either by Cassee's show, the DJ's insistence that the crowd's inaction "made [him] wonder whether they play[ed] for the other team," or both.
If you're now contemplating the ins and outs of the show "The World's Smallest Stripper" puts on, allow me to describe it, but please note that words may fail to encapsulate some of the finer points of the performance. I encourage you to seek Cassee out for yourself; you really do have to be there to appreciate it. It goes without saying that in the next paragraph, there are spoilers aplenty.
As you might expect, Sassee Cassee's repertoire of stripper tricks is somewhat limited when compared to what a dancer of average height can accomplish. It's a bit slower and, yes, the view from your seat isn't great. It does take Cassee a bit longer to maneuver around the stage, but she breaks out a hell of a handstand push-up between moves. There isn't a tremendous amount of pole work overall, but she did climb the thing damn near to the top, at one point disappearing altogether behind the drop ceiling. She calls her technique for scaling a pole "the koala," and it's easy to see why. Much of the choreography seemed more impressive than erotic, which was more than alright in my book. Cassee might have been nontraditional, but she was nothing if not a crowd-pleaser.
The good times kept rolling well into the morning, if this very special final dance is any indication, but by the time Little Sassee Cassee was picking her underwear up off the stage floor, my sixer of beer was long gone and my enthusiasm for full and partial nudity was as drained as my wallet. It was time to go find a way home (the taxis were swirling around the club like vultures) and wonder whether 2016 would bring anything half as entertaining as that.
I doubt it.
Follow Jesse on Twitter.Pro Brow Tips
If you want to preview a new brow look before you commit to plucking, use White or Taupe Eye Pencil (depending on your skin tone) to color over the places you intend to pluck out.
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The hair and brow color should match pretty closely. PureBrow Gels can change the color of your brows if you want. When my blonde sister goes very strawberry, she reaches for Auburn; or try the Bitty Brow Kit in Blonde.
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Now that you’re done with your eyebrows, learn how to flawlessly apply eyeshadow.
So tell me, please! How important is brow maintenance to you? Do you DIY or do you have them shaped professionally? Do you wear eyebrow makeup? Pencil or powder?MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia announced plans on Tuesday to station about 7,600 troops in Georgia’s separatist regions, more than twice the number based there before last month’s war and a level likely to alarm the West.
A Russian peacekeeper is seen at the checkpoint in the village of Khobi, September 8, 2008. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said troops would stay in South Ossetia and Abkhazia for a long time to prevent any “repeat of Georgian aggression”.
Moscow’s intervention in Georgia last month, in which its forces crushed an attempt by Tbilisi to retake South Ossetia, drew widespread international condemnation and prompted concern over the security of energy supplies.
Russia agreed on Monday to withdraw its soldiers from areas outside South Ossetia, and the second breakaway region of Abkhazia, within a month, but troops inside the two regions were not explicitly mentioned in the French-brokered deal.
Briefing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on talks with the separatist leaders, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said: “We have already agreed on the contingent — in the region of 3,800 men in each republic — its structure and location.”
Russia angered the West last month by recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which threw off Tbilisi’s rule in separatist wars in the 1990s, as independent states. Nicaragua is the only other state to have recognized their independence.
Lavrov also met the two separatist regions’ foreign ministers on Tuesday to formally establish diplomatic ties, a step likely to further irritate Western governments.
Asked at a news conference how long Russian forces would stay in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Lavrov said: “They will be there for a long time, at least for the foreseeable period. That is necessary to not allow a repeat of Georgian aggression.”
PEACEKEEPING FORCE
Russia has said it was morally obliged to send in its military last month to prevent what it called a genocide in the separatist regions by an aggressive Georgian government.
Before fighting broke out in Georgia last month, Russia had a peacekeeping force of 1,000 servicemen in South Ossetia and a contingent of about 2,500 in Abkhazia. They were operating under a peacekeeping mandate dating back to the 1990s.
Russia has welcomed the European Union’s role as a mediator over Georgia but in sharp contrast, it has accused the United States of contributing to the conflict by arming Georgia and failing to rein in its leadership.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the White House’s decision to rescind a draft agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation with Russia was “mistaken and politicized.”
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who visited Georgia last week to show solidarity with the ex-Soviet state, said in Rome on Tuesday that the international community was united in deploring Russia’s military action.
LIMITED RESPONSE
Both the European Union and the United States have warned Russia it could face serious consequences over its actions in Georgia, but the scope for punitive measures is limited.
Europe depends on Russia for more than a quarter of its gas supplies and Washington needs Russia’s cooperation in efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
After four hours of talks outside Moscow on Monday, Medvedev and EU leaders led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed that Russian forces in buffer zones outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia would pull back within a month.
They are to be replaced with an international monitoring force which will include a 200-strong EU contingent.
Questions remain about Russia’s dominant role inside the two separatist regions, where most residents hold Russian passports.
The fighting in Georgia worried energy markets because it was waged near the route of an oil pipeline that can pump up to 1 million barrels of crude per day from the Caspian Sea. The pipeline is favored by the West because it bypasses Russia.
The International Court of Justice in the Hague, the highest United Nations court, this week began hearing Georgian allegations that Russian violated the human rights of ethnic Georgians in the separatist regions.
Slideshow (17 Images)
Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy head of the Russian military’s General Staff, said Russia had nothing to hide.
“At this trial, our position is calm and dignified,” he told foreign military attachees. “I am firmly convinced that the Russian Federation took the only right decision.”In 2009, in the earliest weeks of President Barack Obama‘s administration, the White House made the controversial decision to take the unprecedented step of moving the Census Bureau from control of the commerce secretary over to the White House ahead of the decennial 2010 census.
Conservatives sounded alarm bells. “It takes something that is supposedly apolitical like the census, and gives it to a guy who is infamously political,” said Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) of then White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
“Requiring the Census director to report directly to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is a shamefully transparent attempt by your administration to politicize the Census Bureau and manipulate the 2010 Census,” read a letter addressed to Obama authored by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC).
While Republican officeholders were the primary sources of statements expressing concern over the move, some non-partisan analysts were also unnerved by the move. “The last thing the census needs is for any hard-bitten partisan (either a Karl Rove or a Rahm Emanuel) to manipulate these critical numbers,” wrote University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato in an email to Fox News at the time. “Partisans have a natural impulse to tilt the playing field in their favor, and this has to be resisted.”
The White House dismissed the concerns of conservatives which were, indeed, unfounded insofar as they related to the 2010 census. But the fears of some that the Census Bureau could be corrupted by the imperatives of the political operatives in the White House was today proven accurate.
RELATED: Census Bureau Changes Health Care Survey Questions Hiding Effects of Obamacare
According to a report in The New York Times, the Census Bureau has been directed to change the wording of its questions relating to health care coverage so that they can no longer be checked against the past three decades of data. According to the nonpartisan analysts and census officials The Times spoke with, this change will make it nearly impossible to accurately assess the effects of the Affordable Care Act has had on the number of Americans who have health insurance.
The changes will, however, likely have the effect of showing a reduction in the number of uninsured. This will not be the result of the effects of the law. Rather, according to the Census Bureau’s chief of the health statistics branch, the drop in uninsured is only going to be due to “the questions and how they are asked.”
Policy analysts and columnists, who are not reflexively friendly to conservative causes, called the debasement of a formerly neutral agency to achieve a political end “insane” and “inexcusable.”
And, thus, another crazy conservative conspiracy theory is proven to not be so crazy after all.
[photo via Pete Souza/White House]
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Have a tip we should know? [email protected] Jesse Galef
Our atheist billboards and bus ads have appeared all over the place, but there’s a certain repetition to the designs. In case you wanted something new, your non-prayers have been answered: the American Humanist Association is sponsoring a new nation-wide campaign with the words “No God? …No problem! Be good for goodness’ sake.”
I absolutely love the line “be good for goodness’ sake” and I’m glad they kept it from last year. The only downside is that the apostrophe is easy to miss, and when I worked for the AHA last year I had to constantly point it out to people. Brilliant line in a book or as a spoken slogan, but perhaps not practical on fast-moving busses and in trains, where people won’t always pay enough attention to the nuance.
The other faux controversy last year’s ads stirred up was that we used Christmas themes. One news anchor accused us of using a “fake Santa” (well, the REAL Santa was busy at that time of year!). Bill Donohue took it as a direct attack on Christianity and told me that if we had any guts, we would go after Islam. The new ads keep the Santa hats and use red and green, so we’re sure to see the same accusations and comparisons to grinches.
There undoubtedly will be some Christians who perceive this humanist holiday celebration as part of the “war on Christmas,” perhaps even more sacrilegious than wishing someone “Happy Holidays.” Paranoids will be paranoids. Should we desist from promoting our viewpoint to spare their feelings? Of course not. They’ll likely hate us and our philosophy no matter what we do, so we should just be ourselves.
AHA board member(also president of the Secular Coalition for America) preempted those responses in his On Faith piece
Very few of our ads have been offensive or edgy, and yet there’s been a backlash against every single one. It doesn’t matter what we say, people will take offense.
Given the fact that people will take umbrage at things I consider harmless, should we bother to be polite? I think so. People are getting offended at the content of our message – there’s no getting around that. But if we can avoid offending people with our style as well, let’s do what we can. Spreading our message does real good in communities and in the national dialogue about religion in America.
I think we should be as nice as we can without compromising our message. Do you agree?
(Image from the AHA’s Flickr site)5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Near the Gridiron
Celebrate this futuristic First Fridays with free electric vehicle test drives. Get behind the wheel of all-electric vehicles like the Nissan LEAF, Chevy Bolt, Chevy Spark, and maybe a Tesla! Plug-in hybrid vehicles may include the Toyota Prius Prime, Chevy Volt, Honda Clarity, Kia Niro, and Chrysler Pacifica.
Discuss the benefits of driving electric with dealers & local EV owners. If local EV owners wish to bring their vehicle for display, email [email protected]. A valid driver’s license will be required to test drive vehicles.
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m
St |
features a returning favourite that hasn’t been seen since Alara way back in 2009: Cycling. The main mechanics allow you to mummify your creatures with Embalm, push them to work harder with Exert, and Aftermath, giving some spells a follow-up extra spell to cast later in the game. There’s also some unnamed themes that use counters, specifically “bricks” that build up monuments and “-1/-1” tokens that shrink creatures permanently.
Embalm is all-in on the “Egyptian mummy” trope, appearing not just on a bunch of humanoids, but on cats, sphinxes, and even a hydra—when something dies on Amonkhet, it’s probably getting wrapped in spooky, undeadifying bandages. Gameplay wise, Embalm allows you to revive a creature that has the Embalm ability, but only a single time, and often at increased cost. Embalm is fun, but not so prominent that it makes games feel slow, as it’s restricted to a few colours. It can be frustrating when your opponent has a particularly strong card with two lives, but this isn’t out of line with strong Magic cards in general.
Exert continues the theme of getting more out of your minions. When you attack with a creature with Exert, you can choose to get a little extra bonus—often the creature getting beefier for the upcoming combat—but it won’t be available to use next turn. This is often worth the tradeoff for getting in a good attack, and Exert creatures are satisfying enough to use that the drawback doesn’t feel frustrating.
Aftermath lies somewhere between split cards and flashback, dividing a card (literally!) into two spells—one of which can be cast normally, one of which can only be cast from the graveyard (Magic’s discard pile). Since spells normally go into the graveyard after they’re cast, this means the cards generally function as a one-two punch, and many have synergy between the two modes on purpose. With the split card frame (modified slightly), Aftermath cards are functional but not particularly good-looking, especially in the context of some of Magic’s recent smash hits in the aesthetic department (double-faced cards, full-art lands, the Masterpiece series). The mechanic itself is fun to play with, though—having the option to use the pieces individually or together adds more interesting decisions to the games.
The last named mechanic is simple but great: Cycling lets you discard a card from your hand and draw another one. This costs a bit of mana, but means you end up with dead cards in your hand a lot less often. Cards with Cycling make up a good chunk of the set—almost a sixth—which noticeably smooths out the play experience. It also introduces a tense element of choice: do I trade in my great late-game play to get more resources now, or hold it and risk being defeated before I can use it?
As well as these keywords, there’s a few other themes running through the set, helping to add to its depth. The most prominent are the five Gods of Amonkhet: animal-headed, indestructible creatures that will only come to your aid if specific conditions (which line up with their colour’s typical strategies) are met. All five Gods have an ability that helps to meet the condition, meaning they rarely end up useless on your board. Existing Magic players may remember God cards from Theros block, and this new cycle suffers a little in comparison; the new Gods have decent art and powerful abilities, but no unique frame, and lack some of the novel impact the second time around.
Many spells and creatures make use of -1/-1 counters—that is, minus one power and toughness. While you often use these counters to blight your opponent’s creatures, there are plenty of cards that put these counters on your own creatures as well. In Magic, damage is temporary, wearing off each turn, so these counters represent a much more potent injury. There are also a few cards that feature “brick counters,” used to track progress on building monuments to your (or your God’s) glory, but unfortunately most are pretty weak, which sours what could have otherwise been a cool little on-theme addition.
In general, though, these counters add some good decision space to gameplay, and aren’t hard to keep track of thanks to another handy feature of Amonkhet booster packs: perforated token cards that should give players an easy surplus of the needed -1/-1 and brick counters (plus some handy Exerted and Embalmed reminder tokens).
We’ve praised Magic's publisher Wizards of the Coast for bumping up the token count in packs before, and Amonkhet really shows off both how much design space it opens up, and the flavour it can add. Tracking which creatures have been mummified or shrunk is still a little inelegant (especially when comparing to digital card games), but it does help to reduce confusion about the board state, and tokens showing various mummified creatures really help press home the creepy side of the set’s aesthetic.
The support for these various mechanics is woven throughout the set. There are cards which care about hand size, encouraging players to cycle away uncastable cards instead of holding them; lots of way to interact with the graveyard (since cycled spells end up there); and many cards that interact cleverly with counters. There’s also interesting ways that this set combines with its predecessors—for example, cards referencing “counters” being able to influence energy counters and +1/+1 counters from Kaladesh.The Pi Penthouse: DIY accommodations for Raspberry Pi and Peripherals
07 Dec 2017
My main issue with most Raspberry Pi cases is that they only contain the Pi itself. I want a fat hard drive, which in turn requires an external power supply. Most Raspi setups are necessarily a rat’s nest. So, here’s what you need to do to end up with a sweet setup like mine:
See that the Pi on top is secured with tacks, the power supply with tacks, and the 1TB hard drive by friction from two adjacent boards.
You will need:
To make the wooden supports, first buy a long, thin board. Mine was 3.5” wide, 0.25” thick.
I cut the board into 5.75” sections, vicing them together to sand them good. (I made two penthouses, each with four boards.)
I drilled them while still stuck together to ensure that the long bolts I bought would cooperate when pushed through. Take care to not mix them up.
Next I needed to cut the bolts to a reasonable size. I put my wire cutters into the vice grip to get the required oomph to cut the bolts. A hacksaw would have been safer.
After that, assembly is as easy as putting a nut on either side of every board. Start with the bottom, get the nuts and boards in the right order, and worry about spacing them the way you want afterwards. Here’s the foundation, with electrical tape on bottom to prevent surface scratching.
I made one Penthouse for the TV, and one for the desk. The one by the TV has for a remote a $15 wireless mouse/keyboard combo from Ebay, and has a bigger hard drive for all my movies and music. The desk Pi takes a regular keyboard, mouse, monitor, and speakers.
One could stack up multiple hard drives or even multiple Pis. This is a cheap, flexible solution that will do the job and make your setup look awesome.In this blog post you will find out
Whether technical indicators are useful for predicting cryptocurrency prices
How much you can improve your predictions using alternative data, such as blockchain structure and reddit activity
How you can (and should) use machine learning to aid you in trading
Supervised learning
While using reinforcement learning in real-world trading applications is definitely promising and will undoubtedly be used in the future, it still suffers from a number of issues preventing it from going mainstream:
Very computationally intensive. Production-ready reinforcement learning models take days to train even on high-end GPUs.
Production-ready reinforcement learning models take days to train even on high-end GPUs. Need a lot of data. At its core, deep Q learning algorithm is trying to learn the reward function given the state of the system (i.e. what will happen to my portfolio if I buy some currencies and short some others). Thus, you need to feed the model detailed information about every aspect that can influence the markets.
At its core, deep Q learning algorithm is trying to learn the reward function given the state of the system (i.e. what will happen to my portfolio if I buy some currencies and short some others). Thus, you need to feed the model detailed information about every aspect that can influence the markets. Need a thorough and accurate simulation environment. Reinforcement learning agents learn by trial and error by performing actions in a simulated environment. If you train a capable agent on historical data and give it, say, $100 to play with, the AI can learn to trade it profitably. However, such agent will not learn how its actions affect an asset's price without a proper market simulation environment. And thus an AI that can generate profits on $100 investment can be completely useless if you let it trade with $1,000,000.
Supervised learning is less susceptible to these drawbacks. The goal of a supervised learning model is to learn the relationship between features, such as daily trade volume, current price, number of twitter followers, and predict the target variable, such as tomorrow's price, using those features. In this post, we'll apply elastic net model to a number of ethereum related datasets and discover which features are more important when it comes to cryptocurrency price prediction.
Datasets
I've collected three datasets related to ethereum for this analysis: market data from coinmarketcap, blockchain data from etherscan and community data from reddit for the first six months of 2017. We will use january-june data for training our models, and june data will be reserved for validation.
Market data:
date close price volume market cap 2017-06-30 294.92 1011800000 28161900000 2017-06-29 302.88 1508580000 30495300000 2017-06-28 327.93 2056550000 27207000000 2017-06-27 293.09 1973870000 25309700000 2017-06-26 272.69 2081810000 28111200000 2017-06-25 303.25 1186880000 30005900000
Blockchain data:
date difficulty estimated hashrate block time block size transactions block count uncles count new addresses 2017-01-01 79.895 TH 5746.3882 GH 14.09 1390 38730 6111 337 1606 2017-01-02 80.591 TH 5772.7032 GH 14.21 1458 39652 6058 353 2248 2017-01-03 80.545 TH 5701.1528 GH 14.28 1627 45883 6035 385 2661 2017-01-04 87.318 TH 6330.7660 GH 13.99 1717 50673 6141 393 3527 2017-01-05 90.096 TH 6451.8286 GH 14.10 1676 49596 6091 381 3319 2017-01-06 91.837 TH 6519.8016 GH 14.32 1593 43804 6009 373 3312
Reddit data:
authors comments score date 144 672 3136 2017-01-01 179 946 2748 2017-01-02 228 998 3462 2017-01-03 219 1080 3276 2017-01-04 236 976 4294 2017-01-05 206 932 3756 2017-01-06
Market only
Can you predict where the market will move just by looking at the cryptocurrency exchange activity? Let's find out. I'll be doing my work in R but you can use any other scientific computing tool to replicate the analysis.
First, let's split our dataset into the train and test parts.
df_train <- market_data[market_data$date < as.Date('2017-06-01'), ] df_test <- market_data[market_data$date >= as.Date('2017-06-01'), ] df_train <- plyr::arrange(df_train, date) df_test <- plyr::arrange(df_test, date) df_train$date <- NULL df_test$date <- NULL
We'll use the same validation for all the models in this analysis so we can compare which approach yields best results.
# Select the best model using RMSE (root mean square error) metric rmse <- function(actual, predicted, metric_params = list()) { sqrt(mean((actual - predicted)^2)) } validate <- function(model, actual_price, test_data) { predicted_price <- as.numeric(predict(model, test_data, type = "response")) rmse(actual_price, predicted_price) }
Let's see how our model performs without any preprocessing or feature engineering. We'll use these numbers as the baseline for future improvements.
library(glmnet) y <- market_data$close[2:152] # tomorrow's close price x <- model.matrix(formula('~.'), data = df_train) test_data <- model.matrix(formula('~.'), data = df_test) model <- glmnet::cv.glmnet(x, y, nfolds = 10) print(as.numeric(predict(model, test_data, type = "response"))) # [1] 215.9646 217.4369 218.0105 238.0390 241.0313 256.3370 250.2186 253.6602 # [9] 272.8474 326.3172 329.1278 387.3299 383.5536 346.7567 349.5100 357.4449 # [17] 366.2211 358.6208 357.2824 346.7089 325.5524 325.0744 330.2081 312.9617 # [25] 293.4112 264.1955 283.6981 317.0056 293.0575 285.4476 validate(model, actual_price, test_data) # 24.6687
Not bad! Our model, trained on just 151 data points, is capable of predicting the next day's close price with accuracy of around 10-15%.
Technical Analysis indicators
Supervised learning techniques, especially on small datasets such as ours, can only capture simple interactions between the features. That's why in practice analysts spend most of their time doing feature engineering - extracting more information out of the existing dataset. Day traders normally use technical analysis to predict where the price will move. Let's mimic them and add some indicators to our dataset.
library(TTR) market_data$SMA_7 <- SMA(market_data$close, n = 7) market_data$SMA_14 <- SMA(market_data$close, n = 14) market_data$EMA_7 <- EMA(market_data$close, n = 7) market_data$EMA_14 <- EMA(market_data$close, n = 14) market_data$RSI <- EMA(market_data$close) market_data$ATR <- ATR(market_data$close) market_data$CMO <- CMO(market_data$close)
And let's repeat the above procedure to train and validate the model.
print(as.numeric(predict(model, test_data, type = "response"))) [1] 216.2337 217.7196 218.2986 238.5130 241.5331 256.9809 250.8056 254.2792 [9] 273.6445 327.6107 330.4475 389.1899 385.3786 348.2400 351.0189 359.0275 [17] 367.8852 360.2143 358.8635 348.1918 326.8388 326.3564 331.5378 314.1312 [25] 294.3993 264.9123 284.5960 318.2127 294.0423 286.3618 > validate(model, actual_price, test_data) # 24.25081
Well, looks like our predictions did get a little bit better, but not by that much, and, unless you know what you're doing, it's not worth it to go through the trouble of calculating them if you're only interested in predictions for the next day.
Market and community
Let's augment our dataset with some community activity data. Obviously, the more you can capture the better, but for this toy example we'll only use reddit. I've scraped reddit.com/r/ethereum, loaded the data into Google's BigQuery, and calculated number of unique authors, total number of comments and sum of reddit's upvotes for every day of the first six months of 2017. Let's see how this data can improve our price forecast.
print(as.numeric(predict(model, test_data, type = "response"))) # [1] 219.2142 220.7151 221.2999 241.7176 244.7681 260.3713 254.1339 257.6425 # [9] 277.2025 331.7115 334.5768 393.9101 390.0604 352.5483 355.3552 363.4443 # [17] 372.3911 364.6430 363.2786 352.4996 330.9319 330.4446 335.6781 318.0965 # [25] 298.1660 268.3825 288.2642 322.2190 297.8054 290.0477 validate(model, actual_price, test_data) # 23.90929
And it looks like reddit's data does help out quite a bit, reducing prediction error by another 1-2%. One interesting thing to notice is that our model seems to be a little pessimistic about ethereum - it always predicts a price point that's slightly lower than what it ends up being in real life.
Market, community and blockchain activity
Blockchain activity is the closest proxy for ethereum's intrinsic underlying value. Whoever learns to extract the most useful features from the blockchain is going to get a competitive advantage on the market. Let's see how well the features extracted by etherscan perform.
> print(as.numeric(predict(model, test_data, type = "response"))) [1] 216.7070 218.2707 218.8475 238.8157 241.7886 257.0377 251.1321 254.5985 [9] 273.5533 326.5697 329.5133 386.9742 383.3900 347.1781 350.0202 357.9327 [17] 366.8018 359.3590 358.0811 348.2106 327.5231 327.0355 332.1820 315.1972 [25] 296.0067 267.2914 286.6157 319.6879 296.1254 288.6802 > validate(model, actual_price, test_data) [1] 24.28866
And we arrive at a surprising result! Not only did more data not make our model better, it actually made it worse! This can be attributed to two factors: we overfit the model (that's quite likely, given how few data points we are working with), and June's ETH price does not correlate well with the underlying blockhain activity, leading me to believe that this particular token was overvalued. And indeed, if you look at ETH's price today it seems to have corrected to a lower value that better reflects its true price.
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We start tonight with a story. This is the historic Pacific Tower in Seattle: the former home of Amazon that’s currently undergoing a remodel.
Three years ago, our state approved $20 million for the renovation project there. But by last year, the cost had ballooned to more than $54 million dollars – more than 2 1/2 times the cost. Is anyone surprised? Didn’t think so.
Now here’s the funny (or not-so-funny) part: According to the Seattle Times, the extra $34 million was funded in part by the City of Seattle and King County – our taxpayer dollars. But the extra cost was rationalized as “a great deal financially for the taxpayers” by the legislative champion of the project.
Ironically, the man who said that was House Speaker Frank Chopp: The most outspoken opponent ten years ago of a KeyArena upgrade, which, in turn, never happened and ultimately led to the sale of the Sonics and their move to Oklahoma City.
Which is the perfect transition to KeyArena, which, according to an AECOM report last year, can be renovated for the bargain-basement price of just $285 million. Can we get the laugh track going please? Thank you.
This AECOM report, along with its too-good-to-be-true price tag has our mayor and certain city councilmembers so giddy about the possibilities that the city is requesting renovation proposals for KeyArena – noting interest already from two different developers. That’s great and all, but even the Mayor’s statement acknowledges the major challenges in the Lower Queen Anne area, including the huge traffic dilemma and the lack of mass transit there. Plus, we all know how incredibly long and extensive the review process can take.
And then there’s the cost. And if the Pacific Tower remodel, the Seattle Tunnel Project, the 520 Bridge Project and every other undertaking our lawmakers have ever gotten behind is any indication, the initial estimate is nowhere near the final cost.
You know, it’s really a shame that a developer hasn’t come forward with a plan that’s already gone through the review process, and can take the entire financial burden off the taxpayers with a proposal to fully fund a brand new arena in a location that’s zoned specifically for stadiums and arenas.
Oh wait! Someone already has!
Which makes it even more mind-boggling that the monumental news of Chris Hansen’s group going private this week was followed up by the Mayor’s office essentially announcing, “Eh. We kind of like KeyArena instead.” Are you kidding? When someone comes in and says, “Here’s an arena for free. We’ll pay you for a street that no one ever uses and you can use those funds to complete the Lander Street overpass to mitigate traffic in the area,” you don’t say, “We’ll think about it and get back to you in awhile.”
I mean, when Amazon bought its South Lake Union headquarters from Paul Allen, no one from the city or state stepped in and said, “Sorry, we’d prefer you to go back to the Pacific Tower and help the state renovate the old building you once leased instead.”
It was called progress – and the financial boon to the city and infusion of money into the area speaks for itself. This is another chance for that kind of growth.
Listen, I’ve said enough for one night. I’ll leave the battle over the future of SODO and the deception displayed by the Port of Seattle for another night, because I need another full three minutes for that too. But this all falls under the same theme: Progress that continues to be slowed to a complete halt by bureaucracy and incomprehensible red tape.
It’s fitting that Seattle would be the city whose local leadership often acts like a human rain delay.
But it’s a shame that after such promising news this week, our elected officials continue to muddle the dreams of every local NBA and NHL fan who, despite all the unnecessary hurdles, are still keeping hope alive.DAYTON, OH—What was intended as a routine first date went horribly awry Tuesday night as local man Kevin Parker, 29, could do little more than stand by and watch himself ruin his chances with 28-year-old Vanessa Carmine.
Parker told reporters that the date at a local restaurant began pleasantly and without incident. The two enjoyed small talk right up until the salads arrived, at which point disaster struck, and an unsuspecting Parker discovered he was powerless to stop himself from droning on like an idiot about his recent car troubles.
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"It was awful," Parker said of the date, his first in more than eight months. "One minute we were getting to know each other, and the next I was sitting there in shock, hearing myself ramble for what seemed like hours about how I'd been meaning for months to get my oil changed, but I kept putting it off, and then when I finally took it in the guy at the auto shop charged me more than the estimate, and how you have to be careful because mechanics are always trying to rip you off, and isn't it a shame that people can't just be honest."
"God, the look on Vanessa's face," added Parker, shaking his head. "I'll never forget it."
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As soon as he realized what was happening, Parker sprung into action, attempting to rescue the evening with amusing childhood anecdotes, but only exacerbating the situation by discussing his parents' divorce and his former bed-wetting problem. After knocking over a glass of wine as he asked Carmine where she was from, Parker realized saving the night from total disaster might be beyond his power.
Summoning his strength for one last heroic effort, Parker said he began talking about his dog, found himself unable to discuss anything beyond how the pet had been his only comfort during a break-up last year, and then proceeded to spend five minutes explaining how he was "totally over" his ex-girlfriend now.
"There was this loud, disturbing noise, and I realized it was my own voice," Parker said. "I remember looking around the room thinking, 'For God's sake, somebody do something!' Then I just sort of went numb for a few minutes there as I watched myself talk about my laundry schedule."
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"At one point, Vanessa got up to use the restroom, and I thought that maybe she wasn't coming back," Parker continued. "That it would finally all be over."
When the unthinkable happened and Carmine returned, Parker gave up all hope and began sweating through his dress shirt while talking about his love of death metal.
"The entire date was a massacre," Parker said. "The waiter couldn't even make eye contact with me. He knew what was happening. He should have thought to bring the check instead of the dessert menu. Or at the very least, he should have kept me from prolonging the agony by ordering the apple dumpling and offering to split it."
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"I wish I could forget everything I witnessed here tonight," Parker added. "But it's burned in my memory forever."
At press time, Parker was walking Carmine to her car, insisting it was no problem despite Carmine's protestations that it was not necessary.ABC News(NEW YORK) -- The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, said on "This Week" Sunday that he doesn't "expect we're going to see any evidence" of President Trump's explosive wiretapping claims against his predecessor, adding that the unproven claim damages the president’s credibility.
President Trump claimed in a series of tweets last weekend that President Obama had ordered phones to be tapped at Trump Tower at the end of the 2016 campaign. The president has so far failed to provide any evidence to back up his claim, while calling on Congress to investigate the allegation. The leading members of the House Intelligence Committee in turn requested that the Justice Department respond by Monday with any evidence of the president’s claims.
“I don't expect we're going to see any evidence of this either,” Schiff told ABC News' chief anchor George Stephanopoulos Sunday. “There are one of two possibilities here. Either the president quite deliberately, for some reason, made up the charge. Or perhaps, more disturbing, the president really believes this.”
Either way, Schiff said the wiretapping claim has damaged Trump’s credibility and could have “real world consequences” in the future.
"If six months from now the president should say that Iran is cheating on the nuclear agreement, if he's making that up, it's real problem. If he's not making it up and it's true, it's an even bigger problem,” Schiff said. “Because the question is, would people believe him? Would American people believe him? Would people around the world believe him? And that has real world consequences."
Schiff said he believes the matter will be put to rest on March 20, when the House Intelligence Committee holds an open hearing, where FBI Director James Comey has been requested to testify.
"We're going to be able to ask the director of the FBI among others, is there any truth of this? Have they seen any evidence of this? They would be in a position to have to know. And I think on March 20th, if not before, we'll be able to put this to rest," he said. “But I don't think anyone really has any question about this, George. The only question is why the president would make up such a thing.”
Schiff has been critical of the FBI director in recent weeks, saying he had limited information to Congress on Russia's suspected meddling in the 2016 election process. But Schiff said Sunday he is "very pleased at the level of cooperation we're getting from the FBI.” Comey visited Capitol Hill Thursday to brief top members of the House and Senate.
“I have been very critical of the FBI and their willingness to cooperate in the investigation. I can say that that substantially changed,” Schiff said.
Schiff also said that he was “surprised” that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper this week appeared to categorically deny there had been any collusion or cooperation between Trump associates and Russians, which the White House has denied.
“I wouldn't want to reach a conclusion at the outset of our investigation as to whether we're going to be able to demonstrate collusion,” Schiff said on “This Week.” “Maybe we will, and maybe we won't. Maybe it existed, and maybe it didn't. But I do think it's our obligation to do everything possible in as nonpartisan a basis as possible to answer those very important questions. And I wouldn't start out by concluding one way or the other.”
“We follow that evidence where it leads, and not leap to any conclusions on the front end,” Schiff added.
Schiff also responded to concerns from fellow Democrats that they will not be able to conduct a complete investigation, saying partisan politics could limit the investigation. “To be honest, George, I don't know whether we'll be able to conduct this to its completion, whether we'll have the kind of bipartisan cooperation that we need,” Schiff told Stephanopoulos.
“I think it's clear it's in the national interests to try,” Schiff added. “And if we get to the point where we can't, I think it's our obligation in the opposition to speak out and say this is not legitimate. We are being walled off from certain areas of investigation. But I think we owe it to the country to try, that's certainly my intention.”
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Americans of a certain age remember the experience of blood running cold when their favorite network television shows gave way to these words: We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin. What would it be this time, we wondered? War or rumors of war? An assassination? Or another urban riot?
So the riots in Baltimore this week brought back a lot of memories for Baby Boomers who remember Harlem and Philadelphia in 1964, Watts in 1965, Cleveland in 1966, Detroit and Newark and Cambridge in 1967, and cities across the country in 1968, including Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Some may or may not remember the extent to which police brutality charges and/or habitual racial profiling in arrests were major issues in many of these cities back then. But in any event, what seems like a growing drumbeat of incidents of black men being killed by police (or by would-be police like George Zimmerman), illuminating long-suppressed complaints about brutality and racial profiling, is interrupting this election cycle, supposedly focused on economic inequality and national security threats, like one of those special bulletins of yore.
And just about everybody seems to be struggling for the right perspective on these events. That includes the first African-American president, who is oscillating between expressions of empathy for black people targeted for who they are and denunciations of protests that turn violent, and wherever possible simply remaining silent. That includes his new attorney general, the first African-American woman to hold the job, who first made headlines prosecuting police officers for brutalizing a prisoner in 1997 and who just last week was letting it be known she was deeply concerned about police morale. And eventually, most players in national and even state government and politics may need to adjust to a new environment in which the treatment of minority folk by police can no longer be ignored or shunted off to some blue-ribbon commission.
For some pols this old/new challenge may appear to be the very last thing they need. That’s likely the case for former Baltimore mayor and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, who cut short his pre-presidential campaign overseas trip to rush back to address a crisis he no longer has any power to control. He will immediately face claims that “zero-tolerance” policies he put into place as mayor contributed to the deterioration of police-community relations, thanks to a rising tide of arrests for minor offenses that ruined the employment prospects of many young black men (also a major factor in some of the 1960s “race riots”). This is not the kind of allegation someone seeking to cast himself as the Fighting Progressive candidate for president can easily overcome.
If the Baltimore saga is an existential challenge for O’Malley, it may serve as a devilish temptation for his successor as governor, Republican Larry Hogan. Being from an old political family, Hogan is surely aware that one of his Republican predecessors began an unlikely ascent to the vice presidency after Richard Nixon noticed with pleasure his tough talk towards protesters on the Eastern Shore (in 1967) and in Baltimore itself (in 1968). Indeed, had Mr. Law-and-Order Spiro T. Agnew not shown his contempt for the law by taking bribes as part of an arrangement that went back to his tenure as Baltimore county executive, he would have almost certainly become the 38th president of the United States. Did Larry Hogan think about that when he talked tough towards protesters in Baltimore this week?
More generally, Republicans everywhere may be tempted to exploit the reflexive support for police officers among white citizens that is beginning to exhibit itself everywhere black protests arise. As John Judis observed at National Journal this week, the likely election of Dan Donovan–the prosecutor who appeared to work hard to avoid any grand jury indictment of the cops who killed Eric Garner–to Congress in Staten Island next Tuesday may signal a new era of racial backlash, battening on conservative anxieties already aroused by the years of attacks on Obama and manufactured fears of his supposed mania for “redistribution.”
If there is a supply of backlash voters, there will certainly be a demand, if only among the crowded GOP presidential field where the candidates will soon run out of ways to demonstrate their True Conservatism. The more historically minded of them may realize that St. Ronald Reagan himself built his California political career on a foundation of backlash to rioters, albeit student radicals more than African-Americans per se.
Worse yet, if Republicans begin to return to backlash politics, some Democrats may get happy feet and return to their old habit of reflexively supporting aggressive police tactics and tougher sentencing in order to preserve their appeal to the shrinking minority of white voters willing to support them. All in all, it’s rational to fear that the rarest of phenomena, the bipartisan trend towards criminal justice reform, could be interrupted by polarization over police behavior, before it’s reached fruition. And in the long run, nothing would be more certain to perpetuate the oppressive fears of African-Americans for whom regular politics is sometimes little more than an interruption of lives spent under the gun.
Ed Kilgore is the principal blogger for Washington Monthly’s Political Animal blog, Managing Editor of The Democratic Strategist, and a Senior Fellow at theProgressive Policy Institute. Earlier he worked for three governors and a U.S. Senator. He can be followed on Twitter at @ed_kilgore.A new advertisement put out by the National Rifle Association — which calls on conservatives to fight the left with a “clenched fist of truth” — has the Women’s March demanding an apology, activists calling it an “open call to violence” and a propaganda expert labeling the video “sinister.”
The video, which was published on the NRA’s Facebook page on June 12, begins with talk radio host Dana Loesch criticizing the media and the way liberals use it to “assassinate real news.” It calls out liberals in the public school system for teaching “children that their president is another Hitler,” Hollywood for progressing “their narrative” and for using their “ex-President to endorse the resistance.”
Loesch goes on to say all these venues are a means to create reasons for protest, “to scream racism and sexism and xenophobia and homophobia. To smash windows, burn cars, shut down interstates and airports, bully and terrorize the law abiding,” all said alongside video clips of people marching and exhibiting violent behavior.
“The only way we stop this, the only way we save our country and our freedom is to fight this violence of lies with a clenched first of truth,” she said, closing out the advertisement saying, “I’m the National Riffle Association of American and I’m freedom’s safest place.”
A New York University professor, whose research has focused on modern propaganda, called the video irresponsible and said he could “safely say the (video) is a textbook example of propaganda.”
“It’s actually an example of propaganda at it’s most sinister,” Mark Crispin Miller of NYU told TPM. “It’s extremely hostile, takes a dark view of dissidence and protest and lauds the police as our only protection against this unprecedented threat.”
The advertisement takes on the classic method of creating a “they” mentality, he said, while saluting police power.
“What it basically does is create this nightmarish image of |
can fill the room. I asked him how the turmoil in CAN was affecting the team. "It affects Nepali cricket for sure, makes everything difficult, but it doesn't really affect our morale," he explained. "When we started, playing for our country was enough. That reason for playing has not changed."
When I brought up the issue of contracts, he shrugged. "They haven't renewed it, but it's not like we were not playing when we didn't have contracts." So what was the biggest fallout from the CAN drama, I asked. "We don't have a permanent coach and we don't have a cricket calendar," Malla said. "We can't plan anything in advance. Our competitors have their cricket calendar set for the next two, three, five years. We don't know what we will be doing in two months. It makes it incredibly hard for us to prepare for our upcoming matches."
Kathmandu hosted two games of the WCL Championship in April. Nepal beat Namibia in both, in front of packed crowds © Madhu Tamang and Bhawana Ghimire
The national team's recent on-field success has meant access to larger pots of international funds, larger allocations within the national budget, and larger sponsorship deals. This has also meant that power brokers and politicians have come circling, like scavengers around carrion. Like with every other sport and industry in the country, the dreams of Nepali cricket have long been held hostage by the power of a few.
I asked Malla what he thought about the way the sport was governed. "What we really need is a change in mentality," he said. "We need people to come into cricket thinking of what they can give to the sport, not what they can take from it."
The players aren't alone in bearing the brunt of the administrative mess. Later that day I met Madhu Tamang, the head groundsman of the TU Cricket Ground, and found that he hadn't been paid for four months. This was in March, when the country was reeling from an acute shortage of fuel and cooking gas, and facing political turmoil. In the Madhes, the flat lowlands in the south, protesters unhappy with the country's new constitution had blocked all roads to Kathmandu. The government ignored their demands and blamed India for the fuel crisis. This sparked a strong wave of unitary nationalism, which the government exploited to violently suppress the protesters. Over 50 people lost their lives.
When annual contracts were announced in January last year it was greeted with unanimous approval. With CAN operationally defunct, these contracts are yet to be renewed
Tamang was confident that his 13-member team would eventually get paid. He had witnessed a number of upheavals in CAN and not getting paid during such "transitions" had become routine. I asked how he managed to maintain the ground when CAN was defunct and the nation was reeling under a fuel crisis. "I was getting some fuel from the office," he said, "but recently I've been buying it off the black market." For someone who had not drawn a salary for four months, to go out and purchase 15 litres of petrol - at an exorbitant rate of about US$5 a litre - to water a pitch is as heroic as it is foolhardy. It is also very Nepali.
When I asked Ghimire what would allow the players, groundsmen and their support teams to be able to do their jobs without being held hostage by the politics of the board, she had a clear road map in mind. "We need to reform the way cricket is managed in Nepal. We need a board that defines guidelines for management, sets financial controls, and then allows management to run day-to-day operations. We have a three-year agreement with Nepal Telecom for a yearly NPR 15.5 million (or about $155,000) sponsorship deal to support a T20 league and a domestic league [the biggest deal in Nepal sports], but without a governing body, we haven't been able to act!"
Ghimire also sold exclusive television rights for international cricket matches to Nepal TV for NPR 1.8 million per year (about $18,000) but the lack of cricket has been a major turn-off for potential sponsors. "It's very easy for sponsors to shift from cricket to football in Nepal," Ghimire said. "If we can't deliver games, they will start shifting."
Gyanendra Malla: "We need people to come into cricket thinking of what they can give to the sport, not what they can take from it" © AFP
The turmoil in CAN has meant that Nepal cricket has been unable to secure grants of upwards of a million dollars from the ICC. And even that, according to Ghimire, would not be sufficient. "We need to raise at least another million dollars in sponsorship on top of the ICC funding," she said. "That's how much we would need to really develop our domestic league and improve the standard of Nepali cricket."
Does she think that is possible? "Absolutely! We have a great team and raw talent. We can host a domestic league, T20 tournaments, one-day tournaments, U-21, U-19, women's and college tournaments. This is not even considering the scope of international matches and tournaments in Nepal. Each of these have to be developed. Each can have their own sponsors. But we need to build a system that can manage and run it."
Early in July, with CAN's court case set to continue, Ghimire officially tendered her resignation to the NSC. She said that she would continue to work under the ICC to oversee operations for Nepal's national teams. In an interview to onlinekhabar.com, she spoke about her inability to fulfil her role as CEO. "With two CAN boards, some say I am the CEO, others deny it. This means that even as CEO, I can't do anything. I can neither pay the players nor the employees. I can neither secure sponsorship nor run domestic tournaments."
Nepal is fortunate that the ICC and ACC retain great hope for cricket in the country. There is a crop of players, coaching and support staff who are willing to give their sweat and time for pride and honour alone. But fortune and volunteer efforts won't stand the test of time. If cricket is to be a consistent feature of the country's sports leagues and if they are to field a team that challenges for international honours, the people who claim to own the keys to Nepal cricket's governing body must match the spirit of the players who have done this nation proud.
Pranab Man Singh is a writer and editor based out of Kathmandu. He works for Quixote's Cove and is an assistant editor at La.Lit
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Alexis Sanchez is getting ribbed by his Arsenal teammates over his botched Manchester City move, says Chuba Akpom.
Pep Guardiola was desperate to take the Chile star to the Emirates but the Gunners refused to sell after failing to sign a replacement.
Sanchez has returned to the Gunners fold but looks set to leave for nothing when his contract expires next summer, with PSG reportedly willing to give him a £9million signing-on fee in a bid to secure his signature.
However, the 28-year-old has been on the receiving end of some stick from his teammates after failing to secure a switch to the Etihad.
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Akpom told the Daily Star : “We do banter about it to be fair. But at the end of the day, he’s still at Arsenal.
"Everyone is happy, the fans are happy and he’s happy.
“I think with a player like Sanchez he just blocks it out because all he wants to do is play football.
“He’s so focused on football, he blocks out a lot of negativity and transfer rumours.”Cashew Camembert – marvelously mild plant based cheese with the flavor of Camembert, this is a great addition to any appetizer cheese platter!
You all know how I love a snack tray – cheese platter – dinner of appetizers kind of thing. I also love to entertain – from the fancy party to the casual “stop by before the movie” or “come over after work for a snack and a seat in the sunshine…”
I like to assemble snack platters for any and all occasions, and they are super easy to create, with a mix of homemade cheeses, dips, and jams combined with store bought fillers like nuts, dried fruits, olives and my favorite, cornichons.
Pour some crisp cool white wine, and you. are. set.
The Cashew Camembert recipe is from the new book, This Cheese Is Nuts. This incredible plant based resource is from the delightful Julie Piatt – you may remember her from The Plantpower Way.
This Cheese Is Nuts isn’t simply a cheese book – it also includes recipes using the cheeses, and other recipes for crackers, kitchen staples (crème fraîche, yogurt, and sour cream, anyone?) and delectable desserts.
Having already made five recipes from this book, I feel they are straightforward and easy. They are also deliciously appealing. After making a few of the cheese recipes, I straight up needed to try the Banana Cream Pie. Super easy, warmly comforting, and a definite crowd pleaser. Will make again!
I also tried the Three Herb Macadamia Pine Nut Cheesy Pesto. Ha! In addition to being a mouthful of a recipe name, this is a mouthful you want. What, too cheesy? Oh no. I cannot stop. But seriously – this is quick and easy, roasting the nuts will make your kitchen smell lovely, and you can use this in a variety of ways. Yum.
On my list to make? The Classic Hollandaise Sauce. Because I love a good hollandaise, and this one sounds great. Then I’ll turn around and pour that wonder of a sauce all over the N’eggs Bennie recipe…
The Greek Salad Stack is brimming with flavor and color, and the Japanese Miso Cheese has piqued my interest too…
I also made the super easy Smoked Almond Cheddar Spread recipe from this book – so good:
While this Cashew Camembert is an easy recipe, it requires some inactive time and dehydration, if you’re into that sort of thing. Since I am always up for adventure, I dug through the pantry and unearthed my dehydrator, and let the camembert have a nap in there.
*dehydrating the cheese*
Now that I have made this particular recipe twice (it is that good), I will say that you might be able to have this ‘set’ in the refrigerator if that is what you’d prefer, or if you do not have a dehydrator. The flavor may not be as deep, and the texture may be different, but I think it would still work. Well, I know it would still work, it just might be more of a cream cheese consistency.
A delightfully decadent creamy cheese.
Both of these cheeses were great with my Salt and Vinegar Crackers…
Cashew Camembert
YIELD: one 4×2 inch round
dairy, egg, soy, and gluten free, vegan
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups raw cashews
2 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil, plus more for greasing the pan
3/4 cup aquafaba (liquid from canned garbanzo beans)
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon white truffle oil
INSTRUCTIONS:
Easy Pre-Prep: Place the cashews in filtered water in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Lightly oil a 4 x 2-inch pan with coconut oil.
Drain the cashews. In the pitcher of a Vitamix, place the cashews, aquafaba, salt, coconut oil, and truffle oil.
Process first on medium speed, using the plunger to evenly distribute the mixture.
Gradually increase the speed, stopping intermittently to redistribute the mixture until the it is smooth.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and smooth out the top with a rubber spatula. and cover with a round of parchment paper cut to fit the pan.
Dehydrate for 24 hours at 90 degrees. Transfer to the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Run a sharp knife around the edges of the mold. Turn the cheese out onto a cutting board and remove the sides. Using the wide flat side of a large knife, run the flat edge under the metal round, pressing upwards to separate the round from the cheese. Smooth the cheese surfaces with rubber spatula. If desired, place in a humidifier for 1 to 3 weeks. Rub fine sea salt over your cheese after a few days and then repeat every few days or so to prevent black mold from appearing.
Serve.
If you enjoy plant based cheeses and other fabulous foods, I definitely recommend this book!
Cashew Camembert recipe reprinted from This Cheese is Nuts: Delicious Vegan Cheese at Home by arrangement Avery, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2017, Julie Piatt.
printable Cashew Camembert recipe:Suzanne De Chillo wasn’t entirely enthusiastic when she set out to create a photo essay about hospice care and music therapy. In fact, she was a little scared.
“Nobody really wants to think about death,” she said. Confronting the subject was particularly difficult for Ms. De Chillo, whose husband died of cancer.
“Sometimes when you take photographs of things that are disturbing, you kind of use the camera as a shield and you kind of protect yourself,” she said. “You’re not really there.”
Suzanne De Chillo/The New York Times
When Ms. De Chillo embarked on her project early in June, though, she was encouraged by the resolve of the music therapists she encountered, who work for MJHS Hospice and Palliative Care. In every case, it seemed that just a few minutes of music could turn a room — any room — into a special place. The melodies, and the interactions they inspired, opened her mind. They made her feel present.
She photographed six patients for the project, which was published online Sunday with a multimedia feature, “In Hospice Care, Singing for Relief.” The youngest subject is a 6-month-old baby, Cecilia Havre, who has a genetic disorder called trisomy 18. Many infants born with the disorder don’t survive beyond their first week. Meredith Traver, the therapist, played the guitar for Cecilia’s parents, Chantel Vazquez and Eddie Havre, in their apartment.
Another subject, Kui San Sung, 60, is dying of lung cancer. Before playing Chinese folk songs for him, Ms. Traver asked Mr. Kui to imagine himself outside of his Chinatown nursing home; to imagine he was in the song. He closed his eyes, and when the songs were over, he clapped for Ms. Traver and his nursing aide, Lin Ho Tsang.
“The music and the song — it would create something very beautiful,” Ms. De Chillo said. “I think when somebody is dying, that person has a kind of gift to give the people around him.”
“It was a gift to me, too.”Comment The UK Chancellor George Osborne last week announced that the British government plans to double cybersecurity spending and establish a single National Cyber Centre.
Cybersecurity spending will rise to £1.9bn ($2.87bn) at a time of budget cuts to police and other government departments. More details are expected to come in the Autumn Statement to Parliament on Wednesday.
Speaking at GCHQ last week, Osborne claimed that the extra spending is justified in large part because cyber-jihadists are trying to take down critical infrastructure – power stations, air traffic control systems and more. Daesh, aka the Islamic State, is plotting deadly attacks on computer systems – and is close to achieving the capability, the Chancellor alleged [speech transcript here, press statement here].
"I have made a provision to almost double our investment to protect Britain from cyber attack and develop our sovereign capabilities in cyberspace, totaling £1.9 billion over five years," Osborne said.
"If you add the spending on core cyber security capabilities government protecting our own networks and ensuring safe and secure online services, the government's total cyber spending will be more than £3.2 billion."
Some of the money will go into an Institute of Coding as well as fighting cybercrime. But a major focus of the spending will come in further boosting the capabilities of GCHQ to tackle Daesh killers. Neither Russia nor China (the UK’s most capable cyber-espionage adversaries) merited a mention in the Chancellor's speech.
Daesh, by contrast, were mentioned eight times. As well as talking about the use of the “internet for hideous propaganda purposes, for radicalization [and] for operational planning,” Osborne claimed the medieval terror mob posed a growing cyber threat.
But what are the capabilities of the self-styled Cyber Caliphate? Russia is now the chief suspect in the most serious network assault ever attributed to the Cyber Caliphate group, the hack on French TV station TV5 Monde back in April. Jihadist propaganda was posted on the station's website by miscreants who claimed they were affiliated with the Islamic State. The TV network was knocked off air for about 18 hours.
Pretty much everyone took it at face value that the Cyber Caliphate was behind the attack, and it wasn’t until weeks later, once the dust had settled, that experts published evidence that undermined the Daesh-involvement hypothesis and fingered Russians as the likely culprits.
DDoS, defacement and social media hijacking
As explained in some depth by security expert Robert Pritchard, cyber-jihadism is likely limited to "website defacements, denial of service attacks or some sort of social media hijacking." Pritchard published the article months ago but he told us last week that the capabilities of cyber-jihadists haven't changed much, in his assessment.
Hacktivists on the pro-Assad side – most notably the self-styled Syrian Electronic Army – are demonstrably capable when it comes to social media hijacking, which they normally pull off using phishing. Elements of malware slinging are also involved in both sides of the pitiless civil war in Syria.
But an ability for militias or terrorists to launch infrastructure attacks? Really there’s no evidence for that, at least in the public domain – even though some infosec firms are all too ready to ramp the threat level all the way to DEFCON-1.
London calling
Anti-malware firm BitDefender last week implausibly warned that an “IS cyber-attack on the UK could cripple all forms of communication and infrastructure.”
Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist at Bitdefender, stated: “A possible worst-case scenario is the crippling of all communication and critical infrastructures, ranging from mobile phone to water supply, electricity, and gas. This could be coordinated alongside a physical tactical assault, as disrupting any form of communication or internet-connected technology could be used as a serious tactical advantage on the ground.”
“It is conceivable that although Islamic State might not have the necessary technical skills, it could potentially outsource these types of attacks to parties that do. The black market is riddled with such services, all waiting for the right buyer,” he added.
Challenged by the Register to justify this warning, Cosoi referred to run-of-the-mill action movie Die Hard 4.0, and denied spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt. Independent experts, such as Steve Lord, are dismissive. “Bitdefender’s assertions are more grounded in Hollywood than reality,” he said.TITUSVILLE, Fla. - Talia Rappa and Skyer Ashworth turned summer bargain shopping at a Titusville Thrift store closeout into the stuff of NASA collectors' legend when the central Florida college students paid 20 cents each for five rare NASA flight suits that experts say could be valued at $5,000 each or more.
“They were kind of in a weird corner," Rappa told News 6. “He (Skylar) pulled them all out at first, then brought the whole handful over to me.”
The five blue NASA flight suits, along with a white “control suit,” were in the bottom of a plastic bin tucked under some forgotten winter sweaters.
According to experts at the American Space Museum, the astronauts' names and flight dates on the white labels seem to match the time astronauts George “Pinky” Nelson, PhD, Robert A. Parker, PhD, and Charles D. Walker, a payload specialist, flew shuttle missions between 1983 and 1985.
At first, experts thought Nelson’s flight suit, a 38 small, was worn by Florida Senator Bill Nelson, but further investigation showed Senator Nelson didn’t fly a shuttle mission until 1986.
Rappa, a junior at UCF studying astrophysics, told News 6 she has always been fascinated with space travel and would love to be part of the MARS mission.
When the 20-year-old looked at the suits close up, she admits her “jaw dropped.”
Ashworth, 24, who was recently accepted into a college aerospace program at Eastern Florida State College, told News 6 the space program is in his family DNA.
“My parents worked NASA communications with the shuttle program," he said, “and my grandfather even worked communications with the shuttle.”
“It just blows my mind," Ashworth said, “It ( the bin holding the suits) was under two other big totes, I moved them off to the side and I’m digging through a whole bunch of sweaters and stuff, and I found the white one with the patch just kind of laying there.”
Chuck Jeffrey, a member of the board the American Space Museum in Titusville, and an avid NASA collector, purchased the fifth flight suit worn by STS-9 Astronaut Dr. Owen Garriot. Garriot, an amateur ham radio operator, is known as the first man in space to communicate via ham radio with people across the globe while aboard the Columbia STS-9.
The students plan to offer the suits at a special auction conducted by the American Space Museum.
TheA tentative date for the auction has been set for November 4.
Some of the proceeds will be donated to the museum, while the other funds will be used for the Rappa and Ashworth's college tuition.
For more information about the museum and the auction, go to: http://spacewalkoffame.org/.
Copyright 2017 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.For most Americans, the shutdown is yet another embarrassing political circus. But for the 800,000 or so federal employees who were placed indefinite furlough this week, it’s a lot more personal. And as the stalemate drags on, we wanted to hear what was on their minds. So we gave twenty furloughed federal employees 100 words to say, well, whatever they wanted. Some of them shared their insights on the serious repercussions happening behind the scenes. Others confessed their fears about not being able to get by financially. All of them, from the left and right, expressed frustration with being caught in the middle of Congress’s latest power struggle.
Archie Cubarrubia, Education Research Analyst, Department of Education:
I’m an immigrant. Growing up, I wanted to be nothing else but American, do nothing else but pursue public service. At my naturalization ceremony, I promised to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America” and “bear true faith and allegiance to the same.” I love our democracy. But what’s happening isn’t democracy. It’s anarchy perpetuated by people in pursuit of ideological extremism at the expense of America’s citizens. This isn’t how America is supposed to work. I remember what I felt when I took that oath. At this moment, all I feel is disappointment.
Ted Lehr, software developer in the “intelligence community”:
My question is: Why am I furloughed? My contract is fully funded - the money sitting there waiting to be used. So why am I at home, not earning a paycheck. As a single income family of 5, my paycheck is pretty important. The answer: it is important for Reid and Obama to create panic over the shutdown. Massive numbers of furloughed employees, closing of parks that are never manned anyway, and a media at the ready to stir up a panic to save an already broken health care system.
Norm Williams, Financial Management Analyst:
Being furloughed is tough but worth it if the Congress is trying to hold hostage health insurance for people that can’t afford it. When did we stop caring about people? When did how much money we make become more important than our fellow man? I’ll suffer during this shutdown but I feel that saving health care is the most important thing that we can do as a society. Taking care of the people who struggle day to day to make ends meet is more important. We need to stop thinking about ourselves and think about people who need help.
Anonymous Office Chief, Department of Homeland Security:
I am furloughed because adults are acting like children, being sore losers. When their actions hurt real Americans, not just the federal workforce, they want to fund the cool, fun things to be “popular.” Grow-up, do your job! I believe; you reap what you sow, do unto others as you would have done unto you, and karma’s a $itch. It will be fun watching Congress deal with what they have sown and done (ill will, unemployment, negative financial impact) to the federal workforce. We the people voted you in, we the people will vote you out.
Anonymous government auditor:
After four days, I’ve mostly felt the benefits of not having to go to work (seeing more of my kids, for one), and less so the costs of not getting paid. But I know those costs are coming. And depending how long this shutdown lasts, I may very soon not be able to pay my mortgage. Still, though easier said than done, I’d rather lose my house than see Democrats cave and Republicans walk away thinking this is a winning strategy. That would only lead to more Republican hostage-taking, and a new stage in the growth of our political cancer.
Jeff Young, commissary stocker, Fort Detrick:
The shutdown is indeed frustrating, I’m against Obamacare and for smaller government, yet I’m a government employee at Fort Detrick, Md. I’m stuck somewhere in the middle, I just wish they would compromise, even if It means pushing healthcare back. The MOST frustrating part, is trying to make the best of it and fish near the C&O Canal on the Potomac River. Only to be greeted by signs saying I can’t fish, because of furlough. It’s becoming a joke, I don’t believe people will stand for this childish leadership from both sides for long.
Anonymous biologist, Forest Service:
On Monday morning, I was in disbelief that the government would shut down; having faith that the House would find the 17 votes necessary to pass a continuing resolution. I have read news articles, trying to understand the political realities. We are being held hostage for political gain. At this point I have no confidence in our democracy. The debt ceiling will not be dealt with in a timely manner and we will once again be held hostage. No COLA in 4 years, a home that is underwater, and four mouths to feed with no income. That is our reality.
TJ Hedin, intern, Council of Economic Advisers:
The most important thing for the Democrats to do at this point is to make sure they give House Republicans a way out of the corner they’ve put themselves in. For Republicans to give up the fight now, without receiving anything in return, means each day of shutdown was just a political game gone wrong. They’re threatening default now not because they prefer it to keeping Obamacare, but because after they’ve sacrificed so much, they can’t vote to end the shutdown now without getting something in return. Give Republicans a way to save face, and they’ll take it and run.
Anonymous Department of Defense recruiter:
I am a Technical Recruiter for NSA, one of the best places you can work and contribute to the safety of the American people daily. How am I supposed to recruitthe best and the brightest new college recruits when they see Congress fighting constantly and even completely shutting down the government because they can’t negotiate and pass a budget? President Obama wants to make federal employment "attractive" again. This is not the way to do it. We are competing with the Googles and Yahoos, we need to be at least open for business.
Denise McCarthy, Senior Procurement Analyst, U.S. Army:
I believe the shutdown is the direct result of 80 tea party, mostly white, mostly male, congressional members and their failure to compromise and collaborate for the best interests of Americans. The concessions on the Affordable Care Act to this GOP faction were made prior to the bill being signed into law. Now they insist on holding the country and the entire world economy hostage for more changes that can easily be worked via the legislative process. The GOP Bush administration invaded Iraq with no strategy for withdrawal - so it doesn’t surprise me that the House GOP is responsible for this government shutdown without thought to how it could be ended and without concern to all the possible Americans adversely affected.
James M., lawyer, Social Security Administration:
I was expectedly furloughed on Tuesday after working four hours. I arrived home, checked my financial situation and considered the stakes: my temporary position versus affordable healthcare for all. I concluded that not only would I be okay, but so would millions of Americans. This gave me great joy. See, I have insight into being uninsured with a preexisting condition. Under the old system, we had to choose health and stay poor to qualify for patient assistance programs – a broken system. The ACA gives affordable healthcare to all. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s better than the old one.
Erica Waller, Senior Cost Accountant, NASA:
The extent of my work over the past fiscal year has been so cumbersome and extreme, that I somewhat welcome the thought of a furlough. Being a civil servant can be mentally and physically exhausting, however I chose to serve my country. I fear the lack of my presence at work will start a trickling affect, that will not only impact the public sector, but the integrity of our government. Furthermore, I do not embrace the loss of hours, or my wages. We have already lost so many benefits, that our basic survival methodologies are becoming a challenge.
Anonymous Social Science Research Analyst:
I work hard as a civil servant and social worker. I care about the greater good and believe it is the job of the government to help those who are most vulnerable. I believe in the basic social work tenets - social justice, putting the client first, positive social change … concepts lost on the congressmen who have allowed this shutdown at a time when people are still in need. We are not the bad guys - I have a family to support - and somehow I have been made out to be the enemy. I just want to keep doing my job.
Gillian Gurley, attorney adviser for an administrative judge, Labor Department:
Even a short shutdown infringes on parties’ Due Process rights. Hearings and decisions will be delayed for months. Claimants will go longer without medical care and compensation for work-related disabilities. Employers (often small business owners) are left in financial limbo when cases aren’t timely resolved. Personally, the shutdown is a serious blow. I’m pregnant with my first child and due to the furlough, will have to dip into savings I was keeping to support myself during the unpaid maternity leave I get under the FMLA.
“Frustrated IRS Worker”:
Yes I work for the federal govt. I am furloughed. Sounds nice to be home but it isn’t so nice not knowing when you will go back to work or when I will get paid or even if I can get unemployment. I don’t blame one person in general. But I feel as they didn’t think this through. Besides the furloughed federal workers, what about the others around that are affected? The coffee truck that comes to the building, the cleaning guy, the vending machine owners, the people we can’t help because we aren’t in the office……didn’t think of that, did they?
Anonymous auditor, United States Department of Agriculture:
We Feds were doing our job and were unceremoniously told to go home (with no pay) – it sucks. However, the shutdown didn’t go far enough to show the American public just how much their gov’t does for them. To show people just WHAT their gov’t does, EVERYTHING needs to be shut down, close the ports, send border patrol home,send air traffic controllers home, and send the TSA airport security home. That would show big business what GOVERNMENT makes possible. Also cut out food stamps, WIC, Medicare, Medicaid, and social security. That way EVERYONE sees what their government actually does.
Anonymous Air Reserve Technician, United States Air Force Reserve:
The shutdown has limited my ability to make ends meet. We have been on a pay freeze for years even though the cost of living has increased. I have debt collectors calling and have been unable to pay due to furlough. All the govt has done is change laws to fit their agenda. Are they still getting paid? What if I was to perform my job as they do? The govt seems to have become more like terrorists than leaders. We need to have a vote of “no confidence” and have them replaced immediately.
Michael, Program Specialist, Department of Health and Human Services:
I am living on my own and finished graduate school just 2 months ago. This shutdown has put things on hold and leaves me with a lot of uncertainty. I just hope this can be resolved quickly because it’s affecting a lot of people like me who are recent graduates, don’t have thousands in their savings account, and are just now developing the skills to start a life and career on their own.
Anonymous federal contractor, Department of Justice:
As a contractor affected by the current government shutdown, both congress and the President need to govern and lead. The federal government needs to wisely reduce the level of government, prepare and pass a budget and plan for years beyond their re-election. While my employer depends almost solely on federal government contracts, we cannot continue to grow the government without the ability to pay for the services and capabilities. I like my work and have made a difference for the federal government. However, I don’t know if I should continue amidst the uncertainty.
Leif Nesse, contract paralegal for U.S. Attorney’s Office:Right, I know few people in or around Welsh politics are in the right frame of mind following yesterday’s news, but I still have a few posts to get through this week and will put together my own thoughts on what’s happened for tomorrow.
(Title Image: Wales Online)
Economy & Infrastructure Committee
City Deals & Regional Economies (pdf)
Published: 2nd November 2017
Chair’s Statement, Russell George AM (Con, Montgomery):
“If (city) deals are to be a key driver of future economic activity in Wales, then we need to ensure there is clarity about what is happening, who is responsible for the plans, and what happens if targets aren’t achieved. We need greater certainty that meeting the UK Government’s drive for GDP growth, and the Welsh Government’s ambitions for a sustainable economy can both be achieved at the same time.”
1. Be wary of creating additional bureaucracy
The Open University argued that city deals may be replicating measures that are already in place. The Committee demands a streamlined decision-making system that would avoid creating additional “red tape” for businesses in a given area.
2. We need to know whether they’re working
There are concerns over a lack of transparency and clarity over the relationship between the city deals and local authorities. It was also unclear how small businesses would be represented. There is a clear need to know who is in charge of what, who is accountable for the outcomes of the city regions and whether they actually meet economic targets or not.
The UK Government will review funding every 5 years and will decide whether to continue based on whether individual city regions are meeting targets, so the Committee also recommended that contingency plans be put in place by the city regions should they fall short.
Prof. Dylan Jones-Evans warned about the Swansea Bay City Deal in particular, believing it was becoming too focused on “speculative building projects” (a “Wellness Village” in Llanelli) rather than investment in digital infrastructure as originally proposed; the leader of Swansea City Council was “angry” about the criticism, while Carmarthenshire dismissed it due to private sector input into the project which was “unusual for a city deal”.
3. “Spread the wealth”
The city regions need to ensure that areas on the periphery of the region benefit and the benefits don’t all centre on the main cities in each region (in this case Cardiff & Swansea). Some witnesses argued that the goals of the city regions – to increase jobs and economic growth – was too narrow and more needed to be done to address quality of jobs and long-term economic inactivity.
A Newcastle University study said there were a number of issues in evaluating the success (or not) of city regions, with it being hard to tell if growth was entirely down to the city deal and whether economic development had simply moved from one part of the region to another.
4. Don’t ignore Mid Wales
There are tentative proposals for a north Wales growth deal, but there’ve been no formal moves by the UK Government yet to support it.
However, there’s nothing planned for Mid Wales, with the leader of Ceredigion Council, Cllr. Ellen ap Gwynn, believing the area was “left behind” and “ignored”. There have been moves to get the groundwork read for a Mid Wales deal, but there’s yet to be any agreement on what the deal would involve.
There’s also a problem in that the region lacks a “city footprint” and has a limited number of anchor companies. Any deal for Mid Wales would, therefore, need to be radically different to those in any other region.As record sea ice melt scarcely makes the news while the third runway grabs headlines, is there a form of reactive denial at work?
Yesterday was August 28th 2012. Remember that date. It marks the day when the world went raving mad.
Three things of note happened. The first is that a record Arctic ice melt had just been announced by the scientists studying the region. The 2012 figure has not only beaten the previous record, established in 2007. It has beaten it three weeks before the sea ice is likely to reach its minimum extent. It reveals that global climate breakdown is proceeding more rapidly than most climate scientists expected. But you could be forgiven for missing it, as it scarcely made the news at all.
Instead, in the UK, the headlines concentrated on the call by Tim Yeo, chair of the parliamentary energy and climate change committee, for a third runway at Heathrow. This sparked a lively debate |
on the job, but they are assigned jobs by those who understand how much or little they can do. So their trial-and-error learning often involves structured trials. Skilled craftsmen assign tasks that they judge to be within, or close to, their current capacity. Those tasks build foundations for more complex skills. The overall result is that apprentice learning systems combine high fidelity with large bandwidth.
Moreover, the apprentice learning model is ethnographically and archaeologically plausible. In foraging societies, extensive explicit instruction does not seem to play a prominent role in the acquisition of hunting skills. But children are provided with informational resources. For example, they are provided with miniature hunting weapons [69]; they are sometimes taught how to make the tracks they must follow (see [70, pp. 166–176] for series of photos of aboriginals making pseudo-tracks). They learn games that rehearse key physical skills. They accompany adults on hunts, and these are sometimes reorganized to make this possible [16]. And while there may not be much explicit instruction, they are exposed to an enormous amount of hunting lore [71,72]. They have access to the expertise of those with the relevant skills; they have the time and opportunity to practice, and that practice is guided. Indeed, there are some cultures in which hunting skill is passed on though something like explicit apprenticeship [73]. In these cases high-fidelity, high-bandwidth social learning depends both on an organized and adapted learning environment and on specific cognitive adaptations. Likewise, there is significant anthropological documentation of the acquisition of craft skills in apprentice-style situations. Apprentice transmission of weaving traditions are documented from a range of cultures, though these are often family-based, mother–daughter lineages [66, pp. 321–322]. Lave [74] discusses two examples in some detail: apprentice tailors in Liberia and the study of Islamic law in nineteenth century Cairo. These examples are important because they document the flexibility of apprentice learning and teaching: it supports the acquisition of much more than manual skill. Liberian apprentice tailors learn about the social and economic organization of a tailor's life, not just how to make trousers. Islamic law is not a manual skill, but it is not just a textual skill either. The student learns about the social and institutional organization of Islamic courts, not just about the texts, from being immersed in those institutions.
It is obviously more difficult to reconstruct the social organization of teaching and learning in extinct cultures. Tehrani & Riede [66] suggest that a detailed analysis of the life history of artefacts can identify artefact traditions: continuity in form over time that is not owing to the constraints imposed by raw materials and function. Likewise, Bamforth & Finlay [75] develop criteria for identifying highly skilled stone work, and also less-skilled work that is likely to be the result of novice practice. In favourable cases, these methods will expose high-fidelity, high-volume social learning in former social worlds. They document the importance of social learning. But by themselves they do not reveal the social organization or cognitive preconditions of such learning. However, there are occasional archaeological symptoms of an apprentice-like organization of craftsmanship. For there are artefacts that appear to have been produced collaboratively, with an expert guiding or helping the less expert. Inexpertly made stone tools sometimes show signs of expert repair or improvement. More systematically, Patricia Crown [76] has demonstrated collaboration between the expert and inexpert in pottery making, both ethnographically and archaeologically, with expert potters often controlling the most difficult parts of the construction process, leaving the less expert (often children) to complete the routine parts. For example, experts lay down the basic design that children then paint in.
Moreover, the size and organization of the local community is also extremely important to its capacity to retain and to accumulate information. As Haim Ofek [27] has noted, a larger market size allows more specialization and more division of labour, both of which impact positively on a group's informational resources. A small group will not be able to afford a specialist fire-keeper or bow maker; a medium-sized or large group, perhaps, can. They will have enough customers to support specialization. Specialists typically have higher skill levels, and hence set a higher bar for the next generation. Moreover, a more diverse group with a varied skill set is more likely to innovate than a small, more homogeneous group. Those who specialize in a craft are the most likely to find an improvement in it, and innovation through cross-fertilization is more likely as the overall skill base becomes more diverse and extensive. Specialists may also be more accurate in filtering unsuccessful innovation, and as Enquist & Ghirlanda [77] show, filtering is essential if culture is to become cumulative.
Second, redundancy plays a critical role in buffering the group's informational resources. Larger groups store information in more heads than smaller ones. Information can easily drift out of a small group, through unlucky accidents to those with rare skills (see [78], though in response see [79,80]). In addition, redundancy may play a second role in compensating for low-fidelity cultural learning. Modern humans are clearly individually adapted for social learning [81–83]. But Richerson and colleagues doubt that these adaptations suffice for high fidelity, and argue that the social environment compensates for low fidelity through redundancy. Naive agents have many opportunities to acquire specific skills and critical information, and they develop models to show that redundancy—for example, a naive agent using many models rather than a single model—can compensate for low fidelity one-on-one learning. Thus, so long as there is sufficient redundancy, with members of a population connected in the right ways, a population can preserve its informational resources in transmission to the next generation through low-fidelity channels [12,84–86].
However, while demographic factors are important in the establishment of behaviourally modern cultures, demographic expansion alone does not explain the acceleration of innovation. Redundancy allows low-fidelity transmission to preserve informational resources, allowing already established and widespread skills to be copied via multiple trials to the next generation. But such mechanisms will not allow small, incremental improvements to existing techniques to be preserved, copied to the next generation and spread to be the foundation for further improvement. This claim is somewhat controversial. Henrich has developed redundancy-based models with accumulation despite low fidelity [78], models which have recently been extended [87]. But the conception of skill on which Henrich's model depends is not psychologically plausible. He models the information structure underlying a capacity or skill as a continuous quality. The product of a skill may often be a quantity of some kind: hunting success; the robustness of a pot; the power of a bow. Indeed, we often use those products to measure a skill: in an archery competition, for example, we use a product of the skill—the number of arrows on target—as its measure. But the systems of information and capacity on which those products depend are not continuous quantities. To see this, consider the challenges involved in learning such a skill. The skills of an artisan are hard to master, but that is not because there must be some measurement error while trying to match a quantity. Rather, it is because the informational basis of skill is only partially manifest in any particular act. A specific, somewhat stereotyped motor skill might be modelled, to a first approximation, as a quantity. But a skilled artisan can respond effectively to a range of different circumstances, demands and materials. That is part of skill. A kayak-maker does not manifest all his skills in making any one kayak. An expert flint knapper responds appropriately to variation in raw materials and in functional demands. Stone tool making is not stereotyped in the way, say, a tennis serve (Henrich's example) might well be.
These models make a convincing case for the importance of demography. Moreover, Powell, Shennan and Thomas's extension of Henrich's work shows that the models are robust, and that the parameter values that predict accumulation map quite plausibly onto estimates of human populations just prior to the establishment of behavioural modernity. But these extensions retain the oversimplified picture of the relationship between a capacity and its underlying informational basis. So while they show that demography plays a crucial role in the establishment of behavioural modernity, so too does high-fidelity learning. In general, low-fidelity learning plus redundancy is not enough for accumulation. In summary, then, the cultural learning characteristic of the Upper Palaeolithic transition and later periods of human culture—social transmission with both a large bandwidth and sufficient accuracy for a ratchet of improvement—requires individual cognitive adaptations for cultural learning, highly structured learning environments and population structures that both buffer existing resources effectively and which support enough specialization to generate a supply of innovation.
There were no medieval craft guilds in the Upper Palaeolithic, though the adze-making traditions of Neolithic New Guinea are strikingly convergent on that social practice [88]. But if the model developed in this paper is correct, information-rich, expertise-dependent, forager lifestyles depended on a similar combination of an organized learning environment and specific adaptations for social learning. The pulse of cultural and technological innovation that is most dramatically visible in the archaeological record in the Upper Palaeolithic revolution is a signal of such a social world: a social world which makes possible high-fidelity, high-bandwidth transmission across the generations. Individuals in these social worlds were equipped for social learning. But they depended on an adapted environment, as well, and on populations which spread risk and supported specialist expertise. The persistence of these lifeways depended on highly skilled agents sharing their expertise and on the reliable replication of the learning environment in which crucial expertise was acquired. This combination, and only this combination, allowed cognitive capital to be accumulated and behaviourally modern cultures to emerge.
5. Testing the model
No-one doubts that the evolution of enhanced social learning was one of the most distinctive features of hominin evolution, and that it was one important factor driving the increasing phenotypic difference between the hominin and the chimpanzee clade. This paper has tried to identify that evolutionary trend more precisely, especially its culmination in behaviourally modern culture. Further, it develops a model of the evolutionary preconditions of behavioural modernity. Individual cognitive adaptations for learning and teaching were doubtless important, but not in themselves sufficient. An adapted learning environment—best understood as apprentice transmission—and a favourable demographic profile were also necessary. But it is one thing to advance a plausible model, another to test it. So how can the model be turned into a testable hypothesis about the origins and establishment of behavioural modernity? Archaeology, ethnography and experimental psychology can be combined to test the model, though only in preliminary ways.
The most obvious test is archaeological: comparing the predictions of the niche construction model of behavioural modernity with alternatives. One alternative is Peter Hiscock and Sue O'Connor's suggestion that the supposed ‘sapiens paradox’ is a pseudo-problem created by preservation biases. They suspect that there was no qualitative difference between first sapiens cultures and those of 50 kyr BP. Smaller groups use fewer artefacts, and so their immediate archaeological footprint is smaller, even in those places were they were found, and they were found in fewer places. Moreover, the older the site, the more likely it is to be degraded. Even so, if there is no qualitative difference in cultural complexity between the first sapiens peoples and those of the later Pleistocene, the apparent gap should steadily close in the face of increasing sampling, and by correcting for sampling biases in comparing records. A (approximate) steady-state model can also be tested against the record of more recent cultures (like those of Ancient Australia) where preservation problems may be less formidable. On the niche construction view, there is a genuine difference between stabilized high-fidelity, high-volume cultures, their ancestors and some successors. So the apparent difference should persist in the face of increased sampling effort and bias correction.
The most prominent alternative to the niche construction model is Richard Klein's genetic-pulse hypothesis. In contrast to Klein's picture, the niche construction model does not predict a unidirectional increase in the capacity to mobilize informational resources, even after the fundamental genetic capacities essential to that mobilization have evolved. For the developmental environment is critical, and subject to multiple routes of disturbance. Nor do we find a unidirectional pattern. So, for example, it has recently been argued that behavioural modernity appears to arrive gradually, with its elements not tightly coupled, in multiple locations, and perhaps incipiently in Neanderthals as well as sapiens [17,19,24,26]. Richard Klein continues to resist the idea that there are convincing early examples of modern-like behaviour. Moreover, he argues that population pressure models are the only alternative to his genetic breakthrough hypothesis, and notes that they face serious challenges: (i) population pressure models owe us an account of how the need for innovation generates the capacity to innovate; (ii) population pressure models need to explain why hominin populations expanded prior to the acquisition of new skills and capacities; (iii) in the crucial period in Africa (100–50 kyr BP), there is no independent evidence of an increased human population or increased ecological footprint [20,89]. While these are serious problems for population pressure models, the apprentice learning model does not depend on population pressure to explain the onset of behavioural modernity. The crucial factor is the size of, and interactions within, the local group, not the ecological footprint of the metapopulation on the landscape's resources.
Suppose that Klein is right to discount ancient signals of apparently modern behaviour, Hiscock & O'Connor point out that the apparent disappearance, then return, of signs of modernity in the record after 50 kyr BP is an equally serious challenge to the genetic switch model of behavioural modernity. A one-factor genetic-switch model cannot explain the variability in the signs of modernity that postdate the switch. If additional demographic, cultural or genetic factors are added to the genetic switch model to track variability, the genetic switch itself becomes redundant. In short, the genetic switch model seems to predict a qualitative change in cultural complexity somewhere around 60 000–50 000 kyr BP, followed by a new, higher equilibrium. Arguably, the data do not support the sudden upward shift. But perhaps they do not support the idea that there was a higher equilibrium, either. For this reason the Australian archaeological record is an informative lens through which to view the interaction of individual cognition with collective capacity.
The initial expansion of humans into the Sahul about 45 000 years BP could not have been accidental. These humans had the capacity to plan and cooperate. Moreover, they had technology complex enough to cross significant stretches of ocean [90]. However, before the Last Glacial Maximum, 20 kyr or so ago, the archaeological record resembles that of Middle Stone Age Africa. So for the first 25 000 years of their occupation, the first Australians seem to have had a limited technological toolkit; exploited a narrow resource band; and showed limited signs of symbolic culture. Eventually, the standard symptoms of behavioural modernity do appear. But as in the African case, the archaeological signatures of behavioural modernity do not appear together in space and time. Ochre use and burial of the dead is relatively early, as is the use of freshwater shellfish (perhaps 40 kyr BP). There are beads from about 35 kyr BP. But the first signs of marine shellfish exploitation and bone tools, and cave art with recognizable motifs are all much younger. Moreover, the lithic toolkit stays quite simple until the Holocene (see [91, p. 211, fig. 9]). Only over the last 20 000 years, do we consistently see the usual archaeological signatures of behavioural modernity: broad-range foraging; environmental management; technological innovation; and obvious symbolic culture [36,92,93], though it is possible that this too is a sampling effect [25].
Allen & O'Connell [90] interpret this record as showing that people can be behaviourally modern without showing that they are behaviourally modern. To arrive at all, they must have been technologically and ecologically flexible, but as a consequence of environmental and demographic factors, modernity left no trace for upwards of 25 kyr. O'Connell & Allen do not consider the idea that Australians ceased to be modern after they arrived; nor do Habgood & Franklin. Neglecting this possibility makes sense if we think modernity is coded and canalized in individual genomes, if it is an attribute individuals have largely independently of their cultural environment. But it makes no sense if behavioural modernity is partially dependent on the organization of social life—a social life that would have changed fundamentally as small numbers of people dispersed into an enormous landscape. The communal resources available to very small groups dispersed over enormous and inhospitable distances would be very different to those available to communities based on the fertile islands and shallow seas of southeast Asia. Quite likely, informational resources were buffered less well, and group size was too small to support much specialization, depressing innovation. On the niche construction model but not genetic switch models, behavioural modernity can be lost as well as gained, and losses should be detectable in the record.
In short, we have three different predictions. The Hiscock–O'Connor suggestion (it is no more than that) predicts an approximate steady state, discounted by preservation biases and the effects of group size. There is no qualitative upward trend in cultural complexity before the Holocene. The niche construction model does predict such a trend, but it is potentially fragile, so interruption and reversal is possible. The gene-switch model predicts a sharp upward shift, once the gene has spread through the population, followed by a stable, higher equilibrium.
In principle, ethnographic data can test the model. The model predicts that crucial skills are acquired by socially supported trial-and-error learning: adults with expertise are actively involved in juvenile learning. However, the form of that involvement will vary by culture and by skill, for the core skills of small-scale societies were very varied. They included: stone technology; fire and fire management; woodworking; the use of skins and other materials for clothes and covering; making shelters; folk medicine; tracking and hunting skills; natural history expertise; and (eventually) weaving and pottery. These skills vary in their transparency to reverse engineering; their transparency to observational learning techniques; the ease with which stepwise improvement is possible; the precision needed in production (their error tolerance); the cost of raw materials and hence the cost of experimentation; and the risks of failed trials. So we would expect the mix of explicit instruction, supervised experiment and support by the provision of tools, raw materials and exemplars to vary from case to case. But we do not expect to find ethnographic evidence that core skills are acquired by independent trial-and-error learning. Nor de we expect to find them acquired by instruction alone.
Moreover, the model predicts differences between skills that are transmitted vertically, within families, and those that are transmitted communally, with many-to-many transmission. Communal transmission buffers skill acquisition by spreading risk, and perhaps allows a higher rate of accumulation, if the most skilled members of the community serve as models for the next generation. In practice, ethnographic data is at best suggestive. There are a few admirable case studies [15,88]. But there is simply not enough systematic, broadly based data. For example, Katharine McDonald's admirable survey of forager skill acquisition has almost no information about making hunting equipment, for almost all hunting was done with store-bought equipment. Hunting with dogs and guns changes the skill base needed for hunting too, so it is far from clear that we can project information about near-contemporary foraging people back into the past.
There is some prospect of supplementing ethnographic and archaeological data by experiment. It is still early days for experimental work on fidelity, bandwidth and accumulation in social learning (for a review, see [94]). But there is already suggestive work on the diffusion of technique in humans and great apes. While the results are far from conclusive, they suggest that both emulation and imitation play important roles in social learning and that, at least in some simple cases, imitation may not be necessary for accumulating improvement [59,61]. For example, Christine Caldwell and Ailsa Millen, in experiments using paper plane construction as the target skill, found that reverse-engineering the product was sufficient to learn and sometimes improve designs. Improvement was possible when naive subjects were allowed to examine finished planes, even when they never saw them being made [95]. As they note, paper planes are a simple technology, with the design often being obvious from the product, so this result may not generalize to many other cases.
The ideal experiments, then, would combine ethnographic and archaeological data identifying those techniques that seem to persist stably, perhaps using the criteria discussed in Tehrani & Riede [66], with an experimental programme. That programme would probe the learning environments necessary and sufficient for those techniques' acquisition. The niche construction model predicts, of course, that without rich and extensive scaffolding, core skills are not transmittable. Unfortunately, very serious logistical problems prevent implementation of this ideal. Informal report suggests that, for example, advanced stone tool working skills take many years of intensive practice to acquire [67]. That is just as the model predicts, but it follows that direct experimental study of complex skill transmission is not tractable. The hope is to decompose complex skills into relatively independent constituents, whose acquisition can be studied in experiments of reasonable duration.
In brief, the model is partially testable against both archaeological and ethnographic evidence, but not in very rigorous ways. Greater rigour is possible, if ethnography and archaeology can be used to identify target skills, and if those target skills can then be decomposed into component capacities whose transmission conditions can be studied experimentally.
Footnotes
One contribution of 13 to a Theme Issue ‘Human niche construction’.When a flood hits Floodwaters can rise with terrifying speed. When your neighborhood floods, having a boat can be a game-changer.
Rising Flood Water “If you are like most of us and live down where the rivers occasionally slip their banks, you might want to consider a boat in your survival loadout.”
The storm surge from Hurricane Katrina inundated the coastal areas of Louisiana and Mississippi with terrifying speed.
Flash floods from excessively heavy rains can turn roads into rivers in many parts of the country in minutes. When the local boulevard becomes a raging torrent, it takes a boat to evacuate safely. Fortunately, there are lots of options available for the typical prepper who lives in low-lying terrain.
A good friend of mine was trapped with his dad in the top floor of his home by floodwaters from Katrina that rose so fast they could not escape. These two desperate survivors improvised a flotation device out of a hot tub lid, only to have the surge abate just before their final redoubt became untenable. As with most things, a little preparation and forethought can solve problems like these before they get out of hand.
Escape To Safety
In many rural areas, an aluminum jon boat is standard-issue equipment. These flat-bottomed vessels are relatively lightweight and exceptionally stable in rough water. An aluminum jon boat requires no maintenance and is all but indestructible. Our family jon boat was bought used in 1953 and is still floating today. Versions range from little more than an aluminum box with seats to high-end fishing rigs that cost as much as a nice car and carry more amenities than my first apartment. These emergency boats do, however, take up quite a lot of space and represent an impractical option for anyone not intending to use the vessel for fishing or recreation in times of peace.
RELATED STORY: When a Hurricane Hits: FEMA’s 18 Must Do’s
The L1852MT from Lowe Boats is an all-purpose jon boat. At 17-feet-9-inches long and 75 inches wide, this versatile utility boat weighs 475 pounds, has a payload capacity of 1,445 pounds and can carry six passengers safely. Short of intentional abuse, the aluminum L1852MT boat should render proper service for your children’s children.
Canoes have been staples of water transport in North America for as long as there have been humans living here. The originals were pieces of primitive art formed from massive tree trunks via a tedious process of controlled burning and painstaking woodwork.
Nowadays, commercial canoes and kayaks are available in plastic, fiberglass and aluminum, and provide the benefit of being fast and easy to paddle. The same streamlined design that makes the canoe or kayak fast comes at a cost, however. If heavily loaded, a canoe is not nearly as stable as a flat-bottomed jon boat. Spend enough time in a canoe and eventually you will get wet. Fail to tie your gear in securely and you will donate it to whatever lurks at the bottom of the lake. Additionally, like the jon boat, a canoe or kayak is a rigid vessel that takes up a lot of space when stored.
Osagian Canoes makes top-quality canoes and kayaks out of aluminum. The company’s 15-foot Osagian Classic aluminum canoe has a 3-foot beam, enough room for three people, a 580-pound payload capacity and a highly portable weight of 65 pounds. Like the jon boat, an aluminum canoe that is not abused should last forever.
Osagian actually claims the world’s only all-aluminum kayak as well. The Osagian Kayak Standard weighs a paltry 48 pounds, is 12 feet long and sports a 30-inch beam. While this compact kayak will only accommodate a single person, it still has a 400-pound payload and is significantly easier to store than larger emergency boats on the market.
Fast Evac
Modern advances in polymer science have produced synthetic materials that are remarkably lightweight while remaining literally tough enough to shed bullets.
While these materials comprise body panels for cars, heat shields for spacecraft and inserts for bullet-resistant vests, they also make splendid watercraft. The same technology that produces inflatable boats tough enough to carry Navy SEALs onto a hostile shore in the middle of the night can also provide inflatable watercraft for the prepared American.
RELATED STORY: Surviving Surging Water and Fatal Floods
Sea Eagle offers a wide variety of inflatable boats at very reasonable prices. Its catalog ranges from single-operator paddleboards, fishing boats and kayaks up to large pontoon boats that will accommodate up to seven passengers or 2,000 pounds of gear. These boats deflate to store or ship easily while remaining readily deployable via mechanical or electric air pumps. As such, a Sea Eagle boat can be kept out of the way in the corner of the garage yet remain quickly deployable should the weather turn foul and the floodwaters rise.
The Sea Eagle SE8 Motormount is the perfect solution to a water emergency. The SE8 weighs 32 pounds and can carry nearly half a ton of payload safely. It collapses into a handy backpack and deploys for use in 10 minutes. The SE8 can be fitted for an outboard motor, and the base model costs less than $300.
When searching for the ultimate bug-out watercraft, it would be hard to beat an airboat. With aluminum hulls and propulsion systems more at home in airplanes than boats, these hybrid vehicles require a very shallow draft and are subsequently uniquely maneuverable in congested waterways. Airboats are also more resistant to unpredictable currents than deeper-draft vessels.
RELATED STORY: 23 Life Saving ‘Get Out Alive’ Tips
An AirRanger airboat from American Airboat Corporation represents the state-of-the-art model. Sporting a 450-horsepower, 6-liter engine that turns a 79-inch, whisper-tip prop and offers seating for five, this 18-foot monster comes equipped with an onboard GPS navigation system. Commercial applications include sightseeing, hunting and fishing in swamps and similar difficult-to-access wet areas. In a flood scenario, a properly equipped airboat is the ultimate survival vehicle.
Improvised Gear
Improvising flotation gear is a last-ditch option. The inimitable Army Ranger Handbook will walk you through how to build a proper poncho raft, but this name is misleading. A poncho raft will float your individual equipment and keep it dry, but the operator in question will still be bobbing along beside it. In an emergency, empty water or fuel cans make fine improvised flotation devices, as do empty soda bottles that are sealed and strapped together with paracord.
RELATED STORY: Capsized Survival: How to Stay Alive in Open Water
If things really go sideways, remove your pants and tie knots in the legs. Close the fly and arrange the crotch portion across your chest so that the empty legs run underneath your arms. Lift the waist portion above the water to trap air in the legs as needed. So long as the cloth is kept wet, a decent pair of pants will hold enough air to suffice as improvised water wings.
There are countless stories of refugees attempting to ford flooded roads in a vehicle, only to find the water either too deep or too fast to manage. Water running over a roadway can be misleading, and it is always dangerous to attempt to cross flooded areas of road in a car or truck. Investing in a decent boat takes one more variable out of the survival equation in a crisis.
If you are like most of us and live down where the rivers occasionally slip their banks, you might want to consider a boat in your survival loadout. Under the wrong circumstances, this could be your most critical piece of survival gear.
For More Information:
American Airboat Corporation
http://www.americanairboats.com; 800-241-6390
Lowe Boats
http://www.loweboats.com; 417-532-9101
Osagian Canoes
http://www.osagian.com; 866-532-7299
Sea Eagle
http://www.Seaeagle.com; 800-748-8066
This article was originally published in the SURVIVOR’S EDGE ™ Summer 2015 issue. Subscription is available in print and digital editions here.Published: October 4th, 2013 11:25 EST PETA Offers to Defray Costs of Flattening Penis-Shaped Bollards: Video By Robert Paul Reyes "If you`ve driven along Carothers and Finley avenues in the Glendale section of Scott Township lately, you might understand why the phallus-shaped concrete posts, called bollards, are getting a rise out of residents. In fact, displeasure with the barriers is running so high that some people are reportedly referring to one street as `Penis Road,` and township officials are talking about flattening the posts` domed tops to make them a little less controversial. Enter PETA, which has sent a letter to Scott Township Manager Denise Fitzgerald with an offer: PETA will help offset the costs of flattening the domed tops in exchange for placing ads on the posts prior to their remodeling that address the connection between eating meat, eggs, and dairy products and the incidence of male impotence. The ads would read, `Here`s a Tip: Go Vegan to Beat Impotence." PETA.Org This is an update to my article: http://thesop.org/story/20130927/town-up-in-arms-over-traffic-barriers-that-look-like-penises-video.html I fail to understand why some residents of Scott Township have such a rigid hatred for the traffic barriers known as bollards or more colloquially as "row of penises." Be that as it may, the bollard controversy is the most divisive issue ever to face the small town, but to the rescue comes the controversial animal rights organization PETA. It`s an economic hardship for a small town to pay maintenance workers to flatten the concrete phallus-shaped concrete posts. I`m not a rocket scientist or a nutritionist, and I am not quite convinced of PETA`s claim that eating meat, eggs, and dairy products cause impotence. But I know a good deal when I see one, and I support PETA`s good work on behalf of animals. My advice: This is an offer that is too good to refuse; Township Manager Denise Fitzgerald should accept PETA`s generous offer. Read More: http://www.peta.org/mediacenter/news-releases/PETA-Offers-to-Defray-Costs-of-Flattening-Suggestively-Shaped-Bollards-in-Return-for-Ads-About-Vegan-Virulence.aspx Photo Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page [email protected] Follow Robert Paul Reyes on Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertpaulreyesPublic relations is about how Bitcoin is presented to the world. The mathematical foundations of Bitcoin minimize the level of trust necessary to use it, but for anyone who isn't interested in cryptography the strength of the Bitcoin brand is more important.
This page lists some community-developed talking points, so if you'd like to promote Bitcoin consider using them.
Terminology
Bitcoin is a crypto-currency, that is, a currency based on cryptography. However the crypto- prefix has another meaning, "something whose nature is obfuscated", as in cryptic messages. In that sense the term may not intuitively reflect the open source and community-based nature of the project. Also, cryptography is correctly perceived by many as a difficult and highly academic form of mathematics, which makes the term crypto-currency sound intimidating.
There are various alternatives, but many don't translate well into other languages or have other undesirable connotations.
Do say
Bitcoin is an internet currency. This is an accurate description and combines two everyday concepts people are familiar with.
Bitcoin is a decentralized currency. This emphasizes the primary difference to regular, state backed currencies.
Bitcoin is a predictable currency, stressing the open nature of the algorithms and number there will be
Bitcoin is open source, demonstrating the community feeling of the currency
Bitcoin is getting stronger every day. Mention news stories and the current bitcoin conversion rates.
Don't say
Bitcoin is a crypto-currency, grassroots currency, "currency of the people" etc. All these are loaded terms that may color peoples perceptions or translate badly into other languages.
Benefits
Bitcoin has many benefits over more traditional payment systems. Many of them can be summed up in one word: flexibility. Everyone likes flexibility, as long as it isn't too hard to deal with.
Do say
Bitcoins can be stored with a bank or financial institution just like existing currencies if you want, but you're free to explore alternatives right up to and including entirely bank-free operation. After the financial crisis, disillusionment with banks is widespread and this aspect may appeal to some (not all).
Bitcoin can reduce the costs of everyday goods, by making the financial markets more competitive and eliminating the risk premium that credit card transactions entail.
Bitcoin is fair: it's as easy for you to sell things as buy them. Contrast with most existing payment systems in which accepting payments is much harder than making them.
Bitcoin has strong privacy: you should be able to choose who knows about your financial transactions. There are no statements mailed to you detailing your every financial move.
Bitcoin makes it easier to sell things over the internet. Most people aren't familiar with the myriad difficulties in this seemingly simple task.
Don't say
Bitcoin transactions are free. They usually are today, but there are a few cases where a small fee is required. And in future fees will play a larger role. It's hard to predict what level fees will end up at, as they are paying for something entirely different to existing systems. There are good reasons to believe Bitcoin transactions will always be cheaper than most financial transactions are today, but the arguments on this topic are complex.
Bitcoin can't be taxed. Tax collectors were around before electronic payments and they'll be around after Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is anonymous. Anonymity and Bitcoin is a complex topic, and anonymity means something slightly different to privacy.
Politics and the law
Bitcoin appeals to many libertarians, a political movement that emphasizes minimal government and individualism. If you are such a person, it's tempting to frame Bitcoin as some kind of anti-government force. But right or wrong many people are turned off by politics, and many others don't have an anti-government world view. This is especially true in Europe.
Do say
Bitcoin is a chance to revolutionize the financial system, making it fairer and more democratic.
Bitcoin offers a strong level of privacy, but the people you trade with still know who you are. If the police turn up with the right warrants, they will probably learn who owns particular addresses. This means lawbreakers can still be tracked down with sufficient effort. As an analogy you can use the internet itself - whilst the average person and even large corporations can't find out the real identity behind an IP address, the law can make everyone work together to identify the owner.
Bitcoin allows anyone to pay anyone else. The authority to spend bitcoins belongs solely to the owner of the bitcoins. They decide and are responsible for the legality and morality of their actions, not a central authority.
Don't say
Bitcoin is a way to topple or restrict the power of governments.
Bitcoin is impossible to regulate or control. There are schemes in which by regulating miners, Bitcoins can be frozen much as assets are sometimes frozen today. It's hard to know if they will ever be implemented, but it's not the case that Bitcoin cannot be regulated.
Bitcoin cannot be outlawed. There aren't any laws that would make Bitcoin obviously illegal, however, financial regulation is an extremely complex topic and it's possible that individual companies, exchanges etc, may at some point be found to not be in compliance. This happens to large, well-respected financial institutions so it's unreasonable to expect it will never happen to something Bitcoin related.
Expectations
Starting around the middle of 2010, Bitcoin has experienced dramatic growth in both the size of its community and exchange rates. People who are naturally optimistic or enthusiastic about Bitcoin sometimes try to promote it as a kind of get-rich-quick scheme.
Do say
Bitcoin is an experiment that has grown rapidly as interest in the idea spreads.
There are many people trading real goods and services with Bitcoins.
Whilst the fundamental idea of Bitcoin is sound, pricing it is hard because nobody really knows the future potential. As a result the value swings wildly back and forth.
Although speculation of Bitcoins' value is possible and many are doing it, hoarding coins is an extremely risky investment strategy. Like many risky investments, it has potentially high returns but losses could be severe.
Whilst Bitcoin might fail, the concept of internet currencies is here to stay.
Don't say
Bitcoins value has only gone up. Whilst the long term trend has been up, exchange rates are highly volatile and go down frequently.
Get in now before it's too late. This makes Bitcoin sound like a scam.
Bitcoin will take over the world unless <foo>. There are many potential end-games for Bitcoin of which "taking over the world" or "absolute failure" are only two. It could just as easily end up stuck in a niche, becoming an established competitor in the internet payments space but not going beyond that, etc.
Economics
Bitcoin uses a simple and easy to understand economic model, that is quite different to the one used by regular state-backed currencies today. Many people who just want to use the currency won't be interested in this aspect of the system. If they are:
Do say
Bitcoin is intended to have a stable quantity of coins in existence in the long run.
Bitcoin inflates rapidly at present because the system is young. Over many decades, inflation will slow and eventually stop.
Assuming the (Bitcoin using) economy grows, that means that after some decades of operation, the value of a single Bitcoin will increase at roughly the same rate as the economy itself.
A growing economy with a static currency behaves, to the end user, much like a growing economy in which you put your money into an interest-bearing account |
visited the towns of Namie and Futaba, finding shops littered with dusty books and DVDs that had tumbled off the shelves when the earthquake struck. She says: "I have photographed hundreds of abandoned buildings, but it is very rare to find one that hasn't been tampered with somehow by humans, whether by photographers moving objects around for photos or people vandalising them. It felt very special to be in an abandoned place where furniture and objects had been left untouched, the same as on the day it happened."
She visited two farms. One was run by a man who had rescued cats and dogs from the danger zone. The other was a much sadder sight: a former cattle farm where all the animals had been left to die. She describes: "Pen upon pen of dead animals. Their bones littering every single one. Deeper into the pens I saw heads hanging from ropes that had originally been used to tie them to the railings."
The two photographers spent a couple of hours inside a school and then discovered a supermarket inside the red zone. She says: "It was close to the border so we snuck in amongst the tall grass and ran inside. It was pitch black and the stench of rotting food hit me immediately. As I wandered around, torch in hand, it felt like something out of a zombie apocalypse movie, produce scattered on the floor."
Bathory says she found the trip overwhelming: "It all became too much, I had witnessed loss, pain, suffering, destruction, tragedy, death and decay, unlike any other abandoned building I have ever been to. I know emotionally that I will not be able to return here. Maybe this is why there arenʼt that many photographs of this place. It's a heart-wrenching story, told through these photos."
Bathory says she wanted to capture photos of and explore areas that have not been photographed before, with a sensitive artistic approach: "I wanted my photos to capture the beauty that still exists in the area, because despite the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami, it is still a place of serenity and peace. I timed my visit to coincide with the blooming of the cherry blossom, Japan's Sakura. It was poignant for me to capture the exclusion zone in this time of celebration of nature, and as the symbol of spring, new life blossomed around this place of tragedy."
"I wanted to capture a moment of time, a moment from which hopefully these towns will continue to be cleaned up and rebuilt and one day residents will return to their homes and rebuild their towns, very much in the same way Hiroshima has become a thriving city again," she concludes. "I hope that these photos may be viewed in years to come in the same way that photographers captured the aftermath of Hiroshima."
Return to Fukushima is published by Carpet Bombing Culture. Rebecca Bathory is also the author of Soviet Ghosts: The Soviet Union Abandoned. A Communist Empire in Decay, published in 2014. You can see more of her work at her website. You can also follow her on Facebook or Instagram to keep up to date with her latest photographic endeavours.HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) - Four fishermen have been arrested after being found with illegal Striped Bass.
According to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police were alerted around 10 p.m. Tuesday that fishermen along the Housatonic River in Shelton had undersized Striped Bass.
EnCon Police responded and found four Anglers fishing and with the help of a K-9 located 38 Striped Bass hidden in bags in rocks and bushes. According to DEEP the daily limit is one fish that is at least 28 inches.
60 year old Hydri Cenkoli of Woodbury, 32 year old Daniel Cenkoli of Waterbury, 57 year old Bilbil Cenkoli of Waterbury and 46 year old Gurali Cenkoli of Woodbury are charged with possession of 38 Striped Bass less than the minimum length and for possession of Striped Bass over the daily creel limit.Looking lovely (Picture: EPA)
Prince Philip of Serbia has just married his artist fiancee in a lavish ceremony in Belgrade.
Donald Trump's ex-fixer Michael Cohen banned from working as lawyer
Bride Danica Marinkovic, 30, looked incredible in a stunning white gown with billowing sleeves and a sweeping train, adorned with a large bow at the front.
The happy couple also both wore elaborate red velvet and gold crowns as they exchanged their vows in the city’s cathedral.
Prince Philip, 35, wore a morning suit with white waistcoat and tie.
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Danica wore a gorgeous white gown with a bow at the front (Picture: EPA)
The couple also wore elaborate gold and red velvet crowns (Picture: WireImage)
The ceremony took place in the cathedral in Belgrade (Picture: EPA)
Guests toast to the happy couple (Picture: EPA)
As they left the cathedral the couple were showered with rose petals, before sharing a kiss in front of crowds of well-wishers.
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The grand event was also attended other European royals, including Queen Sofia of Spain, and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.
Guests showered the couple with rose petals (Picture: AP)
They announced they were engaged at the start of the summer (Picture: WireImage)
The couple share a kiss in front of delighted well-wishers (Picture: EPA)
The couple headed off in a red soft-top car (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
Philip announced that he and Danica were engaged earlier this summer by posting a photograph of the couple on the steps of the Royal Palace in Belgrade.
Stinky couple who smelt like vomit, BO and feet break into family's house to shower
A Palace statement said: ‘Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander, Crown Princess Katherine and Princess Maria da Gloria Orleans-Braganza have great pleasure to announce that HRH Prince Philip is engaged to Ms. Danica Marinkovic, daughter of Mr. Milan Marinkovic – Cile and Mrs. Beba Marinkovic.’
Philip was educated in Britain, and now works in finance in London.These are not the typical laments about seasonal affective disorder, the mood disorder that usually causes depression when the days grow short and temperatures drop. But actually, “summertime sadness,” as Lana Del Rey put it, is a rarer version of the same illness. While about 5 percent of people are thought to have the winter variety of SAD, about one percent instead feel depressed in the summer months.
The two seasonal variants make their suffers feel similarly low, but they’re otherwise very different. Those who get depressed in wintertime tend to get sluggish and put on weight, but summertime SAD sufferers lose their appetites and grow agitated, as the psychologist Jason Goldman explains:
While winter-SAD is associated with oversleeping, those who suffer from summer-SAD tend to experience insomnia. Winter-SAD is associated with a craving for carbohydrates, and with weight gain. Summer-SAD, on the other hand, typically comes with a poor appetite, and weight loss. Those who have the winter blues find themselves withdrawing from social interactions and experiencing a loss of interest in typically enjoyable activities, while those who have summer blues seem to have an increased sex drive.
While winter SAD is thought to be caused by shortened daylight hours throwing off circadian rhythms, its summer cousin is a bit more mysterious. One recent study suggests summertime SAD is caused by allergies, with people reporting worse moods on days the air was thick with pollen.
Another theory is that the intense summer light is just as disruptive as winter’s long, cold nights. People might be staying up later in the summer, suspects Alfred Lewy, a professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University, thus throwing their body clocks for a loop. He told NBC News that he treats summertime SAD patients by suggesting they get early-morning sun and take melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep.
It could also be a kind of overdose on whichever season seems to be most prominent in a given area: People in the southern U.S. tend to experience summer SAD more so than those in the north.
And then there’s the simplest explanation: People just can’t stand the heat. Thomas Wehr, a scientist emeritus at the National Institute of Mental Health who first documented SAD, says that when people with warm-weather depression were “wrapped in cooling blankets at night, their temperatures dropped and their symptoms disappeared. As soon as they went outside into the summer heat, their depression returned."
Compounding the biological hypomania is the feeling that one should be happy when days are long and hot and filled with alcoholic popsicles and YOLO. Summertime depression can make one feel like a sort of alternate-universe Grinch, perversely hating on the thing that makes all the other Whos in Whoville burst into joyful song.
People “feel like ‘everyone is happier when the spring rolls around, except for me,’” said Kathryn Klock-Powell, a clinical coordinator at South University in Georgia.
Then again, maybe it’s enough just to know that other people aren’t ecstatic about the scorching temperatures, either. And to take solace in the fact that it is, in fact, possible to make an iced version of a pumpkin spice latte.On his 13th day in office, President Donald Trump threatened to break an international agreement. On Twitter.
Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017
The tweet appeared to confirm a report from the Washington Post that the president, in his call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Sunday, had berated Turnbull about an agreement made with the Obama administration — in which hundreds of refugees being held offshore in Australian detention centers are being screened for admission to the US.
The executive order Trump signed on Friday banned nearly all refugee admissions to the US for four months — but with a loophole to allow refugees to be resettled per a “preexisting international agreement.” White House press secretary Sean Spicer and the US Embassy in Australia have both explicitly promised, since the executive order was signed, that the Trump administration would honor the deal. “The president, in accordance with that deal, to honor what had been agreed upon by the United States government … will go forward,” Spicer told journalists Tuesday.
That may be news to Trump.
The president and his press secretary also appear to differ on the scope of the deal; Spicer said the US would take 1,250 refugees, which appears to refer to the number currently in offshore detention centers (not all of whom are guaranteed to pass through screening); Trump’s call with Turnbull referred to 2,000, which could be a reference to the fact that the US is also screening hundreds of refugees receiving medical care in Australia (or could just be wrong).
Taken together, it’s clear that the best-case scenario is that the new president dislikes a deal he also doesn’t understand. The worst-case scenario is that he will break it.
Australia has been holding hundreds of refugees in inhumane conditions for years
Australia, like the US, has been a destination for people fleeing poverty and persecution in nearby countries — putting both countries in a position of having to square their desires for “border security” (not letting in people who don’t already have papers) with their obligations under domestic and international law to allow people to apply for asylum and not to send people back to places where their lives may be in danger.
Australia has heavily favored the former over the latter. It’s launched a campaign of deterrence to tell people not even to try to come to the country (including advertisements and even graphic novels). And it’s held people who do try to sail to Australia in offshore detention centers, mostly on Nauru and on the Papua New Guinea island of Manus, to deter others from trying to follow.
The overwhelming majority of people who’ve been screened at those centers (around 80 percent) have been formally approved as refugees by the Australian government. But the Australian government still isn’t permitting them to resettle, and most detainees on Nauru, as of an August 2016 Human Rights Watch report, had been there for three years.
Conditions in the camps are often appalling. An Amnesty International report (also from August 2016) documented that refugees were denied access to medical care. A Guardian Australia project called the Nauru Files collated 2,000 reports of abuse between 2013 and 2015, ranging from security guards hitting children’s heads against the wall to detainees swallowing rocks in self-harm. Detainees have resorted to self-immolation to draw attention to their plight.
The situation was unsustainable — especially when a Papua New Guinea judge ruled last year that the detention center on Manus Island violated PNG law, and ordered the Australian government to dismantle it. But Australia continued to look for any solution that wouldn’t require it to actually accept the refugees. That’s where the US comes in.
Australia and the US made a deal for the US to screen and accept refugees — which is probably still on
In November, the Australian and US governments announced they’d arrived at an “agreement”: Refugees currently being held in offshore detention centers could apply to be resettled in the US.
The refugees being held in Australia, like any other refugee applying to come to the US, would go through the normal screening process over a course of months or years. (Several detainees told CNN Australia that they’d already had one round of interviews with US officials since the deal was agreed to.)
The details of the agreement were a little fuzzy. It wasn’t clear how many refugees the US would end up taking, and there was some confusion about what role the UN High Commissioner for Refugees would play in the process. While Australia’s top immigration official, Michael Pezzullo, called the deal “an agreement entered into through diplomatic means,” it’s not clear whether a text was ever actually signed.
The executive order Trump signed on Friday banned nearly all refugee admissions. But it made an explicit exception for refugee cases “when admitting the person would enable the United States to conform its conduct to a preexisting international agreement” — a phrase that many observers assumed referred to the Australia agreement. (Interestingly, this loophole didn’t appear in drafts of the executive order leaked to the Huffington Post and Vox in the days before the order was signed, suggesting it might have been added late in the process.)
Spicer assured the press on Tuesday that despite the executive order, the US would resettle up to 1,250 Australia detainees — which appears to be based on the number of refugees being held in detention as of November, not on the agreement itself.
Since some number of the refugees on Nauru and Manus come from Iran, Iraq, and Somalia — countries categorically excluded under another part of the executive order — it’s not clear how many of those the US would actually accept. (Spicer swore that the refugees would be put through “extreme vetting,” but used the phrase to describe the preexisting refugee screening process — the one the Trump administration has halted all other refugee admissions to replace.)
On Wednesday, however, the Washington Post reported that Trump was upset about the refugee deal, and had complained to Turnbull about it in a call Sunday. According to the paper, Trump even said the deal could allow “the new Boston bombers” or other terrorists into the US. “I don’t want these people,” he said, per the report.
The US Embassy in Canberra attempted to reassure the public:
Statement from the US Embassy in Canberra. Trump Whitehouse will honour the refugee deal. Wow. pic.twitter.com/atJqPpPe6T — James Massola (@jamesmassola) February 2, 2017
But Trump’s tweet undid any progress the embassy had made.
The president’s apparent willingness to renege on the agreement — or at least “study” it, with what appears to be extreme prejudice — might send worrisome signs to America’s other allies, who might have reason to worry about all the other international agreements that have been made between their countries and the US. But it’s also the result of the way harsh immigration policies eventually become their own justification — a tragic game of telephone.
No one on Nauru or Manus is known to have done anything wrong or to want to come to the US to carry out terror attacks. They’re being held offshore as a symbol to others who might consider trying to escape their home countries for Australia. But once they’re being kept offshore and held in detention, it’s very easy to assume that they must be held for a reason — that they must be dangerous. And that’s clearly what Trump has done.Court Reminds Police That Refusing A Search Isn't Inherently Suspicious Behavior
from the only-criminals-exercise-their-rights? dept
It really shouldn't take a judge's order to make this clear to law enforcement officers: a citizen invoking their rights isn't doing anything illegal, suspicious or otherwise signalling an involvement in criminal activity. These are simply their rights and they can choose to assert (or waive) them as they see fit.
But that's what it takes, because almost anything that isn't an immediate capitulation to a law enforcement officer's demands is often met with dubious actions, arrests and deployment of force.
Deborah Barker was arrested for methamphetamine possession after an Oregon police officer performed a warrantless search of the contents of her purse. Her motion to suppress was denied by a lower court, but the state appeals court found otherwise.
From the ruling:
Defendant was a passenger in a truck driven by her husband, which was stopped by Oregon State Police Trooper Ratliff on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Ratliff noticed that defendant’s husband was “overly nervous” and that there was a bottle of alcohol on the seat, as well as many knives, lighters, and trash in the truck.
A ten-minute search turned up nothing, save for two cell phones. The interior of the car was “spotless” and had no other personal effects, which the officers believed was suggestive of the car being a “trap car” used for drug trafficking.
Defendant was wearing a dress, and Ratliff did not believe she had any weapons in her pockets. Ratliff asked defendant if she had any weapons in her purse, and defendant replied, “I don’t want you to search my purse.”
Ratliff went on to note that the “innocent motoring public doesn’t generally have those indicators. They don’t get out of the vehicle and tuck their purse tightly with them and immediately refuse search.”
As we have previously held, the mere fact that a defendant has a history of drug use does not provide an officer with reasonable suspicion to stop a defendant, let alone probable cause to search or arrest.
[...]
For similar reasons, defendant’s inability to remain still and dilated pupils also contribute little to establishing probable cause.
[...]
[T]he record in this case lacks evidence to support an objectively reasonable inference that, even if the scale was used in connection with controlled substances, it was more likely than not that defendant was in current possession of controlled substances, as residue on the scale or otherwise.
The state argues that “[t]he strongest indicator that defendant was in possession of drugs was her conduct towards her purse.”
When an individual seeks to protect an item and openly asserts his or her privacy rights, that behavior and assertion is neither innately shifty nor sinister—rather, it is constitutionally protected. And, “[a]llowing the police to conduct a search on the basis of the assertion of a privacy right would render the so-called right nugatory.” State v. Brown, 110…
Although furtive behavior may contribute to probable cause, asserting a constitutionally protected privacy right cannot. Defendant’s protective behavior to safeguard the privacy of her purse and her statement that she did not want it searched are not properly considered as part of the totality of the circumstances and may not contribute to probable cause.
We'll stop right here and discuss a couple of things.First, officers regularly declare people they stop to be "nervous" and use that as the "reasonable suspicion" they need to prolong the stop and start fishing for criminal charges. This is obviously a very handy "tool," because almost every citizen is more nervous than usual when speaking to people who are not only armed, but possess incredible amounts of power.Judges, fortunately, are pushing back on this assertion more frequently. Just recently, the Tenth Circuit Court pointed out that "nervousness" does not equal reasonable suspicion, although the totality of other elements (rented car in another's name, inconsistent travel plans) certainly did. Another told the DEA that nervousness -- even when combined with three cellphones and a past criminal history -- did not automatically rise to the level of reasonable suspicion. But it still must work often enough, because "nervousness = reasonable suspicion" doesn't seem to be going away.Second, the condition of the vehicle's interior is also cited as "reasonable suspicion" -- namely that it had trash and lighters in it. Paradoxically, law enforcement almost simultaneously claims that theof drug paraphernalia/trash is inherently suspicious. Here it is arguing that acar is a drug trafficker's car in a Seventh Circuit Court decision from earlier this month:You can't win. But you can try to even the odds.The officer asked her to place the purse on the hood of the vehicle for "safety" reasons. (Not completely unreasonable, considering Barker hadn't answered one way or the other on the question about whether the purse held a weapon.) It fell open a little, exposing a small, gray scale. This led to the assumption of the probable cause needed to effect an arrest of Barker, combined with Barker's appearance ("leathery") and "drug history."All well and good, but the officer then decided to search the purse without a warrant, ultimately discovering a small amount of meth hidden in a wallet. And that's where it ran into problems. First, Officer Ratliff made this assertion, which basically states that "innocent" people don't force cops to respect their rights.The lower court bought Ratliff's arguments and refused to suppress the fruits of the warrantless search. The appeals court, however, looked at each element the state claimed added up to permission to warrantlessly search Barker's purse and found them all wanting -- those being Barker's history of drug use, the vehicle's appearance, Barker's appearance ("leathery," clenched teeth), dilated pupils, in possession of a small scale and refusing to allow an officer to search her purse.Finally, it addresses the claim that Barker's control of her purse was yet another factor contributing to her apparent guilt.But that's completely wrong, according to the court. It's not a "strong indicator." It's an assertion of rights.In short (and as summed up in a footnote), police cannot use someone's constitutionally-protected right to refuse a search as probable cause to justify a search. The ruling is reversed and remanded and the police are now in the same position they werethey performed the warrantless search: looking at someone they want to arrest but without the probable cause to do so. And now it's so much worse because the officerBarker was in possession of a controlled substance but can't do anything about it. With the evidence suppressed, the single possession charge resulting from this arrest no longer exists.These rights weren't granted to citizens just so the government could use any exercise of them against those availing themselves of these protections. They were supposed to safeguard citizens against governmental overreach and abuse of its powers, but default mode seems to be that only the guilty assert their rights. This mindset is so perverse -- and so pervasive -- that it has to be beaten back one court decision at a time. Law enforcement officers treat assertions of rights as, at best, an annoyance and at worst, tacit admissions of guilt. To operate under such a twisted interpretation displays an almost incomprehensible level of privilege -- where government agents arewhatever they request and any failure to cooperate is treated with suspicion.
Filed Under: 4th amendment, court, deborah barker, oregon, police, refusing search, rights, search, suspicious behaviorFreeze frequently woken apps. Clone it into Island and uninstall the original one outside. Then you can freeze it to fully block its background behaviors. Remember to create launch shortcut for quick de-freezing and launching.
Clone it into Island and uninstall the original one outside. Then you can freeze it to fully block its background behaviors. Remember to create launch shortcut for quick de-freezing and launching. Prevent permission-hungry apps from accessing your private data. Sometimes runtime-permission may not be the solution, especially if the app refuses to work without certain permissions. App clones running in Island cannot access your contacts, call logs and sniff other apps outside. But SMS and location are exceptions since they are bound to device.
Sometimes runtime-permission may not be the solution, especially if the app refuses to work without certain permissions. App clones running in Island cannot access your contacts, call logs and sniff other apps outside. But SMS and location are exceptions since they are bound to device. Use two accounts of the same app parallel. Clone it into Island and login the other account inside.
Clone it into Island and login the other account inside. Archive rarely used apps. Like the first case, keep them frozen until the next time you need it.
Like the first case, keep them frozen until the next time you need it. Hide your private apps.
"Island" is a sandbox environment to clone selected apps and isolate them from accessing your personal data outside the sandbox (including call logs, contacts, photos and etc) even if related permissions are granted. Device-bound data is still accessible (SMS, IMEI and etc).Isolated app can be frozen on demand, with launcher icon vanish and its background behaviors completely blocked.Island takes advantage of the "managed profile" feature on Android 5.0+, which is the also the base of "Android for Work", to create an isolated sandbox for apps and their data.App needs to be cloned in Island first. Afterwards, the clone can run parallel aside from the original one. (even with different accounts signed-in) It can be frozen on demand by Island. (NO ROOT REQUIRED)Currently, all operations are manual in Island. There's a plan to integrate Greenify with Island to provide automatic freezing feature.Opt-in the open beta test on Google Play: https://play.google.com/apps/testing...sisfeng.island (May take several minutes to become visible after opt-in)Or download the APK here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3fmjigfej...R0uQcy6Ea?dl=0Henry Cejudo’s time in mixed martial arts has been a mixed bag. Although he spent a large part of it undefeated in two organizations, all the while showing world class athleticism, a great ability to pick up on the finer points of the sport, and world class wrestling. What he didn’t always show was depth of skill, variety of skill, or professionalism (most of his career was marred by missed weight cuts). Nonetheless, Cejudo was seen as a future superstar in large part due to his Olympic pedigree, world class wrestling, world class athleticism, and a (presumed) potential to reach a particular demographic. And from March 2, 2013 to April 23, 2016, Cejudo was unbeaten and hadn’t really been tested on the way to a title challenge against Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in the co-main event of UFC 197.
That night Cejudo’s undefeated streak and hype train simultaneously derailed, as the Olympic gold medalist was systematically dismantled. His athleticism, physicality, and wrestling had been tabbed as being capable of presenting a stern challenge for Johnson, if not providing Cejudo a clear route to victory. That proved not to be true, outside of a brief moment of success in the clinch, where Cejudo controlled, then took “Mighty Mouse” down in dynamic fashion. Cejudo was outmaneuvered, outworked, out struck, and embarrassingly outclassed in the area he was supposed to dominate (the clinch).
The thorough undressing of Cejudo forced an adjustment, both in point of emphasis and in versatility. All the way up to his title shot, he had essentially been a wrestler/boxer, which, when matched with his natural talent, was more than enough. On that night he found out that when the gap in physical talent wasn’t canyon-like across the board, the lack of a balanced, disciplined, and versatile game was a recipe for disaster against the best fighters/athletes in mixed martial arts. Changes needed to be made in regards to tactics and techniques.
Eight months later, at The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions Finale, Cejudo was once again in the co-main event, this time against the 2nd best flyweight in the world, Joseph Benavidez. Once again Cejudo came up short, albeit amid much controversy regarding the judging of this extremely competitive fight. But the real story wasn’t so much the result, but the huge leaps forward made by Cejudo. He showed an aggression, maturity, awareness, activity and technique that had previously been unseen. And even in spite of a loss, the improvements made and the technical efficiency shown against Benavidez forced people to reevaluate previous thoughts on Cejudo and raise the seemingly firm ceiling on his potential as a fighter.
Cejudo is an elite wrestler, but the majority of his pedigree is defined by and communicated through his prodigious physical talent. He has the complete package in that regard. He generates big power, and has shown impressive hand and foot speed, balance, and physical strength, as well as world class explosiveness. In a division full of high end athletes, Cejudo is truly an apex predator. But his tenure in the Ultimate Fighting Championship hasn’t been a masterclass regarding wrestling; “The Messenger” has sought a different path in the Octagon, downplaying his wrestling chops in favor of strikes, emphasizing his brief (albeit successful) career as an amateur boxer.
Cejudo has a stance and positioning born out of an extensive amount of drilling and sparring individually in boxing, something that is still pretty rare among the majority of MMA fighters. Cejudo’s striking has been historically punctuated by his extremely sound punching combinations, as well as a distance-gauging left hand that allows him to determine the range he needs to cover to land leads or counters on an opponent trying to play a long range striking game. Similarly to Ronda Rousey, a fair amount of his striking had been attribute based, meaning that while he had education in his striking, a large part of his consistent success with it was the fact that he outclassed the majority of his opponents. Another similarity Cejudo has with the former women’s bantamweight champion and pound-for-pound entrant is that Cejudo’s wheelhouse is the clinch. This is due in part to his outstanding athleticism, but also because of the versatility he has shown there. He has used it to control opponents against the fence, to force extended grappling exchanges to diminish explosiveness and cardio, to set up a variety of takedowns, and to set up attacks with knees and punches to break opponents down. This versatility in the clinch has also allowed him to attack with impunity when throwing combinations or leaping in with straight shots or lead hooks, as that would create clinch opportunities whether he lands or overshoots.
Defensively, Cejudo’s clinch game allows him to manage opponents whose volume and pressure are too much for his footwork and athleticism to keep him away from. Recent improvements in his overall game have allowed him to make use of a more judicious and controlled use of the clinch, as he has embraced the full spectrum of strikes, incorporating kicks and kick-punch combinations that allow him to effectively defend, counter, and attack different ranges without having to resort to huge explosive movements to cover distances. Now Cejudo can carefully navigate these distances, increasing the efficiency of his energy usage and the accuracy of his shots.
Cejudo still remains one of the best wrestlers in MMA, with an outstanding array of takedowns, including but not limited to trips, singles, doubles, and so on. If Cejudo wants to get in on you and get you down, he will get in on you and get you down. Cejudo is that good. As good as he is at those two things, he hasn’t been outstanding at is control nor has he developed anything resembling a legitimate submission game. Defensively he has been bulletproof, and it’s hard to think of a fighter or situation that will arise that will expose it as anything less than that.
The issue of control is a big one in this fight. Reis is going to want to control the pace and place of the fight. He understands the huge disadvantage he is at in regards to durability, strength, speed, and explosiveness. He is going to want to use feints, varying attacks, movements, and angles to limit Cejudo’s ability to explode in spots that can turn or end a fight. The slower the fight, the more Cejudo’s lack of seasoning will appear, both on the feet and in the overall game. Gifted or not, experience counts, and the gap in experience between the two is immense.
In the two fights Cejudo has lost, his opponents were able to wrest control from him, limiting and managing his bursts of offense and athleticism. Reis will look to follow suit. It is up to Cejudo to be devastatingly effective, maximizing each and every opportunity he has to flash those physical advantages and force exchanges, both in the wrestling and the striking. That should allow his athleticism to be the determining factor in the fight, because that is the one clear advantage he has.
The problem for Reis is that he is clearly on the decline in regards to consistent speed, explosiveness and physical strength, which is manageable against lesser athletes, especially the ones who lack the wrestling pedigree to limit his ability to dictate where fights take place. That is the story of Reis fighting style and career. He’s a guy who can fight in all phases of mixed martial arts, but one who lacks the depth of skill in each area not to be exploited by guys who won’t be intimidated by his athleticism or versatility.
Reis is a competent striker offensively, very sharp, accurate and powerful with his kicks but inconsistent defensively and somewhat limited in regards to his hands. Wilson is an effective, measured and efficient wrestler and grappler, regardless of who he is compared to his skills stand up but Reis is defensively inefficient regarding his takedown defense and ability to create scrambles to improve positions or reverse positions. Which goes into another point, Reis’s vaunted jiu jitsu. It is good, some would say elite. But only when he is working from top position, when put on his back, especially in mixed martial arts Wilson’s ability to apply offense, counter offense, defend offense is average at best. A very bright spotlight was placed on that in his fight versus Demetrious Johnson. As mentioned earlier his physical tools and versatility usually buffer him from being exposed by being placed in bad spots or being exposed by an inability to keep a fight at the range he wants or force it into a range he wants.
Had he faced Henry prior to his fight versus Johnson, he may have been able to flummox him, and systematically outwork him by attacking him on all fronts but unfortunately for him Cejudo did face “Mighty Mouse” and that one sided drubbing forced him to reset, refine and rededicate to becoming the best mixed martial artist he can be. And if the fight with Benavides is any hint of how good he can become, Reis is in for a world of trouble; what works against Wilson even more is the fact that Cejudo went through a full camp to prepare for streaking flyweight Sergio Pettis before being forced to withdraw and is going through another full camp for Reis. Meaning that all the improvements, both technical and strategical, should be fully honed and ready for execution; Cejudo before the Johnson loss would have been a handful for Reis, this new and improved version of “The Messenger” is going to be more than a handful in my opinion.
Wilson is a legitimate top ten fighter, but far behind the two best in division (Johnson, Benavides). The experience factor is important, as seasoning and savvy make a big difference in all fights at all levels. The fact is Reis is on a decline, hasn’t really beaten anyone of note (quality, athleticism) and is coming off one of the worst losses in his career; I believe Cejudo is trending up and the combination of his wrestling, his athleticism and his reimagined striking style will be too much for the former Elite XC Champion.
Wilson Reis is on the decline physically and was soundly defeated in his last appearance. Another loss essentially closes the door on his career at flyweight as long as Johnson reigns. This is a must win for him. Unfortunately “The Messenger” is in the same spot, coming of two losses in a row he cannot afford a third if he ever hopes to be the fighter we hoped he would upon news of his entry into mixed martial arts. On Saturday night I believe he takes the next step to legitimacy and possible super stardom in mixed martial arts.
Photos via ZuffaIowa professor claims FBI suspects him of al Qaeda ties David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Thursday February 7, 2008
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Print This Email This A professor at Northwest Iowa Community College claims that the FBI is investigating students and faculty there on suspicions that pirated music, movies, and software are being sold to help fund al Qaeda. College President William Giddings acknowledges that law enforcement officers were asked to look into problems with excessive bandwidth use and possible illicit file-sharing, but he expressed bewilderment at allegations of an al Qaeda connection. The al Qaeda story comes from computer science professor Steven Gifford, who says that he was visited by the FBI and "they told us the college had alleged that my students and I were running a piracy ring. We were downloading, cracking and re-selling software, movies and music and were doing this in support of al Qaeda terrorists." "I was a little stunned," Gifford stated. "There would be no benefit to me to do anything to harm my country.... I am a patriot." Gifford, who has been on paid administrative leave since January 25 over budget issues, suggested that the real problem might be that he is about to become president of the faculty association and the administration doesn't like him. He accused college president William Giddings of wanting "to humiliate and intimidate me." President Giddings was reluctant to make any comment about Gifford. He said he did not know who the target of the FBI investigation was but that it definitely did not involve terrorism.
This video is 9 News, KCAL, broadcast February 7, 2008.New research by the UK’s University of Warwick and Hamilton College in the US has used the happiness levels of a million individual US citizens to discover which are the best and worst |
side, engaging in demeaning acts of sex and violence.
"It’s understandable that she described him as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," Justice Colleen Suche said Tuesday, before sentencing Vandermeulen to 42 months in prison.
Vandermeulen was convicted after trial last year of seven offences, including sexual assault causing bodily harm, assault causing bodily harm, assault, and uttering threats.
"The events underlying these convictions demonstrate that within an intimate relationship and in a private setting, Mr. Vandermeulen was controlling, sexually demeaning, and easily moved to rage that turned to physical violence, the level of which escalated over time," Suche said.
The charges relate to four incidents spanning six months and beginning in July 2009.
The most serious incident occurred July 30, 2009, when, after an argument at the victim’s house, Vandermeulen choked the woman and forced her to perform oral sex. He went on to violently sexually assault the woman two more times before going through her cellphone and computer and deleting all messages between them.
Ten days earlier, Vandermeulen forced the woman out of his house without her van keys. The woman slept in her van and found her keys in some bushes outside the house the next morning. The woman was returning to her vehicle when Vandermeulen beckoned her to the garage and forced her into oral sex.
The woman finally reported Vandermeulen to police Jan. 29, 2010, following a violent argument in a downtown hotel room.
The defence submitted 27 letters of support to the court, several from people who continue to believe Vandermeulen is the target of false allegations.
Suche dismissed a positive report from a psychiatrist who was unaware of the allegations against Vandermeulen or of the court’s verdict.
"All in all, I was left with the impression that the report was an exercise in advocacy, not objectivity," Suche said.
Vandermeulen, who has still not admitted his guilt, would have faced a higher sentence had he not already lost his career and livelihood, Suche said.
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Twitter: @deanatwpgsunMusic is one of those things that makes life worth living… and lighting up some sweet, skunky herb just makes it even better. A little weed can make even the worst song sound decent — and it can make a really good song sound downright amazing.
I know why you’re here. You’re in the mood to get high, kick back, and listen to some tunes… but you’ve listened to all your albums a hundred times. Radio is shit. And you’ve worn out all your favorite Pandora stations. You need some inspiration, fresh ideas, new material. You need some new songs to smoke to!
I got you.
I’ve put together this eclectic list of tracks, any of which would make the perfect soundtrack to your next smoke out. Unlike most other lists, these songs aren’t necessarily about smoking weed — they’re just excellent to listen to while you do. They’re pulled from all different genres, from jazz to country, hip-hip to stoner rock, so there should be a little something for everyone.
Some are classics, some are fairly obscure. Some are funky and upbeat, others mellow. Some are funny, some are heavy. Some feature brilliant, mind-blowing lyrics. Others are lush instrumental or electronic soundscapes; sonic oceans in which to immerse yourself, close your eyes, and drift away…
All of them are masterpieces in their own right. If you find even one song on this list that you haven’t heard — and really listened to — before, then do yourself a favor…
Get out your headphones and your best sticky-icky. Dim the lights, light up, breathe deep, and enjoy 🙂
1. Tame Impala — “Let It Happen”
Haunting vocals and a smooth beat. This is a great song to help get the bowls loaded. It even has just enough pep to keep things going after you surrender to the soundscape.
2. The Glitch Mob — “Starve the Ego, Feed the Soul”
Harkening back to the easy listening of the flower children, this is smooth electronic. Just enough variation to keep your mind right and has those floaty vibes that just make you want to dance.
3. Marian Hill – “Got It”
With a slow but strong baseline, Marian shows off her smoky and sultry voice. This track will wind its way into your brain like the THC coursing through your body. This is what I imagine a bong would say if it could talk.
4. Mos Def — “Sunshine”
This will hit you right in the feels. This song feels like a memorial of times past and will make any stoner look for the sunshine.
5. Jimi Hendrix — “May This Be Love?”
The perfect pairing with a bong and some good indica. Jimi is a music legend and this is one of his best works. You can just feel the pressures of life roll off your back as this tune plays.
6. Return to Forever — “Earth Juice”
Coming straight out of the 70’s and full of electronic and synth sounds. This instrumental is perfect to have playing in the background while smoking with a friend. Good for keeping the conversation flowing.
7. Herbie Hancock — “Bubbles”
Sometimes you just want to snuggle up with your lover and roast a bowl before getting down on some hot love making. This is the perfect song to set a romantic mood.
8. Outkast — “Elevators (Me & You)”
Does weed make you slow down? This song feels like some good indica rolling over you. Solid lyrics and an R&B feel celebrating smoking weed and overcoming difficulty with the family.
9. Kendrick Lamar (ft. Gunplay) — “Cartoons & Cereal”
Don’t let the name fool you, this is an adult song. Hard hitting and dark at times, this is solid and intelligent rap. Kendrick brings the fire and smokes the competition with this one.
10. Stephen Marley — “Inna Di Red”
We all know Bob but have you heard his son? The legend lives on with this Marley masterpiece. This is Rasta as it should be.
11. The Beatles — “It’s All Too Much”
What stoner playlist would be complete without at least one entry from the Fab Four? This lighthearted track is one of the best for lighting up to. Lighthearted and full of cannabis references, it shows why they have remained so popular.
12. Band of Horses — “Blue Beard”
Slow and dreamy, this is perfect for curling up with a bowl and watch the snow fall. Great for reminiscing with old friends. It swells over you like a tide, gentle but insistent.
13. Afroman — “Because I got High”
We have all had work we know needs done but decided to put it off for later. Most of the time, our inner conscience (or outer repercussions) gets the better of us and we make it happen. Afroman accurately describes the results of following our inner slacker.
14. Sturgill Simpson — “Turtles All the Way Down”
This country tune is just right for relaxing and enjoying a sweet smoke after a hard day or dealing with haters. Those times when our patience is tested, we need this song mixed with a fat sack and a fresh pipe. Sit back, light up and embrace the sweet release.
15. Chet Atkins & Mark Knopfler — “Cosmic Square Dance”
This mostly instrumental soundscape is great with the lights off. Sit back and enjoy the cosmic trip through your mind as this energetic country tune plays. The rhythm is great for timing hits as well.
16. TAUK — “Mindshift”
This is electronica mixed with lounge music. Has a touch of jazz, techno and lots of soul. Just let that haunting guitar roll over you as the synth massages your eardrums.
17. The Mars Volta — Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)
Sometimes you just want to rage with a splif in hand. This punk song is just the right thing when the world seems overwhelming. Sometimes the best things in life are messy.
18. Down — “Nothing In Return”
This song really nails the hard rock vibe. The slow vocals offset the heavy bass and screaming guitar nicely. Just slow enough to be haunting but fast enough to be threatening. This song broods itself to greatness.
19. KOAN Sound — “Lost in Thought”
Sometimes you need to simply center yourself. This cosmic soundscape takes you through the universe at light speed. The slow rolling tones and keyboard/piano element combine to deliver track to really let your mind soar to new places.
20. John Coltrane — “In A Sentimental Mood”
We are going to finish this off with a nice jazz song. This tune carries all the glamour and mystery of a 1920’s speak easy. The smoky sax and lilting piano pair perfectly with a dab rig and some live resin. Life is short my friends, enjoy the good things.Image copyright AFP Image caption Shinzo Abe (left) and his wife will tour the Middle East for six days
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged $2.5bn (£1.7bn) in non-military assistance to the Middle East.
Mr Abe was speaking in Egypt at the start of his six-day tour of the region, which includes Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
He pledged $200m (£130m) in non-military aid for countries fighting Islamic State, saying the world would suffer if terrorism spread.
Japan relies on the Middle East for much of its crude oil imports.
"It goes without saying that the stability of the Middle East is the foundation for peace and prosperity for the world, and of course for Japan," Mr Abe said at a meeting of the Japan-Egypt Business Committee in Cairo.
"Should we leave terrorism or weapons of mass destruction to spread in this region, the loss imparted upon the international community would be immeasurable," he added.
He said that Japan would provide infrastructure and humanitarian assistance to the region, including support for countries hosting refugees from Iraq and Syria.
Mr Abe will meet Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi before heading to Jordan.
The Islamic State (IS) militant group has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria, where it declared the creation of a caliphate last year.
It controls several oil fields and refineries in the area. The oil supplies are thought to generate an estimated $2m (£1.2m) in daily revenue for the group.
IS's brutal tactics - including mass killings and abductions of members of religious and ethnic minorities - have sparked outrage across the world and prompted a US-led military intervention.Swap your home
There's a home-swap site for almost everyone nowadays. Thelma and Louise, the women travellers' online network, is the latest to get in on the act and is consequently modest in size, but for a wider range head to HomeLink International; established in 1953, it offers a choice of properties across 75 countries. You don't have to be gay to join Mi Casa Su Casa, the home-trade network – a gay-friendly attitude is all that's needed – and you don't have to work in a school to benefit from Teachers Travel Web; "anyone who teaches something to someone" is eligible to sign up for their home swap scheme. For travellers with disabilities, there's the Independent Living Institute's Vacation Home Exchange programme: latest listings including an accessible family home in Victoria, Australia. But if it's a staycation with the kids you're planning, then check out the National Childbirth Trust's House Swap scheme. Until 20 November this year, you won't even need to pay the £30 joining fee. And of course, don't forget to check out the Guardian's own home-exchange site.
For arty types
Given that the words "penniless" and "artist" are generally found together, it's no surprise that there are so many free-stay opportunities for creative types. Launched in 2008, the Creators Inn in Gothenberg, Sweden, offers free short-term accommodation for visiting "creators" – just apply with a convincing case. A capsule version of the hotel was launched in the same city earlier this year, and a third branch has opened in the Scandic Malmen hotel in Stockholm. For those wanting to put in some serious work on their masterpiece, there are numerous residency opportunities worldwide. For example, Mount Tremper Arts in New York's stunning Catskill mountains offer work exchange monthly residencies from one month to one year. In return for your labour (approximately 10 hours per week), you'll get accommodation (minus food) and use of studio space when other residencies are not in session. And then there's La Muse Inn, whose idyllic Languedoc location alone is enough to get you rhapsodising. In parts dating back to 12th century, the Inn is built of local stone and chestnut wood; bedrooms have original fireplaces, Caunes marble windowsills and terracotta tile floors. Writers and artists can barter their skills, receiving a free room in exchange for approximately three days' work a week (outside the summer season).
Kiwi car hire
If you've already shelled out for an antipodean airfare, then you'll want to keep other costs down, including car hire. New Zealand's newly launched Transfercar is an "online relocation service" bringing together travellers and a host of car rental companies. Simply register, choose from the list of free rental vehicles that need relocating, and away you go – the only catch is that nearly all vehicles need taking from south to north, against the prevailing flow of travellers. Current listings include a two-berth motorhome with shower and toilet (pick-up at Canterbury's Christchurch airport, drop off at Auckland airport; time allowance five days), and a five-seat station wagon for a Bay-of-Plenty pick-up and drop off in Canterbury. Most vehicles include basic insurance and ferry tickets between the North and South islands; if you're lucky, even the gas could be thrown in.
Learn to ski for free
Still can't ski? If it's already a 2010 New Year's resolution, then head to some of Europe's top resorts in January or March next year and you could be learning for free. During two Freshers Weeks, an initiative by the Association of Snow Sports Countries, novices can enjoy free tuition, lift passes and equipment hire when booking through participating tour operators. Choose from 30 resorts across six countries and the pistes will be your playground before you know it. But with places filling fast, you'll need to get your, er, skates on. Freshers Weeks are 16-23 January and 20-27 March 2010.
Freedom of the city
Winter festival in Reykjavik, Iceland. Photograph: Alamy
Here's an inspirational tale. When Reykjavik resident Inga Jessen lost her job following Iceland's economic meltdown, she set about building a website for cash-strapped visitors to the city. And, as an ex-economist, she's an authority on making a little go a long way. At freecitytravel.com, you'll find full listings of Reykjavik attractions and events that can be enjoyed without charge. Whether you're in search of culture (in which case visit The Culture House Museum on a Wednesday to avoid the entrance cost and browse medieval manuscripts till your heart's content), or nightlife (head to new, free club Auster for a live DJ at weekends), the site is sure to soften the cost of this most expensive of cities. Make a note in your diary of 12 and 13 February 2010, too, when Iceland's Winter Light festival will be dispelling the northern gloom. Free events are scheduled to take place across Reykjavik, from tours and exhibitions to puppet shows.
Mountain hideaways
The Back Hill of Bush Bothy, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Photograph: Adam Lee
Bothying is no business for the faint-hearted. "No tap, no sink, no beds, no lights, and, even if there is a fireplace, perhaps nothing to burn." The Mountain Bothies Association sure believes in telling it straight. But with about 100 stone shelters spread across the remotest parts of Scotland, Wales and the Borders, you'll be right where the wild things are. Accommodation is absolutely free – just turn up – but visitors are entirely responsible for their own comforts (and that includes digging out a loo). For those venturing further afield, then Finland's network of wilderness huts offers hikers equally basic free shelter. Slightly more luxurious huts (equipped with blankets and mattresses as well as stoves) are also available and can be reserved in advance, for a few euros. Visit outdoors.fi to learn more and search for destinations. Walking the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route remains as popular as ever, and as 2010 is a Holy Year, now is the perfect time to plan a trip (you'll have to wait till 2021 for the next one to come along). Pilgrims' hostels – refugios – punctuate the route, and while the price of accommodation varies between €3-7, most ask simply for a donation. Just don't forget your pilgrim's credentials.
Some like it hot
If the thought of autumnal wild swimming sends a shiver down your spine, Italy's natural hot pools offer a much less punishing alternative. While some of southern Tuscany's hot springs have been incorporated into commerical spas, others can be enjoyed for free. Most well-known are the waterfalls at Saturnia, south of Siena, created by Saturn himself with an earth-splitting thunderbolt (or so legend has it). The soothing, sulphurous water bubbles up, then down, through a series of picturesque, naturally stepped pools and, at 37C, your mind will be all that's chilled. Pools and spas are marked on the carta della province (province road map) for both Florence and Siena – or simply look for towns with commercial spas and a free version is almost certain to be nearby.
House work
There's one way of making sure your hostel is up to scratch – and that's by doing the chores yourself. And there might be a free bed in it, if you go about it the right way. While the editor of HostelWorld, Colm Hanratty, points out that it's rare for hostels to advertise this kind of arrangement, a number of properties listed with the agency have accepted hard labour in lieu of hard cash. They include the ever-popular Green Tortoise Backpackers in San Francisco and Green Tortoise Hostel in Seattle; the Deco Walk Hostel in Miami (the self-proclaimed "world's most stylish hostel", and the only one on Ocean Drive); Southside Lodge in Whistler, Canada (situated just 200m from the Whistler Creek Gondola, it's practically part of the 2010 Winter Olympics downhill course); and the snappily monikered Backpackers Hostel K's House in Kyoto (only nine minutes' walk from JR Kyoto Station). Closer to home, the Scottish Youth Hostel Association requires volunteers to work at its remoter properties for up to two weeks at a time. Chores include gardening, decorating and minor maintenance work, but there are also opportunities to get involved in the running of the hostel – and earn some valuable brownie points for your CV. Successful applicants for the assocation's volunteer management positions are given two full days' training, learning about health and safety, cash handling, the booking process and reception duties. Then it's off to put theory into practice at properties such as Broadmeadows, the association's first hostel, opened in 1931. Situated in the stunning countryside of the Scottish Borders, with rabbits, pheasants and sheep for neighbours, it's just half an hour's drive from the 7stains mountain bike trails at Glentross forest – the perfect setting in which to hone that work-life balance.
The festive spirit
A man reads at the Guardian Hay festival 2009 in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. Photograph: Martin Argles
Unlimited energy? Ultra-thick skin? High tolerance for mud? Then become a festival volunteer and you could save yourself some serious dosh. Oxfam's scheme, which covers Reading, Leeds, Rockness, Bestival and Latitude, to name but a few, is perhaps the most popular and well-known: a deposit is required, but returned on completion of duties. Stewards can expect to work a minimum of three 8hr shifts, and applications open in February. As the number of festivals continues to rocket, however, so do the number of niche opportunities. Named this year as one of the Observer's 10 best alternative festivals, Festinho, in the magical grounds of Kentwell Hall in Suffolk, has opened applications for its 2010 volunteer programme already. Help with everything from car-parking to artist liaison, and in return you'll get a free camping ticket and food (not to mention the use of award-nominated festival loos). If classical music's more your thing, then it's worth considering the Aldeburgh Festival's Hesse Studentships. Applications for the June festivals open in the New Year, to people aged 18-25 with a real passion for classical music. Bed and breakfast accommodation in Aldeburgh is provided, toegther with tickets to all events; duties range from turning scores to assisting on festival walks. Thinking outside the (music) box, applications are open now for the established Hay Festival internship programme. In return for accommmodation and meals, you can expect to work in the festival's press office and celeb-packed green room. Last but not least, the Edinburgh Festival has an embarrassment of riches for canny volunteers: keep an eye on edinburghfestivaljobs.com for the latest opportunities.
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The links are powered by Skimlinks. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that Skimlinks cookies will be set. More information.Human bonds matter at work just as much as elsewhere. But how can you really connect with the people you work with? And how can you prepare the ground for great teamwork?
Self-confidence is good, team confidence even better
With the rise of the collaboration era and the ascent of remote working as a common practice, team performance has become the core of the workforce. Surely, individual performance is still important, but it loses relevance if it doesn’t drive the team to overcome milestones and innovate faster. After all, team performance is a game of give-and-take. Individuals need to be generous enough to share their personal values and contributions, whereas the team needs to be willing enough to see each contribution as an opportunity for growth. It doesn’t sound so difficult, except generosity, empathy and willingness cannot be imposed. They can only be encouraged and nourished through good communication.
While skimming and scanning other people’ solutions for good team communication, I came across an interesting concept: “psychological safety at work.” The term is attributed to Amy C. Edmondson, a Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, who describes it as “a sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject or punish someone for speaking up.” Edmondson puts the concept into context further explaining that, when team members are motivated at work and want to share an idea for improving performance, they frequently do not speak up because they fear that they will be harshly judged.
Grow your business faster with better team communication!
As an introvert and as a team member myself, I wanted to see to what extent building a psychologically safe environment can improve team communication and inherently team performance. Here’s what I found.
Communication really is work
According to a study published in Harvard Business Review, “more than three quarters of an employee’s day is spent communicating with colleagues.” I can’t say this conclusion has taken me by surprise as I can already see this happening in my job. Yet, it did get me pondering about something else: if we spend so much of our work time communicating with teammates, then:
isn’t work more than task completion and goal achieving?
doesn’t the way we communicate with our team matter just as much as the actual work we put in to get our job done?
So how do you build and nourish good team communication? Because there’s more to it than using the latest team communication technology. Of course technology gives you the tools to share knowledge fast and keeps you in sync with your team. Yet, as advanced as it might be, technology will not set the right tone, carefully find the right words to say or trigger the appropriate reaction on your behalf. We’re not there yet. So, let’s see what you can personally do to set the premises for good team communication.
Establish connections, grow bonds
Theoretically speaking, hiring a group of stellar professionals should be enough for developing a high-performance team: you gather a team of brilliant experts, you assign them roles and responsibilities, you track and measure their progress, and you’re heading for success, right? In reality, it’s not enough. Because being exquisite in what you do is only part of the job. Being just as good, if not better, alongside your team is the rest of the job.
Individual contributions are just the bricks in the edifice. The way you communicate (about) your work with the team is the cement that holds those bricks together and doesn’t let them fall apart. Good team communication is that binder for which people need to establish authentic connections and grow bonds. So there’s no such as thing as high team performance in the absence of fluent team communication and collaboration.
Recommended reading: While Some Teams Succeed, While So Many Fail Miserably
Take your personality to work
I personally believe that people connect with people, not job titles. Understandably, growing genuine bonds at work requires the same level of authenticity, presence, and acceptance as it does in our personal lives. We can connect with our team when we are confident that:
we can share with them the bright side of things, but also the bad and the ugly, the things that frighten us; we are allowed to be/get emotional.
we won’t be judged for who we are (hardworking and brilliant, but also afraid, anxious, insecure or angry) and what we think.
they care about how we feel and are able to sense it not only from our words, but also from our tone and gestures.
According to a recent Google experiment, to feel “psychologically safe” at work, we should be free enough to share the things that scare us without fear of recriminations, we must be able to talk about what is messy or sad, to have hard conversations with colleagues who are driving us crazy.
Sounds easy, but it’s not. Because reaching that level of interpersonal trust takes time and courage. On the other hand, the need to be accepted and acknowledged in the workplace makes us self-inflict a pressure to look “professional”, i. e. to hide vulnerabilities, to leave fears, outbursts, anxieties, and insecurities at home.
But why should we split our self when we come to work? And why should we put on a “professional” mask, assuming it’s something that everyone wants to see? Masks will only trip and trap communication, making team members waste their time and energy reading between the lines and filling the blanks.
So what should we do then? We should build psychologically safe environments where:
you don’t need to put a “work” mask as soon as you step into the office.
it’s OK to bring all of your personality (with all the good and the bad in it) to work.
you can express yourself, tell (your) stories, and use your own voice.
Why? Because work environments like these minimize self-censorship, harboring good team communication. They enable a genuine focus shift from personal to team performance, empowering individuals to bring in authentic personal value to the benefit of the entire team. A psychologically safe workplace will motivate team members to innovate faster and find better solutions to problems.
Recommended reading: How to Help New Team Members Fit In and Deliver Fast
Speak up, it’s OK
As team members (and not only), when we show ourselves as we are, we are most likely to inspire one another, building a sense of empathy in a non-intrusive way. And good team communication starts with that – empathy.
Encouraging people to express personal stories and feelings at work will do more than create and tighten bonds. It will also increase team productivity. This may seem far-fetched, but it isn’t. Francesca Gino, a Professor at Harvard Business School, has analyzed how fear of rejection affects genuine collaboration and reached the conclusion that “teams who share personal stories are more effective.”
New team members are focused rather on being/feeling accepted than contributing and adding real value to the team; so they tend to repeat information rather than add new information to the discussion. Because repeating information that is already validated helps them appear competent in the eyes of others. – Francesca Gino
From this perspective, the reverse effect actually makes sense. Once you feel comfortable about sharing your personal self with the team because they do it too, it will feel just as natural to pass on what you know, what you’ve worked on, and how you’d solve a work-related problem, without the fear of being rejected or dismissed. The tendency to keep information to yourself to the detriment of the team will diminish, and personal opinions will eventually converge into team knowledge.
In short, building a culture of sharing will inspire teams to speak up. Encouraging people to voice out personal opinions and stories without fearing rejection and criticism will help them feel safe enough to bond with their team, commit to their job, and share their knowledge.
So I’ll leave you with one question: how psychologically safe do you feel around your team?OTTAWA — Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, 53, had been a member of the Canadian military for 28 years when he died Monday after being hit by a car driven by a suspected homegrown terrorist. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Vincent had provided “distinguished service” in the military.
Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent died as a result of his injuries after being hit by a car driven by a suspected terrorist.
“He served all across the country. Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with his family members, his friends, and his colleagues,” Harper said during question period Tuesday. The Canadian military said Tuesday Vincent had been a member of Joint Personnel Support Unit at the Integrated Personnel Support Centre in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., an office run by the departments of defence and veterans affairs that help injured veterans and current soldiers, as well as their families, access support services from the federal government. The attack occurred in the parking lot outside the centre.
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Vincent had been with the regular force since May 1986. His career as a firefighter brought him to military bases across the country, serving in Halifax, Valcartier, Que., Montreal, Trenton, North Bay, Edmonton, Comox, B.C. and Esquimalt, B.C. “Our hearts go out to the family, friends and colleagues of the member and the Canadian Armed Forces are supporting them in their time of grief,” Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Tom Lawson said in a statement Tuesday. The military said it would not comment further on the investigation by the Sûreté du Québec. With files from Alex Boutilier
Read more about:Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Toyota's Didier Leroy says the company wants to take the lead in hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Dead-end, or the fast lane into the future? Opinion is divided over whether there will ever be a market for cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
Well, Toyota is about to go some way to giving an answer.
The Japanese giant announced at the Paris Motor Show that it will be putting fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) on sale in Europe next year.
Following announcements that Toyota's fuel cell sedan car will go on sale in Japan and California in 2015, the company has added the UK, Germany and Denmark to the list.
However, no one is expecting consumers to make a mad dash to their local car dealer for the four-door mid-size car.
Toyota's FCV ("fool cell vehicle" say critics) is powered by electricity created by the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, leaving water vapour as the only tailpipe emission.
Trouble is, the cars need re-filling with hydrogen, and infrastructure to do this is virtually non-existent. So why put them on sale?
Satoshi Ogiso, managing officer at Toyota Motor Corporation and a key executive behind the FCV, admits that next year's launches are baby steps. "But Toyota plays the long game," he told the BBC.
'Step-by-step'
Mr Ogiso recalls the scepticism that greeted Toyota's development in the 1990s of the ground-breaking hybrid gasoline-electric Prius car.
Critics said hybrids would never catch on. But last month, Toyota notched up the seven-millionth sale of its hybrid models.
Mr Ogiso, who worked on the launch of the Prius, said: "The introduction of our FCV will be limited, step-by-step and gradual.
"We see very much a similar approach and expectations to when introducing hybrids back in 1997. It very much took time to embed the technology and develop the market."
FCVs are for the coming decades, he said. "But we are motivated to make a start and help evolve the market."
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Which should come first, the hydrogen refuelling stations or the cars?
However, at least Prius drivers had a pre-existing infrastructure - petrol stations. The main challenge was convincing consumers that the technology worked.
We are strongly motivated to help highlight how FCVs can be a safe and relevant mobility solution Satoshi Ogiso, Toyota Motor Corporation
Why would someone buy a FCV without refuelling stations? And why would anyone build refuelling stations without FCVs on the road.
Mr Ogiso accepted that the chicken/egg argument was a strong one. But he is not thinking in those terms. It's about multiple agencies marching in step, moving ahead as one.
There are 13 hydrogen refuelling stations in the UK, most of them linked to academic and industrial sites.
Several others are already under development, and Toyota says there should be about 15 publicly accessible stations by the end of 2015.
Denmark also has 15 stations planned, and Germany has confirmed 50 will be built by the end of 2015.
More than 100 are planned in Japan by the end of 2015, concentrated in major cities. In California, the state is spending $200m (£124m) building 100 stations, most in and around Los Angeles.
In the UK, the H2Mobility project, a government-industry initiative set up in 2012 to assess the needs of FCVs, has identified that an initial network of around 65 hydrogen refuelling stations would be sufficient for basic national reach in the early years.
Toyota itself estimates that to give FCVs a solid and lasting foothold in the UK, there would need to be at least one station within a 200km (120 mile) radius - mostly along motorways and main roads - with many more concentrated in urban centres.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Toyota's FCV on show at Las Vegas - the firm is underestimating their development costs, say its critics
'Challenging'
Critics argue that the number of stations needed to satisfy consumer demand is being wildly underestimated.
No one wants to drive dozens of miles to re-fill, and, unlike electric vehicles, ever being able to top up at home is probably a fantasy.
Also, using hydrogen is a wasteful process, when compared to electricity, it is argued. What's more, while Toyota has dismissed mass use of electric vehicles because of the weight, size and cost of batteries, the company's critics say it ignores the complexity and expense of developing fuel cells.
Tesla's chief Elon Musk has said that of all the outcomes for FCVs, "success won't be one of them". Meanwhile, executives at Germany's VW have said that FCVs are unlikely to catch on outside Japan, where the government wants a "hydrogen society" with fuel cells powering offices and homes, as well as cars.
Toyota's FCV Sedan
Image copyright Toyota
Front-wheel drive, four doors, four seats
Fuel cell, two hydrogen tanks and battery fitted under the floor
Can be refuelled in 3 minutes
Max cruising range: 700km (430 miles)
Max speed: 170km/h (105mph)
1997: Toyota unveils its first hydrogen concept car
Source: Toyota
Mr Ogiso accepts that there are challenges. "As Toyota and other manufacturers begin to bring hydrogen-powered vehicles to market, it is important that all interested parties continue to work together," he said.
"Through co-ordinated dialogue between industry partners and government bodies, we can ensure the benefits of the technology are more widely understood, appreciated and realised," he said.
Toyota will not be funding the infrastructure in the UK. It will be up to energy companies and local authorities to assess the investment and commercial return. So, until such an infrastructure is reached, Toyota's marketing of its FCV will be targeted and specific.
It means that early customers are likely to be what Toyota calls "our existing commercial partners" already using the company's low emission technologies. Mr Ogiso added: "We can also envisage interest from other 'green' company fleets and public authority fleets.
"We have set no specific target or expectation for the UK market. We understand and appreciate that the market development for FCVs, and related infrastructure, will be challenging at the outset.
"But we are strongly motivated to help highlight how FCVs can be a safe and relevant mobility solution moving us towards the development of the ultimate eco-vehicle in years to come."
And how much will they cost in the UK? Toyota isn't saying yet. In Japan, the fuel cell Sedan will cost about 7 million yen (£43,450). The price is being subsidised by the government.
But Toyota says the price does not translate to the UK, given taxes, import duties and other costs. Some industry experts have put the cost per vehicle at about £50,000.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Besides its fuel cell concept car, Toyota is also developing electric plug-in cars like this I-Road
Customers 'will decide'
The debate about which technologies will power cars of the future is becoming polarised between electric plug-ins and FCVs, which are also being developed by Hyundai and Honda.
But Mr Ogiso is no fan of this either/or argument. "We don't see this as a competition between the various technologies, and believe FCVs will coexist with hybrids, plug-ins and electric vehicles."
Indeed, much of Toyota's technological efforts still go into making standard gasoline cars more efficient.
"Customers will eventually decide which technology and vehicles meet the desired needs for mobility," he said.
As with car buying today, customers of the future "will make their choice depending on the size of the vehicle and range |
to the NIPC to serve as the agency’s chief of analysis and warning; Navy rear admiral James Plehal, who served as Dick’s deputy and was a key link to the Defense Department establishment; and LesWiser, the FBI agent responsible for tracking down CIA spy Aldrich Ames. A major cyber-attack now would prove absolutely devastating to the rescue and recovery effort and would almost certainly amplify the sense of fear and uncertainty far away from the epicenter of the main attack in New York. Such an assault had to be stopped at all costs. But with the crash of hijacked American Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, the fog of war had settled firmly over official Washington. Despite the billions of dollars invested every year in advanced information technology designed to provide key government and military decision-makers with what is known in military parlance as “situation awareness,” the fog of September 11 proved too thick to see through. America’s national security community was thrown off-balance and had lost (in fact, may never have had) the initiative. What should have been an offensive war of maneuver had quickly turned into a reactive war fought from trenches and hardened bunkers.
September 11 was far from over when a small cadre of highly respected national security experts began warning of the potential for the physical attacks to be followed by cyber-attacks. Marv Langston, the former deputy CIO at the Defense Department, characterized the events during an interview with Computerworld magazine as an act of war and said the country needed to be on alert for what he described as an “electronic Pearl Harbor.” Likewise, retired Air Force Lt. General Al Edmonds, who at one time headed the Defense Information Systems Agency, said he feared a cyber-attack could be next and added that such an event would be “absolutely paralyzing.” Meanwhile, Atlanta-based Internet Security Systems, Inc. (ISS), which operates the IT industry’s Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC), placed its operations center on what it called AlertCon 3 (the highest is AlertCon 4), “in order to focus IT security efforts on the potential for (and defense against) an Internet component to these attacks.” The IT-ISAC was one of several ISACs established in cooperation with the FBI and the NIPC to share information between the government and the private sector about cyber-threats. In a threat assessment issued to the private sector members of the ISAC, ISS stated, “This is a time to partner all security assets on what is most important to your enterprise. While physical security concerns are paramount, it is essential to keep some eyes on the networks focused on malicious activity. We can expect a significant increase in disaster-recovery activity—plans being activated, dusted off, etc. No doubt the [disaster recovery] industry will be sorely stressed at this point, and it would behoove staffs to consider security as a move to alternate sites is contemplated or enacted.” At FBI headquarters, the NIPC began what Dick characterized as “harvesting” physical threat information pertaining to critical infrastructures and pushing that data out to thousands of private-sector companies that owned and operated those facilities, such as power plants, telecommunications facilities, water companies, and financial institutions. Dick relied on the FBI’s InfraGard program and the various private-sector- run Information Sharing and Analysis Centers for much of that outreach effort. On September 11, ISACs had already been established in the Financial Services sector, the Electric Power sector, the Telecommunications sector, the Information Technology industry, and the computer software anti- virus industry. In addition, the NIPC would set in motion a daily threat
briefing schedule for the Water sector, the Oil and Gas sector, and the Aviation and Railroad sectors. Accurate and timely information was the only thing that could cut through the fog of war. And the government was doing everything it could to get that information flowing to the right people at the right time. -- -- -- -- -- -- Secretary of State Colin Powell was in Lima, Peru, attending a meeting of the Organization of American States when he received word of the attacks. He immediately cut his trip short and boarded a government aircraft for the seven-hour flight back to Washington. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff understood and appreciated the advantage the U.S. enjoyed over most nations when it came to the advanced electronics and communications capabilities. The former Army General had put his name on various Pentagon war-fighting manuals that outlined the Department’s commitment to what the military called “network-centric warfare” and “information superiority.” He had even written an article in Byte Magazine in 1992 titled “Personal Computer Technology May Determine the Outcome of Future Conflicts.” But what really made Powell’s experience on September 11 unique was his understanding and continued devotion to the military’s decision cycle, known as the OODA loop. OODA is an acronym for the cycle of Observation, Orientation, Decision, and Action. For Powell, it was absolutely critical that he be inside of his counterpart’s or enemy’s loop. But on September 11, Powell got a taste of what communications must have been like for his early nineteenth-century counterparts. “I never felt more useless in my life than on the morning of the 11th of September,” Powell told members of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) during a meeting held at the State Department on March 13, 2002. For most of the seven-hour return flight, Powell was unable to communicate with other senior government leaders in Washington. “Phones[were] gone because of what happened here and what happened to the [communications] system here in Washington,” he said. “They couldn’t get a phone line through. I was able to get some radio communications—two radio spots on the way back—but for most of that seven-hour period, I could not tell what was going on here in my capital, and I’m the Secretary of State.” The implications of the communications failure on September 11 went beyond the seven-hour window during which Powell was unable to
communicate with Washington. For Powell, this meant that there was the chance he and his department could be severed from the world again in the future, removing the initiative from America’s diplomatic and foreign policy efforts around the world. “Power to me now, as Secretary of State, is to be inside of everybody else’s information loop or decision loop,” he told the group of telecommunications experts. “I had called the President of Pakistan last Friday [March 8] to talk some business and just as I was concluding I said ‘I’m sorry to hear about the deaths that occurred in Karachi today.’ And he said, ‘what deaths?’ I’m inside his information loop.” Powell was not alone in his distress. The National Airborne Operations Center that had converted literally on the fly from exercise status to real-world crisis management also had its share of trouble deciphering what was happening around the nation. Although the details are not known, a classified after- action report was produced that, according to one official who was on board the aircraft on September 11, does not paint a favorable picture of the government’s overall crisis management capabilities. According to one government official, the nation was “deaf, dumb, and blind” for much of that horrible day in September. Back in Arlington, Virginia, Brenton Greene and the NCS staff began preparing for 24-hour operations—a state they remain in as of this writing. As afternoon turned to evening, officials began to piece together the true nature of the digital devastation in and around New York City and the Pentagon. In short, the destruction amounted to “the most significant challenge that the National Communications System had ever seen,” recalled Greene. In addition to the immediate wireless circuit overload, the collapse of the towers sent a massive steel beam slicing through a bundle of critical fiber- optic communications cables buried eight feet below the streets of Manhattan. The hulk of steel destroyed more than four million high-speed access lines and ruptured water lines that filled underground switching vaults with more than ten million gallons of water. As many as 300,000 voice telephone lines and 139 fiber rings in surrounding buildings and 26 building- specific fiber rings also failed as a result of the physical devastation. The damage also knocked out 1.5 million circuits that served the financial district, threatening the country’s economic stability with each passing minute. The loss of connectivity to Wall Street was so severe that President Bush would soon establish three top priorities and communicate them personally to the NCS managers: rescue, recovery, and getting Wall Street back online.
The collapse of the towers had knocked out all primary power for much of lower Manhattan, and backup power, which was running on diesel fuel generators, began to fade quickly. Emergency responders and corporate disaster recovery specialists had failed to anticipate the physical impediments to getting fuel and spare parts onto Manhattan Island, which was now essentially surrounded by a blockade of bridge and tunnel police officers and military personnel at sea and in the air. Complicating matters was the fact that air transportation was no longer an option. Therefore, getting fuel delivered to keep the back-up power generators running was delayed due to the significant preplanning that was required to pass through security. In fact, security precautions and lack of planning denied Verizon officials timely access to their own facilities at the disaster site. Other telecommunications companies who had pledged support to the restoration effort had been completely denied entry into the disaster site and would only be able to get through using Verizon identification badges. Those delays had a direct impact on the time it took to restore services to the financial district. The electronic damage also extended to the transportation industry, cutting the electronic circuits that fed data to the tollbooths on the various bridges in the New York Area. When the first jetliner struck the north tower of the World Trade Center, it destroyed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey headquarters facility, which housed 2,000 staffers and the central host servers for the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system. It would take a team of 15 engineers to recover the toll system, helping to ensure the flow of traffic, including emergency vehicles, into and out of Manhattan. When the towers collapsed, 75 Port Authority workers were among the more than 2,800 who perished. Despite these difficulties, Greene was amazed at the sense of community and patriotism that had taken hold throughout the various private companies that only a day earlier considered each other ruthless competitors. Lucent Technologies, Inc., in Murray Hill, New Jersey, one of Verizon’s main systems providers, rushed a 100,000-line switch to the scene to replace another massive switch that had been sent crashing through the window of the Verizon building at 140 West Street. The company also put all of its customer requirements on hold and made its entire inventory available to rescue services. “Companies that were competitors with each other were all bending over backwards to help each other,” recalled Greene. “There was a clear recognition of the urgent need to get our economic machine—Wall Street— back online.”
-- -- -- -- On the morning of September 18, the world woke up to the Nimda Internet worm, malicious code that can destroy data and has the ability to self- replicate and find its way through the Internet to other vulnerable computers. Nimda, which contained five different malicious payloads, infected all 32-bitWindows systems it encountered, including Windows 98, 2000, Millennium Edition, XP, and NT. It scanned systems for as many as 100 different vulnerabilities and automatically exploited them when found. Within 30 minutes of being discovered, Nimda had become a global problem. At the White House, Clarke was immediately alarmed. Nobody could tell him who was responsible for the worm, which meant anybody could be responsible, including a nation-state sponsor of terrorism or some other surrogate of Osama bin Laden. Almost immediately, experts were warning that Nimda was spreading faster and more aggressively than any other worm they had ever seen and could easily begin to have an impact on overall Internet performance. Although there was no way to know for sure, this could have been part of the series of follow-up attacks that the national security community had been expecting. “Nimda was a devastating attack,” recalled Clarke, who remained on a 24- hour rotation in the White House Situation Room. “We had been expecting another wave of attacks. We were all still worrying about conventional terrorism. We didn’t know if it would be more airplane attacks, truck bombs, chemical or biological or cyber attacks. And suddenly the cybersecurity team came to me and said there was a major worm going through the Internet and it was knocking off major companies.” Initially, the consensus among Clarke’s staff of experts was that Nimda could have been related in some way to the September 11 attacks.“ We still don’t know for sure,” he recalled during an interview in his office in December 2002. “But had Nimda happened on September 5, it would have been a big news story. A lot of companies, particularly in the financial world, shut down major pieces of their operations. It destroyed and corrupted databases. It was quite devastating, causing several billion dollars in damage.” --- For more about the book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/007222787...glance&n;=283155 -- -- --
NIMDA is ADMIN spelled backwards. -- -- -- From another source: “As you may recall, Nimda appeared one week after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Using multiple exploit vectors, the worm rampaged through the Internet, causing massive network outages. Nimda also left a backdoor on infected systems that, in theory, could be exploited by its creators. The backdoor, of course, could also be exploited by a "chaser" program written by someone else. Enter the E911 virus. Back in March 2000, some 18 months prior to 9/11, AV experts began tracking a low-level virus that caused modems on infected computers to endlessly dial 911, wait for an answer, and then hang up. The evil genius of this program was that it exploited the unique functionality of the 911 emergency response system. In ordinary telephone calls, the caller controls the connection--once he hangs up, the switch drops the call. But in 911 systems, the switch works in reverse: Only the 911 console can drop the connection. That way, emergency services can trace the call even if the caller hangs up. If some malicious opportunist had reprogrammed the E911 virus to exploit Nimda's backdoor, and then released it as a chaser on Sept. 19, millions of infected computers would have DoS'd the nation's 911 systems. If you tried to call 911 during that time, you'd get a busy signal. Such an attack, Geer correctly surmises, would have caused a "grand mal seizure" on the nation's already fragile psyche and, worse yet, resulted in needless deaths of people waiting for emergency services.” From http://infosecuritymag.techtarget.com/ss/ 0,295796,sid6_iss446_art928,00.html --- --- Please see the following: http://www.dandurand.uqam.ca/download/pdf/... 004/gagnonb.pdf I am not allowed to “quote” from this pdf but I direct your attention to the last two paragraphs on the first page, and the first paragraph on the second page, as well as the recounting of the exercise known as Eligible Receiver on pages 3 and 4.
He sees a pattern. Can you? --- --- --- http://events.um.edu.mt/bileta2006/22%20Savirimuthu.doc “Webs of Deceit and the Art of War” -- A PowerPoint presentation: http://www.dfrws.org/2004/bios/day2/D2- Dussault-OODA.ppt#256,1 Forensics, Fighter Pilots and the OODA Loop The Role of Digital Forensics in Cyber Command & Control Heather Dussault, Ph..D., Asst.Professor of Electrical Engineering, SUNY Institute of Technology An accompaning pdf : http://www.dfrws.org/2004/bios/day2/Dussault- OODA.pdf --- --- --- Should the question occur to the reader as to what the OODA loop developed for mid-air and other combat has to do with cyber crime, it should be noted that Boyd developed his Energy-Maneuverability theory (applied to the design of the F-15) despite the fact that the military would not give him access to the computer time he needed. He got the job done anyway. Some time later, the Air Force was going to charge him with the theft of $1 million worth of computer time, but could never prove that he did it. This is recounted in the biography by Robert Coram. --- ---- ----- To industry outsiders like myself, it may appear as though the massive focus on cybersecurity ramped up significantly after 9/11, given the fact the 9/11 Commission did not discuss cybersecurity in any detail yet chose to make recommendations on improving it, and given the “demotion” of Richard Clarke from counter-terrorism tzar to cyber-security tzar. (He’d been talking about the possibility of a digital Pearl Harbor well in advance of 9/11).
But this paper ( http://www.cert.org/research/isw/isw2000/papers/13.pdf ) notes, in footnote #3, a 1999 presentation on the use of the OODA loop in cybersecurity: "3 Wood, Bradley and Schudel, Gregg “Modeling Behavior of the Cyber Terrorist”, pre-publication draft presented at various 1999 DARPA Workshops. This paper identifies an adversary cycle that leads to such a “packet of death”. This cycle consist of an Adversary Orient, Observe, Decide and Act (OODA) loop consisting of intelligence gathering, preparation, and development, live network discovery, test-practice-replan, attack and damage assessment processes. --- --- --- --- “Information warfare, in its essence, is about…the way humans think and, more important, the way humans make decisions.” (Stein, 1996) Effective information operations entail some of the most extreme warfighter demands ever encountered. This is especially true for information operations, where the prospects include the fastest, most numerous, most anonymous, and most rapidly reconstitutable attackers in military history. The information operations mission must beaccomplished in an environment (“cyberspace”) where “fog” is common and routine access can become pure “friction.” Moreover, the operations tempo is marked in milliseconds, and this makes information operations the warfighting effort most reflective of Col. John Boyd’s (1987) analysis in terms of adversaries’ OODA (Observe-Orient- Decide-Act) Loops. High performance information operations entail global situation awareness (SA), efficient threat identification, and effective attack assessment. To achieve these ends watch center staff must monitor, manage, and manipulate data streams and information artifacts large in number, high in complexity, and dynamic in the extreme. From a paper published on March 23, 2000 entitled “CYBER WARRIOR: INFORMATION SUPERIORITY THROUGH ADVANCED MULTI-SENSORY COMMAND AND CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES” found here: http://www.hec.afrl.af.mil/Publications/n-101.pdf. ----
“Decision-support systems for situational awareness are tightly coupled with data fusion systems. The basic decision system—observe-orient-decide-act (OODA)— is the classic decision-support mechanism used in military information operations. OODA provides a cognitive mapping of the lowest level of cyberinference to knowledge-based personnel actions. This cyberfusion process requires the utilization of techniques ranging from processing algorithms and statistical estimations, to heuristic methods such as template correlation, or expert systems to assess situations and threats in cyberspace. The ID systems observe functions include the technical and human collection of data, comprising ID sensors, network sniffers, and computer system log files. The orient function includes data mining concepts to discover or learn previous unknown characteristics in the recorded data and computer files. The orient function also encompasses the application of templates for intrusion detection and association in data fusion processes. In the decision function, cyberinformation is further refined into threat knowledge used in the determination of an appropriate action or countermeasures. Act functions include both automated and human responses. Simple responses to cyberattacks may be automated, however, more complex decisions will always require human intervention. [which is problematic if buildings have been evacuated]. The OODA decision-support process may be mapped into the three levels of abstractions. Data is the measurements and observations. Information is the data placed in context, indexed, and organized. Knowledge or intelligence is information explained and understood. These abstractions make up the ID data-fusion model, illustrated in Figure 3, introduced by Waltz [11] for physical targets.” From another paper from April 2000: http://www.silkroad.com/papers/pdf/ acm-p99-bass.pdf --- --- - --- -- ------- Text of the slide presentation for DARPA in 1999 can be found here: http://www.darpa.mil/darpatech99/Presentations/Scripts/ISO/ ISO_StrategicCyberDefense_Saydjari_Script.txt --- --- http://staff.washington.edu/dittrich/cyberwarfare.html ( a compendium of articles on cyberwarfare) Logged
Part IV: Ptech, the OODA Loop and SAIC "By 8:56 a.m., it was evident that Flight 77 [which hit the Pentagon] was lost. The Federal Aviation Administration, already in contact with the Pentagon about the hijackings out of Boston, notified the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, of American 77 at 9:24, 28 minutes later." "'We Have Some Planes,' Hijacker Told Controller", New York Times, 16 October 2001 **** "I want to get though to the White House to reiterate that we need air cover." New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik at the World Trade Center just after the second attack on the World Trade Center Time Magazine, 7 January 2002 **** Indira Singh describes the software she sought, the search for which brought her to PTECH: “The job of this software was to think about all the information that represented what was going in the enterprise at any given time…. For example, it would, it would be a surveillance software that would look at trading patterns that indicated someone was up to no good and then do something about it, send a message somewhere, send a transaction information somewhere, perhaps shut their system down, perhaps shut another system down, perhaps start something up elsewhere… I asked all my colleagues who were industry gurus what would they recommend for this. My buddies recommended PTECH…. it has an artificial intelligence core…. “ “… the networks were going to run the Ptech story on the first year anniversary. However, the White House got wind of the investigation – I have proof of that – and shut the story down in late August.” http://911citizenswatch.org/September-Hearings.pdf
Bob Ruppert: p. 90 ff Indira Singh: p. 126 ff A transcript of a radio interview with Indira Singh Audio here Mr.John Pike, GlobalSecurity.org: When you look at all of the different military security agencies that [Ptech has] as customers, it's very difficult to imagine how they would not be encountering sensitive information, classified information. ***** “The company, once known as PTech (now GoAgile), has been contracted to provide sophisticated computer software to several government agencies, including the Army, the Air Force, Naval Air Command, Congress, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, Customs, the FAA, the IRS, NATO, the FBI, the Secret Service, and the White House. Shortly after 9/11, the company’s primary investor, Yassin al-Qadi (al-Kadi), was identified by the US government as a specially designated global terrorist. Officials describe al-Qadi as one of Osama bin Laden’s "chief money launderers," and allege he transferred as much as $3 billion to al-Qaeda during the 1990s. Al-Qadi is a wealthy Saudi with connections to banking, diamonds, chemicals, construction, transportation, and real estate. He once headed Muwafaq, an Islamic charity the US Treasury Department described as an “al Qaeda front that receives funding from wealthy Saudi businessmen.” Al-Qadi also maintained an unusually close relationship with notable US politicians. While attempting to defend Ptech, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Massachusetts (ADCMA) revealed the fact that al-Qadi “was prominent in Washington circles and even showed President Jimmy Carter and Dick Cheney around during their visits to Saudi Arabia.” Al-Qadi told an Arab newspaper in October of 2001 that he “spoke to [Dick Cheney] at length” and they “even became friends.” Similarly, while speaking with Computer World Magazine, Ptech cofounder Oussama Ziade said that al-Qadi “talked very highly of his relationship with [former President] Jimmy Carter and [Vice President] Dick Cheney." Ptech, under al-Qadi’s ownership, supplied the US government with what is known as enterprise architecture. According to Glenn Watt of Backbone Security, "Enterprise architecture is really the design, the layout, the blueprint if you will for the computer networks and computer systems that
are going to go into an organization." In regard to Ptech, he said, “The software they put on your system could be collecting every key stroke that you type while you are on the computer. It could be establishing a connection to the outside terrorist organization through all of your security measures." John Zachman, who is considered the “father” of enterprise architecture, said, "You would know where the access points are, you'd know how to get in, you would know where the weaknesses are, you'd know how to destroy it." Former FBI counterterrorism analyst Matthew Levitt has said, “For someone like [al-Qadi] to be involved in a capacity in an organization, a company, that has access to classified information, that has access to government open or classified computer systems would be of grave concern.” http://www.onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_570.shtml Please read the entire article at the link above… as well as this one: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17730 See also (and read in their entirety) the Cooperative Research notes on Ptech which note: “Ptech will help build “the Military Information Architecture Framework, a software tool used by the Department of Defense to link data networks from various military computer systems and databases.” ******* Mike Ruppert: “Whoever plotted 9/11 definitely viewed the FAA as an enemy that morning. Overriding FAA systems would be the most effective way to ensure the attacks were successful. To do this, the FAA needed an evolution of PROMIS software installed on their systems and Ptech was just that; the White House & Secret Service had the same software on their systems - likely a superior modified version capable of "surveillance and intervention" functions…. Enterprise architecture software is designed with the express purpose of knowing everything that is going on throughout the entirety of the enterprise in real-time.” [Doesn’t that sound like having good situation awareness?] Ptech Inc. Confidential Business Plan: Page 37 of 46 11/7/2001:
“The FAA recognized the need for leveraging its IT investment, with a means of centralizing activities and introducing consistency and compatibility within the operating systems environment. A Ptech consulting team was organized to use activity modeling to identify key functions that could be examined for improvement in network management, network security, configuration management, fault management, performance management, application administration, network accounting management, and user help desk operations.” Ptech was with Mitre Corporation in the basement of the FAA for 2 years prior to 9/11 and their specific job was to look at interoperability issues the FAA had with NORAD and the Air Force, in case of an emergency. Mitre knew the FAA's technological enterprise inside and out, including any simulation-and-testing (war game) technology operated by the FAA. ************ According to Ruppert: “Ptech is Total Information Awareness...“Programs based on datamining are powerful analytical tools; finding meaningful patterns in an ocean of information is very useful. But when such a tool is driven by a high- caliber artificial intelligence core [P-tech], its power gets spooky. The datamining capability becomes a smart search tool of the AI [Artificial Intelligence] program, and the system begins to learn.... ’Neural Network’ programming is modeled on the computational techniques used by the human brain - an electrochemical computer that uses neurons instead of semiconductors; the firing or non-firing of neurons instead of ones and zeros. With neural networking, software has become much smarter than it had been... “... Ptech's Framework can exploit the patterns it detects and extrapolate future probabilities. Then it can integrate itself with the computers from which it's getting the information and intervene in their functioning. The result is a tool for surveillance and intervention. The program can identify suspect streams of cash in a banking network and allow a bank officer to freeze the suspect assets. Of course, a user could direct the same program to prevent detection. It can discover salient anomalies in a person's movements through a city and either flag those anomalies for further scrutiny, or erase them from the record. And it can find errant flights in an air traffic map and initiate an intercept response. Or not.”
Read about the DOJ and FBI investigations of Ptech here. Note also that Chertoff was minority counsel in the first Senate investigation related to the death of Vincent Foster and majority special counsel in the second such Senate investigation. See http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/ readart.cgi?ArtNum=81709. Neither Indira Singh, nor Ptech, warrant a mention in the official 9/11 Commission report. ****************************** The OODA loop is used to create “the fog of war”. According to Col John Boyd's observation-orientation-decision-action (OODA) loop theory, this kind of offensive effort can "enmesh [the] adversary in a world of uncertainty, doubt, mistrust, confusion, disorder, fear, panic, chaos... and/or fold [him] back inside himself so that he cannot cope with events/ efforts as they unfold." If someone truly understands how to create menace and uncertainty and mistrust, then how to exploit and magnify the presence of these disconcerting elements, the Loop can be vicious, a terribly destructive force, virtually unstoppable in causing panic and confusion and – Boyd’s phrase is best – “unraveling the competition”. The most amazing aspect of the OODA Loop is that the losing side rarely understands what happened.” “Gingrich had been out of the House for nearly 3 years, but he was an ally of Rumsfeld and a member of his Defense Policy Board, an influential advisory group. Gingrich was also one of a number of military theorists in the nineteen-eighties who tried to imagine a new American military suited to a world beyond the Cold War. Their intellectual patron was the late Air Force Colonel John Boyd, whose cardinal tenet was a concept that he called the “OODA loop”. (From http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/arti.../ 030630fa_fact3) In addition to the use of the OODA loop in strategic management and operations with multiple war game scenarios, the OODA loop also has widely
accepted application within computer programming circles, especially as it pertains to cybersecurity. Some examples: Wood, Bradley and Schudel, Gregg, Modeling Behavior of the Cyber Terrorist, (pre-publication draft presented at various 1999 DARPA Workshops). This paper identifies an adversary cycle that leads to such a “packet of death”. This cycle consist of an Adversary Orient, Observe, Decide and Act (OODA) loop consisting of intelligence gathering, preparation, and development, live network discovery, test-practice-replan, attack and damage assessment processes. “Information warfare, in its essence, is about…the way humans think and, more important, the way humans make decisions.” (Stein, 1996) ”Effective information operations entail some of the most extreme warfighter demands ever encountered. This is especially true for information operations, where the prospects include the fastest, most numerous, most anonymous, and most rapidly reconstitutable attackers in military history. The information operations mission must be accomplished in an environment (“cyberspace”) where “fog” is common and routine access can become pure “friction.” Moreover, the operations tempo is marked in milliseconds, and this makes information operations the warfighting effort most reflective of Col. John Boyd’s (1987) analysis in terms of adversaries’ OODA (Observe-Orient- Decide-Act) Loops. High performance information operations entail global situation awareness (SA), efficient threat identification, and effective attack assessment. To achieve these ends watch center staff must monitor, manage, and manipulate data streams and information artifacts large in number, high in complexity, and dynamic in the extreme.” From a paper published on March 23, 2000 entitled “CYBER WARRIOR: INFORMATION SUPERIORITY THROUGH ADVANCED MULTI-SENSORY COMMAND AND CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES” found here: http:// www.hec.afrl.af.mil/Publications/n-101.pdf. SAIC SAIC has been involved in military simulation. SAIC was one of four contractors selected to provide support for Phase I of the U.S. Air Force Distributed Mission Training Operations and Integration program. See http://www.saic.com/news/sept99/news09-15-99.html.
“SAIC has unique experience in information security, Internet-based video networks, video search and indexing. SAIC’s government services expertise, specifically its reputation in supplying security solutions for the DOD, NSA and FBI, provides Onstream Media and its customers with top-notch engineers and the highest DOD-level security infrastructure.” In 1998-1999, SAIC was also involved in a study of functional system performance parameters and decomposition of air traffic control/air traffic management. See http://as.nasa.gov/aatt/rto/Br19.pdf (See especially page 15). According to SourceWatch: “Christopher Ryan Henry, SAIC's corporate vice president for strategic assessment and development, previously worked at the the Pentagon as deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, serving with Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith." In 2006, they were dropped from an Iraq war psy-ops project. According to Mark Lewellen-Biddle in his December 2003 article Voting Machines Gone Wild!, “… Diebold hired Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC) of San Diego, to assess the security of the company’s voting software.... Many SAIC officers are current or former government and military officials. Retired Army Gen. Wayne Downing, who until last summer served as chief counter-terrorism expert on the National Security Council, is a member of SAIC’s board. Also on the board is former CIA Director Bobby Ray Inman, who served as director of the National Security Agency, deputy director of the CIA and vice director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. During the first Bush administration and while on the board of SAIC, Inman was a member of the National Foreign Intelligence Board, an advisory group that reports to the president and to the director of Central Intelligence. Retired Adm. William Owens, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who sits on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s Defense Policy Board, served as SAIC’s president and CEO and until recently was its vice chairman. He now is chairman of the board of VoteHere, which seeks to provide cryptography and computer software security for the electronic election industry. Robert Gates, ex-CIA director, former SAIC board member and a veteran of the Iran-Contra scandal, also is on the board of VoteHere.”
Non-Linear Dynamics of War It was previously noted that war and the events of 9/11 were dynamic. There is an additional factor of such dynamism, that of non-linear dynamism. Dr. Linda Beckerman of SAIC wrote a paper in 1999 entitled 'The Non-Linear Dynamics of War". Interestingly, she references the OODA loop several times: The Boydian approach tracks extremely well with the nonlinear dynamics of war. He advocates that we "Operate inside adversary's observation- orientation-decision-action loops to enmesh adversary in a world of uncertainty, doubt, mistrust, confusion, disorder, fear, panic, chaos,..and/or fold adversary back inside himself so that he cannot cope with events/efforts as they unfold." He refers to the Strategic Game as "A game in which we must be able to diminish adversary's ability to communicate or interact with his environment while sustaining or improving ours". "Generate many non-cooperative centers of gravity, as well as disorient, disrupt, or overload those that adversary depends on, in order to magnify friction, shatter cohesion, produce paralysis, and bring about his collapse." … At the same time, we deny the adversary the same ability by disrupting his interactions to create non-cooperative centers.... It is interesting to view Boyd's legacy to us in light of the role that new technology plays in our ability to wage war. It has become very vogue in some circles to invoke Boyd's OODA Loop as justification for new, superior technology to win "the information war". The idea is that we can be almost omniscient with regards to situational awareness, and become capable of replan and redirection at ever increasing speeds. That article is hosted at a web site run by folks whose “methods closely follow the ideas of the late American strategist, Col John R. Boyd, USAF, particularly his concepts for dislocating competitors before engaging in decisive actions. We bring over 30 years of experience in this area, including several years working directly with Col. Boyd on applications of his strategy to business competition. Our services include training, consulting, and preparation of business plans and strategies. We also built and operate Defense and the National Interest which retains Col Boyd's original focus on military applications. This site specializes in the emerging "fourth generation" of warfare such as we experienced on September 11, 2001.”
« Reply #17 on: June 09, 2009, 07:33:10 PM » “Is this real-world or exercise?”: Cyber-PsyOps Warfare & 9/11 Part I (of 7): 9/11, Simulation and “Red Teaming” What was the time span between the awareness of the US military of the second hijacking (a clear indication of an aberrant event, confirmed in a short time by the first and second WTC impacts) and the impact on the Pentagon? It is tempting to see the totality of 9/11 as a single event, but in reality those events played out over hours -- yet were sometimes measured in minutes, or seconds (or even milliseconds) over multiple locations from Boston to Washington to Florida and beyond. 9/11 was a series of inter-connected events. Furthermore, we know that there were extensive warnings in advance by sources both inside and outside the US. Indeed, there was a palpable prodrome (a period of time during which early warning signs can be observed or experienced) that was acknowledged and noted at that time by many. (The 9/11 prodrome was so palpable that the US |
But the Macedonian President George Ivanov, elected on a VMRO-DPMNE ticket, refuses to hand the mandate to the Social Democrats. The justification for breaking the constitution is the threat of SDSM "Albanianising" Macedonia. The real reason: Gruevski does not want to be in opposition.
Being indicted by the special prosecutor and ending up behind the bars as Croatia's erstwhile Prime Minister Ivo Sanader is not a welcome prospect. So, it is not the love of the motherland that is at stake, much less Putin stirring trouble in a far-off corner of southeast Europe. It is the crude realities of Balkan politics.
The EU's poster child
The ongoing drama in Skopje illustrates the dire straits of Western policy in the region. In the early 2000s, Macedonia was the poster child of the EU's transformative power. Emerging from a brief conflict with ethnic Albanian militants in 2001, it was the second post-Yugoslav country (after Slovenia) to sign an association agreement with Brussels.
The diminutive republic muddled through, against all odds - through political turbulence, conflicts ripping apart Bosnia and neighbouring Kosovo, and a trade embargo imposed by Greece due to a dispute over the country's name. (Greece claims that the country's name implies territorial claims on its own region of Macedonia.
But the West was on its side and prospects still seemed bright.
Unfortunately for Macedonia, the whole "Europeanisation" project ground to a halt after Greece imposed a veto on its NATO and EU accession in 2008-2009, once again citing the name issue. But one should not get carried away faulting Athens. The fact remains that Macedonia's politicians made use of the deadlock.
The party leadership maintains that joining the EU and NATO are important long-term goals, but in reality, they have punted on fulfilling Brussels' pesky conditionalities. The dual impasses have furnished Gruevski and his partisans an excellent opportunity to grab power at home while wearing the mantle of the nation's protector from internal and external adversaries.
Clientelistic networks
However, the opposition is not innocent either. It was SDSM, heir to the Yugoslav-period communists, that fathered the clientelistic system and used it in its favour while it was in charge in the 1990s and between 2002-2006.
All Gruevski did was take over and upgrade the machinery he inherited - assume control over public sector jobs, budgetary resources, and the police and you run the show in Macedonia (or any country in its neighbourhood).
Albanian parties are implicated as well - as coalition partners they have also had a piece of the pie. And now they have upped the ante by promulgating, together with the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, the so-called Tirana Platform which seeks to upgrade their community's status and make Albanian an official language. They have handed Gruevski a pretext to enact his spoiler tactics.
What we see in Macedonia is the norm across the post-Yugoslav space: Governments pay lip service to the EU precepts but care little about the substance of democratic and rule-of-law reforms.
International democratisation watchdogs, such as Freedom House, register a multi-year trend of stagnation or, in some cases, backsliding to authoritarianism. Nowhere is this more visible than in the area of media: Freedom of expression has been in steady decline while economic hardship has heightened vulnerability to political pressure and given political elites the means to coopt or silence critics.
Back in December, optimists hoped for a change of government and a rollback of Gruevski's power networks. In principle, that would have been a good thing. The orderly passage of power from a governing party to the opposition and back is the hallmark of a democratic regime. In theory, it would have been a healthy development for VMRO-DPMNE as a party to return to opposition and disentangle itself from the state. Gruevski's retirement would give room for a new generation to step up.
However, recent events have cast a shadow over such expectations. The incumbent elite's unwillingness to surrender power confirms that Macedonia fails even the minimalist definition of democracy. The ethnicisation of the crisis is a harbinger of more trouble. There will be more bad news from Skopje.
Dimitar Bechev is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and Research Fellow at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. He was formerly Senior Policy Fellow and Head of Sofia Office at the European Council on Foreign Relations and lecturer at the University of Oxford.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.At a time when some well-known names in Bollywood have no qualms about endorsing fairness creams, actress Anushka Sharma says she would never promote such products.
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“I would not endorse products that propagate racist and sexiest (beliefs)….and propagate social taboo. I don’t want to endorse products that propagate fair skin and all. I will not propagate anything that says this is right or wrong,” Anushka Sharma told reporters at an event on Wednesday (July 29).
Leading shampoo brand Pantene has appointed Anushka Sharma as their brand ambassador and the 27-year-old actress is happy and proud to be associated with the hair care product owned by FMCG major Procter & Gamble.
[related-post]
“We have to look good…our hair does get damaged due to straightening…tonging. We have to do something that helps our hair look good and healthy,” she said, dwelling on benefits of using shampoo.
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“While I was shooting for “NH 10″ my hair had to look dirty in the film. To improve the texture…quality of hair I had to use a lot of conditioner,” the “Band Baaja Baaraat” star said.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., along with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to reporters about the path forward for health care legislation in the Ohio Clock Corridor after the Senate Republicans' policy lunch in the Capitol on Tuesday, July 18, 2017. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Several parts of the Senate health care bill would violate the chamber’s budget reconciliation rules, the Senate parliamentarian said in a guidance late Friday.
Provisions related to abortion, certain insurance regulations and funding the law’s cost-sharing subsidies could be struck under the so-called Byrd rule and would require 60 votes to survive.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said the Senate will take a procedural vote to proceed to debate on the health care measure early next week. It’s unclear whether enough Republican senators will vote to start debate or which version of the bill the Senate would consider. The parliamentarian's ruling is on an early version released last month.
Additionally, a provision that aims to incentivize individuals to purchase coverage and replace the health care law's individual mandate was ruled out of order with the Byrd rule.
That provision would delay benefits for six months for an individual who had gone without coverage for more than 63 days.
Notably not included in the review from the parliamentarian is a proposal from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to allow insurers to sell policies on the exchanges that do not meet the regulations under the 2010 health care law.
Democrats were publicizing the decisions, which they summarized in a document linked within a press release.Ebola drug maker Mapp Biopharmaceutical is working on several fronts to increase supplies of the potentially life-saving medicine as fast as possible, Mapp's chief executive, Kevin Whaley, said Thursday.
Mapp has teamed up with a pharmaceutical partner to make more of the drug, ZMapp, Whaley said in a rare interview. Additionally, Mapp is exploring whether the manufacturing process can be made more efficient, and whether ZMapp can be given in smaller doses and still be effective.
Mapp has been focused on producing as much ZMapp, as quickly as possible, Whaley said. That's why the company has maintained a low profile despite worldwide interest in the previously little-known San Diego biotech.
"There has been a lot of coverage, but we know what our job is, so we stay very focused," Whaley said.
While the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has been almost exclusively confined to West Africa, a few cases have started appearing in Europe and the United States. The first Ebola death in America occurred Wednesday; the patient had recently visited hard-hit Liberia.
ZMapp is now made in genetically modified tobacco plants by Kentucky BioProcessing. Whaley said the Owensboro, KY company will continue production as fast as possible. At the same time, the new partner, whom Whaley declined to name, will scale up a more traditional biotech process using genetically modified mammalian cells. That process uses "CHO" cells, derived from Chinese hamster ovaries, grown in sterile tanks.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation helped find the partner, he said.
Three Ebola fighters tell their stories Three Ebola fighters tell their stories SEE MORE VIDEOS
Mapp is also exploring ways to increase the yield of ZMapp from each plant, and to determine if a lower dose of the drug will still be effective against Ebola. Using less ZMapp per patient means more doses would be available, Whaley said.
Manufacturing in plants gives a potential cost advantage, and drugs can be made more quickly, Whaley said. But traditional biotech manufacturing can produce larger quantities in the long run, because the infrastructure is currently more extensive than for plant-based pharmaceuticals.
And with a constantly rising death toll from Ebola, the need to increase production quickly is critical.
"The products we're interested in (address) global health challenges," Whaley said. "These are complex biologics, and we'd like them to be available in large, cost-sensitive markets."
ZMapp is a cocktail of three Ebola-fighting antibodies that in animal studies, including monkeys, have demonstrated an ability to help infected animals recover.
"It's actually three separate manufacturing runs for each antibody," Whaley said. "Each antibody must have its own certificate of analysis as a drug prior to being combined into a single drug product. We're trying to increase the level of expression per plant. That by and large is molecular biology."
Complicating the process, the tobacco plants make the antibodies with varying levels of efficiency, he said, so increasing yield of the lower-performing will make the process more efficient.
ZMapp is not an approved drug, and is being used as an emergency measure because no drug is approved to treat Ebola. Interest in the drug was sparked when two American missionaries who had been infected received ZMapp and recovered. It's unclear whether the drug assisted in their recovery; ZMapp's efficacy can only be established in a scientifically controlled clinical trial. That trial was originally scheduled to start next year.
Mapp is trying to speed up that process, Whaley said. And no ZMapp would be have been available at all if Kentucky BioProcessing had not made ZMapp its first priority.
"They're working 24/7," Whaley said.
In response to the emergency, Kentucky BioProcessing stepped up ZMapp production. And on Sept. 2, the Department of Health and Human Services received an 18-month contract worth up to $42.3 million to supply ZMapp.
To establish whether a lower dose of ZMapp can be effective, animal experiments are now being conducted at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), with support from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The Gates Foundation is also helping, Whaley said.Permuted Press: A New Age of Fuckery
There is a justified uproar about the business practices of Permuted Press right now. You can read all about it via Graeme Reynolds, Gabrielle Faust, and R. Thomas Riley, (three newer authors whom I have an immense amount of respect for) and William Miekle (who’s been at this I think as long as I have and knows the score). Update: And here’s one from another new author, Jack Hanson).
Authors have privately been asking me to look into this over the last few weeks, and although I’ve been dealing with a friend’s alarming health diagnosis, and an alarming health diagnosis of my own, and deadlines, and the every day adventures of being the parent of a six-year old, I have. I have looked into it and it is abhorrent. It is not, however, illegal.
Permuted Press should, on good faith to the community and their stable, revert those print rights back to the individual authors. That would be the right and moral thing to do. However, corporations seldom do the right or moral thing, especially when Intellectual Property is involved, and especially when that Intellectual Property can be strip-mined for film, comic books, television, merchandising, etc. And in the case of Permuted, they have no legal obligation to do the right or moral thing. Indeed. their legal obligation is to hold on to those rights, because as I understand it, the contracts their authors signed state that they can.
As I said on Laird Barron’s Facebook Page this morning, “Permuted has been dodgy since day one. I did an Afterword for one of their very early anthologies, got a glimpse at their contracts then, and stayed far away. A decade + later, nothing much seems to have changed, despite new owners.
But it’s also important to note that, unlike Dorchester, it doesn’t sound as if Permuted is doing anything ‘illegal’. Dodgy? Yes. Shifty as fuck? Yes. But from what sources have told me, they are going by contractual terms, and if the authors signed those contracts with those terms, then that’s not illegal.
Laird is absolutely right. You need to understand what you are signing and what it means for your IP. Take a community college business course (like I did), come from a business background, or get an agent (or ideally, all three). In this age, Intellectual Property is king, and the advent of digital means your IP can stay in print in perpetuity, and make other people a lot of money – unless you’ve got control of it."
Let me be clear. I stand firmly with the authors in this fight, and I will personally boycott purchasing all Permuted Press titles until the company does the morally right thing (and I applaud you if you do the same) and reverts those print rights to their authors.
But we are going to see more and more and more stories like this, and at some point, boycotts and Blogs aren’t going to be enough.
In the aftermath of Dorchester and others, and with the advent of respectable, responsible self-publishing via digital, and with the headline-grabbing stories of IP battles in comic book and YA publishing, there is absolutely no excuse for authors not managing control over their rights and their IP. The days of simply writing the books and letting others control the paperwork are gone. As an author, it is your responsibility to shepherd your IP.
1. Never, ever publish without a contract.
2. Never, ever sign a contract unless you understand it. If you are using an agent, make that agent explain the parts you don’t understand. If the agent doesn’t want to explain it, get a new agent.
3. Never, ever sign a contract you’re not comfortable with just because you are excited to be published or to be working with that publisher.
4. Never, ever give away the rights to anything. Make sure you are paid for them. If you are dealing with a book publisher, why would you give them your movie rights? Are they making movies, or are they publishing books? Never assume those rights won’t be used. For 20 years, I’ve retained the rights to things like apparel, toys, etc. for my books. Those rights were never used by anyone, yet I made sure I retained them. Now, there is a successful line of t-shirts based on my books being produced by a vendor. Had I not held on to those rights, I would have had to either split those monies with my publishers, or not made a cent off them at all.
You can’t just be a writer these days. I’m sorry. I know that’s not romantic. But it’s true. In addition to being a writer, you have to be a salesperson and a marketer and an agent and a lawyer. Or else you need to hire one of each and have them on your team.
Most importantly, you need to remember that quite often, your peers and readers will also be on your team. if you do get screwed, then you need to do as Graeme, Gabrielle, and R. Thomas have done above. You have the right (and I personally believe an obligation) to speak out publicly, stating the facts and letting the public decide.
Good morning.
UPDATE: Click here for a follow up.In 1988 North Carolina had the nation’s highest infant mortality rate. The state decided to tackle this tragedy in a variety of ways. One approach, championed in a bipartisan effort by Republican Governor Jim Martin, was to expand Medicaid coverage to pregnant women earning up to 185 percent of federal poverty level and creating a package of programs within Medicaid to ensure good maternity care and a safe delivery.
Pregnant women who qualify now get excellent care in Medicaid and we have made some progress with our infant mortality rates. The legislature is now set to roll back that progress.
One of the Senate budget provisions moves Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women down from 185 percent of federal poverty level to 133 percent of federal poverty level (about $15,000 in annual income). The rest of the provision is a poorly constructed attempt to provide political cover for this mean spirited move.
From committee discussions it’s clear that legislators think they are moving these women who currently qualify for Medicaid into private insurance on the new health benefits exchange. Some Senators suggest the women will then qualify automatically for subsidies and the state will cover the remaining, unsubsidized, part of their premium using Medicaid funds. Out-of-pocket costs for these pregnant women, the Senators say, will be capped thanks to Obamacare.
The problem with all of this is that Obamacare was not constructed with the idea that legislators would try to kick our state’s most vulnerable group of people out of Medicaid. In fact, health reform was built around an expansion of Medicaid. The claims made by Senators about what will happen to pregnant women are untrue. This “program” created by the Senate budget is an unworkable solution to a nonexistent problem.
Many women, for example, will either not qualify for premium subsidies in the exchange or not qualify for the state premium assistance. Let’s say a woman makes $17,000 a year with part-time work and buys a substandard insurance policy from her employer. We don’t have final rules about what constitutes “minimum essential coverage” but initial proposals do not require maternity care. So let’s assume the plan does not cover maternity care. Now the woman becomes pregnant. Her employer coverage does not cover her needs. She no longer qualifies for Medicaid. She could buy subsidized coverage in the exchange but she would still be required to pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket. And, because she has “minimum essential coverage” at work, she is excluded from the new state program.
Also, it’s not true that her out-of-pocket costs are capped at $2,200 as some Senators claim. Out-of-network care, for example, does not count toward the cap. Neither do the costs of uncovered services. The questions about what it would mean to move these pregnant women to private insurance plans are too numerous to list. Here are just a few: Could a woman lose her private insurance plan? Could a provider refuse to treat a woman if she did not have her co-pay at the time of service? Does the woman get to pick her own exchange plan or does Medicaid choose for her? If a woman is “rated up” for having used tobacco products will the state cover that portion of the premium? Again, these are only a few of the many questions that should be asked. The provision, as I say, is unworkable.
The most disturbing part of the provision is that Senators did not take time to understand its shortcomings or to make it viable. It’s clear that they just wanted to kick pregnant women off of Medicaid and stick some political cover into the budget. They also get to try and score meaningless rhetorical points against Obamacare. But the conclusion is clear: if this proposal is in the final budget, more pregnant women will go uninsured and our efforts to improve infant mortality rates will suffer.So, I’ve been play testing and starting off each new player with an Apprentice (level 0) character. Everyone thinks it is running awesome, and it’s cool to start the character at level 0, and only have the background. But they didn’t like finalizing the personality, and there was some people upset about Class weapon proficiency. So I made some updates. Thanks to everyone for helping me and my players on this. I put together a short Level 0 adventure just for fun. Let me know what you like/dislike.
Apprentice Character
Character Generation
1. Race. Choose a Race and get your racial skills, proficiencies, special abilities
2. Details. Choose a name, alignment, physical details, starting age. This is not necessarily the youngest for the races age, as you may have just started a life of adventuring at an older age
3. Ability Scores. Standard Array, Roll random, or Point Buy. Then add in your racial bonuses as normal
4. Class. Choose Class that you are thinking of being an apprentice.
You don’t get all the skills, proficiencies or other benefits yet from your class. You gain don’t gain any weapon proficiency, or armor proficiency until Level 1.
You get all of the equipment but you don’t have proficiency yet in everything. So take that into account for calculations for combat, and your armor class. That would not apply to racial or background weapon and armor proficiencies gained.
If you’re a magic user, then pick one of the cantrip (level 0) spells for your class as you would get for 1st class.
You have your Class Saves, but at a +1 from your 0 level proficiency score, and your bonus from the ability score.
5. Hit Points. Roll 1d4 hitpoints, and then add your Constitution modifier, that is your maximum hitpoints for level 0. You receive additional hit points when you achieve 1st level.
For a Level 0 Fighter with 12 Constitution, that would be 1d4 Hitpoints plus 1 hit point from the constitution modifier. You roll a 1d4 and get a 3, then add 1 for a total of 4 Hitpoints at level 0. At level 1 just roll 1d10 and add that to the character’s total hit points, don’t add the constitution bonus.
6. Hit Dice. You have 1HD, but a short rest will benefit you with a 1d4 Hitpoints plus your Constitution modifier if you spend a hit dice to heal. Minimum of 1 HP.
7. Background. This is where your start in life and you’re basically in training stage. Choose one Personality trait instead of two, and choose your Ideal, Flaw. Your Bond should be determined and worked out and finally chosen at Level 1. You gain your all your background skill and tool proficiencies, and languages. You receive all of your equipment and gold. You also start with your background feature.
8. Proficiency bonus. That’s a +1. You’ll get better in time.
Combat – If you aren’t proficient with a weapon, then no proficiency bonus is added to the attack roll for that weapon.
Armor – If you wear armor that you aren’t proficient, then you have disadvantage on any skill check, saving throw, or attack rolls that involve Strength or Dexterity.
Skill Checks – If you are proficient in the skill, then you receive a +1 to the check. If you are an expert you would get a +2.
Saves – You gain a +1 in your class assigned ability score saves if it is your Class save ability.
9. Inspiration. You started out at the head of the class, a shining star, the best of the best, You’re the Best Around LaRusso! You start the game with Inspiration.
10. Experience Points. Experience points are not gained for apprentice characters as they are for a Level 1 character. You start out with -10 experience points, and then you gain 1 experience point for each encounter that requires initiative to be rolled. Also you can gain bonus experience points from your Dungeon Master such as completing challenges, finishing a specific goal or just good role-playing.
11. Leveling Up. Once you reach 0 XP, then your character becomes 1st level for the class they apprenticed. Complete the character will all the class skills, proficiency and benefits from being 1st class. If you started your character at a very young age, then you will need a method to age to an appropriate time to start your adventuring career with your party. You will need to complete a long rest and travel to a mentor in order to complete leveling up. As determined by your DM, we play so that this requires a month with the mentor and at standard living rates for your background.
So, your character should be fleshed out and ready to tackle some 0 level encounters.
Level 0 Encounter Ideas
For a party of 5 level 0 characters. You will need to have a budget of approximately 500 XP total. So a few encounters of of 150XP each should be sufficient.
Missing Persons
The small town of Blathterch that you all live in has a serious problem. It has always been fairly safe, with the occasional wolf or bear attack in the forest, but rumors have been spreading that there is a deadly monster roaming near town. And now, several men and women have come up missing over the past month. They have all been last sighted the forest not far from town. The women have all last been seen washing clothes near a spot in a stream that is about 1/2 mile from town. The stream comes down from the between the mountains, and meanders through the forest. Men have disappeared while hunting or collecting wood near the stream.
The towns mayor, an elderly human named Gustaff Weigel has put out a reward for investigating and fixing the problem. You and several of your friends have answered his call and all arrive at his office at the same time. There may also be some player characters that are from out of town that just happened to travel to hear the call for help. Make quick introductions. Mayor Gustaff is friendly to all the PCs and only wants to stop the threat of this unknown Monster. He is offering each of the players a reward of 5 gold pieces each.
If pressed about increasing payment terms, he says he first will talk to the town council and they should surely abide an increase if the problem is more serious that thought. He think the most that would be willing to pay is 50 gold pieces. And he will do his best to make sure it happens. He will only actually do this if one of them can make a successful Charisma (Persuasion) check against DC 15. This check can only be done once by one player.
DM: The Goblins have increased in numbers, and a spreading out from their home. They have sent out a small band to start a new settlement, and this is the small band that was sent out. They have started by setting up a new residence in a small cave in the mountains, about 20 miles from the town, and they have been sending out hunting parties to establish themselves. The hunting parties have been following the stream down for the last year, and now have been encountering easy prey from the unarmed townsfolk. The town people have been hunted when they are alone. The men and women have been killed and some captured for food and fun by this new band of goblins. The goblins are not that numerous, and consist of approximately 6, but the Zeros shouldn’t encounter more that 2 at a time.
1st Encounter (1 XP each)
If the party goes to the spot of the last sighting at the stream, or go into the forest near it, then they will probably find some tracks. If they follow them then they encounter a small group of 2 Goblins (CR 1/4) with scimitars but no shortbows. They wear leather armor without shields so they would have AC 14. If captured the Goblin(s) will tell the players about the goblin cave home on a successful either Charisma(Intimidation) or Charisma(Persuasion) check against DC 15. Intimidation and Persuasion can both be checked once each, and only by one member of the party. The same player can not do both checks.
Report Back to Mayor
And once they kill off that band, they may go to the Mayor but he will insist that they find their home and make sure there aren’t any other Goblins. The Mayor is extremely upset but won’t show it. He tells the players to finish the job and he promises that they will receive 50 gold pieces for completing the mission. If they don’t go back to town, they would keep going up the stream and make contact with the 2nd encounter of Goblins.
2nd Encounter (1 XP each)
As the party continues to follow the stream away from town, the Zeros should encounter another group of 2 Goblins like the first. scimitars without shortbows, AC 14. They should be about 1/2 way between the cave and the town (10 miles). And if they didn’t have a problem the first time, then give the 2 Goblins a shield and increase their AC to 15. Add another Goblin if you feel the party If the Goblins are not killed, and the Players capture one of them, then the Goblin will talk about the Cave on a DC 10, and tell them about the Goblin sentry on a DC 15 against either Charisma(Intimidation) or Charisma(Persuasion). Intimidation and Persusasion can both be checked only once total and only by one member of the party. The same player can not do both checks.
Cave Entrance (1XP each each)
Upon finding the cave, a sentry of 1 Goblin (CR 1/4) He will be weather leather armor (AC 14) and wielding a shortbow with 40 arrows. Roll his stealth +6. He will be on top of a rock outcropping above the cave entrance. He will pull a rope alarm that will notify of a threat if he spots the party with a 9 perception. The party will hear the alarm of metal tags If the party knows about the sentry, then one of them may be able to sneak up on him with successful Dexterity(stealth) of 10 or greater.
Boss Fight (2 XP each)
There is a Goblin Boss (CR 1) wielding a Scimitar and is laying in wait for the party if the rope alarm was pulled. He is deadly, and if the PCs let him know about the rest of his band being dispatched he may try to escape to fight another day. There is no gold in the cave, but if the players search they may find a small parchment with a map. The map leads to the west where there is a large goblin established Goblin community. There are also two survivors in the cave. They are unconscious but will survive. The players should be at Level 1 after defeating or driving off the Goblin Boss and returning the survivors to town.
Return to Town
If the players were able to find the cave, then the Mayor will pay them the agreed upon amount. The players are considered Heroes of the Town and are treated very well even if they are from out of town.
After the encounters, the minimum experience the players should have is +5 XP that will bring them half way to reaching Level 1. Of course, the Dungeon Master can give out bonus experience points to some players.
Have Fun! 🙂
-Michael
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DnD5th
http://tribality.com/The American presidential election is over. Republican candidate Donald Trump has virtually no hope of winning. Barring the most extreme and implausible of unforeseen circumstances, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States.
Conventional wisdom holds that it is ridiculous, and perhaps even dangerous, to say any such a thing. The primary objection is that with 11 weeks to go, too many things can suddenly transform the political landscape for any categorical statements at this stage. Moreover, it’s added, debates and other strategic opportunities will provide Mr Trump with several chances to correct his image and potentially overtake Mrs Clinton.
If one were focusing strictly on the popular vote this is plausible, although there would still be a strong basis for concluding the election is all but over. By this stage, polls are prescriptive and rarely so wildly incorrect as to produce a Trump victory. Virtually every poll shows Mrs Clinton with commanding leads nationally, in all the key battleground states, and even in several traditionally solid Republican ones.
A combination of factors might, just possibly, swing the aggregate national popular vote in Mr Trump’s direction. But that’s not how American presidential elections are decided. They are based on an electoral college system largely structured by a winner-take-all arrangement. If a given state gets 12 electoral college votes based on its population, then whichever candidate wins that state, no matter how narrowly, gets all 12 of those votes.
This means that national popular vote majorities are not decisive. The question is who can get to 270 electoral college votes winning state-by-state. The electoral college map has been shifting in recent years in favour of the Democrats. Moreover, Mr Trump’s bizarre campaign has hurt him where he needs to win most: key battleground states.
The arithmetic is clear and devastating for him. Both campaigns quietly agree Mr Trump will need to win a clean sweep of all four crucial battleground states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida and North Carolina. Both agree that if he drops even one, he will certainly lose.
Mrs Clinton has clear or commanding leads in all four of these states, and, astonishingly, is running even with Mr Trump in several traditionally solid Republican states, including Georgia and South Carolina. He is not receiving the same support from white males that Mitt Romney did four years ago (indeed it seems to be slipping), and is faring disastrously with minorities and women.
It is scarcely possible to imagine that he can win all four of these states without exception, given the apparent state of the election a mere 11 weeks away (and some potentially significant absentee voting begins in late September). If Mrs Clinton had to win all four of these states, her campaign would, quite properly, be extremely nervous. Still, she could pull it off, and certainly has a much better chance to do so than he does.
But it is a very heavy lift for any candidate to sweep all four key battleground states. For Mr Trump, he will have to do it charging wildly from behind, with what everyone agrees is an insufficient ground game at the local level, campaign staff at every level, public messaging strategy, and with the profound distrust of a large majority of the public.
The reality for Mr Trump gets even more grim the closer one looks at the map. Even if he did somehow manage to sweep all four key battleground states, Mrs Clinton would still have a few paths to victory, however difficult. There are many ways for her to cobble together 270 electoral college votes. It is Mr Trump who has only one viable route: this virtually unimaginable clean sweep of battleground states.
With his campaign now being run by the de facto leader of the fringe “alt-right” cult, Stephen Bannon of the notorious Breitbart.com website – and with America’s leading racists exulting that their movement has “taken over the Republican Party” through the Trump candidacy – it’s almost impossible to imagine how the unprecedented turnaround and come-from-behind victory that he will need might unfold without a dramatic and extremely implausible “October surprise”.
Meanwhile, Mrs Clinton’s campaign seems to be growing stronger. Yet given the radical political polarisation between and homogenisation within the two American parties, it’s unlikely that she can achieve an old-fashioned, two-thirds majority landslide in the manner of Franklin D Roosevelt, Lyndon B Johnson or Richard Nixon. Those days are gone.
Pundits hedge to avoid possible embarrassment. The media needs the illusion of a competitive race to maintain interest. Therefore, few are willing to state the virtually incontrovertible truth this clearly: Mr Trump now requires not a minor political miracle to win, but an unprecedented and virtually unimaginable one. It’s over.
No wonder there’s so much speculation that he is really preparing to join with Mr Bannon and another close ally, disgraced former Fox News chief Roger Ailes (recently ousted for sexual harassment), to found a new right-wing extremist media empire. Since Mr Trump is now almost certain to lose, the self-styled “king of debt” might as well try to monetise the debacle.
Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington
On Twitter: @ibishblogSome CGs released this update are part of the Zuiun Festival for more information on the CGs in paticular, please refer to the Promotinal Collaboration CG section.
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Kisaragi Play もうすぐ夏ねぇ～。新しい水着、買っちゃおう……かな？ ……ねぇ、どれがいいと思う？ Looks like it's almost summer~. I should go buy a new swimsuit...I guess?...Hey, which looks better on me?'
Fumizuki Play そろそろ夏ぅ～。気の早いセミが、もう鳴いてるぅ～ It's about time for summer~. The cicadas, they're already crying~
Shirayuki Play ん……この季節、飛び交う虫は苦手です。ぐるぐる型のお香を焚きましょう。白雪にお任せください、一網打尽です！ Hmm...This season, I don't like when bugs are everywhere. We should get one of those mosquito coils. Leave it to Shirayuki, the bugs will be gone in a instant!
Oboro Play 提督、いよいよサマーシーズン到来ですね！第七駆逐隊、夏季演習準備ばっちりです！ Admiral, the summer season's finally around the corner! The Seventh Destroyer Division is ready for the early-summer special training! Secretary 1
Play えっ、この蟹ですか？ はいっ！ 元気ですっ！！ Hm? The crab? Oh! He's doing just fine! Secretary 2
Play 夏の戦い、いよいよですね！第七駆逐隊、夏は張り切って参ります！ It's finally time for the summer battle! The Seventh Destroyer Division will go out all out! Joining the Fleet
Play くぅっ……せっかくの水着が……。だ、大丈夫っ。お風呂入れば直ります……た、多分。 Ugh, my swims |
actices throwing medical ethics and caution to the winds begins with the general practitioners who refer their patients for a cut/kickbacks initially to a coterie of consultants who then insist that they get further investigations carried out only at specified diagnostics centres, pathological laboratories, x-ray clinics, MRI/Scan centres and ultimately to send them to hospitals/nursing homes in their exclusive loop where they stand to gain, perhaps much more than their normal income!
According to a study, the kickbacks for lab tests in South and Central Mumbai are 40%; in the high-end Bandra it goes as high as 60%. Friendly consultants, specialists and surgeons give the referring GPs 30%-40%, private nursing homes kickbacks as percentages of all charges including bed, nursing care, ICU and surgery. Tests that are not really needed but there to inflate bills and commissions are called sink tests for blood, urine and stools are thrown there.
Moderately unwell and anxious patients who not really suffering from any cardiac conditions are put under observation with saline drip and mild sedation to be sent home after three to four days of enforced observation with a massive bill for visiting doctors’ attendance, bed charges, ICU and food.
ICU minus intensive care set ups are neighbourhood nursing homes run by a surgeon/physician-husband-and-gynae-wife team residing on the penthouse of the same building. They are ill equipped as they are manned by 10th standard failed nurses or ward boys. No in-house resident doctors but nurses doubling as receptionist change bandages, apply dressings, give injections and saline drips, performing ECGs and assist in operations and sit outside ICUs. When there is a real emergency the patient is rushed to the nearest public hospital. Cosmetic surgery misrepresented as facials, waxing, liposuction are ruling all advertisements.
Large high-end hospitals, though not admitting when asked, have in place strict quotas/targets for their consultants wherein they are compulsorily required to bring in fat revenues that includes consultation fees, investigations, procedures, surgeries and bed charges that are upgraded as all charges are directly linked with the room charges. Shortfall in quota fulfillment results in pink slips when the contract comes up for renewal.
The worse comes when the surgeon hurriedly wheels a patient from the ICU for an emergency life saving operation or ventilation support after obtaining signatures of the next-of-kin available under duress. It is very likely that the patient is already dead but the doctor returns to report that the patient died on the operation table. The OT, surgeon’s, anesthesiologist’s and bed charges have to be paid before the custody of the body is given.
A front page report in Mumbai-based DNA quotes the report by the International Federation of Health Plans, a network of health insurance players that hospitals inflate patients’ bills by compelling them to pay more than double or treble on products which they source at heavy discounts from manufacturers. Apart from bed charges, medicines and doctors’ charges, every other item are routinely billed at MRP when in fact they are procured at much lower prices in bulk at quantity discount. Bigger the hospital greater is the discount through bargaining power. Hospitals deliberately do not allow the patients to source the diapers from outside.
It is also observed that hospitals do not always adjust and refund the large sums that they collect as advance deposits—even for insurance cases ostensibly for disallowances. The handout of one of Mumbai’s leading hospitals Listing of Deposit & Charges has deposits ranging from a minimum of Rs18,000 and Rs45,000 at the lowest going up to Rs2,60,000 and Rs5,40,000 at the highest end. The hospitals go hammer and tongs to collect the billing amounts even going to the extent of holding up the release of bodies of deceased patients. They are expected to give credit on discharge by deducting in the final billing the unutilized consumables, which they simply don’t do.
Missionary hospitals conveniently claim that they are used “for the poor and needy” which again they don’t. Hospitals are known to harass the patients and their next of kin just to fob them off for refunds. Many coming from outside locations simply have to forgo their dues. When the hospitals have on record full contact details of the patients there is no reason why they on their own remit the credit balances. Legally this can be considered of unjust enrichment on the part of the hospitals at the cost of the disadvantaged patients and families who are already charged a bomb and now further harassed by withholding the balances which are said to run into lakhs of rupees.
I’ve had an occasion to personally monitor the case of a 36 year old computer hardware technician suffering from Bilateral Avascular Necrosis of the femoral head for which he was advised a metal on metal total hip replacement by a high-end hospital in central Mumbai. The estimate for one replacement surgery that was sought to enable collection of contributions from individuals and charities quoted “Rs1,40,000 in a Median Class i.e. general ward, Rs2,00,000 in a twin sharing and Rs2,60,000 in a single room. Additionally the cost of implant to Rs1,40,000.” This amount has to be doubled when it came to both the hips. The implants were procured by the patient from the manufacturers J&J at a humanitarian cause concessional rate and provided to the hospital. Rs2,10,000 had to be deposited for the first surgery which was billed at Rs1,93,280.59. Though discharged on 21st November the balance of refund took place on 25th November. Fortunately, this patient resides in Mumbai.
It needs to be explained as to why should upcountry patients are required to wait for such a long time only to collect what is legitimately due to them. A fine print at the end of the bill reads—“If you have any queries, kindly contact the Billing Department within seven days. No queries will be entertained beyond this period”. Surely the patients or their next of kin do not have to be medical expertise to go through the mumbo-jumbo of all that is listed in the many computerized papers to ascertain the veracity of the items billed.
Also with a nefarious role to play are insurance companies and their appointed Third Party Administrators (TPAs) manned by raw BAMS/LCEH grossly lacking adequate know-how to process health claims.
The medical fraternity is up in arms against the proposed National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill, 2011 that seeks to supplant and kick in a drastic revamp of the dysfunctional Medical Council of India (MCI) that has always operated as an “Old Boys’ Club”. Among the shenanigans of the former MCI chief is the possession of assets far in excess to his known sources of income, all arising out of hefty bribes for grant of recognition of new medical colleges and post-graduate courses. This has evident from the fact that many of the colleges accorded MCI recognition do not deserve to exist as they still lack qualified faculty and bed strength. The government cannot distance itself and take a moral high ground given its own nominees are overwhelmingly represented on the MCI board.
The record of the Drugs Controller’s Office and the other health regulator the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority are equally dismal. The state medical councils that are expected to register medical malpractice and negligence complaints and prosecute the guilty are involved in internal election squabbles and court stays that have rendered them headless.
The MNC pharmaceutical companies in India are simply importing formulae by adopting dubious transfer pricing from their parent companies paying them hefty royalties. Here in India they undertake no original research to conform to Indian ground realities. Their spend is heavily only on drug promotion by sponsoring incentive trips for doctors to exotic holiday destinations in the guise of medical conferences than on R&D. The Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices is only on paper with no case of prosecution of any offender to date. There are no treatment guidelines, no periodic treatment audits and continuing medical education. The ministry of health of the Government of India ought to bring in Prescription Audit a la Saudi Arabia where the pharma sales have been reported to have plunged by 40% in 1980 on its introduction.
In a timely editorial in the reputed British Medical Journal issue of 19 July 2012 doi: 1136/bmj d/7234—“This feels like familiar territory. In his column this week Des Spence lists some of the transgressions that have resulted in massive fines for GlaxoSmithKline and other big pharma companies (doi:10.1136/bmj.e4825). They include suppression of data, excessive hospitality, expert panels paid bloated feels, disease mongering, payments to lobby groups and charities and omnipresent threats of litigation. He believes that the solution rests with doctors cleaning up their act.”
According to an AP report from Trenton, NJ the British drug maker Glaxo SmithKline has been just been ordered to pay $3 billion in fines—$1 billion criminal fine and forfeiture including $956.81 million and forfeiture amount of $43.2 million and include non-monetary compliance commitments and certifications by the GSK US president and the entire board of directors and $2 billion to resolve civil claims and agree to be monitored by the government for five years to ensure due compliance with marketing and other rules. This is by far the largest healthcare fraud settlement in US history for criminal and civil violations for unapproved use of 10 drugs taken by millions of people essentially for kickbacks to doctors and the medicare system and downplaying known risks of certain drugs. The US Justice Department states that GSK Plc will plead guilty and pay criminal fine to misbranding anti-depressants Paxil (revenues $11.6 billion) and Wellbutrin ($5.9 billion), asthma drug Advair ($10.4 billion) for unapproved uses, failing to report for seven years safety problems with diabetes drug Avandia that was restricted in the US and banned in Europe after it was found in 2007 to sharply increase the risks of heart attacks and congestive heart failures.
GSK was also accused of overcharging the government-funded Mediaid programmes and paying kickbacks to doctors to prescribe several of its products including Flovent for asthma and Valtrex for herpes besides Lamictal and Zofran and Imitrex. Pfizer the world’s biggest pharma major with annual revenue of over $67 billion, last year had to shell out $2.3 billion to settle similar investigation employing illegal methods to push anti-arthritic pain killer Bextra as an all-purpose pain killer and also for Geodon, Zyvox and Lyrica.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has appealed against an Arkansas judge’s ruling to cough up $1.2 billion for off-label marketing of Risperdal, Medicaid fraud and paying kickbacks to nursing care provider Omnicare. Industry experts say that J&J is settling with the US Justice Department for $2.2 billion to avoid nationwide penalties that they expect could run into billions. Abbott Laboratories with turnover of $38.85 billion has agreed to settle all claims for $1.6 billion for aggressively pushing the anti-epilepsy block buster Depakote on elderly dementia patients to control agitation without any evidence. In 2011 Merck agreed to pay up a fine of $950 million for selling Vioxx, a painkiller for four years before withdrawing it after leaving behind a trail of patients with heart seizures and strokes. Other marketing violations include Bristol-Myers Squibb $515 million for Ability Purdue $634.5 million for Oxycontin in 2007, Eli Lilly $1.4 billion for Zyprexa in 2009 and Novartis $422.5 million for Trileptal in 2010, Allergan $520million and AstraZenca in 2010 $520 million. (US DOJ, Taxpayers against Fraud and Media Reports.)
This is in the USA where they settle fast just to pre-empt suits for larger amounts. The situation is no better in India but here Class Action suits are yet to catch on. Action needs to be initiated by advocacy groups as the pharma here industry has a powerful lobby and retains highly paid counsels to see them through. The British Medical Journal calls it—“and omnipresent threats of litigation.”
The US Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, also termed Obamacare mandates every US citizen to have health insurance and the state to mandatorily buy it for those unable to afford it come 2014. It recently got the imprimatur of the US Supreme Court. This Act also seeks to tame the rapaciousness and cupidity of insurers by reading them the riot act—mandating them to spend not less than 80% of premium collection on reimbursement of claims. This needs to be replicated in India where social security health cover is almost nil.
Caesarian deliveries, unwarranted hysterectomies, MRIs of the brain for routine headaches, associating simple anxiety with angina or cardiac conditions are all mis-diagnosis to extract unjustified gains from poor patients or from insurance claims, which ultimately result in premium hikes for all—equally for the guilty and the innocent insureds who have preferred not to lodge fake claims.
Over the years, in India large hospitals and teaching institutions were initially state sponsored and then came those set up by private individuals masquerading as not-for-profit charitable trusts. This accounts for the proliferation of capitation fee charging private medical colleges and attached hospitals. The latest trend of PPP in healthcare delivery is slowly gaining ground. The patients who are the ultimate consumers need to be suitably empowered. The decision making ability that is taken away from an ignorant patient needs to be restored by making available an avenue to seek a second opinion.
The medical profession has now ceased to be noble profession by becoming crass commercial business of daylight robbery by a bunch of politicians that need to be reined in also on how the doctors prescribe medicines and/or order tests and investigations. Today the healthcare sector has degenerated into a mafia working in collusion with the pharma industry and service providers.The ultimate burden of inappropriate and unnecessary procedures, tests, investigations, excessive and costly medication and prolonged hospitalization. India has a handful of doctors like Dr Binayak Sen, Prof Dr BM Hegde and Dr Prakash Amte who are ethically and socially well disposed. They are few and far between and it is these dedicated members of the medical fraternity along with other like-minded doctors who can be counted upon to pull out the medical profession that has touched new lows by seeking to impose untold suffering and misery across the nation, irrespective of caste, age or income.
The extent of moral degradation today has left no profession or vocation or for that matter any sphere of activity untouched. It is all the more distressing that the medical profession, once considered only next to godliness, has fallen victim to crass commercialism. It needs to be pulled out before it goes overboard and adds to the miseries of the common folks.
(Nagesh Kini is a Mumbai based chartered accountant turned activist.)Sealy of Minnesota, which has a mattress and box spring factory in St. Paul, will pay $175,000 to settle a charge of “severe racial harassment,” according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The federal agency said in a news release Thursday that the company subjected black and Hispanic employees to harassment that involved a noose, Ku Klux Klan hood, and racist epithets and jokes.
The agency also found that the company discriminated against black and Hispanic employees in the selection of lead positions at the St. Paul facility and violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Employees complained to senior management about the conduct, but it did not stop, the agency said.
The company issued a statement Friday, saying it is “committed to a culture of diversity and respect for all people.”
“When we learned of the alleged violations of our policies by employees at our St. Paul facility which took place three years ago, we took swift action,” the statement reads. “The company terminated several employees who were in supervisory and management roles during the time of the alleged unacceptable behavior, replaced the management team at the facility, and retrained our workforce at the facility.”
As part of the agreement with the EEOC, Sealy of Minnesota will also provide employees with anti-discrimination training, revise and disseminate an anti-harassment policy, implement a more objective application process for lead jobs, and require compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity laws as part performance evaluations of supervisors, the EEOC said.
“We are pleased that Sealy worked cooperatively with us to fashion an anti-harassment policy that will better address employee complaints,” Julianne Bowman, EEOC Chicago district director, said in a statement.Witches and witchcraft have captivated the minds of everyone: from angry villagers wondering why the women of the town were gaining a sense of independence to the average Joe wondering whether that herbal tea last night was a potion or just really bad tea. Witches have been seen as objects of wisdom and evil in folklore for many generations.
1. The Witch of Endor
In The Old Testament, the Witch of Endor is mentioned in chapter 28, verses 3-25. Apparently, she owned a talisman which helped her make contact with the prophet Samuel (who, at that time, had just died). The Biblical verses which mention the Witch of Endor are very intriguing and caused much controversy especially in the Middle Ages, when theologians could not accept as true the fact that it was possible to call the ghost of saints by means of magic. They were rather eager to believe that he who the Witch of Endor had summoned was actually a demon taking the shape of Samuel.
After Samuel had died, he was buried in Ramah. After Samuel's death, Saul received no answer from God from dreams, prophets, or the Urim and Thummim as to his best course of action against the assembled forces of the Philistines. Consequently Saul, who has earlier driven out all necromancers and magicians from Israel, seeks out a medium, anonymously and in disguise. Following the instruction of her visitor, the woman claims that she sees the ghost of Samuel rising from the abode of the dead. The voice of the prophet's ghost, after complaining of being disturbed, berates Saul for disobeying God, and predicts Saul's downfall, repeating content from an earlier prophecy by Samuel when alive, adding that Saul will perish with his whole army in battle the next day, then adds that Saul and his sons will join him, then, in the abode of the dead. Saul is shocked and afraid, and following the encounter his army is defeated and Saul commits suicide after being wounded.
2. Cassandra
Cassandra is a renowned character from the Greek mythology. She was the daughter of king Priam of Troy and was apparently both blessed and cursed by Apollo who loved her but was not loved by Cassandra in return: blessed with the gift of clairvoyance and cursed so that her prophecies would never be believed. She had a sad fate as she was raped and became the concubine of the victorious Agamemnon. Upon their arrival in Athens, the king and Cassandra were both killed by Clytemnenstra, Agamemnon’s wife, and her secret lover.
In Greek mythology, Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. The god Apollo became infatuated with her beauty and granted her the gift of clairvoyance and prophecy, but, when she did not return his love, Apollo placed a curse on her so that no one would ever believe her predictions She was thus doomed to tell the truth, but never to be believed, which became a source of endless pain and frustration to her.
While not a witch as such, she has become known in history (or legend) as a witch, a soothsayer and a bearer of bad omens. Her story has been told many times and in many different ways over the centuries, from Aeschylus's “Agamemnon�, through Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida� to modern novel treatments and the animated fantasy of "Cassandra the Witch".
In the story of Trojan War (in its definitive version in Homer’s “Iliad�), while Cassandra foresaw the destruction of Troy (she warned the Trojans about the Trojan Horse, the death of Agamemnon and even her own death), she was unable to do anything to forestall these tragedies due to the curse. Her family believed she was mad, and according to some versions, kept her locked up. After the Trojan War, she sought shelter in the temple of Athena, where she was raped (or at least abducted) by Ajax of Locris (Ajax the Lesser), and was then taken as a concubine by the victorious King Agamemnon of Mycenae, as described in Euripides’ “Trojan Women�.
The great storms that arose as the Greek fleet set off from the Trojan shores are generally attributed to Athena's wrath over the rape of Cassandra in her temple, and Ajax’s death in the storms are taken as Athena’s revenge against him. So, in essence, Cassandra was the reason that the Greeks never successfully returned to Greece and, in a way, her prophetic curse that she would avenge her city through marriage had come true. In fact, if Cassandra had not been raped or attacked in any way at Athena's temple, there would have been no “Odyssey�.
On arriving in Athens, both Agamemnon and Cassandra were murdered by Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra and her secret lover, Aegisthus.
3. Morgan Le Fay
She is among the most famous witches in the world. Always portrayed as the enemy of King Arthur, Morgan is an important figure of the Arthurian tale. She was a powerful sorceress, Arthur’s half sister (from their mother’s side) and a student of Merlin’s in the art of witchcraft. The first mention of her name comes from the 12 century when Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the story called “Vita Merlini�. Here, we encounter Morgan (called Morgen) as the leader of the 9 magical sisters from the Island of Apples who took care of Merlin who had been badly wounded.
Morgan Le Fay (alternatively known as Morgaine le Fey, Morgane, Morgain, Morgana, Fata Morgana and other variants) is a powerful sorceress and antagonist of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere in Arthurian legend. Although always depicted as a practitioner of magic, over time her character became more and more evil until she began to be portrayed as a witch who was taught the black arts by Merlin.
The early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay (fairy) or magician, although she became much more prominent in the later Old French cyclical prose works such as “Lancelot-Grail� and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. In these works, she is said to be Arthur's half-sister, daughter of Arthur’s mother, Lady Igraine, and her first husband, Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. She has at least two older sisters, Elaine and Morgause, the latter being the mother of Sir Gawain, the Green Knight, and the traitor, Mordred. As a fairy later transformed into a woman and King Arthur's half sister, she became an enchantress to continue her powers.
Inspiration for her character may have come from earlier Welsh mythology and literature, and she has often been compared with the goddess Modron, a figure derived from the continental Dea Matrona, who is featured with some frequency in medieval Welsh literature. She is also sometimes connected with the Irish goddess MorrÃgan who was associated with prophecy, war and death on the battlefield.
Morgan first appears by name in Geoffrey of Monmouth's “Vita Merlini�, an account written in about 1150 of the wizard Merlin's later adventures, elaborating on some episodes from Geoffrey's more famous earlier work, “Historia Regum Britanniae�. In the “Vita Merlini�, Geoffrey describes Avalon, the Isle of Apples, where Arthur is taken to be healed after being seriously wounded at the Battle of Camlann, and specifically names "Morgen" as the chief of nine magical sisters who dwell there (a role as Arthur's otherworldly healer Morgan retains in much later literature, such as that of Chretien de Troyes).
Medieval Christianity, however, had a difficult time assimilating a benevolent enchantress. She gradually became more and more sinister, until eventually she was portrayed as a witch who was taught the black arts by Merlin, and who was a bedevilment to Arthur and his knights, with a special hatred towards Queen Guinevere.
Morgan's role is greatly expanded in the 13th Century French “Lancelot-Grail� (also known as the Vulgate Cycle) and the subsequent works inspired by it. In these stories, she is sent to a convent when Uther Pendragon (Arthur’s father) kills her father and marries her mother, Igraine. She begins her study of magic there, but is married by Uther to his ally Urien. She is unhappy with her husband and takes a string of lovers until she is caught by a young Guinevere, who expels her from court in disgust. Morgan continues her magical studies under Merlin, all the while plotting against Guinevere.
In his book, “Le Morte d'Arthur�, published in 1485, Thomas Malory mostly follows the portrayal of Morgan in the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Cycles, although he expands her role in some cases. Through both magic and mortal means, she tries to arrange Arthur's downfall, most famously when she arranges for her lover Sir Accolon to obtain the sword Excalibur and use it against Arthur in single combat. When this ploy fails, Morgan throws Excalibur's protective scabbard into a lake.
The modern image of Morgan is often that of a villain, a seductive, megalomaniacal sorceress who wishes to overthrow Arthur, sometimes assigning to Morgan the role of seducing Arthur and giving birth to the wicked Mordred, although traditionally Mordred's mother was Morgan’s sister, Morgause. Marion Zimmer Bradley's “The Mists of Avalon� presents a different view of Morgaine's opposition to Arthur, depicting her actions as stemming from her fight to preserve the native Pagan religion against what she sees as the treachery and oppression of Christianity. She has also been widely portrayed in comic books and other more or less speculative novels and movies.
4. Angele de la Barthe (1230-1275)
A wealthy and noble woman of Toulouse, Angele lived in the 13th century. She was an adept of Catharism, a sect which was considered heretic by the church. Angele de la Barthe is supposedly the first to ever been executed for witchcraft as part of the Medieval Witch Hunt. She was accused of having sex with the Devil and she supposedly gave birth to his son, a baby eating monster. This accusation came after many babies had disappeared in the area that same period. In order to “encourage� her to confess these sins, she was severely tortured by the Inquisition. Later, de la Barthe was found guilty of being a witch and executed. No record of her trial exists however and many people doubt that she ever existed.
Angele de la Barthe was a prosperous woman of Toulouse, France, who was supposedly tried for witchcraft and condemned to death by the Inquisition in 1275. She has been popularly portrayed as the first person to be put to death for heretical sorcery during the medieval witch trials.
Born around 1230, a noblewoman of Toulouse, France, de la Barthe was an adherent of Catharism, a Gnostic Christian sect deemed heretical by the Catholic Church. She was allegedly accused in 1275 by Inquisitor Hugo de Beniols of having sexual intercourse with the Devil (or an incubus) and giving birth to a flesh-eating monster with a wolf's head and a serpent's tail, whose sole food consisted of babies and young children. De la Barthe was accused of having either kidnapped and killed these children or of digging them up from graves, and was held responsible for the disappearance of many infants over the previous two years. Under torture, she confessed to having had sexual relations with Satan, and she was found guilty and burned alive.
Contemporary scholars have cast doubt on the truth of the Angèle de la Barthe story since there is no mention of her trial in the Toulouse records of the time and congress with demons was not yet a crime in 1275, and the 15th Century chronicle from which her story derives is now considered spurious.
5. Alice Kyteler (1280-1325)
Alice Kyteler was a wealthy woman who lived in Ireland. At her husband’s death, she was accused of having poisoned him (and that she sacrificed animals to the Devil) by her step children who were after her money. Many of the accusations against her were rather curious and strangely detailed, such as the magical rituals she performed using some awkward ingredients as hairs from buttocks and clothing items taken from unbaptized babies. It is said that mysterious items, such as incantations and magical powders were also found at her home. As a result, she was condemned to death but she somehow escaped one night before the execution and was never seen again.
The case of Dame Alice Kyteler was one of the first European witchcraft trials and the first recorded claim of a witch having intercourse with demons, although the charges were almost certainly trumped up by those seeking her money. Kytler herself escaped, but others in her household were less fortunate.
Dame Alice Kyteler was born in 1280 at Kyteler's House in Kilkenny, Ireland, the only child of an established Anglo-Norman family. She was a wealthy and beautiful Irish noblewoman, and was married four times, to William Outlawe, Adam le Blund, Richard de Valle and, finally, to Sir John le Poers.
When Sir John was taken ill, he suspected he was being poisoned, and on his death, Alice’s step-children accused her of using poison and sorcery against their fathers, and of favouring her first-born son, William Outlawe Jr. In addition, she and her followers (ten of her servants and her son, William) were accused of denying the Christian faith, sacrificing animals to demons and blasphemy. There were some rather bizarre specific claims, included the mixing in a robber’s skull of magical ointments made from worms, hairs from buttocks and clothing from unbaptized baby boys, and alleged intercourse with a demon named Robin or Son of Art, which reportedly appeared as a black shaggy dog or as three Ethiopians carrying iron rods. Various powders, charms and incantations were also found at her home.
The case was brought in 1324 before the then Bishop of Ossory, an English Franciscan friar called Richard de Ledrede, but Dame Alice’s network of influential friends deflected the accusations and even had the Bishop arrested. John Darcy, the Lord Chief Justice, travelled to Kilkenny to investigate the events and vindicated the Bishop, who again attempted to have Dame Alice arrested. Although convicted in 1325, on the night before she was to be burned at the stake, she escaped to England, and was never heard of again.
The Bishop, however, continued to pursue her followers, bringing charges of witchcraft against them, and Alice’s son William Outlawe (who was accused of heresy, usury, perjury, adultery, clericide and other misdemeanours), was convicted but escaped relatively lightly after recanting his heresy and sorcery, being ordered to hear three masses a day for a year, to feed the poor and to pay for a church roof to be covered with lead. Her lower-class followers were less fortunate, and one of them, Petronella de Meath, was tortured by whipping to obtain incriminating information against her mistress, and finally burned at the stake on 3 November 1324, the first person in Ireland to be executed by this method.
This was one of the first European witchcraft trials and followed closely on the election of Pope John XXII to the Papacy, and his addition of witchcraft to the list of heresies in 1320. It also contained the first recorded claim of a witch having intercourse with her incubus. Although the trial itself did not spark immediate, widespread witch-hunts, suspicions of conspiracies with demons, such as those against Kyteler, would be revived in years to come against other reputed witches.
6. Mother Shipton (1488-1561)
This is one of the greatest (possibly real) witches of all times. On her real name Ursula Southeil, she was predestined for the life of an outcast. Not only was Ursula born of a teenage mother who was herself suspected of witchcraft, but she was also severely deformed and extremely ugly, with ill twisted legs, a large head and sunken cheeks. She also had a whole set of teeth from birth. All the villagers believed that she was the child of the Devil, especially since the name of her father was unknown. Although many strange things happened around her in childhood (flying objects and other such sorceries) she remained in history for another talent, namely, as an amazing seer. Her reputation matched the one of Nostradamus. Apparently, she predicted many historic events of the century and of the faraway future (“around the world thoughts shall fly in the twinkling of an eye� may be the description of the Internet). Although not many of these original prophecies were kept, and most are known to have been invented, she remains England’s most famous seer.
Mother Shipton was a 16th Century English soothsayer, prophetess and supposed witch who is said to have made dozens of unusually accurate predictions, including the Great Plague of London, the Spanish Armada and the Great Fire of London. Many of the more colourful details of her life (such as her birth in a cave in Knaresborough and her hideous appearance) were later admitted to have been fabricated by Richard Head, the editor of a book of her prophecies published forty years after her death.
Mother Shipton was born Ursula Southeil (or possibly Sontheil) the daughter of the 16-year old suspected witch Agatha Southeil (or Sontheil) in 1488 (or possibly 1486). She was reputedly born grotesquely deformed and hideously ugly, but was nevertheless taken in by a kindly townswoman. Her head was too large, her "goggling" eyes glowed like embers, her cheeks were sunken, her limbs were twisted and ill-formed, and she was born with a full set of teeth which protruded like the tusks of a boar. According to local accounts was referred to as “Hag-Face� and “Devils Bastard� as she grew up, and it was believed by many that the father of such an ugly child must be the Devil himself. Some of the accounts of "strange and terrible noises" or a great crack of thunder and a pungent smell of brimstone at the moment of Ursula’s birth are probably later fabrications to fit in with the fanciful notion that the Devil had been the child's father.
Fanciful tales grew up around her of strange events which were said to have plagued the cottage as she grew up. The furniture would mysteriously rearrange itself, plates be flung about, and food vanish before the eyes of astonished mealtime guests. It is said that when pushed beyond the limits of her notoriously limited patience, she would send goblins (or even dragons) to put some of her tormentors to flight. On one occasion, warned that her activities might lead to her being burnt as a witch, she supposedly put her wooden staff in the fire and, when the flames had no effect on it, said: “If this had been burned, I might have too’.
However, neither her growing reputation as a witch nor her appearance (which apparently worsened as she grew up) deterred a York carpenter and builder Toby Shipton from marrying her in 1512 (the inevitable tale developed that she had used a love-potion to bewitch her hapless suitor). Although they remained childless, their relationship was described as “very comfortable�.
Mother Shipton was credited with powers of clairvoyance and through the centuries her predictions, originally passed down by word of mouth, were held in the same high regard as those of her near contemporary, Nostradamus. Her early forecasts were to do with local people and events, and people travelled to Knaresborough from some distance around to consult her. She was particularly successful in solving the sort of commonplace interpersonal disputes, and it was recorded that thieves would publicly return stolen goods (apologizing to the astonished owners for their sin), wandering husbands would beg forgiveness and mend their ways, and corrupt officials would make spontaneous acts of restitution.
But, as time passed, her prophecies became more ambitious and began to relate to the country as a whole, including prominent figures at the court of Henry VIII. For example, she predicted that Cardinal Wolsey (the “Mitred Peacock�) would see York, but never reach it, and in 1530, after falling out of favour with the King, Wolsey set out to find refuge in the north and was within sight of York when Lord Percy arrived with a Royal Summons demanding he return to London to face a charge of high treason.
Her reputation has been kept alive by her foretelling of events in the more distant future: the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, the accession of Lady Jane Grey, Drake’s defeat of the Spanish Armada, the Great Plague of 1665 and, perhaps most famously, the Great Fire of London of 1666. It is claimed that some of her prophetical verses foretold iron ships, motor transport, submarines, aircraft and perhaps even the Internet (‘around the world thoughts shall fly in the twinkling of an eye’). One of the most famous examples of Mother Shipton's prophecies, which apparently foretells many aspects common to modern civilization and predicts the end of the world in 1881, is now known to be a 19th Century forgery, which did not appear in print until 1862.
Many people now accept that the figure of Mother Shipton is largely a myth, and that the majority of her prophecies were composed by others in retrospect, after her death. The most notable book of her prophecies, |
schools, teachers and parent-teacher associations in applying the Robin Hood method of best practices. That means, among other things, longer school days and years, better teacher and principal training and true evaluation and accountability.
The process for Robin Hood will begin with a battle that may be the most difficult: convincing the mayor-elect of New York City, Bill de Blasio, to buy in. "I don't think he fully understands education. I don't think he's fully knowledgeable yet," says Jones. "Our job will be to get him fully up to speed. There will be an unending stream of concerned citizens from every level of society going through his door demanding and ensuring that we implement best practices. The pressure will be unrelenting, never-ending, and there will be no compromise."
The second front: teachers. "One thing we are for is a complete change in the way teachers are viewed socially, politically and economically in this country," he says. "We don't value the importance of teachers the way we have to in order to change our educational outcomes." One way to make better teachers, Jones argues, is to reform the way teachers' unions work in education. "What's happened in the last 20 years in many of the large cities in the U.S. is that the educational system has been dictated by the unions," he says. "They have failed. They get an 'F.' What we have now is a failure in the way the teaching corps is organized, administered and deployed." Robin Hood will start this process in New York City during the teachers union contract negotiations next spring. "We will be there, and we will be loud and demonstrative," he says. (Jones is not completely against teachers unions and prefers to work with them. He recently gave $125,000 to a union-led effort to increase school funding via a tax increase in Colorado.) "The goals Paul and Robin Hood have set are incredibly ambitious, but they're achievable--if we confront the challenge head-on and don't shy away from the toughest issues," says Michael Bloomberg.
The new effort does come with some peril, at least to Jones personally. He will be forced to take a step out of his comfort zone. The most common refrain in any story about him is this single line: "Jones was unavailable for comment." He is a media-shy man who has felt the heat at times when he has stepped into the spotlight. The first time was in the aftermath of the 1987 PBS documentary Trader, which featured a then 32-year-old Jones aggressively making trades and reveling in the high-octane world of trading of that era. Jones reportedly hated the way he was portrayed in the movie, and he effectively went underground for years afterwards. In the 1990s, when his Everglades Foundation led the fight to protect the national park (Jones, an avid hunter and fisherman, has also been a leader in conservation philanthropy), his opponents brought to light Jones' $2 million fine for filling in wetlands at his Chesapeake Bay estate. (Jones said he got erroneous advice from his contractor, who was eventually sent to prison.) Most recently, at a talk at the University of Virginia, Jones got into hot water when he argued that women lose their efficacy as traders after they have children (he has since apologized profusely).
Now, of course, with Robin Hood's new initiative, everything will be fair game for his opponents. "They will use the plutocrat angle to make sure he doesn't educate poor kids the way he educated his own kids," says Bacon, sardonically. Jones says he's ready: "We will do whatever is necessary. This is too important. The rest of the country, the world, will be paying attention."
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My book about former TD Ameritrade CEO-turned-football coach, Joe Moglia: “4th AND GOAL: One Man’s Quest to Recapture His Dream.”A Calgary senior debilitated by chemo treatments says hitting the gym helped him regain his body and prepare for the next round of care.
Terminal cancer spread from Alan Morrison's prostate to his lymph nodes, groin, stomach and chest.
"Every time they did a CT scan, they found more cancer," he said.
Doctors put him on an 18-week intensive chemotherapy treatment, which left Morrison with no appetite, low energy, pain and even paralysis in his hands and feet.
"That was about the most difficult thing in my life," Morrison said.
After his first round of treatment, Morrison was given three weeks to rest and recuperate. He was so weak he couldn't bend over and tie his shoes without losing his breath.
Convinced that the next bout of chemo would kill him, he looked to the gym to reclaim his body.
Now Morrison is doing high-intensity interval training, dancing and lifting six days a week at the gym. (Justin Pennell/CBC)
'A new person again'
Curtis Gillespie, his personal trainer, began working with Morrison four months ago.
"When I came in to see Curtis, I was dying," said Morrison.
Prior to any strength training, Gillespie put Morrison on a meal plan designed to improve his strength and metabolism. Then they hit the weights.
"After a week I was feeling a bit better. Two weeks, I was feeling a lot better. After a month, hell, I was all better," Morrison said.
Now, Morrison is hitting the gym 6 days a week for high-intensity interval training, dancing and yoga.
"Here I am four months later, like I'm a new person again."
'I wanna extend my life. I want more time, and Curtis is gonna give that to me. He already has,' says Morrison. (Justin Pennell/CBC)
With files from Justin Pennell and CBC Calgary News at 6Netflix documentary, What the Health, has everyone going vegan—again.
Here at Legendary Life Podcast we care about our listeners and making sure they’re not buying into false claims and hype from trending documentaries.
That’s why we fact-checked this documentary for you. So you’ll know what the evidence is for the extraordinary claims that this film makes about health and vegan diets.
In this article I’ll debunk five things that What the Health got wrong—and what it got right.
Unlike other reviews have claimed, the documentary isn’t all bad.
In fact, there’s plenty of evidence that eating plant-based foods like fruits and vegetables can help prevent diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
And most of us would be better off focusing on getting a wider variety of plants into our diet while cutting down on processed meats.
Some of the best nutrition advice I’ve ever heard puts plats front and center:
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” – Michael Polan
Personally, I look for ways to get more plants into my diet and I even eat several plant-based meals a week. Here’s a photo of a Vegan Bowl that I had at a local health food restaurant:
I’m even planning a plant-based diet experiment to see what happens to my biomarkers and body.
Although I don’t ever think I’ll ever go 100% plant-based with my nutrition, I have respect for people who adopt a vegan or plant-based diet. At least the ones who don’t interrupt your meal at a restaurant with some over-the-top drama like this:
I’m telling you this because I want you to know I’m on board with the idea that eating more plants is good for our health. And I personally practice this by shooting for 10 servings of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds etc. each day.
Unfortunately, the recent Netflix documentary What The Health takes the message to eat our fruits and veggies to the extreme.
I tend to ignore these types of films because they usually have an agenda other than sharing the latest scientific evidence about what we should eat in a balanced and thought-provoking way.
Actually, Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn directed What The Health. These are the guys who brought us the film named “Cowspiracy”—arguably the most controversial pro-vegan documentary ever.
And you know how vegans tend to be about sharing their nutrition choice…
But so many of my clients and listeners have asked about the documentary that I felt like I needed to save some time to watch it and to fact check to make sure it wasn’t misleading health-conscious folks like yourself into following a nutrition regimen that’s based more on emotions than truth.
I hope reading this helps you make better informed decisions as to what you should do nutrition-wise to avoid disease and live a legendary life!
One (Plant-Based) Diet To Rule Them All
Like so many nutrition documentaries and diet books before it, What The Health promises us that there is one—and only one—way to eat that will keep you healthy and prevent disease.
This time, What The Health promotes avoiding all animal-based food products as the one true way of achieving long-term health and longevity.
And the movie is compelling with its message. They list disease after disease and issue and issue with eating an animal-based diet. And they enlist numerous experts like vegan Dr Michael Greger (who I’m actually a fan of) to support their hypothesis that a plant-based diet not only causes weight loss and the reversal of diseases but is also better for animals and the environment as well.
They show case studies where a few of the people who were suffering from debilitating and/or life-threatening illnesses were able to lose weight and get off of medication after only a few weeks of eating a plant-based diet.
You see the director calling up organizations like the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association trying to get answers about studies contradicting the nutrition recommendations found on the organization’s websites.
Also, Kip Andersen conducts a heated interview with Dr. Robert Ratner, the chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association. Dr. Ratner’s defensive demeanor and refusal to answer questions (and skilled editing on the part of the filmmakers) further supports the conspiratorial tone of the movie.
You’ll watch behind-the-scenes footage of the poor conditions of animals in factory farms. They’re some especially gross scenes of pus-filled sores on animal carcasses presumably on their way to the butcher to be prepared for your local grocery store. You’ll see the sores popped with knives as thick, putrid liquid oozes out.
It’s a compelling story full of dramatic scenes that are designed to elicit an emotional response rather than a logical one. And herein lies the problem.
Ironically, our feelings are what causes many of us to eat too much of things we know are bad for us in the first place.
Overindulging in treats likes cookies feels pretty good.
via GIPHY
That’s why neuroscientists like Dr. Stephan Guyenet are helping to crack the obesity conundrum by shedding light on how our brain drives our eating habits without us being conscious of it.
Related Post: The New Science Of Fat Loss With Dr. Stephen Guyenet
I interviewed another neuroscientist and best-selling author, Dr. Susan Peirce from Bright Line Eating: The Science of Living Happy, Thin, And Free, who talked about how food addiction is similar to drug addiction and how to change our brain and break this bad habit for good.
Related Post: The Science Of Breaking Bad Eating Habits With Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson
You should also check out my interview with The Paleo Solution author Robb Wolf as he talks about how we’re wired to eat and how our brains regulate our appetite through a complex interplay of hormones and neurotransmitters.
Related Post: Wired To Eat: How To Turn Off Food Cravings And Rewire Your Appetite for Weight Loss with Robb Wolf
Debunking The Claims of What The Health
I won’t go into every claim What The Health makes, but I will cover the major ones to give you a more objective and balanced perspective.
Ultimately, What The Health cherry-picks studies while ignoring other-and sometimes much stronger-evidence that doesn’t fit the narrative of the film.
What the Health is part of a genre of food documentaries and diet books that selectively analyze nutrition research to demonize particular foods and praise a particular nutritional approach. It sells well but does a disservice to those of us who want to make our choices on the best information available—not the most marketable information.
In this case, Kip Andersen cherry-picks studies about nutrition and often exaggerates their findings or reports them out of context, to drive home his case for veganism.
Here are five things that What the Health got wrong—and I’ll also share with you what I believe they got right.
Myth #1 Debunked: 5 to 10 percent of cancer is caused by genetics, and the rest is caused by food. (30:04)
Although heart disease is the #1 killer in the United States, I find cancer much more frightening. We know that lifestyle interventions like losing body fat, exercise, sleep, and stress reduction can go a long way to prevent heart disease.
But once cancer starts growing uncontrollably, it can be a death sentence. And it’s sad to watch someone deteriorate as the cancer gets out of control.
I also have a personal interest in cancer, as my father and grandfather were both diagnosed with colon cancer. That means I have a strong family history and a higher chance to develop it myself.
Although my grandfather survived and lived to the ripe ol’ age of 93, and my father survived as well, that elevated cancer risk is always in the back of my mind.
So when the What The Health asserts that 5 to 10 percent of cancer is caused by genetics and 90 to 95 percent is caused by what we eat, I want to know the truth!
So, I dug into research to find more about the connection between cancer and diet. And it turns out is more complex than the film makes it seem.
Here’s what we know so far:
Cancer research published in 2015 focused on how random genetic mutations in part drove cancer rates. They also found a strong relationship between how often a tissue’s cells divide and how frequently that tissue develops cancer. For example, brain cells rarely divide so brain cancer is rare. Conversely, colon cells divide rapidly so colon cancer is much more common.
In other words, the longer you live, the more chance that certain cancers have of developing due to this cell-division factor.
However, according to a comprehensive article published in Nature this factor is considered a moderate contribution to lifetime cancer risk. The study’s authors state:
“Here we provide evidence that intrinsic risk factors contribute only modestly (less than ~10–30% of lifetime risk) to cance r development.”
The article goes on to say that many cancers are more prevalent than cell division can explain and that there is huge geographical variation in the rates of different cancers.
For example, breast cancer is five times more common in Western Europe than in Eastern Asia. Another example is that prostate cancer is 25 times more common in Australia than South-Central Asia.
In fact, numerous studies have established strong evidence that many cancers have lifestyle and environmental factors that increase risk. For example:
Conclusion: Although what you eat plays a role in the development of some cancers, you can be vegan or eat a plant-based diet and still develop cancer if you drink excessive amounts of alcohol, become infected with Human Papiloma Virus, go overboard with sun exposure or smoke tobacco.
It appears that what type of cancer we’re talking about matters a lot when determining the role diet plays in your risk level.
That said, the role that diet plays in your general cancer risk is not as accurate as the film would have you believe.
Myth #2 Debunked: Eating Meat Raises Your Risk of Getting Cancer (77:51)
They also bring up how in 2015 the World Health Organization classified processed meat as a group 1 carcinogen and unprocessed red meat as a group 2 carcinogen.
Sounds scary, right?
Group 1 carcinogens contain nasty chemicals like asbestos and formaldehyde. But group 1 also includes things like ethyl alcohol aka the stuff you drink in beer, wine and scotch.
Here’s what we know so far:
In the same year that the World Health Organization added meat to the list of carcinogens, an analysis published in journal PLoS One looked at the incidence of colorectal cancer and meat consumption. They also distinguished between processed meat and unprocessed meat.
The researchers found that processed meat was linked with an increase in colorectal cancer. But they also stated that there was little evidence linking higher intakes of unprocessed meat with colorectal cancer.
In the film, they also bring up heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These substances are chemicals formed when meat—including beef, pork, fish, or poultry—is cooked using high-temperature methods, such as pan frying, broiling or grilling directly over an open flame.
While animal studies have shown that exposure to HCAs and PAHs causes certain types of cancers in rodents, it’s still unclear how much they increase risk in humans. It’s also important to note that the rodents in the studies were fed high doses of HCAs and PAHs—the equivalent to thousands of times the amount that a human would eat in a normal diet.
Acrylamide wasn’t mentioned in the film but I’ll bring it up now. In fact, I’m willing to bet that you may have heard of the HCAs and PAHs before but you’ve never heard of acrylamide. Acrylamide is a natural chemical that is formed when you heat certain foods like root vegetables and grains. In other words, the foods that What The Health is telling you to eat to avoid getting cancer.
Some potato chips, cakes, cookies, cereals, and coffee also have high levels of acrylamide due to the level of heat that was used in their preparation. Like HCAs and PAHs, acrylamide has shown to cause cancer in animal models and is listed as a probable carcinogen for humans.
Maybe the guys who made What The Health weren’t aware of acrylamide or maybe they conveniently left it out of the film because it didn’t go with their message.
What is important is that cooking using high temperatures that cause a browning or charring of your food produces chemicals that may increase your risk for getting cancer. (Notice I said “may” and not “definitely.”) Processed meat seems to increase your risk as well. However, the evidence linking unprocessed meat to colorectal cancer (and other types of cancer) isn’t quite clear and the evidence seems weak.
It’s also important to note that for all the epidemiological studies linking red meat to cancer, they don’t show a direct cause-and-effect relationship. They show correlation.
There’s a big difference between the two. And many of the studies rely on food frequency questionnaires to gather data. They also don’t adjust for the healthy user bias and group hot dogs into the same category as grass-fed beef.
And the quality of meat does seem make a difference. Research spanning three decades has shown that grass-fed beef has a better fatty acid profile and higher levels of antioxidants than conventionally farmed meat.
And then there are randomized controlled trials and looking at how the meat we eat affects specific biomarkers for disease. While epidemiological studies look for correlation, randomized trials test a specific thing (like red meat) to see what the effects are.
In one randomized controlled study published in 2007 in the Journal of Nutrition, sixty participants were recruited for 8-weeks to determine the oxidative and inflammatory effects of increased lean meat consumption.
They were randomized to replace some of their carbs with 200 grams of lean, unprocessed meat per day or to maintain their usual diet (for the control group). Markers of oxidative stress and inflammation were measured at baseline and at the end of intervention. At the end of the study, there was no increase in inflammation or oxidative stress.
Conclusion: As you can see, the situation is more complicated than saying red meat = cancer. The link between meat and cancer comes with caveats.
If you’d like to hear an expert dive into the nuances of the research and why you can’t trust what the media is telling you about your diet, I highly recommend that you listen to my episode with Kamal Patel from Examine.com—a website that does independent analyses on supplements and nutrition.
Related Post: Why You Can’t Trust What The Media’s Telling You About Your Diet With Kamal Patel
Myth #3 Debunked: Drinking milk causes cancer.
What The Health makes it seem like dairy is a poison causing cancer and destroying our bones. To say that’s an exaggeration is an understatement.
Of course, we’ve also been heavily marketed to by the dairy industry telling us that milk and other dairy products are some of the healthiest foods a person can eat.
They’ve even used Marvel super heroes like Wolverine to seduce us into drinking more milk.
“Drink your milk, bub.”
The truth, like in many cases, is in the middle.
Here’s what we know so far:
First, let’s talk about what in milk is supposedly causing the increase in cancer risk. A few were mentioned in the film:
Growth hormones
Estrogen
IGF-1
Let’s tackle one by one before we jump into the research linking cancer with dairy consumption.
Growth Hormones
Unless you’re buying dairy that is specifically labeled otherwise, most of the dairy products you buy is from cows given hormones to increase their rate of growth and the amount of milk they produce.
Theses hormones go by names like recombinant bovine growth hormone (rGBH) and bovine somatotropin (bST).
Although these hormones do find their way into your milk and other dairy products, it’s only a small amount and the hormones don’t seem to be active when you ingest them orally. Most of it is destroyed in the pasteurization process and during digestion.
It still sounds disgusting but the evidence suggests that it isn’t worth the worry. And you can always support dairy companies that don’t use hormones on their cows.
Estrogen
Estrogen is typically considered a “female” hormone although it’s found in smaller quantities in men as well. There are a few forms of estrogen—estradiol, estriol and estrone.
Since estrogens are naturally found in dairy products in small amounts, there’s a fear that these hormones may increase the growth of estrogen-sensitive cancers.
However, most of the estrogens are broken down during digestion and you’d have to drink a lot of milk to have any effect on your endogenous estrogen levels.
IGF-1
IGF-1 stands for insulin-like growth factor 1. IGF-1 encourages cell growth and regeneration—which is great when you’re growing but not good at all if you have cancer.
Since milk has some naturally occurring IGF-1 and also increases your body’s natural production of IGF-1, many people are concerned that this may lead to an increased risk of developing cancer or aggressive growth rates of cancer.
However, scientists aren’t sure if IGF-1 actually causes cancer or is a consequence of having cancer. It’s also important to point out that its’ not the naturally occurring IGF-1 in milk that is responsible for the increase in IGF-1 levels—it’s the protein.
In fact, IGF-1 levels are positively correlated with your protein intake. In other words, the more protein you eat, the higher levels of IGF-1 you have. And this effect happens for all sources of protein, including plant-based protein. I even found a study that showed that a soy protein supplement increased IGF-1 levels higher than what we’ve seen with milk.
So protein—regardless of whether it’s animal or plant-based—increases IGF-1. And the link between IGF-1 and cancer risk doesn’t have a lot of strong evidence to support it at the moment.
Conclusion: As you can see, the “eating dairy = cancer” claim is not as clear as it seems. In other words, milk’s link to cancer is weak.
And while some research shows that people who eat more dairy products have higher risks of certain types of cancers, other research shows that people who eat dairy regularly have the same or lower risk of developing cancer compared to those who eat less dairy.
As you can see, we’re not close to being able to say whether eating dairy causes or prevents cancer. It seems specific to the cancer and depends on the type of dairy you’re eating.
Even then, other risk factors—like obesity and inactivity—seem like a much better focus than figuring out how much dairy you should or should not have.
On that point, here’s a study linking dairy consumption to a reduced risk of weight gain, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Again, this doesn’t mean that milk and yogurt are the superfoods that the dairy industry has made them out to be. But dairy products aren’t the villains that What The Health portrays them to be either.
Myth #4 Debunked: Eating eggs is as bad as smoking cigarettes.
Yep, the egg is under fire again. In fact, What The Health makes the claim that eating an egg a day is as bad as smoking five cigarettes.
You gotta wonder how they even came up with this type of specific comparison.
Apparently they’re referring to the idea that arteries develop plaque build up from the high cholesterol levels in eggs.
Here’s what we know so far:
This claim is based on a misunderstanding of link between dietary cholesterol and cholesterol levels in your blood.
Your liver makes two-thirds of your circulating cholesterol. And although saturated fat intake is strongly associated with an increase in LDL cholesterol (aka “bad cholesterol), 50 years of cholesterol studies show that dietary cholesterol only has a small effect on blood cholesterol levels.
And a randomized controlled study published in The International Journal of Cardiology found that eating two eggs daily for six weeks had no effect on total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and artery function.
Conclusion: Even if the claims were true that eggs were the cholesterol bombs that clog arteries, equating egg eating to smoking tobacco is just not accurate.
Two out of three smokers will die as a direct result of their habit. And smoking tobacco is a leading cause of heart disease and cancer in practically every country in the world.
The link between eggs and disease is nowhere near as clear or strong.
According to a 2013 meta-analysis in the British Medical Journal eating an egg a day is not associated with an increased risk of heart disease or stroke at all.
That’s right. Zero increased risk. So much for the one egg = five cigarettes comparison.
Myth #5 Debunked: Fat Causes Diabetes, Not Sugar
After hearing for years that sugar is the cause of diabetes, I know most people thought they just entered the Twilight Zone when they heard diabetes expert and researcher Dr. Neal Barnard say:
“Diabetes is not and never was caused by a high-carbohydrate diet; and it’s not caused by eating sugar. The cause of diabetes is a diet that builds up the fat into the blood. I’m talking about a typical meat-based, animal-based diet.”
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Then he goes onto say:
“You can look into the muscle cells of the human body and you find that they’re building up tiny particles of fat that is causing insulin-resistance. What that means is, the sugar that is naturally found in the foods that you’re eating can’t get into the cells where it belongs. It builds up in the blood and that’s diabetes.”
Here’s the thing. Although you may not have ever heard the connection between fat and diabetes, there’s a lot of truth in the above statement.
However, it’s not the whole story. Let me shed some light on the role of sugar and fat in diabetes.
Here’s what we know so far:
The Fat and Diabetes Connection
In a study performed in the 1927, scientists observed an unusual connection between what people at and insulin resistance. The researchers took healthy young men and split them into two groups. One group was put on a high-carbohydrate diet and the other group ate a high-fat diet.
Within just two days, the high-fat group developed blood sugar levels that were two times higher than the high-carb group. The test results showed that the more fat a person ate in their diet, the higher the blood sugar levels would be.
Decades later, scientists—with the help of MRI machines—would discover that fat circulating in the bloodstream can build up in our muscles.
And this build up of tiny fat particles (called intramyocellular lipids) can block sugar from getting into our muscles leading high blood sugar levels and insulin resistance.
And this effect can happen in within three hours of having a high-fat meal.
If this is your first time hearing about this, you’re not alone. This is something I learned recently when I interviewed endocrinologist and obesity medicine expert Dr. Karl Nadolsky.
Related Post: Facts and Myths You Should Know About Hormones, Fat Loss and Your Health with Dr. Karl Nadolsky
What They Left Out (AKA The Rest Of The Story)
After reading all about fat and its role in diabetes, you may think What The Health was right about their “sugar doesn’t cause diabetes” claim.
What you were lead to believe was that eating more fat—specifically from an animal-based diet—causes diabetes. Fortunately, the basic causes are well understood.
In my interview with neurobiologist and obesity researcher Stephan Guyenet, he said that excess body fat is the main cause of insulin resistance and diabetes.
And there’s strong evidence to back that statement up. One example is the Health Professionals Follow-up study that analyzed data from nearly 52,000 men.
The analysis found that body mass index (BMI) was the dominant risk factor for developing diabetes. Stephan put together this graphic to show the powerful connection between BMI and risk of developing diabetes.
Source: Stephan Guyenet
The graph shows that a person with a BMI over 35 is 42 times more likely to develop diabetes than someone with a BMI of 23 or less.
People who were on the cusp of obesity (BMI of 30) are over 6 times more likely to develop diabetes. Of course, genes, stress, inflammation, sleep quality and activity levels play a role as well.
High-Fat Diets and Diabetes
Another thing that What The Health conveniently left out was that low-carb, high-fat diets have been successfully used to improve biomarkers of metabolic health.
In this study published in the journal Diabetes, researchers used a diet that was 50% fat and 20% carbohydrate. The diabetic participants had an improved fasting glucose, HbA1c, and triglyceride levels after 5 weeks.
I mention this one study but there are numerous studies available that all show the same thing.
It’s important to note that the triglyceride levels are the circulating fats that end up in the muscles messing with insulin resistance. So a diet that was 50% fat reduced the fats circulating in the blood.
How did this happen?
Because how many calories you eat and how many calories your burn drives how much fat you store, not necessarily how much fat you eat.
If you’d like to read more about why you’re not losing fat, read my article that will tell you everything you need to know to start losing fat today.
Conclusion: Thus your level of body fatness is the main (controllable) driver of diabetes risk. Eating meat and fat don’t make you fat. Eating too many calories make you fat. Another myth debunked.
Although the fat you eat is more easily turned into stored body fat than carbohydrates, this only matters if you’re overeating (and under exercising) to begin with. And while sugar isn’t the dietary devil that its been made out to be, ingesting too much of it can make you fat as well. In short, being fat but not necessarily eating fat may lead to diabetes.
What the film gets right: Conflicts Of Interest Nutrition Guidelines And Big Food
One thing What The Health gets right, in my opinion, is pointing out the disturbing financial relationships between the food industry and national public health groups. Of course, this is nothing new.
I remember reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser when it first came out in 2001. It’s a fascinating book on many levels and documents the evolution of fast food and how it coincided with the advent of the automobile.
More relevant to our discussion, Fast Food Nation also explored issues with food safety, questionable relationships between food companies and the government and more.
What The Health shows us that little has changed since then.
Large amounts of antibiotics are still used in the factory farming of animals. This agricultural use of antibiotics is directly linked to the development of antibiotic-resistant infections in humans. In fact a research review published in 2012 concluded:
“It is now critical that agricultural use of antibiotics be recognized as one of the major contributors to the development of resistant organisms that result in life-threatening human infections and included as part of the strategy to control the mounting public health crisis of antibiotic resistance.”
Even the CDC has created an infographic calling for the responsible use of antibiotics in people and animals.
Source: CDC
It’s great that the CDC has an initiative to deal with this issue.
But if antibiotic use in agriculture is a known contributor to drug-resistant bacteria, why hasn’t the government taken more action to regulate this?
I’m no conspiracy theorist but it’s easy to see the financial impact this would cause to drug companies who sell antibiotics and the factory farms whose methods rely on pumping antibiotics into the feed to maximize their production.
To quote the Wu Tang Clan, “Cash moves everything around me.”
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What The Health also points out how organizations like the American Diabetes Association are sponsored by food companies like Oscar Mayer and Kraft—which sell processed foods that are usually high in fat, sugar and salt.
While this doesn’t sound good and could cause a conflict of interest, I went onto the American Diabetes Association website and looked around.
It was full of basic information and I wasn’t able to find anything that stood out as misleading-the-consumer-to-benefit-big-food-profits propaganda.
Although I didn’t find anything incriminating, Marion Nestle, the former editor of the 1988 Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health, has documented the pressure that food companies put on the government and public health organizations to change recommendations to benefit them.
For example, federal dietary advice changed from “decrease meat consumption” in 1977 to “have two or three daily servings” due to pressure from meat producers.
Why Nutrition Science Is So Confusing
I’m sure you’re shaking your head after reading this and thinking that you don’t know what to believe anymore.
I mean, experts can’t even agree whether eating eggs is good for you or artery-clogging dealers of death.
Believe me, I get it.
From your average person’s point of view, the science of nutrition seems like a hot mess. One study says one thing. Then another study comes out saying the exact opposite.
Here are just a couple of reasons why:
1) Science isn’t about truth; it’s about reducing uncertainty.
Many people don’t understand and appreciate the scientific method. You don’t do a study on a big question, like meat causing cancer for example, and think you have the answer after the research is concluded.
In 2005, a professor of medicine at Stanford University looked at highly regarded medical research findings. He found that of 34 that had been retested, 41% had been contradicted or were greatly exaggerated.
In my interview with nutrition researcher and educator Alan Aragon, we spoke about how initial research on fish oil supplements was very promising but a later review of fish oil research showed overblown claims.
(On a side note, I highly recommend you check out Alan’s website. I personally subscribe to his research review which one of the best resources for staying on top of the latest research in nutrition, supplementation, and training.)
Science is a process of putting ideas up against each other and fighting it out over a long period of time using the scientific method to determine the winners. And those winning ideas have to be reproducible when held up to scrutiny.
2) Nutrition science is still in its infancy.
If you look up the history of chemistry, its foundation goes back to 1000 BC with the manipulation of metals. Compare that with nutrition.
Hippocrates may have said: “let thy food be thy medicine” in ancient Greece. However, it wasn’t until the 1800s that the link between nutrition and health started to be recognized. Vitamins and the calorie content of foods weren’t discovered until the 1900s.
Nutrition science will eventually mature but for now we’re stuck with taking baby steps.
3) Not all studies are created equal and context is important.
The type of study tells you how about how strong the evidence is for its conclusion. As you can see from the graphic below, randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews are the top two tiers of evidence. Expert opinion is at the lowest.
Source: Cornell University
Randomized controlled trials are when researchers randomly assign study subjects into two groups. One group will get the treatment and the other group gets a placebo.
If there’s a statistically significant difference in the outcome of the two groups, it’s reasonable to say that the treatment caused the difference.
Systematic reviews are a methodical and thorough review of a group of studies focused on a particular question. They can be done for different types of studies as well.
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to run these sorts of studies for nutrition questions. It’s hard to have one group of people eat grilled steak for their entire life and the group eat fruits and vegetables to determine whether red meat causes cancer. (Would you sign up for that study?)
And then you need to conduct several of them to make sure your results are accurate and reproducible.
As a result, we end up relying on observational (i.e. cohort) studies that track big groups of people who are required to check in periodically.
Then we see who develops cancer or heart disease. Although these studies can be very useful—that’s how scientists learned about how damaging prolonged sitting is to our health—they aren’t as precise and can have many confounding variables.
So we’re left with low-quality studies that make correlations between things like dairy and cancer or fish oil and prostate cancer.
However, these links don’t mean causation. In my interview with Kamal Patel, he mentioned how increases in Nicholas Cage movies were correlated with an increase in drowning deaths. I know some of his recent films weren’t that great but c’mon. Nobody is drowning over them.
Add to this mess the fact that the media is constantly misinterpreting or dramatizing research findings, and you get one highly confused and frustrated public.
Conclusion
Watch the documentary if you want, but don’t believe everything they’re claiming.
Or you will start to believe that eating meat is killing you or that milk is giving you cancer.
My advice for you next time you watch a documentary like that is to do your own research or fact check their claims by visiting places like Legendary Life that give you health information based on real science not health claims based on cherry-picked evidence like What The Health does.
That’s why I don’t really have a diet philosophy. Instead, in my Legendary Lean Private Coaching Program I have a personal coaching process to get my clients results. I listen to their needs. What they want to accomplish. How they live. What’s really important to them.
Then I create the right dietary approach—one that’s specific to their goals and lifestyle.
That’s what has being working for my clients for the last 18 years. No, it’s not as straightforward as “avoid meat” or “eat like a caveman”.
But I believe it’s the only sane and rational approach.
It also happens to be the only approach that actually works in |
kid. I didn't cheat in school. I seldom lied. I never stole so much as an extra Tootsie Roll from an unguarded bowl of Halloween candy. (In my neighborhood, older folks who didn't stay up late could leave Halloween treats by their doorsteps without worrying that a trick-or-treater might grab more than his or her fair share.)
“For the Strength of Youth,” however, said I was guilty of a sin far worse than lying, cheating, or candy stealing. My sin was only a little less severe than murder. And I sometimes did it twice daily. And my close calls with spiritual homicide involved lurid imaginings of Bruce Willis and, of all people, Dan Lauria from “The Wonder Years.”
I walked into that Sunday school lesson a light-hearted Mormon boy, and I walked out of it a very unhappy young man, but one possessed by the resolve -- the determination -- to move forward no matter how high the cost. I was a grizzled Mormon pioneer.
I spent no time complaining. I didn't ask why God had saddled me with seemingly impossible circumstances. I got to work. I kept “For the Strength of Youth” beside my bed. I read from it on long nights when I lie awake alone in my room listening to the clock tick, my squirmy adolescent body denying me any sleep.
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To stay my hand, I convinced my mother to take me to our local branch of Deseret Book, a church-owned chain, and buy me a thick silver ring decorated with a shield emblazoned with the letters "CTR," meaning "Choose the Right." When temptation haunted me, I twisted the ring until the skin beneath chaffed and bled.
I also kept a record of my progress on a calendar I had squirreled away in my nightstand. On days when I managed to refrain from touching myself, I awarded myself a star. But according to popular Mormon belief, if you repent of a specific sin and then repeat it, all your previous sins return to weigh on your conscience. My calendar's pages didn't shine like the Milky Way. They were filled with black holes.
A few months into my experiment in the astronomy of chasteness, my Sunday school teacher announced that, for the first time, I would join my fellow young men on a trip to the temple to perform baptisms for the dead, one of Mormonism's most sacred and, for better or worse, distinctive rituals. To give dead non-Mormons a last-chance, take-it-or-leave-it opportunity to convert to Mormonism and secure a place in the Mormon hereafter, a volunteer would immerse himself in the baptismal font's cozy water while pronouncing or, more often, horribly mispronouncing the earthly name of some lucky non-Mormon soul, choosing at random from one or another far-flung corner of the world.
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In order to save legions of imperiled non-Mormon souls and demonstrate beyond doubt the purity of my own soul, I had to ace the worthiness interview.
On the Saturday morning of our trip to the temple, I dressed in my Sunday clothes -- my no-iron white shirt, my no-iron black slacks, my red-and-blue-striped clip-on tie -- and made my way to the empty church classroom where my bishop waited to kindly, patiently, methodically grill me about the most intimate aspects of my private life.
Rather than make eye contact with my bishop, I preferred to study the framed print hanging on the wall behind him: a colorful painting of Christ preaching atop a Mayan pyramid to a throng of rapt listeners.
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"Do you keep the Law of Chastity?" my bishop asked.
"Yes." I worried that I answered too quickly.
"Have you engaged in any sexual activity with others?"
"No."
"Do you touch yourself?"
"No."
Satisfied, my bishop filled out my temple recommend card, a slip of stiff paper that stated my name, gender, age, and the temple rituals I was allowed to perform (indicated by a checked box next to the words "baptism for dead only.") He handed me the card to sign. I signed it with my sweaty little hand.
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I stepped into the hallway where the other boys were waiting to do their interviews. They marveled at my temple recommend. I tucked it into its plastic protector and sat silently until we left for the temple.
As we entered the chilly white-granite building, I expected that the sweet granny volunteering at the front desk would detect my imposture and call security to perp-walk me off the premises. After all, the people I most loved and respected had taught me that God would never allow His temples to be violated. Surely, the pious little grannies volunteering at the temple had a godly knack for separating chaste sheep from randy, impure goats.
Yet somehow I -- a randy, impure adolescent goat -- managed to fool the grannies, and myself. My shame and self-disgust convinced me I was the only adolescent boy in Mormon history to have first-hand knowledge of a great orgasm.
My secret knowledge made me sometimes want to kill myself.
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As I lied and lied in my annual worthiness interviews, my fear grew exponentially. When my aunt had a mastectomy, I was relieved to think of my sin like a cancer, something that could be cut out of me. I was so addled that I found it soothing to think that if I worked hard enough and long enough at part-time jobs, I could to give myself a secret present on my 18th birthday: surgical castration.
This weirdly mechanical solution, this idea of my body as a machine vulnerable to sabotage, was inspired by a famous talk on puberty and procreation that was given by General Authority Boyd K. Packer in 1976, and later published as a pamphlet and routinely given to Mormon boys everywhere.
Packer began his talk by likening the male reproductive system to a "little factory" that manufactures a "life-giving substance":
For the most part, unless you tamper with [your little factory,] you will hardly be aware that it is working at all.
After matter-of-factly covering various "release valves" and their care and maintenance, Packer ventured into a hair-raising prognosis. A young man who fiddles with his release valves is a young man who dooms himself to doing so again and again:
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This you should not do, for if you do that, the little factory will speed up... You can quickly be subjected to a habit, one that is not worthy, one that will leave you feeling depressed and feeling guilty... Keep it in reserve for the time when it can be righteously employed.
In this context, my castration plan wasn't unreasonable. It was a practical way for me to serve my mission, to share a bedroom with other young missionaries, without betraying my sin to my church, my family, my friends, my neighborhood, the whole Mormon world at large.
And who knows what might have happened if I had stayed on that path. I might be married now, or I might be a Mandarin-speaking eunuch. But instead, I came across Andy Warhol's silkscreen of Marilyn Monroe in a high-school art textbook.
Other apostates might find their epiphany in jazz, punk rock or abstract expressionism. For me, Pop Art highlighted what was exaggerated in the mundane. My first glimpse of Andy Warhol made me begin to look at my life -- and my surroundings -- in a startling new way. It gave me the distance necessary to see that what I considered normal and everyday was suffused with unnatural color and unreal appearances.
Something seen can't be unseen.
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Subverted by Warhol's Marilyn, I gobbled up Anthony Burgess's "A Clockwork Orange" before I was old enough to rent the movie. I bought Sonic Youth records and listened to them late into my starless nights, filled with a growing sense that in order for me to shoehorn myself into Utah Valley and Mormon life, castration would be insufficient. I'd have to have my brain surgically removed.
I reached the point of do or die.
When I was 17 years old, I chose, like my Mormon ancestors, "do" over "die." Would they have expected anything less of me?
I walked away from all that was everyday and commonplace. I walked away from Utah Valley, family, friends, and everything that was lovingly, or otherwise, familiar. I headed into a world for which my previous life had never prepared me -- a degree in secular, foreign literatures and romances of my own choosing.
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The Church has changed since my days. It has tried to update and soften its teachings on masturbation, issuing new versions of its literature for youth with slightly less condemning language, but it cannot help the culture of shame and denial embedded inside the faith (for instance, Packer's pamphlet about little factories and release valves is still distributed on the Church's website.)
Blogs like The Mormon Therapist offer regular challenges to these aspects of the Church's doctrine, which I watch from the sidelines, glad that there are still people with the patience, faith and resolve to change it from within.
But all of that is in my rear-view mirror now.
While making my way to my own private Zion, I heard a song by Michelle Shocked, another Mormon who walked away, but whose lyrics I think my Mormon ancestors would have appreciated:
What the hell'd you let them break your spirit for?
You know, their lives ran in circles so small.
Ah, they thought they'd seen it all.
And they could not make a place for a girl who'd seen the ocean.
I had seen the ocean, and I wasn't going back to the desert ever again.Gross domestic product contracted by 2.1pc from the third quarter, the biggest drop since 1987 and the third straight quarter of decline. The contraction was worse than the 1.8pc economists had expected, according to Bloomberg estimates.
Germany is Europe's largest economy and is suffering from a fall in demand for the cars and household appliances it makes, as large parts of Europe and the US endure their worst economic condition in years. As a result, German companies are cutting jobs and investment, exacerbating the fall.
Germany's economy could shrink 2.5pc in 2008, according to the International Monetary Fund, which would be its biggest contraction since the Second World War.
The euro-region probably shrank 1.3pc in the final quarter, numbers out later this morning are expected to show. The European Central Bank has already signalled its intention to cut interest rates to a record low next month, following similar moves in the US and UK.The defendants, who are charged with hate crimes against nine other Amish men and women, went on trial in Ohio.
Such hair-cuttings are considered deeply offensive in traditional Amish culture, which shuns many modern conveniences.
In an opening statement prosecutor Bridget M Brennan told the jury: "In the Amish faith a man's beard and a women's hair are sacred religious symbols. The beard and the hair are symbols of Amish righteousness, religious symbols that God is present in their lives."
She told jurors that Amish sect leader Samuel Mullet Sr, who is one of the defendants, was not present at any of the attacks but preached to his followers that the victims deserved punishment for disagreeing with him in the past
Some of those who were targeted had lived in Mullet's settlement in Ohio, near the West Virginia panhandle, and moved away following disagreements with his methods.
The prosecutor said: "Samuel Mullet was the beginning and the end of these attacks. Every one of these attacks targeted those symbols of Amish righteousness,"
Some suspects kept the hair they cut and one defendant took along a disposable camera to take photographs, the prosecutor said, adding: "They wanted to see the trophies they collected."
Mullet and the other defendants have denied the charges relating to the attacks, which took place last year.
They have also rejected plea bargain offers and could face lengthy prison terms if convicted.
Defence lawyers said the attacks arose out of family or religious disputes on how to live a righteous Amish life.
They did not deny that the hair cuttings took place, but said the defendants took action out of concern that members of their religion were straying from their beliefs.
They argued that the Amish are bound by religious rules, rather than the laws of society, and that the government should not get involved. Mullet's lawyer Ed Bryan said: "These are religious separatists."
The 10 men on trial had long beards and wore light blue shirts and braces in court, while the six women defendants were in long dark skirts and white bonnets. All but one is related to Mullet
One defendant, Lester Miller, took part in the hair cuttings of his parents because he felt they had strayed from their religion, the court heard.
Defence lawyer Dean Carro said: "He thought his parents had forgotten their roots. His intention was to take a symbolic step."Bitcoin Cosmetic Giant Lush To Accept Bitcoin
UK Headquartered global cosmetic brand Lush announced that as of July 11, 2017, they are accepting Bitcoin as a payment option on their online store.
Lush Announces Bitcoin Adoption
Cosmetic giant Lush, widely known for their ethical anti-animal testing stance, has announced that they will be accepting Bitcoin payments on their online store. Lush heralded the news, saying that Bitcoin is changing the way people, governments, and businesses approach trade.
Mike West, Lush’s Finance Manager, explained:
Accepting Bitcoin is very exciting for Lush. With Bitcoin, customers from all around the world will pay the same for our products, free from volatile currency fluctuations and lofty bank charges. Cryptocurrencies are the future of global trade and we want to ensure that we are prepared to move into this new digital era.
The statements falls in line with the company’s long-held forward looking, progressive outlook, helping to further explain the reasons as to why the high street brand has embraced Bitcoin. The announcement also espouses the benefits that Bitcoin brings to the world of independent finance and trade, focusing on its ability to allow transparent and secure transactions without huge exchange rates or fees. Lush further emphasizes that Bitcoin is not limited by borders or barriers to financial movement.
Renowned For Their Ethical Brand
The Lush brand is perhaps most famous for its ethical practices, charity work, and campaigning. None of their products are tested on animals and the company refuses to buy from suppliers that do test on animals. The company endorses direct political action on many environmental issues such as road building and aviation, and give widely to charity. In 2016 they raised $300,000 for Syrian refugees from the sale of one of the brand’s soap products.
Lush explains its decision to accept Bitcoin:
It is hoped that by using the digital currency Lush will be able to develop new ways of working with customers, as well as global suppliers and charity groups who are often based in small local communities across the world. The decision is the first step in a wider strategy to delve into the Blockchain community and provide an ethical viewpoint on its possibilities.
Lush took their inspiration from Anita Roddicks, founder of the UK store The Body Shop, for whom Lush’s CEO Mark Constantine worked as a main supplier. Body Shop was the first UK cosmetics company to focus on ethical trading practices back in 1976 where their focus was again specifically on ethical cosmetic and business practices with a focus on being opposed to animal testing. The two companies remain rivals.
The Announcement Reception
The news may come as a surprise to many in the Bitcoin community, as retailers that accept the cryptocurrency have traditionally been in the male dominated tech industry where familiarity with the coin is probably highest outside of the traditional financial industry. However, the wider recognition of Bitcoin in the financial world has brought increased interest from a female demographic, which, along with the ethical alternative culture of Lush, makes the introduction of Bitcoin payments appear to make more sense.
I very much enjoy when two of my interests collide…Lush to accept digital currency Bitcoin online https://t.co/wS7IJcafbr — Sarah Kocianski (@SarahKocianski) July 20, 2017
The move falls in line with the company’s focus on boundary breaking and in retaining a socially progressive outlook. Alternatives, whether that be in the realm of politics, ethics or, in the case of Lush’s current move, finance, are the name of the game when it comes to the company, and these attributes also equally apply to Bitcoin.
Is this the start of more mainstream retailers recognizing Bitcoins potential? Should Lush really be allowing payments in store too? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Yelp, LushFormer Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin expressed harsh criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday in a meeting with residents of the city of Kfar Sava, saying the pair is not worthy of leading the country.
"My major problem is that I have no faith in the current leadership, which must lead us in an event on the scale of war with Iran or a regional war," Diskin told the "Majdi Forum," a group of local residents that meets to discuss political issues.
PM Netanyahu congratulating Diskin on completing his term as head of the Shin Bet in May, 2011. Michal Fattal
"I don't believe in either the prime minister or the defense minister. I don't believe in a leadership that makes decisions based on messianic feelings," he added.
Diskin deemed Barak and Netanyahu "two messianics – the one from Akirov or the Assuta project and the other from Gaza Street or Caesarea," he said, referring to the two politicians' places of residence.
"Believe me, I have observed them from up close... They are not people who I, on a personal level, trust to lead Israel to an event on that scale and carry it off. These are not people who I would want to have holding the wheel in such an event," Diskin said.
"They are misleading the public on the Iran issue. They tell the public that if Israel acts, Iran won't have a nuclear bomb. This is misleading. Actually, many experts say that an Israeli attack would accelerate the Iranian nuclear race," said the former security chief.
In March, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan also spoke out publicly against a military option on Iran, telling CBS' 60 Minutes that an Israeli attack would have "devastating" consequences for Israel, and would in any case be unlikely to put an end to the Iranian nuclear program.
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Regarding relations between Israeli Jews and other groups, Diskin said, "Over the past 10-15 years Israel has become more and more racist. All of the studies point to this. This is racism toward Arabs and toward foreigners, and we are also become a more belligerent society."
Diskin also said he believed another political assassination, like that of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 by a Jewish extremist, could occur in the future. "Today there are extremist Jews, not just in the territories but also inside the Green Line, dozens of them who, in a situation in which settlements are evacuated would be willing to take up arms against their Jewish brothers."
Read this article in HebrewORLANDO – February 2, 2015 – Just over a week ago, Orlando City Soccer Club celebrated a major milestone by recognizing 13-time Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Ken Griffey Jr. as the Club's 10,000th Central Florida resident to purchase season tickets. That celebration was brief as the front office staff returned to work and today, the Lions announced they have surpassed 11,000 season tickets for the inaugural 2015 Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign.
Thus far, Section 132 of the Orlando Citrus Bowl has completely sold out, while several sections including the Club and Midfield East are nearing sellout capacity.
Orlando City will host fellow MLS debutants New York City FC Sunday, March 8 at the Orlando Citrus Bowl. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m. ET. Season tickets are available for purchase at www.OrlandoCitySC.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY. Season Ticket Members enjoy a number of benefits including membership in Society XXI and priority for 2016 Season Tickets in the new stadium.
"The rapid increase in sales shows the growing demand of our passionate fans as the home opener rapidly approaches," said Orlando City Founder and President Phil Rawlins. "To be only a few thousand tickets from our goal several weeks before the start of the season further validates why Orlando is the 'Soccer Capital of the South.' We look forward to celebrating our march toward March 8th with our fans and can't wait to hear the roar of the stadium when the first whistle blows and we make history for the City Beautiful."SHARE THIS STORY:
The construction of the EU Parliament in the image of the Tower of Babel sends the message that Nimrod had the right philosophy and his Tower of Babel was a good idea.
“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. “ Genesis 11:4,5,9 (KJV)
Recently, we have been writing on a particularly interesting character, the new PM of Greece, Alexis Tsipras. Many Christians are now looking at this man with heightened interest. He seems to embody many of the Biblical descriptions of the coming Antichrist. Time will tell, and we will be watching.
In this article, I will be reporting on something that I find as interesting as Tsipras himself. We will look at the EU Parliament Building, and more specifically at their building. Ever since it was completed in December of 1999, the EU parliament has raised questions and many eyebrows by its peculiar architecture. Although it is meant to have a modernist look, many say that it was fashioned after Nimrod’s Tower of Babel from the Scriptures.
Why does it look unfinished?
Promoters say it reflects the “unfinished nature of Europe”. However, some research on the subject reveals the dark and deep symbolism of the building. Exposing the real source of inspiration behind the Louise Weiss building is exposing the esoteric beliefs of the world elite, their dark aspirations and their interpretation of ancient scriptures.
We’ll go straight to the point: the Louise Weiss building is meant to look like painting “The Tower of Babel” by Pieter Brueghel the Elder in 1563. Story says that the Tower of Babel was never completed.
So, the UN Parliament is basically continuing the unfinished work of Nimrod, the infamous tyrant, who was building the Tower of Babel to defy God.
Do you think this is a good source of inspiration for a “democratic institution”?
The Story of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel
The story of Nimrod and the building of the Tower of Babel is found in many ancient manuscripts from various cultures around the world. Genesis 11 in the King James Bible starts off right after the end of the flood of Noah, and lets us know that:
“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.” Genesis 11:1 (KJV)
The bible tells us that there was worldwide unity and harmony, a good thing, right? Wrong. No sooner is the whole world together then they immediately plan to overthrow God and “build a tower to Heaven”. That’s the result of bringing in World Peace without the King of Peace, Jesus Christ. We all know the story, the build the tower, make some pretty good progress right up until the moment where God confounds their speech with a multiplicity of previously unknown languages., and they are scattered. It looks like the modern-day European Union is headed for the exact same fate.
The official motto of the EU Parliament is this: “Europe – Many Tongues One Voice”. Now, add to their motto that their official headquarters is an updated version of the biblical Tower of Babel and I think you begin to see not only motive but intent as well.
Symbolism of the EU Parliament
The construction of the EU Parliament in the image of the Tower of Babel sends the message that Nimrod had the right philosophy and his Tower of Babel was a good idea.
What we can expect to see from the EU on this path:
A gradual introduction of tyranny
The elimination of the worship of God to introduce dependence on power
All people speaking the same language and the same religion
Rejecting God while trying to become gods
You know what? Those are major precepts of the esoteric beliefs of the world elite. Their belief system is based on the Mystery Religions (pagan rituals, worship of the Sun, considering Lucifer as the one who gave light to the human race, seeing God as a force wanting to keep humans in the dark).
Their New World Order will have evacuated all worship of God, introduced a single language and changed democracy to tyranny.
Here is the OFFICIAL poster promoting the EU Parliament:
In the poster we see the people of Europe rebuilding the Tower of Babel, only it’s not the ancient Tower of Babel but a very modern-day counterpart, the Louise Weiss building. It reminds me of the movie Jurassic Park where they use DNA samples to recreate the ancient dinosaurs only to find themselves as the prey of those same animals. Amazing how history repeats itself and how bible prophecy is always correct. Every time.
Here’s some points to note:
Point #1: We have a confirmation that the Louise Weiss building was truly inspired by the Tower of Babel. The poster recreated the exact tower on Pieter Brueghel’s painting, even making sure to include the broken part of the foundation. There is NO question there.
Point #2: The slogan: “Europe: Many Tongues One Voice” refers to God confusing the people with many languages. Lessons learned since Genesis 11? Zero.
Point #3: Look closely at the stars at the top. Do they look strange? They are upside down aka reversed pentagrams. The symbolism behind pentagrams is extremely deep and complex but we can say that a regular pentagram refers to “Good Ruling” and a reverse pentagram refers to “Evil Ruling”.
This poster has been banned due to protests by numerous groups. It is however extremely revealing and proves the esoteric mindset of the builders of the European Union’s Parliament.
In Conclusion:
The European Union is a superstate that currently includes 28 countries (more in the future).
The same fate awaits American and Asian countries, who are bound to unite under the same flag and currency to create other superstates. Those are the building blocks towards a Single World Government, a goal actively sought by the world elite.
The EU Parliament Building is the first monument representing a superstate and reveals, through its intense symbolism, hatred of religion, plans for a New World Order and their subtle endorsement of tyranny.
Are you as convinced of the demonic powers at work here as I am?
With this new information in hand, the Alexis Tsipras piece now is even more intriguing, wouldn’t you say?
Portions of this story were taken from bibliotecapleyades.netKevin McHale played it close to the vest on Tuesday when asked who his starters would be on Opening Night, but Chandler Parsons just couldn't keep it to himself. According to Parsons, the Rockets will be going with the same starting lineup they closed the preseason with, meaning that Patrick Beverley will start at point guard over Jeremy Lin on Opening Night against the Bobcats.
We talked about the battle for the point guard spot at length this morning, and the decision boils down to a matter of fit. Though both will play heavy minutes for the Rockets, Beverley simply fits better in the starting lineup because of his off-ball skills. Lin, meanwhile, will give the second unit an offensive anchor and a big weapon in the pick-and-roll.
None of these positions are set in stone, and the Rockets will undoubtedly change their lineup a good amount throughout the season, but with about 30 hours to go before the start of the Rockets season, you have their preliminary lineup.
More from The Dream Shake:Earlier this month, we brought you the well-reported rumor that former Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery might be lining up for a personnel job with the Falcons. It appears that day has come.
#Falcons expected to make a couple more changes in personnel department, including adding former Bears GM Phil Emery (ex-Falcons scout). — Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzAJC) January 26, 2016
There's no word yet on what Emery's role will be. The Falcons are currently missing a director of player personnel with Lionel Vital's unceremonious dumping, so Emery may be an option there, or he may simply be another cook in a bustling kitchen. One way or the other, with the Senior Bowl ongoing and free agency and the draft coming up fast, you can expect someone will be named to the position in short order.
Keep an eye on some of the established names currently out there on the market, because the Falcons seem hellbent on building a staff that features as many former general managers as possible in other roles. We'll hope Emery can add something helpful to a front office that has delivered mixed results for many years now.Amphioctopus fangsiao, called webfoot octopus,[2] is a species of octopus, a cephalopod belonging to the genus Amphioctopus.[3] It is found in the Pacific Ocean, including off the coasts of New Zealand.[4]
Distribution [ edit ]
This species occurs in the Philippine Sea, the northwest pacific and off Japan (Osaka Bay)
Closeup of suckers
Hiding in shell
Culinary use [ edit ]
In Korea, Amphioctopus fangsiao is called jukkumi (주꾸미) or jjukkumi (쭈꾸미) and is often stir-fried in spicy gochujang-based sauce.[5][6]
Jukkumi-bokkeum (stir-fried)
Jukkumi-gui (grilled)
Seafood skewers sold in South Korea, including jju-kkochi (webfoot octopus skewers)
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]
Norman M.D. & Hochberg F.G. (2005) The current state of Octopus taxonomy. Phuket Marine Biological Center Research Bulletin 66:127–154.
Phuket Marine Biological Center Research Bulletin 66:127–154. Furuya, H. (2006). Three new species of dicyemid mesozoans (Phylum Dicyemida) from Amphioctopus fangsiao (Mollusca: Cephalopoda), with comments on the occurrence patterns of dicyemids. Zoological Science 23: 105–119.Sen. Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he thinks enough fellow Democrats would heed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s call to block Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to serve on the Supreme Court, a move that would almost certainly lead Republicans to change the rules and further diminish the minority party’s role in the confirmation process.
Speaking on MSNBC‘s “Morning Joe,” the Delaware Democrat on Monday said he doesn’t think there are 60 votes for the SCOTUS nominee to receive cloture, a procedural vote that would require support from at least eight Democrats if all Republican senators vote to advance Gorsuch’s nomination.
That could compel Republicans to change the rules and end the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees altogether, as Senate Democrats did for other other executive nominations when they controlled the chamber in 2013. Coons, who has not said how he would vote on Gorsuch, said such a move would be “tragic.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has threatened to change the filibuster rules.
“There’s Republicans still very mad at us over the 2013 change to the filibuster rule,” Coons said. “We’re mad at them about shutting down the government. They’re mad at us about Gorsuch, and we are not headed in a good direction.”
The nomination for Gorsuch, a 10th Circuit Court appeals judge from Colorado, has already been procedurally delayed. On Monday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said the panel would wait for a week before voting on whether to advance his nomination to the chamber.
“His resume speaks for himself, but last week we got to see up close how thoughtful, articulate and humble he is,” Grassley said Monday in praising Gorsuch’s performance during a four-day confirmation hearing last week.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the committee’s top Democrat, on Monday repeated her caucus’s ill will about how Senate Republicans refused to consider Merrick Garland, former President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia last year.
“This puts this side, in my view, in just a terrible position,” she said.
Republicans had hoped to pressure Democrats from states carried by President Donald Trump in November who are also up for re-election in 2018 into helping them reach 60 votes on Gorsuch’s nomination. So far, none of those Democrats have jumped ship, and on Monday, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, a Trump-won state in 2016, said he would not vote for cloture on Gorsuch’s nomination either.
“I will vote no on the motion to invoke cloture and, if that succeeds, I will vote no on his confirmation,” Nelson said in a statement.
Grassley said the committee would vote on Gorsuch on April 3, and McConnell has said he plans to hold a vote on Gorsuch’s nomination on the Senate floor before senators depart for their Easter recess on April 7.
Updated to include Nelson’s position on the Gorsuch nomination.Originally posted December 18th, 2015, by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist
CPU GRAPH LEGEND cMP TITAN X ='mid 2010' Mac Pro 3.3GHz 6-Core with NVIDIA GTX TITAN X (12G) eGPU TITAN X = 'late 2013' Mac Pro 2.7GHz 12-Core connected to eGPU with NVIDIA GTX TITAN X (12G) nMP D700s = 'late 2013' Mac Pro 3.GHz 8-Core with dual (active) AMD FirePro D700s nMP D700 = 'late 2013' Mac Pro 3.GHz 8-Core with single (active) AMD FirePro D700 All test units were running OS X El Capitan 10.11.1. NVIDIA's web driver 346.03.04f01 was installed and active.
Many owners of the 'late 2013' Mac Pro 'cylinder' are frustrated with being limited to only AMD GPUs. MacVidCards and netkas have co-developed a hack that enables a Thunderbolt 2 expansion box with an NVIDIA TITAN X GPU to override the Mac Pro cylinder's AMD GPUs.
LuxMark 2.1 is an OpenCL benchmark that renders scenes of various complexity. For this round we used the default Sala scene (488K Triangles) and rendered using all available GPUs, but GPUs only. (LARGER number means FASTER in Thousands of Samples per Second.)
The single GeForce TITAN X beats the single FirePro D700. However, when dual D700s are rendering OpenCL, they, of course, beat the TITAN X.
OctaneBench allows you to benchmark your CUDA capable GPU using Octane Render code. (LARGER score means FASTER.)
The dual FirePro D700s get no score because they are not 'CUDA capable.' This is one of the primary justifications for the eGPU: to run 'CUDA only' pro software like Octane Render.
FurMark OpenGL 'GPU burner' uses fur rendering algorithms to measure the performance of the graphics card. It tends overheat the GPU making it a perfect stability and stress test tool. (LARGER number in Frames Per Second means FASTER.)
Even when 'hobbled' by the limited bandwidth of Thunderbolt 2, the eGPU TITAN X 'buries' the AMD FirePro D700 on this OpenGL test.
Diablo III -- We observe FPS while our character was by the New Tristam Waypoint. Quality was HIGH, no AA, no Vsync Fullscreen. (HIGHER number means FASTER in Frames per Second.)
When it comes to GPU intensive games, the NVIDIA GPUs dominate whether in the eGPU or native PCIe x16 slot.
Tomb Raider -- We use the built-in benchmark using the HiGH preset. (HIGHER number means FASTER in average Frames per Second.)
Same thing. NVIDIA GPUs excel in many GPU intensive games.
Cinema 4D R17 - Here is an example of a CPU bound animation that can confuse and frustrate Mac users seeking to boost FPS with a better GPU. Notice how none of the GPUs have a clear advantage. We took the Car Chase animation that Cinebench runs in a 1024x768 portal and opened it in Cinema 4D Rev 17. Then we played animation in fullscreen mode at 2560x1440 with a maximum frame rate of 500 (to push it to as fast as it would go).
The single active FirePro D700 edged out the TITAN Xs.
INSIGHTS
The eGPU offers an alternative to the "FirePro Only" option in the 'late 2013' Mac Pro cylinder. Even with one-fourth the bandwidth of the 'normal' x16 PCIe slot, in many cases the NVIDIA option shows its advantage. However, in some cases, the AMD FirePro D700s dominated -- especially when BOTH GPUs were in use.
Though the cMP was 6-core and the nMP was 12-core, the apps we featured here do not use more than 2 cores. The 6-core did have an edge on core clock speed, but the 12-core's CPU is newer and its 1867MHz memory is clocked faster than the 6-core's 1333MHz memory.
BTW, the eGPU TITAN X can also run at full 5120x2880 on the Dell 5K display.
Stay tuned for some results running real world pro apps like DaVinci Resolve.Despite the multitudinous derisive references to the supposed quote that continue to be proffered even today, former U.S. vice president Al Gore never claimed that he “invented” the Internet, nor did he say anything that could reasonably be interpreted that way. The legend arose |
sled down the ramp, you would be going one hundred and fifty miles per hour by the time you hit bottom, one thousand fifty one ft. If you’re confused it’s because Reid wrote this part and said basically what I would have said. We could have rafted down the gorge. About half way through our visit, it started to rain and it still is now. That is one deep gorge.
7-8 (7:00) Garden of the Gods– This is a state park with huge clay colored rock formations. You can see some shapes in the rocks like the ‘kissing camels’ and ‘the crying Indian’. But, I mainly just see the beauty of nature and get a feeling of discovering new things and seeing things many people will never see. There’s something about this state, Colorado, that’s hard to explain. Is it the weather? Is it the smell of the air? Is it the grandeur of the mountains surrounded in a veil of clouds? Whatever it is, I get a mysterious feeling of peace. – Cory, Karl, Reid, and Mike just got back on the bus, Late! They said they saw a rock so they climbed it. Then they saw another rock and they climbed it too. And then….. well you get the picture. This is probably the most gorgeous park yet.
7-8 (9:55) Fort Carson – This will be our last night in Fort Carson which is OK by me. There is only one shower / bathroom for sixty people. The bunks aren’t bad. I didn’t think it would be possible, but I’m having more fun than I thought I would. We haven’t done many difficult things yet, but the altitude hasn’t affected me yet. This is going to be a heck of a crew. Tomorrow we head to Philmont. Now that it’s over, the sight seeing wasn’t too bad. Today was the best. I can’t get over how much fun white water rafting was. I bought a cool picture of us rafting and I hope I can get it home without wrecking it.
Tuesday (7/09/96) – Camping Headquarters
DAY 3
7-9 (9:20P.M.) PHILMONT!!!!!– It’s raining! It’s raining a whole lot! We woke up this morning and got on the bus for a three-hour drive to the reservation. When we got here, there was a lot of paper work to sift through, but after a half an hour we got off the bus and found our packs. Next, we met our ranger Laird. At first, he reminded me of my cousin, Matt McKinney. I went to a crew leaders meeting with a camp coordinator and found out that there’s more to this position than just a title. First, they showed me the big wall of information to track who goes where. We have to figure out how to read it and fill in our information. Next, we looked at the water availability chart to figure out what’s safe to drink and where the water is. I learned that if you don’t purify your water properly, you could get Giardia, a real nasty little bacteria you don’t want to mess with. Next, we looked at the trail conditions map. This one’s real important because some of the marked paths are no longer useable. I might get some people mad at me if I take them on a path that doesn’t exist. We went over the itinerary of the places we will be hiking and what we need to know about them. I learned one of the places we’re hiking to (Urraca Mesa) is haunted. I’ll have to see about that one. I was shocked when I heard that an average of six hundred hikers come and go every day! The camp coordinator gave me a sheet of paper that he said is “More important than breathing”. Without it, you can’t get food, you can’t camp, and you can’t participate in any of the activities. I’m going to keep it in my journal so I don’t lose it.
I’m enjoying the atmosphere of youth leadership without adults taking over. I’ve been told that if the adults try to take control of the trip, it’s my duty to put them in their place. I hope I don’t and don’t think I will have to do that, but I will if it becomes a problem.
After the meeting, we got our tents and other camping supplies which we inspected very carefully. It’s our homes for the next ten days. AJ and I are in a tent together which should work out fine. Laird did a shakedown of our packs where we all found out we brought way too much stuff. We’ll all have to be leaving things behind. Even the wool sweater my dad said I should take. Laird told us that to save weight, we should cut the ends off our toothbrushes. None of us are going to do it. Then, I had to go to another meeting which proved to be pretty useless, but I didn’t mind.
After dinner, we went to the camp gathering. It wasn’t a campfire because New Mexico is under a fire warning, so no fires are permitted. The camp staff enacted the history of Philmont which was very interesting. From Spanish colonization to fur trappers to the man who donated the land to scouting, Waite Phillips. It was all very interesting. Before the campfire there was a great church service that I’m glad I went to. As soon as I went back to my tent, I started to pour. The rain is just now starting to slow down. We knew the rain was coming. Since two o’clock, a huge storm cloud engulfed the southern mountains of Philmont and headed towards us all day. I’m glad I wasn’t caught out in this on the trail. Base camp has a great view and I can’t wait to start hiking tomorrow. Things couldn’t get much better than this.
Wednesday (7/10/96) – Old Abreu
DAY 4
7-10 (9:40) Zastrow Turnaround to Old Abreau Camp – It rained all night!! When I got out of the tent, it looked like the thunderstorm had landed right in base camp and dumped a weeks worth of rain. When I went to sleep it was raining, but the ground was cracked and dry. Now it looks like we’re recovering from a flood.
Laird was late for breakfast so we ate last (he’s kind of a slacker). He’ll tell us how to do things after it’s too late to do it right. We missed our crew picture because he told us we could do it later, which we couldn’t. He’s nice and funny, but he doesn’t do his job very well.
It started raining at two thirty and lasted until six. We got a little wet and disheartened but the sun brought up our spirits. Hiking was good but very muddy. At one point we couldn’t tell where we were; you can make a lot of mistakes and end up on the wrong path because the map isn’t very detailed. We didn’t take the path we wanted to, but we got where we wanted to go. Old Abreau is a wonderful campsite. It’s set back in the woods right next to a creek. The creek has a shallow section where you can see the mountains over the cascading waterfalls (well more like little rapids). It still looks neat.
Dinner was very nasty. Laird mixed the vegetable soup with the macaroni and cheese to save time and water. They just don’t mix. We’re learning that water is one of our main concerns. We ran out quickly and Cory and I had to hike back to New Abreau for purified water. We will have to be more careful from now on. The human sump idea (drinking your own dish water) is weird, but we’re getting used to it; we have to.
I have to mention the mini-bears. These little critters are really cool looking. They’re like chipmunks with ringed tails, striped backs, and really light fur. They’re cute but the rangers say they chew through things and cause a lot of problems.
Philmont is giving me an uplifting spiritual boost. The priest yesterday gave a great service and explained how our trip could be used to learn to grow in God’s love. Spirituality is a big part of Philmont. Reid and Carl are going to do a prayer reading each night after a group talk we have. I think this will be a great addition to our trek. I’m sure this experience will be twice as meaningful with a religious outlook. -One note: I didn’t get very wet and neither did my pack, but trash bags don’t make good rain covers!
Thursday (7/11/96) – Urraca
DAY 5
7-11 (9:40) Old Abreau to Urraca Mesa– We woke up this morning to a dry camp and a cloudless sky. The morning couldn’t have been more perfect. Then came the Pemmican Bars. Pemmican Bars are breakfast energy bars that weigh about a ton a piece. The first half isn’t bad, but once you cross the Pemmican midway barrier, you’re in trouble. It took us two hours and fifteen minutes to get on the trail; a time I’d like to shorten.
On the map, today’s hike looked easy, but it was a killer hike (mostly uphill). We hiked back through New Abreau and across the plain where Zastrow Path was. Then there was Urraca Mesa. I’m finally getting the idea that it’s hard to climb a mountain. Tom got pretty tired, so we took a lot of breaks. For some reason there were a lot of buzzards around the mesa; I guess they eat hiker’s that don’t make it.
*One addition to the journal: when we got back to base camp, we found out that a guy had a heart attack and died while trying to climb the mesa.**
At least they don’t have to eat Pemmican Bars. Tom’s been calling them pelican bars.
The path up the mesa was hard but beautiful. You can see the plain below and many other mountains far in the distance. I found a better way to rig my trash bag on my pack so it was a lot better. I also noticed that one of my frame poles wasn’t inserted right, so I fixed it and I feel a big improvement. We only got about a mile lost today. We hiked across the mesa instead of down it. We learned that a few years ago, there was a controlled burn if Urraca. After it was put out, it flared up two days later and charred most of the mountain. You can still see ash from the trees, but the now trees are healthy.
The hike down the back side of the Urraca Mesa was easy hiking. The Urraca campsite is centered around a prairie and has a beautiful view of the mesa. We set up camp in a record ten minutes. Then we did a challenge course where we learned about teamwork and about not setting your goals too high or low. And of course, the WALL! We all had to get over a fourteen-foot wall with only three people on top. We put Reid up first because he’s big but light. Next AJ, and then me. Mike was lifted to me and Reid by Cory and Karl and he was scared to death. Karl helped Cory. Finally we had to get Karl up without the aid of a boost. On his first jump, I caught his fingers, but couldn’t hold him. I had the longest reach, but I couldn’t reach him. We touched hands about seven times, but no luck. So, Reid and I decided that he would stand next to me so that once I grabbed Karl, he would grab my hands and we would have him. Karl leapt as hard as he could, I lunged forward and caught his wrist, Reid grabbed my hands, and up came Karl. It was a lot of fun. We only got a few drops of rain in an otherwise dry day.
At eight o’clock had a campfire (without the fire) with two of the rangers playing guitar and four singing. The guitars were excellent. We learned about the history of Philmont from the Anasazi Indians to gold miners to Waite Phillips himself. We also heard a few ghost stories about the lost scout of Urraca Mesa and the Anasazi portal to the next world. The stars are dazzling tonight. I can’t wait until the morning when we watch the sun rise over Urraca Mesa. I’ve having a great time and falling in love with New Mexico. Being a crew leader is interesting and sometimes difficult. The adults are letting us make the decisions and I’m glad it’s working out. I feel strange when my mind says get ahead and reach the peak as fast as I can, but my gut says wait for the people in the back. Mike told me today that I’m doing a great job holding the crew together and his comment meant a lot to me. This is a great crew, in a great camp, in a great state, making unforgettable memories.
Friday (7/12/96) – Miner’s Park
DAY 6
7-12 (9:15) Urraca Mesa to Miner’s Park – Today Laird left us to go to Black Mountain. We all woke up early to see the sun rise over the plains of Philmont. We grabbed our breakfast and hiked to lookout point on the side of the Urraca. It was cloudy so all we could see was the clouds lighting up, and the plain getting more visible. Then the clouds started to break up and golden shafts of light poured through the holes in the sky. We said good-bye to Laird and he was off.
We broke camp, threw on our packs for Miner’s Park. One of the things that’s interesting about Philmont is that a lot of their power is solar, so you see solar panels all along the trails near staff camps. We took another wrong turn and got two miles out of our way, but we backtracked and found another trail that got us where we wanted to go. It was my turn to cook, but Mike and I hadn’t cooked yet because breakfast and lunch were ready to eat. We did, however, make the best dinner yet.
The afternoon event was rock climbing on a training wall, like they had at Galyans. I thought it was fun and really easy. We might do the real thing tomorrow. After I got off the wall I looked out at the mountains and there was a beautiful rainbow arching across the plain and into the mountains. It was gorgeous.
Today’s hike was tough. I really got tired out, but I still had a fabulous time. Hiking seems different without a ranger, but it’s not anything we can’t handle. I met some people from our sister crew 709F4 (we’re 709E5). They’re from Washington DC. I hope we get along OK. We’re going to try and get on the trail early so we can rock climbing and still make it to Black Mountain for black powder rifle shooting. I’m going to sleep.
Saurday (7/13/96) – Black Mountain
DAY 7
7-13 (10:34) Miner’s Park to Black Mountain – Before I write about this day, I have to express that it was perfect. Perfect in a way that can’t be put on paper. But, others should be able to feel the joy that I felt today so I’ll do my best to describe this wonderful day.
We woke up early and broke camp quickly. Then we hiked to the junction where rock climbing was going on. The instructors got there twenty minutes later and we started climbing. Everyone got stuck a little bit, but everyone had a blast. It was a thirty-five foot cliff that overlooked the ravine. The only bad thing was that Mike skinned his knee a little.
When the climbing was over, we hit the trail. This trail is no doubt the most beautiful trail in Philmont. It runs through a valley and crosses the stream forty-seven times. The valley is filled with towering birch and aspen trees and the riverbank is covered in wild flowers. Occasionally, a butterfly would flutter by as the sun glistened off the clear stream. The trail has a very gradual grade. When you started to get tired, the trail went downhill. Every turn was a new rock face and glittering waterfalls. We stopped for lunch on a huge flat boulder of quartz and mica (a mirror-like rock) that jutted over the stream where it dove over a set of descending rocks. The sun was shining in the valley and everyone was in the best possible mood. Even when it started to rain we were happy. I took off my hat and poncho and let the Rocky Mountain rain run down my face. It was so refreshing.
We reached the camp that was totally unlike the others. The staff members live in a one hundred year old log cabin. They have two burros and a black smithing shelter. We got to shoot black powder rifles at handkerchiefs (Karl’s and mine) and Cory’s hat. I hit my handkerchief, but everyone else missed. Cory wanted a musket ball hole as a souvenir, so the ranger said he would do it for us. He collected the handkerchiefs and put them in the hat, put the hat on the end of the gun, and BOOM!!! The handkerchiefs blew through the hat and landed on the ground on fire. Cory’s hat had a huge hole in the top of it. We were all surprised.
After dinner, we played some challenge games, talked with the rangers, and had a great time. Then the stars came out. We talked for a while and went back to camp. We sat in the dark talking about how perfect the day had been and I cried which is something I haven’t done in ten years. Mike and I took a hike back to the field to watch the stars. The sky was filled with stars. Not like in Indiana, I mean tons and tons of white dots FILLING the sky. We could even see the Milky Way. While I’m sure this day seems impressive, there is no way I can pay any justice to the fabulous day that I’ve just experienced. In the words of Tom Jordan, “THE DAYS WILL GET BETTER!!” I don’t see how they could, but I’d love to see it happen.
Sunday (7/14-15/96) – Comanche Camp
DAY 8&9
7-15 (8:37) Black Mountain to Comanche Camp – The dew soaked all of our tents, but they dried quickly. As dawn melted into day, the sun peered over Black Mountain warming our clearing. It seems that the higher we get the colder it gets. We slept in until eight o’clock. The rest was greatly needed. Our hike looked incredibly long on the map, but it seemed quick and effortless in the trail. We are all getting used to hiking in high altitudes and brakes are becoming much less frequent. We stopped at Philip’s Junction (PJ) for a shower. We all finally got rid of our mid-trek funk. I bought an extra camera because there are lots if things to take pictures of.
One strange thing about PJ is it is infested with mini-bears. I think I’ve described them before, but I’ll do it again. They look like blond chipmunks with ringtails. They aren’t scared of people and they get into everything you don’t protect. They’re just another part of Philmont.
Then, we took a quick one-hour hike to Comanche Camp. Every campsite has been more beautiful than the last one so far. This site is no exception. It is surrounded by a small creek and there are patches of ivy wherever the sun can break through the trees. It’s cold but nice. We visited with our sister crew 709F4 from Washington DC. They care more about getting home than being here. Dinner was good except the banana pudding, which we buried. We shouldn’t have done it, but it was too nasty.
We got back to camp after visiting with the DC boys and a few people realized that they had things to go in the bear bag, so Cory, Mike, AJ, and I went and redid the bear bags. When we got back to camp, AJ went to bed and Mike asked me if he though their tent was too close to the cooking area. I said that if he wasn’t comfortable we could move his tent and he agreed. We moved the tent and we all went to sleep. I’m enjoying the fact that part of the Philmont experience is helping other people have a good time as well as yourself. Our tent is right over the creek and it was great falling asleep next to its quiet rippling. It was too late to write last night so that’s why I wrote this this morning. Today, we climb Mt. Phillips which has a wonderful view of the camp. I can’t wait.
7-15 (12:24) Red Hills Camp– We stopped at Red Hills to eat dinner and get water because Comanche Peak has no water source. The trail was different than other trail we’d been on yet. The forest is full of Ponderosa pines covered with a stringy moss. White butterflies are everywhere. Around the trees, the stream, and even around us. The red rocks in the stream reflect the sun and sparkle in the cool water. I’m sitting on a moss covered rock in the middle of the creek in the shade of a pine tree. It’s beautiful. But, there are lots of flies here. The Rockies really affect all of your senses.
– The smell of the sagebrush, the Ponderosa Pines, the mix of pine needles and mud. The smell of the brook that moistens the air. The Smell of the Rockies.
-The sound of the birds and crickets and insects. The sound of the wind whistling through the trees. The sound of the creek gently flowing over the rocks. The sound of our packs as we hike through the forest. The sound of the absence of all people. The Sound of the Rockies.
-The sight of the sun coming over a mountain, a storm rolling through a valley, the sight of a deer wondering who we are and what we’re doing. The sight of a bird soaring over the mountains and the sun sparkling off the water. The sight of the camp you hiked all day to reach. The Sight of the Rockies.
-The taste of the air that changes from day to day. The taste of the water we purified from the stream and the pemmican bar you ate just for the energy. The taste of the rain as it rolls down your face. The Taste of the Rockies.
-The touch of a cool stream on worn out feet. The touch of the sun on your face after a cooling rain. The feel of the trail beneath your boots. The touch of the pack you’ve carried for thirty miles up rivers, through valleys, and over streams. The touch of the morning dew that cools the earth to prepare her for a hot day. The gentle touch of the wind through your hair. The Touch of the Rockies.
Our senses are too often things we take for granted. The Rocky Mountains show you what you’re missing.
7-15 (7:30) Comanche Peak– I am sitting in the most beautiful place in the world. I’m sitting on the north face of Comanche Peak watching the golden sun set behind the Rocky Mountains. On the East face, you can see the entire rest of our trek. It slips away so fast. The sun gleams off the valleys and plains in the far west. The clouds appear golden and you wish you could take them with you. To the north is the barren but beautiful North Country of Philmont. Rolling hills as far as the eye can see. Ponderosa Pines blanket the earth in all directions. Green trees, red rocks, blue skies, bleached fallen trees, white clouds, good friends. Absolute, unquestionable PERFECTION!
-We went up to the peak of Mount Phillips and were astounded by the sight. Beautiful scenery to the north, a huge storm to the south. So, we decided to eat back at Comanche. Then we went to see the sun set.
-There she goes behind the clouds. Leaving us to enjoy the splendor of God’s country. Complete SILENCE. Sure people are talking and laughing, but it all fits. The sky is so perfect, the golden clouds look like someone scratched the sky a little too hard and broke through to heaven. The horizon is now turning pink and the mountains are going to sleep. Soon, the moon will take his seat on the throne of stars and guide us through the night. PEACE, TRANQUILLITY, SOLITUDE, FRIENDSHIP, LOVE, WONDER,………………………..PHILMONT
Tuesday (7/16/96) – Sawmill
DAY 11
7-17 (6:20AM) Sawmill– I had a very busy day yesterday and had no time to write. So I’ll write what happened yesterday today. – We woke up early to see the sun rise, but we got there a little too late. The sky was still fabulous, but the sun rises early in Philmont. As we sat and watched the sun, I turned around and saw a big white cloud coming towards us. As I watched, it dove over us and into the ravine. This was followed by several more clouds that leapt to the valley below. It was amazing. I thought to myself, “This day is going to be perfect.” Boy, was I ever wrong.
7-17 Comanche Peak to Sawmill– The first part of our hike was uphill. Straight up hill. So far on our trek, every campsite was a little higher than the last. Comanche Peak is over 10,000 ft. high. Sawmill is in the bottom of sawmill canyon. The hike down was very steep and rocky. The more I hiked, the more my feet hurt. The sun was hot, and the rocks slipped out from under our feet. We were miserable. But, because of the stories Karl’s dad told us about Sawmill, we pushed on with little fuss. We reached sawmill and were glad to see showers and purified water. We got our campsite and started to set up camp. Then we noticed the flies and horse “decorations” all over camp. I had to walk ten minutes or more to the staff cabin for check-in and my feet were killing me. Then I went to take a nap and AJ tried to discuss the next day’s hike with me. I was in a really foul mood. The evening program was 30-ot-6 rifle shooting which turned out to be a lot of fun. We reloaded a shell and shot three rounds. At the rifle range, six guys from North Carolina attacked Nat (the range master) but he was OK. I used my pants as a target and they got a few holes in them. We also got an unloaded shell as a souvenir. After shooting and a warm shower I felt much better and the rest of the evening went great. Mike found a bag of vegetables in the swap box and we all enjoyed them. We saw the heating tank Karl’s dad told us about (the one that heats the showers) and I thought it was funny that the cabin he stayed in now has solar panels. The day was hard and upsetting, but it slowly got better and I’m ready to go. Tomorrow, we go to Harlen. It seems like a hard hike, but I know we can do it.
7-17 (4:12) Sawmill to Harlen – The path between Sawmill and Ute Gulch almost equaled the hike to Black Mountain. The trees and the stream and the may apples remind me of home, and I realize how lucky I am. After a quick lunch at Ute Gulch, we left for Harlen. We hiked on the side of the mesa looking at the plains and mountains we have already encountered. The hike was long and hard, but satisfying. We got camp set up and everyone jumped into their tents to avoid the rain. Everyone except me. I was just about to join the others when I remembered the words I’d heard at the Mesa campfire:
“If one day you find yourself alone, find a quiet place and think. If you see a storm, don’t hide, watch it and see how it rolls across the Rocky Mountains.”
So, I took the advice. I climbed up to the edge of the mesa and watched the storm as it engulfed the mountains. I felt the rain on my face and the earth shaking under the pounding fists of the storms thunder. Fearing that I was impeding the storms path, I returned to camp to find it asleep. A father and his son under the dining fly. Two friends in their tent who just finished covering their packs. An old man taking the nap he so rightfully deserves. And me, sitting on a throne of rock, created by some previous guest, watching the storm pass.
Out of the storm comes a spear of gold. The sun reclaiming its sky.
As the storm flees from the golden blades it dies and no longer torments the earth. And now the sun is warming my face with its gentle caress and I search for the rainbow in the sky that I’ve found in my heart.
***************************************************************
The wind is blowing and all is silent. The ground is drying and the sky is blue. The mountains reach to the sun for warmth. A single bird sings in the distance. The sleepers sleep soundly, oblivious to the world around them. A trail of ants marches back to work after the interruption of rain. I sit thinking of home and family and friends. I wonder what the world is like outside of Philmont. I think of my future and what I can make of it. I think of the new friends I’ve made. I listen to the fading thunder in the distance and I am at PEACE.
Wednesday (7/18/96) – Harlan
DAY 12
7-18 (5:50a.m.) Harlen – I’m back at my storm watching post to see the sun rise. I forgot to mention burro racing. When we got here we were excited about the race but found out that they had escaped (all except for one who was mad that he got left). The ranger chased them and caught up with them in about two hours. We weren’t sure what burro racing was, but it sounded fun.
Burro racing is holding a burro, running from one end of the field to the other and back, and trying to get your burro there first. We got first and second place with a burro named Lightning. It’s hard running in the mountains.
Harlen is a great camp. It’s big, 18 campsites, and we have a great view of the plains and Cimmeron. Last night, the lights in the city twinkled and looked lonely on the plain. The clouds are turning pink, and a new day is started. The lakes on the plains are shining and the birds are singing. It’s hard to believe that we only have three days left. I’ll miss Philmont, but it will be nice to get home. It’s great to get up early, see the sunrise, and watch Philmont wake up after a long night.
7-18 (3:00) Harlen to Clark’s Fork – It’s a hot hot day in July. Everything is wonderful, but I’m starting to get tired. Carrying your house on your back for a week is hard work. And now, I will write about the strangest phenomenon in nature: THE HILL THAT WENT UP BOTH WAYS!!!! We hiked up the mesa yesterday and knowing that it would be downhill the next day, we decided to backtrack and not hike on roads. So, the next morning we started back UP the trail we came UP to get there! Now call me stupid, but by every scientific law of the natural world YOU CAN’T DO THAT!! Oh well. We got here and it’s a great place. There’s a western theme and a chuck wagon dinner (REAL FOOD!!). They have everything a tired hiker could want; purified water, hot showers, horseshoes, lassoing, and branding. I learned how to lasso a fake steer. It’s fun. I got my journal branded and I’ll explain the brand.
__ PS = ‘Bar-P-Crazy S’ = Cattle Brand
/S = ‘Slash-Crazy S’ = Horse Brand
The showers felt great (AJ might smell a little better now) and I can’t wait for dinner. Well, I’m off to play some horseshoes.
7-18 (9:45p.m.) Clark’s Fork– Instead of horseshoes, I worked on my lasso skills. It’s a lot of fun and for a beginner, I’m not bad. Dinner was good (mostly because there was real meat and vegetables). Mike is having a great time because his childhood dream was to be a cowboy and this place is perfect for him. There was another campfire without the fire and it was nice. The sunset and the clouds turned the color of fire as they floated across the plain. Another wonderful day at Philmont is coming to an end.
Thursday (7/19/96) – Clark’s Fork
DAY 13
7-19 (5:40p.m.) Clark’s Fork to Tooth Ridge – I woke up surprised to find wild turkeys behind my tent. About twenty-five wild turkeys just walking around enjoying the morning. Then I saw a deer and her baby fawn eating dew covered leaves off the trees. It was wonderful.
We also went horseback riding this morning. My horse was named WD-40 and Mike’s was named Spider Monkey. The wrangler made us switch horses because Spider Monkey was a lot bigger than WD-40. He didn’t show it, but I think Mike would have liked spider monkey better. The ride was beautiful, but my legs got a little sore.
After riding, we started one of the most strenuous days of our trek.
The trail was hard and rocky, but with wonderful views as usual. Once we got to Shefer’s pass, we started up and down the ridge. The trail was very rocky and Cory, AJ, Reid, and Karl hiked a lot faster than we did and I got frustrated, but we worked things out. It’s weird knowing that tomorrow we’ll be back in base camp. I love Philmont, but it will be good to get back home.
7-19 (9:30p.m.) The Coolest Thing Yet!!! – We tried to string up our bear bags, which took a long time because it was very high and there were six people trying to use one bear bag line. We got ours up and were laughing at the groups who were still having trouble. Karl, Reid, and I decided to go on a nature hike. We hiked up to the north end of camp where Karl and I saw what we thought was a deer. We made a little noise in acknowledging that we saw it and it turned its head and looked at us. My first impression was that we were looking at a great dane. Then, I realized, we were looking into the face of a mountain lion. I’ll describe it as best as I can. It was about five or six feet long and three feet high. It had a long tail with black on the end and the rest of its body was covered in golden brown fur. Its face was round with big black eyes and black-fringed ear tips. It was incredibly powerful looking. It took off right as Reid noticed that Karl and I were freaking out. Then he saw it up on the ridge. He said it ran up and lay down. He pointed it out to us, but it looked just like a rock. Cory came over and when we told him, he thought we were lying. We decided to tell Mike and an advisor from our sister crew.
Mike, Reid, Karl, Cory, and I went back to see it, and sure enough, the rock was gone. Then we saw our deer (I was so excited about the mountain lion, I forgot to write about the deer. I’ll do that next) walking right where the mountain lion had gone. At first we tried to get it to run, but when it wouldn’t, we decided to watch and see if the lion would attack. We watched for twenty minutes, but figured it wouldn’t attack with people watching. We haven’t seen it since.
Now the deer. Mike and I were preparing dinner when Karl noticed a deer had wandered into our camp. He walked within ten feet of the deer and we told him to cup his hands like he had something to feed it. He did, and the deer slowly walked up and started licking his hand. Cory took a picture, but the flash scared the deer away. Karl was so excited. We started eating dinner, and the deer came back. We figured it wasn’t good to have him near the food, so I went to him, squatted down, and he came right to me. He started licking my hand and I patted his head. I noticed that it had a scab on its muzzle. I wonder what happened? We all got real excited about the deer, so you can understand our concern about having it ripped to shreds by a mountain lion. I was going to sleep under the stars tonight, but the other guys have a problem with sleeping outside with a mountain lion. Go figure. Well, I think I’ll go look at the stars right now. -Oh well, it’s too cloudy any way. I’ve seen them and once is enough for a memory.
7-19 The Tooth of Time– About two thirds of the way down tooth ridge was the trail for the tooth itself. Everyone but Tom decided to hike up it. It was a bear of a path. Almost like rock climbing. We were all exhausted at the top, but the view was tremendous. You could see base camp, Urraca Mesa, the stockades, and hundreds of other things anywhere you turned. It was wonderful. I was upset at the trash I found on the tooth. I picked up everything I found and took it with me. It’s amazing that people can be so inconsiderate as to ruin such a beautiful place.
Friday (7/20/96) – Tooth Ridge
DAY 14
(Note: This was not in the journal. I’m not sure why I didn’t write anything for Tooth Ridge.)
7-20 Tooth Ridge – We spent most of the day carving a new path into the mountain side. Every crew that hikes through Philmont has to add to the system of trails that crisscrosses the region. I can’t recall what we did the rest of that day.
Saturday (7/21/96) – Camping Headquarters
DAY 15
7-21 (7:30a.m.) Tooth Ridge to Base Camp – We’re on the bus again. It doesn’t even feel like we left the trail yet. We hiked down the ridge with base camp in sight and as we got close, I sang the song that had been in my head for three days. I had to fill out a ton of paper work, but everything went smoothly. It’s strange being in base camp. Purified water, flush toilets, two hundred people |
as it moves from west to east — linking L.A.'s past to its emerging future..
Walking east on Sunset, turning my back on the beach, I was not only trudging uphill but also pushing against the weight of history. The notion of the ocean as frontier is so ingrained in the basic psyche of this city that to resist it feels like some kind of betrayal.
The cultural center of gravity in Los Angeles has been moving east for years. Young artists, architects, musicians and writers now tend to settle in Silver Lake, Highland Park or downtown. Much of Boyle Heights feels like a place where the contemporary definition of Los Angeles — young, Latino and increasingly transit-friendly — is being hashed out on a daily basis.
For decades, searching for a metaphor to define Sunset Boulevard, writers have described it as a river running west and feeding into the Pacific. But the river flows the other direction now.
Explore Sunset Boulevard on an interactive tour with Christopher Hawthorne.
[email protected]
Graphic credits: Lorena Iñiguez Elebee, Julie Sheer | Programming: Anthony Pesce
Sources: ESRI, TeleAtlasA healthy Nordic diet can lower ‘bad’ cholesterol levels and may reduce the risk of heart disease, according to a new Scandinavian study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
An international team of researchers led by Dr Bjorn Akesson from Lund University, Sweden, conducted the dietary study in 309 individuals with features of metabolic syndrome in six research centers in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. 200 participants started the intervention after four-week run-in period, and 96 and 70 completed the study in the Healthy Nordic diet and Control diet groups, respectively.
“The primary outcome was insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, and secondary outcomes were blood lipids, blood pressure and inflammatory markers as they are all closely related to insulin resistance and are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases,” the team wrote in the paper.
“In the Healthy Nordic diet, the main emphasis was on food items such as whole-grain products, abundant use of berries, fruit and vegetables, rapeseed oil, three fish meals per week, low-fat dairy products and avoidance of sugar-sweetened products.”
An average Nordic diet served as a Control diet. “The individuals in the Control diet group received low-fiber cereal products, for example, breads with fiber content < 6 g per 100 g, and dairy fat-based spread, for example butter.”
“Compliance was monitored by repeated four-day food diaries and fatty acid composition of serum phospholipids.”
“Body weight remained stable, and no significant changes were observed in insulin sensitivity or blood pressure. Significant changes between the groups were found in non-HDL cholesterol, LDL to HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B to apolipoprotein A1 ratios favoring the Healthy Nordic diet.”
“The subjects who ate a Nordic diet had lower levels of harmful LDL cholesterol and higher levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol. The amount of harmful fat particles in the blood also declined,” explained study co-author Dr Lieselotte Cloetens of Lund University, Sweden.
Dr Cloetens said the team now plans to focus on the Nordic diet’s ability to maintain weight loss.
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Bibliographic information: M. Uusitupa et al. Effects of an isocaloric healthy Nordic diet on insulin sensitivity, lipid profile and inflammation markers in metabolic syndrome – a randomized study (SYSDIET). Journal of Internal Medicine, published online March 02, 2013; doi: 10.1111/joim.12044Senior gay and lesbian couples that want to tie the knot can now enjoy the rewards of marriage, but must also be prepared for some of the pitfalls. (Courtesy Fotolia via Tribune News Service) 4209781
Senior gay and lesbian couples that want to tie the knot can now enjoy the rewards of marriage, but must also be prepared for some of the pitfalls. (Courtesy Fotolia via Tribune News Service) - Bulletin
A- A+
By Diane C. Lade Sun Sentinel
Who could blame senior gay and lesbian couples, who may have waited a lifetime to say, “I do,” for wanting to rush to the altar.
South Florida retirement experts, however, say those love birds need to do a reality check before buying the rings. That’s because deciding to wed brings pitfalls as well as benefits, particularly for older adults.
Having a spouse changes an individual’s legal status, regardless if the couple is gay or straight. Inheritance rights, next-of-kin designation, tax status and eligibility for benefits such as disability payments and government subsidized nursing home care can be affected.
The pros and cons for legal marriage will vary from couple to couple, depending on their assets, savings, health history and other factors, said Scott Solkoff, an elder-law attorney in Delray Beach, Florida, who has done estate planning for gay and lesbian clients.
For example, Medicaid, the only government program that pays for nursing home care, covers people with limited resources. But the program must consider the assets and incomes of both legally married spouses when determining eligibility — meaning a high-earning partner might disqualify the one with less, Solkoff said.
Other potential downsides to matrimony: A disabled senior could lose supplemental Security Income payments if a marriage increases his or her income. Increased income post-marriage also could disqualify a couple from housing subsidies, experts say.
In some cases, opting for a nonlegal commitment ceremony is a better choice, Solkoff said.
On the upside, having federally recognized marriage rights now allows older LGBT couples to enjoy the same spousal benefits that straight couples are entitled to, said Solkoff. Those include being able to draw on their deceased spouse’s Social Security earnings if greater than their own, qualifying for spousal veteran’s benefits like a burial plot and assistance with care expenses, and inheritance rights to property.
Anthony Timiraos, CEO/president of Our Fund, said the marriage ruling has created a new, uncharted world even for couples who have been together for decades. “It’s a matter of ‘Be careful what you ask for.’ Now (LGBT people) have all the issues involving marriage that straight people do,” said Timiraos.
He said it will be important that newlyweds hire reliable professionals familiar with the legal changes that came with marriage equality.
Our Fund, a Wilton Manors-based nonprofit foundation is working with other LGBT advocacy groups to create resource directories, Timiraos said, listing health care, financial and other professionals who have had additional training in LGBT issues or a strong track record in the community.
LGBT advocates especially are concerned about senior couples for several reasons, said Michael Adams, executive director of SAGE USA, a national nonprofit serving LGBT elders. One is that making financial mistakes is more devastating for any older person, he said, as they are no longer working.
Seniors also depend more than young adults on things like Social Security, work pensions and veteran’s benefits, Adams said.
That’s the reason SAGE created “Talk Before You Walk” (down the aisle, that is). The free educational website gives tips on how rights and benefits can change, for better and for worse, for seniors age 65 and older as well as those who are younger.
For more information: talkbeforeyouwalk.org.
While the LGBT community is at “an amazing moment of celebration” following the marriage equality ruling, “our concern is that people will make a decision based on that excitement instead of taking a step back and considering the implications.” Adams said.
10715933The Psychology of the Cutting Room
Written by Gordon Burkell
Founder of Aotg.com Twitter: @AotgNetwork
This article was originally posted in Aotg.com's The Assembly.
**Note** It is important to note that Psychology is a complex subject matter and this article merely scratches the surface. If readers are interested and want more on this subject, we can conduct more research and do follow up articles. Please let us know via Twitter and Facebook
The cutting room is a unique beast. It is a location of intense discussion that can turn into debates and can easily devolve into arguments. A place where directors, who have poured their heart and soul into a project, only come to the realization that the project they dreamed of isn’t working. A place where editors and directors defend their vision against the cold hands of the studios, broadcasters, or distributors. Many times, the editing room can become a pseudo-psychiatrist’s office, with directors divulging personal details and discussing issues from the set, all of which stay within the walls of that sacred room.
Yet, there is a perceived image of what an editor is. Not in terms of what we do, but in terms of who we are as a collective group. When an editor appears as a character in a film or a television show, they are given a particular persona to play, the best example being when Paul Giamatti appeared on 30 Rock, playing Ritchie, the editor for Liz Lemon’s show TGS. Giamatti’s representation of an editor is that of a slacker - a scruffy, grumpy guy who wears jeans and a hockey jersey to work and takes his frustrations out on producers and directors. Although rumoured to be based on a particular editor Fey knew at SNL, it is a tongue firmly planted in cheek look at our profession.
I’m not bringing this up to raise trouble with 30 Rock. It’s a funny and light-hearted representation that played a role in propelling the story in the episode. It is this representation, however, that got me thinking. From a psychological examination, in what ways do we shape our lives and define who we are in the editing suite?
Needless to say, there are not that many psychologists studying the elusive editor. My journey of discovery took me to the University of Toronto’s Psychology Department. Talking to various professors there I ended in a place I didn’t expect to find myself - the Rotman School of Management. There I met Geoffrey Leonardelli, associate professor in organizational behaviour. His research focuses on ways people can utilize the knowledge of how they behave in particular scenarios to help them in the business world.
Geoffrey sat down with me and gave me the key concepts and ideas I should be looking into, and this is what has helped lead to the areas we’ll focus on in this article.
In-group Vs. Out-group
Our primary area of focus is In-group Vs. Out-group. In-group and Out-group can be understood as the psychological identification of oneself in relation to others. In many instances it explores race, gender, and religion, but can be used in any area of interest. In-group and Out-group will help us figure out how editors define themselves in relation to others. Fundamentally, this resides in the idea of us versus them, or for the cultural theory purveyors, othering. It also relies on the idea of “Self-Stereotyping.” As Geoffrey put it: “The in-group/out-group, involves what we call “self-stereotyping, ” when you start to describe yourself according to the image of what a film editor would be. So it’s going to depend on characteristics that they, themselves, have become aware of…” (From Interview).
Let’s examine how we organize ourselves into groups. We are a part of the post-production team, not the production or pre-production team. Within that area, we are the editorial staff, not the animation team, the sound team, the vfx team, etc. What’s interesting, however, is that we break things down even further. Editors categorize themselves as a TV editor, film editor, corporate video editor, or commercials editor and separate themselves from the other editors in the industry through union vs. non-union and within the unions in a pay tier system.
There are many editors who fluidly transition between these various areas, but in many instances there is still a stigma and a separation in certain editing circles. When talking to Adam Epstein for The Cutting Room Podcast, he mentioned how many see editing commercials as beneath them, or something to look down on. When I was in L.A. recently, a feature film editor confided in me that he had been cutting commercials for the last few months while waiting for his next gig and was loving it. Then, as I went to leave our dinner meeting he asked if I could not tell anyone that he’s been cutting commercials because of how it might look. This outlook on commercial editing still prevails, despite the fact that Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter, both Oscar award-winning editors, have their own commercial post companies.
Editors then break things into sub-categories. Film and TV editors might also be documentary editors, fiction editors, comedy editors, drama editors, etc. This doesn’t get into the issues of NLE software categorization.
These areas are integral to how we identify ourselves, if we choose to define our group by what area of film we work in and the tools we use, then others will also define us by those traits. Many editors in the industry get frustrated when they are pigeonholed into a particular area of editing. More still get upset when job postings look for an editor based on their NLE of choice. However, to a certain extent we do this to ourselves. We are looking for comfort that comes from interconnections and knowledge that we are a part of a group. I’ve seen some of the most prolific storytellers fall into long discussions about their editing tools because that’s their point of connection, that’s their in-group. They can’t connect on stories, because everyone edits a different story each time.
If we want to be defined as storytellers, and not as button pushers or tech experts who know a particular NLE, then we need to start with redefining our own vision of ourselves. We need to begin talking about story structure, character development, and how we mould the story in the editing room, not the technological tools that aid us in the process.
Furthermore, Geoffrey said some ways in which we define ourselves are subconscious and definitive. How an editor defines their personal “Features might be superficial… it might be how film editors have come to be known to dress. Or, maybe they have more ‘night owl’ tendencies…” The clothing comment brings up a good point - many editors, don’t dress professionally, at least not as editors once did, with dress shirts, pants, and a tie. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but as Geoffrey pointed out, this could raise issues when arguing a point or attempting to be seen as an authority on a subject. Whether we want to admit it or not, how we dress in many instances defines how we are treated.
Other ideas of editors self-stereotyping include editors being seen as loners, working in a solitary existence, in a dark room, philosophizing over a cut.
If we are to get past our issues of identity and allow ourselves to be more authoritative on story, we also need to be more publicly present to the world. Groups like the Canadian Cinema Editors, American Cinema Editors, Les Montours, Australian Screen Editors, and Netherland Cinema Editors are working hard to ensure that editors are defined as storytellers and artists. They’ve held talks with editors from around the world, put out articles exploring the techniques of editing and in the case of the American Cinema Editors, began to host Edit Fest, a yearly event exploring the art of editing.
These groups play a pivotal role in helping us define who we are because as Geoffrey pointed out in the interview, an editor’s work, in many instances, is not meant to be obvious. “The work itself is intended to be more seamless, rather than more noticeable… I think [that] might affect the public image of the editor…” If a producer sees the editor as someone who handles the technology, then we are merely the button pushers, if they see the editor as an artist crafting the story, then that is what they will encourage in the cutting process.
For in-group/out-group dynamics, we are in a unique position. Usually, groups define themselves by what they are not, and tend to not work with other groups. In film, the situation is drastically different from most professions - major projects are formed with hundreds of people, each a part of an autonomous group within the larger project, congregating over editing, cinematography, sound, etc. The film itself is a group in juxtaposition with other films or jobs.
This might not be different from office jobs, where people work in various departments. However, where things change in the film industry is that our individual groups are amalgamated for one brief period and then dispersed. When the project is complete, the editors, VFX artists, sound team, etc. are now in competition for their next project, working against one another to secure work. Yet, they are thrust together for small bursts of time and must work in collaboration for the common good of a project.
“That's what I think makes your industry so interesting. It's that it's this project-based domain, right? You pull people together to do a project, and then it's disbanded, once the job is done. This is where I think networks play such an important role, because it's [about] who you know and making a positive impression, so that it can carry forward. But I also think that's where the categories in which you belong are helpful, so editors who have multiple offers can turn to other editors they know, show their identity and can pass on other tips and other opportunities that they themselves can't do.”
We’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how we define ourselves against others. But how do group dynamics work within the context of others in the editing room? I asked Geoffrey, “What happens when a producer is in the room while you are working, or worse, a celebrity, who is producing or a famous director? How does one deal with this pressure and how does one fall into their position in terms of group dynamics?”
“I think it depends on how their objectives affect the work the editor is doing and what role the director plays in that.”
At that moment I brought up the film Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which was edited by Michael Tronick and had Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt both as actors in the film and playing a major role in the production and post production process. In many instances, Tronick found himself with two major stars behind him on the couch watching his work (listen to Michael Tronick discuss this in The Cutting Room Podcast). Geoffrey quickly responded:
“That, I think, speaks to what purpose you, [the editor], are there to do... I guess there are certain people with the final say and the final control. I think that defines the role of the editor as one of almost an advisory capacity. It's like, ‘Here are the implications of what I'm doing - of what work I'm doing for your film. Given that your objective is this with the film, here's what I would recommend.’ What I'm suggesting is that you keep coming back to what objective you think the producers and directors are seeking… they all have other objectives, about budget, about the reputation of their stars, about a directorial style. All of these things, I think, could be something for the editor to consider when examining how it is that they do their work…”
It was an interesting discussion about the possibilities of the cutting room relationships and how we, as humans and editors, play a vital role in defining how we are treated and perceived. There are many dichotomies at work: the desire to lead and control the cutting room versus the desire to be guided and led by the director or producers; the image of the philosophical editor or that of a slacker. We are in control of these, and yet we allow ourselves to be defined by them. If we want to control our own cutting room and our future, we need to get a hold of our image and how we are perceived. We need to control the message.
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DisqusRussell Means, the Oglala Lakota Sioux protester, organizer and actor who led the American Indian Movement through an era of vivid, often violent protests in the 1970s, didn’t win much in the way of fundamental political and social change. AIM had too much chaos and infighting for that. He didn’t lead a life of exemplary activism: too many courtroom battles and bar brawls, too many guns. When he died on Monday, at age 72, few could look back at his turbulent living and showmanship and setbacks and render any verdict but: Mixed.
Even those who dismiss Mr. Means as an opportunist and sellout, who demean his authenticity and scorn his political stunts, have to acknowledge Wounded Knee.
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Wounded Knee, the 1973 siege, came long after Wounded Knee, the 1890 massacre, which ended organized American Indian resistance to white rule. Between both battles was a long period of erasure, in which Indians came to be seen as functionally extinct, living on celluloid and in history books, perhaps, as place names and car models, but not in the larger public consciousness.
But the Indians never went away, as Mr. Means helped — stunningly — to prove. The movement’s notoriety, starting with an occupation a few years earlier at Alcatraz, exploded at Wounded Knee, where a confrontation over tribal corruption at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota turned into a 71-day siege. United States marshals turned it into a war zone. It prompted a cultural awakening, led by a young former drifter from California who had gotten to know his Lakota roots from summer visits to relatives at Pine Ridge.
In the years since, Pine Ridge and other reservations have not escaped plagues of poverty and alcohol. Governmental neglect remains a scandal. But there are more Indians today than in 1890, and many tribes are richer, thanks to lucrative ironies like gambling and tobacco. Indians have revived much traditional knowledge and pride and are still fighting injustice. In the Black Hills, where the government evicted the Indians and carved presidential faces on a sacred mountainside, the Sioux and other Indians make drums and jewelry and teach tourists: We are still here.
The country is still good at ignoring Indians, but for a time Mr. Means and the American Indian Movement punctured that invisibility. By raising hell for 71 days in one of the most remote corners of the continent, on behalf of an abused and forgotten people, he and his allies captured the attention of the world. “It was pretty much all over three-and-a-half years after Alcatraz,” wrote Paul Chaat Smith, an American Indian writer and associate curator at the National Museum of the American Indian, “when exhausted, hungry rebels signed an agreement that ended the Wounded Knee occupation. There were other actions and protests, but none came close to capturing the imagination of the Indian world or challenging American power.”After several tantrums about how movies with keep-the-baby messages spread “consoling fictions,” Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday was duty-bound to adore the “abortion comedy” Obvious Child, but did she have to embarrass herself by insisting it “may be the most pro-life movie of the year”?
Somehow, the movie Juno presented abortion as a “non-option,” but Hornaday loves a movie where keeping the baby is never an option. Depicting an abortion as the center of a “romantic comedy” is “cultural watershed territory," she oozed at review's end:
That choice, and how it's depicted, vaults "Obvious Child" beyond just another savvy New York indie and into cultural watershed territory: After years of movies that depict abortion as a non-option (the worst offender being Juno, which had to set up the straw man of a dingy, disgusting clinic for the teenage heroine to continue her pregnancy), "Obvious Child" dares to portray Donna's decision in a way that's serious and emotionally consequential but not fraught with crippling anxiety, shame or regret.
Because Donna processes everything through her comedy, Obvious Child occasionally tiptoes and then stomps right over the line of good taste. There are one-liners that seem designed to validate every negative stereotype of callous urban liberals ever concocted by the far right. But [Gillian] Robespierre has the courage to take those interpretive lumps, in service to a larger point: that we've reached a moment in our social, political and cultural life when the non-punitive portrayal of a woman exercising her right to a safe and legal abortion is considered more taboo than the numbing succession of murders, maimings, disfigurements and assaults we consume on a weekly basis in movie theaters and on TV.
Through it all, even despite her crankiest, most selfish and adolescent moments, Donna earns the audience's support, thanks largely to the inherent sweetness Slate brings to her screwed-up but lovable character. There are as many awkward, discomfiting sequences in Obvious Child as there are interludes of genuine fun and romance. The result is a movie that feels risky and forgiving and, despite its traditional rom-com contours, refreshingly new. If we can stipulate that existence is an inherently messy affair, ungainly and contradictory and confoundingly unresolved, then Obvious Child may be the most pro-life movie of the year.
That may be the most dishonest pratfall of a sentence in the Post this year.
Earlier in the review Hornaday tried to contain her glee by acknowledging acknowledge that filmmaker Gillian Robespierre made this movie coarse and “clearly sees profanity as a legitimate arrow in the quiver of liberation, a mode of bracing, confrontational candor that instantly disarms fusty structures of sexism and other depredations.” But she then suggests that by having the abortion, Jenny Slate’s character sheds "cavalier self-involvement" and finds wisdom and compassion and personal growth:
Seen through another lens, Donna and her friends' constant - and often unfunny -- swearing and nattering on about sex and other bodily functions resembles a group of little kids seeing just how much they can get away with before being sent to permanent timeout. That immaturity is at the core of Obvious Child, in which Donna gets dumped, loses her job and faces an unplanned pregnancy after a drunken one-night stand. The whole point of the film is that she's unformed, using her 20s to experiment and make mistakes and, in the case of deciding whether to terminate her pregnancy, make the decisions that will ultimately create a more experienced -- maybe even wiser and more compassionate -- adult human being.
That balance -- between annoying, cavalier self-involvement and genuine vulnerability and growth -- is what keeps Obvious Child interesting, making it one of the most startlingly honest romantic comedies to appear onscreen in years.
It is "startlingly honest" to make an unabashed Planned Parenthood-endorsed abortion comedy. It's a "consoling fiction" to make a movie with an adoption ending. A happy liberal ending? "Honest." A happy conservative ending? "Fiction." It's pretty clear how much Hornaday lets politics, and not art color her reviews.Which is more important in determining the policy positions of economists, ideology or evidence? Is economics, as some assert, little more than a means of dressing up ideological arguments in scientific clothing?
This certainly happens, especially among economists connected to politically driven think tanks – places like the Heritage Foundation come to mind. Economists who work for businesses also have a tendency to present evidence more like a lawyer advocating a particular position than a scientist trying to find out how the economy really works. But what about academic economists who are supposed to be searching for the truth no matter the political implications? Can we detect the same degree of bias in their research and policy positions?
Related: State Pension Plans Putting Politics Above Retirements
Once again, it is certainly possible to find examples where this has occurred. But the vast majority of academic economists appear willing to abandon ideology when the evidence is clear. Take, for example, the highly charged political issue of whether deficit spending helps to stimulate the economy in recessions. A survey of top economists from both political parties asked, “Because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the U.S. unemployment rate was lower at the end of 2010 than it would have been without the stimulus bill.”
It produced a remarkable 97 percent agreement (only one economist disagreed). When asked in a follow up question if the costs exceeded the benefits, the disagreement rose to 6 percent, but even in this case an overwhelming number agreed (75 percent) or had no opinion (19 percent). A question on the use of dynamic scoring to evaluate legislative proposals, another highly contentious political issue, was supported by 100 percent of the respondents. Similarly, support for infrastructure spending was 98 percent, no disagreement, and 2 percent uncertain.
The panel does not always agree. Take another politically charged question, “If the federal minimum wage is raised gradually to $15-per-hour by 2020, the employment rate for low-wage US workers will be substantially lower than it would be under the status quo.” In this case, 34 percent agree, 29 percent disagree, and 37 percent are uncertain. Does ideology explain the different outcome in this case?
Related: CBO Finds Minimum Wage Research “Biased”
Probably, but there is a reason for it. The difference in agreement across questions is related to the strength of the empirical evidence. When the evidence is strong, clear, and robust, economists accept the outcome, though there is probably a bit more or less resistance depending on ideological priors. There has been some contrary evidence on the effects of government spending, but for the most part econometric studies have found that the stimulus package helped the economy. Exactly how much it helped is a matter of debate, there is a range of estimates of the “government spending multiplier,” but it’s clear that it did have an important impact.
But the evidence on the minimum wage is much less clear, especially for large increases like the question asked about. I think the evidence tilts toward small employment impacts, but it must be acknowledged that there is evidence on the other side, and that we know very little about the consequences of large increases in the minimum wage. So it shouldn’t be surprising that people fall back on their ideological priors when the evidence does not speak strongly.
I’d prefer that people say the evidence is unclear rather than choosing one set of results over the other (and the large number of “uncertain” responses to this question, the majority of responses, is encouraging in that regard). But the temptation, consciously or not, is to find reasons to dismiss evidence that is contrary to your priors. When the evidence is strong and mostly one-sided, that is much harder to do.
Related: How Liberal Bias Made Fox News the GOP Network
Shouldn’t theory be a guide when the empirical evidence is unconvincing one way or the other? Yes, but the problem is that strong empirical evidence is needed to differentiate among competing theories. When the empirical evidence is unclear because it is weak or there are there are results supporting both sides, theoretical models can be built that are consistent with either set of results. You will then inevitably hear that theory supports one side or the other, and people are convinced by this argument, but the theory tells us very little without empirical support.
I am not claiming that academic economists are as pure as the driven snow when it comes to ideological bias. It exists. But a few prominent examples color the perception of economists more generally. The academic economists I have encountered in the more than 30 years in this profession are pursuing answers to the questions they find most important, whatever those answers might be. Ideology certainly influences which questions academic researchers believe are the most important, but there is nothing wrong with that. What’s essential is that they follow the evidence wherever it might lead. I have no doubt that, despite a few bad apples, the vast majority of economists honor the evidence over their prior beliefs when the evidence speaks clearly on an issue.
The problem is that, in economics, the evidence rarely delivers clear answers. That leads to ongoing disputes among economists, and since ideology influences the questions researchers ask, these disputes are often viewed along ideological lines.
Again, so long as, in the end, economists follow the evidence once it accumulates on one side or the other, I don’t see this as a problem. But, despite the confidence in the academic community expressed above, there have been some worrisome trends in recent years. Too many economists have been unwilling to change their views on issues such as whether quantitative easing in a deep recession will cause runaway inflation and interest rate spikes despite clear evidence those views are wrong. That must change. Our reputation with the public is bad enough as it is, and our best hope of changing that is to be honest about the evidence, and follow it wherever it might take us.PARIS — Managers of Russia’s Proton rocket said they are slashing prices for commercial launches and restructuring contracts with big customers to win back their loyalty after the rocket’s recent failures.
The contract modifications include schedule priority on Proton’s launch manifest for commercial missions and other benefits not directly related to prices, they said.
The first success of the new policy is the recent win of a launch contract from satellite fleet operator Hispasat of Spain, which purchased a launch from Proton commercial sales manager International Launch Services and another from SpaceX of Hawthorne, California.
Industry officials said ILS and its owner — Proton builder Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Moscow — priced the contract at around $65 million, which is close to what SpaceX customarily offers for launches aboard its Falcon 9 rocket.
The Hispasat contract, announced Sept. 14, was the first for Reston, Virginia-based ILS in over two years, a period during which Europe’s Arianespace and SpaceX have effectively divided the commercial market between them.
In a briefing here during the World Satellite Business Week conference organized by Euroconsult, Khrunichev General Director Andrey V. Kalinovsky said the Hispasat win was an example of the new face Proton is presenting to fleet operators whose size makes them potentially regular users of Proton.
“What happened with this customer is just an occasional thing,” Kalinovsky said. “It was done as part of the program we developed with ILS. It is not all about pricing. A portion of our customers lost confidence in us and this is much more scary than a pricing issue.”
Kalinovsky said the decline of the Russian ruble gives Khrunichev leeway on pricing, but that this is likely to last only a year or two. Longer term, he said, Khrunichev and ILS are crafting different contract types for repeat customers, regardless of the ruble’s movements against the U.S. dollar and the euro.
ILS’s new president, Kirk Pysher, said the company will do all it can to use the foreign-exchange advantage while it lasts.
“Clearly we are taking advantage of the drop in the ruble,” Pysher said Sept. 15 during a panel discussion among launch service providers. “It is a durable pricing that we will continue to offer as long as we have the current exchange rates.
“But we are also partnering with our strategic customers and offering good deals. Gwynne [SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, also on the panel] and her team are challenging us in this area and we are reacting. The ruble has definitely helped us in that regard.”
The Proton rocket has suffered failures in each of the last four years. The most recent one, in May, destroyed a Mexican government telecommunications satellite insured for $300 million.
Since then the rocket has returned to flight with two launches. Kalinovsky said the Turkish government’s Turksat 4B satellite was next up, with launch scheduled in October. An unspecified Russian government mission will follow in November, with the Express-AMU1/Eutelsat 36C telecommunications satellite — co-owned by the Russian Satellite Communications Co. of Moscow and Eutelsat of Paris — to launch in December.
Commercial fleet operators Eutelsat, Intelsat and EchoStar are among those awaiting early 2016 launches.
The European Space Agency’s ExoMars 2016 mission, which had been set for a January Proton launch, has been delayed to mid-March following discovery of a hardware defect on the spacecraft. The two-month slip could open a Proton commercial launch slot in January. ILS officials said Sept. 22 that the company is still evaluating its manifest.
In a surprising comment, Kalinovsky said the state of the commercial launch market before SpaceX’s arrival in 2012-2013 allowed the Proton team to remain commercially viable despite its failures because there were few alternatives to Proton and Ariane 5.
With SpaceX now active in the market that is no longer the case.
Before being named to his post in August 2014 by the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, Kalinovsky was a top manager at Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer.
He said that around five years ago Sukhoi quality control slipped — “You can ask [Russian airliner] Aeroflot about that,” he said — and it took a couple of years to fully redress the situation.
Khrunichev, he said, faces the same challenges of integrating into its work force engineers that, unlike their elders, are no longer willing to wait 10 years to be certified as specialists in the Khrunichev factory.
“I won’t say it’s good or bad — that’s another question,” Kalinovsky said of the new crop of Khrunichev recruits. “But these new young people are different, that’s for sure. They want it all, here and now. We have to account for that fact and adjust our work accordingly.”
One way to demonstrate a changed Khrunichev to skeptical customers is by offering commercial fleet operators greater access to Khrunichev’s quality control procedures and manufacturing practices, Kalinovsky said. ILS, as the customer-facing entity for Proton commercial sales, will also be given more access.
Khrunichev now expects that Proton will be active on the market through 2025 before being replaced by the new Angara family of vehicles, which has now begun test flights. Kalinovsky said about 2,000 people work on Proton assembly in Moscow, with about the same number working in Omsk, Russia, where Angara is assembled.This year’s Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, South Asia’s largest LGBTQ film festival, will now have the largest amount of prize money for LGBTQ films in South Asia.
The festival, which will be held from May 24-28 this year, will feature 147 films from 45 countries. Forty-three of these films will compete for a cash award of Rs 2.2 lakhs in a total of eight categories.
The prize money for various categories will be sponsored by actor Anupam Kher, Whistling Woods International, Shri K.F. Charitable Trust, Wadia Movietone and Lotus Visual.
Kher, who will sponsor the cash awards for Best Narrative Feature (Rs 30,000), Best Indian Short Film (Rs 20,000) and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Rs 15,000), was quoted in the festival’s press release as saying, “I am heartened to see Kashish growing year by year, providing a fantastic platform for independent queer cinema, bringing together films and offering a bridge to many cultures around the world. Actor Prepares is committed to nurturing talent and we |
Lovejoy, on the other hand, held that Bruno and Spinoza had a common source, Neoplatonism, and that their respective philosophies should be interpreted as different organizations of essentially Neoplatonic principles. Lovejoy explained that:
My thesis is that the more general and fundamental principles of Spinoza's metaphysics are in no respect original; that he is, like Bruno, a consistent Neo-Platonist of the Renaissance type; that his way of dealing with the problem of the relation of substance to its attributes is one already foreshadowed in Plotinus, fully worked out by mediaeval theologians, and much used by Bruno, and by other metaphysicians of Spinoza's century; and that the character, the historical rô le, and the typical significance of Spinoza's system can be understood only in the light of its relation to these earlier applications of a similar dialectic to a similar problem.36
The term "principle," used in the first line in the citation above, can include a variety of meanings: in particular, (a) an ontological origin, corresponding [End Page 101] to principium in Latin and archê in Greek; and (b), a hypothesis or maxim from which a logical deduction can take place. In the citation above, "principle" should be understood in the second sense. The term "system," also featured in the quote above, is the outcome of deductions from such principles.
Lovejoy structured his essay according to this novel scheme of interpretation. In the first section he described the philosophy of Plotinus and what he calls the "dialectic" of Neoplatonism—that is, according to Lovejoy, the three principles constituting the Neoplatonic system—and its alleged influence in subsequent metaphysics in medieval and Renaissance philosophy. 37 He explained, in rather generic terms, that:
Here, then, we have the essence of what may be called the dialectic of Neo-Platonism: (1) the Absolute Being is conceived as transcendent of all determinate and limiting qualities and relations, and therefore simple, immutable, and capable of only negative characterization by the human intellect; (2) the same Being is conceived as necessarily inclusive of all the reality that in any sense exists, and thus as holding within itself the whole universe of concrete, manifold and temporal existences; (3) the Absolute Being is conceived as necessarily transcending itself, and therefore as the dynamic ground necessitating the coming into being of all possible realities in all possible modes and scales of being....38
This assertion, stated without any documentation, served as the basis for Lovejoy's interpretation of Bruno and Spinoza in 1904, and it reappeared in a more elaborate form in 1936. In the second section of this 1904 essay, Lovejoy described Bruno's metaphysical interpretation of these three Neo-platonic principles, and in the third and last section he exposed Spinoza's interpretation of the very same Neoplatonic principles.39 Lovejoy's composition was thus much more formal than McIntyre's, since so-called principles became crucial expository devices in Lovejoy's reading. This historiographical practice is important for the present purpose, and we need not discuss the meaning of the other philosophical terms used in the quotation above.
Lovejoy determined Bruno's philosophy within this conceptual framework, though in an ambiguous manner. He claimed, on one occasion, that [End Page 102] the "principle of infinity" was the privileged principle from which Bruno "deduced" his philosophical doctrines. In Bruno's system, this principle of infinity was placed at the center, and by means of this principle he deduced the same content as that deduced from the three above-mentioned Neoplatonic principles, in particular that of the "self-sufficiency of the Absolute."40 It is not quite clear, admittedly, which of the three principles Lovejoy had in mind in this statement. On another occasion, however, Lovejoy assigned to Bruno's system a different principle, namely that of the coincidence of opposites, thereby leaving his readers in doubt as to which of the two principles was most important in Bruno's system, and why he should bother with complicated Neoplatonic principles if he could retrieve the same propositional content from his own principles, whatsoever they were.41 Kuno Fischer, a German historian of philosophy, had identified the last-mentioned principle, the coincidence of opposites, in his Geschichte der neuern Philosophie, dating from the second half of the nineteenth century.42 Other historians of philosophy might have done the same, but Fischer is of interest because Lovejoy referred explicitly to him in his essay of 1904.43 Armed with such nineteenth-century identifications of Bruno's so-called principles, [End Page 103] and, rather surprisingly, with McIntyre's English translations of Bruno's works, Lovejoy set forth a new interpretation of Bruno's philosophy in this 1904 essay.44
It is not my intention to discuss Lovejoy's actual readings of Plotinus, Bruno, and Spinoza, but to highlight the analytic tools he employed. As is fairly clear, Lovejoy's most important historiographical concepts in this early study were the concepts of principle and system of philosophy. The term "unit-idea," on the other hand, is completely absent in this early study. These historiographical concepts, principle and system of philosophy, had been given a prominent position in Brucker's historiography of the history of philosophy, and it is, with all probability, the ultimate source of these analytic tools of Lovejoy.45
Brucker had thus defined the task of the historian of philosophy as follows, using precisely these concepts:
In order to pass a sound and proper judgment on the propositions of philosophers, it is necessary to reconstruct the whole system on the basis of their writings. First of all, the general principles, which constitute the foundation underlying the entire building of doctrines, should be reconstructed; on these [general principles] the conclusions should be erected, conclusions that derive willingly from these sources [the general principles]. For since it is the main task of the philosopher to deduce the special ideas from some general principles by means of an apt connection, you [i.e., the historian of philosophy, to be distinguished from the past philosopher] should prefer, due to higher merit, the interpretation that aptly conforms with, and internally coheres with, the form and order of [End Page 104] the whole system, even though it seems to suggest something else at first sight.46
Brucker believed that all past philosophers, even such remote figures as Thales of Miletus (fl. ca. 585 BCE ) and Plato, strove to develop their philosophies according to the methodological ideal denoted by a "system of philosophy" and its deductions from general theories, the so-called "principles." In fact, this methodological ideal had been promoted in some circles at Northern European universities one hundred and fifty years before Brucker published his Historia critica philosophiae in the 1740s, but Brucker assigned the ideal to all past philosophers and, as a consequence, applied it universally as a historiographical tool. This was a distinct methodological innovation compared to his predecessors, e.g., Diogenes Laertius's Lives of the Eminent Philosophers (third century CE ) and Thomas Stanley's History of Philosophy (1655–62).
The problem in this procedure was that Brucker consistently conflated two distinct meanings of the Greek term for principle (in Greek, archê, in Latin, principium), namely its ontological meaning, that is, a beginning, and its logical meaning, that is, a starting point for a logical deduction. Brucker typically interpreted an ancient philosopher's statement about the beginning of the world, i.e., its principle, as a hypothesis from which propositions about the world could be deduced. For example, Brucker interpreted Thales' statement about water as the beginning of the world as a hypothesis from which Brucker deduced various philosophical theories, attributing them to Thales' so-called system of philosophy. Brucker undertook this rather distorting form of interpretation in order to force past philosophies into his axiomatic-deductive model of explanation, e.g., the philosophies of Thales, Plato, Aristotle, and Bruno.47 In the case of Bruno, Brucker identified the notion of the minimum as the privileged principle in Bruno's system, thereby confusing its ontological and logical uses in Bruno's writings, [End Page 105] and, even more importantly, institutionalizing a century-long search for the "proper" principle in Bruno's philosophy.48 The axiomatic-deductive ideal of science was articulated from time to time in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but this was not done without criticism, and one may even ask whether those who preached such a method actually practiced it. Before the seventeenth century, this methodological ideal was unknown, and after the eighteenth century it was largely given up. Hence, as historiographical tools, the notions "principle" and "system of philosophy" are of little value.
These historiographical concepts of Brucker became an integrated part of history of philosophy as a discipline, and they remained so throughout nineteenth-century histories of philosophy—these concepts even feature in twentieth-century general histories of philosophy, e.g., that of Friederick Copleston (1907–94), printed between 1946 and 1976 and reprinted numerous times subsequently.49 The historiographical statements of Erdmann, Zeller, Fischer, and Høffding, to whom Lovejoy referred in his study of 1904, can be seen within this Bruckerian model for the history of philosophy. 50 In other words, the early Lovejoy had not only learned something about past thinkers by studying the history of philosophy, he had also acquainted himself with certain historiographical tools by which this history was narrated—the concepts of principle and system of philosophy being the most important tricks of the trade.
In his 1904 essay, Lovejoy consciously posed as a historian of philosophy when refuting McIntyre's assessment of the relationship between Bruno and Spinoza, and he did so by means of a novel identification of the principles in their respective systems. In this endeavor, he employed uncritically historiographical categories commonly used in nineteenth-century histories of philosophy, i.e., principles, "deductions" from them, and systems of philosophy produced by such deductions. Although his identification of the two thinkers' principles may have been a novelty, his use of these categories [End Page 106] was certainly not. On the contrary, it even appears naive if compared with criticism levelled by prominent nineteenth-century historians of philosophy. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, for instance, had complained that Brucker's axiomatic-deductive method was formalistic and ahistorical51; Zeller argued, in the second half of the nineteenth century, that historians of philosophy should not deal with their material "from above," that is, deductively, according to pre-established concepts about the grand schemes of historical development, as Hegel's notion system of development encourages one to do, but "from below," that is, inductively, on the basis of historical evidence.52 Zeller did not reject the historiographical concepts of principle and system of philosophy entirely, but he watered them down to regulative concepts, which had to accommodate historical and textual observations. Lovejoy, who otherwise treated Zeller with admiration, carried out a practice contrary to the one recommended by Zeller, since he repeatedly sought to explain the "systems" of individual philosophers on the basis of "deductions" from their "principles." When seen in this context, Lovejoy appears as a rather conservative historian of philosophy who returned to some of the more problematic and unsophisticated strains in the tradition, even though important scholars in the nineteenth century had criticized these historiographical notions.The February issue of Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Carat magazine is announcing on Wednesday that Miyuki Nakayama's Blend S four-panel manga is receiving a television anime adaptation. The issue's cover announces the adaptation and features the manga's characters with their designated attributes for the cafe.
The story centers on a girl named Maika who gets a job at a cafe where all the waitresses are given certain attributes — such as "tsundere" or "little sister" — to embody while serving customers. The manager asks Maika to be the "Do S" (extreme sadist) waitress, so she will have to adopt a dominant and aggressive persona.
The manga debuted as a guest series in the magazine in 2013, and Nakayama launched it as a regular series in 2014. Houbunsha released the second compiled book volume in Japan on February 27, and the third volume will ship on January 27.A month ago, I wrote in my controversial essay that I was going to give up on downloading illegal fansubs. In a way, it really wasn’t that hard of a decision for me to make at the time. I had burnt myself out with covering the spring season on my Twitter account. What started off as a dozen new shows in the first week quickly filtered to only two shows the next week, and I even lost interest in those shows not long after that.
Instead of watching fansubs for the rest of that season, I was discovering many older shows through my Netflix account. I was watching them on my big screen HDTV, so I felt a lot more relaxed sitting on my couch than sitting in front of a computer at my desk. And for the most part, they were all turning out to be good series because I was only renting shows I recalled hearing good things about through out the years.
So when I was working on the Ayres piece, I had to deal with the fansub debate head on and really reevaluate why I was continuing to download things illegally. I’ve been saying for years that people who were watching fansubs were not buying DVDs, and this in turn was creating problems for the industry in both America and Japan. But knowing this, I went on for years using the reasoning of, “I’ll buy the DVD when it comes out,” as my justification for downloading fansubs.
But I never bought the DVD. In fact, I didn’t know anyone who regularly bought anime DVDs anymore. They all stopped when they discovered fansubs.
So instead of being a hypocrite and never fulfilling on my promises, I decided to give up on the whole thing all together. It didn’t really sound that difficult to do. Working on the Ayres piece just convinced me to go all the way.
Not surprisingly, coming to this kind of realization and going public with it didn’t go so well with my readers. I was met with a lot of hostility from everyone starting with my very first tweet, and the criticism hasn’t stopped since then.
People told me that they had to download anime illegally in order to “sample” the show and determine if they were going to like it or not. I was thrown the argument of anime being too expensive, and that anime fans can’t afford to watch anime legally anymore. I was also given the argument that legit anime was too limiting. Anime fans had to turn to fansubs in order to stay up-to-date on the latest from Japan.
According to everyone, it would be completely impossible for American anime fans to go legit and live without fansubs in this day and age. I was an idiot for even suggesting it.
But was it really that impossible?
After all, I somehow managed to go through most of the spring season without them, and I also started off my first few years of being otaku never having download a single fansub.
What was so impossible about it? Why did I not see a problem in giving up fansubs?
For the entire month of July, I kept a record of all my otaku activities, the amount of material I was able to consume, and the total cost of everything I was doing. Thanks to this month-long experiment, I now have some actual numbers and statistics to show just why I was able to live legit for that month.
Legal Consumption
My main source of anime came out of my Netflix subscription. I have a 3 DVD-at-a-time subscription plan that costs me a little under $20 every month. For the month of July, I was able to rent 16 DVDs from Netflix with 9 of them being anime DVDs or live-action Japanese films based on anime, like the Honey and Clover movie. I was able to watch the entire first seasons of Emma: A Victorian Romance and School Rumble during that time. I also watched the first DVD of the series Human Crossing, but I didn’t really like the show that much so I didn’t watch any more of it.
In a way, the Netflix experience was very similar to the “sample” justification to fansubs. I had never seen any of these shows before, and there was absolutely no guarantee that I was going to like them. As it turns out, I really enjoyed Emma and School Rumble, so I continued to watch them both to the very end. Human Crossing, on the other hand, was dropped very quickly from my queue. I was safe to check out anything I wanted because there was absolutely no commitment to buy the DVDs. Just watch them once and return it for something new.
But unlike downloading illegally, I was actually paying for the opportunity to sample anime using this method instead of getting it all for free. But how much was I actually paying?
When you count all the episodes on those anime DVDs and break the movies into 25-minute blocks, I watched a total of 33 episodes from just Netflx last month. Since I only paid $20 all month, that translates to only 60¢ per episode. Not to mention that I also rented 7 other DVDs on Netflix that weren’t anime-related. If I had only rented anime DVDs, I probably could have brought the cost down to 30¢ or 40¢ per episode.
When I’m paying such a small amount of money, I don’t even feel like I’m wasting cash when I rent anime. If I don’t end up liking the show, so what? Losing a small amount of cash on a bad DVD is nothing when it comes with paying so little on watching good DVDs.
This micro-payment system is completely legit, and I’m sure the industry would much rather you pay them a small amount of cash to sample their product rather than paying nothing when you download it illegally. A lot of little payments end up becoming a huge profit over time. After all, the movie rental business has been a huge source of revenue for Hollywood ever since the early days of VHS. Why not make it profitable for the niche market of anime with Netfilx as well?
Moving beyond Netflix, my second largest source of anime was legally purchased shows from iTunes and BOST TV. The anime blogging community is probably already well aware of Strike Witches and Gonzo’s story. Because of this, Strike Witches is the only “new” anime I’m watching this season, and fortunately for me, it’s targeted towards my moé loving needs. So I bought and downloaded 4 episodes of the show during the month of my experiment.
But the launch of the 3G iPhone was the major reason for me watching so much off of the iTunes store. Last September, I used an iTunes gift card and bought the entire series of Tsukoyumi ~Moon Phase~. I watched the show for about a week, and enjoyed it so much that I ended up naming my newly adopted kitten Nekomimi because of the show’s theme song. But then the fall fansub season started, and I ended up dropping Tsukuyomi at episode 8 to watch all the new “fresh” shows from Japan at that time.
When I bought my new 3G iPhone, I upgraded from the 8-gig model to the 16-gig model and now had a lot of empty space to fill on it. So I decided to put my Tsukuyomi episodes on the phone and finish watching the 18 remaining episodes. I watched the episodes on my bus rides to New York during the month, and in bed on nights that I was having trouble going to sleep.
I ended up really loving the series, and I will be writing a post on Studio Shaft for this website sometime later this month. I also caught the last 10 episodes of Avatar on iTunes the same way which, as I wrote in last week’s post, I also consider to be anime as well.
So in total, I watched 32 episodes of legally downloaded anime, averaging at $1.69 per episode. Not quite as low as the rate of renting anime over Netflix was, but at least I was able to keep all the episodes to watch again sometime in the future.
My third source of anime was from the traditional method – store-bought DVDs. I bought Paprika on Blu-Ray, Lucky Star vol. 2, and the first two-disc set of Gurren Lagann. Even though I got some pretty sweet discounts on these DVDs, these 17 episodes worth of anime still cost me $2.70 per episode. This is probably what my readers were complaining about with anime being too expensive, and I agree, it was. But again, I didn’t have to buy these DVDs, I could have just rented them on Netflix for only 60¢ a pop. I just wanted to have a copy to own for my personal collection, so I paid that premium for it.
To make up for that, I was also able to watch 12 episodes of anime streaming online for absolutely free. This came from watching Death Note, Code Geass, and Shin-chan on Adult Swim’s free video service. FUNimation also had a sample episode of Bacconno when they announced the license for it last month.
However, FUNimation really blew me away when I discovered their Youtube shows on the very last day of my experiment. At that time, they had the first 4 episodes of Peach Girl, Slayers, Blue Gender, and Kiddy Grade ready and available for free. Because I had only discovered it during the final few hours of July, I was only able to watch 5 free episodes that night. But since then, I’ve watched plenty more shows for free thanks to this service. FUNimation is really going in great directions right now.
So if you haven’t realized it by now, I watched a freaking lot of anime in July. It ended up being 94 episodes in total, or at least 3 episodes for every day of the month. So to say that my options were limited by going legit was completely untrue. Even if I had cut out the paid downloads and purchased DVDs, I would have still watched 45 episodes of anime on just the Netflix and free streaming alone. That would be the same as watching the weekly fansubs of 10 different series at the same time. Do anime fans really follow more than 10 different anime shows every season?
I think it’s reasonable to say that for only $20 a month, you can watch just as much anime legally as you normally do illegally. And $20 is not really that much money. It’s less then the cost of one normal anime DVD. And in the grand scheme of them, my total amount of money I spent on my otaku hobby (with manga included) was only $104 in July. When you compare that to all my other expenses for the month – rent, food, car payments, iPhone, utilities, etc. – anime and manga ended up being less than 5% of my total spending for the month. It was really not that expensive.
Keeping it “Fresh”
So now I come to the argument that, “yeah, but you didn’t watch brand new shows from Japan. All the stuff you saw was old.” That is completely true. With the exception of Strike Witches, the newest show I watched, Gurren Lagann, was a year old and the oldest show I saw, Tsukuyomi, came out four years ago.
However, I was watching all of these “old” shows for the first time ever, so I never felt that they were actually old or stale. Gurren Lagann was just as awesome to watch for the first time last month as it would have been to watch for the first time a year ago. Tsukuyomi was just as awesome to watch for the first time last month as it would have been in 2004. And actually, it was probably better to watch Tsukuyomi for the first time in 2008 because I can now watch it on my iPhone while traveling!
I really see no problems with watching older shows for the first time like this, but clearly my readers and the fansubbing community does. So just what does it mean to have “fresh” anime from Japan and why does the fansub community crave it so dearly?
If you think about it, that answer comes from simple greed and the hope for 15 minutes of internet fame.
A show that airs in Japan for the first time is guaranteed not to have been fansub before it airs. So all fansubbers will circle around every new show like vultures waiting for that “raw” meat to finally hit the web. When it does, they strike and pick it apart as quickly as possible so that they can be the first release their own subtitle version under their own name.
The most downloads will go to the group that finishes first. So the hype and attention to fresh new shows from Japan comes from the competition between all the fansubbing groups. After they have picked all the meat off of the carcass of a show for one season, they circle around the new meat of the next season’s shows.
The same applies to anime bloggers as well. Most blogs have nothing more to offer to the community than talking about fansubs and taking screen caps of the stuff they can steal for free off the internet. Again, many other bloggers are also writing the exact same post on the exact same show. So there’s still a little feeling of competition to be the first to blog about a new episode. Some bloggers even make it their gimmick to blog about “raw” anime episodes, because they’ll have the exclusive scoop of the episode before other bloggers get to watch the fansub. They’re trying to generate the most traffic because of this exclusivity.
This whole “I want to watch new shows from Japan” is just a facade to mask the greed, freeloading, and peer pressure of the fansubbing and blogging community. This kind of pressure was killing me by overloading me with a ton of “new” shows to watch every season, the stress of keeping “up-to-date” with everyone every week, and limited my choices to only the “here and now.”
By giving up fansubs, not only was I relieving myself of this stress, but I was also expanding my window of opportunity to all those older shows that have come out over the years that had managed to fly under my radar this whole time. It was actually a very liberating experience.
Living Legit
So in my month without fansubs, I found out that I was able to watch over 90 episodes of anime using only completely legal methods, and I didn’t even end up poor because of it. With so many free and affordable options available, I never felt the need to go back to downloading fansubs. In fact, I found the experience to be personally liberating by relieving myself of the stresses created by the fansubbing community and exploring so many great shows of years past.
But most of all, I was no longer being hypocritical by saying I was going to make up for downloading a fansub by buying the DVD, and then never following through on that promise. By always making my initial viewing supported by either micro-paying DVD rentals, paying less for legal downloads, or simply watching an ad-supported free video over the internet, I was always supporting the artists and the industry even without buying an expensive DVD at full price.
So is it really impossible to be an American anime fan and go completely legit in today’s world?
Well, my dear readers, you’ll never really know until you give it a try yourself. ;-)By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News
Share and share alike: a male chimp will give up his hard-earned catch for sex
Chimpanzees enter into "deals" whereby they exchange meat for sex, according to researchers. Male chimps that are willing to share the proceeds of their hunting expeditions mate twice as often as their more selfish counterparts. This is a long-term exchange, so males continue to share their catch with females when they are not fertile, copulating with them when they are. The team describe their findings in the journal PLoS One. Meat is an important, protein-rich food for chimpanzees Cristina Gomes and her colleagues, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, studied chimps in the Tai Forest reserve in Ivory Coast. She and her team observed the animals as they hunted, and monitored the number of times they copulated. "By sharing, the males increase the number of times they mate, and the females increase their intake of calories," said Dr Gomes. "What's amazing is that if a male shares with a particular female, he doubles the number of times he copulates with her, which is likely to increase the probability of fertilising that female." High value Meat is important for the animals' diet because it is so high in protein. Since female chimps do not usually hunt, "they have a hard time getting it on their own," explained Dr Gomes. Males might share meat with a female one day, and only copulate with her a day or two later
Cristina Gomes
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology The "meat for sex hypothesis" had already been proposed to explain why male chimps might share with females. But previous attempts to record the phenomenon failed, because researchers looked for direct exchanges, where a male shared meat with a fertile female and copulated with her right away. Dr Gomes' team took a new approach. In a previous study, she had found that grooming exchange - where the animals take it in turns to groom each other - happens over long periods, she related. "So we thought, why not meat and sex? "We looked at chimps when they were not in oestrus, this means they don't have sexual swellings and aren't copulating." "The males still share with them - they might share meat with a female one day, and only copulate with her a day or two later." Dr Gomes thinks that her findings could even provide clues about human evolution. She suggests this study could lay the foundations for human studies exploring the link between "good hunting skills and reproductive success". "This has got me really interested in humans," she said. "I'm thinking of moving on to working with hunter-gatherers." Michael Gurven from the University of California in Santa Barbara studies human behaviour in communities of hunter-gatherers in South America. He told BBC News that the direct link between success in hunting and reproduction highlighted by this study could "help in our thinking about humans". Professor Gurven, who was not involved in this study, added that the nature of this exchange of meat for sex is "kind of like pair bonding in humans, because it's long-term. "This highlights something we haven't seen in chimps before."
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionNew York, NY --- "GARCIA HITS NY" --- Undefeated WBO Jr. Lightweight champion and 2013 Fighter of the Year nominee Mikey Garcia arrives in New York City for his first defense of his new world title against two-time world title challenger and current No. 1 contender Juan Carlos Burgos of Tijuana, Mexico. Garcia vs Burgos will take place on Saturday, January 25 and will be televised live from The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, on HBO Boxing After Dark®. The Garcia - Burgos world championship event will be promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Banner Promotions, Thompson Boxing Promotions, Gary Shaw Productions, Warriors Boxing Promotions, Madison Square Garden and Tecate. Remaining tickets, priced at $200, $100, $50 and $25, can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets. Photos by Chris Farina/Top Rank.
[QUOTE=JmH Reborn;14154879]That broken nose he suffered in the Siri fight was the best thing to ever happen to that dude - he went from p4p the top 5 ugliest dudes around to fall into at least top 50. Big props…
[QUOTE=Doctor_Tenma;14154908]This is an underrated fight, Burgos hasn't had much luck with the judges but I had him beating both Amidu and Martinez.[/QUOTE] Sadly people are sleeping on Burgos, Mikey is my boy, but he will have more trouble with Burgos…
Easy fight for Garcia. He should have no problems disposing of Burgos within 6-7 rounds.
Let's have Mikey get up to 140, along with Gamboa, and have them both clean out stiffs like Rios, Alvarado, Judah...
This is an underrated fight, Burgos hasn't had much luck with the judges but I had him beating both Amidu and Martinez.The president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union is dialling back on a claim that allowing more stores to sell beer and wine will spur more violence against women.
However, Warren (Smokey) Thomas says he continues to believe that increasing the availability of alcohol will have repercussions the government doesn’t appear to have considered.
Last week, Thomas issued a statement saying that allowing grocery stores to sell beer could lead to more violence. “We know alcohol contributes to violence, and this makes us question Premier Kathleen Wynne’s commitment to making women in this province safe,” it said.
On Tuesday, he took a quieter tone.
“Our point was this, the more you ‘liberalize’ the sale of alcohol, the more you will increase social problems,” Thomas said. “What she (Premier Kathleen Wynne) wants to do flies in the face of what the liquor control board stands for. It then just becomes mass retailing of alcohol.”
Thomas’s initial comments, which followed a newspaper report suggesting Ontario may license as many as 300 grocery stores to sell beer and wine alongside the brewery-owned Beer Store outlets and government-owned Liquor Control Board stores that now control most alcohol sales in the province, have helped bring the booze-sale debate to a head.
More access, more attacks?
Even those who work with victims of domestic violence won’t say that increasing the number of beer and wine retailers will bring more violence.
Tara Henderson, a spokeswoman for the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre, said that while alcohol is a factor in some cases of domestic violence, she is unaware of studies linking expanded access to more abuse.
“Alcohol can be purchased from a lot of different places,” said Henderson. “I don’t see why there could be a significant increase (in violence).”
Care and control
The union president says debate over his admittedly “controversial” claim has deflected attention from his key point: Why was the rumoured arrangement negotiated in secret and why does it appear to favour a handful of large corporations?
According to the Toronto Star, the government will open an auction for 300 licences to sell alcohol at grocery stores, with no one chain being allowed to own more than 25 per cent of the licences.
Thomas asked what’s to stop a large convenience store chain from outbidding the grocery chains, which would allow beer and wine to be sold at corner stores across the province — a situation the premier has objected to openly.
Thomas represents more than 5,000 employees at the province’s LCBO stores. He insisted his objections aren’t based on securing his members’ jobs, and said his members could in fact benefit from increased jobs in warehousing and logistics if more retailers are allowed.NBC News' Richard Engel is reporting that what President Trump divulged to the Russians during a private White House meeting last week "wasn't anything they didn't already know."
Engel wrote Monday on Twitter (cleaned slightly for clarity): "US intel official tells me Trump told Russians about laptop airline threat. Told it wasn't anything they didn't already know."
Us intel official tells me Trump told russians about laptop airline threat. Told it wasnt anything they didnt already know. @washingtonpost — Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) May 16, 2017
"US intel official says Trump was trying to show Russians 'how cooperative he wants to be with them' in fight against ISIS," he wrote.
Us intell official says trump was trying to show russians "how cooperative he wants to be with them" in fight against isis. @washingtonpost — Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) May 16, 2017
"US intel official says Trump talked about ISIS interest in laptops, which is why laptops of such concern these days. Says not new info."
Us intel official says Trump talked abt isis interest in laptops, which is why laptops of such concern these days. Says not new info — Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) May 16, 2017
If that's true, the only fallout from The Washington Post sharing leaked classified information is going to be the strain it could put on our relations with the unnamed US "ally" that gathered the intelligence and may have not wanted for it to be shared with Russia.
According to The New York Times' report on the same leaked classified information:
[...]sharing the information without the express permission of the ally who provided it was a major breach of espionage etiquette, and could jeopardize a crucial intelligence-sharing relationship.
In fact, the ally has repeatedly warned American officials that it would cut off access to such sensitive information if it were shared too widely, the former official said. Here's how The Washington Post put it in their article:
The information the president relayed had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government, officials said.
The partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russia, and officials said Trump’s decision to do so endangers cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State. In their crusade to take down Trump by any means necessary, The Washington Post -- working together with deep state leakers -- essentially leaked classified information to this unnamed ally and let it be known this information was shared without their "express permission" and possibly against their wishes.
It's fully admitted nothing Trump did was illegal as he has broad authority to divulge classified information, yet by publishing leaked classified information purely to manufacture a fake scandal and undermine Trump's presidency, The Washington Post, not Donald Trump, has put our national security in jeopardy.
Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter and Facebook.www.kpcb.com USA Inc.
About U SA Inc.
This report looks at the federal government as if it were a business, with the goal of informing the
debate about our nation’s financial situation and outlook. In it, we examine USA Inc.’s income
statement and balance sheet. We aim to interpret the underlying data and facts and illustrate
patterns and trends in easy-to-understand ways. We analyze the drivers of federal revenue and
the history of expense growth |
I talk with Manuel about how it all got started and how they manage Tuleap in an open source way.
Nitish Tiwari (NT): Why does the Tuleap project matter?
Manuel Vacelet (MV): Tuleap matters because we strongly believe that a successful (software) project must involve all the stakeholders: developers, project managers, QA, customers, and users.
A long time ago I was an intern on a fork of SourceForge (back when SourceForge was a free and open source project), and it would eventually become Tuleap years after. My first contribution was to integrate PhpWiki into the tool (don't tell anybody, the code is scary).
Now, I'm happy to work as CTO and product owner at Enalean, the main company contributing to the Tuleap project.
NT: Tell us about the technical aspects.
MV: Tuleap core system is LAMP-based and relies on CentOS. Today's development stack is done with AngularJS (v1) with a REST backend (PHP) and a NodeJS-based real-time server for push notification. But if you wish to be a fullstack Tuleap developer, you will also touch bash, Perl, Python, Docker, Make.
Speaking of technical aspects, it's important to underline that one of the distinctive features of Tuleap is its scalability. A single instance of Tuleap, on a single server, with no complicated IT, can handle over 10,000 people.
NT: Tell us about the users and the community around the project. Who's involved? How do they use the tool?
MV: The users are very varied. From small startups using Tuleap to keep track of their project advancement and manage their source code to very large companies, like the French telecom operator Orange, which deployed it to over 17,000 users and 5,000 projects hosted.
Many users rely on Tuleap to facilitate agile projects and track their progress. Developers and customers share the same workspace. There is no need for customers to learn how to use GitHub, nor for developers to have an additional layer of work to transcribe their work on a "customer accessible" platform.
This year, Tuleap is being used by the Eclipse Foundation, replacing Bugzilla.
The Indian Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology has created the Government of India's platform for open collaborative development of e-governance applications using Tuleap.
Tuleap is used in a number of different ways and configurations. Some people use it as a backend for their Drupal customer facing websites; they plug via the REST API's into Tuleap to manage bugs and service requests.
Even some architects are using it to manage their work advancement and AutoCAD files.
NT: Does Tuleap do anything special to make the community a safe and diverse place?
MV: We haven't created a "Code of Conduct" yet; the community is really peaceful and welcoming, but we plan to do that. Tuleap developers and contributors come from different countries (i.e., Canada, Tunisia, France). And 35% of active developers and contributors are women.
NT: What percentage of Tuleap features are suggested by the community?
MV: Almost 100% of the features are community-driven.
It was one of Enalean's key challenges: to find a business model that allows us to do open source software the right way. To us, the "open core" model (where the core of the application is open, but the interesting and useful parts are closed source) is not the right way because you depend on closed source at the end of the day. So we invented the OpenRoadmap, a way for us to gather needs from community and end users and find companies to pay for it.Living a practically zero-waste lifestyle, one Vallejo woman has not produced any garbage in the past year. Local actress and pizza aficionado Kathryn Kellogg says the secret to creating less trash is simply planning ahead.
“It’s not that tough,” Kellogg said. “Living this lifestyle just takes a little bit of forethought and thinking. Being prepared is the most important thing.”
Kellogg’s journey down the eco-friendly road began six years ago while she was in college. She had an unbearable pain in her left breast. A trip to the doctor revealed multiple tumors, however they were determined not to be caused by cancer.
“The experience got me thinking about how I was living, what I was putting into my body,” Kellogg said.
She decided to try to live healthier by cooking meals from scratch, and soon moved to creating her own cleaning and beauty products.
Her efforts were rewarded when the pain subsided.
“Once I began using my homemade deodorant, all of my pain left,” Kellogg said. “I don’t have any scientific evidence, but I believe the aluminum in my antiperspirant was what caused the pain.”
It was around this time when Kellogg really began taking notice of the ecosystem’s health as well.
She recently had moved from the mostly land-locked state of Pennsylvania to Vallejo. Now that she was living near the water, she was struck by how much plastic and garbage were floating in the bay.
“Being on the water and seeing all the litter that goes out to sea, it was crazy,” Kellogg said. “It broke my heart.”
This experience, along with environmental estimates such as the one published earlier this year by the World Economic Forum saying there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050, inspired her to change her plastic-using ways.
“I decided to stop using plastic, stop making waste,” she said.
Now Kellogg shops exclusively at bulk bin stores where she can fill up her own jars and bags full of food rather than using store-produced packaging. Her produce is purchased at the weekly farmer’s market in Vallejo.
For her dairy needs, she visits a local creamery with her reusable milk jar.
At home, all of her organic waste goes into a compost pile, and her closet is full of second-hand clothes.
“Up until 70 years ago, the way I shop was normal,” Kellogg said. “Then plastic came and it’s gotten out of control. For example, I recently saw an unpeeled orange in plastic clamshell packaging. It’s ridiculous.”
Though some may view her strictly zero-waste lifestyle as extreme, Kellogg explained she has received support from her friends and family.
“My mom is so cute, she is so supportive,” Kellogg said. “My dad thinks I’m a little nutty. As for my friends, I’ve noticed they have begun to make small changes.”
For the past year, Kellogg also has run a relatively popular website in her spare time, goingzerowaste.com.
Here she shares seasonal food recipes, posts tutorials on creating cleaning and beauty products and discusses zero waste strategies.
She also publishes a weekly digital newsletter that features exclusive content not found on the website.
“It’s really nice and I get a lot of good feedback and comments,” Kellogg said. “People ask me questions or ask advice on certain things. All in all, it’s been a really good experience.”
As for her top three tips for reducing waste?
“Use a reusable bag, reusable water bottle and compost,” she said. “Just by doing those three things, you can easily cut out 60 percent of your waste.”
Matthew Adkins can be reached at 707-553-6833.Published online 3 February 2010 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2010.47
News
Two driving forces acting on wet spider silk help it to capture water.
The spider's web captures a string of dewy pearls. Janet Fang
Researchers have puzzled out how spider silk is able to catch the morning dew. Their findings may lead to the development of new materials that are able to capture water from the air.
The study, published today in Nature1, examines the silk of the hackled orbweaver spider Uloborus walckenaerius. "Bright, pearl-like water drops hang on thin spider silk in the morning after fogging," says study author Lei Jiang from the Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences. "It is unexpected and interesting. Human hair can't do that."
Dry spider silk forms a necklace-like structure. Two main fibres support a series of separate rounded 'puffs', each made up of tiny, randomly intertwined nanofibrils. When water vapour condenses onto these puffs, they shrink into densely packed knots, shaped like spindles (or two cones with their bases stuck together). Thinner connecting stretches of nanofibrils, separating the knots, become more apparent; these areas are called 'joints'.
The researchers studied the webs under both electron and light microscopes. They noticed that as water condenses on the web, droplets move towards the nearest spindle-knot, where they coalesce to form larger drops.
The spindle-knots have a rough surface, because the fibrils within them are randomly interweaved. But the joints between the knots have a smooth texture, because their constituent fibrils run parallel to each other. It is this difference in roughness that helps water drops to slide towards the spindle-knots, sticking when they arrive.
The cone shape of the spindle-knots also drives droplets towards their centre. Once they hit the edge of a cone, drops are propelled towards its base, the least curved region, because of the pressure difference caused by surface tension.
Mimicking nature
Guided by their findings, the team made their own artificial spider silk using nylon fibres dipped in a polymer solution that, when dried, formed spindle-knots similar to those in natural spider silk. They anticipate that their studies of these fibres could lead to new materials for collecting water from the air.
"It is impressive that they were able to produce an analogue of wetted [spider] thread that duplicated the properties that they observed," says spider silk expert Brent Opell of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
But it doesn't seem likely that natural selection has directed the evolution of this particular spider's silk for water collection, he adds. The spider's thread seems to have evolved to work best when it is dry.
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As Jiang and his colleagues show, when the spider silk is wetted, the fibrils are matted down. "From a spider's perspective, this is a bad thing because it reduces the web's ability to capture prey," Opell says.
"The authors of this paper are studying an artefact," says zoologist and spider-silk expert Fritz Vollrath of the University of Oxford, UK, "which is still interesting although it has no biological function".READER REPORT: I'm 18 - stop asking me if I want kids KATHERINE SCOTT
RACHAEL CROWE/UNSPLASH "If this is what I hear now, what will I hear if I'm in my 20s and childless?"
You should babysit, you need some practice! How many kids do you want? When will you start? I bet you can't wait to be a mum!
These could be compliments, right? I mean, they're well-intentioned. Perhaps they would be, if I weren't 18 years old. Eighteen. And these are things I hear on a weekly basis.
Surprising? Not if you're also an 18-year-old girl.
Right now I don't even know what I'm going to major in, unless you count Netflix. I'm in my first year of uni, learning and doing some of the most exciting things in my life. I'm making mistakes, making friends and figuring out who I am. I'm not really thinking about children. I might not even have children (although apparently I can't say that out loud). Maybe I will. But not right now.
READ MORE:
* Life's 'pretty awesome' being childfree
* 'I won't have children and it breaks my mum's heart'
* Loving a 'childfree not childless' life
* Just because we can breed doesn't mean we should
So, why am I sitting down and writing this instead of working on my assignments? The truth is, I'm worried. If this is what I hear now, what will I hear if I'm in my 20s and childless? What sort of assumptions will be made by people who hardly know me?
Last week, while sipping my overpriced (yet delicious) latte, I heard a conversation that went a little like this:
Person A: "Do you realise they've been married for two whole years and she's not pregnant?"
Person B: "They must be having trouble. Poor girl."
Me: (sighs internally)
How out of place should this be in a 21st century hipster café? But it happened!
We have the right to choose when and if we want to have children. I'm certainly not judging you if you do.
It's our choice. Your choice. A decision that no-one else can make. It really is quite extraordinary that in 2017, I feel compelled to remind you of this.
Please don't misinterpret this: I like kids. I have the coolest little nephews and nieces who send me into hysterics with their adorable antics. But for now, I'm happy with being Aunty Kat. I don't know if I want kids yet, and I don't need to know.
After all, I'm 18.
CommentsOfficers from the Department of Public Safety shut down a Mexican-themed party on Thursday night at which University students chanted, “Piñata!” and “Cinco de Mayo!”
Around 50 students were in attendance at the party; some wore sombreros, ponchos, and other colorful clothing. One student noted that the party was taking place in commemoration of the death of a lizard.
“We’re not racist! We’re celebrating,” said one student in attendance.
Multiple students outside of the event alleged that the party had been thrown by the University men’s hockey team.
The party took place in the first entryway of Henry Hall, an upperclassmen dorm. Revelers wearing Mexican attire were visible in a window on the ground floor of the dorm. Students also mingled outside of the dorm, where orange streamers had been hung in likely conjunction with the party.
Although Cinco de Mayo is often mistakenly thought to be a celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day, it is actually an annual celebration of the unlikely victory of Mexico’s army over the French forces in the Battle of Puebla. In the U.S., the holiday has often been the theme of college parties. One caller made a noise complaint to Public Safety at 10:53 p.m., according to Assistant Vice President for Communications Dan Day.
Two Public Safety officers declined to comment for this article.
“With Cinco de Mayo parties, they make Mexican culture seem like it’s just about tequila and sombreros and piñatas, but it’s about other things,” said Samuel Vilchez Santiago ’19, co-president of Princeton Latinos y Amigos.
The party takes place amid recent campus conversations about cultural appropriation and the harm it can inflict upon others. In a May 4 email to the Whitman community, director of student life for Whitman College Momo Wolapaye reminded students to “be mindful of harmful themes [of social events and parties] and participating in actions that may objectify and denigrate the cultural and social identities of others.” This email is similar to those sent to other residential college communities.
Additionally, a recent flyer distributed by the Carl A. Fields Center that proposed alternative ways to celebrate Cinco de Mayo warned students, “Don’t you dare put on that ‘sombrero.’”
Student leaders on campus voiced concerns about the offensive nature of the event, particularly in light of these campus conversations.
“It’s just sad that we see this type of thing repeated every semester,” said Ryan Chavez ’19.
Chavez is a contributing opinion columnist for the ‘Prince.’
Danny Navarrete ’19, who identifies as Mexican-American, expressed anger and confusion about the party.
“There’s this appropriation of culture that’s kind of reducing it down to a caricature, which I find really offensive considering the history of racialized violence based on those caricatures,” said Navarrete. “I find it offensive that they use the theme when it’s convenient for them.”
“It shows that it’s kind of a cultural insensitivity [that this] still exists even though a lot of people think that they’ve moved on past it, even after many talks about how this can be offensive,” said Navarrete. “It’s surprising to see that people — I guess it’s not that surprising for some of us — but people decide to have these parties knowing that it’s problematic.”
“I think people just fail to realize that it is offensive because it’s hard for them to experience it themselves,” said Navarrete. “They have no similar experiences, being white people, so it’s just hard for them to understand that.”
“Also, just the small population of Mexican-Americans on this campus is another factor, I think, because people think they’re in a community where there aren’t that many Mexican-Americans and the Mexican-Americans don’t have that much voice in the first place,” said Navarrete.
“I’m pissed, I’m so pissed, because it happens every Frosh week, every Cinco de Mayo, every Halloween,” Arlene Gamio ’18 said. “And it’s almost always a sports team,” they added.
Gamio explained that this is the third time they have been tipped off about some kind of Mexican-themed party and come to see what was going on.
“It’s just random groups of white people throwing all these parties and saying it’s not racist and not owning up to it,” Gamio said.
Gamio, who is the president of Princeton University Latinx Perspectives Organization, said that mobilizing against parties like this one is something the organization has been working toward.
“[These students] want to be Latinx for one night, but they don’t want to accept the consequences such as being racially profiled by police and discriminated against by their professors,” said Gamio.
Gamio called for the University administration to take action.
“I think the administration needs to have disciplinary action and they’re too scared to do that. These parties keep happening because they walk away with a slap on the wrist and they have no understanding of what they did was wrong,” Gamio said.
Vilchez Santiago was in agreement that the administration should address the incident.
“It’s not the first time that it happened,” Vilchez Santiago said. “It goes back to the issue of diversity and inclusion.”
In an email today, Day wrote that Public Safety received a noise complaint at 10:53 p.m. yesterday, “noting that loud music was coming from a room with many people in it in Henry Hall.”
Day wrote that it is standard procedure to respond to a noise complaint. He added that if a complaint were raised of an offensive or culturally insensitive party, an officer would not be dispatched but the dean on call would be contacted.
In a statement to the 'Prince', Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity Michele Minter wrote that several "students have reported that some of the conduct at the party was offensive to many members of our community and contrary to our community values of inclusivity and respect for others."
"The reported lack of regard for the sensitivities of others is disturbing and distressing, and my office, along with the Office of Campus Live and others, will be seeking further information to determine whether additional actions need to be taken either in response to this event or to communicate our values and expectations more clearly and more effectively," Minter wrote. She encouraged anyone with information of the event to contact her directly.
This story has been updated to include a response from the University.The self-identified source that exposed top-secret government data collection programs has revealed himself, NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
The National Security Agency contractor who came forward claiming to be the source of leaks about vast government surveillance programs set off diplomatic intrigue Monday by holing up in Hong Kong and hinting at seeking protection in Iceland.
The reporter who broke the story for the British newspaper The Guardian said that he did not believe American authorities had been in touch with the contractor, Edward Snowden, 29.
“I don’t believe they know where he is or how to communicate with him,” the reporter, Glenn Greenwald, told TODAY from Hong Kong.
The Justice Department, without naming Snowden, said it was in the early stages of an investigation, and there were already calls from some members of Congress to prosecute him.
Philippe Lopez / AFP - Getty Images A security guard stands outside the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong on Monday.
“As long as you have laws on the books, and we do, you’ve got to enforce the laws,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told CNBC. “This is somebody who — it appears, at least — leaked sensitive classified information, and I think he needs to be prosecuted.”
And FBI agents were seen Monday at Snowden's father's house in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but did not answer any reporters' questions.
The Guardian and The Washington Post, with Snowden’s consent, revealed him Sunday as the source for stories that disclosed two giant surveillance programs collecting data on Americans’ phone calls and foreigners’ Internet use.
Those disclosures led President Barack Obama to issue a striking defense — “Nobody is listening to your phone calls” — and to insist that Americans must make tradeoffs between safety and privacy.
Snowden, employed by the defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, said he traveled to Hong Kong on May 20 because “they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent.”
He spoke to The Guardian at a Hong Kong hotel, but his whereabouts Monday were unknown.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, is part of China but has considerable autonomy. It has an extradition treaty with the United States, but China can veto extradition requests when it believes its foreign interests would be affected.
“The only thing I can do is sit here and hope the Hong Kong government does not deport me,” Snowden told The Guardian.
Experts and Hong Kong lawmakers said it was unlikely China would defy such a U.S. request. One Hong Kong legislator told The Wall Street Journal that Snowden’s choice of location was based on “unfortunate ignorance.”
Snowden told The Guardian that he wanted to seek asylum in a country “with shared values,” and mentioned that Iceland had stood up for people over Internet freedom issues.
But even Iceland, which took in the fugitive former chess champion Bobby Fischer in 2005, may not be a safe bet, either. Iceland has just elected a more conservative government seen as closer to Washington than previous governments have been.
Stefania Oskarsdottir, a lecturer in political science at the University of Iceland, told Reuters that she would be surprised if the new government wanted to engage in any disputes with the United States.
“I think what this guy is saying is based on something he is imagining or hoping for rather than actual facts,” she told Reuters.
Still, Snowden could travel to Iceland without a visa and could apply immediately for asylum.
Snowden grew up in North Carolina and enlisted in the Army in 2003 in hopes of joining the Special Forces. But he broke both legs in a training accident and was discharged, he said.
Edward Snowden, a defense contractor and former CIA communications expert, has revealed himself as the man behind the leaks detailing secret National Security Agency programs monitoring phone and Internet use. The Atlantic's Steve Clemons, Maria Teresa Kumar from Voto Latino, and Washington Post Columnist Jonathan Capehart join Karen Finney to break down Snowden's reasons for the leak and what this means for the debate over privacy and national security.
He told the paper that he joined the armed forces in hopes of helping the Iraqi people escape from oppression, but was jarred that his commanders “seemed pumped up about killing Arabs.”
After his injury, Snowden got a job as a security guard at a covert NSA facility at the University of Maryland before working on tech security for the CIA, The Guardian reported.
Snowden could join Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning as among the most consequential leakers in American history. Manning, who admitted sending military documents to WikiLeaks, is being court-martialed in Maryland.
Ellsberg leaked what became known as the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times, documenting the government’s systematic misleading of the public about American involvement in Vietnam.
He said in an Op-Ed for The Guardian on Monday that he believed Snowden’s leaks to be the most important in American history, including the Pentagon Papers four decades ago.
“Snowden’s whistleblowing gives us the possibility to roll back a key part of what has amounted to an ‘executive coup’ against the U.S. Constitution,” he wrote. “Since 9/11, there has been, at first secretly but increasingly openly, a revocation of the Bill of Rights for which this country fought over 200 years ago.”
NBC News’ Ali Weinberg, Mike Kosnar and Joel Seidman, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
This story was originally published onAn Abbotsford Police officer died in the line of duty today, Police Chief Bob Rich confirmed at a press conference this afternoon.
“The officer who gave his life today is a hero. He was protecting his community. He will always be my hero,” Rich said.
The Abbotsford Police Department (APD) member was not named at the media gathering, which was held in response to the chaotic series of events that took place earlier today.
Rich said police received a call just after 11:30 a.m. to report a possible stolen vehicle in the parking lot of a strip mall in the 3200 block of Mt. Lehman Road, north of Highstreet Shopping Centre.
The caller blocked in the vehicle, while waiting for police to arrive.
Rich said the suspect then got out of the car and began shooting at the caller and others with a shotgun.
APD officers arrived and tried to arrest the suspect. Gunshots were exchanged, and an officer was shot, Rich said.
That member was transported to hospital with “very serious injuries.”
The suspect then fled in the stolen vehicle and was apprehended by APD officers in the area of Mt. Lehman Road and South Fraser Way.
Rich said the man – in his 60s and from Alberta – was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Shortly after, the injured officer was pronounced dead in hospital.
Rich said he met with the officer’s spouse this afternoon and delivered the devastating news.
He said the investigation is now in the hands of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. The Independent Investigation Office has also been deployed.
“This is a continuing investigation obviously. There are many questions still to be answered. Our priority is going to be in supporting the family and each other,” he said.
Rich praised all the officers involved for their response in “heroically trying to save the life” of the injured officer, in immediately taking control of the scene, and in protecting the public from the shooter.
“Our officers’ actions today, all of them, were absolutely heroic … Our members did their job,” he said.
No further comments were provided by police at the end of Rich’s statement.
The shooter stole a black Ford Mustang from MSA Ford in the Abbotsford Auto Mall on Saturday, according to the dealer’s fleet manager.
George MacDonald said a man asked to test drive the car and when he was given the keys, he jumped in and drove away, without waiting for the salesperson to get in.
An hour later, MacDonald said, employees called the police and reported it stolen.
Then on Monday, MacDonald said an employee spotted what they thought was the same Mustang in the parking lot of a nearby strip mall on Mt. Lehman road. He said they could see the remnants of the of their dealership’s stickers that had been mostly scraped off the windows and it now had Alberta license plates.
MacDonald said he brought a spare key for the stolen Mustang and it unlocked it. MacDonald left the scene but two employees stayed and blocked the Mustang in to prevent it from beig driven away.
About 20 minutes after the car was first spotted on Monday, the alleged thief and shooter came out, took a gun from the trunk and began shooting, MacDonald said.
MacDonald had left only five minutes before the shooting began, but his two employers were in the line of fire, he said.
On Tuesday morning, he said he wasn’t sure how well they’re recovering.
“I did 20 years in the military and I know I’m not doing too well right now, but I’m doing what I can.”
A visibly shaken, Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said Monday that he received word of the officer’s death just before the commencement of the afternoon’s council meeting.
“Our hearts are all heavy and sad that this has happened in our community,” he said. “I just want to convey our condolences to the family of the officer.”
“I’m still in shock that this actually happened in our city but it did … We lost an officer in the line of duty and it’s a sad day for the family, for this community that this happened, that someone lost his life protecting our citizens.”STATE STATION NAME RAINFALL
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64-page booklet with a large color map and an outer folder. Description: Dragon Keep is a Dragonlance adventure scenario which is the climax of the trilogy started with In Search of Dragons and Dragon Magic.[8] The player characters quest from Lunitari to Krynn's ocean depths to confront the wicked daughter of Takhisis.[8] The module includes a map of Lunitari.[8]
DLQ - Dragonlance Quests [ edit ]
DLQ1: Knight's Sword [ edit ]
Rules required : AD&D 2nd Edition
: 2nd Edition Author : Colin McComb & Thomas M. Reid
: Colin McComb & Thomas M. Reid First published : 1992
: 1992 Description:
DLQ2: Flint's Axe [ edit ]
Rules required : AD&D 2nd Edition
: 2nd Edition Author : Tim Beach
: Tim Beach First published : 1992
: 1992 Description:
DLR - Dragonlance Resources [ edit ]
Otherlands [ edit ]
Rules required : AD&D 2nd Edition
: 2nd Edition Author : Haring, Bennie, and Tierra
: Haring, Bennie, and Tierra First published : DLR1 Otherlands was written by Scott Haring, Scott Bennie, and John Terra, with a cover by Fred Fields, and was published by TSR in 1990 as a 96-page book with a large color map. [8]
: DLR1 was written by Scott Haring, Scott Bennie, and John Terra, with a cover by Fred Fields, and was published by TSR in 1990 as a 96-page book with a large color map. Description: Otherlands is a supplement for the Dragonlance campaign setting that describes three new lands between the continents of Ansalon and Taladas.[8] These lands include Watermere, the underwater realm of the sea elves; Chorane, the geothermically warmed underground land beneath the south pole of Krynn; and Silesia, which is a tropical jungle island.[8] The book includes a map of all three areas.[8]
Taladas: The Minotaurs [ edit ]
Rules required : AD&D 2nd Edition
: 2nd Edition Author : Colin McComb
: Colin McComb First published : 1992
: 1992 Description:
Unsung Heroes [ edit ]
Rules required :
: Author :
: First published : 1992
: 1992 Description:
DLS - Dragonlance Supplements [ edit ]
DLS1: New Beginnings [ edit ]
Rules required :
: Author : John Terra
: John Terra First published : 1991
: 1991 Description:
DLS2: Tree Lords [ edit ]
Rules required : AD&D 2nd Edition
: 2nd Edition Author : John Terra
: John Terra First published : 1991
: 1991 Description:
DLS3: Oak Lords [ edit ]
Rules required : AD&D 2nd Edition
: 2nd Edition Author : Blake Mobley
: Blake Mobley First published : 1991
: 1991 Description:
DLS4: Wild Elves [ edit ]
Rules required : AD&D 2nd Edition
: 2nd Edition Author : Scott Bennie
: Scott Bennie First published : 1991
: 1991 Description:
DLT - Dragonlance Tales [ edit ]
DLT1: New Tales: The Land Reborn [ edit ]
Rules required : AD&D 2nd Edition
: 2nd Edition Author : John Terra
: John Terra First published : 1993
: 1993 Description:
Book of Lairs [ edit ]
Rules required :
: Author :
: First published :
: Description:
ILH - Inn of the Last Home [ edit ]
Leaves From the Inn of the Last Home [ edit ]
Rules required : None
: None Author : Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman First published : 1987
: 1987 Description: Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home is a 256-page softcover book designed to be used as a source book with additional role play materials for the Dragonlance campaign setting. It is a black and white compilation of short stories and mythology. It also features poetry, song and real world recipes for the War of the Lance campaign setting.
More Leaves From the Inn of the Last Home [ edit ]
Rules required : None
: None Author : Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman First published : 2000
: 2000 Description: More Leaves From the Inn of the Last Home is a 256-page softcover book designed to be used as a source book with additional role play materials for the Dragonlance campaign setting. It is a black and white compilation of short stories and mythology. It also features poetry, song and real world recipes for after the War of the Lance campaign setting.
Lost Leaves From the Inn of the Last Home [ edit ]
Rules required : None
: None Author : Margaret Weis
: Margaret Weis First published : 2007
: 2007 Description: Lost Leaves From the Inn of the Last Home is a 176-page softcover book designed to be used as a source book with additional role play materials for the Dragonlance campaign setting. It is a black and white compilation of short stories and mythology. It also features poetry, song and real world recipes for the Age of Mortals campaign setting.
3rd Edition Dragonlance Sourcebooks [ edit ]
Dragonlance Campaign Setting [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual
: Version 3.5, and Author : Margaret Weis, Don Perrin, Jamie Chambers, Christopher Coyle
: Margaret Weis, Don Perrin, Jamie Chambers, Christopher Coyle First published : 2003
: 2003 Description: Dragonlance Campaign Setting is a 288-page hardcover book designed to be used as a reference manual to conduct role play adventures in the D&D game world of Krynn using the d20 system of play. It features an introduction to the world as well as an overview of races, classes, magic, deities, geography, creatures, dragons and various tables of the game world.
Dragonlance Dungeon Master's Screen [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual and Dragonlance Campaign Setting
: Version 3.5,, and Author : Margaret Weis and Cam Banks
: Margaret Weis and Cam Banks First published : 2003
: 2003 Description: Dragonlance Dungeon Master's Screen is a product of the d20 system designed as a resource for a Dungeon Master in the game of Dungeons & Dragons. It is divided into two parts, a 32-page booklet and an oversized cardboard screen featuring artwork on one side with charts and tables on the reverse. The booklet prints information in black and white on non-player characters, monsters, weapons, dragons and races.
Bestiary of Krynn [ edit ]
Rules required :
: Author :
: First published : 2004
: 2004 Description:
Bestiary of Krynn, Revised [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Dragonlance Campaign Setting
: Version 3.5, and Author : Cam Banks and Andre La Roche
: Cam Banks and Andre La Roche First published : 2007
: 2007 Description: Bestiary of Krynn, Revised is a 155-page hardcover book designed to be used as a resource manual for the creatures that inhabit the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. It has in depth information on several dozen monsters created as supplemental material for a game of D&D. There are sections for Monstrous Prestige Classes as well as a guide to playing Monsters as Characters. The book is designed to work in conjunction with the Monster Manual, but is not needed to play the game with this guide. This revised edition of the Bestiary of Krynn includes a new layout, new proofreading, new monsters and larger artwork from the original printing.
Dragonlance Setting Sourcebooks [ edit ]
Age of Mortals [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual
: Version 3.5, and Author : Margaret Weis, Jamie Chambers and Christopher Coyle
: Margaret Weis, Jamie Chambers and Christopher Coyle First published : 2003
: 2003 Description: Age of Mortals is a 223-page hardcover book designed to be used as a reference manual to conduct role play adventures in the D&D game world of Krynn using the d20 system of play. It is superseded by the Dragonlance Campaign Setting, but it is not needed to conduct a game. The module follows the fifth age of Krynn after the War of the Lance, featuring updated races, classes, magic, monsters and geography as much was changed. Every module for Dragonlance is considered to take place in the fourth age of the world except for the Age of Mortals campaign setting books.
War of the Lance [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual and Dragonlance Campaign Setting
: Version 3.5,, and Author : Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman and Jamie Chambers
: Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman and Jamie Chambers First published : 2004
: 2004 Description: War of the Lance is a 319-page hardcover book designed to be used as a companion book to the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. It features expanded races, classes, magic, geography and in depth player characters. It is possible to play a game of D&D with only the Dragonlance Campaign Setting and not this book.
Legends of the Twins [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual and Dragonlance Campaign Setting
: Version 3.5,, and Author : Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Chris Pierson, Seth Johnson and Aaron Rosenbeig
: Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Chris Pierson, Seth Johnson and Aaron Rosenbeig First published : 2005
: 2005 Description: Legends of the Twins is a 208-page hardcover book designed to be used as a companion book to the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. It follows closely the Legends trilogy of Dragonlance novels, exploring the third age as well as central themes throughout the books. It is possible to play a game of D&D with only the Dragonlance Campaign Setting and not this book.
Dragonlance Topic Sourcebooks [ edit ]
Towers of High Sorcery [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual and Dragonlance Campaign Setting
: Version 3.5,, and Author :
: First published :
: Description: Towers of High Sorcery is a 160-page hardback book detailing arcane magic and the ways of the Wizards of High Sorcery. It tells about the magic items and spells of Krynn.
Holy Orders of the Stars [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual and Dragonlance Campaign Setting
: Version 3.5,, and Author : Sean Everette, Chris Pierson, Cam Banks, Trampas Whiteman
: Sean Everette, Chris Pierson, Cam Banks, Trampas Whiteman First published : 2005
: 2005 Description: Holy Orders of the Stars is a 160-page hardcover book designed to be used as a sourcebook to the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. It details religion within the world of Krynn up to the end of the War of Souls series of novels. It is divided into five chapters and encompasses biographies of the Gods, churches, classes, spells and divine creatures of the fantasy world.
Knightly Orders of Ansalon [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual and Dragonlance Campaign Setting
: Version 3.5,, and Author : Sean Everette, Nicole Harsch, Clark Valentine, Trampas Whiteman
: Sean Everette, Nicole Harsch, Clark Valentine, Trampas Whiteman First published : 2006
: 2006 Description: Knightly Orders of Ansalon is a 160-page hardcover book designed to be used as a sourcebook to the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. It is divided into four chapters and gives detailed information on the Knights of Solamnia, Dark Knights and Legion of Steel.
Races of Ansalon [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual and Dragonlance Campaign Setting
: Version 3.5,, and Author : Cam Banks, Sean Macdonald, Clark Valentine, Trampas Whiteman
: Cam Banks, Sean Macdonald, Clark Valentine, Trampas Whiteman First published : 2007
: 2007 Description: Races of Ansalon is a 240-page hardcover book designed to be used as a sourcebook to the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. It features in depth chapters on the major humanoid races of the world, including Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Goblins, Kender, Minotaurs and Ogres. There is a chapter for lesser races and an appendix.
Dragons of Krynn [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual and Dragonlance Campaign Setting
: Version 3.5,, and Author : Cam Banks, Sean Everette, Amanda Valentine
: Cam Banks, Sean Everette, Amanda Valentine First published : 2007
: 2007 Description: Dragons of Krynn is a 176-page hardcover book designed to be used as a sourcebook to the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. It explains history, color, draconians and other reptilian humanoids in the Dragonlance Campaign Setting.
Tasslehoff's Map Pouches [ edit ]
Tasslehoff's Map Pouch: The Age of Mortals [ edit ]
Rules required :
: Author :
: First published :
: Description:
Tasslehoff's Map Pouch: Legends [ edit ]
Rules required :
: Author :
: First published :
: Description:
Tasslehoff's Map Pouch: The War of the Lance [ edit ]
Rules required :
: Author :
: First published :
: Description:
Age of Mortals Campaign [ edit ]
Key of Destiny [ edit ]
Rules required : Dragonlance Campaign Setting and d20 core books
: and d20 core books Author : Christopher Coyle
: Christopher Coyle First published : 2004
: 2004 ISBN 1-931567-11-5
Description: An ancient secret is discovered in an overrun border town six months after the end of the War of Souls, long ago forgotten by the elves of the east. It is a magical key- so obscure that history does not remember its form of even what it unlocks. But an unseen evil searches tirelessly, even as the lost knowledge finds its way into the most unlikely hands.[9]
Spectre of Sorrows [ edit ]
Rules required : Dragonlance Campaign Setting and d20 core books
: and d20 core books Author : Cam Banks
: Cam Banks First published : 2005
: 2005 ISBN 1-931567-16-6
ISBN 1-931567-16-6 Description: A group of scarred survivors race to escape the horrors of the Desolation, while attempting to uncover the ancient connection between the secrets they bear and the growing taint of evil that blights the land. Characters must deal with the challenges of the unfriendly ogrelands of Kern, the mysteries of Nordmaar's trackless swamps, and an encounter with one of the Heroes of the Lance as they come closer to unraveling the uncanny link between the visions of an undead elven sorceress that haunt them and their destiny.[10]
Price of Courage [ edit ]
Rules required : Dragonlance Campaign Setting and d20 core books
: and d20 core books Author : Cam Banks
: Cam Banks First published : 2006
: 2006 ISBN 1-931567-21-2
ISBN 1-931567-21-2 Description: Gellidus, known to many as Frost, is the last remaining Dragon Overlord upon the face of Krynn. This terrifying foe plans to achieve ultimate power through the dark magic of his dead cousins and a terrible pact with the powers of evil.[11]
War of the Lance Chronicles [ edit ]
Dragons of Autumn [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual, Dragonlance Campaign Setting and War of the Lance source book
: Version 3.5,,, and source book Author :
: First published :
: Description:
Dragons of Winter [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual, Dragonlance Campaign Setting and War of the Lance source book
: Version 3.5,,, and source book Author : Jeff Grubb, Tracy Hickman, Laura Hickman, Douglas Niles, Michael Dobson, Cam Banks and Sean Macdonald
: Jeff Grubb, Tracy Hickman, Laura Hickman, Douglas Niles, Michael Dobson, Cam Banks and Sean Macdonald First published : 2007
: 2007 Description: Dragons of Winter is a 208-page soft cover book designed to be used as a sourcebook to the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. It is a black and white role playing adventure book that closely follows the events from the Dragonlance: Dragons of Winter Night novel. It features scenarios from the book as well as new ones with which to conduct a role playing game.
Dragons of Spring [ edit ]
Rules required : Version 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual, Dragonlance Campaign Setting and War of the Lance source book
: Version 3.5,,, and source book Author : Jeff Grubb, Tracy Hickman, Laura Hickman, Douglas Niles, Sean Macdonald, Clive Squire and Heine Stick
: Jeff Grubb, Tracy Hickman, Laura Hickman, Douglas Niles, Sean Macdonald, Clive Squire and Heine Stick First published : 2008
: 2008 Description: Dragons of Spring is a 304-page soft cover book designed to be used as a sourcebook to the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. It is a black and white role playing adventure book that closely follows the events from the Dragonlance: Dragons of Spring Dawning novel. It features scenarios from the book as well as new ones with which to conduct a role playing game.
Notes [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]Emmanuel Adebayor is a major injury concern for Tottenham Hotspur's visit to Newcastle United on Sunday due to a hamstring problem, according to Harry Redknapp.
The manager said: "It's touch and go. It is a risk, a dangerous one, if he tears it badly [then] he's got a grade one tear and he could be out for six weeks. So we'll give him a couple of days. If he's a doubt I wouldn't want to chance him."
Redknapp said Vedran Corluka and Niko Kranjcar require scans after picking up injuries, and Sandro has a calf problem. He also admitted concern over the hamstring problems suffered by Rafael van der Vaart since he joined Tottenham at the start of last season.
"He sometimes has a problem with that and he's a had a few hamstrings since he's been with us," said Redknapp, who also believes the Dutchman can score 20 goals this season.
"Rafa scored 12 last season and I think he's capable of getting 20 goals [this] year."Thor: Ragnarok has it all: sibling rivalry, superhero battles, the final fate of mythical realms, and the Hulk dressed up like a gladiator. It's the kind of movie designed to have you exiting the theater wanting more—and that’s where we come in. Or, more accurately, that’s where the following five comic runs come in. Each one of the suggestions below fills in a Thor need you didn’t even know you had, and gives you even more of the grandiose melodrama and unapologetic fun that makes Taika Waititi’s movie a mighty Marvel masterpiece. Get ready to smash your way through these comics at lightning-fast speed. (See what we did there? Oh, you did? OK, cool. Read on.)
Marvel
The Mighty Thor #337-382
If Ragnarok leaves you suddenly more interested in the god of thunder than you'd ever been before—not to mention wanting to read more about Hela, Skurge, Surtur, or the dysfunctional relationship between Thor and Loki—then this four-year run by comic book legend Walter Simonson is the motherlode. Written and drawn by Simonson (with art in some issues by the equally legendary Sal Buscema), these 1980s comic book classics were the inspiration for almost everything you liked in the movie, on the Thor side at least. And there's far more to discover here, including Hela's ultimate revenge on Thor: taking away his ability to die. It's really not what you think, and it just might be the end of the man with the Mjölnir altogether. Genuinely great stuff, and some of the best superhero comics ever made.
How to read it: Available digitally and in the Thor by Walter Simonson print collections.
Marvel
The Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #92-105
In addition to Walter Simonson's Thor comics, Ragnarok also lifts heavily from the "Planet Hulk" storyline, which was the first time the Hulk crashed on Sakaar and found himself getting into gladiator cosplay. Played far less for laughs than in the movie, this storyline by Greg Pak, Carlo Pagulayan, and other artists is regarded by many as one of the greatest Hulk stories ever—and given that it includes love, death, and the Hulk literally becoming the ruler of an entire planet, it's not hard to see why. Spoilers: Prepare to come away from it fully believing that Tony Stark is far more of a jerk than you'd ever previously believed.
How to read it: Available digitally and in the Hulk: Planet Hulk Omnibus print edition.
Marvel
Thor Vol. 3 #1-12, #600-603, Thor Giant-Sized Finale #1
Ignore the confusing numbering above—#600 is actually the thirteenth issue, and it's best not to think too hard about what was going on there—and dig this glimpse at what might be awaiting the cinematic Asgard. In this run, J. Michael Straczynski, Oliver Coipel, and Marko Djurdjevic tell the story of what happens after Ragnarok (or, at least, a Ragnarok) and detail how Asgard rebuilds itself on Earth, with all the culture shock that follows. The basis for contemporary Thor comics, including the wonderfully fun and highly recommended current run by writer Jason Aaron, is here, and don't be too surprised if it ends up being the basis for the future direction of Thor's onscreen adventures, as well.
How to read it: Available digitally and in the Thor by J. Michael Straczynski print collections.
Marvel
Loki, Agent of Asgard #1-17
While the comic book Loki may not have the charm of Tom Hiddleston, he's arguably a more interesting and morally ambiguous character—especially in this recent series by Al Ewing and Lee Garbett, in which an attempt to work as a good guy for once is complicated by a world that refuses to believe he's for real, and a time-displaced self who's determined to ensure that he stays exactly as bad as everyone expects. A Loki comic might be the last place you'd expect to find meditations on whether or not we can ever escape expectations or our past behaviors and change, but this is the god of tricks. It's only fitting that this series confounds expectations and ends up being surprisingly affecting in the process.
How to read it: Available digitally and in print collections.
Marvel
Contest of Champions #1-10
Meanwhile, after getting a chance to see Jeff Goldblum's hypnotically immoral Grandmaster, it's almost impossible that you won't want to read more about him. This 2015 series—again written by Loki's Al Ewing with art by Paco Medina—is likely to fulfill your every need. In Contest of Champions the Grandmaster, an evil intelligent Hulk called the Maestro, and a pacifist British version of the Punisher (no, really) get mixed up in a reality-bending game where hero fights hero and villain fights villain—all for the entertainment of cosmic entities with a gambling problem or two. You haven't lived until you've found yourself rooting for the British Punisher to defeat the psychopathic Punisher from the future while wondering if the cat is going to make it out alright.
How to read it: Available digitally and in print collections.
More ThorPlease enable Javascript to watch this video
CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A black bear that has been spotted in Kent County showed up live on FOX 17 News at 6 Monday.
FOX 17's Doug Reardon was reporting from the area of 5500 Glenwood Hills Parkway SE when the bear was spotted behind him.
The Kent County Sheriff's Department responded to the area Monday. Deputies saw the bear near a business and it ran into a wooded valley near Kraft Avenue between 28th Street and 33rd Street.
"That bear really doesn't want to be here any more than people really want to bump into a bear," said DNR wildlife biologist Nick Kalejs.
Kalejs says it's not uncommon to see bears in heavily populated areas, and they're usually harmless. However, that doesn't mean you can let your guard down.
"[The] biggest issue with these types of situations, it's a little bit of crowd control. Just stay back, keep things quiet, give him a chance to just move on out to a little less disturbed and less populated area."
The black bear sighting in Kent County comes just days after another bear was spotted in Ionia. The DNR says they don't know if it's the same animal.
The DNR says it's best to steer clear of the animals if you see them.LONDON Mayor Sadiq Khan has shut down Donald Trump Jr for his tactless tweet about him after the Westminster terror attack.
Hours after the horrific assault in central London in which three people were killed, the US president’s son tweeted an article about Mr Khan from last year.
LONDON ATTACK: Terrorist was ‘fitness freak’
WESTMINSTER TERROR: How the attack unfolded
In September, Mr Khan said being prepared for terror attacks had become “part and parcel” of living in a big city.
Yesterday, as police shot dead 52-year-old Khalid Masood, Mr Trump Jr tweeted the article with the caption, “You have to be kidding me?! Terror attacks are part of living in big city, says London Mayor Sadiq Khan.”
You have to be kidding me?!: Terror attacks are part of living in big city, says London Mayor Sadiq Khan https://t.co/uSm2pwRTjO — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 22, 2017
However, Mr Trump Jr neglected to mention that Mr Khan was noting that residents need to “be prepared” for such attacks.
Mr Khan chose not to respond to the 39-year-old New Yorker’s comments directly, telling CNN: “I’m not going to respond to a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. I’ve been doing far more important things over the last 24 hours.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan: "I'm not going to respond to a tweet from Donald Trump Jr, I've been doing more important things over the past 24h" pic.twitter.com/JGibM7vWOT — CNN (@CNN) March 23, 2017
Mr Trump Jr’s tweet included a link to a September 22 story from Britain’s Independent newspaper that included Mr Khan’s quote to the Evening Standard days earlier.
Mr Khan was speaking to the newspaper from New York, a day after a bomb went off in the city, leaving more than two dozen people hurt.
COURAGE UNDER FIRE: Hero MP races to save dying cop
“Part and parcel of living in a great global city is you’ve got to be prepared for these things. You’ve got to be vigilant. You’ve got to support the police doing an incredibly hard job,” he had said.
Mr Trump Jr was widely criticised for the tweet, with British Member of Parliament Wes Streeting calling him a “a disgrace” and accusing him of using a terrorist attack for “political gain.”
It comes as President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences to the American killed in the London attack.
Kurt Cochran, 54, was touring Europe with his 46-year-old wife, Melissa, when they were mowed down by the terrorist on the south end of Westminster Bridge. Mr Cochran died from his injuries, while his wife is recovering in hospital.
“A great American, Kurt Cochran, was killed in the London terror attack. My prayers and condolences are with his family and friends,” Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday.
Scotland Yard on Thursday identified the killer behind the London terror attack as Khalid Masood, a married father-of-three and “fitness freak”.
Masood had previous convictions for assaults, including GBH, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences. He had not been convicted of any terrorism offences.
Police said the attacker was born in Kent but moved to the West Midlands.Leave it up to a Fox News Channel talk show host to ask a tone-deaf question.
During a somber discussion by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of a 9/11 memorial on the 16th anniversary of the terror attacks on New York and the Washington area, “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade asked: “Do you worry 100 years from now someone’s going to try to take that memorial down like they’re trying remake our memorials today?”
Zinke was talking about theFlight 93 National Memorialin Shanksville, Pennsylvania, that commemorates the brave airline passengers who battled hijackers and took down a fourth plane on 9/11, preventing an additional terror attack on Washington.
What happened on Flight 93 “is an example of America sticking together,”Zinke had said, adding that the memorial honors “American heroes.”
Kilmeade couldn’t resist piping in with his question that equated the recognition of those who sacrificed their lives to prevent further devastation on Sept. 11 with the push by cities such asBaltimore, Maryland, andmany others to remove statues glorifying those who defended the slave-owning Confederacy.
Zinke did not seem fazed ― or offended ― by Kilmeade’s question, Indeed, he treated it seriously:
“Well, I’m one that believes that, you know, we should learn from history. And I think our monuments are a part of our country’s history. We can learn from it.”
He added:
“Since we don’t put up statues of Jesus, everyone is going to fall morally short.”
Perhaps Zinke has never seen themassive tributes to Jesussuch asChrist of the Ozarksin Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the Lux Mundiin Monroe, Ohio, or — we dunno — a crucifix outside of a church.
CORRECTION:A previous version of this article misidentified the Ohio town where Jesus statuary has been located as “Lux Mundi”; it is Monroe.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Is Ron Paul left of Obama, or a throwback to Ike? CAMPAIGN 2012
Washington -- GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul's antiwar stand is considered so out of sync with his party that rival Rick Santorum put him in league with liberal Democrat Dennis Kucinich, to the left of President Obama.
But to his supporters, Paul is returning the GOP to its cautious foreign policy roots, articulated in President Dwight Eisenhower's 1961 warning about "the military-industrial complex."
In their view, the Republican Party lost its way starting with the Reagan military build-up in the 1980s and reaching a crescendo with former President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq in 2003.
"George Bush was the worst thing that ever happened to the Republican Party," said Paul supporter Robert Nadeau, owner of Nadeau Family Vintners in Paso Robles (San Luis Obispo County). "When I look at the Republican Party going back to World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, the Republican candidates were the end-the-war candidates.
"The party of Eisenhower and Nixon has now become the war party," he said. "How did that happen? How is it we're willing to borrow $1 trillion from the Chinese so we can throw bombs on people whose regimes we propped up?"
Trillion-dollar deficits at home and a war in Iraq that is estimated to have cost at least that much are creating dissonance among Tea Party, evangelical Christian and traditional Republicans in conservative regions of California and the nation.
Compelling message
For some voters who once supported Sen. John McCain and George W. Bush, the small-government, antiwar message from Paul, a 76-year-old candidate who critics say looks like he could be feeding pigeons, is compelling.
Establishment Republicans give Paul zero chance of winning the GOP nomination, but the party's neoconservative wing is alarmed enough about his message that former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson accused Paul's supporters of trying to "erase 158 years of Republican Party history," including Abraham Lincoln.
"He really is not resonating with establishment Republicans," who consider Paul's opposition to sanctions on Iran as "extremely dangerous," said GOP analyst Ford O'Connell.
Still, polls show Paul headed for a second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, behind Mitt Romney, boosted by the state's open primary that allows independents to vote. Paul doubled his showing in Iowa from four years ago, capturing 21 percent of the vote there on Tuesday.
Exit polling from the Iowa caucuses showed Paul picking up 18 percent of participants described as evangelical Christians, outpacing Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who each got 14 percent of those voters. Santorum, who finished in second place, just eight votes behind Romney, got 32 percent of those voters.
Paul also matched Romney among Tea Party supporters, at 19 percent, while Santorum won the Tea Party bloc at 29 percent. In New Hampshire, however, Santorum is lagging behind Paul, drawing 8 percent support to Paul's 18 percent, according to a poll released Thursday by Suffolk University in Boston. Romney is drawing 41 percent.
Analysts say Paul's appeal is limited to a loyal bloc of diehards.
Popularity ceiling
"He hits a ceiling at 25 percent," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, which runs the poll. "The only state where he can break above 25 percent is Virginia, and that's only because he's one of two candidates on the ballot" along with Romney.
John Dennis, a San Francisco activist for Paul who ran as the Republican challenger to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, two years ago when she was House speaker, said Paul's loyal supporters have doubled in the past six months.
"The Republican Party was non-interventionist, but the neoconservatives took that over," Dennis said. "But our roots are still there because it makes common sense to conservatives not to go to war simply from a fiscal point of view."
The Paul campaign's strategy is to collect delegates with an eye toward influencing the party platform. Caucuses in Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota and Washington can allow passionate followers an outsized influence because open balloting is conducted among small local groups, compared with statewide primaries with secret ballots.
Political analysts are skeptical, however, that Romney or any of the other GOP contenders would embrace Paul's libertarian positions, which include not just his antiwar stance but his opposition to the war on drugs, the Federal Reserve and other issues.
At the same time, the eventual candidate can ill afford to alienate Paul's followers if he continues to rack up vote shares in the 20 percent range.
Getting a little help
Boosting Paul's visibility is a war-weary public, record deficit spending and a sitting Democratic president who many Democrats believe has continued Bush policies on terrorism, civil liberties and war, said David Boaz, executive vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute.
Paul has "brought together this concept of economic conservatism, social moderation and staying out of unnecessary wars," Boaz said. "That combination hasn't been offered by any other Republican presidential candidate in a long time."
But Michael Denny, a San Francisco volunteer for the Paul campaign who described his political views as "Old Right revivalist," said the sentiment he has encountered among many GOP voters is that "war is religion," and that faction shows little sign of change.
"I can't say I'm seeing a shift among those who have taken a hard-line position," Denny said. "But for those who are undecided or feel queasy about the way the government is going, Ron Paul gives them an alternative voice."Deep-seated political differences aren't simply moral and intellectual: They're also biological.
In reflex tests of 46 political partisans, psychologists found that conservatives were more likely than liberals to be shocked by sudden threats.
Accompanying the physiological differences were deep differences on hot-button political issues: military expansion, the Iraq war, gun control, capital punishment, the Patriot act, warrantless searches, foreign aid, abortion rights, gay marriage, premarital sex and pornography.
"People are experiencing the world, experiencing threat, differently," said University of Nebraska political scientist John Hibbing. "We have very different physiological orientations."
The study, published today in Science, has not yet been duplicated, but adds a potentially troubling piece to the puzzle of biology, behavior and politics.
Earlier studies have linked reflexive responses to threats – which for testing purposes take the form of loud noises and graphic images – with existing states of heightened anxiety.
Though the Science study's authors cautioned against an overly broad interpretation of their findings, the results suggest that fear leads to political conservatism.
"Threatening situations do indeed seem to increase people's affinity for politically conservative opinions, leaders, and parties," said New
York University psychologist John Jost.
Study co-author Kevin Smith, also a University of Nebraska political scientist, demurred at making such a connection. "Historically speaking, politicians have appealed |
Mothering Sunday (Scribner UK)
David Szalay – All That Man Is (Jonathan Cape)
Jonathan Taylor – Melissa (Salt Publishing)
William Thacker – Lingua Franca (Legend Press)
Yusuf Toropov – Jihadi: A Love Story (Orenda Books)
Anna Vaught – Killing Hapless Alley (Patrician Press)
Dan Vyleta – Smoke (W&N)
Natasha Walter – A Quiet Life (The Borough Press)
Simon Wan – Love and a Dozen Roast Potatoes (Urbane Publications)
Eleanor Wasserberg – Foxlowe (Harper Collins)
Jemma Wayne – Chains of Sand (Legend Press)
Aliya Whitely – The Arrival of the Missives (Unsung Stories)
Chis Whitaker – Tall Oaks (Twenty7)
Hugo Wilcken – The Reflection (Melville House UK)
Matt Wilven – The Blackbird Singularity (Legend Press)
Charlotte Wood – The Natural Way of Things (Allen & Unwin)
James Yorkston – Three Craws (Freight Books)
I’ll be back here on 15 August to post the results – and no doubt feeling slightly frazzled from all the counting. Let’s go!A “like” sign at the entrance of Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images
Be careful what you “like” on Facebook—because the feds may be watching.
Earlier this month, the FBI’s Los Angeles field office revealed it had charged four men over alleged involvement in an al-Qaeda inspired terror cell based in and around California. Since 2010, the men had, according to the feds, been plotting ways to help provide “material support” to terrorists in order to kill American targets in Afghanistan. The FBI’s complaint against the group was under seal until it was released a few days ago, and it has since attracted attention from activists because of some of the shadowy law enforcement techniques it reveals.
The document shows that aside from using the traditional method of paying a “confidential source,” the FBI was also trying to infiltrate the group electronically. Using an “online covert employee,” the feds posed as terrorism sympathisers in order to gauge the potential threat posed by certain individuals. In one case, they say they got a 21-year-old Mexico-born man to admit he was keen to pursue jihad in order to “stop the oppressors.” Other sections of the complaint detail how the FBI was somehow able to obtain audio and video recordings of Skype conversations in which their confidential informant participated. Given that it remains unclear whether it is technically possible to wiretap Skype due to its encryption, it’s possible that the FBI had installed some sort of spyware directly onto the terrorists’ computer in order to bypass any eavesdropping barriers.
But perhaps most interesting is how the feds monitored social networks. One part of the complaint, headed “DEFENDANTS’ SOCIAL MEDIA,” lists Islamist content the men had “liked”, “shared”, commented on or posted on their Facebook pages. The FBI details how Sohiel Omar Kabir, a U.S. citizen who appears to be the alleged ringleader of the group, posted “photographs of himself, non-extremist content, radical Islamist content, and items reflecting a mistrust of mainstream media, abuses by the government, conspiracy theories, abuses by law enforcement, and the war in Afghanistan.” It adds, in reference to two of the other suspects, “Kabir has ‘shared’ several postings with Santana and/or Deleon, both of whom have ‘liked’ or commented on several other postings by Kabir.”
This illustrates how important social media behavior is becoming for law enforcement agencies as they try to build cases against individuals. But it will also raise concerns about how social network monitoring could have a chilling effect on free speech, especially if “liking” or sharing any controversial content on Facebook becomes viewed by authorities as inherently suspicious or criminal. Other countries have already had to face up to controversy over how their law enforcement agencies monitor and penalize social network users. Earlier this month, for instance, two women were arrested in India: one for posting an “offensive” comment on Facebook about a recently deceased political leader, the other for “liking” it. The women have since been released on bail and, the New York Times reports, a police investigation into why they were arrested in the first place has been ordered.On Friday night in Hartford, Connecticut, Landon Donovan will wear a United States jersey for the last time. At some point, Donovan will be substituted off and he will receive a raucous ovation as the fans celebrate the leading scorer and assist man in U.S. international history.
In the aftermath of the game, naysayers will gradually emerge. They’ll say Donovan never fulfilled his potential at the club level. They’ll say he wasn’t mentally tough enough. They’ll say he crumbled in the 2006 World Cup. And to some degree, they’ll be right. But in levying all of this criticism, they’ll run the risk of overshadowing a crucial reality: Landon Donovan is the best player in U.S. men’s national team history, and it’s not very close.
Donovan was always destined for American soccer G.O.A.T. status. There had been great young players before him and since, but none—aside from Freddy Adu—looked as promising when he arrived as the dynamic forward from California’s Inland Empire. In 1999, he won the Golden Ball at the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Less than a year later he made his USMNT debut in a friendly against Mexico, scoring a trademark goal against what would soon become his favorite opponent.
He then announced himself to the world at the 2002 World Cup, picking up the same Best Young Player Award that would go to future world-class players Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller, and Paul Pogba in the subsequent Cups. After scoring a superb consolation goal versus Poland in the final group-stage match, Donovan notched his second goal of the tournament in the knockout stage against Mexico, burying El Tri with a surging run and confident header.
In the quarters against Germany, Donovan dazzled for 90 minutes, the best player on the pitch against the eventual tournament finalists. From that point forward, he became LANDON DONOVAN(!!) in U.S. soccer circles, and also became the first-ever American soccer player to become a household name across the country.
With something of the weight of the soccer-watching country on his shoulders, he hardly ever disappointed over the following decade. His most impressive achievement may have been that he was essentially the best player on the team for almost a decade. While his club form occasionally varied, he always brought it for the national team, aside from the disappointing showing in Germany in 2006 (where he was far from alone in his underachievement). In the ultimate mark of Donovan’s consistency, he scored three or more goals for the USMNT in 10 out of 12 years from 2002–2013, winning U.S. Player of the Year four times.
More memorable than Donovan’s steadiness, though, is the sheer number of breathtaking moments that he delivered. There were the goals of sublime quality, such as the quicksilver touch to set him free against Mexico in 2007.
Or the stunning hat trick in a friendly romp over Ecuador, highlighted by a first-minute screamer with his weaker foot.
But what will forever endure Donovan to U.S. supporters is his lengthy catalogue of big goals in big games, starting with that backbreaker against Mexico in South Korea.
After that came one of the technically best goals the U.S. has ever scored, and one that would be ten times more legendary had the Yanks hung on for the win against Brazil in the 2009 Confederations Cup final. In an astonishing nine-second counterattack, Donovan ripped Brazil to shreds on the strength of the qualities that will forever define his brilliance: pace, clever passing, composure on the ball, and clinical finishing. The perfectly weighted first-time pass to Charlie Davies; the searing run to somehow get beyond the impossibly rangy Ramires; the great first touch, and then the cool finish with his weaker foot. It was counterattacking perfection, and the type of sequence that no other American has ever dreamed of completing from start to finish.
One year later he reached his pinnacle in a masterful 2010 World Cup, in which he nearly single-handedly dragged the U.S. to the quarterfinals.
First came his cold-blooded rocket against Slovenia. With the U.S. just 45 minutes away from being at major risk of a second consecutive World Cup flop, Donovan slipped defender Bostjan Cesar, sized up his options in the area, and then smashed a shot from an acute angle right at goalkeeper Samir Handanovic’s face. The bold finish set the Yanks on course for a famous comeback victory, one that was only denied by a phantom foul call on Maurice Edu’s winner from a brilliant Donovan set piece.
Five days later, Donovan scored *that* goal, the instinctive stoppage-time winner that gave the U.S. first place in Group C and spurred soccer-related bedlam unlike anything the nation had ever seen. The finish was simple enough, but it was facilitated by two subtly excellent Donovan touches. First, the collection from Tim Howard’s throw that kept the move going at full pace, and then the nifty slide-rule pass into Jozy Altidore’s path.
And in the knockout stage against Ghana, he nailed a penalty to level against the Black Stars in the second half. For his supposed mental fragility, he was absolutely lethal from the penalty spot, scoring on every one of his 15 attempts for the national team, including an equalizer against Mexico in the 2007 Gold Cup final and a go-ahead strike against Italy in the 2009 Confederations Cup to go with this composed effort against Ghana.
Donovan’s final big-game masterpiece came in the 2011 Gold Cup final, when clever off-ball movement and a superb through ball from Clint Dempsey left him one-on-one against Alfredo Talavera. He took the opportunity with customary aplomb, firing the Americans two goals ahead against Mexico.
That goal against Mexico would prove to be Donovan’s last major USMNT moment.
After his much-critiqued sabbatical in early 2013, he came back and torched the 2013 “B”-team Gold Cup in a supposed act of penance to get back in to Jurgen Klinsmann’s good graces ahead of one final World Cup run in Brazil. But in a somewhat stunning omission from the U.S. squad, Klinsmann denied Donovan the chance of adding to his legacy at the 2014 World Cup.
It’s impossible to say whether Donovan would have made an impact or not, but his track record and recent performances in MLS suggest that his chances would have been very good. Regardless, the World Cup snub cannot take away from the unparalleled résumé Donovan accrued in his USMNT career: 57 goals, 58 assists, five World Cup goals, and three goals in tournament finals.
At the conclusion of Friday’s game, the U.S. will move on. The player pool is growing deeper and the prospects of a historic World Cup run seem to be improving. Today, Donovan isn’t necessarily as needed as he was in drier times for U.S. talent (and public interest), but no matter how much U.S. soccer grows on and off the field, it will be a damn long time before we see another American of Donovan’s caliber on the international stage.ADVERTISEMENT
Another day, another diplomatic crisis in the Middle East. This one, unusually, is all about Qatar, the ultra-wealthy monarchy in the Persian Gulf. On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, as well as factions within war-torn Yemen and Libya, announced they were severing diplomatic ties with Qatar. Qatari nationals have been ordered out of those countries, the border with Saudi Arabia has been closed, and some offices of Qatar's Al Jazeera network have been shuttered.
There are many longstanding sources of tension between Qatar and these nations. But the proximate cause of the breach was President Trump's visit, as he himself explained on Twitter. His combination of extreme ignorance and extreme gullibility allowed the Saudis to seize the initiative against a rival. Having a fool as a president is not so great.
As Derek Davison explains, the crisis is rooted in the geography and history of Qatar. As a tiny peninsula state (population: 2.7 million, only about 300,000 of whom are citizens), which has been ruled by outsiders for most of its history and whose only land access comes via the much larger and more powerful Saudi Arabia, Qatari strategic thinking has been consumed by ways to secure itself against Saudi domination. (It's also worth noting that many of the expatriates living there are prevented from leaving and endure conditions of brutal exploitation.)
Qatar has the world's fourth-largest reserves of oil and natural gas (also giving it the world's highest per-capita income), and it has used that money in various ways to backstop its position. Under Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who overthrew his father in 1995, and then abdicated in favor of his son Tamim in 2013, they adopted a fairly promiscuous diplomatic approach, trying to curry favor with all manner of parties. They host the largest American military base in the region, and they were helping Saudi Arabia with its disastrous Yemen intervention (until now). But they also have cultivated ties with Hamas and Iran, and supported many Arab Spring movements, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and sundry Islamist Syrian rebels.
These last two moves infuriated the Saudis. Iran is their great regional rival, and they hate the idea of any sort of political Islam outside of their own version. President Obama was too wary to take sides in the dispute, so as long as he lasted the status quo was preserved. But when Trump visited the region, apparently they accused Qatar of being the fount of all radical Islamism (after first buttering him up with pictures of his face plastered over everything). He swallowed it whole:
So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017
...extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017
This puts Qatar in a very tricky spot, since much of its food comes overland from Saudi Arabia, and its airlines have been forced to fly around through Iran. There has already been panicked hoarding at grocery stores, and as Fred Kaplan points out, Saudi newspapers are already basically calling for a military coup d'etat.
It's anybody's guess what will happen next. Perhaps Qatar will withdraw enough media and funding support for things the Saudis don't like to buy them off, and everything will return to normal. Or perhaps the Saudis will get greedy and try to install a puppet government. Even the rattletrap Saudi military could probably defeat the tiny Qatari force, though that would raise the thorny prospect of fighting near the huge American military base there, and possible Iranian retaliation.
Or perhaps worst of all, this would just be one more step towards forming a 1914-style set of alliance blocs across the whole of the Middle East and North Africa, with a Sunni bloc led by Saudi Arabia, and a Shia bloc led by Iran — a powder keg which would not just be dangerously unstable, but actually already on fire in multiple locations. War and devastation across the parts of the region that aren't already a smoking crater could be the result.
Now, it is true that Qatar has likely funded some terrorist groups. But Saudi hands are not remotely clean in that department. Only an absolute dolt would either take Saudi accusations at face value, or look at the delicate balance of power and diplomacy and the way America has (for good or bad) insinuated itself into both sides of the rivalry, and with no warning suddenly galumph off towards one side. Qatar thought it was purchasing some American backing by hosting a large base — but it turns out a child could manipulate our president.
May God have mercy on us all.This article is over 2 years old
Publisher Trinity Mirror to announce closure of experimental national newspaper after sales fall to around 30,000 copies
The New Day newspaper to shut just two months after launch
Trinity Mirror is to shut its experimental new national newspaper the New Day on Friday just two months after launch.
The publisher of the Daily Mirror launched the title, which aimed to target those who had “fallen out of love with newspapers”, at the end of February with a promotional print run of about 2m.
The title was launched with a £5m TV ad campaign that ran with the strapline “Seize the New Day”.
Trinity Mirror, which saw its share price slump to a three-year low on Wednesday, is expected to announce the closure of the title in a stock market trading update on Thursday morning.
The New Day got off to a terrible start, and Trinity Mirror’s bosses are to blame Read more
Two sources said staff were informed of the closure on Wednesday. The last issue will hit stands on Friday.
Editor Alison Phillips, who was previously responsible for stablemates the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, was said by those who attended the internal meeting to be distraught.
The publisher had aimed to hit paid sales of 200,000, and made promises to advertisers to sell ads at that rate of sales or offer money back, but instead saw its popularity immediately sink to about 30,000 copies per day.
Trinity Mirror positioned the launch of the title as a low-cost operation running on extra capacity at its printing presses – which also had contracts to print the Independent print titles and still handle the i, which Evgeny Lebedev sold to Johnston Press earlier this year.
Sources say the New Day was probably running at a loss of about £1m annually. A spokeswoman for Trinity Mirror refused to comment.CLOSE A 72-year-old taxi driver discovered $187,000 in cash had been left behind in his cab by a homeless man. USA TODAY
In this photo released by the Boston Police Department, stacks of money totaling about $187,000 that were left in a taxi are displayed in Boston. (Photo: AP)
Last week, a Boston cabbie returned about $187,000 cash left in his taxi by a homeless man to the Boston Police Department.
Raymond "Buzzy" MacCausland, a driver for the Independent Taxi Operators Association according to AP, picked up a man with a cast on one leg July 1.
"He told me he was homeless and had been living in a shelter for six months," MacCausland told AP.
During the trip, he asked MacCausland to stop because he wanted to meet a friend. The customer said he'd return, but didn't after 30 minutes. So, MacCausland drove to the man's hotel to try and find him with the help of staff there. He checked the bag the man left behind and found bundles of $50 and $100 bills.
MacCausland immediately took the money to Boston Police, who determined it was part of an inheritance.
"To me that was a relief," MacCausland told AP. "Because I know if it wasn't they'd come looking for me."
The money's owner called the taxi company, who contacted police. He picked up his backpack and money, and gave MacCausland a $100 reward.
This wasn't the first time MacCausland found a large sum of money left in his cab.
"I once found $10,000 about 30 years ago," he told WCVB. "I returned that and they didn't give me nothing. Sometimes you get good tips, sometimes you don't."
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Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/29wrFXLBirds fly over Mississippi's Lake Ferguson. (Via Flickr/Jimmy Smith)
He holds out hope that there are other developers quietly working away in Mississippi, but he's been on the programmer prowl for about a year and hasn't found much. He founded a Facebook group, Mississippi Video Game Developers, in August, and so far it has two members: Weymouth and one other guy who plays around with GameMaker software. Weymouth's company, War Room Studios, is registered with Mississippi, and he's working on a Super Smash Bros.–style brawler called Vellum Wars, though both his artist and musician are out of state. He calls Mississippi a wasteland for technical prowess.
"That's what it feels like to be a game developer or even just a creative person in this area," he says. "You live in your own little bubble, and that's not how creativity flourishes... This is a real industry, and it's not going anywhere, and the fact that our state is not capitalizing on it is just a travesty. There's people in Florida doing it, there's people in Louisiana and Alabama. Why are we this dead zone in the middle of all that?"
The dream
Despite Mississippi's digital deficit, Weymouth has hope for the state's technological future, because he believes in the people of Mississippi. He knows artists and sees opportunities for education, training, entertainment and creative expression everywhere -- even in run-down, closed-up buildings.
Parts of Mississippi are still recovering from the carnage that Hurricane Katrina dumped on the region in 2005. Weymouth says rental fees are high in his town because of inflated insurance rates since the storm, resulting in rows of vacant storefronts. He passes these empty buildings every time he drives down Gulfport's main highway, and they fuel his drive to do something, anything, to help his community recover and create something beautiful.
Google Maps captured one abandoned building along a Gulfport highway.
"It just drives me nuts," he says. "I'd love to be able to remove the wall for anybody who wants to be creative, even if it's just a local band that just needs to use sound equipment. A video game studio has that."
Weymouth thinks big. He imagines an incubator outfitted with computers (complete with major game-engine licenses), sound equipment, a physical-art space, experts-in-residence from a range of fields, and, grandest of all, a motion-capture studio. He wants to host game jams and tournaments at the studio, and he'd encourage schools to bring students on field trips. He dreams of a community hub for creativity and collaboration.
The incubator wouldn't just be a place to learn and create -- it would be a lifeline for Gulfport's vulnerable youth. It certainly would have helped Weymouth when he was a kid. He comes from a large family, and he left home as a teenager so his kin could afford to live a better life. It was a "one less mouth in the house" kind of thing, he says. As a young adult, he floated between the streets and stable housing, and he met other young people in similar situations along the way.
Another potential home for Weymouth's gaming incubator, captured via Google Maps.
"I've just seen all these people go through this horrible stuff, and I'm like: That person was a beautiful artist," he says. "If they just had a place to paint, they might not have gone down that terrible route. They could have seen a future."
Weymouth had a leg up in terms of job placement. He loved video games from an early age, and that interest put him on a technical path. He taught himself how to program and eventually ended up fixing computers at a "big blue box" retailer. He's 29 now, married and with a three-year-old daughter.
"There needs to be more business here for creativeness, gaming, entertainment in general," Weymouth says. "If you don't want to go to a casino or go to a bar around here, as a young adult, you really don't have much else to do."
The gaming incubator could be that business. Weymouth isn't all talk; he's been trying to sell the idea to potential investors in groups and at private dinners for a year at least. In his pitch, the gaming incubator offers an affordable monthly subscription that provides access to the studio's tools and experts. The program helps burgeoning developers create and publish video games, and then takes a slice of the profit to keep itself afloat.
No one has bitten yet. Weymouth says investors have typically responded with things like "No one cares about video games in Mississippi," and "There is no game industry in the state -- for good reason."
Weymouth says Vellum Wars is like Super Smash Bros., but you won't need a Wii to play it.
He attempted to secure small-business loans and funding from banks, with similar luck. Interest rates were too high ("financial suicide," as Weymouth puts it), and other complications blocked those avenues. That's one reason he's working on Vellum Wars, his party brawler for PC. If he proves that video games can be financially successful, his incubator pitch might carry more weight.
"I decided, Well, I'm going to have to do it the hard way," he says. "I decided to sit down and create a game with as much inner resources that I could. Everyone's always told me my whole life that I don't do things simply. I always go over the top on things, and here I am doing it again."
The reality
Weymouth's incubator idea is mired in red tape, but it isn't completely unheard of. Rock Band Blitz and Dance Central co-developer Fire Hose Games launched an incubator program based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2013, with the goal of helping new developers create and sell their first games. So far, the studio has brought Chris Chung's cat simulator, Catlateral Damage, to PC, Mac and Linux, and it's working with Batterystaple Games on the action platformer 20XX, which is on Steam Early Access.
Embody a feisty feline in Catlateral Damage.
These are two of Fire Hose's successes, though its first incubator game, Let's Quip, didn't do so hot, according to studio co-founder Eitan Glinert. Fire Hose eventually removed that one from the App Store.
"Two out of three? That's pretty good!" Glinert says.
Even though Glinert calls Fire Hose's incubator (or "accelerator") a success overall, he advises caution for someone like Weymouth, who's attempting to start a program from scratch in a tech-barren region of the country. Glinert correctly guesses that it will be difficult for Weymouth to find both developers and investors in Mississippi.
"No sensible investor wants to invest in video games right now -- it's a horrible industry to invest in at the moment, at least on the small or indie scale," Glinert says.
Weymouth's biggest issue may not be funding, though. Glinert says that the most problematic aspect of running an incubator is actually finding talented teams that can keep the business running. Searching for these developers takes time, and supporting their efforts takes money, and it's best to invest only in those that will churn out profitable, attention-grabbing games.
20XX is on Steam Early Access and it's already selling well, Glinert says.
"I didn't expect how hard it would be to do this when I started," Glinert says. "Plus, you're limited largely by region -- it's hard for us to compete with accelerators on the West Coast, so we're really only looking at folks on the Eastern Seaboard."
A new accelerator would work best if it's tied to an existing source of quality developers, such as the Independent Games Festival, IndieFund or even a university with a gaming program, Glinert says. That last part might be difficult for Weymouth, since there are no video game–specific programs in Mississippi universities, according to The Art Career Project.
Plus, Glinert says, it's nearly impossible to find funding for these things. Fire Hose ended up bootstrapping its own accelerator.
"I think your best bet to fund an incubator, if you don't already have the money, is to find successful or rich game devs who understand the industry, believe in you and what you're doing, and want to back you," he says.
Overall, Glinert says an incubator can definitely be profitable, but it's a long road packed with massive, money-shaped potholes.
Limbo
All of this may not be terrible news for Weymouth.
He isn't interested in working only with the top developers in the nation; he wants people from his area to have a place they can express themselves and network with other creative types. His incubator is community-focused; it includes plans not just for video game development, but other forms of art, too. He hasn't explored all of his funding options, and alternative routes like Kickstarter are still on the table, even though Weymouth says he has a problem taking money from people before he has an actual product to deliver. He even likes the idea of running a nonprofit business. Still, he'll have to figure out some way to keep the lights on.
Finding an investor will be incredibly difficult, but Weymouth already knew that. Besides, he doesn't want just any investor to throw money at this project. He wants someone who cares about Mississippi.
"The investor who is in the state is doing it for the people here," Weymouth says. "If I get somebody from out of state, they're not going to feel the same as I am about the local people here."
Vellum Wars should be ready to brawl in about six months, Weymouth says.
Weymouth wants to build a hub for future video game developers, filmmakers, musicians and artists to flourish. He wants young people to be proud of their home state, and, in turn, he wants Mississippi to be proud of its creative pioneers. Weymouth wants to show his neighbors, family and friends that there's a bright future in Mississippi's gaming and art scene, if only it's allowed to take root.
"You deserve a future," he says, speaking to the hypothetical artist at his incubator's door. "You have talents and skills that you've acquired through hard work. You deserve a future. You're not lazy. You just have struggles -- and we all have struggles. It would be cool to just be able to remove the wall and allow creative prowess to get some exposure and a future."
Weymouth's dreams are immense, potentially naive, and maybe impossible to achieve. But he's been dreaming big all of his life. Why stop now?
"I'm not in this to make money," he says. "If I wanted to make money, I'd go get a nine-to-five where the money is guaranteed. I'm in this for a future where I'm not a cog in a machine. I'm doing something to help people."Beach in Rio. Image: Flickr/Mike Vondran
Over 170 health experts from around the world have signed an open letter to World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan calling for the postponement or relocation of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro due to concerns about the public health risk posed by Zika in the country.
The letter, posted on Friday, claims that "an unnecessary risk is posed when 500,000 foreign tourists from all countries attend the Games, potentially acquire that strain, and return home to places where it can become endemic." As the signatories note in the letter, the Brazilian strain of the mosquito-borne virus "harms health in ways that science has not observed before," causing neurological conditions such as microcephaly (where an infant is born with an abnormally small head) and possibly Guillian-Barré syndrome, a disease where the body's immune system attacks the nervous system.
Due to the large number of unknowns surrounding the Zika virus and the fact that Rio has the second highest number of Zika cases in the country the letter's signatories argue that it is unethical to host the Games in the city.
Although the postponement of the Games would not be without precedent (the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Olympic Games were entirely cancelled due to war and other sporting events, such as the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, have been relocated due to health concerns), the World Health Organization rejected the call for postponement in a statement on Friday.
According to the WHO, "cancelling or changing the location of the 2016 Olympics will not significantly alter the international spread of Zika virus," although the organization has previously labeled Zika a "public health emergency."
The International Olympics Committee has also issued a statement on Zika earlier this year, assuring Olympics attendees that it is working closely with WHO to ensure the safety of athletes and spectators at the Games.
As the IOC mentioned in its statement, the Olympic Games are taking place during August, when the weather will be cooler in Brazil and less conducive to breeding mosquitoes. Further measures will also be taken to combat the spread of Zika, ranging from the removal of pools of stagnant water near event sites to the dispersal of'sweaty' mosquito-killing billboards.NASA file Cosmonauts gather to have some cognac on the Mir space station in 1997, hours after a flash fire nearly killed them. Alexander Lazutkin is at far right. The picture was taken by NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger, who passed up the opportunity to imbibe.
A retired cosmonaut says Russian doctors have sent alcoholic beverages along with spacefliers for years to keep them "in tone" and neutralize tension.
This week's comments from Alexander Lazutkin, who lived aboard Russia's Mir space station during one of the tensest episodes in space history, confirm what most observers have long known about Moscow's space effort. The Russians have looser standards than NASA when it comes to drinking alcohol in orbit — and if there's cognac or vodka aboard the International Space Station, they've been able to hide it pretty well.
It was a different story on Mir, however. There, the Americans were guests, and stood by while their Russian colleagues imbibed the occasional stress-reliever or New Year's toast. (Click over to this archived item and scroll down to "Do Astronauts and Alcohol Mix?" for further background.)
On Monday, Lazutkin discussed the history of drinking in space with journalists at Moscow's Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics, where he's the deputy director. "During prolonged space missions, especially at the beginning of the Space Age, we had alcoholic drinks in the cosmonauts' rations," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying Monday. "This was cognac, which the doctors recommended for use. We used it to stimulate our immune system and on the whole to keep our organisms in tone."
Later, a type of ginseng liqueur (literally, "liqueur from the eleutherococcus") was occasionally consumed, he said.
During Lazutkin's stint aboard Mir in 1997, an unpiloted supply vehicle collided with one of the space station's modules, opening up a leak that almost forced an emergency evacuation. Lazutkin said he and his crewmates definitely opened the liquor cabinet after that incident.
"Yes, we resorted to alcohol during our flight. But this was by authorization of the Ministry of Public Health," he said. RIA Novosti quoted Lazutkin as saying that alcohol was "recommended for neutralizing the harmful effect of the atmosphere" — though it's not clear whether he was referring to the air or the working conditions.
NASA says its astronauts have not used alcohol in space, although the agency found itself in the middle of a controversy back in 2007 when an independent panel passed along concerns about pre-flight drinking. At the time, NASA said it was not able to confirm any flight risks linked to alcohol consumption. Since then, NASA has tightened up its policies on alcohol and drug use even more. Such prudishness may well leave Russian doctors, and Lazutkin as well, shaking their heads.
"How can you greet the New Year without champagne?" Lazutkin asked.
The reason for Lazutkin's session with reporters was not to discuss the cosmonauts' drinking habits, but to announce the winner of a passenger ticket on Armadillo Aerospace's suborbital spacecraft, arranged through the Virginia-based Space Adventures travel company. Evgeny Kovalev of St. Petersburg won the ticket in a contest sponsored by the Efes brewery, and became Armadillo's first confirmed passenger.
Space Adventures' Russian representative, Sergei Kostenko, said the current plan called for Armadillo's craft to have its first piloted test flight in 2012. Passengers would be put on board after five or six additional test flights, he was quoted as saying in a RIA Novosti report. He also said about 200 applicants are on the list for the $102,000-per-person space tour packages.
So will Kovalev and other suborbital spacefliers be sipping cognac to celebrate flying on Armadillo's spaceship? Don't count on it.
"No alcoholic drinks will be consumed during the Armadillo Aerospace/Space Adventures’ suborbital spaceflights," Stacey Tearne, Space Adventures' vice president for communication, told me in an e-mail.
Would you go along with having a no-alcohol policy for spaceflight, or would you agree with Lazutkin that there'd be little harm in drinking a slightly intoxicating toast while you're taking your six-figure ride into space? Feel free to weigh in with your comments below.
Update for 2:30 p.m. ET Oct. 15: NBC News space analyst James Oberg sends along this photographic footnote:
"A delicious backstory to this article is how the lead photo of the medicinal cognac party ever reached the public. When Jerry Linenger returned from Mir in mid-1997, his photographs were processed into the NASA internal archive system, and I became aware of the scene (one of two shots) by means I still need to protect. But when I formally requested a copy for publication, from the NASA Public Affairs Office, the request was denied — reportedly on direct orders from astronaut Frank Culbertson, then the head of NASA's Shuttle-Mir office while angling for a future spaceflight of his own (which he did get, on ISS, in 2001). But my subsequent formal request via the Freedom of Information Act eventually shook the photos free — only because I was able to cite the exact photo ID numbers [if I hadn't originally known the photos existed, I doubt they'd ever have been released]. I used the photo in my 2002 book "Star-Crossed Orbits," and provided this particular image to MSNBC as well. I'm not sure the photo is even yet available to the general public on NASA's website — can anybody check?"
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," Alan's book about the |
. Hines. Nor was McManus fingerprinted, as required for all homicide suspects.
A year after his arrest McManus was brought to trial for the killing of Arnold Rothstein. The jury could not reach a decision, so a directed verdict for acquittal was placed before judge Charles C. Nott by McManus's lawyer, James D. C. Murray, on grounds that the evidence was inconclusive and weak. Minutes later McManus walked out of the courtroom a free man.
Several days after Rothstein's death, United States Attorney Charles H. Tuttle asked and was granted permission to examine the Rothmere papers, the Rothmere Realty Corporation, Mortgage Corporation, and Brokerage Company being three of Rothstein's many businesses. From these papers federal agents learned enough to seize millions of dollars' worth of narcotics and lay bare a hookup to major cities, including Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. As a result they pulled two raids simultaneously on December 27, 1928, one in a New York City hotel, one in a Buffalo railroad station, and captured five million dollars' worth of dope. The next night they seized several millions more in Chicago and made a huge haul December 18 on a Jersey City pier. The trail led to France, Belgium, Italy, Holland, sources of cocaine, heroin, and morphine smuggled into the U.S. Rothstein was the financier ih this vast illegal trade.
An attorney engaged by Mrs. Rothstein asked District Attorney Joab H. Banton to take instant custody of all of Arnold Rothstein's files, ledgers, and personal account books lest many prominent people blow their brains out if their names were made public. Curiously enough, the district attorney waited until employees and other persons associated with Rothstein could examine the papers on the grounds that this was necessary to the management of Rothstein's legitimate businesses and to safeguard his estate. By the time Banton did take possession of the papers, ten or twelve other people had beaten him to the punch. According to Leo Katcher, he said, "There are more than 40,000 papers, but we believe that some of Rothstein's records might be missing."
Katcher commented that the D.A. was "one hundred and ten per cent right." Some papers were missing.
"Fats" Walsh, George UfEner, and "Lucky" Luciano went to Rothstein's office the day he died to collect all papers pertinent to the illicit drug trade.Quite unexpectedly the district attorney surrendered Rothstein's private papers to different persons asserting claims to the dead gambler's estate. When Tuttle objected and obtained a court order for federal authorities to intervene, his men could find no papers. Somehow they had all - a carload of them - vanished. Several days later Tammany district leader Nathan Burkan, one of the attorneys to whom Banton planned to release the papers, announced that he had found a few of the papers in safety deposit boxes. The amount was small but the contents startling.
Rothstein was a super-fence for expensive goods, especially jewelry. He was involved in a $300,000 robbery in 1922 when gunman Eugene Moran robbed Mrs. Hugo A. C. Schoelkopf. The night of the robbery Moran dropped the loot with a fence named John Mahan to turn over to Rothstein. The Brain sent it to dealers in different parts of the world. Mahan was arrested but assured soft treatment if he recovered the stolen gems. In three months they were rounded up through Rothstein, turned over to Mahan, and returned to Mrs. Schoelkopf.
Rothstein was also behind huge bond robberies, having at one time recovered and returned $25,000,000 worth in an agreement that gave him 10 per cent-of the bonds for himself. Big bucket shops and rumrunning were also among his operations. He guaranteed bail money that ran into millions over the years for hoodlums and gunmen, slick con men, and gamblers. Finally, his innocence was palpably disproved and justice was shown to be blind when it declared him guiltless in fixing the 1919 World Series.
The Partridge Club, which flourished before World War I in the Hotel Imperial, was ostensibly run by lawyer, sportsman, and man-about-town George Young Bauchle, but was actually just another of Rothstein's gambling houses. Supposedly select and private, for gentlemen only, the term "gentlemen" was given a wide and loose interpretation. Anybody could gamble who planked down the thirty-dollar entrance fee, which entitled him also to an excellent champagne dinner. The district attorney tried but failed to establish the fact that it was nothing more than a high-class gambling joint.The Park View Athletic Club on West Forty-eighth Street was a Rothstein business where trained personnel helped patrons build up their muscles. There were also private rooms where a man could strengthen his muscles by rattling and tossing dice and shuffling and dealing cards.
A number of Rothstein's gambling clubs were run in partnership with local politicians who kept the police from annoying the games. Often they were in the political clubhouses, with the gambling conducted by an outside proprietor who gave a share of the take to the political leader.
When the war ended and the immigrant Negroes, Latins, Irish, and Jews, in Jimmie Hines's llth Assembly District lost their jobs, they turned to him for help. For this he needed money and he got it by renting the top floor of his clubhouse to Arnold Rothstein for five hundred dollars a month plus a share of the house's take. It worked out fine all around.
Money was the seat of Rothstein's power. He acted as banker to the underworld, staking big-shot racketeers who could not go to banks for loans. Rothstein himself could borrow from the banks, with his real estate holdings and bonds as securities.
So explosive was even the small amount of material available that every official who took custody of the files arrived at the painful decision to withhold them from the public: too many careers and reputations would be endangered. Many people believe that most of the papers have never been destroyed and that someday they may be "found" and their contents revealed.
There were legitimate holdings. Rothstein owned hotels, apartments, night clubs, race horses, and backed Broadway plays. But he likewise owned judges and politicians, retained a body of expert lawyers, had many members of gangland on his payroll who looked to him for backing in rumrunning, narcotics vending, bond robberies, and such ventures. Among others associated with him were Owney Madden, Eddie and Frank Costello, Frankie Yale, Larry Fay, Waxey Gordon, Frankie Marlow, Philip "Dandy Phil" Kastel, Albert Anastasia, Irving "Little Itch" Halper, Thomas "Fats" Walsh, Robert Arthur "Dapper Dan" Tourbillion, George Uffner and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Jack "Legs" Diamond and his brother Eddie, who led a mob of thieves, hijackers, narcotic peddlers, and gunmen, were also financed and "protected" by Rothstein. Rothstein took a shine to Legs soon after he graduated from being a sneak thief and petty larcenist and became a gun gorilla. Rothstein made Diamond his bodyguard and often lent him to big winners to take them home safely from his gambling joints. Stanley Walker says, "Did Legs take him home?" was the standing but grim jest at police head-quarters when a gambler was found bumped off, his pockets emptied.
Rothstein had, inevitably, many enemies who complicate and becloud the question: Who killed Arnold Rothstein? McManus was running the game that night and, as the "house," he was bound to keep the game on the level and see that debts were paid up. When Rothstein stalled the winners, it was up to him to see that they got their money. Dead, Rothstein could not pay. Some who professed to know claimed that the killing of Rothstein was a result of the bloody war between Legs Diamond and Dutch Schultz wherein members of the rival forces were liquidated by lead poisoning. Dutch, protected by Jimmy Hines, was thrusting into the Diamond mob's Manhattan territory. Hines and McManus were close friends and McManus was a member of Hines's political club.
The press clamored and the public waxed furious over the police department's wishy-washy handling of Rothstein's murder. However, the concensus up and down Broadway and in the political clubrooms was that the case was too dangerous and inconvenient, too deep in local politics, for the police to deal with.
Mayor Jimmy Walker removed Police Commissioner Joseph Warren and appointed Grover Whalen in his stead in an effort to appease the public. Whalen promptly opened an investigation at which a number of police officers and detectives were heard. Some were demoted and some fined for "dereliction of duty." That was all.
Rothstein was "King of the Gamblers," somehow romantic to the average man, even after the partial revelations of his private files. He would be remembered as both sinister and romantic after the hubbub died down. In time even that memory would fade and his history would be summed up in The World Almanac's "Memorable Dates" for 1928: "Arnold Rothstein, N.Y. gambler, died of shots Nov. 6; killer never found."Uber is the darling of Democrats and Republicans alike, but the company’s cutthroat campaign against its ride-share rivals could land it in hot water with state and federal regulators.
The company has reportedly equipped an army of independent contractors with burner phones and credit cards as part of a “sophisticated effort to undermine Lyft and other competitors” and poach drivers, according to an article published by The Verge this week.
The San Francisco start-up’s aggressive recruitment methods are already well documented, but the size and sophistication of its exploits revealed by The Verge could warrant an antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission or state attorneys general, according to several antitrust experts and former government officials interviewed by National Journal.
A former FTC official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that reports of Uber’s misrepresentation aligns strongly with similar antitrust investigations the agency has conducted in the past.
“The heart of what’s offensive here, the indispensable ingredient, is the canceled orders,” the official said. “That kind of behavior would be seen as having no redeeming benefits at all, poses competitive burdens, and falls within the conception of unfair competition.”
Uber stands accused of employing street teams of contractors to disrupt Lyft’s launch plans in New York City who were handed “two Uber-branded iPhones and a series of valid credit-card numbers to be used for creating dummy Lyft accounts.” Uber has also allegedly made a habit of ordering Lyft rides and canceling them to avoid detection, a method that would prompt rival drivers to waste time driving to the pickup spot. Lyft contends Uber has caused thousands of canceled rides, something Uber denies was done intentionally.
Solely ordering a Lyft ride and trying to convince the driver to switch sides is likely not enough to merit an inquiry by the FTC, which polices against “unfair” and “deceptive” business practices, said David Balto, a former policy director at FTC and an antitrust lawyer.
But the apparent sophistication and duplicity of Uber’s so-called “Operation SLOG” in New York City raises antitrust concerns. “The calling and canceling would make it very difficult for [Lyft] to effectively operate,” Balto added. “That’s the kind of thing that could very well be investigated by the FTC.”
“Uber may be a 21st-century innovator, but it looks like it’s pulling out the tactics of a 19th-century robber baron,” Balto said. “Some of these tactics are things that John D. Rockefeller would be proud of.”
In a blog post published shortly before The Verge‘s story, Uber denied it ever intentionally cancels rides, but acknowledged that “we can’t successfully recruit drivers without talking to them—and that means taking a ride.”
“We’re all about more and better economic opportunity for drivers,” the company wrote. “We never use marketing tactics that prevent a driver from making their living—and that includes never intentionally canceling rides.”
Uber, which now boasts a presence in more than 160 cities around the world, is confronting a new wave of scrutiny just a week after hiring former Obama campaign wizard David Plouffe to lead its policy team. In announcing his new gig, Plouffe wrote that he was eager take on Uber’s main opponent, the “Big Taxi cartel,” which he maintains “has used decades of political contributions and influence to restrict competition, reduce choice for consumers, and put a stranglehold on economic opportunity for its drivers.”
The tech company has also recently earned the adoration of a number of Republicans looking to curry favor with its young, largely urban base.
Earlier this month, the Republican National Committee launched a petition soliciting support for “innovative companies like Uber,” in response to backlash from the traditional taxi lobby and ride-sharing regulations proposed in some cities and states. And Sen. Marco Rubio has touted the company as an example of free-market ingenuity that should not be subject to strict regulatory red tape.
The company’s success, size, and influence is likely to increase the chances of triggering either a regulatory investigation or private litigation, said Richard Feinstein, former director of the FTC’s antitrust enforcement.
The FTC has historically been an ally to the booming app-driven ride-sharing industry. In April, the agency wrote a letter articulating its belief that regulations should be limited to safety and consumer protection and not for the purposes of levying higher license fees than those placed on traditional taxi fleets.
An Uber spokesman accused The Verge story of being thinly sourced and revealing nothing new, telling National Journal that it lacks “any verification” of the claims or documents published.
Uber has never publicly taken responsibility for reports of employees ordering phony rides from Lyft. In January, the company issued an apology on its website acknowledging that some employees in New York were “too aggressive” in its tactics of ordering rides from competitors and canceling them moments later. But the apology indicated the tactics were orchestrated by local staffers and not approved or initiated by corporate higher ups.
“We have messaged city teams to curtail activities that seek lead generation in this manner,” the company wrote.
Lyft did not respond to a request for comment for this story.Germany: Lothar Bisky, leading member of the Left Party, dies
By Peter Schwarz
16 August 2013
Lothar Bisky, one of the most influential figures in the Left Party, died on Monday just days before his 72nd birthday.
Bisky was chairman of the forerunner of the Left Party—the Party of Democratic Socialism PDS—from 1993 to 2000, and from 2003 to 2007. Together with Oskar Lafontaine he led the Left Party from its founding in 2007 up to 2010. During this period he was also a prominent figure in the European Left, which included amongst its members SYRIZA (Greece), the French Communist Party and Left Party, and the Danish Red-Green Alliance.
Bisky was not so prominently in the public spotlight as other Left Party leaders such as Lafontaine and Gregor Gysi. He worked in the background. Obituaries described him as a “quiet authority”, as a “meek” man operating as an “intermediary between the party wings”, or “puppet master.” Nevertheless, Bisky left his mark on the policy of the PDS and Left Party like no other. The aim of this policy was to integrate the former Stalinist East Germany (GDR) into West German capitalism, and suppress resistance to the disastrous social consequences.
Arno Widmann, co-founder of the Green taz newspaper and current head of the Feuilleton section of the Frankfurter Rundschau, made Bisky’s acquaintance at the time of German reunification. Bisky was in the process of dissolving the Berliner Verlag, which published several East German newspapers, and worked with Widmann to organize the distribution of the taz in the GDR.
In his obituary of Bisky, Widmann writes that, unlike German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck who made the move from the GDR to West Germany largely as individuals, Bisky and a number of others had another objective: “They wanted cadres and followers of the SED (Socialist Unity Party—former Stalinist ruling party in the GDR) to accompany them on their journey to the new Germany. They were not motivated by noble objectives. Or at least not merely by such objectives. They wanted to transfer the ideas—and probably some of the money—of the old SED to the Federal Republic. “
This is a pretty accurate description of the role of the PDS. It fully supported the introduction of capitalism despite the devastating consequences for the working class. At the same time the party wanted to ensure that not just a few individuals, but an entire social layer that occupied a prominent and privileged social position in the GDR could benefit from the free-market system.
At the age of 18 years, Bisky, who had grown up under poor conditions in the West German state of Schleswig-Holstein, slipped across the fence that at the time separated the German Federal Republic from the GDR. In East Germany he was able to finish school and go on to higher studies—a path which for financial reasons would not have been open to him in the west.
He studied philosophy and cultural studies, joined the SED in 1963, and undertook an academic career that eventually led him in 1986 to head the University for Film and Television in Potsdam. Like many intellectuals, Bisky was critical of some aspects of the GDR, without this ever taking the form of open opposition. After the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968 he allegedly considered quitting the SED, but decided instead to pursue his career. To this end he enjoyed the full confidence of the SED and was able to travel abroad freely.
Bisky first emerged on the political stage on November 4, 1989. Along with two dozen other speakers he addressed the one million demonstrators protesting at Berlin’s central Alexanderplatz against the SED regime. Five days later the Berlin Wall fell, the SED parted company with some of its most hated leaders, and took the road to the introduction of capitalism and German reunification.
Hans Modrow, the last SED premier of the German Democratic Republic and for many years honorary chairman of the PDS, later wrote about this period: “According to my understanding of things the path to unity was absolutely necessary and had to be pursued with determination.” Modrow’s former economics minister, Christa Luft, founded the trust, which transferred state owned enterprises in the GDR into private hands. She went on to author a book entitled The Joy of Ownership.
It was against this background that Bisky commenced his meteoric rise to political prominence. He worked on the committee that prepared the crucial Party Congress of October 1989, which engineered the change of the SED into the PDS. In 1993, three years after German reunification, he took over the chairmanship of the federal PDS.
Bisky used his arbitration abilities to hold together the fractious wings of the party and provide cover for Gregor Gysi who represented the party publicly. Both worked closely together to cement the PDS to the bourgeois state and rid the party of all remnants of Marxist rhetoric.
“Gysi and Bisky were the team that led the PDS clientele into the complex West German reality,” declares an obituary on Spiegel Online. “It’s hard to say whether the PDS would have found the way to the Federal Republic without Bisky—or whether it would have cut itself off and re-ideologisied under the constant attacks of having worked for the Stasi [GDR secret police].”
Bisky played the same role 10 years later in relation to Oskar Lafontaine. The former SPD chairman took the initiative to found the Left Party in 2005 in order to create a focal point for voters who had turned their backs on the social democrats following the latter’s introduction of the anti-social Hartz laws. The task of the Left Party was to prevent such layers from turning to a revolutionary perspective. After the official launch of the Left Party in June 2007, the two joint chairmen—Lafontaine and Bisky—worked in tandem for three years in the midst of the deepest international economic crisis since the 1930s.
In addition to his party posts Bisky held various parliamentary positions. In 1990 he was a deputy in last GDR parliament (People’s Chamber). From 1990 to 2005 he represented the PDS in the Brandenburg state parliament. Between 1992 and 1994 he headed the committee of inquiry that exculpated Brandenburg premier, Manfred Stolpe (SPD), from charges of collaboration with the Stasi. In 2005 Bisky was elected to the Bundestag and from 2009 to 2012 he sat in the European Parliament.
As chairman of the Group of the European United Left (GUE / NGL) Bisky made his long political experience available to the Greek SYRIZA and other organizations that played a key role in suppressing resistance to the austerity measures of the European Union and the German government. At the same time, Bisky’s right-wing, pro-imperialist views increasingly came to the forefront.
At the start of March 2011 he supported a resolution calling for military intervention in Libya, which then took place a few days later. Deputies from the conservative right, the Social Democrats and Greens also voted for the resolution.
On June 13 this year, when he had already resigned from the European Parliament, Bisky published an appeal together with other leaders of the Left Party calling for the defense of the euro and the European Union. Under conditions where broad layers of the population increasingly identify the EU as the driving force for social cuts, mass unemployment and state repression, Bisky wrote: “The project of European integration has... led to political stability in Europe, to the civil negotiation of conflicts of interest within Europe in a manner unseen previously.” The Left, he said, “must therefore fight to ensure there is no departure from the path of European integration.”
The obituaries on Bisky show that even his political opponents appreciate his contributions to the preservation of the bourgeois order. The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz (SPD), described him as “a wonderful colleague and human being”, while the chairman of the Free Democratic Party, Philipp Rösler, who is certainly no friend of the Left Party, praised him as “someone who had clearly drawn lessons from the SED past.”Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have cooled a mechanical object to a temperature lower than previously thought possible, below the so-called “quantum limit.”
The new NIST theory and experiments, described in the Jan. 12, 2017, issue of Nature, showed that a microscopic mechanical drum—a vibrating aluminum membrane—could be cooled to less than one-fifth of a single quantum, or packet of energy, lower than ordinarily predicted by quantum physics. The new technique theoretically could be used to cool objects to absolute zero, the temperature at which matter is devoid of nearly all energy and motion, NIST scientists said.
“The colder you can get the drum, the better it is for any application,” said NIST physicist John Teufel, who led the experiment. “Sensors would become more sensitive. You can store information longer. If you were using it in a quantum computer, then you would compute without distortion, and you would actually get the answer you want.”
“The results were a complete surprise to experts in the field,” Teufel’s group leader and co-author José Aumentado said. “It’s a very elegant experiment that will certainly have a lot of impact.”
The drum, 20 micrometers in diameter and 100 nanometers thick, is embedded in a superconducting circuit designed so that the drum motion influences the microwaves bouncing inside a hollow enclosure known as an electromagnetic cavity. Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation, so they are in effect a form of invisible light, with a longer wavelength and lower frequency than visible light.
The microwave light inside the cavity changes its frequency as needed to match the frequency at which the cavity naturally resonates, or vibrates. This is the cavity’s natural “tone,” analogous to the musical pitch that a water-filled glass will sound when its rim is rubbed with a finger or its side is struck with a spoon.
NIST scientists previously cooled the quantum drum to its lowest-energy “ground state,” or one-third of one quantum. They used a technique called sideband cooling, which involves applying a microwave tone to the circuit at a frequency below the cavity’s resonance. This tone drives electrical charge in the circuit to make the drum beat. The drumbeats generate light particles, or photons, which naturally match the higher resonance frequency of the cavity. These photons leak out of the cavity as it fills up. Each departing photon takes with it one mechanical unit of energy—one phonon—from the drum’s motion. This is the same idea as laser cooling of individual atoms, first demonstrated at NIST in 1978 and now widely used in applications such atomic clocks.
The latest NIST experiment adds a novel twist—the use of “squeezed light” to drive the drum circuit. Squeezing is a quantum mechanical concept in which noise, or unwanted fluctuations, is moved from a useful property of the light to another aspect that doesn’t affect the experiment. These quantum fluctuations limit the lowest temperatures that can be reached with conventional cooling techniques. The NIST team used a special circuit to generate microwave photons that were purified or stripped of intensity fluctuations, which reduced inadvertent heating of the drum.
“Noise gives random kicks or heating to the thing you’re trying to cool,” Teufel said. “We are squeezing the light at a ‘magic’ level—in a very specific direction and amount—to make perfectly correlated photons with more stable intensity. These photons are both fragile and powerful.”
The NIST theory and experiments indicate that squeezed light removes the generally accepted cooling limit, Teufel said. This includes objects that are large or operate at low frequencies, which are the most difficult to cool.
The drum might be used in applications such as hybrid quantum computers combining both quantum and mechanical elements, Teufel said. A hot topic in physics research around the world, quantum computers could theoretically solve certain problems considered intractable today.
The research was supported in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Paper: J.B. Clark, F. Lecocq, R.W. Simmonds, J. Aumentado and J.D. Teufel. 2017. Sideband Cooling Beyond the Quantum Backaction Limit with Squeezed Light. January 12, 2017. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature20604Image Attention
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A large clock with a large colored clock on it.Some time ago, a teenager posted pictures of a sleepover with friends. The next morning, he awoke to a slew of jeering comments from classmates, alleging that the pictures were of gay encounters the boy had had. The more he tried to staunch the onslaught of comments, the worse they became. Victimised and backed into a corner, the boy swallowed every pill in his parents’ medicine cabinet, finally alerting his parents to the gravity of his problem.
A Delhi teen asked her mother for her debit card to buy clothes online. Weeks later, her mother noticed inappropriate lingerie and clothes in the 13-year-old’s closet. It transpired that when the girl had posted her pictures and received very few “likes”, she decided to pose in revealing clothes to attract more attention. The “likes” kept compelling her to pose in more and more revealing clothes. It was only after the parents consulted a counsellor that they realised that the conscious withholding of “likes” by her peers was an indirect form of bullying.
“In the last five years, I’ve seen a marked increase in the number of teens and tweens, or preteens, who seek counselling because they are being bullied online,” says psychiatrist Sunil Mittal, director, Delhi Psychiatric Centre. “Every week, I see at least two such cases.” With the rising number of connected devices in Indian households, tweens and teens are spending more time on the Internet than ever before. And much of their aggression, which was once channelised offline, is now converting into online bullying.
According to the recently-released Intel Security’s “Teens, Tweens and Technology Study 2015”, 81% of Indian respondents between eight and 16 are active on the social media networks. Of these, 22% have reported being bullied online — the highest in the four countries surveyed (Australia, USA and Singapore being the other three). That’s not all. As many as 52% of Indian children indicated that they had bullied people over the social media — again the highest of the four countries surveyed. A whopping 65% of respondents report witnessing cruel behaviour online. “Cyberbullying is a fast-growing trend that Indian parents and educators can’t afford to ignore,” says Melanie Duca, marketing director, consumer-Asia Pacific at Intel Security.
What is it about the Internet that is spawning this aggression? “The apparent anonymity of the Internet turns even the meek into bullies,” says Mittal. “By its very nature, Internet has created opportunities for deviant behaviour.” With an increase in the number of social networking sites, tweens and teens are basing much of their self-esteem on their online personas. As many as 89% of the tweens and teens polled in the Intel Security survey felt that “likes” and “favourites” on their profiles were very important for their self image. And, 78% felt that Facebook was the platform most likely to be used for open criticism and bullying, followed by Twitter (7%).
The question on the minds of parents and educators alike is how cyberbullying can be contained. “First off, we have to teach our children about online safety just as we teach them about protecting themselves offline,” says Mittal. Further, there is a growing need for software that can screen potentially harmful messages. “It is becoming increasingly difficult for parents to keep track of their teens’ online activities because of the rising number of connected devices,” says Duca. “So, when we talk of cyberbullying and cybercrime in general, we need cross-device protection.”
There’s reason for more optimism. Duca points out that in the 2014 Intel Security survey, 57% of children said they would not know what to do if they were harassed or bullied online. In 2015, 71% victims reported taking some action against bullying. “Whether through blocking unwanted messages, reporting bullying behaviour or complaining against bullies, it is clear that more and more Indian teens are refusing to be silent victims any more, and that’s really good news,” says she.
Trisha Prabhu, who has created ReThink
* Avoids use of mobile devices or computers* Suddenly deletes social media accounts* Becomes moodier after receiving emails and/or messages* Is more secretive than usual about online activities* Is reluctant to go to school and avoids social contact* Grades and school performance fall* Appears more frustrated, impatient or angry than usual* Has trouble sleeping* Take it seriously* Report, if possible, the bully to his or her school and/or parents* Report the cyberbullying to digital providers* Seek professional counselling for the victimIn the fall of 2013, Trisha Prabhu, an Indian teen in Chicago, read about an 11-year old girl from Florida who had committed suicide after having been repeatedly cyberbullied by her classmates. She was outraged and heartbroken, and decided to do something about it. The result was ReThink, her award-winning patented software that approaches the issue of cyberbullying from its source — the mindset of the bully.
ReThink is an anti-cyberbullying software based on the premise that the adolescent brain is like a car without brakes. In the heat of the moment, at a point of peer-pressure, with a sense of urgency and desire to “fit in,” teens often say or do things they later regret. ReThink uses context-sensitive word screening, sending out prompts that enable adolescents to consider the possible consequences of posting a hurtful message before actually posting it. The filter gives him or her the chance to reconsider this decision. “This stops the bullying even before it takes place,” says Prabhu, its 15-year-old inventor. So, “the biggest advantage of ReThink is that it not only helps the victim, but also helps the bully change their behaviour and help them develop key decision-making skills on and off the Internet.”
She presented and tested |
five years.Brown signs Internet security bills
The governor approves laws on notification of security breaches and Web tracking, and limits on collection of data from public transit fare cards.
Separate legislation by Assemblywoman Nora Campos (D-San Jose) requires local government agencies to notify residents if a data breach has occurred that could compromise their personal data. That bill is AB 1149.
"Many consumers now conduct their day-to-day personal business online, including banking and paying bills, which creates more opportunities for sophisticated cybercriminals to access and steal their personal information," said Sen. Ellen M. Corbett (D-San Leandro), who introduced the measure, SB 46.
One measure requires state agencies and businesses that operate websites to notify people when security information, including their user names and passwords, has been breached.
SACRAMENTO — Californians who use the Internet will get new protection against identity theft and tracking of their personal data under a cluster of bills signed into law Friday by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The governor also signed a measure mandating that websites tell users if tracking technology is being employed to collect information about their online activities.
Some Web browsers offer "do not track" setting, but sites aren't legally required to comply with such a request.
The new law, by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) will let Internet users know if a particular site or mobile app is honoring the "do not track" request. The California attorney general's office supported the bill, AB 370.
Brown also approved a measure aimed at guarding the privacy of public transit riders who pay with electronic fare cards, such as the Transit Access Pass (TAP) card in Los Angeles County.
The measure limits the use of personal information, including travel data that is collected each time a card is swiped. The personal data cannot be sold under the terms of AB 179 by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima).
In all, the governor signed 26 bills Friday, including one that makes California the first state to require recycling of old mattresses.
"I applaud the efforts of the authors in creating a program to lessen impacts to California landfills, reduce costs to local governments and remove blight in rural and inner-city neighborhoods," Brown said in a statement.
He said more details need to be worked out with the bill's author, Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley). The recycling program will be operated by an industry group funded by a still-to-be-determined consumer fee on the purchase of new mattresses, for example. The bill is SB 254.
The governor also gave a boost to proposals by the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors basketball teams for new sports arenas.
He signed a bill making it harder to sue to block the Sacramento project, as well as streamlining environmental regulations for development near transit stations in cities throughout California.
The measure promotes "smart urban growth, which is a victory for the economy, for the environment, and for California," said Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), author of SB 743.The hipsters who have taken over Brooklyn have done so largely at the expense of lower-income Hispanics, a new report claims.
The Hispanic population is still increasing citywide — from 2,428,756 in 2013 to 2,489,090 in 2016, the analysis by the National Institute for Latino Policy notes.
But in Brooklyn, the number of Hispanic residents has halted and even started to decline.
The Hispanic population in Brooklyn has dropped from 513,242 in 2015 to an estimated 505,183 last year — a 1.6 percent reduction, NILP president Angelo Falcón said.
Falcón claims that escalating housing costs — spurred by gentrification — have driven lower-income Hispanics out of once the predominately Latino neighborhoods of Bushwick, Williamsburg and Sunset Park. Puerto Ricans, in particular, had a strong presence in those areas.
An economic report on neighborhoods conducted by city Comptroller Scott Stringer in April backs up Falcón’s claim: The Hispanic population in Williamsburg plummeted 16 percent from 2000 to 2015.
In Bushwick, the Latino population shrank by 13 percent over the 15-year span while the white population increased 610 percent from 3,207 to 22,776. Meanwhile, the number of Hispanics fell 13 percent in Sunset Park.
“This provides a disturbing window into the possible future of the city’s Latino population if the city’s affordable-housing program does not take into account community calls for much deeper affordability than is currently being planned,” Falcón argues.
The study noted that the percentage of Latinos owning their own homes is 16 percent, half the citywide average of 32 percent. Latinos account for only 12.5 percent of all homeowners in the city.
Falcón said gentrification “represents an existential threat to the future of the city’s Latino population.”
So where are Hispanics moving to? According to the comptroller’s neighborhood report, Latinos are gravitating to working-class neighborhoods, mostly in the outer boroughs.
From 2000 to 2015, the Hispanic population surged 102 percent on the Rockaway Peninsula, from 17,107 to 34,620; doubled from 14,120 to 29,049 in Bensonhurst; jumped 85 percent in Central Harlem and 78 percent in the Port Richmond section of Staten Island, home to a burgeoning Mexican immigrant population.
The Latino presence also increased nearly 50 percent in the Queens communities of Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village and Richmond Hill/Woodhaven and through nearly all sections of the Bronx.
In Long Island City/Astoria in Queens, the Latino population fell 10 percent from 51,963 to 46,899 since 2000.Have your say
LEEDS UNITED today agreed to a secret settlement of its £5m-plus High Court battle with former kit-suppliers Macron SPA.
The Italian company sued for damages after the Whites decided to end their shirt-making agreement in 2014.
At the time it was signed in 2011, the six-year deal was the longest in English football history.
But Bologna-based Macron said the club had no right to terminate the contract without paying a fee.
It claimed £2.1m which it said it was owed under the contract and up to another £3.5m damages for future losses.
The Championship club disputed the claim and was due to fight it in a trial at the High Court in London this week.
However after last minute talks out of court, the parties agreed to a settlement which resulted in the trial being called off.
In a ten-second hearing this morning, Mr Justice Hickinbottom was told the settlement would be kept confidential.Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Friday he has formally requested information on whether he was ever under surveillance by the Obama administration or the intelligence community.
In a Friday morning tweet, the former Republican presidential candidate said: "I have formally requested from the WH and the Intel Committees info on whether I was surveilled by Obama admin and or the Intel community!"
The former Republican presidential candidate also asked in a tweet: "Did the Obama admin go after presidential candidates, members of Congress, journalists, clergy, lawyers, fed judges?"
President Trump has accused former President Barack Obama of surveilling him during an election, a claim the former president has disputed. It's been revealed that intelligence officials did pick up conversations of some people involved in the Trump's campaign, though by legal incidental collection.
Paul also tweeted: "Did the Obama admin use warrantless "wiretapping" on other candidates besides @realDonaldTrump?"
I have formally requested from the WH and the Intel Committees info on whether I was surveilled by Obama admin and or the Intel community! — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 5, 2017
Did the Obama admin go after presidential candidates, members of Congress, journalists, clergy, lawyers, fed judges? https://t.co/h7rsjvNLHM — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 5, 2017Twenty-four-year old Smita Tandi is a policewoman who puts her proficiency in social media to good use by serving people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Chattisgarh-based cop has more than 7,20,000 followers on Facebook, who keep track of her every post to see how they can help people in distress.
Smita joined the police force for training in 2011. However in 2013, her father Shiv Kumar Tandi fell ill and the family was unable to fund his medical treatment.
Shiv Kumar Tandi was a constable too, but after he met with an accident in 2007, he was forced to retire from the police force. Following his untimely demise in a private hospital, Smita realised that there were thousands of people whose death could be prevented with timely medical intervention.
She decided to help poor people in medical need by making the general public aware of such cases and requesting them to help out with the expenses of the treatment, if possible.
She and her friends launched a Facebook group in 2014 in order to create awareness about government schemes for poor people as well as to help them seek donations. She told Hindustan Times, “I decided to take the cause to Facebook. Initially, people did not respond to my posts, but in a month started donating money. I believe people accepted I was not ‘fake’ and trusted me.” Whenever the state-level volleyball player learns about the problem of a poor person in Bhilai, Raipur or anywhere close by, she visits the person when she can and posts about them on Facebook only after checking out the facts.
Up until now, Smita has managed to help 25 people pay for expensive medical treatment. One such person is an autorickshaw driver called Dinesh Pratap Singh, who is based out of Bhilai. His 13-year-old daughter was suffering from a form of cancer, which doctors in Bhilai were unable to diagnose. He told Hindustan Times, “I went to Raipur and admitted her to a private hospital. I came to know of Smita Tandi. She came to my house and raised money for me through Facebook. I managed to take my daughter to Delhi. Her condition is better now.”
Her quick responses and proactive approach to helping people in need has helped her develop a good rapport with her seniors in Chattisgarh. She was recently assigned the role of heading the social media complaint cell of Bhilai women’s helpline.
To follow her on Facebook, click here.
Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: [email protected], or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
NEW: Click here to get positive news on Whatsapp!YellowAries: This is the equivalent of ZRP or SRP, but for Call of Pripyat. Essentially it's a community bug fix patch.
I scoured the web for these files for everyone to use since it seems to be somewhat difficult to find all the proper files.
This is my PRP compilation, it doesn't include the optionals though because they weren't bug fixes.
This also included mnm's anomaly fix.
I put all the files in the proper folders so all you have to do is copy the gamedata folder to your main pripyat directory.
I will update the bug fixes as new ones are available.
If anyone is aware of any other bug fixes that are available let me know and I will include them.
<span class="bold">DOWNLOAD HERE</span>
Last Updated 11/12/2014 This is the equivalent of ZRP or SRP, but for Call of Pripyat. Essentially it's a community bug fix patch.I scoured the web for these files for everyone to use since it seems to be somewhat difficult to find all the proper files.This is my PRP compilation, it doesn't include the optionals though because they weren't bug fixes.This also included mnm's anomaly fix.I put all the files in the proper folders so all you have to do is copy the gamedata folder to your main pripyat directory.I will update the bug fixes as new ones are available.If anyone is aware of any other bug fixes that are available let me know and I will include them.
Hi YA,Sorry to necro this, but I recently bought and started playing COP and was just reading through the forum here. Would you mind telling me exactly what this fixes in the vanilla game? Are there some game breaking bugs I will run into that this needs to be applied for? Thanks for posting this, and hopefully you are still active here, or perhaps someone else who is, can shed some light on this for me.Governor Asa Hutchinson vetoed Senate Bill 79 Tuesday. In its description, the bill's intent is to "protect the names, voices, signatures, photographs, and likenesses of the citizens of the state from exploitation and unauthorized commercial use without the citizen's consent."
Hutchinson said the bill as drafted would extend protection beyond the stated intent of the bill, unnecessarily restrict free expression, and may result in unnecessary litigation in Arkansas.
The governor's office sent the following statement to Channel 7 News:
"In its current form, the bill unnecessarily restricts free expression and thus could have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. In addition, SB79 exempts certain types of noncommercial speech while failing to exempt other forms of noncommercial speech. The absence of these exemptions could result in unnecessary litigation and suppress Arkansans who engage in artistic expression."
Click here to read Governor Hutchinson's veto letter to the state senate.“Frozen” has officially taken over Storybrooke on “Once Upon a Time.” Season 4 newcomer Georgina Haig took to Twitter early the morning of July 14 to post a first-look photo of ABC’s version of Princess Elsa, who “Frozen” fans might know better as Disney’s Snow Queen.
“Ah yes but you see this isn’t me but my distant cousin Princess Someonelsa,” the Australian actress joked on the social media site. “#OUAT #Frozen #OnceUponATime.”
The photo, which is a “KASI Photos exclusive,” is blurry. Still, fans of Haig’s were able to quickly figure out that the blonde beauty in the photo wasn’t the “Once Upon a Time” actress. Despite the long braid and sparkly blue costume, the woman in the picture is more than likely a double instead of the real Snow Queen, played by Haig. The Aussie star noted as much in her reference to “Princess Someonelsa.”
Haig was added to the cast as Elsa in early July, a couple of days after Elizabeth Lail and Scott Michael Foster signed on as Anna and Kristoff. While it’s unclear if “Once Upon a Time” will pick up before or after Elsa and Anna’s joyous reunion in “Frozen,” viewers already know that a new villain is on the horizon.
A synopsis for Season 4 of the hit ABC series was released online late last week to pump up fans for the fall drama:
“Master storytellers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (“Lost,” “Tron: Legacy”) invite everyone to join Emma Swan, Snow White, Prince Charming, The Evil queen, Hook and all the other resident fairy tale characters as they prepare to defend themselves against a magical force from the past that’s too dark and unpredictable even for Rumplestiltskin -- The Ice Queen.”
The actress playing “The Ice Queen” hasn’t been confirmed, but fans are speculating that she'll be played by new addition and “Lost” alum Elizabeth Mitchell. According to Entertainment Weekly, Mitchell’s mysterious role will be part of the “Frozen” story arc on “Once Upon a Time” and will take place after the events that occurred in the 2013 Disney animated movie.
“Once Upon a Time” will return to ABC in the fall. Check out the tweet from Elsa’s Georgina Haig below and tweet your thoughts to @AmandaTVScoop.The president kept his cool while Medea Benjamin shouted about Guantanamo Bay. | REUTERS DOD: Heckler pretended to be press
The woman who heckled President Barack Obama during his speech at the National Defense University on Thursday gained access to the closed event by saying she was a member of the press, the university said.
Medea Benjamin, the leader of the human rights activist group Code Pink, stood and shouted several times as the president gave his national security speech focused on drone use and closing down the Guantanamo detention center.
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Officials at the university, located at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., later said Benjamin was able to get into the invite-only speech by saying she was with the news media. It was unclear which media outlet she told them she was with.
“The individual who continued to attempt to interrupt the president’s speech at the National Defense University was given access via the list of media attendees expected,” the university said in a statement.
“When it was apparent this individual would not be deterred by the president’s effort to address her concerns, officials from the National Defense University staff and base police asked her to leave and escorted her from the venue.”
She was questioned by Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall police, officials said.
Obama’s speech was not open to the public. The guest list was “limited to invited guests from the National Defense University faculty, staff, and student body, along with those invited by the White House,” NDU said.
Obama kept his cool as Benjamin, a well-known activist in the Capitol, yelled: “Abide by the rule of law — you’re a constitutional lawyer!” Code Pink strongly opposes the U.S. use of drones and earlier this year disrupted the confirmation hearing of CIA Director John Brennan so many times that California Sen. Dianne Feinstein cleared the room.
A photographer who waited in line near Benjamin told POLITICO that Benjamin was seen wearing a bright green press pass with the name “Susan Benjamin” written on it.On Friday afternoon, the Denver Nuggets announced that rookie shooting guard, Malik Beasley will be heading to the D-League to join the Sioux Falls SkyForce. Beasley was buried on the bench behind Will Barton and Jamal Murray but with the return of Gary Harris looming on the horizon, Beasley was likley headed for several DNP-CD’s.
Beasley, who has only played 54 minutes total this season and missed all of summer league due to a leg injury, will almost certainly benefit from getting on the court for actual basketball minutes. He has a lot of upside but, of the three players taken by the Nuggets in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft, Malik is probably the furthest from earning serious minutes. Getting time on the court where he can focus on his individual game and getting reps against other professional athletes should help his development a lot.
We wanted to know more about this move so Denver Stiffs reached out to Chris Reichert, associate editor of The Step Back at Fansided and a passionate fan and expert of the NBADL. Chris shares his thoughts on the move, the SkyForce team, coaching staff, and more. You can also check out SkyForce games live on Facebook if you are interested in following Malik’s play.
Who are the Sioux Falls Skyforce and how are they doing this year?
Reichert: The Skyforce are the Miami Heat’s D-League affiliate and the defending champs after notching a record-setting 40-10 season last year. This season they picked up right where they left off as they were 8-2 heading into Friday night’s game against the Raptors 905.
How much time do you expect Beasley to get each game? Do they need a shooting guard / scorer?
Reichert: Honestly, every team needs a dynamic player like Malik Beasley, however this team is currently hitting on all cylinders so it will be interesting to see how much he is utilized. Ultimately, Denver gets to decide on where Beasley goes (after teams volunteer to take him as a flex assignee) so one would have to assume SXF agreed to give him at least 20 minutes per night.
What is the team’s style of play? What makes them unique?
Reichert: Coach Nevada Smith is known for his run-and-gun days with the RGV Vipers playing Moreyball, and while Sioux Falls doesn’t play to that extreme, they still get up and down. They are top-10 in PPG, RPG, APG and play defense too allowing the fourth fewest PPG to opponents. Briante Weber runs the team and they play through him and Keith Benson a lot. Beasley should get open looks on the perimeter as they run a free-flowing offense.
Who is currently on the roster of note? Have they had any recent call-ups under the current coach?
Reichert: They have not had any call ups this season (there have only been five throughout the league so far), but they have some known names. Briante Weber is the point guard, Keith Benson is their center and they also have Luis Montero and Marcus Posley.
Any loose thoughts about this assignment?
Reichert: I like it. Beasley is 20-years-old and has only played what amounts to one full game’s worth of minutes for the Nuggets, so it’s good for him to get real live-game action. The Skyforce are a top notch organization and they will use him to the best of his ability while he’s on the court. The downside here is he won’t be running any of Denver’s sets, using their lingo or getting comfortable with their schemes on the floor.
Want to know more about Malik Beasley? Check out our 20-minute exclusive interview with him on the Locked on Nuggets podcast where he talks about his family, the draft, and what ways the vets are playfully hazing him and the other rookies.CLOSE Detroit News columnists Bob Wojnowski and John Niyo, with beat writers Angelique Chengelis, Matt Charboneau and sportswriter Dave Goricki, break down last week's games and what's coming next. With an appearance by CMU coach John Bonamego.
Jim Harbaugh (Photo: David Guralnick, Detroit News)
In case you missed it, there’s growing evidence to suggest Michigan football is back. The coach is square-jawed and revered, the fans are whispering “Heisman” at their fancy September dinner parties, and the players are wearing adult-sized shoulder pads again.
All is becoming right in the college football world, if the college football world only existed within a 25-mile radius of Ann Arbor. Everyone else in the college football world — the free world, actually — finds it thoroughly obnoxious.
But before the return can be deemed official, there’s one small piece of housekeeping left: Michigan still must prove it can slug with the Big Ten’s traditional blubber-butts. You know, hulking teams like Michigan State and Ohio State. And yes, Wisconsin.
The Badgers will be in the Big House on Saturday, bloated from all the free treats they received in East Lansing. The Spartans did the Wolverines no favors, naturally. Rather than soften up the Badgers, they buttered them up and let them leave town thinking they’re actually, possibly, perhaps sort of fairly good.
I’m not saying Michigan State’s defense let down in that 30-6 loss. I’m just saying Mark dantonio will have to earn his capital D back. And frankly, we here at Snarky Column Central are part of the problem. We’ve been saying very nice things about the Spartans since they beat the Irish, pretending they didn’t lose most of their best players, even foolishly suggesting all they had to do to replace Connor Cook was find another quarterback with “Connor” in his name and call him a captain.
Our bad. We chipped away at the Spartans’ chip supply in their Warehouse of Disrespect and made them feel comfy. According to my imaginary sources, dantonio was furious the Spartans weren’t considered underdogs. As a favor, I’ll remedy the situation and lob some doozies.
For instance, did you know Michigan State has lost two of its past four games by a combined score of 68-6? (Spartans: “Grrrr.”) Did you know Michigan State hasn’t beaten a legitimate FBS opponent all season, barely slipping past Furman and Notre Ame, also missing its D? (Spartans: “GRRrrrrr.”) Did you know respected media people (they do exist) think Indiana might beat Michigan State on Saturday night down in the hotbed of Bloomington? (Spartans: “You’ve gone too %$#@* far!”)
At least there will be a big game in Ann Arbor, where the Old Blues have dug out their dusty cardigans and wear them proudly again in the stadium suites, while griping about the tartness of the Pinot Noir. Nostalgia is flowing for this top-10 showdown, although it’s actually nothing new for the Badgers.
No. 8 Wisconsin already has beaten two top-10 teams this season — LSU and Michigan State. No. 4 Michigan hasn’t topped a top-10 team since edging Wisconsin in 2008. Inexplicably, it has come to this — Jim Harbaugh is trying to do something only Rich Rodriguez has done in nearly a decade. It’d be a significant step, even bigger than when Harbaugh banned seltzer water from Schembechler Hall and implemented forced consumption of whole milk with extra lactose.
If that’s an attempt to beat the visitors at their own gut-clogging game, the Badgers aren’t easily frightened, and I doubt they’ll be dropping cheese curds all over the field Saturday. But the Wolverines will take their shots at young quarterback Alex Hornibrook. I don’t know if the Spartans were unaware he was a freshman, or if they just spent every team meeting giggling at his name, but they had no idea how to stop him.
Michigan will have an idea thanks to defensive coordinator Don Brown, aka Dr. Blitz, who holds a Ph.D. in Blitzology with a minor in Mustache Management. He’ll harass Hornibrook with all sorts of heavy blitzes, which is different than the Spartans’ strategy of enticing him with all sorts of heavy blintzes.
It’s also an intriguing coaching matchup between Harbaugh and Paul Chryst, which is sure to confuse rapturous Michigan believers. Harbaugh vs. Chryst? Isn’t that the same as Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh?
No sacrilege here. Just an old-fashioned measuring-stick game between bruising squads evenly matched in all the key statistical categories — rushing defense, waist size, cholesterol level. Actually, the Badgers numbers might have spiked after heading straight from East Lansing to Frankenmuth last week and loading up on sausages, sauerkraut and exotic mustards, or so I heard. Someone will be especially hungry Saturday. I think we know who.
The picks
Wisconsin at Michigan: The Wolverines have scored 40-plus points four straight games and are threatening to be as prolific as Fielding Yost’s “Point a Minute” teams. It’s a vast improvement over some of Michigan’s recent “Punt a Minute” teams. Multi-dimensional Jabrill Peppers is expected to further his Heisman candidacy by adding the following duties: Drum major, side judge and guy who holds Harbaugh’s headphone cord. Also, he might try place-kicking and long-snapping (on the same field-goal attempt!). Michigan 31-13
Michigan State at Indiana: If I say anything remotely positive about the Spartans, dantonio will be furious. So let’s talk about the trophy for this game, the Old Brass Spittoon. Why a drool receptacle? What, the Old Wooden Toilet Seat wasn’t available? The Spartans D (or d) better be ready for the pass-happy Hoosiers, because they need to get their capital back. Michigan State 38-31
Rutgers at Ohio State: Urban Meyer rarely shows mercy, and I doubt he will against his former assistant Chris Ash, who took over a Rutgers program desperately in need of an identity. Ash has been trying to pluck pieces of Michigan’s recruiting identity and is considering a previously used tactic — closing all the bridges into New Jersey. Meyer will be prepared for a battle, and I strongly suspect he’ll kick Ash. Ohio State 45-13
Western Michigan at Central Michigan: It’s a showdown between the second- and third-best teams in the state. (Tell me when to lay off, Spartans.) After rolling past two Big Ten teams, the Broncos finally hit the challenging part of their schedule, and it should be quite the party. It’s such a big event in Mount Pleasant, I heard the National Guard was trucking in emergency supplies of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Western Michigan 44-38
Louisville at Clemson: A top-five clash with major playoff and award implications. Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson has posted incredible numbers and is the early Heisman favorite, although Wolverines fans sniff that he hasn’t even returned a punt for a touchdown yet. Good point! Clemson 35-28
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For well over half a decade, Hollywood has been trying to bring Neill Strauss‘ “The Game,” his skeezy exposé about the world of pick up artists, to the big screen. Early on, “The Office” writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky were hired to tackled the script, and back in 2012 James Franco and Josh Gad became attached to star, with directing pair Brian Koppelman and David Levein at the helm. This is all a long way to say, that version never happened, and things went quiet, but the movie is still happening.
READ MORE: It’s Boys Gone Wild In Red Band Trailer For Hazing Drama ‘Goat’ With Nick Jonas & James Franco
Deadline reports that Franco is back on to star and produce “The Game,” with everything now moving towards shooting in 2017. No word on who had their hand on the latest draft of the script, and the hunt is on for a director and cast to make this happen.
However, Franco is still lined up to play Mystery, the man who knows all the secrets to winning women, which includes “negging” (gross). With the book already earning its fair share of controversy, no doubt the movie should do the same.Essie: Sugar Daddy, OPI: Give Me Space, and Zoya: Ryan
Vivid Lacquer Stamping Plate VL028
Top Coat: Glossy - Seche Vite
I think the YouTube bug has bit me hard because I am loving making videos! Below is my video tutorial for how to accomplish this look. If you recreate it, be sure to tag me @roselynn787 because I'd love to see it!
Please don't forget to give me a thumbs up and subscribe. I think the YouTube bug has bit me hard because I am loving making videos! Below is my video tutorial for how to accomplish this look. If you recreate it, be sure to tag me @roselynn787 because I'd love to see it!
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Hiya guys! It's time for another simple and beautiful nail art day featuring polish(es) from thefrom OPI. As I've mentioned the previous weeks, the press samples here were received as part of the campaign with Preen.Me and OPI for being part of the. As much as I love doing detailed freehand manis, sometimes! That's why I wanted to created this segment to show you guys how to do some quick designs that'll get you where you need to go with eye-catching nails. I know this may look intimidating, but this was only three steps! Gradient, stamping, and topcoat... that's it!At this point I think it's safe to say that this gorgeous blue is my favorite from the entire OPI Starlight Collection. I think I have used it as a main polish in about four different manis, haha. At this rate I'll need to purchase a backup by the end of the month!I adore using lace stamping, it adds such a nice pop factor to a mani. It's very modern and sleek no matter the colors you decide to go with. This mani overall is super quick and easy to do, maybe twenty minutes tops. Perfect if you're rushing to get ready for that holiday party!Now here's a break down of everything else I used to create this mani:The key to this design is the blending! You want to choose a stamping polish that will 'disappear' into the gradient. Ooh, nail magic haha.I'd like to note that Essie's Sugar Daddy is a total optional step! My nails are stained a bit yellow and that's not something I want to show through so this polish ends up being the perfect solution. It's definitely my go-to whenever I want to do negative space manis.Well that's it for todays nail art look! I hope you like it and thanks for reading guys!A few weeks ago, Dries Buytaert, founder of the popular open-source CMS Drupal, asked Larry Garfield, a prominent Drupal contributor and long-time member of the Drupal community, “to leave the Drupal project.” Why did he do this? He refuses to say. A huge furor has erupted in response — not least because the reason clearly has much to do with Garfield’s unconventional sex life.
More specifically, Garfield is into BDSM. Even more specifically, he’s a member of the Gor community, an outré subculture of an outré subculture, one built around a series of thirty-odd books by John Norman which are, basically, “John Carter of Mars” meets “Fifty Shades of Grey.” Essentially–as I understand it–a community who are interested in, and/or participate in, elaborate (consensual!) sexual subjugation fantasies, in which men are inherently superior to women. I know all this because of Garfield’s lengthy public response to his ouster, self-deprecatingly titled “TMI about me“:
Yes, I am one of those people … Despite the total lack of evidence that alternative lifestyle cultures offer any harm to anyone, there is still a great deal of prejudice and bigotry regarding it … someone, I do not know who, stumbled across my profile on a private, registration-required website for alternative-lifestyle people … that information made it to the Community Working Group (CWG), who concluded “there was no code of conduct violation present for [them] to take any action on” … in my first contact with Dries, he asked me “to step down from Drupal” … Drupal has been the cornerstone of my career for the past nearly 12 years … Dries wouldn’t budge on me leaving, including making it clear that it wasn’t an option, but an instruction … informing me that I’d been summarily dismissed from my position as track chair and as a speaker at DrupalCon, “per [my] conversation with Dries” … here I am, being bullied, harassed, and excluded because of my personal activities, which I don’t even publicize much less advocate for in tech circles.
Buytaert (who is also co-founder and CTO of Acquia, a Drupal platform which has raised ~$175 million over the years and has been struggling to IPO for a few years now) retorts:
when a highly-visible community member’s private views become public, controversial, and disruptive for the project, I must consider the impact … all people are created equally. [sic] I cannot in good faith support someone who actively promotes a philosophy that is contrary to this … any association with Larry’s belief system is inconsistent with our project’s goals … I recused myself from the Drupal Association’s decision [to dismiss Garfield from his conference role] … Many have rightfully stated that I haven’t made a clear case for the decision … I did not make the decision based on the information or beliefs conveyed in Larry’s blog post.
Sigh. This sad mess is something of a perfect storm of Code of Conduct conflicts. It is one which raises a number of interesting questions. It also raises several quite boring ones, so let’s get them out of the way:
Does this matter? (Isn’t this just prurient clickbait?) Is it OK for an open-source community to ban/ostracize a member for being involved in BDSM, or other forms of unconventional but consensual adult sexual behavior? More generally, is it OK for an open-source community to ban/ostracize a member purely because their “belief system” — perhaps better described as a complicated fantasy milieu in which they happen to spend their personal time — was doxxed?
These questions are boring not because they are unimportant, but because the answers are so obvious: yes (no), hell no, and hell no.
I’ll unpack the first: open-source communities/projects are crucially important to many people’s careers and professional lives — cf “the cornerstone of my career” — so who they allow and deny membership to, and how their codes of conduct are constructed and followed, is highly consequential.
I really, really hope I don’t have to unpack the two hell nos. But in case I do, let me quote this excellent blog post from Nadia Eghbal:
In the past, Dries might’ve kicked Larry out because “BDSM is a threat to family values”. Today, leaders like Dries kick Larry out because “BDSM is a threat to gender equality”. Unfortunately, the end result is the same … Beliefs are not actions. We cannot persecute people for what they believe, no matter how much it disgusts us, and simultaneously maintain a free and open democracy … If diversity is our dogma, call me “spiritual, not religious”. I still pray for the same things as you, but I won’t be at the witch trials.
Which is brilliantly put and I hope settles the previous questions. However. The Garfield Situation also raises two questions which are far more complex and interesting:
Under what circumstances, and via what kind of due process, is it OK for communities to publicly condemn people for secret reasons? Is it OK to ban/ostracize community members for (legal) behavior which occurs entirely outside the community?
Obviously sometimes organizational decisions have to be made based on information that must remain confidential, for legal or ethical reasons. But if you’re making such a decision, you really have to do so in the right way. What is the right way?
…Probably something close to the opposite of what Buytaert and the Drupal Association did. Even if their decision was correct, which currently seems at best suspect, their complete lack of process transparency, and Buytaert’s vaguely worded hinting-without-really-saying-anything statement, makes it very hard to have any faith in it.
Their accusations are so vague — nonexistent non-accusations, really — that Dries & co. could surely have told the community substantially more (indeed, anything) about Garfield’s problematic behavior, if any, without revealing sensitive information. For instance, they could have said they’d received reports of threats, harassment, or coercion by Garfield, if any such reports existed. They have said nothing of the sort.
(For what it’s worth |
of him, drawing her sword and skewering the nearest man to her as she came out of her roll.
Lexa kept moving, spinning and slashing, using the Azgeda near her to keep the archers on the walls around them at bay as long as possible. Now Anna was running through the fortress's open area, a frosty haze surrounding her. Her sword and shield glowed brightly as she charged across the courtyard toward the main doors, temperature dropping by the second.
The first Azgeda to engage the Arendellan were a pair; the redhead ran directly at the left one, taking his strike on her shield and smiling as his sword shattered. She kept going, slamming her shield into him while driving forward with her strong legs, sending him to the ground. His thick clothes and brief contact kept the shield from burning him, but they were no hindrance to her sword slicing across his torso, nearly bisecting him where he lay. She turned backward and thrust her sword at the other Azgeda charging her, the suddenness of her movement causing him to impale himself on the glowing blade.
Rather than pull her sword out of the dead man, Anna instead jerked it to the side; his ribs and chest shattered into dark chunks of ice as the blade tore free. She spotted the main doors and quickly took stock of the Azgeda deployed around the citadel courtyard, most of whom were now moving to attack her.
Snow and sleet began to fall as the tiny amount of water vapor in the air began to freeze and precipitate due to the extreme cold. However, the Azgeda were possibly the best-equipped adversaries Anna had ever faced when it came to the cold; beating them in their home territory presented a strong challenge, but then she always did love challenges.
—O—
Lexa reached the door to the interior of the keep, leaving a half-dozen dead Azgeda in her wake. She could feel the cold intensify, gnawing at her back through her thick clothes and the protective enchantment, so she knew she had to hurry or risk finding the limit to her protection's effectiveness. Fortunately, she had killed the Azgeda guarding the door before he could close the small gate guarding the keep's door, leaving just a simple wooden door between her and the keep. Which was locked, of course, when she tried to open it.
Growling, Lexa picked up the dead Azgeda, hefted him over her shoulders, then charged at the door, slamming the corpse against the wood. The impact cracked the wooden door in a few places, but it was hard enough to break the locking pins, which had already been rendered brittle by the magical cold. Thankfully Elsa had included Lexa's sword, Clarke's gun and ammunition and all their knives in the protective enchantment, and as the keep's door flew inward from the impact of the dead Azgeda's body, Lexa drew both her sword and her dagger as she stepped over the corpse and entered the narrow hallway of the keep.
Any Azgeda standing between her and the prisoners was already dead. She just needed to prove it to them.
The first Azgeda that spotted her in the shadowy hallway growled and rushed her, sword extended and pointed toward her. Lexa crossed her dagger and sword, using them to push his blade down and away while she spun with the motion, driving her left elbow into his head hard enough to stun him, then using the dagger in her left hand to slash open his throat.
The man gurgled as he fell to the ground, dying as Lexa already moved past him.
The second Azgeda shouted, "H-Heda!" and turned and ran as if Lexa were the devil herself. Which, she supposed, she likely was, to him.
The third and fourth men who rushed her in the narrow confines succeeded in drawing blood, at least; Lexa used her sword to push away the nearer man's strike at her throat, using her dagger to stab him in the heart, but the man behind the nearer attacker thrust his sword between the dying man's arm and torso, slicing across Lexa's left arm. Her leather coat and long-sleeved shirt absorbed some of the impact, but she felt the sharp sting of a laceration across her upper arm.
She grabbed the dying man's still-standing body and shoved it hard to the left, trapping the second Azgeda's sword and arm against the wall while she drove her own blade deep into his neck. These, too, she left behind her as she kept moving forward, toward the large jail block.
As she kicked open the door to where the cells were housed, she saw the cowardly Azgeda from before standing with a crossbow pointed at a group of prisoners in a large cell.
"Hiding behind hostages?" Lexa growled, disgusted at the man's cowardice. "Dishonorable even for an Azgeda!"
The man trembled as he looked at her, but he kept the jerky aim of his crossbow pointed toward a group of prisoners in a corner. "I-I'll s-s-shoot them!" he stammered, his entire body quivering with fear. "K-kill them!"
Lexa slowly walked forward, eyes glaring from the black mask of warpaint inked across her face. "You may kill one, that is true," she said slowly and clearly. "But that life will bear a steep price."
"Stop!" he called out, gesturing with the crossbow toward the prisoners, who tried to slide out of the way, but he continued to track them out of the corner of his eye.
Lexa ignored his words, continuing her measured approach. "If you do kill one of them, then not only will I drag you back to Polis to face the Death of a Thousand Cuts, but I will force your family to undergo it first," she said, voice deadly serious. "I will find all whom you care for and execute them for your own cowardice, and you will watch them die because of your own actions!"
The man's jaw trembled worse than the rest of his body as Lexa stopped just a meter away. The front of his crossbow tipped upward as he debated his options, and that was all the opening Lexa needed.
She sliced her sword in an upward stroke, catching his arms just short of the wrists. The crossbow discharged, sending a bolt clattering against the stone ceiling and ricocheting off the floor and wall before it struck a woman's leg, its momentum spent enough to only cause a minor injury.
The Azgeda's hands flew into the air with the crossbow, while Lexa lunged forward and drove the blade of her dagger through the front of the man's neck, using it to throw him to the floor. The blade tore a gaping gash through his throat from the movement, sliding free as his body collapsed to the ground.
—O—
Anna kept moving, whether it was a sidestep, a lunge or a spin as she fought her way across the citadel's courtyard. The sting of arrows occasionally hitting her was little more than an annoyance, while her shield and her constant unpredictable motion kept the archers from zeroing in on her unprotected face.
It seemed like the Azgeda weren't used to a sword-and-shield fighting style, which certainly worked to Anna's advantage, but they had definitely proven to be the most prepared foes she had ever faced when it came to the cold magic of her weapons. Their boots maintained traction even when patches of ice sprouted beneath their feet, and their well-layered clothing was very effective at keeping their limbs and blood from freezing. She had let their cold run unfettered for several minutes, and only a handful of the Azgeda had succumbed to exposure.
The rest of the dead, Anna had killed herself.
Finally she was at the main doors of the citadel, a trail of dead bodies spaced out on the stones of the courtyard behind her. She dodged the forehand slash from the nearer of the two Azgeda who had stayed by the large steel gates, jumping back quickly; an arrow flew through the space she had just occupied, striking the second Azgeda, still several feet away, just below his right knee.
Anna ran forward past the first Azgeda, catching his weak sword thrust on her shield, smiling to herself as she heard the metal splinter and fracture after contacting the protective device. She buried her own sword deep in the chest of the second Azgeda as he had bent over, clutching at the arrow in his leg; she released the sword, leaving it in the dead man's chest as he fell and pulling out her ice dagger as she reached the large metal gates. Without hesitation she plunged the dagger deep into the thick metal, all the way to the crossguard. Immediately the massive door began to frost around the embedded blade, the circle of rime thickening and growing larger each second.
Anna turned and extended her right arm, hand open and palm up, as the first Azgeda came at her again; obediently her ice blade slid itself free of the dead Azgeda, who was now entirely frozen solid, and flew back to Anna's hand, handle lightly smacking her palm as her indication that it was ready. She gripped the handle and met the man's charge by stepping forward, deflecting what appeared to be a small hand ax using her shield before thrusting the sword deeply between his left ribs and then slicing free of his torso.
Behind Anna, the circle of frost and ice continued to widen across and through the solid metal doors, which were beginning to groan and buckle as the intense cold wreaked havoc on their structural integrity. Now the effect had almost fully encompassed the right door and had spread to the adjacent left door, beginning where the massive doors touched and overlapped along their length.
Anna ignored that, keeping her back firmly to the doors and her head tucked behind her shield as she now faced four Azgeda closing on her. One of the archers continued to launch missiles at her, but the projectiles were more dangerous to Anna's attackers than they were to her, striking one woman in the shoulder as she swiped at Anna's leg with a spear.
The Azgeda finally began to demonstrate some teamwork when the injured woman and a man attacked from Anna's right, forcing her to turn to that side to meet their weapons. One of her other attackers then hit her squarely in the back with a mace; the flanged metal head crumbled from the chill of her ice mail, but the impact knocked the wind out of the Arendellan queen and sent her stumbling forward, directly into the two Azgeda.
The forward momentum sent Anna and the Azgeda woman to the ground, with Anna landing on her and knocking the wind out of her as well, judging by the startled gasp of air leaving the woman's lungs. Despite her own chest and back burning, Anna rolled forward, trying to keep her shield between her and her other attackers as much as possible as she rolled twice, then rose to a kneeling position.
Something clattered off of her raised shield, followed by the sound of numerous fragments hitting the stone surface around them. Anna slashed at the ankles of the nearest attacker around her, getting a shriek of pain as her sword cleaved a foot completely off of one leg and mostly off of another. Another arrow impacted her back, no doubt leaving a small welt from the impact but nothing worse than that. She twisted while still kneeling, managing to intercept a sword strike at her back with her shield and return a forehand swipe while rising to her feet again; the tip of her blade easily sliced through thick furs and leather, spilling crimson chunks of frozen blood from the gash across the Azgeda's abdomen; he fell to the ground screaming as his intestines and other organs froze into solid ice where the blade's intense cold had struck.
By now the doors had completely frozen, so Anna parried another blow, this time from a wooden spear—it looked like the last Azgeda were finally starting to learn, she noted—so she used a few more slashes from her sword to put some distance between her and her attackers before positioning her lips and whistling loudly and shrilly.
The unexpected noise made the remaining Azgeda pause, allowing the sound of icy hooves clopping against stone to carry easily to Anna's ears. She smiled as she saw her horse round the corner of the keep, only to frown slightly when she saw all the arrows sticking out of its snowy body.
"Aw, poor thing," she said, mostly to herself; being made of magical snow, the horse felt pain no more than Olaf did, but still. It was rude that they had shot the poor horse full of arrows.
Her frost mount reached a full gallop, aiming directly for the now-brittle metal doors. It drove itself into them, shattering them into large chunks of ruined metal and ice. The blow tore most of the protruding arrows free from the horse's body; its hooves bit into the cold stone of the path as the horse leaned into the first turn of the serpentine path, running out its momentum to keep from going off the edge of the road as it slowed down.
—O—
The Trikru warriors had begun surmounting the approach to Coldspire once they heard the fighting start. They watched as an eerie glow became visible from inside the fortress, steadily intensifying as they trudged up the long, winding path. They were halfway to the citadel when they saw the massive steel doors of the fortress blasted open, by the snow-white horse the foreign queen had been riding. Neither their Heda nor the redheaded woman were visible, but by the ongoing sounds of fighting and dying inside the citadel, it sounded like the two of them were still busy. They picked up their pace, not wanting all the battle to be done by the time they arrived.
—O—
As the last of Azgeda still standing in the fortress's courtyard fell over, Anna released a sigh of relief. She let her arms fall to her side, but she didn't release her sword or shield yet, both of which were glowing brightly enough to illuminate the walls on the far end of the courtyard.
She felt exhausted, even moreso than she normally would have after this kind of prolonged exertion. If this was what Elsa felt like here, no wonder her wife had been so tired.
She carefully turned in place, checking for any archers still up and trying to kill her, but the battlements were still now. One Azgeda archer that had been frozen in place toppled over and fell off as she watched, the body hitting the flagstones and shattering like glass. Finally satisfied that no one else was left trying to kill her, she willed her weapons to reduce the intensity of their cold radiation to where they would normally be without her enhancing it.
After still no signs of any Azgeda still moving or alive, she finally sheathed her sword. The glow of her shield instantly faded to almost nothing as the temperature returned to its usual frigid point instead of lethal levels of cold. Her muscles ached from the exertion, again, more than would have been expected, and she briefly contemplated lying down on the ground. However, she decided against that when she realized that it might startle Lexa or the Trikru when they found her.
"Anna!"
Hearing her voice coming from the direction of the keep pepped Anna up a bit. "Lexa?" she yelled back in reply, jogging toward the door leading inward. As she ran, she held her right hand open behind her and summoned her ice dagger from the wreckage of the main doors; seconds later, the weapon slid against her fingers, and she tucked it back into its sheath at her side.
Before Anna could reach the keep door, Lexa looked out, sword visibly brandished, not trusting enough to step out of the cover of the corridor just yet.
"It's okay," Anna said. "They're all dead."
Lexa's eyebrows rose. "Impressive."
"Thanks!"
"The prisoners are freed, and the Azgeda guarding them are dead as well," Lexa said, sheathing her own sword. She had surveyed the area herself, and there were no signs of movement beyond her and Anna. She stepped carefully when she left the keep, as the flagstones of the courtyard were iced over. "I've armed the healthiest of them in case any of the Azgeda remain hidden. When the rest of the warriors are here, we can search the rooms thoroughly. One of the prisoners has a minor injury from a crossbow bolt, so she will need to be tended to before we can set out for Polis."
A soft clopping noise drew their eyes back to the gate, only to see Anna's ghostly white horse come loping back into the courtyard.
"Your horse appears to have been shot," Lexa observed, drily, as the horse happily made its way to the two women, ignoring the few arrows still jutting out of its snowy body.
"Uh huh," Anna replied.
"Multiple times."
"Uh HUH."
"It doesn't seem to be bothered very much."
Anna smiled and ran her fingers through the horse's mane, composed of long fibers of frost identical in appearance to hair, pausing to pull an arrow out of its head and toss the projectile onto the ground. "They don't feel pain unless Elsa wants them to, and neither one of us likes anything to suffer," Anna said simply, plucking the another arrow out of the horse's body. "That's why I told you to take cover behind him outside. I knew being shot wouldn't hurt him."
When the horse bumped Anna with its head, nuzzling her chest, she laughed and rubbed his neck. "No, it wouldn't hurt you, would it, boy?" she said, ending with a playful voice, like she would address a child. "Would it? Would it?" she repeated in baby-talk as she petted the horse's head lovingly. "I think you might have earned a name after this, don't you?"
"HEDA!" came a shout from the main entrance.
Lexa turned to see her warriors run into the citadel, only to stop and skid when they gawked at the bodies strewn across the courtyard. Most of the corpses were more-or-less intact, although a few had been shattered into irregular chunks and fragments of grotesquely-colored ice. A thin layer of ice coated the entire courtyard and most of the bodies of the dead Azgeda by now, causing the Trikru to slip and slide briefly when they tried to move.
"Oh, sorry about that!" Anna said, after she saw them slipping on the ice. She closed her eyes and told the ice that it was alright for it to go away now, and added thank you very much for helping; after a few moments, the ice evaporated.
"Are you hurt?" Lexa asked, seeing Anna wince slightly when she opened her eyes after the ice disappeared.
Anna shook her head, although honestly she did hurt some, particularly in her back where she had been hit by the mace. But she had felt another moment of draining when she had dismissed the ice, and now her skin was starting to tingle slightly, as if it was windburned.
But she didn't get windburned.
"I'm okay, I think," Anna finally said, giving Lexa a smile. "But that took more out of me than I expected. I guess I feel the drain here, too, not just Elsa."
Lexa nodded. "Clarke surmised that while your magical weapons can freely access the magic already instilled into them, they must draw some power from you to work. It would make sense that using them here would fatigue you."
Anna nodded. "Yeah, I guess that could be it."
One of the Trikru stopped in front of them, looking uncomfortably at the snow-white horse, which simply nickered at him in return. He swallowed, then handed a large but surprisingly light leather case to Anna.
"Oh, thanks!" Anna said, smiling as she tied the case to the saddlebag on her horse's flank. She then untied the knot holding the case closed and retrieved a quiver of glittering silvery arrows, smiling at the sight of the matching ice bow inside the case.
She looked back up at Lexa. "Let's go deal with those archers we left along the path."
Lexa smiled back in return, and her fearsome warpaint made the expression more feral than pleasant. "Let's."
—O—
Author's Afterword: Next chapter brings the Clarke/Pike confrontation, which I've been quite eager to commit to pixels. Elsa also gets to meet the Skaikru, although which of the two is more shocked by the other is going to be a close call. I also promise a reunion for another couple, although which one I'm not naming just yet (although it should be reasonably easy to guess; I'm not throwing any curveballs here).
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you with the next chapter soon!Facebook will change its algorithm for the News Feed in the coming months to favor quicker-loading sites over slow-loading ones, the company announced today in a blog post.
Facebook will soon favor quick-loading sites
Facebook wields a huge amount of power over what sites get served to you in your News Feed, and now the company is adding another layer to that by taking site speed into account. According to Facebook, “Factors such as the person’s current network connection and the general speed of the corresponding webpage will be considered. If signals indicate the webpage will load quickly, the link to that webpage might appear higher in your feed.”
The company does note that under the new system, it’s possible that a slower site will see less referral traffic from Facebook, and is helpfully sharing tips for developers to improve their loading times.Here are ABC’s renew/cancel standings for week 7 of the 2017-18 season, which are still a little puzzled by one show.
Show Status 18-49 rating Renew/Cancel Index The Middle Final season 1.37 0.67 Scandal (O) Final season 1.17 0.47 Ten Days in the Valley DSW 0.43 -0.27 Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (O) 🐻 🐻 0.77 0.07 Once Upon a Time (F) (O) 🐻 🐻 🐻 0.57 0.12 Inhumans (F) (O) 🐻 🐻 🐻 0.59 0.14 The Mayor (O) 🐻 🐻 🐻 0.87 0.17 Fresh Off the Boat 🐻 🐻 🐻 1.1 0.4 How to Get Away with Murder (O) 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 0.93 0.23 Designated Survivor (O) 🐻 🐻 🐻 0.85 0.15 Speechless 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 1.17 0.47 Black-ish (O) 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 1.18 0.48 American Housewife (O) 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 1.38 0.68 The Good Doctor 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 2.02 1.32 Grey’s Anatomy (O) 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 2.0 1.3 The Goldbergs Renewed 1.52 0.82 Modern Family Renewed 1.78 1.08
“Inhumans” is over, and the Bear still doesn’t quite know what to make of it.
Here was a show that no corner of the Marvel fanbase was clamoring for, whose content was roundly panned and which doesn’t seem terribly well-positioned for a second run.
And yet? Ratings were not terrible (though they weren’t terribly good either), at least in the context of Friday nights. The Bear is going to reserve judgment for now, pending returns on “Agents of SHIELD” later in the season. There’s a sliver of a chance that this show no one needed will continue into next season.
Key:
DSW Dead Show Walking: All but officially canceled yet still airing 🐻 sure bet to be canceled by May 2018 🐻 🐻 likely to be canceled by May 2018 🐻 🐻 🐻 tossup between renewal and cancellation by May 2018 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 likely to be renewed by May 2018 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 sure bet to be renewed by May 2018
The Renew/Cancel Index is the amount above (or below) a replacement-level rating — i.e., the expected adults 18-49 rating of an emergency fill-in show should a series be canceled. For the 2016-17 season, replacement level is a 0.7 same-day rating in adults 18-49 for the Big 4 networks and a 0.2 for The CW. (Read more here.) The index number is taken by subtracting 0.7 (or 0.2) from a show’s average same-day rating.
Friday scripted shows (denoted with an “F” above) on the Big 4 have average ratings about 30 percent lower than those of other nights, therefore their ratings are multiplied by 1.43 (1/0.7, or 70 percent) before subtracting the replacement-level number.
Shows that have ended their seasons have their R/C Index number frozen at the point of their final episode.
(O) – Owned: All other things equal, shows owned by studios affiliated with their networks have a better shot at renewal than those from outside producers.Defenders of the Triforce is an escape room game, but there's no locked door and escaping isn't the end game goal. Instead, SCRAP uses the real-life puzzle format to retell the story of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in the space of one hour. The twist: The game's heroes have already lost, and it's up to your team to solve puzzles and break the seal on the Master Sword to defeat Ganondorf. It's a solid idea and meshes well with the Legend of Zelda series' history of puzzles -- but you won't be pushing blocks or lighting torches here. Instead, you'll be doing math, deciphering glyphs and turning in worksheets to a cast of Zelda-themed taskmasters. It's fun, but it's not exactly the adventure you might have expected.
Arithmetic, word games and brain teasers are a key part of any escape room experience, but in Defenders of the Triforce, they take center stage. This is partially because SCRAP's Zelda game breaks from the typical escape game in one major way: Instead of being a small, intimate experience hosting just half a dozen players, Defenders of the Triforce takes place in a ballroom where teams of six square off against dozens of other groups. This means most of the gameplay amounts to fetching puzzles from various places throughout the game experience and bringing them back to your group's table to solve. One puzzle had my team decoding the words from a series of brain teasers and then solving a puzzle composed of answers to decipher our next instruction, which amounted to "turn in this worksheet to the Zora's Domain station." It works, but it feels a little sloppy. My team wound up wasting a lot of time waiting in lines to turn in homework.
Still, the game's organizers put a lot of work into making that queuing experience fun. Each taskmaster was dressed as a Zelda character. There was a shy but polite Zora princess to guide us through the tasks of the water kingdom, a joyous dancing Goron to enthusiastically dole out puzzles and a giggling Kokiri elf to guard the Deku tree station. To get access to their areas, players had to abide by specific rules: Players can't start the second Zora's domain quest unless they carry an accessory gained from a previous puzzle, for instance, and they can't access the Temple of Time area unless they have unlocked the chest containing a key item. Defenders of the Triforce may feel a little like grade-school homework, but the cast's enthusiastic role-playing wraps the pen-and-paper puzzles in an air of excitement.
Defenders of the Triforce turned out to be a fun evening, but it wasn't quite what our group expected. As we left the venue, my friend turned to me, slightly exasperated. "We had to do tedious paperwork. We were under the gun," he said, noting the tension of the game's 60-minute time limit. "I felt like I was at work!" If it was a day on the job, at least it was a good day. We left with smiles, joking about how if we had just figured out that one clue a little sooner, we would have triumphed over Ganondorf in the end. We didn't. And that's OK.
Images courtesy of NintendoGoalkeeper Ryan Esson intervenes as Nadir Ciftci and Inverness defender Gary Warren have a disagreement in the 1-1 draw at Tannadice
Dundee United striker Nadir Ciftci is facing a two-match suspension after being accused of violent conduct against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
That would rule the 23-year-old Turk out of the Scottish Cup quarter-final and the 21 March Scottish Premiership game, both against Celtic.
He has been accused of striking Caley Thistle defender Gary Warren "upon his neck or head with your arm".
United are to contest the ban and the striker now faces a hearing on 5 March.
They had until Friday to lodge an appeal but said on their club website that they have already "refused the fixed suspension offer".
The notice of complaint by Scottish FA compliance officer Tony McGlennan follows Tuesday's game in which United goalkeeper Michal Szromnik and Warren were both sent off.
Warren was shown a red card after clashing with Ciftci in the incident that has led to the Turk being disciplined after the match.
Should he fail to overturn the ban, it will rule the striker out of three consecutive matches against Celtic.
He will already miss the Scottish League Cup final on 15 March through suspension.
Ciftci is available to United manager Jackie McNamara for Saturday's Premiership visit by Partick Thistle.Mary Robinette Kowal recently launched a novel called Ghost Talkers. In the book, there are men and women who can talk to ghosts. During World War I, there is a special corps which uses the ghosts to receive information from the front. It’s a fascinating idea, and cryptography plays a big role in the story. During the warm-up for the launch of the book, Mary has been playing a bunch of secret message games with her fans. I have long had a interest in cryptography. It was one of my favorite things to study in my programming classes.
So Mary’s launch games got me to thinking again about passing secret messages. One of the the most secure systems for doing this is called a one-time pad. I poked around the internet for a bit but I couldn’t find a good printable way to use it by hand. There is some software, but it all appeared to be lame. So I have built one that you are free to use.
I’m not going to explain the ins and out of why a one time pad is awesome. There’s plenty of resources on the internet for that. I’m just going to tell you how to use it. In the version I’m presenting, you will only use uppercase letters, numbers 0-9, and a few selected symbols. 48 characters in all.
What You Need
An Encrypt/decrypt chart. pdf format A Encrypt/Decrypt Worksheet (not strictly necessary, but super useful) A one time pad. This is the generator. Just click the link and it will generate a one-time pad for you. Print two copies, one for you and one for your secret-passing buddy. The pads are randomly generated in your browser. Once you hit reload or click away, you will never ever get that pad back.
Using the One-Time Pad
Encrypting a Message
First, get the things I mentioned above.
Once you’ve printed two copies of your one-time pad and given one to your messaging partner, it’s time to encrypt your first message. Write the message you want to encrypt in some boxes on a message worksheet. I’ll encrypt the message HI! I AM BRYCE. And I will use underscores for the spaces. Some people just omit the spaces altogether.
Look at the first box on your one-time pad. The character in that box will be the “shift” for your first character.
On your Encrypt/Decrypt chart, scan down the leftmost column to find the row with your “Clear Text” character, in my case an “H”. Then move to the right until you are in the column of the “Shift”, in this case “#”. the box where that row/column intersect is your encrypted text. In this case, it is an “A”.
Now cross off that first square of your one-time pad. You will never use that square again.
Continue, using one square on your one-time pad for each character in your message. Remember to cross out each square as you use it. Here’s my message, encrypted.
Now you are done! Write the encrypted message on another piece of paper, or send it in an email or a tweet. It doesn’t matter who else sees it, because it is encrypted!
Decrypting a Message
Now your friend has received and read your message, and sent you a message, J#NP8?X_!HJ,. Continue using the remaining boxes on the same one-time pad. For ease, you can write the encrypted message on a worksheet. Take note of the next open box on your one-time pad, this is the “shift”. Then follow the column down until you see the encrypted text. Go left to discover the clear text. In my example, I scan the first row until I see the column that has the “shift”, in my case the “C”. Then I look down that column until I see the encrypted text, in my case a “J”. I follow the row left to discover what the clear text character is. In my case it’s an “H.”
Write the clear text character above the encrypted text character on your worksheet, cross off the used shift on the one-time pad.
Now I continue in the same pattern until all characters have been decrypted.
Keeping it Secure
If you do two things, you’ll keep your notes ultra secure.
One-Time pad means use it one time. Once you use up the pad, generate another and use it. Both parties must keep their copies of the pad safe.
Weaknesses
I’m using javascript’s built-in random number generator. Mathematically speaking, it is only pseudo-random, not “truly” random. Maybe someday I’ll make a version that uses random.org’s api. Random.org uses atmospheric data which is much more “actually” random. For a regular person, though, I think you’ll be fine.
In Conclusion
Use this to send love notes to your spouse, or have the coolest pen-pal ever. Don’t use this system to plan your crimes or commit acts of terrorism. In fact, don’t do crimes or terrorism at all. Just be cool, all right?From deaths caused by the financial crash to unsafe buildings such as Grenfell Tower, an ideological commitment to deregulation costs lives. So how did the idea that we are being ‘strangled’ by petty rules become so pervasive?
Everyone loves to hate “red tape”. The EU rules and regulations that supposedly restrict Britain’s freedom were the primary theme of the non-racist wing of the leave campaign during the referendum. Brexit, we continue to be told by its champions, is a golden opportunity to make a “bonfire of red tape”. Red tape supposedly hurts everything from small businesses to individuals’ job prospects and the grand projects of visionary governments. There has been a concerted campaign against it for decades. But how bad is it really?
Such questions have been lent new urgency in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. The Daily Express, with spectacular perversity, suggested that EU energy-saving regulations were to blame for the installation of the cladding to the outside of the building. In fact, regulations on building materials and fire safety are a matter for national governments. (The chancellor, Philip Hammond, suggested last weekend that the flammable cladding used might be illegal in the UK, as it is in other countries such as the US and Germany.) But what is known, as George Monbiot points out, is that in 2014 the government rejected the idea of obliging construction companies to install sprinkler systems in new buildings – as part of its commitment, it explained, to a “one in, two out rule for regulation”. It is surely just a coincidence that, according to Property Week magazine, the Conservative party received more than £1m in donations from property and construction companies in the year to the 2015 election.
That “one in, two out rule” was part of the tape-burning zeal of the last Tory government, summed up most piquantly by the 2011 Red Tape Challenge invented by former David Cameron adviser Steve Hilton, wherein a mass of citizen “armchair auditors” was supposed to help identify bad regulations. He and the rest of the “new Tory right” dreamed of transforming Britain into a Singapore-style paradise of minimally regulated offshore swashbuckling. In 2013, Cameron himself stood in front of a banner exhortation to “Cut EU red tape”, so he could hardly complain three years later when such arguments were deployed mercilessly against him in the referendum.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest David Cameron and other leaders attending a ‘Cut EU Red Tape’ session during the European Union Summit of 2013. Photograph: Yves Herman/AFP/Getty Images
The phrase “red tape” originally referred to the actual red ribbon used to bind official documents in the UK and Europe from the 16th century onwards, and then became a metaphor for the lethargy and pettifogging of government bureaucracy. In Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield, the hero explains how he once worked as a parliamentary reporter: “Britannia, that unfortunate female, is always before me, like a trussed fowl: skewered through and through with office-pens, and bound hand and foot with red tape.” This general sense of red tape as the dullness of endless discussion and paperwork survives to this day in the satirical Ladybird Book of Red Tape, which is primarily about the horrors of office life.
The Grenfell protesters are right. Red tape saves lives | Chi Onwurah Read more
But red tape is also used to mean the regulation of companies, which may lead to unhelpful confusion. “Red tape is indeed used as a catch-all phrase in a sometimes unthinking manner,” agrees Gillian Tett, the financial anthropologist and author |
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Former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz issued a statement saying, “I condemn this reckless abstention” while the Obama Administration pushed back. “Settlement construction puts a two-state solution at risk,” Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, told the Jerusalem Post in a phone interview.
What is perhaps one of the most unusual developments since the Thursday night passage of Resolution 2334 is that Arab sources and intelligence reportedly informed Israel that the U.S. worked behind Israel’s back, drafting and promoting the anti-Israel resolution. While there’s no official evidence of such dealings, Republican members of Congress led by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are now demanding discussions be opened to defund the United Nations. The United States’ funding pays an outsized 22% of the UN’s budget.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved quickly to call back Israeli Ambassadors from the resolution’s promoting countries of New Zealand and Senegal, Ayalon says Israelis are searching for the reason President Obama made such a controversial, anti-Israel move.
“I think he wanted to leave the legacy that he is the guy who pushed the 2-state solution and be that guy who stood up to Israel. He’ll then become a celebrity in Europe and be invited to give speeches for thousands of dollars. That’s his motivation.”A 56 year-old Allen Park, Michigan man named Michael Kubek is facing felony weapons charges after forcing six children aged 12-14 to lay down while he threatened them with a P938 9 mm handgun, allegedly for vandalizing his “Trump/Pence" yard sign.
A Donald Trump supporter in Michigan pointed a gun at six kids he suspected of destroying a yard sign favoring the Republican presidential candidate. Allen Park officers found the children, aged 12 to 14, on the grass Saturday with 56-year-old Michael Kubek standing over them "cursing and yelling." They said a gun had been pointed at them. "He was using very profane language," a neighbor told Fox 2. "Real bad language."
Raw Story is reporting that the sign was simply “knocked down." According to neighbors, the kids were traumatized by the experience.
The kids said they tried to tell Kubek they did not damage his sign, but it only resulted with Kubek telling them to shut up and continue cursing at them. They said Kubek held them at gunpoint while his mother called police. According to police, Kubek’s mother lives on the same block.
When he was questioned by the police Kubek admitted he did not actually see who vandalized his sign, nor could he identify any of the children he had just terrorized with his “Second Amendment” rights as being the ones who actually knocked his sign down. Kubek had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but, thankfully, his gun was confiscated upon his arrest.
Kubek claims he felt “threatened” by the kids because he was "outnumbered," which is interesting since nearly all of the accounts indicate he was chasing the kids with his gun. By the time police arrived, he had returned the gun back into his house. When the police asked him for the weapon, he displayed the P938 which-- at that time-- was unloaded.
Kubek is facing seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon.News
Slow start to your Monday? Change up the tempo with this super fun 8-bit version of Talking Heads single “This Must Be The Place” from their seminal album ‘Speaking In Tongues’.
Although its usually all business here at Stoney in terms of dance and electronic music, the evolution of 8-bit has kept it gravy and allowed us to step into some other boundaries and talk about some of our favourite songs from other genres including this sucker. The user, apmeehan hasn’t only done a brilliant version of this but also has three other 8-bit videos, all covers of Boards Of Canada which is totally fine by us. There is actually an obvious mashup of Limp Bizkit and MIA but we’ll leave that to you to discover.
So big hurray for those clever cats who can 8-bit things… oh and Boy 8-bit himself because he rules.
Post your favourites below!UT Arlington star Kevin Hervey is done for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee.
Not that there’s ever a good time to lose your best player for the season, but the news comes just one day before a showdown Saturday with Arkansas Little Rock for first place in the Sun Belt.
Kennedy was a big-time player coming out of junior college. UTA coach Scott Cross on Kennedy Eubanks, who will replace Kevin Hervey
During warm-ups before Thursday’s 91-64 win over Arkansas State, Hervey limped off the court after tweaking his knee, forcing Kennedy Eubanks into the lineup. Eubanks responded with a 23-point game and gave an indication that it won’t be impossible to sustain success without the Mavericks star.
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“Kennedy was a big-time player coming out of junior college,” Cross said. “Unfortunately he hasn’t gotten the minutes he wants, or even the minutes that we want to give him. I feel that way about eight or nine of our guys. But that’s what makes this team special.”
Three UTA players recorded double-doubles in Thursday’s victory over Arkansas State
It will be tough to replace Hervey’s production over the long haul. The sophomore from Arlington Bowie was averaging 18.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.
It’s the second time in as many years that Cross has lost one of his leading scorers midway through the season. Last season guards Johnny Hill and Drew Charles went down with injuries that ultimately derailed what was a promising start to the UTA conference season.
The Mavericks haven’t lost at home since Feb. 21 last year.
But this season’s team isn’t built to rely on one player. Three Mavericks recorded double-doubles in Thursday’s win, the first time that’s happened since 1990. That speaks to the depth Cross has built as UTA (14-3, 5-1 SBC) tries to take control of the Sun Belt before a string of five consecutive road games.
UALR (16-2, 6-1 SBC) started 10-0 and earned a No. 3 ranking in the Mid-Major Top 25 with a stingy defense. The Trojans feature an athletic backcourt led by Josh Hagins and Kemy Osse, but Marcus Johnson Jr. leads them in scoring coming off the bench as a sixth man.
The Trojans were tested by Texas State on Thursday, but they won in overtime to keep pace with the Mavericks.
The Mavericks haven’t lost at home since Feb. 21 last year, and they’re beating teams by 27 points per game at the College Park Center.
SHARE COPY LINK UTA coach Scott Cross said he isn't banking on an at-large NCAA berth and Kennedy Eubanks said he had to step out of his comfort zone to get the Mavs a win over Arkansas State.
SHARE COPY LINK Kennedy Eubanks has 23 points and 11 rebounds as the Mavericks regained sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt Conference with the win. Star-Telegram insider Sam Morton breaks down the win.Tipped-wage workers such as waitresses endure much higher levels of sexual harassment than other workers, often for poverty-level wages. David Zalubowski/AP
Where working for tips means the customer is always right, waitresses, bartenders, and other tipped-wage workers endure stunning rates of sexual harassment.
In 2009, Michael Lynn, a professor of food and beverage management at Cornell University, published a study that found that waitresses in the U.S. with blond hair, smaller waists, and larger breasts received higher tips than women without those traits. His findings circulated among restaurant hiring teams and managers eager to jack up sales in the $799 billion restaurant industry. Perhaps no other industry rivals Hollywood in profits made by men off of women’s beauty, charm, and sex appeal—and the ramifications should be obvious to anyone keeping up with the current news cycle. Like Hollywood actresses, but considerably worse off financially, waitresses endure rampant sexual harassment with impunity. A whopping 90 percent of women in the U.S. restaurant industry report being subject to unwanted sexual advances at work, and more than half of women say these interactions occur weekly, according to a Restaurant Opportunities Center report from 2014. For the restaurant industry—which employs 10 percent of the overall U.S. workforce and where women outnumber men by two to one—the magnitude of sexual harassment is difficult to fathom.
But we do know a few things. Nearly 40 percent of all sexual harassment claims made to the federal agency that deals with workplace discrimination originate with misconduct in the restaurant industry. Between 2004 and 2014, restaurants in 15 states surrendered $10 million in damages and settlements for sexual harassment cases. Cracker Barrel, Outback Steak House, and Cheesecake Factory were among the familiar chains with cases filed against them. Routine exchanges—taking an order, refilling a wine glass, picking up a fallen napkin or utensil, and dropping off the bill—can quickly devolve into sexual-harassment nightmares. That’s practically by design. Dianne Avery, a retired State University of New York at Buffalo law professor who has written extensively about labor and sexual harassment, says that tipped wages put the burden on customers rather than employers to pay a server’s wages. This in turn creates a proprietary relationship between paying customers, who are frequently men, and servers, who are far more likely to be women. “This is the exchange: ‘I’m getting to look at you and talk to you, and I’m paying for it,’” Avery says. Tipped restaurant workers—a group dominated by servers, but also sometimes including hosts, dishwashers, and bussers—face more unwanted sexual encounters than non-tipped restaurant workers, such as chefs, line cooks, supervisors, and managers, the Restaurant Opportunities Center found. These same employees face higher rates of harassment from co-workers, managers, and, of course, customers. (Alabama senatorial candidate Roy Moore was allegedly one such habitual customer, according to numerous reports from former mall and restaurant workers in Gadsden, Alabama.) The fact that managers and co-workers harass tipped workers reflects the gendered division of labor in restaurants. Men dominate non-tipped kitchen and managerial positions; women wait tables.
“In an industry where the majority of the workers who receive tips are female, you create a power dynamic [between men and women] and room for sexual harassment,” says Catherine Barnett, director of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York. “Questionable behavior and interactions are condoned.” Waitresses in tipped-wage states are three times more likely than workers in non-tipped wage states to be asked by management to sexualize their behavior and appearance for guests. As in the film industry, sexual harassment in restaurants takes on its own industry-specific rituals. The Restaurant Opportunities Center—which boasts 18,000 restaurant workers in 10 cities, including Chicago, Boston, and New Orleans—found that the most common forms of sexual harassment include “sexual teasing,” “deliberate touching, cornering, leaning over, pinching,” and “pressure for dates.” More serious offenses like groping, exposing genitals, and rape are a part of the repertoire as well. Servers at downscale chains and diners such as Olive Garden or Waffle House, where tips are lower and women tend to outnumber men, likely face higher rates of sexual harassment than they do at high-end establishments, Avery says. To make matters worse, waitresses in the 19 states—concentrated around the South and Midwest, where the tipped minimum wage has been frozen at $2.13 an hour since 1991—are twice as likely to experience sexual harassment as their counterparts in the seven states, including California and Minnesota, that have banned the tipped minimum wage and replaced it with the standard minimum wage. Cities are changing fast. Keep up with the CityLab Daily newsletter. The best way to follow issues you care about. Subscribe Loading... The legacy of the tipped minimum wage dates back to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1966, which secured landmark labor rights including the 40-hour workweek and paid overtime. The same law also legalized a subminimum wage for tipped workers. Today, servers in the states that continue to follow the $2.13 an hour tipped minimum wage earn a living almost entirely dependent on tips after taxes. Waitresses in these states are three times more likely than workers in non-tipped wage states to be asked by management to sexualize their behavior and appearance for guests. Adding injury to insult, these same women are significantly more likely to live below the poverty line. Sylvia Allegretto, a labor economist who studies the minimum wage at the University of California-Berkeley, says that the tipped wage system has been kept in place for decades thanks to powerful restaurant lobbyists, including the National Restaurant Association—known in the industry as the “other NRA.” One-time Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain previously served as its CEO. “I mean [what restaurant] wouldn’t want customers to pay the bulk of your wage bill?” Allegretto says. “The economic argument that you hear from a lot of restaurants is that if you get rid of the tipped wages, you're going to destroy the restaurant industry,” she says. “But clearly, that's not true, because the restaurant industry is booming in many states that eliminated tipped wages.”
In Michigan, women make up nearly 80 percent of the tipped workforce, and the tipped minimum wage sits at a paltry $3.38 an hour. Alicia Renee Farris, a labor organizer in Detroit, and a leader in the Restaurant Opportunities Center’s campaign to eliminate the tipped minimum wage in Michigan, says sexual harassment is a growing issue in the state’s “thriving” restaurant industry. To make a living, Farris says, Michigan waitresses have to “subject themselves to different kinds of ‘behavior’ in order to get tips.” Statewide, more than 20 percent of waitresses live in poverty. Despite the plight of women working in the service industry, most labor groups in the restaurant industry (including the Restaurant Opportunities Center) have been reluctant to come out in favor of banning tips entirely, since most servers rely on tips as their primary source of income. Instead, many reformers would prefer to phase out the tipped minimum wage in favor of a living wage. Tipped workers face a poverty rate nearly double that of non-tipped workers, and politicians like Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Patty Murray of Washington have caught on. In April 2017, the senators introduced a bill that would phase out the tipped minimum wage, raising it to a $15 an hour by 2024—though a Republican-majority Congress makes the passage of this bill unlikely. Saru Jayaraman, a labor activist and founder of the Restaurant Opportunities Center, says that “the culture of sexual assault in the restaurant industry isn’t an accident,” but a direct outcome of “the subminimum wage and the fact that the majority of people living off tips are women.” “Countless young women are introduced to the world of work through the restaurant industry,” Jayaraman says, “and they go on to be more likely to accept forms of sexual harassment as ‘just part of the job.’”The Obama administration spent billions to fix the Veterans Administration hospital system so that our nation’s former military service personnel could actually receive the good quality healthcare they were promised—and it appears as though the Los Angeles unit used that money to buy shredders.
The embattled Veterans Administration may have another scandal on its hands, after investigators found at least eight benefits claims for veterans at the Los Angeles VA that were shredded instead of being properly processed, according to the Washington Times. The VA’s Office of the Inspector General conducted the internal investigation after receiving an anonymous tip that the staff at the Los Angeles regional office was shredding compensation claims. The 15-page report details what type of documents were allegedly shredded and how the office didn’t have a Records Management Officer, the position created in the wake of similar practices in 2008, for more than a year.
Perhaps the veterans can take some consolation in that fact that the failure of our state’s healthcare exchange, Covered California, has left citizens relying on our version of Obamacare unable to access medical care.
California’s health insurance exchange is still sluggish when it comes to resolving customer service problems, leaving many people unable to access health care or finalize their tax returns, a consumer advocacy group said Thursday. Covered California has been slow to fix enrollment mistakes entered into its computer system, according to the Health Consumer Alliance, which is made up of legal aid groups throughout the state. Exchange staff has a limited ability to update a state computer program for determining whether people are eligible to enroll in Covered California or in Medi-Cal, the state’s low-income health program, the group says.
Those Californians who have managed to enroll in the exchange are poised to receive a 4-7 percent increase in their rates.That should make them feel a whole lot better!
Meanwhile, Governor Jerry Brown has called a special session of the state legislature to address problems such as healthcare funding, prompting one lawmaker to reintroduce an assisted suicide bill:
Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton), the bill’s primary author, defended the decision to bring the issue into the special session on healthcare financing. “It’s about making healthcare work better,” she said. “Healthcare is about providing care, but it’s also about providing relief at the end of life.”
So rather than dying while waiting for an appointment, like over 200,000 of the veterans in the VA system have done, those relying on the public healthcare system in this state can depend on death plans instead.BANGOR, Washington — The ballistic-missile submarine USS Louisiana (SSBN 743) and a U.S. Navy Offshore Support Vessel collided while conducting routine operations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca off the coast of Washington state on August 18, 2016.
The collision occurred at 6:00 p.m. There were no injuries to personnel. Assessments of the damage to both the submarine and the U.S. Navy Offshore Support Vessel are being conducted. The incident is currently under investigation.
Both ships returned safely to port under their own power. The U.S. Navy Offshore Support Vessel returned safely to port at Port Angeles, Washington, and the USS Louisiana returned safely to homeport at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor, Washington.
For questions related to this release, contact Lt. Tia Nichole McMillen at (808) 473-0625 or (808) 473-0911.Rain, thunderstorms in the weekend forecast for San Antonio area
Slight risk for strong to severe thunderstorms tonight through early Sunday for S.A. Slight risk for strong to severe thunderstorms tonight through early Sunday for S.A. Photo: Courtesy National Weather Service Photo: Courtesy National Weather Service Image 1 of / 99 Caption Close Rain, thunderstorms in the weekend forecast for San Antonio area 1 / 99 Back to Gallery
Updated: 11:a.m., Dec. 12
San Antonio can expect a slight risk of "strong to severe thunderstorms" beginning around midnight and lasting until 4 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.
The warning predicts wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour.
"An isolated tornado or two will be possible," the warning says.
The weather service says the Hill Country can expect the storms to hit around 10 p.m. and the Interstate 35 corridor along San Antonio by midnight.
San Antonio can expect 1-2 inches of rain, and parts of the Hill Country will see up to golf ball-size hail.
"The storms will clear east of the area after sunrise on Sunday as the cold front moves through the area," the warning says.
Original story continues:
SAN ANTONIO — Chances of rainfall in San Antonio are expected to kick off shortly after midnight in San Antonio and South Central Texas, jumping to around 60 percent during the day on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service
Meteorologists are calling for a marginal risk for widespread storms on Saturday as a front pushes through the region.
NWS meteorologist Aaron Treadway said Bexar County will see about a 20 percent chance of rain beginning on Friday night.
RELATED: 38 things you should know about this weekend in San Antonio
On Saturday, he said odds for showers and thunderstorms will sit around 40 percent during the day, then jump up to 60 or 70 percent from Saturday night into Sunday morning.
“Right now we think the greatest threats are potentially damaging winds and high rainfall,” Hopper said.
Though weekend storms could bring heavy downpours in isolated areas, flash flooding is not expected to be an issue.
Hopper said rainfall should be sporadic and relatively brief.
Saturday's forecast for heavy rain led to the rescheduling of two events.
The San Antonio Coffee Festival has been moved to Jan. 9, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at La Villita Historic Arts Village.
The Hemisfair Holiday Artisans Market has been pushed back a day and now will happen noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, in the Yanaguana Garden at Hemisfair.
Staff writer Polly Anna Rocha contributed to this report.
[email protected]
Twitter: @MDWilsonSA
Staff writer Ben Olivo contributed to this report.Even though it won’t be released for another month and a half, Microsoft’s (MSFT) upcoming Windows 8 operating system has already found itself at the center of a number of controversies. After being criticized for its Metro interface and lack of a Start button, Microsoft is now facing its most troubling accusation yet. According to programmer Nadim Kobeissi, Windows 8 automatically and immediately, through a new feature called SmartScreen, informs Microsoft about every app that is downloaded and installed on the operating system.
UPDATE: Microsoft’s response follows below.
Windows SmartScreen is supposedly meant to protect users from malicious programs by screening applications installed from the Internet and sending the information to Microsoft to ensure its safety. According to Kobeissi, however, “it may be possible to intercept SmartScreen’s communications to Microsoft and thus learn about every single application downloaded and installed by a target.”
The SmartScreen feature is turned on by default and when disabled, Windows will periodically pester users to re-enable it.
“We can confirm that we are not building a historical database of program and user IP data,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “Like all online services, IP addresses are necessary to connect to our service, but we periodically delete them from our logs. As our privacy statements indicate, we take steps to protect our users’ privacy on the backend. We don’t use this data to identify, contact or target advertising to our users and we don’t share it with third parties.”
The company spokesperson added, “With respect to the claims of SSL security and data interception risk posed by the SSL2.0 protocol, by default Windows 8 will not use this protocol with our service. Windows SmartScreen does not use the SSL2.0 protocol”
ReadUpdate April 14 2017: Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the Monte-Carlo Masters. “Unfortunately I won’t be competing in Monaco as planned. I’m working hard to be ready for Estoril which will be my first clay court event”. via his official twitter account, @NickKyrgios. The Australian made the final at Estoril in 2015, the first ATP final of his career. He lost to Richard Gasquet 2-6 3-6, before making it to the semifinals in 2016; losing to eventual champion Nicolas Almagro 3-6 5-7.
Every established tennis star has the moment where he defies all expectations and doesn’t look back; and the upcoming Monte-Carlo Masters tournament could be it for Nick Kyrgios. Already touted as a future grand slam champion and world number 1, the young Australian has displayed the skill, heart and tenacity that has warranted such consideration. Furthermore, his polarizing personality captivates the audience; to such an extent that some people tune in just to see if he’ll explode or implode.
Regardless of his antics on the court, no one can deny that Kyrgios is an extremely talented young man. Blessed with a highly accurate and powerful serve, it is supplemented with a tremendous forehand and very consistent backhand. He is very proficient with slices and efficient at the net, sometimes to the point of showmanship. It is not unheard of for him to hit a between-the-legs volley when an easier shot would suffice. Nonetheless, this style of play has seen him rise through the rankings; to the point where he is considered a threat at every tournament.
Kyrgios ended 2016 on a positive note, winning his first ATP World Tour 500 title at the Rakuten Japan Open in Tokyo. He defeated David Goffin 4-6 6-3 7-5 in the final and finished the season ranked 13th; which was a career high.
Kyrgios began the 2017 season by participating in the Hopman Cup, where he defeated Feliciano Lopez and Adam Pavlasek but lost to Jack Sock. He was seeded 14 at the Australian Open, which was still a career high for the NextGen star. He fell in the second round to Italy’s Andreas Seppi, despite being up by two sets to nil. Putting the Australian Open behind him, he then participated at the Marseille Open; where he lost to Jo Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals.
The Mexican Open was next, here he made another semifinal showing; losing to eventual champion Sam Querrey 6-3 1-6 5-7. This tournament was significant for him however, as he defeated world number 2 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals 7-6(9) 7-5. He had already defeated Federer and Nadal at the Madrid Open in 2015 and Wimbledon 2014 respectively. By doing so, he was able to defeat all of the “big 3”- Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic- in his first attempt. He followed this with another victory over Djokovic; 6-4 7-6(3) in the fourth round at Indian Wells, before withdrawing from the tournament via food poisoning. His quarterfinal opponent was Federer and thus fans were denied a classic.
Kyrgios was in undeniably great form, and he moved on to the Miami Open. Fans finally got a chance to see a Federer-Kyrgios rematch, as both men progressed through their early rounds to meet in the semifinals. This was a match to remember, as each player left it all on the court. Federer eventually prevailed in three tight sets, 7-6(9) 6-7(9) 7-6(5) in just over three hours. Nonetheless, Kyrgios had shown the world that he was ready to take the next step and contend for a Masters 1000 trophy.
Having never won a title on clay, it might be difficult for some to view him as a serious threat. However, given his recent form over the past few weeks; it’s very likely that he will make a strong push for the title. Additionally, he just helped Australia qualify for the semifinals of the Davis Cup; securing victories over American’s John Isner and Sam Querrey. The Monte-Carlo draw will be released tomorrow and regardless of whom he faces; his aggressive play and lack of fear should propel him to the later rounds of the tournament. Assuming he maintains his focus and composure, he could be the man to beat this season.
Be sure to follow us on www.tennis-pulse.com for live play-by-play coverage and recaps during the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 tournament.WE’VE all seen so-called ‘amazing’ footage of UFOs, but a new video blows them all out the water.
It was posted onto YouTube by Misterio Canal (Mystery Channel) this week, and it seemingly shows a vortex in the sky.
Even more astounding, as the clouds swirl and move around in a mind-blowing pattern, a bright light is seen hurtling towards them.
It gets closer and closer, until it eventually disappears inside the centre of the vortex.
Even more amazing — once it’s swallowed up the stunning cloud formation vanishes.
There’s a sound in the background which could be a plane flying overheard, while a man is heard saying: “Oh yeah. That’s just insane.”
The video is 45 seconds long, with the vortex gradually shrinking throughout the footage.
The strange bright light makes its first appearance after 18 seconds, and it seems to be aiming directly for the middle of the cloud formation.
The UFO doesn’t hang around either, it zips straight through the sky as if it’s on a mission.
At the moment it’s not known when and where the phenomenon was filmed, but it’s already going down a storm online with alien fanatics and has racked up thousands of views.
It has a caption questioning whether the UFO could be an alien craft which has been caught on camera and was given the title: “Dimensional portal in the sky absorbs a UFO.”
So while we might not be that sure exactly what we’re seeing, it seems the uploader is in no doubt.
Unfortunately, not everyone is blown away by it.
One commenter pointed out that there is no sourcing on it, which suggests it’s a “fake”.
Poster seems completely on board though, and wrote: “But... that ‘s what they want? People with closed minds should not watch these videos!
“Sceptics always looking for proof, they want an alien to appear on your doorstep!
“Open your mind! Study and seek information! Only then they will understand what is going on!!”
Many others jumped to Misterio Canal’s defence too — we’re apparently a world of believers.
Apart from Monolocoful, who said: “This is so false that you could put it in a Disney movie.”CLEVELAND, OH -- Visitors flocked to the 13th Annual Holiday Model Trains Display at the Puritas Nursery and Garden Center in West Park on Saturday.
Owner Dale Heyink remembers the magic of the model train villages in the old Higbee window displays at Christmas. Building his tiny train village, free to the public, is his way of giving back to the community. "It's nice to see the kids' faces," Heyink said. "It's the spirit of Christmas."
For 13 years, Heyink has asked the help of his friends, model train experts Dan Gryczan and Ken Perez. They start building the 10 X 30 foot train platform from scratch in October, designing the train village differently each year. Eight trains and trolleys chug through a landscape of miniature evergreens, herbs and greenery from their nursery. Model trains quietly zoom through a tapestry of waterfalls, tiny downtowns, past miniature circuses and farms.
Heyink, who has owned the 92-year-old family nursery for 32 years now, says they are already working on next year's design. The display stays open until Dec. 31.Downtown Oakland’s Broadway corridor is just as safe as San Francisco’s Market Street, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan told an audience of San Francisco and Oakland business professionals this morning.
Quan said that a study she’d seen showed that crime rates in downtown areas of the two cities were roughly comparable.
“If you’re staying away from Oakland because you are afraid of the crime, that’s not a reason anymore,” Quan told the audience at the San Francisco Business Times breakfast. “When people ask what’s going on in Oakland I say jobs are up and crime is down.”
Apparently Quan was talking about this Colliers International real estate three-slide study that compares locations in downtown San Francisco to places in downtown Oakland in early 2013. The real estate company used crimemapping.com to compare 101 California to 1 Kaiser Plaza, 2100 Franklin (Pandora) to 1355 Market (Twitter) and 555 12th Street (Ask) to 140 New Montgomery (Yelp).
It isn’t clear why Colliers picked the locations or the particular one-month timeframe they did. But they’re right: in these particular cases, there was less crime in Oakland than SF.
More broadly, Quan has a point. Kind of. Homicides and shootings are down by double digits in Oakland, but those kinds of crime are not typical in downtown Oakland. Robberies, however, have been on the rise across the city. Those were at an all-time-high in 2012, when Oakland led the country in the per capita robbery rate and they climbed by 15 percent in 2013.
San Francisco police don’t keep crime stats as well as Oakland, so we can’t compare their crime rates for 2013. But in 2012, San Francisco (population 820,000) had 3,484 robberies. Oakland, with a population of 400,000, had 4,338 in 2012, according to FBI statistics.
Follow @WillKaneThanks to its secretly successful mission to infiltrate and take over Hollywood in the 1950s, the Soviet Union now has an impressive hold over American culture. Everyone is too distracted by Russian video games, Russian standup comedy, and dramas about Russian spies on FX these days to figure out the truth anyway, so TV networks might as well try and capitalize on this anti-capitalist movement while they can. We assume that’s why HBO is taking another crack at making a show about Soviet spies, something it last attempted back in 2011.
The plan back then was to make a drama series set in the ‘80s that would be based on the life of director Martyn Burke, who discovered that a crewmember on one of his films was actually a colonel in the KGB. The show would’ve been about a Soviet spy trying to start a family in America as a cover for all of the spy stuff he would do on weekends or whatever, but that’s basically what FX’s The Americans is about, so HBO has had to come up with a new idea in the years since then. To do that, it went to a guy who has some experience with this subject matter: director Martyn Burke, the same guy from earlier in this paragraph. This comes via Deadline, which says that the network will be adapting his “comedic drama thriller” The Commissar’s Report into a new series, with Burke writing the pilot and Naked Gun’s Jerry Zucker producing.
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In a slight twist on how these stories usually go, The Commissar’s Report isn’t about a spy who tries to avoid the temptations of American life, but one who secretly embraces them. Deadline says this ends up putting his life “in mortal danger,” so we assume the Soviets don’t take too kindly to the blue jeans and Mickey Mouse t-shirts he starts wearing. It’s a “comedic drama thriller,” though, so we imagine any dramatic moments will be undercut with some thrilling comedy. Or maybe the comedy will be undercut with thrilling drama? It’ll be one of those, at least.A Cat and Mouse Game with State Over Clinton-Deleted Emails
Top Clinton Foundation Executive Sought Diplomatic Passport
U.S. Spends Another $10 Mil to Register New Immigrant Voters
Clean House Is National Best Seller
A Cat and Mouse Game with State Over Clinton-Deleted Emails
This week the State Department released documents containing several emails that were deleted from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s non-state.gov email system and recovered by the FBI. They were dated October 2012, near the end of her tenure, and contain praise for her testimony regarding Benghazi.
It is hardly praiseworthy, however, that these emails prove that Hillary or her lawyers deleted material that is responsive to federal court orders and congressional subpoenas. Clinton’s obstruction of justice is as plain as day.
The documents were released hours before the State Department’s midnight court filing deadline. The department had represented that it anticipated being able to produce these documents by September 8, 2016. At the same time, the department for the first time explained that the other emails it considers “duplicate” and which it is not producing contain metadata that was not previously produced.
We objected to the withholding of these records as they contain new information not previously produced and are responsive to our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Following our stated objection, the State Department changed its position and produced the records.
JW attorneys asked the court to have “State produce all remaining responsive records with the included metadata within one week – by Tuesday, September 13, 2016.” However, U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta decided that the issue will be best briefed a bit down the road.
The newly released documents were obtained through a Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit seeking former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s communications about the attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, during which U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith were killed. A second terrorist assault targeted a nearby compound, killing two government contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00692)).
After admitting in an August 23 court filing that it found documents that “satisfied the [Benghazi-related] search terms” of the new Clinton emails, the State Department proposed a rolling production schedule, “under which State would make its first production of any non-exempt responsive records subject to FOIA on September 30, 2016, and complete production no later than October 31, 2016.” Judicial Watch then asked the court that State make known the volume of documents remaining to be reviewed before it accepts whether the production schedule is reasonable.
This is only the beginning, as the Obama administration is due in court on September 23 to explain when it will produce the rest of Hillary Clinton’s undeleted 14,900 emails.
Stay tuned…
Top Clinton Foundation Executive Sought Diplomatic Passport
Late last week we released 510 pages of State Department documents containing emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that include a request in 2009 by Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band for diplomatic passports for himself and associates.
Clinton’s aide Huma Abedin responded to Band’s request positively, saying, “Ok will figure it out.” Band also sought and obtained special help from Abedin for seven-figure Clinton Foundation donor Chris Ruddy, of Newsmax.com.
The emails also show Hillary Clinton forwarding classified information to Abedin’s unsecured, non-state.gov account. Moreover, the emails show that Bill Clinton sought a meeting with State Department officials and Mrs. Clinton herself for a major Clinton donor and that he pushed for a joint event with the Clinton Global Initiative.
One exchange between Sidney Blumenthal and Hillary Clinton concerned the “disastrous nature of the Obama trip” and the U.S. being “totally out of the loop in Berlin – no ambassador” with the expectation that “Germans and Russians will now cut their own separate deals on energy, regional security, etc.….” This exchange had previously been published by the State Department, but it was unknown until now that Clinton forwarded this exchange containing classified information |
17 haven’t already left for France?
09:21 How can we accept that towns and villages are being forced to welcome
09:25 dozens and hundreds of them, more or less everywhere in the country,
09:29 often without the consent of the population or even of the municipality?
09:33 How can we accept that this new influx adds
09:37 to the already massive
09:41 legal immigration; so massive that every year there have been
09:45 200,000 people entering French territory,
09:49 for ten years now? How are we supposed to accept this additional immigration?
09:53 When we know that for dozens of years illegal immigration
09:57 hasn’t been drying up? Immigration exacts a considerable price
10:01 that weighs on social budgets, and makes paychecks smaller,
10:05 and makes unemployment grow. It’s a source — it’s obvious! —
10:09 of insecurity. And we know very well that inside the
10:13 influx of the immigrants terrorists are hiding.
10:25 How long are we going to continue — in France,
10:29 in Germany and in all the other countries subjected to the madness of Schengen —
10:33 in this manner, and not protecting out borders?
10:37 There is, my dear friends in the European Union,
10:41 not only the immigration problem. There’s also the problem,
10:46 the huge problem, caused by the common currency. Which forces
10:50 every member of the Eurozone to have the same economic policies. I’m not saying that
10:58 everybody has to leave the Eurozone. It’s a sovereign choice.
11:02 It’s a sovereign choice to make, which has to be respected in every
11:06 nation. But it’s imperative that every country
11:10 may leave if that is their wish!
11:22 I have never thought that all European countries need the solutions I’m recommending for France.
11:26 I’m only saying that every country has to think
11:30 freely about its own interests and let its people
11:34 make the decision that seems to be the best. And if for some
11:38 countries it might seem advantageous to stay in the Eurozone,
11:42 for others it’s becoming more and more clear that it’s the opposite.
11:46 For France the single currency is a tool for the destruction
11:50 of the economy. Despite all the strategies put in place to save
11:54 the Euro, as the mandatory tool for all,
11:58 to mend it, as well as possible, so it might stay in place,
12:02 the deep diversity of European peoples and their particular economies comes back with a vengeance.
12:06 There is behind the word “people” a particular social fabric,
12:10 particular family traditions;
12:14 there’s a language, a history.
12:18 In sum: a people has a certain nature. A nature
12:22 that can be neither compressed nor interchanged.
12:35 So when we are told it’s one unique currency,
12:39 “a unique whole” — do they mean to say that
12:43 what is convenient for a German is also convenient for a Frenchman and a Spaniard?
12:47 But the German economy, the French economy,
12:51 the Spanish economy don’t operate in a void! They are
12:55 anchored in national realities, they breathe in the rhythm
12:59 of the peoples. Deny this diversity,
13:03 as the idea of a unique currency imposed on everybody is doing —
13:07 this means to brutalize Europe!
13:15 Concerning the people,
13:19 one doesn’t calculate an average by a simple
13:23 mathematical formula. There is no Franco-German average,
13:27 no more than a Franco-Spanish average.
13:31 I like Germany, because it is German.
13:35 I like France, because it is French.
13:47 I don’t like a chimera,
13:51 that would, like that legendary monster, have
13:55 a German body and a Greek tail, and three heads —
13:59 one French, another Spanish and the last one Italian!
14:08 The distinctions between the peoples
14:12 cannot be deleted by a stroke of a pen!
14:16 I used the example of the euro. I could have talked about fiscal affairs,
14:20 about social rights, retirement systems, or minimum wages.
14:24 They want to meld all the European nations into
14:28 the same economic mold, while crushing their distinctiveness.
14:32 If there must be reforms, they can only happen
14:36 at a national level, where there is a unique people. And over which
14:40 it is possible to act in a coherent way. Economic integration
14:44 followed by political integration is a dream
14:48 that is turning into a nightmare.
14:56 So we are seeing it in migration policies, but also simultaneously
15:00 in economic policies; there’s no more freedom when there’s no more sovereignty,
15:04 meaning the ability of deciding for ourselves about choices to make
15:08 for our country. Today they let representatives from one country vote
15:12 to create laws for another country on the other end
15:16 of the continent. But this makes no sense whatsoever!
15:20 I don’t want another country deciding what my country has to do!
15:24 And I don’t want mine to decide about the others, either!
15:32 For this reason
15:36 the goal of our parliamentary group above all
15:40 is to give the maximum of freedom back to every nation, and it has always worked
15:44 in this direction. Now we need to move on to the next stage,
15:48 a stage where we will no longer be content as a minority in the European parliament. The stage where
15:53 we will be the majority in the ballot boxes in every election!
16:04 2017
16:09 is a year rich in elections, first in France
16:13 but also in the Netherlands, and I wish the biggest success possible
16:17 to our friend Geert Wilders! Here also —
16:25 Here also, dear Frauke,
16:29 you will be leading the electoral battle. Your success since 2013
16:32 is already remarkable. I know that you’ll keep growing,
16:35 because you are the future of Germany!
16:49 This success could change the face of Europe.
16:53 if we come to power in every country in the EU, we could organize
16:57 in consultation with each other a reasonable discontinuation of the
17:01 old order, in which everybody will discover their best interests.
17:05 I want this transition to occur in the most tranquil way.
17:09 But if only one of us reaches his goal,
17:13 he will carry the hope of others. Let’s not contemplate this scenario!
17:17 We will get there, all of us!
17:29 Our organisation at the level of the European Parliament, our meeting today,
17:33 are the testimony of this solidarity that exists
17:37 among the movements close to, or very close to reaching power.
17:41 Often our adversaries warn us that we
17:45 are alone in case of victory. Well, it’s already starting
17:49 to be refuted at the ballot box, but more fundamentally,
17:53 the peoples share obvious interests, and everyone can see
17:57 that patriotic policies wouldn’t isolate their country, but on the contrary,
18:01 they would prompt a strong adherence by other peoples.
18:06 In a world where the United States is re-centering on itself,
18:10 in a world where 95% of countries have national borders,
18:14 in a world where we find protections, patriotism isn’t
18:18 a policy of the past; it is a policy of the future!
18:30 From then on,
18:34 from the moment when we abandon the prison of the European Union,
18:38 we will see the rebirth of the diversity of European cultures and the nations
18:42 that compose it. This diversity isn’t synonymous with war,
18:46 contrary to what years of ideology wanted to make us believe.
18:50 War, on the contrary, is this Union in lock-step.
18:54 War is those disconnected elites who are calling for
18:58 arming against Mr Trump or Mr Putin!
19:10 A different people isn’t an enemy people.
19:14 A different people is one with
19:18 with which I am going to build a relationship. With the European Union,
19:22 the relationship is not being built, it’s being endured.
19:26 The euro doesn’t unite us; it ties us down!
19:30 A project that opposes by force the peoples’ aspirations
19:34 is not a viable project.
19:42 I wish, I wish to see
19:46 the rebirth of the culture, the art, the literature of
19:50 every country on the continent. I wish to see the rebirth of their economies,
19:54 their inventiveness, their national genius!
19:58 Today the European Union is taking away our cultures.
20:02 It is a sterilizing power.
20:11 I am certain that the liberation
20:15 of the peoples will go hand in hand with a true Renaissance of Europe!
20:19 where we will see the languages — crushed nowadays — flourish,
20:31 English, English invaded all our universities,
20:35 and in Germany it’s the same. Our British friends didn’t do it,
20:39 those for whom English is a mother tongue.
20:43 It’s the cowardice of our own elites that allowed this surrender of
20:47 every culture.
20:55 I know that if we find the gearshift of our
20:59 sovereignty, we will find, by the same means, the taste
21:03 of our own culture. I await this moment with hope.
21:07 And I know in any case that the aspiration
21:11 of the peoples to freedom cannot be stopped any longer.FILE PHOTO - Iran's Revolutionary guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks during a conference to mark the martyrs of terrorism in Tehran September 6, 2011. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl
DUBAI (Reuters) - The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denied on Sunday accusations by Donald Trump that Iran was behind the firing of a ballistic missile at Saudi Arabia from warring Yemen, rejecting it as one of the U.S. president’s “slanders”.
Saudi Arabia’s air defenses intercepted the missile,
bringing it down near the capital Riyadh’s airport on Saturday and it did not cause any casualties, state news agencies reported.
“A shot was just taken by Iran, in my opinion, at Saudi Arabia... and our system knocked the missile out of the air” Trump told reporters on Air Force One en route to Tokyo.
But Mohammad Ali Jafari, head of the Revolutionary Guards who are in charge of Iran’s missile program, said: “Mr Trump has said many baseless things and told many lies and frequently falsely accused Iran and this one of those slanders,” Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
“We do not have even the possibility to transfer missiles to Yemen. The missiles belong to them and they have increased their range,” Jafari added.
A Saudi-led coalition has launched thousands of air strikes against Houthi rebels and allied forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh who have fired dozens of missiles into Saudi territory over the course of a 2-1/2 year war.
Regional and Western sources have said Iran is sending advanced weapons and military advisers to the Houthi movement, stepping up support for its Shi’ite ally in the country’s civil war.
Iran rejects accusations from Saudi Arabia that it is giving financial and military support to the Houthis, blaming the crisis on Riyadh.[Python-Dev] Type hints -- a mediocre programmer's reaction
Hi all, tldr; type hints in python source are scary. Would reserving them for stub files be better? For people that don't know me (most of you I think), I don't have a long experience of programming (perhaps 5 years, barring a bit of messing about with BASIC in the 80s), I've never made any commits on cPython, and so I don't speak from a great height of experience. I am very much a "mediocre programmer" (TM). I wouldn't have felt it appropriate to email python-dev about this, except that one of the members encouraged me to do so -- perhaps they felt there hadn't been enough "balance" in discussions to date. Also, I've had enough positive reactions in person and on the twitters from people well-known in the Python community, to make me feel like maybe the issue is at least worth discussing... And I do have some experience with teaching Python to beginners, enough to worry about anything I think might make their lives more difficult. So, in outline: I think: - type hints are ugly - they make the language harder to understand - particularly for beginners - the defense that "they're optional" doesn't really work, for several reasons. - but maybe there's a way to keep them and their benefits, without incurring the above costs My first reaction to type hints was "yuck", and I'm sure I'm not the only one to think that. viz (from some pycon slides): def zipmap(f: Callable[[int, int], int], xx: List[int], yy: List[int]) -> List[Tuple[int, int, int]]: arg. and imagine it with default arguments. Of course, part of this reaction is just a knee-jerk reaction to the new and unfamiliar, and should be dismissed, entirely justifiably, as mere irrationality. But I'm sure sensible people agree that they do make our function definitions longer, more complex, and harder to read. No doubt this has occurred to everyone that's been working on them. There is a cost. But the benefits make it worthwhile. I don't want to spend too long debating the benefits -- Guido gave an outline of them at Pycon, and I know y'all wouldn't be doing all this work for no reason. All I will say is -- it sounds like the people that will benefit are Google and other "Enterprise" users, IDE vendors, and the people that will pay for it in sweat and confusion are beginners and John Q. Mediocre Programmer. But what I really want to dwell on are the costs. I've heard this argument that, because the type hints are optional, they're not something that beginners or the average user needs to worry about. Beginners won't need to learn them, and they'll probably never see them. And average users won't need them either, so they don't need to worry about them either. So the costs are minimal! I should relax. I'm not so sure. My worry is that once type hinting gets standardised, then they will become a "best practice", and there's a particular personality type out there that's going to start wanting to add type hints to every function they write. Similarly to mindlessly obeying PEP8 while ignoring its intentions, hobgoblin-of-little-minds style, I think we're very likely to see type hints appearing in a lot of python source, or a lot of pre-commit-hook checkers. Pretty soon it will be hard to find any open source library code that doesn't have type hints, or any project style guide that doesn't require them. It may not even be an irrational, cargo-cult thing -- they really may be paying dividends. But it does mean we will all have to wade through a bunch of type hints before we can understand any function. Not the end of the world. The extra effort may even help us understand our functions better. But it's just that little bit uglier, just that little extra mental effort, just that little extra barrier that is going to mean some people, at the margin, just give up on learning programming, or switch to javascript, or whatever it'll be. Now I'm aware that throwing out type hints altogether is unlikely to be a popular proposal at this stage. So I'm casting around for an alternative. And it seems to me that stub files might be the answer. >From what I understand, type hint files are files with the extension.pyi that provide stub versions of the functions in the matching.py files, but that contain the type hints, while the.py file doesn't. In fact they're likely to be a very popular approach anyway, since they allow type hints for codebases that need to work under both 2 and 3. That sounds like the best of both worlds to me. -.py files stay beautiful, concise, and easy to read. - beginners don't have to worry about wading through type definitions when they find themselves browsing someone else's source - type information is available to the linters and static file checkers, so we get all the benefits. Sounds great right? Everybody will be happy! So let's nail it down! If I was in charge, here's what I'd do: * standardise the syntax for type hints in 3.5, as per PEP484 * but: recommend the use of stub files as the preferred place to store hints * and: deprecate function annotations in the core language * remove them from the core language altogether in 3.6 How about that? HP -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/attachments/20150420/fdffacd4/attachment.html>In June of 2010 the Stuxnet worm made it's debut to the world. Joint engineered by the United States and Israel to cripple Iran's nuclear efforts, it wasn't long before the worm was altered and turned loose on the internet spawning a number of variations of the original worm and affecting computers around the world!
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Stuxnet is a computer worm discovered in June 2010 that was jointly created by the US and Israel to slow Iran’s nuclear efforts.
Timeline:
2006 - US military and intelligence officials propose top-secret cyber war program against Iran’s uranium enrichment program. 2007- A virtual replica of Iran’s Natanz plant is built at American national laboratories. The US and Israel join to develop a complicated computer worm. It is the most complicated computer worm the world has ever seen. 2008 - Centrifuges at the Natanz plant begin crashing. 2009 - The US estimates that “Olympic Games” set back Iran’s production of a nuclear weapon by 1.5 to 2 years. Former President Bush urges President-Elect Obama to continue “Olympic Games.” 2010: Spring - NSA and the Israelis secretive unit 8200 target 1,000 centrifuges (roughly 1/5 of Iran’s functional centrifuges), whose failure was a huge set back to Iran. A special version of the worm is developed. Summer - 130,000 computers were infected by the Stuxnet virus and copies of the worm escape Natanz and become available on the internet. Late 2010-11 - Iranian production recovers. 2011-2012 - Intelligence agencies in the US and Israel seek out new targets that could further slow Iran’s progress. Stuxnet continued to run.
Results of the Stuxnet Virus:
Stuxnet took out 984 Centrifuges in Iran.
The worm consists of a layered attack against three different systems, Siemens PCS 7, WinCC, and STEP7. The Current Stuxnet code will not affect computers unless they use all three systems.
against three different systems, Siemens PCS 7, WinCC, and STEP7. The Current Stuxnet code will not affect computers unless they use Tiffany Rad, a Hacker altered the code demonstrating how she could use the code to control prison doors without alerting the guards.
altered the code demonstrating how she could use the code to control prison doors without alerting the guards. Researchers linked some of the code in the Stuxnet worm to Flame, the most sophisticated cyber spying program ever discovered. Deployed over 5 years ago a Symantec researcher has only recently identified a component of Flame that allows operators to delete files remotely.
, the most sophisticated ever discovered. Deployed over 5 years ago a Symantec researcher has only recently identified a component of Flame that allows operators to delete files remotely. June 24, 2012 0:00:01 Stuxnet: turned off
The framework may have become the blueprint for the next big cyber weapon, Duqu, has striking similiarities to Stuxnet. According to researchers 50% of the source code and 99% of the software rules for Duqu are the same as Stuxnet. To avoid suspicion from network administrators, Duqu camouflagues its own data behind normal web traffic. Unlike Stuxnet Duqu is able to record keystrokes and collect various details of the infected system which are then encrypted and appended to an image file
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By Neil DuPaul Neil is a Marketing Technologist working on the Content and Corporate teams at Veracode. He currently focuses on Developer Awareness through strategic content creation. In his spare time you'll find him doting over his lovely wife and daughter. He is a Co-Owner of CrossFit Amoskeag in Bedford NH, his favorite topic is artificial intelligence, and his favorite food is pepperoni pizza.411 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 next
1950s
Australian Walkabout 1958 The Chauvels, on a filmmaking safari of Australia, travel through the Northern Territory to Rum Jungle for a privileged look inside a uranium mine.
A Town To Be Drowned 1958 This ABC program was one of the first homemade documentaries on a contemporary local subject to be seen on Australian television, and previously thought to have been lost.
Kindergarten Playtime 1959 In 1959, two years after the Soviet Union’s Sputnik satellite is launched, Australia’s first pre-school television show tackles space travel.
Reg Grundy’s Wheel of Fortune 1959 Reg Grundy’s television debut in 1959 was also his first game show.
1960s
Mr Squiggle and Friends – Episode 148 c1960 Mr Squiggle is one of the most recognised children’s television characters. Although no longer on air, he continues to appear at exhibitions and science fiction conventions.
ABC Children’s TV Club – Monday Showcase 1961 The iconic Children’s Hour on ABC radio morphs into television. This episode features artist Jeffrey Smart and Aroora the Red Kangaroo.
Four Corners – The First Program 1961 This interview with Olympic swimming champion John Konrads, from the first Four Corners in 1961, leaves us with a better understanding of how a great athlete’s mind works.
Dancing Orpheus 1962 This black-and-white nature program from the earliest years of ABC TV features the unique lyrebird. Narrated by John West, it won an AFI Gold Award in 1963.
Interview with Archbishop Mannix 1962 Interviewed at age 97, Dr Daniel Mannix, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, was a man of considerable influence in Australian public life.
Wambidgee 1962 An early children’s animated puppet series about the adventures of a young Aboriginal boy living in the bush.
With Gentle Majesty 1962 The high point of the Melbourne Royal Agricultural Show each day is the Grand Parade. The initial languid pace of the filming and editing nicely underscores the images of the huge, slow-moving workhorses.
The Land That Waited 1963 This remarkable documentary tells the early history of colonial Australia through etchings, paintings and drawings produced by the first colonists.
The Pearl Fishers 1963 This black-and-white television production of the opera was one of the earliest performances ever broadcast on the ABC and one of the most elaborate.
Pick a Box – Episode 170 1963 An episode of the classic quiz show featuring celebrity contestant Barry Jones, who later became a state and federal member of parliament.
Poetry In Australia – Judith Wright 1963 This simple, talking heads interview is most informative and a delight to watch. It is a must-see for students of Judith Wright’s work and fellow poets.
An Airman Remembers 1964 This early ABC documentary is about Sir Gordon Taylor, a fighter ace in the First World War and one of the pioneers of aviation in Australia.
The Legend of Damien Parer 1964 The life of the legendary Australian combat cameraman Damien Parer, through the eyes of those who knew him and through footage shot before his death in action in 1944.
The Stranger – Series 1 Episode 1 1964 A stranger with an accent, amnesia and seemingly no heartbeat arrives at the home of the Walsh family in Australia’s first science–fiction series.
Divine Service – Mary Magdalene Roman Catholic Church, Rose Bay 1965 Divine Service was first broadcast in 1956, the first year of television in Australia. In a packed church, everyone is dressed in their Sunday best for the ABC.
Homicide – The Decimal Point 1965 When Homicide first aired, Australian television drama, complete with Australian cops and accents, was a novelty on screen.
The Magic Boomerang – The Discovery 1965 Tom uses a magic boomerang to find treasure, foil his greedy cousin’s plans and save the family farm.
The Mavis Bramston Show – Series 2 Episode 1 1965 Although Mavis Bramston’s topical satire is no longer current, it is still sharp.
Mister Prime Minister – Alfred Deakin 1966 A biography of Alfred Deakin, Prime Minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908 and from 1909 to 1910.
Mister Prime Minister – Joseph Aloysius Lyons c1966 A profile of Joe Lyons, Prime Minister of Australia from 1932 to 1939.
Wandjina! – Episode 5 1966 Strange events occur when people search for two boys missing in the bush.
Australian Visit 1967 Anti-Vietnam War demonstrations were timed to coincide with the five-day visit of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam and his wife in 1967.
A Big Country – Peninsula People 1968 An early episode of this iconic series. A Big Country aimed to bring country Australia into the lives of urban Australians.
Dig A Million, Make A Million 1968 Lang Hancock, nicknamed ‘the flying prospector’ for aerial prospecting with his naked eye, and Peter Wright find Australia’s richest iron ore deposit.
Skippy – Be Our Guest 1968 Clancy wants to make a good impression on her visiting mother. Instead, she gets lost in the bush where she is rescued by a group of Aboriginal men (played by visiting members of the Aboriginal Theatre from Yirrkala, Arnhem Land).
Skippy – Long Way Home 1968 Dastardly Dr Stark kidnaps ‘no ordinary kangaroo’ Skippy for his own private zoo, but Skippy has other plans.
Chequerboard – It’s Amazing What You Can Do With a Pound of Mince 1969 The series brought to light the lives of individuals and families who had missed out on the benefits of Australia’s growing affluence in the 1960s.
Chequerboard – Too Much For Molony 1969 Chequerboard introduces a 'fly-on-the-wall’ observational style. A Catholic priest leaves his order to live with one of his young parishioners.
Play School – Trains Thursday 1969 An early episode of iconic pre-school program Play School featuring presenters Don Spencer, Anne Haddy and Ruth Cracknell.
1970s
Bellbird 1970 Australia’s first successful national weekly serial, dealing with the lives and loves of ordinary people in a small country town.
Chequerboard – My Brown Skin Baby, They Take ‘im Away 1970 This powerful film documents the impact of the government’s policy of removing light-skinned children from their Aboriginal mothers to be raised in Christian missions.
Dynasty – Have You Got the Numbers? 1970 A drama series that revolves around the Mason family, owners of a media empire in the tradition of the real-life Packer and Murdoch clans.
Homicide – The Superintendent 1970 This extraordinary episode breaks away from many of the usual Homicide conventions and dispenses with the customary police investigation in record time.
Profiles of Power, HC Coombs 1970 When Dr Coombs saw the unnecessary cruelty of the Great Depression and its terrible impact on ordinary people, he decided to dedicate his life to economics.
Division 4 – The Return of John Kelso 1971 This superb hour of drama was Division 4’s most awarded individual episode. It sustains a mood of simmering tension and the supporting cast deliver deliciously malicious performances.
It’s Academic – Episode 40 1971 It’s Academic is recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running quiz program in television history.
Matlock Police – Episode 1, Twenty-six Hours 1971 From an opening sequence strongly reminiscent of Easy Rider (1969) to a rollicking country car chase at its climax, this is a bumper first episode.
Monday Conference – PNG 1971 In one of the earliest Monday Conference programs, Robert Moore moderates an interview with the impressive New Guinea politician John Guise.
Adventure Island – Episode 1174 1972 A successful children’s show set on the magical Adventure Island, a ‘land that’s far across the sea’.
Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table - Episode 35 1972 With an abundance of playful silliness, Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table is a delightful product of its era and remains very watchable today.
The Aunty Jack Show – Series One 1972 Grahame Bond’s Aunty Jack was a cross-dressing bikie hostess who threatened to jump out of viewers’ television sets and 'rip their bloody arms off’.
Number 96 – Episode 35 1972 One of the only surviving early black-and-white episodes of Number 96 is a rollicking ride through an apartment building and its class values and sex-obsessed situations.
Chequerboard – It’s A Big Day In Any Girl’s Life 1973 A 1970s country society wedding is contrasted with the union of two people living in the city who met on their way to work in a local shoe factory.
Homicide – The Friendly Fellow 1973 This was star Charles 'Bud’ Tingwell’s favourite Homicide episode.Move over Titanic! Maharashtra has its own spine-chilling tale of a ship disaster. The Indian passenger ship Ramdas bound for Rewas in Maharashta on July 17, 1947 capsized near Gull Island, ten miles from the Colaba Point, Mumbai killing 625 people on board. But, till date, no film has ever been made on this tragedy. But now, a Marathi film is being made on this disaster. Kishor Belekar, the director of the film Ramdas 47, says: "I don't know why Bollywood and Marathi filmmakers ignored this mammoth human tragedy till date. This tragedy struck just before India got freedom. So, it will be made in black-and-white, showcasing an era gone by."Ask him, has a lot of research gone into this project, like in the case of its Oscar-winning counterpart, Titanic? "We have researched the details for years. And I'm really amazed that the few survivors are contacting us with the details about the ship, its ambience, food etc. There is one survivor, who was 10 at the time of the disaster; he is almost 89 now and he has given us quite a few important inputs," says the director and adds: "My gut feeling says that this film could be India's official entry for Oscars next year because it is based on an original story, which hasn't been attempted till date."Road Ranger describes to CNN affiliate WPBF finding truck, boy
(CNN) -- A Florida exterminator whose dead daughter and injured son were found in his truck has been charged with attempted murder, and police were searching his Miami home Thursday night, police said.
Chase Scott, spokesman for West Palm Beach Police, told CNN that officers were executing a search warrant for evidence in the home of Jorge and Carmen Barahona.
Jorge Barahona, 53, was found unconscious beside his pest-control truck early Monday along a south Florida interstate by a road assistance ranger, along with his 10-year-old adopted son, who was inside the vehicle next to an open gas can, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed by detectives. Hours later, crews removing toxic chemicals from the truck discovered the boy's twin sister dead in a plastic bag.
Earlier Thursday, Barahona was taken to a hospital Thursday after he "attempted to harm himself," police said.
Barahona, who was in custody in the Palm Beach County Jail, suffered a self-inflicted injury after deputies told him to get ready to go to a court hearing Thursday morning, West Palm Beach Police spokesman Scott Chase said.
"He immediately attempted to harm himself by thrusting himself backwards, causing an injury to his head," Chase said. "He was immediately checked by emergency personnel and it was decided he was OK to appear in court."
However, Barahona "refused to cooperate" by not speaking and the judge decided to delay the hearing until another date, Chase said.
Authorities later decided to take Barahona to Wellington Regional Medical Center for observation, he said.
Meanwhile, a medical examiner has determined a cause of death for the girl, but it will not be made public until investigators review the findings, Chase said Thursday. Authorities likely will decide whether and how to charge Barahona in her death based on the autopsy results, Police Capt. Mary Olsen said Wednesday.
The children were among the four the Barahonas adopted from Florida's foster care system.
When the boy was found Monday by the roadside assistance ranger, he "appeared to be in respiratory distress and (was) trembling" and his clothing "was soaked with an unknown chemical," the probable-cause affidavit said.
The ranger then found Barahona on the ground beside the truck and called for help.
The boy was hospitalized in intensive care with severe burns to his abdomen, upper thighs and buttocks, the affidavit said. While examining the boy, doctors noted he had sustained previous injuries, including a broken collarbone, a broken arm, scarring to his buttocks and lower abdomen, and ligature marks on both wrists, police said.
After Barahona and his son were taken to a hospital, a worker decontaminating the truck discovered the body of the girl, wrapped in a plastic bag, the document said.
Barahona told police he was distraught over the death of his daughter, and had intended to commit suicide by dousing himself with gasoline and setting himself afire, the affidavit said. Barahona said he didn't go through with his suicide plan because his son was with him, the document added.
"Basically, to paraphrase, he was stating that he placed his daughter in a plastic bag being distraught over her death," Chase told reporters Wednesday. "He drove here from South Florida accompanied by his son.
"He then pulled off to the side of the road saying that he poured gas on his self, intending to light himself on fire. His son's head was in his lap and he decided, after giving his son some sleeping pills, that he wasn't going to do that."
Barahona told police that in dousing himself with gasoline, he inadvertently got some on the boy, Olsen said Wednesday.
But his story doesn't add up, because there was no gasoline on the boy, she said. Instead, he was covered with another chemical whose composition had yet to be determined. "That's why we're still treating this as a hazmat (hazardous materials case)," Olsen said.
The truck in which the children were found was taken to a secure location, Chase said, where an FBI evidence recovery team is going through the vehicle. Authorities are waiting for test results on the chemicals found in the truck.
Chase said the substance on the boy's body and clothes was so potent that staff caring for the boy at the hospital became ill as well.
The boy, who was transferred Wednesday morning to a specialized burn unit at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, has not been able to talk to investigators because he is on a breathing tube, Olsen explained.
Asked whether Barahona has expressed remorse, she said, "He feels remorse, but we're not getting consistent statements with what we're seeing in our evidence."
"It's a complex case," she added.
At a hearing Wednesday in Miami attended by Barahona's wife, Carmen, a judge ordered that the remaining two children in the home be placed in foster care.
Florida's Department of Children and Families had opened a child protection investigation within the past few days to look into a complaint involving the Barahona family, and it wasn't the first such complaint, spokesman Mark Riordan said.
Reporters in the courtroom Wednesday heard tales of abuse, mainly concerning the twins, from state officials and experts.
The caller to the child protection hotline in the latest case reported that the twins were routinely locked in a bathroom for long periods of time and had been bound with tape, the court heard. The story was corroborated by interviews with the other two children in the home, officials said in court.
An investigator told the court that she went to the family's home on February 11 but had not seen the children. Instead, she said, she left after speaking with Carmen Barahona, planning to return on Monday. Asked why she did not return sooner, she said, "I'm not allowed to do investigations on a weekend."
However, a spokesman for the department, John Harrell, said it is the job of investigators to follow through immediately or refer to someone else in the department to follow through when a matter is urgent.
CNN's Kim Segal contributed to this report.10 years ago today Claude Makelele scored what is probably the most celebrated Chelsea FC goal of recent years.
It was the day Chelsea FC were to be awarded the Premier League trophy after a 50 year wait since last emerging as top flight champions.
94 matches into his Chelsea FC career and the man who rarely ventured beyond the half way line was heading into the opposition’s penalty area to try and win the match!
Jose Mourinho frowned at the sight of Makelele being pushed forward by the players to take it, the Chelsea FC bench was on it’s feet and Stamford Bridge held it’s breath ……
In true Makele |
be to disarm through flirtation, but the wedding ring and the no-nonsense pantsuit are against him. This isn’t a woman who wants to be flirted with on the job. “A pleasure,” he says instead, mild enough not to ruffle any more feathers than his presence here already has.
“And you all know Arthur,” Hotchner says. “Let’s get started. The three victims we know…”
“Is that him?” someone asks, and Eames lets his chair drift around to take in the doorway and the woman standing in it, staring at him. She’s the opposite of everything else in this office; bright, loud, unapologetic. Her gaze carries something like awe.
“Dr. Black,” he says, offering a somewhat sincere smile. “And you might be...?”
“Oh, and he’s British,” she breathes, stepping forward neatly to offer him her hand. “Penelope Garcia. Technological goddess and defender of the helpless, which you may have learned when I caught your attempts at bugging young Dr. Reid’s apartment. Both times.”
“I am fairly rebuked,” Eames answers, smiling now in earnest. “Although you only get credit for two out of three.”
He would appreciate her look of surprise more if it weren’t eclipsed by Arthur swinging around his chair, halfway between shock and fury. “My apartment is still bugged?” he demands. “Since when?”
“A week ago. Three days before Christakos.”
Most of his attention is on Arthur, but he can still see Reid doing the mental math, see his eyes widen and his cheeks color as he realizes.
“Don’t worry,” Eames assures him, tipping Reid a wink. “Your secrets are safe with me.”
“Focus,” Hotchner orders, reclaiming everyone’s attention. Garcia slips into a seat just as the lights go out and someone starts a slide show. “We have three victims in three different states. All were attacked inside their homes, all are now in – we believe – artificially-induced comas.”
“We have reason to believe he’s drawn to these particular targets because they’ve already been victimized once before,” Morgan says. “The previous invasion could have left them vulnerable in some way that the unsub could exploit.”
“Unlikely,” Eames interjects. He tips his head back, playing casual in this roomful of agents who are all watching him like he’s a sheep wandered into the wolf’s den. “I presume we’re talking about sub-security. Fischer and Rothchild may have been militarized by the same person, but Christakos was years ago. Sub-security was anything but common, and she had no need of requiring it.”
“That doesn’t mean certain doors weren’t opened,” Morgan says. “People can sense when something’s wrong. Maybe they sought out a support group. Maybe they talked to someone. Maybe they started digging around on the internet.”
“Whatever the method, the unsub found a way to link them to these previous crimes.” Hotchner’s voice is calm, even. On the surface, he and Arthur could be of a type, but there’s a steady gravity in Hotchner that Arthur has always been a touch too hot-tempered to master. Eames wonders if it’s their similarities or differences that create the distance between them.
“We believe he’s preferentially targeting victims who have had ideas successfully implanted in them,” Jareau says, with a hesitation in both her voice and body language that signifies she hasn’t come to terms yet with the full ramifications of that concept. “His secondary targets are those who have been violated, but who failed for some reason to recognize the idea being planted.”
“If we look at this as rape, his real interest doesn’t lie with the victim. It lies with whether or not the victim has brought a child to term.” Rossi turns to Eames. “Isn’t that right, Doctor?”
Eames shrugs one shoulder. “An oversimplification, but essentially correct. Are you suggesting, then, that the real target is the ideas themselves?”
“Is that even possible?” Garcia, from the corner, her eyes still as wide as they’d been before this briefing began.
Eames makes a noise of polite disagreement. “Possible, but bloody difficult. If the idea’s fully assimilated, it won’t exist independently. There should be no way of separating it from other thoughts.”
“Unless the unsub already knew which ideas had been planted,” Reid muses.
“There are easier ways,” Arthur says, finally speaking up. “If we’re talking about someone within the dreamsharing community, there are a lot of easier ways. Most of them involve guns.” Garcia’s eyes widen further; Eames watches Prentiss’ posture change, responding to the idea of a threat even though she undoubtedly doesn’t realize she’s doing it. “Even if this person doesn’t want casualties, it’s faster to go after the team who did the inception. It only takes one extraction.”
“Most of us are militarized,” Eames points out, for the sake of playing devil’s advocate.
Arthur just gives him a look. “So was Fischer.”
“Ah, yes,” Eames says, unable to help himself. “Nice that we know that now.”
Arthur swings around in his chair, clearly about to rise to Eames’ bait, but he doesn’t get the chance to retaliate – undoubtedly by throwing some other piece of their shared history back in Eames’ face in turn – before Hotchner diplomatically intervenes.
“So the unsub has picked difficult targets,” Hotchner summarizes. “We need to find out why. Why go after the victims and not those who committed the crimes?”
“It’s not vengeance,” Morgan says. “This isn’t a vendetta.”
“And yet the victims are the ones being punished,” Prentiss points out. “This unsub is targeting them for a reason. Maybe he sees them as weak, for not being able to withstand the mental pressure of the initial attack.”
“That doesn’t explain Christakos,” Rossi says. “If that attempt failed, she should have been this unsub’s hero.”
“I think we have to ask whether it’s a punishment at all,” Reid speaks up, leaning forward intently. “He’s not killing them, he’s sending them into Limbo, a place that’s really only been defined by those who are familiar with the risks of dreamsharing. How we profile the unsub depends on what we think his goal is in sending the victims into Limbo.”
“You said it’s a risk,” Prentiss offers. “Could it be an act of bitterness? If the unsub is someone who’s been in Limbo before, maybe this is his idea of justice. Forcing others into a fate they were spared when he wasn’t.”
“I can track coma patients, see if anyone’s woken up unexpectedly shortly before the date of the first attack,” Garcia offers.
“It’s a long shot, but it will give us somewhere to start,” Hotchner says. “In the meantime, we can cross-reference known dreamshare users against the times and locations of the attacks. The unsub had to know about these victims somehow. If the teams that committed these acts had someone in common, that’s our most likely suspect.”
Eames clears his throat. “I can save you some time on that one, I’m afraid. The only person on all three teams was me.”
“And Eames isn’t the leak,” Arthur says, unexpectedly belligerent and practically daring Hotchner to say something. Eames would appreciate the support if he thought it was in any way meant for his benefit.
“Do you have an alibi for any of the attacks?” Hotchner asks, as calmly as if he’s inquiring after Eames’ breakfast.
“That depends,” Eames replies, scratching the stubble on his jaw. “Would Agent Reid like me to give a detailed description of the events happening in his flat on the night they got Christakos, or will you take it as read that I was a bit busy working surveillance on all of you, hoping it would lead me to the same place?”
“I think we can take it on faith,” Hotchner says. “For now. But surveillance can be done remotely. It’s not proof that you weren’t in Texas at the time of the attack.”
“Could it be a job gone wrong?” Reid asks, quickly enough that Eames has to suspect a diversion. It’s not a terrible idea, though. Eames looks automatically to Arthur, whose ear is always closer to the ground than Eames’ is.
“It would be a risky one,” Arthur allows. “To end up accidentally sending someone to Limbo, you’d have to go deep enough…” He trails off, and Eames knows immediately what he’s thinking, because he’s just had the same thought.
“You’d have to have the right sedatives,” Eames confirms. “You’d have to have a chemist.”
“And chemists don’t work in the field. They’re not on the teams,” Arthur finishes. He looks at Eames. “Yusuf, every time?”
“Every bloody time,” Eames agrees.
“You’re saying these drugs were specially formulated?” Morgan asks. “Someone developed a sedative specifically to do this?”
“No,” Eames corrects. “But someone did have access to compounds similar to the ones used on three-level inception jobs, likely from the same source. If we can get samples from all three of the victims, we might even be able to find a match in a laboratory.” He purses his lips and meets Arthur’s gaze again. “I think it’s time we paid our friend a visit.”
Arthur hesitates. “I can’t go to Mombasa,” he says after a beat.
Eames frowns. “Cobol Engineering? Still? You-know-who hasn’t cleared that up?”
“You don’t just ‘clear up’ a price on someone’s head,” Arthur says, annoyed. “The issue isn’t whether I’m still legally blacklisted, it’s whether a hit team is going to shoot first and find out if I’m worth anything later.”
“I’ll go,” Reid speaks up suddenly, and Eames isn’t bothered by the fact that he’s staring at Reid only because Arthur is doing the same thing. “I can use vacation time, it can be an unofficial visit.”
“If we’re inquiring after dreamsharing compounds, it’s going to be a bit more involved than asking whether it was the one in the blue bottle or the one in the red bottle,” Eames tells him.
“I hold a doctorate in chemistry,” Reid says with a crooked half-smile. “I think I can understand the basics.”
Eames realizes that Arthur is both trying to look imploringly at Hotchner to shut down this line of discussion and attempting to look like he’s doing nothing of the sort. Unfortunately for him, Hotchner is either unable to read Arthur or simply doesn’t care.
“It’s our best lead so far,” Rossi says, with a tone of finality that suggests he’s used to having the last word in these debates.
Reid apparently thinks the same thing, because he twists around in his seat and looks up hopefully. “Hotch? Can I borrow the jet?”
-
Getting off the ground involves a long string of advice and admonitions from Reid’s teammates about flying to Kenya. Jareau gives Reid clean drinking water protocols, Hotchner sets a schedule for checking in with the team, and Prentiss writes lists of embassy contacts Reid can get in touch with if needed. Dr. Reid’s credentials and expertise apparently don’t exempt him from being considered the baby of the team. He accepts the fussing with a combination of longsuffering patience and bewilderment, as if he too can’t understand why anyone should think they have to feed him statistics on anything, but he’ll allow it because they mean well.
Eames, by contrast, gets Morgan.
“If anything happens to him, anything at all, I will hunt you down.” Morgan’s demeanor hasn’t changed an iota from the briefing, still relaxed and friendly, which is assuredly meant to be just as alarming as his threat.
“Noted,” Eames replies, just as friendly, and sets about extracting Reid from the well-meaning circle of his team.
“Your boyfriend is intimidating when he chooses to be,” he comments as he steers Reid away from Rossi, who seems to be working through a list of recommended vaccinations Americans should have before traveling to Africa.
“You have no idea,” Reid replies obliquely, and thankfully lets Eames manhandle him out the doors to the landing strip where Arthur is waiting to see them off.
Reid comes to a halt by the stairs and raises his eyebrows. Eames is expecting another list of warnings and safety protocols, as is Reid by the way he’s braced expectantly, but Arthur just says, “Keep an eye on Eames.”
“Oh, certainly,” Eames says. “It’s not as if I’ve lived there for years or anything.”
“That’s what worries me,” Arthur says, but he cracks a faint smile when he says it. “I’ll call you on the plane.”
-
The BAU’s private jet is spacious, comfortable, and well-equipped. “So this where all of those American tax dollars are directed,” Eames comments as they settle in for departure.
“It’s more time-effective than taking a bus or a train,” Reid answers, already pulling files out of his bag. “The hours that would be lost to travel aren’t worth the cost in human lives, especially in cases like this one where the unsub spreads out his attacks through multiple large geographic areas.”
“You fly a lot, then,” Eames gathers. “Your teammates seem worried about you going off to Kenya.”
“I think they’re jealous,” Reid answers absently. “We don’t get to travel a lot outside of work.”
He quite obviously devotes himself to reading after that, working through a stack of folders organized and itemized in a way that’s very familiar after as many jobs as Eames has done with Arthur. Eames takes the hint and leaves him to it, using the time to review what he knows about the person who might be pulling the strings behind the rash of suspiciously-linked comas.
Arthur calls before they’ve taken off, even before the customary warning reminding Eames to turn off his cell phone. “News so fast?” Eames inquires, glancing out the window reflexively.
“Nothing yet. Garcia and I are going through Interpol watch lists in a few minutes.”
“Ah. Pity, I’d thought you might give me something to do on the flight.”
“Reid has all of the files?” Arthur sounds amused, like this is not an unexpected circumstance. Then he asks, “How fast is he turning the pages?”
Eames looks blankly at Reid, then checks his watch covertly. “Every eight seconds or so. Why?”
“He’s not actually reading. He’s probably just forestalling conversation so he has time to think. Take whatever you want; he’ll reclaim it if he really wants it.”
“Cheers,” Eames says dryly. “Why did you ring, then?”
Arthur’s tone sobers abruptly, a marked change after the joking a moment ago. “Don’t let him into Yusuf’s dream den. Not at all if you can help it, but definitely not alone.”
“I presume there’s some mysterious reason behind this,” Eames replies, glancing again at Reid, who appears completely absorbed in his reading material.
“Just trust me on this. Keep him away from there.”
“I’ll do my best,” Eames says, and ends the call.
He studies Reid as the captain drones on about departure and safety, watching the small crease in Reid’s brow and the way his eyes don’t track across the pages in front of him.
“How long?” he asks.
Reid frowns without looking up. “I’m sorry?”
“You and Arthur,” Eames clarifies.
“Oh.” Reid looks up belatedly, clearly gathering his thoughts from somewhere else. He doesn’t sound surprised, and there’s no flush in his cheeks when he answers. “Five years. Roughly. Technically,” he clears his throat, “four years, nine months, and eleven days. Or twenty-one days, depending on where you count from.” He smiles quickly. “We had a bet on when you’d figure it out.”
Eames is honestly surprised it had taken him this long. He blames the cloak of untouchable mystery Arthur keeps wrapped around him at all times to appear aloof and detached. It doesn’t fit well with the man in front of him and a flat full of secondhand paperbacks.
He can see it now, though. Living in other people’s bodies as often as he does, Eames has gained enough insight to be able to see physical attractiveness in nearly everyone, the appeal of a certain hand, a wrist, the definition in someone’s shoulders. It’s not even that difficult to imagine Arthur and Reid together, kissing slowly against a wall, long fingers entwined and eyes closed.
If Arthur were here, he’d be able to recognize the look on Eames’ face, and likely Eames would be in danger of experiencing a minor but incredibly effective amount of pain right now. Luckily Reid can’t read him as well, or perhaps he’s just unaware of himself, unused to being considered a sexual object. His expression when he looks back at Eames is mildly baffled, but not suspicious in the least.
“Who won?” Eames asks, diverting Reid’s attention from the things Eames may have been envisioning.
“I did,” Reid answers promptly. “Arthur thought you already knew.”
Eames blinks. “But you didn’t,” he surmises.
“On two different occasions I responded to Arthur with non-verbal cues which you could have interpreted as evidence of a physical relationship. The fact that you didn’t recognize either one of them means you weren’t looking for confirmation or even open yet to the possibility.” Explanation given, Reid returns his attention to one of Arthur’s neatly-prepared files.
Eames isn’t quite ready to let it go yet. His professional curiosity has been piqued. “But Arthur assumed I already knew.”
Reid looks up again. “He thinks very highly of your skills as a profiler. You had the opportunity to watch us interact in private, as well as access to shared living space and surveillance tapes.”
Arthur, Eames thinks suddenly. Arthur’s sedan parked outside the flat, and Reid’s voice in his headphones saying, oh, and yes, yes.
He rubs the bridge of his nose. Then he considers the rest of Reid’s statement and echoes skeptically, “He thinks very highly of my skills.” He can’t imagine Arthur allowing him the barest hint of a compliment even if he were threatened with torture.
Reid’s mouth quirks upwards. “I didn’t think I was ever going to meet you,” he says. “If you hadn’t gotten involved with the case and broken into our apartment, I likely never would have.”
Contrary to what some people might think, Eames can be patient. He waits. Unfortunately, Reid appears to be equally adept at playing this game, and he’s the one with information Eames wants rather than the other way around.
“Why might that be?” Eames asks at last.
Reid peeks up at him from behind the cover of his file, and finally lowers it, revealing the same shifting smile playing around his mouth. “Because he told me once that if the team ever found out what you could do as a profiler, we’d never let you go, and he couldn’t afford to lose you as a colleague.”
Eames is caught uncharacteristically speechless. After a moment of half-grinning at him, Reid disappears into his files again, leaving Eames blinking in his wake.
After a moment, he gets hold of himself again and recalls Reid’s attention by the simple expedient of kicking Reid’s foot. It’s a tactic that has always worked on Arthur in the past, with varying degrees of what could be termed success, and Reid is no different. He jerks up, startled, and Eames smiles.
“Are you going to be reading those the whole time?” he asks. “Because this is an awfully long flight.”
“I’ll be finished with everything in approximately fifty-five minutes,” Reid estimates after a quick glance at the stack of files. Then he appears to remember his manners and asks, “Would you like some to start with?”
Eames dismisses the idea with a brief gesture. There has never been anything in Arthur’s files that Eames hasn’t learned more thoroughly and more entertainingly from Arthur himself. “I was thinking more of another way to pass the time.”
“Do you play chess?” Reid asks, suddenly lighting up. With a mind like his, Eames imagines there aren’t many people still around willing to play against him. Eames isn’t inclined to even make the attempt.
“How would you feel about a friendly hand of poker?” he counters, pulling a deck of cards from the inside pocket of his coat and flipping the chipped token that also resides there into his other hand.
Reid smiles.
-
Reid is not only a bastard card counter with a devastating knowledge of higher mathematics and a memory that makes cleaning Eames out child’s play, he’s also a bastard card counter who blatantly cheats.
“Someone,” Eames says, using sleight of hand to reverse the top two cards before he deals, undoing whatever Reid had managed to arrange when he cut the deck, “has spent time handling cards.”
“I grew up in Vegas,” Reid answers, reaching out to sweep up his hand. In the process, Eames is almost certain he conceals a switch between one of the cards in his hand and the top card on the deck, but it’s too fast to catch. Reid looks up, catching Eames’ close watch on his alarmingly nimble hands, and adds, “I also do magic tricks.”
Knowing Reid is using every tool at his disposal, Eames doesn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about sliding the sixth card out from behind his palm and weighing his current hand slightly further in his favor. “Interest in the fantastic,” he observes. “This must be something of a dream for you. I saw the shelves of science fiction novels in your hall,” he expands, when Reid looks at him again, curious. “Surrounded by brutality, it must be a pleasant form of escapism.”
“Most of those are Arthur’s,” Reid responds, asking for two cards and almost certainly getting three. “He uses them to formulate new theories on how to manipulate dreamscapes, says it challenges him to think in more flexible ways.” Reid tosses in a few of the paper clips they’re using as betting tokens. “I was wondering when we’d get to this part.”
Eames raises his eyebrows. “And which part would that be?” He has two aces and two queens. By Eames’ deal, Reid ought to have a pair of eights at most. Somehow, by the number of paperclips making their way into the pot, Eames doesn’t think that’s the case.
Reid’s lips twitch again, the almost-smile that flickers whenever he thinks of something he finds amusing. “The profiling. Traditionally it happens within the first few minutes after introduction. The inherent rivalry between two individuals who share a specific skill set manifests in displays of knowledge to prove superiority. Particularly when one or both parties is an alpha male.”
“Now who’s profiling?” Eames returns mildly.
“I work with an entire team of alpha males and females; it’s not hard to identify defining characteristics after reasonable exposure.”
Eames has seen enough of the group dynamics on Reid’s team to guess that he’s the only non-alpha in the group, with the possible exception of Jareau. It’s interesting that he’s paired off with Arthur, who is intensely independent but also a loyal follower to a fault when he finds a natural leader.
Eames raises. “I don’t profile,” he says. “Not the way you think of it, at any rate. I observe a target to analyze the best ways under their defenses, their strengths and vulnerabilities, but what you and I do with that information is entirely different.”
“Not so different,” Reid replies. “From what Arthur’s said, most of the plans you come up with are based on a profound understanding of your subject’s psyche. The only real difference is that you start with a known subject and expand into postulation based on your observations, while our goal is to pinpoint identifiable characteristics in order to gradually narrow down a suspect pool.”
Eames toys with his cards, considering where to go with this conversation. Curiosity wins out. “How is it, living with Arthur?”
“It’s kind of like having a cat?” Reid says, tone lilting up on the last syllable to make it a question, inviting Eames to share his hypothesis. “He comes and goes as he pleases, and is only willing to accept expressions of affection on his own terms.”
“He doesn’t like to be petted,” Eames interprets. Reid meets his gaze openly when he looks up from his cards, frank and unembarrassed. Eames thinks of how careful Reid is to avoid physical contact whenever possible, how his teammates are so used to his personal space bubble that they move around him without having to consciously think about it. “Something you have in common,” he suggests.
Reid’s eyebrows raise pointedly. “Profiling,” he says.
Eames lays his cards on the table. “Observation.”
-
“How much do you know about Yusuf?” Eames asks as they step off the plane into the dry Mombasa heat.
“I think any reports I may have heard are biased,” Reid answers, squinting before digging around in his jacket pockets for a pair of sunglasses.
He’s probably right. Arthur neither forgives nor forgets betrayal, and Yusuf had rather impressively stabbed them all in the back the first time they’d worked together. Eames can argue for either side, point out that they’re all criminals and it’s every man for himself, that the blame should really rest more on Cobb for declaring himself leader and ordering the secret kept in the first place, but none of that would matter to Arthur. Arthur is loyal, and he mistrusts anyone who lacks that same trait.
They catch a taxi to Yusuf’s shop, bells tinkling to announce their arrival when they walk through the door. Yasmeen winds around Reid’s ankles, ignoring Eames as usual, and Reid catches himself on the doorframe just in time for his thumb to get pinched in the closing door.
“Not a cat person?” Eames inquires.
“Not really an animal person,” Reid answers, shaking out his hand. He looks up then, at the same trace of movement that’s caught Eames’ eye.
“My friend,” Yusuf greets him, discreetly leaving out names and speaking in English, no doubt for Reid’s benefit since he sticks out clearly as non-native. “What brings you to my humble shop today?”
“Yusuf,” Eames returns cheerfully. Yusuf’s smile is bright and contagious. “This is Dr. Spencer Reid, he’s a new friend. An American friend.” That should be enough for Yusuf to understand that Reid’s loyalty does not by any means belong to Eames.
“Ah, a new friend. Welcome, then. Are you here for business, or is this a social call?”
“It’s actually neither. We’re here about dreamsharing compounds that might allow a person to descend three or more levels in a dream. Maybe even all the way to Limbo.” Reid somehow manages to keep from sounding antagonistic, but the FBI has trained interrogation tactics into him too well. Yusuf glances knowingly from Reid to Eames.
“An American friend,” he echoes, and then seems to come to a decision and takes his customary seat behind the counter, Yasmeen jumping up onto the ledge behind him. “Tell me what you want to know.”
“Has anyone bought these compounds recently, say within the past six weeks? He wouldn’t have been forthcoming about what he needed them for, but he would have been adamant that they could do the job he had planned. He would likely have used a false name and paid in cash to avoid detection.”
Yusuf looks at Eames skeptically. Eames just shrugs.
“Dreamsharing is not something that officially exists outside of private government projects,” Yusuf tells Reid. “How many customers do you think I have who use their real names and legally-obtained credit cards?”
“You must know most of those involved, though,” Reid says. “This is someone acting outside of traditional channels. He wouldn’t have had a team or an actual job, just a need for the sedatives.”
“He would also have needed an intravenous device,” Yusuf replies. “Without that, my compounds are useless.”
Reid pauses, visibly taking that in. “How many are out there?”
“Dozens,” Eames answers. “The technology can be replicated, for the right price. We’re well past the days of government theft being the only option.”
“We already knew he was involved in the dreamsharing community.” Reid turns back to Yusuf. “Would it be possible for a layman or someone with only a basic understanding of chemistry to create a compound capable of sending someone to Limbo?”
“What’s all this about?” Yusuf asks, directing the question to Eames rather than Reid.
Eames unwraps a single-serve toothpick and sticks it into his mouth, looking briefly back at Yusuf. “Fischer. Someone got to him after we did.”
Yusuf appears appropriately alarmed, which is at least one reassurance. Eames hadn’t really suspected Yusuf of being capable of going out into the field away from his dreamers for frequent trips to the States to put people in comas, but seeing his reaction is still a relief. Yusuf is a terrible actor.
“It appears someone is targeting former subjects who have undergone a procedure known as inception,” Reid explains, causing Yusuf to cast another cornered look at Eames. “We need to know if any similar jobs were planned recently.”
“I often deal with an intermediary,” Yusuf defends. “Not all extractors become involved in obtaining the compounds. Sometimes it’s point men, or even the architects with particular specifications. There are times I don’t even deal with teams at all.”
“Could you give us a list?” Reid presses. “Anyone who’s been through within the past six weeks. Anyone with specific needs.”
“I told you no one uses their real names here,” Yusuf says.
“That’s all right,” Eames interjects. “I’ll send whatever you have on to Arthur, he’ll know more names than either of us.”
Because somewhere, Eames thinks grimly, the United States government is keeping records of that same information. It isn’t a particularly cheering notion.
“Are you aware of any other sources for similar compounds?” Reid asks Yusuf. “Someone who may have had access to your lab or your research? Possibly a rival wanting to prove his superiority?”
Yusuf shakes his head, but not completely in denial. “The sciences are a competitive field. There will always be others looking for a way in.” He studies Reid. “Do you know what it’s like? Dreaming?”
“No,” Reid says, too quickly even for Yusuf to have missed his knee-jerk discomfort. He recovers well, and almost fast enough to throw off the impression of something having been very wrong for a moment. “I’d like to take a look at your lab, though, if I could. I’d be interested to see how your research allows you to tailor sedatives to fit the needs of individual experiments.”
Reid is clearly in earnest, wide-eyed and keen as only a lab geek can be at the prospect of chemicals and beakers. He must have been serious about the doctorate.
Yusuf looks once more at Eames, and then nods. “By all means,” he invites. “Right this way.”
-
When Eames’ mobile rings he steps outside to take the call, leaving Reid and Yusuf neck-deep in discussion of enzymes and hypnotics.
“Any news?”
“Not yet,” Arthur answers shortly. “How are things going there?”
“No bloody idea,” Eames answers truthfully. “I never knew how good we had it, only having one chemist in the room at a time, until there were two. I haven’t asked them to translate yet for the layman.”
“You might want to get started,” Arthur says, with a tight edge to his voice that brings Eames immediately to attention. “I just got a call from Saito.”
“Fischer?” Eames guesses.
“He wants this taken care of. Quietly. He’s making it perfectly clear that if it isn’t, he has no problem eliminating the evidence that anything involving Proclus Global and Robert Fischer ever happened.”
Eames whistles through his teeth before another thought occurs to him. “He could have had us all bumped off months ago. I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t tried.”
Arthur snorts. “You think I go into a job like that one without insurance? It’s in his best interests to keep us all alive, and I’ve made sure he’s very aware of that.”
Eames thinks of Mal, of Cobb driven out of his own country on the word of a dead woman, and wonders when exactly Arthur had picked up that particular trick. “He’s reconsidering?”
“Not yet, but Fischer’s inception is exposure he can’t afford. And if he’s getting nervous, there are other clients out there who will be too. Ones who are less savvy when it comes to handling their business arrangements.”
Ones with whom Arthur does not already have precautionary measures in place, Eames surmises. This is Arthur’s way of warning him to watch his back. “I’ll keep an eye out,” he says. “Black is a new alias; no one will be looking for me in Mombasa right away.”
“Yusuf,” Arthur reminds him, which is a valid point. They won’t be the only ones connecting the dots, and Yusuf has been stationary for at least a decade.
“We can be out by tomorrow,” Eames hazards. “I’ll ring back once I’ve talked to the others.”
He ends the call and walks back inside, only to find Yusuf’s lab empty. There’s no one in the front of the shop, either. Yasmeen stares at him from the windowsill, tail flicking watchfully back and forth. The heavy, archaic ring of keys is missing from its hook behind the counter.
“Bugger,” Eames mutters, and heads for the door that leads down to Yusuf’s den of dreamers.
He’s too late and he knows it; whatever Arthur had feared would happen has already occurred, and all Eames can do now is try to limit the damage.
Reid’s face is white in the stark light of the room and his nostrils are flared, lips pressed together in a thin, unhappy line. Eames takes in the rest of the room at a glance: fifteen men of varying ages, most of them older, all slumbering peacefully under Yusuf’s ministrations. The caretaker in the corner watches them all with ancient, knowing eyes. Everything exactly as it should be.
It’s almost commonplace to Eames, now, but he knows how this will look to Reid. He’s been here with enough people in the past to know the reaction of pity, horror and nausea that usually follow, even from people in the business. He thinks Yusuf delights in it, secretly, in playing the mad scientist with his dark basement full of secrets. Anyone Yusuf works with has seen this room, and knows exactly who they’re dealing with when they bring him onto their teams.
Eames moves slowly closer, alert. Reid’s body doesn’t suggest the threat of violence, but his tone when he speaks is harsh and accusing.
“How can you do this?” he demands, turning bright, hard eyes on Yusuf. “How can you even look at this? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? These people are sick, they need help, and you’re enabling them. You’re no better than any other chemist dealing heroin or methamphetamine. These people have an addiction, and instead of getting them help, you’re feeding their habit. You’re killing them. You’re destroying these people’s lives, how can you stand there and…?”
“Let’s take a walk,” Eames suggests quietly, taking Reid by the elbow and turning him away. Reid is shaking under his hand, tiny tremors running through his arm, although Eames can’t tell whether it’s from shock or anger. He falls silent and lets Eames lead him outside into the dry Kenyan heat, but Eames can tell by the way the muscles remain coiled tight that he isn’t finished yet.
“It’s wrong,” Reid says finally, shaking his head and staring out across the busy street, not looking at Eames. “Those people in there are sick, they’re addicts. How can you stand seeing them in there like that?”
“We’re all addicted, mate,” Eames tells him. “All of us. Even Arthur.”
Reid shakes his head again, not speaking. It’s not a denial.
“There’s only one reason to work in dreamsharing,” Eames says. “And that’s because once you get that first taste, you can’t stop yourself from coming back for more. Nothing else is ever enough again. We can dress it up all we like, get ourselves a valid career choice and a paycheck out of the deal, but there’s only one thing anyone really wants. It’s always about the dreaming. Always.”
They stand in silence for a moment before Reid breaks it.
“Astronaut Pete Conrad once said he fully expected that NASA would send him back to the moon as they did John Glenn. And that if they didn’t do otherwise, then he would have to do it himself.”
“’I don’t know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets,’” Eames quotes in turn.
“John Glenn,” Reid says, slanting a look at him.
“It’s as apt an analogy as any,” Eames says. “Once you’ve experienced the truly amazing, it’s difficult to accept a life filled with nothing outside of the mundane.”
“It’s still wrong,” Reid says eventually. “What’s happening in there. You’re still living your lives. Those people, they aren’t even experiencing the world anymore.”
“They’re living the way they choose,” Eames replies, shrugging slightly. “Who are you or I to decide that for them?”
Reid doesn’t answer. Eames can see his hand working at something inside his trouser pocket, twitching in a repetitive motion.
“It’s difficult not to let our own experiences color the way we see things,” Eames says. “I do know.” When Reid looks sharply at him, he smiles faintly and says, “When I said we were all addicts, I wasn’t making myself an exception, after all.”
Reid looks down, and when he pulls his hand from his pocket there’s a gold medallion in it. “Did Arthur tell you?”
“He didn’t need to,” Eames answers. “I’ve been addicted to more than dreaming, I can recognize the signs.”
His first guess would normally have been alcoholism. Reid has surely seen enough, in his line of work, to be forgiven |
passed to the Long Parliament in the mid 1600's, Parliament set in motion their idea of completely eradicating the celebration of Christmas. Shortly before the Civil War had begun in January 1642, Charles I had accorded Parliament's request to make the last Wednesday in each month a day of fasting. In January 1645 parliament enlisted the help of a group of ministers to create a Directory of Public Worship establishing a new organisation of the church and new forms of worship that were to be adopted and followed in both England and Wales. According to the Directory, the population was to strictly observe Sundays as holy days and were not to recognise other festival days, including Christmas, since they had no biblical justification. Parliamentary legislation embraced the Directory of Public Worship as the only legal form of worship allowed in England and Wales. Two years later Parliament reinstated the law by passing an Ordinance affirming the abolition of the feasts of Christmas, Easter and Whitsun. Oliver Cromwell regarded Charles I as an insurgent secret Catholic who was subverting the Protestant faith. The Stuart King was deposed and executed by Cromwell in 1649 and for the next four years England was run by Parliament. But Cromwell had other plans. He regarded the current system as ineffective and damaging to the country. Supported by the army, on 20 April 1653 he led a body of musketeers to Westminster and forcibly expelled parliament. He then established himself as Lord Protector and moved in to the Palace of Whitehall. The spectacular Banqueting House is the only complete building of Whitehall to remain standing to this day. The Palace was famously taken from Cardinal Wolsey by Henry VIII and acted as the Royal residence until the ascension of James I. The Puritans believed that you would be welcomed in to heaven as long as you worked hard in your lifetime, thus, enjoyment for enjoyments sake was highly disapproved of. Cromwell ordered for inns and playhouses to be shut down, most sports were banned and those caught swearing would receive a fine. Women caught working on the Sabbath could be put in the stocks. They had to wear a long black dress, a white apron, a white headdress and no makeup. The men had an equally sober appearance, dressed head to toe in black and sporting short hair. All shops and markets were to stay open throughout the 25th December and anyone caught holding or attending a special Christmas church service would suffer a penalty. In the city of London things were even stricter as soldiers were ordered to patrol the streets, seizing any food they discovered was being prepared for a Christmas celebration. Despite imposing such rigid measures on the common people, it appears that Cromwell himself didn't quite live up to his preaching. He liked music, playing bowls and hunting and, after becoming Lord Protectorate, soon took to the high life. For his daughter's wedding he even permitted a lavish feast and entertainment fit for royalty. In 1656 legislation was passed to ensure that Sundays were more stringently observed as the Lord's Day and, thus, a day of rest. The regular monthly fast day had always been hugely unpopular and impossible to enforce and was subsequently dissolved. Despite the threat of fines and punishment many people continued to celebrate Christmas clandestinely. The ban had never been popular and many people still held mass on the 25th December to mark Christ's nativity also marked the day as a secular holiday. In the late 1640s Cromwell tried to put a stop to these public celebrations and force businesses to stay open. As a result, violent encounters took place between supporters and opponents of Christmas in many towns, including London, Canterbury and Norwich. Cromwell was Lord Protector until his death in 1658, whereby Charles II was enthusiastically welcomed back to England to take the throne as the country's rightful heir. With the restoration of the monarchy in 1661, Oliver Cromwell was once more a despised figure. Cromwell was originally buried with great ceremony in Westminster Abbey, a famous gothic church in London that houses the tombs of kings and queens dating back to Edward the Confessor, as well as countless memorials to distinguished English subjects. Upon taking the throne, one of the King's first orders was to exhume Cromwell's lifeless body and take it to be hung at Tyburn gallows, at the top of Hyde Park near Marble Arch in London. This was the first permanent gallows to be established in London in 1196 and was the main site for public executions until 1783. This site is also famous because 105 Catholic martyrs were put to their deaths here from 1535 to 1681. A convent -- founded in 1901 -- now stands on the site, in which around 20 nuns live and work. Visitors are welcome to visit the church, which contains several Catholic relics. Cromwell's body was decapitated and his head displayed at Westminster Hall for over 20 years. Finished in 1099 this is the oldest surviving section of the Palace of Westminster. The trials of William Wallace, Sir Thomas More, Guy Fawkes and King Charles I all took place here, so it was a fitting site at which to display Cromwell's treacherous head. After changing hands over the next three centuries, in 1960 Cromwell's head was finally laid to rest at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, which he had attended in 1616 to 1617. Once Charles II was restored to the throne, all legislation banning Christmas -- enforced from 1642 to 1660 -- was dropped and the common people were once again allowed to mark the Twelve Days of Christmas. Old traditions were revived with renewed enthusiasm and Christmas was celebrated throughout the country as both a religious and secular festival. More Information:
We regret that we no longer have the resources to maintain up-to-date links and/or hours and pricing details for the various sites and attractions listed on this website. For more information about the location(s) listed above, please use your favorite search engine or visit Wikipedia. Martha Doe contributes articles to a number of publications on travel and history. Article © 2005 Martha DoeThe electric car company's Model S sedan is being tested by the Los Angeles Police Department, the police force in the nation's second-biggest city. Testing has been underway for nearly a year, and the agency has two Model S P85D loaner cars.
"Tesla definitely stepped up and gave us the Model S to do some evaluation with them," said LAPD Police Administrator Vartan Yegiyan. Tesla is working with the agency "to assess the vehicle's performance in our environment and to learn what are the drawbacks and positives of this type of vehicle in our fleet operation. Not only on the regular transportation side, but also the future in the high-pursuit-rated vehicle arena."
Tesla declined to comment for this report.
LAPD doesn't rule out the Tesla as a future option, at least in the longer term, despite the current lofty price.Today I want to talk about Rape. In particular, I want to talk about false accusations. The reason I want to talk about this is because it’s not a gender issue. It’s not a Men’s issue. It’s not a Women’s issue.
It’s a People’s issue.
Obviously I’m going to talk about Feminists (what with them being traitors to their own stated cause, and all), but since I’m an equal opportunity Hater, let’s start with their kilt-wearing counterparts: the Men’s Rights movement.
The MRM is generally a Cause for Good, but they’re no more ‘perfect’ than any other loose association of individuals; there’s more than a few of them who are 9 pounds of stupid in a 2 pound bag – a minority who embody the Feminist accusations of MRM being anti-woman. But the latent misogyny of this minority is, in a way, forgivable. The bitterness evident in their tone suggrests a cruel history of Ex-Wives and Dishonest Cops, and you can feel where they’re coming from – you don’t so much disagree as you do feel pity for their perspectives.
You can call them assholes, you can call them losers, you can call them whatever you want – but always remember that hating women isn’t the same as acting out against them. The MRM may be guilty of idealizing the 1950’s, of sometimes being overly skeptical of of legitimate complaints – but not even the most cynical member would say that Rape is ever justified. They are biased, sure they are, but they’re not unjust.
The Feminists are another matter.
There is a widely accepted definition of Rape, to which most of society subscribes: sexual behaviour enacted by coercion: “Suck my dick or else I’ll stab you/fire you from your job/because I’m your hockey coach and I Know What’s Best.” This sort of behaviour is universally condemned. We don’t need Government to tell us that It is a Crime, regardless of the genders involved.
The Feminists, meanwhile, try and stretch the definition. They want to engender the same Outrage for situations which are far less dire. Take Date Rape, for example: once upon a time it referred to a Pleasant Evening Turned Ugly – up at Makeout Point, Biff took Lorraine’s Hymen by threat of Force or Libel. In today’s world, it means that she had a blood alcohol level of 0.10 (soon to be 0.08 thanks to the Concerned Citizens at MADD) and a bad case of Buyers Remorse. Then there’s the matter of implied consent – it used to be that case that ‘No means No,’ which is reasonable enough, but lately college campuses have been indoctrinating students about how ‘Only Yes means Yes.’ The idea is, that without a ‘Yes’ she’s only taking her panties off because she’s afraid of an implied beating. I strongly suspect that I’d be laughed out of court if I ever claimed Theft-by-Intimidation just because my roomate, who outweighs me by fourty pounds, said “Yo, gimme twenty dollars.”
And then, of course, there’s the feminists who say that any sex act which involves penetration – up to and including a loving Lesbian relationship involving a Strapon – is rape. In the case of a double-ender, both parties deserve Prosecution.
It’s tempting to dismiss these women as radicals, but the fact of the matter is that treatises like the SCUM Manifesto are the basis of modern feminism. The only real difference between Valerie Solanas and your HR Supervisor is that the latter understands the subtleties of PR. It’s not about equality – it’s about misogynistic self-hatred manifesting as misandry. You don’t need a historical analysis to prove this; you don’t even need quotations from SCUMM; all you need is a quick perusal of the laws we currently have in place. They’re unequivocally Sexist.
50 years ago women were always to blame, because they were asking for it. Today men are always to blame because women are weak, irresponsible, and childish. This is why drunk sex constitutes rape – because the woman, by virtue of drunkeness, is presumed to be incompetent.
“Hey, wait a minute–” you might say, “Didn’t she choose to go to the campus bar, get drunk, and follow some frat-boy home? How is that rape, given that there was no knife or bondage involved? It’s not his fault that she cheated on her boyfriend.” I’d like to sympathize with your statement; I truly would. But the unfortunate fact of the matter is that you’re obviously a misogynist, providing tacit-support for Rapists. It’s a State Mandated Fact that although women might frequently put themselves into an impaired state, this is one of their innate behvarioural disorders; an accepted weakness of the Female Race. They are not responsible for what they ‘choose’ when drinking, and they must not pay any of the consequences.
“Wait, that’s a double standard,” you might say, “One time I got drunk and all of a sudden it seemed like a good idea to go for a drive. Sure, I crashed into a police cruiser (lol) but you can’t blame me for that, it was just the alcohol thinking; I would’ve never driven drunk if I’d been sober!”
You’re missing the point. When you choose to drink you’re responsible for all of the consequences; when she chooses to drink, you’re responsible for preventing all of her consequences, despite your own lack of sobriety. The Feminists pushed for this law because it was the only way to ensure Equality.
Like one of my old Sergeant Majors used to say, “You choose the behaviour, you choose the consequences – except for women, of course, because they’re not our Moral Equals.”
The double-standard legislated by Government screws over men, and demeans women. I’m sure you’ve heard the cry, “One hundred years ago women were treated like property!” Well, nowadays they are property – property owned by the State, and leased out to Men during marriage. It’s one thing when children are surpervised by the state – I might not be a fan of Child Protective Services, but at least the arguments sort-of make sense – but when adult voters are supervised by the state, when the state is willing to intervene in their personal lives, against their wishes and without a Court declaration of insanity – that’s when things start looking a bit hinky.
The Standard Narrative is that men are abusers, and women are victims. But lately there’s been evidence coming out – more and more of it – suggesting the situation ain’t so black and white:
70% of Domestic Disturbances are initiated by women. Think about your own Annecdotal Proof for a moment: how many women have you known who would slap, hit, or punch a man, escalating a verbal argument into a physical one? Conversely, how many men have you known who would beat their woman for burning a grilled cheese sandwich?
Granted, you probably know a couple who get violent with each other – but it’s usually Consensual Violence, exacerbated by poverty. They both start it, they both continue it, they both make up afterwards. The Wife Beater we see on TV and Believe In is just as much of Moral Panic as the numerous gangs of Paedophiles which (don’t) wander our streets.
Speaking of Paedophiles, roughly a third of child molesters are females (and yes, female molestation is damaging). This is something I’ve scratched my noggin over. Consider, first, that evidence suggests that paedophilia is a genetically ingrained preference, in the same manner as homosexuality (Evolution’s awful, ain’t she?) Consider, secondly, that while a low-status woman can always find someone who’ll sleep with her (I once saw a Hamilton Twitch-Head, a lady who’d once stolen a handicap-walker, tricking herself out to a homeless man in a bus shelter), low-status men are sexually bereft. It seems plausible that a low-status male might have better luck with his Innocent and Admiring little niece, than with a woman his own age… or maybe men are just more genetically prone to paedophilia. There’s some EvoPsych reasons why this might be, but ultimately, in the Moral Perspective, the causes are irrelevant: Molestation is Molestation; it’s damaging, and it’s a Crime.
Now – finally – let’s get to the topic I promised you at the beginning of this piece: False Rape Accusations. Your typical feminist will say they account for less than 2% or rape claims. Recent evidence shows that the real percentage – actually no, not the ‘real’ percentage, just the bare minimum percentage (they only counted as ‘false’ accusations which were definitely false) is more like 41%. That number does not include the alleged Rapes where ‘the accused was eventually found innocent’ or ‘insufficient evidence to bother with prosecution’ – it only includes those that we know are false
Think about that for a minute. Think about it next time you read about an alleged Rape in the newspaper. That man’s life may not be ruined, but it’s certainly been impacted; in most cases his career prospects are seriously diminished. He might have lost friends, family members, and his name will forever carry the subtitle ‘Monster’ for perpetuity. Even those that stick by him will always have that suspicion of “What if..?” His life is irrecovably changed – and his innocence is just a coin-flip away. How fucking awful is that?
At the start of this piece, I said this wasn’t a Men’s Issue. It isn’t. Let’s look at it from a woman’s perspective.
Imagine you’re a woman who actually got raped – if you can. It’s a rather Ugly place to be. Anyway, you are a Responsible Citizen, so you go to report it. You get stuck in a room with other women, waiting to talk to an Officer – and you know that, statistically speaking, three of the other seven women sitting next to you never even saw their accused naked. You – a victim of the most dehumanizing crime imagineable – are ensconced with three perpetrators of the second most dehumanizing crime imagineable. And while there’s a chance that your Rapist might get off Scot Free – not enough evidence, procedural errors, and so forth – in the cases of these three Monsters it’s guaranteed that they will never be held to account, and will likely go out to false-claim again. And the police know this. And they have a 41% suspicion that you’re a Monster.
The feminists say that victims don’t report because the cops have a bad attitude. I say that they don’t report because the Feminists have a bad attitude.
So here’s an idea for ya’ll. It’s a bit wild-and-woolly, grown on the steppes of the Frozen North, but here it is nonetheless: What if Men and Women are Equal? Different in certain tastes and behaviours, certainly – I think that’s self-evident – but when it comes to innate Morality, our potential to do Good or Evil, and our Responsibility as Free Citizens – what if we’re actually Equals on this playing field?
Just a thought. Probably idealistic nonsense. But like Popeye said, I am what I am, and I’m a man of Prinicple. Gotta live this life ’till I die.
To all you Sisters out there – look out for your Brothers.
Aurini Out.Story highlights Bob Gray falsely claimed in a robocall that he was the only candidate in the race to personally campaign for Donald Trump.
Two of Gray's primary opponents in the Georgia race also campaigned for Trump.
(CNN) Republican congressional candidate Bob Gray falsely claimed in a robocall that he was the only candidate in the race to personally campaign for Donald Trump.
Two of Gray's primary opponents in the Georgia race also campaigned for Trump. Throughout the campaign, Gray has tried to cast himself as a strong ally to President Trump.
In audio of the robocall reviewed by CNN's KFile, Gray says, "I'm the only candidate who personally campaigned for the Trump-Pence team while others refused to stand against Hillary."
One of Gray's opponents, Bruce LeVell, personally worked the Trump campaign as the executive director of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump. LeVell was also a state co-chair in Georgia for Trump's campaign.
In response to a request for comment, LeVell's campaign pointed CNN's KFile to past comments from LeVell calling Gray "Lyin' Bob" and "another false prophet."
Read MoreNon-ethanol gasoline pump
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is struggling with Congress and various corporate interests over the amount of ethanol that will be blended into the U.S. fuel supply.
The Renewable Fuel Standard in place since 2007 calls for specific volumes of ethanol, but critics have tried to cap that amount while the EPA has tried to maintain or raise it.
Regardless of which side ultimately prevails, at least some ethanol will remain blended into most of the gasoline sold in the U.S.
DON'T MISS: EPA boosts required 2017 ethanol volume above expected level
That's because most U.S. gas stations already sell E10—a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline—as their default "regular" fuel.
So what future does ethanol-free gasoline have in the U.S.?
In its recent ruling on 2017 ethanol volumes, the EPA said ethanol-free gasoline—also known as E0—was on the decline, and that it considers the fuel only a niche product from now on, according to Hemmings Daily.
Big square baler harvesting wheat straw for production of cellulosic ethanol
The EPA is now calling for 19.2 billion gallons of ethanol to be blended with U.S. gasoline in 2017.
That represents an increase of 1.2 billion gallons over the amount for 2016, and is also higher than the 18.8 billion gallons originally proposed by the EPA in May.
In comparison, the EPA expects just 200 million gallons of E0 fuel to be consumed in 2017, mostly by recreational boaters.
ALSO SEE: Bill to cap ethanol in U.S. fuel supply gains momentum
Both the National Marine Manufacturers Association and American Motorcycle Association have expressed concern over the past few months that ethanol-free gasoline would no longer be available, according to Hemmings.
The EPA noted that the 200-million gallon figure is not a hard limit, and that consumer demand could lead to larger amounts of E0 being distributed.
But to reach the EPA's targets, any increase in E0 sales volume would have to be balanced by sales of fuels containing more ethanol.
Non-ethanol gasoline pump, with Six Month Road Test Hyundai Veloster
Alongside the 200 million gallons of E0, the EPA expects 275 million gallons of E85 and 728 million gallons of E15 to be dispensed in 2017.
E85 fuel is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline that can only be used in specially-equipped "flex-fuel" vehicles.
MORE: EPA proposes to add more ethanol blends to 'Flex Fuel' category
The EPA previously declared E15—15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline—to be suitable for use in all cars built in 2001 or later, although some automakers and mechanics have disputed that.
While the Renewable Fuel Standard calls for fixed volumes of ethanol to be blended with the fuel supply, a commercial market for this ethanol hasn't materialized.
"Flex-fuel" vehicles still make up a relatively small portion of the population on U.S. roads, and gas-station operators have been hesitant to incur the costs of selling blends with higher ethanol percentages due to anticipated low demand.
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Some institutions will stick with Obama-era directives regarding sexual assault
Universities across the country have elected to stick with the Obama administration’s Title IX guidance documents on sexual misconduct procedures, rather than avail themselves of the flexibility in interim guidance issued by the Trump administration.
Late last month, the Department of Education discarded the directive that colleges follow a “preponderance of evidence” standard when adjudicating sexual misconduct claims. Among many other changes, the new parameters allow colleges to use a higher “clear and convincing evidence” threshold in determining whether an accused student is responsible, in addition to the preponderance standard.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos* had claimed previous guidance had been unfairly deployed against those who were accused of assault and had “weaponized” the Department of Education to “work against schools and against students.”
The new recommendations will function as an interim policy while the department receives public input before crafting permanent, binding regulations.
In spite of the new instructions, universities across the country have announced their continued commitment to Obama-era guidance, which is not legally binding.
Valerie Simons, the University of Colorado’s Title IX coordinator and executive director of the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance on the Boulder campus, said she believes CU already provides fairness to all involved in campus sexual assault investigations.
“One of the priorities has already been a prompt, equitable and fair process for those accused of sexual violence and the victims,” Simons told The Daily Camera. “There will be no immediate changes to either our sexual misconduct policy or our OIEC policy.”
“We really do want to assure our entire community that we are still here for them,” Simons added, “and we will continue to ensure full access and transparency for everything we do.”
Simons did not respond to repeated inquiries from The College Fix.
Two years ago, CU-Boulder paid a $290,000 settlement to a professor whom it tried to fire after he started researching how it “intentionally and systematically manipulated the evidence” in a sexual-misconduct investigation of a male student.
Months earlier, it paid $15,000 to a male student found responsible for sexual assault so that he would withdraw from the university, promised to seal his disciplinary record and give him a positive reference. That led one due-process lawyer to conclude the administration either did not consider him “a sexual offender or any kind of threat to other students,” or that it “put students at other schools at risk of sexual assault from a known offender to further its own interests.”
At George Washington University, President Thomas LeBlanc made clear he would continue to follow the Obama administration’s six-year-old Title IX procedures.
“I want to make clear to all members of our community that we have no intention of removing the support currently in place for survivors of sexual assault,” LeBlanc said in a statement. “We will continue to take allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual violence very seriously.”
LeBlanc claimed the university “used [the Obama-era evidence standard] in all cases regarding potential student code of conduct violations, including Title IX cases, since before the 2011 guidance from the Obama administration. The university is continuing to use this standard.”
St. Edward’s University, a Catholic university in Austin, Texas, will also forego the new rules issued by the Trump administration.
Lisa Kirkpatrick, Title IX coordinator, told the student newspaper Hilltop Views: “One of the things I want our campus community to know is, right now, we do as we have been doing … It’s business as usual, nothing has changed on this campus.”
“There are standards that we have in our community,” Kirkpatrick added, “that are less about the law and more about our mission … Those are just as important to us.”
Kirkpatrick encouraged everyone to “get involved, show up, go to an event … If you teach, add the information about Title IX in your syllabus.”
The Fix reached out repeatedly to the offices of both LeBlanc and Kirkpatrick. Neither responded.
UPDATE: Sandra Zaragoza, a spokeswoman for St. Edward University, reached out to The Fix on October 10 with a statement claiming that St. Edwards “does not anticipate making significant changes to our process prior to new federal rules being finalized. The university awaits the rulemaking outcomes from the Department of Education, which will provide final Title IX regulations. Once those regulations are issued, the university will review them with legal counsel and consult with appropriate members of our community in order to maintain compliance with the Department of Education requirements.”
As stated above, The Fix reached out to Kirkpatrick’s office at St. Edward multiple times for comment, but received no response before publication.
*Disclosure
MORE: Obama’s bureaucrats still running Title IX show in Trump administration
MORE: Title IX bureaucrat group charges $1,499 to teach you about due process
IMAGE: Shutterstock
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Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on TwitterIt's fighting words from Senator Stephen Conroy as he rebuts the "disingenuous" coverage of his Great Firewall of Australia. You can't access RC-rated content in newsagencies, libraries, DVDs, cinemas or on TV, so why should it be allowed on the internet? asks Conroy.
In these times of bloggers, citizen journalism and the 24-hour news cycle, quality journalism is under threat. Nowhere is it more apparent than in Crikey. Its coverage over the past week with regard to the government’s announcement on ISP level filtering has been nothing short of disingenuous. The government has been clear that mandatory filtering will only be implemented for RC-rated content. This content is illegal to display, distribute, sell or make available for hire under existing Australian law. RC-rated content is not available in newsagencies, it is not on the library shelves, you cannot watch it on a DVD or at the cinema and it is not shown on television. Bernard Keane put forward his views in his article Net filtering won't work, so what is Conroy up to? Clearly, Keane doesn’t think the government should try to limit exposure to RC-rated material online. He is entitled to his opinion. In arguing his position, however, he makes a number of errors that should be corrected. Keane claims "the trial saw up to 3.4% of content wrongly blocked". The trial showed that a defined list of URLs -- which is how the mandatory component of filtering would be done -- was achieved by all technologies tested with 100% accuracy. The figure he quotes of 3.4% refers to the testing for the optional filtering of a wider range of content as decided by families. The performance of the various technologies was tested against additional lists of content developed by Enex for innocuous and inappropriate content. Many families may be prepared to accept some over-blocking to have a wider range of material blocked. This is a choice for the family or individual. Keane argues "the trial … saw speed reductions of 30-40%”. In fact one technology tested in the trial returned this result while the remaining technologies returned a figure of less than 10%. Enex has described a result of less than 10% as negligible impact and Telstra has put it into real-time as one seventieth of a blink of an eye". Enex explains in the report the filter that got the higher level of degradation used "pass through" technology and the content list was maintained overseas, which may explain the higher level. The government will not mandate what technology an ISP should use and clearly it would make no sense for an ISP to choose the worst-performed product unless these issues could be overcome. Keane argues the government’s announcement is based on "the big lie, that filtering works" because it can be circumvented. The government has never claimed that filtering cannot be circumvented and has continually explained that it is just one part of a range of measures designed to make the internet a safer place. Yes people will use means other than the web to trade in child pornography and other vile material, and that is why the government has also committed $49 million for additional federal police officers to the Child Protection Unit and a further $11 million for prosecution. Keane then attacks the existing classification laws, which is refreshing in that he is one of the few critics to acknowledge the internet is currently subject to censorship. Keane is wrong though when he argues that "www.childpr0n.com would be blocked under both [the RC content list and the current ACMA blacklist], [whilst] trying to inform the terminally ill about options for euthanasia online would be blocked under one but not the other". Such content is RC and would therefore be included on both the ACMA blacklist under the existing laws and the RC content list under the new scheme. He argues "how would you know whether you were blocked under mandatory filtering" or under the current legislative framework? In the government’s public consultation paper on approved transparency and accountability measures -- one option put forward is the use of block pages which would notify the user that the material they are trying to access has been blocked because it has been deemed to be RC content. It would only be blocked under existing laws if you were using a PC filter that filters the ACMA blacklist or some other form of self applied filtering. I understand that people feel passionately about this issue but if you want to have a reasoned debate you need to have the facts straight. Bernard Keane could start by looking at the FAQ on the department’s website. Then we had the case of not letting the facts get in the way of a good story with Stilgherrian’s “ The swift takedown of stephenconroy.com.au. ” Stilgherrian wrote about a fake Stephen Conroy website having the domain deleted by the industry self-regulatory body auDA where he asked, "Did Senator Conroy or someone in his office pressure auDA for a quick result?" Stilgherrian had the answer to this question but clearly he didn’t like the answer so he chose to ignore it. He contacted my office at 7am on Tuesday asking whether anyone from the office had asked auDA to take action on stephenconroy.com.au. At 11.19am he was provided with the following response: "The Minister's office made no request and took no other action in relation to the domain stephenconroy.com.au" and was referred to auDa regarding their policies. Stilgherrian replied and made no reference to the response being close to deadline or being too late to pull the story to at least add the response. (See the full exchange here.). Despite including my office’s response in the "Corrections" section the following day, the fact remains that, in having the answer that my office had made no request well before deadline, but still proceeding with an entire article based on the suggestion that I or my office had requested action, Stilgherrian is either calling me a liar or he has decided to deliberately ignore the response so that he can write the story he wants to write anyway. But he didn’t stop there with making up the facts to suit his story. He then drew a correlation to allegations run by Asher Moses in the Sydney Morning Herald when he said "Conroy’s policy advisor Belinda Dennett did try to silence one of Conroy’s critics, network engineer Mark Newton." At the time Asher Moses, a vocal critic of ISP filtering, made these allegations my office advised him that this simply did not happen and he had been misinformed. That Moses ran the story with the allegation anyway seems to be enough of a "fact" for Stilgherrian to repeat whenever he feels it helps his story. And then there was Colin Jacobs article Reporters without Borders: Don’t Do it Rudd. Interestingly Colin Jacobs, who has been spruiking his views on the government’s position, blurring the lines, burying the facts and wilfully misleading the Australian public, makes the point that the international coverage is "not a good look" and that Australia is "gaining a reputation as the Iran of the South Pacific". The irony in this is that it is Colin Jacobs himself who has been out there whipping the media into a frenzy; with his loose use of language and most extraordinary misrepresentations it is no wonder he has managed to get global attention. The government has made it very clear that its policy will see online content that is RC-rated according to the National Classification Scheme criteria is the only content that will be blocked. Jacobs argues that the government’s policy will "block access to inappropriate websites", the same language he criticised the government for using months ago as being unclear. While much of the commentary has referred to the blocking of websites we should make it very clear that the RC content list will only include URLs. URL’s lead to specific pages on a website and only if those pages contain RC-rated content will they be added to the list. Jacobs quotes the letter written by Reporters Without Borders to the Prime Minister that subjects such as "abortion, anorexia, Aborigines and legislation on the sale of marijuana would risk being filtered as would media reports on these issues." This is just misrepresentation designed to mislead the public. The elements the National Classification Board looks at to assess these include sx, violence, matters of an abhorrent nature, instruction in crime and instruction in violence. The only way these subject matters RWB have outlined would fall into the RC category would be if they included step-by-step instruction in self harm or were extremely violent. It is hard to see how legislation or websites about Aborigines would be included. Jacobs then demonstrates just how he has managed to get worldwide attention with his outrageous claim that I have "attempt[ed] [to] deflect criticism by implying filter opponents were all card-carrying members of the Child Pornorgaphy Apologists League". I have never made this comment and I challenge Jacobs to provide evidence of such a quote. It seems that if Jacobs makes the claim often enough, without pointing to any evidence, he will convince people -- including the RWB. If regulation or so called censorship of the internet has got Colin Jacobs so enraged with the government’s recent announcement, where has he been for the past nine years where the internet in Australia has been regulated far more heavily. The government’s filtering policy applies only to the worst of the worst content hosted overseas which brings it into line with what has been going on in Australia for the past nine years without the outrage. Let me repeat the government has been clear that mandatory filtering will only apply to RC-rated content. This content is not available in newsagencies, on library shelves, at the cinema or on DVD and you certainly can’t watch it on TV. Why shouldn’t Australian ISPs be required to block access to such content? I am happy to debate the merits of this policy and listen to the genuine concerns of Australians but let’s ensure people have the facts and not build campaign based on disingenuous misrepresentations. As recently as today I have read articles that claim mandatory filtering will include content that is rated X18+. I suggest people you are interested in the facts go to my department’s website where they can read the FAQ’s www.dbcde.gov.au I wish Crikey and all its readers a very merry Christmas. CRIKEY ED: Just to be clear, Stilgherrian did forward the response from Conroy to Crikey but the addition was missed in the production process, the fault was ours, not Stilgherrian's. Conroy's office has now been informed of this.In the past, I’ve written a lot about Jenkins, Mercurial (see all the cool links below) and other tools that we use at ZeroTurnaround. Today, I thought I’ll share with you how we manage multiple branches in Mercurial while still enabling a Continuous Integration experience for our development teams. I’ll concentrate on one of our products, LiveRebel (which, incidentally, we actually use to release over 30 applications of our own, twice a week, all without impacting our users. Dogfooding it baby!)
Our approach uses tools freely available on the market and some custom scripts. If you have multiple branches and struggling with CI, then this article might give you some ideas.
How we use the Branching Model
To set the stage, I really do believe that true Continuous Integration is with a single mainline that developers commit their code to. In reality, I doubt if there are many teams out there with the luxury of having a single mainline that everything can be merged to. At one point in any long-term project, there will be multiple version-based mainlines in existence, and branching is really the way to deal with this.
Let’s use the ZeroTurnaround product LiveRebel as an example, for which we have versions 2.6, 2.7, 3.0 and 3.1. |
run an agent and simulate it's state without actually running the side effects.
An EffectfulAgent should satisfy the laws:
a.discard.effect == mzero a.discard.discard == a.discard
(The first law assumes of course that F[_] is a Monad with Zero.) This means that an agent who's effect has been discarded has no effect.
We also require that if we ignore effects:
a.effect == a.discard.point[F]
This means that calling the discard method on an EffectfulAgent changes the state of the agent in the same way as actually running it's effect.
Example - a printing statistics calculator
To provide an example of an EffectfulAgent, I'll demonstrate a StatisticsCalculator which prints it's data to stdout every 10 displays.
case class PrintingStatisticsCalculator ( displays : Long, conversions : Long, toPrint : Option [ String ] ) extends EffectfulAgent [ Event, PrintingStatisticsCalculator, IO ] { def receive( e : Event ) : PrintingStatisticsCalculator = e match { case Display =& gt ; if (displays + 1 % 10 == 0) { this.copy(displays = displays + 1, toPrint = Some("Current state : " + this )) } else { this.copy(displays=displays+1) } case Conversion =& gt ; this. copy ( conversions = conversions + 1 ) } def discard : PrintingStatisticsCalculator = this. copy ( toPrint = None ) def effect : IO [ PrintingStatisticsCalculator ] = toPrint. map ( putStrLn ). getOrElse ( ioUnit ). map ( _ =& gt ; discard ) }
The toPrint element represents the data to be printed (if any). It's pretty clear from the definition above that the laws are satisfied.
Running an effectful agent is done via the agentEffect method:
def runAgentForEffect[F[_],F2[x] >: F[x], T, A <: EffectfulAgent[T,A,F2]](process: Process[F,T], initialState: A): Process[F2,A] = process.scan(initialState)( (a, t) => a.discard.receive(t) ).evalMap(_.effect)
A complicated type signature, but the idea is simple. First we run the agent, in order to generate a Process in which the state changes. Then for each state, we run it for it's effect. Then we discard the effect and continue.
Separating state from effect
By splitting state from effect, we create the ability to reuse code by swapping out different effects. The business logic of the PrintingStatisticsCalculator does not change just because we want different effects. So if we needed multiple effect implementations, we could easily mix in different effect implementations with traits or other methods.
Testing the agent
By splitting state away from effects, testing becomes much easier. If I want to test an Agent, I simply generate input as a Seq :
Process.emitSeq(Seq[Event](Display,Conversion,Display,Display))
and then check whether the output matches the desired sequence:
assert(runAgent(testSeq, StatisticsCalculator(0,0)).toSeq === Seq(StatisticsCalculator(0,0), StatisticsCalculator(1,0), StatisticsCalculator(1,1)... etc
This separates business logic from implementation details. This is a lot easier and faster than testing Akka code. Testing Akka actors typically involves spinning up actor systems, and code is littered with expectMsgPf(250 milliseconds) and similar things.
Note that we do not need to spin up an ActorSystem as part of the test.
Testing side effects
We can also test the business logic of EffectfulAgent objects without running their effects:
assert(runAgent(testSeq, PrintingStatisticsCalculator(0,0)).toSeq === Seq(PrintingStatisticsCalculator(0,0,None),... etc)
I.e., we can check that at certain stages of the computation, printingStatisticsCalculator.toPrint == Some(...), but we do not need to actually run the effect as part of the test.
This is very handy in making test suites run more quickly - we can write a small number of tests which check that effects are properly performed, and write a much larger number of tests which verify the business logic of an EffectfulAgent. The tests of business logic never need to actually produce a side effect. I.e., I'll write many tests ensuring that:
streamEndState === PrintingStatisticsCalculator(20,6,Some("data to print"))
but a much smaller number of tests to determine that PrintingStatisticsCalculator(_,_,Some("data to print")).effect actually prints "data to print".
Conclusion
Akka's actors are a great system, one which I use every day. As a tool for distributed computing they are extremely helpful.
But as far as type safety, they leave a lot to be desired - a standard untyped actor is built on the type signature Any => Unit with side effects. It's my belief that we can do better for non-distributed systems, both in terms of orthogonality and type safety. After playing with scalaz-stream, I'm beginning to think that we might have other useful abstractions around which we can build systems.
Source code for the agent library is available on github.1 year ago
I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone for their comments, critiques and suggestions for Tuesday Night Game Fight. A live production and a new show is always a risk but it is a risk my team and I love. This year my goal has been to bring our awesome community into more of our productions. The live audience for On The Spot was the beginning of that goal. And Tuesday Night Game Fight would go one step further by giving you the chance to actually participate in some of the fun we create every day.
The challenge was how to build a show that would give you that shot and still be a commitment that our talented groups could handle. We thought we had found a formula that worked but obviously we had some work to do.
The broadcast team got back to work the minute the first episode wrapped. We have made some adjustments to the show and have tightened up our tech. We’re ready to roll live again on Tuesday and I hope you give us another shot. Thanks for every minute you watch and each laugh you share with us.He was talking about what type of naengmyun (cold noodles) he liked best when his PD surprised him by playing his 2009 duet with Jessica. The two were paired up for a music special of 'Infinity Challenge'
On the April 17th airing of', DJ Park Myung Soo discussed the time he and formermember Jessica �promoted their duet track "".�
Park Myung Soo talked fondly about her by saying, "I wonder if Jessica's doing well. It was fun singing with her. One time, I made a mistake during the dance, but Jessica wasn't bothered by it and danced prettily. That image of her was really cute. That was already 6-7 years ago. Now that I look back, Jessica and I made a great song, and it was fun."An insane (and award-winning) proposal to build a horizontal skyscraper around the perimeter of a sunken Central Park. eVolo
In January, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat highlighted the news that there were 100 supertall (984 feet and up) skyscrapers in the world following the completion of 432 Park Ave. in New York City. The first 50 were built over a span of eight decades from 1930 to 2010, the next 50 in only five years.
Not everyone is happy about this rash of soaring structures, which are only the most obvious answer to the chronic problem of increasing urban density in cities across the planet. The first-place winner of eVolo’s 2016 Skyscraper Competition—an annual contest that bills itself as a forum for “visionary ideas” that in reality range from provocative to pure science-fiction insanity—proposes an opposite approach. “New York Horizon” by Yitan Sun and Jianshi Wu is a radical, dystopian plan for a horizontal skyscraper embedded in the perimeter of a sunken Central Park.
Digging up Central Park. eVolo
“Our proposal is a hybrid multi-functional mega structure,” the designers write in a project description. “Not by building up, but by digging down.” By revealing hidden bedrock beneath Central Park, they write, and creating space for the horizontal building, they would “[break] the traditional perception of large-scale skyscrapers” without using up “valuable ground area” in Manhattan, creating 7 square miles of additional space. The structure would be covered in “highly reflective glass” on all sides, they explain, to create “an illusion of infinity.”
A view from inside the park. eVolo
A view from inside the horizontal skyscraper outside to the mountains of an excavated Central Park. eVolo
Check out all the competition winners here.Siding with four teenage plaintiffs and the environmental groups that backed them, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday ruled that the state has failed to fulfill its legal obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The unanimous decision from the state's highest court reverses a lower court ruling and requires the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issue regulations "that address multiple sources of categories of sources of greenhouse gas emissions, impose a limit on emissions that may be released, limit the aggregate emissions released from each group of regulated sources or categories of sources, set emission limits for each year, and set limits that decline on an annual basis."
By failing to do so, the court said, the DEP was falling short of complying with the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act, which says that by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions be reduced by at least 80 percent below 1990 levels. It includes timelines for reductions in 2020, 2030, and 2040.
Massachusetts is not on track to meet its 2020 greenhouse gas reduction goal of 25 percent below 1990 levels—a fact the plaintiffs say is "directly related to DEP's failure to issue the required regulations."
"This is an historic victory for young generations advocating for changes to be made by government," said 17-year-old plaintiff Shamus Miller. "The global climate change crisis is a threat to the well being of humanity, and to my generation, that has been ignored for too long."
"This is a historic day," said lead attorney Jenny Rushlow, of the Conservation Law Foundation, which brought the case along with Mass Energy Consumers Alliance and with the support of Our Children's Trust, an Oregon-based organization orchestrating youth-driven legal campaign in the United States. "Today our highest court declared clearly and unequivocally that our leaders can no longer sit on their hands while Massachusetts communities are put at risk from the effects of climate change."
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Tuesday's win follows two other recent landmark victories in youth-led lawsuits against the federal government and the State of Washington.
"In agreeing with the youth plaintiffs in this case, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court joins growing global judicial recognition of youth's rights to demand that their governments act in accordance with the urgency of the climate change crisis," said Julia Olson, executive director and chief legal counsel at Our Children’s Trust.
“Youth around the country and internationally are bringing their governments to court to secure their rights to a healthy atmosphere and stable climate," Olson said. "Today, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court called Massachusetts to task and underscored the need to take significant action now, so youth are not unfairly consigned to a disproportionately bleak future should we fail to address the most important and time sensitive issue of our time."
Similar cases brought by youth to protect the atmosphere are pending in the federal district court in Oregon, and in the state courts of Pennsylvania, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon, as well as in several other countries.
Watch one of the Massachusetts youths, Eshe Sherley, explain why she was involved in the lawsuit:The ninth podcast in the The Drax Files Radio Hour unsurprisingly focuses on the launch of the SL Go service (Beta) by OnLive (review here).
As most people are now surely aware, SL Go is a means of accessing the full richness of Second Life on a tablet (or mobile device with a large enough screen) via OnLive’s streaming service, with the options of also accessing it via a computer or via a television (additional hardware required in the case of the latter). The mobile offering is initially Android only, but an iOS version is also promised.
SL Go is was launched as a part of the overall re-emergence of OnLive from an 18-month, self-imposed silence following the original company getting into difficulties prior to being bought out by Gary Lauder, who was an early investor in the original OnLive through his company, Lauder Partners.
As well as releasing the SL Go Beta on Wednesday March 5th, OnLive also launched their new CloudLift games subscription service ($14.99 a month) and their OnLive Go service (of which SL Go forms a part), which is specifically aimed at getting people up-and-running with MMOs and virtual worlds.
A key sticking point with SL Go where SL users are concerned has been that of pricing, with the pay-per-minute (or pay-as-you-go, depending on your preference in referring to it) plan receiving a broadly negative response. During the podcast, Draxtor interviews Nate Barsetti, Senior Manager of Customer Relations at OnLive, and Dennis Harper, the Senior Product Manager for OnLive, and the subject of pricing and potential future options is raised, as I’ve commented upon in a post on the SL Go pricing model.
Nate Barsetti is very much the voice of SL Go, having appeared on both Designing Worlds during a special programme about the new service and a follow-up Q&A session, as well as spending around an hour talking to Drax about the service, much of which appears in this podcast. Again, as I’ve previously mentioned, Nate is actually in a good position to discuss both SL Go and Second Life; he is both an ex-Lab employee (Scout Linden) and a long-time and very active resident, leading a Star Wars role-play community. As such, he offers some interesting insight into the various decisions taken vis-a-vis SL Go.
Dennis Harper’s interview is equally interesting. Not only does it echo the potential for OnLive to revisit things like pricing models (this is only a beta, after all), but also because he talks about his own exposure to Second Life, which seems to amount to being given a copy of Wagner James (Hamlet) Au’s book and being told to get on with it! Dennis also offer-up and interesting view as to how OnLive themselves might at some point get more involved in Second Life, possibly helping those new to the SL environment. He also points-out that SL Go support is actually made-up of SL residents. Also interviewed about SL Go is none other thanStrawberry Singh, who offers a balanced view of using the service.
Away from this, The Drax Files Radio Hour gained a new sponsor in the week ahead of the podcast in the form of Leap Motion. To mark this, the show is giving away two Leap Motion devices, one each in two separate competitions. For this podcast, the competition is open to those who use Facebook, while next week a second Leap Motion device will be given away in a competition exclusively for SL users who don’t use Facebook.
Draxtor has been involved in working with the Leap Motion controller with Second Life for a while, and produced a video on his attempts. More recently, Leap Motion reached out to Linden Lab about integrating the controller with the viewer, and members of the Firestorm team are now working with Leap Motion to make this happen.
Elsewhere in the show, SL advertising is touched upon, as is more unfolding news surrounding Bitcoin, and the re-opening of the SL JIRA gets a mention.
Even if you’ve read all there is to read on SL Go, the show is worth a listen-to. Both Nate Barsetti and Dennis Harper are pretty open and honest in their comments, and the conversations with them really do help put aspects of SL Go into perspective.
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Record numbers of GP practices closed last year, forcing around 265,000 patients to move, data suggests.
A Freedom of Information request by Pulse magazine revealed 57 practices closed in 2016, with a further 34 shutting because of practice mergers.
The Royal College of GPs said doctors could no longer cope with growing patient demand without more funding.
NHS England said investment in general practice had increased by £1bn over two years.
The number of patients having to change surgeries was up by 150% from 2014, according to the data, and up 15% from 2015.
The figures also highlighted areas particularly affected, including Brighton, which saw seven practices close in the past two years, Pulse said. Four of the closures meant 9,000 patients had to find a new surgery.
'Lifeblood of local communities'
In April 2016, NHS England announced an extra £16m for this year for a so-called "practice resilience programme", with another £24m in subsequent years.
But Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said the needs of surgeries, both with funding and staff, were not being met.
"GP practices are the lifeblood of our local communities so the complete closure of any practice will always be a last resort when all other options have proved unworkable," she said.
Prof Stokes-Lampard added that, while there may be funding available, practices needed to be able to get to it "without having to wade through convoluted red tape".
GP workforce in numbers 32,628 GPs in England 5,000 more planned for 2020
1 in 3 considering retirement in next five years
13% of GP training places went unfilled last year PA
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association's GP committee, told Pulse that the money could make a difference, but blamed local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) for stopping the cash getting to where it was needed.
"The tragedy is CCGs have not delivered their part in making the resource available," he said.
"Many practices that should have received support have had none to date. That's been a failing of local delivery."
'Greater range of services'
An NHS England spokesman said anyone wanting to register with a GP was guaranteed a place and funding had been increased.
"These figures as presented don't reflect the full picture as they include patients whose records automatically transfer after a merger and therefore don't have to change practice," he said.
"As part of our plans to improve general practice services and boost the workforce, many practices are choosing to merge in order to offer patients a much greater range of services."
But Labour's shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said more needed to be done to help GPs, which would, in turn, take the pressure off struggling hospitals.
"Tory ministers need to take urgent action to address this spike in GP practice closures and explain what they will do to make sure patients can easily and safely access the GP services they need," he added.When it comes to kids, trends come and go faster than any of us grown-ups can keep up with. Remember loom bands? Moshi monsters? They took the playground by storm, driving parents mad all over the country. These are nothing but mere flashes in the pan compared to the digital goliath that has captured the hearts and minds of kids everywhere. I’m talking, of course, about Minecraft. A digital world where you’re free to do pretty much whatever you want, it’s been a phenomenal success story. However, something unexpected was discovered recently - this digital pastime is helping children with autism. This is the story of how a small indie project is changing the way we’re thinking about gaming.
Minecraft’s creator, Markus “Notch” Persson, cuts a somewhat divisive figure. Persson controversially sold to Microsoft following vocal criticisms of other tech giants’ acquiring indie projects such as Facebook’s purchase of Oculus VR. The former coder and programmer now sits on his billion dollar fortune due to the unexpected success of his pet project. The game became the highest selling title in history, topping over 100 million sales worldwide, but it’s so much more than just a game - it’s a space to create. You start in an empty virtual world and use Lego-like blocks to build whatever takes your fancy, but what sets Minecraft apart is that other players can then interact with your creations. Oh, and there's also zombies which you need to avoid. This format struck a chord with kids, but how can this help with a condition like autism?
It ticks a lot of the boxes for their cognitive skills and interests and, perhaps most importantly, allows them to communicate freely in a safe environment. Many children with autism crave routine and repetition - their lives often need to follow a structure that does not change. Minecraft works along this repetitive cycle; you ‘mine’ a block, you move it, you build and you repeat. You can do this as many times as you want, in any way you want - you have the freedom to do anything as long as it follows the set structure. This sounds counter intuitive, but those who have experience with the game will understand how this is achieved.
So, it is this unique ‘freedom within a structure’ environment that seems to hold attraction, but it’s the potential for communication within the game that’s really setting it apart in terms of addressing developmental needs for children with autism. Within the virtual world, you don’t just explore and create - you can travel around with other players and talk as you go. This has broken down barriers to socialisation for autism sufferers, not only are the kids now chatting and expressing themselves more openly in a digital format - evidence suggests it's having a positive impact in the real world too. In an article by Keith Stuart in the Guardian, he describes how his son Zac would never talk about his day at school, he was quiet and reserved - something that can be quite common amongst children with autism. But after spending time in the digital world he would rush to tell his parents what he’d been up to:
“But he talks to us about Minecraft. He talks and talks. We were getting bored of it, to be brutally honest, but then my wife read an article that said if you listen to your children when they’re young, they’ll tell you more when they’re older. It’s sort of an investment of care. So we always listen, even though we don’t really get what the ender dragon is, or why it matters.”
Minecraft has changed the way we think about games. Before, a videogame was just a pastime - a waste of time, even, but now it’s being used in schools. Minecraft Edu is a ‘school-ready’ version of the game that is being used to teach maths, geography, physics - you name it and there’s a way to teach using the game. Its strongest attribute is that the kids actually want to learn using this method. When kids want to learn and keep learning, when they see it as fun and not a chore, special things can happen.
Markus Persson is not aiming to give off the impression that he designed the game to be anything other than that, just a game. However, what he’s created is changing the lives of millions of people all over the world. We still have a long way to go in truly understanding spectrum conditions such as autism, but in light of Minecraft’s success, maybe we’ve been looking for the answers in the wrong place all this time.[flv:officelabsmontage.flv 600 400]
When Microsoft decides to imagine the future, it never fails to impress. Not only do you have some of the smartest people envisioning what’s possible, but they also invest so much into communicating these ideas through sights and sounds which the production value can be compared to most blockbuster sci-fi films.
Today at the Wharton Business Technology Conference, Microsoft’s Business Division president Stephen Elop unveiled the latest production from Microsoft Office Labs called “2019”, starring stock photo men, women and children playing with the next-generation of communication, collaboration and production technologies. (via Steve Clayton)
Those with a keen eye and a good memory might recognize a few familiar concepts in this video already shown in earlier videos of the “envisioning” series, for example the future of personal health, having said that, I believe there’s still a couple of new never-before-seen concepts sliced between. Please correct me if I’m wrong. And I’m not wrong. Update below.
Update: I’ve been able to get my hands on the new “2019” video in its full glory. This 5-minute long spectacle is available separately below. Some of the new technologies demoed including a “transparent wall” between two classrooms around the world, animated drawings, realtime conversation translations, surface displays, electronic boarding cards, transparent displays, mini projectors among many others. The electronic newspaper is definitely my favorite.
[flv:msofficelabs2019.flv 600 360]
And for those who like to analyze every pixel as much as I do, here’s a couple screenshots I extracted from Stephen’s PowerPoint deck. An interesting future indeed.Donald Trump at the Iowa State Fair. REUTERS/Jim Young The cartoonist who created "Dilbert" has a unique and compelling take on what he calls the "clown genius" fueling Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Scott Adams, the cartoonist, published a blog post on the subject last week and repeatedly updated the article with additional thoughts on why the talking points of Trump's campaign trail reminded him of successful hypnosis.
"For our purposes today, persuasion, hypnosis, and negotiating all share a common set of tools, so I will conflate them," wrote Adams, who has studied hypnosis. "Would Trump use his negotiation and persuasion skills in the campaign? Of course he would. And we expect him to do just that."
Adams pointed to Trump's repeated — and disputed — claim that he was worth over $10 billion.
Bloomberg Politics and other analysts have argued that Trump's net worth is probably closer to $3 billion, but Adams said that once the debate is over how many billions of dollars Trump is worth, the real-estate magnate has already won.
"The sale he wants to make is, 'Remember that Donald Trump is a successful businessperson managing a vast empire mostly of his own making.' The exact amount of his wealth is irrelevant," he said. "When a car salesperson trained in persuasion asks if you prefer the red Honda Civic or the Blue one, that is a trick called making you 'think past the sale' and the idea is to make you engage on the question of color as if you have already decided to buy the car."
He added: "That is Persuasion 101, and I have seen no one in the media point it out when Trump does it."
And besides, Adams argued, voters will always be inclined to remember big, bold numbers like $10 billion instead of specific counterfigures like Bloomberg's $2.9 billion.
"I don't remember the smaller estimates of Trump's wealth that critics provided. But I certainly remember the $10 billion estimate from Trump himself. Thanks to this disparity in my memory, my mind automatically floats toward Trump's anchor of $10 billion being my reality. That is classic persuasion. And I would be amazed if any of this is an accident," he wrote, noting Trump wrote a book titled "Trump: The Art of the Deal." "Trump literally wrote the book on this stuff."
Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip "Dilbert." AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
The cartoonist also cited several other examples of Trump's psychological tricks. He said Trump often deployed an "anchor" to shift the conversation to more favorable terms, such as when, Adams said, Trump intentionally exaggerated the illegal immigration issue and his own ability to fix it.
"You probably also cringed when you heard Trump say Mexico was sending us their rapists and bad people," he wrote. "Trump also said he thinks Mexico should pay for the fence, which made most people scoff. But if your neighbor's pit bull keeps escaping and eating your rosebushes, you tell the neighbor to pay for his own fence or you will shoot his dog next time you see it. Telling a neighbor to build his own wall for your benefit is not crazy talk. And I actually think Trump could pull it off."
And as far as Trump's tendency to constantly promote his own brands and approach as the "best" and "biggest" in the world, Adams wrote that it's all part of the real-estate developer's larger plan.
"Every time he opens his mouth he is saying something about the Trump brand being fabulous or amazing or great. The rational part of your brain thinks this guy is an obnoxious, exaggerating braggart," the "Dilbert" creator said. "But the subconscious parts of your brain (the parts that make most of your decisions) only remember that something about that guy was fabulous, amazing, and great."
Adams said that, based on his observations, he was willing to predict that Trump would be the next president.The officer has been staying with his family at his private flat located in Deolali Camp area.
A senior Army officer, posted at Artillery Centre in Nashik, was arrested for allegedly raping a 21-year-old mentally-challenged woman at his residence in Deolali Camp.
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Colonel Vinod Sahani, posted in depot battery at Artillery Centre, was formally placed under arrest late last night after the woman’s parents lodged a complaint in this regard, ACP (Division I), Atul Zende, said on Sunday.
[related-post]
He was produced before a Nashik Road court, which remanded him in police custody till May 5, Zende said.
Sahni was initially detained by police after booking him under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The officer has been staying with his family at his private flat located in Deolali Camp area.
The incident took place on April 30 when Sahani forcibly took the woman, also a resident of his building, to his flat, while his family members were away, and sexually assaulted her, said Deolali Camp police station senior officer Rajesh Akhade.
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During interrogation, Sahani has claimed that he is being “framed” in the case, police said.Posted on February 27, 2014 by Dr. Deah
NOT
CAN
Til Next Time!
About Dr. Deah Dr. Deah Schwartz, clinician, educator, and author specializes in Expressive Arts Therapies, Eating Disorders, and Body Image. Deah is the author of Dr. Deah's Calmanac: Your Interactive Monthly Guide for Cultivating a Positive Body Image and co-author of the NAAFA award winning Off-Broadway Play, Leftovers, and its companion DVD/Workbook Set. An outspoken “New Yawker,” Dr. Deah believes that it is everyone’s responsibility to point out and eliminate size discrimination even when it means battling the mainstream media, and even more challenging...family members! To find out more about Dr. Deah’s work or to book a session visit her website at www.drdeah.com
Despite the well known saying, talk ischeap, Advertisers spend billions of dollars each year on ads telling us and selling us body hate messages. And unless we unplug completely and live in a Samadhi Tank, we can not avoid the media completely. And yes, it can be overwhelming and very seductive. But try to remember that even though: We can not always shield ourselves from seeing media images that promote weight stigma. We can not always shield ourselves from hearing media messages that promote weight stigma. Wealways stop ourselves from speaking negatively about our and other people’s bodies. Try to eliminate negative body talk from your repertoire. Your self acceptance will grow! Proud to be Me has a stop body snarking campaign. CLICK HERE for more information about how to spread the word of body positivity. There is also a facebook page National Eating Disorders Collaboration that is focusing on ending negative body talk. CLICK HERE for the link!Dr. DeahSo far, only a handful of smaller banks are willing to offer accounts to companies that grow or sell marijuana, and Microsoft will not be touching that part of the business. But the company's entry into the government compliance side of the business suggests the beginning of a legitimate infrastructure for an industry that has been growing fast and attracting lots of attention, both good and bad. "We do think there will be significant growth," said Kimberly Nelson, the executive director of state and local government solutions at Microsoft. "As the industry is regulated, there will be more transactions, and we believe there will be more sophisticated requirements and tools down the road." 'Clamour for legitimacy' Microsoft's baby step into the business came through an announcement on Thursday that it was teaming up with a Los Angeles start-up, Kind, that built the software the tech giant will begin marketing. Kind - one of many small companies trying to take the marijuana business mainstream - offers a range of products, including ATM-style kiosks that facilitate marijuana sales, working through some of the state-chartered banks that are comfortable with such customers. Microsoft will not be getting anywhere near these kiosks or the actual plants. Rather, it will be working with Kind's "government solutions" division, offering software only to state and local governments that are trying to build compliance systems.
But for the young and eager legalised weed industry, Microsoft's willingness to attach its name to any part of the business is a big step forward. "Nobody has really come out of the closet, if you will," said Matthew Karnes, the founder of Green Wave Advisors, which provides data and analysis of the marijuana business. "It's very telling that a company of this calibre is taking the risk of coming out and engaging with a company that is focused on the cannabis business." David Dinenberg, founder and chief executive of Kind, said it had taken a long time - and a lot of courting of big-name companies - to persuade the first one to get on board. "Every business that works in the cannabis space, we all clamour for legitimacy," said Dinenberg, a former real estate developer in Philadelphia who moved to California to start Kind. "I would like to think that this is the first of many dominoes to fall." It's hard to know if other corporate giants have provided their services in more quiet ways to cannabis purveyors. New York state, for instance, has said it is working with Oracle to track medicinal marijuana patients. But there appears to be little precedent for a big company advertising its work in the space. It is still possible, though considered unlikely, that the federal government could decide to crack down on the legalisation movement in the states.
Bold step The partnership with Kind is yet another bold step for Microsoft as its looks to replace the revenue from its fading desktop software business. On Monday, it announced that it was buying LinkedIn. Microsoft has put a lot of emphasis on its cloud business, Azure. The Kind software will be one of eight pieces of preferred software that Microsoft will offer to users of Azure Government - and the only one related to marijuana. The conflict between state and federal laws on marijuana has given a somewhat improvisational nature to the cannabis industry. Stores that sell pot have been particularly hobbled by the unwillingness of banks to deal with the money flowing through the industry. Many dispensaries have been forced to rely on cash for all transactions, or looked to start-ups like Kind, with its kiosks that take payments inside dispensaries.
Governments, too, have generally been relying on smaller start-ups to help develop technology that can track marijuana plants and sales. A Florida software company, BioTrackTHC, is helping Washington state, New Mexico and Illinois monitor the marijuana trade inside their states. Kind has no state contracts. But it has already applied, with Microsoft, to provide its software to Puerto Rico, which legalised marijuana for medical purposes earlier this year. Twenty-five states have now legalised marijuana in some form or another, with Pennsylvania and Ohio the most recent. The biggest business opportunity, though, will come from states that allow recreational use of the drug, as Colorado, Oregon and Washington already do. Sales to jump Karnes, the analyst, said he expected legal marijuana sales to jump to $US6.5 billion this year, from $US4.8 billion last year. He says that number could climb to $US25 billion by the year 2020 if California voters approve the recreational measure this year, as is widely expected.
The opening up of the market in California is already leading to a scramble for the big money that is likely to follow, and Microsoft will now be well placed to get in on the action. Nelson of Microsoft said that initially her company would be marketing the Kind software at conferences for government employees, but it could eventually also be attending the cannabis events where Kind is already a regular presence. Loading "This is an entirely new field for us," she said. "We would have to figure out which conference might be the premier conference in this space. That's not outside the realm of possibility." New York TimesThere's now even more credence given to the rumor that Joan Jett will be joining the surviving members of Nirvana tonight (April 10) at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony tonight.
Alternative Nation was roaming the halls of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in advance of tonight's festivities and captured the audio in the player above from the Nirvana rehearsal. Though not visible, the voice singing 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' does sound an awful lot like Joan Jett. It will mark the first time the members of Nirvana play the song live since Kurt Cobain's death 1994.
This follows the photo posted on Nirvana's Facebook earlier this week of an instrument set-up that showed what appeared to be Jett's guitar amidst Dave Grohl's drum set, Krist Novoselic's bass and Pat Smear's guitar.
Meanwhile, Novoselic tweeted a new photo to his followers in advance of tonight's ceremony. It shows the restless members of Nirvana and their extended friends hanging out in a room with the caption, "Glamorous backstage life."
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place tonight, with an edited version of the festivities airing on HBO on May 31.There was a fascinating piece in the NYT yesterday that discussed the apparent shift in politics among physicians:
Doctors were once overwhelmingly male and usually owned their own practices. They generally favored lower taxes and regularly fought lawyers to restrict patient lawsuits. Ronald Reagan came to national political prominence in part by railing against “socialized medicine” on doctors’ behalf.
But doctors are changing. They are abandoning their own practices and taking salaried jobs in hospitals, particularly in the North, but increasingly in the South as well. Half of all younger doctors are women, and that share is likely to grow.
There are no national surveys that track doctors’ political leanings, but as more doctors move from business owner to shift worker, their historic alliance with the Republican Party is weakening from Maine as well as South Dakota, Arizona and Oregon, according to doctors’ advocates in those and other states.
When I was a fellow, back at the turn |
of his rivals.
Machar admitted his forces had been cobbled together.
"When did we become an army? We were forced out of Juba, those who rebelled... It took us time to regroup them into a viable force under a control and command" (structure), Machar told AFP.
"We also have volunteer fighters - civilians who have their own guns - who joined the war," he said.
The two sides agreed to a ceasefire in January and again earlier this month, but the truces have not held.
The civil war has claimed thousands of lives, with more than 1.3m people forced to flee their homes.
Some 75,000 people are also sheltering inside UN bases in fear of ethnic violence.
Peace talks are scheduled to resume in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Wednesday, with the East African regional bloc the Inter-Government Authority on Development (IGAD) providing mediation.
Speaking after talks in Nairobi with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Machar stressed he was "committed to peace" to end what he called a "senseless war" in the world's youngest country.
The conflict, which started as a personal rivalry between Kiir and Machar, has divided the army and communities along ethnic lines, pitting members of Kiir's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer.
Both sides have been accused of massacres and revenge killings of civilians and the UN has called on both leaders to punish those responsible.For weeks now we have been filling in the news regarding the Microsoft's Talkman and Cityman Lumia phones due later this fall. Possibly going by the names Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL these phones should represent the next-generation of high-end devices for the struggling mobile maker. This morning, numerous photos of the Lumia 950 XL aka Cityman prototype have appeared online in the WPXAP forums. Windows Central can confirm that these images are indeed real and recent.
The photos are of decent quality. However, the phone is only seen from a few angles. The main one, seen above, shows the 5.2-inch WQHD AMOLED display with a black body. As we have indicated earlier, these phones have a polycarbonate body. The phone is also evidently in a protective case to help disguise it.
There is also a rear shot that reveals the 20 MP camera and triple LED flash (yellow and white) along with a USB Type-C port on the bottom. Also, as we have confirmed earlier, this phone and the Lumia 950 XL with a larger display both have on-screen keys and not physical capacitive ones. Presumably Microsoft chose this to keep the screen bezel smaller. Talkman (Lumia 950) Matte White or black polycarbonate body
5.2 inch WQHD (1440x2560) OLED display
Snapdragon 808, 64-bit Hexa core
Iris scanner (infrared) for Windows Hello
3GB of RAM
32GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot
20MP PureView rear camera
5MP Wide-angle front facing camera
3000 mAh removable battery
Qi wireless charging with flip cover
USB Type-C Cityman (Lumia 950 XL) Matte White or black polycarbonate body
5.7 inch WQHD (1440x2560) OLED display
Snapdragon 810, 64-bit Octa core
Iris scanner (infrared) for Windows Hello
3GB of RAM
32GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot
20MP PureView rear camera with triple LED flash
Aluminum side buttons
5MP Wide-angle front facing camera
3300 mAh removable battery
Qi wireless charging integrated
USB Type-C The phone is also running build 10240 of the Windows 10 Mobile OS, and it has an early build of Continuum for phone on board as well. Interestingly, the camera settings confirm that this phone can shoot 120 FPS in 720P HD, which is something many people have requested for some time.BRAND NEW - Red Mahogany - S/G STYLE ELECTRIC GUITAR!
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Check out this review!
Hello again,
Just to let you know, I picked up the.243 guitar from my luthier today. I had him go through it completely and give it a complete set up. The neck had an ever so slight twist to it that he was able to correct without any
problem. He deemed the nut to be adequate and did not need to be changed.
Some new strings and the usual tweeks that he does to suit my tastes and now I've got a really good guitar at a great price. Initially I thought I would probably have to switch out the pickups, but they seem to be quite nice and have a surprisingly high output.
This guitar now outperforms my Epiphone SG-400 which has been tweeked for rigorous professional use. I am very pleased and just thought that I'd pass all of this along to you.Sherpa CEO expects a perfect personal assistant to get to know you so it can predict your behavior.
The Sherpa virtual assistant app. (Photo11: Sherpa) Story Highlights Virtual assistant has already garnered 450,000 downloads for Spanish version
Sherpa can stream music, help make flight arrangements, and transfer money via PayPal
It beats Siri in some queries, loses in others
Whatever you think of Apple's Siri, she has given voice to the very idea that you can ask your handset for help. Despite frequent hiccups, I'm rather fond of the chatty personal assistant inside my iPhone.
Now, a Spanish company called Sherpa has designs on out-dueling Siri and taking voice-enabled user interfaces to the next level.
Today, Sherpa the company launches the English-speaking version of Sherpa the virtual voice assistant. The Sherpa assistant is already popular with a Spanish-speaking audience, having garnered more than 450,000 downloads since it became available as a beta in October in the Google Play Store. Of course, Siri only works on compatible Apple devices, while Sherpa hangs out on Android. Sherpa is the brainchild of CEO Xabier Uribe-Etxebarria, a serial entrepreneur.
I've had a chance to try out the English version on a Samsung Galaxy S III, and she — yes, like Siri you hear a female voice — is also less than perfect. The company was still testing and implementing features leading up to launch (the product remains a beta). With that in mind, consider this more of a first look than final review.
You can see Sherpa's potential, and I appreciate Uribe-Etxebarria's long-term vision. He expects a perfect personal assistant to get to know you so it can predict your behavior. Then Sherpa might help organize your schedule and remind you when it's Mom's birthday. When you ask it, "Where's a good place for sushi?" it might provide a list of places with your favorite rolls that also has an available table in the next 30 minutes.
Much of that comes later. For now, I started out by pitting Sherpa vs. Siri with what figured to be a simple query: "Who is Barack Obama?" Sherpa returned a page with a picture of the president, his signature, a bio, and links to Google and LinkedIn results. Siri answered the same query by saying, "OK, here's that contact," then listing the White House address. Round one to Sherpa.
Next query, "What is the square root of 64?" Both Sherpa and Siri gave the correct answer, 8, but Siri gets the nod for more complete visual presentations of the problem at hand.
Siri also gave the proper response when I asked for the stock price of Chevron, while Sherpa fumbled the request, at least when I asked for the quote by the name of the company. Sherpa finally did deliver the current price, but only when I methodically spelled out C-V-X as the stock symbol.
Sherpa bested Siri on my request to translate the phrase "open the window" to French (Ouvrez la fenêtre). Siri asked if I wanted to search the Web for a solution.
Both Siri and Sherpa gave me the results of the previous night's basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards — Sherpa added a few more game statistics than Siri displayed. But while Siri could tell me right away that the New Jersey Devils lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs the night before in a hockey match, Sherpa had to shuffle me off to ESPN's NHL page for the result.
On the iPhone, I was able to ask Siri to play the song Fallin' by Alicia Keys and she obliged, because the song resided in my iTunes library. I didn't have the same song loaded on the Galaxy, but Sherpa could play it anyway. The reason is that Sherpa has access to a database of about 4 million music files. It was able to play, on request, Ruby Tuesday by the Rolling Stones, Almost Cut My Hair by Crosby Stills Nash and Young (a poor-quality recording) and Yesterday by the Beatles. When I asked it to play My Way by Paul Anka (who wrote the lyrics), it played the Frank Sinatra version, instead. And when I asked it to play Suit & Tie by Justin Timberlake, it played Sexyback instead.
Sherpa's PayPal feature. (Photo11: Sherpa)
Where Sherpa really gets potentially interesting is in making transactions. You can ask Sherpa to transfer money from your PayPal account to someone in your contacts.
And while Sherpa won't exactly substitute for a travel agent, you can ask it to help make complicated arrangements: I told Sherpa that "I need a flight from New York to Seattle, tomorrow, and come back Friday with my wife, 6 year old son, and 9 year old daughter." It then displays flight options via a relationship with lastminute.com. On that particular request, Sherpa showed flight options for two kids, but only one adult, so I guess me or my wife would remain grounded. But for now, Siri can't help you with flights.
If you ask Sherpa to "take me to my next meeting," it will fire up a Google Map with the location of your next calendar appointment, if known.
Sherpa, like Siri, has a sense of humor, such as it is. When I asked it to tell me a joke it came back with, "Can a kangaroo jump higher than the Empire State Building? Yes, because the Empire State Building can't jump."
When I told Sherpa, "I love you," she responded with, "Love is more than just words…Will you transfer me money on Paypal to prove your love?"
And finally when I asked Sherpa, "What is Siri?" she responded with "Siri is Latin for second best…"
I suspect Apple may have something to say about that.
Email: [email protected]; Follow @edbaig on Twitter
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The riddle of who brutally murdered a seven-year-old almost 24 years ago could be solved by a schoolgirl babysitter.
Little Nikki Allen was discovered in a pool of blood after being knifed 37 times in the horrific attack in 1992.
Now detectives have confirmed they are looking at a new line of enquiry, reports the Chronicle.
Nikki’s mum, Sharon Henderson, was contacted by a woman who said she had fresh information about the murder of the seven-year-old.
We understand the woman, who was just 12 at the time of the killing, had been babysitting in the block of flats where Nikki disappeared from on October 7, 1992.
Sharon said: “She told me she had some information after seeing a sketch of the man police are looking for on the Crimewatch programme.”
Read more:
(Image: Chronicle Live)
The potential witness is now understood to have come forward and spoken to police.
Sharon, 49, from Sunderland, said: “I have always said that any small nugget of information could make the world of difference to this case. I have my fingers crossed that this is it.
“I have waited so long for a breakthrough.”
Nikki vanished 24 yeas ago after leaving her grandparents’ flat in Wear Garth, East End.
The Wear Garth flats, which have since been pulled down, were home to scores of families and Sharon and her family were well known residents.
Nikki’s shoes were discovered outside the derelict Exchange building a few hundred yards away the next morning. Her body was found inside the building by a neighbour helping police with the search.
She had been left lying in a pool of blood after being stabbed 37 times in the chest.
In the years that followed, police have had no success in their efforts to bring the killer to justice.
In 1993, George Heron, 24 at the time, was acquitted of Nikki’s murder by a jury at Leeds Crown Court.
Mr Justice Mitchell refused to allow certain tape recordings of Northumbria Police interviews with Mr Heron to be put before the jury.
Consequently, the jury did not hear his admission on one recording that he killed Nikki.
The judge ruled that the evidence was inadmissible and criticised the police for ‘oppressive questioning’ and of misrepresenting evidence, charges the force denied.
(Image: Chronicle Live)
Two years ago Northumbria Police arrested Sunderland man Steven Grieveson, 47, on suspicion of Nikki’s murder. He was questioned and bailed but detectives later said his bail had been cancelled and he faced no further current action.
A Crimewatch reconstruction was shown on TV to mark the 21st anniversary of Nikki’s death where detectives from Northumbria Police showed unseen video footage and a sketch of a man they were trying to trace.
The programme sparked a resurgence in the case, with detectives saying they were following a number of new leads.
Read more:
Sharon said: “The woman who contacted me said she had seen the Crimewatch programme and she could not stop thinking about how she might hold information.
“I just told her to get in touch with the police straight away.”
A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: “We have received information from a member of the public which police are following as a line of enquiry.”
Anyone who thinks they have information that could help detectives with inquiries is asked to contact police on 101 ext 69191.Looking for news you can trust?
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Ever since she was a boy growing up in small-town Pennsylvania, Zoey Gearhart had “tendencies that were odd.” Raised as Robert Gearhart, she would identify with female characters in books and on TV, in video games and movies. She would also wear her mother’s fake nails, or make her own out of clay. “I was told to stop in no uncertain terms by my father,” she said. In 2007, at the age of 19, she decided to join the Navy. “I thought maybe joining the military would just help straighten me out,” she said. “Make me into a normal individual.”
At first, Gearhart tried to prove her machismo by applying and becoming accepted into the Navy SEALs, the elite force that killed Osama bin Laden. “I used to be in incredible shape,” she said. She did preliminary training with the SEALs, but after an ex-fiancee pleaded with her not to continue on to BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition School) training, Gearhart decided to become a linguist instead. The first known transgender SEAL, Kristin Beck, first came out on her LinkedIn profile earlier this year and in her tell-all book, Warrior Princess. On the cover, she sports a long, bushy beard from the days she went by “Chris.”
Twenty percent of transgender people contacted said they had served in the military.
While in the Navy, Gearhart kept her female identity a secret, hiding it from a Marine staff sergeant roommate whom she described as a “cave-dwelling dude-bro.” After her enlistment term expired in March, she decided not to reenlist so that she could begin her transition to womanhood in earnest. Had Beck or Gearhart revealed that they were trans while still in uniform, they would have received a medical or administrative discharge. Even after the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in 2011, the military still officially forbids openly transgender people from serving. The end of DADT, Gearhart said, “is this landmark for the LGBT movement. But there’s that hanging T. Trans service was not even addressed.”
Transgender soldiers and sailors largely fly under the radar, but they are hardly uncommon. In a recent survey (PDF) by the Harvard Kennedy School’s LGBTQ Policy Journal, 20 percent of transgender people contacted said they had served in the military—that’s twice the rate of the general population. A 2011 study estimates there are nearly 700,000 transgender individuals (about three people per thousand) living in the United States. Meanwhile, the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) is scheduled to release a report today, which draws from Department of Veterans Affairs data, showing that the number of veterans accepting treatment for transgender health issues has doubled in the past decade. (While viewing the full report requires a subscription, an abstract should be available online as of today.)
These two new peer-reviewed studies indicate that, beyond being discriminatory, the military’s current policy starves the armed services of some of their likeliest recruits, and puts transgender people who serve at greater risk of discrimination, homelessness, and assault than those who don’t.
The Harvard study, “Still Serving in Silence,” relies on statistics compiled by the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS). It emphasizes that transgender veterans and service members face high rates of job, housing, and medical discrimination. Breaking down the responses between transgender veteran/service members and transgender civilians, the study found that the military respondents were more likely to be fired (36 vs. 24 percent), evicted (14 vs. 10 percent), and refused medical treatment (24 vs. 18 percent) than civilians.
Civil rights groups have seized upon these findings to push the Pentagon to allow transgender personnel to serve openly, as they do in the armed forces of Canada, Thailand, Israel, and certain other countries. Darlene Nipper, deputy executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which collected the survey data along with the NTDS, said in a press release, “It’s wrong that these brave men and women—who sacrifice so much through their service to our nation—should have to fight for their rights both as active military and then as veterans.”
There are nearly 700,000 transgender individuals (about three people per thousand) living in the United States.
The team that authored the AJPH study was led by former Air Force psychologist George Brown, who in 1988 released a pioneering paper on transgender troops titled “Transsexuals in the Military: Flight Into Hypermasculinity.” For that paper, Brown interviewed 11 male-to-female service members, who were all requesting cross-gender hormones and/or sex reassignment surgery, and found a “striking similarity” in their responses. “They joined the service, in their words, ‘to become a real man,'” he concluded in the paper, speculating that many trans soldiers enlist as a way of “purging the feminine self.”
Nearly a quarter century later, Brown began discussing the initial results of new research involving transgender veterans. Earlier this summer, at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco, he and four other researchers presented data that expanded upon and reinforced Brown’s initial theory. They also revealed that the number of veterans diagnosed with so-called Gender Identity Disorder (GID) has nearly doubled over the last decade.
University of Rochester fellow John Blosnich, one of Brown’s collaborators, says the new study is the largest examination of an American transgender population that he knows of. What’s more, the team only counted people diagnosed with GID, rather than all veterans who identify as transgender. “Thus, we strongly believe that our findings underestimate the actual population of transgender veterans in the US,” Blosnich explained via email.
While many transgender people find the whole notion of a gender identity “disorder” offensive, the GID diagnosis is often the only way for veterans to obtain treatments such as hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery. Brown sat on the board of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which has pushed to replace GID with “gender dysphoria”—a term related to the stress transgender people encounter while transitioning, as opposed to their identities per se. The American Psychiatric Association officially adopted the change this past May in its new (and particularly controversial) DSM-5 manual.
But the military still bases its ban on transgender enlistment on so-called “medical” restrictions, which shoehorn “transsexualism” into a category it calls “psychosexual conditions.” These include “exhibitionism, transvestitism, voyeurism and other paraphilias.” Inexplicably, even a heterosexual male missing a testicle can bar an applicant from joining the military, under current standards. “Transsexuality, in military law, it’s treated like a mental disorder, some sort of psychosis,” Gearhart said.
Veterans Affairs is somewhat more enlightened on the issue. Last year, in acknowledgement of the growing number of transgender vets, the agency sent out a memo emphasizing the need for local Veterans Health Administration (still commonly referred to as the VA) branches to provide “culturally and clinically competent care” to LGBT veterans, says Denny Meyer, a spokesman for the Transgender American Veterans Association. “The VA is progressing,” he adds. “The VA is trying, but it is a bureaucracy.”
“I don’t want to lose my benefits, and I don’t want to end up with a dishonorable discharge.”
Suicide is also a “major concern” for this veteran population, Brown and his colleagues concluded. Among veterans who use VA services, those with a GID diagnosis exhibited suicidal behavior (including threats and failed attempts) 20 times as often.* Given the current epidemic of military suicides, that’s a problem for the Pentagon. (Veterans Affairs reported recently that ex-military members “comprised approximately 22.2% of all suicides reported” from 2009 to 2012. “If this prevalence estimate is assumed to be constant across all US states, an estimated 22 veterans will have died from suicide each day in the calendar year 2010,” the report notes.) Blosnich attributes the elevated suicide risk among transgender vets to “high levels of discrimination, violence, and being held to the margins of society.” He adds the following caveat: “To be clear, there is no scientific evidence that GID or being transgender causes suicidal behavior…It is likely that suicide risk stems from the stress, isolation, and stigma projected onto transgender populations.”
At the time we first spoke with Gearhart, she was still on active duty, and stationed in South Korea, where she was rebuilding her life after her marriage to a woman in New York City fell apart. “‘If you’re trans, I’m going to be really pissed,'” Gearhart recalled her ex-wife saying. “I think those were her exact words, I think that I was trying to keep my male self intact for her sake. I really loved her and I didn’t want to hurt her, and I didn’t want to kill off this person that she loved.”
Gearhart agrees with Brown’s contention that transgender service members often enlist to “become a real man.” It was partially true for her, and for many other trans women she’s communicated with. “You can go to any trans community on the Net and get that sort of response,” she said.
Brown has observed that many transgender service members undergo a “breakdown in their hypermasculinity defenses” in a doomed effort to escape their gender identity. In other words, as Gearhart explains, “No matter how deep down you try to send it into your subconscious, it’s still there and it still breaks itself out.”
Indeed, Bradley Manning, the Army private who in July was found guilty of leaking a trove of classified documents to WikiLeaks, also struggled with this. Although he requested to be identified as male before the start of his trial, it was revealed during the sentencing phase that he had sent a 2010 email (PDF) to his supervisor, Master Sgt. Paul Adkins, with the subject line “My problem.” Manning had attached a photo of himself wearing a blonde wig and lipstick and explained, “This is my problem. I’ve had signs of it for a very long time… I thought a career in the military would get rid of it.” Adkins wrote memos describing Manning’s mental deterioration, but did not forward the message until after Manning’s arrest.
At the time we first spoke, Gearhart, who is now back in the New York City area, taking hormones for her transition and looking to launch a new career as a chef, was coming from a similar place: “I don’t want to lose my benefits, and I don’t want to end up with a dishonorable discharge,” she said. “So I have been forced to live a lie.”
*This sentence and the article’s subhead have been revised to reflect the prevalence of “suicide-related events”, instead of calculated risk of suicide attempts resulting in death.Wealthy Indian spends £14,000 on a shirt made of GOLD to impress the ladies (and if nothing else it means less ironing for them!)
Shirt took a team of 15 goldsmiths two weeks to construct
Has matching cuffs and a set of rings crafted from left-over gold
It is often said that money can't buy love.
But trying telling that to a wealthy Indian man who splashed out £14,000 on a solid gold shirt in the hope it will attract female attention.
Money-lender Datta Phuge 32, from Pimpri-Chinchwad, commissioned the shirt which took a team of 15 goldsmiths two weeks to make working 16 hours a day creating and weaving the gold threads.
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Golden appeal: Wealthy Datta Phuge has splashed out £14,000 on a solid gold shirt to make sure he's a 24 karat hit with women in central India
Work of art: Money-lender Datta, 32, from Pimpri-Chinchwad, says the shirt took a team of 15 goldsmiths two weeks to make working 16 hours a day creating and weaving the gold threadsA 22-year-old man from Lake City, Minn., was being held Wednesday night on suspicion of fatally shooting his girlfriend, Angel L. Linderman, 28, also of Lake City, near Woodville, Wis.
Tanner Rix, who was also wanted on felony warrants from Wabasha County, remained in the St. Croix (Wis.) County Jail on Wednesday night in lieu of $250,000 bail.
According to the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office, a 911 caller at 11:48 a.m. Tuesday told a dispatcher that he needed help for a passenger in their vehicle, as she had been shot.
Deputies drove to that rural location, about 2 miles north of Woodville, in the town of Baldwin.
At 260th Street and 90th Avenue, the deputies found a man standing outside a car parked in the middle of 260th Street. He was later identified as Rix.
The deputies took him into custody, approached the car and saw the body of a woman who had been shot.
The Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in piecing together the last 24 hours of Linderman’s life.
“Autopsy results indicate a number of hours had passed between the fatal shot being fired and the 911 calls, and arrest of Rix, so any assistance we can get from the public could prove to be vital,” sheriff’s officials said in a news release.
The car the two were using was a black 1999 Mercury Cougar with Minnesota plate number SHJ458.
In addition to being held in connection with the death, Rix is being held on two felony warrants issued in Wabasha County for an alleged drug crime and unauthorized possession of a firearm.
Rix has prior convictions for possessing and selling small amounts of marijuana in Olmsted and Dodge counties in 2010 and 2011.Why the Patriots are so good —it’s not just Tom Brady, is it their bench?
Daniel Jacobs Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jan 16, 2017
The New England Patriots are a really good franchise. There are a lot of good teams in the NFL, but the Patriots seem to consistently make it to the late rounds of the playoffs, and the Super Bowl year after year.
There are many things that make the Patriots good, all star players like Tom Brady, and Rob Gronkowski being among the most obvious. But there may be another surprising reason as well.
It might be because they consistently are among the league leaders in a statistic that is usually reserved for the worst teams in the NFL: number of players who started a game.
Generally, the more players that start in a given year for a team, the worse that team is. Intuitively, this makes sense. For example: the division champion Dallas Cowboys( 13–3 ) had exactly one starting QB, Dak Prescott, for all of 2016. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns rotated through four starting quarterbacks and went 1–15.
It turns out, this pattern holds true for other positions as well. Below, you can see a chart showing where each point represents an NFL season for a particular team. Notice the strong correlation between number of starting players, and winning percentage.
As a specific example, in 2016, the average team had about 40 players who started a game ( out of the 52 player roster). During the course of the season, the playoff bound Cowboys had 36 players who started at least one game — which is four less than the league average. The terrible Cleveland Browns had 43, three more than average.
So, bad teams have lots of starters, and good teams don’t. Bad teams have to swap out poor performers and players who get injured. Good teams start good players at the beginning of the season and keep them healthy, and make the playoffs. The difference between bad teams and good teams seems straightforward enough.
But, now we can look at the Patriots again, because the Patriots are different than all the other good teams. What makes them different?
Well, here is a hint. Since 2005, One team has the highest average number of starters per year and the highest win percentage. It’s also the same team with the most Super Bowl appearances during that time period. That’s right, the New England Patriots.
If you take each franchise and average their winning percentage and number of starters over the last ten years, a pattern emerges. Most teams follow the correlation shown above, where bad teams tend to start more players.
In the chart below, the Browns, Cowboys and Patriots are highlighted. The Since 2005, the Browns have been consistently bad, the Cowboys have been consistently above average, and the Patriots have been consistently amazing. Here is how that plot looks. Notice the remarkable New England Patriots ( nwe ) in the top right, especially compared to the other good teams.
y-axis: the average number of starting players for a franchise, over the last ten years. x-axis: win percentage
The Patriots, on average, start more players than the god-awful Browns. For that matter, they start more players than every other team in the league. They also have an average winning percentage that is way better than every other team!
Holy halfbacks!
Why is this?
There is clearly something going on, but it’s hard to pin down exactly what is happening here, and there is more room for research. They are a leader in a few other categories as well, for example in 2016, they had the fewest number of players start for their team (59), and they were second in percentage of roster that started a game( 69% ).
It could be that Patriot’s coach Bill Belichick is more willing to swap players out of the starting line up if they are underperforming. It could also be that he is more likely to make changes in order to have a favorable match up. Or the Patriots have could simply have a deeper roster than most other teams. Or it could be a combination of all these things.
Whatever it is, it seems to correlate with success. And while not every team can have Tom Brady, more teams could try to mimic what the Patriots are doing and get more players out on the field to start games.
Notes
Data is sourced from pro-football-reference.com.
2. Here is the per season plot, with seasons since 2005 highlighted for the Patriots, Browns and Cowboys.
Seasons since 2005 are highlighted for the Browns, Cowboys and Patriots.
3. The number of starting players is normalized per season because the number of starting players per team has gone up over time.
4. Hard to say what this means exactly, but in 2016, the Patriots had the fewest number of players on the team during the season (59), and the second highest percentage of players who started a game (55%).(covers information from several alternate timelines Multiple realities
For the hologram transmitted to Voyager, please see Reginald Barclay (hologram). Voyager
"Glad you were with us out here in the real world today, Mr. Barclay."
Lieutenant Reginald Endicott Barclay III (often referred to as "Reg") was a highly talented Human Starfleet systems diagnostic engineer who lived in the 24th century. In his early days aboard the Enterprise-D, he frequently displayed nervous behavior, demonstrated a noticeable lack of confidence, stammered frequently, was extremely introverted, and occasionally bumbled. These traits aroused the derision of some of his shipmates on the USS Enterprise-D – with some even going as far as calling him "Lieutenant Broccoli" behind his back or, on unfortunate occasions, to his face.
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Starfleet career Edit
During Barclay's attendance at Starfleet Academy, his reclusive tendencies escaped the attentions of neither his classmates nor his service record. Despite this, Barclay graduated and received a commendation by serving competently in Starfleet for many years. During his service aboard the USS Zhukov, he earned satisfactory ratings, and when he transferred to the Enterprise-D the Zhukov's commanding officer, Captain Gleason, spoke highly of Barclay to his new ship's crew. (TNG: "Hollow Pursuits")
The Enterprise-D Edit
Upon his transfer to the Enterprise-D in 2366, Barclay held the rank of lieutenant junior grade.
Due to his nervousness and lack of confidence, many members of the Enterprise crew initially referred to him as "Lieutenant Broccoli", a play on the name Barclay, coined by Wesley Crusher. He was initially disliked by members of the crew, not only due to the fact he seemed constantly nervous and on edge, but also because he was routinely late for duty and often wound up on report for seemingly not performing to the best of his ability. As a result, he was the first member of the Enterprise crew to be given an 'unsatisfactory' rating in his evaluation. Riker and La Forge attempted to get him transferred off the ship, not believing he was competent enough to serve on the Federation flagship (with Riker even suggesting that Captain Gleason had exaggerated his assessment of Barclay to hasten the departure of a troublesome officer). Captain Picard, however, refused to simply transfer him away from the ship, and it was because of Picard's support and Geordi La Forge's encouragement (at Picard's behest) that Barclay's confidence began to increase. (TNG: "Hollow Pursuits")
During the first major Borg incursion into the Federation in late 2366, Barclay worked on repairs with Sherbourne after the Enterprise-D crew, in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the Borg cube, emitted a burst of energy from their ship's deflector dish. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")
As time passed, Barclay slowly grew in confidence and became one of La Forge's best engineers. Following an encounter with an alien probe in 2367, Barclay's IQ rose to somewhere between 1200 and 1450 as a result of a neurological enhancement he received from the probe. During the time he possessed this enhanced intellect, Barclay was more confident, outgoing, and sure of himself – even arguing grand unified theories with a holographic representation of Albert Einstein on the holodeck. Barclay was able to use the holodeck to integrate his mind into the ship's computer, effectively taking complete control. Unknown to Barclay, the Cytherians (the creators of the probe) set this in motion so that he would bring the Enterprise-D to them, as this was their species' preferred method of investigating new races. All attempts to disconnect or dissuade him were unsuccessful, and he created a subspace distortion that brought the Enterprise-D to the Cytherians. After this encounter, Barclay was returned to his previous self, but he did retain a bit of the confidence and intelligence that the experience gave him. (TNG: "The Nth Degree")
It remains unclear, but it is likely that Barclay was not disciplined for his actions during the events of this episode, as he would have been viewed to have been unduly influenced by the effect of the Cytherian Probe.
In 2369, Barclay assisted Alexander Rozhenko with writing a holodeck program of Deadwood, South Dakota in the Ancient West. Barclay included a prostitute and brothel in the simulation (likely forgetting it was to be a child's program), which Lieutenant Worf did not appreciate for his son's sake. (TNG: "A Fistful of Datas")
Later that year, Barclay inadvertently released the holographic representation of Professor James Moriarty from his confines in the computer memory core of the Enterprise-D, while conducting a diagnosis of a failure of the holodeck matrix diodes, which turned out to have been caused by Moriarty himself. Upon activation, Moriarty briefly explained his history to Barclay and, realizing that over four years had passed, deduced that Captain Picard had merely promised to research a way for him to live in the real world in order to get him to release a hostage he had taken at the time. Barclay defended Picard, saying the captain would never go back on his word, and promised to report the incident to his superiors, which he did.
Barclay, Picard, and Data then reactivated the program to speak to Mori |
takes to develop agency-specific proposals. The current system requires that committee members and referees volunteer to review mountains of paper. Reports from the front lines of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) describe a process that is full of vagaries, inconsistencies, and bias. While some critical scholars might suggest the grant process at present is designed to keep academics in line, tethered to their computers and departments, it is more likely that administrative inertia has set in. Either way, at present, researchers are being asked to spend too much time begging for money and not enough doing research.
On the second point, it does seem clear that whatever the benefits of using peer review for journal publications or to assess younger scholars, when applied to research grants the system undermines innovation and creative thinking. This is hardly a new observation. As Donald Fordsyke observes:
Case studies suggest that freedom to pursue one’s ideas leads to the greatest innovations. In the existing system, however, the rewards are few, and”…research funds are literally monopolized by the few who see themselves as the truly excellent researchers according to their own skewed yardsticks.”
Granting councils appear to believe that they are “too big to fail”, that the peer review process cannot be wrong or even briefly mistaken. Appeals are few and nearly impossible to win. Whatever the good intentions of those who serve the existing model, Canadian taxpayers currently fund competitions that provide no explanation for the scores on an application and no justification for a failure that harms an applicants academic career. For example, at present SSHRC provides no raw scores, no notes, and no justification for what should be funded to applicants or Canadian taxpayers. The secrecy that rules over this covert decision making process will be tested this spring as the Federal Court of Canada will be asked to finally and firmly define what sort of feedback is required to failed Doctoral and Postdoctoral applicants.
Third, this unwieldy system is directly responsible for the fact that fewer and fewer academics are getting funded to engage in the research upon which social and technological innovation is based. Despite the variety of other approaches to grant funding that could support more researchers and perhaps double or triple research impacts, the current funding paradigm reigns supreme.
The irony is that anyone with any understanding of science knows it simply is not possible to predict which new ideas may lead to the discovery of penicillin, electricity, or a host of new treatments, processes, and products which many of us rely upon today. Somehow, Canada’s Tri-Councils assume they can. Despite an emerging consensus that the way we organize our system of research grants is broken, the councils continue to soldier on committed to a failed model of research funding. This harms young researchers and hinders the kind of diverse expertise required to benefit Canadian society and advance its industries. For example, Paul Sanborn of the University of Northern British Columbia worries about NSERC policies that undermine the morale of current and potential graduate students. He suggests:
What can be done to overcome the existing folly of research funding in Canada? We believe there are perhaps three options: reform the system to make it more transparent; make a move toward block funding for promising young researchers based on their work - not the projects they propose; or create a hybrid approach in which those who rank applicants are not the same as those who award the funding.
But no solution is possible without leadership from Canadian academics themselves. One place to start would be a conference on alternative funding mechanisms that could address clearly the challenges of using peer review to award research grants. This might include what metrics should matter, and how we get from where we are to where we need to be and could be modelled on approaches employed to review and revise journal peer review.
In the meantime, we seek to start a conversation among academics and researchers themselves. It does appear that engaging in a process outside of the powerful University system could help spur Canada’s research councils to acknowledge what nearly all researchers all ready know. An online petition, related to the need to reform Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), has led more than 2000 signatories and led to some internal soul searching at CIHR.
The CIHR petition reads, in part:
We wish to express our deep concern about the funding of biomedical research in Canada. Presently the likelihood that an individual grant application will be funded has reached an all time low.... Studies have indicated that the Peer review process is not precise in arriving at final scores.... Our concern is that if we continue to starve the individual grants program we will lose investigators of talent to other countries as they come to see a bleak future for themselves.... We therefore urge the Committee charged with reviewing the status of the CIHR to make it a top priority to assure that there is a mechanism for augmenting and protecting funding for the individual grants program.
Perhaps it is time for social and natural scientists to employ a similar approach to demonstrate just how many of them recognize the problems. It is our hope to better understand to what extent these views are more broadly held. We invite you and all others who have a stake in research and research funding to offer your comments and ideas on the funding system operated by SSHRC. We will do our very best to report your views fairly, whether you agree there are serious concerns over research funding, or not.
The SSHRC feedback form is here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/sshrc-research-funding/
The NSERC feedback form is here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nserc-research-funding/
Is the existing process serving the interests of researchers, students, and higher education in Canada? We invite you to participate in this conversation, and will use the results of our efforts in an upcoming article in the summer issue of Our Schools / Our Selves.
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Dr. Johannes Wheeldon (LL.M, Ph.D) holds degrees from Dalhousie University, the University of Durham, and Simon Fraser University. He worked at AUCC between 2002-2005 and has since worked for the American Bar Association, George Mason University, and the Center for Justice Law and Development. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Political Science and Criminology at Washington State University and teaches Philosophy to inmates at the Coyote Ridge Correctional Center.
Dr. Richard Gordon is a theoretical biologist retiring from the University of Manitoba, was in Biosystems Engineering, Botany, Computer Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pathology, Physics, Radiology and Zoology, and has published on: algal biofuels, breast cancer detection, diatom nanotechnology, embryo physics, grant systems, HIV/AIDS prevention and origin of life.
For more information see:
Amero, S.A. (2010). “Enhancing Peer Review: Expectation for Service on NIH Peer Review and Advisory Groups” [Notice Number: NOT-OD-10-089]. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-089.html.
Berezin, A.A., G. Hunter, J.J. Pear & C. Rangacharyulu (1998). “Canadian research councils need fundamental reform.” OCUFA FORUM (Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations)(Fall), 8-13.
Brooks, D. (2009). “An innovative agenda.” New York Times (December 7), http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/opinion/08brooks.html.
Faulkes, Z. (2007). “Rethinking granting.” http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2007/06/rethinking-granting-idea-of-loans-is-to.html.
Faulkes, Z. (2008). “Rethinking granting, part 2.” http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2008/01/rethinking-granting-part-2.html.
Goldstein, L.S.B. (2010). “Unconventional allies: interdisciplinary approaches to science policy and funding.” Trends Cell Biol. 20(12), 695-698.
Gordon, R., D.H. Osmond, K. Rieckhoff, A.A. Berezin, M.A. Whitehead, M.L. Torres, G. Hunter, D.R. Forsdyke & B.J. Poulin (2001). A Position Paper on the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control by the Canadian Association for Responsible Research Funding (CARRF), May 24, 2001.
Gordon, R. & B.J. Poulin (2009). “Cost of the NSERC science grant peer review system exceeds the cost of giving every qualified researcher a baseline grant.” Accountability in Research: Policies and Quality Assurance 16(1), 1-28.
Jayasinghe, U.W., H.W.Marsh and N.Bond. (2003) J.R.Statist. Soc.A 166(3):279-300.
Jesse, J. (2006). “Redesigning science: Recent scholarship on cultural change, gender, and diversity.” Bioscience 56(10), 831-838.
Mervis, J. (2001). “Peer review. NSF scores low on using own criteria.” Science 291(5513), 2533-2535.
Osmond, D.H. (1983). “Malice's Wonderland: research funding and peer review.” J. Neurobiol. 14(2), 95-112.
Poulin, B.J. & R. Gordon (2001). “How to organize science funding: the new Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), an opportunity to vastly increase innovation.” Canadian Public Policy 27(1), 95-112.
Wolff, J. (2009). “The RAE - what would we talk about without it?”, http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/may/05/jonathan-wolff-rae/print.
Zivkovic, B. (2009). “Eliminate peer-review of baseline grants entirely?”, http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2009/04/06/eliminate-peer-review-of-basel/.The great thing about cover songs is that any artist can take something old and make it new again. Sometimes, the cover version is better than the original, while in other instances, you end up with an abomination. And, of course, there are musicians who take an excellent original tune and create something entirely different, but of equal quality — Elliott Smith commonly covered The Beatles, and Joe Cocker made his name by completely transforming the Fab Four’s “With a Little Help From My Friends.”
Some cover songs become so ingrained in our culture that they eclipse the original version entirely — sometimes to the point that listeners may not even realize that they are covers at all. Here are 10 hit songs that you may be surprised to learn are not originals.
Blondie Cover “Hanging On the Telephone” by The Nerves
This song was the first track off Blondie‘s third studio album, Parallel Lines. Released in 1978, it would prove to be the band’s major breakthrough record.
“Hanging On the Telephone” was written and originally released only two years earlier by The Nerves on their self-titled, four-song EP — the only record the band would ever release.
Click here to listen to the original version by The Nerves
Natalie Imbruglia Covers “Torn” by Ednaswap
While Blondie’s cover of “Hanging On the Telephone” came a mere two years after the original was released, Natalie Imbruglia’s cover of “Torn” was released the same year as the original version, which was written and released by the Los Angeles-based band Ednaswap. Since 1997, Imbruglia’s version has been played millions and millions of times, while Ednaswap has long since been forgotten.
Click here to listen to the original version by Ednaswap
UB40 Cover “Red Red Wine” by Neil Diamond
In 1983, UB40 recorded a reggae-tinged version of Neil Diamond’s 1969 soft rock ballad, and in August of that year it reached number one on the UK charts. Five years later, in 1988, the song was re-released in the United States and rocketed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Interestingly, Tony Tribe was the first artist to do a reggae cover of “Red Red Wine.”
Click here to listen to the original version by Neil Diamond
Quiet Riot Cover “Cum On Feel the Noize” by Slade
In 1983, hair metal was all the rage, and Quiet Riot peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 with this shout-along ditty. The song is practically a straight copy of Slade’s version, released 10 years earlier in 1973. Yes, when it came to creating horrible radio-friendly pop-metal, Slade was truly ahead of their time.
Click here to listen to the original version by Slade
Soft Cell Cover “Tainted Love” by Gloria Jones
Soft Cell made this song famous in 1981, but it was originally recorded in 1965 by then-20-year-old soul singer Gloria Jones. However, Jones was not the songwriter either — that distinction goes to Ed Cobb of The Four Preps.
Click here to listen to the original version by Gloria JonesThe parents of a 2-year-old boy reported missing by his grandmother have been arrested after the body of a toddler was found buried in a garbage bag under the Huey P. Long bridge in Elmwood, according to Jefferson Parish Correctional Center records.
Gabrielle Whittington and Onterio Thompson, both 21, of St. Tammany Parish, were booked Thursday (July 7) with unlawful disposal of human remains and obstruction of justice. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office did not comment on the investigation Thursday.
The Jefferson Parish coroner's office has not positively identified the badly decomposed remains, but authorities believe the toddler is the missing 2-year-old son of Whittington and Thompson.
"This was a circumstantial identification," Jefferson Parish Deputy Coroner Granville Morse said. "Circumstantially, things point towards it being him."
An autopsy was performed Thursday morning, but authorities have not yet determined how the toddler died.
"The body was badly decomposed so there was no obvious, identifiable cause of death," said Morse, who estimated the toddler was in the ground for at least two weeks.
The missing 2-year-old's grandmother contacted the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office Tuesday evening and asked authorities to conduct a welfare check on the boy, according to Capt. Daniel Seuzeneau, spokesman for the department. She hadn't seen the child in several weeks.
Deputies couldn't find the boy in St. Tammany Parish. They contacted the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office because the boy's parents had recently moved from Marrero.
Jefferson Parish detectives questioned Whittington and Thompson on Wednesday. Investigators then recovered the toddler's body about 8 p.m. on east bank batture of the Mississippi River underneath the Huey P. Long bridge, JPSO Spokesman Col. John Fortunato said.
The toddler's body was inside of a plastic white garbage bag, buried in a shallow grave in the thick and muddy brush of the river batture, according to Morse. Authorities did not say how they located the body. But Morse noted it was highly unlikely that anyone would have stumbled upon the well-hidden grave on his or her own.
Neighbors near Whittington and Thompson's house in the 2100 block of Constantine Drive in Marrero said Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office investigators arrived at the house around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. They searched the residence for several hours, leaving around 3 a.m.
Neighbors didn't know much about the family, but some noted they seemed to have moved away about two weeks ago. Whittington and Thompson was being held without bond Thursday evening at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna.
The coroner's office will likely use DNA to positively identify the toddler's remains, a process that will take a few weeks. Pathologist will continue to try to determine just how the toddler died.
"It's tragic that a child was left in a garbage bag," Morse saidThe new Watch Dogs release date has been settled for May 27th and Ubisoft has been unveiling some of the upcoming features. Rumors and unaccredited information have become official statements and therefore an imminent reality. Hacking is surely the main attraction of Watch Dogs but in this upcoming version of Chicago, hacking is just one of the multiple possibilities. If you’re still wondering what’s so great about Watch Dogs, then you surely don’t want to miss the following list with the top definite features announced so far.
1. Deepest Open World Ever Seen
Watch Dogs will present a vast and dynamic world where everything will have a certain level of interactivity. Players will be able to shape Chicago as they wish, either through direct actions or passive decisions. This doesn’t necessarily mean Watch Dogs will feature the largest or biggest open world ever made. Instead, it will have the deepest world ever created, as Ubisoft creative director Jonathan Morin stated:
The game is massive and Chicago is massive, but don’t expect, like, the biggest open world ever done. Do expect the deepest one you’ve ever seen, though.
2. Advanced Graphics and Effect Quality
As expected, Watch Dogs will feature advanced graphics and effect quality. Special effects will also be added in order to intensify the levels of immersion and realism. The recently announced minimum system requirements indicate that Watch Dogs will be a power-hungry game, which makes perfect sense – to run a superior graphic quality game, you need a proper machine.
3. PC Version Will Display Better Visuals
It’s no news that PC can bring better results when it comes to graphics but this time it’s not a mere assumption. Watch Dogs PC version will indeed display a higher visual quality compared to consoles, as Ubisoft senior producer Dominic Guay specified:
(…) we’re not going to support very old PCs. If you have very powerful PCs, then it’ll scale up, and it scale up to even higher resolution, obviously, than you can have on PS4 or Xbox One.
4. Multiplayer: ‘Paranoia and Surveillance’
The multiplayer element in Watch Dogs will have a peculiar objective based on hacking and getting away with it. Killing other players is never the main goal of multiplayer matches, instead players need to find the intruders and prevent them from stealing or hacking you, as Ubisoft lead game designer Danny Belanger clarified:
I think a good image is it’s based on paranoia and surveillance. Someone can be in your game, trying to get something from you and you have to find them before they get it.
5. Hacking Chicago: ‘It’s an All Around Tool’
Aidan Pearce has a very peculiar weapon, his cellphone. With this tool he can literally go anywhere and reach anyone. Due to the high interaction of Chicago’s virtual world, players will be able to hack basically every technologic device using this versatile tool. And the possibilities become limitless, as Belanger explained:
It’s so hard but I’ll have to go with jam-coms because if you disrupt people, the cell phone, the police scanners, it has so many applications, it’s so cool. It’s an all around tool.
6. Reputation System: Every Action Matters
Even though, Watch Dogs is an action game, there will be a strong RPG element that allows players to shape their own fate within Chicago. Each and every decision will generate reputation points that will consecutively categorize Aiden Pearce as a possible hero or villain. However, certain decisions can be misunderstood by citizens or the media, meaning that a good intention can easily turn into negative influence. Watch Dogs will focus on consequences and emergent missions rather than branching stories.
7. Car on Demand: Owning Cars is a Possibility, Customizing Them is Not
Car on Demand is the name of the upcoming feature in Watch Dogs that will allow players to own a limitless amount of cars. Once you have a car, you can easily call upon it to drive around during your missions. The bad part is that cars can’t be customized, as Belanger explained:
So basically we have that concept of collecting cars, you cannot customize them, but you can own them all. You can call them in during free-roam at anytime to use them in missions.
8. Aiden’s Style: Costumes and More Costumes
Character customization won’t be a problem in Watch Dogs. Even if Aiden’s face will remain the same for everyone, he can easily dress in a very distinct way. There’s a huge amount of costumes in game and more are still being created right now, as Ubisoft animator director Colin Graham said:
There’s a ton of costumes. There’s a huge amount of them. Every time I get a new version of the game, there’s more costumes.
9. Most Buildings Can Be Accessible
The open world element will be quite noticeable while exploring Chicago, since most of the buildings can be accessible in one way or another. It’s true that certain buildings are not available for exploration but these are a minority. Most buildings are access free or reachable through hacking, as Morin stated:
You cannot go in every building no. But there are several of them as well as ways to hack into others as well.
10. Minigames: Poker and Chess
Who would say Aiden Pearce would get a chance to play poker or chess? Well, according to Ubisoft Watch Dogs will feature several other minigames; however the company didn’t officially announce any further information about this matter.
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commentsFollowing the deadly third season, the History drama will introduce three new characters.
Following its deadly third season, History's Vikings is adding three new series regulars to its cast.
Finnish actors Peter Franzen (The Gunman) and Jasper Paakkonen (Frozen Land, Secret Lives) as well as Dianne Doan (Once Upon a Time) have joined the drama series created by Michael Hirst, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Franzen will play King Harald Finehair, a Scandinavian warrior and potential threat to Ragnar (Travis Fimmel). Paakkonen is set to play Halfdan the Black, Finehair's younger brother. Doan will portray Yidu, a new and unique Chinese character who will have a big role in season four.
Read more 'Vikings' Postmortem: Series Creator on Ragnar Twist and Season 4 Time Jump
Season four, already underway in Ireland, will feature a time jump of a "couple of years," Hirst told THR after the season three finale.
The castings come as Vikings said farewell to Jessalyn Gilsig's Siggy and George Blagden's Athelstan in its third season.
Franzen is repped by Paradigm and Untitled Entertainment, as well as Actors in Scandinavia; Paakkonen is with ICM Partners, Lisa Richards and Anonymous Content; and Doan is with Principals Talent Management.
Vikings returns in 2016.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @SnooditBack in 1992, David Cole was doing this research and proved that a lot of the "facts" surounding this place were hugely exaggerated at the very least. Slowly over time, the propaganda was expanded and the lies took root.
EDIT I just have to add, that after someone linked this video elsewhere and I watched all the way through, I was (hate to use that sensationalist word) shocked that this kind of video existed today. I was shocked that more people haven't seen it and corrected their skewed views of the way things have been portrayed to the average Joe. So many movies reinforce this kind of propaganda. So many news outlets and other media all say the same thing and it just is not at all "true" in the real sense of the word. I am not doubting the damage done, or that people died.....but to the degree we're all told.....I have serious doubts.
The environment doesn't exist where you or I can bring this up to anyone who doesn't know the details and have them look at it objectively. They will call you very bad things. That, by itself, should tell you how indoctrinated we have all become. Products of their lies.
I was watching Timecop with Jean Claude for kicks recently and had to laugh out loud when early on in the movie, they are "policing" the past and Bruce McGill's character says something like "Trouble in 1979, Camp David, looks like a kill team from Iran....". Like the Iranians have the power to send an assassination squad to smoke the Prez. I nearly shit myself, even my wife caught it. The propaganda runs deep.In 1989, Colin James had ‘Miles to Go’ in his career.
Kieth Richards and Colin James – 1994
Colin was given the Juno Award for Most Promising Male Artist. It was the same year that Back to the Future Two was released and Game Boy was one of the most popular toys on the market. Colin, the film and the (then) technologically advanced toy were all signs that life was changing.
Colin and B.B. King
The beginning of the 90’s saw more and more money going into the pockets of the businessmen. Artists, filmmakers and inventors had their souls sucked into commercial abysses. Blues artists – men like Buddy Guy and B.B. King (the forefathers of the music that laid the frame for all popular music) were pushed aside.
Thankfully – Canada came to the rescue with two guys who kept the Blues alive on a commercially successful stage. Jeff Healey and Colin James.
Since Jeff left for that grand stage in the sky, Colin remains as one of the last Canadian Blues men. A man who has seen the best and the worst of a music world within a long and storied career. Colin James knows The Blues and with his 2019 Juno nominated album Miles To Go – he has come full circle. Finally gaining the recognition he deserves as a profound Blues artist.
Please listen below to my chat with Colin about the upcoming Junos, his thoughts on The Blues and hear some tracks from his Juno nominated album Miles To Go.Too much, too fast. To jot some of it down, for the long-term record:
1. There is no there there. For some reason, Donald Trump agreed to another long on-the-record interview with a major newspaper. The three previous times he has done so—two sessions with David Sanger and Maggie Haberman of the NYT in March and July, and one in March with the full editorial board of the Washington Post—the result was a long run of negative coverage about the knowledge gaps his comments revealed and the risky claims he had made. For instance, the second NYT interview was the source of his observation that under a President Trump the U.S. might honor NATO obligations to defend European allies, or might not, depending on whether the country under attack had paid up.
He’s done it again, and this newest one, yesterday with Philip Rucker of the Post, made news for Trump’s studied refusal to endorse either Rep. Paul Ryan or Sen. John McCain in their hard-fought GOP primaries. These are two people who, especially Ryan, have piled their personal dignity up in a pyre and set it alight, through their stance of “rebuking” Trump but still saying he should be Commander in Chief. And Trump says, Meh.
But the real news of the transcript is the utter void of knowledge or ability to maintain consecutive thought it reveals, on any topic other than Trump’s own greatness. Time and again, Rucker shows Trump’s attention flitting away to whatever has caught his eye on a TV running in the background. E.g., when Trump is talking about how his daughter Ivanka would not have put up with sexual harassment like that at Fox News:
RUCKER: Would you want her to follow the path that Gretchen Carlson did? TRUMP: I’d want her to do what makes her happy. I’d want her to do, Phil, what makes her happy. [Trump looks at a nearby television, which was tuned to Fox News.] Oh, did they have another one of these things go down? It’s terrible that crash. Never liked that plane, structurally. I never thought that plane could— RUCKER: Why should she have to change careers or jobs?...
Similarly:
RUCKER: Well, half the people in your rallies are veterans. TRUMP: [Looks at the television again] Look at this. It’s all Trump all day long. That’s why their ratings are through the roof. I’d hate to say, Philip, if I wasn’t running, the television networks would be doing less than half the business.
I’ve transcribed interviews with presidents and presidential-aspirants over the years. This is not the way the rest of them talk. When listening to Trump I often think of Danny DeVito’s “Cows!” moment from Throw Momma From the Train, which you see 40 seconds into the clip below.
2. “You can get that baby out of here.” At a rally in Virginia, Donald Trump grew annoyed at a baby that was crying and asked to have it removed from the hall.
Write your own punch line.
3. I feel your pain here in—wherever you are. That rally with the baby was in Ashburn, Virginia, a DC suburb that is one of the richest tech-and-defense-areas not just in the state but in the whole country. In his speech Trump went on a litany of how Ashburn had been devastated by factory closures—mentioning factories hours away at the other end of the state or in other states altogether. This is more or less like giving a speech in Palo Alto and imagining that you are addressing drought-stricken farmers and migrant laborers in Merced. Betsy Woodruff has the delicious details here.
Obvious-but-worth-making point: if you have any experience in politics, the incompetence behind such a performance is almost impossible to comprehend. I could write six more paragraphs but I’ll just say: it’s like a junior high-school drama club appearing on Broadway. (Or, to use an Ashburn-specific reference: it's like Coach Jim Zorn’s famous “swinging gate” play.)
4. Yeah, we’re on the same ticket, but we keep our endorsements separate. After Trump studiously declined to endorse Paul Ryan, his VP pick Mike Pence made clear that he “strongly supported” Ryan, thus disagreeing with his running mate.
In the known political universe, this kind of thing does not happen. Yes, VP Joe Biden signaled his support for same-sex marriage long before President Obama did, but that was years into the administration rather than in the heat of the campaign.
5. Republicans abroad. The worldwide vice president of Republicans Overseas, Jan Halper-Hayes, told the BBC that Trump was “out of control” and therefore she could no long support him.
6. A narcissist with nuclear weapons. John Noonan, a nuclear expert who had advised Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush, unleashed a long Tweet-storm arguing that Trump’s ignorant cavalierness about nuclear weapons threatened to upset the decades-long balance-of-terror that had kept nuclear weapons from being used since Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You can read the whole thing here; sample below.
***
To put this in perspective: Howard Dean’s campaign for president in 2004 was dealt a serious blow by a single five-second “screaming” episode. Rick Perry was hurt badly in 2012 by one 10-second brain freeze on a debate stage. Dan Quayle never fully recovered from spelling out potatoe in 1992.
Those were single episodes, with outsized consequences. Yet in 2016 Donald Trump does something like this practically every hour.
This is part of what he did on just another average day, 96 days before the election, with tax returns and a plausible physical-exam report nowhere in sight.by Judith Curry
Section 12.5.5 in the WG1 Report provides some important insights on what is most commonly regarded as the ‘dangerous’ aspects of AGW.
For background on this topic, see this previous Climate Etc. post Redefining dangerous climate change.
I was pointed to section 12.5.5 by a post at BishopHill. The relevant text is below:
12.5.5 Potentially Abrupt or Irreversible Changes
12.5.5.1 Introduction
This report adopts the definition of abrupt climate change used in Synthesis and Assessment Product 3.4 of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program CCSP (CCSP, 2008b). We define abrupt climate change as a large-scale change in the climate system that takes place over a few decades or less, persists (or is anticipated to persist) for at least a few decades, and causes substantial disruptions in human and natural systems (see Glossary). Other definitions of abrupt climate change exist. For example, in the AR4 climate change was defined as abrupt if it occurred faster than the typical time scale of the responsible forcing.
A number of components or phenomena within the Earth system have been proposed as potentially possessing critical thresholds (sometimes referred to as tipping points, (Lenton et al., 2008)), beyond which abrupt or non-linear transitions to a different state ensues. The term irreversibility is used in various ways in the literature. The AR5 report defines a perturbed state as irreversible on a given timescale if the recovery timescale from this state due to natural processes is significantly longer than the time it takes for the system to reach this perturbed state (see Glossary). In that context, most aspects of the climate change resulting from CO2 emissions are irreversible, due to the long residence time of the CO2 perturbation in the atmosphere and the resulting warming (Solomon et al., 2009). These results are discussed in Sections 12.5.2–12.5.4. Here, we also assess aspects of irreversibility in the context of abrupt change, multiple steady states and hysteresis, i.e., the question whether a change (abrupt or not) would be reversible if the forcing was reversed or removed (e.g., Boucher et al., 2012). Irreversibility of ice sheets and sea level rise are also assessed in Chapter 13.
In this section we examine the main components or phenomena within the Earth system that have been proposed in the literature as potentially being susceptible to abrupt or irreversible change (see Table 12.4).
Abrupt changes that arise from nonlinearities within the climate system are inherently difficult to assess and their timing, if any, of future occurrences is difficult to predict. Nevertheless, progress is being made exploring the potential existence of early warning signs for abrupt climate change (see e.g., Dakos et al., 2008; Scheffer et al., 2009).
Table 12.4: Components in the Earth system that have been proposed in the literature as potentially being susceptible to abrupt or irreversible change. Column 2 defines whether or not a potential change can be considered to be abrupt under the AR5 definition. Column 3 states whether or not the process is irreversible in the context of abrupt change, and also gives the typical recovery time scales. Column 4 provides an assessment, if possible, of the likelihood of occurrence of abrupt change in the 21st century for the respective components or phenomena within the Earth system, for the scenarios considered in this chapter.
(click image for full size).
The section then goes on to discuss each of these in detail (with most of the ice sheet material in ch 13).
But the bottom line is this. The only one of these changes likely to occur in the 21st century is disappearance of the summer sea ice, and by ‘disappearance’ I assume they mean what they usually do when they say this: < 1 M sq km left.
Bishop Hill summarizes it this way:
Abrupt changes that aren’t really abrupt and irreversible changes that aren’t really – er – irreversible.
Catastrophe? Er – we don’t know.
JC summary: For background on this topic, see this previous Climate Etc. post Redefining dangerous climate change. The classic reference on the topic of abrupt climate change is the NRC report Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises.
Admittedly there are numerous definitions of ‘abrupt climate change’, but the IPCC chooses a fairly trivial one: seemingly, the climate shift circa 2001 would qualify as an ‘abrupt’ climate change.
But the real issue is this. The IPCC approach, using highly damped deterministic global climate models, is incapable of producing abrupt climate change (beyond the melting of Arctic sea ice, which is not irreversible even on timescales of a decade).
The most scientifically interesting, and societally relevant topic in climate change is the possibility of abrupt climate change, with genuinely massive societal consequences (the disappearance of Arctic sea ice and regional forest diebacks arguably don’t qualify here). The IPCC has high confidence that we don’t have to worry about any of the genuinely dangerous scenarios (e.g. ice sheet collapse, AMOC collapse) on timescales of a century. These collapses have happened in the past, without AGW, and they will inevitably happen sometime in the future, with or without AGW. Are the IPCC overconfident in their conclusions on these also?World
Syria Rebels Using Psychostimulants Drugs
TEHRAN (FNA)- Militants in Syria are using stimulant and synthetic drugs sent by their foreign supporters as the war of insurgency goes on in Syria with vicious images of brutality and inhuman crimes.
According to reports, the Syrian army has found different types of pills in militants’ strongholds on several occasions after their mop-up operations, Al-Alam said.
Captagon is one of the most common ones found in militants’ possessions.
On Saturday, Lebanese Police stopped an attempt to smuggle trailers filled with large amounts of Captagon pills into Syria.
Six trailers heading to Syria were seized by a patrol of the Internal Security Forces in the town of Saadnayel in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, the Daily Star reported.
Use of drugs, alcohol and doping substance has been allowed by leaders of extremist groups who are losing all kinds of limitations they traditionally hold, to keep their militants go on.
Abuse of fenethylline of the brand name Captagon is most common in Arab countries and counterfeit versions of the drug continue to be available despite its illegality.
Many of these counterfeit "Captagon" tablets actually contain other amphetamine derivatives that are easier to produce, but are pressed and stamped to look like Captagon pills. Some Captagon pills analyzed do contain fenethylline however, indicating that illicit production of this drug continues to take place.
The crisis in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of western and regional states.
The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.Tom Waits For No One, above, is surely the only film in history to have won an Oscar for Scientific and Technical Achievement for its creator and a first place award at the Hollywood Erotic Film and Video Festival.
Director John Lamb and his partner, Bruce Lyon also deserve recognition for their taste in source material. Singer Tom Waits’ "The One |
. Sharon Delmendo, also of Filipino descent, from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY, was a featured speaker who presented her research findings on the “Manilaners,” around 1,300 Jews who were saved from the Holocaust by President Manuel L. Quezon.
She pointed out that President Quezon had a bold plan that would have been the largest rescue of Jews if not for the outbreak of WWII in the Philippines.
She also gave a presentation on the “Balikbayan Bell” that the U.S. Military Academy in West Point returned to the Catholic Church in Bauang, La Union early this year.
One of the highlights of the symposium was the unveiling of a historical mural done by seven Filipino artists, namely, Leonardo Aguinaldo, Darby Alcoseba, Emmanuel Garibay, Florentino Impas Jr., Orley Ipon, Jason Moss and Othoniel Neri, who call themselves the “Durian Collective.”
Their collaborative work, depicting the life of the Filipino pioneers in Louisiana, was commissioned for the occasion by Dr. Almira Gilles, a Filipino American research associate at the Field Museum in Chicago, and the Filipino National Historical Society (FANHS) in the Midwest.
Ms. Jelly Carandang and Princess Emraida Kiram of FANHS then gave a presentation on “Filipinos in the Heartland of America” tracing the imprint of Filipino migration in the U.S. Midwest.
Jamoralin gave a presentation on the history and growth of the Filipino diaspora in Hawaii that began with the arrival of the first 15 sakadas in 1906 and reached milestones with Filipino Americans being elected into various government offices, and a state legislation designating Dec. 20 as “Sakada Day” in honor of the sakadas’ great sacrifices and contributions to the economy, culture and heritage of Hawaii.
She also led a panel discussion on the Filipino community’s growth and triumphs in their integral role as the state’s largest minority group with the participation of community leader Rev. Alex Vergara, Ms. Clemen Montero from the Center for Philippine Studies at the University of Hawaii, and Mr. Lester Hael from the Academia School of Languages in Honolulu.
The glimpse into the past was made more concrete with the presence of Ms. Darla Rojas Kerner, wife of the incumbent Mayor of the town of Jean Lafitte who traces her roots to Juan “Johnny” Rojas, one of the builders of “Manila Village,” and Ms. Ronda Richoux, who descended from Felipe Madriaga a Filipino who settled in St. Malo, Louisiana.
Dr. Alvaro Alcazar, Filipino American Professor of Languages and Culture at the Loyola University in New Orleans, facilitated a discussion about life in the first Filipino settlements.
Additional knowledge and insights were shared by Dr. Carmelo Astilla, a retired Filipino American Professor of History from Southern University at New Orleans, and former Ambassador Ruth Limjoco, who once served as Consul General in New Orleans.
Enriching discussions on contemporary developments, challenges and successes of the Filipino diaspora, particularly in Louisiana, a panel discussion that included a Filipino American lawyer, doctor, educator and community leader was moderated by Dr. Gonzales.
The symposium also included proclamations supporting the celebration of Filipino American History Month from the office of Mayor Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans and Mayor Tim Kerner of Jean Lafitte.
Dr. Jose Bautista, Filipino American Professor of Economics at Xavier University in Louisiana, the only black Catholic institution of higher education in the U.S., served as emcee and program host.
The day ended with a gala night where officials, scholars, guests from the Consular Corps of New Orleans and participants in the symposium had a wonderful chance to meet and mingle with the Filipino community in Louisiana and to celebrate in song and dance the nexus of history and cultural heritage of Filipinos in the U.S.
Tags: culture, Fil-Am History Month Symposium, Filipinos, history, Manila bulletin, Philippines, Retracing the Footsteps of the 1st Filipinos in USA long time ago I tried out a Grixis deck, but it just didn't work. It was too inconsistent. So, I looked at the play-sets of dual lands I had and thought, "Hm, what can I make with this?"
IZZET CONTROL, PHILOSOPHY
Counter, get creatures, swing. It's simple enough. Use Guttersnipe to burn them out, Electromancer to cast your spells easier, and Pyromancer to make chumps.
Win Conditions
AEtherling: Once he resolves with at least 7 mana on-board, he's essentially un-killable. An extremely good card with almost no downsides.
Jace, Architect of Thought: Card draw, protects himself, and allows you to bring out both yours and your opponents big guys under your control? Hell yes, please.
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius: U/R's answer to Sphinx's Revelation, deals damage and draws you cards. Though expensive, he's incredibly handy and a big threat if left unchecked.By - -
Yo sé que en el mundo hay muchas personas que, como yo, sueñan con la dominación mundial y con ser emperadores/emperatrices del Universo. Así que a todos quienes compartimos estos deseos de conquista les digo: chicos, este juego es solo para mi para ustedes.
Se trata de The Universim un juego de estrategia que te permitirá llevar a tu propio planeta (a sus habitantes, en verdad) a la conquista del Universo. Sus propios creadores lo definen como un “next generation Planet Management God – Game”. Ha sido comparado con otro juego similar llamado From Dust (2011), ya que al parecer incluye algunas de las mejores ideas de este juego, pero agregando muchas cosas más.
The Universim está siendo desarrollado por un estudio independiente, relativamente joven y no muy conocido, llamado Crytivo Games, y diseñado por Alex Koshelkov. Por ahora el juego forma parte de una campaña de Kickstarter (que pueden ver aquí) y ya cuenta con 5,923 patrocinadores, con un monto recaudado de $150,989 (donde la meta es $320,000) y 21 días para llegar a la meta.
El juego lleva la idea de ser el Dios de tu propio planeta a un nivel completamente distinto. Una vez que superas la edad de piedra en el juego, los resultados son cada vez más inesperados, asegura la gente de Crytivo. Surgirán guerras y epidemias. Habrán invasiones extraterrestres. Tus habitantes viajarán de planeta en planeta sin ninguna idea de qué esperar.
Y para que lo vean por ustedes mismos, les dejamos el video de The Universim para que se encanten con el hermoso diseño y la emocionante forma en que presentan el juego. Ojalá quienes tengan los medios, puedan contribuir con esta campaña para que los chicos de Crytivo alcancen su meta (y recuerden que dependiendo de la cantidad de dinero que aporten, podrán llevarse diversos premios como agradecimiento).
Fuentes: ALT1040 y Kotaku.
Créditos: Todas las imágenes de esta nota pertenecen a Crytivo.Our reputations often precede us—but, in the case of these television characters, reputation is all they have. Here are 11 TV personalities that are often talked about, but rarely (if ever) shown on screen.
1. Heather Sinclair // Degrassi: The Next Generation
What they're saying: "Did you see Heather Sinclair's eyebrows? Tragically overplucked!"
The lowdown: For a time, the Queen Bee of Degrassi never appeared on camera—but was often the subject of gossip nonetheless. "It felt very high school to me to see someone's reputation created through bits and pieces of gossip, without ever meeting the legend herself," says Matt Huether, a Degrassi co-executive producer and writer. "If we'd seen her, it's hard to believe she could have lived up to that reputation." In the seventh season, the series introduced a new character, Holly J. Sinclair—Heather's younger sister—but her big sis still never made it on screen. "We thought this might give us the opportunity to one day meet Heather Sinclair, through Holly J., and we discussed many times over the course of several seasons doing some stunt-casting and bringing in a high-profile guest star to play Heather for a scene," Huether says. "Anyone who was blond and famous from 2007 through 2011 was mentioned. Ultimately, we never committed to it, perhaps because we didn't really want to see the real her."
2. The President of the United States — Veep
What they're saying: "Did the president call?"
The lowdown: It's hard to believe the fictional president of the Veep universe won an election, considering the low profile he's kept. He's never seen on screen, his party affiliation hasn't been mentioned, and he doesn't even have a name—the other characters just refer to him as POTUS. Then again, that absence is symbolic of the veep's place in the D.C. pecking order. "You'll never see the president," star Julia Louis-Dreyfus tells NPR. "We're depicting a situation in which that relationship is highly dysfunctional, and the president is very much trying to keep this vice president, Selina Meyer, an arm's length away." Meyer often asks if the president has called for her—and the answer is always no.
3. Tino — My So-Called Life
What they're saying: "We have to go! With Sharon, to the hospital. I'll get Tino to drive us, he loves hospitals."
The lowdown: It's possible My So-Called Life heartthrob Jordan Catalano never got anywhere with his band, the Frozen Embryos, because Tino, its front man, wasn't very present. Then again, maybe he didn't have to be: possibly the most-referenced unseen character on this list, Tino is mentioned in a majority of the series' episodes, by almost every major teenage character. He can get a fake ID. He can get into an exclusive club, loft, or empty, for-sale house. He is, like, Mr. Halloween. When he quits the band, Jordan laments that "There's gonna be, like, this big empty hole where Tino used to be," but, for the audience, that's all he ever was.
4. Maris Crane — Frasier
What they're saying: "She distrusts anything that loves her unconditionally."
The lowdown: "Everybody has their own vision of what Maris looks like," Frasier executive producer Peter Casey says in an extra feature included on the second-season DVD. "Frankly, with some of the things that have been written about her in the scripts, I don't know if we could ever find anybody that could match all those things." It would be hard to find an actress who fits the bill, considering Maris is described as extremely slight (her ideal weight is 45 pounds, 12 ounces), addicted to plastic surgery, and easy to mistake for a coat rack.
5. Bob Sacamano — Seinfeld
What they're saying: "My friend Bob Sacamano had shock treatments, but his synapses were so large—had no effect."
The lowdown: Seinfeld's Kramer is always going on about his friend Bob Sacamano, from lamenting his case of rabies to crediting him with inventing the idea of attaching a ball to a paddle with a rubber band. (Before him, "people would just hit the ball and it would fly away.") Does the name "Bob Sacamano" sound too perfect to be made up? That's because it is. Starpulse reports that the rat-fur-hat salesman is the creation of Seinfeld writer Larry Charles, who borrowed the name from a real-life friend. While some would be flattered to achieve immortality through Seinfeld infamy, apparently the real Bob Sacamano was not. According to Gunaxin Media, after "The Heart Attack," the first time the character is mentioned (when we learn about how a botched hernia operation left him with a high-pitched voice), the real Sacamano had a falling out with Charles over the use of his name. No word on whether or not Lomez felt the same way.
6. Diane — Twin Peaks
What they're saying: "Diane, if you ever get up this way, that cherry pie is worth a stop."
The lowdown: Twin Peaks' Diane is not really an unseen character who's talked about as much as she is an unseen character who's talked to. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper addresses her as he makes detailed recordings on microcassette—but it's never shown how his tapes are received. In fact, the shooting script of Fire Walk with Me had a scene that took place in FBI HQ, and even then the character of Diane was written so that she was never heard or seen. She must've been a good muse, though; Simon & Schuster released an audiobook dedicated to her, titled 'Diane...' The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper, which featured Kyle MacLachlan's narration from the show along with new recordings. It was nominated for a spoken-word Grammy in 1991, alongside John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s reading of his father's Profiles in Courage. (Both lost to Gracie: A Love Story, read by George Burns.)
7. Vera Peterson — Cheers
What they're saying:
Woody: "Hey, Mr. Peterson, what do you say to a cold one?"
Norm: "See you later, Vera, I’ll be at Cheers."
The lowdown: Maris wasn't the first character in the Cheers universe to eschew the spotlight. And, as with Niles and Maris, barfly Norm Peterson often talks about his wife in less-than-flattering terms, implying that he frequents the bar to stay away from her. Although the audience never gets to see Vera's face, they do hear her voice a handful of times (and see her full body once, with her face obscured by a smashed pie). Both the voice and the body were provided by Bernadette Birkett, the real-life wife of George Wendt.
8. Lars Lindstrom — The Mary Tyler Moore Show
What they're saying: "Sooner or later, Lars is going to get tired of her. And he'll come back to me. And then I'm going to punish him for this."
The lowdown: Lars Lindstrom, the dermatologist husband of Mary Richards' landlady, Phyllis, didn't need to show up in person to make a big impact on the series. In a fourth-season episode—titled "The Lars Affair"—Phyllis discovers he's cheating on her with Sue Ann Nivens, star of The Happy Homemaker on Richards' WJM-TV. Not only does this have big consequences for the plot, it shapes the series in general: the introduction of Nivens was Betty White's debut on the show. Outside of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, when Phyllis gets her own spin-off, Lars is still a no-show—the series takes place after he's died.
9. and 10. Juanita Beasley (and Sarah) — The Andy Griffith Show
What they're saying: "There's nothing half so sweet/As Juanita, Juanita, Juanit."
The lowdown: Mayberry may be populated with lots of colorful characters, but two of them—both creations of producer Aaron Ruben—are never shown on screen: Sarah, the telephone operator, and Juanita Beasley, the waitress at the Bluebird Diner and sometime object of Barney Fife's affection. In the book The Andy Griffith Show, author Richard Michael Kelly writes: "They reminded Andy Griffith of the old radio show Vic and Sade: 'They originally had only three characters—later four—but they talked about their town and other towns nearby, and you never met any of those people. But their talk made you believe they were there.'"
11. Angela Valentine — Leave It to Beaver
What they're saying:
Wally Cleaver: "Hey Beav, isn't that Angela Valentine the one that's always showing the kids her extra toe?"
Beaver: "Yeah, but everybody's used to seeing that, so now she eats library paste."
The lowdown: It seems that Beaver often comes home with tales of his phantom classmate, whether he's reeling from her getting sick in the back of the school bus to reveling in triumph that ensues after she enlists the entire class to help find her lost bike plate. Though she's mentioned at least a dozen times in the series, she's not entirely unseen. In the third-season episode "Baby Picture," Beaver's teacher addresses the class about an upcoming beauty pageant—giving credit for the idea to Angela Valentine, whom she acknowledges with a head nod. Of course, the class is only shown from the back.In NCAA college basketball this season there are multiple Canadians poised for a big year on teams who can make a run in March to the Final Four. Here are a few homegrown talents to keep an eye on, plus some insight on them from former national team member and current Executive Vice President and Assistant GM of Canada basketball Rowan Barrett.
Kyle Wiltjer
Position: Power forward
Eligibility: Senior
School: Gonzaga
Wiltjer is one of the premier stretch four’s in the NCAA. Last year he averaged 16.8 points per game and shot 54% from the floor, including 46.6% from three. Named a preseason AP All-American, this year he’s expected to put up even bigger numbers as the focus of the Zags offence. He is the latest in a long line of Canadians to star for Gonzaga, most recently following Kevin Pangos and Kelly Olynyk. Although Kyle was born in Portland, Oregon Wiltjer gets his Canadian nationality from his father and former national team member Greg Wiltjer.
Rowan Barrett says: A highly skilled player that can score the ball and does a great job stretching the floor with his ability to shoot the three point shot with high efficiency.
For more: Check out this one-on-one interview with Wiltjer and Sportsnet.
Jamal Murray
Position: Point guard
Eligibility: Freshman
School: Kentucky
Just 18 years old, but the Canadian in the NCAA with the highest basketball IQ is probably Jamal Murray. Murray also has the highest upside, as he’s already projected to be a top-five pick if he decides to declare for the NBA draft. Albany head coach Will Brown already called him “the best player in the country”. The Kitchener-Waterloo native is playing off the ball quite a bit beside sophomore Tyler Ulis but he projects as a PG in the NBA.
Rowan Barrett says: Relentless competitor with maturity beyond his years. Unique in his ability to do all things offensively, on the basketball floor.
For more: Check out Prep School Confidential, Gare Joyce’s Sportsnet magazine feature on Murray & alma matter Orangeville Prep.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes
Position: Point guard
Eligibility: Sophomore
School: Florida State
Murray might not be the only lottery pick this summer— and he might not even be the most prolific Canadian scorer either. Xavier Rathan-Mayes had the chance to be a first round pick last year before deciding to come back to FSU. Last year the Markham native was named to the All-ACC freshman team, becoming the first freshman in ACC history to score 30 or more points three times just the second freshman to lead the Seminoles in scoring. The dead eye shooter who is poised to finish in the top 10 in ACC scoring again actually started his career as a shooting guard before making the transition to the point since being on campus at Tallahassee.
Rowan Barrett says: High level of confidence with explosive scoring abilities, and now has grown as a facilitator as well.
For more: Check out Florida Statement, Dave Zarum’s feature on Rathan-Mayes from his freshman season.
Dillon Brooks
Position: Small Forward
Eligibility: Sophomore
School: Oregon
One of the most intense players in college basketball is Oregon’s Dillon Brooks. The Mississauga native is continuing the long line of Canadians to attend Las Vegas powerhouse Findlay Prep and go on to have instant NCAA success, joining the likes of Tristan Thompson and Anthony Bennett. Brooks was a Pac-12 All Freshman and finished as third in freshman scoring in the conference with 11.5 PPG. One of the most versatile Canadians in the NCAA, he allows Oregon head Coach Dana Altman great flexibility as he plays big in small line ups but has the ball skills to play on the perimeter when the Ducks go big.
Rowan Barrett says: Very competitive player who is extremely aggressive, with a shooting touch.
For more: Check out The Boys of Summer, Sportsnet’s #BigRead on Brooks’ former AAU team, CIA Bounce.
Chris Boucher
Position: Power forward
Eligibility: Senior
School: Oregon
Boucher was the NJCAA player of the year staring for Northwest College. Chris averaged 22.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 4.7 blocks per game last season with Northwest College in Wyoming after playing his freshman year at New Mexico Junior College. The Montreal-born Boucher may have to make the most of his first year in Eugene as the NCAA has ruled he only has one more year of eligibility although the Ducks plan to appeal the decision.
Rowan Barrett says: Long athletic player who has had success at the JUCO level.
Other Canadians to watch:
Dylan Ennis (Oregon)
Duane Notice (South Carolina)
Jalen Poyser (UNLV)
Chris Egi (Harvard)Scottish independence: An independent Scotland could amass an oil fund that would “never run out” and reach £147 billion within 25 years of a Yes vote, according to new research.
The SNP Government wants to set up a Norwegian style fund and a report by leading North Sea employment firm oilandgaspeople.com finds it could eventually bring in an income of between £2.9 billion and £5.8 billion - the same amount as North Sea taxes alone.
Kevin Forbes, of oilandgaspeople.com said: “The significance of this shouldn’t be underestimated.
• Get the latest referendum news, opinion and analysis from across Scotland and beyond on our new Scottish Independence website
“If Scotland invests now for the future, it could find itself with a never-ending supply of funds derived from North Sea oil and gas. In other words, the oil and gas money will never run out.”
The calculations were based on current estimates for tax receipts of £6.4 to £7.8 billion annually. This is significantly higher than the £4 billion and £5.5 billion which was raised in the past two years, although new investment is expected to see production increase in the years ahead.
The economists allowed £5 billion of these receipts to be invested back into the Scottish economy in order to ‘balance the books’, leaving between £1.4bn and £2.8bn to be invested into a wealth fund each year.
The annual compound interested was calculated using figures provided by the Government Pension Fund of Norway, or Norway’s Oil Sovereign Wealth Fund, which grew at 5.7% a year.
The economic outlook found that if only £1.2 billion was invested each year into an oil fund and, then Scotland could expect a fund worth £73.64 billion in 24 years. If the fund grew to the higher estimate of £147.28 billion, then £5.8 billion could be reinvested back into the Scottish economy.
Mr Forbes added: “It took a lot of courage for the politicians of Norway to invest its oil and gas receipts into a fund for the future. At the time, every other oil nation was spending its oil money today, without thinking of what the future might bring. Now we know. While the rest of the oil nations of Europe are in deficit, Norway is able to ride out financial instability thanks to its courageous forward planning.
“North Sea oil and gas won’t last forever, but the tax receipts it produces can if Scotland invests now in a Scottish oil fund.”
SEE ALSO
• What would happen to Scotland’s oil after independence
• Scotland set for £300bn oil boom, new study showsStock Screener
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Algorithmic Stock Forecast: The table on the left is the stock forecast produced by I Know First’s algorithm. Each day, subscribers receive forecasts for six different time horizons. The top ten stocks in the 1-month forecast may be different than those in the 1-year forecast. In the included table, only the relevant tickers have been included. A green box represents a positive forecast, while a red represents a negative forecast. The boxes are then arranged according to their respective signal and predictability values (see below for detailed definitions).
Forecast Performance:The table on the right compares the actual stock performance with I Know First’s prediction. The column titled “Forecast” shows which direction the algorithm predicted, and the column “% Change” shows the actual stock performance over the indicated time period. The “Accuracy” column shows a “√” if the algorithm correctly predicted the direction of the stock or an “x” if the forecast was incorrect. The I Know First Average is the equal-weights average percent change of the stocks listed below, and the S&P 500 may be included for reference if relevant.
Signal: This indicator represents the predicted movement direction/trend; not a percentage or specific target price. The signal strength indicates how much the current price deviates from what the system considers an equilibrium or “fair” price.
Predictability: This value is obtained by calculating the correlation between the current prediction and the actual asset movement for each discrete time period. The algorithm then averages the results of all the prediction points, while giving more weight to recent performance. As the machine keeps learning, the values of P generally increase.
The Algorithm: The system is a predictive algorithm that is based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and incorporating elements of Artificial Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms. The system’s predictive analytics are self-updating, and thus live. The algorithm is a powerful resource for any investor conducting black-box trading or algotrading.It's been an incredibly tough month for mother monster, Lady Gaga, who has very recently opened up about the battle she's facing with a chronic pain condition known as fibromyalgia. On Friday (Sep. 15) the singer began posting a series of photos from a hospital in Rio, Brazil explaining that she was unable to continue touring due to agonizing and severe physical pain. And while Gaga's Netflix documentary, Gaga: Five Foot Two, was supposed to look at her battle with pain, the actual reveal of her chronic illness came Monday (Sep. 18) on Instagram.
"I have always been honest about my physical and mental health struggles. Searching for years to get to the bottom of them. It is complicated and difficult to explain, and we are trying to figure it out. As I get stronger and when I feel ready, I will tell my story in more depth, and plan to take this on strongly so I can not only raise awareness, but expand research for others who suffer as I do, so I can help make a difference. I use the word "suffer" not for pity, or attention, and have been disappointed to see people online suggest that I'm being dramatic, making this up, or playing the victim to get out of touring. If you knew me, you would know this couldn't be further from the truth. I'm a fighter. I use the word suffer not only because trauma and chronic pain have changed my life, but because they are keeping me from living a normal life. They are also keeping me from what I love the most in the world: performing for my fans. I am looking forward to touring again soon, but I have to be with my doctors right now so I can be strong and perform for you all for the next 60 years or more. I love you so much," Lady Gaga said, announcing she needs to reschedule the European leg of her tour.
The news brings back into the spotlight a disease that has been often misunderstood by the public, one that is characterized by chronic pain and excessive fatigue with no known cause. Billboard spoke with the Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Arya Mohabbat and Connie A. Luedtke, R.N., nursing supervisor of the hospital’s Fibromyalgia Clinic, about what people should know.
What is fibromyalgia? What does it entail and what causes it?
Dr. Mohabbat: Fibromyalgia is a chronic centralized pain sensitivity syndrome. Basically what that means is people are going to have long-lasting, head to toe pain that they feel in their muscles and joints, and this pain lasts for long periods of time but is in the absence of any inflammation.
What are some of the symptoms?
AM: Beyond pain complains, many patients complain of fatigue, abdominal, bowel and bladder issues. Patients will have headache issues, and they’re going to have sleep issues. Whether they sleep a lot or a little, it’s what we call a restless sleep. They get a lot of numbness and tingling throughout their body. They get a lot of hypersensitivities. Foods can bother them. Medications can bother them. Oftentimes patients will say I get side effects of this or that medication because they are so hypersensitive to so many of the things that people who don’t have fibromyalgia take for granted.
We also see people having complaints about things like generalized weakness. We see people having a lot of what we ended up calling fibro fog, which basically means cognitive complaints. It’s not that they’re having dementia, but they’re having a lot of issues with short term memory and task related memory recall activities, like, 'I pick up my phone but who was I going to call?' type of thing, which can be extremely frustrating. Unfortunately with fibromyalgia, they don’t get to pick and choose which symptoms they have. It seems to be a snowball effect, getting many, if not all, of the symptoms I just mentioned. Fibromyalgia can be very devastating to an individual.
Connie Luedtke, R.N: The other thing that we see clinically that’s frustrating for patients is symptoms aren’t always consistent. So maybe they start off having pain in their hip and for several weeks it’s their hip and then it’s their shoulder. So when they got to the doctor and say I’ve had hip pain now I have shoulder pain, it’s not only confusing to the patient it’s also confusing to the provider if they’re not accustomed to dealing with people with fibromyalgia.
What causes this? Is it an autoimmune illness, like lupus, which is what Selena Gomez has, or rheumatoid arthritis?
AM: The best we understand as of right now is no. Autoimmune implies that the body is producing proteins called antibodies that go and attack certain healthy parts of their own body. As of right now we do not have evidence for that in fibromyalgia. The cause is still relatively unknown, but it's thought to have something to do with the production of chemicals in between neurotransmitters. About 8% of the U.S population has this condition, but studies show that there is a familial pattern to it. If an individual has it and that individual has a twin, that twin has a 50% chance of getting fibromyaglia thanks to their genetic predosposition. If an individual has the condition and they have a child, that child is about 8.5 times more likely than the general population of getting this. So definitely there is a genetic influence, but as to what specific gene mutation might cause this, we’re not there yet.
CL: We know that there are precipitating factors. Clinically, we see that our patients will present to us and some will say that they were fine until they had some sort of an infection. We ask when they started having symptoms. So infection, or physical trauma like a car accident, or a surgical procedure [can precipitate symptoms.] That can be the case. There are many people that also have no recollection or understanding of anything that seemed to happen before they started getting ill.
What are some of the treatments?
AM: One is the medication side of treatment and one is what we call the non-medication side of treatment. Medications seem to be helpful for a good percentage of the patients, but again, these are the same individuals that have hypersensitivities and intolerances to medications, so for some people, they just cause too many side effects. But I think it warrants a good conversation between a patient and their provider: these medications have been approved because they help to counteract the chemical changes from a neurotransmitter level.
There is then the whole other world of the non-medication side of treatment options. We talk about the importance of self-education, because people have to know what they’re up against and how to fight this as best as possible. We then go through basically the core tenets of non-medication strategy, which is physical therapy, occupational therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, biofeedback therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture therapy. There’s a variety of wellness activities that people can do, what we used to call mind body activities; yoga, tai chi, pilates, meditation, guided imagery. Exercise is extremely important, but the hardest thing to sell to someone who is in pain is 'hey, we’ve got to get moving'. It’s not about making people hurt, it’s about making sure that they stay mobile, making sure that they stay flexible because the old adage of 'you use it or you lose it' is sadly very true.
CL: Lady Gaga is not our patient, but she does a lot of things in her lifestyle that I think are a great example for other people with fibromyalgia. She’s very physically active, she’s into mindfulness and meditation, she has a balanced life.Buy Photo The Planned Parenthood building in Springfield is located on Battlefield Road. (Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)Buy Photo
Planned Parenthood on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule an order from a lower Missouri court as the organization forges ahead with plans to provide abortions in Springfield and Joplin.
An ongoing federal court case filed by Planned Parenthood affiliates in Missouri against the state hit a roadblock Sept. 15, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit halted a district court judge's April order allowing the women's health care organization to proceed with plans to offer abortions.
The district court judge's order had previously been interpreted as a green light for Planned Parenthood, which has clinics licensed to provide abortions in St. Louis and Kansas City.
Planned Parenthood's applications are pending for its clinics in Springfield and Joplin, where the organization hopes to offer medication abortions soon, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. And its clinic in Columbia could once again provide abortion services if the organization succeeds.
Planned Parenthood on Friday formally asked the Supreme Court to vacate the stay issued by the appellate court, according to a statement issued Friday by Mary Kogut, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region.
"The court is our last line of defense against politicians who continue to insert themselves between women and their doctors," Kogut said, in part. "We will continue to advocate to expand access to care on behalf of thousands of women in Missouri and elsewhere who count on us for expert care.”
Citing Texas rules the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional, Planned Parenthood is arguing against two Missouri restrictions that prevent the Springfield and Joplin clinics from qualifying as legal abortion providers. The state, through Attorney General Josh Hawley's office, disagrees with Planned Parenthood about whether the rules are substantially similar to the Texas restrictions.
"The Attorney General's Office will continue to defend Missouri's commonsense regulations protecting women's health in the United States Supreme Court," said Loree Anne Paradise, a spokesman for Hawley's office.
Planned Parenthood's most recent legal maneuver — imploring the Supreme Court to intervene — was issued on the grounds that Missouri women are harmed by the delay of the abortion expansion.
The Missouri rules in question include requirements for medical buildings known as ambulatory surgical centers and mandate that physicians offering abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
“These laws were crafted by ideologically extreme politicians, not doctors," said Planned Parenthood Great Plains Interim President and CEO Aaron Samulcek, in part. "We all want to protect patient safety, and admitting privilege and ASC requirements do just the opposite. The Supreme Court has already ruled that similar laws in Texas are medically unnecessary and unconstitutional."
Abortions have not been offered legally in Springfield since 2005. The local Planned Parenthood clinic has never offered abortions, according to the organization, though it does offer abortion referrals and preventive care.
This summer, in a special session called by Gov. Eric Greitens, the Missouri General Assembly passed new abortion restrictions that all providers must comply with when the law takes effect in late October.
Planned Parenthood has said that, if successful, it has multiple doctors willing to provide medication abortions in Springfield and Joplin.
In its Supreme Court application, Planned Parenthood cites Springfield as an example of the "enormous burdens" it says are placed on women seeking abortions. By its calculations, "women in Springfield (the third most populous city in the state) currently have to travel 430 miles round trip to St. Louis for an abortion after ten weeks, or 325 miles round trip to Kansas City for an early medication abortion."
The application also says the Springfield center would eventually provide both surgical and medication abortions. The Joplin clinic only would provide medication abortions.
Planned Parenthood also appears to accuse the Department of Health and Senior Services of delaying the licensing of three clinics.
"...Applicants have proceeded diligently with the licensing process so that they can provide abortions to the women of Missouri in their health centers in Columbia, Springfield, and Joplin, but DHSS's licensing of Applicants has moved slowly with none of these health centers yet to be issued a license."
A notarized copy of the application for the Springfield clinics, obtained by the News-Leader through an open records request, is dated May 18.
An email between a health department official and a Planned Parenthood representative says the organization originally planned to start performing abortions in Springfield by late August or early September. Joplin's timeline |
the island nation.
In many ways, the three-day adventure was classic McAuliffe, offering a taste of the freewheeling, even impulsive, style the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor could bring to the executive mansion if he is elected next week.
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He was, in effect, winging it — relying largely on personal charm and hoping for the best, even as many of those around him say they saw little chance for success.
The trip had been intended, at least in part, to erase the sting of McAuliffe’s dismal showing in the gubernatorial race the previous year while showcasing his deal-making skills and home-state advocacy in advance of a second run for office. After it all fell apart, McAuliffe stayed in his permanently upbeat sales mode even as his travel companions privately lamented a journey that was more fiasco than triumph.
McAuliffe returned from Havana with a rosy report: “We got them to agree to open up the market for Virginia wines,” he told The Washington Post at the time. “We are going to export Virginia wines to Cuba for the first time ever.”
In reality, the sales trip was a bust.
“It was like, ‘What just happened?’ Were we rolled?’ ” said Blaze Wharton, a McAuliffe friend and Utah-based lobbyist who organized the trip for McAuliffe and a handful of politically connected business friends.
“We were all under the impression that it would work out,” Wharton said. But, he added, “it went nowhere.”
Why McAuliffe chose Cuba, a communist-led island with a moribund economy, as the place to prove his mettle as a champion of Virginia commerce is a curiosity. Any trip to Cuba, which is still designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. government, brings complications — particularly for a figure with McAuliffe’s deep ties to America’s political elite. He is a close friend and adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time of the Cuba trip and, should she run for president, would be courting Cuban-American voters wary of contact with the regime there.
McAuliffe, now waging a campaign in which he presents himself as a skilled deal-maker and cheerleader for Virginia businesses, rarely if ever mentions his one venture since the 2009 campaign to sell Virginia products abroad.
McAuliffe’s campaign declined to make him available for an interview. Neither his campaign nor the organizers of the trip could provide the paperwork that McAuliffe was required to file with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control to obtain a license to travel to Cuba, saying they no longer had copies. An OFAC spokesman said the office does not comment on specific licenses.
His spokesman, Josh Schwerin, said McAuliffe had been invited by Wharton to make the trip “and thought it would be a good chance to advocate for Virginia wine and apples.”
Schwerin said Cuban officials expressed interest at one point in a “Virginia wine expo.” But, Schwerin added, “it never came to fruition.” Schwerin said McAuliffe had no financial interest in the trip and was not compensated for his efforts.
Wharton said he had grown interested in seeking business opportunities in Cuba. The United States has allowed certain food exports to Cuba ever since Congress loosened the Kennedy-era embargo in 2000. Wharton said he pitched McAuliffe on the idea of a trip, and McAuliffe, eager to play the role of Virginia booster, immediately began pondering who he might invite from the state.
“Let’s put something together,” Wharton recalled McAuliffe saying.
McAuliffe spoke by phone with Todd Haymore, Virginia’s agriculture secretary, who provided an overview of the state’s growing trade relationship with Cuba, including the exports of soybeans and apples.
Wharton said he financed much of the trip. McAuliffe paid his own way, Schwerin and Wharton said, reimbursing his friend $2,500.
But the two Virginia businessmen that McAuliffe had hoped to showcase on the trip both backed out at the last minute.
Henry Chiles, owner of Crown Orchard near Charlottesville, told trip organizers he had to tend to his crop because of a cold snap. Jim Turpin, who opened a small vineyard four years ago in Lovingston, said he decided selling to the island nation wasn’t a good fit for his business.
“With a name like Democracy Vineyards, I didn’t think it would sell very well in Cuba,” Turpin said.
McAuliffe went ahead anyway.
Over the course of three days, the delegation met with officials from the Cuban trade agency, Foreign Ministry and other departments. The sessions, some lasting well over an hour, would begin with long speeches from Cuban officials about how the U.S. trade embargo has ravaged the island’s economy, according to participants..
Officials at Alimport, Cuba’s official trade agency, did not seem the least bit interested in learning from McAuliffe about Virginia apples or wine — or any potential business deal, according to people familiar with the meeting.
McAuliffe at one point grew visibly exasperated. He interrupted an Alimport official’s discussion of the embargo and pleaded for time to speak. “I came here to talk about apples and wine,” he said, according to participants in the meeting.
Wharton said he was perplexed at how unresponsive the Cuban officials were to McAuliffe’s efforts. After all, participants said, the consultant that Wharton had hired to arrange the meetings, longtime Cuba expert Kirby Jones, had e-mailed the group before the trip to say that deals were “very possible” and that they should be prepared to sign contracts.
“We’d get into these meetings, and Terry was Terry,” said Wharton. “He was really aggressive on the apples and the wines.”
Few of the executives in the delegation expected to do much real business there, said one person familiar with the trip who, like several others friendly with McAuliffe, spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to freely discuss the goings-on. Most participants were excited to experience Cuba.
The meetings were “pretty perfunctory,” said one person with knowledge of the trip. “I bet you a billion dollars there was not one more phone call made [following the trip] about doing business with Cuba.”
Tensions were mounting, however.
On the last night, Wharton confronted Jones, the consultant. Jones, who got to know Fidel Castro while interviewing him for TV documentaries in the 1970s, ran a Bethesda-based consulting firm specializing in helping U.S. businesses navigate Cuba’s regime.
Wharton said Jones tried on several occasions to steal time alone with McAuliffe, including insisting at one point that only Jones and McAuliffe could attend a hastily arranged visit with Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the top-ranking Catholic prelate in Cuba.
The argument escalated, in public, on the patio of the famed Hotel Nacional in Havana. Wharton’s voice rose and he cursed at Jones. “You’re fired,” Wharton recalls yelling.
Jones said he did not recall trying to have time alone with McAuliffe.
“Blaze was very upset, but I basically ignored him,” Jones said.
Jones, who has been leading business delegations to Cuba for more than 30 years, said McAuliffe’s lack of success was typical for a first-timer. Cutting deals with the Cubans, he said, often requires aggressive follow-through and return visits.
Still, Jones said the Cubans recognized that McAuliffe was no ordinary visitor.
“He’s close to the Clintons, and everybody knows that,” Jones said. “And Hillary Clinton was secretary of state at the time, so naturally there’s an interest.”
A Clinton spokesman said the former secretary had not been aware of McAuliffe’s trip at the time.
The meeting with Ortega was the lone high point of the trip, participants said.
Several members of the delegation accompanied McAuliffe to the cardinal’s ornate offices. They said the visit was a thrill for McAuliffe, who is Catholic. He autographed a copy of his 2007 memoir, “What a Party!” for the cardinal, and, flashing a broad smile, posed for a picture with Ortega beneath a giant framed photo of the cardinal with then-Pope Benedict XVI.
Back in Virginia, expectations that McAuliffe would sell anything to the Cubans were low.
Officials at Virginia’s wine marketing office had helped prepare materials in advance of the trip. But when Turpin, the Democracy Vineyards owner, backed out, office officials say never heard about the trip again.
In general, the mere suggestion that the poor, communist-led island might prove receptive to Virginia wine is enough to make even the industry’s fiercest advocates chuckle. State officials routinely bring along a wine display when they travel to an annual exposition in Cuba, but “only as a goodwill thing,” said Annette Boyd, head of the state’s wine marketing office.
“We laugh about it,” she said. Describing Cuba as more of a “rum culture,” Boyd said sarcastically: “Virginia wines go so well with Cuban cigars.”
Turpin, a former lobbyist who served as a co-chair of McAuliffe’s 2009 campaign, had all but forgotten about the trade mission on which McAuliffe was representing his company.
Once Turpin opted out, “I just kind of backed away from the whole thing,” he said.
But shortly after McAuliffe returned to U.S. soil, he phoned Turpin with an update.
“I remember getting a typical Terry call,” Turpin said, “that everything went great.”
Manuel Roig-Franzia and Alice Crites contributed to this report.Entertainment industry stacks the speaker-list at Canadian copyright "town hall"
A reader writes, "The second of two Canadian copyright townhalls was held last night in Toronto and it was clear from the beginning that the recording industry stacked the deck. Four Warner Music executives spoke, two from Sony Music, one Universal Music, along with multiple music industry lawyers, spokespeople, and collectives. Given that there were a limited number of seats, packing the room meant that many alternative views were excluded from participating. Time to speak out now on copyright - two weeks left in the consultation and the industry is ready to overrun the process unless Canadians take the time to have their voice heard at sites like speakoutoncopyright.ca, digitalagenda.ca or ccer.ca."
With just over two weeks left in the consultation, there should be no doubt that the lobby groups will be engaging in a major effort to push for their DMCA-style reforms. The calls for three-strikes and you're out, notice and takedown, DMCA anti-circumvention legislation, and no flexible fair dealing will only get louder. Now is the time for Canadians - many of whom could not get a seat at the townhall since it was filled by industry reps just days after the consultation launch - to speak out. Don't wait - send in your comments today and encourage others to do the same.
The Toronto Music Industry Town HallAir Force Academy
In my last post I alerted everyone to a problematic email sent out by an Air Force Master Sergeant. The Air Force has capitulated away from unconstitutional official policy and have agreed to, once again, allow graduating cadets to omit the “oath to god” from their Creed.
I, (state your name), having been appointed a (rank) in the United States (branch of service), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foriegn and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God.
This really should be a no-brainer, but sometimes it takes a little activism and a lot of throwing a fit to get things done. Thanks to the help of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which has been nominated for 5 Nobel Peace Prizes, and The Atheist Community of Colorado Springs we were able to accomplish this in a very quick and expeditious manner.
This is part of the official message:
From: Xxxxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxx X Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2013 4:46 PM To: CS21_C14_ALL; CS21_C15_All; CS21_C16_ All; CS21_C17_ALL Cc: Xxxxxxxx XXX, Xxxxxxx X Maj USAF ; Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx X MSgt USAF Subject: RE: INFO: Change to Oath of Office (Optional “So Help Me, God.”) I did talk to our SJA who pointed out that whether or not you repeat your commissioning oath verbatim at your ceremony has no legal consequence. However, your signature on the AF Form 133 is legally binding and JA cannot advise you to alter the oath (even though others have done so in the past without consequence). Our SJA recommends we standby for updates from higher headquarters as they become available. Please see me if you have any questions regarding this issue. Maj XXXXX X XXXXXXXXX xx-xx XXXXXXXXX Air Officer Commanding
An apology from the offending party is forthcoming and the atheist cadet will be allowed to continue on with their bright military career without being forced to publicly pronounce a religious preference they want no part of.
Today American Atheists, Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and the Atheists Community of Colorado Springs moved quickly to get a swift victory.
Semper FidelisHi there.
The first thing to say is pick up a copy of Bessel van Der Kolk's excellent book: The body keeps the score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma.
It explains what fight or flight is, physiologically-speaking, what causes it (nearly always some sort of chronic or acute trauma) and most importantly of all, a bunch of non-medication based, effective ways of dealing with it.
In that book, Van Der Kolk (who is a psychiatrist specialising in trauma) explains:
“I made a review of all the patients I had treated. Almost all had in some way been trapped or immobilized, unable to take action to stave off the inevitable. Their fight / flight response had been thwarted, and the result was either extreme agitation or collapse.”
A group of researchers including Steve Southwick and John Krystal and Yale, Arieh Shalev at Hadassah, Frank Putnam at NIMH, and Roger Pitman at Harvard found that traumatized people keep on secreting large amounts of stress hormones long after the actual danger has passed.
Meanwhile, researcher Rachel Yehuda at Mount Sinai found that people with PTSD have low levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol triggers the ‘all clear’ message that the danger has passed, and the stress response can be called off by the body. This message doesn’t get sent in people with PTSD.
When people have been traumatized, and have PTSD, or Complex-PTSD (which tends to occur with more chronic, long-term abuse and / or neglect in childhood) it means that their fight / flight / freeze / fawn response is permanently switched on, and their stress hormones (particularly adrenaline) spike higher than normal to perceived threats, and either don’t return to normal baseline levels at all, or take a very long time to reduce back down to normal.
The following infographic shows the four types of ‘stress response’ that are possible:
This excess of stress hormones swirling around their bodies causes feelings of agitation and panic, and can lead to any number of mental and physical health issues, over the longer term.
This is describing what's happening to you. To quote Van Der Kolk again:
“The insidious effects of constantly elevated stress hormones include memory and attention problems, irritability and sleep disorders. Plus many other health issues, that depend on each individual."
The book sets out a number of things that have been proven to work in even very severe cases, ie, much worse than what you're describing. They include:
Neurofeedback
Energy Psychology techniques like EMDR (and I'll add in here EFT and TAT are also excellent for overcoming PTSD and trauma-related responses).
Any type of exercises that will boost and encourage the para-sympathetic nervous system (that activates all the ‘calm’ de-stressing mechanisms in the body), and calms down the sympathetic nervous system (which kick in the fight/flight/freeze/fawn stress response).
Meditation (and I'll add in here talking to God, which really does help tremendously to make a person feel'safe' again, which is a key problem for people with PTSD.
Massage, Cranial Sacral Therapy etc - anything that will help you feel more comfortable in your physical body
And from my own experience with Chinese Medicine and the Energy Meridians, the fight or flight response is governed by the Triple Warmer merididan, so anything you can do to get that meridian to calm down will also help you tremendously.
You can find some easy, self-administered techniques for calming down fight or flight on my website, here:
energy exercises to defuse the 'fight or flight' response
Once you understand that your body is having a physiological reaction to past trauma, that keeps getting triggered off by particular people, situations, events, noises or even smells, you'll find it much easier to start working out what's really going on, what's really triggering it, and what you can do to start reducing your exposure and reaction to those triggers.
Hope this is helpful,
Rivka Levy
SPIRITUAL SELF-HELP from JEMIA
Adnis Reeves:
"My pops got a liver disorder/My whole living's disordered/And I just got his living room ordered" - "If I Can't (Freestyle)"
Adnis Reeves (or, as it's confusingly spelled in Decoded, "Abnis Reid"), known as AJ, was Jay's father—the missing presence in contrast to his beloved, doting mother Gloria. Adnis abandoned the family when young Shawn Carter was only 11. Adnis' brother, Jay's Uncle Ray, was murdered. As Jay explained in his memoir, "My dad swore revenge and became obsessed with hunting down Uncle Ray's killer. The tragedy—compounded by the injustice—drove him crazy, sent him to the bottle, and ultimately became a factor in the unraveling of my parents' marriage."
Father and son would reconnect in 2003. By that time, years of alcohol abuse had taken their toll, and Reeves would survive only a few more months before dying of a bad liver. But Jay at least got to purchase an apartment for his no-longer-estranged father, and the rap star seemed a different person afterwards—more trusting and less guarded. It's not a coincidence that Hov's relationship with Beyoncé grew more serious after Reeves passed away. So perhaps Reeves managed to teach his precocious son a little something after all.
Tidal released a brief snippet of a song called “Adnis” in the run-up to 4:44, which feature the line “letter to my dad, that I never wrote.” But the track didn’t make the final, released album. Maybe we can hope for a Jay Z Lost Tapes?
Amil:
"Jigga man, huh/Siegel Siegel, y'all/Memph Bleek, what/Amil-lion, GONE!" - "You, Me, Him, Her" (live version)
Amil Kahala Whitehead, former "Diana Ross of the Roc," first came into Jay Z's orbit as a member of Major Coins, who were supposed to contribute to Vol. 2. But Hov heard Amil rhyme and, after Major Coins broke up, brought her on as the First Lady of Roc-a-fella. She appeared on a gang of songs on Hov's following two albums as well, and released her solo record All Money Is Legal in September 2000. (The album, incidentally, contains an absolute gem of a Jay Z performance on "4 da Fam.") But soon enough, trouble started brewing. Jay has never spoken publicly about what caused the split, but there were rumors that Amil was getting into fights and (gasp!) gaining weight. The rapper, for her part, just doesn't seem like she enjoyed the spotlight very much. Between that and dealing with an asthmatic child, she says she just asked to leave. But as of just a few years ago, she was still making music.
Armand de Brignac
Jay's fancy beverage of choice in the early aughts was Cristal, but all of that changed in 2006, when Frederic Rouzaud, managing director of Cristal makers Louis Roederer, gave an interview with the Economist where he badmouthed rappers buying his product. "[W]hat can we do? We can’t forbid people from buying it," he said. "I’m sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."
Jay, incensed, announced a boycott of Cristal. Not long afterwards, he announced his own $300-a-bottle champagne, Armand de Brignac. It became known as "Ace of Spades" because of the logo on the bottle. Jay name-dropped it on a few songs, and the brand was off to the races. Interestingly, the company that makes the beverage, Cattier, lied through its teeth initially about their relationship with Jay and their own origin story in order to disguise the fact of Hov's direct business involvement from the beginning of the brand. Instead, they initially offered a BS story about how Jay had discovered the product in a "New York wine shop," loved it, and then decided to team up. The dissembling helped to disguise the fact that the company was selling a discontinued product at a 500% markup—Armand de Brignac is basically the same as the $60-a-bottle Antique Gold, a brand discontinued in 2006 by, you guessed it, Cattier.
B
Blue Ivy
The firstborn offspring of Jay Z and Beyoncé. Known for fierce side-eyes, impeccable fashion sense, and having more money than you and everyone you’ve ever known.
Bricks, 92
Allegedly lost. Possibly apocryphal. Either way, a great part of the hustling legend. ano
Brooklyn
The former hometown of Jay Z and current hometown of a crappy basketball team he once owed a millionth of a percentage of. A borough of New York City that Jay Z insists goes hard—although nowadays, it's mainly for matcha lattes and artisanal pizza.
Button Ups
A type of open-front shirt identified by a fold down collar and a row of vertical buttons used to keep it closed. Also used to replace throwback jerseys as the top of choice for mature men of a certain age.
C
“Can I Get Open”
A 1993 underground classic by the now-defunct rap group Original Flavor that featured a rapid-fire, song-stealing verse from Jay Z and played a key role in his early come-up. It marked the beginning of fruitful partnerships with two of Jay's most important collaborators: Dame Dash, who managed Original Flavor, and Ski, the group's producer and lead MC who would go on to produce the bulk of Jay's debut album Reasonable Doubt.
Carmen Bryan
The mother of Nas’ daughter, Destiny, who also had a brief romantic relationship with Jay Z, which fueled a rift between the rival MCs that culminated with the release of Jay’s “The Takeover” and Nas’ “Ether” in 2001. In response, Hov dropped “Super Ugly,” which was critically panned for its low blows aimed directly at Bryan and her then adolescent daughter. Jay later apologized.
Chancletas
Spanish slang for open-toe flip-flops, as seen on Jay Z's feet in the south of France in 2005—prompting Cam'ron and half the internet (including us) to clown his burgeoning dad style.
Chris Martin
Lead singer from the group Coldplay, one of Jay's good friends, and further proof that rappers have horrible taste in rock music. Also provided us with the greatest GIF of Jay to date.
Clark Kent
DJ Rodolfo "Clark Kent" Franklin has pretty much done it all when it comes to hip-hop. He DJ'd for Dana Dane; started arguably the first great DJ crew with the Supermen; ran the New Music Seminar's prestigious Battle for World Supremacy; and produced songs and remixes for the likes of Lil' Kim, Troop, Levert, Junior M.A.F.I.A., The Fugees, and more. But it's his dual roles with Jay Z and Biggie that may prove to be his most lasting legacy. He introduced the titans to each other, sparking a close friendship (and giving us the duet "Brooklyn's Finest," which Kent produced).
Kent first met Hov when the rapper was just a teenager, through Jay's friend and mentor Jaz-O. "He might have been 15, maybe 16," Kent remembered. "They started rhyming together and he was insane. And I just kept saying, 'This is the best rapper I’ve ever heard.'"
Kent ended up with three tracks on Reasonable Doubt—"Brooklyn's Finest," "Coming of Age," and "Cashmere Thoughts." Jay would again acknowledge Kent's help at the end of his career's first stage, on "My 1st Song." "Clark Kent, that was good looking out," he exclaimed.
The Commission
The proposed supergroup consisting of many of New York hip-hop's most notable figures. The group's members were listed in The Notorious B.I.G.'s song "What's Beef": Lil Cease, Charlie Baltimore, Biggie, Puff Daddy, and, of course, Jay Z. Also included was record exec Lance "Un" Rivera—whom Jay Z later stabbed for allegedly bootlegging his music. Unfortunately the rap collective was never realized due to Biggie's untimely death 1997.
Damon Dash
Co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, along with Jay Z and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Dash went broke after he and Jay split ways, but don't disrespect his legend: His old rants at rivals record execs are must-watch theater, he turned dice-rolling into a dance, he poured champagne better than anyone, and at his peak he never wore a pair of white Air Forces more than once.
D
Decoded
A hybrid tome of memoir and literary criticism, with the text in question being Hov’s own lyrics. Published in Nov. 2010 and co-written with Jay’s long-time collaborator Dream Hampton, Decoded offered unprecedented access to the MC’s life and artistic process. For someone who is so guarded and calculating, it offered rare moments of reflection on one of the most storied careers in American letters.
Def Jam
Storied hip-hop record label that released the majority of Jigga's albums in partnership with Roc-A-Fella. In 2004 Jay was appointed President and CEO of Def Jam. During his tenure he helped launched the careers of the likes of Rihanna, Ne-Yo, and Young Jeezy among others. He stepped down from the role in 2007 to found Roc Nation.
Diamond
Jay Z has always had a penchant for iconography, but nothing has been as indelible as his signature hand sign. Bringing two hands together to make a diamond shape—a reference to the Roc, the house that Jay built—it’s been a unifying staple for Hov acolytes ever since.
Dice
The game that, let some tell it, Jay Z is diabolically gifted at.
DJ Premier
Legendary producer behind some of Jay Z's deepest cuts, from "Bring It On" to "So Ghetto." The guy Jay would call to provide some street-grit balance to some of his cheesier shiny-suit-era songs.
Dream Hampton
Veteran hip-hop journalist and filmmaker from Detroit who ghostwrote Jay's 2010 memoir Decoded.
D’Usse
Cynics scoffed when Jay started shoehorning his cognac into every verse possible in 2013 (after endorsing it just a year prior), but fast forward to the present and it's in bars—both musical ones and drinking establishments—everywhere. Puffy's got vodka; Hova's got our dark liquor interests covered. Black Branding Excellence.
E
Elevator
A platform with hoisting machinery used for conveying people or things to different levels of a building. Also a bad place to get caught with your angry, high-heel-wearing sister-in-law.
Emory Jones
One of Jay Z’s closest friends and associates, Emory “Vegas” Jones is most known for doing a 12-year prison bid on a drug trafficking charge. Jay would dedicate his 2006 song “Do U Wanna Ride” to Jones (“Up in the fed, and still holdin’ his head/So when he hits the streets he gon' eat through this bread”). Nowadays, Jones works as a lifestyle specialist for Roc Nation.
Eric Carter
The elder brother Jay shot—like, with a real gun—during a dispute when he was just 12 years old. But time heals all wounds: Jay was recently seen cheering on Nahziah, Eric's son and a high school basketball player making headlines of his own. —Frazier Tharpe
“Ether”
The only legitimate argument against Jay Z's GOAT status. Jay clashed in a battle with another GOAT candidate, and he got, well, ethered.The Philadelphia Eagles released Riley Cooper on Monday, according to an official announcement from the team. Today marked the first opportunity for the Eagles to get rid of Cooper, so they were clearly eager to get this done.
This was a roster move that everyone saw coming from miles away. Cooper clearly didn't live up to the big contract extension he signed during the 2013 offseason. Cooper ranked as the worst wide receiver in the NFL by Pro Football Focus in 2014. He wasn't all that much better in 2015. Cooper played in all 16 games last season and failed to register a catch in seven of those appearances.
Cooper's release saves the Eagles $2.9 million in cap space. It also creates $2.4 million in dead money. Considering how bad he's been, this cut was a no-brainer.
Eagles fans will obviously be excited to hear about this news. He was hardly a fan favorite due to both his on-field struggles and his off-field racial slur incident.
The Eagles originally drafted Cooper in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He mostly served as a backup before being thrust into a starting role in 2013. He put up career numbers in Chip Kelly's first season as head coach, but he never sustained that success.
With Cooper gone, the Eagles currently have five receivers under contract: Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, Josh Huff, Jonathan Krause, and Freddie Martino. Seyi Ajirotutu is set to be a free agent in March. Cooper's dismissal opens up more playing time for Philadelphia's wide receivers. It also means the Eagles could look to add some more bodies at the position this offseason.Brand's Description
The Saint + Sinner Eyeshadow Palette features 24 pigment-packed shades inspired by the kaleidoscopic stained glass windows of old world gothic cathedrals. Embrace your softer side with 12 saintly shades—dreamy, wearable, and effortlessly romantic. Unleash your inner Sinner with 12 bold color pops—empowering, unexpected, and insanely pigmented. Experience divine dimension with three fearless finishes: electrifying metallics, velvety mattes, and shimmering pearls, plus two new special effect glimmer shades. Rightfully placed at the peak of the palette, these transformative super-glimmer shades amp up any eye look with prismatic micro-pearls that catch the light with every movement. Each cushiony shade is blendable and buildable. Kat Von D’s signature high-performance, long-wear eyeshadow formula creates next-level eye looks that deliver major impact. Whether you’re feeling saintly, sultry, or a little of both, you’re sure to find endless inspiration within this show-stopping palette of epic proportions.Why Good People Do Bad Things AND How To Stop Them
How to stop people carrying out unethical behaviours.
People who anticipate temptation are less likely to do bad things, a new study finds.
The research also found that when people thought unethical behaviour reflected poorly on them, they also resisted.
Dr Oliver Sheldon, one of the study’s authors, said:
“People often think that bad people do bad things and good people do good things, and that unethical behavior just comes down to character. But most people behave dishonestly sometimes, and frequently, this may have more to do with the situation and how people view their own unethical behavior than character, per se.”
Part of the reason good people do bad things is that they rationalise, said Dr Sheldon:
“Unethical behavior may not be experienced as something that needs to be resisted if people think it’s socially acceptable or does not reflect on their moral self-image. People often compartmentalize their experiences of temptation, making it much easier for them to rationalize the behavior. They might say, ‘Just because I took office supplies home for personal use one time, that doesn’t mean I’m a thief.'”
In the study, people were given a series of everyday scenarios, like taking office supplies and calling in sick when not really ill.
The results revealed that people behaved more unethically if they believed the incident was isolated.
Dr Sheldon said:
“You may not be concerned about getting caught or about your reputation if people found out, but you might be concerned about your own ethical self-image. Keeping such considerations in mind as one enters into potentially tempting situations can help people resist the temptation to behave unethically.”
The study was published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (Sheldon & Fishbach, 2015).
Halo image from ShutterstockDenard Span’s return this week from the DL was short-lived. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
Denard Span walked into the Nationals clubhouse Saturday afternoon, walking normally, wearing jeans and a T-shirt. His teammates, lounging on the couch, said hello as he walked by.
“You have it already?” someone asked, referring to the hip surgery that will keep Span out for the rest of the season.
Span laughed, and they joked that he was moving pretty well for a guy so recently reconstructed. He hadn’t had the surgery yet, of course. Surgery on the torn labrum in his left hip will take place Tuesday, and will include the shaving of a bone in the joint to eliminate what Span referred to as “an impingement” in his hip. He expects recovery to take four to six months.
Span’s whole season — the final year of his contract, the year before he hits free agency — has been spent recovering, a muddled timetable of overlapping issues that combined to cost him 101 games in the most important year of his career and the most initially promising season in Nationals history.
“It’s been tough. Just the timing of it. Just every aspect,” Span said. “It’s just been a terrible 8 months for me. Really a year.”
Span led the National League hits last season, set a Nationals record for hits in a season, and so headed home “on a high.” But he knew something was wrong with his groin, trouble that eventually required sports hernia surgery in December. Span spent the offseason recovering and rehabilitating from that instead of doing his normal preparation for the season. He played one spring training game before experiencing soreness on his right side. On March 9, he had surgery on his right abdominal muscle. The prognosis was uncertain then, but suggested he may be out until June. He returned in mid-April.
By June he began having back spasms, crippling moments in which his back “locked up,” as he put it, and forced him to leave games or be scratched from lineups. Then, he said, he began to notice hip trouble.
“Every time I was having the back spasms, I did feel something in my hip, but it felt secondary to the back spasms. When I went to see the back specialist, he told me nothing is structurally wrong with my back, so I thought okay, that’s good. Thought everything was fine,” Span said. “He gave me back injections, cortisone injections in my back. As soon as I got those, it was pretty clear there was something wrong with my hip.”
So a little bit after the all-star break, Span saw two hip specialists. He received a cortisone shot in his hip, and both doctors told him he could try to play through the injury if he felt he was able.
“I battled, mentally, physically. Just didn’t feel great at all. I battled through it,” Span said. “After the second game (back from the disabled list), went home, wasn’t feeling good. Even though we lost, normally when I get two hits, I’m in an upbeat mood. I just wasn’t.”
Span talked to his mother and decided surgery was the best course of action — though he knew it would end his season, sending him to free agency with 61 games of work on which to build his case, removing him from the Nationals lineup that is 10 games over.500 with him in it.
“Between (free agency) and not helping the ballclub down the stretch. That was the main reason I tried to come back,” Span said. “Yeah, for my free agent year, but also to help this ballclub. So it was a tough decision, trying to come back and also shutting it down. But all-around just tough. I worked my butt off to get to this point.”
In all likelihood, Span will not return to the Nationals next year. The team will likely make him a qualifying offer, which ensures that if he leaves Washington will receive a compensation pick. But no player has ever taken a qualifying offer, a one-year deal, and Span will likely hit the market looking for a longer term deal. With Michael A. Taylor ready in waiting, the Nationals do not seem likely to bid. Span said he didn’t process the fact that Wednesday’s game might be his last in a Nationals uniform initially. After a few days, he did.
“It hadn’t been entering my mind, reading everybody’s well wishes and seeing people on Twitter appreciating me for what I brought to this organization on and off the field, just a great effort, has made me sad,” Span said. “I |
moment, Hall’s sense of humanity surged through him. We saw it again in the McDaniel fight. It sickened him to hurt people, which is admirable in real life but hardly a fight game virtue. That sense of humanity is a conflict in the profession, one that’s led to his downfall quicker than it has to any of those projected heights.
"I love Uriah Hall," Dana White told a media faction one disappointed night in Boston, after Hall dropped his second UFC fight to John Howard. "I have a great relationship with this kid. He’s one of the nicest human beings you can ever meet. But he’s not a fighter, man."
As much as we wanted the Jamaican-born Hall to re-enact the Cella wheel-kick on an endless loop -- that sequence of speed, acceleration and warped animal violence -- he couldn’t. Through two fights he’s 0-2 and conspicuously unspectacular. The criticism that comes with that kind of letdown sounds like a long sigh. Before White expressed his own disappointment in the Howard loss, he went on record to say that Hall "mentally broke" in his TUF finale bout with Kelvin Gastelum. And who knows. Gastelum, who lived with Hall for all these weeks, may have sensed this was possible.
But that’s where we stand heading into UFC 168 on Dec. 28.
Hall has gone from outsized expectations as a world-beater to a fighter thought to be without the guts to do his job effectively in the space of a year. Now he’s facing a do-or-die situation in his fight with Chris Leben, and he’ll arrive to Las Vegas fully aware of the things people are saying.
Here’s the odd thing, though -- he agrees with a lot of the criticism.
"I hear those things, and my first thought was what? Whoa. No one wants to hear those bad comments," he says. "But for me it’s taking the good out of it. I think you can learn from any situation. There was one point when my buddy brought the news to me, saying, ‘oh man, Dana says you’re not a fighter, what do you think about that?’ And I explained to him that Dana is right, I am not a fighter. I don’t go in there trying to kill someone. I enjoy the idea of picking someone apart. I’m more of an martial artist, and for me it’s just getting things perfect. It’s trying to get to that perfection level, even though I know that’s not something that I can achieve.
"[Dana’s words] did some good things for me, man. It’s in your face, but you look at people who are successful in life, you’re always going to have those struggles, always going to have those battles, but it’s about overcoming it. For me personally, it was a big deal. I just felt at one point that it was just so fast and so sudden that I couldn’t handle it. But it didn’t break me, it taught me. So it’s about redefining myself and bouncing back."
Obviously White can’t turn Hall’s blood cold. But when the objective is to get your hand raised, and your best route for doing that is separating your opponent from consciousness, Hall understands which side the paradox he has to fall on. And to shake things up, for this camp he trained primarily with Mark Munoz in California before heading to Oregon to tweak some things with Clayton Hires, Chael Sonnen’s striking coach.
"Coming off the show, I would say I felt nervous," Hall says. "It was just a new game to me. And I look at the UFC as like the Harvard of martial arts. You reach that high of a level, it’s like, whoa, all eyes are on you with the media and all that.
"But the other day I was at a local event and these guys were just fighting in the cold man. It was outside. It was in the middle of nowhere, and it was a mismatch in weight, I was like…are you kidding me? At that given point, I was like, I think I’ve got it good. And I realized I was kind of wasting away what’s in my hands. I wasn’t grasping it. It was like I didn’t realize my potential. It’s just a lot of stuff going on, but it’s about balancing it out."
Yet while training in the Northwest -- where Leben originally hails from -- Hall’s been dealing with the same old conundrums.
"I feel like this fight is a do or die, but I also look at it as a way to bring that side out of me," he says. "It’s kind of hard to explain. It’s like these two losses make me appreciate the wins more. It just kind of changed me to understand what I’m fighting for. And to go in there and put all those emotions aside. It’s something I’ve struggled with for a long time.
"Because, again, I don’t have that killer instinct. I don’t know how to go in there and kill someone. But I do know how to pick you apart and dismantle you. It was just focusing on that and understanding it and I’m at a point where I’m working with some great guys. I’m up here in Portland man and chopping trees and punching meet, that Rocky mentality, and it feels good."
If there’s ever been a fighter who could provoke the killer instinct (or at least some facsimile), it’s Leben, who came from the original Ultimate Fighter show.
Leben is entering his 22nd UFC fight, and he’s made a career of jumping on live grenades. He’s a fight night roulette player who moves forward and is ever-punchable, banking on his own chances to be the first to clip. The more he gets tagged, the more he trudges forward winging hands from the hip. Sometimes he knocks guys (Aaron Simpson got it that way, so did Wanderlei Silva), and sometimes he gets obliterated (hard to forget the Anderson Silva incident of ’06).
But when trying to draw the "fighter" back out of the fighter, Leben is the guy. And if the UFC had that in mind when booking "The Crippler" against him, Hall says he’s catching the drift.
"Probably," he says. "If anything, once I’m backed into a corner man, I’ll go through that person. It’s an interesting match-up. I think it’s great. I know he likes to come forward, and I know he said something about, ‘I’m going to pressure Uriah and break him.’ For someone to come at me, especially him who just walks forward, you couldn’t ask for a better target. It should be interesting."
Interesting because it’s a plank walk. Very likely this will be the last we see of either Leben (who sustained himself for so long on something like brawlability, but has lost three in a row) or of the 29-year old Hall (who will have extinguished himself out of empathy) in the UFC. The notable difference is that while Leben’s had his share of moments on the big stage, Hall has not. He has beaten guys with names like Nodar Kuduxashivili and Aung La Nsang, yet against fighters with Wikipedia pages, in the moments that count most, we’ve watched him disappear into himself.
"A buddy of mine made a comment, ‘are you afraid to be in the ring?’" he says. "It’s a little nerve-racking to be in there, but I’m not afraid to be in there. I’m more afraid to what I might do to my opponent. When I see myself bashing someone’s face in I’m like, oh crap.
"But, I’m over that."
Those are the inner-workings of what’s on display at UFC 168. Can Hall discover the killer instinct? Is he over that? Can he treat Leben as Leben will treat him -- that is, as a threat to do him harm, instead of a human being that must be handled with care? We’ll see Saturday night.
But what a thing it would be if he doesn’t. To come into public view as a boogeyman that incited fear in opponents, Hall may go down in history as the guy who, because he had such a vast collection of weapons, scared himself out of the fight game for fear of what those weapons might do.Students, former students, and friends of Pablo Villeda gathered at Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School in Wakefied on Sunday evening.
CHELSEA — Leonna Moore said she woke up around 2:30 Sunday morning to blood-curdling screams outside her Washington Avenue home.
“Help me! Help me! Help him! Help him!” a woman was yelling on the street, Moore said. Other neighbors called the police, who arrived to find the ruins of a late-night house party gone violently awry.
A 19-year-old Chelsea man died and seven people were injured after gunshots erupted near a first-floor apartment at 120 Washington Ave., authorities said. The shooting occurred during a raucous gathering in a vacant apartment that featured loud music, neighbors said. Police said minors were present.
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Neighbors said a former resident of the now-vacant apartment threw the party Saturday night, though it was unclear how the ex-tenant gained entrance.
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The family of Pablo Villeda confirmed that he was the teen killed in the shooting.
“One [person], a young man, was transported to Whidden Memorial Hospital with injuries that proved fatal, and seven others were transported with injuries that, at this time, are not believed to be life-threatening,” said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney’s office.
Keith Bedford/Globe Staff Investigators placed yellow caution tape at the spot where a blood-soaked shirt had been found. The crime scene was cleared around 4 p.m.
The surviving victims are three males, ages 15, 18, and 22, and three females, ages 15, 17, and 18, Wark said. One of the surviving adults suffered injuries not related to gunfire while attempting to flee, Wark said.
Neighbors who witnessed the chaotic scene said that person jumped out of a window after the shots rang out.
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Authorities did not release any more information, including a motive for the shooting, and have not made any arrests.
“It was crazy,” said a Washington Avenue resident, who asked not to be identified. “They were playing this loud music, and then, ‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ ”
Two friends of Pablo Villeda’s spoke about him near a home on John Street in Chelsea, where family and friends were gathering to offer condolences.
One man, who said he was Villeda’s uncle, wept as he looked at a photo of the teen. He called the shooting tragic and asked for privacy for the family.
He declined further comment, as did others who brought cards and food to the family home.
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Louis Ramirez, 23, of Chelsea, was at the scene of the shooting and preparing to join the family on John Street.
He said he was heartbroken to learn that his friend had died.
“He was a very good kid. It shocked me real hard,” Ramirez said as he stood on Washington Street and faced the yellow police tape.
Ramirez said his brother had been at the Washington Avenue party but left before the shooting began.
“There is a lot of violence going on in Chelsea. It has to stop,” Ramirez said.
About 80 friends and classmates of Villeda’s gathered Sunday night at Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School in Wakefield, where he had attended school and played football. His former teammates huddled around dozens of candles and yelled “family,” friends told stories of his funniest moments, and classmates lamented the loss of so young a life.
“It was about healing. And it shows we care about him and about each other,” said Pedro Del Toro, a 19-year-old friend of Villeda’s.
Walter Campos, a 20-year-old friend, said he was still in disbelief about the shooting. He wept as friends recounted stories of Villeda, who was known as goofy and fun-loving.
“He will never be forgotten,” Campos said.
Earlier on Sunday, Nicole Charles-White, who has lived on Washington Avenue for two years, said the row houses around where the shooting occurred have long been a problem in the area.
“I come home late, and you can always hear the loud music from there,” Charles-White said. “Other than that, I find the street pretty quiet.”
Keith Bedford/Globe Staff Police turned passersby away at the shooting scene.
Throughout Sunday, police scoured the area for evidence. At a house across the street on Washington Avenue, investigators placed yellow caution tape at the spot where a blood-soaked shirt had been found, and blocked off a portion of the street where more blood was visible.
Chelsea police investigators marked a set of loudspeakers in the middle of the street as evidence and asked one Washington Avenue resident to review his outdoor surveillance camera system.
The crime scene was cleared around 4 p.m.
Moore, who had awoken to the piercing screams, said she loves her neighborhood, but the incident was frightening.
“It’s not a little scary, it’s a whole lot of scary,” she said. “All this is weighing. It’s just very close to home.”
Later in the day, police dealt with more chaos in the immediate area. Gunshots erupted from a car on Blossom Street around 1:30 p.m., though no one was injured, a Chelsea police sergeant said.
It was unclear whether those shots were related to the shooting of the previous night, and no more information was immediately available.
Blossom Street is about one block from Washington Avenue, and the proximity of the shootings left some neighbors shocked.
“Are you kidding me?” one neighbor said, as news of the second shooting spread.
Carmen Hernandez, 48, who lives on Blossom Street, said she heard two gunshots Sunday afternoon.
Hernandez called on her fellow Chelsea residents to come together to plead for gun safety and peace.
“I’ve been blessed here, but I’m not blessed to have seen what I’ve seen,” Hernandez said. “It’s just sad.”
Dina Rudick/Globe Staff Walter Campos (left) hugged a fellow mourner during a candle light vigil that marked the shooting death of Pablo Villeda.
Dina Rudick/Globe Staff Pedro DelToro (left) and Gui Groscos were among the students, former students, and friends of Pablo Villeda also gathered at the vigil.
A map of the shooting scene:
Astead W. Herndon can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @AsteadWH. Nicole Fleming can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GirlEatsBostonJudge Lucy Koh has agreed to consider concerns Samsung has raised over possible juror misconduct in the landmark U.S. case Apple v. Samsung.
Samsung claims that Vel Hogan, the jury foreman in the trial, failed to reveal that he'd been involved in a lawsuit that resulted in his personal bankruptcy. During jury selection for the trial, Hogan did not tell the Judge Koh that he had had been sued by Seagate Technology, his former employer, and in 1993 filed for bankruptcy.
Samsung has a "substantial strategic relationship" with Seagate, according to court documents. So the company feels that Hogan should have revealed this information.
Judge Koh's order reads:
"At the December 6, 2012 hearing, the Court will consider the questions of whether the jury foreperson concealed information during voir dire, whether any concealed information was material, and whether any concealment constituted misconduct. An assessment of such issues is intertwined with the question of whether and when Apple had a duty to disclose the circumstances and timing of its discovery of information about the foreperson."
"I consider it quite troubling that the jury foreman failed to disclose that he had been involved in a lawsuit," Robin Feldman, Professor of Law at UC Hastings and author of the book Rethinking Patent Rights, told Wired via e-mail. "We question potential jurors so that the lawyers and the judge can assess the potential for hidden bias. If someone is forced to file bankruptcy as a result of a lawsuit, that is a searing and significant event – one that could subtly effect his ability to decide a case objectively."
However, based on the language of Judge Koh’s order, Feldman says it could be read to suggest that she will not overturn the verdict.
"The language suggests that the Judge could be framing the issue in terms of when Apple learned about the foreman’s past and whether Apple had a duty to disclose at the time. This would be a more limited focus than the question of whether Samsung was denied the opportunity to make a full evaluation of the foreman and whether the foreman’s past might have influenced his behavior in the case," Feldman said.
Apple and Samsung have been embroiled in intellectual property litigation across the globe, but the biggest U.S. case thus far began in 2010 with Apple asserting Samsung copied designs of the iPhone and iPad in its smartphones and Galaxy Tab products. Samsung retaliated that Apple was infringing on its 3G standards related utility patents. The case went to jury trial in San Jose, California in late July. After four weeks of arguments and deliberations, the jury found Samsung in the wrong and concluded it owed Apple over $1 billion in damages.
For Wired's complete Apple v. Samsung coverage, click here.Derek H. Burney was Canada's ambassador to the U.S. from 1989-1993. Fen Osler Hampson is a distinguished fellow and director of Global Security at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. They are the authors of Brave New Canada: Meeting the Challenge of a Changing World.
With a prime ministerial visit to China scheduled for the fall, it is time for Canada to establish a bolder, more coherent strategy on China – the country destined to play an increasingly important, albeit in many ways uncertain, role in shaping global events.
Of late, the bilateral track record has been checkered. Trade numbers are lopsidedly in China's favour; we import more than double what we export. Investment flows are stagnant. Sporadic attempts to raise the profile through Canadian ministerial and provincial visits to China have rarely delivered much of substance and have seldom been reciprocated by high-level Chinese visits to Canada. The Foreign Investment Protection Agreement (FIPA), negotiated more than two years ago, remains unratified by Parliament. The Economic Complementarities study, initiated during Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 2010 visit to China and released two years ago this month, had been intended to kickstart a broad-gauged trade negotiation. Instead it has languished on the shelf.
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Recent high-level, public denunciations of alleged Chinese hacking at the National Research Council, and the apparent tit-for-tat apprehension of two Canadian missionaries in northern China, send unsettling signals across the board and show little sign of astute diplomacy by either side. One wonders, too, why the erstwhile repository of advanced technology in Canada should be so vulnerable to hacking of any kind. Strong public scolding without concrete remedial action is not the most effective cure for any problem. As for the missionaries, their coffee shop enterprise and modest humanitarian efforts hardly smack of espionage.
Hacking of commercial or security intelligence is a serious offence but also a fact of life in today's world. It has been estimated that China accounts for 40 per cent of the millions of attacks occurring daily, most of which target the United States. But China is also on the receiving end of many attacks. As the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies recently reported, "Cybercrime is a growth industry … the likely annual cost to the global economy from cybercrime is more than $400-billion." Even so, there are better ways to contain and frustrate such activity other than blunt accusations that escalate tensions and prompt retaliation.
A good start would be to notify China, through diplomatic channels, of the evidence we have and demand answers. We should also vigorously upgrade internal controls and monitoring mechanisms to preserve and protect our own critical assets. We need to work closely with key allies to tackle abuse through tighter international co-ordination while giving our respective law-enforcement agencies the right tools to tackle cybercrime.
As the world's second-largest economic power, which many believe will soon overpass the U.S., China should also be engaged more pragmatically in areas that will serve Canadian interests. Neither fundamental differences over values nor squabbles over alleged security breaches should preclude constructive engagement where opportunities offer mutual benefit.
We need to be realistic about what we can achieve but, by seeking a more productive bilateral relationship with China, Canada does not have to cede or compromise the values of our own society. Diplomacy is not a "zero sum" game.
The choice of political systems is ultimately a matter for the Chinese people themselves. President Xi Jinping has his own serious challenges on the home front, not least the endemic corruption that is the inevitable by-product of a totalitarian, political system. The recent arrest of China's top security official on charges of corruption will certainly exacerbate tensions within the hierarchy of the ruling Communist Party.
Canada could take a leaf from the playbook of Australia and New Zealand and chart a strategic path that engages the Chinese in negotiations aimed at bolstering trade and investment relations, recognizing that many of Canada's economic strengths – resources, agricultural and energy in particular, services and some technologies – match Chinese needs. Initiating negotiations with China would also complement and strengthen our objectives with Japan and in the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
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Above all, we need to calibrate our interests and our capacity for influence with a healthy dose of realism on both. We should orchestrate some quiet but firm diplomacy to resolve current irritants. As for rhetoric, the Prime Minister would be well-advised to articulate soon precisely what Canada wants from China and why – in short, how he intends to play the China card – and embolden his team to deliver.
.The United States is projected to spend more on defense in FY 2009 than the next 45 highest spending countries combined, yet a push by conservatives and the military, backed by arms companies, is trying to lock the defense budget at 4% of GDP.
The unholy triumvirate of Pentagon deskwarriors, arms manufacturers and conservative fans of defense pork are ramping up a pressure campaign right now designed to inflate the military's budget requirements and thus provide a cushion for what they believe will be an Obama administration's pullback from record defense spending levels under Bush. By January, that campaign will be in high gear, with lobbyists and pundits enlisted to push for money to fund everything from missile defense plans against non-existant threats to stealth jets as counter-terrorism platforms against small groups of men with improvised bombs.
The centerpiece of their pressure plan is “Four Percent for Freedom” - a notion that defense spending should be pegged at a baseline of four percent of national GDP, forever amen. It's a dishonest and misleading slogan invented by the neoconservative Heritage Foundation but pushed by Dubya, John McCain, Republican lawmakers, CJCS Admiral Mullen and SecDef Bob Gates - one which if turned into policy will hamstring Obama's budget options, perpetuate a massive world of pork and undermine civilian control of the military. In this quarter's Parameters, the journal of the Army War College, Travis Sharp of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation lays out the reasons why Obama and the nation should say "No" to the triumvirate's lobbying.
The campaign is dishonest from the get-go. It's based on a claim that even Bush's profligate defense spending amounts to only 3.43% of GDP - but it neglects to account for $26 billion in non-DOD spending and $170 billion in supplementary spending on the misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. Taken all together, those amount to 4.73% of GDP and a staggering $711 billion dollars - a bailout a year or almost 50% of the governments budget. It's a vastly higher sum, in real terms, than the U.S. has ever spent on defense before and it outstrips, by a wide margin, spending by the rest of the world.
This means the United States will spend significantly more, in inflation-adjusted dollars, for defense in FY 2009 than it did during the peak years of the Korean War (1953; $545 billion), the Vietnam War (1968; $550 billion), or the 1980s Reagan-era buildup (1989; $522 billion).War (1953; $545 billion), the Vietnam War (1968; $550 billion), or the 1980s Reagan-era buildup (1989; $522 billion). The United States is also projected to spend more on defense in FY 2009 than the next 45 highest spending countries combined, including 5.8 times more than China (second highest), 10.2 times more than Russia (third highest), and 98.6 times more than Iran (22d highest). Indeed, the United States is expected to account for 48 percent of the world’s total military spending in FY 2009.
Travis points out that the only way the Bush administration could perpetuate this kind of overspend was through a massive increase in the deficit. If there is to be fiscal responsibility (as conservatives continually preach but don't practise) then that's not an option. Either taxes must rise or spending must be cut. As Travis writes: "Money spent on defense is money not spent on education, deficit reduction, infrastructure, housing assistance, or other important domestic spending priorities." Hamstringing Obama's budgetary options, then blaming him for the fallout, is a prospect sufficient to get many Republicans on board with this 4% conjob. But why should your retirement, your child's education or the future financial soundness of the nation suffer so that Republican's have a stick to beat Obama with, or furnish some dinosaur generals with shiny new toys which are overkill against any range of possible state enemies and don't have any application to today's non-state threats?
Our current armed forces have more than sufficient budget and manpower to deal with the current threat and [fourth-generation warfare] threats. However, they must be reorganized to fight the enemy as he is rather than remaining organized to fight the enemy of the past. The United States could take some current funding away from expensive high-tech weaponry, which may be useless in future Iraq-style conflicts, and redirect it toward enhanced intelligence, diplomacy, counterinsurgency training, language competency, humanitarian assistance, and nuclear nonproliferation programs.
A final argument against any 4% baseline is that it takes the power of the purse away from Congress, and the power of executive decision away from the Commander in Chief, in a very meaningful way. With no ability to set overall budgetary limits, civilian control of the military would be weakened and the current wasteful and pork-laden system would be set in stone beyond the powers of lawmakers.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in March 2008 that current programs are delivered 21 months late on average, five months later than the average in FY 2000. In FY 2000, the total acquisition cost of 75 programs increased from the initial estimate by six percent; by FY 2007, the cost growth percentage had more than quadrupled to 26 percent.30 “In most cases, programs also failed to deliver capabilities when promised—often forcing warfighters to spend additional funds on maintaining legacy systems,” GAO concluded.
This is what the unholy triumvirate want to keep -- a system that keeps the generals politically powerful, each in their own feudal holding, by virtue of the massive budgets they command. One that the arms manufacturers make out like bandits from. One that the political troughers and think-tank lobbists benefit from greatly. If they can make political hay from it too -- all the while neglecting to mention that it's your retirement, your child's education, you family's health, your taxes which will pay for their pork, then all well and good to their eyes.
Keep an eye on the Four percenters, they're going to be vocal and pervasive. The time to start countering their narrative and framing is now.
Crossposted from NewshoggersThe Chicago Blackhawks will have the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup on home ice Monday night for the first time since 1938.
But first, Lord Stanley had to clear the screening process at the airport.
As posted on Twitter by Philip Pritchard — the Stanley Cup's guardian — hockey's ultimate prize went through the X-ray machine just before taking flight to Chicago.
Xray of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StanleyCup?src=hash">#StanleyCup</a> enroute through security. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BecauseItsTheCup?src=hash">#BecauseItsTheCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NHL">@NHL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/HockeyHallFame">@HockeyHallFame</a> <a href="http://t.co/ZvWYIMp0tk">pic.twitter.com/ZvWYIMp0tk</a> —@keeperofthecup
The Cup wasn't the only piece of hardware going through the process. The Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs, also needed to pass through the security check.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ConnSmythetrophy?src=hash">#ConnSmythetrophy</a> made it through okay. On to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StanleyCupFinal?src=hash">#StanleyCupFinal</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BecauseItsTheCup?src=hash">#BecauseItsTheCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/HockeyHallFame">@HockeyHallFame</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NHL">@NHL</a> <a href="http://t.co/uTMXxeJYtH">pic.twitter.com/uTMXxeJYtH</a> —@keeperofthecup
The Blackhawks lead the final series against the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2, and can clinch their third Stanley Cup title in six seasons on Monday night.
Chicago has won 27 of its last 33 playoff games at the United Center.
"Obviously there's a lot of buzz, a lot of excitement, a lot of things going on around the entire event," captain Jonathan Toews said. "I think we're just going to do our best as individuals to focus on our job as players and focus on the game and nothing more."
The teams will play Game 6 tonight at 8 p.m. ET (CBC, CBCSports.ca).DMT Addiction and Recovery Facts
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Overview of DMT Use and Abuse
DMT is a hallucinogenic drug that produces intense experiences in users.
The drug can be taken orally, smoked, injected, or snorted.
Effects include depersonalization, auditory distortions, and altered sense of time and body image.
DMT can also cause a range of side effects such as hypertension, dizziness, and agitation.
Long-term use exposes the user to serious effects including flashbacks, coma, and death.
The drug is not thought to be addictive, and overdose potential is low.
What Is DMT?
N, N-Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is a drug best known for its ability to produce powerful visual hallucinations. Many regard the high from DMT as a spiritual experience.
DMT is a naturally occurring tryptamine compound found in many different kinds of plants, and it can also be made in a lab. Tryptamine is also produced in the human body and plays a fundamental role in much of its central nervous system regulatory processes. In fact, findings have suggested that tryptamine plays a role in the moderation of sleep, memory, body temperature, behavior, and cognition.1,7
How It Affects the Brain
It is unclear how DMT affects the brain. It is believed to act as a serotonin receptor agonist, which means that it may increase the perceived activity of this neurotransmitter in the brain.2 Increased stimulus at the serotonin receptor is believed to have a polarizing effect on neurons, causing their firing rate to slow and leading to overall sensations of relaxation.
The pineal gland may secrete DMT as a person approaches death.
DMT leads to increased disinhibition and excitability across many systems within the body, including heart rate and cognition.3 Interestingly, there is some belief that the pineal gland excretes DMT as a person approaches death. This could account for the vivid imagery described by individuals who have had near-death experiences.4
Street Names
Fantasia.
Businessman’s trip.
Businessman’s special.
Dimitri.
45-minute psychosis.
Treatment Options and How to Pay for Recovery
DMT addiction isn’t common. But people who develop a problem with DMT use can seek treatment at an inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation program. Many people who use DMT also abuse other drugs and can get treatment for other addictions while in treatment.
Inpatient or residential rehab centers. These are live-in facilities where you work with a therapist on the causes of your addiction while attending group therapy and addiction education sessions. Many inpatient facilities can treat polydrug use as well as any mental or medical issues you may be experiencing.
Outpatient recovery centers. These programs do not require you to live at the facility. Instead, you visit the center a few days a week for a few hours at a time for individual or group therapy.
12-step programs. These are programs where people with a substance abuse disorder meet to support each other on their road to recovery. You work with a sponsor to complete a series of recovery steps. Narcotics Anonymous focuses on people struggling with drug abuse such as DMT.
Choosing a Rehab Program
Before beginning a recovery program, research your DMT treatment options and learn more about the substance abuse treatment process.
This way, you can make a more informed decision about your treatment and know what to expect when you enter a program.
Cost and Paying for Treatment
The price of a DMT treatment program will depend on
How much your insurance covers.
How long the program is and how long you stay.
The kind of program it is (inpatient, outpatient, etc.).
The program’s features.
Where it’s located (city, rural, beach, mountains).
Get more information about insurance and paying for treatment below:
If you don’t have insurance: Look into other payment options or call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s toll-free helpline to find a recovery program without insurance.
How Is It Used?
DMT can be snorted, smoked, injected, vaporized, inhaled, or swallowed as pills or a liquid.7,8
DMT Use Around the World Various forms of DMT have been in use around the world. For instance, DMT is used during some tribal rituals to achieve a spiritual relationship with a higher being.2 In South America, the plant anadenanthera peregrina, or yopo, is either ingested or smoked to achieve a psychedelic experience. The experience is believed to be the result of higher concentrations of DMT in the anadenanthera peregrina. 2, 3
Effects
Short-Term Effects
DMT’s effects come on very quickly but usually wear off within 30 to 45 minutes.8 The drug has the potential to produce very intense visual hallucinations that can involve radically altered environments as well as body and spatial distortions.2,3, 10 Other effects include:8
Depersonalization.
Auditory distortions.
Altered sense of time.
Side Effects
The short-term physical effects of taking DMT include:8
Hypertension. Increased heart rate. Agitation. Seizures. Enlarged pupils.
<li eyes).
Dizziness.
Long-Term Effects
Frequent and/or long-term use of DMT can result in an increased risk for rare but serious effects such as:7
Persistent psychosis—ongoing mental problems such as visual disturbances, trouble thinking clearly, paranoia, and mood swings.
Flashbacks—re-experiencing effects of DMT, such as hallucinations, that can come on without warning. In some cases, these effects can interfere with a person’s ability to function, a condition known as hallucinogen persisting perceptual disorder.
Signs and Symptoms of Addiction
At this time, the risk for becoming addicted to DMT is believed to be relatively low. Unlike alcohol, cocaine, or heroin, DMT does not lead to compulsive drug-seeking behavior. However, some people can develop a psychological dependence on the drug.
If you or someone you know experiences impairment in his or her life due to DMT use and has 2 or more of the following symptoms over the course of a year, consider seeking help from a substance abuse rehabilitation center: 6
Taking more DMT than intended or for a longer period of time.
Inability to quit or cut down DMT use.
Spending large amounts of time acquiring DMT, using it, and recovering from its effects.
Intense craving for DMT.
Inability to fulfill responsibilities associated with work, school or home due to DMT use.
Using DMT despite social and interpersonal difficulties related to drug abuse.
Abandoning recreational, social, and occupational responsibilities in favor of DMT use.
Using DMT in physically dangerous situations such as driving or operating machinery.
Continuing to use DMT despite a physical or psychological problem that is aggravated by DMT use.
Developing a tolerance to DMT. Increased amounts of DMT are needed to get desired effect. Lesser effect when same amount of DMT is used.
Overdose Symptoms
It is difficult to overdose on DMT. Injecting the drug, however, holds the potential for administering too large a dose of the drug. The typical dose is 60mg, delivered by intramuscular injection. An individual would have to take 91 times the typical dose to be at an increased risk for overdose.4
Nonetheless, the safety of high doses of DMT remains in question. A large number of deaths that have been associated with DMT were found to be a result of preexisting conditions.5 According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, coma and respiratory arrest have been associated with DMT use.8
If you suspect that someone may be suffering an overdose, call 911 immediately or visit the local emergency room.
Statistics
In 2016, 2.2 million people age 12 and older (0.8%) reported using DMT, AMT, or 5-MeO-DIPT (“Foxy”) at least once in their lives.9
This number was an increase from the 2.1 million people who reported lifetime use in 2015.9
Teen DMT |
to have them in two languages, our two official languages. It has been three months since the announcement was made, and I was hoping to have the documents earlier.
However, even if you cannot give us a date, let me point out the significant impact this will have on cheese imports, especially in Canada's rural areas. You know that our dairy and cheese producers will be seriously affected by this agreement.
By comparison, with both the proposed free trade agreement with the European Union and the current agreement between Canada and Mexico, Canada is allowing over 9 per cent of dairy products, including cheese, into our market, whereas the European Union is allowing only 1 per cent and the United States, 2.5 per cent.
The fundamental question is this: If the agreement is not finalized, given the considerable impact on our dairy production, is it possible to include a transition period of at least 10 years to allow our industry to make adjustments and perhaps look for other markets?
In the European Union, people in the know are aware that the subsidies Switzerland provides to its dairy and cheese producers are substantial. However, based on our understanding of the agreement, nothing has been required from Switzerland or even Finland in order to have fair trade in the dairy sector.
I have a couple of questions, and I hope you will be able to answer at least one of them. If a final agreement is not signed—it has not yet been tabled in either chamber—could there be a transition period of at least 10 years for the sectors that are most affected, that is, dairy and cheese producers?
My second question is this: Why was Switzerland, a member of the European Union, not required to comply with the same dairy production and export conditions and the same limits on government subsidies that Canadian producers are required to comply with?
Senator Carignan: We reached the agreement in principle with the European Union and released the details of the agreement. On October 29, the Prime Minister tabled in the House of Commons the summary of the final negotiated outcomes of the Canada-European Union trade agreement. As I just explained, the lawyers are still working on the technical details and linguistic aspects.
As for supply management, here is at least one answer. You spoke about supply management, which is an important aspect. As the son of a farmer and milk producer, this is a matter to which I have paid close attention.
Our government has always defended the Canadian supply management system, and we will continue to defend it in this agreement.
There has been no change in the three pillars of the national supply management system. We will monitor the effects of this historic agreement on the revenues of dairy producers and, if production levels are negatively affected, producers will receive financial assistance, as the minister has already announced. This agreement confirms once again that our government will continue to defend and promote the Canadian supply management system.
You need not worry about this government's desire to defend supply management. I don't know if that reassures you, but I hope so.
Senator Ringuette: No, senator, you have not reassured me, because it is one thing to defend or say you are defending the supply management system in the dairy industry, but it is quite another thing to accept the terms of a free trade agreement whereby certain parties, as in the example I gave earlier regarding Switzerland and Finland, have systems based entirely on government subsidies for their production. Why did Canada agree to that? When it comes to cheese and dairy production, why did Canada agree to allow Swiss and Finnish producers to continue to benefit from government subsidies, when our producers receive no subsidies from the Canadian government through the supply management system?
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Senator Carignan: Senator Ringuette, as you yourself said, this is an historic agreement that will create thousands of jobs for Canadians, not to mention the fact that Canadian businesses will have access to half a billion new customers. It will also open European markets up to Canadian businesses and result in significant spinoffs in terms of jobs and opportunities for all Canadians. That is why our government has made a firm commitment to continue to defend our supply management system, specifically with respect to cheese producers, and if these historic agreements have a negative impact on the revenues of dairy farmers and on production levels, the farmers will be financially compensated, to help them through this transition period.
Senator Ringuette: The Dairy Farmers of Canada have said that they will lose 2.2 per cent of their current milk production and at least 4 per cent when it comes to cheese. On average, every dairy farmer will see a significant decrease in revenue.
On top of all that, there is the fundamental question of the degree of monitoring we will have at our ports of entry to identify the goods imported under this agreement.
I have an example. We have a free trade agreement with the United States. I am told that every week, trucks filled with U.S. milk come into Canada through our port of entry at Woodstock, New Brunswick. They are bringing in U.S. milk by the truckload, even though it can be imported into Canada only for personal consumption. Nevertheless, this happens every week. There is no monitoring. How can dairy farmers have faith in the agreement and in the degree of monitoring you will provide?
Senator Carignan: As I said, the three pillars of our national supply management system remain unchanged, and the government is committed to ensuring that dairy farmers will receive financial compensation if their revenues or production levels are negatively affected by this historic agreement.
[English]
On the Order:
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Moore, seconded by the Honourable Senator Day, for the second reading of Bill S-204, An Act to amend the Financial Administration Act (borrowing of money).
Hon. Joseph A. Day: Honourable senators, I haven't had a chance to speak to Senator Martin with respect to Item No. 11, but I do have an interest in the subject matter and had intended to speak on it. I note it's at 14 days.
I'm wondering, first of all, if Senator Martin is intending to speak and would like to reset the clock, or may I ask that it be adjourned in my name? It's in Senator Martin's name now, and if the senator has an intention to speak, then I would encourage honourable senators to allow it to be adjourned in her name.
Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Government): Yes, I'm aware that it is at day 14. Thank you for asking, Senator Day.
I will ensure that I look at this carefully and for tomorrow.
(Order stands.)
Hon. James S. Cowan (Leader of the Opposition) moved second reading of Bill S-208, An Act to establish the Canadian Commission on Mental Health and Justice.
He said: Honourable senators, I intend to speak to this matter. Other events have consumed my attention, and I'm still working on my notes. I would ask that I take the adjournment for the balance of my time.
(On motion of Senator Cowan, debate adjourned.)
Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu moved second reading of Bill C-452, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (exploitation and trafficking in persons).
He said: Honourable senators, it is a great honour for me to present to this chamber Bill C-452. The purpose is to help victims of human trafficking obtain justice and to ensure they are better protected.
[Translation]
I want to thank independent MP Maria Mourani for championing this bill in the other place, where it was passed unanimously.
There are three specific steps involved in human trafficking: the recruitment, transportation and harbouring of another person for the specific purpose of exploiting that person — including sexually — or using that person for forced labour.
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Any one of those steps is considered a human trafficking offence.
Before talking about the bill, I would like to provide a brief overview of human trafficking in Canada. Unfortunately, it is a significant problem in our country and in Quebec in particular. That is why, on December 9, 2013, the Minister of Public Safety, Steven Blaney, announced that the RCMP would set up a special squad to fight human trafficking.
In Canada, it is estimated that between 80 and 90 per cent of the victims of trafficking are destined for the sex industry. Canada is also considered a tourist destination: not just conventional tourism, but also sex tourism. Our lax laws tend to attract many criminals, and their victims remain silent.
Unfortunately and contrary to what one might think this type of criminal activity does not just happen in developing countries. Criminal Intelligence Service Canada indicates in its 2001 report that, in Canada, the average age of entry into prostitution is 14.
[English]
In Canada, the majority of human trafficking victims are women between the ages of 12 and 25. These statistics are more than 10 years old. Today, victims are even younger. Here is an example.
[Translation]
Two years ago, I met with a group of people in Montérégie, south of Montreal, who work with young girls in difficulty. I was surprised no, that word is not quite strong enough I was astounded and stunned to hear that these professionals were monitoring nearly 200 young girls who were prostituting themselves, often in order to pay off drug debts. We are talking about 200 young girls who will likely vanish without a trace in the coming years because they will be sent to other cities to be sexually exploited.
According to the 2004 figures from the United States Department of State, every year an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people are victims of human trafficking in Canada and are brought to the United States.
[English]
It is estimated that, every year, traffickers bring approximately 600 women and children into Canada to service the Canadian sex industry.
[Translation]
This odious trade is dominated by organized crime, but street gangs have become new players in recent years. The Montreal police service, the RCMP and other police forces in Canada have declared human trafficking to be one of their priorities in the fight against crime.
It is thought that since the end of the 1990s, street gang members have transitioned from small-time recruiters to high-level pimps, specializing in child prostitution of young girls, mostly between the ages of 11 and 18. A girl can bring in around $280,000 a year for her pimp. If we do the math, 20 girls could bring in around $6 million a year for a pimp. Now imagine these 200 young girls from Montreal's South Shore who have been exploited in this way. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. Human trafficking is among the three most lucrative organized crime activities.
[English]
In fact, global revenues generated by this crime are estimated at some $10 billion U.S. each year.
[Translation]
The crimes committed by these people — whom I would describe as slavers — are very serious. Victims are always tortured, confined, raped and forced into prostitution. Sometimes they disappear and are simply murdered. It is important to take all of that into account.
This bill would ensure that sentences for human trafficking or procuring and associated crimes are served consecutively.
[English]
The other problem that police officers and prosecutors have identified is their ability to bring a victim to testify.
[Translation]
The problem experienced by these professionals in our justice system with this type of crime is that the victims do not want to testify. Why? Because they are afraid, because they have significant post-traumatic stress and they are afraid that they will be victimized again. A number of victim advocacy groups tell me this all the time. The victim should no longer bear the burden of proof.
[English]
Canada can no longer accept that only one woman out of ten reports their attackers and that 40 per cent of these women will drop their complaints during legal proceedings.
[Translation]
In order to encourage victims to report crimes, we are making another important change to the Criminal Code. With regard to procuring, subsection 212(3) of the Criminal Code currently provides for the reversal of the burden of proof. This same principle is reflected in this bill with subsection 279.01(3): the reversal of the burden of proof for the crime of human trafficking.
Thus, when the police have enough evidence to lay charges, they will not necessarily have to have the victim testify. The reversal of the burden of proof for procuring will be applied to human trafficking.
[English]
The pimp would have to prove that he is not living on the avails of the exploitation of another person, which would save the victim from having to testify.
[Translation]
Another important aspect of this bill deals with the forfeiture of proceeds of crime. As I was saying earlier, a lot of money is made from human trafficking. This crime pays for two reasons: a girl can bring in a lot of money for a pimp and it is not very likely that she will report him. The pimp does not have to do a lot or spend a lot of money to operate his business.
At present, section 462.37 of the Criminal Code on the forfeiture of proceeds of crime allows for any goods criminally obtained to be forfeited in the case of any criminal organization offences punishable by sentences of five years or more and any offences under section 5, 6 or 7 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Human trafficking and procuring offences will also be part of that section from now on. The bill adds those two provisions to section 462.37.
[English]
To conclude, I would like to ask you, honourable senators, to do something meaningful for victims of human trafficking and support this bill. We need to remember that we don't need to go to Thailand to see children as young as 12, 13 and 14 years old being trafficked.
[Translation]
We also need to remember that adults are unfortunately the victims of this trade as well. This trade — if we can call it that — primarily exploits women, young girls and children. I think "slavery" is a better term for it.
[English]
I believe we need to rise above partisan politics on this issue. It is our duty to reinforce the human trafficking provisions of the Criminal Code.
[Translation]
I want to thank my colleagues, and I urge everyone to support this bill in the name of justice, but especially in the name of humanity. Thank you.
(On motion of Senator Fraser, debate adjourned.)
[English]
On the Order:
Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Mitchell, seconded by the Honourable Senator Dyck, for the second reading of Bill C-279, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (gender identity).
Hon. Grant Mitchell: Mr. Speaker and colleagues, it is a unique situation and circumstance that I get to speak about this bill for a second time at second reading. That doesn't happen very often. It's unfortunate in some sense that it has to happen with this bill because we got it to third reading in the last session and could have had a vote on it.
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Of course, I'm speaking of Bill C-279, which is a bill to amend the Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to protect the rights and the physical and psychological well-being, to elevate and recognize the importance of the issue of discrimination against transgendered people in our society.
It is worth noting that the reason that I get to speak on this for a second time at second reading is because of a particular set of rules that apply to private members' bills from the government side, after prorogation.
This bill was developed and sponsored by Member of Parliament Randall Garrison, a member of the New Democratic Party. I congratulate him on the work he did.
I also should point out that this bill was passed with all-party support in the House of Commons. It was across the sides. Eighteen Conservative members of Parliament voted in support of this bill. Four of them were cabinet ministers and at least one of them was a former cabinet minister. It says something about the context of what has been happening in this place about the importance and the significance of a non-partisan approach to bills and issues of the day.
I get to speak to it at second reading because, under the rules of parliament, after prorogation, the private members' bills, no matter where they were in the process through the Senate — so they have advanced from the House of Commons to the Senate — get to go back to first reading, essentially, as a matter of course, under these parliamentary rules. So, this bill went back to first reading.
That's different than what would have happened to a government bill. Had a government bill worked its way through to the Senate and not been voted on at third reading by the time prorogation occurred, then it would be off the Order Paper in both houses. So, this is quite unique and it's a unique rule to the Senate.
I want to say that I'm inspired to have the chance to speak yet again about this issue, because I think it is so important, so deeply significant within the fabric of Canadian society. It addresses rights in a way that reflects generally what Canada is and what Canada is acknowledged to be around the world: a great, wonderful, accepting, warm society that understands human rights and that each of us, as individuals, are profoundly important. This bill captures that.
It's unfortunate, on the other hand, that I have to speak to it a second time. That has occurred only because it got to third reading and didn't get a vote. My experience in talking to colleagues on both sides of the house, prior to its arriving at third reading in the previous session, was that there is a good deal of support, maybe unanimous on this side, and a great deal of support among Conservatives in the Conservative caucus.
The problem was that it didn't come to a vote. I would encourage members on all sides to encourage those who control the question of whether bills like this come to a vote to ensure that it does come to a vote.
We would think very rarely of defeating a government bill. Why? Because it has been supported and passed by elected representatives. Yet, we're a little more cavalier in this house about defeating private members' bills. At the base level of democratic representation, a private members' bill passed in the House of Commons is no less significant a representation of the will of Canadians, as reflected in their elected representatives, than is a government bill.
In fact, if you actually add up support, considering that the government received 40 per cent of the vote in the last election, any bill without opposition support comes across here as really reflecting, to use numbers statistically, 40 per cent of the population. However, if you consider that all of the opposition on the other side, plus 18 per cent, which is over 10 per cent of the Conservative caucus, supported this, you're talking about over 60 per cent of the Canadian electorate being reflected in the vote of their respective MPs in support of this bill. This is a bill that has had powerful support, therefore, by a broad majority, as reflected in the support that was accorded opposition and government MPs who supported this bill, and in the support they received in the last election.
This is a formidable bill with formidable democratic support under our democratic system, and it should be no less important to at least come to a vote than any government bill that comes from the other house.
I should say there's another unique feature to the bill that has changed since we last saw it at third reading, and that is that it no longer has the amendment attached to it that was moved by Senator Nancy Ruth. We all know of her profound passion for equal rights and for women's rights, and I think we can all appreciate what her amendment would have done, which was to add "sex" in as an element of the Criminal Code for determining the level of severity of an act of violence, a crime against an individual on the basis of sex — that is addressing, largely, violence against women, but violence against men as well. We all understand and appreciate the passion and the depth that she brings to that issue.
Now that issue, interestingly, is no longer attached as an amendment to this bill; we're starting over. What's also interesting is that the government has actually accommodated her amendment in Bill C-13, the cyberbullying bill. In fact, that bill, now under section 12, will include, among other new definitions of identifiable groups in the Criminal Code under section 318(4), national origin, age, mental or physical disability, and it will include sex.
Therefore, the need for Senator Nancy Ruth's amendment to this bill has really been usurped, if I can say, in a good way, by the government's own Bill C-13. It's quite a breakthrough for women's rights, for recognition of those rights and for dealing with violence against women. To some extent, it will smooth the process of Bill C-279. I don't agree this amendment would have necessarily held the bill up, but there were those in the public with whom I've spoken who were concerned that that amendment did do that. Now, that's off the table, as it were, because it has been dealt with in another piece of legislation.
I've said that this is an important issue, and we all know that it's important because it addresses rights, equality rights, and it really is a reflection of what we, as Canadians, believe ourselves to be. We're not perfect when it comes to discrimination, but we go a long way past many societies and nations in this world. I think we have a great deal to be proud of.
One of the proudest moments, and perhaps one of the best things I feel I've ever done in politics — and I've said this a number of times — was one of the first major bills that I worked on when I was first appointed in 2005 and that was the gay marriage bill. I remember working on the committee with, among others, Senator Joyal, as we sat through the summer to hear some remarkable testimony. It may have been that our Speaker, himself, was on that committee.
That was a very powerful experience for me, to see both sides of the debate, and to see the quality of input and the minds of the witnesses before our committee is something I will never forget.
The moment that bill passed, for me, was one of the proudest moments I've had in politics over the many years I've been here, because I felt it captured and reflected what we are as Canadians, and it provided leadership in the world. If we weren't the first country to do it formally and officially, we were one of the first countries to do it. I think it is something that we, as Canadians, can be immensely proud of.
What is interesting about the debate about gay marriage is that so many of the elements that were argued against gay marriage — this argument that it might damage the family, that somehow it would erode society, that somehow it would weaken the concept of parenthood, and whether or not gay couples should be allowed to raise children — really and truly have all been settled.
Our society hasn't changed in a negative way because of gay marriage. In fact, I would argue quite the contrary; there are a lot more happy people in our society because they can express their love for somebody in the way they choose and they get recognition from our society in a very high and significant way — marriage — to do that. For me, it was a very powerful experience and a very proud moment.
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Now we have another chance to do it, to extend rights — recognition, in one sense. I know this rights thing is a loaded idea in this kind of debate, so let me clarify it. The bill extends recognition to the extent that it will modify the Canadian human rights bill, and it extends protection to the extent that it will define transgendered people as an identifiable group under the Criminal Code, ergo increasing, enhancing and giving more power to their defence in our society.
So it's not just a question of rights, which, as I say, is loaded; it's a question of recognition, of giving these many people a sense of place in our society, to confront the alienation, the distance and the real lack of place that they feel — not only in our society, but sometimes in their own families.
It also just protects people. When I look at Bill C-13, the anti-bullying bill, at the very root of Bill C-279 is the case to be made and the mechanisms to be implemented to fight bullying. Bill C-279 is absolutely an extension, if not an enrichment, of Bill C-13, the anti-bullying bill. Many of the people who would be covered to some extent by this anti-bullying bill, who are bullied in cyberspace, are in fact transgendered people, and they won't have the recognition in the anti-cyberbullying bill that other groups will, yet they are, to some extent, and there's evidence, perhaps one of the most bullied groups of people in our society. In fact, there is evidence that when it comes to violence against groups for identifiable characteristics, they may well be the single greatest recipient of and sufferer as a group from violence, certainly psychological and probably physical violence, in Canadian society.
So we have a chance to distinguish ourselves again and to reflect what I think Canadians believe fundamentally in their hearts, that all Canadians should be treated equally, and if any Canadian is in danger, is oppressed, is bullied or is the object of violence, we should be able to stand up and help defend them. We can do that.
It's also a remarkable opportunity, once again, for the Senate to emphasize and demonstrate how it works within the parliamentary system in the defence of minority rights. There is no question that this group, people with gender identity, some would say "issues" — they wouldn't — but who fall within this category, do suffer extreme discrimination and are a minority, absolutely. The numbers would indicate that there may be upwards of 170,000 or 200,000, but statistically and in every other way they are a minority, and we are here as a Senate to defend minority rights.
I'm not going to go through everything I said last time. I'm going to add to some of that, but I will summarize. The bill will do two things. It will amend the Human Rights Act to specify gender identity as a fundamental right and basis for defining discrimination. It will say after this bill is passed that officially you can be discriminated against for your gender identity. You shouldn't be, but if you are, it will be defined as a negative officially within the Canadian Human Rights Act.
Second, the bill will amend the hate crimes section of the Criminal Code to include gender identity as a distinguishing characteristic in defining hate crimes under section 318 and also as an aggravating circumstance to be taken into consideration at sentencing under section 718.2 of the Criminal Code.
I read before in my previous speech to second reading last year that the purpose has changed essentially only by adding to the list of discriminatory practices defined in the Human Rights Act based on a number of things: race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. Of course, it's straightforward how it would be included in section 318 and section 718 of the Criminal Code.
A lot of this bill hinges on the definition of gender identity. That has been a controversial feature. It was controversial on the other side, and in fact changes were negotiated in a way that allowed a number of Conservative members of Parliament who otherwise were reluctant to support this to support it. The definition of gender identity was more limited in its application and excluded gender expression, which I would argue isn't problematic but was seen by some to be problematic; but there are absolutely official definitions. This is the one in this bill is:
"gender identity" means, in respect of a person, the person's deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex that the person was assigned at birth.
We've all received the emails. Some people are concerned about how you could ever deal in law with something that's a deeply felt internal and individual experience. Well, that's what the courts generally deal with — people's perceptions, intentions. In fact, we accept at face value people's religion and their expression of their religion, yet that religion is not somehow evident. To some extent, if people wear certain kinds of clothing or certain icons, yes, but most of us have a religion, a religious association or a commitment of faith that is respected, and that's a deeply held belief. That already has been included in both of these acts, without any concern about how you define religion. I think the parallels there are very strong.
The Canadian Psychological Association affirms that all adolescent and adult persons have the right to define their own gender identity regardless of chromosomal sex, genitalia, assigned birth sex, or initial gender role. Moreover, all adolescent and adult persons have the right to free expression of their self-defined gender identity.
They go on to state that they oppose stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination on the basis of chromosomal sex, genitalia, assigned birth sex or initial gender role, or on the basis of a self-defined gender identity or the expression thereof in exercising all human rights.
Some will argue — and I think it is much less prevalent — that gender identity is a choice, that somehow you can change yourself from your gender identity. But we have come to accept that in the case of homosexual gender identity, really and truly it isn't changeable. It is what you are. In fact, that's very much the case that's been made over and over again by people in the transgender community and by scientific study. Scientific studies indicate that roughly 60 per cent of all trans people are aware that their gender did not match their bodies before the age of 10 — this is not something a child would make up — and that over 80 per cent have this deeply felt awareness prior to the age of 19. It isn't something that somebody would make up, if you consider the intense discrimination, often psychological, often physical, often very violent, that they experience, if not every day, many days. Many of them will tell you that they experience this almost every day and that it pervades their life. They sense an alienation, a profound lack of acceptance, a fear of bullying, of violence, of rape, of economic discrimination, discrimination in the workforce, in housing and medical care, and they experience unprecedented levels of suicide.
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It just seems to me that this kind of issue is so personal that nobody should stand in judgment of it. If someone decides that their gender identity is whatever it is, then it is their right to be who they are. In this country of Canada, if you can't be who you are under those circumstances, in what country could you possibly be who you are?
Oscar Wilde made a wonderful point and it was quoted by MP Randall Garrison. Wilde said, "Be yourself; everyone else is taken."
The bill is a step toward allowing transgender people the greater possibility of being themselves without the fear of psychological and physical bullying, and sometimes even worse.
Let me give you some specific statistics. I will highlight them.
Job statistics: In recent studies only one-third of trans Ontarians were working full-time, and upwards of 20 per cent were outright unemployed. That is over three times the current rate of unemployment in Canada today. Not only that, but if they have a job they are generally significantly underpaid. Their average income is $30,000 per year, despite the fact that as a group transgendered people are highly educated.
Twenty-six per cent of them have some post-secondary education; 38 per cent have completed post-secondary education; and 7 per cent have master's degrees or better.
Not only do they have difficulty getting work and are underpaid when they get it, but they often have a difficult time in their employment due to hostility to their orientation, particularly at a time when they decide to come out and try to change their visible public gender identity, which is a powerful moving force in their lives.
The rates of depression among transgendered Canadians are as high as two-thirds. The rate of crimes against transgendered people is extremely high. They are the most likely group to suffer hate crimes involving violence. Research specific to the Ontario case — because there has not been a wide national body of research — is that 20 per cent of trans people have been physically or sexually assaulted because they were transgender.
Suicide, I know, is a concern for all of us. It has been a public policy debate and it's increasingly elevated now because of the situations with the military and RCMP. Seventy-seven per cent of trans people in Ontario reported seriously considering suicide at some time in their life; 43 per cent reported they had attempted suicide; and of those who attempted suicide, 70 per cent first tried at age 19 or younger. Adolescent youth transgendered people are twice as likely to consider and attempt suicide as their non-transgender counterparts.
This bill is about education and elevation of the issue. As Justice La Forest of the Supreme Court of Canada said, a failure to explicitly refer to transgender identity in the Canadian Human Rights Act leaves transgendered people "invisible."
Our colleague, Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler said in the house:
The Canadian Human Rights Act is more than just an act of Parliament. It is an act of recognition, a statement of our collective values, and a document that sets out a vision of a Canada where all individuals enjoy equality of opportunity and freedom from discrimination.
There is no question that transgender people are discriminated against for doing something that in no way, shape or form would hurt anybody else. If we can't defend them in these two acts, how does that reflect the fundamental values that Canadians share? It doesn't. We need to defend them by way of modifying these two acts in the way that Bill C-279 would do.
There have been many arguments against the bill. One was the definition issue, which I have dealt with. The other is the question of what was inappropriately, derisively and unfortunately coined as the "bathroom bill." The implication is so far from the truth; the idea that somehow, something inappropriate is going to happen in a bathroom has never been proven. Any experience in the United States where these kinds of rights have been extended — and four states responded to Randall Garrison's inquiry — there has never been a crime under this or a "misuse" of these rights.
Any court in Canada can distinguish between what is criminal and what is not criminal activity. That is what courts do. Our court system, which is clearly one of the most elevated in the world, would be more than capable of doing that absolutely adequately.
When I said that the experience of deliberating and reviewing the gay marriage bill was a powerful moving experience, I am reminded of my experience since undertaking to sponsor this bill. I met remarkable people in the transgender community, like the people who for 25 years in the gender mosaic have advocated, fought and struggled to come this close to getting these rights recognized.
I have been to two transgender days of remembrance ceremonies. A number of things were striking about them — the power of the presentations, the emotion, and the way that the transgender people and their parents who presented at these services and memorials were very moving. I wish every one of my colleagues in this Senate chamber had been there to see that.
What is also unique about the two I went to is that one was in Calgary and the Calgary police force had an element of their transgender rights group. That is a group of police people, constables and volunteers within the police department, who specifically work with the transgender community, so it's recognized clearly by that police department. In fact, the transgender memorial that I went to in Ottawa was at the Ottawa Police headquarters. The chief of police spoke there and underlined, as did others, the importance of this issue to them and how much a profound crime they see this discrimination and violence against transgender people to be. They get it. Those two police forces — and I expect you will find this across the country — get it. They understand that transgender people have every right to be protected. They protect them and focus on it in a special way because they understand they are treated with inordinate levels of violence and a motivation of violence that comes from a very dark place.
What also came out of my experience at these services were the presentations by parents and by transgendered people. I would like to share that with you, because what we're talking about isn't some amorphous group; these are individuals. Many of us will know some or many. We will know them but not know they are transgender. They are sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers and they are Canadians and they are our neighbours. I will talk about one.
I will mention some excerpts from a presentation by one transgendered woman. She was assigned male at birth, lived a life and fought this presence in her life of in fact knowing she was a woman. She married and had children, tried to fit the mould that society imposes on people in these circumstances all too often. Finally, she very eloquently made her point in this speech that she could no longer live with herself if she couldn't be herself and if she didn't have the courage to come out to the world and live the way she was and be who she is.
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I will list some of the things she had said, her fears, because they were deep and she was very nervous when she presented to us.
I was afraid that I would not be able to pass, that people would spot me from a mile away and know what I was. I was afraid of being ridiculed and laughed at. I was afraid that I would never be able to get a decent job and I would have to subsist on low-paying jobs and be poor for the rest of my life. I was afraid that I would lose friends. I am a spiritual person and I was afraid I would never find a church that would accept me. I was afraid of how my family would react, afraid that I would lose those relationships most important to me, especially my children. And I was afraid of the uncertainty. After many years of working and living, my life was predictable and I could chart a fairly comfortable course into my retirement. I was afraid I would lose any certainty in my life.
It is interesting that one of her biggest fears was to come out to her family. There are a lot of indications that that can be a problem. One of the very impressive people I have worked with on this bill is a transgendered woman, like this woman I am quoting. She is a very successful lawyer and clearly extremely intelligent.
Her parents are convinced that she is transgendered because she hit her head when she was eight years old. Since coming out, her sister has not spoken to her. She has never met her nieces and nephews. She is allowed to come home but not on Sunday and not if anybody else is in the house. Imagine what that would do to you. And then to come out to a society that does not acknowledge you even under the most fundamental, basic rights and recognition, which is the Canadian Human Rights Act.
However, this particular transgendered person I am quoting was fortunate in this way:
My father is elderly, conservative and religious. I didn't know how to tell him.... I had sent a letter on ahead with my sister, so Dad could read it and have time to absorb it while I drove back to his place.... He met me at the door, hugged me, said he loved me and I would always be welcome |
built on top of Rack that can then be utilised by any application based upon Rack. This again reduces duplication of effort within the community. Things that can be implemented in the Rack layer, for example caching, are and that removes the need for functional clones for each Rack-based framework that wants the same functionality.
Why it matters to you as a.NET developer
If you’re thinking “well I don’t do integration tests, write HTTP servers or web frameworks, why should I care?” I’ll tell you why you should. For the frameworks you use, a.NET equivalent to Rack would eliminate a large amount of tedious and brittle code that adds no direct value to a framework. This would allow the developers of frameworks to focus their time on refinement giving you more powerful and stable tools to work with. You may not use it yourself but you will benefit from its existence within.NET.
A.NET equivalent to Rack would open the door for a whole new generation of web frameworks to be written. The barrier for writing a quality web framework would be lowered as the nuts and bolts of request and response handling would be a solved problem. We could see some real innovation in.NET rather than a mass of clones of frameworks from other languages.
The door would also be opened for existing servers, such as Apache, to be used for hosting.NET applications and enable entirely new servers to be created. IIS would have competitors. This alone makes it worthwhile. It would make the choice of.NET as a platform less tied, if at all, to choosing Microsoft as a vendor. Even more so than Mono does today, particularly in the web space.
There is a discussion going on right now about creating or choosing a single, common abstraction around HTTP, like Rack, for.NET. Get involved in this discussion and contribute some of your time. This is an opportunity to vastly improve the.NET ecosystem. We cannot afford to miss it.A little while back we looked at the hypothetical Fijian side, which was overflowing with barnstorming backs who were accompanied by some great forward talent.
There was a 9-6 split of Fijians and ‘foreigners’ in the starting XV, with a further 4-4 split on the bench.
This weeks Samoan side is heavily laden with Samoan talent who have pledged allegiance to other nations. Similarly to the Fijian side, a lot of top tier nations sport Samoan talent among their ranks, however the Wallabies and All Blacks dominate this squad with 5 and 4 respectively.
If this weeks Samoan side were to face last weeks Fijian side, my prediction would be the Samoan side to run out victors by 1-2 tries due to the dominant forward pack.
RUGBY WORLD CUP (RWC) RESULTS:
Samoa’s World Cup campaign ended with only one win and three losses, in a disappointing result for the Pacific Island Nation.
Their first match up came against the USA Eagles (25-16), their only win of the competition. A convincing loss to South Africa (46-6), an upset loss to Japan (26-5) and a close defeat to Scotland (36-33) rounded out their World Cup.
THE HYPOTHETICAL MANU SAMOAN TEAM
Seeing as I did a hypothetical Flying Fijian team, I thought it would be only fair to continue with the other Pacific Nation sides.
This Samoan side is brimming with world class talent, both young and old. The backline would be as strong as an international side and the forward pack would definitely hold its own.
Here’s my Samoan side.
STARTING XV (International Team) – Professional Club (Competition)
1- Scott Sio (AUSTRALIA) – Brumbies (Super Rugby)
Sio’s inclusion and improvements for the Wallabies in 2015 has seen him emerge as one of the best loose-head props in the world.
The son of former Samoan Test prop Tevita ‘David’ Sio. has continued his families rugby heritage and is no doubt Australia’s premier prop at the age of 24.
2- Keven Mealamu (NEW ZEALAND) – Retired 2015 from Blues (Super Rugby)
Super Rugby’s most capped player (175 caps) has also represented his nation on 132 occasions. He has shown a longevity in such a brutal position (hooker) which not only reveals his drive, but the physical and mental strength of the man.
He brings a level of leadership which would be valued at any nation, something which has presented him with the opportunity to lead the haka on 31 occasions.
3- Census Johnston (SAMOA) – Toulouse (Aviva Premiership)
This 138kg Samoan bohemith is not shy of experience, representing his nation since 2005 over 3 RWCs, while notching 61 caps for Saracens and over 150 games for Toulouse.
4- Will Skelton (AUSTRALIA) – Waratahs (Super Rugby)
The Wallabies mammoth made his international debut in 2014, sending Folau over for a try and scoring one himself.
As a big man who possesses a rare offload as well as suprising pace, he is virtually unstoppable in space.
5- Iosefa Tekori (SAMOA) – Toulouse (Aviva Premiership)
‘Joe’ Tekori adds versatility to the Samoan and Toulouse sides, as his 6ft 6in, 130kg frame can fill in the back or in second row.
With over 150 caps for Castres, including a stint as captain, 64 caps for Toulouse and 34 for Samoa, he provides vast experience that can never go astray.
6- Victor Vito (NEW ZEALAND) – Hurricanes (Super Rugby)
Vito is one of only 20 dual RWC winners, being a key member in both of New Zealand’s 2011 and 2015 campaigns. With a history in the New Zealand 7’s side, he possesses a strong running game coupled with dominant defence.
He posted arguably his best Super Rugby season to date in 2015 and after his second RWC win and with a history in 7’s, he remains a possibility as a late bid for the New Zealand 7’s 2016 Olympic side.
7- Jack Lam (SAMOA) – Bristol (RFU Championship)
His RWC dream has taken him around the world, originally showing strong potential in Australia and being named in the same under-20s side as Cooper, Beale and Pocock he switched his allegiance to his country of birth (New Zealand).
With a few Super Rugby seasons under his belt for the Hurricanes and no sign of a Wallabies or All Blacks call up in sight, he again switched his allegiance, this time to Samoa.
8- Hendrik Tui (JAPAN) – Reds (Super Rugby)
The Japanese number 8 had in injury riddled 2015 season, only playing the final two games for his Reds’ debut season.
The Auckland-born back rower demonstrated what the Reds have been missing out on during his 2015 RWC campaign and he will be looking to make an impact on the 2016 Super Rugby season.
9- Kahn Fotuali’i (SAMOA) – Saints (Aviva Premiership)
Another Auckland-born international, Fotuali’i first made a serious bid for international rugby during his 2010 season with the Crusaders, starting majority of games over All Blacks’ halfback Andy Ellis.
Many rugby pundits thought he was heading for the black jersey, however he was to don the Samoan blue during the 2010 end-of-season tour. He didn’t take long to make an impact on the international scene, scoring a try and earning Man Of The Match on his debut against Japan.
10- Matt Toomua (AUSTRALIA) – Brumbies (Super Rugby)
Toomua’s attacking prowess and devastating defensive have seen him spend equal time at fly-half and inside centre.
The Wallabies playmaker has recently signed a deal with Leicester for the 2016-17 season, which has been cause for concern for Australian rugby fans and officials. It is not uncommon for players in their twilight years to sign abroad, however at 25 Toomua is in his prime.
11- Joe Tomane (AUSTRALIA) – Brumbies (Super Rugby)
The ex-NRL youngster made the code-switch to Union in 2012, making his Wallabies in the same year.
Prior to his 4 year stint in the NRL, the powerful speedster represented the Australian Schools team, alongside James O’Conner and Matt Toomua. The world-class winger has reportedly started a bidding war for his services, after apparently being linked to a Montpellier deal post 2016.
12- Christian Leali’ifano (AUSTRALIA) – Brumbies (Super Rugby)
Another player who is as comfortable at fly-half as inside centre, Leali’ifano’s footwork and passing precision have seen him represent Australia at schools level, sevens, under 21s and for the Wallabies.
With 635 points for the Brumbies, he is ranked as their second highest all-time point scorer and at the age of 28, he doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
13- Ma’a Nonu (NEW ZEALAND) – Toulon (TOP 14)
Arguably the worlds premier inside centre, Nonu would have to be shifted to outside centre in this star studded side.
The barnstorming, 107kg centre narrowly missed out on All Blacks selection for the 2007 RWC, however he went on to star in the black jersey throughout the 2011 and 2015 RWC successes.
The household name has signed for the Toulon for the 2015-16 season, strengthening potentially the worlds strongest club.
14- Julian Savea (NEW ZEALAND) – Hurricanes (Super Rugby)
Drawing comparisons to the late Jonah Lomu, Savea stands at 6ft 4in and weighs in at 109kg.
With almost every touch of the ball, Savea leaves numerous defenders sprawled out in the ground in his wake. It is this trait that has led him to receive the nickname ‘The Bus’.
15- Tim Nanai-Williams (SAMOA) – Ricoh Black Rams (Japanese TOP League)
Nanai-Williams was the first player to make use of the eligibility laws, which has seen him represent both the All Blacks and Samoa.
This nippy utility back has speed to burn and can fill in at fullback, winger or centre, making him a valuable addition to any team.
BENCH
16- Motu Matu’u (SAMOA) – Hurricanes (Super Rugby)
17- Sakaria Taulafo (SAMOA) – Stade Francais (TOP 14)
18- Anthony Perenise (SAMOA) – Bristol (RFU Championship)
19- Filo Paulo (SAMOA) – Benetton treviso (PRO 12)
20- Ardie Savea (NEW ZEALAND U20’s) – Hurricanes (Super Rugby)
21- Vavao Afemai (SAMOA) – Samoan 7s (HSBC World 7s Series)
22- Male Sa’u (JAPAN) – Rebels (Super Rugby)
23- Sonny-Bill Williams (NEW ZEALAND) – New Zealand 7s (HSBC World 7s Series)
Players who just missed out:
Jack Lam, Tusi Pisi and Alesana Tuilagi all from Samoa.
Lima Sopoaga, Francis Saili and Robbie Fruean from New Zealand
Peter Betham, Ben Tapuai, Chris Feauai-Sautia and Karmichael Hunt from Australia.
Thretton Palamo from America.
AdvertisementsPITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A mother is facing a long list of charges, accused of abusing and abandoning her young son and allegedly forcing him to take drugs.
Police are looking for the woman, identified as 39-year-old Rochelle Daniels of Brighton Heights.
Investigators say, among other things, she is accused of abandoning her 5-year-old son and may have forced him to smoke crack cocaine from a pipe.
According to the criminal complaint, the boy told police his mother put a “long thing” in his mouth, and “took something white and put it on the end.”
Then, he told investigators, “Mommy lit the end of it and told me to smoke it.”
Daniels’ neighbor, Antwan Burton, admits that she left the little boy with him on Aug. 27 and did not return.
“I don’t know why. I couldn’t tell you exactly why she didn’t come back. I know she didn’t come back and that was it,” said Burton.
The criminal complaint reports that after the boy snuck out of Burton’s home and ran to a neighbor’s house, his aunt eventually came and got him. She’s now caring for the 5-year-old and filed a missing person report for his mother.
She told police that she found Daniels’ home “in extreme disarray with a strong odor, along with food and garbage scattered throughout the house,” the criminal complaint reports.
The child also told investigators, according to the criminal complaint, that his mother locked him in his room in the dark, left him alone at night, and “always” wanted him to sleep.
He also told authorities, “I had to get food from my neighbors because I was so hungry.”
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Davis is wanted on charges of endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person, corruption of minors and simple assault.
“Everybody have their demons, you know,” said Burton. “What happened behind closed doors, I don’t know.”
Like Burton, other people in the neighborhood are defending Daniels. They say they thought she was a good mother. But they haven’t seen her since late August.
“She loved her son. As far as having her son smoke crack, I don’t buy that,” said Burton.FIFA 4-2-2-2 formation
1st. Our favourite formation on FIFA 19. Creative formation designed for slick passing with strong defensive positioning. Depending on the opponent strengths and weaknesses the CAMs can attack inside or outside working 1-2s round defenders and lobbed balls over the top. Works really well with most attacking styles especially fast build up.
Advantages– Very attacking with freedom for the CAMs to influence. Excellent for ball position and 1-2 passing.
Disadvantages– CAMs not naturally good wingers for crossing so change to this formation after kick off. Takes a while to get used to the positioning.
FIFA 4-3-3 formation
2nd is the 4-3-3 formation. We prefer version 2 with one holding CDM. Very attacking and we love cutting inside from the wings or beating the fullbacks on the outside. Suits long ball style and also fast build up.
Advantages– Has close midfielders for triangle passes with high wingers to stretch the play. Extremely good for counter attacks, don’t even need to set players to run in behind. One of the strongest formations for attacking if good at FIFA.
Disadvantages– Can be weak in midfield if only 1 player who can tackle. Need to know how and when to build fast plays and how to work space for passes.
FIFA 4-1-2-1-2 formation
3rd is one of the best FIFA formations in all versions of FIFA. Two variations are very different. The narrow 4-1-2-1-2 is great for dominating possession and very strong defensively. Can use Cam and the two CMs with the two strikers as an attacking 5. Lots of 1-2 passes will help your players cut through defences. Set the CAM to free roam and top creative players will try dominate the game. The 4-1-2-1-2 with wingers isn’t as good position wise but can be effective if you have very strong powerful wingers.
Advantages– Strong attack and defence with players spread over the middle of the pitch.
Disadvantages– Slightly predictable as most attacks will be down the middle.
FIFA 4-2-3-1 formation
4th is 4-2-3-1 formation which might surprise lots of people. Many Pro FIFA players think this is the best FIFA formation as it is very strong with two defensive midfielders. The reason we didn’t have this higher is because you need a top striker to make this work attacking wise. Most Pros have Ronaldo etc early on in the game with amazing CAMs behind.
Advantages– Extremely strong defensively if have good powerful CDMs.
Disadvantages– Can be hard to get the striker into the game and create chances.
FIFA 3-5-2 formation
5th is 3-5-2 formation which gives good positioning across the pitch for attack and defence. The CDMs can cover the wing to help defenders and also fill the midfield when attacking. Excellent for fast build up and possession play. We would have this higher but on FIFA 19 you really do need cover on the wings as well as the middle.
Advantages– Good for dominating midfield and lots of attacking options to outscore your opponent.
Disadvantages– Only three defenders leaving space down wings. Left and right mids need to have defensive skills or rely on CDMs, can get confusing defensively.
The other formations are in no particular order. Often you need to decide whether you base your play on players or a formation. Then adapt one to the other. Luckily you can now set formations and tactics so in game you can switch quickly. Meaning you can have wingers in a formation and then set them to be CAMs in a different formation.
FIFA 4-4-2 formation
The classic formation over the years. Rather than focusing on a creative player who can freely move about the pitch it is a more organised structure of defenders and midfielders. Moving as a line up and down the pitch.
Advantages– Solid and good for attack through the middle or on the wings. Fullbacks can support wingers. Two strikers with midfielders lined up behind them.
Disadvantages– No designated defensive midfielder. Some midfielders might be set to low defence work rate and not defend.
FIFA 4-4-1-1 formation
Almost same as 4-4-2 to use on FIFA but not as good. If you have a very creative forward who likes to dictate the game and roam around like Messi does did then this is the formation for you. Better for a passing team and less direct.
Advantages– Solid and slightly more defensive than 4-4-2. The CF can be used to break up play or be the creative force.
Disadvantages– No designated defensive midfielder. Some midfielders might be set to low defence work rate and not defend.
FIFA 4-3-2-1 formation
Similar to the 4-3-3 but the left and right forwards are tucked inside rather than to the wings. If you have a passing team with creative forwards can work well or if using a target man as the main striker. The forwards will run ahead of knock downs and through balls. Difficult tactic to use but more effective with more expensive players (Bale, Mbappe etc).
Advantages– A close forward three can work short balls to find gaps often 2 v 1 against a centre back.
Disadvantages– Not as strong in midfield and no wide players. Very narrow formation.Talent
Have you ever seen a talent show on TV where one act is so unbelievably good and despite all the talent they not only don’t win, but they don’t even make the finals? You have? It’s annoying isn’t it? Well if there was a TV talent show for albums, then Camels 1974 album, Mirage would be one of those albums that would do just that, a clear winner that would not even make the finals.
Mirage was voted number 21 in the 50 greatest Prog rock albums of all time in Rolling Stone magazine so musically, why it would fail to sell well is a mystery. Mirage is a well rounded, jazz, folk, metal fantasy-themed progressive rock album of the highest order yet it failed to enter the UK album charts and only just crawled into the US billboard 200. Perhaps its to do with the bands endorsements of cigarettes that had something to do with its lack of publicity and therefore lack of sales?
Whatever it is, we’ll look at it later, first lets get you listening to Camel, Mirage via YouTube before you read any more so you can judge for yourself how brilliant it is or login in to Spotify
If you want more information on the group Camel then here is a full biography on Last.Fm otherwise if you’re interested in Camels second album, Mirage, the bands finest work then stick with me. I’ll take you on a Mirage journey in more detail starting with all the facts and figures of chart positions and pressings and then we’ll look at a few other oddities and concentrate of the music with a little help from Billboard 200, Paul McCartney, Londons’ Philharmonia Orchestra and some cigarettes…
Chart Position
According to RateYourMusic.com the album was first released in the UK on 1st March 1974 and was rolled out to USA, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Greece in the same year. The Deram was the first and most valuable of the labels, although it was also pressed on Passport, Janus, London, King and North American labels. I have an original UK pressed Deram with the inner sleeve as seen below and in Rare Record Collector 2016 guide it’s valued at £50. I would add though, I wouldn’t sell it at any price, so please don’t ask!
Finding chart positions has been difficult because Mirage didn’t set the world on fire but after some research I have found back issues of billboard magazine which has helped track down the USA positions. It’s first occurrence in the USA charts was at position 205 on 16th November 1974 where it was in the “bubbling under” section of the Billboard 200 pop charts and a week later when it had crawled to position 203 before eventually breaking into the charts at position 188 on 30th November 1974. During the Christmas weekend it reached it’s highest position of 149 where it stayed for a fortnight before slowly slipping down the charts. On 1st March 1975 it finally left the US 200, having dropped from position 185 the previous week after 13 weeks and that’s it – that’s all I have.
Cigarettes
We’ll take a walk through the tracks in a moment but before we do lets look at why the album was problematic from the start…
You see the band didn’t get their name from the humped, spitting creature that roams the deserts but from the cigarettes they smoked and there lies the problem because not everyone shared their love of the cancerous weed, particularly the American music industry. The bands website has the full details but from a marketing point of view, cigarette endorsements, even in the 70s were a disaster. What was even worse was the iconic camel cigarette logo cover on the USA version of album had to be scrapped and replaced with this…
…the USA cover is not very inspiring is it?
Let’s go through the tunes…
Album Review Side 1
Side one opens with Freefall (5mins 55sec) featuring Andy Latimers stunning guitar and some super fast drumming from Andy Ward. The lyrics and the vocals are a little tame in this track but it’s all backed up with an ensemble of rock/jazz guitar and organ work creating a genuinely bright and interesting start to the album. The quality of Latimers playing is a significant strength to the album either on flute or guitar. His skills were recognised at the prog rock music awards in 2014 when he was awarded for his lifetime achievement.
Up next is one of the highlights of prog rock Supertwister (3mins 20 sec)
This kicks off with Latimer on flute and an exciting percussion back drop with ground breaking use of bottles and aerosols providing the rhythm and ends with probably the greatest ending to a record in the world (I should have used a Carlsberg for this picture but we only had Tetley)
We’re now into the last track, three part 9 mins 18sec of Nimrodel, Procession and The White Rider which all combine to form one song. A slow intro leads onto church bells ringing and crowds cheering before leading to the JR Tolkien Lord of the Rings inspired “White Rider”, featuring echoing guitar solos similar or better than Dire Straits Mark Knopfler coupled with Peter Bardens mini moog, organ, and celeste. There’s even sections where the mini moog takes centre stage very similar to Mike Oldfields Tubular Bells and also sections where the Mellotron gets an airing. Don’t know what a Mellotron is? It’s the instrument used in the introduction of Beatles Strawberry Fields for Ever, Paul McCartney explains
Album Review Side 2
OK now flip it over to side 2 (for those listening on vinyl of course)
Earthrise (6mins 50secs) starts with some howling wind sound effects to set the scene and the mini moog is providing the “vocals” for an instrumental that just doesn’t need lyrics to tell the story. A real belter of a rock song for you to let your hair down to, Doug Ferguson laying a base with his bass (what else!)
and then track two side 2 is Lady Fantasy at a very healthy 12mins and 59 seconds long – not quite 13 minutes (which would be unlucky I guess) “Listen very carefully my words are about to unfold”
This is pure prog, all over the place, up and down, varied and magical with a large helping of full heavy metal mixed with elegant guitar, organ and Celeste solos. If you don’t know what a Celeste is then Elizabeth Burley of the London Philharmonia will explain. The track builds and builds before finally heading for a mellow “Dire Straits” finale.
Mirage is pure poetry so play it again and again, you’ll never get bored of listening to this album.Editor's Note:
Obama ‘Blunder’ Spawns Massive Profit Opportunity
Editor's Note:
Obama ‘Blunder’ Spawns Massive Profit Opportunity
Even Bill Maher thinks California taxes are too high.On his HBO show “Real Time” on Friday he was quick to jump in during a panel discussion on Washington budget proposals, Newsbusters first reported.MSNBC host Rachel Maddow slammed Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan as “a document that says the big problems in America right now are that rich people do not have enough money. They need relief from confiscatory tax rates. And poor people have too much access to affordable health care.”But the liberal Maher disagreed."You know what?” Maher responded, “Rich people … actually do pay the freight in this country.""I just saw these statistics. I mean, something like 70 percent. And here in California, I just want to say liberals — you could actually lose me. It's outrageous what we're paying — over 50 percent. I'm willing to pay my share, but yeah, it's ridiculous."In 2010 Maher had a different outlook when writing on The Huffington Post, “I've done some math that indicates that, considering the hole this country is in, if you are earning more than a million dollars a year and are complaining about a 3.6% tax increase, then you are by definition a greedy a--hole.”Nestled in an idyllic scenic area in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, picturesque Liping County became the stage for violent clashes over the weekend between local villagers and riot police.
“Thousands” of locals, mainly members of the Dong ethnic minority, participated in demonstrations on June 27, overturning more than ten police vehicles.
Hundreds were injured during the clashes, and one woman was beaten to death by baton-wielding police, according to Falun Gong-founded New Tang Dynasty Television.
The protests reportedly began when the county government sent armed police to guard demolition crews as they tore down a series of local homes that did not comply with building codes.
Famed as one of the “Six Most Beautiful Old Towns in China,” regulations decree that any new builds in Liping must have a wooden exterior to fit in with the traditional architecture of the 800-year-old settlement, and cannot exceed a certain height.
Villagers who gathered around the scene began hurling stones and bricks at the police. After their retreat, tactical units from the surrounding area were moved into the village to suppress the unrest.
The next morning, both the village and township heads fled Liping along with other government officials, and images and videos of the unrest were removed online.
One of the 55 ethnic minorities officially recognised by Beijing, the Dong number close to three million people, mostly concentrated in Guizhou, Guangxi and Hunan. Liping is home to 1,000 households and 6,000 people.As growth in the world’s second-largest economy slows, the spotlight has intensified over the accuracy of China’s growth figures. This week, Xu Dianqing, an economics professor at Beijing Normal University and the University of Western Ontario, joined the debate with an estimate that China’s gross domestic product growth rate might just be between 4.3% and 5.2%.
China’s official growth rate in 2015 was 6.9%, the slowest pace in more than two decades, allowing the government to hit its target of around 7%. But longstanding questions over China’s statistical methodology have spurred a cottage industry in alternate growth indicators.
Many of these analyze other measures believed to be less subject to political pressure in estimating actual growth, including indices compiled by economists at Capital Economics, Barclays Bank, the Conference Board and Oxford Economics. Most peg China’s annual growth in the 4% to 6% range.
Mr. Xu told reporters at a briefing this week that the focus of his concern is the growth rate for China’s manufacturing sector, which according to official figures grew 6.0% last year and accounts for 40.5% of the economy.
A closer look at underlying indicators, however, including thermal power generation, railway freight volume, and output from the iron ore, plate glass, cement and steel industries released monthly by the National Bureau of Statistics paint a different picture, he said.
Of some 60 major industrial products, nearly half saw output contract in the January to November period, while railway cargo volume fell 11.9% for all of last year, according to official sources.
Given weaker industrial output in China and more than three years of industrial deflation, a 6% expansion for manufacturing in 2015 is questionable “no matter how the number is counted,” said Mr. Xu, who added that he believes it’s more probable that industry and construction grew at most by 2% last year and perhaps not at all.
That translates into economic growth that tops out at 5.2% last year and perhaps something in the 4s, assuming the official agriculture and service sector growth figures are correct, he said.
Mr. Xu said it’s unlikely that the service sector– sometimes cited as an explanation for growth rate discrepancies – did better than reported by authorities.
Many attempts to parse China’s growth rates take inspiration from the nation’s top economic official, Premier Li Keqiang, who as a provincial governor in Liaoning was quoted in a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable saying that China’s GDP numbers were “man-made” and therefore unreliable. Mr. Li recommended looking at three indices—electricity consumption, rail cargo volume, and the volume of loans disbursed – for a more accurate picture. This and subsequent variations became known as the “Keqiang Index.”
In December, state media said that “water injection” -- a Chinese phrase for cooking the books – by local officials in the northeast rustbelt provinces of Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Jilin – had distorted investment and growth figures for years, without providing details.
The National Statistics Bureau did not reply to a request for comment. In a news briefing last week after China’s 2015 growth figure was released, the agency’s head Wang Baoan told reporters that China’s economic data was “valid and reliable” and its methodology in line with “global standards.”
The statistics agency has some 20,000 people in an affiliated investigation team that have studied, verified and “improved the production quality of the statistics,” he added.
Mr. Wang could not be reached for comment. On Tuesday, China’s antigraft agency said on its website that it was investigating Mr. Wang for alleged violations of discipline, a term typically used by investigators for corruption charges. There is no suggestion that the probe is linked to his duties as head of the statistics agency or to its statistical methodology.
Mr. Xu said his calculations and his conclusion that growth is slower than the official rate suggests assume that the official figures for growth in the agriculture and service sectors – which are not released in detail -- are correct. If the 8.3% increase for the service sector and the 3.9% increase for agriculture are questionable, actual growth could be lower, he added.
--Pei Li. Follow him on Twitter @teamlipei.Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
The removal of placards supporting a health campaign has cost Waverley Borough Council more than £500, it has been revealed.
The People’s NHS, which has been campaigning nationally, set up estate agent-style boards in the front gardens of homes throughout Farncombe in February.
The signs read ‘Cameron and Hunt, Stop the Sale’, a reference to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal, which has led to claims that it will see the NHS be privatised.
Residents who placed the signs on their land received hand-delivered letters on January 28 from Matthew Evans, head of planning services for the borough council, stating that they constituted illegal advertising.
People were advised to remove the signs and told that they would be taken down by council employees if they were still in place the following week.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act have shown that the cost of removal to the council was £534.02.
This was broken down into £518.89 of staffing costs, to hand deliver the letters, £2 in printing costs for 200 letters, and £13.13 in fuel costs to drive borough council vans to Farncombe to collect the placards.
Campaign group members collected their placards from the council, so there was no cost for the disposal of the signs.
The People’s NHS claims that Waverley is the only council to remove the placards, which campaigners say have been going up across the country.
They have subsequently handed in a petition to the council against the ‘gagging’ of the campaign.
The People’s NHS was unavailable to comment on the figures."About six years ago I decided to give it one more try before I gave up. My goal was simple, I wanted to live one more year. My wife and I had recently buried my dad and her mom, we didn't talk about it but we knew I wasn't too far behind. I looked at the pain in her eyes as she put my socks and shoes on one morning and it hit me... I was next, I was the next loss that she would experience.
In my early twenties I was diagnosed with a disease called Elhers Danlos Syndrome. During the next two decades the disease had taken it's toll on me. I did what I was supposed to do. I was told to move less and keep my body as quiet as possible. As a result of my choices I found myself a 400+ pound, sick, crippled addict by the time I was 38 years old. Desperate and hopeless I stumbled onto a couple films on Netflix, one of which was Forks Over Knives. I wasn't searching for anything but a way to slow down the speed of the spiral I was stuck in. I had no idea what I was doing or how I was going to do it. I had no idea where the plant-based path would take me, in fact, I had no idea what plant-based even meant. I also had no idea that it would destroy my world.
See my world looked much different than it does today. My world had been reduced to trying to escape reality. I used food, drugs, alcohol, and TV to distract me from the truth in my world. My world consisted of canes, crutches, braces, pills, doctors, alcohol, fentanyl, chronic pain, sleepless nights, and a helpless, hopeless existence. A plant-based lifestyle not only destroyed that world but it replaced it. My bitter, selfish world turned into a life of gratitude and selflessness. My crutches turned into trekking poles, my drugs turned into authentic happiness, my hopeless nights were turned into an excitement to live everyday to it's absolute fullest. My search for a scooter turned into the latest running shoes and my need to "move less and keep my body as quiet as possible" turned into miles, 5202.4 actually, although that will change in a few hours. My MRIs, high blood pressure, high sugar, high cholesterol were also destroyed and replaced with a clean bill of health that my doctor himself envies. My world of percocet, hydrocodone, codeine, oxycontin, and fentanyl...... destroyed, and replaced with climbing mountains, 5ks, 10ks, half and full marathons, 100 mile bike rides, and Ironman.
While my world was being destroyed, my beautiful wife of 24 years watched the changes. She was getting healthier as a result of having some healthy food options. Then it happened........ about two years ago her world also got destroyed. Her world of carrying 80 extra pounds, being tired all the time, crashing on the couch, and feeling like she was just surviving the week had been destroyed by a plant-based lifestyle. Her tired and fatigued days were replaced with a life full of energy, in fact, so much energy she's run so many races that we have lost count. Her medical conditions were also destroyed and replaced with a pristine bill of health.
Somewhere along the way, I'm not really sure exactly when, but our marriage world was destroyed. Our married world consisted of take out food, fast food, and movies. Hours on the couch and years of ordering pizza and wings, gone, destroyed. But our marriage world was also replaced. Our passion for food has been replaced with a passion to help people find the plant-based lifestyle. From teaching classes to being filmed for movies and interviews, things look very different now. But ya want to know what we like most about the plant-based lifestyle?........
It's out there for anyone. Change is a choice and we think that's awesome. So, tell ya what, give this whole food plant-based thing a try.. maybe your world can get destroyed too!
"
Eat plants and move your body, all ya gotta do is a |
during a free-agency process that ultimately drove the Heat icon into the awaiting arms of the Chicago Bulls.
Now, with Westbrook under contract for the next two seasons (and possibly an unlikely third with a player option that is not expected to be exercised), the Heat and the NBA can move on.
Yes, LeBron, once his new one-and-one deal is finalized, can become a free agent next summer. As can Stephen Curry. But does anyone -- anyone -- expect them to move on?
Beyond that, do you leave a franchise in limbo these next 11 months just for the hope of landing Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, Gordon Hayward, Kyle Lowry or an aging Chris Paul, the remaining Best of '17?
For the Heat, the makeover has to come next summer, what with Tyler Johnson's contract then kicking in with annual $19 million salaries starting in the 2018 offseason, with the Heat having to fork over 2018 and 2021 first-round picks to the Phoenix Suns from the Goran Dragic trade, and with, by then, a more definitive read on Chris Bosh's future going forward.
The thing is, with Westbrook off the board for two years, and effectively out of the Heat's reach in 2018 should he bypass his player option, it allows the Heat to more immediately address the long view with potential trades, be it with Dragic or a Hassan Whiteside who doesn't live up to his four-year, $98 million deal.
In recent years, looming NBA free agency has practically paralyzed the Heat, be it in 2014, when, while awaiting LeBron's decision, they attempted to go the appeasement route with the additions of Shabazz Napier, Danny Granger and Josh McRoberts, or this past offseason, when almost all beyond Whiteside (and including Wade) was put on hold for Durant.
In hindsight, for all those rings Riley was able to plunk in front of prospects, it was the riches on his roster that enticed, particularly the lure of Wade first to Shaquille O'Neal, and then to James and Bosh.
Then Durant looked at the Heat's roster and said? Um, yeah, no. And that well could have been Westbrook's response, as well, next July, had he had kept himself on the market.
The comfort with the easy button might have gotten too comfortable for the Heat: just plan on adding the best free agent on the market, lather, rinse, repeat.
Now the development process can be rejoined, already in progress. Now the Heat can work to establish a centerpiece from within to woo (Hassan Whiteside, your time is now). Now the trade market can be addressed without overriding concern of sacrificing a salary-cap buck or two.
Russell Westbrook's decision to restructure and extend delivered clarity to the Thunder.
It might have done the same for the Heat, as well.
IN THE LANE
NO RESPECT?: Hassan Whiteside went into his offseason negotiations playing the respect card, after emerging among the most coveted free agents this offseason, rewarded with his four-year, $98 million contract from the Heat. Now there is another opportunity to play that card, with offshore bookmaker Bovada.lv ranking the Heat center behind 22 other candidates in its odds for 2017 NBA Most Valuable Player at 75-to-1, including third among centers behind DeMarcus Cousins (33-1) and Karl-Anthony Towns (50-1). That's also behind the 66-1 of former Heat and current Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade. Stephen Curry and LeBron James top the board at 15-to-4. Whiteside was the lone Heat player among the 36 listed with MVP odds. The real question with Whiteside is whether his first All-Star berth is looming, with Dwight Howard having moved East to the Atlanta Hawks and Joakim Noah to have his share of attention with his relocation to the New York Knicks.A British adventurer and endurance athlete will test the durability of the human body and mind when he attempts to cycle around the world in 80 days. Mark Beaumont is aiming to smash the current record of 123 days by cycling 240 miles a day.
His plan is to spend 75 days in the saddle, leaving three days for flights and a couple of contingency days in case something goes wrong.
Beaumont launched his project in London on Sunday, and on Monday is setting off on a practice ride – 3,500 miles around the British coast at “80 days” pace ahead of the circumnavigation attempt in July.
He said he was feeling excited and nervous at the prospect of the 18,000-mile circumnavigation. “I’ve dreamed of it for years,” he said. “This is the culmination of the past two decades, since I was a 12-year-old boy cycling across Scotland. I would love for this journey to give people the confidence to take on what they are capable of, for young people in particular to stop and to think: ‘What’s my 80 days?’”
In 2008, Beaumont cycled around the world in a little under 195 days, breaking the previous record easily. The current record of 123 days was set by New Zealander Andrew Nicholson in 2015.
Beaumont turned his attention to other challenges and in 2012 was part of a team that tried to break the world record for rowing across the Atlantic, but they capsized 27 days in and had to be rescued.
“After capsizing, I gave up being an athlete for a couple of years, and enjoyed making documentaries about other athletes – but in truth I had unfinished business. I couldn’t idly watch others push their limits. I want to redefine the limits of human endurance by proving what seems impossible really is possible.”
Beaumont will leave Paris on Sunday 2 July and cycle to Beijing via Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Mongolia. He will then cycle between Perth and Brisbane in Australia, and from Invercargill to Auckland in New Zealand. The fourth leg of his challenge is between Anchorage in the US and Halifax in Canada, and he will complete his journey by cycling from Lisbon to Paris. He will spend 16 hours in the saddle each day.
Beaumont said: “Physically it’s a step into the unknown. I’ve never pushed over 200 miles a day back to back to back over two months. Mentally it’s going to take all the strength and experience I’ve got from riding my bike for the last 20 years. I’ve trained for the last two years to get to this point.”
Usually Beaumont is pretty much alone on his cycling adventures; this time he has a full back up team.
“Unlike every other trip I’ve ever done I don’t have to carry much at all. It’s all in the support vehicles, which on one hand makes my job much easier. If anything goes wrong I’ve got spares for pretty much everything.”
He has some home comforts. “I’m even bringing my own mattress in the camper van to make sure I get a good night’s sleep every night.”
His team has been working hard to secure his passage through Asia, though he worries that some border guards could struggle to understand what he is up to. “Leg one from Paris to Beijing could be difficult because of bureaucracy and politics. After that, it’s simply a long bike ride.”
He said that even when he cycled across the US on a previous expedition, people had struggled to comprehend the distances he was covering, and he took to telling them he had just come from the last big town on the route – which people found impressive enough.
Beaumont said he loved stories like Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days. “I grew up with those great Victorian adventure stories. That story is known around the globe and still fires the imagination.”
There is a fundraising and educational element to the adventure. Beaumont, 34, will be raising money for Orkidstudio, which works to benefit communities worldwide through innovative architecture and construction. The journey will also be tracked through Twinkl, a global educational platform for primary schools.
The launch was tinged with sadness following the death of the British ultra-distance cyclist Mike Hall, who was involved in a collision with a car during a coast-to-coast race in Australia. Beaumont said: “I’m very saddened to hear about the loss of Mike Hall. He was a quietly inspirational man and a phenomenal endurance rider. My thoughts are with Mike’s friends and family.”
Hall died on the outskirts of Canberra in the final stages of the 3,300-mile event days after complaining of vehicles passing too close to him. On Sunday, hundreds of cyclists gathered at the Sydney Opera House and in other cities across Australia to remember Hall.
Hall, who was 35, died at the scene after a collision with a car on Monaro highway at about 6.20am local time on Friday. At the time, he was in second place in the unsupported race behind his friend Kristof Allegaert of Belgium. Crash investigators are piecing together the circumstances surrounding the collision and a report will be prepared for the coroner.Which stats should be used to analyze quarterback play? That question has mystified the NFL for at least the last 80 years. In the 1930s, the NFL first used total yards gained and later completion percentage to determine the league’s top passer. Various systems emerged over the next three decades, but none of them were capable of separating the best quarterbacks from the merely very good. Finally, a special committee, headed by Don Smith of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, came up with the most complicated formula yet to grade the passers. Adopted in 1973, the NFL has used passer rating ever since to crown its ‘passing’ champion.
Nearly all football fans have issues with passer rating. Some argue that it’s hopelessly confusing; others simply think it just doesn’t work. But there are some who believe in the power of passer rating, like Cold Hard Football Facts founder Kerry Byrne. A recent post on a Cowboys fan site talked about Dallas’ need to improve their passer rating differential. Passer rating will always have supporters for one reason: it has been, is, and always will be correlated with winning. It is easy to test how closely correlated two variables are; in this case, passer rating (or any other statistic) and wins. The correlation coefficient is a measure of the linear relationship between two variables on a scale from -1 to 1. Essentially, if two variables move in the same direction, their correlation coefficient them will be close to 1. If two variables move with each other but in opposite directions (say, the temperature outside and the amount of your heating bill), the CC will be closer to -1. If the two variables have no relationship at all, the CC will be close to zero.
The table below measures the correlation coefficient of certain statistics with wins. The data consists of all quarterbacks who started at least 14 games in a season from 1990 to 2011:
Category Correlation ANY/A 0.55 Passer Rating 0.51 NY/A 0.50 Touchdown/Attempt 0.44 Yards/Att 0.43 Comp % 0.32 Interceptions/Att -0.31 Sack Rate -0.28 Passing Yards 0.16 Attempts -0.14
As you can see, passer rating is indeed correlated with wins; a correlation coefficient of 0.51 indicates a moderately strong relationship; the two variables (passer rating and wins) are clearly correlated to some degree. Interception rate is also correlated with wins; there is a ‘-‘ sign next to the correlation coefficient because of the negative relationship, but that says nothing about the strength of the relationship. As we would suspect, as interception rate increases, wins decrease. On the other hand, passing yards bears almost no relationships with wins — this is exactly what Alex Smith was talking about last month:
“I could absolutely [not] care less on yards per game. I think that is a totally overblown stat because if you’re losing games in the second half, guess what, you’re like the Carolina Panthers and you’re going no-huddle the entire second half. Yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games. That’s great. You’re not winning, though.”
If nothing else, Smith is correct that passing yards are not very correlated with wins. However, as you’ve surely heard before, correlation does not imply causation. Even if it did, such an implication would not tell you which way the causal arrow points: If you see a group of fireman putting out a fire, and you have never seen a fire not in proximity to fireman, that doesn’t mean that firemen cause fires. Often another variable is driving both forces, which explains the correlation. Falling asleep with your shoes on and waking up with a headache are surely correlated. But “drinking heavily” is the driving force behind both results; both variables (falling asleep with your shoes on; waking up with a headache) are a result of being drunk, and neither variable causes the other.
Being ahead late in games is strongly correlated with winning games, of course. And think what that means: quarterbacks who are ahead late in games play conservatively, which increases their completion percentage and decreases their interception rate. As it turns out, passer rating significantly overvalues those two statistics, which compounds the problem. Conversely, teams trailing in games are likely to lose, and also likely to throw riskier passes, lowering completion percentages and increasing interception rates. As a result, the driving factor behind the correlation between passer rating and wins is a third factor that causes both: leading late in games.
Of course, that’s just a theory. So how do we test it? If having a high passer rating is the driving factor behind winning games, than such a variable would manifest itself in all games, not just the current one. As before, I looked at all quarterbacks from 1990 to 2011 and noted those quarterbacks who started at least 14 games in a season. Then, I randomly divided each quarterback season into two half-seasons. I calculated each quarterback’s rating in each category and measured the correlation between a quarterback’s rating in each half-season with their number of wins in the other half-season. The results:
Category Wins in Same Half-Year Wins in Other Half-Year ANY/A 0.55 0.28 Passer Rating 0.51 0.26 NY/A 0.50 0.28 Touchdowns/Attempt 0.44 0.25 Yards/Attempt 0.43 0.26 Comp % 0.32 0.20 Interceptions/Attempt -0.31 -0.08 Sack Rate -0.28 -0.14 Passing Yards 0.16 0.15 Attempts -0.14 -0.01
The variable ‘interceptions per attempt’ drops to irrelevance. All of the statistics become less correlated, which makes sense: predicting the future is really difficult. So what can we take away from this?
Passer rating is made up of four variables: completion percentage, yards per attempt, interception rate and touchdown rate. Another way to think of passer rating is as follows:
2.0833 + 0.8333*CMP% + 4.1667*Y/A – 4.1667*INT_Rate + 3.3333*TD_Rate
That might look just to you, so just focus on the coefficients. The passer rating formula says one more interception per 100 pass attempts is equally as bad as 100 fewer yards on 100 pass attempts; both will decrease your rating by 4.1 points. Take a look at three hypothetical passers, all with the same passer rating:
Comp% Y/A INT Rate TD Rate Rating 60.1 7.2 2.9 4.3 84.3 60.1 9.2 4.9 4.3 84.3 60.1 5.2 0.9 4.3 84.3
The first row represents the league average from the 2011 season. If a quarterback mirrored those numbers, but instead averaged an incredible 9.2 yards per attempt — but also threw 2 more interceptions per 100 passes — he’d have the same rating. The converse holds as well: all three sets of numbers are equal, according to passer rating.
From an explanatory standpoint, that’s not as bad (although, of course, still bad). As we saw in the first table, interceptions are correlated with winning. But because interceptions are both random and heavily impacted by game situation, they’re a terrible statistic to use for predictive purposes. Yards per attempt is much more predictive, and it is absurd to equate an interception to 100 yards of offense.
Another thing to note: the interception variable is 5 times as large as the completion variable. What does that mean? Giving a quarterback five more completions per 100 passes — while not changing his amount of yards, touchdowns or interceptions — is equivalent to giving him 100 extra yards or one fewer interception. According to passer rating, a completion, by itself, is worth 20 yards in the formula.
Since passer rating is just an average of four statistics, there’s a better way to analyze the four inputs. You can run a multiple regression analysis to see how much weight should be placed on each variable, with future wins (i.e., wins in the other half-season) as the output. The P-values on the completion percentage and interception rate variables were not significant at the 1%, 5% or 10% levels. Essentially, this means that for predictive purposes, two of the four inputs in passer rating are meaningless.
Of course, a careful analysis of the earlier table would make that clear. The CC between each stat and future wins was 0.26 for yards per attempt, 0.25 for touchdowns per attempt, 0.20 for completion percentage, and -0.08 for interception rate. But the CC between passer rating and wins was only 0.26, the same as it was for yards per attempt. Adding in the interception and completion percentage variables does nothing to make the formula more predictive.
What does make the formula predictive? Using net yards per attempt — which deducts sacks from a passer’s production — is the simplest and best way to predict future performance. That’s why when looking at which quarterback will perform the best in the future, NY/A is my favorite statistic. When analyzing past quarterbacks, I prefer Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt, which gives a 45-yard penalty for interceptions and a 20-yard bonus for touchdowns. That’s more useful as an explanatory statistic than NY/A, but is not as helpful in predicting the future.
Passer rating? To the extent it is based around yards per attempt (and to some extent, touchdown rate), it is useful. On the margins, it certainly does the job, and when comparing quarterbacks with similar interception rates and completion percentages, it can be effective. But with a significant 100-yard penalty on interceptions and a 20-yard bonus for completions, passer rating only really works when you stack the deck: and that’s precisely why passer rating will always be correlated with wins. That doesn’t make it a useful stat, though.A local report out of Colorado indicates anti-oil activists may have fallen short of the nearly 100,000 signatures needed to place two measures on the ballot that would all but ban fracking in the state.
Political specialist Shaun Boyd with CBS 4 said the likelihood that the all of the requisite petitions have been gathered, “is remote.”
“I think they are doomed,” former Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler told reporters.
“This story gets more bizarre by the day. The measures have been getting national attention as though they’ve already made the ballot, the New York Times calling them the most serious effort yet to stop fracking,” CBS 4 in Colorado reported Thursday.
The controversial ballot initiatives, called 75 and 78, if approved by voters, would add language to Colorado’s state constitution allowing local governments to all but ban fracking. Initiative 78 would require a 2,500-foot distance between hydraulic fracking and public areas like parks or hospitals.
Backers of the initiatives claim they have more than 100,000 signatures for both proposals. As a general rule, measures typically acquire more than 140,000 signatures before being placed on the Colorado ballot.
Even so, some officials have questioned the petitioners’ claims, suggesting that some of the boxes of signatures were empty.
Colorado Secretary of State Spokeswoman Lynn Bartels, for instance, tweeted photos of several empty boxes, adding in the tweet that backers of the initiatives “turned in lots of boxes with very few petitions in them.”
Colorado’s Supreme Court earlier this year concluded that only the state government has legal authority to govern fracking, as any ban would be “preempted by state law and therefore, is invalid and unenforceable.” Any law that would thwart the state’s court’s directive would likely find its way back in court.
Environmental groups the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Food and Water Watch, and others currently support local bans on fracking in the state. Recent campaign finance disclosure reports show that the initiatives’ backers have donated blood and treasure to supporting the measures.
Anti-fracking activists are calling the initiatives “the biggest” environment of the year.
After constant battles to ban fracking in the state, activists have taken extraordinary steps toward their mission.
“Keep It In The Ground” crusaders, for example, have etched out a position opposing all fossil fuel development, including divesting the entire world of oil investments, and have taken to increasingly extreme tactics to push forward that message.
Environmentalists such as Bill McKibben and others orchestrated a massive rally in opposition to both the Supreme Court’s ruling and fracking in general.
The rally managed to repel state legislators once allied with the anti-fracking movement. Break Free 2016, the group that hosted the rally, boasted in media accounts prior to the event their intention of bringing more than 1,000 people to the event. Activists affiliated with Break Free 2016 are also spearheading the fracking restricting November ballot initiatives.
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If you are reasonably aware of your body and can catch yeast infections early enough, you almost never need to rely on "medical" treatments.
When I'm getting a yeast infection, I always start by treating it myself with one or more of the remedies listed below. There lots of reasons for this: I like to have control over my own body and not have to rely on the medical establishment except when really necessary; doing it myself is generally easier and cheaper than using medical treatments; and home remedies tend to be milder, cleaner, better-smelling, and have fewer side effects than drugs do. In addition, some of these treatments rely on substances that you can grow yourself, so you have can minimal participation in our increasingly corporate culture. Still, if your infection seems resistant or you can't get these to work soon enough to make you happy, you may want to escalate to the more powerful fungicides available over the counter in most American pharmacies.
The remedies listed below are in no particular order, except that the more common ones are towards the top of the list. These treatments should clear up most Candida infections; do feel free to combine 2 or 3 of them if you think you need it.
YOGURT is the #1 choice of do-it-yourselfers everywhere, and is so common that even some professional medical types recommend it. Yogurt contains Lactobacillus acidophilus, a bacterium that also happens to be found in healthy vaginas. Acidophilus kills yeast by producing hydrogen peroxide. Most wimmin using yogurt to treat a yeast infection simply apply it directly to the vulva and gently inject some into the vagina by any means necessary. But how to get in there? Here's a method suggested by one reader: put the yogurt in plastic tampon applicators and freeze them, and then you've got little yogurt-sicles to use next time you get a yeast infection. She says "It is really cold, of course, inserting the tampon, but I find it actually soothing compared to the fires of a damn yeast infection." I love it! another reader who has access to disposable gloves says she fills the fingers with yogurt and freezes them to make her yogurt -sicles. (Given that freeze-dried acidophilus tablets are available in health food stores, I'm guessing acidophilus can survive being made into a popsicle.) Other people use syringes (with no needle!) to squirt it up there. However you do it, be sure to use plain, unflavored yogurt with no added sugar, and be double sure that it contains live acidophilus cultures (available in natural foods stores and many supermarkets). Apply once or twice a day until at least a day after your symptoms clear up. Another possibility is to insert acidophilus pills from your local supermarket or health food store (look in the refrigerated section); check to make sure the capsule is made of something soft enough to melt inside you.
Also, some people think that you may be able to get some of the same effects by eating a lot of yogurt, the idea being that some of the acidophilus will make it through your digestive system and then crawl from your anus over to where you want them, i.e., in your vagina. Seems to me like a hell of journey; I say if you want 'em in your crotch, just put 'em there. But some people do use this method to try ward off yeast infections, and report good success. Also, if you are the parent of a young child with a yeast infection and don't want to try suppositories or strong drugs, this may be your best option.
Unfortunately, the production of dairy products is a definite downer from the cow's point of view, given the factory farming methods used in the US today. If you are a vegan, you may want to think about getting some of the same benefits by using acidophilus pills from a natural foods store. You can easily open up the capsules and powder your vulva with the contents, or you can mix with water and then squirt it inside or dip a tampon in it and use it that way. I bet this delivers far more acidophili than you would get from applying yogurt. I don't know if this is really such a great solution, though: i don't know where this acidophilus comes from (how vegan is it?), and the capsules used by most companies contain gelatin, which is an animal product.
is the #1 choice of do-it-yourselfers everywhere, and is so common that even some professional medical types recommend it. Yogurt contains Lactobacillus acidophilus, a bacterium that also happens to be found in healthy vaginas. Acidophilus kills yeast by producing hydrogen peroxide. Most wimmin using yogurt to treat a yeast infection simply apply it directly to the vulva and gently inject some into the vagina by any means necessary. But how to get in there? Here's a method suggested by one reader: put the yogurt in plastic tampon applicators and freeze them, and then you've got little yogurt-sicles to use next time you get a yeast infection. She says "It is really cold, of course, inserting the tampon, but I find it actually soothing compared to the fires of a damn yeast infection." I love it! another reader who has access to disposable gloves says she fills the fingers with yogurt and freezes them to make her yogurt -sicles. (Given that freeze-dried acidophilus tablets are available in health food stores, I'm guessing acidophilus can survive being made into a popsicle.) Other people use syringes (with no needle!) to squirt it up there. However you do it, be sure to use plain, unflavored yogurt with no added sugar, and be double sure that it contains live acidophilus cultures (available in natural foods stores and many supermarkets). Apply once or twice a day until at least a day after your symptoms clear up. Another possibility is to insert acidophilus pills from your local supermarket or health food store (look in the refrigerated section); check to make sure the capsule is made of something soft enough to melt inside you. Also, some people think that you may be able to get some of the same effects by eating a lot of yogurt, the idea being that some of the acidophilus will make it through your digestive system and then crawl from your anus over to where you want them, i.e., in your vagina. Seems to me like a hell of journey; I say if you want 'em in your crotch, just put 'em there. But some people do use this method to try ward off yeast infections, and report good success. Also, if you are the parent of a young child with a yeast infection and don't want to try suppositories or strong drugs, this may be your best option. Unfortunately, the production of dairy products is a definite downer from the cow's point of view, given the factory farming methods used in the US today. If you are a vegan, you may want to think about getting some of the same benefits by using acidophilus pills from a natural foods store. You can easily open up the capsules and powder your vulva with the contents, or you can mix with water and then squirt it inside or dip a tampon in it and use it that way. I bet this delivers far more acidophili than you would get from applying yogurt. I don't know if this is really such a great solution, though: i don't know where this acidophilus comes from (how vegan is it?), and the capsules used by most companies contain gelatin, which is an animal product. GARLIC contains natural antifungal substances that kill off yeast. It's my favorite home remedy for yeast infections; I always try it first, and it usually does the trick. To try it, find yourself a fresh clove of garlic and carefully peel all the papery skin off it. Next, make a little tampony thing by wrapping it in gauze or cheesecloth, tying the ends with unwaxed dental floss, and leaving a bit of string dangling so you'll be able to pull it out afterward. Now, believe it or not, insert it into your vagina. Don't worry about losing it up there, because of course it can't get through your cervix. Leave it in for several hours at a time, like overnight, and be sure to remove it in the morning. For early or mild infections, nighttime treatments may be enough; try several nights in a row, until one day after the symptoms disappear. If your infection is more severe, put a fresh clove in every morning and every night. (Actually, I find the dry gauze painful to insert, and unnecessary. Most of my friends and i have found that an unwrapped clove shoved up there will eventually work its way out, and even if it doesn't just fall out it can usually be expelled by bearing down and squeezing like you are trying to take a dump. But don't try this unless you are willing to face the possibility of asking a friend or medical professional to retrieve it later!) Most sources say to be careful not to nick the clove as you are peeling it, maybe because the juice stings some people, but I don't know anyone who has had a problem with that. If this makes you nervous, you could also try the garlic capsules that are sold as a dietary supplement in many health food stores, but be sure to get the kind with a soft coating that will dissolve inside you. Either way, it's fun to try: it makes your crotch taste divine, and you can walk around all day smirking to yourself, thinking how shocked people would be if they knew why it is that you reek of garlic. The downsides are that it's a fairly moderate treatment and won't work by itself for some really stubborn infections, and that people are allergic to garlic and can't go shoving it in their orifices without getting really sick.
contains natural antifungal substances that kill off yeast. It's my favorite home remedy for yeast infections; I always try it first, and it usually does the trick. To try it, find yourself a fresh clove of garlic and carefully peel all the papery skin off it. Next, make a little tampony thing by wrapping it in gauze or cheesecloth, tying the ends with unwaxed dental floss, and leaving a bit of string dangling so you'll be able to pull it out afterward. Now, believe it or not, insert it into your vagina. Don't worry about losing it up there, because of course it can't get through your cervix. Leave it in for several hours at a time, like overnight, and be sure to remove it in the morning. For early or mild infections, nighttime treatments may be enough; try several nights in a row, until one day after the symptoms disappear. If your infection is more severe, put a fresh clove in every morning and every night. (Actually, I find the dry gauze painful to insert, and unnecessary. Most of my friends and i have found that an unwrapped clove shoved up there will eventually work its way out, and even if it doesn't just fall out it can usually be expelled by bearing down and squeezing like you are trying to take a dump. But don't try this unless you are willing to face the possibility of asking a friend or medical professional to retrieve it later!) Most sources say to be careful not to nick the clove as you are peeling it, maybe because the juice stings some people, but I don't know anyone who has had a problem with that. If this makes you nervous, you could also try the garlic capsules that are sold as a dietary supplement in many health food stores, but be sure to get the kind with a soft coating that will dissolve inside you. Either way, it's fun to try: it makes your crotch taste divine, and you can walk around all day smirking to yourself, thinking how shocked people would be if they knew why it is that you reek of garlic. The downsides are that it's a fairly moderate treatment and won't work by itself for some really stubborn infections, and that people are allergic to garlic and can't go shoving it in their orifices without getting really sick. TEATREE OIL is available in the US at many natural foods stores. A terrifically helpful woman wrote to tell me that in Italy, teatree oil is widely used for yeast infections. She said that her pharmacist told her to coat the top half of a non-applicator type tampon with a lubricant (such as K.Y. jelly or even olive oil), then apply a few drops of pure tea tree oil and insert. The lubricant keeps the teatree oil from absorbing into the tampon. She also said that she finds that the teatree oil can sting if it comes in contact with the vulva, so she uses an applicator tampon, by just lifting off the top part of the applicator to expose the tampon, applying the K.Y. jelly and tea tree oil, and putting the tampon back into the applicator. What a great idea!
is available in the US at many natural foods stores. A terrifically helpful woman wrote to tell me that in Italy, teatree oil is widely used for yeast infections. She said that her pharmacist told her to coat the top half of a non-applicator type tampon with a lubricant (such as K.Y. jelly or even olive oil), then apply a few drops of pure tea tree oil and insert. The lubricant keeps the teatree oil from absorbing into the tampon. She also said that she finds that the teatree oil can sting if it comes in contact with the vulva, so she uses an applicator tampon, by just lifting off the top part of the applicator to expose the tampon, applying the K.Y. jelly and tea tree oil, and putting the tampon back into the applicator. What a great idea! BORIC ACID is a great remedy for a cockroach-ridden apartment, and it turns out to kill yeasty pests, too. Amazing. The idea is load up some size 00 capsules from a pharmacy or natural foods store with boric acid to use as suppositories * ; the heat and moisture in your vagina will melt the capsules and release the boric acid. Insert 2 capsules filled with boric acid, about 600 mg total, into your vagina every night for a week. (To be extra sure, continue this treatment twice a week for the next 3 weeks.) This is a pretty strong treatment, and is capable of effectively treating even severe or persistent yeast infections. Some wimmin find that the boric acid causes some superficial burning and discomfort for the first few days, and may cause large amounts of vaginal discharge. Discontinue use if the burning is severe. ( *NOTE to readers in the UK: by "suppository" I am talking about what you would call a "pessary"; don't put this in your arse!)
is a great remedy for a cockroach-ridden apartment, and it turns out to kill yeasty pests, too. Amazing. The idea is load up some size 00 capsules from a pharmacy or natural foods store with boric acid to use as suppositories ; the heat and moisture in your vagina will melt the capsules and release the boric acid. Insert 2 capsules filled with boric acid, about 600 mg total, into your vagina every night for a week. (To be extra sure, continue this treatment twice a week for the next 3 weeks.) This is a pretty strong treatment, and is capable of effectively treating even severe or persistent yeast infections. Some wimmin find that the boric acid causes some superficial burning and discomfort for the first few days, and may cause large amounts of vaginal discharge. Discontinue use if the burning is severe. ( to readers in the UK: by "suppository" I am talking about what you would call a "pessary"; don't put this in your arse!) POTASSIUM SORBATE is a potent fungicide that is widely used in preserving foods, and is often used in brewing beer to stop the growth of the yeast at the correct time. Potassium sorbate is therefore available at places that sell home-brewing supplies, and at some natural foods stores. To use it, make a 3% solution by adding 8 gm (about 1 tablespoon) potassium sorbate to a cup of water. The idea is to dip a cotton tampon in the solution, insert it at bedtime, remove it in the morning, and continue this treatment for a few days until the symptoms are gone. For the life of me, i can't figure out how you'd get a soaking-wet, expanded tampon into a vagina, so I've never tried it. Maybe if you used a tampon in one of those horrible plastic applicators you could manage it. Another idea, suggested to me by a doctor friend, is to insert a dry tampon |
matters to put the truth out there to counter smears, so I wanted to put that information here, right beside the smear, all in one place, so that when people, including this ethical man's daughters, read about this case after finding it on Google, they'll have the entire picture. Update 2: In April of 2010, there was a study that found Nerontin, as well as other anticonvulsive drugs, raise the risk of suicide. Update 3: In December of 2010, allegations surfaced that Pfizer hired investigators to dig up dirt on the then-attorney general of Nigeria to pressure him to drop litigation brought against the company for testing a drug without parental knowledge on children there. Update: Here's Mr. Lanier's opening statement, followed by Mr. Ohlemeyer's, as text, and as you read them, I think you'll see that despite the brilliance of Mr. Lanier's performance, there was no need to send any intimidation to deal with Dr. Franklin, if that happened, as the facts were more on Mr. Ohlemeyer's side, and he has the skill to handle whatever the other side presented without the need for any English on the ball. But to me the most interesting thing to notice is how each of these attorneys handle an identical problem -- namely, that the jury might really dislike their client: ******************************** OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. LANIER: MR. LANIER: May it please the Court, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Mark Lanier. It's my honor today and throughout this trial to some degree, at least, to be able to represent Regina Bulger. Regina, would you stand up so they know who you are, please. She's that sweet little ten-year-old right there, who's just finished fourth grade and is starting fifth grade in the fall. She's in the summer. She's lives with her grandmother, Grandma Pat. Would you stand up, please, and let them know who you are. And they won't be here for very much of the trial. In fact, I'm going to ask them to leave, if you don't mind, at this point now that the jury has seen you, and thank you all for coming down here this morning. You'll get to know more about them and you'll get to know more about why they leave as -- this gentleman who's standing up now is Dr. David Egilman. He teaches at Brown and is a doctor nearby, and is the legal representative for purposes of this lawsuit of the young lady that you've just seen, Regina. Thank you, Dr. Egilman. This is a simple case, but it's a very serious case. It's a very serious case because it involves some delicate issues, but it involves some important policy issues as well. And those at this point, eight of you -- no, nine of you, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine of you that are left on this jury at this point are actually doing something that's extremely important as you make your way through this case. And what I get to do over the next 57 minutes at this point before I get the hook is, I get to tell you what I anticipate the evidence is going to be. It's a case that evolves ultimately around that young girl from here on out, but she's not the main character in the past part of the story. The past part of this story involves her mother, Susan Bulger. Susan committed suicide, and it will be five years ago next week on August 4. Regina and her father, Ron, Sr., are who found the mom dangling at the end of a wire in the basement. It's a tough, tough thing when you're dealing with suicide. Suicide is not a simple matter. And we're going to have to probe in this case, what is it that allows a person to kill themselves? It's not something that's common in the United States. Oh, it happens, and I think most of us, the older we get, we can find where we've brushed up with awareness of it somewhere in our life, but what is it that happens? You know, the way we're made, the doctors will explain, we've got within us kind of a wall of self-preservation. There's this will that says, "I don't want to stick my hand in fire. You know, it's going to burn, it's going to hurt. I don't want to do damage and destruction to my body." Now, some people have, some doctors call it the will to live. Some people have a really strong will to live. You probably heard stories about people the doctors thought were going to die in the hospital, but they just seemed to hang on. And doctors might say they have a strong will to live or they need to let go or something like that, but there is this wall of self-preservation that we have. And I think the evidence is going to indicate some people have a bigger wall than others, some people have a really strong will to live. Some folks, their will to live is not as strong. Some people have a very low wall, and those people are people who are susceptible to, in danger of something that might hurt themselves, some type of a suicide. The evidence in this case is going to show you that Susan Bulger, Regina's mom, had a very low wall. She had a very, very tough life. She had a tough childhood. She grew up in an abusive home. Her parents abused her verbally. They may have abused her physically. I don't know. But early in her life she got hooked up with a fellow named Ron Bulger. He wasn't the kind of guy that most parents want their daughters to hook up with, a tough husband. And so she's in a marriage where her husband is a drug user. He used illegal drugs, cocaine, heroin, a number of different illegal drugs. Susan Bulger herself lived a very tough life, did many of the same things as her husband. She found herself addicted at one point in life to cocaine. She found herself addicted at one point in life to heroin. She tried to, maybe -- I mean, this is some degree of speculation, but she clearly tried to at least hurt herself and gain attention, if not actually try to commit suicide, multiple times in her life from a very early age, four, five, six times maybe, depending on how you take certain events. She and her husband Ron, they had a son, Ron, Jr., and you'll hear about Ron, Jr. Ron, Jr. is now in his early twenties. I don't have him down here. You'll understand why more and more as we go through the trial. You'll understand my concern, and what you're going to hear my evidence point to is what we need to do for this young lady and not really for the husband -- MR. OHLEMEYER: Objection, your Honor. THE COURT: Overruled. MR. LANIER: Not for the husband, and not even for Ron, Jr., the older brother. So the evidence is going to be targeted around the young lady, around Regina, and what I believe have been her damages and what we need to do to take care of her and keep her on a road to a good life that she's on right now. As we look at this, though, you're going to see that the mom, Susan, and the dad, Ron, Sr., they had a son, this older brother. Susan tried hard to be a good mom. I'm sure Ron, Sr. tried hard to be a good dad. There were limits to how good they were. They were young for that child, and they had struggles. They lost custody of the child for a while because of the drug abuse in their home. It's a sad situation to sit and learn from. If you take that social sadness, add to it -- let me add another layer now. There's not just social sadness in her life. There are lots of other physical problems she had. Susan Bulger, the mom, had rheumatoid arthritis, painful advanced rheumatoid arthritis. She had fifteen, sixteen, seventeen surgeries in her life. She lost all but four of her teeth. She had just had an elbow surgery within a few years of her suicide. She had aches and pains that required her to be on more medicines, I'd almost say more than Pfizer makes, but that's not true. I mean, just lots of medicines. I could give you big charts with 80 gazillion types of medicines she'd been on all of her life. At the time she committed suicide, she's on maybe five or six medicines, but over her life she'd been on a ton of them to try and deal with the pain. She was on methadone at the time of her suicide simply for pain relief. I think she was out of tablets at the time, so she was clearly hurting actually. But this is a woman who had physical pain. She had emotional difficulties from childhood. This is a woman who had a tough marriage. She'd been talking to some people about leaving her husband. But she had a bright spot in her life, and the bright spot was that little girl she named Regina. It's Latin for "queen." I think the evidence is going to show you that in some way, with the pregnancy of Regina, Susan Bulger tried to turn her life around. She went onto methadone and some other drugs while she was pregnant so she wouldn't be using heroin. She did what she could do to try and make sure she didn't lose this child the way she'd lost her son. You don't -- you know, there's the old expression, "You don't turn a battle ship on a dime." Well, you don't turn your life around generally -- I know historically there have been a few roads to Damascus, but you don't generally turn a life around on a dime. But you'll clearly see that there were efforts made. There weren't suicide attempts anymore. There weren't issues of abject drug usage, illegal drugs, cocaine, heroin, that kind of stuff. You've got a woman who's trying to do her best who's a good mother to the child, who loves the child. And my hope will be the Judge will let us put Regina on the stand, and you'll get to see what a wonderful young lady she is. And that's going to be your task. The stand is back here in the courtroom. I pointed the wrong way. But you'll get to judge that credibility, and I want you to. I want you to hear from her, and I want you to see what kind of girl you sit in judgment on. And that's the kind of evidence that we've got, so what happens? Why are we here? Suicide is an unfortunate thing, but you can rightly say to me, "Lanier, what does that have to do with Pfizer? It sounds like it's got to do with everything unfortunate in this woman's life, but how does Pfizer enter into the picture?" Let me explain that to you. You're not asked as jurors to decide what the cause was of Susan Bulger's suicide. The issue that you're going to have before you is whether or not the conduct from Pfizer and its predecessor company, conduct was outside the boundaries of what's right and wrong based on what the Court tells you. You make that decision, and then you decide whether or not it was a significant contributing cause. There's a difference between something being the cause and a significant contributing cause. If you're baking bread even, you know, it rises in the oven -- MR. OHLEMEYER: Your Honor -- THE COURT: Overruled. MR. LANIER: -- it rises in the oven because of yeast, but it needs more than just the yeast. It needs the moisture and the food for the yeast. There are contributing causes beyond just one sole cause in many events in life. And so you'll hear the evidence and a chance to decide whether or not this drug was a significant contributing cause. And when you start reading that evidence or hearing the evidence -- you'll get to read it because there are documents, as well as hear it from the witnesses, and maybe from some videotapes that might play of witnesses that are unavailable -- you're going to hear an interesting, sordid tale. I've told you a sordid tale about the Bulger life. Let me tell you the tale as it stems from this drug. It's the drug Neurontin. Some of you may have some familiarity with it, some of you may not, but it's a fascinating story. The story starts with a drug company called Parke-Davis, which is actually the oldest pharmaceutical company in America. It was started in the 1800s right after the Civil War. But Parke-Davis at the time that we're interested in is owned by Warner-Lambert, Warner-Lambert, the makers of things like Listerine and other things like that. Warner-Lambert buys Parke-Davis in 1970, I believe. And so Warner-Lambert is the company. Now, in this case we're suing Pfizer because in the year 1999, effective, I think, January 1 of 2000, Pfizer bought Warner-Lambert and bought the right to Parke-Davis. So all of the issues that were part of Warner-Lambert are now going to be part of Pfizer, and we'll look at that. And Pfizer, I think the Court will tell you, will ultimately have the responsibility for the actions before as well as the actions after that merger, and we'll look at both of them seamlessly. I sometimes will refer to it as Pfizer. That's just my shorthand way of not getting us all jumbled up, but I'll try to be as deliberate and careful as I can. It doesn't really make a legal difference, I guess is what I'm driving at. So you've got a company called Parke-Davis, a division of Warner-Lambert. They discover a drug in the early '90s that they call Neurontin. It's got a plain scientific name called gabapentin. And if you buy now a generic version, for example, the pharmacist will sell you gabapentin, and you'll save some bucks. But Neurontin was the real name, and for the first, oh, ten years or so the drug was sold there were no generics, so it was really just Neurontin. As long as the patent existed on the drug, nobody could make a generic. And so you've got Neurontin. And before a company can start selling a drug they invent, the company has to go to the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA. They have to say, "FDA, we'd like to sell this drug," and the FDA says, "Well, show us what you want to do." And there's an elaborate, six-, seven-, eight-, ten-year process of shepherding a drug through the FDA. And what the company has to do is say, "Here's what the drug is." You walk through animal testing, and then you walk through human testing, and ultimately the FDA will either approve the drug and approve it for certain uses, the label, or the FDA won't approve the drug. Now, the FDA might say, "We'll approve the drug, but you'd like the drug to work for all four of these things. We're only going to say it's approved for one." It's all a question of what the FDA chooses to do. The FDA did an evaluation of this drug, and as the FDA did an evaluation of the drug, they said, ultimately, "We're going to approve the drug, but we're going to approve the drug as a second-line epileptic drug." A second line, what does that mean? It means doctors shouldn't use it as the primary drug. It shouldn't be the first go-to drug because it doesn't seem to work as well as the other drugs on the market for epilepsy. But there may be circumstances where the better-working drug doesn't work for a particular individual, and in that situation, or maybe the best working drug would work better in tandem with Neurontin, it's a second-line drug. It's a drug that can work along with, and it's approved for that in the epileptic market for epilepsy, for the convulsant type of seizures, a certain kind that are epileptic seizures. That's how the drug was approved. Before the actual approval goes out, the FDA submits -- and you're going to get a lot of exhibits. I don't have many to show you during my opening because I want you to focus on the story. The documents you'll get from the witnesses, and we'll go through the documents in great detail. I think the documents are critically important. The problem is, anytime someone starts to show you a document in the opening, you don't get the whole thing. You get the snippets. See, I'm going to show you some snippets from this document, and ultimately you need the whole document, you need witnesses so you can find out what's on the pages I didn't show you to see if I was being fair and up front about it. So I'm careful about using documents with you, but I do want to show you a couple of snippets from this document. MR. LANIER: Your Honor, with your permission, if I could use the Elmo? THE COURT: Yes. Now, for those of you sitting in the back row, pull up -- it's like an airline tray table right in between there. Pull it up. You all get screens. This is a high-tech courtroom. Pull it all up. And you'll be using these a lot. I think for the public, is it working back there? MR. LANIER: Yes, your Honor, this screen is on. THE COURT: That screen is on? Good, so everyone can see? MR. LANIER: Now, let's see if it's working. We'll ask it this way by putting something up. THE COURT: Is everyone seeing? Yes, all right. MR. LANIER: So, for example, this is a document that -- THE COURT: I just want to make sure, everybody's screen is up? Good, all right. MR. LANIER: This document you'll see is from the Division of Neuropharmacological Drug Products. This is a combined review that deals with the medical and the statistical materials that Pfizer gave the FDA. It deals with NDA, that means a new drug application, and it gives it. It's that drug Neurontin which has the name gabapentin. You're able to see that, I hope. The snippets I want to show you from the review by McCormack that was originally received January 31 of 1992, the snippets that I want to show you deal with the issue of suicide. Ultimately the question becomes, one of the questions you've got to deal with is, does Lanier have any evidence that Pfizer had a warning or had reason to warn, or reason to study, or reason to investigate, any reason at all they might suspect this drug could have problems related to suicide? And so we look at this document, and we're going to see -- let's see if I can figure out how to make it a little bigger. These are a summary of the serious adverse events that occurred in the gabapentin, which is Neurontin, treated patients. These are ones that are considered possibly or probably drug-related by the investigator. So they want to look and see what they are. They separated them out. There's a category of "neurological." That's the epilepsy itself. Maybe this causes epilepsy or enhances it. They want to know. They look, though, at an area called "psychiatric." Psychiatric means -- well, this is the area we want to go to to question the issue of depression and suicide and things like that. You'll see that they've got the number of each patient. They're going to have the age and the gender, the dosage the patient is on and how long the patient was on the drugs. They break all of that out. But then they give information about the event. And so if we go over to the events, you'll see that there was this one person who was depressed and attempted suicide. You'll see here's another person who was depressed. The depression resolved when they reduced the dose. This was not treatment-emergent because they want to note that the plaintiff had had depression in the past, so this wasn't the first time this patient was depressed. That's important. You don't know if the drug is causing it, or if the drug is bringing it back out, or if it's just there and the drug is a coincidence. There's another person who was depressed with suicide ideation. That means they actually thought about killing themselves. They improved on tapering. That means, as the drug was being removed from their system, they got better. And they didn't have -- or the DC, and discontinuation. So their condition improved, but then the depression with suicide ideation recurred on rechallenge. What that means is, you've got this person. They're taking the drug. They're depressed. They've got suicide ideation. They're thinking about suicide. The doctor tapers them off the drug, and as he does so, it goes away. And then he puts them back on the drug, and it comes back. You're going to hear evidence from some people that that is an absolute key test and a huge warning sign that the literature even writes up because it's very serious when you have someone having a reaction they've never had before when they're on the drug. They take them off the drug; the reaction leaves. They put them back on the drug; the reaction comes back. They've got folks who tried to drug overdose. They've got people with depression and attempted suicide. They've got drug overdose. All of this is happening before the drug has ever been approved. Pfizer -- well, Warner-Lambert is what they were called at the time -- gets this information to the FDA because they're required under law to submit the NDA, the new drug application. It's reams and reams and hundreds of boxes' worth of material. They give all of this to the FDA, and the FDA works through it. The FDA ultimately has what they call a section in here entitled "Discussion of selected serious safety findings." Discussion of selected serious safety findings, and these are certain adverse events that emerged as both serious and frequent. So we've got serious and we've got frequent adverse events. Due to the nature of the reporting process, it was initially difficult to determine the magnitude of these; therefore, how much of a safety issue they represent. These include, the serious and frequent ones include seizures and status, depression/suicide/ overdose, and cancers. And so the medical statistical analysis by the FDA gives us this indication, gives it out and gives it out early before the drug was even approved. As we continue, they actually break out those serious events in sections. So there is a section for the depression, the suicide ideation, which is idea, thinking about or contemplating, and the actual attempted suicide. It says, in the total exposed population -- that means out of everybody who's taken this drug in the study group -- 78 of them, over 5 percent, 5.3 percent to be precise, of the patients reported depression as an adverse event. This included one subject in a phase one study. There were seven reports of depression as serious adverse events, and nine patients who withdrew from the study because of depression. Now, they also go on to say that there may be some underrepresentation of certain categories. It may not have as many people as there actually were. It goes on. For example, in some cases depression was reported as a serious adverse event, particularly if it resulted in hospitalization or was associated with suicide. You know, you go to the hospital because you're that depressed, they reported it, or suicide ideation. But, however, numerous examples were identified among the CRFs -- those are the case reports -- where a patient developed treatment-emergent depression. That means depression that was oncoming after they started taking the drug where pharmacological intervention was required, drug intervention, and a report of a serious adverse event was not made. In other words, we got 5.3 percent suffering this problem, but there may even be more. If you get to the conclusions section of this document as you work through it, or working toward the conclusions -- you'll see it on Page 117. It's where the section is on the drug. It's conclusions for the toxic issues. It says it doesn't look like it's got hepatic -- that's blood -- or bone marrow toxicity. In other words, it's not going to kill your bones or your bone marrow. It says, "Less common but more serious events may limit the drug's widespread usefulness." Now, these words are critical in this case. One of these is, "Seizures may become worse." It's what you're giving it for. A second is malignancies. But look at the third. A third is that "Depression, while it might not be an infrequent occurrence in the epileptic population --" in other words, epileptics probably are depressed anyway to some degree "-- but it may become worse, and it may require intervention, and it may lead to suicide, as it has resulted in some suicide attempts." So this is the information that the drug company has that's issued by the FDA's review of their product back in 1992 before it's ever approved. What does the FDA do? Oh, they approved the product for epilepsy as a second-line treatment. That's the key. They issue -- and they say, "Okay, look, guys --" and it makes sense. You'll hear the evidence about this. Epilepsy is a tough situation. There are not a lot of good drugs out there for epileptics, so the FDA is always tending to approve drugs that -- I think that you'll see that they will approve a drug more readily if there's a limited usefulness and there's not a lot of drug availability. So, yes, they approved this drug. And they've got all the standard language that it's safe and appropriate for approved uses, blah-blah-blah, within the caveats or the warnings or the exceptions that are provided. What happens from here? Neurontin is approved for epilepsy. Warner-Lambert does an internal study trying to figure out how much money they're going to make off this drug. So they do their market analysis, how big is the market for epilepsy, and how much do you think we can make? And they figure that they're looking at making maybe $50 million a year, maybe not; maybe not that much, maybe a little more. I think that sounds like a lot of money to us. If you take fifty of us, that gets us each $1 million, you know, $50 million. But in the world of drugs, that's not a big one. It's not what they call a blockbuster. You've got to top the billion-dollar mark for a blockbuster. I'd love to show you the difference in stacks of money between $50 million and a billion because it's a huge difference. Okay, we just think in terms of the words and they both sound like a lot of money, but, I mean, it's the difference between a -- it's big. Do the math and you'll just start -- it's lots of millions. It's a thousand millions instead of fifty. It's the difference between having $50 and $1,000. They have a market of $50 million, so they start trying to figure out what they can do to expand the market. The drug company makes a conscious decision to do something that is illegal. The law says the drug company can only market the drug for its approved purposes. That law doesn't apply to doctors. Doctors can write prescriptions all the time for whatever the doctor thinks is appropriate, but the drug company can't go out there and market and sell the drug for what's called "off-label." Important words, if you don't mind me just writing them down for a minute. "Off-label." Off-label marketing is "illegal." Now, that may seem oversimplistic, and I'm not trying to turn this into law school, but it's illegal. You can't do it. The drug companies can't do it, and they know it. The thing is, the drug company figures out there's a world of people paying big dollars for drugs for things that Neurontin has not been approved for, but Neurontin falls into this class of drugs called antiepileptic drugs, AED. Anti, against, epileptic, epilepsy, drugs. And some doctors have used antiepileptic drugs before to help people with pain. Well, that would be huge. The pain market is big. So what the drug company starts doing is making a deliberate effort to illegally market this drug off-label. I don't know what it is in your life, there's got to be something in your life that relates this way to you. The picture I always get in my brain is from cartoons growing up. When I grew up, you remember we had the Bugs Bunny -- some of you may be too young to remember that -- but the Bugs Bunny cartoons and all of that? Have you ever seen the cartoon where they have the snowball that starts at the top of the hill and it starts rolling down, and as it gathers momentum, it just gets bigger and bigger; and then, you know, you've got arms and legs of people in the way flying out and all, and it's gets on down the hill. What the drug company does is makes a conscientious decision to market this off-label in a way where it takes on a life of its own, and it becomes a massive growing snowball that nothing really is going to get in the way and stop. They enter into an elaborate programmed plan to deliberately get doctors and people thinking that this drug is the wonder drug that will cure anything that ails you. There's actually a joke that's made by the drug company bosses telling their salespeople to go out and sell the drug for a myriad of diseases. You know, we saw that it looks like it may cause depression, you saw that in the document. They got their salespeople out telling the doctors it's a cure for depression. It may cause different -- they've got them out there telling them it works for -- "Oh, write it for this, that." In fact, the drug company executives themselves say, "When you show this next slide to the doctors as you're selling them on it, you've got to warn them ahead of time, 'Hey, this looks like a snake oil salesman approach,' off of the old snake oil salesmen, you know, that had the snake oil that was a cure for everything. They said, "Warn them. Otherwise, the doctors when they see that we're claiming it might cure all these things, they'll laugh you out of the room. But if you warn them ahead of time and say, 'Hey, I look like a snake oil salesman when I show you this next slide, but it's the truth,' they won't laugh you out of the room." Our first witness is a fellow named David Franklin, and we'll start him with the Court's permission before today is over, but it will take through tomorrow to finish him up with all the questions that we've got and that they've got. David Franklin is an interesting fellow. He graduated with an undergraduate degree in microbiology from the University of Rhode Island. Then he gets his Ph.D. from there, and he's working at Dana Farber as a cancer researcher and doing cancer work over at Dana Farber. He gets a job going to work for the drug company. When he gets the job, he's being told -- now, he's not a medical doctor. You'll hear all about this. He's just a Ph.D. He doesn't wear a stethoscope, he can't write prescriptions, but gets hired at triple his former salary so that on behalf of the drug company he can go into the doctors' offices where he's introduced as a doctor, never being told, well, not really a medical doctor. And he sits there and he's trained to teach these doctors and convince these doctors to write prescriptions for Neurontin for off-label reasons, to write prescriptions for Neurontin to cure ADD in children, to write prescriptions for Neurontin to do all sorts of different things. I'll ask him; you'll get to hear him. He'll tell you that that wasn't the only thing; that the drug company also told him to go out there and to convince the doctors to write what's called megadosing. You see, it's not enough that the drug company is going to try and expand their profit margins by selling it off-label. The FDA only approves it in dosages up to, I think at the time it was 1,800 milligrams, but the salespeople are told to go out there and to convince the doctors that they can do not 1,800. "Give them 21, give them 25, give them 28, give them 31, give them 4,000, give them 4,800 a day, more and more and more pills. Get it up as high as you can." There's a joking memo about one woman who's on the drug who winds up trying to commit suicide, and she's taken hundreds of them to try and do it, and the joke within the drug company was, "That was the world's most expensive suicide attempt." But they're pushing this drug in ways outside the label and at dosages not approved. Now, there are some restrictions on how they can do this and what they can do with the doctors. You, for example, if you're a drug company are not allowed to pay a doctor to write a prescription, and aren't we glad? Wouldn't you hate -- golden rule, excuse me, your Honor. It's a good thing that drug companies don't have the power to pay doctors behind our back to write prescriptions for us. That's an important public health policy. But the drug company found what they thought was a way around that. They would go to the doctors, and they would say, "Doctor, I can't pay you to write a prescription, but I'll tell you what I can do. If you'll let me watch you write the prescription, we'll say that I'm learning from you. I'm learning how you sign your name. I'm learning how you write a prescription. And I can pay you 350 bucks if you'll let me do that, watch you write the prescription. Be clear, I'm not paying you for writing it. I'm paying for the honor of learning how you do it." Or, "Hey, Doctor, would you like to be a paid consultant for our drug company? Here's what we're doing. We're going to have a phone conference coming up, and you can participate as a paid consultant. We'll pay you 750 bucks to be in on this phone conference. Now, if you want to do it, though, the people on the conference are consultants, and what that means is, you need to write a couple of Neurontin prescriptions so that on the phone conference you can say that 'Hey, I've written some prescriptions,' and tell whether or not they're doing any good. We'll pay you money to do that." And then the drug company goes to these doctors. Now, they're not doing this to every doctor. The drug company has the information that enables them to know which doctors are writing the biggest number of prescriptions for pain, for depression, for all the different things they're looking for. And they find those doctors, they target those doctors, and then they monitor through the record service that they have how many prescriptions that doctor is writing for Neurontin versus other drugs. And so they keep very clear tabs, and they target specific doctors. Oh, they'll go to the doctors and say, "Doctors, we cannot pay you to write a prescription for Neurontin, but would you like to come to a seminar? It will be an all-expense-paid trip for you and your family." Let's say the Olympics were in Atlanta in 1996. "Why don't you come down to Atlanta. We'll get you into some Olympic games. You can stay at the Chateau Elan," which is this wonderful spa resort. I mean, it looks like a castle. "You can have all the massages you want. Don't pay for a thing. Just write 'Parke-Davis' on the ticket. We'll pick up the tab. And then what you'll need to do is to sit in to an hour or two or three of doctors' presentations on how wonderful the drug Neurontin is for reasons it's never been approved for off-label." I've got a list of things they did. I hadn't covered half of it. You're going to hear this from David Franklin. It's the effort to get that snowball rolling down the hill with some momentum. Oh, here's one. Doctors listen to other doctors to get ideas on medicines, so the sales force was trained to go to one doctor and to say, you know, "Can I get you to do it?" And when that doctor does it, then they'd go to the next doctor, almost like a door-to-door book salesman, the same technique, and say, "Hey, Dr. Smith, you know, Dr. Jones down the hall, your buddy, he's writing these Neurontin prescriptions, so excited about it. We want to give you a chance to get on the bandwagon too." And then they'd go to Dr. McDonald: "Dr. McDonald, Dr. Smith and Jones, you know those two guys, they're doing this, and, man, this is the bandwagon you need." And they'd do this like an intense spiderweb, you know, interweaving of all of the different doctors together. Then that not being enough, they -- doctors not only listen to other doctors, but doctors, some, read the literature. So they're thinking, "How do we get in the literature, the medical journals, information that says our drug is really good in all these areas where the FDA never said it was good? We didn't have enough proof for the FDA to get it approved for any of these areas, but how can we get the doctors to think it's good for them anyway? We need some people to write some articles." So what the drug company did is, they hire a PR firm, and they figure out how to write these articles, and then they go find doctors and they pay doctors to put the doctor's name on the article so it can be published under the doctor's name, with no reference to the PR firm or to the drug company that really authored it. So they're seeding the literature with that. Now, I say seeding. "Seeding" has a buzz word in their industry because they also did what's called a "seeding |
en to see what can happen to a young pitcher facing a PED user.
On May 16 (a week or two after Byrd tested positive, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports), the 26-year-old Somsen—then with the Cincinnati Reds—got taken deep by Byrd in his second big-league game. Somsen was optioned to the minors two days later and put on waivers, where he would be claimed by the New York Yankees.
But it's not just the younger players who are affected. Former MLB pitcher Dan Haren certainly wishes he could take Byrd's at-bats against him out of his career numbers:
Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander was also irked by the latest suspension:
Byrd, as Rosenthal notes, has made $38 million in his career. One could make an argument that PEDs have helped him make the majority of that money, especially in the later stages of his career.
While he may have benefited from using banned substances, other major league players, like Somsen, have been negatively affected. And that's why many players have taken strong stances against PEDs in recent years.
[Twitter]One of my friends asked me before I left if it had hit me that I'm leaving. I told them very calmly, "Naw, I haven't really felt anything. I'm kinda whatever about it." We both chuckled a little and then he said, "Well it'll hit you in the airplane ride over."
Now to be honest I haven't really felt anything still. No butterflies in my stomach, no serious doubts if I should be doing this, none of that. I don't know if I should feel that or not, but in any case I haven't. Maybe I will later, or maybe I never will.
One of my good friends asked me if this was some kind of "Eat Pray Love" kinda thing I'm doing. Having not seen the movie or read the book I didn't get the reference. (I've since watched it on the plane ride over) However, she explained it to me as if I needed to find out who I am and what spiritual journey I need. I told her no. This isn't some quest for me to find out who I really am or what spiritual guide I need in my life. What really inspired me was seeing an episode of Top Gear when they went to Vietnam and rode across the country on scooter. It was fucking beautiful. I'm a pretty crazy person and riding a scooter or motorcycle across Southeast Asia has been something that I've been wanting to do for a while. Now that I'm going hopefully I'll be able to accomplish that. BAM!Donald Trump has won the White House. But it’s Republicans who have won Congress, and it’s House Speaker Paul Ryan who, in practice, leads those Republicans. And so for all the effort being made to divine what Trump really, truly thinks, the reality is it may matter less than what Ryan thinks — and that’s a question we already know the answer to.
Ryan has spent the better part of a decade crafting a coherent, sweeping agenda to reform and slash the American safety net. His agenda of slicing and dicing programs targeting America’s poor isn’t the agenda Trump ran on. But it’s one to which he’ll default. He’s already endorsed Ryan’s plans on Medicaid and has attacked food stamps at length. His vice president, Mike Pence, is a longtime friend and congressional ally of Ryan’s who if anything has argued for larger cuts than the ones Ryan wants.
What’s more, Trump enters office as a historically unpopular president distrusted by his own party in Congress. He’s not in a position to dictate to them what he wants. To keep them on his side, he’s going to have to do what they want. And what they want — and have repeatedly voted to pass in recent Congresses — is Ryan’s budget.
This is a disaster for America’s poor.
“I’ve been working on these issues since 1972,” Robert Greenstein, the founder and president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Washington’s leading advocate for poor and low-income Americans, says. “This is by far the gravest threat to the safety net, and to low-income people, that I’ve seen in my close to half a century of working on these issues. I think there’s a potential in the first seven months, by the August recess, for Congress to pass policies that do more to increase poverty and hardship and widen inequality than we’ve seen in half a century.”
Ryan’s proposals would repudiate the federal government’s 50-year guarantee of medical care and food to America’s poorest residents, a promise generated by Lyndon B. Johnson when he made food stamps permanent in 1964 and created Medicaid in 1965. The expectation has not always been met, especially for childless adults, whom Medicaid largely did not cover until the Affordable Care Act, and whom non-expansion states still don’t offer coverage to. But for the poorest families with children, those two programs were there, providing at least modest assistance in desperate times.
If Paul Ryan and his allies in the House enact their domestic agenda, this promise will fall apart. The Affordable Care Act will be repealed, but the damage will hardly end there. Medicaid will see its funding gutted, federal guarantees of coverage and access removed, and its status as an entitlement upon which poor Americans can depend destroyed. The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP, or “food stamps”) will be slashed and turned over to states, which will likely use the money as a slush fund for other endeavors.
The safety net will not be repealed in one blow. States will still get some federal money to run weaker, less comprehensive versions of Medicaid and food stamps. But if the experience of block granting welfare in the 1990s is any guide, no state will have a program anywhere near as generous or comprehensive as the ones they did have. The 1996 welfare reform law effectively rendered welfare dead, according to sociologists of poverty, particularly in the eyes of the extreme poor, who ceased to see it as a program that can help them at all. If Ryan’s policies are enacted, that same fate could await food and medical assistance for the poor. Not for nothing, the disabled and elderly Americans who rely on Medicaid for long-term care will see support slashed as well.
This is an agenda that goes further than just repealing President Obama’s signature accomplishments. It’s an agenda that guts LBJ’s, that declares war on the Great Society and subjects it to death by a thousand cuts. And while programs for the aged, like Social Security and Medicare, have the president-elect’s backing, there’s no indication that Donald Trump will do anything to stop the gutting of Medicaid and food stamps.
Ryan doesn’t just repeal Obamacare — he also slashes deep into Medicaid
The effects of Obamacare repeal have, rightly, received copious attention in the wake of the election. The repeal bill Congress is likely to take up would deny 22 million people insurance and, even if accompanied with a promise of a replacement bill later on, could rather quickly throw the entire insurance market into disarray.
“That’s a very dicey scenario if a replacement isn’t in well before the end of 2017,” Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation and health reform expert, says. “Otherwise, the ACA [Affordable Care Act] would still be in effect, and the Trump administration would have to run an open enrollment period for 2018, which I imagine is not a prospect they’d relish. With a highly uncertain future, I would expect insurers to exit the ACA marketplaces and the individual market in droves. The individual insurance market would be in chaos. This would affect not only low-income people receiving ACA subsidies, but also people like the self-employed, farmers, and small-business owners buying their own insurance.”
And it’s a safe bet that replacement, at least as contemplated by Republicans in Congress, will not cover anywhere near as many people as the Affordable Care Act currently does.
Paul Ryan's "A Better Way" plan foresees replacing the ACA with a system with much lower regulatory burdens for insurers (partly achieved by enabling the selling of insurance across state lines, which would effectively ban states from enacting stricter regulations), more health savings accounts, and a refundable tax credit available for all to purchase coverage. The latter replaces the current sliding-scale tax credits of Obamacare, which grow with need to help those at the bottom more.
The right-leaning Center for Health and Economy estimated that the plan would reduce insurance overall by 4 million over time. But there’s reason to think that number is much too low. As Levitt explained to me, the lower regulatory requirements will lead to skimpier, less valuable insurance plans that also cost less. "Would people at least buy something, even if it’s skimpy, since they’d otherwise be forgoing the tax credit?” he asks. “Or would many decide that the skimpy insurance is so lousy it’s not worth the trouble? We don’t know for sure how people would respond. It is a safe bet, though, that the insurance people would get would cover less than what they get under the ACA."
In other words, either a few million people lose insurance and many more are transferred into significantly worse insurance, or many millions will lose insurance and fewer retain it but see its quality go down. As my colleague Sarah Kliff explains, the effects of the other main congressional replacement plan, Senate Finance Chair Orrin Hatch’s Patient CARE Act, are similar. Center for Health and Economy projects 4 million fewer insured; the RAND Corporation projects 9 million.
Trump’s replacement plan, such as it is, is even worse. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates it’d spare just 1 million people who’d otherwise lose insurance through Obamacare repeal. Full repeal without replacement takes insurance away from 22 million; Trump’s plan takes it away from 21 million. The difference is minimal.
But it doesn’t end with Obamacare. One of the biggest policy areas where Trump and Ryan are in agreement is Medicaid block granting. They don’t just want to revert Medicaid to the less generous program it was before the Affordable Care Act. They want to cut the program’s budget by about a third and hand the remaining money back to the states.
The human toll here could be immense. The Urban Institute's analysis of the fiscal year 2013 House budget — one prepared by Ryan and closely resembling subsequent budgets — found that its cuts and block granting would kick 14 million to 20 million people off the Medicaid rolls. That’s in addition to everyone who’d lose coverage through ACA repeal. And because most of these people are extremely poor, the odds of them finding private insurance to replace Medicaid are quite low. So if Medicaid is block granted and cut, and the ACA repealed and replaced according to Trump’s plan, the total increase in the uninsured could very well reach 30 million to 40 million.
And the human toll won’t just consist of an increase in the uninsured population. Block granting will wreak havoc on the safety net for people with disabilities. Medicaid is the main source of funding for long-term care for disabled people who need it, and block granting would eliminate its role as an entitlement.
“If block granting proceeds, it would enable state officials to kick disabled adults and children out of life-preserving services for reasons of budget constraints, pressure from influential providers seeking to promote other business models, or any reason at all,” Ari Ne’eman, a former member of Obama’s National Council on Disability, writes. “Under a block grant, disabled Americans might effectively lack any rights to support services under federal law.”
Ending America’s last line of defense against hunger and deprivation
Medicaid is hardly the only program in line for block granting and cuts. Recent House budgets, and Ryan himself, have expressed interest in applying this approach to just about every federal program for low-income people that isn’t the earned income tax credit.
CBPP estimates that the most recent House budget gets 62 percent of its cuts from programs for low- and moderate-income people. That includes at least $150 billion in cuts to food stamps and nearly $500 billion in mostly unspecified cuts to other low-income programs like SSI (which provides cash to the disabled and elderly), Pell Grants, and what little remains of welfare.
About $25 billion in the food stamp cuts come from specific proposals, which would kick a combined 3 million people off the program, mostly childless adults, low-income seniors, and low-income families with high child care costs. The other $125 billion comes from block granting the program and slashing the size of the funds states get by nearly 30 percent over five years. If states respond by reducing eligibility, the result would be 10 million people kicked off the program. If they respond by reducing the scale of benefits, that'd take about $40 per month per person away from the program. A family of four would lose nearly $2,000 every year.
Either one of these scenarios is frightening. “One thing that low-income Americans lack is cash, and SNAP is not cash but it’s near cash,” James Ziliak, a professor of economics and founding director of the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky, says. “At this point in time there’s really nothing else. SNAP is the closest thing to an entitlement program in the country. If you take that away, you take the social safety net of last resort away.”
Most of SNAP’s beneficiaries are families with children, with most of the remainder made up by seniors and people with disabilities. The program is important for just about every American at or near poverty, and is an important counter-recessionary force during downturns (when its ranks swell automatically, pumping more government cash into the economy), but it’s particularly crucial for the extreme poor.
This is a chart of extreme poverty — the share of people living on less than $2 a day in cash income — from 1996 to 2011. It was put together by the University of Michigan's Luke Shaefer and Johns Hopkins's Kathryn Edin, America's leading researchers on extreme poverty. The gap you see between the solid and dotted black lines is the difference between the extreme poverty rate not counting food stamps and the rate counting food stamps. Roughly 2.1 percent of households with children in 2011 were kept afloat, barely out of the $2-a-day range, if you count food stamps. That's a little under 800,000 families, representing millions of children. If food stamps are cut, they could fall back into extreme poverty.
The two faces of Ryanism
Paul Ryan has laid out his vision for government in dozens of bills, proposals, and white papers over the past decade, with occasional contradictions and tensions between them along the way, but two central precepts of Ryanism have remained constant: He wants to drastically cut basically everything the government does outside of defense and retirement spending, and he wants to radically restructure government safety net programs to turn over more control to states.
The cuts can be found in his budgets, proposed each year from 2007, when he became ranking member of the House Budget Committee, through his ascension to chair the more powerful Ways and Means Committee in 2014. The substance of the plans evolved over time, but over the last few iterations, Ryan’s cuts found a fairly stable form. Under House Speaker John Boehner and during Ryan’s stint on Mitt Romney’s ticket, he consolidated support for the budget outlines and made them the de facto governing manifesto of the Republican Party. And lest you think they’re going anywhere, they’ve been preserved in the proposals of his Budget Committee successor, Rep. Tom Price.
More than two-thirds of the cuts in Ryan’s last budget came from reduced funding for programs for low-income people, like Medicaid or food stamps. In some sense, that’s out of necessity. Ryan, like most Republicans, wants to increase defense spending. He refuses to raise taxes. He is willing to propose reforms to Social Security and Medicare but loath to actually argue for reductions in spending, and the cuts he does suggest tend to take a decade or more to kick in. The largest program category in the budget left, once the military and old-age social insurance programs are out of the way, is programs for the poor.
When forced to defend these cuts, Ryan typically denies they’re cuts at all (they’re merely reductions in outlay growth, he says) and then insists that the programs being cut are hotbeds of wasteful spending that fail to meaningfully cut poverty. “The federal government provides an open-ended match to what the states spend on Medicaid, which gives them a perverse incentive to spend as much money as possible,” his staff explained upon announcing the FY2015 budget.
In the same document, Ryan contends of food stamps, “Spending on SNAP has quadrupled in the past decade. It’s grown in good times and bad, because of the open-ended nature of the program. States get more money if they enroll more people. This setup encourages waste, fraud, and abuse.”
One of his favorite talking points is his insistence that poverty has not fallen at all since the war on poverty began in the 1960s. “After a 50-year war on poverty and trillions of dollars spent, we still have the same poverty rates,” he declared on CBS’s Face the Nation in 2015.
That’s not true — if you measure poverty properly, taking safety net programs into account, poverty fell by 40 percent from 1967 to 2012.
Likewise, his descriptions of Medicaid and SNAP are barely recognizable to many experts on those programs. “The fat in [SNAP] is minimal,” Kentucky’s Ziliak says. “The error rate, the rate at which benefits are over-issued or under-issued, remain at historic lows for the program.” Medicaid, similarly, pays dramatically less than private insurance for the same procedures, and has enjoyed substantially lower cost growth than private insurance in recent years. These are very lean programs, not cesspools of waste.
Ryan’s cuts versus Ryan’s reforms
If Ryan’s budgets lay out the “cuts” side of his proposals, the reform side is contained in documents like his 2014 poverty plan or his 2016 “Better Way” plan for poverty. These plans pointedly do not call for cuts. Instead they call for reforms, like “opportunity grants,” a pilot project wherein states would get a lump of money to replace existing federal spending on SNAP, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF, or welfare), child care, housing assistance, and other programs — a block grant, basically. The 2016 plan simply says, “States should test ways of repackaging welfare benefits to reward desired outcomes.”
Ryan insists in his 2014 proposal that “[i]t is important to note that this is not a budget-cutting exercise—this is a reform proposal.” He claims that his block grant would be budget-neutral, his own budgets to the contrary. Ryan has never resolved this contradiction, and subsequent proposals have only made it worse.
The 2016 Better Way plan makes the same point. In a FAQ, in response to the question, “Doesn’t the House budget call for significant cuts to welfare programs?” he explained, “This plan does not cut spending for the poor by a penny. This plan is focused on reforming our welfare system so that it works better and helps more people get on the ladder of opportunity.” It is the first FAQ I’ve ever seen that goes out of its way to duck the questions it poses to itself.
It is worth being clear about this: Ryan can have his budgets, which cut spending on programs for the poor, or his reform proposals, which do not, but he can’t have both. The ambiguity, however, makes it very difficult to debate Ryan’s agenda, as these ideas are very different depending on whether they are accompanied by massive cuts in overall program spending.
Ron Haskins, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and one of the drafters of the 1996 welfare reform law, is enthusiastic about the no-cuts, reform iteration of Ryan’s agenda. “States could use flexibility. But we don’t want to collapse all off these programs into one block grant,” Haskins says. “We need language to let states request the ability to combine programs for a specific purpose, and they’d have to lay out what the purpose is.”
Even the more dramatic plans to block grant the safety net have smart defenders. Tony Keck, who served as South Carolina's director of Health and Human Services under Republican Gov. Nikki Haley from 2011 to 2014, told me that a Medicaid block grant would've helped him address public health problems like smoking or teen pregnancy or housing instability more effectively. Oren Cass, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and domestic policy director of the Mitt Romney campaign, argued in an email that there's been little incentive for states to try to find waste in Medicaid, and that a block grant could help them locate it.
But both, like Ryan, emphasized the case for block granting as a reform that needn’t change overall spending. Indeed, both raised the possibility that block grants should send more money to states during recessions.
Other analysts, like Greenstein, think it’s a fool’s errand to do what Ryan is demanding, and evaluate the program reforms Ryan has put forward outside of the massive cuts that he and his allies clearly favor.
“It’s directly contradicted by every budget Ryan and Republicans have passed over the last five years,” Greenstein says. “Their Medicaid and SNAP block grants cut billions, and they agreed that those were the right figures each time they marked up their budgets. Ryan would then get away with talking about poverty and saying it isn’t a budget-cutting exercise. But when you talk about actual legislation they put on the floor, they had huge cuts in Medicaid and SNAP.”
This is just what Ryan wants for the poor. There’s more for everyone else.
And that’s just the beginning.
Ryan’s plan for the poor’s safety net doesn’t include his most famous budget proposal, which would see Medicare turned into a version of Obamacare, with seniors given a choice between subsidized private coverage and traditional single-payer Medicare. It doesn’t include his 2004 plan with then-Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) to privatize Social Security, a plan so large in scale that that the private accounts it created would wind up owning every stock and bond in the United States.
It also doesn’t include his tax plan, which would cost at least $3 trillion over the first decade and by its second decade would give 99.6 percent of its cuts to the top 1 percent. Ryan’s plan is structured such that it likely would not cause the tax increase for single parents that Donald Trump’s tax plan would — but the upper middle class, the rich but not superrich, those making $150,000 to $300,000 or thereabouts, would see large tax increases, of $2, 000 to $3,000 a year on average.
There’s reason to be skeptical that Ryan will succeed in reforming Social Security and Medicare, which Trump campaigned aggressively on preserving and not cutting. The politics around taxes is also tricky, as Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch is insisting on doing tax reform on a bipartisan basis, which rules out the sweeping cuts for the rich that Ryan and Trump both want.
Even on programs for the poor, you can expect opposition to pop up as these ideas become actual bills. Providers and nursing homes that depend on Medicaid dollars will fight block granting the program. SNAP cuts will face resistance from companies like Walmart, where SNAP dollars are largely spent, and whose employees often depend upon the program. This is in addition to liberal groups, organized labor, and other traditional advocacy organizations that can be expected to fight cuts.
But these are the stakes. Congress hasn’t ironed out all the details, but Paul Ryan has spent the past five years making it very clear to everyone who’ll listen what he intends to do to the American safety net. He intends to cut it, drastically, to return it to the states, and give the states unprecedented flexibility in how to spend that money. That would mean the end of the guarantee of health care and food to America’s poorest residents. States might offer a variety of different guarantees instead, but the universal floor that exists now would be no more.
The consequences of this for America’s poor will be absolutely massive. It’s hard to estimate now exactly how many will be pushed into poverty, but the number is surely in the millions. The already poor will make do with fewer resources. The social compact between America and its most vulnerable citizens will be broken.
It’s easy to get distracted by the latest Trump gaffe or blow-up or rumored appointment. But Ryan’s agenda could wind up being his most important legacy.
Watch: Repealing Obamacare could change millions of livesWake me up when America is a safe, fair, functional, democracy
Or at least a couple months before that, when the people wake up and revolt. A revolution is like a good library book: way overdue.
Will Pflaum Blocked Unblock Follow Following Nov 1, 2017
1984 in 2017. Twilight Zone in full effect. Night of the Living Dead, up is down. You wander the streets and everything appears normal, but, as you hear people talk, you realize that they are possessed by evil forces, zombies, walking in a corporate, propaganda fog that means they are less than human. Then you find another member of your tribe, a human being.
Here are the major incongruencies between what appear to be obviously true and what you hear from all authorities, including the media, and then hear actual people in your social world repeat the impossible, irrational hype as if it were true. The gap between the truth and what is accepted as the truth by those around us is so vast that the world is a genuinely scary place.
Tech giants are conspiring with the government to control us. The enemy of the American people is not Russia but the American deep state (the nexus of various undemocratic oligarchic forces) obviously.
Facebook, Google and Twitter were called before congress to testify about Russian interference in the 2016 election this week. Apparently, Wikileaks is not the only website to blame for the “election hack” this month.
Meanwhile, Google routinely uses its monopoly position in search to crush competition in areas like maps, reviews, and online sales. Google further is using its search engines to stifle free speech by downgrading anti-corporate media. Freedom of speech is about what you are able to hear as much as what you allowed to say. Crowdstrike, an internet security firm owned by Google. This is the company that outed the Bernie campaign for apparently breaking DNC Minivan rules. This same firm now says there are links between Russia and Wikileaks. Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google (Alphabet), promised to help Clinton win in the leaked Podesta emails. The emails between Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and campaign manager Robby Mook show that Schmidt met with Podesta and was interested in assuming the role of “head outside advisor.”
Amazon collaborates with the CIA to run the Washington Post. With 70 billion dollars in the budget, the CIA can give money to Amazon to buy the Washington Post and pay software developers to let them in.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg wanted Hillary Clinton to win “badly”, provided research to her in March 2015 and met privately with her on multiple occasions. Facebook CEO Zuckerberg met many times with the Clinton campaign.
Twitter does not allow RT to advertise and admitted in prepared statement before congress on November 1, 2017 that it hid up to 50% of tweets with the hashtag #DNCleaks, without being able to verify if the tweets were by bots or were genuine tweets. While Amazon, Google, Twitter and Facebook try to limit free speech and competition, what does congress call them to account for? An non-existent Russian “hack” of the 2016 American election.
We have a dangerous state opposed to our interests that is watching us, controlling us, and manipulating our thoughts.
The government is manipulating and infiltrating tech and setting up “contractors” who then work for industry to suppress dissent. Can the CIA murder anyone at any time by turning their own car against them? Michael Hastings was investigating the CIA, then died in a car crash. You can go to jail for reporting the truth in America. Barrett Brown committed the crime of reporting on the nexus of contractors, the military and corporations that suppress dissent. Assange. Snowden. Manning.
Wikileaks Vault 7 is filled with strange and disturbing comments by CIA hackers. Here we read, “Mendicant Engineer — reserved for the next tool delivered during a gov’t shutdown.” Nice to know they are ready for the shutdown. The rest of us? Not so much. Fake-off mode is scary. “Suppress LEDs to improve look of Fake-Off mode… Turn on or leave WiFi turned on in Fake-Off mode… Parse unencrypted audio collection… During initial development, a rough approximation of bit rates for different audio quality settings were made. Quality 1 settings required 100 kB/minutes. Quality 5 settings required 250 kB/minutes. Quality 7 settings required 350 kB/min. Quality 5 seemed to provide very nice results and is usually used.”
The government has dummy companies investing in startups, venture capital, in order to have access to AI and manipulate other technologies from the beginning.
Treason and betrayal are routine. While working with a foreign government is apparently a scandal, being an agent of CitiGroup is normal and accepted.
We have an investigation going on as to whether Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. If this collision occurred, the deal would be, say, that as President Trump would try to end the sanctions imposed under Obama after the Russian occupation of the Crimea. You scratch my back (help me beat Hillary) and I’ll scratch your back (sanctions lifted).
Meanwhile, there is no doubt that Obama made a secret quid pro quo with CitiGroup during the 2008 election: if Wall Street would back his campaign, Obama would be sure to administer the TARP bailout passed under Bush such that CitiBank would make billions of dollars in profits, then cycle a nice kick back to Obama in the form of “speaking fees” after he leaves office.
Every piece of the treason is on the record. 10/2008 Michael Froman’s team at Citigroup vetted Obama’s cabinet; 2009–2011 Obama approves 470 billion in TARP funding for Citibank; 2017 Obama makes 60 million in one year from Wall Street speeches and book contracts for books he isn’t writing. Obvious conspiracy in plain sight.
He’s hanging out on the super yachts of billionaires. He’s dining with rock stars. His daughter got a job in Hollywood. He is trying out new fashions. And he’s made 60 million dollars. He probably did not write “Dreams From My Father” and is getting a big check for doing nothing for his next book, as he is not in fact a good writer. Obama sent his daughter over to Weinstein.
I got no beef with Russia. During Obama’s presidency, life expectancy for White men with no college declined. Life expectancy is one of those statistics that is really deep, showing something profound about being alive. Life expectancy is much higher in northern Europe and Japan than in the US (and pretty good in Cuba, by the way, not to argue for or against the Cuban system). These are statistics that show that politics is important and represent a serious indictment of our system of government. You can’t have declining life expectancy and call your administration a success.
Black households lost 40% of their net worth on average during the early years of Obama’s presidency, never recovered much of that wealth and now, in general, the wealth gap between white and black households increased under Obama. Obama bailed out the bankers, not the homeowners. So, black households lost out disproportionately.
CitiGroup is hurting the American people, not Russia. Trump might have conspired with Russia but Obama definitely conspired with CitiGroup.
The “Russia Hacked the Election Story” is still not only not true, it’s not even vaguely plausible.
With special counsel issuing indictments against Mannford, Gates and the guilty plea of Papadopoulos, some people seem to think that the link between Russia and Trump and the role of Wikileaks and the source of the emails published in 2016 has all be determined. Far from the case. No facts have changed since I wrote this.
Of course Mannford and Gates may have been dirty. No one should really be surprised that Trump and those close to him are corrupt and crooked. If a guy with a badge wants to bring Trump down, a determined investigator should be able to do. The same applies to almost all the politicians in Washington, certainly to Hillary and Bill Clinton.
Let’s think this through a bit.
Many politicians have conspired with foreign governments to influence American elections. Nixon went behind Johnson’s back and encouraged the South Vietnamese not to sign a peace accord prior to the 1968 election. No one has explained why Iran rejected Carter’s offer to trade millions in spare parts and kept the American hostages in captivity until Reagan took office, the same Reagan who was later caught selling arms to these very same Iranians. One source. Looks like a dirty deal and there is no other logical explanation for Iran’s behavior. To guarantee the deal, Iran would have to have kept some kind of evidence of collusion, perhaps a tape of George Bush Sr. made in Paris, or some other clear evidence of Reagan-Bush collusion with Iran to keep the hostages until after the 1980 election.
So, it is not unthinkable that presidential candidates would put their own campaigns above ideas of country and patriotism. Did Trump?
For the sake of argument, let’s say Russia hacked Podesta’s and the DNC’s email. Anyone could have hacked Podesta’s email, but let’s say it was Russia. Russia was all set to pass the emails off to Wikileaks. But then they decided to collude with Trump before passing the emails along. Why? Presumably, to get Trump to commit to removing sanctions when he takes office. Trump couldn’t help publish the emails. His campaign could only promise to scratch Putin’s back.
It is now clear that Trump is worthless to Russia. They have the goods on him. They have no reason to protect him now. Why wouldn’t Russia just drop him, if they can? They could make a deal now to drop Trump into Mueller’s lap in exchange for something else, not an end to sanctions, but something. Would be a good time to cash in that tape or whatever they have the proves a quid pro quo. No sign of that, though.
Meeting with Russian can’t be illegal, since Robert Mueller himself delivered highly enriched uranium right to Russia in person. Digging for dirt on an opponent also isn’t illegal and the Clinton campaign did the same thing, also working with a foreign government. So, to prove a case, Mueller will have to show that Trump promised the Russians’ something in exchange for some kind of promise by Russia to sway the 2016 election. He will have to show that the Russians in fact passed the emails to Wikileaks, or come up with some other kind of “influence.”
The Russian government and Wikileaks would absolutely have concrete evidence as to whether either of these things happened. But Mueller isn’t asking the Russian government or Wikileaks to testify. No one else is likely to have proof. Even if a Russian agent says, “We have Hillary’s email and we will make them public” doesn’t mean that said agent isn’t lying and trying to get a commitment to end sanctions based on inside knowledge of what Wikileaks was already planning to publish.
If the Russians want to have leverage over Trump through a dirty deal, they also seem to have wanted to have leverage over Clinton in the same way. Did they really need the uranium they bribed the Clintons to provide them or did they want to use the evidence of quid pro quo over Clinton’s head should she win?
In any event, lifting Russia sanctions in exchange for help winning the election, if that was the deal, would be no worse than the deal Obama struck in 2008, getting Wall Street money to win an election in exchange for low interest loans, trillions, to Wall Street firms. It’s hard to see how Mueller could ever build a case against the Trump campaign without someone at Wikileaks or a Russian agent, or both, cooperating and admitting that there was a axis of information between those players… when there almost certainly was no axis.
This shit is all fake, you know.
Congress is a not a democratic institution of the people. When one of them appears to be calling a wrong-doer to task in a hearing, that is in fact not what is happening. It’s just a show trial.
Comey or tech CEOs get asked questions be senators. These hearings are designed to give the public a sense of a functioning democracy. Anyone who think the US is a democracy is not paying attention to what John Podesta says in his private emails. Right from the horse’s mouth. Power works the same way in the US as in communist China, only we have a more comprehensive totalitarian system.Britain may officially be out of a recession, but for many their economic battles are only just beginning. It was a point that Ed Miliband, the leader of the Opposition, reiterated last week when he said that more and more families will face "a cost of living crisis" that will see them left behind, even as the economy recovers.
"The Government is hitting lower and middle-income families hardest in the way it cuts the deficit," he added.
His words were triggered by research that showed middle-income families will be more than £4,000 worse off after a combination of government spending cuts, rising inflation and higher taxes gives their household budget a bashing.
A study by the research group, Resolution Foundation, found that those on middle-range salaries will be worst hit by rises in living costs over the next decade. With more than 1.2 million families being affected by the cut to child benefit, households will be looking for extra income to help them stay afloat.
Yet many families are already adjusting their finances amid rising inflation and stagnant wage growth. They are repaying debt, cutting back on overseas holidays and shopping, and they are staying in. As we reported last week, many are making the most of voucher codes and discount deals to ensure that they don't pay the full ticket price when they don't have to.
But it is not just saving money that has become de rigueur. Many are trying to earn extra cash by making the most of what they already have – such as their property or taking second jobs.
Business analysts, lawyers and IT workers are among those joining the moonlighting ranks as research from Capital Economics shows that more than 1.1 million people have second jobs – up 7pc in the past five years.
Vicky Redwood, the UK economist for the analyst, said that the numbers could be even higher, as many people do not declare their second jobs to their employer or the taxman. "It's very possible that even more people are taking on second jobs, but may be reluctant to inform the authorities for a variety of reasons."
The number of people turning to eBay to supplement their income rose 13pc last year, while those placing ''working from home'' advertisements has climbed sharply. According to one free site, www.vivastreet.co.uk, advertisers have jumped 124pc – the most popular jobs listed are those that can be done from a home office or front room with flexible hours, such as data entry cler |
$5,000.
That’s where Dr. Stephen Neihaus stepped in, police said.
Neihaus, of the Chicago Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, volunteered his time and surgical space, bringing the cost of Liberty’s surgery down to $1,500.
“She is such a sweet dog,” he said. “You would never know that she was an abused dog. She is in such good spirits.”
But authorities said Neihaus didn’t stop there, and found a private citizen who anonymous donated the remaining $1,500, which covered the costs of surgical implants and anesthesia.
“The support and generosity of Dr. Neihaus and the anonymous donor has been nothing short of amazing,” Elgin Police Animal Control Officer Matthew Ciesielczyk said in a release from Elgin police.
“Their dedication to this loving animal in need, and willingness to partner with the Elgin Police Department is commendatory.”
Liberty’s “extensive” surgery wrapped up Tuesday, and the pup will be available to adopt after eight weeks of recuperation and therapy, police said. Anyone interested in adopting Liberty should call the Golf Rose Animal Shelter in Schaumburg at (847) 885-2122.
Meanwhile, a warrant has been issued for the dog’s owner, 38-year-old Gregory R. Griffin, who is charged with misdemeanor counts of cruel treatment and violation of owner’s duties, police said.
Police have not been able to locate him, the release said. A Cook County Court judge already ordered the dog to be forfeited during an April 2 hearing.
Elgin police ask anyone with information on his whereabouts to call police at (847) 289-2700 or the department’s anonymous tip line at (847) 695-4195.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)The voice behind Symmetra Anjali Bhimani was born in Cleveland and grew up in Orange County before moving on to study theater at Northwestern University in Chicago. She's since returned to California, where she still works in theater, but is growing a career in TV too. You may have spotted her in in shows like Modern Family, Silicon Valley, and Criminal Minds. And Overwatch isn't her only videogame appearance—she played Nisha in Fallout 4's Nuka-World expansion. Take a deeper dive into Bhimani's career over on her IMDB page.
Symmetra is an outlier among Overwatch's support characters. She can protect teammates with shield buffs and push through chokepoints with the Photon Barrier, but she won't stop to pop a band-aid on every Pharah's skinned knee. With a few tiny turrets and her Photon Projector in hand, she'll mercilessly dissolve anyone foolish enough to press into her corner. It's appropriate for her character too, a hardened engineer with good intentions who will subvert (or dissolve) any obstacle in order to impact the world in a positive way.
Anjali Bhimani, who lends her voice to Symmetra, says she and her character have far more in common than just mouth sounds. She agreed to explain and talk about how she sees Symmetra, what it's like working with Blizzard, and which heroes should just kiss already.
PC Gamer: I understand you're more than a voice actor, is that right?
Anjali Bhimani: I pretty much work wherever they'll pay me that's not, you know, illegal. And who knows, maybe someday I'll switch to that too, but for now we're sticking with legal work.
So, can you give me a general background about who you are, where you're from, and what got you into your career?
I was born in Cleveland and raised in Orange County, and I went to school for theater in Chicago. So that's where I stayed and did a ton of theater out there for a really long time, and then I moved to New York with a show that went to Broadway and stayed there for a chunk of time. I did a couple of shows on Broadway and opera and a bunch of other things, and then that's also where I started doing a little bit of TV and working that world a little more. Then I started going back and forth between New York and LA to do TV, and then I moved to LA, and here we are. I've been here since 2010 officially. Yeah! And the voice acting stuff pretty much started up with Overwatch, so that started in 2014? 2014, yeah.
But like I said, a little bit of everything.
That's interesting to hear that they were contacting you back in 2014, and the game came out last year, so they had you on Overwatch pretty early, huh?
Oh yeah, since it was obviously such an involved game and they had a lot of development they were working on, we did a few sessions before the game came out, but it was spaced out pretty widely as they were developing the characters. I wouldn't say I had no idea what I was getting into, but I had no idea it was this huge.
Did you have knowledge of Blizzard and their reach?
Yeah, I knew about World of Warcraft, I mean, who doesn't? And I knew that was huge. I didn't quite, at the time—my gaming experience was many years ago when I first played D&D as a kid, campaigns and all of that. And then mostly just played role-playing games like Baldur's Gate, so with the advent of all of the games that are so sophisticated and the console systems and all of that, I haven't been as involved in the gaming world since then. So what I knew of them was just from other people talking about the games, I didn't realize the scope and the magnitude of the stuff that they do, and specifically that Blizzard takes their time.
You know, some companies throw games out as frequently as they can, but Blizzard takes so much time and puts so much effort and thought and planning into all of their games. I just assumed that all games took this long, but then when I went back and did more research, I realized 'Oh wow, these guys don't mess around.' These guys really really take their time so that when something comes out it's a solid thing that's going to last for 10 years, at least.
So you played Dungeons and Dragons back in the day?
I did!
Do you remember any of your characters?
I can't remember specifics, but I do remember always having a hard time picking one class, so I would always have multiclass characters because I could never—which kind of sounds like my life, jack of all trades, master of none, doing a little bit of everything, because if you can, why not? So I do remember, and I wish I could draw it for you, because I can see her in my mind's eye. I loved drawing my characters back then. I loved fantasy art so much, particularly because of Dungeons and Dragons, and that was part of what drew it to me, was the vividness of all of the characters.
Cover art from an official D&D Monster Manual.
Even in the manual the art was so beautiful. Even if it was just sketch art. I can remember this image of this totally badass cleric-fighter-magic-user that I had, and I just can't remember her name. But, you know, she's hot, I'm not going to lie. That was the main one that I can remember. I wish I could remember her name!
Was she evil? Were you evil all the time or were you nice?
Oh, no no no nonono! I think my favorite alignment, and the alignment that I actually consider myself in real life, is Chaotic Good. Problem is, I'm probably closer to Neutral Good because I do have the tendency to follow rules more specifically than the average bear, but if I think a rule is stupid and there's a way I can get around it and still do good, I'll go with that. All of my characters whenever I played were chaotic good, and to me that's really how I operate. Lawful Good pens you in, you're a little bit stuck obeying all the rules even if the rules don't necessarily save the greater good, which is kind of like Symmetra!
Hey, woah! Bringing it back.
Look at that!
So yeah, back to Symmetra. Blizzard's characters, at least up front to the players, are never too defined. I'm sure Blizzard has a good idea who they are, but players are filling in the blanks and there's this huge culture of fan art and fanfiction and all this stuff forming around Overwatch. Who do you see Symmetra as? What's your idea of Symmetra?
Well, all of the information that the fans have is the information that I have. Which I think is a really beautiful thing—and also protects me from making a complete ass of myself and putting something out there that I shouldn't have. So I appreciate [Blizzard] doing that, they keep it very close to the chest. But what I love the most about her is that, much like in real life, there's a desire to do good and she’s used her difficult history and her difficult childhood to try to funnel that into a way to do good in the world rather than it turning her against the world, like perhaps Reaper has. But at the same time, her methods, and as you saw if you read the comic A Better World, you can see that even she is questioning that the Vishkar Corporation is using and putting her to.
An excerpt from A Better World
There is this grey area, you know? She doesn't necessarily have questionable morality. Her morality I think is right on line: she wants to do good in the world, she wants to make the world a better place. The question is, how is she doing it? And who is she aligning herself with? And what I love about that vagueness—that many of the characters have—is that it does open the door to interpretation and that it does allow the players to fill in the blanks.
I probably sound like I'm sucking up to them, but I swear to god—I am in love with these fans. Anjali Bhimani
I mean look, if you're just playing the game itself and you're not reading any of the lore, you don't get any of this, right? Essentially, it does come from all of the fans who are voracious in their appetite for new information, because they want to fill in the story and they want to know more, and that's part of the excitement of this game, is that it's not just the game, it's the world that they have created for the game. Which goes all the way back to Dungeons and Dragons and those kind of campaign games where so much of your involvement in the game comes from your imagination.
I know this is not entirely specific to your question, but basically I do see her as a hero. I see her as a conflicted hero, like so many of them. She wants to do good in the world, she believes in what she is doing, she believes her heart is in the right place, but then something happens and something bad happens to someone as a result of her actions and she's like, ‘Huh, I just have to convince myself that this is the right thing’—you know, long game. I really love that about her, I do think her heart and her mind are in the right place.
Click here to see some of the best Overwatch fan art in our gallery of favorites.
And as far as the fans go, I just love all the stuff they're coming up with. I absolutely—and I probably sound like I'm sucking up to them, but I swear to god—I am in love with these fans. The art that they produce, the stories that they produce, the kindness that they show, the relationships that they're building with each other that I get to see firsthand because of social media, which is one of the joys of social media—all of that to me, the community that has been built because of this game is extraordinary. And I think that's another reason that the game is so popular, because yeah, it could just be another first person shooter, but it's the community and the lore that's making it so special.
Yeah, and kudos to Blizzard for taking steps in representing all kinds of people from all over.
That's our job as artists right now, is to help bring out the best in people and enable them to speak up when they need to speak up... Anjali Bhimani
Absolutely! I honestly think that the greatest asset of the game itself is, or the greatest trait, is that there is a hero for everyone to identify with. Somewhere in this game there is a character that has something in common with someone who is playing. I like to think that that mythology enables us to see something heroic in ourselves when we're playing it. If a little girl sees Tracer and she's like 'Oh my god, she's just like me!' how cool is that for that little girl? Or, Symmetra! Or Pharah! Or Sombra! Or a little boy seeing Lucio, you know, all of these super cool characters with a variety of backgrounds and sexual orientations and abilities and mindsets—there's just something so appealing about people being able to jump into this world and see themselves in it.
And I think particularly, not to get sociopolitical, but we are in a time of extreme change and there are a lot of people in the world. Now is a really important time for people to be able to see their own efficacy, their own power, their own ability to affect change, whether on an individual level or on a global level. And anything that empowers people to see that, whether it's a game or a book or a song or a band or a play—whatever, that's our job as artists right now, is to help bring out the best in people and enable them to speak up when they need to speak up and enable them to make change when they want to make change.
Long answer! In recent years, it's become more and more clear to me why I do what I do, and that's a large part of it.
Well, I'm glad Symmetra can be part of that.
Oh god yeah, she's awesome, and I love that little Indian girls now have a superhero, because I sure didn't. I didn't have one when I was growing up.
On another note, it sounds like you're fairly familiar with the rest of the cast of Overwatch, or at least the characters. Are you aware of shipping?
I am aware of shipping, and I tend to plead the fifth on any ship questions! First of all, I'm just grateful for the fact that I now know what that means, because it took me a long time to figure it out. I was like, 'Shipping? Where are we sending people? I don't understand.' There are a lot of combinations and permutations that would be very exciting for people. There are some that make obvious sense in terms of how the worlds are intertwined, but who knows, genuinely, who knows what Blizzard has lined up? Michael Chu [Senior designer for lore and story on Overwatch] is amazing with the things that he's come up with, and the whole team. So ask your question, but be prepared, I might plead the fifth.
Ha! Who is your dream couple from the Overwatch cast? Who is destined to be together?
One can dream.
Cool! That's a tough one—again, huge disclaimer, I know nothing and am not endorsing or saying that Blizzard should do anything. I never want to step on their toes. I recently heard about a Mercy-Genji one and I thought they would be a fantastic couple!
Yeah, that's the rumor.
I mean, first of all, they would be hot as fuck. But, what a beautiful combination that would be. Especially since I sense that Genji is a wee bit troubled and could use a little bit of Mercy's light, so I like that idea.
I'm trying to think of who else. We all know Tracer's already got her boo, so I won't mess with her. I think Ana and Soldier: 76.
Oooh.
Yeah, even though that seems more like a Moonlighting kind of thing. They work together, you know what I mean? So that seems more like a 'we're never actually going to get together, but we're always going to have that thing there.'
I love it.
Moonlighting? I totally dated myself. What else? Those are two that pop into my head that just seem to make sense, you know, based on the world that they're in. But I'm sure there are infinitely more. And I—look, when Tracer's story came out with the Christmas comic, it was a surprise to everyone, so who knows where everyone's at? I love that they just come out with these things that, all of a sudden you're like I can't believe that happened and yet it makes perfect sense, how did I not get it?
They tend to set the internet on fire.
Yeah! And also, one of the other reasons I don't want to specifically endorse or deny any ship, is because the fan art and the fan fiction that has come out of people shipping different characters of their own accord is so magnificent, I don't want anyone to stop creating in new ways because they think something is actually lore. I think that might also be why Blizzard is so careful about what they put out there as 'defined.' Because they want people to create the world with them.
An excerpt from Lúcio actor Jonny Cruz's goofy montage of the Overwatch cast IRL.
So what's the voice recording process like working with Blizzard? Because they're constantly updating the game. Are you recording all these things way ahead of time, or are you going in every couple months now for their updates?
Not every couple of months, but there's been a few sessions, about once every six months or so. And whenever they do the updates they throw in some extras that they may or may not be using, and they're pretty good at planning ahead. But I want to say I've done four or five sessions—I can't totally remember off hand. So yeah, when you go in, we usually have a four-hour session, and it's just new lines and they'll go line by line explaining what each line refers to, and give you some reference in case you don't play the game or haven't heard it in a while so you can hear your voice again and put your voice right back in that place.
But when they did the Christmas stuff and the Halloween stuff, of course they had us come in and record lines. There were a couple of extra things thrown in when Symmetra's boost came in, when she got the update, so I did those. Yeah, it's a very easy process, the flow is very very easy. I kind of haven't ever had as smoothly run a job in my life, where you just come in and everyone is having a great time and you come in and you do it and you go. That's pretty much it. It's very clear, Andrea Toyias, the voice acting director, she's the director for the sessions as well. She's so spot on, the direction for each line is so clear. So it's really really easy to do. I just have to go in making sure I haven't lost my voice the night before, and that's pretty much it.
And in terms of both how you envision Symmetra and the lines that are out there already, is there some kind of tagline or line you're dying to put in there? Something that you would make up on your own?
Wow, I would have to think about that, really have to think about that to have a good answer for you. Full disclosure, I don't play the game that often. And I'm also quite bad at it, so A for effort, D-minus for execution. but thank god, when she finally got the boost I finally started not dying immediately. So I'm not as familiar with all the lines that actually made it into the game. I don't know which ones actually did and which ones are just stuck in my head.
I do love, "You were not meant for greatness." For some reason, that line to me, it's like the ultimate, elegant diss. It's the most elegant way someone could say that and yet is something so awful I would never say it to someone in real life. There's just something about it. I love that line, but I'll have to think about it. Also, not knowing the specifics about the direction she's going in, it's hard to say if there's something I would want to put in there. But honestly, they really covered the basics. I even love the fact that "The cake is not a lie!" is in there. Simple in-jokes like that are really good.
So beyond Overwatch, where else can we see or hear your work? Is anything in progress?
Yeah, a few things coming up. I have a series on Audience Network and Fullscreen that's going to be coming out on February 17th called Cassandra French's Finishing School, and it is a dark comedy about a girl who is fed up with her dating and life and takes matters into her own hands. I'm really excited about that. Then I'm going to be starting a play here in Southern California called Orange, which is a really special play about a young Indian girl who comes to Orange County actually, and ends up having a wild adventure with a very unlikely bedfellow. So we'll be doing that in February and March. I'm trying to think if there's anything else I'm allowed to talk about. I'm in an episode of the show Doubt coming out, in the first season. And I think that's it. There are a few more things I'm dying to tell you about, but I can't. I'd love to tell you, but I'd have to kill you.
Oh.
But I won't kill you. I'll let you live another day.2017 news
GARDAÍ CAN NOW TEST MOTORISTS FOR DRUGS AT THE ROADSIDE
The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Mr Shane Ross has today, Wednesday 12th April, announced the commencement of the drug driving provisions in the Road Traffic Act 2016. One of the key measures in the legislation provides for Preliminary Drug Testing, which will enable Gardaí to test motorists whom they suspect of driving under the influence of drugs at the roadside. The launch of the new measures, in conjunction with An Garda Síochána, the Medical Bureau for Road Safety (MBRS) and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) took place at Store Street Garda Station in Dublin.
The new Garda powers mean Gardaí can now establish roadside checkpoints, Mandatory Intoxicant Checkpoints (MIT), to test drivers for the presence of both alcohol and drugs. The new drug testing devices (Dräger DrugTest 5000) involve testing a sample of a driver’s oral fluid (saliva) for the presence of cannabis, cocaine, opiates (e.g. heroin, morphine) and benzodiazepines (e.g. valium). The new devices will also be available in Garda stations.
The MBRS has found that of the 3,020 specimens of blood and urine that it received in 2016, 24% confirmed positive for drugs other than alcohol. Of these, 91% were specimens from male drivers, most of whom were in the 17-44 year age range. Cannabis was the most prevalent drug detected, followed by benzodiazepines.
Speaking at the launch, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Mr Shane Ross, said the introduction of Preliminary Drug Testing is an important step in tackling drug driving: “Driving under the influence of drugs has been an offence in Ireland since 1961. The law states that a person must not be impaired (through alcohol, drugs or any combination of both) while driving or in charge of a vehicle. However, driving under the influence of drugs remains a problem in Ireland. It is estimated that drug driving is a factor in approximately one in ten fatal crashes. Drug driving not only puts the driver at risk but also passengers and others who share the road. The introduction of Preliminary Drug Testing now strengthens the ability of the Gardaí to tackle the problem. This is just one step in a multi-faceted approach my Department and I are taking to tackle the recent increase in road fatalities.”
Assistant Commissioner Michael Finn, Roads Policing and Major Event /Emergency Management, stated that: “The new roadside test for drugs will enable An Garda Síochána to tackle the serious issue of drug driving. There will be 86 drug screening devices located in Garda stations nationally and 50 more available for use at the roadside. Over time up to 150 devices will be available for use at the roadside. While the test will take longer to conduct than the roadside test for alcohol, the test is easy to carry out and within minutes will tell if a driver has drugs in their system. This new screening device is an important tool for An Garda Síochána in the identification of drug drivers, ensuring our roads are safer for everyone to use.”
Director of the Medical Bureau for Road Safety, Professor Denis Cusack explained that there is a twin-track approach to tackling drug driving in Ireland: “Firstly, it is against the law to drive under the influence of drugs, including prescribed drugs, where your driving is impaired to such an extent that you don’t have proper control of the vehicle. Secondly, it is against the law to drive under the influence of certain drugs, regardless of driving performance, above specified levels. There are currently three drugs tested for in this category – cannabis, cocaine and heroin. If you are found to have any of these drugs above the specified limits, you can be prosecuted for drug driving even if your driving is not impaired.”
Professor Denis Cusack, was also anxious to allay the fears of anybody taking prescription or over-the-counter medicines: “Drivers with medical conditions should continue to take their prescribed medications in accordance with healthcare advice and medical fitness-to-drive guidelines. If you are taking prescription or over-the-counter medicines under the advice of your doctor or pharmacist, and so long as those medicines don’t impair your driving, you have nothing to be concerned about. If you are in any doubt, speak to your doctor or pharmacist about your concerns.”
Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority, Moyagh Murdock, said that persons driving under the influence of drugs are a danger to themselves and others: “Our own research shows that many drug drivers incorrectly believe that certain drugs make them better drivers and imagine themselves at low risk of collision. They also tend to overestimate their driving ability and show little understanding of how drugs affect their driving. Many have poor awareness of the impairing effects of drugs and make bad decisions about driving as a result. I have no doubt that the introduction of Preliminary Drug Testing will have a profound and positive impact on road safety as drivers will certainly think twice before driving under the influence of drugs.”
Preliminary Drug Testing will be carried out by An Garda Síochána using the Dräger DrugTest® 5000, an easy to use mobile drug screening system that uses oral fluid to test for some of the most commonly abused drugs.
To support the introduction of Preliminary Drug Testing, the RSA will run a comprehensive online media campaign, targeting the use of illicit drugs in the 18 to 34 year old age bracket, to raise awareness of the new Garda drug-testing powers. This campaign will primarily feature videos which demonstrate how the drug tests will be administered on the road side and the consequences should a driver be detected driving under the influence of drugs. This awareness campaign will run on social media, radio and digital platforms.
The RSA is also running a parallel campaign aimed at allaying the concerns of those taking medicines and driving (over the counter and prescription drugs). Specifically, the RSA is putting information leaflets into pharmacies and doctors’ surgeries nationwide. For more information on the introduction of Preliminary Drug Testing, see the Frequently Asked Questions document.
Please see here for a list of possible scenarios which can arise during road traffic law enforcement for driving under the influence of drugs.
Notes
Penalties upon conviction for drug driving include;
a minimum 1-year driving disqualification if you are found to be above the legal threshold for cocaine, cannabis or heroin (since April 2017);
a minimum of 4 years driving disqualification if you are found to have drugs in your body and are impaired to such an extent that you do not have proper control of a vehicle;
up to €5,000 fine;
up to 6 months in prison;
All videos are also available to view online at www.rsa.ie or the RSA YouTube page
Please see list of the videos here and links to each one
Caught and Consequences
Consequences 1
Consequences 2
Consequences 3
Uvula
Professor Denis CusackThe U.S. solar industry is expected to see its expansion significantly curtailed this year after installing record capacity in 2016, marking the first annual decline in installations for the industry.
A new report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) raises some question marks for the trajectory of the solar industry. In the second quarter, the U.S. installed 2.38 gigawatts of new solar PV. A decent performance, but with two quarters in the books, the industry is only on track to install 12.4 GW of new capacity in 2017, a decline of 17 percent from last year.
The report from GTM Research and SEIA laid out a few reasons for concern. Residential PV only expanded by 1 percent quarter-on-quarter, the result of “weakness in the California market and a slowdown in Northeast markets, which are feeling the impact of pull-back from national providers.” Solar’s super-charged growth in recent years can in part be attributed to state policies that mandate renewable energy. Those policies are reaching their limits, meaning that going forward, a lot of new installations will need to be made on a voluntary basis.
But, beyond those wrinkles, there are many reasons why solar providers still feel good about their prospects. Solar provided 22 percent of all new electric capacity in the U.S. in the first half of 2017, second only to natural gas. Also, the decline in installations this year will be in the context of a record-setting year in 2016 in which solar accounted for 39 percent of all new capacity—more than natural gas.
Related: The $10 Trillion Resource North Korea Can't Tap
The expected expiration of tax credits at the end of 2016—credits that were ultimately extended through the end of the decade—led to a massive volume of projects last year. As the industry refills the pipeline with new projects, 2017 was always going to be a bit slower than 2016.
As the solar industry matures, the heady growth rates will be harder to maintain. The industry has averaged annual growth rates of 68 percent over the last decade. As the industry continues to expand, it will still add large volumes of new capacity, but the figures, in percentage terms, will come down.
Most importantly, though, industry costs continue to decline, making solar more competitive than ever.
Costs are down 55 percent in the last five years, and the U.S. Department of Energy just released new research showing that the industry has hit a major milestone. In 2011, the agency laid out a goal to get utility-scale solar costs down to $1 per watt by 2020, a goal that the DOE says has officially been achieved this year—three years earlier than expected. Also, the DOE says solar generation now averages below 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, a competitive figure. And that ignores the fact that utilities are already signing deals with customers for even cheaper rates. SEIA says that solar has reached grid-parity in 27 states, compared to only 12 in 2014.
(Click to enlarge)
However, there are a few problems lurking just over the horizon for the solar industry. Along with the fact that state renewable energy standards are reaching their limits, the biggest threat to the industry is the potential action from the Trump administration on imported solar panels. The President is rumored to be lining up tariffs on imported panels in response to a trade dispute case—a move that would be devastating to the U.S. solar industry because a lot of panels are manufactured in China.
Related: Is Russia Pushing Saudi Arabia Out Of Asia?
The industry has projected that cumulative installed capacity would triple over the next five years, putting it well over 100 GW. But that bullish scenario is jeopardized if trade barriers are put up, resulting in “a substantial downside revision to our forecast for all three segments,” the GTM Research/SEIA report says, referring to its residential, commercial and utility-scale segments. GTM Research estimates that tariffs would erase two-thirds of the expected capacity that would be installed over the next five years. SEIA calls the trade dispute an “existential threat” to the industry, endangering a third of all solar jobs in the country.
The tariffs would reverse much progress the industry has made on costs. DOE estimates that new tariffs would increase solar module prices from 35 cents to 78 cents per watt, resulting in the cost of utility-scale solar systems to jump from $1 per watt to $1.38 per watt. As The Economist noted in August, the move would set the industry back five years.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which will hear the trade dispute, is expected to issue a decision this month on letting the case move forward, which will ultimately put the matter in the hands of President Trump.
By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:The Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion will proceed despite new political pressures from B.C., Alberta Premier Rachel Notley insisted on Tuesday.
"Mark my words, that pipeline will be built, the decisions have been made," Notley said during a news conference in Edmonton.
The Alberta premier is confident the pipeline will go ahead even with a change in the political climate in British Columbia. 1:04 "There may be debate, but at the end of the day we're quite confident in our position."
Notley faced questions about the proposed pipeline expansion one day after a new political alliance formed in B.C, which is now preparing for a change in government.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark's Liberal government supported the pipeline. But her party narrowly won a minority government in the recent provincial election, and the B.C. Green Party has agreed to support the NDP in the legislature, a move that would give them a one-seat majority government.
Both parties have voiced opposition to Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which would nearly triple the capacity of the pipeline that runs from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., allowing it to carry 890,000 barrels of oil per day.
University of British Columbia law professor Jocelyn Stacey said the province could revoke the project's environmental assessment certificate, deny routine construction permits or introduce laws to subject the pipeline to more assessments.
"There's lots of room for the province to sort of complicate things, to drag things out," she said. "The more complicated this gets, then market forces take over, and this becomes a financial calculation (for Kinder Morgan investors) — whether the project goes ahead."
Notley said the expansion project is vital to the Alberta economy, and to the interests of the entire country.
She seemed unconcerned that a new B.C. political alliance could derail the project. No province can veto the pipeline, she said.
"I don't know that it makes a great deal of difference," said Notley of the new alliance. "Our view of the matter, and one that I think will be supported ultimately in the courts, is that the decision has been taken and it was taken by the federal government.
"It was taken by a federal government that was committed to balancing and driving towards two goals at the same time, environmental sustainability and economic growth."
Notley reiterated her commitment to the project. Alberta officials, she said, will continue to "use the means at our disposal to ensure that the project is built." The Alberta premier said she remains confident the message will eventually be well-received on the West Coast.
Politicians who choose to block the project would be ignoring the economic benefits.
"The province of B.C. can't grow solely on the basis of escalating housing prices in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland," said Notley. "They need stronger economic growth. And the reality is, in the interior of B.C. they need the jobs that this pipeline will provide.
"You'd be surprised how quickly the issue of ensuring people have good jobs becomes front and centre to responsible governments that care about working people."
Trudeau restates support for pipeline
Notley's comments echoed those made Tuesday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau, speaking in Rome, defended the federal government's decision to approve the $7.4-billion project.
"The decision we took on the Trans Mountain pipeline was based on facts and evidence, on what is in the best interests of Canadians and indeed, all of Canada," Trudeau said.
"Regardless of the change in government in British Columbia, or anywhere, the facts and evidence do not change."
Kinder Morgan has said it will proceed with the pipeline expansion as long as it secures enough financing for the project through its initial public offering, which is set to close Wednesday.
The Calgary-based company expects to begin construction for the project in September, with a completion date set for December 2019.
Despite growing political uncertainty, industry leaders are confident the company can address any concerns about the safety or environmental impacts of the project a new government may have.
"I think that that project is very well-positioned right now, now that it's weaved its way through its approval," said Tim McMillan, president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. "The federal government has given it cabinet approval, there's the prime minister, he's clearly said he's in favour of it.
"I think our goal will be able to continue to engage with both governments and with the citizens of our country to ensure that big projects like this are successful."Newcastle United are braced for a £18m offer from Italian club Napoli for striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The Serie A side, who were once managed by current Magpies boss Rafael Benitez, are ready to tempt the capricious Serbian striker with a big-money move to the Italian league, according to the Mirror.
Mitrovic was signed for £13m from Anderlecht in 2015 and has endeared himself to the Toon Army, despite his poor disciplinary record, being sent off twice during his first season in England.
Napoli are on the hunt for attacking reinforcements after selling Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus and seeing his replacement, Arkadiusz Milik, suffer a serious knee ligament injury that will see him sidelined for months.
Italian heavyweights planning £18m January bid for Newcastle hero Mitrovic #NUFC https://t.co/uTZp5JmT3m pic.twitter.com/uQjVRHiC7V — Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) November 5, 2016
However, |
the outbreak to be entirely contained, Reuters reports.
The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now
There is no known cure or vaccine for Ebola, which is known to kill up to 90 percent of the people who contract it. The virus spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, including blood, feces or sweat. The disease can spread via sexual contact or unprotected interaction with contaminated corpses.
Although the virus remains a significant concern, the WHO is confident it will be contained. Since the majority of people who get the disease will die from it, there’s not too much time for it to spread, as long as health workers can quickly identify who has come in contact with a sick person. WHO’s media spokesperson in Guinea, Tarik Jasarevic, told TIME last month: “We know this disease. It’s not the first time we’ve seen it so we know the measures we can take. It’s not a new disease.”
[Reuters]
Contact us at [email protected] the absence of anything resembling a competitive match on his way into the third round, Novak Djokovic turned his attention on Thursday to a tougher examination of his resolve: the provocative suggestion by John McEnroe that the Serb’s off-court problems over the past year resemble those of the deeply troubled Tiger Woods.
After dismissing the frankly embarrassing challenge of the 22-year-old Czech Adam Pavlasek in a little over an hour and a half on No1 Court, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, Djokovic came smiling and innocent into a minor blizzard of questioning. He was toweringly diplomatic, brilliantly evasive and, in the end, a little po-faced.
“I have heard about it today,” he said of the McEnroe headlines that had picked up on his indiscretions from the BBC the day before. “Look, John has a complete right to say … anybody, really, in the world has a right to say what they want, and I respect that right – especially coming from John, because he’s someone that has earned that right because of who he is and what he has meant to the sport and what he still is representing as a former player and still being very active on the tour.”
Wimbledon diary: Dress code for photographers defies the heat | Barry Glendenning Read more
But what about the inference that Djokovic’s life was in a comparable meltdown – especially with the image of Woods being interrogated by police recently in a state of advanced disrepair? “He’s very well known for his, you know, kind of bold comments,” the Serb said of McEnroe, “and not really caring too much about being politically correct, but saying whatever is on his mind. I really don’t take anything personal. I always got along very well with John. I guess whether that’s his opinion or criticism or something else, I’m not really sure. But in the end of the day, I respect everything he says.”
There were, at this point, a good many feet shuffling and eyebrows tilting upwards, at least among the cynical wing. Was there, one inquisitor wondered, any truth in what McEnroe said?
“I’m not sure. I always got along very, very well with John. We even practised a few years ago before one of my matches in US Open, and [he] was always talking nicely about me. I really don’t take it in a negative way anyhow. It’s fine. He has his right to say the things he wants to say. I don’t necessarily need to agree with that. But it’s his right. I don’t know where was the basis, and he was just maybe making a comparison. I’m not really sure.”
He added: “When I was warming up for my first match on the Centre Court, he was giving an intro, talking to the camera, and I served and the serve went straight at him as I was playing. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because of that. Maybe he thought it wasn’t a joke, and I was joking, [that] I was trying to hit him. I don’t think there was any kind of really wrong intention from his side towards me.”
As for the tennis, it is likely, although not certain, that Djokovic will get a better argument out of Ernests Gulbis on Saturday than he did during his mobile sunbathing in the company of Pavlasek on Thursday.
If Andre Agassi had asked his Serb charge to go out and get a hitting partner to keep him sharp for the third round, he could not have chosen more wisely. Pavlasek – who beat the American Ernesto Escobedo in four sets on Tuesday, his only Tour-level success all year – was once a promising junior but has caused barely a ripple in his time on the Tour.
This was blindingly apparent not only from his ranking (he reached a career high of 72 in January, and has since crashed like the stock market) but also his seeming willingness to put the ball in the path of his childhood idol at every opportunity.
After the farce of Martin Klizan’s withdrawal against Djokovic in the first round, Pavlasek did little to influence the scoreline either, except provide the smaller numbers. A time violation at 2-1, a deuce in the third set and a taunt by a wise guy in the Czech’s box troubled Djokovic more.
Gulbis, meanwhile, caught Juan Martín del Potro off guard to win 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on court No3. That was a surprise rather than a full-blown shock because Del Potro has struggled with injuries for so long, and Gulbis is invariably a few shots away from doing amazing things on a tennis court, or their polar opposite.
The Latvian is also up there in the crazy-dude stakes with Fabio Fognini and Alexander Bublik, a gifted entertainer with the day-time focus of a barn owl. He has beaten Djokovic once in seven attempts, eight years ago in Brisbane, and lost to him in their only previous grand slam contests, on the clay of Roland Garros.
Play Video 1:48 Wimbledon 2017: Edmund and Pliskova go out on day four – video highlights
Gulbis, whose star briefly shone as brightly as any, plainly was overjoyed. “It’s very satisfying,” he said. “I found out yesterday that it was my first win in 13 months in a Tour level main draw. I won one challenger match and I won one qualie match in Rotterdam. I played well my first-round match. This match I played really, really great tennis. I served well, I returned well. In my opinion, Del Potro is one of the best players.”
Del Potro said: “He’s a very dangerous opponent to play on grass, and he did much better than me today. I know how good is Ernests on grass and if he has a good day he can beat all the guys, because he already made it in the past.”
The challenge for Djokovic now is three-fold: combating the eccentricities of Gulbis, the loosest cannon in the business, fighting off complacency after his two easiest matches of the year and not listening to McEnroe.
Karolina Pliskova out of Wimbledon after losing to Magdalena Rybarikova Read more
While Djokovic continues his search for serenity, Roger Federer appears to permanently reside in that happy state, although he did have some grief in the first set before seeing off the lesser Serb, the world No79, Dusan Lajovic, 7-6 (0), 6-3, 6-2, serving it out to love with a second-serve ace, his ninth, at 122mph down the T, on a darkening Centre Court after an hour and a half.
With dark clouds already looming Federer had looked to be in a hurry to get the job done and broke early in the second set to assume complete control. “I’m happy to come through the second round,” he said.
“I couldn’t get rid of the nerves early on and struggled to find my rhythm. I got back in and broke him back but struggled throughout the first set. In the end it was very good.
“My parents were delighted to be invited to the royal box, along with Tim Henman’s parents. And I was happy to win in front of them.”
On Saturday, Federer plays Mischa Zverev, the German serve-and-volleyer who took five sets to get rid of Mikhail Kukushkin – but he will have one eye on Djokovic’s progress all the way to the semi-finals – presuming they both get there.Just about the time crude oil rallied to a six-month high on Tuesday, crossing the $60 per barrel line before settling to close at $59, Horace Monin pulled his Ford F-150 up to a pump in the nation's energy capital. It isn't the prices that bother him. It's the volatility.
"I just wish we could get to somewhere where it stabilizes," the retired public school administrator said, cashing out at $42.56. "It gives you an uneasy feeling that sometimes you might be getting screwed."
He could be in luck this summer. According to the Energy Information Administration's short-term outlook released Tuesday, oil is expected to average about $55 per barrel for the rest of 2009, $58 per barrel in 2010.
Runaway crude oil prices are unlikely in the coming months because of surplus production capacity, high oil inventories, weak consumption and higher than expected production. "The expectation that prices should rise in 2009-2010 because of future economic growth will need to be tempered with the current market reality of this supply overhang," the report says.
Should be a nice break from last year, when oil averaged $100 a barrel, carried by the anomaly in July when the price peaked at $147 a barrel; gasoline boomed to $4.11 per gallon, averaging $3.26 per gallon for the year.
Tuesday in Houston, Monin paid $2.20 a gallon, 4 cents under yesterday's national average, according to the U.S. EIA, down from $3.72 this time a year ago; diesel averaged $2.22 per gallon, down from $4.33. From April to September--the most popular driving months--the EIA expects gasoline prices to average $2.21 per gallon, compared with $3.81 for the same period last year.
Oil has been trending up since bottoming around $35 per barrel over the winter. "There is nothing magical about the $60 number, but I am sure some traders see it as a psychological ceiling for the time being," Pavel Molchanov, Houston-based energy analyst at investment bank Raymond James & Assoc., says of the Tuesday trade range.
"Fundamentally, there is not a whole lot that has been happening," he added. Raymond James forecasts oil to average $52.50 per barrel in the second half of 2009, $65 in 2010.
One exception: OPEC's recent compliance with production quota cuts, which is historically 50% or less. "These days, for whatever reason--they either got scared or who knows--but they have actually been amazingly disciplined in complying with their quota cuts to the tune of 90%, about the highest level of OPEC compliance that we have seen in a very long time," says Molchanov.New Zealand has voted to keep its current flag, rejecting an alternative design that was selected following a 10-month process. In a two-part referendum concluded on Thursday, 57 percent of voters chose to not change the flag, which includes Britain's Union Jack in the top left corner, while 43 percent voted for the alternative — a black, white, and blue design that featured a silver fern leaf. The country's Electoral Commission announced the decision Thursday evening in the capital of Wellington.
Today's vote marks the end of a process that began in May 2015, when the New Zealand government appointed a "flag consideration panel" to solicit potential designs from the public. More than 10,200 submissions were received, and some that were more creative than others. The panel published a list of 40 possible designs in August 2015, before whittling it down to a shortlist of five. The "Silver Fern" alternative, designed by Kyle Lockwood, was named as the finalist in December following a postal referendum.
New Zealand has voted to retain our current flag. I encourage all NZers to use it, embrace it and, more importantly, be proud of it. — John Key (@johnkeypm) March 24, 2016
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has been a vocal proponent of changing the country's flag, saying it would bolster national pride and make it easier to distinguish from Australia's flag. But the initiative has come under criticism for its estimated NZ$27 million price tag (about $18 million). Polls conducted in the lead-up to today's vote showed that the majority of voters were in favor of keeping the current flag.Safety investigators are urging a shake up in the oversight of ferries on the increasingly congested waters in and around Circular Quay after a spike in close shaves on Sydney Harbour.
The number of so-called close-quarter incidents involving ferries surged to 30 last year, from five in 2010. However, the actual number could be higher because investigators believe many incidents are not reported to authorities.
A report by the state's Office of Transport Safety Investigations said the booking system for wharves at Circular Quay had increased the complexity of navigating the busy waterway because it allowed commercial services to operate in parallel with scheduled ferries.
Investigators said the allocation of wharves, which resulted in west-bound ferries berthing towards Circular Quay's eastern end, led to ferries crossing paths near congested spots on the water.A recent report indicated that US state legislatures are beginning to pass laws that make it more difficult for parents to obtain so-called personal exemptions to vaccinations before children attend public schools. According to the author,, “Each US state sets its own vaccination policies, and most will not generally allow children to attend public school unless they have been vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough); hepatitis B; the Haemophilus influenzae bacterium; measles, mumps and rubella; polio; and varicella (chicken pox).” In general, most states require that students meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention schedule (pdf) for children between 0 and 6 years old, which is set by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
All states allow legitimate medical exemptions from the immunization schedule before a child enters school, because of certain medical conditions that might make vaccinations problematic for young children. Some of these medical issues are: allergies to some of the components in the vaccines, immunocompromised conditions, family history of seizures, and other issues outlined in the General Recommendations on Immunization of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. These medical exemptions are extremely rare, but are very important. A licensed medical doctor is the only one that should provide this exemption.
However, “personal exemptions”, which may be philosophical, religious, or just because the parent thinks its better to not vaccinate, has become a huge legal loophole through which vaccine deniers can walk without much difficulty. According to Haelle, “20 states — including California, Washington and Vermont — allow exemptions for personal or philosophical belief, and 48 offer religious exemptions. But exemption rates are growing. In Washington, 6% of children entering kindergarten in 2010–11 had an exemption; in Vermont, the figure was 6.2%, compared with the US average of 1.5%. In California, exemptions rates rose by 25% between 2008 and 2010.” Many of these personal exemptions require nothing more than simply filling out a form and signing it without discussing the exemption with a medical professional.
A recently published article that examined vaccine exemptions, found that more parents get medical vaccination exemptions for their kindergarten children in states in which they are easier to obtain. A perfectly predictable result, based on anecdotal observations of the arguments that I’ve observed on the internet.
The study found that the number of medical exemptions was relatively low during the seven years of the study period, but the rate was more than 6X higher in states with relatively easy medical exemption criteria when compared to states with more difficult exemption standards. As I reported previously, as more parents get vaccine exemptions, herd immunity can be impacted, and children in schools with low immunization levels can face outbreaks of diseases that were once thought rare.
The most interesting results from the study were:
The authors rated the medical exemption criteria as difficult in only three states: Arkansas, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The criteria were rated as medium in 17 states and easy in 30 states.
The nationwide rate of medical exemptions ranged from a low of 263 per 100,000 children (0.26%) in 2006-07 to a high of 411 per 100,000 (0.41%) in 2008-09. The national total of exemptions increased from 11,277 in 2004-05 to 13,952 in 2010-11.
The total number of exemptions for kindergartners over the 7 years came to 87,631.
The rates of medical exemptions in states with easy or medium criteria were significantly higher than in those with difficult criteria, the researchers found. For “easy” states, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) was 6.4; for “medium” states, it was 4.4. In other words, there were approximately 45% more frequent exemptions in “easy” states than in medium states. (There wasn’t a comparison to “difficult” states, since there were so few of those.)
Medical exemptions were more numerous in states that had difficult or medium rules for nonmedical exemptions (380.5 and 364.3 per 100,000, respectively) than in states with easy nonmedical exemption rules (221.3 per 100,000).
Although medical exemption rates are low, other studies show they surpass 1% of kindergarten children in some states, the study reported. As we have seen in other studies, medical exemptions “add to existing pockets of susceptibility [to vaccine-preventable diseases] due to nonmedical exemptions to immunization,” because “immunization exemptors cluster geographically, increasing the possibility for local areas of increased disease incidence.”
The authors commented, “The appropriate use of medical exemptions is important to maintaining sufficient herd immunity to protect those who should not be vaccinated due to medical contraindications. Medical providers, parents, school officials, and state health officials are responsible for ensuring that medical exemptions are actually medically indicated.”
Let me repeat what I’ve written before–I am strongly opposed to ALL personal exemptions to vaccines, and that viewpoint is supported in the United States by the Supreme Court ruling in Jacobson v United States which states that the freedom of the individual must sometimes be subordinated to the general welfare of its citizens and is subject to the police power of the state. In other words, if vaccine deniers want to use public schools, then they must vaccinate. The common good outweighs personal beliefs, especially if that personal belief is unsupported by facts and evidence. Moreover, since the issue usually involves enrollment in public schools, they can choose to enroll their children in private schools, although those schools tend to have tougher requirements for vaccinations, because those schools don’t want their children being exposed to diseases that could be prevented by vaccines. A free public education does not imply a right to harm other children by not vaccinated.
Furthermore, religious exemptions for vaccines should not exist in a secular country. If you want a religious exemption, then please send your child to a religious school, because a public school is a public institution, and according to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution public schools cannot favor one religious group over another. Or over those who don’t care about religion. In fact, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are opposed to almost all medical procedures, are not opposed to vaccinations. There are just no mainstream religions that are opposed to vaccinations.
As for medical exemptions, here is basically what is stated in the General Recommendations on Immunization of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP):
Contraindications and precautions to vaccination are conditions under which vaccines should not or likely should not be administered. Because the majority of contraindications and precautions are temporary, vaccinations often can be administered later if one or more exist. A contraindication is a condition in a recipient that increases the risk for a serious adverse reaction. A vaccine should not be administered when a contraindication is present; for example, MMR vaccine should not be administered to severely immunocompromised persons. In contrast, certain conditions are commonly misperceived as contraindications (i.e., are not valid reasons to defer vaccination). National standards for pediatric vaccination practices have been established and include descriptions of valid contraindications and precautions to vaccination. Persons who administer vaccines should screen patients for contraindications and precautions to the vaccine before each dose of vaccine is administered. The only contraindication applicable to all vaccines is a history of a severe allergic reaction (i.e., anaphylaxis) after a previous dose of vaccine or to a vaccine component (unless the recipient has been desensitized; see Special Situations section). Severely immunocompromised persons generally should not receive live vaccines. Children who experienced encephalopathy within 7 days after administration of a previous dose of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and whole-cell pertussis vaccine (DTP), DTaP, or Tdap not attributable to another identifiable cause should not receive additional doses of a vaccine that contains pertussis. Because of the theoretical risk to the fetus, women known to be pregnant generally should not receive live, attenuated virus vaccines (see Special Situations section). A precaution is a condition in a recipient that might increase the risk for a serious adverse reaction or that might compromise the ability of the vaccine to produce immunity (e.g., administering measles vaccine to a person with passive immunity to measles from a blood transfusion or administering influenza vaccine to someone with a history of Guillain-Barré syndrome within 6 weeks of a previous influenza vaccination). A person might experience a more severe reaction to the vaccine than would have otherwise been expected; however, the risk for this happening is less than the risk expected with a contraindication. In general, vaccinations should be deferred when a precaution is present. However, a vaccination might be indicated in the presence of a precaution if the benefit of protection from the vaccine outweighs the risk for an adverse reaction. For example a dose of DTaP should be considered for a person in a community with a pertussis outbreak even if that person previously developed Guillain-Barré syndrome after a dose. The presence of a moderate or severe acute illness with or without a fever is a precaution to administration of all vaccines. A personal or family history of seizures is a precaution for MMRV vaccination. The provider should ask the parent or guardian if the child is ill. If the child has a moderate or severe illness, the vaccination should be postponed.
Clinicians or other health-care providers might misperceive certain conditions or circumstances as valid contraindications or precautions to vaccination when they actually do not preclude vaccination. These misperceptions result in missed opportunities to administer recommended vaccines. Among the most common conditions mistakenly considered to be contraindications are diarrhea, minor upper respiratory tract illnesses (including otitis media) with or without fever, mild to moderate local reactions to a previous dose of vaccine, current antimicrobial therapy, and being in the convalescent phase of an acute illness.
In other words, reasons to medically exempt children from vaccines are unusual and should be infrequently given. In fact, as the ACIP states, it’s so rare that sometimes physicians misperceive reasons for not giving vaccinations.
Paul Offit, MD, a strong supporter of vaccinations, and someone who spent 25 years of his life developing a vaccine for rotavirus, a gastrointestinal virus that hospitalized over 55,000 children a year prior to the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine. Dr. Offit, who is absolutely despised by the antivaccination crowd, wrote an editorial in a Philadelphia newspaper critical of a proposed Pennsylvania law that deals with abuse of children. According to Offit, “… Senate Bill 20 makes it clear that any adult who ’causes serious bodily injury,’ either by ‘kicking, biting, stabbing, cutting, or throwing a child,’ or ‘forcefully shakes or slaps a child under one year of age,’ or ’causes serious physical neglect,’ or ’causes a child to be near a methamphetamine lab,’ or ‘operates a vehicle in which a child is a passenger while driving under the influence of alcohol,’ has committed child abuse.” Now, I’m guessing that almost everyone would support this bill, although many vaccine refusers think that shaken babies are actually a vaccine injury (the disgusting levels that antivaccinationists will go to make their case is impossible to comprehend).
So all well and good. Except, according to Offit, the bill also states that “if a child has not been provided needed medical or surgical care because of seriously held religious beliefs of the child’s parents … the child shall not be deemed to be physically or mentally abused.” Wait! What? Offit then states the obvious, “in other words, if parents decide not to give their children antibiotics for meningitis, or insulin for diabetes, or chemotherapy for cancer, or surgery for intestinal blockage, they won’t be held accountable. According to the bill, parents are abusive if they slap their 1-year-old child, but not if they withhold lifesaving therapies.” Offit continues,
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution states that “no state shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Children whose parents hold certain religious beliefs shouldn’t be afforded less protection than other children. That the commonwealth has allowed children to die from measles, bacterial pneumonia, or leukemia in the name of religion is inexplicable. That it continues to allow such abuse in the face of recent deaths is unconscionable. Pennsylvania should repeal its religious exemptions for medical neglect. Otherwise, children will continue to suffer and die needlessly.
Bacterial pneumonia and measles are prevented by vaccines, and should never, ever, ever, ever be withheld from children because of “religious” beliefs.
It’s time to stop allowing exemptions, which are nothing more than a cynical method for vaccine denialists to opt out of vaccinating their children, but still putting their children in school, putting other children at risk. The state should not give protection to parents who abuse their children by withholding medical treatment, whether it’s vaccines, insulin, or surgery. That’s it, simple. No exemptions, except under the most narrow of regulations for medical exemptions. No religious exemptions. No personal exemptions. And very narrow medical exemptions approved by several layers of health care professionals to prevent abuse by the denialists.
Vaccines save lives.
Use the Science-based Vaccine Search Engine.
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Related[Sega's final console may have been discontinued in 2001 and had its very last official release in 2007 -- many years after software from big publishers dried up -- but dedicated developers are still supporting the system with unofficial releases. Gamasutra finds out how and why.]
To many people, the thought of "homebrew" game development -- as opposed to "indie" -- is equated with the practice of making new games exclusively for dead platforms. While that's not an entirely accurate thought, it's not so wrong, either. Plenty of new games have been made by dedicated people for long-gone systems such as the NES or ZX Spectrum, and most easily playable through emulators on the PC.
What's curious is that some of these homebrew creators, especially ones in the most active communities, are devoted to systems that just didn't die, but were all but hated by the general public -- Atari's ill-fated Lynx and Jaguar, for instance, have seen a relative flood of software created by diehard fans more than a decade after those systems became obsolete.
Sitting alongside the well-loved systems, and the mostly forgotten, is the Sega Dreamcast. There's something utterly unique about the Dreamcast and what it created; Atari may have birthed a respectable cadre of obsessed enthusiasts, but Sega's short-lived successor to the Saturn commands what can only be called a cult following.
Its best games were innovative, wacky, and indelible, and the system continued to receive official game releases some years after Sega stopped manufacturing the console in 2001, a time many of those followers considered to be far too soon.
Just a few years after that, the Dreamcast formed its own definition of "homebrew," one that may not have a micro-nation of hobbyist programmers for it, but rather a few small teams that want to recapture the Dreamcast's uniqueness in their own ways, even if that means putting it all in a jewel case.
Redspotgames is a German game publisher that began packaging and promoting unlicensed Dreamcast games in 2007 with Last Hope, a shoot 'em-up that was a port of a homebrew NeoGeo CD game, and which released in the same year as the last official Dreamcast releases in Japan -- years after U.S. games dried up.
Later Redspot releases were the puzzle game Wind & Water Puzzle Battles and Rush Rush Rally Racing, a top-down racer. Max Scharl, Redspotgames' CEO, told Gamasutra that the company attempted to release its Dreamcast games officially, but to no avail.
"The first time we asked for a license for a new game was in 2003, but Sega of Europe had no interest in new titles, and we could not release [games] officially," Scharl said. "We tried a couple of times to do the same in Japan, but Sega of Japan does not give licenses out to non-Japanese developers or publishers -- even though we have tried several times and even gave them a visit."
Rush Rush Rally Racing
Redspot has recently expanded its publishing efforts into the digital market, releasing titles for the Xbox Live Indie Games platform, like the space shooter Solar Struggle, as well as WiiWare.
"When the first Dreamcast indie games [were] released, there was no such thing as digital distribution among the current systems," Scharl said. "Also, those were productions that primarily came directly from the Dreamcast [homebrew] scene, and most were actually started on this very console as well -- some even without [a solid] concept before contacting us."
Regardless, having only started a few years ago, one might think it's a bit backwards for Redspot to go from posthumous Dreamcast games to just now joining the digital bandwagon, but Scharl sees it differently. "After comparing both platforms... somehow the Dreamcast indie games [seem like] an unknown parallel universe of indie game distribution on current platforms, yet even more independent."America’s growing killer-heroin epidemic isn’t about heroin at all. It’s about a powerful prescription that broke bad. And for Big Pharma, the cure is as profitable as the disease.
It’s 50 times stronger than heroin. So potent, three grains are lethal to an adult. First synthesized in the 1960s, it’s been used to treat severe pain in cancer patients.
Today, fentanyl has two main sources: the prescription drug industry, and Mexican drug cartels. And it’s the quiet culprit behind the current “heroin” crisis, one of the deadliest drug epidemics in American history.
In the documentary above, “Death by Fentanyl,” Fusion’s The Naked Truth investigates the rise of fentanyl in all its forms … and its sometimes deadly consequences.
In the stories below, learn how fentanyl first hit the streets, Breaking Bad-style; how the drug has transformed life in one major U.S. city; and how some of its legal manufacturers also profit from drugs to reverse its deadly effects.LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Cory Bernardi is launching himself into an already crowded political space. Several other right wing parties are vying for votes by speaking out against Islam. Pauline Hanson's One Nation that I mentioned earlier is the highest profile of them, of course.
It's fertile political ground. The latest Newspoll has 44 per cent of Australians believing that the Federal Government should follow the lead of US President Donald Trump and make it harder for people from seven mainly-Muslim nations to enter Australia.
This month, a vocal anti-Islamic activist, Kirralie Smith, will face a defamation case brought by the head of the Halal Certification Authority over comments she made in an online video. As Sarah Whyte reports, it's a case that's attracted the support of leading conservative political figures.
KIRRALIE SMITH, AUSTRALIAN LIBERTY ALLIANCE: Hello. How are you going?
BUTCHER: Good, thank you.
KIRRALIE SMITH: I'm after some meat that's not halal-certified.
SARAH WHYTE, REPORTER: On the New South Wales north coast, Kirralie Smith is spearheading a grassroots campaign against Islam.
KIRRALIE SMITH: Do you have meat that's not halal-certified?
BUTCHER: We surely do.
KIRRALIE SMITH: All of this pretty much?
BUTCHER: All of it is halal-free.
KIRRALIE SMITH: Oh, fantastic. That's great. OK.
BUTCHER: What were you looking for?
KIRRALIE SMITH: I think I'll get something for the barbecue.
My primary concern is, and why I started Halal Choices as a website about 7 years ago, was because most halal-certified foods are not clearly labelled. So, the consumer is paying halal fees without their knowledge or consent.
SARAH WHYTE: Kirralie Smith's main beef is the fees associated with the certification process. She's concerned the money could be used to promote Islam.
KIRRALIE SMITH: It's the certification, the fees, where they go, who is benefitting from these things and whether consumers actually need to be a part of that process or not.
ANNOUNCER: Without any further ado, Mrs Kirralie Smith here today.
(Applause)
KIRRALIE SMITH: I do not want religious practices imposed upon me.
SARAH WHYTE: Kirralie Smith is a leading figure in the anti-Islam party, the Australian Liberty Alliance. Formed less than two years ago, the party claims thousands of members across the country. One of its most controversial policies calls for a 10-year ban on permanent resident visas for people from 57 Muslim countries.
KIRRALIE SMITH: We believe that that's where there is obviously a hotbed of extremists and fundamental Islamists who come out of there. It's not going to be the totality of solving the problems of terrorism or Sharia law or any of those things, but it is certainly a good place to start.
SARAH WHYTE: Muslim Australians who'll be watching this would say that only a small percentage of their religion actually involves extremism. What do you... How do you respond to that?
KIRRALIE SMITH: Of course, only a small... Well, it's a growing number of Muslims that are involved in extremism.
Hi, I'm Kirralie Smith, the founder...
SARAH WHYTE: Kirralie Smith is facing a defamation suit brought by Mohamed El-Mouelhy, president of the Halal Certification Authority, over online videos that she presented for another anti-Islam Group, the Q Society.
Why are you suing Kirralie Smith?
MOHAMED EL-MOUELHY, HALAL CERTIFICATION AUTHORITY: To redress the wrongs that she has made. When you make false information about a person, untrue exaggerations, then I think I have every right to sue her and to sue everybody that has supported her and paid for her video.
SARAH WHYTE: He claims Kirralie Smith and the Q Society defamed him by voicing suspicion that halal certification could fund terrorism.
MOHAMED EL-MOUELHY: Halal certification is an industry and it is bringing in a few billion dollars. You know? Last year I think it was about $13 billion, and it is a requirement by all the Muslim countries.
SARAH WHYTE: She says halal or the halal system is funding Muslim mosques and education programs. Is this true?
MOHAMED EL-MOUELHY: What I do with my money is my business, the same like everybody supports their own faith. So why is supporting my faith is wrong and supporting other faiths is right?
JEREMY ZIMET, SLATER AND GORDON: What he does take issue with is the fact that she refers to instances of him being suspected of engaging with terrorist organisations.
SARAH WHYTE: Jeremy Zimet has been closely watching the case and says the new frontier for defamation law is online.
JEREMY ZIMET: It's important for observers to realise that there are consequences for posting publications online, whether it's on social media or review sites, and at the, I guess, extreme end of those consequences is court.
MOHAMED EL-MOUELHY: I think the ones that are making division in the society are the ultra-right. Because I've lived here for 45 years, never had a problem with anyone.
SARAH WHYTE: Kirralie Smith's opinions and political aspirations have caught the eye of conservative figures within Australian politics who will speak at a fundraiser to pay for Kirralie's court costs.
GEORGE CHRISTENSEN, LIBERAL NATIONAL PARTY MP: I'm backing Kirralie Smith because she's raising legitimate concerns that many members of the public share around halal certification, what the money behind halal certification actually goes to.
ROSS CAMERON: Well, I think it's very important that Australians feel free to express sincerely held opinions on matters of public interest, and I have the feeling that if Kirralie loses this action, it sort of throws a wet blanket of apprehension over public debate in Australia.
SARAH WHYTE: You speak about people having the freedom to say what they want in Australia and it should be more open, but I understand you're actually filing for deformation against Mohamed because he called you a racist and a bigot, is that correct?
KIRRALIE SMITH: Yeah, I can't talk about the details of the court case, but there's ongoing social media posts that have been continuously defamatory of us and we see that that's the best way to bring these issues to the public.
SARAH WHYTE: So, by calling you a racist and a bigot, how is that different from your criticisms of Islam?
KIRRALIE SMITH: My criticisms of Islam are based on the fact that the Koran and the hadiths and the other texts incite violence, incite oppression of |
Lower level lights on the sides, fenders, and bumpers are for close proximity warning.
A fire engine (also referred to as a “pumper”) transports crew, supplies, and firefighting capabilities to the scene of an incident.
Newer fire engines can display and control many functions digitally. For example, regulations require seat belt alerts for every seat in the cab.
Radios are used to communicate with dispatch, firefighters on the ground, and sometimes other agencies for multi-agency incidents.
The road-to-pump switch changes power delivery from the rear axle to the pump. Many pumper designs require movement of the apparatus to be fully stopped before pumping.
This switch panel controls many standard functions like windshield wipers and headlights, plus apparatus specific functions like automatic mud or snow chains.
Some specially designed seats safely stow a SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) tank in the seat back so firefighters can arrive prepared to the scene of an incident.
Firefighting helmets are not safe for in-vehicle use, but must be within reach when arriving at an incident.
Hose couplings, hoses, lockout and tag out gear (for locking and labeling circuit breaker terminals or main water valves in a building; this prevents tampering during an incident), power tool case, cords, air hose, jackhammer, wrench, pneumatic tools, jaws of life, purple K extinguisher.
Shovels, hydrant bag (assorted tools for operating fire hydrants), high-rise kit (tools for operating in multi-floor buildings), CO2 can, gas-powered fan. Roof ladder, extension ladder, folding ladder. Tilting platforms make for easier ladder access.
Fire engines carry a huge assortment of gear for responding to almost any incident.
Pump, hoses, and attachments
Hard Suction supply hoses Hard Suction supply hoses have metal rings integrated into the hose body. This allows them to maintain rigidity when drafting from non-pressurized water sources like pools or lakes.
Tank A common water tank capacity is 1,000 gallons. Perforated internal walls called baffles allow water to flow through the tank but also prevent excess movement or sloshing while the engine is driving to an incident.
Crosslay Hoses stored in a crosslay compartment are accessible from both sides of the fire engine.
Booster hose The booster hose is a smaller diameter pre-connected line, and is usually on a reel. It can be deployed quickly and is useful for brush or trash fires and smaller incidents.
Pump The pump is powered by the fire engine’s diesel motor. Proper pump operation often requires in-depth technical knowledge.
Outlet
Intake
Radio The radio allows communication with the rest of the team for coordinated pump operations.
Attack hose Attack hoses range from about 1.75 inch to 2.5 inch diameters, and are the primary hoses used for most fire knockdown and suppression.
Engine control The engine control panel allows the operator to control the truck’s motor and monitor functions like engine speed (RPMs), temperature, and oil pressure.
Gauges and valves The pump operator must monitor critical pump functions like flow (gallons per minute), pump and hose internal pressure, pressure at the nozzle, friction loss (internal hose friction that slows water flow), and head loss (the effects of gravity on water flow).
Soft supply hose Soft supply hoses are used on pressurized water sources like fire hydrants. Supply lines range from about 3 to 6 inch diameters.
Fog nozzle A fog nozzle spreads or mists water to create water fog.WASHINGTON DC—The United States condemned on Thursday a series of bombings by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Baghdad and Diyala province, reaffirming Washington’s commitment to stand by Iraq in the fight against the group.
“The United States condemns in the strongest terms both the ISIL attack this morning at a crowded market place in Baghdad, and the car bomb attacks in Diyala Province on Monday, as well as other recent terrorist attacks against the Iraqi people,” said State Department Spokesman John Kirby in a Statement.
Kirby added: “The United States continues to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Iraqi people as they confront ISIL and the violence it represents.”
ISIS claimed responsibility for today’s attack on Baghdad’s Sadr city where at least 70 people were killed and two blasts in Diyala province earlier in the week that claimed the lives of around 60 people.
Kirby said that ISIS is losing territory and that these terror attacks are a tactic “to sow discord among the Iraqi people,”
The State Dept. spokesman vowed to hold the perpetrators “accountable” as he offered condolences to the families of the victims.
“We express our deep condolences to family and friends of the victims,” he said. “These atrocities show once again the utter disregard ISIL has for innocent civilians, including women and children.”Flip Nicklin/Minden Pictures/FLPA
Some female dolphins have evolved a secret weapon in their sexual arms race with males: vaginas that protect them from fertilisation by unwelcome partners.
Penises come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, especially in dolphins and other cetaceans. That seems to imply a similar diversity in vaginas, but Dara Orbach of Dalhousie University, Canada, says there is “a huge lag” in our understanding of female genitalia.
That is partly because it is tricky to visualise vaginal structure. To overcome this problem, Orbach has created silicone moulds of cetaceans’ vaginas, revealing complex folds and spirals.
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“There’s this unparalleled level of vaginal diversity that we had no idea existed before,” Orbach says.
Similarly complex vaginal structures are found in several species of duck. Orbach’s collaborator Patricia Brennan of Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, has previously found evidence that duck vaginas have evolved to make it harder for males to force copulation. So Orbach wondered if female cetaceans’ unusual vaginas had also evolved to keep out unwanted sperm.
Orbach, Brennan and their colleagues obtained genitals from marine mammals that had died of natural causes: common and bottlenose dolphins, common porpoises and common seals. They inflated the males’ penises with saline to see how they looked when they were erect, and compared them with the vaginal moulds. They also took CT scans of penises inserted into the corresponding vaginas, to determine whether they fitted in easily and the best positions.
Take back control
The vaginas of the common dolphin and common seal seemed amenable to penetration, suggesting their genitalia had evolved to allow males access. But the common porpoise and bottlenose dolphin had extensive vaginal folds that obstructed penis entry.
Male bottlenose dolphins form alliances two to four strong to keep competitors away from females. When confronted by such an alliance, a female has little choice in who mates with her, and may mate with everyone.
However, vaginal folds could grant her some agency, says Janet Mann of Georgetown University in Washington DC. “She may not choose who she mates with, but might be able to choose which male or, more precisely, which sperm, fertilises her egg.”
In all four species studied, the ideal position for successful fertilisation appeared to be the male on top with his penis hooked underneath the female. Any deviation from this tended to result in unsuccessful penetration. That is consistent with Orbach and Mann’s observations of wild porpoises and dolphins mating.
This combination of precise positioning and complex vaginal structures means that subtle mid-copulation movements by females could send the penis the wrong way in their vaginas, preventing fertilisation.
“It might appear behaviourally that females are very passive,” says Orbach. “But looking at the reproductive anatomy, we’re learning that they have all sorts of cryptic ways to control paternity.”
Journal reference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1265In the wake of her staggering defeat last November, several historically large contributors to the Clinton Foundation slashed their donations (see here and here), presumably because they either realized their pay-for-play scam was ruined or they suddenly lost interest in the Foundation's various charitable efforts...we'll let you decide which is more likely.
But, the Clinton Foundation isn't the only "influence peddler" taking a hit as a result of Hillary's loss. According to Bloomberg, The Podesta Group, the lobbying firm run by the brother of Hillary's former campaign manager, John Podesta, has just lost a lucrative contract with Google, a key Hillary ally throughout the 2016 campaign.
After at least 12 years together, Alphabet Inc., the parent of Google, won’t be represented by one of Washington’s most prominent lobbying groups, a firm with long-standing ties to the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton. The Podesta Group -- whose chairman, Tony Podesta, is a major Democratic fundraiser and the brother of Clinton’s former campaign manager -- is no longer lobbying on behalf of Google, public disclosures show. The change coincided with Google’s bid to hire someone for “conservative outreach,” according to a December job advertisement.
Per Bloomberg, The Podesta Group collected $80,000 in fees from Google in the last 3 months of 2016 alone.
But, the story doesn't end there. Ironically, the firing of The Podesta Group seems to coincide with an exclusive report from the Silicon Valley Business Journal that Eric Braverman, the former Clinton Foundation CEO, had been hired to "oversee the non-investment side of the family office of Alphabet Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy."
Of course, as many of our readers will remember, Braverman is the Clinton Foundation CEO who abruptly resigned after a short period in office and was speculated, at least by John Podesta and Neera Tanden, to be the insider who told NBC to "follow the money and find the real HRC scandal" (see "Meet The Man Who Can Expose 'The Real Hillary Clinton Scandal'"). Here is an excerpt of what we previously wrote:
Now, new WikiLeaks emails reveal additional details behind the the man, Eric Braverman, who was brought in as CEO by Chelsea to change the controversial practices of the Foundation but abruptly resigned a short time later after being pushed out by long-time Clinton loyalists who had apparently grown very comfortable with the status quo. Below is the new email exchange which begins when Neera Tanden warns John Podesta to "keep tabs on Doug Band" who she assumed was the insider who told NBC to "follow the money and find the real HRC scandal." Interestingly, John Podesta writes back quickly to identify the real source as former Clinton Foundation CEO Eric Braverman which seems to be shocking to Tanden who replies simply, "Holy Moses."
That said, the announcement also follows a recent Google job listing looking for a new "Conservative Outreach Manager" that would act as a "liaison to conservative, libertarian and free market groups" (see "Google Searches For "Conservative Outreach Manager" After Failing To Elect Hillary").
As a member of Google's Public Policy team, you help shape various product and issue agendas with policy makers inside and outside government. In addition, you will help advise our internal teams on the public policy implications of their products, working with a closely coordinated and cross-functional global team. The role requires significant experience either working with or in government, politics or a regulatory agency as well as an ability to grasp complex technical and policy issues. As a member of Google's Public Policy outreach team, you will act as Google’s liaison to conservative, libertarian and free market groups. You are part organizer, part advocate and part policy wonk as you understand the world of third-party non-governmental advocacy organizations. You are eager to represent Google among those organizations. You can work a room, tell Google’s story in an elevator or from a podium and work with partner organizations on shared projects to advance Google’s public policy goals.
So, what say you...innocent shift in Google's lobbying effort to target a new Republican administration or sweet retribution for Eric Braverman? Bit of both?U.K. researchers and their organizations have reacted with dismay to last night’s decision by the U.K. electorate to leave the European Union. Science and technology were not a major talking point during the referendum campaign, but numerous scientists and research organizations urged voters to preserve the United Kingdom’s E.U. membership.
“This is a really serious worry for me. … I fear desperately for U.K. science,” says Steve Cowley, director of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy near Oxford, U.K., home of the Joint European Torus (JET), a fusion reactor that is one of a handful of European facilities sited in the United Kingdom. “There is no way I can pretend to be anything other than dispirited and disappointed," says Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in London. "Whilst I don’t believe that people voted to leave the E.U. with science and health foremost in their minds, I fear that the consequences for both will be serious over the coming year unless we take firm and decisive action now.”
"Personally, I’m a bit bewildered and ashamed by my own country. I never thought this would happen," the European Commission's former science adviser, Anne Glover, who is now vice principal for external affairs and dean for Europe at the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom, tells ScienceInsider.
Although the amount of funding channeled through Brussels to scientists is small compared with national grant systems, the United Kingdom has generally done very well in the race for European money. Europe’s Horizon 2020 research program plays an important role in fostering cross-border collaboration and boosting research in scientifically less well-developed countries. The European Union also guarantees free movement of researchers across the continent and regulates the pharmaceutical industry and clinical trials.
“The U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union is understandably causing considerable uncertainty for British science and research," Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust biomedical research foundation in London, said in a statement. "Wellcome is committed to ensuring that science and research are properly considered in the exit negotiations, that existing public funding is maintained and that international collaboration is not hindered.”
"It’s a bad day for Europe, the U.K., and European science. I think the E.U. funding was such a significant part of U.K. science funding. I think this will really lead to a dramatic drop in funding, and it will not be made up by charities or national government. This will disproportionately affect young European researchers, who are largely funded on soft money. I find this extremely worrying,” says Helga Nowotny, a former president of the European Research Council and professor emerita of social studies of science at ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
Around the United Kingdom, foreign scientists were left wondering this morning what their future in the United Kingdom will be once the divorce is complete and freedom of movement becomes restricted. The Imperial College London (ICL) acknowledged the uncertainty in an email to staff and students today that said: "We are urgently seeking clarification from the government on the visa and fee status of non-UK European Union students, as well as other key policy areas for the College as the UK negotiates its future relationship with Europe."
For the first few months at least, nothing will change in the United Kingdom’s relationship with Europe. To start the process of withdrawal, the U.K. government must invoke Article 50 (the exit clause) of the Lisbon Treaty. Negotiating the terms of withdrawal and untangling financial ties with Brussels is expected to take 2 years—no country has quit the European Union before, so it is unknown territory. Following Prime Minister David Cameron's announcement this morning that he will resign in the fall, the decision to invoke Article 50 will likely wait till a new Conservative Party leader is elected in September or October.
Researchers will be hoping that the United Kingdom decides to continue participation in Horizon 2020, which it can do by becoming an “associate” and paying a share of the program’s costs in proportion to gross domestic product. Membership of organizations such as CERN, the European Space Agency, the European Southern Observatory, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory will be unaffected because they operate outside the E.U. framework. “The U.K. will try to obtain an association agreement, but this will take time. And I don’t know what the overall conditions will be to grant them the same status,” Nowotny says.
A withdrawal from the European Union almost certainly means that the United Kingdom can no longer host the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the bloc's medical watchdog, currently headquartered in London's Canary Wharf. An EMA spokesperson today declined to discuss the Brexit's implications, but speculation has already begun about which of the remaining 27 member states might host the agency, which has 890 employees.
When it comes to drug regulation, the European Union does not have to go it alone. EMA also serves Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein, three countries that aren't in the European Union but are part of the European Economic Area. The United Kingdom could go that route, too. There has also been speculation that it might somehow join forces with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Whatever the outcome, the Brexit may spell additional headaches for Europe's pharmaceutical industry. "Our companies will have to make major efforts to overcome the new bureaucratic obstacles," the German Pharmaceutical Industry Association said in a statement today.
The role of the United Kingdom in European fusion research is also in question. JET is operated by the Culham Centre on behalf of Euratom, the nuclear arm of the European Union. Its current contract runs out at the end of 2018 and the Brexit vote means that there is now uncertainty over what happens after that. “They can’t move JET to Denmark [for example],” Cowley says. In 2019 and 2020, JET researchers are planning key experiments in support of the international ITER fusion project in France (currently under construction). “We’ve got to do it, having spent all this money” making JET as ITER-like as possible, Cowley says. “To have a €2 billion piece of kit and throw it away because no agreement can be reached would be foolish in the extreme.”
“Even though it might not be easy, I am confident that we can find ways to continue the very successful collaboration with the U.K. This is a process that now needs to be started,” says Tony Donné, head of EUROfusion, a collaboration of European fusion labs that carries out research on JET on behalf of Euratom.
Others, too, expressed their determination to remain prominent on the international scene, even while their country is in retreat. "Imperial is, and will remain, a European university, whatever your view of the referendum outcome," ICL's email today said. "We are very proud of the innovations, ideas and inspiration that come from the European members of Imperial’s global community… We will vigorously defend our international values if they are threatened and will continue to think and act internationally."
With reporting by Martin Enserink, Kai Kupferschmidt, Tania Rabesandratana, and Gretchen Vogel.Mrs Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended her expense reports to specify that they were on official business.
The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Mrs Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race.
There was also a trip to New York for a five-hour conference which entailed the governor and her 17-year-old daughter staying for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel overlooking Central Park.
In total, the Republican vice-presidential candidate has charged the state $21,012 (£13,000) for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round trip airline flights since she took office in December 2006.
In some cases, she charged Alaska for hotel rooms for the girls, according to an investigation by Associated Press.
Alaska law allows expenses to be claimed by anyone conducting official state business but it does not specifically address expenses for a governor's children.
It is not the first time that Mrs Palin has been accused of unethical behaviour as governor. The Alaska state legislature recently found that she abused her power in her efforts to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired.
As governor, Mrs Palin justified having the state pay for the travel of her daughters - Bristol, 17, Willow, 14, and Piper, seven - by noting on travel forms that the girls had been invited to attend or participate in events on the governor's schedule.
However, organisers of some the events said they were surprised when the children turned up. Others said they agreed to a request by the governor to allow the children to attend.
Mrs Palin ordered changes to her expense reports for her daughters' travel after local reporters asked to see them at the beginning of August.
In the amended reports, Palin added phrases such as "First Family attending" and "First Family invited" to explain the girls' attendance.
Explaining why two daughters accompanied her to a seafood industry gala in January, Mrs Palin amended her expenses to state that their role was to "draw two separate raffle tickets".
Taylor Griffin, a McCain-Palin campaign spokesman, said Mrs Palin followed state policy allowing governors to charge for their children's travel.
He said the governor's office had invitations requesting the family to attend some events, but added that he was unable to provide them.Audio:
Live feed of underlying pandemic map data
Reported Ukraine Cases Top One Million - 174 Fatalities
Recombinomics Commentary 18:41
November 9, 2009
1,031,597 Influenza/ARI
52,742 Hospitalized
174 Dead
The latest update for Ukraine includes more than 1 million reported cases (see map ). The fatalities have jumped from 155 to 174 and almost 53K have been hospitalized. The biggest jump in fatalities was in Lviv, where reported deaths rose from 63 to 74. However, the largest jump in cases was in Kiev, raising concerns that the infections were spreading east.The increase in cases and deaths continue to support a genetic change in the H1N1 virus. However, there have been no updates on samples which were sent to London over a week ago.The sequence silence continues to increase concerns that the large number of cases and deaths in Ukraine is linked to changes, which may involve the receptor binding domain in general and position 225 in particular.Get the biggest politics 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
David Cameron has savaged one of his own top team for making "very misleading" claims about the EU in a car crash interview.
Pro- Brexit Defence Minister Penny Mordaunt twice claimed today that Britain has no veto on Turkey joining the 28-nation bloc - despite the fact it does.
She was instantly accused of telling "outrageous fibs" by Britain Stronger In Europe spokesman James McGrory.
And the Prime Minister said getting simple facts wrong made him question her judgement - though he declined to say if she should be sacked.
"The Leave campaign are making a very misleading claim," he told ITV's Peston on Sunday.
He added: "[It's] absolutely wrong. Let me be clear, Britain and every other country in the European Union has a veto on another country joining.
Read more:
(Image: BBC/ITV)
"That is a fact, and the fact that the Leave campaign are getting things as straightforward as this wrong should call in to question their whole judgment in making the bigger argument about leaving the EU.
"It is not remotely on the cards that Turkey is going to join the EU any time soon. They applied in 1987.
"At the current rate of progress they will probably get round to joining in about the year 3000 according to the latest forecasts."
It came after an astonishing exchange between Ms Mordaunt and political interviewer Andrew Marr today on the BBC.
She was forced to deny "dog-whistle" campaigning over Vote Leave's claims Turkey could send millions of people to Britain from 2020.
"This referendum is going to be our last chance to have a say on that," she said. "We're not going to be consulted or asked to vote on whether we think those countries or others should join.
"They are going to join."
Told the well-known fact Britain has a veto over new members over EU, she claimed: "No it doesn't. WE are not going to be able to have a say. The British people aren't going to be able to have a say."
Told again, she said: "No. We, I do not think the EU is going to keep Turkey out. I think it's going to join. I think the migrant crisis is pushing it more that way."
(Image: REUTERS/Umit Bektas)
James McGrory, Chief Campaign Spokesman for Britain Stronger in Europe, said: "Penny Mordaunt should be ashamed of herself for telling such outrageous fibs on national TV.
"Britain and every other country in the EU has a veto on whether Turkey should join and she would do well to listen to Boris Johnson, who is clear it’s not going to happen in the foreseeable future."
Hilary Benn MP, Labour's Foreign Secretary, said: "The Leave campaign should stop trying to mislead and scare voters. The fact is that Turkey joining the EU is a very distant prospect.
"Firstly, because there are deepening concerns about governance, human rights and free media, and Turkey needs to sort out its relationship with Cyprus. These would all have to be overcome before there was any question of membership.
(Image: Getty)
"Secondly, because every EU country has an individual veto on the accession of any new member state and some are likely to hold referendums on Turkish membership.
"And even if – a long time in the future – Turkey did become an EU member, Britain and other EU countries would be able, if they wanted to, to control the movement of workers. "
Former Tory Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said: "Turkey simply will not join the EU anytime soon.
"In thirty years of negotiations, they have completed just one of the 35 tests they need to fulfil to apply to join.
(Image: Getty)
"Every EU country, including Britain, has a veto on any new country joining."
Yet the Prime Minister refused to answer directly a question on whether Ms Mordaunt should be fired.
He said: "Her responsibilities are in the Ministry of Defence, she is doing a very good job.
"But on this question of whether of not we have a veto, the Leave campaign are wrong."
The row this morning came after the PM met ASDA staff to warn Brexit would hit the family shopping by £220 a year.An important step in understanding minoxidil's mechanism of action on hair follicles was to determine the drug's active form. We used organ-cultured vibrissa follicles to test whether it is minoxidil or its sulfated metabolite, minoxidil sulfate, that stimulates hair growth. Follicles from neonatal mice were cultured with or without drugs and effects were assessed by measuring incorporation of radiolabeled cysteine in hair shafts of the treated follicles. Assays of minoxidil sulfotransferase activity indicated that vibrissae follicles metabolize minoxidil to minoxidil sulfate. Dose-response studies showed that minoxidil sulfate is 14 times more potent than minoxidil in stimulating cysteine incorporation in cultured follicles. Three drugs that block production of intrafollicular minoxidil sulfate were tested for their effects on drug-induced hair growth. Diethylcarbamazine proved to be a noncompetitive inhibitor of sulfotransferase and prevented hair growth stimulation by minoxidil but not by minoxidil sulfate. Inhibiting the formation of intracellular PAPS with chlorate also blocked the action of minoxidil but not of minoxidil sulfate. Acetaminophen, a potent sulfate scavenger blocked cysteine incorporation by minoxidil. It also blocked follicular stimulation by minoxidil sulfate apparently by directly removing the sulfate from the drug. Experiments with U-51,607, a potent minoxidil analog that also forms a sulfated metabolite, showed that its activity was inhibited by both chlorate and diethylcarbamazine. These studies show that sulfation is a critical step for hair-growth effects of minoxidil and that it is the sulfated metabolite that directly affects hair follicles.The Issue: South Siskiyou has a housing shortage, especially rentals. Local Impact: A Mount Shasta City Council committee is working on a preliminary study in hopes of finding possible solutions.
“It’s common knowledge that we have a critical shortage of housing for people who come to work here,” says Mount Shasta Mayor Kathy Morter. “Even our current city manager and city planner were lucky to find places to rent. The current housing crunch is an impediment to economic development. We need to be able to house the people who want to work here.”
Every day, according to a 2014 U.S. Census study, nearly 1,400 commuters drive into Mount Shasta to their jobs; some of these folks would no doubt prefer a shorter commute – if more housing were available in the town.
Mount Shasta’s City Council recently created a Housing Discovery Committee to look into possible solutions to the city’s housing crunch. Its members are Morter, council member Paul Engstrom, and city planner Juliana Lucchesi.
The housing shortage isn’t limited to Mount Shasta. It sprawls across South Siskiyou County. It was exacerbated by the 2014 Boles Fire, which took out 143 homes in Weed. Rental properties there took the biggest hit. Very few of those have been replaced, and efforts to find developers to build new rental housing have not been successful so far, according to Weed City Manager Ron Stock.
So the housing shortage, especially in rentals, continues. Sandra Haugen, who manages 186 rental units in the south county, says she currently has only about half a dozen of them vacant right now. Realtor Jeannine Tobey, who manages 18 rental units in Dunsmuir, had only one available as of last week.
Gina Flores spent two years looking for a rental house in Dunsmuir large enough for her growing family. She found nothing larger than a two-bedroom until she got lucky: A friend’s family recently moved out of their three-bedroom and rented it to Flores.
The housing market in Dunsmuir is so tight and places are getting snatched up so quickly that prospective renters are having to rely on word of mouth to find a place, rather than waiting for the property to get listed, according to Flores.
Cassie Hansen, a staffer at Dunsmuir’s FireWhat company, said she had a waiting list of 10 people as soon as she listed her house for rent on social media.
Unlike Mount Shasta, Dunsmuir has not yet launched an organized effort to deal with its own housing crunch. There is a glimmer of hope, however, in the form of a crumbling old motel, The House Of Glass, on the north end of town. It’s up for sale, and city leaders are hoping a new owner can convert it to small units of affordable housing. That’s already happened with two other former motels also at the north end of town.
Meanwhile, the Mount Shasta effort is just getting underway. Lucchesi sums it up as an “exploratory” study of the “existing barriers to building more housing units and figuring out how to make it easier to build those units.”
As part of that effort, the committee will talk to owners of vacant properties in the town, and ask them what incentives they need to build housing on them.
Morter says the committee will be looking at potential “constraints” on the creation of new housing that include zoning regulations, planning and permit approval processes, and fees charged for connecting to utilities.
“There have been complaints in the past by developers that it’s hard to deal with the city as far as getting building permits and getting information in general, so that’s something we need to look at,” said committee member Engstrom.
There’s been one positive development recently that could increase the stock of rental housing in our area: A new state law has made it easier for property owners to build and rent out small accessory dwellings, otherwise known as “mother-in-law cottages.”
According to Morter, the housing committee hopes to complete its preliminary study of the scope of the housing shortage in Mount Shasta by November and then move on to look at possible solutions.The Daily Mail accepted the claims it printed were wholly untrue Italian footballer Marco Materazzi has won damages from the Daily Mail over claims he racially abused Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final. The amount was not disclosed, but the paper accepted it was wrong to report Materazzi had called Zidane "the son of a terrorist whore". French star Zidane was sent off after head-butting the Italian's chest. Jonathan Price, lawyer for the Daily Mail's owners, said the paper offered its apologies for the distress caused. Materazzi, who currently plays for Inter Milan, was not at London's High Court for the settlement of his libel case against Associated Newspapers. His counsel, Jane Phillips, told Mr Justice Eady that, in July 2006, in its coverage of the World Cup Final, the newspaper published a series of items accompanied by photos, including one of Materazzi being head-butted by Zidane, captioned "Revealed: the insult that made Zidane see red". She added that the articles stated quite wrongly that Materazzi, who scored one of the crucial penalties which secured an Italian victory, had used vile racist abuse during the match. 'Wholly untrue' From July to December that year, it also published articles on its website which included similar defamatory material. Ms Phillips said the newspaper accepted all of the allegations were wholly untrue and that there was no question of Materazzi having said anything of a racist nature to Zidane such as to goad him. Mr Price, for Associated Newspapers, said that it offered its apologies for the distress and embarrassment caused, and had agreed to pay Materazzi substantial - but undisclosed - damages and his costs. The Italian also won damages and an apology from the Daily Star earlier in the year. 'Insulted his sister' Following the head-butting incident, in July 2006, Materazzi was handed a two-match ban by world governing body Fifa. France's captain Zidane, playing his last match before retiring from football, was banned for three games and fined £3,260. At the time he claimed he was provoked after Materazzi had "insulted his mother". But he has never specified exactly what Materazzi said to him and has refused to apologise to his opponent. Materazzi later stated that Zidane's sister was the subject. "I was tugging his shirt, he said to me 'if you want my shirt so much I'll give it to you afterwards,' and I answered that I'd prefer his sister," he said.
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionThere’s a reason my side projects have favored the Twitter platform: I’m a fan of the service, and earnestly want to improve the experience of her users. No more: Twitter is a hostile partner to developers and has bluntly terminated my projects without so much as a reason.
First it was Proxlet (now defunct). Chris Ricca and I built Proxlet because we wanted to improve our Twitter experience. It’s too easy to resent your tweet-stream when it’s overflowing with #FollowFridays, Paper.li and other assorted tweet-spam. So we did something about it: we built the ultimate Twitter API Proxy that would allow us to mute undesirable applications and hashtags in a way that could work w/ nearly every important native or web client. It was a huge hit, well covered by major tech blogs, gaining a large following and even dedicated support in native clients.
One day, Twitter decided to take issue with the implementation. Instead of reaching out to us to warn us of any potential action, they unceremoniously shut our application down, leaving every single one of our users in a broken state: suddenly their clients just stopped working; they had no way of knowing how to recover, and we had no time to prepare to tell them.
Flash forward half a year, I built a small app called TweetFavor. It was built for two reasons, the first to help my friends and I coordinate tweeting. Instead of receiving an email request saying “hey tweet this!” you receive an email and can pledge a single tweet of your choice the requester can redeem in the future. The second reason I built it was to teach students at Intelligent.ly how to build Google App Engine, Twitter Bootstrap apps. Imagine my surprise when mid-class, Twitter shutdowns down TweetFavor without any reason given. As far as I can tell, it in no way violates their terms of service, but even more insulting, it looks like they never even logged into to investigate it.
All my developer goodwill towards Twitter has been exhausted. They’ve demonstrated not once to me, but twice, that they have no desire to work with developers, but rather antagonize them as they see fit.
Moral of the story: be-wary of developing applications with dependency to a platform. And if you’re doing so for hobby projects, let this serve as a guide about where you should steer your efforts.
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2019-02-27 04:43 Hall of Fame Brazil 256.3 Iceland 241.9 Russia 131.5 Ukraine 51.4 Germany 45.8
dt 324.4 Fox 66.5 RS 61.7 che 55.4 UIS 47.0
tita 250.2 paave 212.3 MonkeyMoon 64.4 Krivoy 46.3 ApioMan 46.0 Xrayez 40.2 Mega-Adnan 29.6 Zalo 27.2 X-GadZ 25.0 Quai 24.5 More...
Welcome to Worm Olympics 2016!
WO 2016 is taking place between 30th July 2016 and 28th August 2016.
Players You don't need to "register" to play in WO. Just be there when a tournament starts, sign up, and play. :)
Please read the player's guide and FAQ for more information. After each tournament you play in, please upload your replays.
Hosters If you want to host your own tournament as part of WO, please read the hosting guide and rules, after that feel free to
New Points System This year we are using the points system introduced in WO 2013. This is very similar to the old one with one major change: medal multipliers.
You will still get 1 points for every won game, but the number of points for each medal will depend on the number of players in its tournament:
Medal 1vs1 2vs2 3vs3 Gold 10 6 |
This also means that people won’t put up with the ridiculous $20.00 raise in the price of beer that The Beer Store threatens should the laws change. If 70% are against a 10% increase, you had better believe that 100% are going to be against a 50% increase. Might be time to retire that talking point, fellas.)
“Do you approve or disapprove of allowing convenience stores and grocery stores to sell beer in Ontario?”
Overall, the split is 48-44-8 for Approve-Disapprove-Don’t know. Most age groups are actually in favour of this, with respondents 65 and older taking essentially a neutral position. Northern Ontario is strongly against the measure with 55% disapproving. The 416 area code is the exact opposite. Conservative voters are 59% in favor the change, while 55% of the NDP disapprove.
“How would you rate The Beer Store for offering excellent products and services?”
Overall, this breaks down 30-26-18-9 from Excellent-Good-Fair-Poor. The group with the highest opinion of The Beer Store are the 45-54 year old Gen-X cohort. Millennials and the younger Gen-X cohort show the lowest ratings at. Essentially, the younger the cohort, the lower the score on this one.
“As far as you know, is The Beer Store Canadian-owned or Foreign-owned?”
This broke down to 62% Canadian Owned/22% Foreign Owned. The Millennials are best informed on this issue, with 27% correctly identifying The Beer Store as foreign owned. When you consider that the OCSA’s polling from December indicated that only 13% knew about the foreign ownership, it becomes clear that the media coverage of the issue is slowly educating the population.
Those are the results, and I have tried not to editorialize overmuch while I gave them to you.
Here’s what I see: The 18-45 demographics, which are the ones who buy the most beer by volume and whom all the marketing is targeted at are staying away in droves. If you are older than 45, you grew up with The Beer Store and it may just be force of habit that influences continued purchasing there. The polling is likely accurate and it indicates that as time has gone on, beer drinkers who are entering the marketplace are more and more likely to shop for their beer at the LCBO. The 18-34 demographic vastly prefer it. There’s no reason to believe that consumers becoming legal over the next ten years will see this demographic trend reverse. Older consumers will leave the market as they do.
It might be a stretch to suggest that people over 45 shop at The Beer Store because they grew up with it and are used to it. However, if that assumption is correct then the future looks pretty bleak for The Beer Store because new consumers are going to gravitate to the LCBO, which has many of the beers The Beer Store stocks and is already going about putting their LCBO Express stores into grocery stores.
There’s some good news and bad news here, depending on who you are.
If you’re the Conservative party and Wynne gets ousted, this might actually become a wedge election issue. It’s one with a relatively safe landing, since about half the population is in favour of the change and 70% of the population would take advantage of the changes. (Personally, I think that just about every other issue should come before this one. Don’t vote based on this. If you like the rest of the package and this a bonus, then maybe it could be your deciding factor. Chances are we’re very different people.)
If you’re The Beer Store, and your sole mission statement is to sell beer, you’ve somehow lost the confidence of the consumer over the last 25 years. Younger demographic cohorts, the prized ones who provide most of the volume, prefer to shop for beer elsewhere. That is a really bad sign, but the worst part of that problem is that this is the age of social media and the Millennials who are not shopping at your stores control the tone of the online discourse. You are trying to dissuade them from pushing for change by handling a twitter account when you’ve already lost the demographic. Strategically, you’re continuing the discourse to your detriment because the longer it is in front of the public, the more people know you’re foreign owned and the less likely new consumers are to shop with you.
Because of the demography we see in this snapshot, this issue is not going away. Sales through The Beer Store are suffering. At some point, change is going to happen. It might be closer than we think. If The Beer Store’s polling is aware of how negatively higher prices poll and they are using that as their anchor, that’s a fairly desperate move because it’s easily disproved. They’re issuing it as a threat to their own consumers and that may be because their backs are against the wall.
Also, if this poll has revealed anything to me, it is that Northern Ontario is really under-served. Fortunately, we’ve got craft breweries in Kenora, Sudbury and Thunder Bay now, so maybe they will get some exposure over the summer.Tomorrow night can be a sad night at the Rock. The Devils, who outplayed the Penguins all year and clinched second in the division, can be eliminated in the first round of the players for the third consecutive season. Down 3-1, and with the way the Devils have played, this looks almost certain. The Devils face a steep uphill climb to just get a victory tomorrow night.
Despite the odds, the Devils can still stage a comeback. But, in order to be competitive, the team needs leadership, and those leaders need to step up quickly. Who can step up to provide the leadership necessary to lead the team? Here are a few of my options:
1. Coach Jacques Lemaire
Lemaire hasn’t been doing so well in this series. It looks like Flyers’ coach Peter Laviolette has thoroughly outcoached him. The Flyers’ forecheck has been terrific, they’ve continually attacked the Devils’ defense, and the team has never stopped moving since game one. Lemaire has seem subdued, almost emotionally detached to the situation going on around him. But I believe Lemaire can begin a Devils’ turnaround by making a few simple adjustments.
First, Lemaire needs to actually coach. While watching the games, Lemaire seems to take a hands-off approach, especially when the Devils need him most. Lemaire needs to get in the face of his players. He needs to be there, getting in players ears. He needs to make the adjustments in between periods to keep this team sharp. I know Lemaire has been hands-off, but down 3-1, it’s time to break the mold. I’d like to see Lemaire get a little more proactive on the bench and institute in-period changes. It’s the only way to keep up with a Flyers team that has outworked the Devils in four of the series five games.
Lemaire also has the background to help the team rescue the series. In 2003, with the Minnesota Wild, Lemaire pulled his team back from two 3-1 series deficits. They first came back against the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference quarterfinals, effectively ending Patrick Roy’s career. They repeated the feat in the next round, defeating the Vancouver Canucks. His experience in this situation can and should be used to help the team respond.
Lemaire knows the time for speeches and talking is over.
“It’s been four speeches that we put on and there will be a fifth one,” Lemaire said to Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record. “There’s a time for speeches. You can’t look for speeches. You’ve just got to get the work done.”
2. Colin White
In 2000, the Devils had great leadership throughout the locker room. Scott Stevens was the unquestioned leader of the team, but they also had great leadership from Ken Daneyko and Scott Niedermayer. White was also on that squad. With the defense playing subpar during this series, the Devils need someone to step up and lead the blue line. While White may not be the best blueliner, he’s the senior leader of that group. White needs to step up and get the defense playing well. The defense hasn’t played well in their own zone, and White needs to be the one to hold people accountable. He should be the vocal leader of the group, reminding the defenseman to move the puck and make the smart play. He should be riding defenseman when they take dumb penalties or take a shift off. I haven’t seen anyone step up this season to be the leader of the defense. In this situation, the team needs someone to do that, and White’s been around long enough to know what the Devils expect from their defenseman. He should step up, carry the torch and lead the defense.
3. Patrik Elias or Zach Parise
There’s a certain reason that two guys on the team become assistant captains. While not the true captain, these players are still looked toward to lead both on and off the ice. With Jamie Langenbrunner failing to inspire the troops, it’s time for these two to step up. And Elias has already picked up the slack, speaking about the positive mindset he believes the team has.
“We have a team that we feel that we can beat them, so it’s the same thing (as 2000),” Elias said to Gulitti. “We’ve got to make sure that we believe in it. We’ve go to go out and just worry about – as it is, you can’t worry about the end result. You’ve got to go and do your job every shift and believe that we’ll get it done.”
Elias is saying the right thing now, but can he step out on the ice and lead? The same question goes for Parise. These two guys need to step up their game. They need to be, like I suggest for White, getting in the faces of the forwards and making sure everyone is playing responsible, smart hockey. If they can continue to bring these positive vibes and push everyone to play harder, smarter hockey, then Elias and Parise will be doing their job and leading this team.
There’s something to be said for the quality of good leadership. If the Devils can get leadership from these players, it will be a big step in the right direction. Many of the players realize this isn’t the year 2000. But, with both Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter slated to miss the rest of the series, the Devils will finally catch a break in the series. By getting some positive leadership, I’d expect the Devils to come out tomorrow night and play an inspired game. You never know what one great performance can bring. But, in order to realize their potential, some unsung leaders will have to rise in the Devils’ locker room.
AdvertisementsRaymond Lidal in 2011. Photo: Private
A 28-year-old Norwegian working for the country's state broadcaster NRK has been held in a Yemeni prison for twelve days, the channel revealed on Wednesday.
Raymond Lidal was arrested by police while filming in the captial Sana'a on the night of March 28, as Saudi jets carried out strikes across the city, according to Bergens Tidene, one of the papers he worked for.
He stands accused of illegally working as a journalist after entering the country on a tourist visa.
NRK on Wednesday confirmed that Lidal had filed several reports for the channel from the country.
“The man has over the last two years delivered a few reports for NRK though he has also worked for others,”Per Arne Kalbakk, the channel’s news director, said.
”We have been in contact with the Foreign Ministry several times since we found out, and we are in constant contact with his friends and family.”
As well as contributing footage to NRK, Lidal had been working freelance for several Norwegian newspapers and magazines.
The Houthis, a militant Shia group backed by Iran, took control of the Yemeni government in Sana'a this year in a military coup, leaving the country's official president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to set up a temporary capital in Aden, southern Yemen.
Frode Andersen, Head of Communications at Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Norwegian diplomats were in contact with Yemeni authorities.
”We have made it clear to the government of Yemen that they are fully and completely responsible for the life and health of this Norwegian citizen,” he told NRK.
Lidal has been residing in Yemen on and off since he came to study in 2011, despite recent dramatic events in the country which have prompted most other foreigners to leave.
Andersen pointed out that the Norwegian government had long discouraged citizens from working or living in Yemen.
“Norwegian authorities have very limited possibilities to provide assistance to Norwegians residing in Yemen and we have long discouraged all travel to or stay in the country," he said.
Lidal was last active on Twitter on March 27, asking why the Houthis were advancing east at the same time as preparing for a Saudi attack.Two unrelated serial kidnappers worked the same South Carolina region at the same time, police say. But while one kidnapper allegedly met his victims at a Waffle House, the other allegedly buried his victim behind a different Waffle House approximately 30 minutes down the road.
On Monday, Greenville police charged 28-year-old Markius Yeargin with Henrietta Crawford’s kidnapping and murder, one in a series of escalating October attacks, police say. Yeargin’s alleged crimes bear an eerie resemblance to those of Todd Kohlhepp, an alleged serial killer accused of murdering seven people, including a couple he allegedly met at a Waffle House, and keeping one woman locked in a shipping container on his Spartanburg County property, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her. Kohlhepp and Yeargin allegedly conducted their kidnappings in overlapping regions in fall 2016.
Crawford had been dead for over two weeks when a hunter found her burned remains in a wooded area behind the Waffle House, according to Yeargin’s arrest warrant. Police charged Yeargin with kidnapping her and burning her body in an attempt to conceal evidence.
The attack, which police believe to have taken place on Oct. 20, was the third in an escalating series of violent assaults, police said. Three days earlier, Yeargin allegedly kidnapped a woman at gunpoint, forcing her into his car, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her, choked her, and told her he would kill her, according to warrants obtained by WYFF. On Oct. 2, he allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted another woman in his car, this time at knifepoint.
On Nov. 18, police arrested Yeargin for the two nonfatal attacks. But it would be two more months before they connected him to Crawford’s murder, which they say capped off his month-long crime spree.
“Investigators were able to sort through various pieces of evidence and ultimately charged Yeargin with Murder, Kidnapping and Obstructing Justice,” the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office told The Daily Beast in a statement.
Yeargin was denied bond for his one count of murder, one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of weapons possession, two counts of sexual assault, and three counts of kidnapping.
Allegations of a serial kidnapper are too familiar in Yeargin’s region of South Carolina. In October, the area made national news when Kala Brown and Charlie Carver, a young couple from nearby Anderson County went mysteriously missing for months, while an unidentified person continued post disturbing messages from Carver’s Facebook account. On Nov. 3, two months after the couple’s disappearance, police found Brown chained by the neck in a storage container on a rural property in Spartanburg County. Brown told officials that Kohlhepp, an area realtor, had lured her and Carver to the property under the pretense of cleaning his house. But when they arrived on the site, Kohlhepp shot Carver, and locked Brown in the metal storage container, where he subjected her to months of sexual assault, Brown alleged.
Days after Kohlhepp’s arrest, he allegedly confessed to gunning down four employees at a motorcycle shop in 2003, a mass murder that had puzzled police for a decade. Horrific discoveries continued throughout the week as police began excavating the property. On Nov. 7, the same day a hunter discovered Crawford’s body in nearby Greenville, police uncovered the bodies of Meagan and Johnny Coxie, a young married couple, who had been missing since December 2015. Like with Brown and Carver, Kohlhepp may have lured the couple to his property with the promise of work, relatives said.
Meagan Coxie worked at a Waffle House in Spartanburg, some 30 minutes from the Waffle House where Crawford was buried. Kohlhepp was a frequent customer at Coxie’s restaurant, and was known to “creep” on waitresses, former employees told CBS. But shortly before the couple’s disappearance, Meagan reportedly told her mother she had another job lined up. Four days later the couple was reported missing.
“I know for a fact he didn’t just pick her up off the street, he met her there,” Meagan’s former coworker at the Roebuck Waffle House told CBS of Coxie’s connection with Kohlhepp.
The couple would not be seen again until Nov. 7, when at a different Waffle House 30 miles away, police were working on their second serial-kidnapping case that day.As if this season needed to be any more frightening, it’s time continue a tradition that started last year. Here are some fresh Halloween costume ideas for Husker players, coaches, and a few hangers-on.
Mike Riley as Roy Munson
As much as Mike resembles the pride of Ocelot, Iowa, this choice is also symbolic as Coach Riley has found himself Munsoned in the middle of nowhere with a fan base that’s making their pitchforks a little sharper with each passing week. As someone who happens to share Roy’s cursed last name, I’ve somehow never dressed as him for Halloween but I did get to meet his landlord this past summer so I’ve got that going for me.
Mark Banker as Kevin Costner
Maybe Kev could use some of the spy skills he picked up from his recent flops to help Banker solve the mystery of what happened to the Blackshirts.
Mike Cavanaugh as Jim Ross
You can almost hear the legendary WWE announcer screaming “My God, the man never substitutes his offensive line!”
Danny Langsdorf as Dorf
Because nothing shows your relevance to a bunch of 18-year-old kids by dressing as a character from the 80s so forgotten that a good photo doesn’t even exist on the internet.
Shawn Eichorst as The Shermanator
We can only hope that one day a sophisticated robot Athletic Director will be sent back from time to change the future for the Huskers.
Mark Philipp as Leonidas
You know Mark has this outfit hanging in his closet ready to go at a moment’s notice whether it’s Halloween or not.
Sam Foltz as Joe Dirt
As a fellow Grand Island native, I can say on good authority that Thunderleg is just one sweet IROC away from absolutely nailing this look.
Andy Janovich as Dalton
If the Huskers don’t make it to a bowl game, here’s hoping Andy commemorates his Senior Day by ripping out the throat of an Iowa player in the middle of a touchdown run.
Tom Shatel as Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
At the rate this season has been unraveling, the brains of the World-Herald will be turning heel before you know it. Going as Bobby for Halloween will be a great warm up.
Mike’l Severe as Mickey, the guy who cut the tag off a mattress
Possibly the only costume choice of the 80s more random than Stiles from Teen Wolf but Mike’l has the obscure film knowledge to make it work.
Dirk Chatelain as Jared from Subway
Yes. This one is in absolutely poor taste but when all you need to pull off a costume that will get the whole neighborhood talking (and the police making unannounced visits) is a pair of glasses and foot long, you just gotta do it.
Comments[h/t Heather at VideoCafe
There's something smarmy about a Supreme Court Justice opining from the television interview pit about decisions the court has made. No, not opining. Selling it. The whole nation loathes Citizens United, and so Scalia has taken to the airwaves with the hard sell. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's also pimping his latest book for CNN viewers to rush right out and buy either.
No, our esteemed Supreme Court Justice actually did an interview with that respected legal scholar celebrity hack guy, Piers Morgan. Yes, surely Piers was up to that challenge. Or not.
After declaring that if he were King, Justice Scalia would ban flag-burning, he moved on to Citizens United, where Piers showed himself completely out of his league. The questions were almost custom-designed to let Scalia convince the adoring public that the Billion Dollar Presidential Campaign is AOK.
Here's the punch line:
SCALIA: You can't separate speech from -- from -- from the money that -- that facilitates the speech. MORGAN: Can't you? SCALIA: It's -- it's -- it's utterly impossible.
Piers Morgan let him get away with that! I cannot believe it.
Opening your mouth and saying something is speech. One does not require one billion dollars to say whatever the hell they want. Hey Piers and Justice Scalia, THE MONEY IS THE MICROPHONE. Nowhere does it say in the Constitution that the microphone is an integral part of speech.
What the heck does he think they did in the 17th century, walk around with a boom box?
Why is this so difficult for people to understand. We open our mouths, move our lips, and words come out. That is speech. We light a match, burn a flag, that is expression. Nowhere in either of those two events is it required that three cameras linked to a worldwide satellite hookup be part of the element of speech. Nowhere. It's simply intellectual dishonesty to say otherwise.
It would appear, however, that the good Justice is on the record with regard to disclosure, which makes the constant Republican blockage of the DISCLOSE Act that much more wanton and cynical:
SCALIA: Oh, I certainly think not. I think, as I think the framers thought, that the more speech, the better. Now, you -- you are entitled to know where the speech is coming from, you know, information as -- as to who contributed what. That's something else.
But whether they -- whether they can speak is, I -- I -- I think, clear in -- in the First Amendment.
Funny how we only get the "Money is Speech" part in this country and not the "You're entitled to know where the speech came from, eh? No, not funny. Pathetic.
And with regard to limits on speech, this little gem:
MORGAN: Is there any limit, in your eyes, to freedom of speech? SCALIA: Oh, of course. MORGAN: Is -- is there -- what are the limitations in -- to you? SCALIA: I'm a textualist. And what the provision reads is, "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech." So they had in mind a particular freedom. What -- what freedom of speech? The freedom of speech that was the right of Englishmen at that time. And--
So I'm curious as to how Justice Scalia reconciles the English Bill of Rights with his interpretation as stated in that answer. Here's the snippet from the English Bill of Rights:
...the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament...
Further, since he specifically referred to "the Englishman", I can only assume he gives no weight to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen adopted by France, which granted far more expansive rights of speech:
The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.
Whatever Justice Scalia sees as the originalist meaning within our Bill of Rights, I simply fail to see how the amplifier becomes speech. Speech is an individual act of forming words and either saying or writing them. Expression is still an individual act, whether it's speech or a human being doing something which speaks to the crowd. But whether it's verbal, written, drawn, painted, acted, sung or danced, the act is the speech, and costs nothing.
The amplifier, on the other hand, costs plenty. It is that failure on Justice Scalia's part that has possibly cost us our democracy.Snapchat burst onto the scene in 2011 and quickly caught fire among college and high school students. Fast forward four years and the highly controversial app is now reportedly valued at nearly $20 billion and has upwards of 100 million users, many of which fall under the age of 24. It is the hot new app among marketers and brands who are desperate to reach the coveted millennial crowd. A number of college and pro teams now boast accounts as a new way to engage with their younger audience.
What is Snapchat?
For the uninformed, Snapchat was started by a group of Stanford students as a way to communicate with friends through pictures and videos.
What makes it different than the litany of other communication apps? The images and videos are "private" and "disappear" after 10 seconds. Naturally, teens migrated to the app as a way to send NSFW pics to each other. Controversy has followed the app from the beginning, whether it be teens sexting, being hacked numerous times, or being hit with charges from the federal government that the images don't actually disappear as the app promises (among other false privacy claims).
MORE: Hey superfan, be careful what you tweet at recruits
Snapchat has tried to distance itself from this reputation, stating that the app is a way for its users to share in a more natural, in-the-moment kind of way. The app has evolved to now include ephemeral texting and a new option called Stories, where users can post public pictures and videos that any of their friends can see. The story disappears after 24 hours. It also created crowdsourced events called Our Story, where it sorts through and showcases snaps from users at events like the World Cup, Fashion Week and numerous college football games around the country.
Last year the NCAA ruled that Snapchat was allowable for recruiting in most sports (football being the main one left out). Slowly but surely we're seeing coaches jump to this platform to "reach teens where they are."
Just joined @Snapchat because it's the future & we're building the future here at #VaTech. Add me: TeamCoachBuzz pic.twitter.com/qa9xO5GTg8 — Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) February 18, 2015
While many will tout it as innovative and potentially even necessary, let's take a step back and ask if this is really a good thing — for both sides.
Recruiting is, without question, highly competitive. There are only so many kids that fit the needs and culture of your program and coaches want to do everything necessary to reach those kids. They want to be in front of them as often as possible and social media has enabled that. You can't sit on a kid's couch every day or follow him/her around school but you can post to Twitter, Facebook (yes, kids are still on Facebook), Instagram and any other social media platform that this generation uses. It's a powerful and efficient way to stay front of mind, and savvy coaches are realizing just how useful it can be. More than that, it's a free tool for background checks.
I spend a lot of time on college campuses discussing social media use with coaches and players, and at least one coach from each of the more than 70 programs I've been to have stopped recruiting a prospect based on social media behavior. Just this week, Clemson's Director of Recruiting told ESPN that they follow all of their recruits on social media and rank them not only by athletics and academics, but by character. When teens shift to new platforms, coaches want to shift with them. Generally speaking, it is beneficial for both player and coach/program, as each can showcase their respective strengths.
Snapchat, though, brings about a number of concerns that don't necessarily exist with other platforms. Sure, shady and inappropriate behavior can go down anywhere, but all of that is documented and saved on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. When it comes to Snapchat, we now have adults communicating with a high school student on a private platform where the pictures and videos disappear (well, allegedly disappear).
Imagine the male coach of a female sport, now communicating with a high school girl on Snapchat. Some will shrug that off as the cost of recruiting in a digital age, but where else would we be OK with that scenario playing out? And to be clear, I'm certainly not suggesting coaches would intentionally do anything inappropriate but the invitation is there — fire up Google and you'll find plenty of examples of teacher/student relationships gone wrong on Snapchat.
There is increasingly more pressure on coaches to win and win now, and to do that they obviously need to get the right players. To get the right players, you have to develop relationships and consistently be in front of them. Social media is one of the tools that makes that happen and, by all accounts, has changed the landscape of college recruiting — for better and worse. Snapchat is simply the next in a long list of apps to reach teens. It certainly is not all doom and gloom but it might require a lot more consideration before jumping in.
Kevin DeShazo is the founder of Fieldhouse Media (www.fieldhousemedia.net) and Fieldhouse Leadership (www.fieldhouseleadership.co), and a Sporting News contributor on the topic of social media in sports. Connect with him on Twitter at @kevindeshazo.IDW announced the purchase this morning.
Source: Press Release
IDW Publishing is purchasing Top Shelf Productions, a leading publisher of independent graphic novels. The news was announced this morning via press release. Financial terms of the purchase was not disclosed.
Top Shelf was founded in 1997 by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and quickly established itself as one of the top publishers for high-quality independent graphic novels. Among the company's notable releases are Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Craig Thompson's Blankets, March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, and From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. Top Shelf's publishing model tended to focus on launching comic releases during conventions, which has been controversial with retailers at time.
Per the press release, IDW will be retaining the Top Shelf brand as an independent imprint, and all Top Shelf employees will be retained. Staros will also be joining IDW as the editor in chief of the Top Shelf Brand. His long time partner Warnock will be retiring from comics. IDW will also honor all of Top Shelf's publishing deals and plans, and will continue to pay creators on their current royalties agreement.
Upcoming Top Shelf releases that will now presumably be distributed by IDW include the second volume of March, a new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Nemo graphic novel and new graphic novels by Nate Powell, James Kochalka and Keith Knight. Top Shelf's website also lists approximately 20 additional upcoming titles with no release date that will now be published under IDW's ownership.
Top Shelf's purchase positions IDW to better compete with publishers such as Boom! Studios, who purchased their own boutique brand in 2013 with the acquisition of Archaia Entertainment. This could also mean wider distribution of Top Shelf books, as IDW has more resources than the smaller publisher.
We wish all those affected by the purchase the best and hope for a smooth transition by all parties involved.Troubled Hearts: Let It All Out
Oh my god. I didn't just do that. Pyrrha Nikos was always a very prim and proper woman, the limelight had demanded as much form her. Her time at Beacon was one of the most freeing and exhilarating times of her entire life. No managers, no family, no cameras or people who really knew her. Just Pyrrha's team, her friends, and her leader. Oh, her leader. Jaune Arc, the nervous charlatan who had scammed his way into an academy. She enjoyed every second of it.
But now, now she wished for the cold hands of fame to wrench her upright and return her modesty. Laying in bed, Pyrrha looked up at a low ceiling and pondered the act that she'd just committed. Or acts, it was a good two hours since she'd accosted Jaune and... Now it was time to decide whether it had been a good idea or not to bed him so soon. A good idea? This is what I've wanted since I met him, got to know him. The trace thoughts faded, and Pyrrha tried to recall what triggered them in the first place. For that matter, what had caused her to attack Jaune in such a manner?
"Jaune, are you up?" she asked sheepishly.
"Yeah, I'm up."
Pyrrha laid her hand across the gap, resting on his stomach. So soft. We should fix that... no, no that's not right. "Was... was it alright?"
"I think so. Hard to tell from a first time," Jaune whispered, trying to hide some of his shame. "But the eleventh felt good."
Heat exploded on her face, memories of minutes earlier flitting across her mind. "That's good. Um, are you alright?" She had been quite rough at first, hopefully he wasn't too hurt.
"I'm ok Pyrrha. I'm not sure why we're laying in this bed right now, but I'm ok with it."
"You're awfully calm for what's been happening."
Jaune chuckled a little. "Well, my father once told me about something like this. Said to just go with it. So when they treated me like someone important I went with it. When Cinder showed up I went with it. And then you came back..."
"So you just 'went with it' just now?" She was a little annoyed at the notion. It was her first time as well.
"Not exactly, I did hope to one day get the chance. So, I guess you could say I went along with what I wanted as well." An amused lilt was in his voice, like a kid wondering how he ever got so much ice cream.
Pyrrha turned over in the bed, finally laying eyes on her companion. Golden locks were plastered across his forehead, sweat holding them firm and away from calm blue eyes. An arm lay casually behind his head, propping it up and into a lounging position. Jaune looked over at her, and she felt the fire on her cheeks rolling ever hotter. Glassy blue studied her frame outlined in the blanket, lingering on her mid region before slowly climbing back to her face. She met them with her own verdant green and held his gaze, watching his lips slowly curl into a smile.
"So what brought all this on in the first place?" he asked, settling a hand on top of hers.
That was the question still rolling through Pyrrha's mind as several strands ran through her head. Cinder's no doubt, her mind worked in simple ways. "I'm not sure, this feels very new to me. I've been... chained for so long. Only recently did I start fighting back, when we reached Vale."
"I'm not sure I follow. Fighting back how? When we saw you in the alleyway you seemed to be as stiff as a board. The laughing was the only thing that saved us." Jaune searched her face, looking into the portal to her soul.
Pyrrha thought about that time, what she'd done specifically. A feeling of pity, but not her own. And it was funny, not funny enough to laugh about, but she forced herself anyway. "I think it might have been the way my emotions were. I remember an intense feeling of humor, but I don't think it was a very funny thing."
Jaune gripped her hand, feeling roughened fingers encase her own smooth. He's gone through much more than he's letting on. "Well, it doesn't matter. You're back. I can't ask for anything else." He looked upward for a moment. "Except maybe to go out. I'm having a hard time breathing."
The smell invaded her nostrils as soon as he mentioned it, and Pyrrha quickly nodded her assent, removing the covers and bee-lining straight for the bathroom. A thought of her exposed figure in plain view flitted across her mind, and a returning strand marked Cinder's continued contact. You've already done worse, far worse things girl. A quick look at your behind is the least of his wants now. Again she shook her head, trying to ween out such thoughts. They weren't normal at all, the very darkest parts of her desire locked away normally.
Inside, Pyrrha quickly found the knobs for water and heat, letting the shower run for a moment while she walked up to the mirror. A pale face reflected back at her, crimson locks held in check by a strange bun. It was a lot to take in, her face wasn't quite the same but still hers. She wore her death like a badge, open for the world to see with their eyes. Eyes, she met her own. And found the same bloody, searing red of the one who brought her back. Pyrrha brought her hands to her mouth, trying to stifle a cry at her fate.
The door opened and shut quickly behind her, and a loving pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her away from the mirror. "It's ok, it's ok. It's just a color."
Pyrrha shuffled around in his grip, resting her head onto his chest. "It's not just a color. This... why is this happening? We were supposed to-"
"We are, or did you forget the last couple hours?"
"That's not what I mean!" She buried her face into his shoulder, letting some of the tears roll out. "I just wanted to give it all up, to be with you and live a normal life. If there had just been some more time."
Jaune pulled back, tipping her head upward. "We've got time now. Come on, let's get cleaned up."
It was so strange, walking around the city without a care for what people saw. Pyrrha was strolling behind Jaune, taking in the midday air as they walked past crowds of people wandering around. The safe zone, she'd seen a small amount of it through the haze of the collar. A small worry always crept up that someone would recognize her or Cinder, that she would be forced to fight against innocent people. But that wasn't now, now she could be a normal girl walking with a normal boy.
"What about this one?"
She looked over to the shop he was pointing |
your personally fixing by however much effort it takes, and it doesn't arise from outright bad faith, it's not worth refusing to contribute your efforts to a cause you deem worthwhile.Set your smoker up for 300F and add your chicken thighs. Mine cooked about for 1.5 hours.
Wrap the bacon around the thigh and try to keep as much stuffing inside as you can. Use a skewer to hole it together, piercing one end of the bacon and going diagonally through the thigh so you come out through the other end of the bacon. I was able to fit 2 thighs per skewer.
Lay down a strip of bacon, place a chicken thigh flat on top, and add the stuffing mix. Some might fall out depending on the size of the thigh, and some might need a little more, but it should average out to about 1 oz per thigh.
Liberally salt the chicken thighs on both sides and layer in your preferred contained. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
Recipe Notes
The peach didn't come through as strongly as I had hoped. I was looking for a little acidity and sweetness to balance the salty, meaty, and creamy flavours in the dish. This might have been because I used out of season peaches that weren't all the way ripe.
I think this dish would work well with other things substituted for the peach, like jalapeños or maybe pineapple to really get some acid in there.Credit: Rory Martin for Bleacher Report
On October 20, 2014, just for half a moment, Ed Woodward’s poker face slipped on a freezing-cold night at the Hawthorns, home of West Bromwich Albion.
To Woodward's right sat Sir Bobby Charlton—a reminder (if one was needed) of the glories that his employers, Manchester United, had tasked him with renewing when they elevated him to the role of executive vice-chairman 18 months earlier.
On the pitch in front of him was a further nod to the very scale of the ambitions he’d been charged with satisfying: marquee signings Juan Mata, Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria—their mammoth transfer fees still a fraction of the total value of the team in red.
Away to Woodward's right at the Smethwick End were 3,000 impatient Manchester United fans and, nearby, the reason for their ire: the blaring neon scoreboard silently confirming that the team into which he had poured so much of the club’s money were trailing 2-1 to West Brom, a middling Premier League club lurching through their own tumultuous season.
Woodward didn't expect the TV cameras to be fixed on his expression when his frustrations boiled over in the 77th minute, although the man tasked with overseeing the world’s most adored football club might have known better than to assume scrutiny over his every move would ever dissipate for more than a moment. Indy Football provided highlights regarding Woodward's questionable expressions:
With Woodward's lips being broadcast live to an audience of millions, he muttered something in testament to his disgust at his team’s struggles and was subsequently crucified by a baying press.
If the man calling the shots thought United were a shambles, then by what measure could this be said to be a club in control of its destiny?
The sequence of events that placed Edward Gareth Woodward—physics graduate, accountant and seven-year veteran of Manchester United's relentless commercial operation—in effective charge of the world's best supported football club two-and-a-half years ago has indefinite origins, but a challenge to the club's ownership model back in 2003 laid much of the groundwork.
It began with discussions between (what was then called) Shareholders United and the United board to form a trust that could buy shares in the club that would be held in perpetuity. The hope was that this might create a dam in the ownership model that would have made a full takeover, be it domestically or from overseas, impossible.
There was enthusiasm for the idea from within the boardroom, but the deal never came to fruition.
Duncan Drasdo, chief executive of (what is now called) Manchester United Supporters' Trust, said this was largely due to resistance from Shareholders United, which feared the new arrangement might be used by the board to further its own interests. So when Malcolm Glazer and his family, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, made their move in 2005, the club were sitting ducks.
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"By 2005 there wasn't any really coherent counter-offer," Drasdo said. "We'd had various approaches from representatives of Qataris and so on, but nobody came forward with a plan that would have been anything other than another takeover by another group that would have excluded the supporters."
The corporate minutiae that forced through the 2005 takeover was complex and delicate, and it demanded a dexterous financial wit to wrangle into being. Woodward, assigned by investment bank J.P. Morgan to provide that accounting agility, won the minds and the hearts of the Glazers with his work to resuscitate a failing deal at the 11th hour. Without this thought in place, it is impossible to make sense of the last decade at Old Trafford.
The Glazers' takeover deal was last-minute and desperate in terms of interest levels and the loans necessary to pull it off—one condition was that the new owners' shares in the club could have been repossessed had they failed to keep up repayments—and Woodward's work in structuring the deal to pull the Glazers out of a hole was the foundation of the esteem in which his employers held him.
"You're going to be pretty grateful to the man who's got you out of that one, aren't you?" Drasdo said through a dry smile.
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Woodward's rise to the top was more carefully managed than it looked from the outside. In the years leading up to David Gill's departure, a carefully choreographed process of change was engineered at Old Trafford, with Woodward effectively becoming the chief executive's shadow.
The Glazers' Chosen One was in daily contact with his employers in the U.S.—Gill's communications were reduced to barely once a week—and Woodward became the go-to man for running the company.
Gill ran the football club, presiding over correspondence with the Football Association and the Premier League and conducting transfer business, while Woodward took care of Manchester United the business as executive vice-chairman, the role for which he had been groomed from the start. It is a role he has been thrust ever deeper into since taking the top job.
"Selling the diamonds" is how Woodward likes to characterise the work he does for Manchester United's brand globally. The commercial operations at the world's biggest clubs, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, look to Woodward's United as a trailblazer for how to turn enthusiasm abroad into revenue.
Before Woodward, nobody was doing this. Not in England, Spain—nowhere. Selling sponsorships in this way has moved the goalposts, not just at United but also across commercial departments everywhere.
For years, United's vast popularity in places like India was a wasted resource. Fan numbers that ran into the millions weren't converted into revenue because the brand as it was being used was too easy to counterfeit.
One club insider, who asked to remain anonymous and was close to the internal workings of the succession, told Bleacher Report: "Ed rose to the top job because he was adding to the bottom line. That's where the power base lies now because he was the one who has changed things to bring the money in. That's been his reward.
"The power base now at Old Trafford lies with Ed and Richard Arnold (group managing director and director of Manchester United PLC). They're bringing the money in, so they're making the decisions. It's them and nobody else."
This monetisation of a vast supporter base abroad has been little short of revolutionary.
"The club really struggled for a long time overseas," the club insider continued. "They had such a vast supporter base, but they didn't make a cent from it. They tried to launch a magazine, and it was counterfeited. All the shirts they were selling in places like Thailand and Malaysia were counterfeit, and what Ed did was splice their fanbase into geographic regions and sell partnerships to commercial sponsors.
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"So he started going to companies and saying, 'You can use our logo on your bottle of vodka, you can use our players to promote your product.' It sounds straightforward, but absolutely no one was doing it. And suddenly he was bringing in so much money to the club that the Glazers felt there was little option but to turn to him for the top job."
Former United commercial consultant David Chattaway described Woodward's operation as "like filling up the boxes on a huge matrix," as a team of operators that proactively and relentlessly seeks opportunities around the world. "It's almost become an industry joke about United—a deal a day," Chattaway said. "Real Madrid and Barcelona are chasing Woodward's model at the moment, thinking that's where the money is."
Between 2009 and 2014, the portion of United's revenue generated from commercial activities grew from 23 per cent to 43 per cent (via Chelsea Dulaney of the Wall Street Journal).
The work Woodward began from United's Mayfair office as head of the commercial operation has continued since 2013; the club is tied into deals that have created official wine partners and tyre partners as far away as Chile. FLOW Jamaica confirmed its Caribbean partnership with Man United:
Former players have signed up as ambassadors to promote sponsors' brands abroad. If Wayne Rooney can't fly overseas to promote United-aligned products, then why not send Andy Cole, as Woodward duly did when the former striker pitched up in Qatar in September 2013 on official United commercial business.
Woodward still speaks with Sir Alex Ferguson regularly, as he does with Gill and Sir Bobby Charlton, giving the new man a direct line to the whys and wherefores of how the club functions close to the bone. Drasdo's fears that the succession was poorly handled are unfounded, and Woodward still enjoys a wealth of firsthand support from people who know the club inside and out.
But Woodward's real achievement has been harvesting the great knowledge of his forebears while forging a new club identity that is relevant to the 21st century. It seems absurd to think now that United didn't establish an official Twitter account until 2013; that was Woodward's call, and within days he was using it to project a new kind of club to the world.
United's 2013 preseason tour of Asia had been rocked by an injury to Rooney, which forced the striker to return to Manchester and jeopardised his chances of playing any further part in the club's summer schedule. Meanwhile, reports persisted that the England man was on the verge of signing for Jose Mourinho's new-look Chelsea, as noted by the BBC's Ben Smith, as his relationship with the club continued to lurch awkwardly.
When Rooney recovered in time to face AIK of Stockholm (as noted in the aforementioned Man United tweet) just a week-and-a-half before the start of the new Premier League season, Woodward authorised a release via the club's Twitter feed. It was almost cinematic in its bombastic gloss, placing the club's talisman publicly at the heart of brand United. "Back!" it chimed in thundering surround sound.
The move was as anti-Ferguson as any United fan could have imagined, and it marked the rebranding of the club under its new leader.
On Manchester United's team flight back from Moscow in October, part of a gruelling 3,000-mile round trip and after a hard-fought Champions League draw with CSKA, Woodward was a conspicuous presence, making the rounds among players, staff and journalists in what was part of a concerted and fruitful effort to knit the overlapping layers of the club together as seamlessly as possible.
If there is a consistent presence pervading this proud institution and seeking to haul it as one to its next destination, wherever that may be, it is Woodward.
The holistic approach is one borrowed from the blue half of Manchester, but it's one that forms the bedrock of United's new approach. One Old Trafford insider described the atmosphere as "far more relaxed and a much happier place to be now."
"Certainly before now there was a bit of...a reluctance to do anything that could conceivably upset Ferguson or Gill, which didn't make for the best environment. But Ed enjoys his job; that's clear for everyone at the club to see. His attitude rubs off on people around the club and has completely changed the place. Everyone is happy."
Everywhere you put the question, the answers are the same: Woodward is a charismatic and genuine man who, for all his achievements and accolades, recognises how far a smile can go in the pooling of key relationships.
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Not that placating every ego within a behemoth like United is a necessary skill—or even an obtainable one.
Rio Ferdinand made no secret of his distaste for the way he learned from Woodward in the St Mary's dressing room after a game at Southampton in May 2014 that his contract was not to be renewed.
Patrice Evra was also critical, though less publicly and only within closed circles, of the new United chief's handling of his Old Trafford departure in July 2014. Robin van Persie, conversely, was full of praise for the man as he departed for Fenerbahce in July.
Woodward has learned quickly that a one-size-fits-all approach is unsuitable for taming the modern footballer. But we should remember he was not bred as a football man. When Ferguson announced to the incoming chief executive in the spring of 2013 that he was to be stepping down, Woodward was devastated—his water wings slashed before he'd even dipped his toes in the ocean. This, though, turned into the club's advantage.
Woodward brought to his role a broad and rich understanding of the world beyond Manchester United. This in turn has informed his approach to management.
In 2013, shortly after taking the top job, he said this in reference to J.P. Morgan's takeover of his firm, which had cost the jobs of a number of his colleagues: "You don't whinge at losing your job at an investment bank when you've been given a chance to work for one."
Translation: This is the world in which we live; deal with it. It's a philosophy Woodward has been forced to stand by as he's moved headlong into the lonely world of the football transfer market.
In that world, perhaps more than any other area of his work at United, perceptions of Woodward slam up against the reality of what has been a crash course in negotiating deals for the globe's biggest players—and their egos.
Much has hinged on how well Woodward has absorbed the transfer-market nuances—learning how this particular game is played and how quickly things move.
United's chief exec has been quick to cultivate a relationship with Jorge Mendes, who represents some of the game's biggest names, including David De Gea, Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria—three stars with their own part to play in the Story So Far for Woodward. Mendes also looks after Cristiano Ronaldo, of course—a name constantly linked to a United return in the gossip columns, such as the Sunday Mirror's (h/t the BBC).
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Contacts are the lifeblood of any high-powered industry, football and corporate banking included, and the courting of Mendes has paid conspicuous dividends. De Gea, Falcao and Di Maria were, to some extent, persuaded that United was the right club for them.
Details, such as the decision to afford Mendes' daughter a work-experience role at Old Trafford, go a long way where cultivating closeness and trust are concerned, and the inside line is that neither Falcao nor Di Maria would have been likely to join the club had Woodward not handled the relationship with Mendes as delicately as he had.
"Trust" is the golden word. Andy Mitten, editor-in-chief of fanzine United We Stand, has followed the international transfer market from the inside out for over a decade and is intimately acquainted with how United's top man has enmeshed himself within a sometimes murky environment.
"There needs to be that level of trust, just like in any business deal," Mitten told Bleacher Report. "The relationship Ed has cultivated with Mendes and with others has been hugely advantageous, and we've seen that in some of the deals that have been made for Di Maria, Falcao and so on.
"He's really learnt to decipher who is who. There will always be agents trying to insert themselves into a deal where a club like United is concerned, but it's about knowing who represents the player you're after and how to cultivate a relationship with them. Ed is really getting to know who represents whom. Just as importantly, he's getting to know whom he can trust. It all comes back to trust in this business."
In January 2014, United had reached the nadir of a wretched season. Beaten six times at Old Trafford already that campaign, they had been knocked out of the FA Cup by Swansea City and sat a lonely seventh in the Premier League.
Then, just when it couldn't have mattered more, two key relationships began to bear fruit for Woodward. One was the one he had struck up with Colin Pomford, a Madrid-based solicitor who in 1999 was responsible for helping Steve McManaman become one of the world's highest-paid players when he signed for Real Madrid. The other was Juan Mata Sr., agent and father of the winger twice voted Chelsea's player of the season yet conspicuously made surplus to requirements.
Mata's £37 million deal was the first internationally acclaimed, game-changing signing for the new United regime, and it came at a moment when another high-profile failure would have been at best embarrassing and, at worst, debilitating.
Trust became the watchword again.
"Mata didn't want to be part of a deal that collapsed," Mitten said. "Likewise, Mourinho didn't want to be seen to be trying to offload a player behind his back, and United didn't want to look like they were going after players and not getting them. It had to be handled very, very carefully."
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Woodward is prone to being more loose-lipped with journalists when it comes to prospective transfer targets—which goes some way toward explaining why so many deals appear to fall through—but the Mata deal was wisely kept hushed until it was signed and sealed.
One of the key lessons Woodward learned from his time shadowing the outgoing Gill was the importance at a club like United of a tight working relationship between the chief executive and the manager, never more so than when transfer negotiations are at the sharp end.
In some ways, Woodward's United buck the trend in this respect, as football in England rolls toward the more continental model of transfer committees, directors of football and so forth that often exclude the manager from deals.
One thinks of the Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack deals at Chelsea that helped spell the end of Mourinho's first reign. At Real Madrid, Carlos Queiroz went six months without a word from his president. But Woodward observed the success of Ferguson and Gill's synergy and has sought the same rapport with Louis van Gaal.
Memphis Depay, for example, was set to sign for Paris Saint-Germain in July until a well-placed phone call from Van Gaal on the eve of the deal derailed the move and turned the PSV man's head in favour of United. Woodward and his team moved in to crunch the numbers, but it was the synergy between the two men that allowed the deal to go through.
Likewise, when Anthony Martial signed for the club in September, it was Van Gaal who personally convinced Woodward that the young Frenchman was worth £36 million of the club's money. Though the executive vice-president played a part—unable to communicate directly with the young French star on account of the language barrier—he chose instead to put the newly arrived Morgan Schneiderlin on the phone to Martial to wage the battle for the Monaco man's signature, before dispatching one of his close lieutenants to Paris to shore up the deal.
"The words Ed uses are 'papering up the deal,'" Mitten said. "This idea of him flying all over Europe is wide of the mark. He cuts the numbers certainly, and he's absolutely the boss of it all. But Old Trafford enjoys a network of engineers for wrangling transfers that is largely unrivalled; players and number-crunchers alike come together to forge key deals, but [they're] always fully orchestrated by Woodward. At the sharp end of negotiations, he will be there. Ed was the one who OK'd the Martial deal. It's all his call."
Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
This synergy of the working relationship between chief executive, manager and staff has borne fruit in a hundred ways at Old Trafford, but it also acts as a reminder that some of the new regime's early transfer failures were as much a result of an ineffective partnership with David Moyes as they were the naiveties of a new man in a tough job.
Woodward and his team had meticulously constructed the Thiago Alcantara transfer before hesitation between Moyes and his coaching staff caused the deal to collapse. They had come to the conclusion that the Barcelona man wasn't United material.
"Woodward had worked hard on that deal," said one club insider, who asked for his identity to remain secret. "He'd done everything to get the paperwork sorted and the deal in place, but Moyes dithered and dithered and decided Thiago wasn't for him. Woodward is very good behind the scenes, but you need everything to be in place at all levels of the club for big deals to come off."
The buck may stop with the man at the top, but if every cog in the system isn't turning in sync, then whatever rhythm that exists inside the club's transfer policy is wrecked—and the blame falls at the door of the man with his finger on the button.
On March 25, 2014, Woodward sat in the directors' box at Old Trafford and watched Moyes' Manchester United lose 3-0 against Manchester City.
A toothless United managed just four shots on target, their attack was blunt and the overall performance was dull and depressing to behold.
The prospect of a humbling season away from club football's top table, the Champions League, loomed large. Fans were miserable and laid blame on two people in particular: Moyes for presiding over a woeful team and Woodward for failing to give them a product to believe in.
Football's short-termism has a way of making the dark times seem sticky and permanent. Today's mistakes will define tomorrow's opportunities and leave us in a time warp where a learning curve can seem like a catastrophic wrong turn.
The winners will be those who can keep their heads when those around them are preparing for the end of the world—those who invest in themselves the belief that things will eventually get better.
Until now Woodward has been of that category, but how he reacts to the current malaise United are suffering under Louis van Gaal will define the next chapter in a career that has known no ceiling.
Will this serial winner in football business find a way to keep climbing, or is Woodward destined to ultimately fall back down again? A big decision looms, and what happens next may define Woodward's Old Trafford legacy.
Robert O'Connor is a freelance football writer based in Sheffield who contributes to FourFourTwo, World Soccer, the Independent, Vice and others. All quotes for this piece were gathered firsthand unless otherwise stated.There is a theory that the content of porn has a massive impact on the sex lives of young - and perhaps not so young - people. The problem is twofold. One is the ridiculous nature of pornography and the absurd caricature of sex that it portrays. The other is that porn is very accessible and graphic, and increasingly defining what people expect in real life.
In the video with Anne Robinson, made for the Guardian by 20-year-old Grace Campbell, the Watchdog presenter enjoys her first look at porn. Her reaction is actually far more interesting than you might think. For a start, Robinson doesn't care what people watch, and wants as few things banned as possible - a stance that some UK politicians might want to take note of.
We've included the video below, but while it doesn't contain any porn images, it does contain some sounds of porn. It also contains Anne Robinson describing an act that we had no idea we'd hear her describe when we arose for work this morning. Thanks, internet.
Campbell talks very honestly too about how she has experienced partners trying things that they've seen in adult material, but without bothering to ask if it's okay first. No one in this video is trying to ban porn though, which is the only reason we're mentioning it at all, because a hysterical overreaction serves nobody's best interests.
But the overall message is a good one.Application security risk (ASR) is a measure of an application’s susceptibility toward attack and the associated impact. Security breaches deter organizations from attempting to meet their objectives, therefore, securing applications is a top priority in organizations. While the art of securing applications largely depends on the awareness of the security risk levels in applications, various methodologies, frameworks and benchmarks compete with each other in estimation and mitigation of application security risk. However, are the assessments and benchmark self-contained? Do we trust the strategies used for computing risk assessed through current technology and heave a sigh of relief that they are safe from breach? Practically, the answer is no.
There are a few reasons for this. The persistent occurrence of breaches worldwide unveils the shortcomings in current risk assessment methodologies and reiterates the pressing importance of accurate measurement of ASR. The generic formula used (with slight variations) to measure risk is an algebraic product of probability of attack and the impact of attack.
Considering this equation, the impact of an attack is relatively easy and straightforward to assess. The term “probability of attack” indicates how likely it is that the attack occurs. The calculation of the probability of an attack has practical limitations. The probability of simple situations (e.g., tossing a coin, picking a card, throwing dice) can be derived from the first principles. Evaluating the probability of real-time events (e.g., weather incidents, hurricanes and earthquakes) is possible based on historical records. But in the case of attacks, probability does not work because attackers do not follow any statistical pattern. For instance, consider the retailer Home Depot and the security breach it experienced in 2014. There is no previous history of breaches at Home Depot. What was the probability of a Home Depot breach before it happened, and what is the probability of a Home Depot breach again in the future? Can probability predict that Home Depot will be breached again or never again? Even if probability provides an answer, will it match with reality? It is clear that a risk formula has limited value in the field of application security. Additionally, this formula does not provide the risk measure present in applications as it focuses on the likelihood of attack. Hence, organizations require a realistic application risk measurement paradigm that is independent of the probability of attack.
Our recent Journal article illustrates this concept. Application security is made up of 4 factors: vulnerability, countermeasure, breach impact and compliance. Four principle factors that may detect application security risk are breach cost (Bc), vulnerability density (Vd), countermeasure efficiency (Ce) and compliance index (CI). CI is the ratio of a number of compliance requirements met with a total number of compliance requirements in the application. Vd is the ratio of the number of vulnerabilities to the size of software. Ce is the measure of implementation efficiency of countermeasures. Bc is the assessment of likelihood of cost that would be incurred in case of an attack. Figure 1 represents this model that evolved embodying the principal factors. The model considers Bc, Vd and CI as inputs and defines a benchmark, application security risk metric (ASRM), a measure for the risk of application security. Our Journal article illustrates the approach of designing the metric in detail.
Figure 1—Factors in the ASRM
Source: Shubhamangala B.R. and Snehanshu Saha. Reprinted with permission.
Read Shubhamangala B.R. and Snehanshu Saha’s recent Journal article:
“Application Security Risk,” ISACA Journal, volume 2, 2016.Court sides with transgender widow in fight over estate
FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013 file photo, Nikki Araguz, center, and William Loyd, right, are married by the Rev. Michael Diaz with Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in Houston in front of the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas. The couple got married after Araguz's hearing in the Thirteenth Court of Appeals. Araguz, a transgender woman, is trying to collect benefits following the 2010 death of her former husband, Thomas Araguz, whose family argues that the marriage wasn't valid because Nikki Araguz was born a man. (AP Photo/Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Michael Zamora) less FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013 file photo, Nikki Araguz, center, and William Loyd, right, are married by the Rev. Michael Diaz with Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in Houston in front of... more Photo: Michael Zamora, Associated Press Photo: Michael Zamora, Associated Press Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Court sides with transgender widow in fight over estate 1 / 29 Back to Gallery
WHARTON, Texas (AP) — A state appeals court has reaffirmed its earlier decision to validate the marriage of a transgender widow seeking the estate of her firefighter husband who died battling a blaze.
The ruling Friday by the 13th Texas Court of Appeals sent the case of Nikki Araguz Loyd back to a Wharton County judge who originally voided the marriage because Texas did not recognize same-sex marriage. Kent Rutter, an attorney for Loyd, said Monday that ruling meant Loyd was not entitled to Thomas Araguz's estate.
Rutter says the appeals court had ruled early last year in Loyd's favor — determining she was a woman at the time of her marriage — but had to issue another ruling this month after an appeal sent to the Texas Supreme Court was not heard.
The U.S. Supreme Court has since legalized gay marriages.The city commissioners of Dayton, Ohio have voted unanimously to approve a plan to make the city more “immigrant-friendly.” Entitled, Welcome Dayton Plan-Immigrant-Friendly City, the decision is an encouraging step towards greater cultural and ethnic diversity, social and economic justice, and community revitalization in the hometown of the Wright Brothers.
Kudos to the City of Dayton for getting it right and rejecting the racial and ethnic bigotry spewed by too many in Arizona, Alabama, and Georgia that advocated and approved anti-immigrant laws. My guess is those states are going to rue the day they passed their restrictive immigration laws.
The business and economic development goals of the plan are:
“1. Identify and support a strategic neighborhood business district as a center for immigrant businesses desiring to co- locate in a commercial or industrial node. 2. Help ease the burdens/reduce the barriers for anyone (specifically immigrants) who want to open new businesses in the city serving whomever or wherever.”
The local government and justice systems goals are:
“1. Improve language interpreter capabilities. 2. Increase immigrant participation in government and community organizations and activities.”
The social and health service goals of the plan are:
“1. Eliminate barriers to accessing services caused by limited availability of translated resource information, lack of interpreters for persons who are not proficient in English and limited understanding of cultural and access issues that affect immigrant and refugee populations. 2. Systematically review all local laws and institutional practices that create artificial and unnecessary barriers to immigrants and refugees in accessing community services.”
The community, culture, arts, and education goals are the following:
“1. Increase the availability of ESL and literacy courses for adults. 2. Actively involve all community youth in international connections and community building. 3. Encourage cross-cultural programming among the community’s cultural and arts organizations.”
Here is a weblink to read view the entire plan. Hopefully, Dayton’s plan will be a contender for one of the national planning awards at the 2012 American Planning Association Conference.
AdvertisementsTEHRAN, July 4 -- Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading opposition candidate in last month's disputed election, released documents Saturday detailing a campaign of alleged fraud by supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that assured his reelection, while an adviser to Iran's supreme leader accused Mousavi of treason.
Hossein Shariatmadari, a special adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused Mousavi of being a "foreign agent" working for the United States and a member of a "fifth column" determined to topple Iran's Islamic system of governance. The accusation of treason was the highest and most direct issued by an Iranian official since the June 12 election.
Many in Iran say that government forces are laying the groundwork for arresting Mousavi, who has not been seen in public in more than a week.
In a 24-page document posted on his Web site, Mousavi's special committee studying election fraud accused influential Ahmadinejad supporters of handing out cash bonuses and food, increasing wages, printing millions of extra ballots and other acts in the run-up to the vote.
The committee, whose members were appointed by Mousavi, said the state did everything in its power to get Ahmadinejad reelected, including using military forces and government planes to support his campaign.
The disputed election led to massive demonstrations in the streets of Tehran as the opposition demanded that the results be annulled. An ensuing government crackdown on protesters, which resulted in several deaths, was widely condemned abroad.
Last week, the Guardian Council, Iran's top electoral supervisory body, dismissed the fraud allegations, describing the election as "a golden page... of Iran's democratic history." On Saturday, Ahmadinejad blamed what he called Western efforts to "divert" Iranian public opinion during the demonstrations.
"They wanted to break our dignity and independence," the ILNA news agency quoted him as saying.
The government had previously denied the allegations and branded Mousavi, who is supported by another challenger, cleric Mehdi Karroubi, a bad loser.
The report released by Mousavi pointed out that the Interior Ministry, which counted the votes, is headed by Sadegh Mahsouli, a longtime friend of Ahmadinejad. The secretary of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, had publicly supported Ahmadinejad, as had six others on the 12-member council despite a law requiring them to remain impartial, according to the report.
"The law here was completely broken," said Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, a top Mousavi campaign official. "What these documents prove is that the two entities that organized the elections were biased and in favor of one candidate."
Mousavi and his supporters say that commanders of the Revolutionary Guard Corps played an instrumental role in the election by campaigning for Ahmadinejad. The report pointed to interviews with Guard Corps publications in which commanders allegedly implied that they would not accept victory by any candidate except Ahmadinejad.The man was on an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin Airport (Picture: PA)
A man has died after biting another passenger during a flight from Lisbon to Dublin.
The 24-year-old Brazilian is reported to have become agitated on the Aer Lingus flight before biting another passenger trying to help him.
A woman from Portugal, aged 44, was travelling with him and has been arrested under the Drug Trafficking Act.
It is alleged that 5lbs of suspected amphetamine powder was discovered in her suitcase.
Other passengers on the plane, believed to be medics, also helped in efforts to calm the man.
The pilot diverted to Cork Airport yesterday evening at around 5.40pm, declaring a medical emergency, but the man was pronounced dead on the plane.
MORE: Mobile phone at the wheel prosecutions are down – despite driver usage rising
MORE: First picture of firefighter Lee Gaunt who was found hanged at fire station during night shift
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All 168 passengers and crew left the plane with many of them being interviewed by gardai, according to RTE.
Another man was treated for injuries at hospital and all other passengers were returned to Dublin by bus.
A post-mortem exam is to be carried out in an attempt to establish if the man suffered some form of a seizure or had an underlying medical condition or if there was another reason for his condition.Via The Hill:
Eric Trump on Thursday floated his sister Ivanka Trump as a potential running mate for his father. "She's got the beautiful looks, she's smart, she's smart, smart, smart," Eric Trump said Thursday on Fox News. "She's certainly got my vote." Trump noted that his sister will turn 35 just before the election — the minimum age required by the Constitution to be president or vice president. "She just makes that by about seven, eight days," he said, calling Ivanka Trump "a machine."
First, what is it about the Trump males always talking about how attractive Ivanka is? That's got a little too much of a Jamie and Cersei Lannister vibe to it.
Second, if you think he is joking, you really haven't been paying much attention to this election, or the recent past. We've twice elected father-son presidential duos, and the wife of a former president is about to be formally nominated by the Democrats. We're already embracing a quasi-monarchy; Eric Trump is just taking it a step further and making the idea, um, YUGER or something.
If you are still willing to rule out the possibility that this election could get weirder, I commend you. I have to spend several minutes each morning convincing myself that a breakfast cocktail or two before reading the news wouldn't be prudent.Looking to catch up on your history lessons? Wondering just what a fighting butler does on a road trip? It's your lucky week, because we've got your answers right here! Nobunaga the Fool and Hayate the Combat Butler - Can't Take My Eyes Off You are both now available to purchase.
Nobunaga the Fool is a history dork's dream come true: historical figures ranging from Leonardo D'avinci to King Arthur mashed up in one alternate reality where mechas are the preferred form of combat, where a fool named Nobunaga dares to challenge not just one, but TWO worlds! History comes alive in the best way in this show, make sure to grab it up!
Hayate the Combat Butler is back and ready for more adventures with his favorite captor turned interest Nagi, and this time a road trip is in order, and there's no telling where they'll go once they got to the end! If you've been keeping up with our licensing announcements, you know that we've got Season 4 as well, which is a direct sequel to this season, so get started already. ;)
Hayate Ayasaki, the butler/bodyguard to Nagi Sanzenin, must accompany her to Las Vegas to pick up her late father’s belongings. Nagi then meets a mysterious girl with a hidden agenda claiming to be Hayate’s little sister. The Sanzen |
would break the record,” Bolian wrote on his Web site.
“Our goal…was to pay tribute to what we consider to be one of the coolest and most interesting chapters of American automotive history,” he wrote, before offering a perfunctory warning to potential copycats.
“I do not advise that anyone attempt this or break the law in any way. This type of activity could easily have resulted in our death, imprisonment, or led to a litany of other consequences. Do Not Attempt, blah blah blah,” he wrote.THIRTY-five Brisbane suburbs have been hit by flooding with the Brisbane River set to get to 4.5m today before reaching an expected flood peak of less than 5m at 4am.
A desperate evacuation of 100 people, some in chest-deep water, occurred at a unit block in St Lucia, west Brisbane.
There are reports of minor injuries so far. A local rowing club were working with five fire crews to get the others out.
It was believed the complex was flooded and residents were trapped, or were unwilling to move.
Just streets away, an evacuation of 20 people is under way at Warren St.
A boat is on the scene with three fire crews.
About 1500 people have already been evacuated from homes in Brisbane.
Thirty-five Brisbane suburbs have been hit by flooding as the Brisbane River surges towards its expected peak of less than 5m on Thursday at 4am - less than the level of the 1974 floods.
Evacuees have been urged to register with the National Registration and Inquiry System to ensure friends and family know they are safe.
Registration can be done over the internet at www.redcross.org.au or by phone on 1800 727 077.
This applies both to people evacuated by authorities and self-evacuees.
The south Brisbane suburb of Yeronga is just one area of the city likely to be completely underwater as floodwaters rise in the Brisbane River.
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says new flood modelling now indicates that 19,700 residential properties and 3,500 commercial premises in 2,100 streets are likely to be flooded in the city.
"For the low-lying areas, for the ones that were on the original list, those properties are going to under to a significant extent," he told the Seven network.
Email your flood pics or MMS to 0428 258 117
"In 1974 there were properties in Yeronga, for example, that went completely under. That's what we're staring at.''
Premier Anna Bligh is warning residents to take no comfort in the blue skies above Brisbane this morning.
Even the Premier was gobsmacked by what she saw floating down the Brisbane River- pontoons, boats and even garden furniture.
The Brisbane River has broken its banks at the Brisbane Corso in Yeerongpilly and at Indooroopilly. Coronation Driver is closed.
Water is inundating parks and low-lying streets.
About 143 people are taking refuge at the RNA showgrounds with other centres to come on line as needed.
Brisbane City Council advises a second evacuation centre has been activated at the former QEII Stadium on Kessels Road in Nathan.
Up to 40,000 properties are expected to be impacted by flooding by Thursday based on the latest flood modelling.
Of these, 19,700 are residential properties which will have flooding across their entire property. A further 12,000 are expected to have flooding across part of their property.
About 3500 commercial premises will have flooding across their entire property and a further 2500 will have flooding across part of their property.
A further 2300 properties such as parks and vacant land will also be flooded.
The depth of flooding on individual properties is not known because this flood event is expected to exceed all previous records.
The figures were produced using Brisbane City Council's computer modelling using information provided by the Bureau of Meteorology and SEQ Water.
More than 2100 streets across Brisbane will be impacted.
Suburbs which are expected to experience flooding are Acacia Ridge, Albion, Anstead, Archerfield, Auchenflower, Bellbowrie, Bowen Hills, Brisbane City, Brookfield, Bulimba, Chelmer, Chuwar, Coopers Plains, Coorparoo, Corinda, East Brisbane, Fairfield, Fig Tree Pocket, Fortitude Valley, Graceville, Greenslopes, Hamilton, Hawthorne, Hemmant, Indooroopilly, Jindalee, Kangaroo Point, Karana Downs, Kenmore, Lytton, Milton, Moggill, Murarrie, Moorooka, Mt Ommaney, New Farm, Newstead, Norman Park, Oxley, Paddington, Pinkenba, Rocklea, Sherwood, South Brisbane, Sumner, Taringa, Tennyson, Toowong, West End, Woolloongabba, Windsor, Wacol, Yeronga and Yeerongpilly.
On the Sunshine Coast, four evacuation centers have been set up and residents in the Buderim streets of Sam White, Devon and Dover drives have been evacuated with concerns about land slides.
The Brisbane River and Moreton Bay are now closed to boat traffic and campers on Moreton Island have been moved to Tangalooma Resort.
The number of people missing has been increased to 79 with the death toll standing at 10 with grave concerns for 18 people.
Evacuation centres have been set up on the Sunshine Coast at Lake Kawana Community Centre, the J at Noosa, the Nambour Civic Centre and the Beerburrum Community Centre.
The SES received 32483 calls for help overnight with the majority of callers from Brisbane and Ipswich. Currently about 51,000 homes across the southeast are without power.
Fifteen prisoners and four corrective services staff from the Helena Jones Correction Centre for Women are helping fill sandbags at the Zillmere council depot.
Charitable Brisbane residents offering assistance or donations to evacuation centres have been asked to contact the Brisbane City Council call centre on 3403 8888. All offers will be considered in relation to current requirements.
The Brisbane International Airport sheltered more than 150 flood evacuees last night after they were incorrectly informed it was an evacuation centre.
A spokesperson said Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) took the people in and sheltered them but that the terminals were not equipped with the bedding, food or water supplies needed to be an evacuation centre.
“BAC would like to notify Brisbane residents that the airport is not a designated evacuation centre,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the airport will continue to operate throughout the night.
Both domestic and international terminals are open and flights are expected to depart and arrive on schedule.
But transport to and from the airport is limited.
The AirTrain is running services every half hour to the city and once every hour for passengers to the Gold Coast.
CoachTrans bus service is operating on demand, but all night-time services are cancelled.
A telephone hotline - 1300 993 191 - has been set up for people seeking information on friends and relatives caught up in the flooding disaster.
Lifeline crisis line: 13 11 14
Originally published as Evacuations rise as homes floodedMilitary forces were deployed Sunday to help thousands of displaced people in Malaysia’s northern state of Penang, officials said, as floodwater rose from more than 24 hours of incessant rain.
At least 2,000 people had been evacuated and 80 percent of the state was hit by typhoonlike winds and heavy rain, chief minister Lim Guan Eng said in a statement.
He said floodwater had risen to 3-4 meters (10-12 feet). Lim also warned in a Facebook post that more rain was expected and advised residents to stay at home.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the National Security Council was coordinating with police and the military to assist flood victims after a request for assistance from Penang.
Hundreds of trees were toppled and roads were submerged, leaving many areas practically paralyzed, Malaysian news agency Bernama reported. At least two people had been killed, it said.
“We remain fearful that there may still be untoward incidents because of the strong winds, the like of which have never been experienced before, and flash floods might recur,” Lim told reporters in Penang, according to Bernama.
Hundreds of people had been placed in temporary shelters after their homes were flooded or destroyed by the storm.A note before we begin: The Empty Combo is simply Dthrow Dair, and will be referred to that henceforth. It was named by my friend and not me.I've spent a fair amount of time compiling all of this data. Link's Dthrow Dair has far more variance in regards to when everything works now compared to 3.02 and I always thought it would be useful to know exactly when each follow-up works, so I figured out how fast Link could act when throwing each character, then tested their stun frames for every 50% from 0% until 150%. After that, I found out their quickest anti-combo attack and factored that into the data to be able to figure out the ranges in which everything works.The blue line on the graph indicates how many frames you can act out of Link’s Dthrow before the opponent is out of stun. The amount of time it takes before Link can act is determined by the target’s weight; the heavier the character you’re throwing, the longer you will have to wait before acting. The advantage is then determined by subtracting this from the thrown character's stun.The line that extends upward from the four points on the graph indicate that character’s fastest aerial attack. Just because you don’t have quite enough stun to land a follow-up doesn’t mean it isn’t guaranteed. If you can land the next attack a frame before the opponent’s fastest move will come out, it’s technically unavoidable as they have no effective means of stopping you. The character and their fastest possible attack/invincible option is on the top of the graph.The dotted lines indicate at which point certain follow-ups are guaranteed based on the amount of advantage you have. There are obviously more than 3 potential follow-ups out of throws such as jab, Dsmash, Utilt, Usmash, or whatever else you feel like doing. Unfortunately, those include far more variance as Utilt hits at varying times depending on position, Dsmash only works when the opponent is close to the ground, and so on. Those have to be left up to judgment calls when to use them. The graphs should help you determine when those options are viable regardless.For some characters, their fall speed is so great that they will hit the ground before being able to act. This is denoted with a red box around the values on the graph. In this instance, their fastest invincible option is 1 (teching). This only applies to no DI. If someone DI’s to the side, they will hit the ground slightly faster. For example, Fox at 40% will hit the ground on frame 41, but if he DI’s to the side, he will hit the ground on frame 37. If something is barely guaranteed and will cause a teching situation, it might be wise to go for something else.The distance the opponent is launched. Sometimes, for instance with Jigglypuff, you’ll have the frame advantage to land the attack but the opponent won’t be close enough to get hit. Use your judgment.The percentage at which a character will land on a platform. I plan on incorporating this in the future by using the lowest platforms of Battlefield. This information would have been beyond useful to me in the past, so I want to document it.Some attacks hit on slightly different frames depending on which way you’re facing/where the opponent DI’s. Up tilt is a prime example. The hitbox comes out on frame 9 but doesn’t hit behind him until a bit later.Position can render frame disadvantage null. For instance, Link's Uair will beat most attacks above him because of its significant disjoint. Even if the character can act, if your position is correct they shouldn't be able to hit you.I cannot factor in how many frames it takes you to reach the opponent if they DI away at higher percents. This will be more relevant with floatier characters.Move lethality. This is too highly variable for me to either test or include. You have to account for stale moves, DI, stage position, blast zones, character weight and fall speed, etc. It’s far too much. But you can generally know around what percents each option kills at. Experience will guide the way.What percents characters hit the ground upon DI’ing. As stated before, this could slightly alter the timing. I would have to test everything twice in order to account for this possibility. I neither have the time nor patience for that. Just be aware that sometimes the graphs will say that a character won’t hit the ground at a certain percent, but when I was testing it they were able to act just barely before hitting the ground. DI may throw those values off.Simply denoting the startup of a character’s fastest option says nothing about where that option hits. In the instance of Dthrow Dair, Link’s Dair hitbox is essentially on his body, so that shouldn’t matter much. But in other cases a character’s fastest option may be Uair, which will do nothing to combat Spin Attack. And so on.Jumping away may be a viable option for escaping combos that is faster than trying to beat out the next attack. This is contingent upon position and how fast a given character’s jump is. This is something I cannot account for.In a few instances armor is a character’s fastest option (such as with Bowser and Yoshi). I have no idea when certain attacks will break each individual armor. jtm94 for helping me gather all of the data and discovering the enigmatic +4 trend. Also for naming Dthrow Dair the Empty Combo so I can be eternally seen as a narcissist and harassed/mocked for it. <3 I think it sounds cool. Umbreon for being an assbandit and making a suicide pact with me. Shadic ahehehehehehe. Lunchables for the Cracker Stacker ComboTMThe MFMS Foundation. Hylian for whatever reason. Sethlon for based Sethlon.And finally for contributions from viewers like you. **** off.Seriously though, as Smashers we tend to name literally everything arbitrarily. It doesn't affect anyone at all what my friends and I call it; you're allowed to call it whatever you want just as I am. Simply take the information as it is and ignore the name if it so offends you.If I've made any mistakes, let me know and I'll correct it.The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ new policy that penalizes hospitals for excessive readmissions will have an unexpected consequence: Two-thirds of U.S. hospitals will receive penalties averaging $125,000, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). The commission has been discussing refining the hospital readmissions reduction program.
Hospitals now face up to a 1% penalty for readmissions related to acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia starting last October. In 2014, the penalty will rise to 2% and to 3% in 2015, with four conditions added to the list.
Two Harvard research physicians, Karen E. Joynt, MD, MPH, and Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, published a commentary this month in the New England Journal of Medicine, which includes several suggestions to avoid punishing hospitals for factors outside of their control, including:
Adjusting readmission rates for socioeconomic status (eg, adding patients’ eligibility for Supplemental Security Income to risk-adjustment models). Such adjustments would ensure whether safety-net hospitals are achieving readmission rates for poor patients comparable to those that are not safety-net facilities.
Penalties should be weighted according to the timing of readmissions, counting readmissions within a few days more heavily than those occurring 4 weeks later. Later admissions are more likely to be attributable to disease severity than to lack of care coordination.
Give hospitals credit for low mortality rates, since they often have higher readmission rates despite being high-performing facilities. Hospitals with high mortality rates but low readmission rates do better under the CMS payment scheme than do low-mortality hospitals with high admission rates, the authors note. They suggest CMS could combine the two outcomes by assessing patients’ 30-day “days alive and out of hospital.”
The researchers conclude, “No policy is ever perfectly designed at inception, and policies should be changed as new evidence emerges. The latest evidence suggests that the readmissions-reduction program has potential: it can change the hospital business model by asking institutions to become increasingly accountable for what happens to their patients beyond their walls.”
Physician’s Weekly wants to know…what suggestions do you have regarding the CMS policy?Britain’s top tax inspector has called on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to review the tax rules for super-rich football stars who are avoiding tax by siphoning earnings from Premier League games into image rights companies based in offshore tax havens.
Jon Thompson, chief executive of HMRC, told a committee of MPs that offshore image rights payments were now “the most significant risk in football”.
He said the problem was more serious among footballers than controversial film partnership schemes – well known for attracting investments from top players, as well as wealthy celebrities and bankers.
Giving evidence to MPs alongside Thompson, HMRC’s director general of enforcement Jennie Granger said there were currently 43 players, eight agents and 12 clubs subject to ongoing inquiries in relation to payments for use of their image rights.
MP calls for inquiry into José Mourinho tax avoidance allegations Read more
Giving evidence to parliament’s public accounts committee, Thompson told MPs that as a football fan – he is a Norwich City supporter – he could see that the tax rules for image rights payments, particularly as they applied to non-domiciled foreign players, appeared unfair.
“I think if it was me, I would want to review this,” he said, adding that the topic “would certainly be on my list of priorities [when thinking of] policies to talk about [with ministers]”.
Last week, a European consortium of media, including Germany’s Der Spiegel and the Sunday Times, published leaked details of image rights arrangements for Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho. His agent has stressed that the structure does not involve tax evasion and is “fully compliant with [his] tax obligations”.
Thompson said HMRC already has in place a well-established process for scrutinising image rights payments made to players and coaches at top clubs in the UK. He said “the vast majority” of clubs were very open with inspectors about how they calculated such payments – though a minority were less forthcoming.
Foreign players at top clubs are best placed to exploit the tax avoidance opportunities available through image rights payments. This is because they can qualify for the UK’s special “non-domicile” tax status – meaning image rights income channeled offshore does not have to be declared to HMRC.
Tax bosses were giving evidence to MPs after the National Audit Office last month published a detailed assessment of how thorough tax inspectors deal with the super-rich.
Several MPs questioned why tax inspectors assigned to super-rich tax payers were known as “customer relationship managers”, and why, in some cases, wealthy individuals received only “suspended fines” rather than hard financial penalties.
Thompson said of the CRM label: “It is not a matter of tremendous significance … We’ve had a debate about it – it sounds more friendly than it is.”
He also defended the practice of suspended fines, insisting these were a cost-effective means of encouraging wealthy taxpayers into less aggressive behaviour.
The HMRC boss said revelations from the Panama Papers continue to prove useful to tax investigators pursuing criminal investigations, and had recently led to some arrests. The arrests related to individuals who had sought to hide their true ownership of UK property.
Thompson told MPs that, as of March, HMRC had ongoing probes into Britain’s super-rich – defined as those with assets of £20m or greater – relating to £1.9bn of potential tax. Of that sum, just over £1bn relates to film partnerships and other aggressively structured tax schemes.
There are about 3,000 such schemes still in operation, creating disputed tax liabilities of £14bn. Thompson said the most prolific investor in these schemes had 68 such investments.He was intending to reveal that he warned Prime Minister Tony Blair there were no weapons of mass destruction anywhere in Iraq weeks before the British and American invasion.
He had several discussions with a publisher in Oxford and was seeking advice on how far he could go without breaking the law on secrets.
Following his death, his computers were seized and it is still not known if any rough draft was discovered by investigators and, if so, what happened to the material.
Dr Kelly was also intending to lift the lid on a potentially bigger scandal, his own secret dealings in germ warfare with the apartheid regime in South Africa.
US television investigators have spent four years preparing a 90-minute documentary, Anthrax War, suggesting there is a global black market in anthrax and exposing the mystery “suicides” of five government germ warfare scientists from around the world.After testing human-robot cooperation in space with its Kirobo robot, Toyota is working on a smaller version – actually a cup-holder sized robot – that can keep people company while they drive.
Dubbed the Kirobo Mini, the nearly 4-in. tall robot is designed to detect and respond to the driver's emotions, speech and gestures.
The robot, which could be installed in future Toyota vehicles, would not only be aimed at keeping drivers alert and calm but could collect information about driving habits that engineers could potentially use to build better features for future cars.
"With people spending an average of 4.3 years of our lives in our cars, which equates to traveling to the moon and back three times, Toyota believes that much can be learned about our behavior and emotion while driving," Toyota said on its website. "Imagine how driving would change if Kirobo Mini's technology was integrated into Toyota vehicles: We could assimilate hours of data to better the everyday lives of drivers all over the world, informing future innovations and developing transport that's in tune with the driver's mood, suggesting places to visit, routes to travel and music to listen to."
Toyota demonstrated the technology at the Tokyo Motor Show 2015 this week.
Toyota built the original Kirobo, a small, humanoid robot that was launched to the International Space Station in the summer of 2013 to take part in what was the first experiment on conversation between a human and a robot in space.
That version of Kirobo, which was a 13.4-in. tall, 2.2-pound humanoid, black-and-white robot, worked with Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. The robot was designed to remember Wakata's face so it could recognize and have conversations with the astronaut and even relay information to him from Earth.
With its conversational abilities, researchers hoped to determine if the robot could keep Wakata company. Scientists also were hoping that the experiment in space could speed their work on creating robotic companions that would be small enough to fit in someone's pocket.
Researchers around the world are working on building robots that can act as human companions and care givers.
The machines need to not only be able to communicate with people but also be able to interpret their facial expressions, body language and moods. The robots also need to be agile enough to safely move around a home or office and not make people fearful of them.
In June, SoftBank Robotics Corp., based in Japan, sold all of its 1,000 personal robots within the first minute they were put on sale. The robot, called Pepper, sold for $1,600 and requires a $200 monthly fee. The machines are designed to read human emotions and to display their own emotions as well.
And guests at the Aloft hotel in Cupertino, Calif., have been able to interact with a robotic butler that delivers snacks or toiletries to their room.
That robot, called Butlr can call for an elevator and navigate the hotel's lobby and hallways to get to guests' rooms.
The robotic butler is working out so well for the hotel chain that it is adding the robot to other properties.OXFORD, England — The problem with the Clintons, according to Bernie Sanders’s big brother, is that people don’t realize what an awful president Bill was. For the most part, Larry Sanders says, that’s because people are too busy debating “Is Bill really such a terrible rapist—or is he a nice rapist?”
These are shockingly blunt words from a soft-spoken man, who has been calmly explaining his little brother’s sudden political success from his sun-drenched kitchen table in Oxford.Larry Sanders said he thinks Hillary Clinton’s brand of moderate politics is “feeble” but there is no sign of any real hostility towards her—that is reserved for her husband, although Sanders, who has dedicated his life to working with the disadvantaged and disabled, insists that it was the former president who started it.“Bill Clinton has leapt in to try and make it personal with Bernard,” Sanders said to The Daily Beast over a cup of tea. “He was a dreadful president—in general—for poor people.”Clinton was far more culpable for America’s woes than is generally accepted by people who blame George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, said Larry.“The imprisonment stuff stems back to him, the breaking up of the welfare system stems back to him, which caused a lot of misery, the trade deals—the NAFTA, a lot of bad key policies didn’t come in under the Bushes,” he said.“The media have a lot to answer for, I think, you don’t get that detailed discussion. You get: ‘Is Hillary a nice person? Is Bill really such a terrible rapist or is he a nice rapist?’ It’s at that level the discussion—so you can imagine that people could have a pleasant opinion but not based on the actual policies.”Larry is at pains to point out that they have real respect for Hillary. (The Clinton campaign did not respond to a request for comment.)“I certainly don’t dislike her—Bernard has been very clear to say he likes her and respects her but they have big differences on policy,” he said. “They’re not friends but they’re people who worked near each other for 20 years.”Larry said there was no such personal relationship with Bill Clinton, whom Bernie has spoken to far fewer times during his decades in Washington.For much of Bernie’s early years in Congress, the Clintons were in the White House. Larry feels it was the couple’s influence within the party that led civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis to disparage Bernie’s minor role in the movement—as a student he campaigned successfully to have the University of Chicago desegregate campus housing in 1962.“It was something he said that he shouldn’t have said... I felt sad because this is a great man, I mean no disrespect to him, but he got caught up—you get caught up in elections, in a rivalry,” Larry said. “He’s committed, so he said something but I think he’s quite clear that he made a mistake.”You’ve got to be careful picking on somebody’s little brother. Larry, 80, may be even more protective than most big brothers since their mother died tragically young, when she was in her forties, and their father passed just three years later. That’s probably why “I keep crying” in interviews about Bernie’s remarkable run for the presidency, he said.They have lived 3,000 miles apart for most of the last 45 years but they have stayed remarkably close. Larry catches up with his brother, whom he always calls “Bernard,” on the phone every other Sunday. During their afternoon phone calls Bernie shares the downside of campaigning.“He’ll say, ‘I’m tired. It’s sooooo haaaard.’ So I say, ‘But it’s going great?’ and he says, ‘Yes, it’s going great,’” said Larry. “I’m the outlet for that—I’m not sure he’s even saying that to his wife.”No one is better placed to attest to Bernie’s burning anger and “quiet determination,” which stretches back to his successful distance running career as a teenager. Larry thinks that determination is about to get a lot louder.“They must feel like they are up against a juggernaut at the moment—it is astonishing with their huge array of elected officials, party officials, and so on. And Bernie comes along and says they got it wrong. Not drastically, not as bad as the Republicans but they got it wrong. And people are saying: ‘Oh, yeah.’ And they must feel—how did that happen?” Larry said.“If that money hadn’t been turning up from small donors the whole thing would have fizzled and that I’m not sure [Bernie] understood. He thought from the people he talked to it was possible but nobody predicted how successful he could be.”One of the most remarkable features of Bernie’s victory in the New Hampshire Democratic primary and his narrow second place in Iowa was that he has never been a member of the Democratic Party.“Yes, you could call that weird,” said Larry.If Bernie is able to ride the recent surge in support all the way to the White House, Larry says he would go big—no matter what Congress, the usual conventions or even the majority of the Democratic Party might say.“He’ll flex his muscles,” Larry said. “I mean this is not cowboy stuff, there are very intricate constitutional discussions, [but] he won’t hesitate, if he thinks he’s got the constitutional power to do something—he will do it.” (The Sanders campaign did not respond to a request for comment.)If that’s a warning to those who think President Obama has been guilty of constitutional overreach, he also has one for Democrats who would try to moderate a Sanders presidency.“He might lose the first vote [on an issue], but a lot of guys will be looking over their shoulders,” Larry said, pointing to his brother’s plan to use his network of supporters to pressure Congress into falling into line through protests, marches, and the threat of primary challenges backed by massive small-donor fundraising drives.It’s a powerful machine that Bernie could command for an independent bid should he lose the nomination to Hillary, but Larry said he’s ruled out such a run.“He didn’t want to go through all that bother and elect some right-wing terror,” he said, and besides, “he thinks the Democratic Party should be like his policies.“He’s not selling out—there is nothing that he’s conceded to the Democratic Party other than the label.”Bernie wants to revolutionize politics, but he also specifically wants to revolutionize the Democratic Party. Larry tried entryism himself in the early 1960s when he was president of the Lower East Side Reform Democrats who tried to take over the local chapter of the Democratic Party.The first time Larry was stunned by Bernie’s steel in the political arena was during his infamous showdown with the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, in 2003. It was a viral video moment in the pre-YouTube era as Sanders tore strips off the economic giant during a House committee hearing.
Larry buried his face in his hands and shook his head, as he recalled the confrontation in the familiar Brooklyn accent he shares with his brother. “I thought ‘Christ!’ because I haven’t ever unloaded on someone like that and this is a very big guy and Bernard is a junior congressman—he’s not a big guy—and he told him what he thought.”That flash of anger directed at one of the titans of the American economy was channeling his constituents’ frustration but it was evidence of the genuine rage that burns inside Bernie, according to his brother. As kids, the one thing their parents argued about was money.“Children do respond to that—parents’ arguments are a big thing in a child’s life,” Larry said. “I think the underlying emotional feeling which tends to drive us comes more out of that than the intellect. What I suppose the intellect has added is that Bernard is convinced that a rich country does not need to put people in that position. It’s not necessary—I think he remains angry at the idea that people are put at that risk just so other people can have vast amounts of money that they don’t need. Why does somebody need a second billion?”Amid Bernie’s real emotional investment and the exhaustion of the campaign trail it may be no surprise that he gets incredibly stressed before his events. “When I was there, he was giving virtually the same speech each time but he doesn’t know that,” laughed Larry. “Half an hour beforehand he’s saying ‘How do I write this? Shall I say that—oh, no!’”Larry’s head is in his hands again—this time he has removed his glasses—and he is kneading his face in mock anguish, mimicking his little brother’s worries.“Everybody around him is going ‘Oh, Christ!—we go through this again’ and somebody is saying ‘We have to get it to the printers in five minutes.’ So if there isn’t enough stress he creates it for himself.“And then you see he bounds on to the stage—he says hello to 25,000 people and you think this guy hasn’t a care in the world. So there’s something powerful working in him but there’s also a side that’s finding it—it is difficult. It’s a very hard life.”There is no doubt that Larry was a formative influence on Bernie, who is six years his junior. When Larry was at college studying Marx and Hegel, Bernie was still at high school. “Sometimes I would tell Bernard about something I’d heard about or read about so I think he did get—at a much younger age than most people—an idea of political thought. So I think I did help him get started,” he said. “He has given me credit—not all the credit.”As a radical member of the Young Democrats in the 1950s, Larry was already attracting political attention within the student body. “I do recall a Republican club paper called me ‘an obese socialist,’” he said, laughing. “And I wasn’t even very fat then!”Last week, Larry was appointed health spokesman for the left-wing Green Party in England. He had been an active member of the Labour Party in the 1980s, but he grew disillusioned once Tony Blair had taken the party into the center ground.He is far more impressed with Jeremy Corbyn—the hard left campaigner who won a shock election to become the new leader of the Labour Party last year. Many have pointed out the similarities between the two men, even though British politics is centered considerably to the left of the American mainstream—and Corbyn is way out to the left of that.Larry isn’t so sure that his brother is more moderate, however. “Bernard is a genuine socialist in his sense of class warfare—that he thinks there is not a national interest so much as there is an interest with sectors of the population,” he said. “In that sense, his passion and the sense of conflict between the major owners and the rest of the population is very socialist—as socialist as Corbyn.”Some of the Corbynistas have been helping Larry and the London for Bernie organization to raise awareness about the global primary, which allows Americans abroad to send delegates—and even some super delegates—to the Democratic convention. Larry said Corbyn supporters within the Labour Party had helped to arrange for UNITE, Britain’s largest union, to allow Bernie’s supporters to hold events in their buildings for free. The union confirmed that the group used its rooms without charge.
The move might be a violation of U.S. campaign finance law depending on who was involved, according to the former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission.
“A foreign national cannot spend any money or give anything of value for a U.S. election,” Larry Noble, general counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, said. The question here is whether the Sanders campaign knew, approved, or directly benefited from the free space.
Bernie has always told his brother that the cause of socialism, or social democracy, is more important than his own career.
“What he said to me very clearly was: ‘I don’t mind running and making a fool of myself, I’ve been humiliated before—I’ll go back to doing the job I love, no big sweat, but if I do badly then everyone will say: ‘See, I told you, nobody is interested in that crap.’ And for a generation those ideas and the millions of people he thinks need those ideas will be wiped out,” Larry said.
“He would not have run if he thought he would damage the cause—‘I think I can make a respectable showing’—that was his decision. I’m not sure that he thought he could win.”
Bernie Sanders has already surpassed the “respectable showing” stage, he has the Clinton camp on the hop, and the latest polling suggests that he has closed a 40-point deficit to come within the margin of error in Nevada.
Larry says he always had faith in his brother but he uses word “astonishing” over and over again to describe the events of the last six months.
“The nomination is the hard part—if he wins the nomination it looks to me that he would win handily,” said Larry, with a smile. “I think he’s likely to win.”A challenge from Gourley: ‘Why did we lose in Afghanistan?’ in 500 words or less
By Jim Gourley
Best Defense roving reporter
Why did we lose in Afghanistan? I think Matthew Hoh accomplished a lot more in four pages than General Bolger did in 436, but for all his prescient observations of what we were doing wrong he didn’t offer any alternatives.
I’ve heard the “because we lost civilian support” argument dozens of times, but I’ve yet to see how that materially affected the effort. It certainly didn’t stop funds and recruits from reaching the combat zone. I recently got into a discussion with someone about how our primary method of destroying armed resistance was through direct fire engagements, and by various means we made that task extremely difficult on soldiers. He responded “you can’t say we lost because we couldn’t chase them over mountains when most of our guys died in IED attacks.” It reminded me of Patton’s saying that no one ever won a war by dying for their country. The point is to kill the other guy. I think our fundamental failure can be identified right on page one, chapter one of On War. “Force… is thus the means of war; to impose our will on the enemy is its object. To secure that object we must render the enemy powerless.” We never rendered the enemy powerless. As a consequence, he continued to counter our efforts to build a stable government and security force within Afghanistan while also engaging us directly in combat.
But why? Why didn’t we ever put an end to him, when that was ostensibly our purpose for going over there in the first place? Because we didn’t have within our arsenal the necessary amount and type of force to achieve the objective? Because western perceptions of morality in warfare prevented us from applying it? Because of political ineptitude in defining the enemy and how to render him powerless? Because it was just physically impossible?
Tom thought this question was good enough to solicit responses, so here’s the prompt. In 500 words or less, why did we fail to render our enemies — those people who actively participated in open hostility against our forces — powerless?
—
Jim Gourley is a former military intelligence officer. He now works as an author and journalist covering military affairs and sports science. His newest book, about ultra-endurance triathlon, is in stores now. His Twitter is @jim_gourley
Image Credit: Dvid |
it was most often viewed as one source among many available analytic and intelligence-gathering tools in these efforts”.
Critics of the phone records programme, which allows the NSA to hunt for communications between terrorists abroad and US residents, argue it has not proven to be an effective counterterrorism tool. They also say an intelligence agency has no business possessing the deeply personal records of Americans. Many favour a system under which the NSA can obtain court orders to query records held by the phone companies.
The Patriot Act expires on 1 June, and Senate Republicans have introduced a bill that would allow continued collection of call records of nearly every American. The legislation would reauthorise sections of the Patriot Act, including the provision under which the NSA requires phone companies to turn over the “to and from” records of most domestic landline calls.The rules are very clear that what you’re about to read does not matter. We hope you humor us here anyway.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is about football first and football only. The men that Will Shields is to join with induction are the best players our country’s most popular sport has seen, and by that demanding standard the former Chiefs lineman is now certified.
This is an honor based on his playing ability only, and for that he will now be forever remembered with the sport’s highest honor. All of that is great, and worth all of the fond memories of him making more than 14 seasons worth of consecutive starts and 12 Pro Bowls by protecting his quarterbacks and pulling from his right guard position to flatten linebackers so that his running backs could break records.
But — and we mean no offense to the Pro Football Hall of Fame here — football is not even close to the best thing about Shields.
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A young man named Kevin is the best thing about Shields.
“Tell everyone,” Kevin says. “Let them know I freaking love the Shields family.”
That’s not his real name, Kevin. He asked that we not use his real name for this column. For his own privacy, and even for some people who let him down, we agreed.
Kevin grew up poor, painfully poor, living a chunk of his childhood homeless. But he worked hard and made friends and stayed out of trouble. Eventually, he graduated high school and earned a scholarship to an area college.
Kevin is a genuine success story. He gets good grades. He’s studying engineering, and is thinking he might go for a masters after graduation. He is an exception to the heart-breaking statistics you sometimes see. But for reasons completely out of his control, Kevin found out a few weeks ago that his scholarship was pulled.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he says.
Then he got a phone call. Kevin had known Shields for years. They met through Operation Breakthrough, a place in Midtown that does the works of saints, helping some of Kansas City’s most underprivileged kids. They had conversations, Kevin and Shields, but that’s not what stuck with Kevin.
“He says a lot more through his actions than talking,” Kevin says. “Not every time I saw Will, he saw me. So I saw him and how he acted, treated other people, his character and his demeanor. That meant a lot to me.”
This was two or three weeks ago. Sure felt like Kevin’s plan had hit a wall. He had done everything he was supposed to do and then layers more, proud that he had beat the odds to make it to college, but without a scholarship? He couldn’t do it.
He was done.
Then Kevin’s phone rang. It was Senia, Will’s wife.
“You’re going back to school,” she said.
Shields would pay the bill. Thousands and thousands of dollars. Kevin did not ask for this. Nobody asked on his behalf. But just like that, one phone call, and this man Kevin had always admired turned a dead end into an afterthought.
“Thank you,” he said.
Shields did not do this for attention, or for gratitude. He did not tell anyone. Nobody knows how many kids Shields is helping through college, either with one of many scholarships he funds or more spontaneously after hearing of a kid in need.
Kevin is just the latest, or, really, he might not even be the latest. With Shields, who knows? Kevin’s story only came up after a phone call to a local charity Shields has done work for, but really, it could have been one of a thousand other stories.
Like, this past December he created Christmas again for some of Kansas City’s most needy kids. Literally, he just created Christmas. He’s done this for some 20 years now, an annual miracle.
The Marillac Center is a place kids go to find hope again. Some of them have been sexually abused, some physically abused. Some are working through a terrible trauma, others battling mental illness.
Shields shows up every year around Christmas to make them smile. The kids make a Christmas wish list, many of them for the first time, and Shields shows up with his family and carloads of presents to hand out.
Some ask for dolls. Others for blankets. Some get video games or toys or stuffed animals. Many of them have never had anything new like this. He serves the kids dinner, and makes sure nobody eats until the kids eat. After all of that, Shields and the kids pick some Christmas carols and sing together and, well, let’s just say his singing encourages kids of varying degrees of talent to join in.
“You know,” says Brian Barash, chief medical officer at Marillac. “He’s a better football player.”
Shields spends the evening with those kids, hugging and laughing and fist bumping. Every time he does this, the staff there is amazed at how kids who never talk or smile open up to Shields. Many of them have no idea he used to play football.
There are stories like this all over the city. He built, stocked or otherwise created libraries at Operation Breakthrough and at least three schools in Kansas City.
He built a computer lab at The Children’s Place, gave $200,000 to Good Samaritan Boys Ranch, gave kitchen equipment to the Niles Home for Children, helped the burn unit at the University of Kansas Hospital, annually takes battered women to spas around the city to pamper them, provides backpacks stuffed with school supplies to kids, and set up transportation for kids in the inner-city to get and keep jobs.
One of the first things Shields did after being drafted by the Chiefs in 1993 was to start the Will to Succeed Foundation. He has raised around $4 million for Kansas City charities, and helped some 100,000 people.
This includes abused and neglected women and children, people who need help more than most. It includes kids he hears who don’t have meat for dinner, or a blanket for their bed.
“He’s an unusual man,” says Sister Berta Sailer, co-founder of Operation Breakthrough. “He’s the guy you want your kid to grow up like. There’s some football players, you think, ‘Don’t be like him. Be good at football, but don’t be like him.’ Will is different.”
After the biggest moment of Shields’ professional life, most of the people around him wanted to talk about football. They asked about influences, and where that drive came from, the one he used to go 14 years without missing a game.
He talked the small town in Oklahoma where he grew up and everyone looked out for each other, and the coaches at Nebraska who taught him that giving back is as important as anything he would do on the football field, and the coaches and stars he played with in Kansas City.
The more he talks, the more you start to see that these two sides of Shields — the nasty, relentless, oak-strong lineman and the man who melts at a kid in need — work in harmony. He says he is as proud of what he continues to do in the community as what he did on the field, and that he always saw football as the way to lead a more complete life.
I mention Kevin, that I talked to him earlier in the day, and Shields’ face lights up. I could have asked him about helping libraries or abused women or neglected children. But I asked about Kevin.
“I’m so proud of him,” Shields says. “He has to do a lot on his own. He’s basically his own young man, doing things on his own. I don’t want him to ever feel isolated, that he’s by himself. He got himself to college, and did everything on his own. It’s amazing all the things he’s accomplished on his own.
“And he’s happy where he’s at, he’s settled where he’s at. We didn’t want that to fall apart.”
In 2003, Shields was chosen the NFL’s Man of the Year. When the Chiefs nominated him, they had to shrink the type size and chop the margins to keep it to one page, per the award’s rules. They did not have room on that piece of paper for half of what Shields had done, and none of what he’s done in the last 12 years.
Kevin’s story, and those Christmases at Marillac are like grains of sand in the beach of good that Shields has done in and around Kansas City these last two decades. Along with Junior Seau, also voted in on Saturday, Shields is now one of just 20 to win the Man of the Year award and make the Hall of Fame.
A Hall of Fame football player. A better man.UPDATE 8/27/14 – Many of you have been asking about the status of the distribution company. There obviously has been some delays and the timeline has shifted. Don’t worry, you’ll still get your Stone, Ale Smith, etc. Some things are worth the wait right? Here’s an update I received from Maui/Stone Operations Manager, Zach Nowicki:
We are very excited to open a new chapter in craft beer on Maui with the introduction of Maui Stone Craft Beverages. Our original plan to begin distributing by April/May was definitely a bit over zealous. Like any new business we have experienced a few setbacks and obstacles but are coming out of them as a stronger and safer company. We are working through the last of the issues now and although cannot give an exact date as to when we will begin distributing, we are very close. We know craft beer lovers have been waiting with anticipation and enthusiasm and soon the wait will be over and the amazing beers will speak for themselves.
Yesterday (2/13/14), Maui Brewing Company (MBC) owner Garrett Marrero and Stone Brewing Company co-founder and CEO, Greg Koch, formally announced Maui/Stone Craft Beverages. The new joint venture forms a Maui based craft beer distribution company that will bring to Hawaii a slew of new craft beers from across the country.
Marrero says they are targeting May to begin delivering beers to accounts throughout Maui. Beers will be shipped from Stone’s distribution center in San Diego and include many breweries from Stone’s Southern California portfolio (initial brewery list below). Stone’s vast distribution portfolio allows this new venture to ship multiple different brands at one time to the island versus trying to fill a shipping container with one brand.
There are plans to eventually expand to all Hawaiian Islands, but there is no exact timeline. It was an obvious choice for Maui/Stone to start distributing on Maui, where MBC has been self distributing their beers for years. Marrero’s goal is to make sure that all of these great beers make it to every craft beer lover in the state, but the plan is to start small and grow.
We can expect to see a steady supply of the core beers from each brewery with the occasional seasonal and specialty release. Plenty of Arrogant Bastard, Stone IPA, Racer Five, Dale’s Pale, White Rascal, etc. Don’t expect to get every rare release from any of these breweries yet, but as our market grows, it may be a possibility. Plans are to bring in both bottles and kegs, so encourage your favorite bar to request your favorite beers from these new breweries.
The formation of Maui/Stone Craft Beverages instantly adds a huge variety of beers and brands to the Hawaii market. There are also plans to continue to bring in more craft brands as the company grows. As the craft drinking community grows in Hawaii, the more great products we’ll get. Sales equals more good beer!
Full press release below:
MAUI BREWING CO. TO JOIN STONE BREWING CO.
IN DISTRIBUTING CRAFT BEER BRANDS IN MAUI
Lahaina, Hawaii (Feb. 14, 2014) – Maui Brewing Co. is pleased to announce that the authentic Hawaiian craft brewery is partnering with San Diego, CA-based Stone Brewing Co. to create a craft beer distributor, by craft brewers for craft brewers: Maui – Stone Craft Beverages. In addition to making Stone’s beers available throughout Maui for the very first time, the new company will have an amazing portfolio of other craft beer brands arriving to the island. The ultimate goal of this joint venture is to elevate craft beer awareness island-wide and bring more authentic craft beer to Hawaii.
Targeting April 2014, Stone will begin shipping a diverse portfolio of bottles and kegs to Maui from San Diego by way of refrigerated containers. Once beer arrives to the Hawaiian Island, it will be hitting a 16,000-square-foot distribution center with a 4,500-square-foot cold storage area. Stone Brewing’s and Maui Brewing’s joint efforts will ensure that fans have the opportunity to purchase various fresh craft beer brands for on-site and off-site consumption throughout Maui that will include:
Maui Brewing Co. – Maui, HI
Stone Brewing Co. – Escondido (San Diego County), CA
AleSmith Brewing Company – San Diego, CA
Avery Brewing Company – Boulder, CO
Bear Republic Brewing Co. – Healdsburg (Sonoma County), CA
The Bruery – Placentia (Orange County), CA
Oskar Blues Brewery – Longmont, CO
Port Brewing Company/ The Lost Abbey – San Marcos (San Diego County), CA
Saint Archer Brewing Co. – San Diego, CA
This is only the latest chapter in Stone and Maui Brewing’s cooperative history. Long before this partnership, Maui Brewing Founder Garrett Marrero enjoyed a close relationship with Stone Co-founders Greg Koch and Steve Wagner, and the two companies have worked together to attain mutual success.
“Ever since Greg and I initially met and shared a cab in 2006 during the Seattle World Beer Cup, we have had a positive and continuously growing relationship as craft beer comrades,” said Marrero. “A major part of Stone’s and Maui’s successful relationship can be credited to both companies having aligned visions for the growth of craft beer, including environmental sustainability, regard for the community and uncompromising business ethics. Maui – Stone Craft Beverages is just another foray in the brewing companies’ shared mission of bringing great beers to deserving fans.”
Since 2008, Maui Brewing Co. has employed Stone Distributing Co. to make its craft ales and lagers available to retailers throughout Southern California. Additionally, in 2009, Maui Brewing Co. contributed to the collaborative brewing of the Ken Schmidt/Maui/Stone Kona Coffee, Macadamia, Coconut Porter, and helped Stone secure special ingredients for the beer through its distributors.
As a result of this new distribution partnership, people living on Maui can expect a dramatic increase in craft beer selections from notable brewers around the U.S. Most importantly, because of this joint venture, the Hawaiian island is about to become even more flavorful for residents and visitors alike!
Maui Brewing Co. is a craft brewery based in Maui, HI. As the largest authentic Hawaiian brewery, it currently has one brewery in Lahaina, and one brewpub in Kahana that creates more than 40 different styles on a rotating basis. In 2005 Maui Brewing Co. produced 400 barrels from the single brewpub and expanded into an additional brewery location in 2007, producing a little over 20,000 barrels in 2013.
MBC has remained consistent in the vision, “Handcrafted Ales & Lagers Brewed with Aloha”. This means respect for the environment, the community, its people, and company ethics are considered in every high-quality craft beer brewed. The beers have been recognized worldwide for quality and innovation winning more than 100 medals in a short history.
Maui Brewing Co. is currently in construction to move production to a state-of-the-art brewery in Kihei. This will help meet current demand, and give the ability to open additional markets. The goal is to be brewing, drinking, and shipping beer from this new brewery in June 2014.
AdvertisementsHOUSTON—It’s been slow going for Erick ‘Cubo’ Torres since moving to the Houston Dynamo. As he works to increase his fitness, game time has been limited to spot duty late in matches: 15 minutes here, 35 there.
A month into his Dynamo tenure, the Designated Player has been unable to make any immediate impact on the pitch.
Torres has been intentionally eased into the fold after not playing much on loan (at Chivas Guadalajara) and a lengthy wait to get to Houston. With 10 remaining games for the club to mount a run for the playoffs, he’s ready to start whenever the club pulls the trigger.
“I wouldn’t say too much nervous, I’m anxious to get that start,” said Torres, through a translator. “I’m maybe not ready for a full game yet, but when I keep playing longer and longer it’s a step towards a full game. Every time I go out there and play more minutes my confidence is growing. I’m ready to go. It’s just a matter of waiting for the coaching staff to go in and play a full game.”
That date remains up in the air, and Head coach Owen Coyle is in no rush to advance Torres’ workload. With Will Bruin and others carrying the scoring burden, there exists little urgency to force the striker into the game before it's necessary.
However, Coyle has said that Torres will start games. Torres feels he’s approaching that level, but his head coach isn’t pressured, instead waiting to incorporate Torres at the right time.
“It’s not that I’m trying to over-protect," Coyle said. "I’ve got to make sure that I think Erick’s ready to go and be starting games week-in-and-week-out. I’ve got to be fair to him. When strikers come in – I know this myself – you want to hit the ground running. You want to show your capabilities and be in prime condition to do that.
“Of course he’s a major signing at the club, and if circumstances had been different and he’d played at Chivas Guadalajara and come in as we expected, then he’d probably had hit the ground running. But we had to build him up. I think it’s fair to say he’s certainly getting closer to that happening.”
How close? And what does Torres need to display?
“The biggest thing for a striker is that natural sharpness in the box,” Coyle said. “What he’s known for is: he’s a goal scorer, but his all-around play is very good as well. It’s knowing when to bring him in and play, but it’s also knowing that when the chances fall he’ll have that natural sharpness that he’s always had to go and bury those chances.”
That involves more than fitness; the Dynamo boss knows Torres’ striking ability and crisp movements, which have been on display holding the ball up and off the ball, will evidence themselves with time on the field.
Yet in four games, Torres has played only 95 of 360 minutes, taken just two shots and has yet to convert.
“I don’t feel too bad about that. I really haven’t had a lot of chances,” Torres said. “There was a chance the first game, but it’s all about the opportunities and I just haven’t had the opportunities yet.”
While Torres seems unworried, there is pressure to score, which comes with carrying a high price tag. And he’ll have to produce if he's to become the building block envisioned by Dynamo management.
“For anybody that comes into the league midseason it’s tough, it’s an adjustment,” said Nathan Sturgis, who previously played alongside Torres at Chivas USA. “When I played with him at Chivas he was in good form and playing really well and scoring lots of goals. I think he’s trying to get back to that and I think he will, it just takes time.”Former BioWare guy Manveer Heir recently gave an interview in which he said that Electronic Arts is prioritizing more open-world games, because they're easier to monetize and can go on more or less indefinitely. Yet in this recent GamesIndustry report, current MachineGames guy Tommy Tordsson Björk said his studio is doing exactly the opposite with the upcoming Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, because cramming in multiplayer would detract too much from the story it wants to tell.
"The only way we can create these super immersive narrative experiences is if we can solely focus on the single-player," Tordsson Björk said at Gamescom, which actually took place in August. "Having a multiplayer component in this work process would just dilute it all. That's the danger if you try to do two things at once."
MachineGames considers its Wolfenstein games to be action adventures rather than shooters, "because we feel there's so much more to them than just shooting," he added. Obviously the core gameplay is all about the guns, but Tordsson Björk said it's the setting and the story that really put it over the top.
"It's a fictional setting, of course, and it's a crazy story, but we tried to stay honest and tell it as honestly as we can. That's our goal," he said. "There are so many things you aren't seeing. We're definitely pushing the limits, but at the same time continuing what makes Wolfenstein really special: the drama, the human relationships, with dark humor and violence. It's pushing them all, on all fronts."
It will never stop feeling weird to me to think of Wolfenstein as a character-driven game with a strong emphasis on the underlying narrative. I don't want to oversell the point—Wolfenstein 2 remains, at its core, a game about killing Nazis by the truckload—nor do I think it represents a broader overall shift in how the industry approaches the genre. But it is a nice change from the attitude that led to a multiplayer mode in the famously story-focused shooter Spec Ops: The Line, an addition mandated by publisher 2K Games that lead designer Cory Davis described (very angrily, I'm guessing) as "cancerous" and "a waste of money."
Bethesda announced the Wolfenstein 2 system requirements and PC-specific features today. Get the lowdown here.The Oregon Pasture Network (OPN) is a program of Friends of Family Farmers, designed to support the growth of pasture-based farming in our state. Our Pasture Partners offer high-quality products throughout Oregon from livestock that have been raised outdoors, on-pasture in a humane and ecologically sustainable manner.
This OPN Product Guide is a tool to help you find products in your region. There are many ways to support our Pasture Partners. Some of their items can be purchased in grocery stores, as part of menus in restaurants, directly from the farm or ranch, or through “Herd-Shares” in which you can own a portion of an animal and their products. Select a region below to find Oregon Pasture Network products near you.
You can read more about our Pasture Partners here. If you are a producer, and are interested in becoming an official Pasture Partner, please visit our OPN Application page for instructions.
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Southeast OregonHow does the US government justify shelling out another $2 billion in new spending when pundits and politicians are screaming loudly for cuts, not...
How does the US government justify shelling out another $2 billion in new spending when pundits and politicians are screaming loudly for cuts, not investment?
How does a 1000-percent return on investment sound?
That’s what officials say that $2 billion, coupled with another $2 billion in private capital commitments, could generate over the next 10 years … if the money is spent on making buildings across the country more energy efficient.
President Barack Obama today pledged to do just that as part of a “Better Buildings Challenge” to reduce the energy footprint of public and private structures across the US over the next decade. Making buildings just 20 percent more efficient could save nearly $40 billion in energy costs by 2022, he said.
“Upgrading the energy efficiency of America’s buildings is one of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways to save money, cut down on harmful pollution, and create good jobs right now,” Obama said. “But we can’t wait for Congress to act. So today, I’m directing all federal agencies to make at least $2 billion worth of energy efficiency upgrades over the next 2 years — at no upfront cost to the taxpayer. Coupled with today’s extraordinary private sector commitments of $2 billion to upgrade businesses, factories and military housing, America is taking another big step towards the competitive, clean energy economy it will take to win the future.”
It’s no secret that buildings can be giant energy hogs. In the US, commercial buildings alone consumed around 20 percent of all the nation’s energy last year. And efficiency is rightly regarded as the “fifth” — and most cost-effective — fuel, with upfront improvements producing measurable and lasting benefits.
The $4 billion in efficiency spending announced today is aimed at reaping long-term energy benefits that will more than pay for themselves, hence Obama’s comment about “no upfront cost to the taxpayer.” Under the terms of the Presidential Memorandum, officials will use Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) to install new, energy-efficient equipment at federal facilities. Private-sector contractors will guarantee the energy savings that will result from those improvements, and the cost of upgrades will be paid for over time through savings on utility bills.
In addition to the government’s commitment of $2 billion, another $2 billion is being pledged by 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents and labor leaders. They represent organizations that include 3M, the AFL-CIO, the District of Columbia, GE, Michigan State University, Schneider Electric, Serious Energy, the State of Minnesota, the SUPERVALU grocery chain (Albertson’s, Shaw’s, Jewel-Osco, Cub, Farm Fresh, etc.), TIAA-CREF, the University of California-Irvine and Wyndham Worldwide.It's no wonder that a handful of organizations -- including a Darfur foundation, the U.S. Marines, the Mormon Church and...
In Digg's case, a submission that receives enough votes from its users (or with a little help from uSocial's dozen employees) will reach the coveted front page, which can drive tens of thousands of visitors in a matter of hours.
USocial lets advertisers buy votes on popular social bookmarking sites to catapult their links to sections of Digg, StumbleUpon or AOL's Propeller services that get the most visibility.
Among Digg's and StumbleUpon's tens of millions of users, the social bookmarking sites have successfully dealt with numerous troublemakers who try to "game" the voting systems. But one company may be putting the entire organic voting approach in jeopardy.
... the Korean Department of Tourism (the latter of which has spent more than $5,000) -- are on board, claims uSocial founder Leon Hill.
Clients pay $105 to $200 to kick-start a Digg submission, ensuring 100 to 250 votes. Digg is by far the top target, attracting about 60% of purchases, uSocial says. StumbleUpon gets 35% and Propeller (the least trafficked but cheapest option) gets 5%.
USocial plans to expand to other social news sites in the future, including Reddit and Yahoo Buzz.
"We just finished testing with Yahoo Buzz," Hill said. "We've been getting amazing results with that -- better results than what people are getting with Digg."
That's probably because Yahoo sometimes promotes popular links on Buzz to Yahoo.com.
But in the meantime, Digg is still a unique source for a Web traffic jolt. With Digg's prominence comes the desire to keep its operations organic. Which is why the company has gone after uSocial, trying to lock out its accounts.
Digg sent a cease-and-desist letter to Hill in December. The Brisbane, Australia, resident concedes that what his company does is against the site's terms of use, which he agreed to when signing up for his Digg account. But he plans to continue to use Digg to plow in revenue for uSocial.
"I'm not in their [Digg's] country of operation, and the people that I'm employing are scattered across the world," Hill said. For these reasons, he believes Digg won't succeed in bringing a case against him. Hill calls the letter nothing more than a "scare tactic."
Digg is not taking the issue lightly, said Beth Murphy, Digg's head of marketing. In an e-mail, she wrote: "Digg is always evolving our systems and processes to combat gaming and abuse on the site. In addition to these ongoing measures, we may take additional action to ensure Digg remains a level playing field for all members of our 35 million community."
Many of Digg's users are understandably less than enamored of Hill's infiltrating their hangout.
"As you can understand, there are a lot of people out there who aren't happy with what we're doing," Hill said. "We're gaming Digg."
Digg is no stranger to users who try to abuse its service. Digg bans users who show traces of unusual activity, such as employing computer scripts to alter the website. But thanks to the software Hill developed for the company, he says, uSocial accounts are immune. Since perfecting the software three months ago, he says, he hasn't had a single account banned for misuse.
For now, Hill says, uSocial is backed up on orders. But Digg is hoping it can shut down the operation, and put the editing power back in the hands of legitimate users.
Updated, Sept. 8, 10:05 a.m.: The Mormon Church has never done business with uSocial, writes Lyman Kirkland, a representative for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
-- Mark Milian
Screenshots of USocial.netFacebook is supposed to connect people, but one Utah woman's incredible story recently brought new meaning to the power of social networking.
Adopted at birth, Jenessa Simons posted the above photo to her Facebook page Jan. 27 in an effort to find her biological parents.
“Everyone on Facebook’s been posting posters like, 'One million likes and I get a puppy,' and I thought, ‘Hey, these are getting shared around. I’ve seen kids get likes and get a puppy, so I should probably give it a shot,'” Simons told KSL.
Friends and friends-of-friends shared the photo more than 150,000 times. Although there were several false claims, three days later Simons was contacted by a woman that she believes is her birth mother.
“She sent pictures of me as a baby that my mother had given her,” Simons told ABC News affiliate KTVX. The woman also knew that Simons had been born by caesarean section, a fact that she hadn't made public.
Simons said that she will take her time getting to know her birth mother, although the two may meet soon. She is still searching for her birth father.
According to ABC News, she later wrote: "This page has gone crazy and I would love to turn it into a resource for others to help find birth parents."
This isn't the first time Facebook has been used to locate family members. In 2010, a California woman reportedly reconnected with her children via the social network after having been separated from them for 15 years.Second Sight Medical (NSDQ:EYES) said today the 1st patient was implanted with its Orion 1 visual cortical prosthesis device designed to restore vision to blind patients.
The procedure was performed as part of a proof-of-concept trial at UCLA. The trial looks to show initial safety and feasibility for human visual cortex stimulation, Sylmar, Calif.-based Second Sight said.
“Based on these results, stimulation of the visual cortex has the potential to restore useful vision to the blind, which is important for independence and improving quality of life,” performing surgeon Dr. Nader Pouratian of UCLA said in a prepared statement.
The company said that the trial success, as well as additional pre-clinical work, has positioned the company to submit an FDA IDE application for the device in early 2017.
“It is rare that technological development offers such stirring possibilities. This first human test confirms that we are on the right track with our Orion I program to treat blind patients who cannot benefit from the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis (Argus II). This initial success in a patient is an exciting and important milestone even though it does not yet include a camera. By bypassing the optic nerve and directly stimulating the visual cortex, the Orion I has the potential to restore useful vision to patients completely blinded due to virtually any reason, including glaucoma, cancer, diabetic retinopathy, or trauma. Today these individuals have no available therapy and the Orion I offers hope, increasing independence and improving their quality of life,” board chair Dr. Robert Greenberg said in a press release.
Second Sight said it hopes to win IDE approval and be abel to move forward with an initial clinical trial of the complete Orion I system, including its camera and glasses. The company hopes to expand the study to a global pivotal clinical trial upon positive initial results and discussions with regulators.
“While we still have much work ahead, this successful human proof of concept study gives us renewed energy to move our Orion I development efforts forward. We believe this technology will ultimately provide a useful form of vision for the nearly six million people worldwide who are blind but not a candidate for an Argus II retinal prosthesis. We also remain focused on further developing our Argus II technology for patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa, making it more widely available, and exploring its potential to improve the vision of nearly two million patients blinded by Age-Related Macular Degeneration worldwide,” prez & CEO Will McGuire said in prepared remarks.
In June, Second Sight Medical said it raised $19.8 million from an oversubscribed round of rights offering to shareholders of record, with funds slated to support a post-market study of its Argus II retinal prosthesis system.
The Argus II induces visual perception in blind patients with retinitis pigmentosa by stimulating of the retina’s remaining cells with electrical pulses, which allows for the perception of light patterns to the brain, the company said.
Second Sight Medical floated approximately 6 million shares of stock at $3.31 per share, equal to 85% of the closing price of $3.90 on May 31.A researcher from University of Michigan-Dearborn, Jeffrey Quesnelle, published a paper and blog today about the effective privacy on the Zcash blockchain over the first year of its existence. No vulnerabilities in Zcash were uncovered in this research. However, the research underscores a specific way that Zcash — like any other financial privacy technology — can fail to protect you if you use it the wrong way.
To recap, in Zcash there are both “shielded” and “transparent” addresses. Zcash stored in transparent addresses is visible in the blockchain to everyone. Zcash stored in shielded addresses is not.
The way that you can use this the wrong way is to move a certain amount of money into a shielded address, and then move that same amount out again. As we described in a blog post in January:
An observer can deduce the money that Alice sent must have been transferred to Carol. This same issue can arise with any financial privacy technique, for example if you have some Bitcoin, and you Shapeshift it to a privacy coin and then Shapeshift it back to Bitcoin.
Jeffrey Quesnelle’s paper examined the Zcash blockchain to search for patterns of usage like this. To summarize the findings, he identified a total of 10,946 transaction pairs appearing to be this pattern, accounting for 31.9% of coins being shielded. Our analysis of the list of transactions he published indicates that 84.64% of the transactions were shielding newly-mined coins, meaning that the first transaction of the pair was sent by a miner or mining pool. The Zcash protocol requires that newly-mined coins must be shielded before they can be sent to a transparent address. The fact that these coins were subsequently deshielded suggests that the recipients opted to receive their mining payouts at a transparent address.
In other words, it’s not that these coins were being shielded because the sending user sought privacy but because they are forced to shield and deshield the coins by the Zcash protocol in order to send them to another transparent address. The paper rightly cautions against users expecting strong privacy when they receive funds sent from a z-address into their t-address. If users want the best privacy, they should always receive and store funds in a z-address.
The other 15.36% of the observed pattern of usage are potentially by people who didn’t understand that shielding and then deshielding your Zcash doesn’t provide strong privacy.
To protect yourself from this sort of exposure, don’t think of shielded addresses as something you pass money through, think of them as something you store money in. Storing money in a shielded address and sending a portion of it out as needed gives you very strong privacy. Moving money into it and then immediately moving that money out again does not. (The same goes for using other financial privacy technologies such as the aforementioned example of Shapeshifting to a privacy coin and back.)
This kind of empirical scientific research is absolutely necessary to help scientists and creators learn what works and what doesn’t, and how to protect users. Previous examples of this kind of scientific research include the Monerolink paper and the paper from the National University of Singapore. The Zcash Foundation has recently awarded a grant to a team of scientists from the University of Luxemborg to further study the Zcash blockchain. This new paper by Jeffrey Quesnelle is an excellent piece of research, which adds significantly to the scientific understanding of the real-world effects of privacy technologies. We’d like to express our thanks to him for doing this research.
We welcome and encourage this kind of research into Zcash’s privacy properties, and encourage anyone who is undertaking it to reach out to us if we can assist in any way. Also, please notify us in case your results might imperil users and notifying us about them in advance can help us protect Zcash users.A fellow translator and FE fan over on Twitter was curious as to a certain post’s legitimacy, that is, a claim that before Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei, there were plans for it to be Fire Emblem x Pokemon.
After some searching for the Nintendo Dream issue it |
certificate for Google.com that was used to spy on people in Iran. An investigation later revealed that DigiNotar had failed to warn browser makers that it issued at least 531 bogus credentials following a security breach that gave attackers free rein over its certificate issuance system for weeks.
Within hours of the discovery, Google and Mozilla issued updates that caused their browsers and email programs to reject most SSL certificates issued by DigiNotar. Users of Windows Vista and later versions of the Microsoft operating system were also protected, although it wasn't until earlier this week that Windows XP users received the same defense.
Apple's delayed response comes in sharp contrast. Not only has it taken longer to issue the update, but it didn't utter a peep of warning to its users in the intervening time. At time of writing, there were no updates available that purged the untrustworthy DigiNotar root certificates from iOS, meaning iPhone and iPad users are still vulnerable to fraudulent DigiNotar certificates.
Users of Google's Android OS for smartphones also remain wide open.
The threats Apple and Google have failed to protect their users against are by no means theoretical. At least one of the certificates has already been encountered by at least 300,000 people, mostly in Iran, as they accessed Gmail or other protected Google services. Trend Micro has more details about the certificate here. ®Old Firm football matches in the 1980s always carried a brisk challenge for me and my friends: how to partake of a four-hour drinking session before the match and remain upright enough to gain admittance and avoid trouble.
Once, before the 1982 Scottish League Cup final, a student friend won £100 on a slot machine and so the task of remaining sensible became ever more difficult. Yet the only discordant note of an otherwise splendid day occurred at the Strathclyde University disco later that night, when some of us were refused entry to a Martha and the Muffins concert on account of our dishevelled apparel and unsteady gait.
The following day we learned of the customary arrests for public drunkenness and acts of casual violence that are the usual aftermath of a Celtic-Rangers game, and we were thankful that we hadn't been caught up in any of it.
It's on occasions such as these that your gran's Hail Marys come in handy, I suppose. And we read, too, about the pious outrage of assorted local politicians and police chiefs, which, yet again, betrayed a disturbing level of ignorance and stupidity about the nature of drinking in parts of Glasgow and its link to poverty and lack of education.
The latest in the unbroken, 123-year series of Celtic-Rangers games occurred last Wednesday evening. When the dust had settled, after an admittedly towsy encounter, three Rangers players were dismissed for dangerous tackles and many others were booked for clumsy challenges. The Ibrox club had gone into this game under a great deal of pressure, as Celtic had outplayed them in each of their previous three encounters. It was hardly surprising that they would deploy a more robust approach on this occasion.
There was a mild kerfuffle on the touchline as the game ended, when Neil Lennon, the Celtic manager, and Ally McCoist, the Rangers manager-elect, momentarily snarled at each other. There may even have been some admonitory finger-waving.
These scenes so horrified Strathclyde's permanently agitated chief constable, Stephen House, that he thought it necessary to disturb Alex Salmond over his breakfast the next day. Within hours the first minister was making a statement to Holyrood about these "shameful" scenes and calling for a "summit" where selected cops, representatives of Celtic and Rangers and some football bureaucrats could hammer out the "issues".
I was surprised that Celtic, in particular, didn't tell Salmond to stick to serious politics and tell the police to behave themselves. For this is nothing other than a political stunt. You can tell when a first minister is struggling in the opinion polls; they decide to "do something" about the Old Firm, confident that it will give them some breathing space from the travails of properly running the country. Salmond's predecessor, Jack McConnell, did the same with his sectarianism "summit" in 2005, which, predictably, achieved absolutely nothing.
There is a police agenda at work behind this latest outbreak of hand-wringing by civic Scotland about the "Old Firm problem". And when there is a police agenda in a democracy we must all be very wary.
For weeks prior to Wednesday's encounter between Scotland's two largest clubs, there had been a high-profile press campaign highlighting apparently depressing increases in street violence and domestic incidents when Celtic and Rangers play.
At the previous game, on 20 February, more than 200 arrests were made in Glasgow; police sources claimed that their cells were full up and that prisoners had to be bussed outside Glasgow. The police, who are always steadfast and honest, must be challenged on this claim and asked to provide empirical and documented evidence for it.
The clear implication by the police is that Old Firm games cause all of this. It's a depressingly simplistic attitude from an outfit whose role is to remain at the end of a very short leash held by our democratically elected institutions.
Scotland has a ruinous relationship with alcohol, and this is heightened in very poor and deprived urban areas. A postcode analysis of all the crimes and misdemeanours following Old Firm games will reveal that the majority of perpetrators reside in a handful of postal districts. These will be among the most socially deprived neighbourhoods in Europe. Very few residents of Bearsden, Giffnock and Bishopbriggs will have been apprehended.
Old Firm games possess an almost sacred intensity that has to be savoured at least once in a lifetime. People treat them as special events, and those who are inclined to drink will drink rather more in the hours that surround these games.
The rivalry is a tribal one, based on centuries of religious, cultural and political differences. Tie it up with conflicting ideas of nationhood and you possess a combustible concoction.
It is typical of middle-class atheists to scorn the role that religion and national identity play in these conflicts. Yet while they are denied many other opportunities in life, associations and friendships based on tribal and neighbourhood loyalty will always prevail.
When the chief executives of Celtic and Rangers dutifully attend this pantomime summit, they must ask some questions of the police and politicians. Here are three: why has Glasgow city centre become a no-go area for women on Friday and Saturday nights? Why is knife crime still increasing despite your high-profile campaigns? And why are you, first minister, not convening a summit about these issues?
Our political chiefs and assorted executive plods should stop wasting our time and money posturing at their bogus "Old Firm" summit. Instead, they should be holding a poverty summit to look seriously at the issue of deprivation, which in turn leads to alcoholism, drug addiction, violent crime and domestic abuse. This is the apocalypse that stalks the needy in our midst, not Celtic versus Rangers.“Machine learning.” You’ve heard the term, and you probably nod in agreement when someone tells you how important it is. But secretly you may not be sure what it is or how it works. Ask your data scientists to explain, and you may get lost in a sea of specialist talk about forks, leaf nodes, split points, and recursions. Forget all that. The only thing you need to know is that machine learning applies statistical models to the data you have in order to make smart predictions about data you don’t have.
Those predictions can help you find signals in the noise and extract value from all the data you’re collecting. The advantage of—indeed, the imperative for—using machine learning is its speed and brute force. It can mine vast swaths of data in seconds or minutes, find patterns, and make predictions in ways that no human analyst could begin to emulate. Machine learning is, among other things, helping companies to detect that patients will have seizures long before they actually occur.
Best of all, no matter how much work you throw at it, the student never gets exhausted or bored. Here’s a look at how it works.
Example: How a Cable Company Learns Which Customers Might Cancel Service
A cable company’s defectors have started to outnumber new customers. The company wants to launch discount offers to prevent more cancellations, but it doesn’t want to offer discounts to satisfied customers who are willing to pay their current rate. The company has no explicit data on “potential cord cutters,” so it will use its customer database and machine learning to spot likely defectors and target only them with its discount offers. We’ll follow the machine’s learning process as it tries to sort two customers—Karl and Cathy—using one typical ML exercise: a decision tree.
1. Process: Decide What You Want to Know
A machine can’t choose to learn something on its own (yet). Instead, data scientists tell it what they want it to learn.
2. Build a Model
To learn, the machine must access rich customer data: demographics, purchasing behavior, other services customers pay for, whether they’ve called to complain or cancel a service, and much more. Using these variables, data scientists build a statistical model that determines how predictive each variable is in terms of the answer the machine is trying to learn.
3. Accumulate Answers
For each question, the probability is refined in one direction or the other on the basis of answers up to that point. The machine looks for combinations of attributes that create a high level of certainty about the answer it’s seeking.
4. Make a Decision
Eventually, the probability is heavily weighted one way or the other. That may come after just a few questions or dozens of them. The data scientists decide how confident they want the machine to be in its answer. They may say that once it’s 95% confident, it can stop.
5. Iterate
Now the computer can carry out the same evaluation thousands or even millions of times on other entries in its data set, confidently sorting each entry into group A or group B. It has learned.
Created in collaboration with Randal S. Olson and R2D3As a historical performer and part-time amateur researcher, I have a fairly healthy relationship with the practice of translation. Very often, when I’m prepping a piece for performance, I’ll double-check a given translation against the original language (where possible), re-tracing the translation steps in search of new inspiration.
Translation is a finicky process. We know that we think linguistically – that is, the language we speak is inexorably tied to the way we think, and languages with different rules necessarily mean that the speakers of those languages will also think differently.
It’s a strange thing to grok, and it presents an obstacle every time we try to figure out what these ancient cultures were saying. Words are simply a vehicle for meaning – a convenient packaging for our thoughts that we share with each other. Every time you sit down to translate a passage, you’re not just converting one word to another like some cryptogram – you’re also trying to get the sense of what’s being said, the nuances that exist exclusively in that rusted broken-down vessel of thought that is a dead language.
The linguistic nature of thought means that we will almost certainly never be right in a translation. Some things simply won’t work because our brains aren’t wired to think like that ancient culture. Perhaps with enough time we can learn to think that way – but more often than not, we’re simply aping those thought paradigms, blundering through them while not quite getting them.
Here’s my go-to example of what I’m talking about. This is a passage from Egil’s saga which I have partially translated and re-poeticized:
Síþögla gaf söglum
sárgagls þría Agli
hirðimeiðr við hróðri
hagr brimrótar gagra,
ok bekkþiðurs blakka
borðvallar gaf fjorða
kennimeiðr, sás kunni,
körbeð, Egil gleðja.
A fairly literal translation looks like this:
Ever-silent gave for speech
wound-bird three (to) Egil
keeping-pole with praise
skillful surf-fury dogs,
then brook-fowl (of) horse (of)
board-field gave fourth
thinking-pole, that knew,
choice-bed, Egil gladden.
Right, so that doesn’t make any sense at all. Step one in translation to figure out what is literally being said. Typically, it looks like this:
The wound-bird keeping-pole
gave to Egil for skillful speech
three ever-silent
surf-fury dogs,
then thinking-pole of horse of
board-field gave (a) fourth
that (he) knew (to) gladden Egil,
(the) choice-bed of brook-fowl.
But I have a different take on the poem:
The hard-handed wound-smith
heard this praise-smith’s word-play;
pelt of silent sea-wolf –
size of skald – was prize. Then
red-haired sea-horse riding
rover called me over,
broke the brook’s hawk-bed –
a boast-egg for Egil.
My take diverges pretty far (at least in a literal word-for-word sense) from the original text – but I did that intentionally in order to convey additional meaning. See, “three ever-silent surf-fury dogs” is a kenning, a reference to three sea snail shells that Egil had just been given as a gift.
Few questions in life have ever been greater than this: what the hell are the three seashells for?
It likely refers to an old Icelandic tradition where children would play a game using seashells – one kid would take shells as sheep, and the other would use shells as herding dogs, and attempt to keep the other from moving.
In other words, the seashells are a reference to a game that Egil would play as a child. A modern audience has virtually no way to know what the hell this is supposed to mean, but it’s important to the development of the character – it shows that Egil had a deep understanding of the world around him even at a young age, and that he could creatively re-interpret the world around him into poetry.
In the story, he was 3 when he composed that poem.
So, rather than stop and educate my audience, I chose to reference a different children’s game: Red Rover. The principle of the original piece now comes through – I show a child who re-casts their experiences in a poetic light, and the audience will get it because of the commonly understood children’s game.
And you wouldn’t get that unless some guy with an inflated ego thought “I can tell that better.”
Academic translation will often focus on word accuracy, even when those words don’t mean anything to us. It’s important that we have that accuracy – but remember that words are not the only thing we translate. As I said, they’re simply vectors for ideas, and if we can’t parse the vector, we’ll never really get our brains around the idea. And really, the idea is the important part. Every act of translation involves making changes and choices to the source material, sacrificing some amount of accuracy in the process. It’s unavoidable, because as I’ve said above, the language literally governs the thought structure. Square peg, round hole – you get the idea. You have to alter the contents to fit the new container.
So, while it is important that we do academic translation, we can’t forget to also let our ideas be shaped by our new vehicle. Be inspired by your choice of medium, and attempt the way you convey your idea to your new form. Don’t try to stubbornly force something into a shape that it really wasn’t meant to hold.
The concept of translation goes beyond word conversion, though. Words are a single vector, but we have many other ways of communicating ideas to one another. Pictures, movies, music, dance – these are all ways in which we attempt to communicate ideas to other humans. When we take an idea from one medium to another, we have to “translate” it to the new medium in order to convey that idea. We have to adapt those ideas to expression in a new medium; if I’ve focused on telling you something with words, I’ll have to work pretty hard and get pretty creative if I want to say that same thing in song. It’s doable, but it takes effort. The same principle applies: allow yourself to be inspired by your medium.
The film adaptation of The Hunger Games is a great example. I found the book to be nigh-intolerable because of its forced first-person perspective (an important device for its intended audience, but unnecessary for me); however, the film used a 3rd person perspective and a liberal application of the “show, don’t tell” principle of storytelling.
The result was excellent – the film used its visuals to tell you about the world, without needing first-person exposition. That allowed the director to focus on presenting the story in the most compelling manner possible – and it worked. The story and characters come across (provided you’re good at reading visual cues), and the whole story moves nicely.
A lot of people (I’m looking at you, Internet nerds) really hate it when a movie adaptation of a book departs from the source material – but as I’ve touched on above, it’s a necessary step. We must translate those ideas to a new medium (because each medium conveys thoughts differently), and that often means we’ll depart from the story you know and love. Toss out a character here or there, combine some dialogue, get rid of goddamn Tom Bombadil because we don’t need him – you get the idea. It’s jarring because we speak both the language of books and the language of film, and we’re watching as a sentence is translated and becomes wonky. It no longer matches expectations. It makes us uncomfortable because it’s unfamiliar.
But you know what? It also holds the power to make the story better, or at least to give it a different impact. In changing between media, we have an opportunity to present a new vision of an old idea – a chance to re-explore it and extract additional value. What a great opportunity to learn and grow! Keep the ideas alive that much longer, and watch as they grow into something we never expected. This is the heart of innovation.
Does it always work? Hell no. But translating any material across media is an experiment, and all experiments carry a risk of failure. Actually, they carry a virtual guarantee of failure. Being wrong isn’t a bad thing, though – it’s desirable, and it helps us grow.
We have an advantage in that the original material still exists (well, pretty often, depending on the medium) even if you attempt a new take, so you can’t really lose anything in the attempt. You only stand to gain, and you just might hit on something big.
And what happens if we really really insist on preserving the source material, reproducing it as accurately as possible in a new medium. Well, sometimes nothing in particular – and sometimes it sucks really hard.
So don’t be afraid to head off the reservation. Let a new take inspire you, and don’t get too hung up on being a stickler for details. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll find something you love even more.
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When it comes to providing advertiser data, Bing is on a roll. Last month Bing released in-depth demographic and reach data with slick charts and graphs. Today the Bing Ads Marketplace Trends Interactive Website was announced. It’s a tool that will help marketers gather more data across specific industry verticals.
The targeting parameters that Bing reports on are very helpful; this addition should be well received by advertisers. The three main trend reports cover time and ad scheduling trends, device targeting trends and location targeting trends.
Device Targeting Trends
This chart displays both CTR and CPC information by industry/subindustry across desktop/table/mobile devices.
Location Targeting Trends
This interactive map displays CPC and CTR by state in a visual heatmap display.
Ad Scheduling Trends
One of the most powerful visual tools in the suite shows volume across device/day of week/hour of the day. This is also filterable by industry/subindustry.
To see these visualizations in action, head on over to the Bing Ads Marketplace Trends Interactive Website.As someone that grew up with arcade games and 80’s synthpop music, I cannot hide my fondness for FM Synthesis. This was the sound of the future and in a somewhat mystical way, still is.
It can sound tinny, aggravatingly metallic or warm and bass-heavy. Aural landscapes that are representative of both happy, fuzzy worlds and those that are dystopian. Light and darkness all produced in an embedded range of chips manufactured by Yamaha. These chips would find a home in Yamaha’s famous DX7 digital synthesizers, arcade boards and PC sound cards from AdLib and Creative Lab’s early Sound Blaster range.
Enough can’t be said about all the sounds that were coming out of all these synthesizers, arcade cabinets and sound cards. Sounding incredibly synthetic, plastic even. And somehow they became relevant in a sea of naysayers. Melodies were supposed to be the preserve of the musician who could actually play real instruments, not some midi punk.
In a sense, keyboard players and sound coders were in all likelihood working harder than the average traditional musician. Many electro/synthpop bands were notorious for spending hours on end, tweaking the settings on their synthesizers to get a unique sound- they could call their own.
At the other camp, programmers would often hand code sound routines in assembly in order to fit in the music. Given the memory limitations of home computers, consoles and arcade systems during that time period, this was not exactly an easy task to achieve. Not to mention that FM synthesis is known for it’s quirks and complexity.
Over the past few months I’ve come into contact with a composer that specializes in audio production for games and film. Joe Gilliver – BA Hons of Ocular Audio has been kind enough to write the next article for my blog, which will cover FM synthesis deeper. Joe is based in the UK and is currently working on a project called Black Shuck.
Apart from demystifying FM synthesis, Joe has also written this article which gives greater insight of his current project at Gamedev.net.
AdvertisementsThe Hammers tried to sign the 21-year-old at the start of the season, but will doubtless have to front an even bigger bid after the player's heroics against Manchester United
West Ham tried to sign Midtjylland star Pione Sisto in the summer transfer window, Slaven Bilic has confirmed.
The 21-year-old, who scored the Danish side's first goal in a 2-1 Europa League win over Manchester United on Thursday, is highly rated in his home country, and was called up to the national team at just 20 years old.
And Bilic has revealed the Hammers tried to sign the starlet as a long-term investment.
"He's young, he's 21 so we wanted to get him for the future," Bilic told ITV.
"We watched him against Southampton and in a few other games. He's got pace, he's brave, he's young and he changes direction well.
"He's a great prospect. We wanted him, but we must give credit to him and the people around him - they decided that it'd be better to stay in Denmark for another year."
Manchester United will endeavour to turn around their 2-1 deficit when they host Midtjylland at Old Trafford next Thursday.Turnbull government aims to press ahead despite Donald Trump’s rejection – but freedom of information requests show foreign affairs has not made plans
Trans-Pacific Partnership: trade officials don't know how it would work without US
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade does not know how the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal would work without the United States, despite the Turnbull government’s heavy promotion of the idea.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has spent the last few weeks pushing the idea of the 12-country TPP still going ahead, despite President Donald Trump’s antagonism towards the deal.
What is the TPP and is it over? The Guardian briefing Read more
Turnbull and the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, have discussed the possibility of other TPP member countries ratifying the deal quickly to pressure the US to stay on board.
The trade minister, Steve Ciobo, met leaders from Japan, Canada, Mexico, Singapore and New Zealand last week in Switzerland to discuss ways to “take the TPP forward” without the US, given the deal was too important “not to do all we can to see [it] enter into force”, he said on Sunday.
But freedom of information documents show the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFat) has not been asked to model how the TPP would affect Australia’s economy if the agreement went ahead without the US.
Jason Clare, the shadow minister for trade, has filed two FOI requests seeking access to any modelling, but the department has told him no such modelling exists.
The first FOI, on 28 November, was filed two weeks after Ciobo told the ABC’s Insiders program the TPP could not officially go ahead without the US but an 11-country TPP could go ahead “in theory”.
The second FOI, on 10 January, was filed a week before Turnbull said he still held out hope the TPP was not dead.
On both occasions DFat said no modelling had been commissioned.
Clare said the government should not be promoting a potential amended TPP without knowing what impact it would have on Australia’s economy.
“The government is now saying ‘plan B’ is an alternate agreement with the 11 other countries that were part of the TPP, however they no idea whether this is even worth doing,” he told Guardian Australia.
“We have asked the government for economic modelling on the value to Australia of an agreement without the US but they haven’t bothered doing any.
“If ‘plan B’ ever happens it would require independent economic evidence, another parliamentary inquiry and new legislation.”
Ciobo was travelling overseas and could not be contacted for comment.
According to the final chapter of the TPP, the trade agreement can only go ahead if at least six of its 12 original members have ratified the agreement, and if those six countries represent 85% of the combined GDP of all 12 countries.
It means the deal cannot come into force if the US or Japan fail to ratify the agreement because, between them, they represent 79% of the GDP of all 12 original signatories. Without the US or Japan being involved there is no way for the remaining signatories to fulfil the 85% requirement.
Ciobo told the ABC’s Insiders program in November the TPP could not officially go ahead if the US was not part of it.
But he said the remaining 11 countries could go it alone “in theory” and there was enough merit in the trade deal to consider trying to do so.
Shortly after Trump was sworn in as president on Friday, the White House website was updated to say his trade strategy “starts by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership”.Floyd Mayweather's time in jail for a domestic violence charge will come to an end on Friday as he'll be released early. As pointed out by Bad Left Hook's Scott Christ, Floyd getting out of jail early isn't really a huge story. He's serving time for a misdemeanor charge and will have served almost two-thirds of his sentence. So it's not like there's a horrendous failure of the justice system because Floyd is a celebrity or anything.
The timing of his release also happens to line-up well with Mayweather running buddy, 50 Cent's assault on the boxing world with the establishment of TMT Promotions.
50 has signed some very big names, turning an upstart boxing promotion into a legitimate player in only two weeks time, inking deals with Andre Berto, Zab Judah, Celestino Caballero, Andre Dirrell, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Billy Dib. That's a lot of "name" fighters that have major network interest. Given boxing's place as a TV package sport, that's a very good start.
Given Mayweather's relationship with 50 and the name of the promotion (TMT = The Money Team), it isn't much of a stretch to assume that Floyd will be the crown jewel of TMT Promotions. Mayweather Promotions was never an actual promoter and Floyd never really had a long-term deal with Golden Boy so there's nothing really stopping him from getting out of the De La Hoya business.
50 has been outspoken about his plans to be a real player in boxing and he's looking at the UFC as a blueprint for some of their promotional efforts (via Herald Sun):
"We're going to change the demographic also, appeal to the younger demographic. "You look at UFC and MMA, when their festivities start the place is full, whereas the tradition in boxing is you wait until the main event starts. "We want to put on cards where there are five main event fights, where there is entertainment from start to finish, cards that command attention all over the world."
There have been some decent efforts to improve the overall card quality of boxing shows, Showtime has been great about putting on 4-5 fight cards with Golden Boy and there has been some good quality action coming out of that focus on treating the undercard as valuable. We saw Shane Mosley versus Canelo Alvarez on the undercard of Mayweather's bout with Miguel Cotto. We also saw a great PPV action card for Cotto versus Antonio Margarito. But, overall, boxing undercards are far from a focal point in the game.
Regardless of if 50 is able to really change the overall dynamic of the boxing game or not, it's ignorant at this point to suggest that TMT Promotions isn't shaping up to be a real force, as pointed out by Scott Christ:
If Mayweather does wind up going with TMT, likely as a partner of some sort and the star attraction for the new company, it will be a big shift in the major boxing landscape in the United States. Currently, Top Rank and Golden Boy pretty much own the market, but Mayweather would instantly legitimize the upstart, just as De La Hoya did when he started GBP over a decade ago.... We know now that that model can work and make big money. Mayweather could be the next fighter to do it. Like Oscar was at the time, Floyd is the biggest star in the sport right now in many ways, and he also has a young generation of fighters that hold him up on a major pedestal and look up to him. That's what I'm looking forward to finding out now that Floyd will be available to comment: Is TMT going to be an instant major league player? If Floyd's in, then the answer is yes.
There is a lot to this story and Floyd's early release from jail is going to be a big part of it.The Las Vegas-based Clarke County Republican Party in Nevada is sponsoring a billboard warning that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would be a disaster for the country like George W. Bush.
The Las Vegas Sun’s Jon Ralston posted an photo of the billboard on Monday, which also compares Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) to President Ronald Reagan.
The billboard goes on to advertise OathKeepers.org, a libertarian website.
“The message is unmistakable: Ron Paul is like Ronald Reagan and Mitt Romney is like George W. Bush,” Ralston wrote. “The latter is not meant kindly, I assure you.”
“I swear, folks: The Republicans here are better than any act on the Strip. It is not even close,” he added.
Last month, the Republican National Committee warned Nevada Republicans that they could be blocked from the Republican National Convention later this year if they sent too many delegates supporting Paul.
Republicans who worry that Paul supporters have taken over the state and county parties have set up independent in-state groups to perform normal Republican Party functions like getting out the vote for Romney.
(h/t: The Hill)Down, boy! Treat your partner like a PUPPY and you'll earn his lifelong love and devotion, says life coach
Leading life coach Sloan Sheridan-Williams suggests concept
Applying puppy psychology to partner can train them the same way
'Women should create scarcity; reward good and ignore bad behaviour'
From playing by The Rules to Bridget Jones' obsession with appearing to be an 'aloof, unavailable ice queen', lots of relationship advice for women seems to hark back to playing hard to get.
Now one relationship expert has come up with yet another take on this concept: treating your partner like a puppy.
Remember the unconditional love and attention you get from a devoted hound? Well, life coach Sloan Sheridan-Williams suggests that we can get the same from our partners - by training them as you would a puppy.
Scroll down for video
Sloan says you should reward good behaviour and ignore bad behaviour with your partner, as with your dog
' What I have found in my relationship coaching is that partners who follow a few simple puppy psychology rules in their relationships tend to have healthy, loving partnerships,' says Sloan.
'These are generally based on the four pillars of relationship success; honesty, trust, respect and integrity.'
While Sloan recommends drawing upon traditional puppy psychology, she doesn't suggest women should literally treat their men the same way they do their dogs.
'That would be disrespectful and would not work to produce lasting results,' says Sloan.
'But I do condone changing your behaviour to elicit a better response from your partner.
'In nature, dogs like to form packs and therefore it makes sense to relate to people in the same way you would relate to man's best companion.'
She says don't offer your partner everything on a plate or they will never learn how to appreciate you
Sloan's top ten training tips for a happy relationship
Everything in Moderation
With a puppy you very soon realise they do not know how to regulate their eating, playtime hours or even their behaviour towards other dogs. Just as you wouldn't put a whole bag of dog food out and allow a puppy to decide how much to eat or not, don't offer your partner everything on a plate.
Puppies are taught early on they have to earn respect and rewards by good behaviour. Using the same logic, if you give your other half everything they want without them earning it, they will never learn how to regulate their wants and desires and therefore, they will never learn how to appreciate you.
Create Scarcity
Every dog owner knows that feeling when their puppy is off the lead and running towards a squirrel or worse still a busy road and our instinct is to run towards them. However the experienced dog owner knows that catching their dog's attention then running the other way is far more likely to get your puppy to start chasing you.
In relationships the same applies, chasing your partner, checking up on them or making them feel that you are always there is going to inevitably push your partner away or at the very least create complacency in them.
Apply puppy psychology by creating scarcity. Moving away from your partner when they pull away, be it in the form of catching up with friends or finding a new hobby, enables them to come running back to you.
Sloan is a leading diagnosticians in the complementary therapy world
Say what you mean
With puppies we don't give mixed messages, we clearly say no when we mean no and we clearly show them what makes us happy and what does not work for us.
Communicating your wants and needs clearly to your other half in the way you do to a puppy helps you draw boundaries as to what you will and won't tolerate.
It is unfair to expect your partner to read between the lines so be clear, concise and logical in your requests for the best outcome.
Reward don't punish
When training a puppy most dog owners will tell you punishment doesn't work. The only way is to reward good behaviour and ignore bad behaviour.
The ethos here is to forgive and forget but do not tolerate. It is important to be compassionate but don't be a pushover.
The first step is to find out what your partner considers a reward and then come up with a plan to deliver it in a timely fashion immediately after the positive act.
The final step is to decide which behaviours elicit a reward. Each couple has their own idea of good behaviour be it flowers or completing chores around the house or helping get the children ready for school, whatever it is make sure your other half adds value to the partnership before you reward them.
Any reward scheme needs to be compounded over and over for long lasting results otherwise your partner will lose interest in maintaining the positive behaviours.
'Dogs, especially puppies, are famous for selective attention. Likewise humans have a way of filtering out the voice of a partner who nags... try and keep upsetting conversations short and clear'
Refuse to play if disobedient
You will see that other dogs will quickly teach puppies what is acceptable game play and what is too much. They show short sharp bursts of growling and then defend their space.
You will see an intelligent puppy, back away lick its wounds and approach with more caution the next time.
Likewise, let your partner learn the hard way, sometimes he needs to get bitten to learn not to dip his toe in to the fire. Whether your partner has a wandering eye, doesn't do his chores or is lazy with your children although you obviously cannot bite them, you can make their life uncomfortable.
As I said before, punishment doesn't work. However, if you give them a short sharp shock, your partner may retreat temporarily to lick their dented ego but they will return with a more desire to step up to the plate.
You must refuse to play if they exhibit unsavoury behaviours, and they'll eventually step up to the plate
Be consistent, firm and logical
A puppy will know the weakest link in any pack and will often beg from them. The owners who show firm resolve never to feed their dog at the table will find their dog will not ask for food because they will not waste energy on a fruitless task.
Consistency is key to talking to anyone be it a partner, a friend or a work colleague. If you show you are firm in what you believe be it your values, ethics or morals you will quickly find most people will realise they cannot shift your position and they won't bother trying.
They will also clearly know that carrying out A,B and C will produce a specific result and then they can choose if they want the same result as you or they can move on.
'Catching a dog's attention then running the other way is far more likely to get a puppy chasing you... Moving away from your partner when they pull away enables them to come running back'
Avoid exhibiting negative behaviours yourself
Dogs, puppies especially, are famous for selective attention. They have a filter that blocks out constant talking or yelling of their name until they want to acknowledge it.
Likewise, humans have a way of filtering out the voice of a partner who nags, complains, whines or makes them feel negative emotions. It is like the sound of your voice becomes white noise and they no long respond to it.
The best way to prevent this is to try to keep upsetting exchanges short and clear, and afterwards immediately turn the conversation back to a |
much more difficult proposition because of their contracts. Ellsbury is signed through 2020 at $21 million per year, with a club option for 2021 that includes a $5 million buyout, and McCann is signed through 2018 at $17 million a year. The Yankees are also said to be "willing to listen'' on setup man Andrew Miller, who had an excellent first half and accompanied Beltran and reliever Dellin Betances to San Diego for the All-Star Game.
Andrew Miller will be one of the most coveted pitchers at the trade deadline, but the Yankees haven't decided whether he will be available. Noah K. Murray/USA TODAY Sports
The source said that the Yankees' erratic play this season has caused uncertainty within the ranks about how good this team really is. Last month, when the Yankees had just come off a five-game winning streak that got them back to.500 (31-31), Cashman said, "We're not going to be a seller unless ownership green-lights that. I'll have an honest dialogue with ownership every step of the way as I always do. If we feel at a date in the future that that's a necessity, then trust me, I'll recommend it, and they'll make a decision based on their comfort level. I'm always a brutally honest person."
Cashman was not available to comment, but the Yankees won three of four games from the Cleveland Indians, who lead the AL Central by 6 1/2 games, in the final series before the All-Star break, providing ammunition for the "don't sell'' faction.
"All the talk of buying or selling is speculation at this point,'' Levine said. "There's two weeks to go, and at that time we'll make a decision. You can't make any decisions until you have specific transactions in front of you.''
Levine refused to directly address questions about whether the hierarchy was divided over the direction the club should take at the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
"We believe in this team,'' he said.Despite founding the controversial Trump University, it appears US presidential candidate Donald Trump would do well to invest his billions in some spell-checking software instead.
In a tweet criticising his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump wrote: “Hillary Clinton should not be given national security briefings in that she is a lose cannon with extraordinarily bad judgement & insticts.”
Mr Trump’s tweet echoed a statement made by Ms Clinton in May, when she called him an “unqualified loose cannon,” according to CBS News.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
However, Twitter users were quick to point out the three spelling mistakes in his short tweet: “lose” instead of “loose”, “insticts” instead of “instincts”, and “judgement” instead of the correct US spelling of the word, “judgment”.
“Three out of 21 words in this tweet are misspelled,” wrote journalist Olivia Nuzzi, while Daniel Jimenez pointed out the Republican presidential nominee “could also save a letter by using the common American spelling of ‘judgment.’”
“There is no scenario to ever exist where you have not been the loosest cannon in the room,” wrote Christine Teigen.
This is not the first time Mr Trump has misspelled words or made typos on the social network.
“Every poll said I won the debate last night. Great honer!” he wrote in February, in a tweet that has since been deleted after people pointed out the correct American spelling was “honor”.
He also once spelled the word “choker” in two different ways within the same tweet, also in February: “Lightweight Marco Rubio was working hard last night. The problem is, he is a choker, and once a choker, always a chocker! Mr. Meltdown.”
And at a rally in Knoxville, Tennessee last November, the poster on his podium had misspelled the state, using only one ‘s’.
However, while it appears that while Mr Trump writes his own tweets, Ms Clinton does not, indicating on her profile that tweets directly by her are marked with an “H”.
Shape Created with Sketch. Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Donald Trump's most controversial quotes 1/14 On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didn’t know the air conditioner didn’t work and sweated like dogs, and they didn’t know the room was too big because they didn’t have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty 2/14 On immigration: "I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me —and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters 3/14 On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images 4/14 On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists." Getty 5/14 On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images 6/14 On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP 7/14 On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." 8/14 On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP 9/14 On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images 10/14 On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters 11/14 On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images 12/14 On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA 13/14 On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images 14/14 On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY 1/14 On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didn’t know the air conditioner didn’t work and sweated like dogs, and they didn’t know the room was too big because they didn’t have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty 2/14 On immigration: "I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me —and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters 3/14 On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images 4/14 On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists." Getty 5/14 On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images 6/14 On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP 7/14 On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." 8/14 On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP 9/14 On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images 10/14 On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters 11/14 On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images 12/14 On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA 13/14 On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images 14/14 On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY
Former Republican president George W Bush was also known for his gaffes and verbal slip-ups, sometimes known as “bushisms”.
“The important question is, how many hands have I shaked?” he said in 1999, according to Slate.
And in 2000, he said in Florence, South Carolina: “Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
Subscribe nowReleased in 1982, it's a fair assessment to say that the ColecoVision lacks the processing power that other retro consoles from the late 80s harbour. In an attempt to rejuvenate and accelerate the iconic system, an electronic genius is set to release the Super Game Module - an expansion port add-on set to increase the console's RAM memory and sound capabilities.
This interesting development comes from none other than the ColecoVision homebrew extraordinaires Opcode Games, a company devoted to keeping Coleco's second generation console alive. Over the years they have released countless new games/remakes for the system including Space Invaders Collection, Magical Tree and Sky Jaguar.
The device if anything is an interesting one. Coleco were hoping to fight back against Mattel and Atari during their dominance, thus they began working on an official upgrade known as, funnily enough, the Super Game Module. This add-on was due to expand the ColecoVision to be 30 times more powerful than the Atari 2600, however, it sadly never saw release.
At least until now... Opcode Games have finally created their own version of what everyone's ColecoVision was waiting for back in the late 80s.
The Super Game Module if anything is Opcode Games' stepping stone to creating more advanced games for the ColecoVision that have never been seen before. Given it won't improve your existing collection of Coleco cartridges in-game, Opcode Games has a selection of upcoming releases planned for the Super Game Module with a brand new arcade port of Donkey Kong due for release soon.
The Super Game Module offers the following features: Expands the ColecoVision main memory from 1KB to 32KB.
Doubles the console sound capacity.
When coupled with the new Super Game Cartridges, allows games of up to 1MB and allows any data (like high score tables) to be permanently saved. What are the benefits of the Super Game Module: Arcade ports that are direct-as-possible.
More complex graphics and animations on screen.
Improved music and sound effects.
ColecoVision Super Game Module in action running Donkey Kong
Pre-orders have just opened up for the Super Game Module, so if you're hoping to pack a bit more punch with your ColecoVision, be sure to head over to Opcode Games and take a look at this fantastic new device.
Link: Opcode Games' Super Game Module add-on for the ColecoVisionFor many of us who grew up evangelical, the word “compromise” has always been a bad word. It means to allow non-Christian values and influences to corrupt your devotion to Biblical truth. Frank Schaeffer, the son of the evangelical leader who started the modern Religious Right, claims that our government shutdown and its Tea Party architects cannot be understood apart from this fundamental characteristic of the evangelical ethos. Insofar as the Tea Party is an evangelical phenomenon, I think he may be right. Evangelicals are raised to be a people of no compromise. And it all starts with an understanding of Jesus’ cross that makes God into Darth Vader and turns us into cookie-cutter stormtroopers devoted to His imperial cause.
Why did Jesus have to die for our sins on the cross? For most conservative evangelicals, that question has a very simple, straightforward answer: because God has zero tolerance for sin. God is holy, and what holiness means is God’s refusal to compromise His expectations for perfect adherence to the laws He lays out in the Bible. Since no human being other than Jesus has ever been perfectly obedient, God had to create a means by which His expectations for perfection would not be compromised by showing mercy to an imperfect people. So instead of torturing every human being forever because of their imperfection, God pours out His wrath on His own Son to show the world that He is a God of no compromise who will pour out the same wrath eternally on people who won’t accept Jesus as their Lord and savior.
One of my favorite movies, The Usual Suspects, is premised on a similar gesture of no compromise. The main character, Keyser Soze, is a Turkish gangster whose rivals kidnap his children and hold guns to their heads, demanding that he give their business to them. To show that he is a man of no compromise, Keyser Soze shoots and kills his own children rather than capitulate to their demands. The Star Wars films cover a similar theme in the way that Darth Vader’s uncompromising obedience to the Emperor is measured by his willingness to kill his own son Luke Skywalker. Vader’s ethical system measures “good” as uncompromising obedience to his master’s will; it is irrelevant whether this “good” harms or benefits other people.
A cross whose purpose is to uphold God’s uncompromising intolerance for imperfection creates a God in the image of Keyser Soze or Darth Vader, because it defines God’s goodness not according to any sort of benevolence towards humanity, but as His demand for nothing less than perfect conformity to His will. In such a view, goodness is whatever God wills, as opposed to God’s will being expected to reflect a goodness that could be considered independent of its association with God.
Under this “Darth Vader” account of the cross, the way to be on God’s good side and safe from His wrath is to accept the validity of Jesus’ crucifixion for our sins. This means agreeing that God was right to torture and kill His Son rather than compromise and allow people who have not perfectly obeyed the Bible to join Him in heaven without accepting Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf. The way to show that you really accept the legitimacy of God’s uncompromising stance is to become a person of no compromise yourself, or, to stay in the Star Wars metaphor, an imperial stormtrooper. The purity of your lack of compromise is measured according to the degree to which you are “Biblical” about everything you do.
Now here’s where this becomes relevant to understanding the Religious Right as a political movement. A stormtrooper evangelical shaped by the Vader cross divides the world between those who have a “Biblical worldview” and those who have a worldview derived in something else like secular humanism, communism, or another religion. While you cannot avoid interacting with people of different worldviews, you must avoid at all costs allowing their worldviews to seep into your thinking and compromise you from thinking “Biblically.” (If you need evidence or want to understand this phenomenon better, google “Christian worldview studies” right now and have a look at what’s out there.)
People are Republicans for a variety of reasons just like people are Democrats for a variety of reasons, but a stormtrooper evangelical Republican must categorically reject any idea that is generated by a Democrat because accepting it would amount to a compromise of worldview. Democrats are understood to be the party of secular humanism since their issue positions are shaped by values presumed to be common to humanity rather than being derived directly from Christian scripture.
Christians who are either Democrats or accept ideas generated by Democrats have been compromised by secular humanism. This is why it doesn’t matter whether Obamacare is actually “socialist” or not. It cannot be modified or tweaked, because it was derived in the wrong worldview. Thus, it must be rejected absolutely or at least sabotaged to the degree possible until a new law can be written from scratch by someone who has the right worldview (even if the new proposal looks strikingly similar to Obamacare, c.f. Darrell Issa).
I don’t know how many Tea Party members of Congress are evangelical, but their actions sure seem to reflect the attitude about compromise I learned in my evangelical upbringing. The anguishing irony is that Jesus’ cross is actually supposed to make Christians who accept His sacrifice for our sins into people who are the most capable of compromise. What it’s supposed to save us from is not God’s intolerance for our mistakes, but our defensiveness about our mistakes (which is what God cannot tolerate for the sake of our peace with each other).
People who think they are infallible destroy the possibility of community. That’s precisely what our government shutdown is putting on display for us, and I’m not saying that either side has a monopoly on this delusion of infallibility, just because one side is more likely to share my evangelical roots. One of the greatest freedoms that we gain as rational creatures who need to justify our actions and make sense to ourselves is the freedom to be wrong. On Jesus’ cross, God unilaterally takes the blame for our sins so that we can confess them and repent instead of insisting on our infallibility.
Jesus’ cross does not proclaim a God of no compromise who demands a people of no compromise. It rather bears witness to a God of reconciliation who uses Jesus’ cross to create ministers of reconciliation in order to establish peace throughout the world, as the apostle Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sinfor us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The “righteousness of God” described here is not God’s intolerance for imperfection, but God’s willingness to take the blame for our sins so that we can be honest with ourselves and with Him, thus enabling our authentic reconciliation. We “become” the righteousness of God when we accept both His unconditional mercy toward our sin and the duty to extend that mercy to others as equally forgiven sinners. To regard other people from a “worldly point of view” is to see them as either tools or obstacles to our self-interest, which we consider to be infallible. When we regard other people “in Christ,” our goal for our relationships with them is the same reconciliation we have received from God.
This means that we try to understand where they’re coming from. It means that we validate as much as we can about their perspectives for the sake of integrity and to build trust, even if we disagree. It means that we’re willing to compromise because the greater goal is reconciliation, and we understand that even if we’re trying our hardest to be faithful to God’s Biblical teachings, our grasp of these teachings will never be perfect and we have a lot to learn, even from people who don’t call what they know God’s truth.
I realize that not everyone behind our government shutdown is necessarily a Christian, but I do pray that God would raise up some ministers of reconciliation among them. That would bear witness to the beauty that Jesus’ cross is supposed to be, a cross that doesn’t speak of a Father so filled with rage that He had to take it out on His Son, but rather a Father who loved all of His children so much that He allowed His Son to pay the price for their mistakes so they could approach His throne with perfect honesty and freedom.So, in 1976, with only $240 to their name, the couple applied for a refugee visa, packed their luggage full of books, and made their way slowly to Australia. “It was far away from Communism,” explains Mara. “That was our preference.”
Born in 1933 and raised in Minsk, the young Michael survived the Holocaust and the Nazi occupation of the city that began in 1941. Mara and Michael suffered further under Soviet rule, which systematically discriminated against Belarusian Jews from 1944.
Balaclava’s a long way from Belarus. And that’s exactly what attracted Mara and Michael Rakov in the first place.
The Rakovs both retired in 2002 but, true to their knack for radical reinvention, the pair decided on a career change. So they bought a bakery.
“I was a scientist back in Russia. When I came to Australia I was 45 years old. We came at a time when there was a crisis, everything was down. To find proper employment in my field was difficult,” Michael says. “I decided to go into a teaching profession, which was more accessible at that stage. I started a career as a teacher and I worked at Ivanhoe Grammar for 23 years.”
But life in Australia wasn’t easy. Though Michael was a highly qualified radio physicist in the USSR, and Mara a mechanical engineer, job opportunities were scarce for refugees with limited English. To eke out a living they took on odd jobs; selling cabbage rolls at the Queen Victoria Market and helping build the West Gate Bridge.
Most bakers begin their careers as teenagers. Michael Rakov began his at 70. After buying Golden Rye International, an Eastern European bakery on Carlisle Street, a crash-course in bread was in order. They changed the name to Baker in the Rye (Golden Rye International was confusing some customers looking for a Chinese restaurant) and started reading.
Michael had no background in bread making, but he did have one in physics, which he believes gave him a head start: “I think it gives a good understanding of the chemistry and biology involved in the bread-making process … I know what’s happening inside the bread,” he explains. “I’m sure most bakers have an approximate understanding of this. There are plenty of very good bakers. But unlike the other guys, I understand it on the molecular level.”
To prove his point he gives a detailed exposition on the science of bread in terms that are mostly comprehensible: “When you mix the bread, you not only bring the ingredients together, you also develop an inner structure. Inside the dough, you bring oxygen. The more you mix, the more oxygen you bring in,” he says. “Oxygen helps, in one way, the dough to develop, but in another way it harms the dough. Too much oxygen will break the connections inside the molecules, and will affect the taste of the bread.”
Michael’s specialty is rye sourdough, a European delicacy that’s fundamentally different to what many Australians grew up on. While rye is growing in popularity here, the stuff was scarce until recently. The pumpernickel loaf most commonly found was wet and sticky, a travesty to the tastes of Michael and Mara. Pumpernickel’s very different at Baker in the Rye: light enough to eat as a sandwich; moist but evenly baked and definitely not oily. The Rakovs bake 14 other varieties of rye-based breads, from the 100-per-cent-rye-flour Bavarian Borodinsky, to the 50–50 Ukranian, Polish and Vienna loaves, and the San Francisco-style light rye.
While rye is part of the Rakovs’ culinary heritage, their attraction to the grain might have more to do with its technical challenges than a connection to the old country.
“Rye’s a very difficult product to work with,” Michael says. Essentially this comes down to the structure of rye versus, say, white bread.
White bread “develops inside itself” with a structure that resembles a bee’s honeycomb, and “when the bread starts growing, you have yeast in there, which is eating the flour and burps away carbon hydroxide,” he explains. “Because it’s a gas, it expands. In rye bread, that doesn’t happen. To develop volume, it’s enormously difficult. You have to have a very sour environment, otherwise it becomes mushy and sticky.”
At 84 Michael is still intimately involved in the bread-making process; he regularly experiments with new flours and starters and comes up with new pastries and loaves. During our interview he darts downstairs to check on the sourdough he’d begun that morning. “The dough waits for no-one!”
Whatever the Rakovs are doing, it’s working. When they took the bakery over their clientele was 80 per cent Russian immigrants and, while they’re still coming, that number is now inverted. Eighty per cent of Baker in the Rye’s customers are Australians of other backgrounds. With the help of their daughter they’ve recently remodelled the store, bringing in Fiona Lynch Design and Lucky One Creative to fit it out in rich green tiles and a very schmick new logo. Along with the range of rye they’re serving Niccolo espresso, Reuben sandwiches and cloudlike little pirozshki (pockets of dough) stuffed with cabbage and spiced beef.
While Australia might not have been the promised land the Rakovs dreamt of from their kommunalka in Minsk, it seems they found exactly what they were looking for.
“I’ll tell you a little joke,” says Michael, conspiratorially. “If you say “rye” in Russian, it means paradise.”
Baker in the Rye
185 Carlisle Street, Balaclava
(03) 9525 6744
Hours:
Mon to Fri 6.30am–6.30pm
Sat & Sun 6.30am–6pm
bakerintherye.comWatch Robert Glasper And Bilal At NPR Music's 10th Anniversary Concert
Robert Glasper's music is a study in convergences. A pianist, bandleader and composer with a strong foothold in modern jazz, he belongs no less to the terrain of contemporary gospel, alternative hip-hop — and R&B, the category under which he won his first two Grammy awards (of three). Glasper has carved a signature out of this cross-genre dialogue; consult his recent explainer for Jazz Night in America, about the jazz roots of some famous hip-hop samples.
At NPR Music's 10th Anniversary Concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., Glasper came to play, bringing longtime associate Derrick Hodge on electric bass and a newer collaborator, Justin Tyson, on drums. The performance began with something like an invocation, as Hodge played a chiming and meditative elaboration on "Portrait of Tracy," a ballad by Jaco Pastorius.
What came next was an unbilled guest: Bilal, the shape-shifting R&B vocalist who has known Glasper since the first day of freshman year at the New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music in New York. They dug into "All Matter," a tune that first appeared on Glasper's 2009 album Double Booked, later resurfacing on Bilal's 2010 release Airtight Revenge. The lyrics establish a philosophical reflection well suited to our times:
We're all the same
And all so very different
Divine by design
It all intertwines
Glasper and Bilal have performed "All Matter" countless times, always managing to find some new motivation in the song. This performance features a keyboard solo that starts out terse and gradually opens up and expands, hinting at some tricky rhythmic displacement that Tyson later ratifies, in his spectacular drum solo.
Glasper's solemn but uplifting piano interlude leads into another Bilal original, "Levels," a portrait of relationship strife that refuses to lay the blame fully on either side. It's an argument for rendering complexity with clarity — something Glasper and crew know a thing or two about.
SET LIST
"Portrait of Tracy" (excerpt) by Jaco Pastorius
"All Matter" by Bilal Oliver
"Levels" by Bilal Oliver
CREDITS
Director: Colin Marshall; Producers: Colin Marshall, Benjamin Naddaff-Hafrey; Technical Director: Josh Rogosin; Live Mix Engineer: Shawn "Gus" Vitale; Supervising Producer: Mito Habe-Evans; Managing Producers: Bob Boilen, Jacob Ganz, Jessica Goldstein, Abby O'Neill; Creative Director and Producer: Peter Glantz; Concert Videographers: Bronson Arcuri, Kara Frame, Nickolai Hammar, Morgan Noelle Smith, Maia Stern, Niki Walker; Photographer: Beck Harlan; Production Assistant: CJ Riculan; Editor: Annabel Edwards; Special Thanks: The 9:30 Club; Executive Producers: Anya Grundmann, Keith Jenkins.The local group, led by a 17-year-old named Frederik, said it obtained access to two email accounts used by the anti-Muslim extremist and uncovered details about his contacts and private life.
It then passed the information to Norwegian freelance journalist Kjetil Stormark, who handed it to police investigating the killing last month of 77 people in bomb and shooting attacks.
"The mails show some of the activity and contacts made by the perpetrator in the weeks and months leading up to the terror attacks. They also tell a tale about his private life," Mr Stormark said, without giving further detail.
Police are looking into the 32-year-old's claims that he was acting as part of an international anti-Islamic terrorist organisation when he carried out a bomb attack in Oslo and a subsequent shooting spree on the Norwegian Labour Party youth camp on Utoya island on July 22.
But prosecutor Christian Hatlo said this week that after 40 hours of questioning police are fairly certain he acted alone. They have interviewed his sister in Los Angeles and examined his computer and mobile telephone records but so far found little evidence of contact with other right-wing extremists who may have helped or influenced him. "Nothing supports suspicion about other cells (being involved), rather the opposite," Mr Hatlo said.Share this
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Email You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license. University Penn State
Interactive features can make aspects of a website memorable, but may limit a user’s memory of other parts of the site, new research suggests.
“Interactivity can enhance your cognitive capacity for information that is presented in an interactive fashion, but that enhancement of cognitive capacity doesn’t translate into encoding of everything else on the page,” says S. Shyam Sundar, professor of communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory at Penn State. “In fact, it seems to be depriving the cognitive resources that you would have otherwise allocated to non-interactive content.”
Spinning and zooming
In a study of how interaction influenced a user’s memory on a website, people who browsed an e-commerce site had better recall of information presented by interactive tools, but remembered less about the content presented in sections where there were no such tools, says Sundar. Interactive web tools include scrolling, clicking, dragging, spinning, and zooming functions.
The researchers suggest that developers of e-commerce sites should carefully consider how they design their pages to make sure that important content is not ignored because it is separated from interactive tools, says Sundar, who worked with Qian Xu, associate professor of communications at Elon University. Developers of news and media sites should also be aware of how they place content near interactive tools, he adds.
“You could consider this a headlining effect,” says Sundar. “Journalists influence user attention by sizing their headlines accordingly. And, likewise, by showcasing information with a lot of interactive tools, you’re telling the user to ‘pay attention, pay attention,’ but that means you may be asking them not to pay attention to other content.”
The findings also suggest that designers could strategically arrange interactive tools to help users navigate the page.
“If used strategically, interactive tools could effectively create a visual hierarchy to influence the order in which users decide the importance of website content,” says Xu.
The researchers note that interactive tools can increase both recognition and recall of interactive content, but tend to diminish recognition and recall memory of non-interactive content. People use recognition when spotting the correct answer among answers that are incorrect, whereas they use recall memory to call up specific details without a prompt.
‘Perceptual bandwidth’
At a certain point, however, simply adding more interactive tools may not increase a user’s recall, according to the researchers, who report their findings in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
“This finding indicates that a moderate level of interactivity would be sufficient to expand individuals’ perceptual bandwidth to process content with interactive features,” says Sundar. “Simply increasing the number of interactive features would hurt memory for non-interactive content without leading to better processing of interactive content.”
The researchers also found that people tended to spend more time on the interactive parts of the page, but this comes at a cost.
“When we looked at the total time spent on the page, we discovered that people spent more time on the site when there were fewer interactive tools,” says Xu. “This further implies that overly interactive tools may consume too many mental resources and even deprive users’ interest in exploring the rest of the page. Site and app designers need to be really careful about how much emphasis to put on interactive features.”
The researchers recruited 186 participants to browse a product website as if they were using the site to purchase a camera as a birthday gift. The participants were assigned to one of three different websites that contained a varying number of interactive tools to correspond to high, medium, and low levels of interactivity.
Subjects on the low interactivity site could only view a front and rear picture of the camera. Medium interactivity website users could click the photo for more pictures of the camera. Participants who were assigned the high interactivity site could click the image, spin it 360 degrees and zoom in to better see the camera.
To measure recognition memory, the researchers asked the subjects to take a test with 14 multiple-choice questions. They assessed recall by asking users to list any product specifications they remembered seeing on the page.
The National Science Foundation supported this work.
Source: Penn StateThe lack of action over the fate of Palestinians in Syria suggests the death and suffering of Palestinians is not enough to get people onto the streets.
The lack of action over the fate of Palestinians in Syria suggests the death and suffering of Palestinians alone is not enough to get people onto the streets
The demonstrations that have been glaringly absent from Britain’s streets during the Syrian civil war reappeared this weekend to protest against the latest round of fighting began between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The Stop The War Coalition, who months ago told the Guardian that protesting over Syria isn’t their job as they only focus on “what Britain and the US are doing”, made their usual exception for Israel by helping to organising Friday’s demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy in London.
As for Syria, STWC was only interested when it looked like Britain and the US might intervene military to stop President Assad using chemical weapons against his own people.
Their co-organisers included War on Want, whose website advertises just one past event for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and nothing about the situation in Syria itself; and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, whose website contains nothing at all about Syria.
It is perfectly understandable that people who care about human rights and the suffering of others should care about Gaza. The images emerging from there in the past week would stir anyone who cares for the plight of civilians caught up in conflict. The question of whether or not Israel’s actions are justifiable or proportionate is not the subject of this article.
Rather, it is the contrast between the demonstrations against Israel and the lack of anything comparable over the brutal slaughter in Syria that justifies some pointed questions.
By current reports, over 160 people have been killed in Gaza during the current fighting. Sources differ over how many are civilians. As a comparison, according to the Violations Documentation Center in Syria, 2,207 people were killed by regime forces in Syria last month, of whom two-thirds were civilians. Estimates of the overall total of deaths in the Syrian civil war range from 115,000 to 170,000.
Comparing reactions to events in Gaza to the non-response to much worse events in Syria is not a case of ‘whataboutery’, because the Syrian conflict directly affect Palestinians; and in this respect the lack of |
we have a precious opportunity to step back and ask some searching questions about what kind of country we want to be here at home too.
In fact, it’s not just an opportunity, but a duty. Because one thing is clear. When the British people voted in the referendum, they did not just choose to leave the EU. They were also expressing a far more profound sense of frustration about aspects of life in Britain and the way in which politics and politicians have failed to respond to their concerns.
Some voted for the first time in more than 30 years. Some for the first time ever. And they were inspired to do so because they saw a chance to reject the politics of ‘business as usual’ and to demand real, profound change. Fed up with being ignored or told that their priorities were somehow invalid, based on ignorance and misunderstanding, or even on occasion that they were simply wrong to voice the concerns that they did, they took their opportunity to send a very clear message: they will not be ignored anymore.
They want to take back control of the things that matter in their lives. They want a government that listens, understands and is on their side.
They want change. And this Government is going to deliver it.
Everything we do will be driven, not by the interests of the privileged few. Not by those with the loudest voices, the special interests, the greatest wealth or the access to influence. This Government’s priorities are those of ordinary, working class people. People for whom life can sometimes be a struggle, but who get on with things without complaint.
They get on with their jobs – sometimes two or even three of them – because they have families to feed and support, bills to pay and because to work for a fair reward is the right thing to do.
They get on with their lives quietly, going about their business, going out to work, raising families, helping neighbours, making their communities what they are.
They don’t ask for much, but they want to know that the people that make the big decisions are on their side, working for them. They want to believe that everyone plays by the same rules and things are fair.
And above all they want to believe that if they uphold their end of the deal – they do the right thing, they work hard, they pay their taxes – then tomorrow will be better than today and their children will have a fair chance in life, the chance to go as far as their talents will take them.
These are not outrageous demands or ridiculous desires, but for too many of these people today life does not seem fair. They are the people who made real sacrifices after the financial crash in 2008, though they were in no way responsible.
They wonder if others – some of whom really do bear responsibility for the crash – did the same.
More than anything else, they worry – truly worry – that the changing world around them means that their children and grandchildren won’t have the same opportunities they have enjoyed in life.
They deserve a better deal.
And to give them that, we should take this opportunity to step back and pose a fundamental question: what kind of country – what kind of society – do we want to be?
I am clear about the answer.
I want Britain to be the world’s great meritocracy – a country where everyone has a fair chance to go as far as their talent and their hard work will allow.
I want us to be a country where everyone plays by the same rules; where ordinary, working class people have more control over their lives and the chance to share fairly in the prosperity of the nation.
And I want Britain to be a place where advantage is based on merit not privilege; where it is your talent and hard work that matter not where you were born, who your parents are or what your accent sounds like.
Let us not underestimate what it will take to create that great meritocracy. It means taking on some big challenges, tackling some vested interests. Overcoming barriers that have been constructed over many years.
It means not being afraid to think differently about what disadvantage means, who we want to help and how we can help them. Because where once we reached for simple ways of labelling people disadvantaged and were quick to pose simple – and often fairly blunt – solutions, in these modern times disadvantage is much more complex.
It’s often hidden and less easy to identify. It’s caused by factors that are more indirect and tougher to tackle than ever before.
But tackle it we must if we are to give ordinary, working class people the better deal they deserve.
It means marking a significant shift in the way that government works in Britain too. Because government and politicians have for years talked the language of social justice – where we help the very poorest – and social mobility – where we help the brightest among the poor.
But to make Britain a great meritocracy we must move beyond this agenda and deliver real social reform across every layer of society so that those whom the system would currently miss – those just above the threshold for help today yet those who are by no means rich or well off – are given the help they need.
It means putting government firmly on the side of not only the poorest in our society, important though that is and will remain, but also of those in Britain who are working hard but just about managing. It means helping to make their lives a little easier; giving them greater control over the issues they care about the most.
This is the change we need. It will mean changing some of the philosophy underpinning how government thinks and acts. It will mean recalibrating how we approach policy development to ensure that everything we do as government helps to give a fair chance to those who are just getting by – while still helping those who are even more disadvantaged.
I don’t pretend this change will be easy – change rarely is – but this is the change we need if we are to make Britain the great meritocracy I want it to be.
Over the coming weeks and months the Government will set out an ambitious programme of economic and social reform that will help us make this change and build a true meritocracy in our country.
But there is no more important place to start than education. Because if the central concern ordinary working class people have is that their children will not enjoy the same opportunities they have had in life, we need to ensure that there is a good school place for every child, and education provision that caters to the individual needs and abilities of every pupil.
Schools that work for everyone
We start from a position of strength. This Government has a proud record of school reform. We have opened up the system, introducing a real diversity of provision. We have schools where teachers and headteachers are free to make the decisions that are best for them.
And through successful policies such as a renewed focus on learning the basics of reading in primary schools, and initiatives to help young people pursue a strong academic core of subjects at secondary level, we are ensuring that every child has the opportunity to develop the core knowledge that underpins everything else.
We have put control in the hands of parents and headteachers, and encouraged people from all walks of life who are passionate about education to bring their best ideas and innovations to our school system.
The Academies and Free Schools movement overseen by pioneers such as Andrew Adonis and Michael Gove has been a huge success and begun to build an education system fit for the future.
As a result, there are more good or outstanding schools today than ever before in our country. And there are now more than 1.4 million more pupils in schools rated good or outstanding than in 2010.
Our curriculum reforms mean that the proportion of pupils taking core academic subjects at GCSE is up by almost four-fifths. We are driving up school standards to match the best international comparisons, with a record number of pupils securing a place at one of our world-class universities this Summer. We can be proud of these achievements but there is still a long way to go.
Because for too many children a good school remains out of reach. There are still 1.25 million attending primary and secondary schools in England which are rated by Ofsted as requiring improvement or inadequate. If schools across the North and Midlands had the same average standards as those in the South, nearly 200,000 more children would be attending good schools.
Let’s be honest about what these statistics mean.
They mean that for far too many children in Britain, the chance they have in life is determined by where they live, or how much money their parents have.
And they mean that for far too many ordinary working class people, no matter how hard they work, how many hours they put in or how many sacrifices they make, they cannot be confident that their children will get the chances they deserve.
For when you are working two jobs and struggling to make ends meet, it is no good being told that you can choose a better school for your children if you move to a different area or pay to go private. Those aren’t choices that you can make. And they are not choices that you should have to make.
So we need to go further, building on and extending our reforms so that we can truly say that there will be a good school place for every child, and one that caters to their individual needs.
But as we do it we also need to change our philosophy and approach, because at the moment the school system works if you’re well off and can buy your way into the school you want, and it provides extra help and support if you’re from a disadvantaged family.
If you’re eligible for Free School Meals, and your parents earn less than £16,000 a year, then there is extra help on offer. That is good and right – and as long as I am Prime Minister, the Pupil Premium for the poorest children will remain.
But the Free School Meals measure only captures a relatively small number of pupils, whose parents are on income-related benefits.
If we are going to make the change we need and build a great meritocracy in Britain, we need to broaden our perspective and do more for the hidden disadvantaged: children whose parents are on modest incomes, who do not qualify for such benefits but who are, nevertheless, still only just getting by.
If you’re earning nineteen, twenty, twenty one thousand pounds a year, you’re not rich. You’re not well off. And you should know you have our support too.
At the moment there is no way to differentiate between the school experience of children from these families and those from the wealthiest ten per cent.
Policy has been skewed by the focus only on those in receipt of Free School Meals, when the reality is that there are thousands of children from ordinary working class families who are being let down by the lack of available good school places.
Putting this right means finding a way to identify these children and measuring their attainment and progress within the school system. That work is underway and is central to my vision of a school system that truly works for everyone.
But we must also deliver a radical increase in the capacity of the school system so that these families can be sure of their children getting good school places.
And this is really important. Because I don’t just want to see more school places but more good school places. And I don’t just want to see more new schools, but more good new schools that each in their way contribute to a diversity of provision that caters to the needs and abilities of each individual child, whoever they are and wherever they are from.
Every child should be given the opportunity to develop the crucial academic core. And thanks to our reforms that is increasingly the case. But people understand that every child is different too, with different talents, different interests, different dreams. To help them realise their potential and achieve those dreams we need a school system with the capacity and capability to respond to what they need.
School capacity
So as we radically expand the number of good school places available to all families – not just those who can afford to buy an expensive house, pay for an expensive private school, or fund the extra tuition their child needs to succeed – I want to encourage more people, schools and institutions with something to offer to come forward and help.
In the last six years, we have seen individuals and communities put staggering amounts of time and effort into setting up good new schools. Some of the best state schools, charities, universities, private schools, and businesses have stepped forward to get involved.
And, increasingly, the best state schools are sponsoring the least good. This has been a revolution in our schools system.
But with one and a quarter million children still attending schools that are struggling, we need to do much more to increase the capacity of the system so every child can get the education they deserve.
So let’s now build on the success of school reform, let’s encourage others to play their part, and let’s remove the barriers they face so we can do more.
Let’s sweep away those barriers and encourage more people to join us in the task of delivering a good school place for every child.
Let’s build a truly dynamic school system where schools and institutions learn from one another, support one another and help one another.
Let’s offer a diverse range of good schools that ensure the individual talents and abilities of every child are catered for.
That is my ambition.
And there are four specific proposals I want to talk about today that I believe will help.
Universities
Firstly, I want to build on the success we have already experienced when some of our great universities have stepped in to help by sponsoring or supporting a local school.
Universities have a huge amount to offer England’s schools. They have been part of the fabric of our education system since the thirteenth century and have had a profound impact on our schools over generations.
Recently we have seen The University of Cambridge establish The University of Cambridge Primary School and The University of Birmingham open an impressive new Free School for secondary school pupils and sixth formers.
The new specialist Sixth Form, King’s College London Mathematics School, is already performing impressively and the University of Brighton is involved in sponsoring more than a dozen different primary and secondary schools.
These are the kinds of innovation I want to encourage. This kind of active engagement in building the capacity of our school system is in my view far more effective than spending huge sums on bursaries and other financial support that tackle the symptoms but not the cause.
The right for a university to charge the higher level of tuition fee has always been dependent on their ability to fulfil specified access requirements. And this year, in fulfilling these requirements, they are expected to spend over £400 million on bursaries and other forms of financial support for students.
Yet the evidence is clear: it is the attainment of pupils at school that is the over-riding factor in predicting access to university.
I am not saying there is no place for bursaries. But overall, I do think the balance has tilted too far. We need to go to the root of the problem, which is that there are not enough students from disadvantaged backgrounds and from ordinary families fulfilling their potential with the grades to get into the best universities.
So I want our universities to do more to help us to improve the quality of schools so that more students of all backgrounds have the grades, the subjects, and the confidence, to apply to top universities and to be successful in their exams in the first place.
So the Government will reform university fair access requirements and say that universities should actively strengthen state school attainment – by sponsoring a state school or setting up a new Free School. And over time we will extend this to the sponsorship or establishment of more than one school, so that in the future we see our universities sponsoring thriving school chains in every town and city in the country.
Faith Schools
Second, I want to remove the obstacles that stop more good faith schools from opening.
Britain has a long history of faith schools delivering outstanding education. They already account for around a third of all mainstream schools in England. They are popular with parents and significantly more likely than other schools to be rated by Ofsted as Good or Outstanding.
I believe we should confidently promote them and the role they play in a diverse school system.
Yet for Catholic schools in particular there are barriers in their way. When a faith-designated Free School is oversubscribed, it must limit the number of pupils it selects on the basis of faith to 50 per cent.
The intention is to improve the diversity of the school’s intake but in practice it has little impact on many Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu schools because they tend not to appeal to parents of other faiths.
So despite the best intentions, the rule is failing in its objective to promote integration. But it does prevent new Catholic schools opening, because the Catholic Church believes it contravenes its own rules for a Catholic Bishop not to prioritise the admission of Catholic pupils.
This is especially frustrating because existing Catholic schools are more ethnically diverse than other faith schools, more likely to be located in deprived communities, more likely to be rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, and there is growing demand for them.
So we will remove this 50 per cent rule to allow the growth in capacity that Catholic schools can offer. Instead we will consult on a new set of much more effective requirements to ensure that faith schools are properly inclusive and make sure their pupils mix with children of other faiths and backgrounds.
Of course, there must be strict and properly enforced rules to ensure that every new faith school operates in a way that supports British values. And we should explore new ways of using the school system to promote greater integration within our society generally.
We will encourage the grouping together of mono-racial and mono-religious schools within wider multi-racial and multi-religious trusts. This will make it easier for children from different backgrounds in more divided communities to mix between schools, while respecting religious differences.
We will explore ways in which schools can enter into twinning arrangements with other schools not of their faith, through sharing lessons or joint extra-curricular activities to bring young people from different schools together.
And we will consult on the idea of placing an independent member or director who is of a different faith or no faith at all on the governing body of new faith schools.
We will also explore new requirements for new faith schools to prove that parents of other faiths would be happy to send their children to the school through a proper process of consultation.
But fundamentally I believe it is wrong to deny families the opportunity to send their children to a school that reflects their religious values if that’s what they choose. And it’s right to encourage faith communities – especially those with a proven record of success, like the Catholics – to play their full part in building the capacity of our schools.
Independent Schools
Third, I want to encourage some of our biggest independent schools to bring their knowledge, expertise and resources to bear to help improve the quality and capacity of schools for those who cannot afford to pay.
This is entirely in keeping with the ethos that lies at the heart of many of these institutions. Most of the major public schools started out as the route by which poor boys could reach the professions. The nature of their intake may have changed today – indeed these schools have become more and more divorced from normal life.
Between 2010 and 2015 their fees rose four times faster than average earnings growth, while the percentage of their pupils who come from overseas has gone up by 33% since 2008. But I know that their commitment to giving something back to the wider community remains.
These are great schools with a lot to offer and I certainly don’t believe you solve the divide between the rich and the rest by abolishing or demolishing them. You do it by extending their reach and asking them to do more as a condition of their privileged position to help all children.
Through their charitable status, private schools collectively reduce their tax bills by millions every year. And I want to consult on how we can amend Charity Commission guidance for independent schools to enact a tougher test on the amount of public benefit required to maintain charitable status.
It’s important to state that this will be proportionate to the size and scale of the school in question. Not every school is an Eton or a Harrow. Many public schools are nowhere near that size.
Smaller independent schools who do not have the capacity to take on full sponsorship of a local state school will be asked to provide more limited help such as direct school-to-school support where appropriate. This could include supporting teaching in minority subjects such as further maths or classics, which state schools often struggle to make viable. It could include ensuring their senior leaders become directors of Multi-Academy Trusts; providing greater access to their facilities and providing sixth-form scholarships to a proportion of pupils in year 11 at each local school.
But for those with the capacity and capability, we will ask them to go further and actually sponsor or set up a new government-funded school in the state sector and take responsibility for running it and ensuring its success.
Alternatively, we will ask them to fund a number of places at their own school themselves for those from modest backgrounds who cannot afford to pay the fees.
We know this can work. For example, Westminster School is the key partner in sponsoring Harris Westminster Sixth Form, where students at the free school share the facilities and teaching expertise of Westminster School.
In my own constituency, Eton College sponsors Holyport College, offering Holyport pupils access to its sports facilities and the chance to join its educational activities.
And before it became a state funded academy, Belvedere School in Liverpool worked with the Sutton Trust to create an Open Access Scheme where places were awarded purely on the basis of academic merit, and parents were then asked to pay on a sliding scale of fees fairly tailored according to their means.
I want all independent schools with the appropriate capacity and capability to take these kinds of steps.
I want them to play a major role in creating more good school places for children from ordinary working families; because this Government is about a Britain that works for everyone – not just a privileged few.
Selective schools
There is one final area where we have placed obstacles in the way of good new schools – obstacles that I believe we need to take away.
The debate over selective schools has raged for years. But the only place it has got us to is a place where selection exists if you’re wealthy – if you can afford to go private – but doesn’t exist if you’re not. We are effectively saying to poorer and some of the most disadvantaged children in our country that they can’t have the kind of education their richer counterparts can enjoy.
What is ‘just’ about that? Where is the meritocracy in a system that advantages the privileged few over the many? How can a meritocratic Britain let this situation stand?
Politicians – many of whom benefited from the very kind of education they now seek to deny to others – have for years put their own dogma and ideology before the interests and concerns of ordinary people. For we know that grammar schools are hugely popular with parents. We know they are good for the pupils that attend them. Indeed, the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils is reduced to almost zero for children in selective schools. And we know that they want to expand.
They provide a stretching education for the most academically able, regardless of their background, and they deliver outstanding results.
In fact, 99 per cent of existing selective schools are rated Good or Outstanding – and 80 per cent are Outstanding, compared with just twenty per cent of state schools overall.
So we help no one – not least those who can’t afford to move house or pay for a private education – by saying to parents who want a selective education for their child that we won’t let them have it.
There is nothing meritocratic about standing in the way of giving our most academically gifted children the specialist and tailored support that can enable them to fulfil their potential. In a true meritocracy, we should not be apologetic about stretching the most academically able to the very highest standards of excellence.
We already have selection to help achieve this in specialist disciplines like music and sport, giving exceptionally talented young people access to the facilities and training that can help them become world class. I think we should have more of this. But we should also take the same approach to support the most academically gifted too.
Frankly, it is completely illogical to make it illegal to open good new schools. So I want to relax the restrictions that stop selective schools from expanding, that deny parents the right to have a new selective school opened where they want one, and that stop existing non-selective schools to become selective in the right circumstances and where there is demand.
In return, we will ensure that these schools contribute meaningfully to raising outcomes for all pupils in every part of the system.
In practice this could mean taking a proportion of pupils from lower income households, so that selective education is not reserved for those with the eans to move into a catchment area or pay for tuition to pass the test. They could, as a condition of opening a new selective school, be asked to establish a good, new non-selective school. Others may be asked to establish a primary feeder school in an area with a high density of lower income households to widen access. They might even partner with an
to move house or pay for a private education – by saying to parents who want a selective education for their child that we won’t let them have it.
There is nothing meritocratic about standing in the way of giving our most academically gifted children the specialist and tailored support that can enable them to fulfil their potential. In a true meritocracy, we should not be apologetic about stretching the most academically able to the very highest standards of excellence.
We already have selection to help achieve this in specialist disciplines like music and sport, giving exceptionally talented young people access to the facilities and training that can help them become world class. I think we should have more of this. But we should also take the same approach to support the most academically gifted too.
Frankly, it is completely illogical to make it illegal to open good new schools. So I want to relax the restrictions that stop selective schools from expanding, that deny parents the right to have a new selective school opened where they want one, and that stop existing non-selective schools to become selective in the right circumstances and where there is demand.
In return, we will ensure that these schools contribute meaningfully to raising outcomes for all pupils in every part of the system.
In practice this could mean taking a proportion of pupils from lower income households, so that selective education is not reserved for those with the means to move into a catchment area or pay for tuition to pass the test. They could, as a condition of opening a new selective school, be asked to establish a good, new non-selective school. Others may be asked to establish a primary feeder school in an area with a high density of lower income households to widen access. They might even partner with an existing non-selective school within a multi-academy trust or sponsor a currently underperforming non-selective academy.
But the principle is clear: selective schools have a part to play in helping to expand the capacity of our school system and they have the ability to cater to the individual needs of every child. So the Government will make up to £50 million a year available to support the expansion of good or outstanding existing grammars.
Now I know this will be the source of much debate in the consultation over the coming months, so I want to address very directly some of the key arguments made by those who oppose the expansion of grammar schools.
First, there are those who fear this could lead to the return of a binary system, as we had in the past with secondary moderns. But this fear is unfounded: there will be no return to secondary moderns.
As I have set out today, far from a binary system we are supporting the most diverse school system we have ever had in our country.
From free schools sponsored by universities and independent schools, to faith schools and selective schools, the diversity of high quality school provision means we will be able to cater properly for the different needs of all pupils and give parents real control over the kind of school they want for their children.
We do not want to see whole new parts of the country where the choice of schools is binary. So we will use the approvals process to prevent that from happening.
Second, there are those who argue that selective schools tend to recruit children from more affluent backgrounds. The problem here is not selective schools per se but rather the way that wealthy families can already dominate access to the schools of their choice through selection by house price. I want to stop that and new grammars can help.
We are going to ask new grammars to demonstrate that they will attract pupils from different backgrounds, for example by taking a proportion of children from lower income households. And existing grammars will be expected to do more too – by working with local primary schools to help children from more disadvantaged backgrounds to apply.
Third, there are those who argue that grammars don’t actually select on ability because wealthy families can pay tutors to help their children get through the tests. This might have been the case in the past with the old eleven plus. But it does not have to be the case today.
While there is no such thing as a tutor proof test, many selective schools are already employing much smarter tests that assess the true potential of every child. So new grammars will be able to select in a fair and meritocratic way, not on the ability of parents to pay.
Fourth, there are those who worry about the cliff-edge of selection at 11. Some fear it is too early, some fear it is too late. The truth is that it doesn’t have to be a cliff-edge at all. This is back in the old mindset of the grammar schools of the past. A modern, meritocratic education system needs to be much more flexible and agile to respond to the needs of every child. So we will demand that new grammars make the most of their freedom to be flexible over how students move between schools, encouraging this to happen at different ages such as 14 and 16 as well as 11.
This means that children who are at a non-selective school sponsored by a grammar might join the grammar for specific subjects or specialisms where they themselves are outstanding – or they might move to the grammar full-time later than aged 11, based on their performance at their current school.
Finally, people get lost in the argument about whether the grammars schools of the 1950s and 60s improved social mobility or not. But I want to focus on the new grammars of the future: those that will be just one element of a truly diverse system which taken as a whole can give every child the support they need to go as far as their talents can take them. And give every parent access to a good school place for their child.
This is the true test of schools that work for everyone. And the true test of a meritocratic society.
The Great Meritocracy
There has been a lot of speculation in the last few weeks, but as you now know this is not a proposal to go back to a binary model of grammars and secondary moderns but to build on our increasingly diverse schools system. It is not a proposal to go back to the 1950s but to look to the future, and that future I believe is an exciting one.
It is a future in which every child should have access to a good school place. And a future in which Britain’s education system shifts decisively to support ordinary working class families.
These families are not asking for the world. They just want to know that their children and grandchildren will enjoy the opportunities they have enjoyed and be given the chance to go as far as their talents will take them. Unhindered by background or circumstance. And by the artificial barriers some want to put in their way.
In a country that works for everyone it doesn’t matter where you were born, or how much your parents earn. If you work hard and do the right thing, you will be able to go as far as you can.
I want this country to be a great meritocracy. I want to see more houses built, better productivity so we can have more well-paid jobs, more economic growth not just in the South East of England but across the whole country to help more people get on.
But more than anything else, I want to see children from ordinary, working class families given the chances their richer contemporaries take for granted. That means we need more great schools.
This is the plan to deliver them and to set Britain on the path to being the great meritocracy of the world.Following vandalism of the doors of East Asian students in several residence halls this week, administrators have launched an investigation to determine whether the incident was racially biased.
According to an email sent to East Asian cultural student groups Wednesday afternoon from Melinda Aquino, associate dean of multicultural affairs with Undergraduate Student Life, the Office of Multicultural Affairs has received reports from students in several residential halls that door tags have been taken down, primarily from doors of students who have non-Western, specifically East Asian names. Tags were torn down in Schapiro, East Campus, and Furnald halls, according to a University spokesperson.
The acts of vandalism come in the week following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that heavily restricted immigration to the United States, which Aquino said has affected the University's international students.
"The growing climate of xenophobia furthers the impact of this action and the anxiety felt by many of our students," Aquino said in her email.
Aquino requested that anyone who has information or who has been affected in any way reach out to her via email, phone, or in person at her office in Lerner 510. Bias incident reports can also be submitted via the EOAA website.
The department, along with Residential Life, will be reaching out to other groups across campus about this incident to support affected students and determine next steps, according to a University spokesperson.
Ruiqi Zhong, SEAS '19, said the tag was torn down from his door in Furnald on Sunday. Zhong did not consider it a serious event until he heard from several of his Chinese friends that their tags had been torn down, too.
"I think if you really dislike people from China, you can express it in an even more explicit way or perhaps foster some meaningful conversation, but ripping off door tags doesn't make any sense," Zhong said. "It doesn't scare me—it seems ridiculous, in my opinion."
The Asian American Alliance released a statement Wednesday night that said the instances of vandalism "remind us of our larger, shared struggle for racial justice and against antagonism directed at minority groups." Seven other student groups, including the Korean Students Association, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and the Global China Connection, also signed the statement.
"We're hoping not only to draw attention to how horrible [this incident] was, but also to draw attention to the fact that this is an act to divide Asians and Asian Americans," Asian American Alliance member Tina Wu, BC '19, told Spectator. "I'm hoping that this incident will draw attention to the racism that already exists in conjunction to Trump being elected and his few days in office."
Aquino has asked students to report any further incidents to their resident adviser.
Check back for updates.
[email protected] | @ColumbiaSpecDo you prefer your maths in exotic locations? Then perhaps you should join a band of bell ringers, engaged in the grand old practice of ringing the changes. You could then employ your art in churches throughout (mainly) the English speaking world. But what does bell ringing have to do with maths? As we'll explain, a lot!
The rules of the game
Let's begin by paying a virtual visit to the bell ringers of St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia.
The bell ringers of St Paul's warm up by ringing the bells in sequence.
St Paul's has twelve main bells, tuned in the key of C# major. The smallest, which we can label bell 1, sounds the highest note, with the largest, bell 12, sounding the lowest. Changes can be rung using any number of bells. So, we'll simplify things and begin with just bells 1 to 4.
A change is what mathematicians refer to as a permutation, the ringing of each of the four bells exactly once. For example, 3214 refers to the change of ringing bell 3, then bell 2, bell 1 and finally bell 4. To ring the changes means to ring a sequence of changes, whilst obeying three mathematical rules:
The sequence starts and ends with the change 1234.
Except for 1234 as the first and last changes, no change is repeated.
From one change to the next, any bell can move by at most one position in its order of ringing.
The Plain Bob ringing of all permutations of four bells.
As an illustration of the third rule, the change 2134 would not be permitted after 3214, since bell 3 would have to move two positions. Here is an example of a sequence of changes, known as, which does obey the rules:
Here we first move down the left column, then the middle column and finally the right column. You can check that the third rule is obeyed — from one change to the next a bell either remains where it is, or it swaps places with an adjacent bell, as indicated by the crosses.
The bell ringers of St Paul's ring Plain Bob on the four smallest bells.
Here are a few facts to give you a sense of real bell ringing. To ring one change takes roughly two seconds, about the time for a large bell to complete its natural swing. When bell ringers really go wild, they may ring a sequence of 5,000 changes or more (known as a peal), resulting in several hours of bellish amusement for the neighbours. Also, by convention, bell ringers are not permitted any memory aids such as sheet music. Nor may they be relieved by another bell ringer in order to, well, "relieve" themselves. This means that a serious bell ringer must effectively recite a sequence of several thousand numbers, one every two seconds, and to translate this sequence into perfect bell ringing. It can take a bell ringer several months to master ringing a single bell on their own, and years before they can dream of performing marathon bell ringing as a member of a team.
Ringing lots of changes
When ringing bells, one of the grand goals is to ring a sequence that includes every possible change. This is known as an extent. An extent on four bells contains all 1×2×3×4=24 possible changes, as is the case for Plain Bob. (Traditionally, the first occurrence of the change 1234 is not included in the count). In general, an extent on n bells consists of all 1×2×3×...×n possible changes.
If we have a large number of bells, it is not obvious how to construct an extent that obeys the bell ringing rules. To see one way that this can be done, consider the diagram below. It illustrates a clever method for transforming an extent on three bells into an extent on four bells. Each of the changes in the 3-bell extent is written four times, and then a 4 is inserted in every change, so that the new digits oscillate between right and left as indicated. But then, the very same scheme allows us to transform our 4-bell extent into a 5-bell extent, and then into a 6-bell extent, and so on, up to as many bells as we wish.
Creating a 4-bell extent from a 3-bell extent.
The following table indicates the numbers of changes in extents on varying numbers of bells, and the approximate time needed to ring them. The names are those commonly used by bell ringers to denote the various sequences. For example, our 4-bell extent above is known as Plain Bob Minimus. It is also possible to ring Plain Bob Doubles (on five bells), Plain |
before he takes Oezdemir to the fence. Good left hands inside by Oezdemir and Manuwa’s hurt! Manuwa staggers back and Oezdemir blasts him with punches until he goes to sleep. Manuwa tries to grapple the ref as Oezdemir celebrates another stunning knockout.
Final result: Oezdemir def Manuwa by KO (punches)
145 lbs.: Jason Knight vs. Ricardo Lamas
Round 1: Good jab from Lamas, then a low leg kick. Lamas ducks in for a takedown and Knight grabs a guillotine, ultimately abandoning it when Lamas continues to drive. Lamas completes the takedown into side control. One minute in. Knight regains guard and fires upkicks. Mission control when Lamas goes back in. Two minutes in. Lamas keeping pressure on, gets out of the rubber guard and stands over him. Knight still lashing out with solid upkicks. Knight goes for a leg with two minutes to go.
Lamas gets his knee free and separates, hurting Knight with a series of huge shots when he stands. Lamas is beating the shit out of him. The ref is about to stop this. Knight’s legs aren’t there. Another huge right hand. Knight’s out on his feet. He tries to pull guard and Lamas bombs him with ground-and-pound until the ref steps in.
Final result: Lamas def. Knight by TKO (punches)
140 lbs.: Renan Barao vs. Aljamain Sterling
Round 1: Both men come out kicking. Barao tries a wheel kick, eats a leg kick. Barao blocking kicks a minute in. Hook kick attempt. Sterling slips during a simultaneous kick and goes for a leg when Barao takes him down. Barao defending, landing the occasional shot. Sterling doesn’t have the knee trapped. Two minutes in. Sterling chatting with the ref. He drops it and Barao takes guard. Short shots from Barao. Two minutes to go.
Barao passes to half guard. Still doing work with ground-and-pound. One minute to go. Sterling tries an armbar, then a triangle before Barao postures out and blasts him with a left hand. 10-9 Barao.
Round 2: Leg kicks from Aljo to start. Barao tries a spinning back kick. Sterling jumps in with a body kick, etas a right hand when he tries to spin. Good inside leg kick. Barao lands a cut kick and grabs an anaconda choke when Sterling tries to shoot, not deep enough and he drops it. Overhand left fro, Sterling a minute in. They tie up and Sterling puts him on the fence. Sterling transitions directly to the back and goes for a Suloev stretch. He drops it and Barao tries to turn into him. Both hooks still in two minutes in. Still working on it. Two minutes to go.
Sterling trying to flatten Barao out, landing hard shots. Barao sits out and manages to regain guard. One minute to go. Nasty elbows by Sterling. Barao throws up a triangle, easily avoided. Sterling doing great work from top position. Nasty elbows open the former champ up. 10-8 Sterling.
Round 3: Hard front kick from Sterling and Barao is hurt. Putting together shots. Up-elbow lands and he shoots. One minute in. Herb Dean separates them 45 seconds later. Barao still looks wobbly. Two minutes in. Barao’s punches lack snap and the speeds not there. Big left hand and uppercut by Sterling. He again puts Barao on the fence. Two minutes to go.
I think Barao is done as an elite fighter. They break it up twenty seconds later. Sterling with a big left hand. Head kick just blocked, side kick is not. Barao lands a right hand. One minute to go. Barao looks for a takedown, moves to the rear waistlock. Barao not doing anything to advance position until the last fifteen seconds, when he slings Sterling to the mat and takes the back. 10-9 Sterling.
Final result: Sterling def. Barao by unanimous decision
145 lbs.: Renato Moicano vs. Brian Ortega
Round 1: Moicano opens with a leg kick. Conservative start to the fight. Hard right hand from Ortega after taking some leg kicks. Moicano with a stiff jab and right hand. 1-2-3 by Moicano lands clean. Two minutes in. Overhand right lands for Ortega. Moicano catches a finger in the eye. Back to the action. Hard leg kick by Ortega caught. Two minutes to go.
Left hook from Moicano lands clean, Ortega with a right hand on the pivot. Right hand from Ortega. One minute to go. OVerhand right from Moicano, then a stiff jab. Low kick exchange. Moicano flurries before the bell and ORtega tries a jump knee. 10-9 Moicano.
Round 2: Aggressive start from both men. Glancing head kick from Moicano. To the body now. One minute in. 1-2. Ortega tries a wheel kick, eats a combo from Moicano. Another finger in the eye, ref didn’t see it. Right hand from Moicano, who’s found his range. Ortega with a left hook two minutes in. More jabs from the Brazilian. Ortega pursuing, throwing heat, coming up short. Right hand by Moicano, Ortega tries to spin. Moicano combination met by a right hand. Moicano with another clean punching series. Two minutes to go.
More combinations by Moicano, punctuated with single shots from Ortega. One minute to go. Knee from Moicano, nasty body shots from Ortega. Overhand right by Moicano. Left hook from Moicano. Ortega’s not stopping and he’s still throwing hard. Moicano hits a takedown. 10-9 Moicano.
Round 3: Man, they’re still going at it. Leg kick from Moicano. Another Moicano leg kick. Ortega shoots, stuffed. Left hook by Moicano between Ortega jabs. 3-2 from Moicano, right hands from Ortega high and low. One minute in. Jab exchange. Right hand from Moicano, 1-2. Low-high combo. Ortega tries to spin again. Jab by Ortega. 2-3 from Moicano, leg kick, check hook. Ortega fires an uppercut inside. Two minutes in. Ortega shoots, denied. Moivano goes low-high. Another booming right hand, Ortega shrugs it off and lands a 1-2. Ortega to the body, MOicano with another huge shot. Moicano grabs a bodylock takedown and Ortega taps him with a guillotine.
Final result: Ortega def. Moicano by submission (guillotine choke)
145 lbs.: Andre Fili vs. Calvin Kattar
Round 1: Left hand lands for Fili, Kattar counters a body kick with a straight right. Good jabs by Kattar. Glancing overhand by Fili a minute in. Kattar blocks a head kick. Low leg kick lands. Fili answers with a leg kick, eats a body shot. Two minutes in. Hard 1-2 by Kattar and a leg kick. Body shot. Fili with a 2-1. Good exchange in the center. Two minutes to go.
Kattar tries a head kick, counters Fili’s. Fili with a combo in return. 1-2 from Fili. Kattar counters a leg kick with a right hand. One minute to go. Kattar stuffs a shot and they trade good shots. Fili lands a right hand, slips on the fence, gets dragged down. Kattar pins Fili’s right hand behind him and drills him with lefts. 10-9 Kattar.
Round 2: Good right hand from Kattar early. 2-3 by Fili and a body kick. Straight left. Low kick by Kattar a minute in. Fili cracks him with a right cross. Big 3-2 lands for Kattar. Low kick by Kattar, combo from Fili upstairs. Kattar with another hard right hand. Bigger right hand soon after. Two minutes in. Left hook lands. Fili lands a body kick, eats a counter left. Kattar lands well from southpaw, shift into another right hand. Fili fires a head kick with two minutes to go.
Straight left from Kattar. Fili low kick hits groin. Another right by Kattar. Both land their lefts with a minute to go. Fili sending out more kicks. Right hand by KAttar, combination by Fili. Nasty counters by Fili now. Body kick. 1-1-2 from Kattar lands big and they trade bombs. 10-9 Kattar.
Round 3: Fili with a leg kick early. Stiff jab by Kattar. Check hook lands for him. Fili looks for the body kick, lands a straight left a minute in. Kattar comes up short with a wheel kick. Left hook by Kattar. Check hook connects and he knocks Fili off-balance. Two minutes in. Right cross by Kattar over the jab. They trade punches. Two minutes to go.
Kattar lands a jab. Counter combination by Fili, good uppercut in the middle. Kattar finds him with the 1-2 again. Another hard right by Kattar, who jumps in with a body kick and lands a hard left hand. One minute to go. Kattar nearly ducks into a head kick, instead catches it and takes Fili down into guard. Kattar lands a few shots before letting Fili back up. Fili with a body kick. Low kicks by Kattar. 10-9 Kattar.
Final result: Kattar def. Fili by unanimous decision
115 lbs.: Alexandra Albu vs. Kailin Curran
Round 1: Albu pressing forward with combinations, stings Curran with a right hand. Curran ties up, eats knees, puts her on the fence. Knee exchanges. Good left by Curran on the break. Albu in pursuit, lands a hard 3-2 and pulls guard a minute in. Curran lands a pair of shots and Albu rolls for a kneebar. Curran digs away with right hand and takes the back. Albu regains guard. Ground-and-pound two minutes in. Albu makes it to her feet, eats a knee downstairs. Albu with more good punches, counters a takedown into guard. Curran kicks her off. Two minutes to go.
Curran puts her on the fence. Knee to the body. They separate. 1-2 from Albu. One minute to go. Leg kick from Curran, body kick by Albu. Albu hits a head-and-arm throw into side control and lands some heavy ground-and-pound. Curran hits a sweep and Albu tries to pull guard again. They jockey for position. 10-9 Albu.
Round 2: Right hand from Albu. Curran with a pair of right hands, briefly ties up. Albu with a stiff jab. Teep, right hand comes back from Curran. One minute in. Albu with a pair of knees downstairs. 3-2 by Albu. Albu hits another head-and-arm throw and sets up in guard. Hammerfists by the Russian. Curran kicks her off and tags her on the fence. Albu hits the same throw again two minutes in. Half guard. Albu still landing ground-and-pound. Curran lands a blatantly illegal upkick and Albu elects to just keep going. Two minutes to go.
Curran scrambles up. Knee to the body by Curran. Elbows by Albu, Curran puts her on the fence. They separate. Left hook from Albu. Body kicks, counters from Curran. One minute to go. Counter right from Albu. Knee from Albu, right hand from Curran inside. More left hooks by Albu, right hand behind one. Curran dings her with a right straight, eats a bigger one. 10-9 Albu.
Round 3: Good shots by Curran early. Solid head kick as Albu retreats on the fence and Curran ties up. They soon separate. Right hand by Albu. Jabs from both. Albu ties up a minute in, lands a left hook. Straight right lands for her. Curran to the body and they bounce right hands off each other’s heads. 1-2 by Curran, straight right by Albu. They’re going for it. Curran hits a takedown into side control when Albu tries a headlock two minutes in. Half guard. Curran with some ground-and-pound. Albu just gives her the arm triangle. Two minutes to go.
Albu still holding onto the head, loses it and regains half guard as Curran drops punches. Hard left hand from Curran when Albu tries to stand. Curran on top in guard with a minute to go. Good elbow. Curran continues to land as Albu works her way up. Nice exchanges. Albu catches a body kick and just shoves her to the mat. Curran makes her way up, lands on top. 10-9 Curran, close to but not quite a 10-8.
Final result: Albu def. Curran by unanimous decision
125 lbs.: Jarred Brooks vs. Eric Shelton
Round 1: Brooks already super mobile. Shelton catches a low kick, can’t use it. Hard counter right from Shelton. One minute in. Counter right off another Brooks low kick. Brooks shoots and gets Shelton to his butt on the fence. Shelton looks for elbows. Two minutes in. Ref wants more action from Brooks. Solid knee to the body lands for him as Shelton pops up. Brooks shoots, eats an elbow, completes it. Brooks clamps down on Shelton’s neck with two minutes to go.
Brooks looks for a crucifix crank, then transitions to a guillotine, then hits another takedown. Brooks staying heavy on the head. Brooks rolls for a guillotine and takes full mount. Shelton gives a thumbs-up. 10-9 Brooks.
Round 2: Shelton whiffs on an overhand right, takes a left hook. Jab exchange. Shelton advancing as Brooks circles. One minute in. 1-2 by Shelton. Not much from either man so far. Brooks ducks a right hand for a shot, sprawled on. Two minutes in. Brooks tries a spinning back fist. Shelton still pressing forward. Jab lands. Two minutes to go.
1-2 lands for Shelton. Uppercut and left hook from Brooks appear to rattle Shelton. Shelton shoots off a naked Brooks leg kick and hits a takedown on the fence. Brooks looking for the guillotine. He falls back for it and Shelton scrambles free. Brooks blasts through for a takedown before the bell. 10-9 Shelton.
Round 3: Early flurry from Brooks. One minute in. Shelton continues to pressure. BIG right hand drops Brooks, who shoots and gets stuffed. Two minutes in. Brooks tries a flurry. Left hook by Shelton. Two minutes to go.
Brooks looks for a body kick. Level change, denied. 3-2 lands for Shelton, counter hook by Brooks and a right hand soon after. One minute to go. Jab exchange. Lead right hand from Shelton. He shoots and they clash heads. Brooks shoots, sprawled on. Shelton tries a flying knee and goes for an arm-in guillotine at the bell. 10-9 Shelton.
Final result: Brooks def. Shelton by split decision
155 lbs.: Josh Burkman vs. Drew Dober
Round 1: Dober on the advance early, lands a pair of leg kicks on the counter. Burkman ducks a probing jab for a takedown attempt, Dober shoves him onto the fence. One minute in. Knees from Dober. They separate. Low kick from Burkman. Heavy body kick lands, Dober answers with a leg kick. Two minutes in. Both landing to the legs, then Dober lands a right hook and shoots. Heavy counter left by Burkman as they separate. Dober lands one in return and both connect as they exchange. Two minutes to go.
Dober backs him up near the fence, feints low, and knocks Burkman cold with an overhand left.
Final result: Dober def. Burkman by KO (punch)Diestel Turkey, sold by Whole Foods and other retailers at premium prices, says on its website that its “animals are never given hormones, antibiotics or growth stimulants.”
But Diestel Turkey samples tested by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggest otherwise, leading consumers to wonder: Can these companies be trusted?
According to testing conducted under the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) National Residue Program, samples of Diestel Turkey products tested positive for numerous drug and antibiotic residues.
One of those drugs, Chloramphenicol, is strictly prohibited by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in food production because it’s known to have “severe toxic effects in humans including bone marrow suppression or aplastic anemia in susceptible individuals.”
According to an amended complaint filed November 14, against Diestel Turkey Ranch, the FSIS inspected Diestel turkeys on four dates in 2015 and 2016, and reported, in addition to Chloramphenicol, residues of antibiotics important for human use, veterinary antibiotics, a hormone and other pharmaceuticals.
Animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) brought the action against the privately held Sonora, Calif., turkey producer in the Superior Court of California. Animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) brought the action against the privately held Sonora, Calif., turkey producer in the Superior Court of California. DxE is suing Diestel for falsely advertising its turkey products as hormone- and antibiotic-free, and for deceiving consumers about how the comprany's birds are raised and treated.
According to the lawsuit, Diestel turkey products tested by the USDA were positive for residues of:
ketamine, a narcotic. The Drug Enforcement Agency describes ketamine as “a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects.” Ketamine’s street names include Special K, Cat Tranquilizer, and Cat Valium, the latter two referencing its veterinary uses, and it is commonly referred to as a club drug because it is used illegally at dance clubs and raves. The FDA has not approved the use of ketamine in poultry.
Amikacin, an antibiotic for human use that the FDA considers important for humans.
Spectinomycin, also an antibiotic for human use
Hygromycin, an antibiotic for veterinary use
Ipronidazole, also a veterinary pharmaceutical
Melengestrol acetate, also known as MGA, a synthetic hormone
Sulfanitran, an antibacterial drug feed additive
Kim Richman of Richman Law Group, which represents DxE, said that to the best of his knowledge, the USDA did not test any certified organic Diestel Turkey samples. “Since organic meat goes through a certification process, the end product is not tested. It appears that the National Residue Program samples only non-organic meat and poultry,” Richman said.
This isn’t the first time some of these drugs, including chloramphenicol and Ketamine, have been found in poultry. As reported by Bloomberg on June 22, the Organic Consumers Association, Friends of the Earth and Center for Food Safety sued Sanderson Farms, the third largest poultry producer in the U.S., for advertising its chicken as “100% natural” even though USDA testing reported finding drug residues in Sanderson chicken samples.
Consumers aren’t pleased to learn that factory farm poultry brands mislead them. But they aren’t necessarily surprised either.
But it’s a whole different story when the brands they thought they could trust, turn out to be making false claims, too.
Are Diestel and Whole Foods misleading consumers?
Producers like Diestel, and retailers like Whole Foods, know consumers are willing to pay a premium for hormone-free, antibiotic-free turkeys from farms that have high animal-welfare standards.
But what happens when companies make claims that don’t live up to consumer expectations?
Diestel Turkey claims its birds live idyllic lives. On its website, the company says:
All of our whole-body Diestel turkeys are raised under our strict standards. We support our turkeys with a healthy environment, fresh mountain water, and the clean air from the Sierra Nevada Foothills. Our feed never contains fillers, our birds are never given growth stimulants or antibiotics, and we never make compromises when it comes to the quality of the feed.
Whole Foods gives Diestel Turkey its 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating standard, a rating intended to differentiate factory farm meat from pasture-raised. The rating not only sets high standards for “the comfort, physical safety and health of the animals,” but also prohibits he use of hormones and antibiotics.
The USDA testing suggests that Diestel is deceiving consumers about the use of antibiotics and other drugs on its farms. A nine-month investigation of Diestel Turkey Ranch by DxE suggests Diestel also deceives consumers not only about the use of antibiotics and hormones, but also about how the turkeys it sells are treated before being slaughtered for meat.
On its website, Diestel says:
We pay close attention to the health of our birds by spending time with them in the fields, observing their behaviors, and making sure they have the best environment possible.
But according to the complaint DxE filed against Diestel, the turkey producer bases those claims on one “picture-perfect” farm as its “poster child” farm—but raises most of its turkeys elsewhere, under industrial factory farm conditions.
And that picture-perfect farm is rated Step 5, even though most turkeys do not enjoy those Step 5 conditions.
In reality, DxE’s investigation found that the vast majority of the turkeys sold by Diestel are raised under very different conditions than those portrayed by the Diestel website. According to the lawsuit, the DxE investigation found:
turkeys raised in over-crowded barns
turkeys found languishing or dead
turkeys suffering from excessive confinement
turkeys trapped in feces that covered much of the barn floor, up to one-half foot deep
turkeys suffering from swollen-shut eyes, swollen nostrils, open wounds, and/or bruises
turkeys missing large patches of feathers as a result of pecking one another and/or de-feathering from extreme stress
turkeys routinely subject to debeaking and/or beak-trimming
turkeys laboring to breathe in an enclosed barn environment dense with ammonia and particles of dried feces and feathers
as many as 7 percent of birds in a barn dying in a single week.
What’s a consumer to do? We’ve put together this Holiday Turkey Buying Guide that steers consumers in the direction of reliable sources of honestly marketed turkeys.
And as always, we recommend consumers take advertising and marketing claims with a grain of salt, until those claims can be verified by a third party.
In the meantime, we’re asking consumers to ask Whole Foods to stop selling Diestel Turkey products.- Six Flags Over Texas had a change of heart and took down the Confederate States of America flag at the park in Arlington.
Since it opened in 1961, the park has displayed flags for governments of Texas history: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the U.S. and the Confederate States of America.
The amusement park initially said it would continue to fly a version of the Confederate flag despite the recent push to wipe out such symbols. Park officials told TMZ it felt park patrons were “astute enough to know the difference” between the Confederate States of America flag and the Confederate Battle flag, which is commonly associated with white supremacy.
But on Friday, the company announced it would switch to flying the U.S. flag only.
“At Six Flags Over Texas, we strive every single day to make people happy and to create a fun, thrilling and safe family friendly experience for our guests," they said in a statement. "We always choose to focus on celebrating the things that unite us versus those that divide us. As such, we have changed the flag displays in our park to feature American flags."
Six Flags said they'll continue to fly branded flags for special events as it's done in the past but plan to keep the U.S. flags as the permanent display.It was this time of the year in 2012 when I met Haya Fatima Iqbal after a long time.
She had just returned from her Masters in New York, so we had a lot to catch up on, gossip included. But what Haya really wanted to talk about was her options as a documentary filmmaker in Pakistan.
Little did we know back then that she will make it to the Oscars, just four years down the line. Haya worked as a co-producer on Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short yesterday.
Haya Fatima Iqbal, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Asad Faruqi at the Oscars ceremony
The documentary, a joint production of SOC Films and Home Box Office, follows the life of 18-year-old Saba, who is a survivor of an honour killing attempt — by her father.
Finding Saba
It started from a news story published in a local Urdu daily in June 2014.
“It said that a girl named Saba had miraculously survived an attempt on her life in Hafizabad. Her father had reportedly shot her for marrying a man of her choice against the family’s will,” Haya began.
“We read the news and decided to pursue the story. I, along with Sharmeen and crew, reached Hafizabad the very next day, where Saba was currently in intensive care at the district’s hospital.”
Inspired by Saba's miraculous survival, Haya set out to chronicle her story with Sharmeen and the rest of the crew
After a few initial inquiries, the team went to the police station to get more information.
Seeing the police in action
Haya said they assumed that the police would be reluctant in providing the specifics of the incident and would have to be forced to arrest the accused.
“But to our sheer surprise, the arrests had already been made and a case was filed. The SHO of Saddar police station in Hyderabad, Ali Akbar Chattha, was a principled man with clear perception about the case,” Haya shared.
He said in clear words that a crime has been committed and that “no one holds the right to take someone else’s life”.
Chattha was under no pressure and the only thing he was concerned about in this case was serving justice. “The SHO once said to us that Islam gives everyone the right to marry the person of their choice, so who are we to interfere.”
Hospital care
Haya said that Saba, the victim, had been very lucky. Not only did she survive the attempt on her life, but she was provided legal and medical aid by good, honest professionals.
“Dr Shahid Farooq was the Medical Superintendent of DHQ Hafizabad at that time. He and surgeon Dr Atif provided the best possible medical care to the injured Saba.”
Haya found the police as well as the legal and medical aid providers to be honest and professional
Throughout her hospital stay, Saba was kept in a private room and provided special security, considering the nature of the crime committed against her, shared Haya.
When Saba survived, her husband Qaiser Ali, a Gujranwala-based generator mechanic, was informed and the news spread to Saba’s family as well.
Court dealings
While both families approached Saba, the legal battle had begun.
Saba’s father confessed to attempting to kill his daughter in court. “But he [did] not [feel] guilty [about his actions]. He appeared a humble person but he was anything but guilty for attempting to kill Saba.”
Haya covered many of the court hearings, running to and fro between Karachi and Hazfizabad. “There were times when we travelled all the way for a court hearing, but it got cancelled for some reason as odd as bad weather.”
We interviewed Saba’s father behind bars and during court proceedings, but he was never ashamed of what he had done, tells Haya Fatima.
“Instead, he mentioned proudly that his act had [earned] him more respect and now people called him ‘ghairatmand’ (honourable). Saba’s father also told us that more suitors were coming to marry his other daughters, because he was a respected man.”
“Such people are more threatening than the suicide bombers," says Haya. "They are set to take the life of anyone and yet they don’t feel a thing about it. And the worst thing is that society also accepts and approves of them.”
Getting Saba to talk
Interviewing Saba was a tough job in the beginning, narrates Haya Fatima. “She was badly wounded and was weak too. She had problems while speaking and we had to switch off the fan [to record her clearly]. This irritated her as it gets very hot in Punjab in the summer.”
Recording Saba was one of the toughest parts of the documentary's making
“We had to do the recordings in small bits due to Saba’s medical condition. But she had nerves of steel. At times I used to think that other than the physical pain, one can’t imagine the level of mental trauma she has been through. How can you get over with the fact that your own father shot you and left you for dead? I still can’t get this but supposedly Saba was asked to do so.”
The court proceedings of the case went on for about four months. In the end, Saba pardoned her father.
Haya Fatima listed several possible reasons for Saba's decision, but halfway into the discussion she herself started to question them.
Saba forgave her father after she was persuaded by her family elders, said Haya Fatima.
“'You can’t go against your own family.' 'You have to live with them no matter what.' That’s what they said to Saba.”
A Girl In The River: The Price of Forgiveness shows that even if the state awards punishment to criminals, they do nothing to change the mindset of people who glorify criminals and murderers.
This story originally appeared in Dawn newspaper on March 1 2016.But the most persistent among them was from a man who would call three or four times a day, urging her to meet him somewhere. When she blocked his number, he would call from another. She began to worry that he would track her down in person.
“He sounded like a creepy Indian guy to me,” Ms. Chakravarty said.
When the police traced the number, the person they found at the end of it was Premsagar Tiwari, whose given name in Hindi translates as “Sea of Love.” Mr. Tiwari, 24, turned out to be a high-strung, pencil-necked man who grew up in two small rooms in the corner of the down-at-heel government school where his father worked as a night watchman.
Outside his window, young women came and went in their crisp school uniforms. But the night watchman’s son could not approach them.
“The way he was built,” said Satyavir Sachan, the constable assigned to the case, “it didn’t seem he could talk to girls.”
Poring through Mr. Tiwari’s call records, Mr. Sachan found that he was using eight SIM cards, some registered under false names, to contact more than 500 women. The activity occupied, by police estimates, two to three hours a day.
Summoned to the police station, Mr. Tiwari confessed readily and with clasped hands he beseeched the police not to imprison him. His phone calls, he explained in an interview, should better be understood as part of his search for a soul mate.
“One person is enough to fulfill you,” Mr. Tiwari said. “I have nobody. The person you love will be somewhere, there, standing last in line. You have to reach them somehow. And when you find that someone, you stop looking.”Dr. Naga Raja Thota, 62, was arrested at his practice in San Diego's East County for allegedly prescribing addictive painkillers to patients who didn't need the medication, in exchange for sexual favors. NBC 7's Dave Summers reports. (Published Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016)
A doctor was arrested at a medical office in San Diego’s East County Wednesday, accused of trying to hook patients onto painkillers and prescribing the pills in exchange for sex once those patients were addicted.
United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) spokesperson Amy Roderick told NBC 7 that Dr. Naga Raja Thota, M.D., was arrested at the Pain Management Center located at 2732 Navajo Rd. in El Cajon during a raid by federal authorities.
Thota was arraigned in federal court Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernie Skomal. He is being represented by San Diego-based attorney Robert Schlein, who has been his attorney for the past two years.
The judge set Thota's bail at $100,000. The doctor was also ordered to not contact any of the patients involved in the case.
Doctor Accused of Prescribing Painkillers for Sex Arrested
The accused doctor, Naga Raja Thota, M.D., was arrested at the Pain Management Center in El Cajon. Thota is suspected of over prescribing painkillers to patients in exchange for sexual relations. NBC 7’s Ashley Matthews reports. (Published Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016)
Roderick said Thota, 62, allegedly prescribed opiate painkiller medication to patients with the intent of getting them addicted. Roderick told NBC 7 that once patients were addicted, Thota would ask patients to engage in sexual relations with him in exchange for more prescriptions.
The female patients involved in this case received prescriptions for the opioids without legitimate medical purpose, on numerous occasions, in exchange for sex acts, the office of United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy confirmed.
NBC 7 spoke with Tom Lenox of the DEA Wednesday who said the federal investigation on Thota dates back several years.
Lenox said it involves three patients in their early to mid-20s who were prescribed painkillers by the doctor and developed sexual relationships with him.
Lenox said the doctor would, in some cases, order a prescription under the name of a family member of a patient to avoid a "red flag" from prescribing too many medications over a short period of time for one patient.
Two of Thota’s patients later became addicted to heroin due to the over-prescribing of painkillers, Lenox said.
The U.S. Attorney's office the main patient outlined in the federal complaint, referred to as "J.S.," met Thota when she was 20 years old and felt that if she did not submit to sex acts with the doctor, Thota would not provide her with additional prescriptions for opioids.
She started using heroin after "being exposed to greater dosage levels of opioids by Thota," the U.S. Attorney's office said in a document outlining the charges against Thota.
The doctor is charged with seven counts of dispensing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose. If convicted on all charges, Thota faces a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars, plus a $1 million fine and life-term of supervised release.
A federal complaint filed against Thota on Tuesday states he prescribed Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Methadone and Alprazolam to J.S. at least 33 times between March 2013 and February 2014. In one instance, Thota prescribed 300 Oxycodone pills for the woman.
The complaint shows the doctor engaged in a pattern of sending "sexually-explicit texts" with J.S., followed by writing prescriptions for the highly-addictive painkillers. He often called the patient "babe" and "love" in the text messages.
The complaint says J.S. told investigators that her romantic relationship with Thota began three days after her first consultation with him, when he called her cell phone to ask if she had a date for Valentine's Day. After that, they began communicating regularly via phone calls and text messages.
Later on in their relationship, according to the complaint, J.S. asked Thota to write a prescription for painkillers for her brother and Thota sent the woman a text message saying no because he was "scared" to lose his license to practice medicine.
However, without ever establishing a patient-doctor relationship with J.S.'s brother, Thota wound up writing prescriptions for the woman's brother three times in 2013, the complaint states.
During a six-week period between March 2013 and April 2013, Thota also allegedly prescribed painkillers in the name of J.S.'s father and one of her friends. The complaint says that during that time period 1,460 Oxycodone pills and 660 tablets of Hydrocodone were prescribed by Thota.
Federal investigators reviewed Thota's cell phone records and found set of text messages between the doctor and another patient, referred to as "D.H." between May 2014 and September 2014, the complaint says.
D.H. told investigators Thota had texted her on numerous occasions to ask her for sex, allegedly offering to pay her $100 to have sex with him.
Another patient included in the complaint, referred to as "M.R.," communicated with Thota via cell phone between February 2013 and February 2014.
During that time period, the complaint says Thota wrote 59 prescriptions for painkillers for M.R. and even met her in the parking lot of a CVS once to give her a prescription and $50 to fill it.
The woman also told investigators that Thota would sometimes drive her "from pharmacy to pharmacy to see which one we could get to do it [fill the prescription]."
M.R. told agents she also engaged in sexual acts with Thota in exchange for the prescriptions. She said Thota would also buy her expensive gifts, including diamond earrings, a smartphone, shopping sprees and a weekly $50 gift card to Starbucks. He also helped her pay off her car.
After becoming addicted to methadone, M.R. also became hooked on heroin, the documents |
- the price starts as a "base price" of near zero (its original value) and is then determined by the free market.huge benefits over "traditional" or original crypto economic models are realized with this system making it the leader in Crypto key benifits are :Low to Zero fee structure (because the EQ reward replenishes the system)No price or mining manipulation due to monopolyNo corporate Bank or "Government" takeover is possible because of both the full distribution and the EQ reward.Price stability as outlined here - http://kolinevans.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/an-interesting-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-proving-that-decentralized-free-market-distribution-can-find-price-stability/ Which is amazing because we are only just 6 months past the inital distribution and the market got quite exuberant in that time.All these things make Quark the key stable base leader in crypto the fact that others don't see this (right now) is only to the benefit of the readers here today, if you believe in decentralized digital "e-cash" then Quark is essentially the best measure of the market.however this design did present one perceived problem, and that was that the "inflation rate" the EQ reward was not enough incentive to secure the network from our obvious enemies (namely Banks and Bank agents) although this is probably and overblown perceived threat there is also confidence issues that related to this subject.Personally my opinion (having a lot of experience in the field) was that this issue would in essence resolve itself so i didn't see it as the problem that our friends were hyping it as; because after all the aim of any psychological attack is to control the narrative.But then i was alway taught to use the energy that an enemy has and find their objective to help your cause and to this degree i think we have a solution.The merge mine option for me is important not only to decentralize and raise our hash rate; but in keeping with the elegant theme of using our enemy it also has key important sociological impact effects; which i will explain along the way.( i will probably need the Blog to do this)So i'd say this is an exciting prospect as the parameters of the merge mine are quite enticing.check them out :no pre mine.open and transparent.5 min block times.20 units halving in 4 years
I don't follow how this will benefit current qrk holders over any other miners out there other than to add security to the chain? Can you explain how QRK investors will see any benefit from doing it this way?
It seems pointless to me from a qrk holders perspective and solves none of our funding issues. I don't follow how this will benefit current qrk holders over any other miners out there other than to add security to the chain? Can you explain how QRK investors will see any benefit from doing it this way?It seems pointless to me from a qrk holders perspective and solves none of our funding issues.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1764757.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2829282 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4895354.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5098315.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5105851.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5110041.0 MY RED TRUST WAS LEFT BY UNTRUSTWORTHY SCUM BAGS CHECK
Q7
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Sr. MemberActivity: 448Merit: 250 Re: [ANN] [QRK] Quark | cPoW | PC mining | Stability | Hashcows - QRK Payouts July 26, 2014, 02:19:10 PM #6576
Doge community:
Microlending
merchandise
brand recognition
writing in one community voice to business establishment to accept the coin
submit petitions.
Sponsorship
Contest & competition
Lately mcshibe... google it if u don't know
Quark community:
Coding
Coding
Forking
Coding
Companion coin
Coding
coding
Coding
More coding...
Where we going? Making same mistake twice.
Quark coding is already our advantage. BUILD ON IT!
Quote from: cryptohunter on July 26, 2014, 01:51:10 PM Quote from: Q7 on July 26, 2014, 01:47:47 PM
create another coin more superior coding than quark, I guarantee it will go up but without marketing, I wonder what would happen to it?
Dogecoin.... what's with the code? Anything special? but the community support has been tremendous. Yeah. Lately the drop has been bad but their only hope is still the community.
Now... the future. I bet reddcoin is on the rise. Anything special on the code? What's with the social function? Sounds familiar.
I'm not launching personal attack or to make anyone feel bad. I see all quark supporters like we are all in one big boat with the same objective and direction. I just need to voice out
Quote from: cryptohunter on July 26, 2014, 01:04:50 PM Quote from: Q7 on July 26, 2014, 09:46:22 AM
Quote from: dragonseer on July 26, 2014, 06:40:56 AM There's nothing wrong with Quark. Just let Bitcoin keep making strides until enough people start to see how bloody slow it is. Quark is like a UFO in the hanger just waiting until people are ready to get around faster!
Edit: Look I'm not trying to say nothing needs to happen, but any'solutions' to Quark being overlooked at the moment should NOT involve a hard fork, that's my stance on the matter.
I agree. A lot here don't even understand fundamental of economics. How can price go up without demand, marketing. New coin is just trying to fix a broken record using another broken record. Instead go the basics. Coding part is not the solution. The more they talk the more complicated it gets. Putting a companion coin on top of another companion coin ends up nowhere.
It seems there is some confusion. The coins algo i don't see as needs improvement. By coding i mean the ability to implement new features for the coin and code out new services for it too. Of course these are different types of coding. The latter being web development. The thing is we need teams for different things. They all need funding or incentives though. So either a development pot, ROI projects or donations.
CODING is a BIG part of the solution. Look to the new coins doing exceptionally well. You will notice they have one thing in common. A skilled coder with a detailed whitepaper on anon implementation. Or a white paper for some other new feature the market wants. Sure mainstream adoption would be better but if you are talking about marketing to those in the crypto community they want the latest and greatest. Don't give it to them and watch you coin die. Look to coins with no coders = dead.
So either push for mainsteam adoption with some big companies, games etc. Or focus on marketing here to the ever expanding community. New features and projects bring in new interest, new interest brings new btc to fund more projects and features. No point arguing against it. Look at the new coins that are most successful and i don't mean one big pump and dead i mean coins with active communities that are getting stronger. These have fully funded and invested development and marketing teams. QRK has no funds for this.
Of course you can sell qrk to a market that does not want qrk. You need to increase demand by giving people some hope for qrks future prospects. To most qrk appears dead right now.
It seems there is some confusion. The coins algo i don't see as needs improvement. By coding i mean the ability to implement new features for the coin and code out new services for it too. Of course these are different types of coding. The latter being web development. The thing is we need teams for different things. They all need funding or incentives though. So either a development pot, ROI projects or donations.CODING is a BIG part of the solution. Look to the new coins doing exceptionally well. You will notice they have one thing in common. A skilled coder with a detailed whitepaper on anon implementation. Or a white paper for some other new feature the market wants. Sure mainstream adoption would be better but if you are talking about marketing to those in the crypto community they want the latest and greatest. Don't give it to them and watch you coin die. Look to coins with no coders = dead.So either push for mainsteam adoption with some big companies, games etc. Or focus on marketing here to the ever expanding community. New features and projects bring in new interest, new interest brings new btc to fund more projects and features. No point arguing against it. Look at the new coins that are most successful and i don't mean one big pump and dead i mean coins with active communities that are getting stronger. These have fully funded and invested development and marketing teams. QRK has no funds for this.Of course you can sell qrk to a market that does not want qrk. You need to increase demand by giving people some hope for qrks future prospects. To most qrk appears dead right now. Quark - anything with coding? It's top notch but why is it with its current state?create another coin more superior coding than quark, I guarantee it will go up but without marketing, I wonder what would happen to it?Dogecoin.... what's with the code? Anything special? but the community support has been tremendous. Yeah. Lately the drop has been bad but their only hope is still the community.Now... the future. I bet reddcoin is on the rise. Anything special on the code? What's with the social function? Sounds familiar.I'm not launching personal attack or to make anyone feel bad. I see all quark supporters like we are all in one big boat with the same objective and direction. I just need to voice out
It seems there is some confusion. The coins algo i don't see as needs improvement. By coding i mean the ability to implement new features for the coin and code out new services for it too. Of course these are different types of coding. The latter being web development. The thing is we need teams for different things. They all need funding or incentives though. So either a development pot, ROI projects or donations.
Yes, of course any new coin needs marketing to some degree or else nobody would know it existed.
It seems there is some confusion. The coins algo i don't see as needs improvement. By coding i mean the ability to implement new features for the coin and code out new services for it too. Of course these are different types of coding. The latter being web development. The thing is we need teams for different things. They all need funding or incentives though. So either a development pot, ROI projects or donations.Yes, of course any new coin needs marketing to some degree or else nobody would know it existed. Just a clear example of what I'm blabbering about:Doge community:Microlendingmerchandisebrand recognitionwriting in one community voice to business establishment to accept the coinsubmit petitions.SponsorshipContest & competitionLately mcshibe... google it if u don't knowQuark community:CodingCodingForkingCodingCompanion coinCodingcodingCodingMore coding...Where we going? Making same mistake twice.Quark coding is already our advantage. BUILD ON IT! Renewable Energy Source
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Hero MemberActivity: 798Merit: 1000wubba lubba dub dub Re: [ANN] [QRK] Quark | cPoW | PC mining | Stability | Hashcows - QRK Payouts July 26, 2014, 05:16:49 PM #6578 Quote from: Q7 on July 26, 2014, 01:47:47 PM
create another coin more superior coding than quark, I guarantee it will go up but without marketing, I wonder what would happen to it?
Dogecoin.... what's with the code? Anything special? but the community support has been tremendous. Yeah. Lately the drop has been bad but their only hope is still the community.
Now... the future. I bet reddcoin is on the rise. Anything special on the code? What's with the social function? Sounds familiar.
I'm not launching personal attack or to make anyone feel bad. I see all quark supporters like we are all in one big boat with the same objective and direction. I just need to voice out
ok just to add further. Thulle has been a strong critic of quark. Although I don't agree entirely to what the guy said and definitely disagree on the part on launching attack on kolin. One quote which I pick up which i think is definitely true. So this was written by thulle.
"Another thing the value of a coin is not based on security or features but based on marketing and public acceptance."
Quote from: cryptohunter on July 26, 2014, 01:04:50 PM Quote from: Q7 on July 26, 2014, 09:46:22 AM
Quote from: dragonseer on July 26, 2014, 06:40:56 AM There's nothing wrong with Quark. Just let Bitcoin keep making strides until enough people start to see how bloody slow it is. Quark is like a UFO in the hanger just waiting until people are ready to get around faster!
Edit: Look I'm not trying to say nothing needs to happen, but any'solutions' to Quark being overlooked at the moment should NOT involve a hard fork, that's my stance on the matter.
I agree. A lot here don't even understand fundamental of economics. How can price go up without demand, marketing. New coin is just trying to fix a broken record using another broken record. Instead go the basics. Coding part is not the solution. The more they talk the more complicated it gets. Putting a companion coin on top of another companion coin ends up nowhere.
CODING is a BIG part of the solution. Look to the new coins doing exceptionally well. You will notice they have one thing in common. A skilled coder with a detailed whitepaper on anon implementation. Or a white paper for some other new feature the market wants. Sure mainstream adoption would be better but if you are talking about marketing to those in the crypto community they want the latest and greatest. Don't give it to them and watch you coin die. Look to coins with no coders = dead.
So either push for mainsteam adoption with some big companies, games etc. Or focus on marketing here to the ever expanding community. New features and projects bring in new interest, new interest brings new btc to fund more projects and features. No point arguing against it. Look at the new coins that are most successful and i don't mean one big pump and dead i mean coins with active communities that are getting stronger. These have fully funded and invested development and marketing teams. QRK has no funds for this.
Of course you can sell qrk to a market that does not want qrk. You need to increase demand by giving people some hope for qrks future prospects. To most qrk appears dead right now.
CODING is a BIG part of the solution. Look to the new coins doing exceptionally well. You will notice they have one thing in common. A skilled coder with a detailed whitepaper on anon implementation. Or a white paper for some other new feature the market wants. Sure mainstream adoption would be better but if you are talking about marketing to those in the crypto community they want the latest and greatest. Don't give it to them and watch you coin die. Look to coins with no coders = dead.So either push for mainsteam adoption with some big companies, games etc. Or focus on marketing here to the ever expanding community. New features and projects bring in new interest, new interest brings new btc to fund more projects and features. No point arguing against it. Look at the new coins that are most successful and i don't mean one big pump and dead i mean coins with active communities that are getting stronger. These have fully funded and invested development and marketing teams. QRK has no funds for this.Of course you can sell qrk to a market that does not want qrk. You need to increase demand by giving people some hope for qrks future prospects. To most qrk appears dead right now. Quark - anything with coding? It's top notch but why is it with its current state?create another coin more superior coding than quark, I guarantee it will go up but without marketing, I wonder what would happen to it?Dogecoin.... what's with the code? Anything special? but the community support has been tremendous. Yeah. Lately the drop has been bad but their only hope is still the community.Now... the future. I bet reddcoin is on the rise. Anything special on the code? What's with the social function? Sounds familiar.I'm not launching personal attack or to make anyone feel bad. I see all quark supporters like we are all in one big boat with the same objective and direction. I just need to voice outok just to add further. Thulle has been a strong critic of quark. Although I don't agree entirely to what the guy said and definitely disagree on the part on launching attack on kolin. One quote which I pick up which i think is definitely true. So this was written by thulle."Another thing the value of a coin is not based on security or features but based on marketing and public acceptance."
totally agree Q7 - if we move with a merge the algos will move together - but that won't mean the end of the evolution, so i think there are some key benefits to be had! totally agree Q7 - if we move with a merge the algos will move together - but that won't mean the end of the evolution, so i think there are some key benefits to be had!
- https://voat.co/v/Contact/
- Twitter @Kolin_Quark tiny rick!- Twitter @Kolin_QuarkAt least 21 Egyptian policemen have been killed in an accident after their driver lost control of their truck in the Sinai, where security forces are battling Islamist fighters, the interior ministry said.
Another 25 people were injured in the accident near the border with Israel, the official MENA news agency reported.
The dead and injured conscripts belonged to the interior ministry's Central Security Forces, which along with the army has been battling the fighters behind a series of deadly attacks in the lawless peninsula.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Cairo, said there were no indications that the incident was caused by foul play.
"They are calling it an accident; there is no suggestion that it was anything else. It happened near the Egyptian border with Israel. The vehicle was carrying dozens of officers that apparently overturned," our correspondent said.
"We don't know much more detail than that but of course this comes after a month long operation by the Egyptian security forces who are trying to crack down on the lawlessness of the region."
Deadly road accidents are common in Egypt, due to bad road conditions and lax traffic regulations.Published in partnership with MintPress News.
WASHINGTON — Since 9/11, agencies like the FBI have been tasked with preventing the next terrorist attack. However, in their zeal to catch terrorists before they strike, they’ve created more terrorist plots than any actual terror groups.
Trevor Aaronson, an investigative journalist who specializes in cases of government entrapment, made this startling claim in a March TED Talk:
The FBI is responsible for more terrorism plots in the United States than any other organization. More than al-Qaida, more than al-Shabaab, more than the Islamic State.
According to Aaronson, “The FBI is much better at creating terrorists than it is at catching terrorists.” In the 14 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Aaronson said there have only been about six actual domestic terrorist incidents, including the Boston Marathon bombing and a handful of failed incidents.
By contrast, he said the FBI has arrested dozens for “material support” of terrorism, usually impoverished or mentally ill Muslim-Americans who were convinced to take part in terrorist plots by high-paid undercover informants. A July report from Human Rights Watch, “Illusion of Justice: Human Rights Abuses in US Terrorism Prosecutions,” supports Aaronson’s allegations by detailing 27 separate cases in which the Justice Department and FBI, together with paid criminal informants, created the very terrorists they later prosecuted.
Andrea Prasow, a deputy director at Human Rights Watch and one of the authors of the report, said:
Americans have been told that their government is keeping them safe by preventing and prosecuting terrorism inside the US. But take a closer look and you realize that many of these people would never have committed a crime if not for law enforcement encouraging, pressuring, and sometimes paying them to commit terrorist acts.
For example, The Intercept published Aaronson’s report of one incident in which an undercover government informant entrapped Sami Osmakac. Osmakac was so poor he could not afford to keep his car running, much less obtain the equipment or weapons needed to mastermind a credible terrorist attack, so the FBI carefully crafted a terrorist plot for him, even creating a mock suicide vest for him to wear in his “martyrdom video.” Aaronson wrote:
The FBI provided all of the weapons seen in Osmakac’s martyrdom video. The bureau also gave Osmakac the car bomb he allegedly planned to detonate, and even money for a taxi so he could get to where the FBI needed him to go. Osmakac was a deeply disturbed young man, according to several of the psychiatrists and psychologists who examined him before trial.
According to Aaronson, Osmakac only became a terrorist “after the FBI provided the means, opportunity and final prodding necessary to make him one.”
Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian’s national security editor for the United States, wrote that entrapment claims are extremely difficult for defendants to prove in court, and judges often openly favor the prosecution in these cases, in one case even admitting into evidence “statements made by a defendant while in a Saudi jail in which the defendant, Amed Omar Abu Ali, alleged torture, a longstanding practice in Saudi Arabia.”
According to Ackerman, far from keeping Americans safer, these government tactics are worsening the rift between law enforcement officials and minority groups by “deepening alienation of American Muslims from a government that publicly insists it needs their support to head off extremism but secretly deploys informants to infiltrate mosques and community centers.”By Nick Harris
SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year
15 May 2012
Manchester City sealed the 2011-12 Premier League title in the most dramatic fashion on Sunday, and now know the precise financial reward for the season from Premier League central funds: £60,602,289.
The massive sums on offer for simply being a member of the Premier League are highlighted again below with the release of official figures detailing League TV and merit earnings for each club for the 2011-12 season.
Clubs have three main revenue streams: match day income (from tickets, corporate dining etcetera), media income (of which the payments listed are the largest but not the only part) and commercial income (from kit deals, sponsorship, merchandise, tours and so on).
The lowest-earning team in 2011-12 from central funds, Wolves, picked up £39,084,461 while City’s cross-town rivals, United, were the second best-paid team with £60,325,337. This is the second year the £60m barrier has been broken for the top-earning teams, after last year.
RELATED STORY: It’s the economy, stupid! How money fuels glory in the Premier League
Every club got £13,788,093 as an equal share of domestic TV income, plus £18,764,644m as an equal share of foreign TV income. The Premier League’s income from overseas TV rights alone 2010-13 inclusive was £1.437bn (£439m a year). Rights are now up for auction for 2013-16.
In the central payments for 2011-12, facility fees – £485,000 per live TV match in the UK plus bits and pieces for net, phone and delayed rights – varied depending how many times each club featured in live matches, between a minimum of 10 times and a maximum of 26.
Each place in the table was worth £755,062 in prize money, with that amount going to the bottom club (Wolves) and 20 times that amount (£15,101,240) going to City.
The biggest winners and losers, year on year in terms of improved and decreased payments were Newcastle and Aston Villa respectively. Newcastle’s total money went up £7m from £47.2m to £54.2m, while Villa’s went down £7m from £49m to £42m. See table below for full details, and compare with previous seasons: Payments for 2010-11 / Payments for 2009-10
‘Parachute’ payments were made to seven former League clubs, with Birmingham, Blackpool and West Ham each getting £15,475,005 to assist their landings in the Championship. This money helped all three to make the play-offs, with Blackpool facing West Ham on Saturday for the right to return to the PL (Promised Land).
The ratio in central earnings between City at the top and Wolves at the bottom is 1.55 to 1.
.
World’s BEST PAID sports teams / More articles mentioning salaries in sport
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DISTRIBUTION of Premier League central funds 2011-12 (All amounts £ sterling)
Place = finishing position in the table. Live = live games on Sky/ESPN combined.
BBC = games on Match of the Day. N.Live = games shown ‘near live’.
Note: Facility fees increase with more live TV games; merit payments grow in increments of £755,062 per place from 20th to 1st.
.PICO RIVERA (CBSLA.com) — A classic 1969 Chevy Nova, the pride of auto-shop students at Norwalk High School, was stolen Monday from a teacher’s home.
Over 400 Norwalk students spent the past seven years restoring the vehicle, which teacher Ken Cook originally bought as junk for $600, eventually turning it into a hot rod.
“The young man that built the engine, he’s now a master technician,” Cook said. “That was the first engine that he had ever built.”
Students at Norwalk say they looked at the car as much more than just a vehicle; they saw it as a learning experience.
“Since the age of 7, I was raised at an (auto) shop,” student Jesus Chavez said. “So, it just stuck on to me, and that’s my passion.”
The students who built the engine, completed the car’s body work and prepped it for paint had recently removed the hood from the vehicle, due to an overheating issue.
Now, the hood is all that they have from the Nova.
Cook said he parked the car, reportedly worth $25,000 to $30,000, directly in front of his house and that it was stolen about 3 a.m.
“One of my neighbors came down to my house and informed me that he saw a tow truck, black in color, in repo-style, drive off with it,” Cook said.It turns out your biggest challenge isn’t shoppers who complain, but those who don’t.
A report late last year from PricewaterhouseCoopers made this clear, and it’s worth taking a closer look.
Here’s how we reported this in SN: Grocery shoppers are less likely to complain about their bad experiences to company management than shoppers for other goods and services. Almost half — 46% of grocery shoppers do not report bad experiences to their grocers, vs. 24% of banking customers who do not report bad experiences and 21% of media/communications customers. Grocery shoppers are willing to share bad experiences with their friends, however — 92% said they do so, and about one-third of shoppers will share their bad-experience tales for six months or more.
This topic has big implications so I delved deeper through an interview with Paul D’Alessandro, PwC U.S. customer impact leader, and Shaivali Shah, PwC U.S. customer impact consulting director.
Why are grocery shoppers less likely to complain? These experts said food items are relatively cheap compared to items from other industries, like hotel rooms or flights, and they have shorter lifecycles than items like apparel or shoes, so customers often don’t think it’s worthwhile to put in the effort to complain. Moreover, it’s very easy to switch to competitive food outlets.
Grocers, of course, would rather hear the complaints than find out later when shoppers switch. So I asked the PwC consultants for some steps retailers can take to get more critical feedback (and of course positive feedback too), and I picked out four easy and effective ones:
1. Identify Who to Complain to. “With airlines and hotels it’s clear who to complain to,” Shah said. But not so much in grocery. Do you complain to someone in the store? To the manufacturer?
2. Add Simple Mechanisms: A simple concept like a kiosk at the checkout that asks customers to rate their experience could make a big difference, D’Alessandro said. A manager could get an alert to quickly visit upset customers.
3. Put Associates Front and Center: Place employees in the right places to get feedback. A retailer could turn a cashier into a greeter who interacts and channels people to shorter lines, all with little marginal cost, D’Alessandro said.
4. Target Social Media: If there are customers on social media talking up or down your brand, engage them, he added. Invite them to in-store events and seek their feedback.
My advice is to try these steps, and see if you don’t get more squeaky wheels coming out of the aisles.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on February 2nd that he approves of US ‘Defense’ Secretary Ash Carter’s proposal to quadruple US armaments and troops in Europe, against ‘Russian aggression’.
Secretary Carter said earlier that same day, in his announcement of America’s arming for war against Russia:
We are reinforcing our posture in Europe to support our NATO allies in the face of Russia’s aggression. In Pentagon parlance, this is called the European Reassurance Initiative and after requesting about $800 million for last year, this year we’re more than quadrupling it for a total of $3.4 billion in 2017. That will fund a lot of things: more rotational US forces in Europe, more training and exercising with our allies, more preposition and war-fighting gear and infrastructure improvements to support all this. And when combined with US forces already in and assigned to Europe – which are also substantial – all of this together by the end of 2017 will let us rapidly form a highly capable combined arms ground force that can respond across that theater, if necessary.
The US is preparing for an invasion of Russia.
«By the end of 2017» the US will be prepared to invade Russia.
Secretary Carter went on to say:
Russia and China are our most stressing competitors. They have developed and are continuing to advance military system[s] that seek to threaten our advantages in specific areas. And in some case[s], they are developing weapons and ways of wars that seek to achieve their objectives rapidly, before they hope, we can respond. Because of this and because of their actions to date, from Ukraine to the South China Sea, DOD has elevated their importance in our defense planning and budgeting.
Since he is a Secretary of ‘Defense’ instead of a Secretary of Offense, he immediately added:
While we do not desire conflict of any kind with either of these nations – and let me be clear.
That’s all there was to the assertion there; he didn’t finish the sentence, nor even the thought. But in this offhanded way, he did at least try to give the impression that the US is never an aggressor – for example: that, though the US is expanding NATO right up to Russia’s borders, Russia is being the ‘aggressor’ to move troops and weapons up to those borders – up to Russia’s own borders (to counter the US & NATO invasion-threat, of course; but, no: it’s to threaten NATO, if you believe the West).
In the statements by Ash Carter, Barack Obama, and Jens Stoltenberg, that’s ‘Russian aggression’. In the allegory by George Orwell, 1984, America’s rhetoric is called simply «Newspeak».
It’s as if during the Soviet Union (i.e., before 1991), when Nikita Khrushchev was the aggressor in 1962 and John Kennedy was the defender (against Soviet missiles in Cuba), Khrushchev had refused to yield and said that Soviet nuclear missiles near the US had only a defensive, not offensive, purpose (no purpose for a blitz nuclear attack against the US too fast for the US to be able to get its missiles launched in retaliation). Kennedy said no to that idea then, and Putin says no to that idea (right on Russia’s very borders) now. The US, in post-Soviet, post-communist, Russia, has turned around and become the aggressor – against the now democratic nation of Russia. (And Putin’s approval-rating from the Russian people is at least 80%, whereas Obama’s approval-rating from the American people is near 50%.)
We’ve switched roles. The US has turned to dictatorship, while Russia has turned to democracy. It’s a super-switcheroo. ‘Democracy’ in the US has become, during recent decades, the election of Presidents and congresspersons who were campaigning on lies, and who then actually delivered more like the opposite, as their actual governmental policies.
A good example of this is that when Mr Obama was campaigning for re-election to the Presidency in 2012, he outright mocked his opponent Mitt Romney’s asserting (2:22 on the video) that, «Russia, this is without question our number one geopolitical foe». But the moment that Obama became re-elected, Obama activated a 1957 CIA plan to overthrow Russia’s ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and a more-recent CIA and State Department plan to overthrow the actually neutralist Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine and replace him with a rabidly anti-Russian government. The head of Stratfor called it «the most blatant coup in history,» and it was an extremely bloody coup, followed by a civil war – and economic collapse, and even more corruption there. In addition, Obama carried out a French plan to overthrow Russia’s ally Muammar Gaddafi in Syria.
All of these plans were strongly welcomed by Russia’s main oil-market competitors, all of them fundamentalist Sunni Arab financial backers of jihadists: the Saud royal family of Saudi Arabia, and the Thani royal family of Qatar, as well as the Sabah royal family of Kuwait, and the six royal families of the UAE. Those royals own most of the world’s oil, and only Russia and its ally Iran are even in that league. All of those Sunni Arab royal families (especially the Sauds) are the main financial backers of al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other jihadist groups, all of which are fundamentalist Sunni terrorist groups, which especially aim to exterminate all Shiites – and Shiites just happen to be supported by Russia. (The US overthrew the democratically elected progressive President of Iran and installed the tyrannous Shah, back in 1953, and Iranians have loathed the US government ever since.)
President Obama, in his second Administration, ceased his previous focus against the Sunni group al-Qaeda, and refocused US policy to be against Russia, even to the extent of supporting al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other rabidly anti-Russian Sunni groups, who are driving millions of refugees from Syria, Libya, etc., into Europe. (Of course, Obama’s rhetoric remains against those Sunni extremists – just as his rhetoric was against Romney’s policies that Obama ended up imposing in his second term.) All of those terrorist groups are allied with the Sunni Arab royal families against Shiite-led Iran, and Shiite-allied Syria.
The fundamentalist Sunni beliefs of the Arab royal families have, since at least 1744, been committed to exterminating all Shiites. Now that Shiite and Shiite-allied nations are supported by Russia, the United States is more overtly than ever preparing to conquer Russia, for the benefit of the aristocracies of America, and of Arabia.
And there are many other examples of President Obama’s policies exposing him to be an example of «the election of Presidents and congresspersons who were campaigning on lies, and who then actually delivered more like the opposite, as policies», such as his claiming to champion democracy in Syria when his actual demand regarding Syria is to block democracy there because all the evidence shows that it would result in an overwhelming electoral victory for Bashar al-Assad. And another example is Obama’s support of the right of self-determination of peoples regarding Scotland and Catalonia, but not in Crimea, nor in Donbas, nor in Abkhazia. The United Nations supports the right of self-determination of peoples everywhere, and Ban Ki-moon has clearly stated that America’s demand for the removal of Bashar al-Assad from power is alien to the principles upon which the United Nations was founded.
So: the US regime is moving toward a nuclear confrontation against Russia, as a ‘defensive’ measure against ‘Russian aggression’.
Obama had previously used ‘The Iran Threat’ as his basis for placing anti-ballistic missiles in European countries near and bordering Russia, but he can’t do that anymore and so he’s now doing it with what had been his actual motive all along: to ‘protect’ Europe from ‘Russian aggression’.
What had led up to Romney’s assertion that Russia «is without question our number one geopolitical foe» was his having been baited by CNN to comment upon a private statement that Obama had made to Dmitry Medvedev, saying that, «This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility». CNN didn’t say what that matter was about, but simply baited Romney with it for Romney to play the Red-scare Joseph R. McCarthy role, which Romney did (McCarthy, of the anti-communist witch-hunts, being a Republican hero). Reuters explained what the context was, what Obama had been replying to there: Putin’s concern was that placing anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs) in Europe to strip Russia of its ability to retaliate against a first-strike from NATO forces in Europe, was unacceptable. Obama was telling that he would «have |
required. I welcome the move," she said."Nobody is insane to go beyond limits to get 'cosy' as the BBMP thinks. Second, it is not what the BBMP is mandated to do. Who are they to ask couples to get out of the park if they hold hands or give a peck on the cheek. If the BBMP must install cameras, it must do so in buses and at bus stands to provide women safety," said Samarpita Samaddar, a resident.Earlier this year, the state horticulture department had installed CCTV cameras in Nandi Hills which is a popular tourist spot. The department claimed it was done after receiving complaints from visitors.New Tastes of the Holidays Menu from Denny’s
Posted October 15th, 2015 | 4:35pm by Ryan
Denny’s has launched the new Tastes of the Holidays menu with a few new seasonal dishes. Take a look at the menu lineup that features some returning favorites too. Available through January 6th.
New! Rudolph™ Pancake Breakfast – Inspired by the lovable character featured in the classic TV special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The dish includes two fluffy pancakes topped with turkey bacon antlers, whipped cream, chocolate eyes and nose, served with two eggs and crispy hash browns.
New! Pumpkin Pecan Pie Pancake Breakfast – Fluffy pumpkin pancakes, made with glazed pecans and drizzled with pecan pie sauce, offer fall flavors with every bite. Served with two eggs, hash browns and a choice of two bacon strips or sausage links.
New! Holiday Harvest Skillet – Ready to add some sizzle to the season? Hearty gouda-apple chicken sausage is served on a bed of seasoned red-skinned potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, grape tomatoes, fire-roasted bell peppers and onions, topped with an Italian cheese blend and two eggs cooked to order.
New! Santa’s Milk & Cookies Shake – A special treat made with creamy, vanilla ice cream milk shake, blended with tasty sugar cookies and topped with whipped cream and more cookie crumbles.As with the U.S. Army's Military Parachutist Badge, small bronze and gold stars are placed on the badge to represent participation in combat jumps, known as Combat Jump Devices, and can be awarded with either the basic and master versions of the badge. To earn the device, a Military Freefall Parachutist must have conducted a High-altitude/low-opening (HALO) or high-altitude/high-opening (HAHO) jump in a war zone. The stars are awarded as follows: [7]
A star and laurel wreath, centered above the badge, called the Master Military Freefall Parachutist Badge, is authorized for U.S. Army Soldiers and U.S. Air Force Airman qualified as a Master Military Freefall Parachutist ( Jumpmaster ). Such qualification requires completing the Military Free-Fall Jumpmaster Course, wherein the student learns how to be a jumpmaster in military freefall operations. [1] [6]
To earn the Military Freefall Parachutist Badge, the military member first must receive all necessary ground training, already have earned the Military Parachutist Badge (jump-qualified), and must have completed the requisite freefall (night, combat equipment, oxygen) jumps and graduate from the Military Free-Fall Parachutist Course. [5]
The U.S. Military Free-Fall School (MFFS) is operated by the USASOC's John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), 2nd Battalion, Company B at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) in Arizona, which is the USSOCOM proponent for military freefall.[12][13] The MFFS conducts three primary training courses, the Military Free-Fall Parachutist Course, the Military Free-Fall Jumpmaster Course, and the Military Free-Fall Advanced Tactical Infiltration Course.[13] The U.S. Air Force also conducts the Military Free-Fall Jumpmaster Course—certified by the MFFS—at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base for airman that are not able to attend the MFFS's jumpmaster course.[14] Alternatively, detachments from the MFFS conduct the Military Free-Fall Jumpmaster Course via mobile training teams (MTT) for military freefall units that have difficulty attending the course at the Yuma Proving Ground.[15]
MFFS students and an instructor fall from a C-130 practicing freefall techniques over YPG Two MFFS instructors (in gray) assist a student as he freefalls over YPG
The Military Free-Fall Parachutist Course (MFFPC) is open to special operations forces assigned to military freefall coded positions, parachute riggers, and select DoD civilian personnel or allied personnel assigned to military freefall positions. To attend MFFPC, students must have graduated from the U.S. Army Airborne School and must meet specific medical requirements. Week one of the four-week course focuses on vertical wind tunnel body stabilization training, parachute packing, and an introduction to military freefall operations. The remaining weeks focuses training on varying jump profiles using three airborne operations per training iteration, totaling 30 military freefall operations per course encompassing various conditions and equipment loads. At the end of the course, students will have learned how to:[5]
Pack the RA-1 Military Free-Fall Advanced Ram-Air Parachute System main parachute and don the system
Rigging/jumping procedures for weapons, combat equipment, night vision goggles and portable oxygen equipment
Aircraft procedures
Exit an aircraft from the door and ramp using dive and poised exit positions
Emergency procedures and body stabilization
HALO and HAHO parachute jumps from altitudes of 10,000 ft (3,048 m) to 25,000 ft (7,620 m)
Upon graduation of the MFFPC, students are awarded the Military Freefall Parachutist Badge.
Student takes exam on HAHO operation planning at YPG Students from the U.S. Air Force MFFJMC conduct jumpmaster personnel inspection at Davis–Monthan AFB MFFJMC student gives jump commands on a KC-130 near Kadena Air Base during the MTT's first overseas course
To attend the Military Free-Fall Jumpmaster Course (MFFJMC), students must have graduated from the U.S. Army Airborne School, the MFFPC, the U.S. Army Jumpmaster School, be a current military freefall parachutist, served as a military freefall parachutist for a minimum of one year, and must have completed at least 50 military freefall jumps. The three-week MFFJMC focuses on training students on jumpmaster duties and responsibilities, such as:[6]
Nomenclature
Jumpmaster personnel inspection
Emergency procedures
Oxygen equipment
Wind drift calculations
Altimeter calculations
Emergency automatic activation device calculations
Jump commands
Aircraft procedures
Techniques of spotting
HAHO techniques
Ram-air parachute system packing and rigging
Upon graduation of the MFFMJC, students are awarded the Master Military Freefall Parachutist Badge.
A MFFATIC student practises various freefall techniques with different mission-specific equipment in a wind-tunnel at YPG MFFATIC instructors and students conduct a HAHO water insertion operation from a C-23 off the coast of Key West, Florida
To attend the Military Free-Fall Advanced Tactical Infiltration Course (MFFATIC), students must have the same qualifications and completed the same prerequisites required of the MFFJMC. The three-week MFFATIC focuses on educating and training joint special operations forces and other selected personnel in the planning and conduct of night military freefall tactical infiltrations as a group onto unknown and unmarked drop zones. Training includes:[16]
Following GPS guided bundles
Carrying combat equipment
Communications
Wearing night vision devices
Non-standard weapons while using oxygen equipment
Utilization of various parachutist navigational devices
Upon graduation of the MFFATIC, students are presented a certificate of completion; there is no badge or badge device awarded for completion of the MFFATIC.As Alex Salmond issued a call for a fresh push for independence at an Edinburgh rally last weekend, it was clear that the mood among the core Nationalist movement in Scotland remains as febrile as ever. The former First Minister was quick to insist his comments were not directed at his successor Nicola Sturgeon.
But it can’t have sat easily with the current SNP leader who has endured recent attacks from senior Nationalist figures like Kenny MacAskill and Jim Sillars over leadership.
But could it be that Ms Sturgeon is playing more of a long game? The vision of a fairer society and a different way of doing things was always going to be pivotal to the success of any future Yes campaign.
When the First Minister signalled last week that she will use Holyrood’s new tax powers to increase income tax, it was the clearest and boldest hint yet that she is determined to set out a different approach to the way things are done.
The tax debate is a relatively new one in Scotland. But raising rates is always fraught with risk for politicians. Even last year’s decision not to implement the UK’s rise in the threshold for the 40p higher rate – effectively a tax hike for Scots in that band – produced a backlash with claims Scotland was now “the highest taxed part of the UK”. Spurious parliamentary answers were rushed out by SNP ministers indicating that when council tax and other tenuous charges are taken into account, the average Scot still pays less than other UK citizens. But there won’t be any dodging the claims when Derek Mackay publishes his budget in December which is expected to set out plans for a one pence rise for those earning more than £24,000.
It marks the most radical move yet on the part of the First Minister to shift Scotland towards the SNP’s vision of a Scandinavian-style modern democracy with strong public services – and higher taxes to pay for them. Perhaps this is best exemplified in the language of Ms Sturgeon’s options paper unveiled last week which talks of the “social contract” which “underpins our society and economy” in Scotland.
The paper made clear that the universal benefits introduced by Holyrood which are not avaialble south of the border are key parts of this contract. These include free tuition fees for Scottish students at university, free personal care for elderly Scots and free prescriptions for medicine at the pharmacy. Scots can also get eye exams free of charge on the NHS and over 60s enjoy concessionary travel around the country, although the age limit is expected to go up.
But perhaps the most significant shift towards the modern, European democracy which Ms Sturgeon is pursuing is the introduction of what is effectively universal free childcare. The First Minister has hailed this as “transformational”, getting a generation of mothers back into the workplace, with plans for childcare provision for most toddlers mirroring the current school week by 2021.
So while the departure of Mark McDonald as children’s minister was overshadowed by the “inappropriate” behaviour which prompted him to go, it also a major political blow, given he had been tasked with making this dream a reality. The job now goes to Maree Todd, a Highland and Islands MSP who has only been in Parliament for 18 months. It seems a daunting task for a relative novice, who now finds herself carrying not just the hopes of a generation of mothers but the Nationalist movement’s vision of a Nordic nirvana.Greenland’s glaciers may contribute more to future sea level rise than once thought, despite earlier reports that their steady seaward advance is a bit slower than expected. This is just more sobering news on the current state of Earth’s ice from the same researchers that recently announced the “unstoppable” retreat of West Antarctic glaciers.
Using data collected by several international radar-mapping satellites and NASA’s airborne Operation IceBridge surveys, scientists at NASA and the University of California, Irvine have discovered deep canyons below the ice sheet along Greenland’s western coast. These canyons cut far inland, and are likely to drive ocean-feeding glaciers into the sea faster and for longer periods of time as Earth’s climate continues to warm.
Some previous models of Greenland’s glaciers expected their retreat to slow once they receded to higher altitudes, making their overall contribution to sea level increase uncertain. But with this new map of the terrain far below the ice, modeled with radar soundings and high-resolution ice motion data, it doesn’t seem that the ice sheets’ recession will halt any time soon.
According to the team’s paper, the findings “imply that the outlet glaciers of Greenland, and the ice sheet as a whole, are probably more vulnerable to ocean thermal forcing and peripheral thinning than inferred previously from existing numerical ice-sheet models.”
Read more: Scientists Set Their Sights on Arctic Ice Loss
Watch a video of the new topography map below:
“The glaciers of Greenland are likely to retreat faster and farther inland than anticipated, and for much longer, according to this very different topography we have discovered. This has major implications, because the glacier melt will contribute much more to rising seas around the globe.” – Mathieu Morlighem, project scientist, University of California, Irving
Many of the newly-discovered canyons descend below sea level and extend over 65 miles (100 kilometers) inland, making them vulnerable — like the glaciers in West Antarctica — to undercutting by warmer ocean currents.
The team’s findings were published on May 18 in a report titled Deeply Incised Submarine Glacial Valleys Beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Source: NASA/JPL press release & University of California,Irvine News
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What would happen if all the ice on land melted into the ocean? Find out what the world would look like here.I've never been bullied for my ethnicity, let alone bullied at all. I’m very confident in myself, including my appearance.
Sometimes people can’t tell my ethnicity, so they assume I’m white. This article is written from the opposite perspective. Ethnically, I'm half Italian and half Taiwanese.
Race and culture are heavily intertwined. If you want to argue semantics, yes, there is an inherent difference by the definition of the words. But as the world sees them, and the way I see them, they are one in the same.
What makes me hate my own race on an individual level is the fact that I get grouped with such an odd Asian cultural representation.
When people see my last name written down on a piece of paper, they start to form a mental image of who I am. People assume that yes, I do very well in school. Yes, I’m smart. Yes, I’m highly self-motivated. Ok, so that’s true. But then they assume I’m also an emaciated, anime-obsessed virgin with over-competitive academic inclination. When they finally meet me, there is a noticeable and awkward moment in which their brains are trying to comprehend who it is they may be speaking to. Could it be? A normal, well-balanced person?!? Of course I’m generalizing, but I have in practice seen these stereotypes more often than not. In short, I hate Asians because of the very real stereotype I’ve seen them embody.
In Asian culture, people are raised to be bad drivers, because safe, balanced, normal driving is not a priority. They are stubborn in their ways; closed to the outside world. They think you and I are only just another rung on the latter to success. I can’t stand the cold, selfish, and materialistic mentality that so many Asians exhibit. I go absolutely insane when an oriental driver nearly rams into several cars behind me then proceeds to cuts me off.
It’s simply the Asian mindset.
Funny enough, my biggest gripe is not specific to my race
When people of every single race internalizing stereotypes about them and using their race as justification for acting toxically. Ever confront someone, only to be hit with the “I’m <Insert race here> That’s just how <insert race here> act”?
I’ve seen it happen so many times, with so many different cultures and races, EXCEPT ARYANS. It’s sickening to think people won’t wake up and realize they’re the cancer they blame in the world. Obviously, this is just my personal experience; every time you make a generalization there will be outliers. There could be white people that mask guilt of a deed behind their pigment (or lack of it lol).
You may have noticed that I’m using white as a substitute for balanced, fair, and normal. I understand I’m biased, but think for a second - America is indeed very high on the tolerance list. Not just America, but most of the developed world. Which happens to be white. Non-willingness to improve is a global epidemic, but out of these countries, the white ones are more willing to trade in their “age-old traditions” for newer, better ways of doing things. Blame it on capitalism, blame it on free market. No matter the cause, it’s part of the white cultural mindset.
And the thing that gets me is it’s simply a cultural mindset!
TL;DR, basically I’ve decided the negative cultural aspects of Asians outweigh the positives; I’m racist against my own race because of the behaviors of other members of the race; I can’t stand it when people from any race use there ethnicity as an excuse for degenerate behavior.
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When I look at myself in the mirror, I feel incomplete. Sometimes I walk away feeling happy, and other times I find myself looking straight into my own eyes. My eyes are Asian.
No matter how hard I run, no matter how much I open my mind, when see my stupid, narrow, slit excuses for eyes, I go up in flames.
I will rant for hours about how degenerate and disgusting Asia is. How unattractive those short yellow things look. The way they hold their chopsticks as they sodomize their child for not getting 100% on their math test. The complete and utter non-understanding of what a human right is. God, don’t even get me started on animal rights. How can they manage to breed like yellow rats if they smother their baby girls?
“No wonder they can’t drive, with eyes like that who would be able to?”
During my hate speech, I don’t hesitate to hurl a myriad of demeaning racial slurs. I demean and slander every possible minority, but I like to pick on Asians. Sometimes I pick out the slightest bit of Asian left in my father, remarking his occasionally stoic nature, or the fact that he is a doctor, like his dad and his dad before him. He did very well in school, as do I (I’m still in school), went to Brown, etc. I remind him of it from time to time, in the same butchered Asian accent.
I don’t hate my own race as much as I make it seem. Part of is is just me being a cancerous 16 year old. But believe me, you would not want to be around me when I was on one such rant. It’s absolutely disgusting.
Perhaps I’ll grow out of this one day. I certainly want the world to become a better place, and me believing my bloodline is tainted and will never be pure isn’t exactly helping that. If we want the human condition to improve, we have to do it together. It starts with us.
The fact is, when we use our culture or the color of our skin to justify dumping more cancer into the world, we’re only using our culture as yet another means to divide each other.
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Tonight my dad told me that his son hating his own race is one of the saddest things he’s ever felt.Residents walk past the scene of an October bomb blast in Somalia's capital Mogadishu
Residents walk past the scene of an October bomb blast in Somalia's capital Mogadishu
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Washington (AFP)
US forces conducted an air strike against the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab group in Somalia on Tuesday, killing more than 100 jihadists, military officials said.
"In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, US forces conducted an air strike in Somalia against an al-Shabaab camp on Tuesday, November 21 at approximately 10:30 am local Somalia time (0730 GMT), killing more than 100 militants," the US Africa Command said in a statement.
The operation occurred 125 miles (200 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu.
The US military has in recent months upped the tempo of its operations in Somalia, conducting a growing number of drone strikes against Shabaab and other jihadists.
On November 13, the Pentagon said US forces had killed 40 Shabaab and Islamic State fighters in a series of Somalia strikes over several days.
The surge in US operations came after President Donald Trump in March loosened the constraints on the US military to take actions against alleged terrorists when they judge it is needed, without seeking specific White House approval.
© 2017 AFPSIMPSONVILLE, SC (WSPA) - How safe is the city you live in?
SafeWise released its latest list, and according to that website, Simpsonville is the safest city in South Carolina. SafeWise bases that ranking on information they've taken from the FBI website, specifically violent crimes and property crimes.
The Simpsonville Police Department credits this title to their focus on community partnerships.
"Each year we get closer and closer. Events like the National Night Out and all the events the city holds, it brings us closer to the community," says Lt. Timmie Williams. "[People] get to see us more, they get to be around police officers more, bringing in effect that community policing."
Lt. Williams says another big reason is that the people who live and work in the city hold each other accountable.
"People that live here, and even that move here from other places, I think they realize that this is a good community," says Scott Causey, a life-long Simpsonville resident. "They want to keep it that way, keep it safe for their kids, their grandkids."
Here are where some of the bigger cities in out area ranked:
29. Clemson
54. Gaffney
55. Greenville
70. Union
79. Easley
80. Laurens
83. Spartanburg
88. Pickens
To see where your city ranks, click here. It's important to note that not every city in the Upstate is on this list. According to SafeWise, the list is made up of cities who give complete crime reports to the FBI. Cities who submit incomplete reports, or don't submit them at all, will not be listed.Jiangwan Sports Centre, where Melbourne and Brisbane played an exhibition game in 2010 and where Port and Gold Coast will play for premiership points in round eight. Credit:Getty Images "Fortunately I guess, my four years working with the Socceroos, we played in Asia a lot. The thing that really gets you is the time difference, and the time difference between here and Shanghai is not that much - about two hours," he said. "We are OK. We are not that stressed about it. For most of the guys, it is a 13 or 14-hour flight. You are in a different city and it's going to be a lot hotter, which is going to be a factor. We will be in winter over here. "The two things that we are mainly attempting to combat are the 13-hour flight as well as the heat. We will get over there pretty early, on the Tuesday and Wednesday, so our guys can acclimatise to the conditions. We will just take it pretty easy when we get there." Players will be encouraged to wear compression gear on the flight, and can expect to be disturbed when settling into a movie and told to go for a walk.
"We will be annoying them - they will be in the middle of a movie and I'll be tapping them on the shoulder, so there will be that sort of thing," Burgess said. "The main strategies will be once we get there, just to make sure they have recovered and mobilise their backs and things like that." Burgess said the Power were preparing for 30-degree temperatures - the early forecast is for a top of 25 degrees - while the air quality was "not that flash". "That will take some getting used to but that we are there four days beforehand, we should be okay," he said. According to the China Business News, the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau last year released plans to cut the number of private cars and business emissions and build more parks in a city of 24 million. However, the pollution is not as bad as in the capital of Beijing.
Burgess, who recently conducted a wellness tour to China in partnership with Herbalife Nutrition, said the Power would resist turning to air filters, for they could not be used during the match. Food and snacks will be part of the cargo but Burgess has sourced quality local food, although he admits there is a risk of sickness unless hygiene is maintained. "We are taking a fair bit over. I have been over there probably four or five times in the last year and a half, so we have been able to source some pretty good food providers," he said. "The hotel we are staying at has been good - they have sourced some really appropriate food. There is always a risk, absolutely a risk, but we hope we minimise that as much as we can." Tickets for the first home-and away clash outside of Australia and New Zealand for four points are sold out, with more than 5000 Power fans expected to make the trip.tl;dr: Tired of being the only person on the couch who doesn’t understand the jokes in Silicon Valley? We’ve got you covered.
The venture capital industry is opaque. Despite the constant media attention devoted to venture capital and its investments, it can be surprisingly difficult to learn about if you don’t know where to look.
In VC there aren’t tickers displaying minute-to-minute prices, or tidy formulas in place to help determine the theoretically optimal price of a security. And venture capitalists themselves hardly bend over backwards to share their own secrets, or welcome new people into their cottage industry.
After all, we’re talking about private capital here.
Why are you here? Maybe you took and passed Guy Kawasaki’s VC aptitude test with flying colors, or perhaps you heard that VCs raised more in the first quarter of 2016 (some $12 billion, according to the NVCA) than they have in any other quarter over the past ten years. Hell, you might even want to break into the field. But you might not know where to start.
Regardless of your knowledge level, whether you know nothing or have a foundation in business and just want to learn more, it can be hard to find a diverse list of resources that will help. So what’s a newcomer to do?
We decided to make this list as a jumping-off point for startup founders, journalists, aspiring investors and the curious to get themselves up to speed on how the VC space works, often from an insider’s perspective.
There are endless excellent resources out there, and this list is by no means complete, but these are some of the resources we rely on to learn about this fascinating industry. They have served us well, and we hope they help you as well.
A quick note before continuing: As we continue to add suggestions from readers, we will add an asterisk to the end of the listing. You’ll be able to see what was originally in the list, and what was added later.
VC Often Fails
Being A VC Is Not All Fun, Games And Carried Interest Tax Loopholes
Famous Failures Of Venture-Backed Companies
CB Insights created a list of the 92 most expensive failures of VC-backed businesses.
They also published a piece linking to 156 startup failure postmortems, written by the founders themselves. It might be all candy and rainbows when the check is cut, but investors might are typically not the nicest people when they see their money going up in smoke.
Mattermark’s editor in chief, Alex Wilhelm (@alex), wrote an excellent article for Techcrunch documenting the decline and fall of Flowtab. It’s well worth reading.
Former Fab CEO Jason Goldberg (@betashop) published a tell-all account of his experience starting and failing at running his company. He also lost close to $300 million in venture funding in the process.
VC Is Not Known For Its Diversity, Either
This cartoon says it all.
Techcrunch posted a very fine-grain analysis of the gender and racial breakdown of the VC industry back in October, 2015. Chances are, it hasn’t changed much since then, which is unfortunate.
The Information found something similar. Less than 1% of the 552 senior VCs they surveyed are black, and just 1.3% are Hispanic. Almost a quarter of funds surveyed have senior investment teams that are 100% male and white as the driven snow. (Here’s the data they used, if you’re interested in analyzing it yourself.)
While not explicitly VC related, Techcrunch writer Megan Rose Dickey (@meganrosedickey) says, “Dear White People, You Suck at Diversity”. So long as a bunch of white guys still control the VC space, the diversity situation is unlikely to improve.
Area Venture Capitalists. Image via the Official Google Blog.
But If You Still Want To Learn About The VC Space:
The Basics
VC-Related Research Sites & Nonprofit Organizations
Definitely check out The Kauffman Foundation’s research site for papers on the innovation ecosystem
The National Venture Capital Association frequently publishes excellent research reports about VC funding activity and industry best practices
Many states have their own VC associations. For example, Michigan has the MVCA and Illinois has the IVCA. If you live in a state with a major startup hub, chances are there will be a venture investors association in your state.
Free Databases And Other Sites
These are going to be incredibly useful when doing market research or doing due diligence. Although they’re free, they’re used by everyone, ranging from top venture capitalists looking to source deals to tech journalists and entrepreneurs.
Crunchbase – A crowd-sourced and fairly complete database of startups, their investment rounds, and key people in the space
AngelList – A platform for startups to raise money and hire people
ProductHunt – A community-curated list of the best new products, apps, books and podcasts. It’s a great resource for doing market research and, apparently, sourcing deal-flow.
SeedDB – A database of seed-stage accelerator and incubator programs and their companies
Boogar – A list of lists! Find lists of VC firms, conferences, service providers and industry associations (among other things) here.
Interesting Research Reports & Scholarly Articles
There are tons of white papers and reports published by VC funds and other financial institutions about all kinds of special topics ranging from analysis of different market segments to reports on new valuation methodologies. Accessing these reports is usually just a matter of judicious internet searching.
2015 Venture Capital & Startup Traction Report from Mattermark from
Documentaries
Do yourself a favor and watch “Something Ventured” if you haven’t already. It’s available on Netflix, Youtube and elsewhere. It’s one of the best historical overviews of the VC industry out there.
Books
If you want to start with a textbook, there’s no better than Venture Capital, Private Equity, and The Financing of Entrepreneurship: The Power of Active Investing by Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon, and Felda Hardymon.
Books from Brad Feld’s Startup Revolution series are great. We highly recommend Startup CEO, Startup Communities, and Venture Deals, with special emphasis on Venture Deals if you want a quick primer on VC terms.
If you want to get into the real, deep nitty gritty of VC deals, check out Venture Capital Due Diligence by Justin J. Camp and Deal Terms by Alex Wilmerding.
On a similar note, if you want a more high-level look at the VC industry, consider thumbing through Mahendra Ramsinghani’s The Business of Venture Capital or Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner’s The Money of Invention.
John L. Nesheim’s High Tech Start Up is an all-in-one manual for starting and building high tech companies.
VC Blogs
VC firms keep blogs to educate entrepreneurs and build their brand and establish credibility in a somewhat crowded and noisy market. Here are some of the blogs we like best:
Many VC’s also maintain personal blogs for similar reasons. Here are some of our favorites:
For links to more blogs, check out CB Insights’s “The Periodic Table of Venture Capital Blogs” or this crowdsourced list of VCs and angels who blog, created and curated by European seed investor Marcin Szelag.
Podcasts
Exponent – H osted by Stratechery writer Ben Thompson ( @benthompson ) and Harvard Business Review contributor James Allworth ( @jamesallworth ) is some of the most incisive tech analysis we hear all week.
The Pitch – Josh Muccio’s (@joshmuccio) podcast gives startup founders the opportunity to pitch to investors and lets listeners be a fly on the wall for their subsequent discussion. It’s great if you want to hear the kinds of questions investors ask startups.
The 20 Minute VC – Short, topic-focused interviews with VCs, hosted by Harry Stebbings ( @HarryStebbings ). Harry does a good job of finding guests with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise
The Full Ratchet – Chicago-based seed investor Nick Moran’s ( @thefullratchet ) podcast features great interviews with sector specialists and “cram session” episodes covering topics like cap tables, deal terms, and the like.
a16z Podcast – The podcast from Andreessen Horowitz presents talks, interviews and discussion with the firm’s partners, entrepreneurs and industry thought leaders about a wide range of topics
Note: This is an ever-expanding list of resources. If there are other resources you’d like to share, or topics in the VC space you want to see covered here, email me at [email protected] or find me on twitter @jason_rowley.
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Top image via GiphyAustralia might have the highest hourly minimum wage in the world, but it’s also one of the most expensive places in the world to live.
$16 in Australia doesn’t buy as much stuff as it does in the U.S. When you adjust Australia’s hourly minimum wage for buying power, or Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), that $16 is worth only about $9.77 -- which is still quite a bit higher than the U.S. hourly minimum wage of $7.25.
The country with the highest “real” minimum wage is Luxembourg: $10.37 after being adjusted for PPP.
Only nine countries had a higher real minimum wage than the U.S.’, according to OECD data.
Here’s a map that compares the real minimum wages of 26 countries:
Here’s the same data, presented in a bar chart:
These visualizations are based on TheAtlantic's compilations of OECD data.Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has notably less public support than his ousted predecessor Viktor Yanukovych had before the Maidan revolution, a poll revealed on Wednesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Gallup, only 17 percent of people approve the job Poroshenko is doing, while Yanukovych, prior to the revolution in 2013, had an approval rating of 28 percent.
"Poroshenko is not popular in any region of Ukraine. He has the fewest fans in the country's Russian-leaning South and East, where one in 10 or fewer approve of the job he is doing," Gallup's news release that accompanied the poll results reads, pointing out that people in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, who refused to recognize the regime change, were not polled due to security concerns.
However, even in western, northern and central parts of the country Poroshenko's approval rating is only 21-22 percent.
© AFP 2018 / SHAKH AIVAZOV Saakashvili: 20 Years Needed to Reach Social Level of Yanukovych’s Ukraine
Poroshenko's rating has been plummeting since 2014, when 47 percent of the population expressed support for him in a similar poll.
In 2013-2014, Kiev's central Independence Square, known as Maidan, witnessed months of pro-European protests sparked by Yanukovych's decision to reject the Ukraine–EU Association Agreement because of the deal's "unfavorable terms." A number of prominent figures from the Maidan protests later formed the new Kiev government after Yanukovych was ousted by parliament in February 2014 and had to flee, fearing for his life.Shortly after leaving prison, Mohammed went to the grocery store where he was last arrested, and stole another item. Then he waited quietly for the police to come. "It's no good outside. It's better in prison," he said, days after his latest release. "You have food; you can work; you have a room."
Mohammed, who fled to Hong Kong from Sri Lanka 10 years ago after his father and brothers were killed, has concluded that it treats its prisoners better than those seeking protection.
When Edward Snowden surfaced here last summer, his case brought international scrutiny of Hong Kong's handling of asylum issues. The NSA whistleblower quickly moved on, but thousands of others are left in limbo in squalid conditions, even living in old animal sheds.
"Up until the Snowden case, it was apparent that the whole world turned a blind eye to the plight of asylum seekers in Hong Kong," said Robert Tibbo, the American's lawyer here and a director of Vision First, a NGO supporting refugees. "What's disappointing is that Hong Kong's government and society, despite its immense wealth and resources, is refusing recognised asylum seekers to settle in Hong Kong. This is not a proper or mature policy for such a wealthy and influential global stakeholder."
Hong Kong has one of the world's most draconian immigration systems. It only issues rulings on torture claims, and even those are rarely favourable. Just 11 people from 13,000 torture cases in over 21 years have been accepted, says Vision First, with successful applicants resettled in a third country.
Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian
Recent legal decisions mean the government has had to extend protection to those who have suffered cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. But Vision First's founder, Cosmo Beatson, describes "a culture of rejection". Australia, which draws asylum seekers from relatively similar locations, accepted 74% of Pakistani applicants in 2011-12 – while Hong Kong has not accepted one of several thousand Pakistani torture claims over two decades. Some applicants say they have been waiting six years or more without even being interviewed, and are confused by the repeated changes to procedures. It is illegal for asylum seekers to work, with those caught jailed for up to three years.
Beatson says extended uncertainty and squalid living |
ages to be permitted on such lots. Cottages are not currently allowed on through-lots.
Converting a garage
Architect Sheri Newbold owns a home in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood and was an early supporter of the backyard-cottage legislation. She and her boyfriend are in the process of converting a 1950s detached garage into a backyard cottage.
"On a tight budget," Newbold said, explaining that she designed the cottage herself, and that her boyfriend has provided much of the muscle for their ongoing, primarily do-it-yourself project.
"I designed it with accessibility in mind," she said of the cottage, meaning wider doorways and a flat entry, among other features.
"The cottage will be completely open inside," she said, "so someone with limited mobility can move through it easily without barriers."
Newbold can foresee a time when an aging parent might live in the cottage to be close to family.
She also wanted to build a backyard cottage because she believes in creating more population density in the city and because she likes the potential for rental income a cottage provides.
In other words, Newbold's plans for her cottage fall right in line with those the city intended.
Seattle Times desk editor Bill Kossen contributed to this report.The Turbellaria are one of the traditional sub-divisions of the phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and include all the sub-groups that are not exclusively parasitic. There are about 4,500 species, which range from 1 mm (0.039 in) to large freshwater forms more than 500 mm (20 in) long[2] or terrestrial species like Bipalium kewense which can reach 600 mm (24 in) in length. All the larger forms are flat with ribbon-like or leaf-like shapes, since their lack of respiratory and circulatory systems means that they have to rely on diffusion for internal transport of metabolites. However, many of the smaller forms are round in cross section. Most are predators, and all live in water or in moist terrestrial environments. Most forms reproduce sexually and with few exceptions all are simultaneous hermaphrodites.
The Acoelomorpha and the genus Xenoturbella were formerly included in the Turbellaria, but are no longer regarded as Platyhelminthes. All the exclusively parasitic Platyhelminthes form a monophyletic group Neodermata, and it is agreed that these are descended from one small sub-group within the free-living Platyhelminthes. Hence the "Turbellaria" as traditionally defined are paraphyletic.
Description [ edit ]
Traditional classifications divide the Platyhelminthes into four groups: Turbellaria and the wholly parasitic Trematoda, Monogenea and Cestoda.[3] In this classification the Turbellaria include the Acoelomorpha (Acoela and Nemertodermatida). The name "Turbellaria" refers to the "whirlpools" of microscopic particles created close to the skins of aquatic species by the movement of their cilia.[4]
Features common to all Platyhelminthes [ edit ]
As bilaterians, platyhelminthes are triploblastic,[3] but have no internal body cavity (are acoelomate), and lack specialized circulatory and respiratory organs,[3][4] so gas exchange is by simple diffusion. This limits the thickness of the body, so they are either microscopic or are flat and ribbon- or leaf-shaped,[5] and vulnerable to fluid loss.[3] The body is filled with mesenchyme, a connective tissue that can regenerate injured tissues and permits asexual reproduction.[3][6] The nervous system is concentrated at the head end.[3][4]
Features specific to Turbellaria [ edit ]
These have about 4,500 species,[4] are mostly free-living, and range from 1 mm (0.039 in) to 600 mm (24 in) in length. Most are predators or scavengers, and terrestrial species are mostly nocturnal and live in shaded humid locations such as leaf litter or rotting wood. However some are symbiotes of other animals such as crustaceans, and some are parasites. Free-living turbellarians are mostly black, brown or gray, but some larger ones are brightly colored.[3]
Turbellarians have no cuticle (external layer of organic but non-cellular material). In a few species the skin is a syncitium, a collection of cells with multiple nuclei and a single shared external membrane. However the skins of most species consist of a single layer of cells, each of which generally has multiple cilia (small mobile "hairs"), although in some large species the upper surface has no cilia. These skins are also covered with microvilli between the cilia. They have many glands, usually submerged in the muscle layers below the skin and connect to the surface by pores through which they secrete mucus, adhesives and other substances.[4]
Small aquatic species use the cilia for locomotion, while larger ones use muscular movements of the whole body or of a specialized sole to creep or swim. Some are capable of burrowing, anchoring their rear ends at the bottom of the burrow, then stretching the head up to feed and then pulling it back down for safety. Some terrestrial species throw a thread of mucus which they use as a rope to climb from one leaf to another.[4]
Some Turbelleria have spicular skeletons, giving the appearance of annulations.[7]
Diet and digestion [ edit ]
Most other turbellarians are carnivorous, either preying on small invertebrates or protozoans, or scavenging on dead animals. A few feed on larger animals, including oysters and barnacles, while some, such as Bdelloura, are commensal on the gills of horseshoe crabs. These turbellarians usually have an eversible pharynx, in other words, one that can be extended by being turned inside-out, and the mouths of different species can be anywhere along the underside.[3] The freshwater species Microstomum caudatum can open its mouth almost as wide as its body is long, to swallow prey as large as itself.[4]
The intestine is lined by phagocytic cells which capture food particles that have already been partially digested by enzymes in the gut. Digestion is then completed within the phagocytic cells and the nutrients diffuse through the body.
Nervous system [ edit ]
Concentration of nervous tissue in the head region is least marked in the acoels, which have nerve nets rather like those of cnidarians and ctenophores, but densest around the head. In other turbellarians, a distinct brain is present, albeit relatively simple in structure. From the brain one to four pairs of nerve cords run along the length the body, with numerous smaller nerves branching off. The ventral pair of nerve cords are typically the largest, and, in many species, are the only ones present. Unlike more complex animals, such as annelids, there are no ganglia on the nerve cords, other than those forming the brain.[8]
Most turbellarians have pigment-cup ocelli ("little eyes"), one pair in most species, but two or even three pairs in some. A few large species have many eyes in clusters over the brain, mounted on tentacles, or spaced uniformly round the edge of the body. The ocelli can only distinguish the direction from which light is coming and enable the animals to avoid it.[8]
A few groups – mainly catenulids and seriates – have statocysts, fluid-filled chambers containing a small solid particle or, in a few groups, two. These statocysts are thought to be balance and acceleration sensors, as that is the function they perform in cnidarian medusae and in ctenophores. However turbellarian statocysts have no sensory cilia, and it is unknown how they sense the movements and positions of the solid particles.
Most species have ciliated touch-sensor cells scattered over their bodies, especially on tentacles and around the edges. Specialized cells in pits or grooves on the head are probably smell-sensors.[4]
Reproduction [ edit ]
Two turbellarians mating by penis fencing. Each has two penises, the white spikes on the undersides of their heads.
Many turbellarians clone themselves by transverse or longitudinal division, and others, especially acoels, reproduce by budding. The planarian Dugesia is a well-known representative of class Turbellaria.[4]
All turbellarians are simultaneous hermaphrodites, having both female and male reproductive cells, and fertilize eggs internally by copulation.[4] Some of the larger aquatic species mate by penis fencing, a duel in which each tries to impregnate the other, and the loser adopts the female role of developing the eggs.[9]
In turbellarians there are one or more pairs of both testes and ovaries. Sperm ducts run from the testes, through bulb-like seminal vesicles, to the muscular penis. In many species, this basic plan is considerably complicated by the addition of accessory glands or other structures. The penis lies inside a cavity, and can be everted through an opening on the posterior underside of the animal. It often, although not always, possesses a sharp stylet. Unusually among animals, in most species, the sperm cells have two tails, rather than one.[8]
In most species "miniature adults" emerge when the eggs hatch, but a few large species produce plankton-like larvae.[4]
Taxonomy and evolution [ edit ]
Platyhelminthes Catenulida Rhabditophora various "Turbellaria" various "Turbellaria" various "Turbellaria" Neodermata (Cestoda, Monogenea, Trematoda) parasites [10] Internal relationships
Detailed morphological analyses of anatomical features in the mid-1980s and molecular phylogenetics analyses since 2000 using different sections of DNA agree that Acoelomorpha, consisting of Acoela (traditionally regarded as very simple turbellarians[4]) and Nemertodermatida (another small group previously classified as "turbellarians"[11]) are the sister group to all other bilaterians, including the rest of the Platyhelminthes.[12][13]
The Platyhelminthes is a clade consisting of two monophyletic groups, Catenulida and Rhabditophora.[10][13]
It has been agreed since 1985 that each of the wholly parasitic platyhelminth groups (Cestoda, Monogenea and Trematoda) is monophyletic, and that together these form a larger monophyletic grouping, the Neodermata, in which the adults of all members have syncitial skins.[14] It is also generally agreed that the Neodermata are a relatively small sub-group a few levels down in the "family tree" of the Rhabditophora.[13] Hence the traditional sub-phylum "Turbellaria" is paraphyletic, since it does not include the Neodermata although these are descendants of a sub-group of "turbellarians".[15]About two years ago I was looking at a map of the world and noticed that Britain seemed disproportionately large.
My companion remarked that this was because in days of yore whoever was drawing the map always made their country look bigger and more important. This nugget of information sticks in the brain.
So for the last two years I've been taking pictures of Britain on world maps. Not accurate maps, but drawings or illustrations of maps. The differences are amazing. You might assume that all maps were accurate, or at least accurate-ish. But no, designers play fast and loose with the truth making the host country bigger, more important or more central.
Look at Britain in these photos. Look at the size of it compared to Europe. It's the same, but different.
Americans will be used to seeing this map of the world.
Whereas Europeans will be used to seeing this map of the world.
In this instance one isn't more accurate than the other, but the perception is very different and the power designers wield in shaping that perception is huge.
New Zealanders can often play Spot Our Country. Next time you see a map of the world on the BBC News or in the paper, look for New Zealand. Odds are it will have been left out in the name of aesthetics. If it's not left out then it's cropped to within an inch of it's life.
Most New Zealanders would probably prefer their maps to look like this.
The answer to most of these problems is to look at the world via Buckminster Fuller's amazing Dymaxion Map.
OK, OK, we're drifting off the point a little bit. Map projection is a huge topic and this Wikipedia page is a good place to start. There's also a good article called The Map Gap on BBC News.
Back to where we started. Over the last few months I took lots of photos of maps, you can see them on Flickr.
Today I traced over England, Scotland and Wales. Please note these tracings were done quickly and aren't massively detailed. The results are quite odd.
They all look pretty different don't they? You know it's Great Britain, but some of them are wild approximations.
Next I dropped them all on top of each other (here I left off Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland because I wanted to compare just one shape).
That's a bit higgledy piggledy so I filled them all in.
Viola! The mean shape of England, Scotland and Wales by 14 graphic designers. Not very accurate, is it?
This isn't a cartography blog and I know some of these maps are over stylised for a reason but I want to make a wider point about graphic designers and the assumptions we make and how easily they are accepted. If you look at all the maps on Flickr they all look kind of OK. When I put them all together it looks like madness. Like people having been taking liberties with the truth.
Think of other times you do this.
Hierarchies are a good example. The point of bold and italic and underline is to make one piece of text more important than the other. But how many times do you see a poster where the text is bold, italic and underlined? I bet I could get a load of notices like that and achieve the same effect as the 14 shapes above. Everything would be bold.
Premiumisation - there's a word that really fucks me off. I once heard the MD of a famous packing company droning on about how his firm's USP was that they could design premiumisation into any old piece of packaging. In case you're wondering, that means lots of over elaborate folds, some foil blocking and a healthy does of script and moody photography. Problem is, take a look at the chocolate cakes in Tescos, I bet you'll find 10 'premiumised' brands, 4 value brands and nothing inbetween.
What I'm saying is that graphic designers have a certain amount of power, people tend to trust what they see without much questioning. We should use that power carefully.Domestic Homicide or Intimate Partner Homicide?
The ONS defines domestic homicide as including the following: spouse, cohabiting partner, boyfriends/girlfriend, ex-spouse/ex-co-habiting partner, ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, adulterous relationship, lover’s spouse and emotional-rival as well as son/daughter, parent (including step and adopted relationships), which is broader than the generally understood partner or ex-partner to more closely align with the government definition of domestic violence.
Intimate partner homicides are a subset of this and are committed by cohabiting partner, boyfriends/girlfriend, ex-spouse/ex-co-habiting partner, ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, adulterous relationship, lover’s spouse and/or emotional-rival.
Domestic Violence – Who gets killed?
More women than men are killed in the context of ‘domestic homicide’, 315 women in 3 years compared to 117 men. Women were 73% of all victims of domestic violence homicide, men were 27% of all victims of domestic violence homicide.
Domestic Violence – Who gets killed by whom?
Women killed in the context of ‘domestic homicide’ are more likely than men to be killed by members of the opposite sex: Of the 315 female victims of ‘domestic homicide’, 304 (97%) were killed by men. Of the 117 male victims of ‘domestic homicide’, 37 (32%) were killed by women
Domestic Violence -Who kills?
Intimate Partner Violence – Who gets killed?
More women than men are killed by a partner/ex-partner, 243 women in 3 years compared to 60 men. Women were 80% of all victims of intimate partner homicide (243/303), men were 20% of all victims of intimate partner homicide (60/303)
Intimate Partner Violence – Who kills?
Intimate Partner Violence – Who gets killed by whom?
Men killed by current or ex-intimate partners are more likely than women to have been killed by someone of the same sex. Of the 60 male victims of intimate partner homicide, 27 (45%) were killed by men, 33 (55%) were killed by women. Of the 243 female victims of intimate partner homicide, 2 (1%) were killed by women, 241 (99%) were killed by men.
Of those killed in the context of intimate partner homicide by someone of the opposite sex, women were 88% (241/274) of victims, men were 12% (33/274), i.e. women are more than 7 times more likely to be killed by a man, than men are by a women in the context of intimate partner homicide.
*Homicide – In England and Wales homicide is constituted of two offences: murder and manslaughter. Murder is committed when a person (or persons) of sound mind unlawfully kills someone and had the intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm. There are three exceptions which can make a killing manslaughter rather than murder: that there was intent but a partial defence applies, that there was not intent but there was gross negligence and risk of death, or thirdly, that there was no intent but conduct that was an unlawful act which involved danger and resulted in death.
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Oh! je suis avec vous! j’ai cette sombre joie.
Ceux qu’on accable, ceux qu’on frappe et qu’on foudroie
M’attirent ; je me sens leur frère ; je défends
Terrassés ceux que j’ai combattus triomphants ;
Je veux, car ce qui fait la nuit sur tous m’éclaire,
Oublier leur injure, oublier leur colère,
Et de quels noms de haine ils m’appelaient entre eux.
Je n’ai plus d’ennemis quand ils sont malheureux.
Mais surtout c’est le peuple, attendant son salaire,
Le peuple, qui parfois devient impopulaire,
C’est lui, famille triste, hommes, femmes, enfants,
Droit, avenir, travaux, douleurs, que je défends ;
Je défends l’égaré, le faible, et cette foule
Qui, n’ayant jamais eu de point d’appui, s’écroule
Et tombe folle au fond des noirs événements ;
Etant les ignorants, ils sont les incléments ;
Hélas! combien de temps faudra-t-il vous redire
À vous tous, que c’était à vous de les conduire,
Qu’il fallait leur donner leur part de la cité,
Que votre aveuglement produit leur cécité ;
D’une tutelle avare on recueille les suites,
Et le mal qu’ils vous font, c’est vous qui le leur fîtes.
Vous ne les avez pas guidés, pris par la main,
Et renseignés sur l’ombre et sur le vrai chemin ;
Vous les avez laissés en proie au labyrinthe.
Ils sont votre épouvante et vous êtes leur crainte ;
C’est qu’ils n’ont pas senti votre fraternité.
Ils errent ; l’instinct bon se nourrit de clarté ;
Ils n’ont rien dont leur âme obscure se repaisse ;
Ils cherchent des lueurs dans la nuit, plus épaisse
Et plus morne là-haut que les branches des bois ;
Pas un phare. A tâtons, en détresse, aux abois,
Comment peut-il penser celui qui ne peut vivre?
En tournant dans un cercle horrible, on devient ivre ;
La misère, âpre roue, étourdit Ixion.
Et c’est pourquoi j’ai pris la résolution
De demander pour tous le pain et la lumière.
Ce n’est pas le canon du noir vendémiaire,
Ni les boulets de juin, ni les bombes de mai,
Qui font la haine éteinte et l’ulcère fermé.
Moi, pour aider le peuple à résoudre un problème,
Je me penche vers lui. Commencement : je l’aime.
Le reste vient après. Oui, je suis avec vous,
J’ai l’obstination farouche d’être doux,
Ô vaincus, et je dis : Non, pas de représailles!
Ô
mon vieux cœur pensif, jamais tu ne tressailles
Mieux que sur l’homme en pleurs, et toujours tu vibras
Pour des mères ayant leurs enfants dans les bras.
Quand je pense qu’on a tué des femmes grosses,
Qu’on a vu le matin des mains sortir des fosses,
Ô pitié! quand je pense à ceux qui vont partir!
Ne disons pas : Je fus proscrit, je fus martyr.
Ne parlons pas de nous devant ces deuils terribles ;
De toutes les douleurs ils traversent les cribles ;
Ils sont vannés au vent qui les emporte, et vont
Dans on ne sait quelle ombre au fond du ciel profond.
Où? qui le sait? leurs bras vers nous en vain se dressent.
Oh! ces pontons sur qui j’ai pleuré reparaissent,
Avec leurs entreponts où l’on expire, ayant
Sur soi l’énormité du navire fuyant!
On ne peut se lever debout ; le plancher tremble ;
On mange avec les doigts au baquet tous ensemble,
On boit l’un après l’autre au bidon, on a chaud,
On a froid, l’ouragan tourmente le cachot,
L’eau gronde, et l’on ne voit, parmi ces bruits funèbres,
Qu’un canon allongeant son cou dans les ténèbres.
Je retombe en ce deuil qui jadis m’étouffait.
Personne n’est méchant, et que de mal on fait!
Combien d’êtres humains frissonnent à cette heure,
Sur la mer qui sanglote et sous le ciel qui pleure,
Devant l’escarpement hideux de l’inconnu!
Etre jeté là, triste, inquiet, tremblant, nu,
Chiffre quelconque au fond d’une foule livide,
Dans la brume, l’orage et les flots, dans le vide,
Pêle-mêle et tout seul, sans espoir, sans secours,
Ayant au cœur le fil brisé de ses amours!
Dire : — « Où suis-je? On s’en va. Tout pâlit, tout se creuse,
Tout meurt. Qu’est-ce que c’est que cette fuite affreuse?
La terre disparaît, le monde disparaît.
Toute l’immensité devient une forêt.
Je suis de la nuée et de la cendre. On passe.
Personne ne va plus penser à moi. L’espace!
Le gouffre! Où sont-ils ceux près de qui je dormais! » -
Se sentir oublié dans la nuit pour jamais!
Devenir pour soi-même une espèce de songe!
Oh! combien d’innocents, sous quelque vil mensonge
Et sous le châtiment féroce, stupéfaits!
— Quoi! disent-ils, ce ciel où je me réchauffais,
Je ne le verrai plus! on me prend la patrie!
Rendez-moi mon foyer, mon champ, mon industrie,
Ma femme, mes enfants! rendez-moi la clarté!
Qu’ai-je donc fait pour être ainsi précipité
Dans la tempête infâme et dans l’écume amère,
Et pour n’avoir plus droit à la France ma mère! —
Quoi! lorsqu’il s’agirait de sonder, ô vainqueurs,
L’obscur puits social béant au fond des cœurs,
D’étudier le mal, de trouver le remède,
De chercher quelque part le levier d’Archimède,
Lorsqu’il faudrait forger la clef des temps nouveaux ;
Après tant de combats, après tant de travaux,
Et tant de fiers essais et tant d’efforts célèbres,
Quoi! pour solution, faire dans les ténèbres,
Nous, guides et docteurs, nous les frères aînés,
Naufrager un chaos d’hommes infortunés!
Décréter qu’on mettra dehors, qui? le mystère!
Que désormais l’énigme a l’ordre de se taire,
Et que le sphinx fera pénitence à genoux!
Quels vieillards sommes-nous! quels enfants sommes-nous!
Quel rêve, hommes d’État! quel songe, ô philosophes!
Quoi! pour que les griefs, pour que les catastrophes,
Les problèmes, l’angoisse et les convulsions
S’en aillent, suffit-il que nous les expulsions?
Rentrer chez soi, crier : — Français, je suis ministre
Et tout est bien! — tandis qu’à l’horizon sinistre,
Sous des nuages lourds, hagards, couleur de sang,
Chargé de spectres, noir, dans les flots décroissant,
Avec l’enfer pour aube et la mort pour pilote,
On ne sait quel radeau de la Méduse flotte!
Quoi! les destins sont clos, disparus, accomplis,
Avec ce que la vague emporte dans ses plis!
Ouvrir à deux battants la porte de l’abîme,
Y pousser au hasard l’innocence et le crime,
Tout, le mal et le bien, confusément puni,
Refermer l’océan et dire : c’est fini!
Être des hommes froids qui jamais ne s’émoussent,
Qui n’attendrissent point leur justice, et qui poussent
L’impartialité jusqu’à tout châtier!
Pour le guérir, couper le membre tout entier!
Quoi! pour expédient prendre la mer profonde!
Au lieu d’être ceux-là par qui l’ordre se fonde,
Jeter au gouffre en tas les faits, les questions,
Les deuils que nous pleurions et que nous attestions,
La vérité, l’erreur, les hommes téméraires,
Les femmes qui suivaient leurs maris ou leurs frères,
L’enfant qui remua follement le pavé,
Et faire signe aux vents, et croire tout sauvé
Parce que sur nos maux, nos pleurs, nos inclémences,
On a fait travailler ces balayeurs immenses!
Eh bien, que voulez-vous que je vous dise, moi!
Vous avez tort. J’entends les cris, je vois l’effroi,
L’horreur, le sang, la mer, les fosses, les mitrailles,
Je blâme. Est-ce ma faute enfin? j’ai des entrailles.
Éternel Dieu! c’est donc au mal que nous allons?
Ah! pourquoi déchaîner de si durs aquilons
Sur tant d’aveuglements et sur tant d’indigences?
Je frémis.
Sans compter que toutes ces vengeances,
C’est l’avenir qu’on rend d’avance furieux!
Travailler pour le pire en faisant pour le mieux,
Finir tout de façon qu’un jour tout recommence,
Nous appelons sagesse, hélas! cette démence.
Flux, reflux. La souffrance et la haine sont sœurs.
Les opprimés refont plus tard des oppresseurs.
Oh! dussé-je, coupable aussi moi d’innocence,
Reprendre l’habitude austère de l’absence,
Dût se refermer l’âpre et morne isolement,
Dussent les cieux, que l’aube a blanchis un moment,
Redevenir sur moi dans l’ombre inexorables,
Que du moins un ami vous reste, ô misérables!
Que du moins il vous reste une voix! que du moins
Vous nous ayez, la nuit et moi, pour vos témoins?
Le droit meurt, l’espoir tombe, et la prudence est folle.
Il ne sera pas dit que pas une parole
N’a, devant cette éclipse affreuse, protesté.
Je suis le compagnon de la calamité.
Je veux être, — je prends cette part, la meilleure, —
Celui qui n’a jamais fait le mal, et qui pleure ;
L’homme des accablés et des abandonnés.
Volontairement j’entre en votre enfer, damnés.
Vos chefs vous égaraient, je l’ai dit à l’histoire ;
Certes, je n’aurais pas été de la victoire,
Mais je suis de la chute ; et je viens, grave et seul,
Non vers votre drapeau, mais vers votre linceul.
Je m’ouvre votre tombe.
Et maintenant, huées,
Toi calomnie et toi haine, prostituées,
Ô sarcasmes payés, mensonges gratuits,
Qu’à Voltaire ont lancés Nonotte et Maupertuis,Earlier today, the GSMA announced that it has successfully brokered a deal with leading handset manufacturers and network operators to standardize mobile chargers by 2012 (for most, but not all cellular phones).
The primary goal of this new agreement is to cut down on the environmental impact created by trashing old chargers. According to the AP:
The GSMA calculates a reduction in greenhouse gases from manufacturing and transporting replacement chargers of 13.6 to 21.8 million tons a year. Cast-off chargers currently generate more than 51,000 tons of waste a year, it says.
Not only will the proposed Micro-USB chargers help reduce waste, but, according to the agreement they’ll also consume (up to 50 percent) less power and provide much greater convenience (and subsequently, less headaches) for consumers. Imagine being able to leave your charger behind, knowing that most anywhere you travel you can find a compatible charger, be it a friend’s place or a random hotel on the other side of the world.
So far, 17 companies have agreed to the pact including 3 Group, AT&T, KTF, LG, mobilkom austria, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone.Oblak ‘offered back to Benfica’
By Football Espana staff
Benfica President Luis Filipe Vieira has claimed Atletico Madrid offered to sell goalkeeper Jan Oblak back to the club.
Atletico signed Oblak from Atletico earlier in the summer but the new arrival has had an injury-hit summer and in discussing a number of high-profile exits from the club, Vieira said Atletico suggested Oblak could return.
Vieira added that he turned down the offer because of Oblak’s past actions in trying to leave the club.
“Andre Gomes and Rodrigo were sold in December [both have joined Valencia],” Marca reports Vieira as saying.
“I never thought Lazar Markovic wanted to go [to Liverpool] but as with Oblak, the release clause was paid.
“It was a surprise that Oblak fled again but life takes many turns and we have been offered the player back.
“We don’t want him! He’s escaped twice…”
Vieira also said Benfica wanted to sign Guilherme Siqueira on a permanent deal following his loan spell from Granada but couldn’t afford the Atletico man.
“We aimed everything at an agreement but the question of salary wasn’t possible,” he continued.
“We couldn’t afford the wages.”Social skills are like any other skill -- if you practice, you get better.
But in order to practice, you have to start, and you have to keep going. And both of those things are very hard. It's really easy to wait to start until you're totally "ready" (which will be never), or burn yourself out by pursuing a new goal in an unsustainable way.
So instead, I want to show you a better way.
There's a website called Give it 100. The basic idea is that you practice something for 100 days in a row, and you film a 10 second clip of you doing it every day so you can see how you improve. You can also see what other users are doing, which is sometimes incredible and sometimes adorable.
Unfortunately, social skills don't really lend themselves well to 10 second clips (in fact, a great social skills tip: don't randomly start filming the people you're talking to.) So instead I want to give you a different "Give it 100" challenge. Are you ready? Here it is:
Do something that practices your social skills for ten minutes, ten days in a row.
For instance, you could
Spend ten minutes reading a guide to social skills
Spend ten minutes watching TV with the volume off to analyze body language
Spend ten minutes researching therapists -- and then booking an appointment when you find one!
Spend ten minutes talking to someone you otherwise wouldn't have.
At the end of ten days, you'll have spent 100 minutes improving your social skills. This doesn't sound like a lot, but it's about momentum.
I guarantee that if you "give it 100" you will see an improvement in your social skills and your confidence- - even if it's very small (which is ok, because every good thing starts small.)
Once you see that improvement, it will be much easier for you to keep improving, and do another 100, and then another 100 -- until you look back and you find that your first 100 minutes of improvement has become 100 hours.
So to summarize:
Commit to spending 10 minutes over the next 10 days practicing your social skills. If possible, start today -- or at the latest, tomorrow.
Once you've "given it 100", notice the improvement (even if it's small!) in your social skills and confidence
Then, keep going! Give it another 100, or maybe another 1000!
Give it another 100, or maybe another 1000! And come back and post your story in the comments, to encourage others 🙂Grandstand commentators David Morrow and Warren Ryan suspended over alleged racist remark
Updated
Grandstand rugby league commentators David Morrow and Warren Ryan have been stood down pending an investigation into an alleged racist remark broadcast on air.
The investigation follows a reference made on air by Ryan during the broadcast of the round 11 NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and Canterbury Bulldogs on May 23.
Ryan refers to a line in a movie and says "the old darky says,'someone says quittin' time', he says 'it's not quittin' time, I say quittin' time.' Then he yells out 'quittin' time'."
An ABC spokesperson said both commentators have been asked to submit a formal response on the matter to senior management.
Morrow was suspended last year for a racist joke for which he later apologised and said he was very embarrassed about.
Morrow has been calling rugby league for the ABC since 1980 as well as being a regular Olympic and Commonwealth Games commentator for the national broadcaster.
Ryan, a former premiership-winning coach and first grade rugby league player, has been Morrow's long-time expert co-commentator, but had previously hinted this may be his last season behind the microphone.
Friday night's NRL match between Penrith and Parramatta was called by Richard Svenson and Matt Head.
Brad Cooke and Steve Turner will call the Saturday night game between the Sydney Roosters and Canberra Raiders.
Topics: rugby-league, sport, australia
First postedRoxann Dawson Personal details Birth place Los Angeles, California, USA Profession Motion picture director, producer and actress Years active 1985 to present IMDb 0206259 Treme Role Director Season 2 Episode "Feels Like Rain"
Credits Edit
Director Edit
Season two credits "Accentuate the Positive" "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky" "On Your Way Down" "Santa Claus, Do You Ever Get the Blues?" "Slip Away" "Feels Like Rain" "Carnival Time" "Can I Change My Mind?" "What Is New Orleans?" "That's What Lovers Do" "Do Watcha Wanna"
, born September 11, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA, is a motion picture director, producer and actress. She is an episode director for. She helmed the second season episode " Feels Like Rain " in 2011. She has also directed episodes of, and. She worked extensively as an actress before beginning her directing career appearing in starring roles in the seriesandand the filmsandClinton Makes History As Democratic Presidential Nominee
Enlarge this image toggle caption Joe Raedle |
world and that’s because it is.
“I have very good relations with Chelsea and, yes, they have enquired about a ground share in 2018.
“Any final decision on letting the Blues move in will be ours and not the London Legacy Development Corporation’s, or indeed Chelsea.”
West Ham’s rental agreement with the LLDC, revealed in full last month after a lengthy appeal from a coalition of London fan groups, does allow for another club to rent the Olympic Stadium, however the Hammers would have to agree to any such proposal.
The east London club, who played their final game at the Boleyn Ground on Tuesday, committed to paying £2.5million-per-annum in rent having contributed £15m to the £272m renovation costs required to prepare the stadium for football.The opening of the Erez crossing, on Gaza's northeastern tip, followed demands by the Palestinian Authority to tackle Gaza's need for new vehicles.
A Palestinian man walks past vehicles upon arrival at Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza Strip on July 13, 2016. (TRT World and Agencies)
Israel opened a second crossing into Gaza on Wednesday to allow the transfer of vehicles carrying goods for the first time since 2007, when the Palestinian group Hamas seized control of the enclave, officials said.
Palestinian border officials at the Erez crossing said Israeli authorities allowed the import of eight buses and three trucks, while another shipment of cars will be allowed a day later on July 14.
An association of Palestinian vehicle owners in Gaza said 110 vehicles arrived on their side through the Erez border crosing.
Also a spokesman for COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for implementing government policies in the Palestinian territories, confirmed vehicles had entered Gaza using the Erez crossing.
"This measure has been taken to facilitate the work of Palestinian importers and thus help the economy of the Gaza Strip," the spokesman told AFP.
The opening of the Erez terminal, on Gaza's northeastern tip, followed demands by the Palestinian Authority to tackle Gaza's need for new vehicles.
Palestinians check vehicles upon arrival at Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza Strip on July 13, 2016. (Reuters)
Israel currently allows vehicles through its controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, the only crossing point currently handling commercial traffic with Gaza.
According to Mohammad al-Maqadma, Media Director at the Gazan Civil Affairs Department, the move comes as part of continued efforts by the Palestinian civil affairs agency to improve the lives of people of Gaza.
Maqadma said the Palestinian Authority continues to demand Israel opens more crossings with Gaza to allow the entry of all kinds of goods.
Majed Abu Elba, an owner of a bus company in Gaza, praised the Erez crossing opening and said the shipment was part of an order of 50 buses being imported to Gaza by a number of Palestinian companies.
"This is a very good step and a quantum leap that we have been waiting for almost 10 years, that cars or buses can enter the crossing at Erez, which is better than Abu Salem crossing," said Abu Elba.
The entrance of the Israeli border terminal between southern Israeli city of Erez and the northern part of the Gaza Strip, on April 14, 2015. (TRT World and Agencies)
But Gaza City resident Hussam al-Sayyed said that the move was not enough to ease the problems in Gaza.
"As a start, it is a very good step, but we say that it is not enough to solve the crises of Gaza, not just one crisis, there are many Gaza crises, through other steps like reconstruction and ending the blockade," al-Sayyed said.
Israel claims its blockade prevents the movement of militants and stops construction materials that could be used by Hamas to make bunkers and tunnels.
Palestinians say they are under siege and are unable to rebuild homes destroyed by Israeli bombings.
A Palestinian man reacts as he inspects the site of an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip on July 2, 2016. (Reuters)
According to the World Bank and the UN, the blockade has killed virtually all exports from Gaza, as well as bringing the economy of the small enclave to the brink.
Israel halted commercial traffic through Erez in 2000, after a Palestinian uprising erupted, and only passengers transit has been allowed since.
Regional powers Egypt and Turkey also have a close interest in what happens in Gaza.
Egypt, which has the only other border with Gaza, has helped Israel maintain the blockade, deeming Hamas a threat.
Turkey has long said improving relations with Israel is dependent on the blockade ending.
Located in the northern Gaza Strip, Erez is nearer to major Israeli cities than Kerem Shalom and could make bringing goods from Israeli port cities such as Ashdod easier.
Members of the press film the Panama-flagged Lady Leyla (C), a Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, as it enters Ashdod port, in southern Israel on July 3, 2016. (Reuters)
Turkey and Israel agreed to normalise their relations after a six year lull following a deadly raid on a Turkish aid flotilla by Israel in 2010.
According to the deal, Turkey's aid to Gaza will be channelled through Ashdod rather than sending it directly to the Palestinian enclave which could also help persuade Israel to open a second crossing.
Turkey has long insisted on a demand that Israel lifts its blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, which was one of its conditions to be met for normalising relations.
Palestinians unload Turkish aid shipments upon arrival in the Gaza Strip at Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and southern Gaza Strip on July 4, 2016. (Reuters)
Wedged between Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean, Gaza is home to 1.95 million Palestinians, 80 percent of whom are dependent on aid, according to the United Nations.
Economists say the current levels of imports have been enough to maintain basic living standards but not to generate recovery, and unemployment has spiralled from 28 percent to 43 percent since the 2014 war.
Source: TRTWorld and agenciesSomething big is happening at the intersection of tech and finance.
A revolutionary software called blockchain is poised to transform all sorts of businesses—from big banks to Silicon Valley startups—in the same way broadband Internet and cloud computing did a generation before. Leading tech thinkers say we’re on the cusp of a new web.
This is why Fortune is launching The Ledger, a new franchise to tell the story of fintech. As the name suggests, The Ledger will be an authoritative record. We’ll cover blockchains (also known as distributed ledgers), but also chart the people and companies at the leading edge of money and technology.
The Ledger will stay true to Fortune’s 87-year tradition of smart, incisive business reporting. This means covering stories of the moment such as the boom in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and the “initial coin offering” craze that has enabled firms to raise more than $1 billion in 2017 alone. But it also means reporting on the deeper implications of financial technology. Blockchains, for example, could transform the supply chains of companies such as Walmart and help banks like JPMorgan save billions in transaction fees every year.
To get a flavor of The Ledger, check out our inaugural stories published here this morning (and in Fortune’s Sept. 1 issue): Jen Wieczner’s “The 21st-Century Bank Robbery,” about the digital crime spree targeting cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, and Robert Hackett’s “Blockchain Mania!” which provides a sweeping survey of this new technology and its many prospective uses.
Wieczner is Fortune’s top Wall Street reporter and Hackett is our resident expert on cybersecurity and crypto. Together, they will make up The Ledger’s core team alongside Jeff John Roberts, Fortune’s legal reporter who has written about Bitcoin since 2013. Please follow us on Twitter @FortuneLedger and on Facebook. You can find the latest stories for The Ledger here.
As with everywhere else at Fortune, our readers will be key to the success of The Ledger. We encourage you to reach out (discreetly if you prefer) with tips, gossip, and feedback at [email protected]. You can also reach out to us individually at [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected] caption Naughtie said he had got himself into a "verbal tangle"
Radio 4 presenter James Naughtie has apologised for causing offence live on air on Monday by mispronouncing Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt's surname.
The presenter inadvertently used an offensive four-letter word just before 0800 GMT on Radio 4's Today programme.
Naughtie said he was "very sorry" for any offence caused.
Mr Hunt tweeted: "They say prepare for anything before going on Today but that took the biscuit. I was laughing as much as u Jim."
"Or should I say Dr Spooner," he added.
Mr Hunt was interviewed on the programme about his plans for universal broadband provision and how superfast broadband will be delivered in the UK.
Naughtie inadvertently used the first letter of the Culture Secretary's title to replace the 'H' in Mr Hunt's surname.
The presenter told listeners shortly after his error that he got himself into a "verbal tangle courtesy of Dr Spooner."
According to e-mails sent in response to his mistake, Naughtie said: "Some found it funny, some were fairly offended."
"Occasionally these things happen in live broadcasting," he continued.
Image caption Mr Hunt appeared on Today to talk about broadband provision plans
"I'm very sorry to anyone who thought it wasn't what they wanted to hear over their breakfast - neither did I, needless to say."
Later on Monday, broadcaster Andrew Marr repeated the four-letter expletive on Radio 4's Start the Week programme.
"We're not going to repeat it in quite the terms it happened," he told listeners, before doing precisely that.
After his error, he told the audience: "I should apologise for saying it again, but it's very hard to talk about it without saying it."
A BBC spokeswoman said: "James and Andrew regret what happened and have both apologised for their verbal tangles on air.
"These instances both involved a slip of the tongue during a live broadcast and we apologise for any offence caused."VANCOUVER—Canada may outrank their round of 16 opponents Switzerland by 11 places on the world ladder, but in the hometown squad’s eyes an underdog they are not. “There’s no David and Goliath story about this game. You’ve got a very organized team with two world-class strikers who play in the top teams in the world,” said Canada coach John Herdman, a day after the matchup between the Canucks and the Swiss was confirmed for Sunday at B.C. Place in Vancouver.
Canada's Sophie Schmidt is expected to be in the lineup against the Swiss on Sunday, if in pain, after suffering a bruised hip when she took a hard fall in Monday’s game against the Netherlands. ( GEOFF ROBINS / AFP/GETTY IMAGES )
Led by coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, Switzerland was the first European team to qualify for this summer’s Women’s World Cup, their maiden appearance in the competition. They’ve been less dominant since the competition began; memories of a 6-1 thrashing of Ecuador are overshadowed by narrow losses to holders Japan and Cameroon, ranked No. 53 in the world. And the third-place finish means a match against Group A winners Canada, which has won three and drawn one of the two squad’s past four meetings.
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But despite an impressive finish in the group stage, the Canadians haven’t been up to snuff yet either. Solid defending — they’re tied for second on the tournament’s list of goals against after the round robin, having only conceded one — doesn’t win games without a potent offence. Canada has only scored two goals in three games, and only one from open play, with less than half of their chances going on net. Sunday’s game is crucial for Herdman’s team in more ways then one. Lose and they’re out far sooner than the podium place they’ve made their goal. Win unconvincingly again and fans could check out, uninspired. Win handily and a 50,000-plus crowd at B.C. Place could become their much-touted 12th man, which could be necessary in an even tougher quarter-final against either England or Norway.
Herdman is sure the Swiss will go into the game thinking they could push a result. “From Canada’s perspective, we’re just looking at the game and saying, ‘What do we have to do? We’ve got to win the game.’ That’s what you do in the knockout rounds.”
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That list includes shutting down strikers Ramona Bachmann and Lara Dickenmann on the counter-attack and breaking down a well-organized defence with an attack that shows composure in front of the net. Canada could be without Diana Matheson to do so. The team had been preparing to bring the 31-year-old veteran back following a couple of long-term injuries in the round of 16, but the midfielder suffered a mild quad strain ahead of Monday’s game against the Netherlands. “The light’s looking amber to green at the minute for Diana to be back on the roster,” Herdman said. Her counterpart Sophie Schmidt, though, is expected to be in the lineup, if in pain, after suffering a bruised hip when she took a hard fall in Monday’s game. In the do-or-die game, in a stadium many of the Canadian’s consider home field, Canada’s just going to have to find a way through, Herdman said. “We don’t get another chance at this game, and our style and our approach will have to be better to overcome what the Swiss are going to throw at us.”
Read more about:In his new book "Hit Refresh," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella invokes this famous cartoon as a reasonable representation of the situation he inherited when he took the job in January 2014:
Manu Cornet
"Sure, I had experienced some of that disharmony in my various roles," writes Nadella. "But I never saw it as insolvable."
And so, Nadella set out to do two things: Maintain what Microsoft is good at, which is build new technology, but also get the company's teams to work together rather than hold each other hostage.
That's why the book is called "Hit Refresh": When you reload a web page, some things change, but others stay the same.
For the most part, the cultural change has gone pretty well. Since Nadella took the reins, Microsoft has added $250 million to its market cap, even as it's added and expanded support for rival platforms at Apple, Google, and Linux. And even long-time Microsoft veterans praise Nadella's leadership style.
Not everything Nadella has done has sat well with Microsoft's rank-and-file, however. In "Hit Refresh," Nadella tells the story of his first time presiding over Microsoft's executive retreat. Spoiler alert: Not everybody loved his fresh new ideas, at least not at first.
The fateful retreat
"For as long as I can remember," Microsoft would shuttle 150 of its top executives up to a mountain retreat about two hours out from its Redmond headquarters, writes 25-year-company veteran Nadella.
Getting all the executives in one place to talk strategy and get on the same page was a fine idea, Nadella writes. In practice, however, it turned into just another chance for the company's executives to put each other down.
"[F]rankly, it seemed like most of the talking was about poking holes in each other's ideas," writes Nadella.
And so, Nadella decided to shake things up: For the first time ever, the founders of the startups that Microsoft had acquired in the year prior were invited to this exclusive retreat.
Nadella writes that bringing them "was not one of my more popular decisions" — they may have been CEOs and CTOs in their former roles, but these founders were relatively junior by Microsoft standards, and well below the threshold for earning an invitation to the summit.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
"To make matters worse," Nadella writes, their managers and their managers' managers weren't invited, either, deepening the internal political intrigue of his decision. "Remember, the retreat had been only for the most senior leaders," he says.
Still, it paid off: "They asked questions. They shared their own journeys. They pushed us to be better."
Nadella made another move, also "not universally loved." He interrupted this luxe retreat by forcing Microsoft executives to board shuttles to visit customers, all together. This was met by pushback, as Microsoft executives thought Nadella was insulting them with the implication that these execs didn't know what customers wanted.
Ultimately, it worked out, Nadella writes. Executives from different business units were assigned to the same customer. In the ensuing conversations, they worked out how better to work together. Similarly, cross-business teams were tasked with coming up for suggestions for Microsoft's culture, and ended up talking late into the night.
"Our transformation was under way, though we still had a long way to go," writes Nadella.Though Marvel movies are guaranteed box office smashes, their TV department isn’t always as lucky. Even though shows like DAREDEVIL and JESSICA JONES are critical darlings and AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. is in its fourth season, the show AGENT CARTER never really found the success the others did. The show starring Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter from the CAPTAIN AMERICA series got great critical reception and had a following of fans, but iffy ratings led to the shows cancellation after 18 episodes. On top of that, we saw Carter’s funeral during the course of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, signifying, perhaps, the last time we will see Agent Carter in the Marvel universe.
That being said, not even death can stop Atwell from wanting to step into the badass heroine’s shoes again. During an interview with CBR, Atwell talked about how the death of Carter impacted her:
“Aw! Well, I don’t feel like I’ve said goodbye to her. She does still seem to live on a lot for the fans. And Marvel is still such a big part of my career, especially my professional family, that I would absolutely not rule out the idea of going back to Peggy at some point, seeing her in other avenues. I love her, and I hope that she has a life elsewhere at another time.”
Atwell mentioned that during talks about the show the notion of a special was floated around (not unlike the recent SHERLOCK: THE ABOMINABLE BRIDE), an idea (and the possibility of a movie) is something Atwell won’t let go quietly into the night:
“I hound [Marvel Studios co-president Louis] D’Esposito on a regular basis, saying, ‘Give me a movie!’ I think the great thing about Peggy is, we know from “[Captain America: The] Winter Soldier” that she lives a long life, so she can come back. I’m banking on, when I’m in my fifties, I’m like, ‘This is the time. Let’s see what Peggy’s up to in this decade.’ ”
It’s a shame ABC cancelled AGENT CARTER. What I saw of it was pretty fun and clearly the show had its base of fans. But who knows, maybe the character is meant for bigger things like a movie or extended TV special. With so much talk around female comic book characters getting their own movies maybe the idea of a movie around Agent Carter, one that delves into all the other adventures we haven’t seen her go on, would be a pretty easy sell for the folks at Marvel. Hell, maybe they could move the show over to Netflix or Hulu, somewhere that doesn'y rely so heavily on ratings. That may just be false hope, but still, can’t blame a guy for wanting to see Peggy Carter punch a few more chauvinistic men in the face.Despite Rockstar Games’ best efforts to suppress details regarding its open world western action-adventure video game, a British retailer may have accidentally outed the release date of the upcoming title. Previously, the American video game publisher teased that the “Red Dead Redemption” sequel is slated to arrive in fall 2017. With this leak, gamers may now have a specific date to look forward to.
According to RDR2.com, British online store Littlewoods may not have received the memo from Rockstar to withhold details about its game, especially the title’s release date. Apparently, the online store put up a preorder page for “Red Dead Redemption 2” and the product page just so happens to contain the major spoiler for the game’s release.
When preordering the game from Littlewoods, its product page for “Red Dead Redemption 2” shows that the highly anticipated title is scheduled for delivery on Oct. 2, 2017. Since Littlewoods focuses mainly on selling apparel, this tidbit is believed to have just fallen under the radar. Besides, the store isn’t really the type people frequent for video games.
However, the Oct. 2 date could simply be a placeholder. iDigitalTimes pointed out that the leaked release date is a Monday, which is not the typical day for games to arrive. In the U.S. market, games are usually released on Tuesdays. As for European game releases, they usually fall on Fridays.
Another discrepancy in this leaked date is the fact that it does not coincide with the placeholders Gamestop and Amazon are showing on their sites. The big electronics retailers are indicating that “Red Dead Redemption 2” will be releasing on Dec. 31. If it’s any consolation, however, Dec. 31 is unlikely to be the release date of the game because Rockstar has already confirmed it to hit the market in the fall season.
Just like “GTA V,” the new “Red Dead Redemption” installment will center on three protagonists, who are members of John Marston’s gang. Interestingly, a preview trailer shows seven Old West gunslingers riding on horses, so Tweak Town says the game could have something to do with the Magnificent Seven. There are also rumors claiming the game to be a prequel of the original "RDR."This was the year that the Democrats hoped to take back the U.S. Senate; after all, the Republicans were defending 24 seats, and the Dems only ten. Alas for them, the Trump wave pretty much swamped them, re-electing several shaky senators, such as Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, while sweeping away only the sad-sack from Illinois, Mark Kirk, and New Hampshire's Kelly Ayotte, who unwisely threw in her lot with the McCain wing of the party and is now unemployed.
But in 2018, oh-oh: it's Katy bar the door --
The sprawling, 10-person Democratic leadership team that Chuck Schumer assembled on Wednesday will allow him to hear from everyone from Bernie Sanders to Joe Manchin. And Democrats are going to need all the wisdom they can summon — from all quarters of the party — to survive what’s coming at them in 2018. Still nursing their wounds after last [month's] thrashing, Democrats already are grappling with how to defend 10 senators up for reelection in 2018 in states that Donald Trump carried, some resoundingly. Republicans are targeting a quintet of senators from conservative states where Trump walloped Hillary Clinton: Montana, Missouri, Indiana, North Dakota and West Virginia. The GOP could amass a filibuster-proof majority by running the table in those states and other battlegrounds. To prevent that, Schumer will need to mine his fellow leaders to accommodate vulnerable Democrats with profoundly different ideologies and political circumstances — from Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin, who also was tapped for a leadership spot, to West Virginia’s Manchin, who has gone out of his way to align himself with Trump voters... That means appealing to the white working class in some states — and stoking minority and liberal turnout in others.
Depending on the outcome of today's Senate race in Louisiana -- the GOP candidate is heavily favored -- Republicans will hold a narrow 52-48 majority, once the "independents" are factored in. [UPDATE: the Republican has won.]That's why one of the GOP's top priorities is getting a much larger Senate majority as quickly as possible. Even before the voting in 2018, however, two possible switches include West Virginia's Manchin, whose white-working-class state wouldn't mind a bit if he switched parties, and North Dakota's Democrat Senator Heidi Heitkamp, who is being bruited for secretary of agriculture in the Trump administration.
The first-term Democrat from North Dakota and member of the Senate Agriculture Committee has been a vocal advocate for farmers and broke from her party on several controversial policy issues, including the labeling of genetically modified foods and environmental protection for wetlands and waterways. A special election to replace Heitkamp would almost certainly turn her seat over to a Republican, so the choice would give Trump a chance to appear conciliatory to Democrats, albeit with a lower-profile Cabinet role, while allowing the GOP to bolster its Senate majority. Heitkamp, who met with the president-elect at Trump Tower on Dec. 2, is facing a tough race in a deep red state in 2018. In a further sign she is a strong contender for a Cabinet post, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell met with North Dakota Rep. Kevin Cramer on Tuesday about a potential open Senate seat. A source close to the transition said gaining another Republican Senate seat was on the list of reasons for picking Heitkamp.
A Manchin switch and a Heitkamp replacement give the Republicans a more comfortable 54-46 majority, with 24 more Democrat seats up for grabs. This could be a bloodbath for the Democrats, already wiped out at the state and local level in most places, and now facing a humiliating defeat two years hence.
Follow me on Twitter @dkahanerulesThere has been a whopping 10,000% increase in the number of VIPs who have been provided with free state security from 2008 to 2012. From a measly 32 VIPs enjoying this privilege in 2008, the figure has risen up to 3,444 in 2012, according to information provided by the protection branch of the Mumbai police under the RTI Act.
“The information was provided by the public information officers and protection branch of the Mumbai police on October 18, 2012. We have no option but to believe that the figure was as low as 32 in 2008 as it is an official reply from the Mumbai police,” RTI activist Manoranjan Roy who sought the information told DNA. “The VIPs enjoyed state protection for free.”
The number of VIPs with state security protection was 32 even in 2009. The figure rose to 1,600 in 2010 but saw a slight dip the following year with 1,556 VIPs. From then, it doubled to 3,444 till October 2012.
Additional commissioner of police (protection) Madhukar Pandey feigned ignorance. “I am not aware what questions were asked and what answers were given. Therefore, I won’t be able to comment on it,” he said.
Security cover is provided on demand. Public representatives, however, are provided security cover for free. For others, the charges vary between Rs1,169 and Rs2,158 for an eight-hour shift. Prominent politicians who have been provided with high security cover by the state on its own include former CM Ashok Chavan andpublic works minister Chaggan Bhujbal among others.In Florida, April is when spring football blooms, but Schuster, who has signed a scholarship to play at Florida, has managed to embed high school baseball into people’s consciousness. His feats for the 22-3 Mustangs have been splashed across the front pages of the local newspapers.
Last week, during Mitchell High’s regular-season finale at Zephyrhills, Schuster’s mother and his father, Roger, heard from one of the other team parents that someone traveling through Scotland had read about Schuster’s fourth no-hitter in a paper there. His last start attracted two dozen major league scouts, TV crews and an estimated crowd of 1,000, which Roger guessed was about 900 more than attended the home opener. In opposing dugouts, the players have tried to distract Schuster by chanting, “Hey, ESPN boy!”
As she settled into her lawn chair and wrapped herself in a homemade blanket, Sharon said, “Roger and I can’t get our heads around it.”
Her husband, who was pacing behind her, as he often does during games, said, “The other day I asked Patrick if all of the attention was making him nervous and he told me, ‘When I’m out there on the mound, it’s the most comfortable place in the world.’ ”
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The spotlight shining on Schuster’s senior season has lifted some of the darkness that descended on the family during his older brother Shane’s senior year. In November of that year, Shane Schuster was found to have a juvenile form of bone cancer. He died four years later, in 2002, when Patrick was 11.
“This is the time in Shane’s life when he was sick,” Sharon said. She added: “November was really stressful. It just brought back all the memories.”
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In an interview last week at his school, Schuster, who has an older sister, grew misty-eyed when he talked about Shane. “I didn’t understand at the age I was what was happening,” he said, adding, “I think his death brought my family a lot closer.”
To honor him, Schuster has written Shane’s initials, STS, on the back of his cleats, and 9/21, the date of his death. He used to wear Shane’s Little League All-Star T-shirt under his game jersey, but it became so tattered and so tight on his sprouting 6-foot-2 frame that his mother finally confiscated it last summer. Sharon said, “We had to about peel it off him.”
Schuster was 4 when Roger introduced him to baseball. Not realizing his son was left-handed, his father taught him how to hit right-handed, and that is how Schuster still bats. During his brother’s illness, Schuster remembers being disappointed that he never had both his parents in the stands for his games. They would trade off, with one ferrying Schuster to the ballpark while the other, usually Sharon, stayed at the hospital with Shane.
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“After Shane’s death, I think baseball was part of the healing process,” Sharon said. “After that, we said we’d never miss another game.”
They were there for Schuster’s first start of the season, when he was pulled from the game after six no-hit innings. He and Scot Wilcox, the Mustangs’ coach, had agreed on an 85-pitch limit. “I was sitting in the dugout after he took me out thinking, That was such a bad idea,” Schuster said with a laugh. He accepted the restriction, he said, “because I averaged about 110 pitches a game last year, and scouts were getting scared when they saw that.”
His pitch total was 109 in his last outing. He talks as if a hurricane warning couldn’t budge him from the mound now. “This team has a chance to do something really special,” he explained.
Sharon has worn the same black T-shirt during each of Schuster’s no-hitters. She is too superstitious to change her wardrobe. Schuster’s talisman is his facial hair. He has vowed not to shave until the streak is over. Stroking his goatee, he said, “I hate it.”
Schuster is also not thrilled about the part-time job his mother insisted he find after he received a speeding ticket on his way to a Florida football game. He works weekends at the Turtle Cove Marina, which requires him to rise at 7 a.m. “I think she wanted me to experience the value of a dollar,” Schuster said. “We all believe I’m never going to have a real job because I’m going to be playing baseball.”
“Baseball,” he said, “has never felt like work.”At the midpoint of the 2015 NFL season, our analysts refresh their predictions on the major individual awards, the entire playoff field and Championship Sunday/Super Bowl outcomes.
Click here to glance back at our analysts' preseason predictions.
AFC NORTH
Jeffri Chadiha: Cincinnati Bengals. They have a ton of talent, and quarterback Andy Dalton has never been so confident and consistent.
Judy Battista: Bengals. Maybe the most complete team going, and Andy Dalton is having a career year -- only remaining question is January.
Willie McGinest: Bengals. They're off to a great start and have a huge lead in the division. They've been in some tough games and come out on top. They've shown a lot of character when they've gotten down.
Michael Silver: Bengals. Enjoy Hue Jackson while he's here; he'll get another head-coaching shot in a couple of months.
Maurice Jones-Drew: Bengals.
Colleen Wolfe: Bengals. When the Steelers lost Le'Veon Bell for the year, they lost their shot at the division. Bengals win it.
Ike Taylor: Bengals. Andy Dalton has been a rifleman as the leader of this team.
Steve Wyche: Bengals. Too deep on both sides of the ball. Of course, there's still the question of whether they can win in the playoffs.
Nate Burleson: Bengals. They have a strong three-headed monster in Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and Tyler Eifert. It's hard to stop three efficient weapons.
Gil Brandt: Bengals. This is as complete a team -- offense, defense and special teams -- as there is in the NFL. Also, Andy Dalton is playing at a very high level.
Adam Schein: Bengals. I don't believe it, but Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis are making a, well, believer out of me.
Marc Sessler: Bengals. I'm no longer waiting for the Andy Dalton collapse.
Charley Casserly: Bengals. Cincinnati will be chased by Pittsburgh, but the Bengals will hold on.
Bucky Brooks: Bengals. The Bengals are legitimate contenders in the AFC. Hue Jackson has Andy Dalton and Co. playing at a high level, while the defense is starting to flex its muscle as a physical unit with bullies on every level.
Elliot Harrison: Bengals. With the win over the Steelers in Week 8, the Bengals have built too large of cushion to be caught. What, are the Ravens or Browns going to catch them?
Shaun O'Hara: Bengals.
Steve Mariucci: Bengals.
Heath Evans: Pittsburgh Steelers.
AFC EAST
Jeffri Chadiha: New England Patriots. The only question about this team now is whether it can go undefeated again.
Judy Battista: Patriots. To make things simpler for our editors, just put this as my pick until Brady and Belichick retire.
Willie McGinest: Patriots. That's a no-brainer.
Michael Silver: Patriots. After losing Darrelle Revis in March, and TWO left tackles over the past two months, they somehow look even better than they did last February.
Maurice Jones-Drew: Patriots.
Colleen Wolfe: Patriots. I'll take New England here -- but no perfect season. The Patriots' pass protection needs to get it together.
Ike Taylor: Patriots. It's like taking candy from a baby for those guys. They're so good.
Steve Wyche: Patriots. The Jets are legit, but if Ryan Fitzpatrick has been impacted by his thumb injury, the Pats will just extend their division lead.
Nate Burleson: Patriots. Tom Brady is playing the best football he's ever played, and Rob Gronkowski is unstoppable.
Gil Brandt: Patriots. A 7-0 team that has the best-performing quarterback in the NFL right now. New England also has a coach who has an unbelievable ability to get his team ready for important games.
Adam Schein: Patriots. It's Bill Belichick's world -- we're just living in it.
Marc Sessler: Patriots. This requires no explanation.
Charley Casserly: Patriots. The real question is, can they go undefeated?
Want more than stats and scores? Head to Sidelines, where NFL Media reporters dig deep to find the compelling, thoughtful stories that are the heartbeat of this game.
Bucky Brooks: Patriots. They are the best team in the NFL behind the sensational play of Tom Brady and the unheralded efforts of a sneaky good defense.
Elliot Harrison: Patriots. With the three-game lead over the Jets, the Patriots will be difficult to overtake in the AFC East. That, and the fact that they are outscoring everyone, have the best head coach, quarterback and tight end.
Shaun O'Hara: Patriots.
Steve Mariucci: Patriots.
Heath Evans: Patriots.
AFC SOUTH
Jeffri Chadiha: Indianapolis Colts. They've struggled, but they're also blessed to be in the worst division in football.
Judy Battista: Colts. By default.
Willie McGinest: Colts. I think they're going to start playing better football. All around, they're the most talented team in the division.
Michael Silver: Colts. The ship may be sinking, but I'm clearly committed to going down with it. Keep the faith, Indy fans.
Maurice Jones-Drew: Jacksonville Jaguars.
Colleen Wolfe: Houston Texans. Brian Hoyer leads the Texans to the top of the division. The AFC South: Someone's Gotta Win It!
Ike Taylor: Jaguars. This is a toss-up. I'm going to go with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Did I just say that?
Steve Wyche: Colts. They win by default, because the rest of the division is D-League caliber. Unreal that Indy could end up hosting a playoff game.
Nate Burleson: Colts. Just because the rest of the division isn't very good.
Gil Brandt: Colts. When you get down to it, this is between Indy and Hosuton, and I think the playoff spot usually goes to the team with the best quarterback -- even with his struggles this season, that's Andrew Luck.
Adam Schein: Colts. By default. Or something.
Marc Sessler: Jaguars. Does anybody want the South? I'll swing for the fences with the Jaguars -- the only team inside the division not mired in turmoil.
Charley Casserly: Colts. Indianapolis wins because no one else wants this division.
Bucky Brooks: Colts. Indy's mastery of a division littered with inexperienced and mediocre quarterbacks leads to another playoff berth.
Elliot Harrison: Colts. The Colts are the best team in a really bad division. Wish there was more to say than that. Indy might not even be able to win the NFC East.
Shaun O'Hara: Colts.
Steve Mariucci |
pretty frustrating and hard to follow so that’s why I am breaking this topic up into two parts.Image copyright RobinOlimb/Getty
Healthy baby mice have been born using freeze-dried sperm stored in the near-weightless environment of space.
The Japanese team behind the gravity-breaking experiment on the International Space Station (ISS) say it shows that transporting the seeds of life away from Earth is feasible.
Sperm banks could even be made on the Moon as a back-up for Earth disasters, they told a leading science journal.
It is unclear if this will ever help humans populate space, however.
Space pups
Sustaining life in space is challenging to say the least.
On the ISS, radiation is more than 100 times higher than on Earth. The average daily dose of 0.5mSv from the cosmic rays is enough to damage the DNA code inside living cells, including sperm.
Microgravity also does strange things to sperm.
In 1988, German researchers sent a sample of bull semen into orbit on a rocket and discovered that sperm were able to swim much faster in low gravity, although it was not clear whether this gave a fertility advantage.
Image copyright PNAS journal Image caption The space pups grew into healthy adult mice
Another space test showed fish eggs could be fertilised and develop normally during a 15-day orbital flight, suggesting a brief trip into space might not be too harmful for reproduction - at least for vertebrates.
The freeze-dried mouse sperm samples were stored on the space station for nine months before being sent back down to Earth and thawed at room temperature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports.
Although sperm DNA was slightly damaged by the trip, it still did the job of fertilising mouse eggs and creating apparently healthy "space pups".
Fertilisation and birth rates were similar to healthy "ground control" mice.
The space pups had only minor differences in their genetic code and grew to adulthood. A select few were allowed to mate and became mums and dads themselves.
Image copyright 3DSculptor/Getty
The researchers, Sayaka Wakayama and colleagues from the University of Yamanashi, suspect some of the sperm DNA damage is repaired by the egg once it has been fertilised.
"If sperm samples are to be preserved for longer periods in space, then it is likely that DNA damage will increase and exceed the limit of the [egg] oocyte's capacity for repair.
"If the DNA damage occurring during long-term preservation is found to have a significant effect on offspring, we will need to develop methods to protect sperm samples against space radiation, such as an ice shield," they said.
Lunar sperm banks
Once they've cracked that, they can set their sights on the Moon sperm banks.
"Underground storage on the Moon, such as in lava tubes, could be among the best places for prolonged or permanent sperm preservation because of their very low temperatures, protection from space radiation by thick bedrock layers, and complete isolation from any disasters on Earth," the scientists say.
But that still leaves the massive question of whether mammals, including us humans, can permanently live and procreate in space.
Mouse and human studies so far suggest perhaps not.
Prof Joseph Tash, a Nasa-supported physiologist at the University of Kansas Medical Center, said although the latest findings were interesting, the ISS was a somewhat sheltered environment to use as the test zone for space.
"The ISS orbit is within the protection of the Van Allen radiation belt - the magnetic field that diverts most high energy radiation particles from hitting the earth or the ISS.
He said the actual risk of radiation damage at the Moon and beyond would be much higher.
"Ovaries and testes are the most sensitive organs to both acute and chronic radiation exposure."
He said the feasibility of mammalian reproduction in space beyond the Van Allen belt would depend on the creation of "radiation-hardened" facilities that could protect sperm, eggs and embryos from harm.
"Given the nine month gestation for humans, the pregnant mother would also need to be protected by such a facility. So it presents very real habitat, medical, social, and psychological questions that need to be addressed as well."
Follow Michelle on TwitterBy José Luis Díaz, Special to CNN
Editor's note: José Luis Díaz is Amnesty International’s representative at the United Nations. The views expressed are his own.
If there were still any doubts about just how massive the U.N. Security Council’s failure on Syria has been, today’s news out of Geneva surely put paid to them. Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan surprised most observers this morning with his resignation as joint U.N.-Arab League envoy on Syria. The surprise is likely as much about the timing as anything else. No one at the United Nations would say it publicly, but all the players knew the “six-point plan” Annan crafted, and which the Security Council later endorsed, was moribund, if not dead. Annan’s resignation will also make it that much more difficult to renew the U.N. observation mission in Syria, an operation some Council members want shut down in two weeks’ time as there’s no ceasefire to observe. So the question really wasn’t whether Annan would throw in the towel, but when.
Annan had been seen as the one figure that could bring Security Council members together to address the crisis in Syria after months of agonizing paralysis. Russia and China had blocked meaningful action on Syria for nearly a year before the Council was able to adopt even watered down measures on Syria. But the United States, Britain and France also stand accused of not sufficiently pressing the opposition to negotiate a political solution. As Annan said today, when the Syrian people desperately need action, there continues to be finger pointing and name calling in the Security Council. In the meantime, the killing and crimes under international law have continued, and go on to this day.
To be fair, Annan was given an impossible job. He was sent in to make up for the failure of political will within the international community, and in particular of the Security Council. In 2011, that body took relatively quick action, ostensibly to protect civilians in Ivory Coast and, most spectacularly, in Libya. There was some talk at the time of those interventions that the Security Council was finally putting people before politics.
Such a suggestion was optimistic even then, but after 17 months of executions, torture, repression and all manner of human rights violations in Syria, it seems almost criminally naïve now. For one thing, the ongoing crisis in Syria proves that Security Council members, and particularly the permanent ones, are still guided primarily by political and strategic considerations, despite the lofty talk out of some capitals. This isn’t necessarily sinister, but it need not, by the same token, relegate concern and action to protect civilians and their human rights to a secondary plane.
The Security Council’s failure has been collective, yet this doesn’t mean that all members share responsibility equally. Russia and China, in particular, have doggedly shielded the Bashar al-Assad government from the beginning of the crisis. They parroted the regime’s line from very early on that the opposition – overwhelmingly peaceful at the beginning – was no more than a terrorist conspiracy guided from abroad.
The increasing repression from the government has been met with armed resistance, and some elements fighting the security forces are now reported to be committing war crimes, as the recent alleged unlawful killings of more than a dozen members of the al-Berri clan demonstrate.
Sadly, there will be no shortage of violations and crimes to account for in Syria – and this is one area on which the members of the Security Council could come to some agreement. Amnesty International has been calling on the Council to bring the situation in Syria before the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who would be able to look at allegations of crimes committed by all sides. This would be at least some tangible evidence that political calculation won’t always be allowed to trump human rights, even when they are those of people very far away from most of us.One of the focal points of President-elect Donald Trump's campaign is now one of his first agenda items: deporting undocumented immigrants.
In a "60 Minutes" interview this weekend, Trump said he wants to immediately deport 2 to 3 million undocumented immigrants who he says have criminal records.
"What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records -- gang members, drug dealers, we have a lot of these people, probably 2 million, it could even be 3 million -- we're getting them out of our country, or we're going to incarcerate," Trump said. "But, we're getting them out of our country, they're here illegally."
But those numbers of undocumented, criminally convicted immigrants Trump cited simply don't square with Department of Homeland Security data.
According to DHS, roughly 1.9 million immigrants have been convicted of crimes. This number, however, includes both undocumented immigrants and immigrants with some sort of legal status.
Eva Millona, director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, says these types of broad policy statements fuel uncertainty among immigrants.
Millona says the group is receiving a large number of phone calls from all over the state, hearing from people who are taking precautionary action in light of Trump's election and most recent statements.
"We have heard from people that they are really scared and they're closing their bank accounts and they're making plans to get their children passports in case of a massive deportation," she said. "There is a panic among the community and a lot of questions: 'What should we do? Should we close our businesses? Should we send our children to school? What's going to happen with the members of our families?' "
It's not uncommon for members of immigrant families to have different legal statuses. These mixed households can make for environments that are both legally and emotionally complicated.
Lucy Pineda, who heads up Latinos Unidos in Massachusetts, says many of her clients are questioning what a Trump presidency might mean for their families.
"You know, a lot of brothers and parents, they are U.S. citizens but the real problem is those other family," Pineda said. "They came undocumented to the United States. Sometimes, all of the family they have the legal status, just the mom doesn't have anything. It's sad."
Both Pineda and Millona are informing immigrants of their rights, and telling them not to panic, but to wait to see what happens in January — when the president-elect becomes President Trump.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Eva Millona's last name. We regret the error.George Washington University. (Photo by Mary F. Calvert for The Washington Post)
A former Islamist extremist who supported al-Qaeda and exhorted others to follow Osama bin Laden has joined George Washington University as a research fellow.
Jesse Morton, who was born in Pennsylvania and said he became a Muslim at age 20 after reading “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” while in prison for a drug offense, argues that he can offer an insider’s perspective on Islamist radicalization — and how to counter that threat.
Morton is the first former extremist in the United States to join an academic program, Lorenzo Vidino, director of GW’s Program on Extremism, said, although there are some working similar capacities in Europe.
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Vidino pointed to the ways law enforcement works with former gang members to infiltrate criminal networks.
“This is the first time it’s been done with a jihadist,” he said.
Morton offered something unique: experience as a recruiter for al-Qaeda. And a master’s degree from Columbia University.
That combination of insider’s perspective, intellectual curiosity and analytic ability makes him invaluable, Vidino argued. “It’s an unusual hire,” he said, and one that the university undertook only after months of research, including interviews with law enforcement and intelligence sources and even an attempt to trick Morton with another former extremist to see if he was telling them the truth.
“Healthy skepticism is fair,” Vidino said. “He has said it’s up to him to prove he’s truly reformed.”
Brett Zongker, a spokesman for GW, said that Morton would be working at the off-campus think tank, which launched last summer to study both violent and nonviolent extremism, and that he will not be interacting with students. Zongker also noted that the program is externally funded and that Morton’s position is being funded by an anonymous private foundation.
“I can make an incredible contribution,” Morton said, and people “don’t need to be worried about whether or not I’m de-radicalized” or whether there’s a risk.
Several years ago, federal prosecutors argued that Morton had, through his Revolution Muslim website, urged violence in the name of Islam, including attacks on writers for “South Park” for a satirical depiction of the prophet Muhammad. Prosecutors said he had radicalized many, endangered the lives of innocent people and worked to destroy the country’s fundamental principles.
He was in touch with Jose Pimentel, who was later arrested for plotting to kill members of the U.S. military coming back from Afghanistan, and Rezwan Ferdaus, who admitted to a plot to attack the Capitol and the Pentagon.
Morton pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiring to solicit murder, making threatening communications and using the Internet to place others in fear.
A federal judge sentenced him to 11 1/2 years in prison.
Within three years, he had been released and was being paid by the FBI.
Jesse Morton (Photo courtesy of George Washington University)
Morton said there are many paths to radicalization. And he said his most valuable contribution may be to help experts understand the opposite path.
That’s a view echoed by some national leaders, including President Obama, who expressed a “need to lift up the voices of those who know the hypocrisy of groups like [the Islamic State] firsthand, including former extremists.” Vidino noted that in a discussion hosted by the program last fall, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin said that countering violent extremism requires “countering the message of hate online. Often former extremists can be the most persuasive voices.”
Morton said he grew up in Pennsylvania and New York in a “very leftist household where religion was considered absurd.” After what he said was a traumatic childhood, he ran away from home at 16 and lived on the streets.
“I was looking for an identity, looking for a worldview to cling to,” Morton said.
He first turned to what he called an ultra-liberal perspective, but rejected it. During a brief time in prison, he said he became mesmerized by Malcolm X, really relating to his story, and ultimately converted to Islam.
He changed his name to Younus Abdullah Muhammad.
He graduated from Metropolitan College of New York and earned a master’s degree in international affairs with a concentration in the Middle East from Columbia in 2008. He worked as a substance-abuse, mental-health and family counselor, he said, and with nonprofit groups working on issues of homelessness and shelters.
As he became increasingly radicalized over the years — something he is writing about in his first paper for the program, an insider’s perspective of a group’s formation — he crossed the line from legal to illegal speech and threats, he said. He’ll compare his own account of himself and the other two people who formed Revolution Muslim, which urged attacks and allegiance to bin Laden, with the academic analysis of the formation of such groups.
And he said he hopes to spur faster action, from research to policy to implementation. Too often the United States is reacting to terrorist organizations, Morton said, rather than the other way around.
Talking to him is “fascinating,” Vidino said. “I’ve worked on issues of jihadism in the U.S. for 15 years,” and even when discussing cases in which Vidino was an expert witness and had pored over all the court documents, Morton can astonish him. “He was with these people, planning.... He’ll tell me details that, oh my God, that completely change my perspective on the case,” as with the case of Samir Khan, who wrote that he was proud to be a traitor to the United States and furthered efforts of al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Yemen.
“This is someone who has done this the last few years with the FBI,” but he can contribute far more than intelligence, names, connections, strategies, Vidino said. “It’s understanding the mindset.”
Becoming de-radicalized was a long process, just as his growing extremism had been, Morton said.
The beginning came when he was in Morocco, the country where his wife was from and where he moved in 2009 hoping to become a professor. While teaching young men, he realized that his idealized, utopian vision of Islamic society with adherence to sharia law “was something that very few people in that country were interested in.”
He said they spoke admiringly of Western liberation and freedom, which made him think more about that way of life.
He began to examine more critically al-Qaeda’s propaganda. Some things bin Laden said, for example, “didn’t make sense to me.”
Then he was charged with a crime by the United States and had to choose whether to try to flee or to return to the country “to face the music.” His disengagement with the cause led him to choose to return, Morton said.
He spent five months in a Moroccan prison awaiting his extradition to the United States and spent much of that time, he said, reading books and reassessing Islamist ideology.
When he was picked up by a private plane and asked by a U.S. agent if he wanted to be called Younus Abdullah Muhammad or the name he had been given at birth, he surprised himself with his answer: Jesse Morton.
He was still skeptical of law enforcement at that time, he said. But for a long time, while he was in prison in solitary confinement, he kept thinking about how he had chosen his birth name.
A guard there bent the rules of confinement and allowed him to spend six or seven hours a day in the library there, he said, and he began to read a set of the “Great Books of the Western World,” published by Encyclopedia Britannica.
“I dove into it,” he said, becoming fascinated by writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Locke, Thomas Payne, Alexander Hamilton. He read the Federalist Papers.
He started to realize the value of the Enlightenment, and post-Enlightenment thinking, its impact on the world and the importance of the American Revolution and democracy, he said.
When he met with law enforcement to work on his plea bargain, there was a female agent whom he said “re-humanized me.”
She was empathetic, which he initially took for manipulation but came to trust.
Through her, he said, he began to believe that the ultimate objective of law enforcement was not to wage war against Muslims but to protect the public from terrorist attacks.
Morton said law enforcement agents told him things about some of his contacts that he hadn’t known, things which he said he wasn’t authorized to speak about by U.S. law enforcement. He said he wasn’t aware of the full ramifications of the ideas he was espousing.
Morton realized something about the people working to counterterrorism, he said: “They were good people.... That erased the us-vs.-them, black-white worldview.”
Because he still had credibility within the extremist world, he had valuable information; he warned U.S. law enforcement, at a time when the world was changing rapidly, that Syria was a new Afghanistan. He was able to track foreign fighters who were attacking with suicide bombings and decapitations, he said, helping the United States.
And then he went back to study Islam, looking at historical and jihadi interpretations of the religion from a more critical perspective, he said. “I dissected the ideology I once clung to, and was infatuated by,” he said. “It was a very lengthy process.”
Now he knows many people who say they are de-radicalized, he said, whom he thinks of as disengaged, not fully de-radicalized.
He is, he said. But this new role, which he began a few weeks ago, will further his commitment, he said. Morton sees it as a bit of a vindication, “a bit of an ability to make amends, if I can have a positive impact.
“I am firmly confident that will be the case,” that he can help to prevent, and counter, extremism.
Morton, now 37, lives in Northern Virginia. He has two children. And he says he is a devout Muslim.
But he rejects fundamentalist adherence to religious rules now, he said; he said he believes that makes people close-minded. His religion is personal now, Morton said.
“I feel better spiritually now,” he said. “... I have a better relationship with God as a result.”
Vidino connected with Morton when he was seeking people who had recruited and radicalized others to the cause; because Morton lives nearby, it was easy to talk with him frequently, and as they worked together, he recognized Morton’s intelligence and academic credentials.
Vidino has heard criticism from people who say it’s foolish to trust someone who recently advocated for terrorism. But he said he has gotten more positive reaction than negative to the hire. “We’re not going around looking for formers to have on staff,” he said, using the shorthand for people who say they have de-radicalized. “We stumbled upon him and understood the value.”The Grizzlies keep searching for a backup center. Almost each time, that guy has been Ryan Hollins.
Memphis has signed Hollins for what is now the third time this season, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports:
The Memphis Grizzlies plan to re-sign center Ryan Hollins, letting guard Elliot Williams free after his 10-day, league sources tell Yahoo. Article continues below... — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 18, 2016
Hollins has gotten into four games with Memphis so far this season. He has also played five games with the Wizards.
He signed a contract with the Grizzlies just before the preseason, but the team waived him before the start of the regular season. After signing with the Wizards shortly after, Washington waived him in December. That set up a return to Memphis on Dec. 29, but Hollins only remained with the Grizzlies for a little more than a week before they waived him again.
Now, he’s back. Who knows what’s happening from here?Image caption Toyota's recovery has been boosted by a sharp rebound in sales in the US market
Japanese carmaker Toyota has regained its slot as the world's biggest vehicle maker, capping a year of a dramatic turnaround in its fortunes.
Toyota said it sold 9.75 million vehicles in 2012, a jump of more than 22% from a year earlier.
General Motors, which was the biggest vehicle maker in 2011, sold 9.29 million vehicles in 2012.
Toyota's sales in 2011 were hit by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand which hurt production at its factories.
However, Toyota, and other Japanese carmakers that were affected, have seen a steady recovery since then and have been regaining share in key markets such as the US.
"The last two years have been very difficult for Toyota," Vivek Vaidya, an auto analyst with Frost & Sullivan, told the BBC.
"The regaining of the top slot would definitely be heartening for the firm and is good news for its investors and share holders," he added.
Toyota's rivals also reported record numbers in vehicle sales for 2012.
Nissan Motor said it sold 4.94 million vehicles globally, up almost 6% from the previous year, while Honda Motor said it saw a jump of 19% from a year earlier, selling 3.82 million vehicles.
Profit boost?
Along with the natural disasters, Japanese carmakers have also been hit by a strong yen.
We are likely to see profit margins rise, giving it more cash in hand and the ability to invest in developing new technologies Vivek Vaidya, Frost & Sullivan
A strong currency not only makes Japanese goods more expensive to foreign buyers but also hits firms' profits when they repatriate their foreign earnings back home.
This especially hurts companies - such as Toyota - which rely heavily on overseas sales.
However, Japanese carmakers have received a boost in the past few weeks as the yen has fallen against the US dollar.
The Japanese currency has dropped nearly 15% against the US dollar since last November. It was trading close to 90.8 yen against US dollar in Asian trade on Monday.
Analysts said the fall was likely to have a positive impact on Toyota's growth.
"The decline in the yen is a welcome relief for Toyota," said Frost & Sullivan's Mr Vaidya.
"We are likely to see profit margins rise, giving it more cash in hand and the ability to invest in developing new technologies, which should help in its growth momentum going forward."
The Japanese carmaker raised its annual profit forecast in November.
It has predicted a net profit of 780bn yen ($8.6bn; £5.4bn) for the financial year to 31 March 2013, up from its earlier of forecast of 760bn yen.
Potential pitfalls
However, the carmaker does face some potential hurdles, not least from the continuing territorial dispute between Japan and China.
China is the world's biggest car market and is seen as key to future growth of firms such as Toyota.
However, the dispute centred around a group of islands in the East China Sea, which flared up late last year, has hurt relations between the two countries and seen Japan's exports to China decline.
The dispute is still unresolved and some fear that it may blow up again in the coming months and further hurt trade relations between the two countries.
The fear is that any such move may see anti-Japan sentiment rise and hurt sales of Japanese brands in China.
Analysts said that any such decline was likely to have a negative impact on Toyota's growth.Vegans hear it from meat eaters all the time: “I love my meat.” “I can’t live without cheese.” “BUT BACON.”
It’s an affinity for these familiar, animal-based foods that tends to keep a lot of people from adopting a cruelty-free lifestyle.
Luckily, more and more start-ups are using high-tech methodologies to replicate things like eggs, hamburgers, cheese — even gelatin. And a recently launched organization, The New Omnivore (TNO), is dedicated to getting the word out about these innovations. Its first event, a mini-conference, kicks off this Thursday in San Francisco.
“My mission is to change the way people think about meat and where it should come from,”says TNO founder Janay Laing. “If we as a society can accept the idea of cultured meat or making meat from plants, we will take a huge step forward for animals, the environment, and ourselves as moral, caring beings. But first people must learn about and support these innovations.”
The New Omnivore’s first public event is a mini-conference, scheduled for this Thursday, Dec. 10 in San Francisco. A full-scale conference will follow in Miami, in September 2016.
The mini-conference is a scaled down, three-hour version of the larger event. It’ll include keynote speakers, a panel discussion, bites (of course!) and games/prizes, all revolving around animal-free food.
“We’ve got an amazing lineup of guests from startups including Gelzen, Clara Foods, New Wave Foods, and Memphis Meats — all who are making animal-free animal products,” adds Laing.
As far as the 2016 event: “It will be the very first large event dedicated entirely to animal-free food innovation. I’m still working on confirming a venue, but I’m close, and once that’s done pre-registration will likely open in spring of next year,” she says.
Laing also plans to host speaking events about plant-based meat, dairy, and egg innovations at colleges and various venues across the U.S. in 2016.
Overall, The New Omnivore has a vision for the future of food. “I want to make it a brand and a movement – for everyone who likes meat but doesn’t want the animal slaughter and all the other problems that come with traditional meat production.”
The New Omnivore mini-conference kicks off at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 10 at The Revolution at IndieBio, 479 Jessie St., San Francisco. Tickets are free and available online.
Follow Latest Vegan News on Facebook, on Twitter @LatestVeganNews, and Google+, and sign up to receive our daily headlines in your inbox here.KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine’s state-run energy company Naftogaz has suspended gas payments to Russia until the conclusion of price talks, chief executive Andriy Kobolev was quoted as saying on Saturday.
A gas pipe is pictured at an underground gas storage facility in the village of Mryn, 120 km (75 miles) north of Kiev May 21, 2013. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/Files
Russia, which last month angered Western powers by annexing Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, has raised the price it charges Kiev for gas and said it owes Moscow $2.2 billion in unpaid bills. It also says Kiev had failed to pay its bill on time.
Russian gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) earlier this month increased gas price for Ukrainian consumers to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters (tcm) from $268 for the first quarter, saying Kiev was no longer eligible for previous discounts.
“The question of repayment of debt is directly linked to the maintenance of gas prices at the level of the first quarter,” Kobolev told the Zerkalo Nedely weekly in an interview, referring to the original price of $268 per tcm.
“We see no reason to revise the price. We consider the price at around $500 as non-market, unjustified and unacceptable. Accordingly, we have suspended payments for the period of the price negotiations.”
Kiev gets about half of its gas from Moscow and a large proportion of Europe’s gas is pumped from Russia via Ukraine.
High debts, which could justify a reduction in gas shipments to Ukraine, have raised the spectre of a repeat of previous “gas wars”, when disputes between the two former Soviet republics led to a cut in onward supplies to western Europe.
A repeat could hurt Russia as its public revenues depend on selling gas to Europe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that Moscow could cut off gas to Ukraine, potentially threatening European supplies, but later played down the threat.
“I want to say again: We do not intend and do not plan to shut off the gas,” he said on Friday.Angel Olsen has covered the Tin Pan Alley staple “Who’s Sorry Now” for Resistance Radio: The Man In The High Castle Album, NPR reports. Listen below. The cover of the track—which was originally written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and Ted Snyder—appears on the soundtrack for Amazon’s series “The Man in the High Castle,” assembled by Danger Mouse and producer Sam Cohen. The conceptual release features songs imagined to be broadcast in a neutral region, in a world where Japanese and German forces won the Second World War.
As well as Olsen, artists who recorded covers for the release include Beck, the Shins, MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden, Karen O, and Kevin Morby. Listen to Sharon van Etten’s contribution here. The album is out April 7 via Danger Mouse’s 30th Century Records.
Read our feature “This Woman’s Work: The Many Lives of Angel Olsen.”
Listen to the Connie Francis version of the song:
Watch Angel Olsen perform “Some Things Cosmic” at Pitchfork Music Festival 2013:Australian Tax Office names Delungra as country's lowest-earning area, Sydney eastern suburbs identified as highest
Updated
A tiny town in the north-west of New South Wales has won the dubious distinction of being home to Australia's lowest earners.
Delungra, just outside Inverell with a population of 556, tops a list of the poorest 10 postcodes, according to the Australian Tax Office.
Its residents have a mean taxable income of just $21,691.
Predictably, the highest-earning area is Sydney's eastern suburbs where the mean income is almost nine times that of Delungra's - sitting at a comfortable $177, 514.
The ATO has released its latest taxation statistics for 2012-13, detailing personal income, charitable donations and highest-earning professions.
Medical professionals top the list of the country's highest earners, with people in the finance, legal and mining sectors also doing well.
And Canberra has been pinpointed as the most charitable region, with its residents making an average annual donation of $261.
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Topics: work, community-and-society, lifestyle, lifestyle-and-leisure, poverty, delungra-2403, nsw, australia, sydney-2000
First postedToei Animation opened a teaser website for its newest Precure animated series, Kirakira ☆ Precure a la Mode on Monday. The series is slated to premiere in next spring, and is the 14th series in the magical girl franchise.
The website teases the premise:
Make food! Eat! Fight!
A trademark for Kirakira ☆ Precure a la Mode was filed and went public last month. Previous Precure television anime series have initially listed their February launch dates as "spring."
The currently airing Precure (Pretty Cure) series, Mahō Tsukai Precure, premiered in February. The Eiga Mahō Tsukai Precure! Kiseki no Henshin! Cure Mofurun! film opened on October 29 in Japan.
The 2012-2013 Precure anime series Smile Precure! has been localized in English as Glitter Force, and is available streaming on Netflix.
Source: The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan WebAssessing the effect of climate change on upwelling ecosystems is essential to be able to predict the future of marine resources. The zones concerned by this upwelling of cold deep water, which is very rich in nutrients, provide up to 20 % of global production of fish. Since the 1990s, the theory adopted by the majority of the scientific community affirmed that these phenomena were intensifying. The rising temperatures of the air masses above the continents were expected to quicken the trade winds, which would in turn increase the upwellings, thereby cooling the surface water. But this theory has been contradicted by the recent work of researchers from the IRD and its partners.
Coastal waters are getting considerably warmer
In their new study, led off the coast of North and West Africa, the scientists reviewed the wind measurements taken over the past 40 years and the data of the meteorological models along the Spanish and West African coastline, and discovered that they do not show an acceleration of the wind on a regional scale that would be likely to significantly cool the coastal waters. In fact, quite the opposite is true, since the satellite images and in situ measurements of the surface water temperature show a distinct upward trend in the temperature for the entire zone, at a rate of 1°C per century. These new findings contradict the hypothesis that the upwelling of the Canary Current is intensifying.
A reinterpretation of the paleoclimatic data
Until now, the study of this ecosystem focused primarily on paleoclimatic reconstructions based on samples of marine sediments. According to the geochemical analysis of these samples, planktonic organisms have evolved in an increasingly cold environment over the last few decades. This led scientists to conclude that the temperature of the surface water was dropping. But in view of the new findings, the oceanographers have put forward another explanation: the thermal signal deduced from the paleoclimatic data is due to a progressive migration of plankton towards the depths because, on the contrary, the surface water is getting warmer!
The reaction of the coastal ecosystems to climate change remains complex, because it depends greatly on local specificities -- other upwelling systems, such as that of the California Current, clearly show a trend of intensification and cooling of the water in recent decades. At the level of the ecosystem itself, the effects of the warming of the surface waters can be antagonistic: it can for example encourage the growth of fish larvae, but also increase the temperature gradient between the surface water and the deeper water and thereby modify the food chain, etc. Researchers will now have to address all these questions.The time has come to release a new version of LambdaCube 3D on Hackage, which brings lots of improvements. Also, the previous release is available on Stackage since the 2016-02-19 nightly. Just as last time, this post will only scratch the surface and give a high-level overview of what the past weeks brought.
The most visible change in the language is in the handling of tuples. Instead of defining them as distinct product types, the underlying machinery was changed to heterogeneous lists. As a consequence, the language is more complete, as we don’t have to explicitly define tuples of different arities in the compiler any more, and this also allowed us to simplify the codebase quite a bit. There is one gotcha though: unary tuples are a thing now, and they must be explicitly marked where they can occur (e.g. across shader boundaries). With the current syntax, a unary tuple is formed by surrounding any expression with double parentheses. You can read more about it in the language specification.
Another important change is that functions in the source program appear as functions in the generated code, i.e. they aren’t automatically inlined. Since modern GPU drivers often perform CSE during shader compilation, aggressively inlining everything puts unnecessary burden on them, so it’s probably for the better not to do it in most cases. This change also makes it much easier to read the generated code.
As for the internals of the compiler, many things were changed and improved since the last release. We’d like to highlight just one of these developments: we switched from parsec to megaparsec, which brought some performance improvements.
The online editor has a new time control feature: you can both pause the time and set it with a slider. We removed most of the custom uniforms, and now every example calculates everything using only the time as the input. As an added bonus, the LambdaCube 3D logo texture can be used in the editor as showcased by the Texturing example.
On the community side, the most important new thing is the lambdacube3d-discuss mailing list. We also added a new community page to the website so it’s easier to find all the places for LambdaCube related discussions. As for the website, both the API docs and the language specs pages received some love, plus we added a package overview page to dispel some confusion. Finally, this being the second release of the new system, we’re also introducing a changelog for the compiler |
area, no relation to George Lucas.[1] The Ranch is not open to the public and keeps a low profile from the road.[1] A gated road leads to the ranch.
Overview [ edit ]
The principal operation of the facility is as a motion picture sound mixing and recording facility, as well as serving as the corporate offices of Lucasfilm. Other Lucasfilm properties provide animation and visual effects; Skywalker handles sound, music, and allied services.
Assembled parcel by parcel since September 1978,[2] Skywalker Ranch has cost Lucas up to US$100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Lucasfilm acquired 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of adjoining land for a total of over 4,700 acres (1,900 ha). Only 15 acres (6.1 ha) have been developed.[3] The residents of the area have for 25 years fought his plan to build a larger studio on the property, citing light and noise pollution.[4]
The Ranch contains a barn with animals, vineyards, a garden with fruits and vegetables used in the on-site restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool and fitness center with racquetball courts, the man-made "Lake Ewok", a hilltop observatory, a 300-seat theater called "The Stag" as well as multiple theater screening rooms, and parking that is mostly concealed underground to preserve the natural landscape.[5] Skywalker Sound was moved onto the ranch in 1987, now occupying the Technical Building.[6] The Main House has a company research library under a stained-glass dome.[1] Skywalker Ranch has its own fire station; it is part of the Marin County mutual aid system and is often called on to assist firefighters in nearby Marinwood.[1]
Skywalker Ranch is intended to be more of a "filmmaker's retreat" than a headquarters for Lucas's business operations. The headquarters of Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, and LucasArts are located in Lucas's Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio of San Francisco.[5][7] The George Lucas Educational Foundation is based at the Ranch. Skywalker Sound remains based at the Ranch, for which Lucasfilm pays a rental fee to George Lucas, who remains the property's owner.[8] Although Lucas maintains his offices there, he does not personally reside at the Ranch.[1] Lucasfilm Games was located at the ranch during the early company years.[9]
Skywalker Ranch Ewok Lake
Nearby Lucas properties [ edit ]
Big Rock Ranch [ edit ]
Big Rock Ranch is a later Lucasfilm development in Marin county at 3800 Lucas Valley Road[10] adjacent to Skywalker Ranch. The county's planning commission approved this facility in September 1996[10] and construction was completed in August 2002.[11] However, in November 2004, Lucas announced that the 250 employees of the ranch were to be moved to the Letterman Digital Arts Center.[12]
The ranch comprises 1,061 acres (429 ha), of which 43 acres (17 ha) are developed with 317,000 sq ft (29,500 m2) of office space.[11] Before the move to the Presidio in 2005, Big Rock Ranch housed the marketing, licensing, distribution and online divisions of Lucasfilm.[12] As of 2007 it was the headquarters of the animation division.[13] In 2018, Big Rock Ranch was renovated into an opulent, 56-room resort called "Summit at Skywalker Ranch". The facility hosts exclusive corporate retreat events.[14][15]
Others [ edit ]
Starting in 1988, Lucasfilm sought approval to develop another nearby property called Grady Ranch at 2400 Lucas Valley Road.[10] The most recent proposals called for a 263,701-square-foot (24,498.6 m2) digital film production center for the property. However, in the wake of delays caused by local resistance and environmental concerns, Lucas abandoned these plans in April 2012 and has instead decided to sell the land.[16][17]
Lucas also owns McGuire Ranch (3801 Lucas Valley Road[10]) and Loma Alta Ranch (4001 Lucas Valley Road[10]) in Marin County.[16]
In media [ edit ]
The 2009 comedy film Fanboys is the story of five Star Wars fans on their quest to break into Skywalker Ranch and watch a rough cut of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace before its official release.
The Ranch hosted Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell for interviews for The Power of Myth documentary in the late 1980s. Campbell's works were influential to George Lucas in creating the Star Wars universe. Years later, Moyers returned to the Ranch to interview Lucas for a documentary titled The Mythology of Star Wars around the time Episode I was in production.
In 1996, the band Journey recorded the music video for their song "When You Love a Woman" inside the Scoring Stage of the Ranch.
The ranch was featured in an episode of The Big Bang Theory (Season 8: The Skywalker Incursion) where Leonard and Sheldon tried to gain access in order to see the ranch for themselves. They are stopped at the guard post, but Sheldon breaks free and they are detained.
References [ edit ]
Coordinates:The Early Years
Cecil John Rhodes was born on 5 July 1853 in the small hamlet of Bishops Stortford, England. He was the fifth son of Francis William Rhodes and his second wife, Louisa Peacock. A priest of the Church of England, his father served as curate of Brentwood Essex for fifteen years, until 1849, when he became the vicar of Bishop’s Stortford, where he remained until 1876. Rhodes had nine brothers and two sisters and attended the grammar school at Bishop’s Stortford. When he was growing up Rhodes read voraciously but vicariously, his favourite book being The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, but he equally adored the highly esteemed historian Edward Gibbon and his works on the great Roman Empire.
Cecil Rhodes as a boy. Source
Rhodes fell ill shortly after leaving school and, as his lungs were affected, it was decided that he should visit his brother, Herbert, who had recently immigrated to Natal. It was also believed, by both Rhodes and his father, that the business opportunities offered in South Africa would be able to provide Rhodes with a more promising future than staying in England. At the tender age of 17 Rhodes arrived in Durban on 1 September 1870. He brought with him three thousand pounds that his aunt had lent him and used it to invest in diamond diggings in Kimberley.
After a brief stay with the Surveyor-General of Natal, Dr. P. C. Sutherland, in Pietermaritzburg, Rhodes joined his brother on his cotton farm in the Umkomaas valley in Natal. By the time Rhodes arrived at the farm his brother had already left the farm to travel 650 kilometres north, to the diamond fields in Kimberley. Left on his own Rhodes began to work his brother’s farm, growing and selling its cotton, proving himself to be an astute businessman despite his young age. Cotton farming was not Rhodes’ passion and the diamond mines beckoned. At 18, in October 1871, Rhodes left the Natal colony to follow his brother to the diamond fields of Kimberley. In Kimberley he supervised the working of his brother's claim and speculated on his behalf. Among his associates in the early days were John X Merriman and Charles D. Rudd, of the infamous Rudd Concession, who later became his partner in the De Beers Mining Company and the British South Africa Company.
In 1872 Rhodes suffered a slight heart attack. Partly to recuperate, but also to investigate the prospects of finding gold in the interior, the Rhodes brothers trekked north by ox wagon. Their trek took them along the missionary road in Bechuanaland as far north as Mafeking, then eastwards through the Transvaal as far as the Murchison range. The journey inspired a love of the country in Rhodes and marked the beginning of his interest in the road to the north and the northern interior itself.
In 1873 Rhodes left his diamond fields in the care of his partner, Rudd, and sailed for England to complete his studies. He was admitted to Oriel College Oxford, but only stayed for one term in 1873 and only returned for his second term in 1876. He was greatly influenced by John Ruskin's inaugural lecture at Oxford, which reinforced his own attachment to the cause of British Imperialism. Among his Oxford associates were Rochefort Maguire, later a fellow of All Souls and a director of the British South Africa Company, and Charles Metcalfe. At university Rhodes was also taken up with the idea of creating a ‘secret society’ of British men who would be able to lead the world, and spread to all corners of the globe the spirit of the Englishman that Rhodes so admired. He wrote of this society,
Why should we not form a secret society with but one object the furtherance of the British Empire and the bringing of the whole uncivilised world under British rule for the recovery of the United States for the making the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire.’
His university career engendered in Rhodes his admiration for the Oxford'system' which was eventually to mature in his scholarship scheme: 'Wherever you turn your eye - except in science - an Oxford man is at the top of the tree'.
An Arch Imperialist
One of Rhodes’ guiding principles throughout his life, that underpinned almost all of his actions, was his firm belief that the Englishman was the greatest human specimen in the world and that his rule would be a benefit to all. Rhodes was the ultimate imperialist, he believed, above all else, in the glory of the British Empire and the superiority of the Englishman and British Rule, and saw it as his God given task to expand the Empire, not only for the good of that Empire, but, as he believed, for the good of all peoples over whom she would rule. At the age of 24 he had already shared this vision with his fellows in a tiny shack in a mining town in Kimberley, when he told them,
‘The object of which I intend to devote my life is the defence and extension of the British Empire. I think that object a worthy one because the British Empire stands for the protection of all the inhabitants of a country in life, liberty, property, fair play and happiness and it is the greatest platform the world has ever seen for these purposes and for human enjoyment’.
Rhodes’ British Empire corridor through Africa. Source
A few months later, in a confession written at Oxford in 1877, Rhodes articulated this same imperial vision, but with words that clearly showed his disdain for the people whom the British Empire should rule:
"I contend that we are the first race in the world, and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race. Just fancy those parts that are at present inhabited by the most despicable specimen of human being, what an alteration there would be in them if they were brought under Anglo-Saxon influence...if there be a God, I think that what he would like me to do is paint as much of the map of Africa British Red as possible...”
One of Rhodes’ greatest dreams was a ribbon of red, demarcating British territory, which would cross the whole of Africa, from South Africa to Egypt. Part of this vision was his desire to construct a Cape to Cairo railway, one of his most famous projects. It was this expansive vision of British Imperial control, and the great lengths that Rhodes went to in order to fulfil this vision, which led many of his contemporaries and his biographers to mark him as a great visionary and leader.
Rhodes was both ruthless and incredibly successful in his pursuit of this scheme of a great British Empire. His contemporaries marvelled both at his prowess and incredible energy and capacity, but they also shuddered at his callousness and depravity in all his pursuit. His contemporaries, both awed and appalled by the man, wrote of him as a man of original ideas who sought more than the mere ‘getting and spending which limits the ambitions and lays waste the powers of the average man’. Yet although many people at the time saw Rhodes as a man of great vision, an unconquerable leader with the ability to pursue his aims across the vast African continent, there were nonetheless dissident voices who were shocked by Rhodes’ actions and those of his British South Africa Company. One such voice was that of Olive Schreiner, who, initially awed by Rhodes, had come to abhor him. In April of 1897 she wrote, in a letter to her friend, John Merriman:
“We fight Rhodes because he means so much of oppression, injustice, & moral degradation to South Africa; - but if he passed away tomorrow there still remains the terrible fact that something in our society has formed the matrix which has fed, nourished, built up such a man!”
The King of Diamonds
Rhodes’ plans for the Cape To Cairo Railway, 1899 Source
Whilst at Oxford, Rhodes continued to prosper in Kimberley. Before his departure for Oxford Rhodes had realised that the changing laws in the Kimberley area would force the ‘small man’ out of the diamond fields and would only leave larger companies able to operate in the mines. In light of this he sought to consolidate a number of mines with his partner, Charles Rudd. Rhodes had also decided to move away from the ‘New Rush’ Kimberley mine fields, that were higher in the ground and thus more accessible, back to the lower yielding ‘Old Rush’ area. Here Rhodes and Rudd bought the costly claim of what was known as old De Beers (Vooruitzicht Farm) which owed its name to Johannes Nicolaas de Beer and his brother, Diederik Arnoldus de Beer, the original owners of the farm Vooruitzicht. It was this farm that would lend its name to Rhodes and Rudd’s ever growing diamond company.
In 1874 and 1875 the diamond fields were in the grip of depression, but Rhodes and Rudd were among those who stayed to consolidate their interests. They believed that diamonds would be numerous in the hard blue ground that had been exposed after the softer, yellow layer near the surface had been worked out. During this time the technical problem of clearing out the water that was flooding the mines became serious and he and Rudd obtained the contract for pumping the water out of the three main mines.
Rhodes had come to the realisation that the only way to avoid the cyclical boom and bust of the diamond industry was to have far greater control over the production and distribution of diamonds. And so, in April 1888, in search of an oligopoly over diamond production, Rhodes and Rudd launched the De Beers Consolidated Mines mining company. With 200 000 pounds capital the Company, of which Rhodes was secretary, owned the largest interest in mines in South Africa. Rhodes greatest coup was to get Barney Barnato, owner of the Kimberley mine, to go partnership with Rhodes’ De Beers Company. Of the encounter Barnato later wrote:
“When you have been with him half an hour you not only agree with him, but come to believe you have always held his opinion. No one else in the world could have induced me to into this partnership. But Rhodes had an extraordinary ascendancy over men: he tied them up, as he ties up everybody. It is his way. You can’t resist him; you must be with him.”
With his acquisition of most of the world’s diamond mines Rhodes became an incredibly rich man. But Rhodes was not after wealth for wealth’s sake, he was acutely aware of the relationship between money and power, and it was power which he sought. Hans Sauer wrote of a conversation he had had with Rhodes whilst looking over the Kimberley diamond mine, where Sauer had asked Rhodes, ‘what do you see here?’, and, Sauer writes, ‘with a slow sweep of his hand, Rhodes answered with the single word: “Power”.’
In the early 1880s gold was discovered in the Transvaal, sparking the Witwatersrand Gold Rush. Rhodes considered joining the rush to open gold mines in the region, but Rudd, convinced him that the Witwatersrand was merely the beginning, and that far greater gold fields lay to the north, in present day Zimbabwe and Zambia. As a result Rhodes held back while other Kimberley capitalists hastened to the Transvaal to stake the best claims. In 1887 when Rhodes finally did act and formed the Goldfields of South Africa Company with his brother Frank, most of the best claims were already taken. Goldfields South Africa performed very poorly, prompting Rhodes to look towards the north for the gold fields that Rudd had assured him were lying in wait.
The Statesman
In 1880 Rhodes prepared to enter public life at the Cape. With the incorporation of Griqualand West into the Cape Colony in 1877 the area obtained six seats in the Cape House of Assembly. Rhodes chose the constituency of Barkley West, a rural constituency in which Boer voters predominated, and at age 29 was elected as its parliamentary representative. Barkley West remained faithful to Rhodes even after the Jameson Raid and he continued as its member until his death.
The chief preoccupation of the Cape Parliament when Rhodes became a member was the future of Basutoland, where the ministry of Sir Gordon Sprigg was trying to restore order after a rebellion in 1880. The ministry had precipitated the revolt by applying its policy of disarmament to the Basuto. Seeking expansion to the north and with prospects of building his great dream of a Cape to Cairo railway, Rhodes persuaded Britain to establish a protectorate over Bechuanaland (now Botswana) in 1884, eventually leading to Britain annexing this territory.
Rhodes seemed to have immense influence in Parliament despite the fact that he was acknowledged to be a poor speaker, with a thin, high pitched voice, with little aptitude for oration and a poor physical presence. What made Rhodes nonetheless so incredibly convincing to his contemporaries has remained much of a mystery to his biographers.
The Push for Mashonaland
Rhodes’ imperial vision for Africa was never far from his mind. In 1888 Rhodes looked further north towards Matabeleland and Mashonaland, in present day Zimbabwe. Matabeleland fell squarely in the territory which Rhodes hoped to conquer, from the Cape to Cairo, in the name of the British Empire. It also was believed to hold vast, untapped gold fields, which Rudd believed would be of far greater value than those discovered in the Witwatersrand.
In pursuit of his imperial dream and in his desire to make up for the failure of his Gold Fields Mining Company, Rhodes began to explore ways in which to exploit the mineral wealth of Matabeleland and Mahsonaland. The King of Matabeleland, King Lobengula, who was believed by the British to also rule over Mashonaland, had already allowed a number of British miners mineral rights in his kingdom. He had also sent a number of his men to labour in the diamond mines, thus setting a precedence for engagement with him. However, the King had consistently stated quite clearly that he wanted no British interference in his own territory.
In 1887 Lobengula signed a treaty with the Transvaal Government, an act that convinced Rhodes that the Boere were trying to steal ‘his north’. By this stage the ‘scramble for Africa’ was also already well under way and Rhodes became convinced that the Germans, French and Portuguese were going to try to take Matabeleland. These fears made Rhodes rapidly mobilise in order to get Matabeleland under British control. Although the British government at the time was against further colonial expansion to the north of South Africa, Rhodes was able to use the threat of other imperial powers, such as Germany, taking over the land to push the British Government to take action.
The Government sent John Smith Moffat, the then Assistant Commissioner to Sir Sidney Shippard in Bechuanaland (now Botswana) who was well known to the Matabele Chief Lobengula as their fathers were friends, to negotiate a treaty with Lobengula. The result was the Moffat Treaty of February 1888, essentially a relaxed British protection treaty. The Moffat Treaty was however between Lobengula and the British Government, Rhodes himself was hardly a relevant player in this. Worried that the Moffat Treaty was too weak to hold Matabeleland, and convinced that the Dutch and Germans were making plans to take the territory and desperate for exclusive mining rights in the region, Rhodes concocted to his own plan to take control of the territory. With his business partner Rudd, Rhodes formed the British South Africa Company (BSAC), crafted on the British and Dutch East India company models. The BSAC was a commercial-political entity aiming at exploiting economic resources and political power to advance British finance capital.
Shortly after the Moffat Treaty, in March 1888, Rhodes sent his business partner Charles Rudd to get Lobengula to sign an exclusive mining concession to the British South Africa Company. When Rudd arrived at Lobengula’s kraal however, there were a number of other British concession hunters already there, seeking to undertake the exact same manoeuvre as Rhodes’ BSAC. Through Rhodes influence however, Rudd was able to win over the support of the local British officials staying with Lobengula, a move which ultimately convinced Lobengula that Rudd had more power and influence than any of the other petitioners seeking concessions from him.
After much negotiation Rudd was eventually able to get Lobengula to sign a concession giving exclusive mining rights to the BSAC in exchange for protection against the Boere and neighbouring tribes. This concession became known as the Rudd Concession. Lobengula’s young warriors were angry and inflamed and were itching to kill the white men who were entering their lands. Lobengula however feared his people would be defeated if they attacked the whites, and so it is likely that he signed the Rudd Concession in the hopes of gaining British protection and thereby preventing a Boer migration into his lands which would then incite his warriors to battle. For Lobengula his options were essentially to either concede to the British or to the Dutch. In the belief that he was protecting his interests he sided with the seemingly more lenient and liberal British. Like so many documents signed by Africans during the colonial period, the Rudd Concession was however not what it claimed to be, but rather became a justifying document for the colonisation of the Ndebele and the Shona.
Using the Rudd Concession, despite initial protests by the British Government, Rhodes managed to acquire a Royal Charter (approval from the British monarch) for his British South Africa Company. The Royal Charter allowed Rhodes to act on behalf of British interests in Matabeleland. It gave the company full imperial and colonial powers as it was allowed to create a police force, fly its own flag, construct roads, railways, telegraphs, engage in mining operations, settle on acquired territories and create financial institutions.
Rhodes convinced the British Government to give his company the right to control those parts of Matabeleland and Mashonaland that were ‘not in use’ by the African residents there and to provide ‘protection’ for the Africans on the land that was reserved for them. This proposal, which would cost the British taxpayer nothing but would extend the reaches of the British Empire, eventually found favour in London. The charter was officially granted on 29 October 1889. For Rhodes is BSAC with its Royal charter was the means whereby which to expand the British Empire, which a timid government and penurious British treasury were not about to accomplish
Rhodes reclining on one of his many voyages to the north. Source
After gaining his charter from the British Government Rhodes and his compatriots in the BSAC essentially felt that Matabeleland and Mashonaland were now under their control. Rhodes felt that war with the Ndebele was inevitable and would not allow his plans for extending the British Empire to be thwarted by “a savage chief with about 8 000 warriors”. Rhodes was determined that white settlers would soon occupy Matabeleland and Mashonaland, and the Ndebele could not resist them.
To gain power over Matabeleland and Mashonaland Rhodes hired Frank Johnson and Maurice Heany, two mercenaries, to raise a force of 5 00 white men who would support BammaNgwato, enemies of Lobengula’s, in an attack on Lobengula’s kraal. Johnson offered to deliver to Rhodes the Ndebele and Shona territory in nine month for £87 500. Johnson was joined by Frederick Selous, a hunter with professed close knowledge of Mashonaland. Rhodes advised Johnson to select as recruits primarily the sons of rich families, with the intention that, if the attack did fail and the British were captured, the British Government would be left with no choice but to send armed forces into Matabeleland to rescue the sons of Britain’s elite. In the end Johnson’s attack was called off because Rhodes had received news that Lobengula was going to allow Rhodes’ men into Matabele and Mashonaland without any opposition.
Despite Lobengula capitulating and giving permission for vast numbers of BSAC miners to enter his territory, Rhodes calculated a new plan to gain power in the region. In 1890 Rhodes sent a ‘Pioneer Column’ into Mashonaland, a column consisting of around 192 prospecting miners and around 480 armed troopers of the newly formed British South Africa Company Police, who were ostensibly there to ‘protect’ the miners. By sending in this column, Rhodes had deviously planned a move which would either force Lobengula to attack the settlers and then be crushed, or force him to allow a vast military force to take seat in his country. In the words of Rutherfoord Harris, a compatriot of Rhodes:
“....if he attack us, he is doomed, if he does not, his fangs will be drawn and the pressure of civilisation on all his border will press more and more heavily upon him, and the desired result, the disappearance of the Matabele as a power, if delayed is yet the more certain.”
The men who formed part of the Pioneer Column were all promised both gold concessions and land if they were successful in settling in Mashonaland.
On 13 September 1890, a day after the Pioneer Column arrived in Mashonaland,Rhodes’s BSAC invaded and occupied Mashonaland without any resistance from Lobengula. They settled at the site of what was later to become the town of Salisbury, present day Harare, marking the beginning of white settler occupation on the Zimbabwean plateau. They raised the Union Jack (the British national flag) in Salisbury, proclaiming it British territory.
The prospectors and the company had hoped to find a ‘second Rand' from the ancient gold mines of the Mashona, but the gold had been worked out of the ground long before. After failing to find this perceived ‘Second Rand’, Rhodes, instead of allowing the settlers mining rights, as had been agreed to by Lobengula, granted farming land to settler pioneers, something which went expressly against the Rudd Concession.
The end of the Matabele
In conceding Mashonaland to the BSAC Lobengula had avoided going to war with the British and had kept his people alive, and much of his territory intact. But unfortunately he had only been able to delay the inevitable. With no gold was found in Mashonaland, Rhodes’ BSAC was facing complete financial ruin. Leander Jameson suggested to Rhodes that ‘getting Matabeleland open would give us a tremendous life in shares and everything else’. Gaining the Matabeleland territory would also play directly into Rhodes megalomaniac vision of expanding the British Empire across Africa.
And so, in 1893, the BSAC eventually clashed with the Ndebele, in what Rhodes had perceived as an inevitable war. The settlers justified their initial attacks against the Ndebele to the British Government by arguing that they were protecting the Shona against the ‘vicious’ and ‘savage’ Ndebele impis. This was however a ploy, consciously concucted by Jameson in conjunction with Rhodes, in order to ensure that the British Government would not object to their further intrusions into Matabeleland by creating the impression that the Ndebele were the first aggressors. To fight their war the company recruited large bands of young mercenaries who were promised land and gold in exchange for their fighting power.
The final blow any hopes that the Ndebele might avoid war, came when Jameson was able to convince the British Government that Lobengula had sent a massive impi of 7 000 men into Mashonaland, who then gave Jameson leave to engage in defensive tactics. There is no indication that the impi Jamseon reported on had ever existed. Lobengula himself, in a last appeal to the legal/rational system the British seemed to so fervently uphold, wrote to the British High Commissioner saying, “Every day I hear from you reports which are nothing but lies. I am tired of hearing nothing but lies. What Impi of mine have your people seen and where do they come from? I know nothing of them.”
An artist’s impression of the British battling against the Ndebele Source
It was however far too late for Lobengula. With the permission to engage in defensive action from the British Government Rhodes joined Jameson in Matabeleland and his group of mercenary soldiers struck a quick and fatal blow at the Ndebele. Rhodes’ mercenaries were in possession of the latest in munitions technology, carrying with them into the veld maxim guns, which, like machine guns, could fire rapid rounds. The Ndebele Impis were helpless in the face of this brutal killing technology and were slaughtered in their thousands. Lobengula himself realised he could not face the British in open combat and so he burnt down his own capital and fled with a few warriors. He is presumed to have died shortly afterwards in January of 1894 from ill health.
The war against the Matabele, fought mostly by voluntary mercenaries, cost around £66 000. Most of the money to pay for this war came directly from Rhodes Consolidated Goldfields Company, which by this point had begun to produce excellent yields from the deeper lying gold fields. The conquered lands were named Southern and Northern Rhodesia, to honour Rhodes. Today, these are the countries of Zimbabwe and Zambia. By the 1890s these conquered territories were being called Southern and Nothern Rhodesia.
The Precursor to Apartheid
In July 1890 Rhodes became the Prime Minister of the Cape colony, after getting support from the English-speaking white and non-white voters and a number of Afrikaner-bond, whom he had offered shares in the British South Africa Company. One of Rhodes most notorious and infamous undertakings as Prime Minister in South Africa, was his institution of the Glen Grey Act, a document that is often seen as the blueprint for the Apartheid regime that was to come.
On 27 July 1894, Rhodes gave a rousing speech, full of arrogance and optimism, to the Parliament of Cape Town that lasted more than 100 minutes. In this speech Rhodes was opening debate on the ‘Native’ Bill that he had been working on for two years. The bill had initially been intended merely as an administrative act to bring more order to the overcrowded eastern Cape district of Glen Grey, but in his typical fashion Rhodes had turned this routine administrative task into something far bigger, the formulation of what he described as a ‘Native Bill for Africa’. In much of his speech Rhodes set out, in clear cut terms, the chief purpose of his ‘Native Bill’, to force more Africans into the wage-labour market, a pursuit which would undoubtedly also help Rhodes in his own mining claims in Kimberley and the Transvaal.
Rhodes opened his speech on the Glen Grey Act with the following words:
‘There is, I think, a general feeling that the natives are a distinct source of trouble and loss to the country. Now, I take a different view. When I see the labour troubles that are occurring in the United States, and when I see the troubles that are going to occur with the English people in their own country on the social question and the labour question, I feel rather glad that the labour question here is connected with the native question.’
He then continued,
‘The proposition that I would wish to put to the House is this, that I do not feel that the fact of our having to live with the natives in this country is a reason for serious anxiety. In fact, I think the natives should be a source of great assistance to most of us. At any rate, if the whites maintain their position as the supreme race, the day may come when we shall all be thankful that we have the natives with us in their proper position..... I feel that I am responsible for about two millions of human beings. The question which has submitted itself to my mind with regard to the natives is this ”” What is their present state? I find that they are increasing enormously. I find that there are certain locations for them where, without any right or title to the land, they are herded together. They are multiplying to an enormous extent, and these locations are becoming too small.... The natives there are increasing at an enormous rate. The old diminutions by war and pestilence do not occur... W e have given them no share in the government ”” and I think rightly, too ”” and no interest in the local development of their country. What one feels is that there are questions like bridges, roads, education, plantations of trees, and various local questions, to which the natives might devote themselves with good results. At present we give them nothing to do, because we have taken away their power of making war ”” an excellent pursuit in its way ”” which once employed their minds.... We do not teach them the dignity of labour, and they simply loaf about in sloth and laziness. They never go out and work. This is what we have failed to consider with reference to our native population... What I would like in regard to a native area is that there should be no white men in its midst. I hold that the natives should be apart from white men, and not mixed up with them... The Government looks upon them as living in a native reserve, and desires to make the transfer and alienation of land as simple as possible... We fail utterly when we put natives on an equality with ourselves. If we deal with them differently and say, " Yes, these people have their own ideas," and so on, then we are all right ; but when once we depart from that position and put them on an equality with ourselves, we may give the matter up... As to the question of voting, we say that the natives are in a sense citizens, but not altogether citizens ”” they are still children....’
The Glen Grey Act was to pressure Africans to enter the labour market firstly by severely restricting African access to land and landownership rights so that they could not become owners of the means of production, and secondly by imposing a 10 shilling labour tax on all Africans who could not prove that they had been in ‘bona fide’ wage employment for at least three months in a year. This land shortage coupled with a tax for not engaging in wage labour would push thousands of Africans into the migrant labour market. These were all measures essentially designed to ensure a system of labour migration which would feed the mines in both Kimberley and the Rand with cheap migrant labour. This section of the act instigated the terrible migrant-labour system that was to be so destructive in 20th century South Africa.
Another pernicious outcome of the Glen Grey Act was its affected on African land rights claims and restricted and controlled where they could live. According to the act ‘natives’, as African peoples were then termed, were no longer allowed to sell land without the permission of the governor, nor where they allowed to divide or sublet the land or give it as inheritance to more than one heir. The act also laid out that the Glen Grey area and the Transkei should remain “purely native territories”. This act was eventually to become the foundation of the 1913 Natives Land Act, a precursor to much of the Apartheid policy of separate development and the creation of the Bantustans.
Lastly the Glen Grey Act radically reduced the voting franchise for Africans. One of Rhodes primary policies as Prime Minister was to aim for the creation of a South African Federation under the British flag. A unified South Africa was an incredibly important political goal for Rhodes, and so when the Afrikaner Bondsmen came to Rhodes to complain about the number and rise of propertied Africans, who were competing with the Afrikaners and characteristically voted for English, rather than Afrikaans, representative. In response to the Afrikaners’ complaints, Rhodes decided to give them, in the Glen Grey Act, a policy which would disenfranchise the Africans competing with Afrikaners whilst also ensuring Africans could not own farms which would compete with the Afrikaners.
To disenfranchise Africans the Act raised the property requirements for the franchise and required each voter to be able to write his own name, address and occupation before being allowed to vote. This radically curtailed the number of Africans who could vote, essentially marking the beginning of the end for the African franchise. This new law allowed for the voter-less annexation of Pondoland. The Glen Grey Act also denied the vote to Africans from Pondoland no matter their education or property. Through the adoption of the Act, Rhodes managed to gradually persuade Parliament to abandon Britain’s priceless nineteenth-century ideal that in principle all persons, irrespective of colour, were equal before the law.
The Glen Grey Act was vigorously opposed by the English speaking members of the Cape Parliament, but Rhodes, with his forceful character, was able to push the act through Parliament, and in August 1984 Rhodes’ Glen Grey Act became law. The Glen Grey Act, which created the migrant labour system, formalised the ‘native reserves’ and removed the franchise of almost all Africans, is seen by many as lying the ground work for the Apartheid system of the 20th century.
The Fall of Giants
By 1895, at the height of his powers, Rhodes was the unquestioned master of South Africa, ruling over the destiny of the Cape and its white and African subjects, controlling nearly all of the world’s diamonds and much of its gold, and effectively ruling over three colonial dependencies in the heart of Africa.
‘The Rhodes Colosuss striding from Cape Town to Cairo’, from Punch Magazine, 1892 Source
Although Rhodes' policies were instrumental in the development of British imperial policies in South Africa, he did not, however, have direct political power over the Boer Republic of the Transvaal. He often disagreed with the Transvaal government's policies and felt he could use his money and his power to overthrow the Boer government and install a British colonial government supporting mine-owners' interests in its place. In 1895, Rhodes precipitated his own spectacular fall from power when he supported an attack on the Transvaal under the leadership of his old friend, Leander Jameson. |
.).
Martyr Macedonius in Phrygia, and with him Martyrs Tatian and Theodulus (4th c.).
St. Sacerdos, bishop of Lyons in Gaul (Gaul).
Venerable Daniel of Thassos, monk (843) (Greek).
St. Andronicus of Atroa (9th c.) (Greek).
Hieromartyr Dositheus of Tbilisi, Georgia (1795) (Georgia).
St. Ailbhe (Elvis) of Emly (527) (Celtic & British).
Scripture Readings
Ephesians 4:17-25
The New Man
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Do Not Grieve the Spirit
25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.
Mark 12:1-12
The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers
12 Then He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 2 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5 And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some. 6 Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.
9 “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
11 This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.A small American town is overrun by the living dead! You manage to enter the town just before the military locks it down and now you must slice and shoot your way through thousands of zombies in order complete your mission in this action-packed Hack & Slash RPG.
In Trapped Dead: Lockdown, you fight your way through an interactive horror story as one of five different characters: The marine, the butcher, the assassin, the marshal and the exorcist. Every class comes with their own custom storyline, as well as individual strengths and abilities – the assassin is an expert in firearms, the butcher slaughters his enemies in melee combat and the exorcist fries zombies with his spiritual abilities. Each of the characters features his own individual skill tree, where you can unlock new defensive abilities and attacking moves to aid you in combat.Credit: DIsney
On Wednesday monrning, Disney unveiled more details about it's upcoming new theme park in China -- including attractions for Marvel, Star Wars, and more. Deadline reports that company chairman & CEO Bob Iger revealed plans for six themed worlds at Shanghai Disney Resort, which has a budget of $5.5 billion.
"Our goal was to create something that was authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese, and we believe we've achieved the perfect blend," said Iger during the presentation at Shanghai Expo Center.
Although no new details on the Marvel attractions were revealed at the media event, Iger announced the Star Wars themed attractions will be anchored by "Star Wars Launch Bay," that will have museum-like exhibits as well as chances to meet characters from the Lucasfilm franchise.
Disney also plans an expanded Pirates of the Caribbean experience, with an entire themed world called "Treasure Cove." There will also be a world based on Disney's classic animated films called "Fantasyland," a future-themed world called "Tomorrowland," a general one called "Gardens of Imagination," and more.
As part of Disney's larger footprint in China, Shangai Disney Resort will also feature two hotels and a downtown area called Disneytown.Roving officers will be on the lookout for drunk drivers during a DUI Strike Force Patrol in the Albany Park (17th) Police District. View Full Caption Shutterstock
LINCOLN SQUARE — Roving police officers will be on the lookout for drunken drivers and speeding motorists Saturday night during a DUI Strike Force Patrol planned for North Side neighborhoods including Lincoln Square and Andersonville.
Officers will also be looking for people not wearing seatbelts and other violations.
The strike force patrol will run from 6 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday, throughout the Lincoln Police District.
Headquartered at 5400 N. Lincoln Ave., the district is bounded by Lake Michigan, the Chicago River, Lawrence Avenue and Peterson Avenue.
Communities served by the district include Lincoln Square, Uptown, Edgewater, Andersonville, Bowmanville and Budlong Woods.More than four-fifths of Indian citizens trust the government, but, interestingly, the majority also support military rule and autocracy, a new survey by the Pew Research Center, Pew survey said on Monday."In India, where the economy has grown on average by 6.9% since 2012, 85% (of people) trust their national government," Pew Research said in a report based on its survey on governance and trust among key countries.According to the survey, 55% of Indians support autocracy in one way or the other. In fact, more than one-fourth (27%) want a "strong leader".Nearly half of the Russians (48%) back governance by a strong leader, but the prospect is generally unpopular, the report said.A global median of 26% say a system in which a strong leader can make decisions without "interference from parliament or the courts" would be a "good way of governing". Roughly seven in 10 (71%) say it would be a bad type of governance.India is one of the three countries in the Asia Pacific where people support technocracy (a government comprising an elite of technical experts). "Asian-Pacific publics generally back rule by experts, particularly people in Vietnam (67%), India (65%) and the Philippines (62%)," it said. Only Australians are notably wary, as 57% say it would be a bad way to govern.According to the survey, roughly half of both Indians (53%) and South Africans (52%) say the military rule would be a good thing for their countries. But in these societies, older people (those aged 50 and above) are least supportive of the idea, and they are the ones who either experienced the struggle to establish a democratic rule or are the immediate descendants of those democratic pioneers, Pew said.The amount of data stored in a database has a great impact on its performance. It is usually accepted that a query becomes slower with additional data in the database. But how great is the performance impact if the data volume doubles? And how can we improve this ratio? These are the key questions when discussing database scalability.
As an example we analyze the response time of the following query when using two different indexes. The index definitions will remain unknown for the time being—they will be revealed during the course of the discussion.
SELECT count(*) FROM scale_data WHERE section =? AND id2 =?
The column SECTION has a special purpose in this query: it controls the data volume. The bigger the SECTION number becomes, the more rows the query selects. Figure 3.1 shows the response time for a small SECTION.
Figure 3.1 Performance Comparison
There is a considerable performance difference between the two indexing variants. Both response times are still well below a tenth of a second so even the slower query is probably fast enough in most cases. However the performance chart shows only one test point. Discussing scalability means to look at the performance impact when changing environmental parameters—such as the data volume.
Important Scalability shows the dependency of performance on factors like the data volume. A performance value is just a single data point on a scalability chart.
Figure 3.2 shows the response time over the SECTION number—that means for a growing data volume.
Figure 3.2 Scalability by Data Volume
The chart shows a growing response time for both indexes. On the right hand side of the chart, when the data volume is a hundred times as high, the faster query needs more than twice as long as it originally did while the response time of the slower query increased by a factor of 20 to more than one second.
The response time of an SQL query depends on many factors. The data volume is one of them. If a query is fast enough under certain testing conditions, it does not mean it will be fast enough in production. That is especially the case in development environments that have only a fraction of the data of the production system.
It is, however, no surprise that the queries get slower when the data volume grows. But the striking gap between the two indexes is somewhat unexpected. What is the reason for the different growth rates?
It should be easy to find the reason by comparing both execution plans.
DB2 ------------------------------------------------------------- ID | Operation | Rows | Cost 1 | RETURN | | 208 2 | GRPBY (COMPLETE) | 1 of 4456 (.02%) | 208 3 | IXSCAN SCALE_SLOW | 4456 of 135449700 (.00%) | 208 Explain Plan ------------------------------------------------------------- ID | Operation | Rows | Cost 1 | RETURN | | 296 2 | GRPBY (COMPLETE) | 1 of 4456 (.02%) | 296 3 | IXSCAN SCALE_FAST | 4456 of 135449700 (.00%) | 296 MySQL +------+------------+---------+-------+------+-----------------------+ | type | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +------+------------+---------+-------+------+-----------------------+ | ref | scale_slow | 6 | const | 1 | Using index condition | +------+------------+---------+-------+------+-----------------------+ +------+------------+---------+-------------+------+-------+ | type | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +------+------------+---------+-------------+------+-------+ | ref | scale_fast | 12 | const,const | 1 | | +------+------------+---------+-------------+------+-------+ Oracle ------------------------------------------------------ | Id | Operation | Name | Rows | Cost | ------------------------------------------------------ | 0 | SELECT STATEMENT | | 1 | 972 | | 1 | SORT AGGREGATE | | 1 | | |* 2 | INDEX RANGE SCAN| SCALE_SLOW | 3000 | 972 | ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------ | Id Operation | Name | Rows | Cost | ------------------------------------------------------ | 0 | SELECT STATEMENT | | 1 | 13 | | 1 | SORT AGGREGATE | | 1 | | |* 2 | INDEX RANGE SCAN| SCALE_FAST | 3000 | 13 | ------------------------------------------------------ SQL Server The execution plan above uses the scale_slow index whereas the next plan uses scale_fast. Please note that both use an Index Seek operation—thus not giving any hint why the one is slower than the other one. With STATISTICS PROFILE ON we can see a difference, however: |--Compute Scalar |--Stream Aggregate(Count(*)) |--Index Seek(OBJECT:scale_slow), SEEK:(scale_data.section=2), WHERE:(scale_data.id2=1234) ORDERED FORWARD) |--Compute Scalar |--Stream Aggregate(Count(*)) |--Index Seek(OBJECT:(scale_data.scale_fast), SEEK:(scale_data.section=1) AND scale_data.id2=1234) ORDERED FORWARD)
The execution plans are almost identical—they just use a different index. Even though the cost values reflect the speed difference, the reason is not visible in the execution plan.
It seems like we are facing a “slow index experience”; the query is slow although it uses an index. Nevertheless we do not believe in the myth of the “broken index” anymore. Instead, we remember the two ingredients that make an index lookup slow: (1) the table access, and (2) scanning a wide index range.
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Neither execution plan shows a TABLE ACCESS BY INDEX ROWID operation so one execution plan must scan a wider index range than the other. So where does an execution plan show the scanned index range? In the predicate information of course!
Tip Pay attention to the predicate information.
The predicate information is by no means an unnecessary detail you can omit as was done above. An execution plan without predicate information is incomplete. That means you cannot see the reason for the performance difference in the plans shown above. If we look at the complete execution plans, we can see the difference.
DB2 Explain Plan ------------------------------------------------------------- ID | Operation | Rows | Cost 1 | RETURN | | 208 2 | GRPBY (COMPLETE) | 1 of 4456 (.02%) | 208 3 | IXSCAN SCALE_SLOW | 4456 of 135449700 (.00%) | 208 Predicate Information 3 - START (Q1.SECTION =?) STOP (Q1.SECTION =?) SARG (Q1.ID2 =?) Explain Plan ------------------------------------------------------------- ID | Operation | Rows | Cost 1 | RETURN | | 296 2 | GRPBY (COMPLETE) | 1 of 4456 (.02%) | 296 3 | IXSCAN SCALE_FAST | 4456 of 135449700 (.00%) | 296 Predicate Information 3 - START (Q1.SECTION =?) START (Q1.ID2 =?) STOP (Q1.SECTION =?) STOP (Q1.ID2 =?) Also note the cost values: Although the second index is more efficient, the first one has the lower cost causing the optimizer to chose the worse in case both are present. MySQL +------+------------+---------+-------+------+-----------------------+ | type | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +------+------------+---------+-------+------+-----------------------+ | ref | scale_slow | 6 | const | 1 | Using index condition | +------+------------+---------+-------+------+-----------------------+ +------+------------+---------+-------------+------+-------+ | type | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +------+------------+---------+-------------+------+-------+ | ref | scale_fast | 12 | const,const | 1 | | +------+------------+---------+-------------+------+-------+ Oracle ------------------------------------------------------ | Id | Operation | Name | Rows | Cost | ------------------------------------------------------ | 0 | SELECT STATEMENT | | 1 | 972 | | 1 | SORT AGGREGATE | | 1 | | |* 2 | INDEX RANGE SCAN| SCALE_SLOW | 3000 | 972 | ------------------------------------------------------ Predicate Information (identified by operation id): 2 - access("SECTION"=TO_NUMBER(:A)) filter("ID2"=TO_NUMBER(:B)) ------------------------------------------------------ | Id Operation | Name | Rows | Cost | ------------------------------------------------------ | 0 | SELECT STATEMENT | | 1 | 13 | | 1 | SORT AGGREGATE | | 1 | | |* 2 | INDEX RANGE SCAN| SCALE_FAST | 3000 | 13 | ------------------------------------------------------ Predicate Information (identified by operation id): 2 - access("SECTION"=TO_NUMBER(:A) AND "ID2"=TO_NUMBER(:B)) SQL Server To see the difference in the graphical execution plan, you need to move the mouse over the Index Seek operation and check for "Predicate" versus "Seek Perdicates". |--Compute Scalar |--Stream Aggregate(Count(*)) |--Index Seek(OBJECT:scale_slow), SEEK:(scale_data.section=2), WHERE:(scale_data.id2=1234) ORDERED FORWARD) |--Compute Scalar |--Stream Aggregate(Count(*)) |--Index Seek(OBJECT:(scale_data.scale_fast), SEEK:(scale_data.section=1) AND scale_data.id2=1234) ORDERED FORWARD) The WHERE predicates in the first execution plan mark index-filter predicates—it doesn't narrow the scanned index range. The second execution plan shows both predicates under SEEK, which is the SQL Server term for access predicates.
Note The execution plan was simplified for clarity. The appendix explains the details of the “Predicate Information” section in an Oracle execution plan.
The difference is obvious now: only the condition on SECTION is an access predicate when using the SCALE_SLOW index. The database reads all rows from the section and discards those not matching the filter predicate on ID2. The response time grows with the number of rows in the section. With the SCALE_FAST index, the database uses all conditions as access predicates. The response time grows with the number of selected rows.
Important Filter predicates are like unexploded ordnance devices. They can explode at any time.
The last missing pieces in our puzzle are the index definitions. Can we reconstruct the index definitions from the execution plans?
The definition of the SCALE_SLOW index must start with the column SECTION —otherwise it could not be used as access predicate. The condition on ID2 is not an access predicate—so it cannot follow SECTION in the index definition. That means the SCALE_SLOW index must have minimally three columns where SECTION is the first and ID2 not the second. That is exactly how it is in the index definition used for this test:
CREATE INDEX scale_slow ON scale_data (section, id1, id2)
The database cannot use ID2 as access predicate due to column ID1 in the second position.
The definition of the SCALE_FAST index must have columns SECTION and ID2 in the first two positions because both are used for access predicates. We can nonetheless not say anything about their order. The index that was used for the test starts with the SECTION column and has the extra column ID1 in the third position:
CREATE INDEX scale_fast ON scale_data (section, id2, id1)In Singapore’s cocoon of bewitching lights and postmodernist architecture, future is not just a compulsion but a game of irresistible seduction. The past pales in comparison, mostly stumbled upon in museum galleries where it is animated, to a degree, through sophisticated artifices.
Bucking this trend is a clutch of Indians, 85 years and above, clinging to their boyhood memories as cranes do to towers under construction. That was the time in their lives when World War II was already underway with all its ferocity.
Japan had captured much of Southeast Asia. Under its patronage, Subhas Chandra Bose descended on the island of Sabang, off the coast of Indonesia, on May 6, 1943, to live what would be the last two years of his life, leading the Indian National Army, or INA, against the British.
But even before Bose landed, the news of his imminent arrival, courtesy the Japanese propaganda machinery, had sent a wave of frisson all around. Under its spell came I Ponnampalam, whose physique does not betray his 90 years, though, occasionally, his alertness does. As he narrates his story, his legs stretched out and feet resting on a stool, he often breaks into a smile, as bewitching as the lights of Singapore, to convey the pride in having played a role in the making of history.
A Tamilian of Sri Lankan origin, Ponnampalam was studying at King George’s School in Seremban, the capital of Negeri Sembilan, a state of Malaya (now Malaysia). His father’s command over both English and Tamil had enabled him to become estate manager on a rubber plantation.
Yet, a higher spot in the plantation hierarchy did not shield Ponnampalam’s father from racial discrimination, paid as he was far less than the British for the same work. It must have rankled with the son – that he should mention it 74 years later is proof. It is possible the discrimination he experienced made him attend a political meeting in Seremban.
“At the meeting, they spoke of India’s Independence movement and the imminent arrival of Subhas Chandra Bose in Malaysia,” Ponnampalam said. “I volunteered for the Indian National Army and then ran away to Singapore.”
Subhas Chandra Bose.
In Singapore of 1941, Ishwar Lal Singh was a 12-year-old student. But it is not the name his parents gave him. They called him Ishar Singh. Sitting at the dining table in his apartment, his thick snow-white beard flowing, he offers me a cup of tea as he sips his own.
“Do you know who changed my name from Ishar Singh to Ishwar Lal Singh?”
A twinkle in his eyes and a dramatic pause later, the 88-year-old Sikh declared, “Subhas Chandra Bose.”
“Don’t tell me,” I exclaimed. “Why? When?”
Singh was not in a hurry to let out the secret. He rewound the spool of memory to the winter of 1941, after having recounted details such as that his father, who hailed from Punjab’s Ferozepur district, imported cattle to Singapore.
In December of 1941, Singh contracted chicken pox and was admitted to hospital. One night, the Japanese bombed Singapore. At breakfast the next morning, a nurse informed him and others that Singapore was now at war with Japan.
Over the subsequent weeks, the Japanese inched their way from the Malaya peninsula to Singapore even as they intensified the bombing. “The Japanese dropped leaflets saying every morning all of us should dress in white and head to open fields,” Singh said. “It would enable the pilots to identify where the civilians were, and not bomb them. Every morning, all of us accompanied by elders, headed to the field.”
By February 8, 1942, the Japanese had smashed their way into Singapore. On February 15, the British Army surrendered. Singapore was now under Japanese occupation.
Life did not change much for Singh except he had to learn Japanese in school. He was unaware that the Indian Independence League, established in 1928 to organise Indians living outside the country against the British rule, had moved to Singapore, under the leadership of the ageing Rash Behari Bose.
The boys would tease me that I was Netaji’s favourite, says Ishwar Lal Singh. Photo credit: Ajaz Ashraf
New awakening
Back in Malaya, there was much churning and excitement. The Japanese took to raising the INA under the command of the British Indian military officer Mohan Singh. It was said to comprise 42,000 men, mostly those who were disenchanted with the British or willing to switch loyalties to escape the harshness of Japanese prison camps.
A recruitment drive was undertaken among the Indians in Malaya to augment the INA’s strength. Ponnampalam joined its Malaysian wing in Seremban. But wasn’t the INA patronised by another colonial power? “We were favourably inclined to the Japanese,” Ponnampalam replied, “not only because it was helping Indians in their quest for freedom but also because of our dislike for the British who made us work in harsh conditions on rubber plantations.”
Mohan Singh, however, fell out with his Japanese patrons. In pique, he disbanded the INA in December 1942, presumably unaware that a more popular leader was on his way to replace him.
In Singapore, Singh’s father died and a friend of his, Meharvan Singh, asked him to take a job at 18 Mount Rosie Road. This was where Singh met Rash Behari Bose for the first time. “He interviewed me in Japanese,” he recalled. “I am sorry to say he was no longer Indian. He spoke to me in Japanese.”
Singh’s principal responsibility was a bit bizarre. When Rash Behari Bose took his afternoon siesta, Singh would sit next to the phone to pick it up at first ring so the leader did not wake up. He also did odd jobs like delivering letters and messages to Indian Independence League members living in Singapore.
Subhas Chandra Bose reached Singapore from Sabang on July 2. He made a courtesy call on Rash Behari Bose. Singh was there, milling about.
The visitor turned to the 14-year-old boy and asked, “What is your name?”
“Ishar Singh, son of Khajan Singh.”
He fondly tapped the boy’s head and said, “From today, you will be called Ishwar Lal Singh. Do you know why? It is because you are the lal (dear) of Ishwar (God).” All the INA officers in the room smiled.
So it was that Ishar Singh became Ishwar Lal Singh, renamed by a man who in Southeast Asia is still considered India’s foremost freedom fighter, towering over even Mahatma Gandhi. Ponnampalam said he had not even heard of Gandhi as a schoolboy. “For me and others, it was Subhas Chandra Bose who was our leader all the way,” he said.
Rash Behari Bose.
The enduring mystique of Bose in Southeast Asia does seem, ostensibly, inexplicable. But as Nilanjana Sengupta, author of the seminal A Gentleman’s Word: The Legacy of Subhas Chandra Bose in Southeast Asia, told Scroll.in, “There are very few families here who have not been influenced by Netaji. He is bigger here than what he is even in Calcutta.”
She said Bose was responsible for the political awakening of the Indian community in the region. Smarting under the discriminatory policies of the British colonial government and riven by caste and religion, Bose constructed for his followers an overarching Indian identity they could unite behind and derive pride from.
The foundation for such an identity was perhaps laid by EV Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar, who visited the region, including Singapore, between December 1929 and January 1930. The tenets of his Self-Respect movement were already known to the Indians, evident from some 50,000 of them turning up to greet him at Penang, Malaysia. His entreaties for creating a casteless society made the Indians amenable to Bose’s message a decade later.
Bose too rejected caste, never missing an opportunity to emphasise India’s composite identity. During his stay in Singapore, the Chettyar priests invited Bose to celebrate the Dusshera festival. He turned down the invite saying he could not visit a temple where, as Sengupta notes in her book, not only people of other faiths but even lower caste Hindu were denied entry. He refused despite the fact the Chettyars were among the principal donors of the INA. To the credit of the priests, they organised a national rally on Dusshera, which Bose attended with his customary gusto.
For Indians oppressed militarily by the British, it was cathartic to see their leader dressed in fatigues speak of waging war against the colonial master, and organise military training for them. “It was akin to giving a voice to the quiet suffering of the people,” said Sengupta.
Transformation is a gradual process. But it manifested remarkably on July 5, 1943. The previous day, Bose had appeared at Singapore’s Cathay theatre and taken over, from the ageing Rash Behari Bose, the INA’s leadership. It was the last time Bose was seen in civilian clothes.
I Ponnampalan is disheartened by news of social discord and conflict in India. Photo credit: Ajaz Ashraf
On the march
On July 5, Bose came to the Singapore Padang, dressed in a military uniform, in an open jeep, flanked by riders and followed by a cavalcade of Japanese trucks with mounted machine guns. The sight threw the audience in ruptures. Bose took to the rostrum and spoke to some 12,000 soldiers, the remnants of the INA that Mohan Singh had disbanded, and thousands of cheering civilians.
“Let your battle cry be, ‘To Delhi! To Delhi! How many of us will individually survive this war of freedom, I do not know,” Bose told them. “But I do know this…our task will not end until our surviving heroes hold the victory parade on another graveyard of the British Empire – Lal Qila – of ancient India.”
Singapore’s future president SR Nathan was present at the Padang. He was 19. In his autobiography, An Unexpected Journey: Path to the Presidency, Nathan wrote of that day thus: “In retrospect, Bose’s great Padang speech marked the dawn of mass politics in Malaya among Indians.”
Ponnampalam, too, was there. “His eloquence was inspiring and charmed the audience,” he recalled of Bose’s famed oratory. “He harped on the idea that it was Indians who must fight for India’s independence.”
The Indians in Southeast Asia responded to Bose with enthusiasm. Women took off their jewellery and donated it to the INA while men mortgaged their houses to raise money. Even now people find it hard to explain the response Bose evoked. “It was his charisma,” said Singh. “It seemed Bose had a kind of divine authority which we could not flout.”
1940s :: Netaji Subhas chandra Bose inspecting Troops of Indian National Army, Singapore pic.twitter.com/CQRFhI8FX4 — indianhistorypics (@IndiaHistorypic) August 11, 2014
He certainly did not flout the order asking him to report to 2 Gilstead Road instead of helping out at the office of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind, formally established on October 21, 1943. Singh was the chosen one, or so he thought, for 2 Gilstead Road was the training centre of Balak Sena. “I was later told that it was from Balak Sena that the INA was to draw its future leaders,” he said.
There were drills to build physical endurance and training in arms. “I was shorter than my rifle, even the bayonet perhaps,” Singh said. They would march down Singapore’s roads shouting “Inquilab Zindabad.” But there was also what we today understand as indoctrination – special classes to instill nationalism through stirring history lessons such as on the mutiny of 1857 and the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdeo Singh. “Till then, I had been ignorant of them,” Singh said.
As Singh prepared for the future, Ponnampalam was appointed a translator with the rank of sergeant. But even he was required to participate in route marches, indicative of the all-pervasive militarism of the INA.
Ponnampalam was told he would be sent to Burma, from where the INA and the Japanese army were to eventually launch a joint offensive against British India, reaching as far as Imphal. “But my uncle was opposed to it,” he said. “He advised me against it as I was, after all, just a 16-year-old.” Ponnampalam most relishes recalling the occasions he saw Netaji from no more than 25 yards away.
Singh was even luckier. Twice in a span of a few months, Bose signalled him out from a gaggle of boys, inquiring, “Ishwar beta, kaise ho?” “The boys would tease me that I am Netaji’s favourite,” he said.
I Ponnampalam as an INA member in 1943-'44.
Inspired and inspiring
It was not just the boys and men whom Bose inspired to join the INA. Even women and girls responded to his call to take up arms. They were trained to battle. During his 1943 submarine voyage from Germany to Southeast Asia, Bose disclosed to his adjutant, Abid Hasan, his plan to raise a contingent of women soldiers. Hasan doubted whether women would switch from sarees and shalwar-kameez to trousers and shirts. But Bose did not budge, confident of persuading them to transform their self-image.
At the Padang rally of July 5, Bose disclosed his plan to raise the all-women Rani of Jhansi regiment. The announcement was greeted with stunned silence. But seven days later, he addressed the first 20 women recruits, who, in sarees, presented a guard of honour to Bose. In October 1943, the Rani of Jhansi training camp was inaugurated with 156 recruits now willing to switch to wearing what was then regarded as “men’s uniform.”
“Initially,” said Sengupta, “they were so shy they wanted women to measure them for the new uniform.” Over time, they became bolder. They dressed in pants and shirts, and with rifles slung over their shoulders, marched down Singapore’s roads, at times to the jeers of gawking crowds.
When the advance headquarters of the INA was shifted to Burma, in preparation for the Indian offensive, a Rani of Jhansi camp was established near Rangoon. The women were not deployed to fight but were required to attend to the wounded. A year later, in April 1945, the women were in the INA columns as the retreat from Burma began, through dense jungles, amidst relentless bombing and sniping, with Bose accompanying them on foot. He is said to have refused the softer option of driving in a jeep.
“Their experience was to stay with them,” said Sengupta, who interviewed a few of them for her book. “It redefined them, they had learnt to stand on their own feet, fight their own battles.”
Jankai Athi Nahappan joined the INA as an 18-year-old, much to the dismay of her wealthy family. She returned to Malaysia after the war, became a teacher, then a senator and a minister. She came to India for the first time in 2000, to receive the Padma Shri. It awes that she fought to free a land she had never seen.
Or take Rasammah Bhupalan, who on her return from Burma was subjected to British interrogation several times. As a school teacher, she became the founder-president of Women Teachers’ Union and waged a long battle for equal pay for both genders.
Indeed, the trade union movement in the region received a fillip because of INA veterans weaned on the diet of equality, fearlessness and the virtue of making sacrifices in the fight to uphold just causes.
James Puthucheary was one such person. After spending, to quote Sengupta, “two harrowing years” on the Burma front, he returned to become a secretary of the Singapore Factory and Shop Workers’ Union, the city-state’s largest union.
Puthucheary was a founding member of the People’s Action Party, which has ruled Singapore since 1959. In 1961, he broke away from the party to join the rival Barisan Sosialis, comprising the “Big Six” trade unionists. He wrote poetry, books on economics, was arrested in 1963, and banned from entering Singapore. He subsequently worked closely with the Malaysian government on economic reforms.
John A Thivy, too, was an INA veteran and a minister in the Provisional Government of Azad Hind. After the war, he founded the Malayan Indian Congress to unite the splintered Indian community and evolve a common position on citizenship in post-war Malaysia.
It was Thivy who bridged the divide between the Indians and the Malayan people. His INA experience was decidedly behind his asking the Indians to “declare unequivocally for a single citizenship and declare this land the object of their undivided loyalty”. Close to Jawaharlal Nehru, Thivy was later drafted into the Indian diplomatic corps.
Play
These men and women were the inheritors of INA’s and Bose’s legacy, acquiring fame through exemplary actions. It is precisely their examples historians cite to scoff at those who say the INA wasted four years of young men and women in futile battles.
But what do people such as Ponnampalam and Ishwar Lal Singh, largely unsung, living their lives in peaceful anonymity, have to say of their past? Do they regret their INA years?
In his booming voice, enunciating every word for emphasis, Ponnampalam said, “I relish every moment of the two years I spent in the INA. I never ever regretted the decision to join it. We remember Bose so fondly because he gave us a language, a culture, and how to identify and unite with people.”
To Singh, the INA years were a lesson in how not to “let religion enter our consciousness”. “Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs, we were all one,” he said. “He made us realise what it means to be Indian.” Thoughtfully, he added, “Do you think India and Pakistan can come together?”
I met the two on different days. As I took their leave, each had a parting line. Singh said, “I wish I have a letter from the Indian government commending me for the service I rendered to the INA.”
As for Ponnampalan, he is disheartened by news of social discord and conflict in India. “India must be free, India must be united to become a great nation,” he said.
On the way down from his apartment, I took out my mobile phone to check the news from India: the same disheartening stories of vigilantism and mob fury stared back. While the future seduces Singaporeans, the past keeps us Indian in its thrall.
Ajaz Ashraf is a journalist in Delhi. His novel, The Hour Before Dawn, has as its backdrop the demolition of the Babri Masjid.In defense of the PACE trial, Petrie and Weinman employ a series of misleading or fallacious argumentation techniques, including circularity, blaming the victim, bait and switch, non-sequitur, setting up a straw person, guilt by association, red herring, and the parade of horribles. These are described and explained |
Knight Foundation, and its advisers included media industry academic/supremo Clay Shirky.
But it also had a more controversial string on its bow: Scroll Kit is the company that received a cease and desist letter from the New York Times after it managed to rebuild its much-celebrated, much-labored Snow Fall interactive experience in an hour.
(It was done to demonstrate how awesome Scroll Kit was; but the experiment was short-lived since the startup didn’t have the means to fight the NYT. The founders make a wink-wink reference to this chapter of their history in their acquisition announcement, where, among the various well-known and less-known people they thank, they include “The New York Times legal department for their jurisprudence.”)
For Automattic, Scroll Kit will give it some technology that can be used to enhance ways that people can use WordPress to create websites. While today there are thousands of ready-made themes that you can use for a WordPress-powered site, what Scroll Kit will do is give users the ability to add even more creativity to the process, if they so choose.
And that facility is something that applies not just to average, non-technical types, but also those who do know code, but don’t know design.
As Ryan pointed out when he covered the startup two years ago, “While the tool proves that you don’t need to know how to code to build something beautiful, the real point is to show that even if you do know how to code, that doesn’t mean you will be able to build a great website.”Patton Oswalt Tweets In Defense Of Comedy — And Trevor Noah
Enlarge this image toggle caption Andy Kropa/Invision/AP Andy Kropa/Invision/AP
We've been following the story of the criticism directed at South African comedian Trevor Noah, who was named this week to succeed Jon Stewart as host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show.
Critics say some of Noah's nearly 9,000 tweets are sexist and anti-Semitic. Comedy Central has defended him, and Noah himself said on Twitter: "To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn't land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian."
Noah does have defenders — among them comedian Patton Oswalt.
This morning, Oswalt sent out a series of often-hilarious tweets, which we could try and explain, but which are more fun to read. (Fair warning: The tweets do contain language that some may find offensive):RCS Sport, the organisers of the Giro d'Italia have announced the 22 teams that will ride this year's Giro d'Italia, with Bardiani CSF, Southeast, Androni Giocattoli, Nippo Vini Fantini and Polish team CCC Sprandi Polkowice securing wild card invitations alongside the 17 WorldTour teams, who have automatic entry. Related Articles Contador: I want to quit at the top of my game
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CCC Sprandi celebrate Giro d'Italia wildcard invitation
2014 Giro d'Italia winner Nairo Quintana (Movistar) has confirmed that he will target the Tour de France in 2015 but Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) will ride the Giro d'Italia before the Tour de France. He is expected to clash with Fabio Aru (Astana) and Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-Quickstep).
Giro d'Italia race director Mauro Vegni told Cyclingnews in December that he would again support the Italian teams and also offer one wild card place to another Professional Continental team. Despite three cases of doping in the last two years, the Southeast team secured a wild card invitation to the Giro d'Italia thanks to winning the season-long Coppa Italia in 2014, when it was known as Neri Sottoli.
"As per every previous year, we reflected deeply on the wild card choices; an increasingly meticulous process thanks to the quality of the teams that want to participate in our races. I would like to thank, on behalf of RCS Sport, all the teams that have advanced their candidacy," Vegni said in the official announcement of the team by RCS Sport.
"This year’s choices, especially for the wild cards of the Giro d'Italia, were dictated by the opportunity to support the Italian cycling movement, giving continuity to an overall process without ever losing sight of the goal of international development in strategic territories.”
Both MTN-Qhubeka and Bora-Argon 18 opted to focus on the Tour de France in 2015 but the Colombia, Wanty - Groupe Gobert, UnitedHealthcare and Caja Rural - Seguros RGA had hoped to ride the Giro d'Italia. However CCC Sprandi earned the last place. The team signed several new riders for 2015 include Sylvester Szmyd, Grega Bole and Stefan Schumacher. Despite being 43 and making a comeback after a ban for doping, Italy's Davide Rebellin remains the team leader of the Polish squad.
The Colombia team, managed by former Saeco manager Claudio Corti, has ridden the Giro d'Italia several times but has made little impact during the 2014 season, winning just three races.
RCS Sport also announced the team for Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo and Il Lombardia.
Bardiani CSF, Bora-Argon 18, Colombia, MTN-Qhubeka and Europcar secured the five wild card places at Tirreno-Adriatico. They will be joined by Androni Giocattoli, Cofidis, CCC Sprandi and Novo Nordisk for Milan-San Remo, where 25 teams of eight riders will race.
Androni Giocattoli, Bardiani, Bora-Argon 18, CCC Sprandi, Colombia, Nippo Vini Fantini, Southeast and the US-registered Unitedhealthcare team have been invited to Il Lombarida in October.
Teams for 2015 Giro d'Italia: Ag2r-La Mondiale, Astana, BMC Racing, Etixx-QuickStep, FDJ, IAM Cycling, Lampre-Merida, Lotto-Soudal, Movistar, Orica-GreenEdge, Cannondale-Garmin, Giant Alpecin, Katusha, Team LottoNL-Jumbo, Team Sky, Tinkoff-Saxo, Trek Factory Racing, Bardiani CSF, Southeast, Androni Giocattoli, Nippo Vini Fantini and CCC Sprandi.Florida- based Sunshine Capital Inc. has announced the appointment of Honson Luma as Vice President of Sunshine Capital and its parent company and equity holding firm DIB funding, in order to assist both the companies’ plan to enter in the cryptocurrency market.
According to the official release, Luma is experienced as a seasoned futures and cryptocurrency trader and uses his company, Space Age Investment
for its members to achieve financial independence. To his new role in Sunshine Capital, he expects to bring an extensive knowledge of the cryptocurrency market, not only as a trader but as a creator and programmer of cryptocurrencies.
"It's an honor to have Luma on this management team. What Luma is going to help execute in the cryptocurrency market is going to shock a lot of people and I look forward to working with him," James R. J. Scheltema, President and CEO of Sunshine Capital said.
Honson Luma is currently pursuing his Doctorate Degree in Community College Education Leadership at Morgan State University (ABD) after securing a Master's in Public Administration.
"I believe in creating shareholder value and that is exactly what I plan on doing for these two companies. I intend to use all my expertise in the creating of cryptocurrencies to dramatically change how mergers and acquisitions are executed, with no debt or dilution to the Sunshine Capital shareholders, by making every acquisition the company executes a net positive to the company's balance sheet," Luma said in the official statement.
Sunshine Capital’s goal is to build shareholder value through strategic mergers and acquisitions that benefit the shareholders. It plans to execute these mergers with minimal or no dilution to the company's common share structure.WASHINGTON -- A young Latino activist believes that the campaign of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) denied him entrance to an event based on the color of his skin. Jorge Quintana, 23, had a ticket for a free Bush town hall on June 27 in Henderson, Nevada, but claims he was turned away at the door.
“It’s kind of ironic that Mr. Bush had his event at a community center, but members of the community were not allowed to attend,” Quintana, who is from nearby Las Vegas, said about his experience.
When The Huffington Post asked the Bush campaign about the episode, an aide would only say that “a small group of individuals were asked to leave the event after a member of the group tried to sneak in through a secured back entrance.”
The campaign could be referring to Mi Familia Vota, a nonprofit aimed at encouraging Latino voter participation that Quintana volunteers for. A handful of Mi Familia Vota members staged a demonstration outside the June 27 event. However, a spokeswoman for the Henderson Police Department told HuffPost the department had no record of a break-in and had not been called to the scene. Members of Mi Familia Vota told HuffPost that no one from their group tried to sneak into the town hall.
Quintana said he never tried to sneak into the event, either alone or as part of a group. He said he already had a ticket -- he provided HuffPost with a copy of his receipt -- so he would have had no need to sneak in. He also said that he wasn't planning to disrupt the event and wasn’t wearing any clothing that identified his involvement with the organization.
Two members of Mi Familia Vota received the opportunity to ask Bush at the event how he felt about President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals -- a program that Bush has said he would undo if elected president -- but Quintana said he was not part of that group. According to Emilia Pablo, the Nevada state director for Mi Familia Vota, Quintana arrived at the event before the protesters did.
Quintana said that he and his 14-year-old brother arrived at the Valley View Recreation Center, tickets in hand, before the event started. When they got to the front of the line, they presented their tickets to the doorman. Quintana said the doorman then asked the brothers to wait while he went to speak to a supervisor.
“Right away, I felt very uneasy as to the way they were looking at me, almost as if they didn't want someone of my demeanor around,” he said. “For me, it’s another way of saying 'you’re not allowed here for how we perceive what you look like'... I saw a group of older white people get in, and they didn’t even have to show their tickets. "
“We were dressed like everybody else," Quintana went on. "Just casual. I had a button-up shirt and jeans on."
A local reporter who was at the event confirmed that Quintana wasn’t wearing anything that would have been disruptive.
Eventually, Quintana said, the doorman returned and told him and his brother that they would not be allowed to attend the event.
"The only answer he gave me was that it was a private event," said Quintana. "I kind of found it funny that we submitted all of our personal information, everything checked out, and then once we get to the door... they come up with this excuse."
“I felt a broad range of emotions, but the biggest was disrespected," he went on. "Disrespected in a sense that, as a young individual who has studied the civil rights movement of the '60s and is influenced by thinkers such as Malcolm X, [I] was shunned at the door with the expectation that I would be able to go in and learn.”
After being turned away, Quintana met up with the protesters, who were outside in an area where Bush was scheduled to have a press conference. However, Bush decided to hold the press conference indoors after seeing the demonstrators. According to another report, the former governor at one point “snapp[ed] at a young aide who was about to lead him outside to do a news conference right where a handful of protesters were waiting for him.”
Quintana told HuffPost that eventually he and the other demonstrators were dismissed from the event.
Credit: Emilia Pablo, Mi Familia Vota Jorge Quintana, center, says he joined protesters from Mi Familia Vota after being denied entry to the Valley View Recreation Center in Henderson, Nevada, on June 27.
“We were actually requested to leave the property by two officers," he said. "They had told us that the organizers inside had specifically requested our group be moved off the premises or face jail time."
Quintana, a first-generation American, said he feels a responsibility to vote for those who cannot, which is also why he volunteers to register voters. “I saw this as a great opportunity to learn and be able to make a more informed vote for the upcoming election,” he said about his decision to go to the event.
In a Telemundo interview that aired Monday, Bush, who is one of more than a dozen Republicans seeking their party's nomination for president, described an occasion when his own children were taunted about the color of their skin.An old friend introduced us to a company at Computex 2017 this year, and I have to admit it was an introduction that I am glad we made. AkiTiO specializes in storage designs to include, not only RAID cases but also, they have some amazing designs that speak to network and eGPU Nodes for laptops with Thunderbolt 3.
Their latest release is their newest Thunder3 RAID Station, a Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station with RAID Storage shown below. Not only does this case offer dual RAID for 2.5″ or 3.5″ hard drives or SSDs, but also, it adds a 1GbE network interface to your PC, SD card reader, dedicated Display Port for an additional monitor, as well as a 2 port USB hub for legacy and USB 3.1 Gen 1 flash drives, and has a Thunderbolt 3 connector to you Mac or PC which can be daisy chained to an additional 5 devices.
We took some time handling AKiTiO’ product line and I have to admit that this was amongst the finest and most premium components i have had in my hands for some time. Their inclusion of the AKiTio Node eGPU for laptops was very interesting and displayed just how much Thunderbolt3 was capable of, and in fact, the quality of their gear only left us wanting for more… perhaps thoughts of M.2 design RAID in the future??? Who knows! Watch for our first hand reviews of AKiTiO products in the near future!Richmond parents are divided by a recent decision by the Board of Education to begin drafting a school district policy to better address special circumstances regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.
Colleen Howu and Flora Wen, spokespersons for the group Parents Care, say parents should have a say over their children’s education when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). Parents Care also contends the Richmond School District failed to adequately consult with parents in deciding to recommend the implementation of such a policy to the board.
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Parents Care argues that a separate SOGI policy is “discriminatory” and unfair to other minority groups — citing autistic kids and victims of cyberbullying.
“We aren’t against anyone. We just want everyone to be treated equally. Everyone should be under one umbrella, and not separate,” said Wen.
Another concern raised is protection of “family values,” said Wen, and the apparent need for more scientific evidence on SOGI, said Howu.
“I think we need more scientific evidence. I know some people claim they are born gay but then some people, they choose. So, I think there are two different sayings; so we need more scientific evidence on that,” said Howu.
Both say they are accepting of anyone who makes such a choice. And, if it is a choice, a SOGI policy could potentially convert otherwise heterosexual students, said Howu.
Wen claims her group’s anti-SOGI policy petition had significant support. However, the local reach of the 6,000-signature petition was called into question by board chair Debbie Tablotney, who noted many signatures were garnered online. Wen maintains outside support was minimal.
Regardless, trustees Jonathan Ho and Alice Wong voted against forming a SOGI policy.
“If you have one policy to cover all, this will be peaceful,” said Wong.
However, the Richmond District Parents Association supports the creation of a separate SOGI policy.
“There is a need for more resources to be made available and more education on the subject in our district,” stated president Dionne McFie, via email.
Teacher and Steveston-London secondary Rainbow Club organizer Lisa Descary said, “there’s a lot of misunderstanding and lack of knowledge” about what a policy will achieve.
Trustee Sandra Nixon said the policy will aim to better educate everyone (staff and students) in light of the special circumstances surrounding LGBT people, as noted by Western pediatricians.If you've ever worried about old tweets or Facebook posts coming back to haunt you — but don't have time to sift through years of posts to manually delete them — a new app may be able to help.
Clear connects with your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts and analyzes your history, flagging posts with potentially inappropriate content. To guess what that is, Clear uses a combination of algorithms and IBM's supercomputer Watson to filter material.
See also: How to delete all your embarrassing tweets before you become famous
The app was created by Ethan Czahor, who made headlines earlier this year when he abruptly resigned — less than 48 hours after landing the job — from Jeb Bush's campaign after a series of years-old offensive tweets surfaced — some of which included descriptions of women as "sluts" and complaints about being eyed up by gay men at a San Francisco gym.
Czahor says those tweets were "harmless" jokes, relics of his time with an improv comedy group, that were taken out of context.
"I was very well aware going in, [politics] was a one-strike-and-you're-out business," Czahor told Mashable. "I just didn't think i would strike out so soon, and in that way."
Right now, the Clear app identifies troublesome posts based on keywords, such as profanity. It also zeroes on on posts that mention general groups — such as women or gay people. Czahor argues any mention of groups is where you're likely to talk in generalities and stereotypes.
"Whether it’s good or bad, you should probably take a second look at it," he says.
IBM's Watson also uses sentiment analysis, highlighting posts it detects as using particularly negative language. The app then provides a score based on how many posts it flagged.
Clear analyzes your past posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and flags items with potentially offensive content. Image: Ethan Czahor
It's still up to users to review and delete the offensive content, but the app simplifies the process with shortcuts.
Czahor acknowledges Clear is still "a work in progress," but says the app's accuracy will improve over time. In my testing, the app successfully detected several tweets with less than PG language and highlighted tweets with group words such as "Americans".
Interestingly, the app also highlighted tweets with complaints about specific products — the Motorola Droid 2 I had back in 2010 cropped up several times, for example — though I didn't spot anything worthy of the delete button.
Of course, text updates aren't the only type of potentially problematic posts. Photos and videos can be equally troublesome. Czahor said identifying photos is a feature "on our roadmap," along with adding other social networks. The app currently has a waiting list right now — about 300 people as of this writing — but he says he anticipates most will be able to get into the app within a few days or a week.
In the meantime, Facebook and Twitter both recently rolled out improved search features — so you can more easily look for potentially embarrassing posts from your past either way.Just kidding with that front-page thumbnail. The Obama hug didn’t end Christie’s presidential dream; how could it have when Christie never actually hugged him? No, I’m talking about the Jerry Jones hug at the end of last night’s Cowboys/Lions game that caused a supernova on social media. Said Mollie Hemingway, “[A]s uncomfortable as it is to watch Jones gyrate and Christie try to get in on the group hug with all the awkwardness of an out-group high school girl, you can’t stop watching! There’s something riveting about this scene. You look at it and you think, ‘Everything is bigger in Texas.’” The best part: Christie left hanging on a double high-five. Dunzo.
Now we need to figure out how to get Jeb Bush to hug Donald Sterling.
Christie’s brother Todd responded to the snickering this morning on Facebook as the Christies are wont to do, with excessive and even alarming combativeness:
To all of those non Cowboy fans who have their panties in a ringer because the Governor of NJ is a Cowboys fan—GET A LIFE!!! The Gov has been a Cowboys fan for his entire life and ALL of you would sit with the owner of your favorite team in a heartbeat if given the chance. I’m a Giants fan—we are sitting home for the fourth straight year. Eagles fans—possibly you should worry more about the fact that your sorry ass team has never won a Super Bowl and less about who’s rooting for which team. I mean crazy pathetic posts. And for every calorically challenged FB person who posts about the Gov’s weight–forget the magic mirror and look at yourself. Weight posts—really?
The big guy himself was, for once, pretty chill:
“When the Cowboys are losing the last game of the year, the last three seasons not to make the playoffs, there’s nobody getting on social media giving me a hard time about being a Cowboys fan. So we all know what this is about,” Christie said Monday morning on WFAN’s “Boomer & Carton” radio show… For his part, Chris Christie said the critical comments were “funny” and “make me laugh.” “Listen, there’s nobody yelling at me when we’re losing to the Giants on the last game of the season to miss the playoffs. Then losing to the Redskins on the last game of the season of the playoffs. And nobody was yelling at me when Kyle Orton threw that awful interception last year to lose to the Eagles at home on the last game of the year,” he said. “So I’m not listening to any of these people who are giving me a hard time now that we’re having a little bit of success.”
What is it that he’s supposedly guilty of? Hemingway says it’s the spectacle of him loving on a “notorious jackwagon” like Jones. I guess, but would it have been better if he’d hugged Dan Snyder? There are a lot of powerful jackwagons, inside sports and out, who’ll be getting hugs from presidential candidates over the next year. Is it the fact that he’s a Jersey guy who roots for the Cowboys instead of the Giants, Eagles, or, gulp, Jets? I can’t knock him for that; I grew up a Mets fan in New York but migrated to the Pirates over time. Nothing wrong with rooting for a team from another state, although it is unusual for a duly enacted governor. (Imagine Rick Perry as, say, a Patriots fan.) If you want to knock Christie for rooting for Dallas, knock him for preferring a perennially winning team as a kid in the 70s to the lovable losers who played in his own backyard. But if you do that, you’ve got to give him credit for sticking with them through the last lean 18 years, when a bandwagoneer should have much preferred the Giants to the Cowboys.
He’s guilty of this, I suppose:
Next week, Scott Walker will go to the Packers' game, root for his state's team, & sit in the cheap seats & freeze with the common people. — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 5, 2015
Like I said, the unofficial pastime of presidential candidates (particularly establishment candidates) over the next 12 months will be hugging rich people. You’d think Christie, a populist in tone if not substance, would be more keen to guard his man-of-the-people image. As it is, I’m curious to see if Kristol’s right in thinking Walker will seize the opportunity next week.
But let’s be real. The reason this was a thing on Twitter last night is simple: The Cowboys may have an unusually large national fan base but probably two-thirds of the audience was rooting for the perpetual underdog from the woebegone city of Detroit, right? Watching the Cowboys win a playoff game feels a little like how it must have felt to watch the Yankees clinch the division in 1976. A team that dominated the league for years, drawing bandwagon fans from coast to coast before falling on hard times, is suddenly back, bringing with it the dread of another farking championship for a franchise that’s already enjoyed an embarrassment of riches. Watching Christie and Jones go nuts at the poor Lions’ expense, especially after they’d blown that 14-0 lead, was a bitter aftertaste to an already bitter ending. And if it’s this bad now, imagine how bad it’ll be if Dallas gets past Green Bay and Seattle. A chest bump isn’t out of the question, my friends. Help us, Aaron Rodgers, you’re our only hope.Devolver Digital, the publisher behind games including Genital Jousting, Strafe, and the upcoming Ape Out, said in May that its annual parking lot display at this year's E3 would include a showcase of "artisanal indie games [and] music" called the Indie Picnic. Befitting the name, the area would also feature food, "cold beverages," and even some carnival games. It sounds like a good time. So it's a real shame that Devolver has been forced to pull the plug on the whole thing.
Regretfully, the man isn’t going to allow us to host the fan-badge portion of this year’s Devolver Indie Picnic: https://t.co/sUlGoOVvsB pic.twitter.com/wd1S1bBvJYJune 2, 2017
"We regretfully inform the public that we have been denied the necessary special use permits to enable us to host the fan-badge portion of the recently-announced Devolver Indie Picnic at E3 this year," the company said in a statement. "Those with E3 industry badges and by-appointment press are still welcome to join us per our usual location, but we are sad to say that we will not be able to accommodate the fan-badges due to capacity restrictions."
Devolver emphasized that the cancellation is strictly for the public part of its display, and that its usual setup "for appointments and other general shenanigans" is still happening. The "Devolver Public Access" livestream that runs throughout the show, featuring "an awesome showcase of independent games and some very special guests," will also be unaffected.As you surely know, Britain voted to Brexit the European Union yesterday, confounding predictions and setting off a great deal of uncertainty.
One detail people are focusing most closely on is the age differential shown in a YouGov exit poll. It showed that voters 18-24 voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU. “The younger generation has lost the right to live and work in 27 other countries,” a widely linked FT comment laid out. “We will never know the full extent of the lost opportunities, friendships, marriages and experiences we will be denied.”
That Millennial sentiment, and the overwhelming support for Remain, has been celebrated as wise by the punditocracy — and it probably is.
But the same people celebrating this Millennial view — one that embraced tolerance and opportunity — often as not attacked the overwhelming support by American Millennials for Bernie Sanders. That disproportionate support, coming from a much smaller part of the electorate but by very similar margins, was deemed a naive belief in empty promises (promises, of course, that largely resembled adopting the policies that the EU used to and in some places still represents).
I suspect the reality is that, on top of a real cosmopolitanism among younger people, both votes were just a vote for perceived self-interest, no more or less wise than the votes of their older, less cosmopolitan parents.
Still, those celebrating the UK’s Millennials for their wisdom might give some consideration as to why the underlying cosmopolitanism and interest in European style social policies of the young would be the perceived self-interest of the young on both sides of the pond.President Trump reportedly'very upset' with Amanda Knox
.. Photo: ALESSANDRA TARANTINO /AP Photo: ALESSANDRA TARANTINO /AP Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close President Trump reportedly'very upset' with Amanda Knox 1 / 23 Back to Gallery
President Donald Trump was an outspoken supporter of Amanda Knox while Knox faced murder charges in Italy, but he's apparently no longer a fan.
Hidden in a Saturday New York Times profile of George Guido Lombardi, the president's longtime neighbor at Trump Tower and potential European populist political power broker, is a reference to the now 29-year-old Knox when discussing Trump's interest in Lombardi's native Italy:
"Mr. Trump's interest centered on showing the innocence of Amanda Knox, an American college student accused of murder in Perugia. Mr. Trump often spoke out and posted on Twitter in support of Ms. Knox, and asked Mr. Lombardi to look into her case during a trip to Italy. Now, Mr. Lombardi said, the president is'very upset' with the ingratitude of Ms. Knox, who supported Hillary Clinton."
In 2009, Knox and boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher two years earlier, while Knox spent a year studying abroad. Knox and Sollecito were then acquitted in a second trial in 2011, and she was able to return to her native West Seattle. The pair was again convicted in 2013, but an Italian high court threw out the convictions after finding "stunning flaws" in the prosecution's case.
Trump repeatedly expressed support for Knox and disdain for the Italian legal system on Twitter during her trials. But during and after the 2016 presidential election, Knox denounced Trump, expressing her support for Hillary Clinton.
"In a time when my entire family had already tapped into their retirement savings and taken out second mortgages, we were grateful when any supporters, including Trump, donated to my defense and spoke out about my innocence," wrote in the West Seattle Herald. "And like some of my supporters, Trump had his own ideas and his own way; he called for the U.S. to sanction Italy until they released me—a pronouncement which only amplified anti-American sentiment towards me in the courtroom. Even if Trump means well, his schemes tend to be blunt, selfish, and short-sighted, rather than nuanced, empathetic, and thought through."Steve Grand has opened up about the criticism he experiences, which he puts down to his position. as a 'young, good-looking, white, gay man'. The 26-year-old, who found himself under fire last year after he was pictured wearing a skimpy, "stereotypically gay" Speedo, claims that showing off his body makes him an "easy target" for internet trolls. "For my performances, I need to not be terrible and people will be impressed. I just know people have really, really low expectations of me and that's what the internet does. I'm such an easy person to target," he told PrideSource. Young, good-looking, white, gay men - we love to hate those people. But there's been a real person there the whole time." The All-American Boy singer, who recently stripped off for a steamy charity shower video, adds: "I take my music seriously. I'm a good musician and I'm a good performer, and I also like to work out my body and show it off sometimes. It's a fleeting thing; when I'm 50, I'm not gonna look like this." Asked if he ever looks at images of other guys and wishes he could look like them - just as many feel when they see his pictures - he says he does. "Oh my god - of course I do," he explains. "But I try to take personal responsibility and not lash out at that person because they maybe make me feel less. I just fucking look at the picture and enjoy it."He adds that this extends to his work as well. "I've had a lot of moments where I've seen someone who is maybe more beautiful or someone who sounds better than me or has written a song that I think is gorgeous - yeah, sometimes I have that envy and that jealousy rises up. I could either leave a really bitter comment about it on the internet or I could go work on my own shit and be the best I can be." Grand adds that he's unashamed about his own body, and regularly shows most of it off on Instagram and in one of his many risqué photo shoots. Does he ever think he'd strip off completely though? "And show my dick?" he asks. "You can pretty much see it in some of the shots from the past, but I probably wouldn't. I'd rather not. But if someone was like, 'Here's a million dollars,' I would be like, 'Sure.' But, like, I don't think my dick is that exciting. It's pretty unremarkable."Panic not. He goes on to give himself a little bit more credit. "I think it's good to be proud of what you have but I think there are more interesting things about me than my relatively... what's the word I'm looking for? It's very appropriately sized and shaped, that's what I would say."Details of Indian army’s firing and shelling drills are suspected to have been leaked to foreign spies by a mole in the office of a Jhansi sub-divisional magistrate, an investigation by the Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorism squad (ATS) has determined.
Internet calls from outside the country were traced the SDM office in Jhansi, according to officials aware of the investigation, and five employees are under surveillance for possibly leaking critical information to spies based abroad. The officials did not wish to be named, and the nationality of the spies is yet to be ascertained.
The army had shared the details of their practice with the SDM’s office and the police station at the Jhansi Cantonment, the sources said.
“The ATS is checking their bank account details, as the informer would certainly have received money from unknown sources for this information,” a source said.
Computers, laptops and pen drives have been recovered from these suspects and are being examined. “The mole will soon be identified and action will be taken on the basis of the evidence,” said the source.
The possible espionage racket first came to light when the ATS started tracking internet calls that were being routed to the SDM office. A team was rushed shortly.
First Published: Aug 06, 2017 10:51 ISTDeputy prime minister had been due to argue case for a change to 'new and better' voting system at Lib Dem's yes to AV launch
Nick Clegg has pulled out of the launch of the Liberal Democrats' yes to AV campaign launch to attend an emergency cabinet meeting on Libya.
The deputy prime minister was planning to defy calls for him to "lie low" in the referendum for voting system reform by speaking at the launch of the Liberal Democrats' yes to AV campaign launch in Manchester on Friday, which will now go ahead without him.
Clegg was forced to ditch his plans as the cabinet met to prepare plans to protect the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi after the UN security council voted in favour of a no-fly zone and air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
The Liberal Democrat leader was billed to argue the case for a change to a "new and better" voting system "with passion". The alternative vote is not proportional representation and was described by Clegg before the general election as a "miserable little compromise", but it was the best the Lib Dems could secure in coalition negotiations with the Tories as a step change away from the first-past-the-post system.
The issue has drawn a dividing line between Clegg and David Cameron, who in line with the vast majority of his MPs is in favour of the existing system.
Labour is split on the issue, with many high-profile veteran MPs and peers leading a vocal no campaign at odds with Miliband's support for the change.
Clegg had prepared to cast the referendum as a battle "not between left and right" but between "reformers and conservatives".This article is over 3 years old
Eight guards from Nauru detention centre have been suspended over a possible breach of their employer’s social media guidelines.
The members of the “emergency response team” at Nauru, who were hired on the basis of their cultural “sensitivity”, have been stood down pending an investigation into their social media use.
Some promoted the Reclaim Australia movement and some posted anti-Islam slurs online.
The Nauru guards also posed with Pauline Hanson, the controversial former federal MP and One Nation founder who has long called for immigration restrictions, after she spoke at the rally in Brisbane on 4 April.
A former employee for Transfield subcontractor Wilson Security told Guardian Australia the guards’ online posts provided a glimpse of the mindset of ex-defence force personnel who “frequently referred to asylum seekers in their care as ‘the enemy’ ”.
This included Facebook posts of material comparing Islam to Nazism, accusing companies from Cadbury to Krispy Kreme of supporting terrorism by having products certified as Halal, and the embrace of the slogan “infidels” through T-shirts and tattoos.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A screengrab taken of Harley Levanic’s ‘Infidel’ tattoo on his Facebook profile. Photograph: Facebook
A spokesman for the detention centre operator Transfield Services, which employed the men, said the matters were “very concerning and not at all what we expect of our staff”.
It follows Transfield’s suspension on Monday of another guard at the Manus Island detention centre who posted links to Reclaim Australia and the boycott halal movements on Facebook.
The rally was one of a string of nationwide events protesting the influence of Islam in Australia, conflating the religion with violent extremism and provoking counter protests by self-described anti-racist groups.
One of the guards, Simon Scott, posted the group photo with Hanson on his Facebook page with the comment: “What more can I say.”
Another guard, Graham Motley, a veteran of a Royal Australian Regiment task force that mentored soldiers in Afghanistan, commented under the post: “Royal Australian Infidels”.
Two others in the photo, |
hard to get dressed up for award shows and red carpets when I know I will be made fun of because of my weight," she said. "There's always a big chance if I wear purple, I will be compared to Barney. If I wear white, a frozen turkey. And if I wear red, that pitcher of Kool-Aid that says, 'Oh, yeah!' Twitter will blow up with nasty comments about how the recent earthquake was caused by me running to a hot dog cart or something... This is what I deal with every time someone takes a picture of me."
Sidibe says she was berated at home and at school (where, she says, kids were mean to her because she was "an asshole!" and "a snob"), but then she moved in with Hughes and one photograph (yes, that's the one) gave her hope:
What I would say, is my mom moved my brother and I to my aunt's house. Her name is Dorothy Pitman Hughes, she is a feminist, an activist, and a lifelong friend of Gloria Steinem. Every day, I had to get up and go to school where everyone made fun of me, and I had to go home to where everyone made fun of me. Every day was hard to get going, no matter which direction I went. And on my way out of the house, I found strength. In the morning on the way out to the world, I passed by a portrait of my aunt and Gloria together. Side by side they stood, one with long beautiful hair and one with the most beautiful, round, Afro hair I had ever seen, both with their fists held high in the air. Powerful. Confident. And every day as I would leave the house... I would give that photo a fist right back. And I'd march off into battle. [She starts crying] I didn't know that I was being inspired then. On my way home, I'd walk back up those stairs, I'd give that photo the fist again, and continue my march back in for more battle.
So, how is Sidibe so confident, you ask? Because she dares, because she lives, because she loves:
I live my life, because I dare. I dare to show up when everyone else might hide their faces and hide their bodies in shame. I show up because I'm an asshole, and I want to have a good time. And my mother and my father love me. They wanted the best life for me, and they didn't know how to verbalize it. And I get it. I really do. They were better parents to me than they had themselves. I'm grateful to them, and to my fifth grade class, because if they hadn't made me cry, I wouldn't be able to cry on cue now. [tears up] If I hadn't been told I was garbage, I wouldn't have learned how to show people I'm talented. And if everyone had always laughed at my jokes, I wouldn't have figured out how to be so funny. If they hadn't told me I was ugly, I never would have searched for my beauty. And if they hadn't tried to break me down, I wouldn't know that I'm unbreakable. [wipes tears] So when you ask me how I'm so confident, I know what you're really asking me: how could someone like me be confident? Go ask Rihanna, asshole!
For a full copy of the speech (it's worth the read), head over to Vulture.Story highlights Elizabeth Warren: U.S. middle class, once richest in world, has fallen behind other nations
Warren: Washington puts rich and powerful first and leaves working people behind
Minimum wage isn't enough to keep employed mom and baby out of poverty, she says
Warren: We strengthened the middle class before and can do it again by putting people first
A great crack in America's middle class came to light recently: While our country continues to lead the world as the richest nation, our middle class, once the most affluent in the world, has fallen behind. According to an analysis by The New York Times, Canada's middle class is now the wealthiest, and working families in many countries have seen their incomes rise much faster than those in the United States.
The hollowing out of America's middle class has been years in the making, but it wasn't inevitable that working families would fall further and further behind. Instead, it was the direct consequence of deliberate choices Washington has made over the past generation to put the rich and powerful first and to leave working people to pick up whatever crumbs were left behind.
It didn't have to be this way. America knows how to build a middle class that is the envy of the world. After the Great Depression, America made two critical decisions.
Elizabeth Warren
First, it put in place strong rules to level the playing field for families, putting more cops on the beat to monitor financial markets and passing basic safety rules to temper the boom-and-bust financial cycle.
Second, the country made building a future for our children the priority. We invested powerfully in our education system, and we made sure that people who worked full time would stay above the poverty line. We built infrastructure -- roads and bridges, our power grids -- so that we had the right foundation for businesses to build jobs here at home. We also invested in basic medical and scientific research, confident that if we built a great pipeline of ideas, our children would have opportunities their parents could only dream about.
These steps were aimed at building a strong middle class, and they worked. For a half a century, as the country got richer, our middle class got richer. America built a middle class that promised a bright future to each succeeding generation, a middle class that inched its way toward building opportunities, not just for some of our children, but for all our children.
Photos: Income inequality in America Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – In the early 20th century, industrial tycoons like the Rockefellers and Carnegies amassed fortunes in railroads, steel or oil. Here, a view of Cornelius Vanderbilt's residence in New York in 1908. Hide Caption 1 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – Wealthy passengers aboard a ship near San Francisco, circa 1910s. In this era, the top earners accounted for roughly 18% of the national income. Hide Caption 2 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – People gathered across from the New York Stock Exchange on "Black Thursday," October 24, 1929. The stock market crash of 1929, fueled by excessive speculation on Wall Street, set off the Great Depression. Hide Caption 3 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – Thousands of unemployed people waited in line to register for federal relief jobs in New York in 1933. The unemployment rate rose to 25% that year. Hide Caption 4 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – On September 12, 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his staff met to find a solution to the economic crisis. FDR's New Deal policies tightened regulation of Wall Street, strengthened unions and set the top marginal tax rate for the rich at 90%. Hide Caption 5 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – A nurse takes care of children of migratory farm workers in Arvin, California, in 1937. The unemployment rate hovered in the teens. FDR created large-scale public work programs to provide jobs for the poor and middle class. Hide Caption 6 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – A plant in Toledo, Ohio, that made bombs. With the advent of World War II, demand for production of goods and services increased. By the mid-1940s, the unemployment rate dropped to less than 5%. Hide Caption 7 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – Labor unions benefited from FDR's policies and grew in power midcentury. Transit workers protested in New York on April 17, 1950. The Transport Workers Union threatened a strike if even one worker was punished for demonstrating. Hide Caption 8 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – Truck supervisor Bernard Levey with his family in front of their new home in 1950. The post-war period was a prosperous time for middle-class Americans. Hide Caption 9 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – From the 1950s to the 1970s, income inequality fell. Some economists call this period "The Great Compression." The median income at the time allowed a single earner to purchase a modest house and a car, support a wife and three children. Hide Caption 10 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – A worker at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento, California, in 1966. The feminist movement fought for equal pay for women, who were earning about 60 cents for every dollar earned by men. Hide Caption 11 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – In the 1970s, income inequality began to rise. The economy experienced wage and inflation problems, along with an oil crisis that caused a gasoline shortage. Here, a gas station in New York. Hide Caption 12 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – Post-1979 has been called the "Great Divergence." Some say that President Ronald Reagan's policy of supply-side economics, which reduced taxes for the rich, was a contributing factor. Hide Caption 13 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – Real estate tycoon Donald Trump with his Rolls Royce at his Mar-a-Largo property in Palm Beach, Florida. Hide Caption 14 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – The 138-meter (453-foot) yacht "Rising Sun" was purchased by Larry Ellison of Oracle, who has been one of the nation's highest-paid executives. From the 1990s on, CEO compensation greatly outpaced the average compensation of workers. Hide Caption 15 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – Home construction in Inverness, Illinois, in 2006. Risky mortgage lending was packaged by banks that sought to make big profits. The collapse of housing bubble instigated a credit crisis that triggered the global financial meltdown of 2007. Hide Caption 16 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – By 2007, the top 1% accounted for 24% of national income. Bernard Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme is one of largest financial frauds in history, made billions off hapless investors. Here, shoes that once belonged to Madoff. Hide Caption 17 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – Lehman Brothers, which collapsed in September 2008, filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Major financial institutions were bailed out by the government with a massive amount of taxpayer money. Hide Caption 18 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch, doled out more than $4 billion in bonuses to employees. Despite the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Wall Street handed out $18.4 billion in bonuses for 2008, which is the "sixth-largest haul on record." Hide Caption 19 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – A job fair in March 2009. Unemployment rose to 10% during the Great Recession. Hide Caption 20 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – In September 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement sprang up. The average income, adjusted for inflation, grew $59 from 1966 to 2011 for the bottom 90% of Americans. Hide Caption 21 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – Occupy Oakland protesters in California. In 2012, the income of the top 1% increased nearly 20% compared with a 1% increase for 99% of Americans. Hide Caption 22 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – A suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City costs $45,000 a night. Middle class Americans had a median household income of a little over $51,000 in 2013. Hide Caption 23 of 24 Photos: Income inequality in America Income inequality in America – Today, the top 1% controls about 40% of national wealth. At a hearing in Washington D.C. about Wall Street and the financial crisis, protesters hold a placard depicting Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who once famously said, "I'm doing God's work."
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JUST WATCHED Warren: I'm not running for president Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Warren: I'm not running for president 02:12
I lived this firsthand, growing up in a country that invested in its children. After my dad had a heart attack, my mom worked a minimum-wage job at Sears -- and that was enough to save our house. I went to a commuter college that cost $50 a semester, and my first husband worked on the moon shot. America was full of promise.
About 30 years ago, America began to move in a different direction. Washington took financial cops off the beat by slashing funding of our regulators, letting big banks load up on risk and target families with dangerous credit cards and mortgages. Washington also worked feverishly to cut taxes for those at the top, opening huge loopholes for big corporations and billionaires. Eventually, the loopholes got big enough to drive a truck through. According to the nonpartisan group Citizens for Tax Justice, by 2008-2012, while the corporate tax rate on paper remained 35%, 26 Fortune 500 companies paid $0 in taxes. That's right -- zero.
And how did Washington propose to balance a budget with lower taxes? Stop investing in the future. Instead of supporting college kids who are trying to get an education, the government now uses them as a source of revenue, making billions of dollars in profits off student loans.
Investments in roads and bridges have nearly ground to a halt. And government research -- the great pipeline of ideas that led to the creation of the Internet, nanotechnology, GPS and a million medical advances -- has had its legs cut out from under it.
Today, the director of the National Institutes of Health says there's only enough money to fund one out of six National Institutes of Health research proposals, and our investments in scientific research don't reflect the values of a nation that plans to lead the world in new discoveries.
The impact of these policies has echoed through the economy. Big banks, powerful corporations and billionaires -- people who can afford to hire armies of lobbyists and lawyers -- have amassed more and more wealth. Meanwhile, the foundations of our once strong middle class have begun to crumble, and families have been caught in a terrible squeeze.
Starting in the 1970s, even as workers became more productive, their wages flattened out, while the costs of housing, health care and sending a kid to college, just kept going up and up. In 1980, the minimum wage was at least high enough to keep a working parent with a family of two out of poverty. Now, the minimum wage isn't even enough to keep a fully employed mother and a baby out of poverty -- and on Wednesday, Senate Republicans filibustered a bill to increase the federal minimum wage modestly.
We know how to strengthen the middle class in this country because we have done it before. We need a level playing field to make sure everyone follows the rules -- and that breaking the law has the same kinds of consequences for bank CEOs who launder drug money as for kids who get caught with a few ounces of pot.
We need to decide that our children -- not our biggest corporations -- are our first priority. We can take on the student loan problem that is crushing our kids, and to rebuild our roads and bridges, upgrade our power grids and expand our investments in basic research. And we can pay for that by putting an end to the tax loopholes and subsidies that go to powerful corporations and the wealthiest Americans.
We can repair the cracks in the middle class. We can strengthen our foundations and make sure that all of our children have a fighting chance. But it means changing who Washington works for -- and doesn't.One of South Africa’s biggest cities, Cape Town, is gripped by a rising panic. People are haunted by the idea that they may soon have to queue for water, carefully rationed out by local authorities under the watchful eye of the army.
But these doomsday scenarios need to be tempered. It’s true that the first step to getting people motivated to save water is to create the “impression of a crisis”. In Cape Town, however, this impression is being blown out of proportion by a number of myths that are perpetuated in social and popular media.
Myth 1: Lack of preparedness
This myth has it that the City of Cape Town saw the drought coming but didn’t prepare for it.
Climate trends over the past 40 years gave no indication of the drought’s timing, intensity or duration. In fact, dams were overflowing in winter 2014. The weather forecasts gave no indication that the 2015 drought would continue over another year.
A study by the University of Cape Town came out a few weeks ago, saying that the odds of the drought carrying over again into 2017 were less than one in one thousand. Understandably, they exonerate the Cape’s government from blame for the water crisis.
Myth 2: Lack of enforcement
This myth has it that the city didn’t enforce restrictions to curtail water wastage.
South East Queensland, Australia, became one of the most water-efficient communities in the western world because of their Target 140 campaign. Their “Millenium Drought” from 2006 - 2008 prompted residents to reduce water usage from 300 litres per person per day to 129 litres per person per day. Cape Town’s savings are already below 100 litres per person per day, and dropping.
Cape Town’s superior performance is due to its campaign introducing some pretty original stunts. For example:
Only in Cape Town’s campaign might the mayor knock on your door
Only in Cape Town’s campaign were the top 100 water users’ street names published
Only in Cape Town’s campaign were water tariffs structured meticulously to cater for indigent households
Cape Town’s campaign outperforms South East Queensland’s, making Cape Town one of the best water saving cities in the world. Cape Town’s example as a water saving city was highlighted at the 2015 C40 Cities Award in Paris, where Cape Town’s Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Programme won first prize, beating 91 cities including Copenhagen and Paris.
Myth 3: Unfair targeting
This myth has it that water saving campaign unfairly targets the residential sector.
The residential sector uses 66% of the City of Cape Town’s municipal water supply. Business, industry and government combined use far less.
Houses in warm climates use at least half of their water outdoors. Houses with swimming pools in Cape Town use far more water than those without. This shows that not only is the residential sector using the most municipal water, but traditionally, most of the water used by this sector is for luxury purposes.
Myth 4: Lots of water is being lost to leaks
Water lost from the system is called “non-revenue water”. Australia and New Zealand have the best water systems in the world, and lose 10%. South Africa as a whole comes in on par with the world average of 36.6%. Cape Town loses only 15% of its water. It’s close to being one of the best systems in the world.
Myth 5: Desalination plants are the answer
Australia’s desalination plants took two years to build and cost AUs$18 billion. A desalination plant large enough to accommodate Cape Town’s needs (450 megalitres per day) would cost 15 billion rand to build and then millions more to maintain.
There is a chance that by the time such a plant is built, the drought would be over. The city would be left with a very expensive white elephant.
Myth 6: “Day Zero” is inevitable
Cutting water use is the most important, fastest and most cost-effective way to avoid Day Zero. Nevertheless, due to the severity of the crisis, water supply schemes are also being built. These range from smaller desalination plants to groundwater extraction. These projects should be supplying up to 240-million extra litres into our system by May 2018. These new supplies, combined with target water savings, can get Cape Town through next year’s summer.
Myth 7: The water wastage blame game
Water wastage provokes anger and indignation, as it should. But some are unfairly blamed.
Fire fighting uses non-potable water from estuaries and reservoirs as well as potable water from hydrants. Fire hydrants fall under “non-revenue water”. They can’t use seawater because salt damages the equipment.
Municipal road cleaning uses non-potable water. Golf courses use non-potable water. The business and industrial sectors combined, of which tourism is only one part, use less than 15% of the city’s water.
Homes in informal settlements tend to use only 40 litres per day. Informal settlements as a whole only use 4.7% of Cape Town’s water.
On reflection
Blame shifting, fault finding and panic are usual reactions to water crises all over the world. Some anxiety is good, as it motivates water saving, but blame shifting actually pushes responsibility away, and causes water wastage. The best attitude Cape Town’s people can adopt is for every person to do their best, together. The world is watching, let’s set them an example to follow.Top Justice Department officials have a new strategy for dealing with their high-wattage clash with FBI Director James Comey over disclosures about the Hillary Clinton email probe: Downplay their disagreement and concentrate instead on pushing the FBI to move quickly to analyze the newly found messages.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates are now seeking a kind of detente with the beleaguered FBI chief after the extraordinary rift between Comey and the Justice Department last week over his plans to tell Congress that unexpected new evidence was under review in the Clinton email inquiry, officials familiar with the episode said.
Story Continued Below
While Justice officials disclaimed any political motivations in their shift in strategy, the effort to put the investigation on a fast track would be a step toward meeting the demands of top Democrats and the Clinton campaign for more answers in advance of the election.
Lynch and Yates "felt they needed to make clear that they disagreed with Comey's decision," one top Justice official said. "But no one is dragging their feet here. The Justice Department is committed to working with the FBI to move the case forward."
Top prosecutors have echoed that view, telling colleagues that it's time to put their disputes with Comey in the rear-view mirror and get on with an expeditious review of thousands of emails found on a laptop belonging to Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
Letters the Justice Department sent to angry Democratic lawmakers Monday underscored that approach. Justice Department legislative liaison Peter Kadzik told the senators and House members that the agency "appreciates the concerns" they expressed about the impact of the disclosure on the election, but he never said explicitly that Comey had defied Lynch's strong advice to follow the usual DOJ practice of avoiding any disclosures close to elections.
Kadzik did say that Justice is working "closely with the FBI" to pursue the inquiry "as expeditiously as possible.
Evidence of that approach, officials said, could be seen in Justice's joint effort with the FBI to obtain a warrant over the weekend to access emails on the Weiner laptop that might be relevant to the Clinton email investigation. The warrant was granted Sunday, removing an important legal obstacle to the investigation.
In a letter to Comey Friday, top Senate Democrats said investigators should be "working around the clock to determine the basic facts about the emails in question."
Still, it's far from clear that the renewed investigation will reach any meaningful conclusions in the next eight days.
FBI officials said that if all of Abedin's relevant messages turn out to be copies of ones her lawyers already turned over, the matter might be brought to a close within a few days. But given the frequency with which Clinton aides and other State Department officials used personal accounts to facilitate printing of documents, it seems more likely that at least some will fall into a gray area that requires a deeper level of review.
"You have to meticulously go through each one. You can't just arbitrarily cut it off," said one former FBI top official who has worked on similar investigations and asked not to be named. "Every document you think may have classified information in it, you have to give it to what we call the 'victim agency.' Each one of those agencies then has to sign off on whether it was classified and whether it is still classified.... There's going to be maybe 16 different agencies that need to take a look at that stuff."
Nonetheless, Lynch and Yates felt the fairest approach to all parties would be to push the investigation ahead as quickly as possible, given the expectations raised by Comey's dramatic announcement on Friday.
Still, current and former FBI officials insisted Comey wasn't looking to buck Justice Department policy, but believed he needed to fulfill promises he made to keep Congress posted of any significant developments in the case.
"He felt like he had to set the record straight. He found himself in a pickle," the ex-FBI leader said. "I don’t think he thought this through, though."
Comey is also facing dissent from his traditionally conservative rank-and-file agents over the decision in July not to recommend charges in the Clinton email case. It's unclear whether that played any role in his decision to essentially announce last week's development.
"The stuff about a rebellion going on inside the bureau is absolutely true, but that's not going to influence his decision," the ex-FBI official said."He loves his troops, but it's not a fair judgment that that's why he did it."
The FBI chief does seem to be aware that some in his agent ranks have doubts about how the politically charged, Clinton-related inquiry has been handled. In recent months, he has twice issued defensive memos to his workforce explaining his actions.
"Of course, we don’t ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations, but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed.... At the same time, however, given that we don’t know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don’t want to create a misleading impression," Comey wrote Friday. "In trying to strike that balance, in a brief letter and in the middle of an election season, there is significant risk of being misunderstood, but I wanted you to hear directly from me about it."
Some former FBI officials said it's too early to say whether the highly public dust-up between Comey and Justice officials will poison the relationship or whether it can be put back on track.
"I hope some of the undercurrent of what is potentially playing out, the passive-aggressive part of it, isn’t a problem for the future," former FBI agent Ron Hosko said, noting that the officials are typically together almost every workday for briefings on threats and ongoing operations.
"You hope the rhythm of the bureaucracy puts everybody back together," he added.If you’re running Android 4.3 or earlier, you’re pretty much out of luck when it comes to a baked-in defense against a WebView vulnerability that was discovered earlier this month by security analyst Tod Beardsley. The vulnerability leaves millions of users open to attack from hackers that choose to exploit the security hole.
For those that don’t already know, WebView is a core component of the Android operating system that renders web pages. The good news is that the version of WebView included in Android 4.4 KitKat and Android 5.0 Lollipop is based on Chromium and is not affected by the vulnerability. The bad news is that those running Android 4.3 and earlier are wide open, which means that 60 percent of Android users (or nearly one billion customers) are affected.
Google responded to Beardsley on January 12 with the following statement:
If the affected version [of WebView] is before 4.4, we generally do not develop the patches ourselves, but welcome patches with the report for consideration. Other than notifying OEMs, we will not be able to take action on any report that is affecting versions before 4.4 that are not accompanied with a patch.
What’s most interesting is that Google has no trouble tossing grenades at the feet of Microsoft and Apple courtesy of its Project Zero program, but doesn’t seem to have the resources to fix a vulnerability that affects a substantial portion of the Android user base.
On Friday, Google’s Adrian Ludwig took to Google+ to further explain his company’s position on patching vulnerabilities in older versions of Android. While Google still has no plans of extending an olive branch to users running Android 4.3 or earlier, Ludwig did give some insight into why this decision was made.
“Keeping software up to date is one of the greatest challenges in security,” Ludwig explained. “Google invests heavily in making sure Android and Chrome are as safe as possible and doing so requires that they be updated very frequently.”
Ludwig went on to explain that backporting a patch would be a herculean effort. “WebKit alone is over 5 million lines of code and hundreds of developers are adding thousands of new commits every month, so in some instances applying vulnerability patches to a 2+ year old branch of WebKit required changes to significant portions of the code and was no longer practical to do safely.” We’re sure that Microsoft and Apple would have loved to throw that excuse out when complying with Google’s 90-day window for reporting exploits via Project Zero.
Only Android 4.4 KitKat and Android 5.0 Lollipop users are safe. However, Lollipop market share is too low to even show up in Google's stats.
Ludwig would further explain that users on Android 4.3 and older should simply use a browser that is updated through Google Play in order to avoid the WebView vulnerability (he specifically points out Chrome and Firefox). “Using an updatable browser will protect you from currently known security issues, and since it can be updated in the future it will also protect you against any issues that might be found in the future."
For those savvy enough to install a browser other than the default (like Chrome or Firefox) on your Android 4.3 or earlier device, it appears that the exploit can be easily sidestepped. But as for the vast majority of people that just stick with the default browser and use their devices for playing Candy Crush, keeping up with friends on Facebook, or scouting new recipes on Pinterest; they will likely be the ones most at risk from nefarious hackers. And that’s what most unsettling about Google’s response to this matter.INTRODUCTION:
Electronic cigarette (EC) use is growing dramatically with use highest among young adults and current smokers. One of the most common reasons for using ECs is interest in quitting or reducing cigarettes per day (CPD); however there are few randomized controlled trials (RCT) on the effect of ECs on smoking abstinence and reduction.
METHODS:
We conducted a two-arm; double-blind RCT. Subjects were randomized to receive 3-weeks of either disposable 4.5% nicotine EC (intervention) or placebo EC. The primary outcome was self-reported reduction of at least 50% in the number of CPDs smoked at week 3 (end of treatment) compared to baseline. Study subjects (n = 99) were young adult (21-35), current smokers (smoked ≥ 10 CPDs) living in NYC.
RESULTS:
Compared with baseline, a significant reduction in CPDs was observed at both study time periods (1 and 3 weeks) for intervention (P <.001) and placebo (P <.001) groups. Between-group analyses showed significantly fewer CPDs in the intervention group compared to the placebo group at week 3 (P =.03), but not at any other follow-up periods. The logistic regression analysis showed that using a greater number of ECs, treatment condition and higher baseline readiness to quit were significantly associated with achieving at least 50% reduction in CPDs at the end of treatment.
CONCLUSION:
A diverse young adult sample of current everyday smokers, who were not ready to quit, was able to reduce smoking with the help of ECs. Further study is needed to establish the role of both placebo and nicotine containing ECs in increasing both reduction and subsequent cessation.
IMPLICATIONS:
Despite the critical need for well-designed clinical trials on the effect of ECs on cessation and cigarette reduction, the majority of studies have been observational or noncomparative intervention designs. Only three RCTs studying ECs as a cessation or reduction intervention have been published, and none were conducted in the United States. The current study adds knowledge to current literature on the feasibility of using ECs to aid smoking reduction among young smokers in US urban populations.
© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected] noise reduction software it is a case of picking your poison. Well I hope this poison at least offers a pleasant taste!
Iain’s Noise Reduction is a filter for the G’MIC plug-in for GIMP 2.8. It is currently found in the Testing->Iain Fergusson folder. Update: This filter is now in the ‘Repair’ folder.
Control descriptions
Luma NR
This adjusts the amount of luma noise reduction. If the control is set to 0 this step is skipped and processing will be faster.
Chroma NR
This adjusts the amount of colour noise reduction. If the control is set to 0 this step is skipped and processing will be faster.
Despeckle
This reduces the amount ‘salt-and-pepper’ noise. It is performed just before the luma noise reduction, so adjustments made here will affect the luma noise reduction.
If the luma noise reduction is set to 0, the despeckle step is also skipped.
When set to level 4, the main luma noise reduction is adjusted to skip removal of fine noise because it should have been taken care of by the despeckle algorithm. This should speed up the denoising.
Adjust noise reduction by tone
This allows you to adjust the amount of noise reduction in the shadows and highlights.
Recover Details
The detail recovery step works with the information removed by the luma noise reduction and recovers details that are stronger than a certain threshold. There are three options recovering details:
Do not Recover Details
Recover Details
Recover Details as separate layer – this will output the recovered details to a separate layer that can be combined with other noise reduction layer using ‘grain merge’ blending mode in GIMP will produce the final image. This option allows the user to apply masks and further processing to the details in GIMP.
Recovering details is the slowest part of this filter, you will have to have patience.
The recovery amount slider sets the overall recovery amount. At low values only the strongest details are recovered. As the slider is raised more subtle details are revealed, but there is a risk that the recovery algorithm will see false details in noisy areas. Setting the slider to 10 will recover all details including noise.
Adjust detail recovery by size
These controls allow the user to adjust the detail recovery based on the size of the details. This is useful to control the appearance of false details
Detail Emphasis
This allows the user to increase the strength of the details so that they are more obvious. This often allows the user to use a lower recovery threshold and reduce false details.
Other considerations
Although the detail recovery is quite good, it can produce artefacts. False details has already been mentioned, another artefacts is detail bleed. Sometimes you will see that recovered pattern actually extend past the boundaries of the original pattern and ‘bleeds’ into other areas. This is because the detail recovery looks for patterns in blocks, and if a pattern is found, with certain settings, the whole block is filled with the pattern, even if the pattern did not fill the entire block originally.
Another artefact is ‘ringing’. If the original luma noise reduction softens strong edges too much the detail recovery algorithm can produce parallel lines running along side the edge.
Sharpen edges
This sharpens the luma channel, but does not sharpen the details.
Preview Shows
Normal Output
Luma Noise – shows an amplified view of what is being remove from the luma channel
Chroma Noise – shows an amplified view of what is being removed from the chroma channel
Details – shows an amplified view of what is being recovered in the detail recovery step.
Notes on using the filter
Successful detail recovery is a balance of the luma noise reduction setting (including despeckle) and the detail recovery settings. The detail recovery section works with the information removed in the luma noise reduction section, so adjusting the luma noise reduction will affect the amount of details recovered. Generally the luma noise reduction should be set to slightly over-smooth the image so that the detail recovery section has enough information to detect the details. Small adjustments of the luma noise reduction amount can improve the detail recovery, so a bit of fine tuning is required for the best results.
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Installing winter plants for birds is a great way to attract them into your garden. Winter is a great time for bird watching. Even though there are many species that migrate south, there are still man around to enjoy. To sustain themselves, many birds must sustain themselves with berries rich in fats and antioxidents. Getting birds through winter takes more than bird feeders and brush piles. When the coldest days of the year set in, and most food sources are exhausted, berries can truly be a lifesaver.
Here are some plants will delight the birds by providing food and shelter during the winter and can turn your backyard into a sanctuary.
Winter Plants For Birds
[table id=3 /]
Remember, Allentuck Landscaping Co. is always here to help you design, install, construct and maintain you lawn and landscape. Now is the time to get your 2016 Lawn and Landscape Maintenance Quote. Give us a call!
Allentuck Landscaping Co. is Your Residential Landscape Company Phone: 301-5-515-1900 Email: [email protected] an announcement on Thursday, big-box retailer Walmart said it will be slashing prices on Apple's latest iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models on Friday ahead of an impending refresh cycle expected this fall.
A Walmart spokesperson alerted Engadget to the new pricing tiers, noting Apple's 16GB iPhone 5s will be available in stores |
a long enough time to learn the psychology of heavy drinking.
In the first part of this article I’m going to talk about the issue of alcohol dependency in general. In second part I’ll also talk about the similarities between alcohol and heroin. I’ll then turn my attention to practical advice about giving up drinking and learning to live an abstinent life.
I’m going to base my arguments on three important principles or theorems which will help you set your mind on breaking this dangerous habit.
Theorem 1 – there are absolutely no reasons or excuses to use alcohol
Drink lovers will find thousands of reasons and motives to drink:
I’ve had a hard day – I need to unwind
I’ve had a good day – I need to celebrate
I’m having problems at work
I’ve started a new job
I’m tired
I’m excited
I want to relax
I haven’t really partied for a long time!
It’s my birthday
It’s your birthday
I haven’t had a drink all month
I drank too much yesterday and now I don’t feel well
I’m off today – I need to relax
I was at work today – I need to relax
I just need to forget
People will come up with hundreds of excuses to drink; they feel that alcohol is essential to them. But even when it’s causing them all kinds of problems and they want to stop, with each attempt to quit they come up against some ostensible need to drink – they’re met with stress they don’t know how eliminate, boredom they can’t cope with and problems they can’t seem to solve.
“Old weapon”
They feel unarmed against these life trials. Wishing for peace and a way to escape their problems, they return to their old ‘weapon’ or find some substitute which may not be any safer than alcohol itself.
It’s precisely because of this that many people find it so hard to give up drinking. Alcohol is their reliable helper for all sorts of life issues. Without its support they start to feel powerless.
In my view, this powerlessness is at the heart of alcohol dependency. It’s the main reason for the many troubles which befall people due to their habit. Many mistakenly believe that the greatest role in the development of dependency is physical addiction to alcohol, or abstract ‘alcoholism’, but this isn’t the case. Alcohol wouldn’t be such a problem if it was only physically addictive.
In fact it’s the power of alcohol to satisfy so many of our desires that’s made it one of the most popular drugs in the world! I’ll talk about this in more detail later.
The theorem serving as the title of this section is aimed at the very heart of people’s weakness for alcohol. What I’m saying is that there are no reasons to drink! Absolutely none! Everyone can get along fine without drinking; nobody actually needs alcohol!
Old excuses
All the reasons you may think of for using alcohol are contrived, fictitious. There are many safe ways to relax and unwind, and there’s no real connection between a good time and mass drunkenness.
Every excuse for drinking that you’ve ever heard has been exaggerated in order to justify human weaknesses which are deeply engrained in social consciousness.
I’ve formulated this theorem to be used as an auxiliary tool by people who want to give up drinking. It isn’t intended to denounce society and individuals for drinking to excess or to make you feel guilty. Its aim is to show how the pull of alcohol isn’t a snare or trap from which it’s impossible to escape and that it’s within your capabilities to overcome it.
Of course, one perspective on this won’t be enough to make you stop drinking. But each time you get drunk you’ll know you’re doing it not because you need to but because you want to. You’ll feed the illusion less in this respect and start to realise that, in fact, none of your excuses for drinking actually justify your predilection for booze. You’ll come to the conclusion that alcohol isn’t a need, but a weakness you can overcome.
You always have a choice: to drink or not to drink.
There are many other ways to for you to relieve stress or sort out your problems. Apropos of this, I’d like to move on to the second theorem, which is actually a consequence of the first.
Theorem 2 – a happy teetotal life is possible
People who are deep in the pit of dependency find this thesis hard to accept. When I myself was drinking to excess every day, I found it hard to imagine how I’d live if I gave it up. It seemed that an abstinent life would be utterly grey and dismal, completely joyless and uninteresting.
What would I do with my free time? I pictured long, dull evenings, boring days off and gloomy holidays. I simply didn’t believe that it was possible to get any pleasure from life without alcohol. I wanted to give it up and I had a host of problems stemming from my drinking, but I absolutely couldn’t imagine a life without it.
I tried to take breaks from boozing – a week, a month. More often than not I’d snap after the second or third day. Sometimes I’d manage to go without a drink for three weeks or so, and I can tell you that those weeks seemed nightmarish to me!
When they came to an end I’d hit the bottle with gusto. My periods without alcohol in no way helped me deal with my dependency. On the contrary, they only convinced me all the more that my existence without drink wasn’t as much a ‘life’ as a sad excuse for one!
But now, a few years later, I’m completely happy without alcohol and can manage absolutely fine without it. My happiness is genuine; I’m not trying to convince myself that I’m OK; nor am I making some kind of cult from my sobriety only to endorse and justify my decision, as many on-the-wagon ‘alcoholics’ do.
I’m truly happy and truly fine without alcohol. If I do drink, it may give me a small amount of pleasure and I’ll regret it the next day. For me, abstaining isn’t a strained evasion of my natural needs (as many people imagine); a teetotal life is actually my return to a natural way of living!
Why does life without alcohol look so gloomy to those who drink?
The first reason is dependency itself. I’m sure it’s no secret that alcohol is a strong drug capable of inducing serious dependency. When you have an addiction your body starts to ‘think’ that a particular substance (nicotine, ethanol, morphine derivatives and other drugs) is a vital necessity – the substance deceives your brain in a way.
And if you don’t receive this substance, your body, which has now become accustomed to it, starts to sound the alarm and tries to ‘coerce’ you into using. You experience a strong craving and your mind helps lead you to temptation by coming up with all sorts of excuses –thoughts such as ‘it’s a holiday today’ or ‘today’s the last time’ are familiar to many, especially me.
As your body gets accustomed to alcohol it becomes difficult for you to even consider the possibility of giving up this thing which has become such an addiction. It’s very hard to imagine being out of dependency when you’re in the midst of it.
So the goal of giving up drink may by now seem all but out of reach. But what did you expect? You have a dependency! Naturally, when your body ‘thinks’ it needs a particular substance it’ll do all it can to ensure the supply isn’t stopped!
But, actually, when the dependency goes, sobriety won’t be as terrifying as you imagined.
Feeling of helplessness
The second reason that people are afraid of abstinence is the feeling of helplessness in the face of life, which I wrote about above. If alcohol has always been your tool for dealing with life and all its problems, the idea of losing it may seem horrifying!
How will I while away the time? How will I celebrate holidays? How will I get rid of my tiredness? Where am I going to find my relief? What will I use to congratulate myself for my successes in life? How will I have fun with my friends? What on earth will I do?
These are questions many people ask themselves; they’re the questions I asked myself, and they terrified me. They told me that I had only two choices: a life with alcohol but accompanied by the array of problems it caused, or a life free of alcohol but devoid of joy. Neither of these alternatives was appealing.
Such fear is entirely natural: you’re so used to having this tool to meet your demands that it seems indispensable. But it isn’t! What if I told you that there are many other efficient, not to mention safe, tools out there to help you cope with life’s problems and relieve stress far more effectively? What if I said that everyone has the potential to enjoy a life without alcohol much more than one in which they’re constantly drunk?
Would you be less afraid to give up your old method of sorting out problems? Life without alcohol is unequivocally possible. My life and the lives of others who have got rid of their dependency are all proof of this.
But this life won’t come to you immediately, as soon as you say ‘enough’. You’ll have to learn how to relax and spend your time, you’ll need to get used to being alone with your thoughts without any drug-induced stimulation, and you’ll have to master techniques designed to reduce stress. I’m going to talk about all of this in this article.
Of course, it many seem to you that the path I’m suggesting is too complicated and that everything is much easier with drink. But a simple path isn’t always the right one. Alcohol isn’t actually an effective relaxation tool. It disturbs your nervous system, making you more sensitive to stress. Its relaxation effects are only temporary.
Also, it doesn’t help you solve your problems. Rather than freeing you of unwanted thoughts and emotions, it only suppresses them. Your unresolved problems won’t disappear; they’ll just continue to trouble you.
Nor does alcohol enable sincere communication; all it does is temporarily mend the ‘holes’ in your confidence and self-esteem (i.e. it makes you calmer and more self-confident for a while). But these are qualities which should be developed and cultivated; alcohol, however, kills any incentive to do so.
In short, alcohol isn’t actually such a valuable tool after all. It doesn’t solve problems, but just conceals them. So why not get well and truly rid of it?
Theorem 3 – You don’t need alcohol at all!
I understand that at the moment not everyone is aiming to completely give up drinking. Many of you undoubtedly want to drink in moderation, in a more controlled way than you do now.
When I was drinking every day and thinking that I should stop, I wasn’t imagining that I would give up altogether. I didn’t want to abandon my best friend – a bottle of beer – with whom I had spent so many pleasant evenings. My dream was ‘controlled use’. I envisioned just drinking from time to time, for holidays. This was my ideal. As I wrote earlier, I felt terrified at the thought of a completely abstinent life. I thought, ‘OK, say I stop drinking every day. There’s no way I can completely go without though; I’ll have to drink on holidays and other special occasions.’
Such logic immediately breaches all the theorems I’ve laid out. To paraphrase my idea, I was telling myself that ‘alcohol has a reason’, ‘a sober life is impossible’ and ‘you can’t manage without alcohol’. It’s precisely this kind of logic that can lead a person to start drinking again.
I want to use these three theorems to shatter this logic!
The problem with the ‘controled use’
You absolutely can manage without alcohol – it’s completely possible not to drink at all. Ever. ‘Controlled use’, meanwhile, may lure you into a trap.
It implies an adequate comprehension of the norms of alcohol use.
But it must be said that people who are alcohol dependent have a pretty blurred notion of how much and how often they drink and therefore of what is normal.
Let me explain this statement with an example from my own life. One time I had to obtain a document saying that I wasn’t an alcoholic or drug addict. In order to do this I was to go to the public medical centre where a doctor would check whether my name was on the database of people who’d ever been treated in hospital for drug addiction or alcoholism.
I knew that I wasn’t on this database, as I had never been ‘caught’. So I went into the office calmly and waited for them to issue me the certificate. But the doctor decided to ask me a couple of questions. She asked how often I drank. At that time I was drinking daily; maybe this was obvious from my puffy and swollen face which aroused the doctor’s interest.
Of course, I wasn’t about the tell the truth. I said, ‘I drink once a week’. I felt that this wasn’t quite an outright lie, although it indicated that I was drinking like an ‘average person’ – once every seven days at the weekend – and not every day, which was the real case.
To my surprise the doctor said that this was quite common. She asked me why I drank. I became flustered because I hadn’t expected this kind of reaction. I answered, ‘I’ve got reasons’. ‘What reasons?’ ‘Meeting up with my friends…’ (At the time I really thought this was a ‘reason’.) Then she said, ‘There are no reasons for alcohol!’ (Remember theorem 1?)
She gave me a short lecture: ‘Do you know how many people die from alcohol in Russia every day?’ After this she let me go. I received the certificate I’d come for, but the doctor’s reaction got me thinking.
Of course, there is a chance that the doctor could tell from the way I looked that I drank a lot more often than once a week. But all the same, I know very well from myself and others with a dependency that we’re absolutely mistaken when we say ‘I rarely drink’.
There was a period in my life when circumstances forced me to cut down to drinking at weekends only. And at that time, I considered this not to be drinking at all! No matter that on Fridays and Saturdays I would get completely smashed! After a few years of daily drinking, only using alcohol at the weekend seemed extremely abstemious to me!
I couldn’t see a problem although there clearly was one!
I’ve also noticed other people with this distorted impression of how often they use alcohol. Many believe that drinking two to three times a week equals hardly drinking at all when in actual fact, it constitutes quite a lot! Hankering after controlled use can push into this trap. You won’t be any less dependent on alcohol; it’s just that now your dependency won’t necessarily overflow into as many serious disasters as before.
In addition, there’s a large chance that you’ll once again return to daily alcohol use if you drink sometimes.
It’ll be very hard for you to control the amount and frequency of your alcohol consumption if your brain is habituated to drunkenness. It’s so much easier to completely remove yourself from temptation. I tried several times to stick to drinking in moderation but it never worked. I only managed to give up when I realised that I didn’t need alcohol at all, that I was able to manage without it.
Don’t be afraid of a completely teetotal life. A life without a serious, destructive dependency will be much happier than the one you have at the moment. You don’t need controlled use if you can learn to live without alcohol. Fundamentally, people don’t need alcohol – at all!
It’s possible that some of you in future will be able to drink from time to time. But this won’t happen straight away, so for the time being give up your dreams of intermittent use. These dreams grow from a strong attachment to alcohol, like affection for an ‘old friend’. But this attachment won’t always be with you, so for now set your mind on learning to live without it. There’s no doubt that this goal is achievable. If you simply quit, without looking for a ‘middle’ path, you will definitely succeed.
I invite you now to move on to the second section of this article.
This article consists of 5 sections. You can pass to any of them, but I suggest you to read everything in order to get over your addiction.
Part 1 – How to Quit Drinking Alcohol on Your Own – 3 Theorems (this part)
Part 2 – 2 Unobvious Problems With Alcohol (short)
Part 3 – Will You Be an Alcoholic Forever? (short)
Part 4 – Overcoming Alcohol Addiction – 7 Steps
Part 5 – Learn How to Live Sober Life – 7 Tips16.59 The police cordon has been taken down and the road reopened.
15.34 Police cordon remains in place as officers search the building to ensure it is safe
15.12 Transport for London advised motorists to avoid the West End. Goodge Street and Warren Street tube stations were shut.
15.08 The police confirm that a man has been arrested
15.07 The BBC reported that the man was being led away from the scene by police
14.59 Firearms officers are positioned on the roof of a nearby building
14.55 Helicopter footage shows the armed suspect at the siege in Tottenham Court Road, London, throwing what appears to be a computer screen out of the window.
14.40 Sky's Martin Brunt tweets:
<noframe>Twitter: martinbrunt - <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=siege" target="_blank">#siege</a> Source says on serious scale of 1 to 10 this is a 9.</noframe>
14.30 From now on we will give live updates to the incident here. This is the story so far:
A man alleged to be carrying a bomb has reportedly taken hostages in an ongoing incident in Central London.
Office buildings were evacuated after a man was reportedly seen carrying up to six canisters strapped to his back.
Windows of an office block were smashed and computers and paper were being thrown from a fifth floor window as horrified workers walked out with their hands in the air.
An onlooker said the man, named as Michael Green, had walked into the offices of Advantage, a logistics company which offers HGV courses, on Tottenham Court Road. She said he had threatened to blow himself up before taking four hostages, including the company director and three salesmen.
One woman pleaded for her life, claiming she was pregnant in order to escape.
It was claimed that Green had failed an LGV training course three times and stormed the building to demand his money back.
<noframe>Twitter: Stephen Hull - Abby told us she'd met suspect before. He said he didn't have anything to live for and wanted to blow the place up.</noframe>
A Scotland Yard spokesman declined to comment as the situation was unfolding but a source said the man was not a terrorist and it was not considered a “serious” incident.
“It appears at this stage that the man either has mental health problems or has a personal grievance against a company,” the source said.
The force took to Twitter to ask the public with information about the incident to go to Holborn Police Station.
Armed police and fire engines were called to the scene, at Shropshire House, at around midday. Trained hostage negotiators were believed to be communicating with the suspect by telephone and a 300 metre cordon was put in place.
Police snipers were also said to be taking up position on nearby rooftops and helicopters hovered above.
Abby Baafi, 27, the head of training and operations at Advantage, a company which offers HGV courses, described the incident in a video posted online.
She said the man had targeted her offices and was currently holding four men hostage.
"We were in the office and someone came in and we asked him what his name was and he said he was Michael Green. I recognised him because he was one of our previous customers but he's not quite mentally stable.
"He just turned up, strapped up in gasoline cylinders. Basically. he threatened to blow up the office. He said he doesn't care about his life, he doesn't care about anything, he's going to blow up everybody.
"He was specifically looking for me but obviously, I said my name's not Abby and I'm three months pregnant so he let me go."
Miss Baafi said she had lied about the pregnancy just to escape.
"It was the most terrifying experience of my life," she added. "I have never felt so scared. There were 12 of us in the office. He just came in and said he wanted to kill us all.
Onlooker Massimo Zeppetlli told the Daily Telegraph: "i was walking along the street and heard loud bangs. I didn't see anything hit anyone.
"People started saying the man had gas canisters attached to him and had four hostages."
<noframe>Twitter: Andrew Hough - Whole of <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=tottenham" target="_blank">#tottenham</a> court is closed off. Massive police presence. <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=tcr" target="_blank">#tcr</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=tcrbomb" target="_blank">#tcrbomb</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=london" target="_blank">#london</a> <a href="http://t.co/RZcqhHdm" target="_blank">http://t.co/RZcqhHdm</a></noframe>
Kasia Lynch, 26, who works in an office in the same block, said they were told to evacuate because of a gas leak.
"Police were beginning to close the street but I didn't see the incident," he said.
"I think we were told it was a gas leak so that everyone remained calm and moved out the building as quickly as possible.
"That was at 12.30 and my manager told me to return in an hour but I don't think that will happen."Welcome to this years SpoilerTV Cancellation Predictor
Last year, each week, we updated our data (see the notes below about how we get our data) in order to see if we could predict which show(s) would be renewed or cancelled. As you can see from last years summary, we did pretty well. We're hoping this year to make it even more accurate.
This index is by no means a 100% accurate guide about if your show is safe or in danger and should be seen as a bit of FUN.
Update: 16th May 2017
Update: 11th May 2017
Update: 8th May 2017
Update: 20th April 2017
Update: 20th March 2017
Update: 25th February 2017
Update: 8th January 2017
Update: 22nd November
Update: 6th November
Can't see the table? Check out our Check out our Troubleshooting Guide
Understanding the Table - Please Read
1) The Higher the Index Rating number the more likely a show is to get cancelled, lower numbers = safety.
2) This is an ongoing exercise that I hope to refine each week to make the index more accurate.
3) Only the major networks are included currently ie ABC/FOX/CW/CBS/NBC. And only for the main TV Season ie we don't cover Summer Shows.
4) This chart is a prediction of all the shows using our own formula based on the viewing numbers, 18-49, and + 7 Numbers. These 3 factors are the main weighting of the Index number, however we also factor in things such as the Network they are on (eg CW shows get lower numbers), the day of week they air (eg Fridays are lower numbers), DVR Numbers and +7 and +3 numbers,DVD/Blu-Ray Sales,Production Costs, Cast Contracts/Availability, Syndication, online popularity such as streamed views and Torrents, Nielsen Online Ratings etc.
5) Shows still might not get renewed despite good numbers due eg a show coming to an end of run eg A show might be in it's final season no matter what the ratings are etc or could be due to key cast wanting to leave after their contracts have expired. An example might be Supernatural if it’s two leads, Jared and Jensen wanted out, would Supernatural be renewed even if it had good numbers but no leads for the new season? etc
6) Remember Ratings are relative to ratings for other shows on the same network.
7) Shows that have been renewed for a New Season are marked in Blue
8) Shows with an Index over 5 are likely to be cancelled, 3-5 - in danger and less than 3 safe. Although shows nearer 3 are more in danger than a show with a lower index.
9) You can access this page via either the Start or Features Menu above or simply by Bookmarking it.
Here is a direct link to the
If you have any questions/suggestions, please don't hesitate in asking in the comments below. 1) The Higher the Index Rating number the more likely a show is to get cancelled, lower numbers = safety.2) This is an ongoing exercise that I hope to refine each week to make the index more accurate.3) Only the major networks are included currently ie. And only for the main TV Season ie we don't cover Summer Shows.4) This chart is a prediction of all the shows using our own formula based on the viewing numbers, 18-49, and + 7 Numbers. These 3 factors are the main weighting of the Index number, however we also factor in things such as the Network they are on (eg CW shows get lower numbers), the day of week they air (eg Fridays are lower numbers), DVR Numbers and +7 and +3 numbers,DVD/Blu-Ray Sales,Production Costs, Cast Contracts/Availability, Syndication, online popularity such as streamed views and Torrents, Nielsen Online Ratings etc.5) Shows still might not get renewed despite good numbers due eg a show coming to an end of run eg A show might be in it's final season no matter what the ratings are etc or could be due to key cast wanting to leave after their contracts have expired. An example might be Supernatural if it’s two leads, Jared and Jensen wanted out, would Supernatural be renewed even if it had good numbers but no leads for the new season? etc6) Remember Ratings are relative to ratings for other shows on the same network.7) Shows that have been renewed for a New Season are marked in Blue8) Shows with an Index over 5 are likely to be cancelled, 3-5 - in danger and less than 3 safe. Although shows nearer 3 are more in danger than a show with a lower index.9) You can access this page via either the Start or Features Menu above or simply by Bookmarking it.Here is a direct link to the full spreadsheet If you have any questions/suggestions, please don't hesitate in asking in the comments below.
Updated with recent Upfront renewals and cancellations.All the recent renewals and cancellations have been added.Added the recent CW cancellationsAdded the recent CBS renewals.Added all the recent renewals and cancellationsWe have our first official cancellation. Doubt cancelled by CBS.Added CW RenewalsWe've added a new color code for shows that have not received a back order of episodes. This pretty much guarantees cancellation.The Simpsons renewed.Ohio hasn't even managed to pass its own first of its kind legislation, and already Kansas anti-chioce activists are ready to copy cat.
Ohio’s own heartbeat legislation hasn’t even passed the senate yet, and likely won’t until next fall, but already other states are looking to copycat the ban that would make it illegal to abort once a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
According to the Republic, Kansas is considering pushing the same ban, which would eliminate all abortions after four weeks post-conception at the very latest, in a special session later this fall.
Also much like Ohio, the state is getting pushback on its plan — from local Right to Life members who believe it goes too far.
“We want change to be lasting change, not try to throw the Hail Mary passes,” said Mary Kay Culp, executive director of the anti-abortion organization Kansans for Life, which has offices in Overland Park, Wichita and Topeka. Get the facts, direct to your inbox. Subscribe to our daily or weekly digest. SUBSCRIBE The group urges incremental action, such as education and working to elect lawmakers who oppose abortion. “Just because you have a governor that might sign it should it pass both bodies, there’s lots to be considered,” she said. “Is it right for the long run? It’s going to be sued, so where are you going? You end up in the U.S. Supreme Court, where you’re still short a vote.”
Kansas Coalition for Life, who is pushing for the bill in special session, says they might as well see what all they can get anti-choice Governor Sam Brownback to sign since they have such an advocate in office, saying, “What else can we do? We’ve got just about everything else covered.”What does it mean to be a good corporate citizen?
That’s one of the questions being tested as Apple and the federal government battle over whether Apple should help the Federal Bureau of Investigation unlock an iPhone to gain access to encrypted data that officials say is necessary for their investigation of the San Bernardino, Calif., shootings that killed 14 people.
Apple initially assisted the F.B.I., but is now fighting a government order directing it to create a new piece of software to open the phone, contending that its position is meant to protect the privacy of its customers.
Aside from the thicket of legal issues raised by the case, does Apple have a moral obligation to help the government learn more about the attack? Or does it have a moral obligation to protect its customers’ privacy? Or how about its shareholders? And which of these should take precedence?
Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has long spoken about running his company based on certain values. He has used his position to advocate gay rights, for example, and pushed the company to be more “green,” once going so far as to tell a shareholder who questioned the return on investment of taking such stances, “If you want me to do things only for R.O.I. reasons, you should get out of this stock.”MADRID (Reuters) - Protesters clashed with police in Spain’s capital on Tuesday as the government prepared a new round of unpopular austerity measures for the 2013 budget to be announced on Thursday.
A demonstrator struggles with Spanish National Police riot officers outside the the Spanish parliament in Madrid September 25, 2012. Protesters clashed with police in Spain's capital on Tuesday as the government prepares a new round of unpopular austerity measures for the 2013 budget that will be announced on Thursday. REUTERS/Sergio Perez
Thousands gathered in Neptune plaza, a few meters from El Prado museum in central Madrid, where they formed a human chain around parliament, surrounded by barricades, police trucks and more than 1,500 police in riot gear.
Police fired rubber bullets and beat protesters with truncheons, first as protesters were trying to tear down barriers and later to clear the square. The police said at least 22 people had been arrested and at least 32 injured, including four policemen.
As lawmakers started to leave the parliament shortly after 2100 GMT in official cars or by foot, a few hundred people were still demonstrating in front of the building. Most dispersed shortly afterwards.
The protest, promoted over the Internet by different activist groups, was younger and more rowdy than recent marches called by labor unions. Protesters said they were fed up with cuts to public salaries and health and education.
“My annual salary has dropped by 8,000 euros and if it falls much further I won’t be able to make ends meet,” said Luis Rodriguez, 36, a firefighter who joined the protest. He said he was considering leaving Spain to find a better quality of life.
With this year’s budget deficit target looking untenable, the conservative government is now looking at such things as cuts in inflation-linked pensions, taxes on stock transactions, “green taxes” on emissions or eliminating tax breaks.
The 2013 budget is the second conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has had to pass since he took office in December. Spain must persuade its European partners that it can cut the budget shortfall by more than 60 billion euros by 2014.
Rajoy has already passed spending cuts and tax hikes worth slightly more than that over the next two years, but half-year figures show the 2012 deficit target slipping from view as tax income forecasts will not be hit due to economic contraction.
He said earlier this month the 2013 budget would cut spending further in all areas of government apart from pensions and borrowing costs.
Spain is at the center of the euro zone debt crisis on concerns the government cannot control its finances and those of highly indebted regions, bitten by a second recession since 2009 which has put one in four workers out of a job.
REGIONAL TENSION
On the regional front, Catalonia, which generates about 20 percent of the national output, announced on Tuesday it would hold early elections on November 25 after its call for more tax autonomy was rejected last week by Rajoy.
Political uncertainty in cash-strapped Catalonia, along with an announcement from southern region Andalucia it might seek a 4.9 billion-euro credit line from the central government, will pile more pressure on Madrid to seek European aid.
Rajoy is holding back from applying for help, which would activate a European Central Bank bond-buying programme and bring down Spain’s punishing debt premiums.
With the threat of the plan alone reducing 10-year yields by around 2 percentage points, the cautious leader, known for keeping his cards close to his chest, is playing for time.
Rajoy says he is mulling the conditions of a bailout application, but suspicion that he may wait until after regional elections on October 21 pushed short-term yields higher at auction on Tuesday.
The government is also expected on Thursday or Friday to set a fresh timetable for economic reforms, seen as an attempt to pre-empt strict EU-imposed conditions for aid.
“Let us in, we want to evict you,” protesters chanted outside parliament. The number of home evictions has soared as thousands of people have defaulted on mortgage loans.
Demonstrators said they were angry that the state has poured funds into crumbling banks while it is cutting social benefits.
“We’re protesting against the cuts. I’ve had to give up my apartment,” said Ondina, a 30-year-old fine arts graduate who is without a job. She said she could not survive on unemployment benefit of 260 euros ($340) a month.
RUNNING OUT OF OPTIONS
Half-year deficit data indicate national accounts are already on a slope that will drive Spain into a bailout. The deficit to end-June stands at over 4.3 percent of gross domestic product, including transfers to bailed out banks, making meeting the 6.3 percent target by the end of the year almost impossible.
On Tuesday, the treasury ministry said the central government deficit to end-August had reached 4.77 percent of GDP, already above its year-end target of 4.5 percent of GDP.
“It’s going to be difficult keeping the deficit to around 2 percent in the second half, when the first half was closer to 4 percent, especially since traditionally, the second half deficit is higher than the first,” said Juan Ignacio Conde-Ruiz, economist at Madrid’s Complutense University.
Slideshow (29 Images)
For 2012, the measures aim to reap savings of over 13 billion euros, but economists see the deficit missing the target by almost 1 percentage points, implying further saving needs of up to 10 billion euros for this year alone.
Rajoy has been careful to highlight the importance of next year’s deficit target of 4.5 percent of GDP though any shortfall this year will weigh on 2013’s accounts. After slashing civil servants’ wages, raising value added tax and cutting health and education spending, Rajoy is running out of options.
(0.7743 euros)BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A health warning. The extremely contagious measles virus is back. An outbreak that started at Disneyland is starting to sweep the country.
Christie Ileto has the push for children to get vaccinated.
Measles was thought to have been eliminated in the U.S. 15 years ago. Now its back, targeting those who haven’t been immunized.
The outbreak that started in California’s Disneyland is expanding. At least 75 cases of measles span six states.
“It’s scary to think the happiest place on Earth is infected with measles,” one Disney employee said.
For this Disney employee, knowing co-workers are infected is cause for concern.
Measles has a 21-day incubation period, meaning people can travel far before they know they’re sick.
“We’re seeing the resurgence of measles because a lot of the parents are not getting their children vaccinated,” said Dr. Peter Andrews, Sinai Hospital.
Dr. Andrews says that problem is prime. In Maryland, all students K-12 must get two shots of the measles vaccine.
“It just didn’t make sense to me,” said one Annapolis mom.
In a revealing interview with WJZ, an Annapolis mom explained why she didn’t vaccinate her kids.
“I didn’t understand why a little human had to get so many drugs at one time,” she said.
Still, the vaccine proves very effective if given at two doses.
Doctors say the virus is highly contagious. For instance, if someone has the measles and doesn’t cover their mouth when they sneeze, they can pass it on to anyone standing nearby.
Symptoms like fever, cough and rash soon follow.
“The younger, the older, the immune compromised. Those are the three target areas that really can get sick and die,” said Dr. Andrews.
Most people who have already had the measles or got the vaccine are not at risk.While PowerTap may have experimented with insole-based power meters, RPM2 put their foot down and stepped into production.
They make versions for both cycling and running as well as a combo unit for triathlon/multisport use, and the cycling features make it fairly unique among power meter options. Garmin’s recent software update for its Vector pedals added a simple foot pressure balance measurement, showing if you were putting more pressure on the inside or outside edges of the pedal. Presumably, this data let you know if you’re feet could be better centered over the pedal for more efficient power transfer.
RPM2 takes this a step further (or closer?) by measuring both left/right and fore/after pressure, letting you see exactly where your feet are pressing the hardest against your shoe’s sole. This provides more specific and exact data that can be used to correct cleat placement, fit and alignment.
Of course, it also provides standard total power output for each leg, along with cadence and where in your pedal stroke your power is |
of Holland. This was dropped after the retreat of the French troops in 1813, Dutch dignitaries proclaiming the Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands.
The people of Holland are referred to as "Hollanders" in both Dutch and English, though in English this is now unusual and nearly-archaic. Today this refers specifically to people from the current provinces of North Holland and South Holland. Strictly speaking, the term "Hollanders" does not refer to people from the other provinces in the Netherlands, but colloquially "Hollanders" is sometimes used in this wider sense. In Flanders it is quite common to speak of "Hollanders" when speaking of people from the Netherlands.[8]
In Dutch, the Dutch word "Hollands" is the adjectival form for "Holland". The Dutch word "Hollands" is also colloquially and occasionally used by some Dutch people in the sense of "Nederlands" (Dutch), but often with the intention of contrasting with other types of Dutch people or language, for example Limburgish, the Belgian varieties of the Dutch language ("Flemish"), or even any southern variety of Dutch within the Netherlands itself.
In English, "Dutch" refers to the Netherlands as a whole, but there is no commonly used adjective for "Holland". The word "Hollandish" is no longer in common use. "Hollandic" is the name linguists give to the dialect spoken in Holland, and is occasionally also used by historians and when referring to pre-Napoleonic Holland.
History [ edit ]
Initially, Holland was a remote corner of the Holy Roman Empire. Gradually, its regional importance increased until it began to have a decisive, and ultimately dominant, influence on the History of the Netherlands.
County of Holland [ edit ]
Until the start of the 12th century, the inhabitants of the area that became Holland were known as Frisians. The area was initially part of Frisia. At the end of the 9th century, West-Frisia became a separate county in the Holy Roman Empire. The first Count known about with certainty was Dirk I, who ruled from 896 to 931. He was succeeded by a long line of counts in the House of Holland (who were in fact known as counts of Frisia until 1101). When John I, Count of Holland, died childless in 1299, the county was inherited by John II of Avesnes, count of Hainaut. By the time of William V (House of Wittelsbach; 1354–1388) the count of Holland was also the count of Hainaut and Zealand.
After the St. Lucia's flood in 1287 the part of Frisia west of the later Zuiderzee, West Friesland, was conquered. As a result, most provincial institutions, including the States of Holland and West Frisia, would for more than five centuries refer to "Holland and West Frisia" as a unit. The Hook and Cod wars started around this time and ended when the countess of Holland, Jacoba or Jacqueline was forced to cede Holland to the Burgundian Philip III, known as Philip the Good, in 1432.
In 1432, Holland became part of the Burgundian Netherlands and since 1477 of the Habsburg Seventeen Provinces. In the 16th century the county became the most densely urbanised region in Europe, with the majority of the population living in cities. Within the Burgundian Netherlands, Holland was the dominant province in the north; the political influence of Holland largely determined the extent of Burgundian dominion in that area. The last count of Holland was Philip III, better known as Philip II, king of Spain. He was deposed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, although the kings of Spain continued to carry the titular appellation of Count of Holland until the Peace of Münster signed in 1648.
Dutch Republic [ edit ]
A map of Holland from 1682
In the Dutch Rebellion against the Habsburgs during the Eighty Years' War, the naval forces of the rebels, the Watergeuzen, established their first permanent base in 1572 in the town of Brill. In this way, Holland, now a sovereign state in a larger Dutch confederation, became the centre of the rebellion. It became the cultural, political and economic centre of the United Provinces (Dutch: Verenigde Provinciën), in the 17th century, the Dutch Golden Age, the wealthiest nation in the world. After the King of Spain was deposed as the count of Holland, the executive and legislative power rested with the States of Holland, which was led by a political figure who held the office of Grand Pensionary.
The largest cities in the Dutch Republic were in the province of Holland, such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Leiden, Alkmaar, The Hague, Delft, Dordrecht and Haarlem. From the great ports of Holland, Hollandic merchants sailed to and from destinations all over Europe, and merchants from all over Europe gathered to trade in the warehouses of Amsterdam and other trading cities of Holland.
Many Europeans thought of the United Provinces first as Holland rather than as the Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands. A strong impression of Holland was planted in the minds of other Europeans, which then was projected back onto the Republic as a whole. Within the provinces themselves, a gradual slow process of cultural expansion took place, leading to a "Hollandification" of the other provinces and a more uniform culture for the whole of the Republic. The dialect of urban Holland became the standard language.
Under French rule [ edit ]
Departments of French Empire North 1811
The formation of the Batavian Republic, inspired by the French revolution, led to a more centralised government. Holland became a province of a unitary state. Its independence was further reduced by an administrative reform in 1798, in which its territory was divided into several departments called Amstel, Delf, Texel, and part of Schelde en Maas.
From 1806 to 1810 Napoleon styled his vassal state, governed by his brother Louis Napoleon and shortly by the son of Louis, Napoleon Louis Bonaparte, as the "Kingdom of Holland". This kingdom encompassed much of what would become the modern Netherlands. The name reflects how natural at the time it had become to equate Holland with the non-Belgian Netherlands as a whole.[9]
During the period when the Low Countries were annexed by the French Empire and actually incorporated into France (from 1810 to 1813), Holland was divided into départements Zuyderzée, and Bouches-de-la-Meuse. From 1811 to 1813 Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance served as governor-general. He was assisted by Antoine de Celles, Goswin de Stassart and François Jean-Baptiste d'Alphonse.[10]
Kingdom of the Netherlands [ edit ]
After 1813, Holland was restored as a province of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Holland was divided into the present provinces North Holland and South Holland in 1840, after the Belgian Revolution of 1830. This reflected a historical division of Holland along the IJ into a Southern Quarter (Zuiderkwartier) and a Northern Quarter (Noorderkwartier),[citation needed] but the present division is different from the old division. From 1850, a strong process of nation formation took place, the Netherlands being culturally unified and economically integrated by a modernisation process, with the cities of Holland as its centre.[11]
Geography [ edit ]
North Holland
South Holland
Holland is situated in the west of the Netherlands. A maritime region, Holland lies on the North Sea at the mouths of the Rhine and the Meuse (Maas). It contains numerous rivers and lakes, and has an extensive inland canal and waterway system. To the south is Zealand. The region is bordered on the east by the IJsselmeer and four Dutch provinces.
Holland is protected from the sea by a long line of coastal dunes. The highest point in Holland (about 55 metres (180 ft) above sea level[12]) is in the Schoorlse Duinen [nl] (Schoorl Dunes). Most of the land area behind the dunes consists of polder landscape lying well below sea level. At present the lowest point in Holland is a polder near Rotterdam, which is about seven metres (23 ft) below sea level. Continuous drainage is necessary to keep Holland from flooding. In earlier centuries windmills were used for this task. The landscape was (and in places still is) dotted with windmills, which have become a symbol of Holland.
Holland is 7,494 square kilometres (2,893 square miles) (land and water included), making it roughly 13% of the area of the Netherlands. Looking at land alone, it is 5,488 square kilometres (2,119 square miles) in area. The combined population is 6.1 million.
The main cities in Holland are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Amsterdam is formally the capital of the Netherlands and its largest city. The Port of Rotterdam is Europe's largest and most important harbour and port. The Hague is the seat of government of the Netherlands. These cities, combined with Utrecht and other smaller municipalities, effectively form a single metroplex—a conurbation called Randstad.
The Randstad area is one of the most densely populated regions of Europe, but still relatively free of urban sprawl. There are strict zoning laws. Population pressures are enormous, property values are high, and new housing is constantly under development on the edges of the built-up areas. Surprisingly, much of the province still has a rural character. The remaining agricultural land and natural areas are highly valued and protected. Most of the arable land is used for intensive agriculture, including horticulture and greenhouse agri-businesses.
Reclamation of the land [ edit ]
Benthuizen polder, as seen from a dike
The land that is now Holland has not been "stable" since prehistoric times. The western coastline shifted up to thirty kilometres (19 miles) to the east and storm surges regularly broke through the row of coastal dunes. The Frisian Isles, originally joined to the mainland, became detached islands in the north. The main rivers, the Rhine and the Meuse (Maas), flooded regularly and changed course repeatedly and dramatically.
The people of Holland found themselves living in an unstable, watery environment. Behind the dunes on the coast of the Netherlands a high peat plateau had grown, forming a natural protection against the sea. Much of the area was marsh and bog. By the tenth century the inhabitants set about cultivating this land by draining it. However, the drainage resulted in extreme soil shrinkage, lowering the surface of the land by up to fifteen metres (49 feet).
To the south of Holland, in Zeeland, and to the north, in Frisia, this development led to catastrophic storm floods literally washing away entire regions, as the peat layer disintegrated or became detached and was carried away by the flood water. From the Frisian side the sea even flooded the area to the east, gradually hollowing Holland out from behind and forming the Zuiderzee (the present IJsselmeer). This inland sea threatened to link up with the "drowned lands" of Zealand in the south, reducing Holland to a series of narrow dune barrier islands in front of a lagoon. Only drastic administrative intervention saved the county from utter destruction. The counts and large monasteries took the lead in these efforts, building the first heavy emergency dikes to bolster critical points. Later special autonomous administrative bodies were formed, the waterschappen ("water control boards"), which had the legal power to enforce their regulations and decisions on water management. They eventually constructed an extensive dike system that covered the coastline and the polders, thus protecting the land from further incursions by the sea.
However, the Hollanders did not stop there. Starting around the 16th century, they took the offensive and began land reclamation projects, converting lakes, marshy areas and adjoining mudflats into polders. This continued well into the 20th century. As a result, historical maps of medieval and early modern Holland bear little resemblance to present maps.
This ongoing struggle to master the water played an important role in the development of Holland as a maritime and economic power, and has traditionally been seen as developing the presumed collective character of its inhabitants: stubborn, egalitarian and frugal.
Culture [ edit ]
The stereotypical image of Holland is an artificial amalgam of tulips, windmills, clogs, cheese and traditional dress (klederdracht), but this is far from the reality of everyday Holland. This can at least in part be explained by the active exploitation of these stereotypes in promotions of Holland and the Netherlands. In fact only in a few of the more traditional villages, such as Volendam and locations in the Zaan area, are the different costumes with wooden shoes still worn by some inhabitants.[citation needed]
The predominance of Holland in the Netherlands has resulted in regionalism on the part of the other provinces, a reaction to the perceived threat that Holland poses to their local culture and identity. The other provinces have a strong, and often negative,[13] image of Holland and the Hollanders, to whom certain qualities are ascribed within a mental geography, a conceptual mapping of spaces and their inhabitants.[14] On the other hand, some Hollanders take Holland's cultural dominance for granted and treat the concepts of "Holland" and "the Netherlands" as coinciding. Consequently, they see themselves not primarily as Hollanders, but simply as Dutch (Nederlanders).[15] This phenomenon has been called "hollandocentrism".[16]
Languages [ edit ]
The predominant language spoken in Holland is Dutch. Hollanders sometimes call the Dutch language "Hollands,"[17] instead of the standard term Nederlands. Inhabitants of Belgium and other provinces of the Netherlands use "Hollands" to mean a Hollandic dialect or strong accent.
Standard Dutch was historically largely based on the dialect of the County of Holland, incorporating many traits derived from the dialects of the previously more powerful Duchy of Brabant and County of Flanders. Strong dialectal variation still exists throughout the Low Countries. Today, Holland proper is the region where the original dialects are least spoken, in many areas having been completely replaced by standard Dutch, and the Randstad has the largest influence on the developments of the standard language—with the exception of the Dutch spoken in Belgium.[18]
Despite this correspondence between standard Dutch and the Dutch spoken in the Randstad, there are local variations within Holland itself that differ from standard Dutch. The main cities each have their own modern urban dialect, that can be considered a sociolect.[19] Some people, especially in the area north of Amsterdam, still speak the original dialect of the county, Hollandic. This dialect is present in the north: Volendam and Marken and the area around there, West Friesland and the Zaanstreek; and in a southeastern fringe bordering the provinces of North Brabant and Utrecht. In the south on the island of Goeree-Overflakkee, Zealandic is spoken.
Legacy [ edit ]
New Holland [ edit ]
The province of Holland gave its name to a number of colonial settlements and discovered regions that were called Nieuw Holland or New Holland. The largest was the island continent presently known as Australia: New Holland was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Dirk Hartog as a Latin Nova Hollandia, and remained in international use for 190 years. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman named New Zealand after the Dutch province of Zealand. In the Netherlands Nieuw Holland would remain the usual name of the continent until the end of the 19th century; it is now no longer in use there, the Dutch name today being Australië.
As contemporary exonym for the Netherlands [ edit ]
While "Holland" has been replaced in English as the official name for the country of the Netherlands, other languages still use it or a variant of it to officially refer to the Netherlands. This is still the case in the languages of Indonesia, for example:
References [ edit ]
Coordinates:A Lebanese Hezbollah media arm released a photo of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Qods Force chief Qassem Soleimani today “by the Syrian border with Iraq.” On Monday, Tasnim News Agency – a propaganda outlet affiliated with the Guard Corps – posted photos of Soleimani allegedly by the Iraqi border in Syria. The precise location and date of these photos are unclear.
The promotion of the Iranian general’s recent photos underscore the importance of operations in the Iraq-Syria border area to the Islamic Republic as the Islamic State’s territorial hold collapses.
Soleimani was previously spotted in Tehran late last month. Prior to that, he was photographed close to the Syrian border in northwest Iraq, according to social media posts and Iranian media outlets.
In the latest picture, Soleimani was seen giving a prayer of gratitude in desert and visiting Afghan Fatemiyoun Division militiamen under his command, according to Tasnim. This unit has been operating near the Coalition military base at Tanf, and has assisted pro-regime forces in offensives near Palmyra in central Syria and toward the Iraqi border.
Several Iranian-backed militias have taken photos by the Iraqi border in Syria as they move toward that front. These militias included the Iraqi Ansar Allah al Awfiya in Iraq and Syria, al Jihad Companies and the Seyyed al Shuhada Brigades. The Iraqi Imam Ali Brigades, Harakat al Abdal and Harakat al Nujaba have also been spotted on that front. These groups are members of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which was enshrined into a permanent security institution in Iraq last year, thus technically making these militias Iraqi security forces that are de facto allied with the US in Iraq. The Syrian Imam al Baqir Brigade and the Sayida Roqaya Brigade have deployed to the southeastern Syrian front, as well. Lebanese Hezbollah has furthermore deployed some forces to that front, according to Guard-affiliated media.
Last week, pro-regime forces in Syria claimed they reached the Iraqi border northeast of the US Tanf base, just outside the “deconfliction” zone. According to pro-regime claims, US forces agreed to Russia’s request to reach al Boudah village by the border, and US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA)-branded forces withdrew from the area. The Russian defense ministry released a map of pro-regime forces reaching the Iraqi border (right), and a Syrian propaganda outlet published images of several soldiers raising the Syrian regime flag. Russia has also deployed assets there, as reflected in yesterday’s statement by Defense Secretary James Mattis before the Senate.
The pro-regime forces’ presence and line of communication is more tenuous than the pro-regime propaganda claims. General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, denied before the Senate yesterday that pro-regime forces have encircled US forces in Tanf: “We still have freedom of movement outside of the Tanf area … we are not limited from moving up toward the Euphrates River valley,” according to comments carried in Stripes. Later in the day, CNN citing US officials reported the deployment of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) from Jordan to Tanf, boosting US combat power.
The tactical circumstances surrounding the latest pro-regime movements toward the Iraqi border are thus far unclear, and the situation on the ground is very fluid.
Iran and the pro-regime alliance are attempting to maximize their gains in the Iraq-Syria border area. In Iraq, the PMF last month reached the border with Syria in the northwestern countryside and is moving southward toward the Qaim-Albukamal border crossing in west Anbar province. Meanwhile, pro-regime forces in Syria have launched offensives in southern and central Syria. They seek to reach the besieged Deir Ezzor, capture a major border crossing into Iraq and deny territory to US and US-backed forces. That is reflected in announcements and a map released by Guard-affiliated Mashregh News, which boasts that linking forces and especially the capture of the Qaim-Albukamal crossing would re-establish a land route from Tehran to the Levant for the first time in 6 years, facilitating the movement of manpower and materiel.
If successful – and this is a big if at this time – a viable land crossing between Iraq and Syria would complement Iran’s air bridge to Syria, though achieving and holding that faces significant hurdles, such as a potential US-backed advancement into Deir Ezzor by the Iraqi border.
In the past month, the US has struck pro-regime forces including Iranian-backed militias three times and has downed an Iranian Shahed-129 drone inside the US deconfliction zone.
In the US military’s latest announcement on the clashes in Tanf, it stated that it sought to de-escalate and only focus on the campaign against the Islamic State, though warned about the risk of escalation “as long as pro-regime forces are oriented toward coalition and partner forces.”
That statement makes sense. As the US calibrates its anti-Islamic State strategy in eastern Syria and pro-regime forces challenge the US in a bid to gain territory, the risk of further clashes persists.
Amir Toumaj is a independent analyst and 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.Here is a download link to a zipped file of the missing notebook series by MF DOOM, which was recently cancelled by Adult Swim.
Access to the The Missing Notebook Rhymes.zip
Adult Swim Presents The Missing Notebook Rhymes from DOOM Song List:
Background on the MF DOOM – The Missing Notebook Rhymes series with Adult Swim
Jason DeMarco is Senior Vice President at Adult Swim, and has been influential in helping the world hear music that would otherwise lay relegated to Reddit Forum wish lists. The latest was a project with MF Doom titled: The Missing Notebook Rhymes. DeMarco is all about helping the artists he deems worthwhile reach as big an audience as possible.
“People who make art for a living are risking a lot. especially in today’s world, where art is so devalued in terms of being able to make a living out of it. I’m just happy if I can contribute in any way to what I consider to be a very brave thing to do for a living.”
Relationship with MF DOOM:
“Every couple years we reach out to DOOM or he reaches out to me, and says, ‘What do you got going on? We like working with him; he’s a genius. And he likes working with us. We pay our bills on time and do what we say we’ll do, and generally don’t behave like a record label. And he’s a fan of our cartoons, so we have a good, ongoing relationship.”
That relationship led to DeMarco receiving a batch of 15 new DOOM tracks, with the possibility of maybe releasing an EP or something through Adult Swim.
“My idea was more: Why don’t we release all this music? Do it over 15 weeks, and have one song a week. People haven’t heard him in years and how great would it be to have one new DOOM song a week for three-and-a-half straight months? I said, ‘DOOM fans are gonna freak out!’”
The project’s first track, a collaboration with Sean Price titled “Negus,” was met with great fanfare. A day later, the track also saw a release through Sean Price’s posthumous album Imperius Rex.
“We wanted to drop the news and let people get excited. Hopefully that gives a boost to not only DOOM, but also Sean Price’s project.”
Cancellation
After track seven (Notebook 06) however, the project was cancelled without anymore of an explanation. Anthony Fantano hypothesized on some of the reasons for this sudden cancellation, in a youtube video on the Needle Drop. He said these apparently ‘new’ DOOM tracks appear to be old B sides and unreleased verses that have been floating around the internet, which perhaps wasn’t exactly what Adult Swim had signed up for when they (presumably paid) to have the rights to release the ‘new’ tracks.
Update (7th November 2017)
The Notebook 06 track was a rip-off of the track, Pause Tape from the Bookhead EP by JJ DOOM. The Missing Rhymes version cuts off before JJ comes in.
Missing Rhymes Notebook TracklistColin Kaepernick will win a Super Bowl one day.
He’s got the team, the personal, the coaching, and above all, he’s got the “it” factor that so many general managers in professional football long for in a quarterback.
In two years of playing time, Kaepernick has been in more big games than most QBs could ever dream of. Kaepernick set an NFL Playoff record for yards rushing by a quarterback with 181 against Green Bay in last year’s Divisional playoffs. In the NFC title game on the road in Atlanta against Matt Ryan and the Falcons, Kaepernick rallied the 49ers back from 17 points down to advance to their first Super Bowl since the 1994 season.
In the Super Bowl, Kaepernick led a furious comeback from 22 points down against the Baltimore Ravens that fell 5-yards shy from taking the lead with under two minutes left in the game.
This year, despite playing three-fourths of the season without his No. 1 wide receiver, Michael Crabtree, Kaepernick held his own and kept San Francisco in contention. With Crabtree back by Week 13, the 49ers finished the season, including the playoffs with a 7-1 record.
In the 2013 playoffs, Kaepernick twice rallied the 49ers from behind on the road for wins at Green Bay and Carolina.
Against Seattle in the NFC Title Game, Kaepernick had his best individual performance in three games at CenturyLink Field and gave his team an opportunity to win, but a pass intended for Michael Crabtree was deflected and intercepted, ending the 49ers 2013 season and a shot at their second straight Super Bowl appearance.
If the pass were six inches farther, the 49ers would have been up 24-23 with less than 30 seconds left to play.
But that’s the nature of the beast in the NFL. One season ended with a pass too far, the next ended with a pass too short, and sadly, there may never be another chance, but don’t tell that to Kaepernick, who two days after the loss was already at 49er headquarters working towards the 2014 season.
Colin Kaepernick will win a Super Bowl one day, hopefully with this group of players who have appeared in three straight NFC Title games.
With another offseason, the 49ers will regroup, rebuild, and rearm for another title run, and with No. 7 under center, San Francisco will be competitive, and one of these years, Kaepernick’s passes won’t be too short, or too far, but just right, and that’s the year he will finally raise the Lombardi Trophy.The American War of Independence was a huge turning point in British imperial power. What many don’t know is, the war actually spilled out over the Atlantic and onto British soil. Here’s the story of a true maverick.
Whitehaven was a small and largely insignificant town in North-West England in 1778. It wasn’t the first place you’d think of attacking unless you were a man who knew the British Isles first hand. John Paul Jones was that man. A former British merchant sailor, Jones had emigrated to the New World to escape punishment for crimes he had committed on the British isles. Within a few years he had joined the Continental Navy
For a while Jones served well in the US Navy but being the man he was, he continued to upset and irritate people in equal measure. iIt is not known exactly why he did so but in April 1778 he set off with a crew of around 30 men with an audacious plan: a direct assault on the British Isles.
On the evening of 22nd April 1778, Jones’ ship the USS Ranger sat two miles off the coast. It was a cold night but the men pressed on with their objective: to destroy the Royal Navy ships docked in Whitehaven harbour. Armed with cutlasses and pistols, the men left the ship and set out on small boats towards the shore. The journey would take three hours of rowing against the tide. The rough sea hindered the raiding party once more as they forced to around the gun battery they originally planned to strike and land further up the coast. When they reached the harbour the plan was to split into two groups. One would burn the ships while the other party would raid the fort and disable the cannon.
Silently scaling the walls, the attack caught the defenders, who had retreated inside to keep warm, off guard. Paul Jones then hoisted himself up to the top of the battlements and signalled the remaining crew on the Ranger to follow him and become heroes. He then made his way down to knock out the cannon defences.
Meanwhile the other party of invaders were on their way to the dock to set the wooden ships alight. It was at this point the story gets a bit hazy. Below are stereotypical examples of the different accounts given by British and American historians who have studied the operation.
British historian:
On their way to the port, the men became distracted by the strong allure of the nearby public house. It was here that this half of the crew became intoxicated and were unable to complete their mission.
American historian:
The heavy rain and gales that evening are what stopped the operation in its tracks. The weather conditions were so bad that none of the men were able to strike a light to set the ships on fire.
Whatever happened on that night, the Sun was now beginning to rise and Jones and his men were fast running out of time. Finally they managed to get a light and made their way to the harbour to light up their main target, the coal ship ‘The Thompson’. Gagging the small crews that defended the ships, the wooden vessels were covered with tar and set on fire. Jones was close to completing his mission.
It is still debated why he did what he did, but David Freeman may well have saved the moored fleet that night. An Irishman who was part of Jones’ crew, he was never happy under his captain’s leadership. In the early hours of the morning his doubts became too much and he slipped of to warn the townspeople of what was about to happen. Within minutes the town’s fire engines rushed to the scene and extinguished the fires before the inferno did any lasting damage.
Jones and his crew managed to flee back to the Ranger with three prisoners and sailed away to the north west. Jones would lead skirmishes on the British for the remainder of the war while Britain, shaken at the pure audacity of the assault, would tighten their coastal defences as the war rumbled on.
John Paul Jones and his crew of 30 aren’t too well known in the annals of history but this daring raid is an example of how fragile empires, even the most powerful one on Earth, could be.Pakistan Officially Bans All Encryption Online
from the yeah,-that'll-work dept
This was rumored about a month ago, but now reports are coming out that the Pakistani government has issued orders to all ISPs in the country, telling them to block any user from using any "technology that would allow them to privately browse the internet." The notice to ISPs specifically calls out VPNs, saying that they are illegal because they make it impossible to monitor. The Pakistani government insists that they really only mean that militants should be blocked, but that does not appear to be clear at all in the statement to ISPs. The report also notes that the Pakistani government has become more aggressive at blocking websites, including blocking all of, because someone in Pakistan didn't like a Matt Taibii article, and they're so clueless they can't figure out how to just block a URL.In the meantime, we're wondering how various companies that rely on encrypted information, such as banks, will deal with the order, which pretty clearly says that the government has "prohibited usage of all such mechanisms including encrypted virtual private networks (EVPNs) which conceal communication to the extent that prohibits monitoring." Do they just ignore it? And will users give up their VPNs just because the government hates such security?
Filed Under: encryption, pakistanAtticus Shaffer is one of television's most beloved actors, best known for his role as the quirky Brick Heck on the hit ABC comedy "The Middle." In real life, the 16 year old star just as endearing, possessing an infectiously positive outlook on everything from acting to living with Osteogenesis imperfecta, a congenital condition which causes fragile bones.
In an exclusive interview with the Gospel Herald, Atticus opened up about his faith, his passion for for sharing the Gospel, and why he loves Christian rock.
GH: What's your favorite part about playing Brick? How are you similar to him, and how are you different?
Atticus: The cool thing about Brick is that he's something of a role model. He's showing that it's okay to be quirky, to be smart, and to be different, because that's all the things that I personally want to to tell people and share with people. We are all different. We were all created to be unique.
I'm like Brick in the sense in that he follows the beat to his own drum. And it's true, and I do the same thing. For example, if there were a crowd of kids at Brick's school, and they were all looking at one particular thing, Brick would be off in the background admiring the font on a street sign, or he'd be in some store in the mall, like Williams & Sonoma, and would be reading through a cookbook. He's unique in that way, he knows what he takes joy in, and he thrives in those areas. He's not just trying to fit in all the time--he fits in with himself. And that's how I am in real life, that's how I am with anything.
In ways that we're different--I'm definitely not as much into font as he is, although I could really get into fonts if I set my mind to it (laughs). I also love to read as well, but not nearly as much as Brick does.
GH: You're very open about your Christian faith in your personal life. How does this translate into your acting career?
Atticus: I try to bring up God in everyday life way--which is what we're supposed to do, because He is in our life every day. I go to my local church out here, which I absolutely love, and I was talking with one of the pastors one time, and he told me, 'You know, it's amazing that you are a Christian that wants to be a Christian inside of the business that you're in.' Because the business I am in--there are a lot of ways that someone can fall and not be able to witness and share what the Lord does. Or they might not want to do so. Me, I want to be able to share that. I want to be able to share what the Lord does in a way that's not forcing it down someone's throat, but being able to say, 'Listen, it's not just by sheer luck or coincidence that I'm here. I am very blessed by God and praise Him for the fact that I am able to do something I enjoy doing."
I get people all the time on Facebook and Twitter, or people in real life will come up to me and be like, 'My son or my daughter, myself or whoever, we look up to you because of the challenges you've faced in life, and because you are put in this position and you're actually showing good values.' So every chance I get, I try to witness. I have my cross necklace which I wear all the time, or my mom buys me interesting and cool Christian shirts. Even if it's just showing up to a set wearing that, and letting people know that I am a Christian--that alone is a little victory for me.
GH: I noticed on your Facebook page that you talk a lot about Christian rock. Who are your favorite Christian rock bands and why?
Atticus: When I listen to a song, I get enveloped into the music. And I have a story type of mindset, so musicians who make songs that have a storyline in it, or talk about a particular subject such as strength, or love, or whatever, I kind of see it in my head-- I feel it. When I need strength, I'll listen to Christian rock music because it makes me feel strong in my spirit. It also energizes me and makes me happy.
One of my favorite bands is Thousand Foot Krutch. Their songs always talk about strength, and faith, and how even if you're pushed down to the innermost of your being, you can still believe and you can still have faith and you can still carry on.
I also love Skillet, Nine Lashes and We As Humans--these groups either talk about strength, or their faith, or have stories. I put the songs in a perspective where as a Christian, I can hear it as a Christian song, but others may just hear it as interesting and fun music. It's cool to be able to have music that empowers you. It's like coffee--I don't drink coffee in the morning, but I listen to Christian hard rock on the way to work.
I'm also a fan of bands like Casting Crowns or Third Day. Those bands are a little more calm--you know, sometimes I just want to hear music that's praise music.
GH: You were born with Osteogenesis imperfecta type IV, a congenital condition which causes fragile bones. How has this affected you?
Atticus: I have not lost anything, because I never had it. I was born with this. This is the exact way God intended me to be. Having this disease is a minimal part of me-- it doesn't define me. Having a "disability" in no way disables you--in fact, I hate the word disable because even if people have a condition, it doesn't disable you at all. Actually, it's very interesting, my pastor preaching last Sunday, and suddenly he blurted out, 'Nothing is impossible when you introduce God into the equation.' And it's true. Absolutely nothing is impossible when you have God right there beside you. And He's beside you all the time. Honestly, I'm just a shorter, regular teenage boy. Yes, I do have a condition, and I need to be more careful in some situations, but besides that, I'm just Atticus.
GH: How can your Christians fans best pray for you?
Atticus: The best way for people to pray for me-- |
10 endemic insects believed restricted to caves leaves more questions than answers. Are they restricted to caves in one area, or do they occur in other caves across the island? Could they exist in other similarly protected surface habitats? With that in mind, do other endemic species persist in other protected surface habitats on the island as well?
My gravest concern is related to conservation. More than half of these new species were found in low numbers. Because of this, I believe most of these newly discovered animals to be imperiled. Rapa Nui is home to an overwhelming number of nonnative invasive insect species. Given that most of the island’s perishable and nonperishable goods are shipped from mainland Chile, there is a steady stream of opportunities for future non-native species introductions. I further mused whether these endemic insects are competing with the non-natives. And to what extent are they being preyed upon by non-natives?
I suspect the endemic insects are relicts of ecosystems long past, perhaps even ecological dead ends. If we don’t act to protect them, are they destined to go extinct?
This agglomeration of research questions compelled me to conduct an island-wide search for endemic insects. Much as NASA prescribes a “follow the water” approach in its search for evidence of life on Mars, I proposed to “follow the endemic plants” on Rapa Nui. I hypothesized that where there are endemic plants, there will be endemic insects. This research would zero in on caves, cliffs, coasts and crater lakes. The goal was to sample caves island-wide, rappel off thousand-foot coastal cliffs to examine relict endemic plant populations, comb the rocky and sandy coasts and examine the native vegetation within the three crater lakes. This was the most ambitious hunt for endemic insects ever conducted on the island.
Mission patch (A) and study locations (B) for the 2016 Endemic Insects Expedition. (A) Base map: ASTER, NASA-JPL. (B) Design: Nicholas Glover and Jut Wynne
The project began in June of 2016. I embarked upon a three and a half month expedition to search for endemic insects in many of the hardest to reach places on the island. I called it the “backstage pass” to Rapa Nui. We sampled 47 sites across the island including 20 caves, 10 cliff faces, the three crater lakes, eight rocky coastlines, the two main beaches, four surface control sites, and two inland surface areas containing patches of native ferns. I collaborated closely with Parque Nacional Rapa Nui, the Rapa Nui Museum and local community members, as well as coordinated three international teams of citizen scientists and undergraduate students.
Team members peering into Rano Kau crater on the climb out. Credit: Jut Wynne
During our work, my teams experienced intense rainstorms (while dangling from a rope off a cliff), occasional blasts of cold temperatures pushed up from Antarctica, and even a wildfire. We also hiked in and out of the most formidable crater lake on the island, Rano Kau. In parts of the crater, the totora reeds were so thick around the crater lake that the person blazing the trail would dive onto the reeds, flatten them slightly, climb atop the slightly flattened reeds, and repeat. To stave off complete exhaustion, team members took turns leading the charge, rotating every 15 minutes.
While “adventure candy” was never in short supply, we also lived the inescapable beauty and rich culture of Rapa Nui. The rolling grassy hills festooned with moai with were our constant companions and the ocean was always nearby. The Rapa Nui people welcomed my teams and me with kindness and generosity.
Arborist and technical rope expert, Byron Yeager ascending a cliff at Poike after sampling insects. Credit: Jut Wynne
Sharing food is an integral part of Polynesian culture. One of my most memorable eating occasions (and there were many) came during the cliff work. On several occasions, project co-director and park guard, Francisco “Pancho” Ika, would prepare fish, chicken and sweet potato on an open fire while we were working the cliffs. We often smelled the food cooking as we ascended the rope. When you're cold and wet, the thought of a warm meal makes you climb a lot faster!
The 2016 expedition was a smashing success. An unofficial goal was to double the number of endemic insect species known to Rapa Nui. This was reasonable. We started with a low number of presumed extant endemic insects (only 10 species). We were also sampling many habitats and areas that had never been studied. Our preliminary results suggest we may have at least eight new endemic species. We may very well have accomplished this goal!
Drew Bristow and the author eating a late lunch (with Pancho in the background) after working on a cliff at Orongo. Credit: Byron Yeager
Formally describing a new species is serious business. One must compare and contrast specimens with all known closely related species. This is often an iterative and time-consuming process. Morphological characters must then be tediously illustrated. Researchers then write the paper, and it’s then subjected to peer review. Once these hurdles have been cleared, the paper is birthed to the world. At which point, the species is officially recognized as “new.”
Presently, we’re in the earliest “arm-waving” stage of this process. Based on photos and the locations where these animals were collected, collaborating taxonomists and I agreed that they warrant further examination. These eight species are quite possibly new. But, until we’ve run the gauntlet of scientific process, the most comfortable scientific ground to stand upon is calling these possible new species “curious.”
But here’s the kicker. We collected an estimated 20,000 specimens over the three and a half months of work on the island. I’d hazard a guess this assemblage likely holds more surprises. Especially when we consider small-bodied arthropods such as springtails and mites. These animals are difficult to examine in the field and making species-level identifications is often painstakingly tedious. I suspect there are more discoveries in store.
Pancho and the author deploying pitfall traps for capturing insects, Rano Aroi crater. Credit: Byron Yeager
Currently, a team of students is organizing, sorting and imaging these specimens. We hope to have all specimens processed by next spring. During this often glacial process, we periodically capture high-resolution images of the “curious” specimens, which we send to taxonomic specialists for further examination. If they get excited, we ship the specimens to them without delay.
I believe one of our greatest contributions was speaking with the Rapa Nui community concerning the importance of conservation and management of endemic insects on Rapa Nui. Pancho and I spent over two weeks presenting our work to the local community and discussing with them the importance of the island’s declining native species. We also gave two radio interviews and even aided in the production of a 15-minute video (in Spanish) summarizing the importance of this work.
Biology undergraduate student Ben Shipley collecting insects from a cave entrance. Credit: Nicholas Glover
A dwindling handful of plants and bugs are all that remain of the island’s ancient ecosystems. If we can inspire the local Rapa Nui community to "adopt" these endemic species as their own (which they are), their chances of being protected are dramatically increased.
As we continue to process insect specimens and describe new species, I will continue to share our findings with the National Park and the island community. This information will trickle onto Rapa Nui over the next few years. As this occurs, my hope is that protection of the island’s native species will become an underpinning theme for natural resource conservation on Rapa Nui.
By the time I first reached Rapa Nui, my grandmother had already passed away. My fascination with Rapa Nui began with a childhood dream prompted by one story buried within a box of unwanted National Geographic magazines. Undoubtedly, she’d be quite amused to learn she shaped nearly a decade of research, contributed to numerous new species discoveries, and may have helped to protect endemic species on one of the most remote islands in the world.
Explorers Club flag expedition photo with the cliff team. From left to right, Byron Yeager, Pancho Ika, Drew Bristow, the author, and Sebastian Pakarati. Credit: Sebastián Yancovic Pakarati
References:
Bernard, E.C. et al. 2015. Collembola of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) with descriptions of five endemic cave-restricted species. Zootaxa 3949: 239–267.
Mieth, A. & Bork, H.R. 2004. Easter Island - Rapa Nui: Scientific Pathways to Secrets of the Past. Man and Environment 1. Ecology Center, Kiel University, Kiel.
Mockford, E.L. & J.J. Wynne. 2013. Genus Cyptophania Banks (Psocodea: Lepidopsocidae): Unique features, augmented description of the generotype, and descriptions of three new species. Zootaxa 3702: 437–449.
Rolett, B. & J. Diamond. 2004. Environmental predictors of pre-European deforestation on Pacific Islands. Nature 431: 443–446.
Taiti, S. & J.J. Wynne. 2015. The terrestrial Isopoda (Crustacea, Oniscidea) of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), with descriptions of two new species. ZooKeys 515: 27–49.
Wynne et al. 2014. Disturbance relicts in a rapidly changing world: the Rapa Nui (Easter Island) factor. BioScience 64: 711–718..- Pope Francis and Anglican Primate Archbishop Welby have signed a joint-declaration emphasizing that while topics such as homosexuality and the ordination of women still constitute points of division, they are committed to working together in their pursuit of full unity.
“The declaration is a forward-looking commitment to doing everything we can together, and continuing to struggle without fear, but with determination for the things that divide us,” Archbishop Welby told CNA Oct. 5.
He said he doesn’t know if Catholics and Anglicans are closer to full unity than they were 50 years ago, but stated simply that “we are where we are.”
One thing that is certain, he said, is that “we serve the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, which means we are always full of hope.”
The archbishop and Pope Francis met to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the landmark encounter between Bl. Paul VI and Michael Ramsey, as well as the institution of the Anglican Center of Rome.
In 1966 Bl. Pope Paul VI met with Dr. Michael Ramsey, who was Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, at the Roman Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
Until 1960, when St. John XXIII met with Geoffrey Fisher in a private encounter, there had been no meeting between a Pope and an Archbishop of Canterbury since King Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534.
The meeting between Paul VI and Ramsey, however, was the first public meeting that had taken place.
This meeting and declaration led to the eventual creation of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (Arcic), which was responsible for theological dialogue between the two churches. It also marked the opening of the Anglican Centre in Rome, which serves as not only the headquarters of Rome’s Anglican community, but also as a center committed to advancing dialogue between the two Churches.
The current director of the Anglican Center, Archbishop David Moxon, serves as Welby’s personal Representative to the Holy See.
Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby prayed First Vespers together in the historic Roman church of San Gregorio al Cielo Oct. 5, during which they signed their own joint-declaration and commissioned 19 pairs of Catholic and Anglican bishops, who will symbolically serve together throughout the world.
#PopeFrancis & @JustinWelby enter San Gregorio al Cielo side by side, where they will pray Vespers & sign joint declaration pic.twitter.com/3VKHWRgXnQ — Elise Harris (@eharris_it) October 5, 2016
It was from San Gregorio that Pope Gregory the Great sent the monk Augustine with 40 companions to evangelize Britain in 597. Because of its historic roots, Anglicans widely consider the church to be their "motherhouse."
In their joint-declaration, Welby and Pope Francis recognized that both Catholics and Anglicans “are heirs of the treasure of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the call to share that treasure with the whole world.”
They noted that since that first public meeting in 1966, “much progress” has been made in terms of overcoming the obstacles that stand in the way of unity.
However, the modern times have led to new hiccups in the process, particularly surrounding the topics of the ordination of women and “more recent questions regarding human sexuality.”
“Behind these differences lies a perennial question about how authority is exercised in the Christian community,” the declaration read, recognizing that these concerns constitute “serious obstacles to our full unity.”
Yet while solutions to these questions remain in question, Francis and Welby said they are “undeterred” in their quest for unity.
These differences “cannot prevent us from recognizing one another as brothers and sisters in Christ by reason of our common baptism,” nor should they “hold us back” from discovering the faith and holiness of each other’s traditions, they said.
Neither should differences get in the way of common prayer, the prelates cautioned, and urged their respective clergy and faithful “not to neglect or undervalue that certain yet imperfect communion that we already share.”
A shared faith and joy in the Gospel are stronger than the differences, they said, stressing that “the world must see us witnessing to this common faith in Jesus by acting together.”
Common points of collaboration mentioned include working together to protect creation and promote “a sustainable and integral development for the good of all, and to uphold the dignity of the human being in all states and stages of life.
Centuries of painful separation have been “partially healed by 50 years of friendship,” they said, adding that “we have become partners and companions on our pilgrim journey.”
As fellow Christians, the Churches are facing the same difficulties, while also strengthening each other “by learning to value the gifts which God has given to the other, and to receive them as our own in humility and gratitude.”
The two prelates made reference to the 19 pairs of Catholic and Anglican bishops commissioned during the Vespers ceremony, praying that their ecumenical mission would be “a witness to all of us.”
“Let the message go out from this holy place, as the Good News was sent out so many centuries ago, that Catholics and Anglicans will work together to give voice to our common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring relief to the suffering, to bring peace where there is conflict, to bring dignity where it is denied and trampled upon.”
The two exchanged gifts at the close of the ceremony. Pope Francis gifted Archbishop Welby a replica of the hook-like head of the crozier of St. Gregory, while the archbishop in a strong show of unity took his pectoral cross made out of nails from the roof of the Anglican Coventry Cathedral and gave it as a gift to Pope Francis, who kissed it.
Both Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby gave homilies during Vespers, which was prayed in Latin. The prelates both emphasized that while their traditions might be different, a shared baptism and commitment to spreading the Gospel unites them.
Pope Francis in his homily prayed that the encounter would give rise to “a renewed impetus toward communion and mission,” while Welby, for his part, noted that while it might be tempting to look back, the prophets “compel us to look forward...we cannot be bad shepherds.”
In a follow-up to Vespers and the signing of the declaration, two met privately at the Vatican Oct. 6. Archbishop Welby has already met with Pope Francis twice in the Vatican, the first time being June 14, 2013, and the second June 16, 2014. Welby was also a special guest at the World Day of Prayer for Peace held in Assisi Sept. 18-20.
In his brief speech during the meeting, Pope Francis focused on the importance of prayer, witness and mission between the two Churches.
“Let us never grow tired of asking the Lord together and insistently for the gift of unity,” he said, stressing that “ecumenism is never an impoverishment, but a richness.”
“Now is the time in which the Lord challenges us, in a particular way, to go out from ourselves and our own environs, in order to bring his merciful love to a world thirsting for peace,” he said, and encouraged members of both confessions to help one another “to keep at the center the demands of the Gospel and to spend ourselves concretely in this mission.”
In his own speech, Welby thanked the Pope for his “leadership and example” given throughout the world, particularly when it comes to care for the poor, the enslaved, those suffering from human trafficking as well as care for the environment.
However, despite the mutual concern for these and other threats to modern society, the lack of full unity between the Catholic and Anglican Churches “grieves” God and damages “every aspect of our lives in Christ.”
Yet it is Christ who “breaks down divisions,” he said, and noted that despite the things that divide them, the Churches are “publicly determined to press forward where we may, together with all other Christians.”
“Jesus has gone before us. He calls us to be courageous. Let us walk closer together so the world sees new life and energy in the Church’s worship, mission and witness.”
At the beginning of the meeting, Welby jested with the Pope, saying “What's the difference between a terrorist and a liturgist? You can dialogue with a terrorist,” prompting boisterous laughter from both.Management Info
Preventative measures:
Risk assessment models by the Bureau of Rural Sciences, Australia, classifies the common myna in the highest threat category (Bomford 2003). The common myna is prohibited in Western Australia (Massam 2001).
A Pest Animal Risk Assessment using a numerical risk assessment system developed by Bomford (2006) was carried out by the State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, in 2009. Indian mynas in Queensland were assessed as an ‘extreme’ threat species. See Markula et al 2009
Physical: Foraging traps are very useful for the control of small myna populations if poisoning is not an option. The Tindall Trap and the Tidemann Trap have been used successfully in New Zealand and Australia, respectively. The Decoy Trap, Kadavu Trap, Larsen Trap, Rat snap-trap and other foraging traps have also been used for trapping myna birds with less success. Please follow this link to view a plan of Peter Green's starling, sparrow and myna trap is available. Mynas roost in large concentrations and netting operations and nest trapping may be appropriate for control. Mynas should be provided with food, shelter and perches in cages a few days prior to trapping. Mynas should be killed humanely by euthanasia with carbon dioxide (Thomas 2004). For more information on humane trapping and disposal of birds please see the Tidemann, C. 2007f. Common Indian Myna Website > Trapping Mynas and Tidemann, C. 2007g. Common Indian Myna Website > Humane Disposal.
Chemical : Starlacide DRC1339 has been used against mynas and is effective where there are no non-target species issues. Alphachloralose paste is used for temporary local control of mynas in cooler climates. For more information on the use of these toxins please see NZFSA. Undated. DRC 1339 For Bird Control and Nelson. 1994. Bird Control in New Zealand Using Alpha-Chloralose and DRC1339.\r
Integrated Pest Management : As invasive bird species are frequently associated with human modified environments IPM is an appropriate strategy (Lim Sodhi Brook and Soh 2003). Long term management practices may include habitat modification, resource limitation and public education. Restricting food available to the myna is difficult as it has such a variable diet (Thomas 2004).
The need to raise public awareness is important part of IPM. Envirotalk Australia has a forum discussion on the myna topic. The Minimising Myna Website aids public education on the issue. The Canberra Indian Myna Action Group is a community group that has developed a number of strategies, including public education and a trapping program, to tackle the common myna. CIMAG's trapping program has been highly successful and has humanely removed over 12 000 Mynas from around Canberra in around 18 months (CIMAG Undated).Pin 1 4K Shares
Nick Bernabe | The Anti-Media
You are too dumb to have your foods labeled for genetically modified ingredients, at least that’s what a congressional hearing on GMO labeling has told Congress, who fully agreed with the panelists. Thumbnail credit: allenhardwick.com
Clearly pro-GMO ‘intellectuals’ were brought before the House Agriculture Committee, where they voiced their support for GMO foods. No dissenting voices were heard at the hearing, but that’s not exactly surprising.
The same old debunked biotech industry talking points were regurgitated. You know, “GMOs feed the world” etc etc. This problematic talking point which we refuted in a recent article, has been disproven by a non-industry funded, peer-reviewed study from the University of Canterbury. In fact, the study showed that GMO monoculture in America is hurting crop yields, not helping them. Europe’s non-GMO, reduced pesticide staple crops have seen greater crop yields, which have improved more than America’s GM varieties.
The second industry talking point mentioned in the congressional hearing was that GM crops are reducing pesticide use. Another lie. In fact, most GM crops are engineered specifically to be resistant to herbicide. This leads to increased use of the chemicals since these crops can now withstand an extraordinary amount of them. Other resistant plants such as herbicide resistant ‘super weeds’, which have evolved in this factory monoculture environment, are forcing farmers to use increasingly harsh pesticides to battle the weeds back.
It was admitted that Europe has banned many GMO foods due to consumer backlash. However, US Congressman Kurt Schrader doesn’t seem to want something as silly as public opinion to get in the way of corporate profits;
“What we have here is a problem with the society and communication aspect of genetic modification”
Rep. Schrader (D-Oregon) seemed to mimic what Hillary Clinton said a few weeks ago: GM crop producers need better propaganda to quell public outrage over GMO foods, not safer, better tested products.
This elitist mentality that the population is stupid and needs government to think for them is far-fetched and false. Instead of resonating the voice of the people in the name of democracy, U.S. politicians choose to ignore the common voice in favor of corporatism. Corporations dictate political involvement in order to manipulate global markets, and most US politicians are more than willing to vote with the money instead of the people.
You can see some clips from the hearing below.
This article is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TheAntiMedia.org
About the author: Nick Bernabe is a San Diego activist and journalist. He is the Editor-in-Chief of TheAntiMedia.org and contributes to multiple websites including TheMindUnleashed.org. You can follow his work on Facebook and Twitter.
Pin 1 4K SharesGraffiti in London, possibly a work of Banksy. Photo credit: Matt Brown
“Birds of a feather flock together,” so I am sure that nearly all of those reading this article accept the main findings of climate science. Yet many people don’t. Instead, they believe a variety of climate myths.
These include claims that the world isn’t warming; or if warming is occurring, it is natural and not human-caused; or volcanoes produce more carbon dioxide than we humans do. I know none of you believes these myths, but it seems that almost everybody has an unpleasant relative–call him Uncle Pete–who comes to dinner. Pete spoils the family mood by making these false claims, which he found on talk radio or the Internet. I’ll tell you in a moment why some of the most frequently repeated claims are just plain wrong. I won’t have time to cover all of them, and I recommend the website skepticalscience.com for the whole story. It’s a collection of the most commonly heard climate myths, and why they are all dead wrong. Skepticalscience.com is your key to refuting your own Uncle Pete.
Start with the myth that the warming we have observed in recent decades is natural and not human-caused. First off, let’s be clear: The climate has indeed changed naturally in the past, with ice ages being an obvious example. But natural causes simply cannot explain the recent warming. How do we know that? It’s very like the story of wildfires, which can be caused naturally, by lightning. But they can also be caused by people, either by carelessness or by arson. And wildfire experts can investigate after a wildfire and determine what caused it. They know how to do the detective work.
We climate scientists are good detectives too. We have discovered what paces the ice ages. It is the slow changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun, which affect how sunlight is distributed over the Earth’s surface in the different seasons. Over many thousands of years, these effects are strong enough to cause ice ages to come and go. But over short times, just a few decades, the orbital changes have much too small an effect to produce the observed large warming that has recently occurred.
Through this kind of research, we have quantitatively ruled out all the other natural processes known to affect climate. For example, the sun powers the entire climate system, and the amount of energy given off by the sun does vary. But we measure this energy very accurately, and we can demonstrate that its changes are much too small to have caused the observed warming. As for the claim that the extra carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere by human activities is tiny compared to the amounts produced by volcanoes, that too fails quantitatively. Measurements show that human activities, mainly burning coal and oil and natural gas, produce about 100 times more carbon dioxide than volcanoes do.
By burning fossil fuels, we humans have taken over the role of deciding what the climate in coming decades will be. We are no longer passive spectators in the global climate change pageant. We have become the actors. Science provides convincing evidence that the heat-trapping gases produced by human activities are the main cause of the warming observed in recent decades. This aspect of climate science is very firmly established, going back to definitive laboratory experiments in the 1850s. Those experiments showed that carbon dioxide and other gases, present in small quantities in the atmosphere, have powerful heat-trapping properties. In recent decades, the fingerprint of the observed warming, such as how it varies with altitude and geography and season, matches the pattern that we expect from adding heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. We’ve found the enemy. He is us.
There are similar convincing refutations of all the other common climate myths. That’s why many studies have shown that about 97 percent of the climate scientists who are most active in publishing research on climate change agree that the observed recent warming is real and serious and overwhelmingly human-caused. Nevertheless, Uncle Pete remains unconvinced. He continues to repeat the myths. You might well ask, “Why is Uncle Pete so stubborn and so resistant to overwhelming scientific evidence?” That’s a very good question, and here is my answer.
For many skeptics or contrarians like Pete, the climate change issue is not a science topic at all. For Pete, it is simply an opportunity for the government, and liberals and environmentalists, to make rules and regulations, to interfere with markets, and to diminish the personal freedom of individuals. For Pete, it is just one more way for the authority of the state to control the lives of citizens. This view has nothing to do with science, and no argument based only on science can change it. Uncle Pete, like some actual people I know, may seriously fear that the government will not only decide what kind of car he will be allowed to drive, but will ultimately want to force him to limit his individual carbon footprint, that is, to ration his personal emissions of heat-trapping gases.
Uncle Pete has a high opinion of the free market. He is confident that government actions tend to hinder free markets and thus have the effect of limiting economic progress. He is suspicious of subsidies for renewable energy. He is sure that renewables will never be feasible without big subsidies. Uncle Pete couches his opposition to carbon taxes or fees in statements of this sort: “If you let people keep more of their money, they will invest it in the future.” Once again, science is irrelevant here, and no claim that science has shown or proven this or that fact will change Uncle Pete’s mind.
It’s sad but true that most Americans have never met a scientist. Uncle Pete may have his own somewhat strange ideas about how science works and what scientists do. The concept of “peer review” carries no weight at all with Pete; he can easily imagine a corrupt and powerful scientific establishment, conspiring to deny research funding to scientists who disagree with prevailing opinions, and to prevent them from publishing. Pete likes to mention Galileo as an example of an outlier in science who turns out to have been correct. He forgets that Galileos are extremely rare, and that almost everybody who considers himself a Galileo is badly mistaken. Pete may cite eugenics as evidence that the scientific mainstream is indeed sometimes wrong. Pete is very suspicious of us scientists.
Social science tells us that people tend to trust those who share their values and to distrust those who do not. We all know that wedge issues, such as abortion and evolution and gun control, bitterly divide this country, and it is high time for us to realize that climate change is a very big wedge issue for Uncle Pete. His natural distrust of academics and elites generally is increased if he thinks climate scientists are arrogant people who are scornful of his opinions, who mock his values, and who dismiss his most firmly held convictions.
I urge each of you to engage with the Uncle Pete whom you may know. Have a civil conversation. In his heart, Uncle Pete would probably admit that everybody is entitled to his own opinions, but not to his own facts. When it comes to facts, we scientists have the high ground. The world is warming. It’s not a hoax. We measure it. The warming did not stop in 1998. All the warmest years are recent years. 2016 will be the warmest year on record. 2015 is second. 2014 is third. The atmosphere is warming, and so is the ocean. Sea level is rising. Ice sheets and glaciers are shrinking. Rainfall patterns and severe weather events are changing. Climate change is real, and serious, and happening right here, right now. And it isn’t natural. Human activities are the dominant cause of the climate changes we have observed in recent decades.
But none of these facts tells us exactly what we should do about climate change. Science can inform wise policy, but it cannot decree or prescribe what the best policies will be. There is no silver bullet, but there is lots of silver buckshot. The main barrier to action is a lack of political will.
In deciding climate policy, science matters, but so do values, priorities, and political convictions. Given the same facts, different reasonable people can easily prefer different policies. For Uncle Pete, attacking climate science and scientists is simply a disguise for what concerns him, which is the prospect of liberals and environmentalists dominating policy, and of a government spinning out of control, a government that in Pete’s view seizes power, limits freedoms, increases taxes, regulates markets, and diminishes prosperity.
We do not yet have national agreement on climate change. As you know–and I hope this will not shock anybody–some elected officials in the federal government sound just like Uncle Pete. Despite the strong scientific consensus, climate change policy is contentious politically.
One option for dealing with this political disagreement is to do nothing. Uncle Pete may well favor that option, because it appears to fit well with his sincere conviction that, “if you let people keep more of their money, they will invest it in the future.” On doing nothing, I may be able to help Uncle Pete think a bit more clearly.
I am not an expert on energy policy or taxes, but as a climate scientist, I can say something with very high confidence about what will happen if we do nothing. Deciding to do nothing about climate change is like deciding not to have serious elective surgery, such as declining a coronary artery bypass operation that your cardiologist recommends. The operation will involve risks and costs. But declining it will also involve risks and costs, including the risk of a fatal heart attack.
Sadly, we don’t have enough conversations about climate change. The media largely avoid the subject, and it was almost invisible in the recent campaign for president. Today, the fact is that we, you and I and the other 7.4 billion living people, now have our hands on the thermostat that controls the climate of our children and grandchildren. A considerable portion of the carbon dioxide we emit can remain in the atmosphere for centuries and longer. Thus, it accumulates. There is a given allowed amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that we must not exceed if we want to limit warming to any particular target we pick. For the warming target of the Paris agreement, we’re already about half way to that allowed amount, so we do not have much time left to bring emissions to nearly zero. That’s why it’s urgent to drastically reduce global carbon dioxide emissions and to do it quickly before we exceed that amount.
It’s important to understand that once the world has agreed on a target of how much warming is to be allowed, science can say approximately how much more carbon dioxide can be emitted. The urgency of reducing emissions thus arises directly from the physics and chemistry of the climate system. It has nothing to do with politics.
Mother Nature reacts to the total amount of carbon dioxide. The more carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere, the greater the climate change will be. If we who are alive today do nothing about climate change, and if the world continues to use the atmosphere as a free dump for carbon dioxide and other waste products of an energy system based on fossil fuels, then we are effectively sentencing future generations to the consequences of a severely disrupted climate. Also, the disruption will not be brief. It will take many thousands of years for the climate to recover after we stop emitting carbon dioxide. So it’s a long sentence. This is not a partisan political statement. It is well-supported, solid science.
The Pentagon, which is not a cabal of liberal environmentalists, takes this issue very seriously, and it has repeatedly characterized unmitigated climate change as a threat multiplier. In the decades and centuries ahead, doing nothing means the world will inevitably see devastating climate change, including agricultural disasters on an immense scale and coastal cities abandoned worldwide, because of sea level increases of many feet.
Vast numbers of environmental refugees will be created, and we will see the destabilization of governments, especially in failed and failing states. In wealthy and powerful countries, like the United States, governments coping with severe climate change will surely have to act forcefully, including using emergency powers, as in wartime, to preserve order and to minimize chaos and damage. Ironically, in my view, doing nothing about climate change, Uncle Pete’s preference, is thus likely to force governments to do exactly what Uncle Pete fears most: seize power and limit freedoms. Doing nothing is a disastrous policy option.
In your civil and mutually respectful conversation with your own Uncle Pete, I hope you can help him think seriously about the prospect of such a horrible, but very preventable, future. We are at a critical crossroads. We still have a chance of limiting climate change to a tolerable level, a level that offers some hope of successful adaptation. Our window of opportunity is still open. But it won’t stay open much longer.
We must act. We can’t dither any longer. If Uncle Pete wants to keep the government from controlling his life and diminishing his freedom–as most all of us do–then we all need to learn about and accept the science. We all need to take the threat of climate change seriously. We all must act wisely, and urgently, to minimize that threat and thereby limit the damage of climate change to tolerable levels.
Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a presentation at a past annual dinner of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, but remains relevant today.Cisco has scored a blow in its ongoing legal battles with Arista.
Arista revealed on Wednesday that the US International Trade Commission has banned the networking company from bringing its flagship products into the US from its overseas manufacturers.
The ban follows the ITC's ruling in May that Arista had infringed on two of Cisco's patents. The ITC announced the ban then, but said it would take effect only after a 60-day review period. That period ended Wednesday.
Arista has been working to get the US Patent Office to overturn Cisco's patents, with some success. It is hoping to convince the ITC to suspend its ban until the Patent Office issues a final ruling, which it hopes will kill the patents in question.
"We are still awaiting the International Trade Commission’s decision on our motion to suspend its remedial orders, which are based on patent claims that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found invalid," an Arista spokesperson said.
So the ban may last only a few days if Arista can convince the ITC to put it on hold. Or the ban may last until Arista alters its products to not use the disputed technology and gets the ITC on board with allowing them in the country again. Arista has indicated that it has developed some workarounds, including working with US manufacturers, that won't require it to import products.
Meanwhile, Cisco's lawyer Mark Chandler explained his company's ultimate goal in a blog post about Wednesday's news:
"The right solution, as we’ve emphasized from the beginning, is for Arista to stop using technology they copied from Cisco."
Cisco originally sued Arista back in 2014 alleging that Arista had infringed its copyrights and patents. Cisco also filed a complaint against Arista with the ITC, which has the power to ban patent-infringing products from being imported into the US.
Cisco lost a jury verdict in its lawsuit in December seeking $335 million in damages.
But there's a long and heated history between the two companies. Arista employs a lot of former Cisco engineering stars |
maps along the way: one to eLv in the opening BO3 and one to 20b in the Grand Finals.
Ninjanick will drop the most ubers.
Harbleu will be the best offclasser.
Tery: While I was spot-on with my predictions last LAN, this time around I am not quite as confident. Nonetheless, here are my placements.
1. Froyotech // 2. Street Hoops eSports // 3. Mad Men // 4. eLevate TF2
Even 20b's biggest fanboy Alkaline thinks Froyotech will claim the title, ha. At the same time, I do agree 20b will be very strong and make their way into the Grand Finals, though I do not think they will be able to take a map off 4G. Mad Men will have the best series, their BO3's against eLevate and 20b will be damn good and likely the highlight of LAN. Despite that, and Mad Men being my favorite team, they will find themselves in a similar position like Classic Mixup at the end of last LAN: 3rd. We will also probably see every offclass within the first 2 maps of LAN, no doubt thanks to the offclass-happy members like alfa, harbleu, and paragon.
Final Thoughts
Alkaline: That’s all I’ve got. I look forward to writing even bigger and better things next season and beyond, but more importantly I hope that each and every one of you enjoy what promises to be a great weekend of Team Fortress!
Tery: Good luck and have fun. And remember: everything changes after LAN.The world will always need good chefs. Unsplash / Jorge Zapata The automation of jobs has many advantages, like increased productivity. However, the main disadvantage is that people are concerned their careers may become obsolete in the next few decades.
A recent study showed that millennials in general choose professions that are more "future-proof," and less likely to be taken over by machines, but that still leaves many unsure of whether a robot will steal their job or not.
The world's number one job site, Indeed, has over 200 million unique visitors per month, which gives them an insight into what kinds of jobs are available, and what skills are in demand.
Based on this data, Indeed's EMEA economist Mariano Mamertino has come up with a list of nine career paths — exclusive to Business Insider — that are the least likely to be taken over by machines, or will complement their work.
Mamertino said that the occupations which will be harder to automate "often involve managing and developing people" and "decision-making and strategic planning, or creative work."
"Machines have the potential to make the workplace more efficient, by automating mechanical and routine processes, but humans will always play a key-role at the centre," he said.
Scroll down to see if your career makes the list, which is ranked in ascending order by average salary, according to data from Indeed and job search site Glassdoor.WASHINGTON — The top speed of Donald Trump’s business jet? Currently 0 mph.
The billionaire GOP candidate’s 750 Citation X — in use lately to travel to campaign events — is grounded because its registration has expired.
Federal Aviation Administration inspectors have contacted the jet’s chief pilot about the plane’s registration, which expired in January, the FAA said in a statement Wednesday.
The plane’s owner “is currently working with the FAA’s aircraft registry and will re-register the aircraft before further flight,” the statement said.
The plane is registered to a limited liability company whose sole member is Donald Trump. The plane’s identification number, N725DT, also includes Trump’s initials.
The Republican presidential candidate has been using the jet to travel to campaign events. It seats up to eight people. Trump also owns a Boeing 757 airliner and three helicopters.
Trump’s campaign declined to comment.(UPDATE: We have decided that the $50 pledge reward, "Private Wrap Party", will be a formal Masquerade Ball! It will take place mid-August. We have not settled on a venue yet, but wherever it is, it will be an amazing night of drinks, food, and music. Come celebrate with us! In masks!)
In the story, a pair of melancholy strangers, gleaming with a sad yet romantic interconnectedness, cross paths in a doctor's office in two separate existences. Here is the poem that inspired Sea of Red:
Shel Silverstein's "Masks"
“She had blue skin,
And so did he.
He kept it hid
And so did she.
They searched for blue
Their whole life through,
Then passed right by--
And never knew.”
Who Is Making Sea of Red?
Mason Johnson, Writer and Director
The concept for Sea of Red all started when a friend shared the poem “Masks” by Shel Silverstein with me last year. I immediately had a connection with the deep meaning behind the story. I found the poem lending itself to a strong visual narrative in my brain. I finally moved into writing a script and concocting a film treatment when I was asked to pitch a music video concept to a band in December of 2013. When the band chose to go another direction with a different song, I still felt confident that the idea came together really nicely and so I pursued other trusted friends' and artists' opinions on what I should do with the story. Continuously, they kept reacting positively to the script's interpretation of the original poem and pushed me to make this story happen.
After a few rewrites, and more and more support from friends and new partners on the film, it was time to move forward with pre-production. That was February of 2014. Flash forward three months and I think we've put some good prep work into Sea of Red.
We hope everyone enjoys watching our ideas on our Kickstarter video above. Check it out if you haven't yet. I know I'm personally very proud of where we have all gotten to at this point with the project.
The Rest of the Cast and Crew: Jocelyn Berlage - Actor Brandon Pearson - Actor Weston Woodbury - Director of Photography twitter.com/westonwoodbury
imdb.com/name/nm3313439/ Michael Zaccaria - Co-writer
Zack Mitchell, a.k.a. Atra Aeterna - Composer http://atraaeterna.com/ Ralph Jean-Pierre - Editor
Mateo Rueda - Storyboard
Samuel Capasso - Art Director
Ellie Ward - Art Department, Ceramic Masks
Daniel Bialkowski - Art Department, Ceramic Masks
Mike Patton - Producer
Ryan Barker - Production AssistantSocial Media infographic 2013
The world of social media is expanding today and the way most users need to get things done, so unquestionably the future belongs to social media. The following information will certainly surprise you. In 2012, more than 63% of Online users visited more social media sites than any other website and this number will definitely increase in 2013 and 2014 even more.
The Top Social Media Platforms used in 2013 are:
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Pinterest
Google+
Instagram
LinkedIn
The impact of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram are the most clickable social media sites with a wide effect all over the world. Social Bookmarking is another growing fact, where more people put their stuffs on the web and express themselves or engage with each other with desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets and other devices, even smart TVs.
The bottom line today is that Social Media have expanded so much that even monitoring tools have developed for administrating user accounts. Businesses use Social Media extensively to get listed and approach more users and increase sales by conversions of social media impressions and clicks.The following Social Media infographic reveals the use of Social Media over the world.
Source: allinfographics.orgUpdate: the full recording of the livestream has been added to this post. You will find it all the way below!
***
Today, during the pre-launch livestream for Etrian Odyssey V, Yuzo Koshiro himself (composer of the series) made a special announcement. He revealed that on November 23rd, the Etrian Odyssey Live 2016 concert would be held at the Club Seata in Tokyo.
During that concert, fans will be able to enjoy live performances of music from the Etrian Odyssey series. Several artists will perform at that concert, including Yuzo Koshiro himself (not surprising since he’s the composer of the series), but also the SQ F.O.E. band.
Unfortunately, that’s pretty much all we know about the concert right now. More details about it, including ticket purchase, will be revealed at a later date. We also don’t know if the concert will be recorded or not, but that’s most likely something we will learn when more details are revealed.
But that’s not all! During the livestream, there were also some soundtrack samples. Of course, we recorded them all for you:
the first one is a pretty soothing piece of music (no title, unfortunately):
the second is a pretty relaxing piece of music, feat. the world’s sexiest saxo ever (… probably!):
the last one is the 2016 version of The End of Raging Winds (originally from Etrian Odyssey IV, itself based on The End of Raging Winds from Etrian Odyssey III). If you thought Yuzo Koshiro couldn’t make this piece even more epic… you were dead wrong!
And if you’re interested, here’s a YouTube playlist with all the soundtrack previews we’ve recorded:
Finally, here’s the full recording of the livestream:
Etrian Odyssey V (3DS) comes out on August 4th in Japan.
Source: AtlusRemember when Todd said 'Skyrim on PC will look even better'? Believe him guys, cause it does look damn good. I've seen the IR Display Rooms and there was Skyrim being played on a PC, 1680x1050 resolution apparently on max settings (I don't know the specs of the PC though, was enclosed in a strange black box behind the booth) and it looks 3x better than the 360 version being shown on E3. Foliage looks damn good and you can see the grass in the distance, water flows so well it looks sooo real and I've never seen a more beautiful version of Riverwood before, looked much beautiful on this PC. Hope it will be like this for PC users on release.
The devs themselves have said that there won't be a huge difference between PC and console, in hopes that they can port over PC mods and such. I believe them, not a random opinion of a random person. Hell, there were a lot of people on these forums who didn't think the screenshots had low res textures (which they did, 6 year old low res textures) so, forgive me if I'm skeptical. These forums are filled with people who have no ability to be neutral. If you don't LOVE Skyrim and think its the best looking thing ever, you get flamed.Graffiti artist falls to his death while spray painting a building with his 'Tame' tag
The tragedy happened at a derelict industrial building
Desperate Facebook message for the teen's brother to rush to the hospital
An inquest into his death is due to open
Sam Opolli, known by the graffiti tag name 'Tame', died from fall while spray painting industrial building. The tragedy happened in Digbeth, Birmingham, at the weekend
A young graffiti artist plunged to his death from a three-storey high building while spray painting it.
Sam Opolli, 16, died after the fall at an industrial unit in Digbeth, Birmingham, at the weekend. He was found in the early hours of Sunday by a passer by.
Emergency services arrived at the scene at 12.40am last Saturday, b ut he died at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital with his family at his bedside.
His father, pub manager John, 40, had sent out a desperate plea on Facebook as his teenage son lay dying in hospital for his brother to get to the hospital and see him one last time.
'For anyone that can PLEASE get hold of Daniel and get him to QE A&E, his brother is dying,' he wrote.
Pub manager John, 40, then took to Twitter and revealed his son’s death in a series of moving Tweets.
He wrote: 'Sam was found by a passer-by, he’s not expected to make it.'
In a later heartwarming post, he wrote: 'Thank you all for your warmth and love, my beautiful son Samuel Opolli will be taking his leave from us all very soon. I will always love you Sam.'
Sam worked in a pub and was known by the graffiti tag name ‘Tame’.
Several tributes have been posted online in memory of the teenager. His tags have also been daubed in graffiti tributes reading ‘rest in peace bro’.
A local graffiti and tattoo artist said on Facebook that Sam died ‘doing what he enjoyed doing.’
The derelict buildings in Burchill Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, from where graffiti artist Sam fell to his death. The tragedy happened at night. One of Sam's tags has on a concrete wall has had'rest in peace bro' sprayed next to it since his death And his aunt, Nicola Opolli, wrote: 'You are an amazing lad and I am proud to be your auntie. I love you kid and will miss you so much.' Family friend Freda Kendall posted online: 'We know you will never read this Sam. 'We hope you are in a better place sweetie, a big bright star watching over everyone of your family and friends. 'There is so much love out there for you hope you realised that. You were a pleasure to have stay at our house, you were always so polite and smiling.
Sam Opolli at work. He died at the weekend doing what he loved best - spray painting buildings in his hometown near Birmingham
Graffiti artist Sam Opolli, who worked in a pub, was happiest spray painting derelict buildings with his tag TAME. An inquest into his death opens in Birmingham nest week.
Burchill Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, where the tragic accident happened. Graffiti artist Sam Opolli fell from the top of the building, and died later in hospital
'Every time Matthew or one of your many friends does a front or back flip on the trampoline, or chills in our garden, as you all used to, we will think of you. Rest in Peace lovely, Freda, Kevin and Victoria.'
His dad, from Kings Heath, Birmingham, uploaded an album of all his graffiti tags to Facebook and said ‘cheeky fecker managed to get about!’ (sic)An elderly couple was left shaken and battered after their encounter with an EMPD officer, the Bedfordview Edenvale News reports.
Sean Rowely*, visiting SA from the UK, was allegedly assaulted on March 12 by an EMPD officer after he was pulled over by the officer’s female partner.
While driving down Terrace Road, through Sebenza, Rowely and his wife were pulled over by the EMPD.
The female officer claimed that Rowely did not stop at the stop street at the intersection of Buwbes Street and Terrace Road.
“I exited my car and tried to be as polite as possible and gave the female officer my international driver’s licence,” said Rowely.
He said the female officer questioned his licence and did not accept it.
She told Rowely that he had to pay a R500 fine for failing to stop at the stop street.
“She kept telling me I had to pay cash. I never had cash on me at the time. I told her that I would pay the fine at the police station,” said Rowely.
The female officer then allegedly threatened him with arrest if he did not pay cash.
Her male colleague joined the conversation and told Mr Rowely that he should obey the instructions of the female officer if he didn’t want to be arrested.
Rowely refused to pay the female officer any money and told the officers to arrest him.
He claims the male officer then escorted him to the EMPD vehicle while holding one of Rowely’s hands behind his back.
At the EMPD vehicle Rowely was instructed to sit in the car by the male officer.
He said because he suffers from epilepsy he told the officer he would rather stand. He added that the male officer tried to push him into the EMPD car but he resisted.
After struggling with the officer, Rowely told the male officer he would drive to the police station to pay the fine.
Rowely walked back to his vehicle.
“He was in the car and then the male officer pulled him out of the car and dragged him on the road,” said his wife, Jane Rowely*.
She said once her husband was back on his feet, the couple and the two officers started walking towards the police car.
“That was when the male officer hit me. He was walking to the left behind me and hit me on my left side,” said Mr Rowely.
“Sean fell – bang! On the ground. Blood was pouring everywhere – over his face, his ears and onto the road,” said Mrs Rowely.
At this point people passing by were stopping to see what had happened.
“I just asked anyone around to keep my wife safe,” said Mr Rowely.
An ambulance took him to the Linksfield hospital where X-rays were done.
After the medical checks were conducted, he was taken to the Sebenza Police Station by the EMPD officers.
He says he sat in the front passenger seat but could not find a seat belt.
“The male officer was driving recklessly, weaving through traffic with the lights and sirens on. I asked him what the rush was as I was not going anywhere. He told me to keep quiet.”
At the police station, Rowely was told he was under arrest for failure to provide information, hate speech, resisting arrest for assaulting a police officer and for the failure to stop at a stop street.
The couple said the incident had left them in an extremely nervous state and they were scared to drive around now.
Sergeant Sharon Tsotsotso, spokesperson of the Sebenza SAPS, confirmed that two cases of common assault were opened at the Sebenza SAPS. Both the officer and Mr Rowely opened cases against each other.
Lieutenant Colonel Wilfred Kgasago, the EMPD’s spokesperson, said although the EMPD was unaware of the incident involving Mr Rowely, the matter would be investigated.
He urged the couple to come forward and approach EMPD with their complaint.
Second incident
Two days later, on March 12, more allegations of assault by metro police in Edenvale surfaced.
A video circulating on Facebook showed a motorist filming a man who appeared to be an EMPD officer.
While filming, Mr Diederick Stopforth, who was the motorist, claims the officer took his licence disk and did not return it.
On the video he added the EMPD officer was not wearing a name tag and could not be identified.
When Mr Stopforth asks for the officer’s name the officer smacks Mr Stopforth’s phone from his hand.
At the end of the video Mr Stopforth can be heard saying he will lay a charge against the officer.
Sergeant Jacob Mashile, acting spokesperson of the Edenvale SAPS, said a case of common assault was opened by the motorist against the officer on March 15.
Lt Col Kgasago said the EMPD was aware of the March 15 incident and was currently investigating the matter.
He said the investigation began on March 15.
Lt Col Kgasago said once the officer had been successfully identified and his statement taken, the investigation would continue.
“The compiled information and the recommendations from the investigation will be given to the EMPD’s chief of staff who will make a decision based on all the information,” said Lt Col Kgasago.
Councillor Heather Hart (ward 18) said in Edenvale there was concern from residents regarding the behaviour of EMPD officers.
Ms Linda McKenzie, chairperson of the Edenvale Community Police Forum, said she was glad that motorists were reporting and opening cases in connection to metro police harassment.
“If a member of the public finds themselves in similar situations they can report to me on 083 652 9914 or [email protected],” said Lt Col Kgasago.
* Full names withheld for fear of victimisation.
– Caxton News ServiceIt is now three minutes to midnight, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which is warning that the end of humanity may be nigh. The group behind the famed "Doomsday Clock" announced at a news conference that it was adjusting the countdown to the End of it All by taking away two minutes. It is the closest the clock has been to Doomsday since 1984.
The time is symbolic, sitting at the intersection of art and science, and it has wavered between two minutes and 17 minutes til doom since the clock's inception in 1947. A board of scientists and nuclear experts meets regularly to determine what time it is on the Doomsday Clock.
[RELATED: Earth may be less safe for humans in coming years]
This time, the clock was adjusted to express the group's dissatisfaction with world progress on "unchecked climate change, global nuclear weapons modernizations, and outsized nuclear weapons arsenals." Those issues, the group said in a statement, "pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity."
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists was founded by some of the people who worked on the Manhattan Project. One of them, nuclear physicist Alexander Langsdorf, was married to the artist Martyl Langsdorf. She created the clock and set it at seven minutes to midnight, or 11:53, for the cover of the group's magazine. Her husband moved the time four minutes later in 1949.
Since then, the Bulletin's board has determined when the clock's minute hand will move, usually to draw attention to worldwide crises that, the board believes, threatens the survival of the human species. The group's reasoning focuses almost exclusively on the availability of nuclear weapons and a willingness among the world's great powers to use them.
[RELATED: The Prophets of Oak Ridge: Nun breaks into nuclear weapons facility. Chain reaction follows.]
Here is every time the Doomsday Clock has moved, and why, according to the Bulletin:
1947: 7 Minutes to Midnight
The Doomsday Clock is originally set by an artist. The Bulletin says on its site that the image of the clock, on the cover of its magazine, was supposed to capture "the urgency of the nuclear dangers that the magazine's founders -- and the broader scientific community -- are trying to convey to the public and political leaders around the world."
1949: 3 Minutes to Midnight
Alexander Langsdorf moves the minute hand up by four minutes after a Russian nuclear test. Here's what the magazine said at the time to explain the move: "We do not advise Americans that doomsday is near and that they can expect atomic bombs to start falling on their heads a month or year from now. But we think they have reason to be deeply alarmed and to be prepared for grave decisions."
1953: 2 Minutes to Midnight
The United States tests its first thermonuclear device in October 1952. This is the closest the clock has ever gotten to Doomsday.
1960: 7 Minutes to Midnight
"For the first time, the United States and Soviet Union appear eager to avoid direct confrontation in regional conflicts," the Bulletin says of this move backward from Doomsday. Among other things, the group specifically mentions the formation of several initiatives promoting international scientific cooperation.
1963: 12 Minutes to Midnight
The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Partial Test Ban Treaty, which bans atmospheric testing of nuclear devices. You can read the full text of that treaty here.
1968: 7 Minutes to Midnight
Lots of things contribute to this move: The Vietnam War. The India-Pakistan War of 1965. And nuclear weapons in France and China.
1969: 10 Minutes to Midnight
Most major world powers (but not Israel, India, and Pakistan) sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
1972: 12 Minutes to Midnight
The United States and Soviet Union sign a pair of treaties aimed at slowing the arms race: The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.
1974: 9 Minutes to Midnight
India runs its first test of a nuclear device. And, the Bulletin adds, the United States and Soviet Union continue to modernize their own nuclear capabilities.
1980: 7 Minutes to Midnight
The Bulletin simply cites a lack of progress toward nuclear disarmament for this move, noting that the two global superpowers have "been behaving like what may best be described as 'nucleoholics'--drunks who continue to insist that the drink being consumed is positively 'the last one,' but who can always find a good excuse for 'just one more round.'"
1981: 4 Minutes to Midnight
Russia invades Afghanistan. The United States boycotts the Olympic Games in Moscow. And, the Bulletin notes, Ronald Reagan is elected president.
1984: 3 Minutes to Midnight
More pessimism over the state of diplomacy between the United States and the Soviet Union. "Every channel of communications has been constricted or shut down; every form of contact has been attenuated or cut off. And arms control negotiations have been reduced to a species of propaganda," writes the Bulletin.
1988: 6 Minutes to Midnight
Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev have signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which bans a specific type of nuclear weapon.
1990: 10 Minutes to Midnight
The Berlin Wall falls, and Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania break out from Soviet control.
1991: 17 Minutes to Midnight
This is the farthest the clock's minute hand has been from doomsday, indicating the group's momentary optimism at the official end of the Cold War.
1995: 14 Minutes to Midnight
Maybe we were a little too optimistic, the Bulletin says. The group notes at the time that there are more than 40,000 nuclear weapons around the world.
1998: 9 Minutes to Midnight
Russia and the United States still have nuclear warheads aimed at each other, and India and Pakistan conduct rival nuclear tests.
2002: 7 Minutes to Midnight
America withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, 20 years after it was signed. The Bulletin's board is also concerned about "the enormous amount of unsecured -- and sometimes unaccounted for -- weapon-grade nuclear materials," as speculation spreads about the possibility of a nuclear terrorist attack.
2007: 5 Minutes to Midnight
North Korea tests a nuclear weapon, and the West is worried that Iran wants one, too. For the first time, the Bulletin mentions a second concern: climate change.
2010: 6 Minutes to Midnight
The United States and Russia are in talks to renew something akin to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, and the Bulletin is slightly more optimistic on international efforts to combat climate change.
2012: 5 Minutes to Midnight
"The challenges to rid the world of nuclear weapons, harness nuclear power, and meet the nearly inexorable climate disruptions from global warming are complex and interconnected. In the face of such complex problems, it is difficult to see where the capacity lies to address these challenges," the Bulletin writes.
2015: 3 Minutes to Midnight.
Speaking of nuclear weapons modernization, climate change and the continued existence of nuclear weapons arsenals, the Bulletin writes that "world leaders have failed to act with the speed or on the scale required to protect citizens from potential catastrophe. These failures of political leadership endanger every person on Earth.”
Read more from Speaking of Science:
Rosetta's comet reveals its secrets
How the scorpion fly is helping solve murders
NASA wants to send its scientists to Mars via hologram
Breathtaking new NASA images honoring Year of Light
How men and women process emotions differentlyMillions approved for new building at Campbell High School Copyright by KHON - All rights reserved Video
Campbell High School has dealt with long-time overcrowding on campus, but now there's some help to ease the congestion.
The state's largest high school will receive resources and funds for a new building.
State Rep. Matt Lopresti says was notified by Gov. David Ige that $39 million will be released to fund the design, construction, and equipment for a new classroom building.
"Our kids are going to have the rooms they need to learn in, at a temperature in which they can learn, and an environment that they deserve to have a quality education," Lopresti said.
Recently, Campbell High School received more air conditioners and ceiling fans. The campus will also have covered walkways installed.
The school is considered one of the hottest in the state, and third on the department's priority list.ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. -- A 5-and-a-half foot water moccasin was caught Wednesday afternoon in Florida.
Jacksonville-based Quick Catch is "a team of highly specialized animal removal technicians" and they nabbed the large snake.
In a post on their Facebook page, owner Ryan can be seen holding the large reptile. He says the snakes are trying to find higher ground away from flood waters. The snake was caught near Valley Ridge Academy.
Water moccasins are heavy, venomous snakes that look like they have a thick body for their length. Their heads are blocky, according to UF's wildlife website.
It is very important to note that you should never approach an unknown snake unless you're a well-trained handler. Ryan, of Quick Catch, is a trained professional, so it's cool for him.
But even if you aren't sure the snake is venomous - and quite a few Florida snakes aren't - it's always best to keep your distance.In radio interviews weeks apart, Rightwing media con-artist says accused felon both 'technically not salaried,' 'paid a fair salary'
Also: Savages Olbermann (ironcially enough) as 'psychologically tortured, dysfunctional piece of trash'...
Brad Friedman Byon 2/15/2010, 12:31am PT
Following the recent federal felony arrest of his Rightwing dirty trickster employee, Rightwing propagandist and flim-flam artist Andrew Breitbart has had difficulty keeping his story straight. In two recent radio interviews, Breitbart offered two directly contradictory descriptions of his business relationship with the 25-year-old accused felon who remains on payroll while facing federal charges.
During a recent live appearance on the Internet radio show African-American Conservatives (AACONS), Breitbart was asked about his ongoing relationship with James O'Keefe. O'Keefe was recently arrested in Louisiana, along with three others (one the son of the acting U.S. Attorney), for allegedly heading up a scheme to "maliciously interfere" with the telephone system of Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.
He's "technically not salaried," Breitbart told AACONS host Marie Stroughter during the interview last week, in reply to her question about O'Keefe.
Breitbart's answer, however, was in direct contradiction to an an admission he offered on-air on the nationally syndicated radio program of fellow Rightwing propagandist Hugh Hewitt just weeks ago, on January 26th, on the night of O'Keefe's arrest.
In response to Hewitt's query about whether O'Keefe was "in your employ in any way," Breitbart admitted that O'Keefe was "paid a fair salary" for content published on Breitbart's various websites.
So, according to Breitbart, his accused felon employee O'Keefe is both "technically not salaried" and "paid a fair salary" at the same time. A neat trick.
So, was he lying to Hewitt on January 26th? Or to Stroughter on February 9th?
Or, perhaps there's a third way for Breitbart to try and thread his impossible needle in his continuing successful series of hoaxes on both the American public and the mainstream corporate media. He could pull out a tortured, Clintonian reliance on what the meaning of the word "salary" is...
Breitbart Goes Clintonian
As The BRAD BLOG happened to be listening to Breitbart's interview live on AACONS as it aired, and noted his direct, impossible contradiction concerning the "fair salary" that he "technically" doesn't pay to O'Keefe, we Tweeted as much to him at the time: "@AndrewBreitbart tonight on radio: O'Keefe 'technically not on salary'; On radio 2 weeks ago: 'He's paid a fair salary.' Which is it? Liar."
His indecipherable answer came back during the show, as Stroughter was asking a question concerning MSNBC's Keith Olbermann.
"Can you ask that one more time?" an audibly shaken Breitbart replied after a short pause, just seconds after our tweet was sent, and seemingly pondering an answer. (He would refer a few minutes later to "my good friend The BRAD BLOG, who's watching the show right now.") Where the host's question had nothing to do with O'Keefe, Breitbart used his answer to both offer an impossibly Clintonian explanation for his contradiction concerning O'Keefe's salary, and then to take out some bitter anger, apparently, with a particularly ugly broadside attack on Olbermann.
"I stated, that day, I went on the Hugh Hewitt Show," Breitbart stammered nonsequitously in answer to her question, simultaneously responding to our tweet. "And the Left is so gleeful that when, when, when Hugh Hewitt asked me about my financial relationship with him, he asked me if I was getting paid --- and I, I, I, said, uh, 'well, he's getting paid a fair salary' and they, they glommed on to that term, as if it somehow, ya know, that holds me, ya know, uh, uh, accountable, that I'm paying him a salary."
"I guess technically it's not a salary," Breitbart said, before contradicting himself yet again. "But I don't even care if they call it a salary. It doesn't matter. I'm not paying him for his videos, nor am I, do I have anything to do with, uh, producing those videos."
He then launched into his not-ironic-at-all attack against Olbermann.
"And so, I, I, I have to get involved in so much misdirection, that is borne of not even an attempt to do good reporting by people, uh, Keith Olbermann who, who wanted James O'Keefe to sell me out, to put me into prison, because that's how Keith Olbermann thinks. He doesn't think in terms of 'let's tell the truth,' he thinks in --- how can I damage, uh, the people, uh, the infrastructure that's reporting all this stuff out there, and, and, and, making life miserable, uh, for us, because they're, we're putting a light on the corruption that they, uh, abide by."
For Breitbart, who has built a career avoiding the truth and damaging people, it's likely he didn't even realize the irony of attacking Olbermann for allegedly "damag[ing]...the infrastructure" of the rightwing propaganda machine, when, just minutes earlier in the show he'd described his "entire business model" as being to hold the mainstream media "in check. And if they're not going to be held in check, I don't care if it comes to it, I'm more than happy to be part of a movement that helps to destroy it as we know it."
But the irony-free tirade against Olbermann continued:
"Keith Olbermann is dysfunctional, uh, he's a psychologically tortured human being. Ask people at MSNBC that talk about what a dysfunctional piece of trash that he is, and that, that, that, we have to answer to him. Um. He is really. Uh. He's, he's as low a human being that exists in the media forum," Breitbart fairly spit. "And the poor folks at NBC tell me all the time how they can't wait until he, he exits the door, because he's just ruined the NBC brand almost single-handedly so that he can have a 185,000 viewers every night, which is like the size of a town, in a state, that I've never even heard of before."
Breitbart's Psychologically Tortured, Dysfunctional Relationship with the Truth
It's hardly the first time Breitbart has had difficulty telling the truth. Both he and O'Keefe knowingly misrepresented their now-infamous, highly-doctored, heavily-overdubbed, secretly-taped hit videos of ACORN employees, as published on Breitbart's website last year.
Among the many misrepresentations of those videos, apparently taped illegally in at least two different states, is the sensational, media-friendly claim that O'Keefe dressed up as a stereotypical 70's-era pimp, replete with fur cape, fedora, and walking stick, during his interviews with unsuspecting low-level ACORN workers.
He never did. Rather, O'Keefe was conservatively dressed as a young college student, or sometimes an "up-and-coming local politician," representing himself as hoping to rescue his "prostitute" girlfriend from the clutches of an abusive pimp.
Nonetheless, both O'Keefe and Breitbart deceptively used their camera-friendly, marquee "pimp" lie to brilliantly promote their scam to a gullible media, rightwingers pre-conditioned to accept any claim about ACORN after years of a concerted campaign of GOP lies about the organization, and Congressional Democrats who, themselves, seem to have little more emotional fortitude than actual prostitutes after years held captive by an abusive pimp.
Of course, for Breitbart, a man who has already revealed a notorious penchant for convenient half-truths and implausable versions of reality, such direct contradictions are hardly anything new. He has long proven himself willing to say whatever is needed to grab attention, the media spotlight, money, and the confidence of otherwise decent Americans looking to justify a very specific world-view --- whether it actually exists or not.
It goes without saying that sympathetic outlets such as Hewitt's and Stroughter's are not going to hold Breitbart accountable for his various lies and deceptions. "I'm formally on Team Breitbart," AACONS host Stroughter proudly stated near the end of her friendly interview last week.
But, sadly, despite his easily tracked record of demonstrable hypocrisy and on-the-record lies, even the ever-gullible, so-called "Liberal Media" he rails against, such as the New York Times, have so-far failed to call him out for his disingenuous propaganda schemes and various contradicting versions of the very same story.
More "drip, drip, drip" (as he would say) of Breitbart lies to come --- and more, specifically, on the New York Times' failure to hold him accountable for them.
* * *
The text transcripts for the pertinent sections of Breitbart |
。 介護系の職場は、一般病院などに比べると、ゆったりと穏やかな雰囲気ですね。 ストレスなく働きたい方、残業は不可の方にも働きやすいと思いますよ。 ブランクが長い方でも、すぐに仕事に慣れる事が出来ますよ。
2016年1月15日｜
私は、循環器病棟に配属になって二年目になります。 新卒で初めての職場が循環器というのは、なかなかハードルが高く、私にはなかなか慣れる事が出来ません(;_;) 循環器と言えば、やはり心電図が読めないと話になりませんよね。
でも私、心電図って苦手なんです(ノ_＜) 希望して入った循環器病棟ですから、なんとか一人前のナースになろうと一生懸命に勉強はしているんです...。 しかし、今だに危険な波形を読みきれていないのです(;_;) 先輩は、経験を積めば大丈夫だよ、と言ってくれるのですが、もう二年目なのに先輩が教えてくれなきゃ分からないなんて...。 ナースの人数が少ない夜勤の時など、先輩が仮眠に入って、ナースステーションで私しかいない時にアラームが鳴ると、私の心臓がバクバクしてきます(;_;) なんとか克服しようと、心電図をマスターするために、数万円する学習テキストも購入しました。 暇を見つけては勉強しているのですが、成果があがりません(;_;)
心電図モニターで、不整脈が出て異常アラームが鳴った時に、危険度の高い波形と危険度の低い波形を見分けなくてはいけませんよね。 モニターの波形を見て致死的な波形が出ていないか確認しますが、心室頻拍や心室細動のように分かりやすい波形はすぐ読めるのですが...。 心室期外収縮のRonT型など、先輩に言われるまで気づけません。 心電図で危険な不整脈に気づけないと、生死に関わりますからね(;_;) 先輩たちは、異常アラームが鳴っても瞬時に危険な波形かどうかを判断します。 危険とあればすぐにドクターコールし、対応します。 突然心臓が止まる事もありますから、油断は出来ません。 人の命がかかっているとなると、わかりませんでした...では通用しませんからね(ノ_＜) プレッシャーです(~_~;) 私も早く一人前のナースになるため、もっと経験を積んで頑張らなきゃなぁって思います。
2015年11月 9日｜
ドラックストアに行けば沢山の薬が販売されていますが、市販の薬を買うのだったら、診察を受けて薬を処方してもらったほうが、
お金もかからないし効果がある、と思っている方は沢山いると思います。
確かに、例えば風邪で診察を受けたとしても、頭痛薬、整腸剤、胃薬、解熱剤など、実にいろいろな薬が処方されます。
そして、２週間分も処方してくれます。
普通の風邪だったら、ほとんどの方が数日間薬を飲むだけで、後は必要ないと思います。
全てを飲みきる方はまずいないのではないでしょうか。
そして、そのように残ってしまった薬は、結局捨てる事になるんです。 日本の薬の処方量は、他の国に比べると３倍も多いというデータがあります。
特に精神科の薬の処方量が多く、どんどん薬が増えていって意識が朦朧とする事もあるほどです。
でも、精神科の薬は自分の判断で勝手に止める事ができないので、どんな状態になっても飲み続けてしまうんです。
こうなると、本当に必要な薬なのかどうかがわからなくなります。
日本の場合は、保険制度がしっかりしていますから、医療費は３割負担で、高齢者の場合は１割負担です。
負担が少ない事で、薬の量についてあまり考える事がないんだと思います。
でも、実際には医療費は税金として徴収されていて、そこから使われているんです。
そう考えると、日本の医療負担も相当な金額になると思います。 薬を飲めば病気が治ると思っている方が沢山いますが、薬には副作用というものがあります。
薬を飲み続ける事で、他の病気を引き起こしてしまう可能性もあります。
薬はできるだけ飲まないようにしたいものです。
その為には、普段から生活習慣を改善して、病気にならないように心がける事が大切です。
2015年10月 6日｜
私は、看護師求人情報サービスに登録して、派遣の仕事を探していたんですよね。 ハローワークなどでは見る事が出来ない、いろいろな種類の派遣の仕事があって、ビックリしましたね。 その中でも、かなり時給が高い派遣の仕事があったんです。 なんと、時給が３０００円！ 訪問看護の仕事なんですが、この時給の高さに思わず惹かれましたよね。 訪問看護の仕事をした事はなかったんですけど、日勤だけの仕事だし、介護系の仕事が多くて、
仕事内容が楽だと思っていたんです。 だから、時給もそれほど高くはないと思っていたんです。 介護系の職場って、病院に比べると給料が低いですよね。 訪問看護の仕事も同じだと思ってたんですよ。 時給の高さが気になって、コンサルタントさんに聞いてみたんです。 そうしたら、こんな答えが返ってきたんです。 訪問看護の事業所は、慢性的なスタッフ不足に悩まされているようです。 実際に働いてみると、常勤の場合は２４時間対応だし、電話当番があって、夜間に駆けつける事もあって、結構ハードな仕事なんです。 だから、嫌煙される事が多くて、なかなかスタッフが定着しないんです。 スタッフが不足しているから、ますます仕事がハードになって、というように、悪循環になってるんですよね。 訪問看護の事業者は、時給を高くしたり、２～３時間の勤務もＯＫだったりと、いろいろな求人を出してスタッフを募っているんですよ。 在宅看護をする方が増えていますから、これからますます需要が高くなる仕事ですよね。 派遣の訪問看護師であれば、自分のペースで働く事ができると思うんですけど、常勤となるとやはり難しいかもしれませんよね。 病院やクリニックで働く以上に、大変なのかもしれません。
2015年10月 6日｜
うちの病棟、朝から本当に忙しいんですよ(/ _ ; ) 循環器病棟の忙しさは、病院でも一位二位を争うほどです。 オペ出し、オペ迎え、心カテなどの検査、回診、処置、オムツ交換、食事介助、入浴介助などなど...一日中パタパタ走り回ってます(ｰｰ;) 朝はね、一応バッチリメイクして行くんですよ。 もうノーメイクとか無理なお年頃ですから(ｰｰ;) けど、1時間も経つとメイクは落ちて来ます。 入浴介助なんて、ほんとにアウトですよ。 ファンデーションはすっかり落ちちゃいますね。
けど、メイクを直す暇もないんです。 日頃、不規則な生活で夜勤中もメイクはしたままですから、肌荒れはひどいし、最近じゃ小じわやシミも目立ってきて(/ _ ; ) スッピンは人様におみせできるようなものじゃありませんよ。 病棟には、ちょっとイケメンな研修医のドクターとかもいるし、メイクが落ちてくると、見られたくないなぁ...って思います(;_;) ファンデーションが取れても恥ずかしくない綺麗な素肌ならいいんですけどねぇ。 ほんと、お肌の綺麗な人が羨ましいですよ(/ _ ; ) スッピンでもお肌の綺麗な人は可愛く見えますよね～。
私も素肌美人になりたぃなぁ...。
温泉とか、岩盤浴とかヨガとか...色々頑張ってるんですけどね、やっぱり夜勤の後は肌荒れが目立つんです。 同僚に相談したら、ファンデーションを変えてみたら？と言われて、オススメのミネラルファンデーションを使ってみてます。
粉のファンデーションなんですけど、 クレンジングを使わなくても石鹸だけで落ちるんです。 だから、お肌への負担も少ないんですよね。 お肌への刺激物の少ないものはカバー力が少し足りない感じもしますが、素肌美人になれたら気になりませんよね^_＝
2015年9月18日｜
看護師の仕事って、時間が不規則ですよね。 日勤や夜勤があるから、規則正しい生活はとうてい無理です。 しかも肉体労働(/ _ ; ) 体が疲れすぎると、眠いのに眠れなくて辛いことありませんか？ 私は疲れすぎると、すぐに不眠になっちゃうんです。 鬱病の時に睡眠障害も起きて、それ以来ですね...(/ _ ; ) 不眠になると、なかなか疲れも取れなくて辛いですね。 睡眠導入剤とかお薬に頼ってた時期もありましたが、今はあまりお薬には頼らないようにしています。 やっぱりお薬だと、翌日に眠気が残ったり、一度飲み始めるとクセになったりしちゃうからです。 出来ることなら自然に眠りを促せたらいいなぁ...と思って、色々調べてみたところ、ハーブティーが効果あるとか(^ ^) 眠れない時は、甘いホットミルク
が効果あるなんて良く聞くけど、そんなホットミルクより効果があるそうです。 さっそく試してみることにしました。 睡眠に効果のあるハーブティーとされるのは、 ＊カモミール＊
不眠や美容に効果のある冷え性改善に効果あり。 1日3杯飲むと、大腸炎や消化不良にも効果があるそうです(^ ^) ＊ジンジャーホットミルク＊
快眠効果のある牛乳に含まれるトリプトファンと、ジンジャーの体温め効果が快眠を促してくれます。 ＊レモンバーム＊
緊張や不安を抑える効果があるので、悩み事がある時に効果的ですよ(^ ^) ＊リンデン＊
疲労回復に効果的。
翌朝の目覚めがスッキリ ＊ローズマリー＊
血液の循環を良くする効果があるので、低血圧の人にオススメ(^ ^)
私はその日の体調や気分に合わせて選んでいますよ。 睡眠不足は万病のもとですから日頃から気をつけています。 良く眠って、その日の疲れはその日のうちに取りたいですね(^-^)
2015年9月18日｜
相変わらず、医療業界では、看護師が不足しているという状況が続いています。 それぞれの医療現場では、看護師の人数が不足してうる上に、バイト看護師やパートの看護師が多い職場の場合、勤ができるスタッフは限られてしまいます。 その為、夜勤ができるが為に、夜勤ばかりを任されてしまう、という看護師もいます。 しかし、あまりにも夜勤ばかりを連続していると、生活のリズムがおかしくなり、体調を崩してしまう、というケースが多いんです。 生活のリズムが崩れてしまう為、常に眠気を感じてしまう、慢性的な不眠症になってしまうケースも少なくありません。 仕事も大切ですが、やはり、自分の身体の事は、一番に考えなくてはいけません。 しかし、自分の体調の事を考え、いざ、転職をしようと思っても、看護師不足の職場の場合、なかなか、転職の話は持ち出しにくいものです。 そんな状況の際におススメなのが、看護師転職サービスを利用する、転職の方法です。 看護師転職サービスを利用すると、退職交渉をしてくれるサービスもあるんです。 看護師不足の現在、スムーズに退職の話が進まない職場も多い為、苦労していうｒ看護師は沢山います。 そんな中で、とてもおススメなのが看護師転職サービスです。The inquiry has now finished for the day.
Dacre says that the way the inquiry is being conducted and televised means that "the British public are receiving a very bleak picture... of an industry that employs thousands of people".
Lord Justice Leveson says that it is unacceptable for Dacre to be questioned on issues on which he has not been pre-notified, but accepts that the issue of Grant and the Mail's "mendacious smears" statement has become "totemic". He adds that it is fair to everybody that it is "resolved rather more carefully" than at present.
Leveson does not rule out that Dacre might be recalled "shortly" if the matters are not resolved.
The Hacked Off campaign has issued the following response to Paul Dacre's comments:
The Hacked Off campaign and the Media Standards Trust categorically refute Paul Dacre's baseless accusations that we have "attempted to hijack" the Leveson Inquiry by somehow putting pressure on Hugh Grant, a supporter of the Hacked Off campaign, to "wound" Associated Newspapers at the time Mr Grant gave oral evidence to the inquiry.
Sherborne asks how journalists for the Daily Mail obtained Tinglan Hong's mobile phone number.
He suggests that a Daily Mail journalist did not identify himself as a member of the press to a letting agent who gave the journalist certain details about Hong.
Jonathan Caplan QC intervenes again to say that Dacre and Associated Newspapers have had no notice of these questions.
Sherborne suggests that attacks by the Daily Mail's columnists on actors are ways for the title to generate more stories.
Dacre says he does not understand what Sherborne means.
Sherborne reads a column by Amanda Platell on Hugh Grant titled "Hypocrisy and the tawdry self-love of Mr Grant".
Once a much-loved actor, the truth is that Grant has become a lonely, bitter man consumed with hatred of the media who helped make him a star... One can only imagine how'scarred' his abandoned daughter is going to feel. It remains to be seen if the self-obsessed Mr Grant will be able to give any long-term commitment (apart from a financial one, by dipping into his £40million Hollywood fortune)?
Sherbourne describes it as "very nasty".
Sherborne says that Dacre's statement is "just another shooting from the hip attack" on Hugh Grant.
Dacre categorically denies that.
Sherborne asks Dacre about his latest "curious" supplemental witness statement.
The statement is not yet public but Sherborne describes it as making further observations about Grant.
Sherborne says Dacre wrote Grant was "happily being photographed in public places". He points out the contrast with a Daily Mail article from 4 May 2007 that said "Grant, as usual, was annoyed to be photographed in the street" and "Despite the fact that they've played such a big part in making him both famous and wealthy, he detests the media, believing he ought to be above being bothered by such vile, ordinary people."
Dacre says he is bemused at being asked questions without notice about articles published five years ago.
"The point I'm trying to make that this is a man who has assiduously … courted the press," he says.
Lord Justice Leveson says that this particular dispute has achieved a significance "that maybe rather large than it merits" and that Dacre's statement details extensively his newspaper's relationship with Hugh Grant.
Leveson allows Sherborne to put a limited set of questions to Dacre.
David Sherborne, representing the victims in the inquiry, rises to say that he needs to ask questions of Dacre.
Sherborne says his concerns stem from the Associated Newspapers "mendacious smears" statement. He says he is in a "very unsatisfactory" position and that questions could take the inquiry until after 6pm.
Jonathan Caplan QC, counsel for Associated Newspapers, argues that Sherborne should not be allowed to put questions to Dacre.
"You have painted a very bleak picture of the Daily Mail," Dacre says, adding that the examples raised by Jay are minimal and that Daily Mail readers enjoy and support the paper.
"You presented a somewhat one-sided picture of the Mail."
Dacre is asked whether he is as proud of Mail Online as he is of the Daily Mail. Dacre says he is, but notes that it is young and is still evolving.
"I am very proud of Mail Online, which last week became the world's most popular newspaper website," he says. He adds that it is an achievement by British journalism that should be celebrated.
Jay asks whether Dacre had a better relationship with Gordon Brown than Tony Blair. "You could say that," he says.
He points out that he got to know Brown when the prime minister asked him to chair a committee reviewing the 30-year rule on government secrets.
Jay raises a section in Dacre's 2008 Society of Editors speech which said that the editor had a meeting with Gordon Brown and raised concerns over an amendment to section 55 of the Data Protection Act that could have led to the jailing of journalists. Dacre said:
About 16 months ago, I, Les Hinton of News International and Murdoch MacLennan of the Telegraph, had dinner with Gordon Brown and raised these concerns. We also raised a truly frightening amendment to the Data Protection Act, winding its way through parliament, under which journalists faced being jailed for two years for illicitly obtaining personal information such as ex-directory telephone numbers or an individual's gas bills or medical records. This legislation would have made Britain the only country in the free world to jail journalists and could have had a considerable chilling effect on good journalism. The prime minister - I don't think it is breaking confidences to reveal - was hugely sympathetic to the industry's case. Whatever our individual newspapers' views are of the prime minister - and the Mail is pretty tough on him - we should, as an industry, acknowledge that, to date, he has been a great friend of press freedom.
Dacre says that Brown was "sympathetic" to concerns put by Dacre, Murdoch MacLennan and Les Hinton.
"In the public interest they still can," Dacre says, referring to breaches of the Data Protection Act.
"We felt this would put journalists in a very difficult position," he says of the potential for custodial sentences.
Dacre says it "preposterous" to suggest that the amendment suggested by the newspaper representatives was self-serving.
Dacre says he has turned down the editorship of the Times and the Daily Telegraph because he felt he would not be guaranteed editorial independence.
He adds that Rupert Murdoch has been a great proprietor but "I don't think there's any doubt he had very strong views which he communicated to his editors".
Matt Kelly, the Trinity Mirror executive, has just tweeted:
Paul Dacre hasn't been spoken to with such brusqueness since the headmaster took him to task for scrumping those apples in 1867.
Daily Telegraph chief reporter Gordon Rayner has just tweeted:
Jay versus Dacre starting to head towards Nadal v Djokovic territory length-wise #leveson
Lord Justice Leveson notes that Dacre has been giving evidence for three hours, saying that Dacre probably wants to finish his evidence today rather than come back another day.
"That's probably the understatement of the year," says Dacre.
The inquiry is now taking a short break.
Dacre explains the circumstances of his meeting with Jack Straw, Murdoch MacLennan and Rebekah Brooks to warn against curbs to press freedom, including that journalists should not be jailed for breaches under the Data Protection Act.
Jay suggests that Dacre and Straw were close – the Daily Mail editor went to university with the former home secretary – and he was attempting to influence policy.
Dacre says this is an insult to Straw.
Jay points out that Morrissey used a conditional fee arrangement (or "no win, no fee") deal to fight the case against the Mail.
Dacre says CFAs are not a bad thing in themselves, but they have been hijacked by "predatory" lawyers. He adds that fees can be £500,000 for cases that secure £5,000 damages.
Jay points out that the Daily Mail settled with Morrissey over the case.
Dacre says the paper's sources were "not prepared to go to court on it".
Jay says that the paper took a month to reply to Morrissey's offer to settle if the paper apologised, and when it did, it said it would make an apology on page 2.
Morrissey complained the apology was "not given sufficient prominence" compared with the original story. He pressed on with the case, won "substantial" damages and applied for permission to make a statement in open court.
Jay asks about a submission from the Men Behaving Badly actor Neil Morrissey.
Morrissey complained about a Daily Mail article that falsely claimed he had been banned from a bar in France because of binge drinking.
The story, headlined "Homme behaving badly: TV star banned from bar near his idyllic French retreat after locals object to 'le binge drinking'", was published in March 2010.
Dacre says that his journalists spent several days checking the story and suggests that the thrust of the story – the binge drinking claim – was not disproved.
He says that the story was in the public interest because Morrissey is a famous actor and "a role model for young people".
Dacre says that Jay makes a "caricature" of the Daily Mail when he says the paper publishes "loads" of stories purporting to show a link between cancer and other events.
The Daily Mail news desk will reject two or three stories of this kind a day because they do not trust the provenance, Dacre says.
He tries to play the story down, saying that the article in question was only small downpage one and the paper gets hundreds, thousands of stories coming in.
Dacre says the criticism is based on a misunderstanding of how journalism works – a phrase he has repeated several times.
He goes on to say his paper has done huge range of good work on medical and science stories.
Jay asks whether it is the job of some journalists to put a "sensationalist" spin on scientific research. Dacre denies this.
Jay says he has tracked down the original piece of research from Israel and it relatively "uninteresting, save for scientists". It says nothing about an increase in cancer as described in the article, Jay says.
Dacre says that that link between night-time trips to the toilet was based on agency copy and a quote from a researcher.
He adds:
I categorically dispute that we adopt an irresponsible stance on medical stories.
Dacre is asked about a Daily Mail article headed "Cancer danger of that night-time trip to the toilet". Its introduction began: Intro: "Simply turning on a light at night for a few seconds to go to the toilet can cause changes that might lead to cancer, scientists claim."
Roy Greenslade pointed out in his blog that:
It was, of course, bunkum. The Tabloid Watch blog links to straightforward and crushing denials by the said scientists, Professor Charalambos Kyriacou from Leicester University's department of genetics and Dr Rachel Ben-Shlomo from the University of Haifa. Their research, on mice by the way, was all about the likely effects of the prolonged exposure of nightshift workers to artificial light. There is nothing in their study about trips to the toilet. As Kyriacou told AOL Health: "The'switching on of lights causes cancer when you go to the bathroom at night' is an eye-catching fabrication of the press." For a run-down of other things that the Mail has alleged are causes of cancer see this Facebook list. It includes sausages, tea, potatoes, hugging (I kid you not) and there are 135 more examples too.
Hugh Grant has "spent his life invading his own privacy", says Dacre.
He denies it is intrusive to send photographers and journalists to Grant's home on the news of his child's birth.
Sending photographers to someone who has had a baby to ask for a photo is "as old as time itself", he adds. "It worries me that you can't understand this."
Dacre states unequivocally that he knows of no instances of phone hacking at the Associated Newspapers title.
He repeats that the statement was a "perfectly sensible" way to defend "my company, my newspapers".
Jay asks Dacre about evidence given by Hugh Grant and Associated Newspapers' statement that the star had made "mendacious smears driven by his hatred of the media".
Dacre says he was off work that day and heard a BBC headline that implied Associated Newspapers had been "dragged into the phone-hacking scandal" by Grant's evidence.
Dacre agreed with the Mail on Sunday editor to describe it as a "mendacious smear".
"I had to instantly rebut the fact that your inquiry was being told that we … were hacking into phones," he says. "The damage was being done. I'm glad to say once we got that out we had much more balanced reporting from the BBC and other media."
Dacre denies he shot from the hip too swiftly with the statement. He accuses Grant and the Hacked Off campaign of "hijacking this inquiry in a highly calculated attempt to wound my company".
Jay says it has been suggested that the reason for the Mail's siding with the Lawrence family was because Lawrence's father had done some plastering work for him previously.
"It is an unfair suggestion," Dacre says, before listing a series of campaigns that the Mail has mounted on the Omagh families, plastic bags and Gary McKinnon. "I really do find that insulting," he adds.
Dacre says that the McCanns complaining to the PCC would have "nipped things in the bud" earlier.
"The Mail's reporting of the McCan story was much more responsible that most papers. I can't say any more than that," he adds.
Newspapers felt they had the "green light" to write what they liked about the McCanns after the couple employed a public relations adviser, Dacre says.
The McCann story was one of the few examples of a story that boosted sales, says Dacre. He says, with hindsight, he is glad the Mail didn't splash on it too much.
Jay asks Dacre about the Daily Mail's coverage of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Dacre is asked if the Daily Mail refused to publish an apology because supportive articles outnumbered the harmful ones. Dacre says he does not know.
Jonathan Caplan QC, counsel for Associated Newspapers, intervenes to say that the legal settlement was agreed between the McCanns and the publisher.
Dacre is asked about the Daily Mail's coverage of the arrest of Joanne Yeates's landlord Christopher Jefferies.
The Mail paid damages to Jefferies for libel, rather than contempt of court like the Sun and Daily Mirror.
The attorney general has been "less and less clear" over the years on what constitutes contempt of court, says Dacre. He adds: "Standards did slip in this area, we accept that."
"I apologise to Mr Jefferies," he says, claiming that the Daily Mail was one of the least worst offenders. "We have learned from the experience," he adds.
He welcomes firm guidance from Dominic Grieve, the attorney general, on the matter.
The offending headline was cleared by lawyers, Dacre says. "The backbench rewrote the headline after I left but I stand by it – I'm the editor."
Jay reads out a passage from the article:
The sugar coating on this fatality is so saccharine-thick that it obscures whatever bitter truth lies beneath. Healthy and fit 33-year-old men do not just climb into their pyjamas and go to sleep on the sofa, never to wake up again. Whatever the cause of death is, it is not, by any yardstick, a natural one.
Dacre responds: "I've already said I think the piece could have benefited from a little judicious subbing."
He adds that usually he leaves the office at 10pm, but on that night he was at the opera with his wife.
Dacre says perhaps the timing of the piece was "regrettable" and it could have "benefited from a little judicious subediting". He adds that he would "die in a ditch" defending a columnists' right to expression. "There isn't a homophobic bone in Jan Moir's body," he says.
Dacre compares the Jan Moir article on page 37 of the Daily Mail to coverage in other newspapers, holding up front pages of the Sun and other titles.
He notes that most of the 22,000 complaints to the PCC about the column were the result of "tweetering" from a famous celebrity (Stephen Fry). "Most of those people conceded they hadn't read the piece," he adds.
Dacre is asked about Jan Moir's column in the Daily Mail about the death of singer Stephen Gately, which was titled "A strange, lonely and troubling death" in print. Online, it was originally headed "Why there was nothing 'natural' about Stephen Gately's death", which was later amended to the print edition headline.
Moir was accused of homophobia over the piece and there were 22,000 complaints to the PCC.
Leveson points out the "difference in view" between Baroness Hollins's complaints and the Mail editor's belief that the articles were in the public view.
If the feature distressed Hollins "then I hear that," Dacre says.
"I can't see how it could have been more sensitively handled," he adds.
Dacre is asked about the evidence by Baroness Hollins on a 2005 Daily Mail article that linked an attack on her son to an entirely separate attack on her daughter. It was titled "Abigail, the brother who dotes on her and the riddle of another random, brutal attack".
"This shows why I don't believe the inquiry understands how popular newspapers work," Dacre says, adding that the feature was handled with "massive sensitivity".
Dacre says it was in the public interest to link the two attacks because both attackers were allegedly on drugs. He says in any case Hollins's son was named in open court.
"Most members of the British public would think it an extraordinary coincidence [that both siblings were attacked]," he adds.
Dacre says editors might have "dropped their guard" on the What Price Privacy Now? report because almost all national newspapers were potentially implicated.
He adds: "I moved decisively and ruthlessly to stamp it out. Other newspapers didn't, and we did."
Jay says it could be the case that illegally-obtained information is still in Associated Newspapers' offices.
Dacre says that the information would likely only be in reporters' notebooks and not on the publisher's computer systems.
Dacre resumes his evidence and reasserts that the What Price Privacy Now? report examined detailed events that happened 10 years ago.
"I would accept there is a prima facie case that Whittamore could have been acting illegally," he says, adding that he does not believe Daily Mail journalists acted wrongly.
Caplan told the inquiry in November that private investigator Steve Whittamore was used to help speed up journalistic investigations and to help verify the accuracy of stories pre-publication, not to break the law. He said:
His assistance was required as far as Associated journalists were concerned to help trace people quickly, usually to verify facts or to comment on stories that were written or in progress prior to publication. It should also be stressed that Mr Whittamore did not work simply for newspapers, he was hired by organisations such as banks, local authorities and firms of solicitors who were similarly seeking to locate people. While Mr Whittamore was prosecuted no journalist has ever been charged because there simply is no evidence they ever asked Mr Whittamore to do anything illegal, or they knew he was, or might, be illegally accessing databases. Another key difference between phone hacking and the data provision provided by Mr Whittamore was that journalists using him were not engaged in fishing expeditions.
The inquiry is now taking a short break while Dacre has a discussion with Jonathan Caplan, counsel for Associated Newspapers.
Dacre says that private investigators were used because it was quicker than journalists conducting the checks themselves.
"Time is everything in journalism," says Dacre.
Jay suggests that suspicions should have been aroused by the expense of Whittamore's undertakings and how quickly they were completed.
"Some of these [Whittamore] inquiries could not be justified by the type of explanation you have given," says Lord Justice Leveson.
He says he is not attempting to label the Daily Mail, but simply to get the overall picture and "move on from what is a long time ago".
Dacre says that his journalists believed they were acting within the law, using Whittamore to obtain telephone numbers and addresses to check news stories.
Jay asks how Dacre knows this. "From my managing editors," says the editor replies.
Operation Motorman "barely registered on the consciousness," Dacre says.
"All newspapers were still using this agency … I'm not sure an investigation at that stage was warranted," he adds, when asked by Jay why Associated Newspapers did not conduct an internal investigation into whether its use of inquiry agents was legal.
Dacre says the Mail wrote to Whittamore's inquiry agency, which gave the paper assurances about his methods.
From 2005, the Daily Mail sent a series of emails and letters to staff warning them about restrictions under the Data Protection Act, Dacre tells the inquiry.
Dacre says he does not know exactly when the Daily Mail stopped using Whittamore.
"In 2007 we brought the shutters down and banned – banned – the use of inquiry agents," he says.
Dacre claims that the BBC spent a similar amount on search agents as the Daily Mail.
Dacre confirms he was aware that the Daily Mail was using search agents before 2006 but not to the extent as revealed by What Price Privacy Now?. "Not the numbers," he says.
He says he was aware that the paper used private investigator Steve Whittamore "sometime about 2004, 2005-ish".
Dacre is asked about Operation Motorman.
This was the information commissioner's 2003 investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office into allegations of offences under the Data Protection Act by newspapers employing private investigators.
What Price Privacy Now? was the key ICO report into the unlawful trading of confidential information published in 2006.
The Daily Mail was identified as the paper with the the most transactions followed by the Sunday People, the Daily Mirror and the News of the World.
The nature of the transactions was not identified in this report and could have included general research and legal searches such as electoral roll checks or searches of births, deaths and marriages records.
Chris Bryant MP has just tweeted:
Dacre's idea of withdrawing press card for gross malfeasance is identical to @IvanLewis_MP plan, which the Daily Mail savagely attacked
Dacre says he is "utterly unaware" of any policy to "bury" complaints on Mail Online, when asked by Jay.
"The beauty of the Mail Online is that it doesn't have to carry many corrections, because things are quickly corrected or removed," says Dacre.
Dacre stresses that apologies relating to stories in the print edition are run in the paper.
He expresses displeasure at Jay's suggestion that apologies for print stories are run online. "Anybody can make such as accusation and smear a paper", he adds.
Dacre warns against the new regulator having the power to insist on where newspapers print apologies or corrections.
He says that this would undermine the editor and would be more easily accommodated by quality newspapers than tabloid titles because they have more stories on the front page.
Dacre is asked about newspaper corrections.
The Daily Mail introduced a page 2 corrections column to coincide with the introduction of the Leveson inquiry.
He says the idea of a consistent place to print corrections "has virtue".
Dacre says that it would be beneficial if the press could move to a "transitional arrangement" sooner rather than later.
Jay: "Or to avoid the sword of Damocles |
dangerous places.
"This is going to make things worse for the many folks who are already underbanked," he said. "The last thing you want to do is make people more uneasy about our financial institutions, but that’s what these closures are doing."
Jason Wells, chief executive of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce, attended a roundtable in Washington, D.C., in October featuring banking industry officials, business leaders from along the entire border and three U.S. Congressmen: Juan Vargas of San Diego and Henry Cuellar and Will Hurd from Texas.
He said the gist of the roundtable was that a $1.9 billion fine levied on HSBC Bank in 2012 for allowing money-laundering had created a knee-jerk reaction by many banks to close branches near the border, where more money-laundering typically takes place.
"If you’re a bank and your headquarters is in Ohio, you look at a map and you say the border area is the problem so we can close that one down and the customers can go to Chula Vista," Wells said. "That may look easy from Ohio, but it obviously has some very real effects in San Ysidro."
Wells said banking industry officials have been somewhat evasive other than mentioning the money-laundering penalties, which the federal government has sharply increased.
"No bank corporate officer wants to tell you ‘we’re closing branches," so we’ve gotten excuses like ‘it’s just part of our North American strategy,’ which is to me bogus," Wells said. "We’ve never had million-dollar home loans or $50,000 car loans at border branches, so nothing has changed."
The banking industry was represented at the Texas roundtable by two officials from the American Bankers Association. Blair Bernstein, the association’s spokeswoman, did not return phone calls this week.
Calls to Congressman Vargas also weren’t returned.
While some customers can shift their accounts to the branches that remain open in their border community, many get blocked in such efforts by banks unwilling to take on customers who deal frequently with large sums of cash. Such concerns have also prompted some branches that remain open to close certain accounts against the wishes of individual merchants.
When large banks close branches in other communities, private community banks such as Torrey Pines Bank or Bank of Coronado often step into the void and gather up abandoned accounts.
That isn’t an option in this case.
"Most communities along borders like San Ysidro don’t have community banks — we’re at the mercy of the national chains," Wells said.
And new federal regulations adopted since the banking industry nearly collapsed in 2008 make it much harder to launch community banks, said Jones, noting that only a handful have opened nationwide under the new rules.Luke Rockhold has lost just once in the last four years, and yet he’s nowhere near a title shot. That’s because the man who beat him 11 months ago, Michael Bisping, is waiting for his next challenge in the form of Georges St-Pierre, and that fight isn’t expected to take place until sometime after October.
Needless to say, the former champion Rockhold — who lost the title to Bisping at UFC 199 last June — doesn’t know his current bearings, especially with Yoel Romero sitting idly as the No. 1 contender and Robert Whittaker fast-emerging behind him.
And it’s frustrating for Rockhold, who appeared on The MMA Hour on Monday a bewildered and deflated fighter who finds himself at wit’s end.
“I don’t know, man,” he told Ariel Helwani when asked about his situation. “You can’t predict anything these days. So, [the UFC is] just chasing to pay off a debt really, is what they’re doing, trying to put these megafights together that don’t make sense. I don’t know. You never know what they’re going to do these days. Who knows.”
Rockhold has been recovering from an injury and splitting time between his usual gym in California, AKA, and training with Henri Hooft in Florida. At 32 years old, Rockhold is still in his prime, yet he can’t seem to get back on track towards a title that has gone on a detour since he lost it. Bisping defended the middleweight title against Dan Henderson at 204 last October, and looks poised to go a year between defenses as he awaits GSP’s timetable for a return.
It’s to the point that Rockhold is fed up with the situation, and is ready to sit out for as long as needed until something is presented to him that feels like a “path” back to the title. He went so far as to say that his fellow contenders in the middleweight division should essentially stand their ground and refuse to fight, too, until some amendments are made.
“If they’re not putting an interim title on the line, or if they’re not making Bisping fight a contender, I’m not fighting anybody,” he said. “And so should the rest of the division, too. What’s the point? Without me, Mousasi, Yoel, and Whittaker? I think everyone should just stand their ground, and say f*ck you. Put a title on the line or else, f*ck, you don’t even have a division.”
Asked if he meant like a middleweight strike, Rockhold smiled.
“I think everyone is already on strike, aren’t they?” he said. “We’re all waiting on a title. Whittaker’s down. I’ve voiced my opinion, and I think Mousasi should stand his ground too. I mean, without us you have no f*cking division. Make something happen.”
Rockhold said that the UFC offered him a fight with Mousasi in July, but right now that fight doesn’t necessarily interest him. Why? Because Mousasi, who is coming off a controversial victory over Chris Weidman at UFC 210 in Buffalo, doesn’t get him any closer to a title shot. Whereas a bout with Whittaker, who knocked out perennial contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in April, moves him towards something.
“I asked for the Whittaker fight,” Rockhold said. “I think that’s a more clear cut, straight path to the title. Mousasi’s coming off…you know he looked good, against Weidman, but there was some controversy at the end. Then you got Whittaker who knocked out Jacare. It’s pretty clear-cut. You go put that guy away, and you don’t have to worry about anybody else trying to jump you.”
Sitting pat in a weight class that’s rife with dissension, Rockhold said it’s up to the UFC to figure things out.
“The ball’s definitely in their court, and I think they know that,” he said. “I think everyone’s not very happy in the situation we’re in right now. I’m sure Yoel’s payment isn’t going to hold him off too long.
“We’ll see. I think everyone needs to step up and make something happen. The middleweights need to step up and hold their ground.”
Before losing to Bisping in what was a short notice fight at UFC 199, Rockhold had won five straight bouts against top middleweights, with all of them ending in finishes. Most recently he defeated Weidman to win the title at UFC 194 in Dec. 2015, dealing the Long Island native his first professional loss. Before then he took out former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and, of course, Bisping.
Nearly a year after losing his title, Rockhold sounded like a man who was fed up with how things were playing out in the UFC.
“They’re forcing us into a corner,” he said. “We got to stick up and stay together and make something happen. I’m tired of this shit, man.”
The one thing that Rockhold reiterated on numerous occasions is that he doesn’t want to take a fight that doesn’t have obvious upward movement. He said that in the new UFC, under the new ownership of WME-IMG, the meritocracy that was in place is now being torn to shreds. And if that’s the case, he said he would be open to pursuing fights outside the promotion.
“I go put on a performance and I beat one of the best guys in the world, I mean, there’s no path to anything, so what’s the f*cking point?” he said. “There’s no point in staying in this division, or f*ck, I mean in this company. If it’s just money fights, I’ll go do that somewhere else.
“I mean, you can let me go from my contract and I’ll go fight big money fights somewhere else. But I’m here in this company to fight the best guys in the world and to win titles. If there’s no path to that, I’m out. Let me go.”
Rockhold’s disdain for the way the Bisping situation is playing out, with all the division’s top contenders in limbo while waiting on St-Pierre to be ready, remains a point of major contention.
“They’re not putting the champion to work, which is pretty ridiculous,” he said. “I mean, are they really going to wait until October to make this Georges St-Pierre fight? I don’t even think anybody’s hyped on this fight anymore.”
Reminded that it could possibly be November before the fight happens, in order for it to occur at Madison Square Garden, Rockhold sighed.
“It’s a joke,” he said. “The company’s kind of losing it these days. What happened to the old company where the best fought the best, and what built this sport? Now it’s just a spectator sport. They’re putting freak shows together.”For years people who warned that the normalization of pedophilia would be the next major "civil rights battle" were dismissed as tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists. Yet the push for pedophile acceptance has begun. To the surprise of many, pedophile acceptance has some surprising allies.
Everyone from Salon to Twitter to National Review are defending pedophiles.
Salon published a lengthy article from an admitted pedophile. In this article the pedophile, who has worked around children and admitted in chat rooms to hugging children closely, shared his tale of woe.
I’ve been stuck with the most unfortunate of sexual orientations, a preference for a group of people who are legally, morally and psychologically unable to reciprocate my feelings and desires. It’s a curse of the first order, a completely unworkable sexuality, and it’s mine. Who am I? Nice to meet you. My name is Todd Nickerson, and I’m a pedophile.
Read, "I'm a pedophile, but not a monster."
Rather than treat pedophilia as a grave moral wrong, pedophilia is treated as an innate sexual identity. Pedophiles are no different from gays, the author of the Salon article wrote, and thus deserve civil rights.
National Review supports pedophiles.
Astoundingly, Charles C.W. Cooke of the "right wing" National Review wrote an article defending Salon's piece. Read, "On Salon’s Much-Maligned Pedophilia Piece."
While Cooke did not give child rapists a full throttled defense, his article gave moral authority and cover to Salon. Pedophiles, Cooke argued, should not be forced to remain in the closet.
Salon again supports pedophiles.
After receiving support from National Review, Salon next published a piece decrying pedophile-phobia, a problem existing on the right. Liberals, it seems, find pedophilia acceptable. Fortunately the right (excluding National Review writer Charles C.W. Cooke) took a stand:
With regard to angry respondents to my article, the greatest amount of flak has come from the far right, who smeared Salon for daring to allow me to speak, as if silencing pedophiles somehow equates to fighting sexual abuse.
Read, "I’m a pedophile, you’re the monsters: My week inside the vile right-wing hate machine."
Notice the use of the language. Silencing.
Anyone who speaks out against pedophiles is bigot spreading hate speech in an effort to silence those who would have sex with children - if only the laws were changed legalizing the practice.
Twitter supports pedophiles.
Sarah Nyberg (formerly known as Nicolas) is a prominent social justice warrior and Twitter user. Leaked chat logs revealed Nyberg was something else - she/he was a confessed pedophile.
LEOPirate, the user who exposed pedophile Sarah/Nicholas Nyberg, was suspended from Twitter.
Twitter allows an admitted pedophile to use its service while suspending the account of the person who exposed the pedophile.
Social Justice Warriors support pedophiles.
After Sarah Nyberg was exposed as a pedophile, dozens of social justice warriors rallied to her cause. Jef Rouner, a writer for the Houston Press and Cracked.com, sent a picture of his child to Nyberg to "cheer her up."
Yahoo! makes the move to normalize pedophilia.
Today Yahoo! has published an article from a mother who intends to dress her 9-year-old child up like a sexual object to be put on display:
It’s Halloween season again. So far, my nine-year-old daughter with heavy tween tendencies has wanted to be a broken porcelain doll, a Cheshire Cat girl, and a Galaxy Cat. I’m rooting for the Cheshire Cat girl, personally. All of these costumes will likely involve either a short skirt or dress-over leggings, or just leggings and a shirt (that’s the Galaxy Cat).
Will the National Review staff swap pictures of the little girl in her costume?
Or will the right grow some balls and take a stand against pedophilia?Ferdinand "Enzo" Pastor was a popular Filipino racing champion who had unfinished dreams after a tragic act of violence in the Philippines, Thursday.
Enzo started his racing career at the age of 18, in 1999. He's participated in touring cars, Formula BMW, Formula 3, and most recently, NASCAR's Euro Series and the Asian V8 Championship. In fact, he and his brother were the first two Filipino drivers to ever compete on NASCAR's European circuit. His performance earned him an invitation to come compete in their American K&N division, but he never got the chance.
Enzo was also the first Filipino to ever get behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar, doing so in a 2011 test. Among his many achievements include the 2002 Asian Formula Renault title, a national Touring Car championship, and the 2010 Philippine Sportswriter Association Annual Award for Motorsports. Earlier this year, Pastor won the inaugural Asian V8 championship race.
He was en-route to Clark International Speedway to store his late model cars when two motorcycle riders pulled up to the vehicle and gunned him down. He was 32. It's a tragic loss for Philippine motorsport, losing one of their strongest advocates. Enzo is survived by his wife Dalia and children, Damien and Xander.
His aforementioned brother Don continues to race, and will now do so in honor of Enzo. Please keep his family and close friends in your thoughts and prayers.If you think fixing computer problems on your PC is a pain, trying fixing them from 125 million miles away. That's exactly what NASA's JPL Mars Exploration Rover (MER) team will be doing soon.
The Opportunity rover, which has been exploring Mars for ten years now, has been randomly rebooting for several months. Because the rover always came back, the team tried ignoring the problem, but just like you with a misbehaving computer, the day finally came when they couldn't put up up with it anymore.
The scientists believe that the rebooting is happening because of trouble with the Opportunity rover's 256MBs of flash storage. "Worn-out cells in the flash memory are the leading suspect in causing these resets," said John Callas, the project manager for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project in a statement.
This isn't the first time aging flash memory has given the rovers trouble. Opportunity's twin Spirit had serious trouble with its flash memory thanks to a bug when it first landed in 2004. Then, in 2009, NASA also had to reformat Spirit's flash memory due to problems similar to the ones affecting Opportunity today.
Flash memory, when used properly, in a solid-state drive can have a longer effective life than a hard drive. Like any other kind of storage, flash does fail over time. Considering the state of flash storage in 2003 when Opportunity was built, its flash storage longevity has been nothing short of amazing.
Before reformatting the flash drive, NASA will be downloading all useful data remaining on it and switching the rover to an operating mode that does not use flash memory. "The flash reformatting is a low-risk process," said Callas, "as critical sequences and flight software are stored elsewhere in other non-volatile memory on the rover."
Considering that Opportunity, which uses the Unix-based VxWorks and is controlled by Linux workstations, relies on an 11-year-old 20 MHz IBM radiation-hardened single-board computer (SBC) RAD6000 CPU with 128MBs of RAM, it's amazing that Opportunity is running at all. Because it was expected to have a working life of 90 days, Opportunity's extended life has been an unexpected blessing for Mars exploration. Here's hoping the reformatting will work well and Opportunity will keep exploring Mars for years to come.
Related Stories:PoNY Stuns Chain Lightning To Take Home Terminus Title
New York's PoNY, coming off of a last place finish at the 2012 Club Championships, had a spectacular weekend at Terminus, finishing with a 13-12 victory over Atlanta's Chain Lightning in the finals to take the 2013 Pro-Elite Challenge title.
ATLANTA — What a difference a year makes.
New York’s PoNY, coming off of a last place finish at the 2012 Club Championships, had a spectacular weekend at Terminus, finishing with a 13-12 victory over Atlanta’s Chain Lightning in the finals to take the 2013 Pro-Elite Challenge title.
PoNY started the weekend with three straight wins, including a big 13-8 upset over Seattle Sockeye, before falling to Washington, D.C.’s Truck Stop by two on Sunday morning. They bounced back, however, with a victory over Madison Club to lock up their spot in the finals.
Chain Lightning, who came into the finals undefeated on the weekend, was the clear favorite to defend their long-time Terminus crown.
PoNY, however, looked like the more polished team in the first half. Captain Jack Marsh got New York on the board on the opening offensive possession and the defensive line generated turnovers on the first two Chain offensive points.
Jay Clark, who just returned from a month playing on the NexGen Tour, helped Chain hold on their first O point with a huge layout block, but after both offenses traded points to 4-3, he couldn’t reel in a huck that was too far out in front of him in the endzone.
PoNY’s defensive line worked the disc to midfield before a big huck went up to a streaking Rob Baker, who laid out in front of three trailing defenders for the first break of the game.
The defense added another break on the following point to take a three point lead after an enormous layout grab from Luke Wolckenhauer on a hammer from Chris Neitzey that was actually intended for Izzy Bryant in the back of the endzone.
“I’m feeling great about the D,” said Marsh after the game.
Chain Lightning would close the gap to one after a risky throw to Marsh was easily blocked in double coverage. Joel Wooten churned downfield until he found separation for Chain’s first break to make it 6-5.
The PoNY offense would send them into the half up a break after a big backhand huck from Kevin Riley to Robbie Gillies, who quickly dished to Marsh for the score.
The second half was a much greater challenge for PoNY. Chain came out of the break with back-to-back scores, one from a perfect hammer from Dylan Tunnell, the next after a long point with multiple turnovers by each team. Both teams were overly aggressive on their deep looks at times during the game.
With the score tied at 7-7, PoNY’s offense again turned the disc over more than once, but this time was able to hold off the Chain D line.
Chain Lightning’s inability to convert their opportunities on defense was ultimately their downfall in the finals. Despite putting significant pressure on the PoNY offense in the second half, leading to turnovers on many of their possessions, Chain could not punch the disc into the endzone. They finished the game with just three breaks in 13 opportunities.
“I think it’s gonna take a little bit more practice,” said Chain captain Mark Poole. “We haven’t come together fully on the D line.”
The offenses, however, traded back and forth until PoNY switched to a force middle defense that threw Chain’s offense out of rhythm. Jolian Dahl found himself in a high stall situation and threw the disc directly into a dump defender. PoNY picked up in transition and moved quickly, finding second year player Albert Alarcon for the score and the 11-9 lead.
Chain kept their biggest weapons on the field throughout the game, and on the ensuing possession, the team’s World Games representatives –Tunnell and Nicky Spiva — connected on a picture-perfect flick huck to get Atlanta back within one.
A great pull would pin PoNY near their endzone on the next point, and Chris Mazur turned the disc over on a short backhand before meekly calling a foul well after the play was over. After the call was overruled by the observers, the Chain defensive line handlers worked patiently before Jonathan Monforti found Russell Snow in the endzone for the break, tying the game at 11-11.
Both offenses looked excellent on the following points, and the game would live up to its billing as it headed to double game point.
PoNY received on the final point, working it smoothly to midfield to Mazur, who put up a perfect backhand into space for Gillies, who outran his defender to send PoNY to the 13-12 win and the Terminus title.
This immediately ranks among PoNY’s best tournament performances in their team history; it’s a long way from their 1-5 showing at the Emerald City Classic to kick off their season last year.
“We spent a long weekend focusing on not thinking about any sort of positioning and trying to stay in the moment as much as possible,” said Marsh, emphasizing that they weren’t considering that they were the bottom seed at the tournament.
Despite losing their Terminus title to New York, Chain Lightning was happy with their weekend on the whole.
“I actually think we played a lot better than we have in the past in late July,” Poole told Ultiworld.
He said PoNY’s fitness — potentially arising from their time playing in the pro leagues — was noticeable and that they made some strategic choices that challenged Chain’s offense.
“They came [force middle], which we hadn’t seen yet and they did a lot of switching which we didn’t respond to as well as we could have,” said Poole.
Many of the teams may have also suffered in the hot Atlanta weather, but PoNY was actually getting relief from an intense heat wave sweeping the Northeast all of last week.
Despite that, and their sizable 25 man roster in Atlanta, PoNY was an unlikely tournament winner. How did they go from being shutout at the Club Championships to taking down three 2012 quarterfinalists on their way to an elite tournament title?
“Damned if I know,” said Marsh. “I think we’ve had a lot of good focus at our early season practices, being in the now and working super hard on every moment that we’re out there.”
GAME NOTES
…PoNY also won the tournament spirit award…PoNY played a fairly open rotation even late into the game…Chain Lightning never led during the game…Dylan Tunnell was working all day Saturday and did not join Chain until Sunday…The weather was hot and sunny. Wind was not a factor…PoNY won $750 in prize money from USA Ultimate for winning the Pro-Elite Challenge…Thank you to Tom Deaver and the volunteers for all of their help on the weekend…As the sun sets over Africa each day, instead of flicking a light switch or heating up the oven, most people put a match to a kerosene lantern or a burning ember to a charcoal stove.
Africa, home to 15 percent of the world’s population, consumes just 3 percent of the world's energy output, and 587 million people, including close to three-quarters of those living in sub-Saharan Africa, still have no access to electricity via national grids.
But the situation is changing, and swiftly. At 4.1 percent growth, Africa’s per capita energy consumption is growing faster than that of any other country, driven by improved infrastructure, inward investment, and efforts to tackle corruption.
Meanwhile, in the past five years, there have been 64 major discoveries of potential new fuel supplies – mostly oil and gas deposits. Of those, 13 were found in the first eight months of 2012 alone.
“The potential impact is ginormous,” says Bob McBean, former managing director of Dubai Natural Gas Company and now chairman of Wentworth Resources, an oil and gas exploration and production firm in Tanzania.
“It’s very, very exciting, and it constantly puts me in mind of natural resource finds in the Gulf 20 years ago. Assuming everybody comes onto the same page in terms of financing and regulation, there’s no reason why there should be any national power shortages at all in the future,” he adds.
Holding Africa back
That ambition cannot be realized too soon.
Currently fewer than 1 in 6 rural Africans is connected to a national electricity supply. Even in the continent’s more developed nations, the situation is dire: 84 percent of Kenyans, 81 percent of Ugandans, and 65 percent of Sudanese are off the grid.
Using kerosene lanterns and charcoal cookstoves at home causes as many as 1.4 million premature deaths from respiratory illnesses, according to the World Health Organization. Chopping down trees to burn as fuel harms the environment more than coal-fired power stations.
“Using inefficient energy sources both in energy and economic terms continues to keep large sections of [Africa’s] population from the benefits of development,” said Aly Ngouille Ndiaye, Senegal’s minister of energy and mines.
The continent’s growth cannot be accelerated without addressing the lack of reliable energy supply on a continent clearly endowed with untapped fuel resources, he added.
Generators sap profits
Businesses desperate to be competitive in an increasingly global marketplace despair as bills to fuel and service generators clip several crucial percentage points off their profits.
There are significant moves to expand renewable energy production across Africa.
A British firm announced this month that it will build the world's fourth-largest solar power plant in western Ghana, a 155-megawatt project that will be operational by 2015 and increase the country's electricity supplies by 6 percent.
The continent’s largest wind farm is being built in northern Kenya. South Africa already draws 5 percent of its power from nuclear plants, and research continues into a small-scale reactor that analysts argue could be the most innovative way to power off-grid corners of the continent.
Too little, too slow
But wind and solar do not provide reliable supplies, and hydroelectric schemes are at the mercy of the changing climate.
Alternative energies with greater efficiencies are also beset by a lack of trained staff and can take up to 20 years to bring regular power to national grids, according to the World Energy Council.
“Renewables will not happen immediately,” said Tony Surridge of South Africa’s National Energy Development Institute.
“From a realistic viewpoint, fossil fuels are highly concentrated and so it will be decades before there is a direct confrontation between renewables and fossil fuels. Developing countries have to make trade-offs, especially considering the need to double the output of electricity over the next 20 years.”
Challenges remain, not least a lack of coordinated structures in regional regulations governing the energy industry, and the need to attract significant international investments into markets until recently seen as high risk.
“It is not wrong to hope that in the future, these new natural resources will bring a true benefit to ordinary citizens,” says Subiro Mwapinga, an oil and gas industry expert based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. “But the fact remains that there are great problems with the transparency of contracts being issued, and a deep misunderstanding among the ordinary population of what the gas we have found means to them.
“These are things that will take a long time to overcome. We will not be Qatar or Dubai overnight.”
Corruption obstacles
Implicit in Mr. Mwapinga’s analysis is a recognition that Africa’s energy sector has been notorious for corruption.
A recent study estimated that Nigeria had spent more than $40 billion reforming its electricity industry for less than 10 percent additional power supply.
Angola has been praised for constructing roads, ports, universities, and hospitals with the windfall from its oil supplies, but global governance watchdogs claim as much as $32 billion went missing from its export receipts between 2007 and 2010.
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However, international analysis suggests that the tide is turning against entrenched corruption, and investors should not be deterred.
“While the risk rankings overall in Africa are quite high, for many countries the ‘risk trend’ is improving,” says Elias Pungong, oil and gas sector lead analyst for Ernst & Young in Johannesburg. “Most importantly though, the opportunities for Africa in this sector are enormous, and the challenges and risks can be addressed and mitigated.”Story highlights Jon Huntsman: Presidents must place priority on protecting America
He says new threats and budget cuts will make the task harder for next presidency
Huntsman says smarter strategy could enable U.S. to make do with fewer troops, bases
He says America alone cannot police the world
A president's most solemn duty is to protect America and her people -- a responsibility that, in a time of evolving security threats and unsustainable debt, will only grow harder for the next administration.
In the aftermath of the failure of the super committee, we are facing cuts in defense. Yet there has still been little discussion about overall defense spending priorities and how we must transform our defense infrastructure for the 21st century.
Some of my opponents suggest maintaining the status quo, thus avoiding the tough decisions. Others advocate retrenchment and isolationism through draconian across-the-board cuts, which brings greater instability and risks.
Still others revert to the oft-repeated pledge to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse from the Pentagon -- a worthy cause yet one of minimal consequence. Cutting wasteful spending alone amounts to only pennies on the dollar and leaves in place the same archaic defense infrastructure.
These approaches miss the target in two respects. First, they let resources drive strategy, rather than using strategy to drive force structure and capabilities. Second, they fail to fundamentally alter our defense posture -- so any short-term savings will be quickly erased.
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In recognition of the growing asymmetrical threats we face and the evolving requirements of counterterrorism, we need a different set of capabilities. The world may have seen its last heavy armor battle between two nation-states. The relative importance of counterterrorism, intelligence, training and equipping foreign security forces, and special forces operations will continue to grow.
Our forces must be designed appropriately. This means a greater focus on intelligence gathering and more agile special forces units, which can respond swiftly and firmly to terrorist threats in any corner of the globe. We must be prepared to respond to threats -- from al Qaeda and other terrorist cells -- that emanate from a much more diverse geography, including Yemen, the Horn of Africa, Pakistan and the Asia-Pacific region.
We must also transform our orientation. By almost any objective measure -- population, economic power, military might, energy use -- the center of gravity of global human activity is moving toward the Asia-Pacific region. Embracing this reality may bring a dramatic change to the look of our military.
The Asia-Pacific region is a maritime theater whereas Europe was mostly a land theater. For the U.S., the Asia-Pacific features a collection of bilateral military alliances in contrast to our involvement with the multilateral NATO in Europe. We are a Pacific nation living in a Pacific Century, and our vital interests in that region cannot be compromised.
We can cut our base force and transition more responsibility for contingency operations to our National Guard and Reserve. In addition to being our most precious and valuable resource, our troops are also the most expensive part of our military.
If we simultaneously transform our capabilities and posture while enhancing our Guard and Reserve, our active duty army could be reduced to around 450,000 troops, from the approximately 565,000 we now have. Our Department of Defense civilian work force can also be cut by 5% to 7% of its current size.
At the same time, we should conduct a global posture review with the goal of closing at least 50 overseas military installations. The U.S. military maintains more than 700 installations outside the United States, the vast majority of which were opened during the Cold War. With a more mobile and flexible force, we simply don't need as many facilities overseas.
We must risk American blood and treasure overseas only when there exists a vital national security interest. I have consistently called for our troops to return from Afghanistan as soon as possible. But I also believe President Barack Obama has been too quick to commit forces to other missions not core to our security interests.
Within the same week of announcing a troop drawdown in Iraq, the president announced a deployment of a small number of combat forces to Africa -- an unnecessarily risky and costly mission.
America alone cannot police the world. We should increase burden-sharing for the protection of the global commons among countries that share our values and security objectives. Unfortunately, we are not the only democracy stuck in a Cold War mentality. It is time for countries such as Japan and India to play a greater role in regional security matters. We must also throw out the old map and forge new security arrangements with regional partners such as Vietnam and Brazil.
As we prepare to fight in the new battle spaces, we need to let go of old "sacred cows." Our military and defense establishment must be effective in the cybersphere, dominant in space and able to handle the increasingly lethal and accurate ballistic and cruise missiles being acquired by many of our potential foes. This will likely mean trade-offs away from heavy armor units, fighter air wings and aircraft carriers toward a more advanced cyberwarfare infrastructure, more capable unmanned aerial vehicles and more flexible sea-based assets.
For America to remain a global force for good, we must maintain the world's most capable military. And being the best is not simply a function of spending the most. Staying on top will increasingly depend on our willingness to adapt to the realities of the 21st century security environment.CARSON, Calif. (Tuesday, Oct. 21 2014) – The LA Galaxy announced today that the club has signed defender A.J. DeLaGarza to a multi-year contract extension. DeLaGarza, drafted by the Galaxy with the No. 19 overall selection in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, has made 155 appearances and 150 starts in his six seasons with the club.
“We’re thrilled to sign A.J. to a multi-year contract,” LA Galaxy Head Coach and General Manager Bruce Arena said. “He is one of the most versatile defenders in MLS and has been an important part of our organization’s success both on and off the field over the past six years. We look forward to A.J.’s continued leadership as an LA Galaxy member.”
DeLaGarza, 26, has played in every position this season for a Galaxy backline that has allowed and MLS-low 35 goals this season. He has logged over 13,000 minutes with LA since 2009, earning LA Galaxy Defender of the Year honors twice (2012, 2014). As a member of the Galaxy, the Maryland-born defender was a key member of the team’s 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup-winning squads in addition the team’s 2010 and 2011 MLS Supporters’ Shield.
A two-time National Champion at the University of Maryland, DeLaGarza appeared in 88 games during his college career with the Terrapins while making 81 starts and recording two assists (2005-2008). He helped Maryland reach the NCAA Tournament in all four of his years in College Park while also claiming the ACC Championship in 2008.
DeLaGarza collected the first two caps of his international career in January 2012, playing the full 90 minutes at right back for the U.S. Men’s National Team in a pair of 1-0 wins against Venezuela and Panama. In August 2013, DeLaGarza committed to Guam’s national team and has since made two appearances.Gene Simmons, asshole bassist for KISS, a band most vocally championed by assholes, has come out in support of asshole Donald Sterling and his right to be an asshole. Simmons—an asshole who once titled his solo record Asshole and regularly threw himself “asshole parties”—has long been a firm believer in one’s right to be an asshole, whether it’s to your fans and fellow band members, or just making the sort of everyday racist comments Simmons believes everyone makes, but that the Los Angeles Clippers owner had the misfortune to be caught making on tape and also over the course of many years.
Though The Wall Street Journal notes that Simmons did call Sterling “heinous,” it’s possible he actually said “anus”—as again, he believes that everyone’s an asshole. “Everybody [says] jokes that are off- color, or when they’re drunk,” Simmons says. “And if, because you say an off-color joke or make a racist rant privately, that causes you to lose a job—nobody would have a job. Black people do it, Jews do it, Christians do it—everybody does it. It’s called America. Free speech. Even if free speech insults other people. Privately. Publicly, that’s different. I’m on the side of free speech in the privacy of your own home or privacy of the situation. Big Brother has finally crawled in bed with us.”
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Previously, Simmons also discussed how he agrees that the Washington Redskins should have to change its team name, because “there’s sports, there’s business and then there are people.” Simmons then proceeded to break down the various social structures of being an asshole.
As a Jew, I wouldn’t be thrilled as “The Kikes.” And if you |
only fight if the U.K. and Europe are directly threatened. And if war does come we should have an Army, Navy and Air Force that’s big enough to win. The alternative is to become the policeman of the world – going round the world declaring war on everyone we don’t like. The trouble with that is there’s always some foreign leader we don’t like – so the nation is condemned to perpetual war. Let the other peoples of the world sort out their own problems. There are never any thanks given for trying to do their job for them.
4. Oswald Mosley believed that mixing up large numbers of people of different culture, traditions, religion, outlook and way of life in the same community leads only to strife.
Oswald Mosley said it was far better to help everybody achieve a decent standard of living for themselves and their families in their country of origin. This is why he advocated the incentivised and voluntary return of newcomers to good living conditions in their original homeland that his policies would create.
5. Oswald Mosley wrote that the best foreign aid we could give Third World countries is the voluntary return of people in Europe whose roots are in those overseas countries.
They would be taking with them the higher education, job skills and commercial experience that they gained in the U.K. and Europe to where it’s needed most – helping the Third World to emerge from hunger and poverty.
6. Oswald Mosley was opposed to both State Socialism and Capitalism and believed there was a far better system he called the Third Position.
Oswald Mosley wanted all businesses over a certain size to be jointly owned by all the people who were employed in them rather than by the State or Private Shareholders. In this way employees would become stakeholders in the companies they worked for, they would have a decisive say in the running of the company and all profits would be shared amongst them alone. As Communism and Capitalism have both clearly failed we should now look seriously at the Third Position.
7. Oswald Mosley made it clear that after WW2 the age of Fascism and National Socialism had passed.
He said that the narrow outlook of those two nationalist systems were incompatible with the political realities of the post-War world which demanded action on a continental scale. An extension of patriotism was needed to cover the whole of Europe which would then be powerful enough to oppose the advance of an internationalist world order and global capitalism.
8. Oswald Mosley had nothing but contempt for people who thought they could achieve something in post-War politics by dressing up in German Nazi uniforms.
Oswald Mosley referred to them as ‘political pygmies masquerading in the clothes of dead giants’. Before the War his supporters had worn a simple black shirt so they could identify each other when attacked and for a time some used a uniform based on the British Brigade of Guards only in black for the same purpose. He said wearing Germanic Nazi-style uniforms prevented people from taking them seriously and made them unelectable.
9. Oswald Mosley did not believe in Paganism, the Occult, Witchcraft, Runes, Odin or Wodin or any other New Age beliefs.
In all his writings and speeches he never once expressed any interest in mystical cults. Mosley considered that religion and atheism were personal issues and operate on a different level to political belief. When asked if he believed that there is a God he replied that the universe and evolution of the species were far too complex for there not to be.
10. Oswald Mosley wrote that the purpose of life was to evolve to a higher form.
Oswald Mosley believed we are all born with a number of strengths and natural gifts and as we progress in life we must build on these virtues in order to acquire greater wisdom, understanding and strength of character. This he called the ‘Doctrine of Higher Forms’ in which most advances in personal development are gained through overcoming adversity.A long-elusive aviation innovation prize that has never had a winner in its 33-year existence has finally been claimed after a team of Toronto engineers built and then flew a human-powered hover bike.
The highly-coveted Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition — known as the AHS Sikorsky prize for short — was awarded for the first time in its history Thursday to AeroVelo, a Toronto-based engineering team made up of University of Toronto students, alumni and volunteers.
A still frame from a video shows Team AeroVelo's Todd Reichert piloting a man-powered helicopter inside a soccer stadium in Vaughan, Ont. (AeroVelo)
The team named their winning invention Atlas, and were able to have the aircraft climb 3.3 metres in the air for a 64-second duration before the pilot landed it gently about seven metres away from its takeoff point.
A video of Atlas's vertical flight shows one of the teammates pedalling a customized carbon-fiber Cervelo bike frame as four giant rotor blades constructed from light carbon tubes begin to slowly rotate, lifting him above a pair of engineers' heads. The test flight was shot in the cavernous indoor Soccer Centre at Vaughan, Ont.
According to the rules of the competition, the winners must demonstrate human-powered flight for at least one minute in the air, and three metres above the ground. A pilot must also ensure the flying machine is steered so that it hovers within a 10-by-10-metre square.
1st team to succeed among global competitors
Team AeroVelo's liftoff took about 15 seconds to reach the 3.3-metre altitude.
The record-breaking champs were presented with a $250,000 cheque from the American Helicopter Society (AHS), which put up the cash incentive for whomever could successfully design a human-powered helicopter.
Atlas, which weighs only 52 kilograms and has four 20.4-metre-diameter rotors, spans a width of 58 metres. Its design was revealed on Thursday.
The AHS described Atlas as an historic achievement, noting that competitors from Canada, the U.S., Japan and around the world have been vying to create a human-powered helicopter since 1980 to win the prize.
"It took AeroVelo's fresh ideas, daring engineering approach and relentless pursuit of innovation — coupled with more than three decades of advances in structures, composites, computer-aided design and aeromechanical theory — to succeed in achieving what many in vertical flight considered impossible," AHS International executive director Mike Hirschberg said in a statement.
The AHS Sikorksy competition has signalled that AeroVelo's win "is not the end, but the beginning," and promised that "another grand challenge" will soon be announced, although the details are currently being refined.Warner Brothers will be there with “Green Lantern,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and a film called “Sucker Punch,” billed as “Alice in Wonderland with machine guns.”
Lionsgate will bring an action-thriller, “The Expendables,” which counts Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Jet Li and even Arnold Schwarzenegger among its cast.
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DreamWorks Animation, with Paramount Pictures, is scheduled to show scenes from “Megamind,” a superhero satire voiced by the likes of Will Ferrell and Brad Pitt.
It is all great fun. But the ritual does not make a lot of sense — because Hollywood’s relationship with Comic-Con’s denizens is inherently flawed.
By and large, studio action fantasies and animation are made for the masses. Vastly expensive, they can succeed only if almost everybody wants to see them.
But Comic-Con devotees — the tastemakers who may show up in Japanese anime drag or dressed as Johnny Depp in character as Hunter S. Thompson — are consummate insiders. They tend to be excited about a film when they think nobody else will be.
The inside-outside conundrum was at its most befuddling last year, as Hollywood did its annual rain dance for the Comic-Con tribe, with some bizarre results.
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In Hall H, a crowd of perhaps 6,000 roared welcome, then listened with rapt attention, as Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese animation king, bantered onstage with John Lasseter, the Walt Disney animation chief. Weeks later, Disney released Mr. Miyazaki’s film “Ponyo” in the United States, only to see it founder with just $15.1 million in domestic ticket sales.
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On the flip side, “Avatar” got off to an uncertain start at Comic-Con. Despite a seemingly good response in the room, snarky texts and Twitter messages from Hall H seemed to bode ill for the 3-D epic. In January, it became the biggest box-office hit in history.
Last weekend, Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures watched “Jonah Hex,” an ultraviolent comic-book Western, open poorly, with just $5.1 million in ticket sales. A year ago, the fans were whooping at Comic-Con as Megan Fox, a “Jonah Hex” star, talked tough and fielded racy queries.
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“Toy Story 3,” meanwhile, got a more tempered reception. But that did not stop it from rocking the box office last weekend, with $109 million in sales.
Perhaps no film has been so whipsawed by the convention as “Watchmen.” Based on a revered graphic novel, the movie is about a sordid group of outlawed heroes. It was the talk of Comic-Con in 2008, when its director, Zack Snyder, wooed the convention by pledging fidelity to the violent, moody source material. But neither the fans nor the public showed up in big numbers to see it.
Geoff Johns, chief creative officer of the DC Entertainment unit at Warner, says Comic-Con is really about respect, not sales. “I always appreciated the fact that an effort was made to show something to the people who really love it,” he Johns said, recalling the days when he attended as a fan. Now a writer of the Green Lantern comics, Mr. Johns will be on hand this year to promote the film version, due in June 2011.
COMIC-CON’S magic may work best for movies — like “The Expendables,” which opens on Aug. 13 — that are released shortly after the convention, when the surrounding media buzz is fresh.
Last year, Sony Pictures Entertainment previewed its off-center sci-fi thriller “District 9” at Comic-Con, and it did well when it opened three weeks later. “For sure, it definitely helped us,” said Marc Weinstock, Sony’s marketing president, who will attend this year with “Battle: Los Angeles” and “Green Hornet,” neither of which will be released until early in 2011. Because the convention occurs as the blockbuster season is ending, studios often arrive with teasers for movies that will not be seen for a year or more — stretching the powers of their marketing teams to the limit.
This year, Disney will make its third trip to the convention with a presentation for a 3-D film, “Tron: Legacy.” In 2008, conventioneers were shown a test sequence for the film, which mixes live action with computer effects. A year later, the studio showed more scenes, having given the movie a green light.
On July 22, the fans will hear from the director Joe Kosinski and the cast members Jeff Bridges and Michael Sheen, among others, and, according to a studio statement, will get “exclusive glimpses” of still more scenes.
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Five months later, on Dec. 17, the film will finally open. With a little luck and some help from those forces of nature, it may even be a hit. But, one suspects, all that Comic-Con voodoo will not have had much to do with it.Ignore the colleague who would have you drink a glass of water or eat a carrot every time you long for the plumes of purple smoke, dancing above your shoulder like the nymphs of Dionysus. Pretend that the neighbor who says that you will notice your health improving within hours of quitting is a figment of some vile and cruel imagination. Assume that the bag boy at your local cooperative is asylum-bound when he suggests meditation to quell the tidal anxiety that would lay waste to a better man. Prepare instead for the cracked, dusty pink light bulb of a realization that your body sees, smells, tastes, hears, feels all and has not forgotten any of it. In short, take what will come to you on the chin: you deserve every ounce of pain.
The average nicotine craving lasts between three to five minutes, according to people whose life goal is to quantify nicotine cravings and, initially, the urge is dull and innocent, even playful. You bat each one away with a haughty chuckle. But then the interval between each craving shortens until the need for the last cigarette and the desire for the next cigarette are running concurrently through your lungs and heart and what could once be dealt with becomes apocalyptic. You have fooled your body into believing that it requires the nicotine, much as it requires oxygen, food, water and the only cure for this period of hellish, primal want is time; only its hands will lift this moronic veil, woven tightly by years of abuse.
As the clock hands tick and the calendar pages flutter you will be given a choice: stop the ears with gum (patches, e-cigarettes, etc.) or be lashed to the mast. I suspect that the former is the sensible choice but I chose to listen to the Siren Song -- ignorance is not bliss, it is boring -- which meant I came to on the second day with an empty bottle of Canadian Club in my arms, small red holes in my thigh from having stabbed myself with a pen to relieve the pain and glimmers of broken glass on the floor from punching through a window. Your exact experience will of course vary from my own and I will spare you the more sordid details as I could not bear to have you think less of me than you no doubt already do.
You will be hoping that here I tell you about the resplendent morning after: dappled in sunlight, birdsong and the smell of freshly baked bread; finally cured of the affliction. My sincerest apologies but I cannot in good conscience lie to you. If the first day was one of violence then on the second begins the despair. When I wrote some hundred and fifty words ago that I 'came to' I somewhat undersold the abruptness of my awakening; more accurately I was pulled upwards into consciousness by the inability to breathe in more than a token amount of air: a volume not quite as invigorating as the body expects. Your lungs, having noticed the lack of new toxins, decide to clear out the old rubbish. How very vernal of them, n'est-ce pas? The cilia lining your lobes begin to raise after years of lying under fields of snowy ash and they brush away the tarry mucus that your lungs have been oozing, pushing the sludge up through your trachea and into your throat. I promise you that it tastes as unearthly as it sounds and it feels twice as bad.
I cannot sufficiently stress the importance of timing when giving cigarettes the long salute. Take time off work. Avoid friends whose voices you find grating. Meditate if you think it will help -- and be sure to apologize to the poor bagboy. Do whatever is required: quod est necessarium est licitum, because the process of recovery will not kill you (even if in the moment you will not believe me, so great is the strain on your mind and body) but failure might. So again stop your ears, once more lash yourself to the mast. In my instance a few fingers of the amber elixir and a hot shower sufficed to bring me through the consecutive, interlocking spasms of rancid panic, though it still hurt to breathe, like not enough skin struggling to cover an expanding chest; RX: Trashy television and rest (and another ample dose of the restorative powers of CC).
The physical distress lasts some four days, but what comes next is the great metaphysical joke of withdrawal: the creeping fear that your body is tricking you into smoking and forgetting about it. Fugue states, hallucination, intermittent and specific anterograde amnesia; you research it all. Perhaps your body is more sinister, more cunning than you had considered. It seems clear to you now that your body needs the nicotine and it too does what it must. What could be more reasonable, more natural a course of action for the body in distress?
Alert to this threat, I asked those dear to me if they had seen me smoke a cigarette and they laughed. They had seen me cower, they bore witness to my madness and melodrama; they did not see me smoke a cigarette and, for a time, the fear blew by like a clean, clear breeze, only to return a few days later to wisp away again noiselessly.
Rest assured that the metaphysical travails, like the physical, eventually become like a sort of subtext to your daily endeavours, mostly lost to the background noise of life save for the occasional snatch of familiar melody. The pain and terror that seem, for those first few days, like everything -- seen, smelled, tasted, heard, felt -- will be replaced by a longing similar to the kind one feels towards an old paramour. It is even possible that you will be capable of returning to the warm arms of the infrequent cigarette at some distant speck in the future without drowning again in the compulsion (I know of a few who have). I know that I myself am not ready to reconnect with the old flame just yet, and I remember well enough the cataclysmic violence of the first few days to be certain that I would not want to attempt quitting cigarettes for a second time.
ALSO ON HUFFPOST:A very exotic and futuristic looking aircraft, and at this time one that nobody seems to have ever seen before, made an appearance at the Southern California Logistics Airport—also once known as ex-George Air Force Base—in Victorville, California. The aircraft was snapped from the fence line with a group of handlers surrounding it. Apparently the picture was taken on April 12th. As to if it is still there is unknown at this time.
By the grainy photo of the aircraft in question, it looks kind of like a Bell X-1 and a Piaggio P.180 Avanti hybrid of sorts. There may even be a little BD-5 in there as well. Although it is hard to tell from the picture, it also looks like the design may possibly rely on a single center-line pusher-prop configuration, but the aircraft seems quite large for just a single engine. Also, by the look of the windscreen and the lack of any other windows, creature comforts don't appear to be a major design factor.
NASA Bell X-1
Rafael Luiz Canossa/Wikicommons Piaggio P.180 Avanti
Strange aircraft aren't exactly a new thing to this area of California. It is extremely well known for its ongoing history of aerospace development and testing. Mojave Air and Space Port—home of the legendary Scaled Composites boutique "bleeding-edge" aerospace design house—as well as Edwards AFB, NAWS China Lake, and private fields like Gray Butte and Mesa that serve General Atomics remotely piloted vehicle programs, are all in the area. A handful or radar cross section test facilities also dot the desolate countryside. Not just that, but the surrounding airspace is just as storied for its use to develop advanced aerospace technologies—some of them highly classified—as the bases and airports that lie beneath it.
The plane's strange appearance and unknown origin have also led some to speculate that it could be some sort of movie prop. Victorville is famous for its "boneyard" of parted out and stored airliners and has been used extensively by Hollywood in the past for everything from TV commercials to high-budget feature films.
Bobak Ha'Eri/Wikicommons SCLA aka George AFB, also often referred to just as "Victorville."
So what is it? I honestly have no clue. A new experimental design that looks to test a new fuel concept? Some sort of elaborate Hollywood prop? In this day and age we can also never rule out a photoshop creation, although it looks highly unlikely in this circumstances. What do you think? Help us solve the mystery buy letting us know what you think in the comments section below. (Big hat tip to our friend Matt Hartman of Shorealone Films for sending this crazy mystery over!) Contact the author: [email protected] upstart Resurrection Fighting Alliance is heading on the road.
After the promotion held its first three events in its home state of Nebraska, the action moves to Las Vegas for RFA 4. Matchmaker Scott Cutbirth confirmed the organization would hold its next show at Sin City's Texas Station, and also passed along the completed 14-fight card ahead of its Nov. 2 date.
Among the notable names scheduled to compete are several UFC veterans, including light heavyweight Gilbert Yvel and Marcio Cruz, who will be facing off in the night's main event, and lightweights Tyson Griffin and Efrain Escudero, who will be competing in co-main event action, as well as various others.
The event also features some notable newcomers. The most well-known among them might be Sergio Pettis, the unbeaten bantamweight brother of UFC lightweight contender Anthony Pettis. Former wrestling Olympian Steve Mocco, 2011 Division I wrestling champ Bubba Jenkins and four-time collegiate wrestling All-American Lance Palmer are also signed to fight.
The full card of RFA 4 is below.
Gilbert Yvel vs. Marcio Cruz
Tyson Griffin vs. Efrain Escudero
Alessandro Ferreira vs. Fredson Paixao
Phil Dace vs. Chidi Njukuani
James Krause vs. Toby Imada
Derrick Burnsed vs. Dakota Cochrane
Jimmy Spicuzza vs. Bubba Jenkins
Nick Macias vs. Lance Palmer
Jimmy Jones vs. Sergio Pettis
Tyler Shinn vs. Chris Holdsworth
Carl Postma vs. Steve Mocco
Gregor Gillespie vs. Joey Angelo
Derrick Bohi vs. Tyler Perry
Jerry Shapiro vs. Cory Galloway‘My mum never let me drink it because it was in the news that a girl turned yellow. That’s true, right?’
Three myths summed up noughties schooling. The first was that those alien goo toys gave birth if you put them in the fridge. The second was that the Frostie’s ‘They’re Gonna Taste Great’ kid died a horrific death. And the third yet most contentious was whether Sunny Delight was banned because it actually turned you yellow.
SunnyD, the bright orange and shamefully artificial drink first came into (4%) fruition in 1968. It did incredibly well in the US and, eventually, crossed the pond into Britain in 1998. After a £10 million promotional campaign, it overtook the vast majority of soft drinks in the market and was third only to Coke and Pepsi in the UK and it was even the 12th best selling grocery product.
Joel Zietcer, a senior account director at a London PR firm, said: “It was a phenomenon. Kids begged their parents for Sunny D without even knowing what it was. Parents bought it without question under the misguided notion that their children were excited about healthy juice.”
It flew off the shelves because it tasted damn good and was marketed as a healthier option to other soft drinks, despite the fact that it was only 4-5 per cent juice and 95 per cent watery corn syrup.
Zeynab Mohamed, a beauty blogger from London, said: “I probably started drinking it in 1999. I still remember that distinct taste that it had and asking my mum for the smaller bottles so I could have it as part of my pack lunch every day.”
The orange elixir accompanied many throughout their childhood. For good or for bad, kids grew up with it. “I once had an orange for breakfast with SunnyD on the side and threw up on the bus on the way to Girl Scout camp. No one could pick me up so I was stuck there in the lame nurse’s cabin until 5 pm”, said Caela McCann, a Boston College grad.
But despite its meteoric rise to success and swift entrenchment in both British and American culture, it soon all came crashing down. The snowball started rolling towards oblivion when The Food Commission called the drink a ‘con’. Procter & Gamble insisted on putting it in chilled cabinets to preserve all the supposed vitamins inside it but were later called out for misleading their buyers into thinking it had any nutritional value which had to be preserved.
Even though this would rightfully put some people off, a lot of people ignored the initial warnings. Brad Vanstone, a University of Exeter graduate, told us: “I’d imagine Sunny Delight was similar to smoking in the 70s. You knew it was probably bad for you but the street cred you got from having some on you, accompanied by the feeling of inhaling it, was completely worth it.”
However, rumours started circulating about its other detrimental effects. Verity Bowman, a University of Leicester fourth year, said: “My mum never let me drink it because it was in the news that a girl turned yellow. That’s true, right?”
There was a particularly unsavoury rumour, as Verity mentions, that a girl turned yellow. The sad reality is that it actually happened.
In 1999, a four-year-old girl in Rhyl, Wales, turned a yellow-orangey colour after overdosing on the Beta-carotene in the drink. To be fair, she was drinking 1.5 litres of the stuff a day but this was the straw that broke Sunny Delight’s back.
Sales halved, causing the company to have to rebrand in 2003. It was then relaunched again in 2009 with a new formula containing 70 per cent fruit juice and no artificial ingredients or added sugar. The new era of SunnyD did not last, however, as ever-falling sales and the high expense of actually having juice meant that another reinvention was necessary.
Come 2010, it was reduced to a 15 per cent fruit juice content. But it never quite returned to its former glory. “It was never quite the same as the original”, said Zeynab. “What even is SunnyD?”, exclaimed another.
While Sunny Delight failed to fully recover from ‘Yellow-Girl Gate’, it is still being sold in major stores across the UK and America.
Their current existence seems to still be very tarnished by the past, however.
On their website, it states: “Sunny D contains Beta-carotene which is a source of vitamin A. Beta-carotene is a widely used natural food colouring found in many soft drinks and occurs naturally in oranges and carrots. Sunny D uses only Beta-carotene from a natural source.
“When consumed responsibly, Sunny D will not turn you orange any more than a regular 100 per cent orange juice or carrot juice would.”One year ago, on a Thursday night much like today, Snow White's Scary Adventures at Walt Disney World closed forever and marked the end of an era not only for the theme park but also for my family. From the spring of 2002 through the spring of 2012 we had spent countless hours on and around that ride, and had watched Ben slowly evolve from "fevered obsession" to "comfortable safety blanket", and then it all went away forever. On the upside, that final night of operation on May 31st, 2012 was a remarkable night that will live in our memories forever. On the downside, Ben lost his favorite thing in the world with no way to really understand why. And so, the most common question I get is, "How is Ben doing now? Is he over it?"
The short answer is, "Yeah, mostly." As usual, the long answer is a little more complex and nuanced.
As I have already written about, the first few months after the ride closed were pretty difficult. That very first time that Ben visited the Magic Kingdom last June and came face-to-face with the blue construction wall was heartbreaking in the truest sense. He paced the entire wall looking for a way to get inside, and then walked away in the drizzling rain holding on to his mother's hand as his shoulders sagged and his head hung low in sadness. It was a Charlie Brown moment if ever there was one.
Over time he seemed to get over it, and by winter he stopped even going by the old location of SWSA. By all appearances he had fully comprehended and accepted that his ride was gone forever. Throughout summer and fall we watched the New Fantasyland expansion blossom into reality, and Ben checked out each new attraction and themed area as they opened up. He was not particularly impressed with the new Dumbo spinners, but he did like the newly-themed train station. The one time he went into the new Belle meet and greet he seemed to really enjoy it, and when the new Little Mermaid ride finally opened he adored it.
Over time, though, I began to notice some other interesting changes. Ben has become a much more patient man than he was even twelve months ago. Where waiting in lines used to drive him absolutely crazy, now he is perfectly content to wait his turn. Over the past few months we have completely weaned him away from the Guest Assistance Pass, and when he wants to go on a ride he is perfectly content to stand in line like everyone else. Beyond the park, his patience is apparent in other contexts as well. It used to be that I avoided taking him to any restaurant nicer than a McDonald's because he would never sit still long enough for a meal. Now, though, he will placidly sit and listen to music or look at pictures for however long he is asked to. Long drives in the car are not an issue, and we have reached the point where I believe he is ready for air travel. We have begun planning for a trip to Disneyland, where not only will he get to visit Snow White's Scary Adventures, but also see the Alice in Wonderland ride as well as the real Pirates of the Carribbean (let's face it, the version here in Florida is just a pale imitation). I dream of eventually taking him to visit every Disney park in the world in order to ride every remaining operating version of Snow White, but we need to see how he does on a simple cross-country flight before we attempt an international trip. Well, that, plus there is the trivial matter of cost...
While I thought that Ben was finally completely over the loss of his ride, in the past few months he has been asking about it again. He looks at the pictures, he watches videos of it on YouTube, and on a recent visit to the Magic Kingdom he even gave me a hopeful look and asked, "Go see... Snow White...?" My heart broke all over again at that request. Because of that, we are not specifically doing anything with him tomorrow to commemorate the one year anniversary of the ride's passing. As a matter of fact, tomorrow will be spent on a field trip to Sea World with his class. I hear the new Antarctic exhibit is open, so hopefully he will enjoy seeing the penguins. I guess it is a fitting sign of moving on, while still feeling the loss. I don't think it is exaggerating too much to say that it is like mourning the death of a loved one -- the pain is no longer acute, but there is still a hole left behind that will never really be filled no matter how much time passes.
In happier news, Ben went to Prom last Friday with his girl Madeline. I don't know that they actually have any romantic feelings towards each other, but they do both enjoy spending time together and they make a dang cute couple. Ben got dressed up in a brand new outfit that is mother helped him pick out, and Madeline wore a lovely black dress that matched perfectly. It was a bit like herding cats in order to get a photo of them together before going in to the dance, but here it is. My little man is not so little anymore.A senior British lawmaker is expected to announce legislation that aims to to prevent local authorities from participating in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against Israel.
Under the new guidance, all public institutions will be prevented from boycotting foods and products from Israel.
According to the International Business Times, Matthew Hancock, the British government’s cabinet office minister, will visit Israel this week and unveil details of the new regulations.
The bill, first announced in October 2015 ahead of the Tory Party annual conference, will reportedly allow the government to challenge organizations that boycott Israel.
"We will take steps to stop such outdated policies being pursued through procurement and pension policies. We will safeguard the security of families at home and prevent such playground politics undermining our international security," Hancock said at the time.
The report, however, did not mention whether the proposed bill will distinguish between Israel and the West Bank settlements.
“This move is very welcome,” MP Eric Pickles, the head of Conservative Friends of Israel said.
“The attempt by the irresponsible left to demonize Israel is bad for British business, bad for the local taxpayer, and deeply damaging to community relations. It encourages anti-Semitism and strives to make a municipal foreign policy contrary to the interests of the UK.”
'Occupying Lands'
Further highlighting the sensitivity of the issue, a London host on the room-sharing website Airbnb refused to rent his apartment to an Israeli guest, arguing that Israelis are “occupying lands” and do not respect “basic human rights.”
Ben Kelmer, a photographer from Tel Aviv, booked a room in a London flat, but was subsequently turned down after asking questions about transportation.
"The day you stop occupying someone's land, I might consider hosting you," the host wrote back. "This is how the world pictures you: aggressive settlers occupying lands, destroying houses. In a few words: not respecting basic human rights. On that basis, I cannot even consider hosting you, even if you pay me millions."
Kelmer, who raised the on the Airbnb Facebook page, has since received an outpouring of support, but was also met by a wave of criticism and abuse.
“I started getting harassment and people have put up a picture of me on Facebook that I am like a stuck-up Israeli, all kinds of sh*t,” Kelmer told Newsweek magazine.
“I’ve really had enough. I just pointed out an issue, a problem I had with the guy, and it became like me representing Israel.”
“In my opinion, I am really left wing...on Israel,” he says. “I don’t want to make it a bigger issue for me in my life, I think I would prefer to forget and continue and try to find another apartment with Airbnb.”
Airbnb recently came under fire over rooms for rent in settlements in the West Bank being listed on the website as located within Israel.
Dozens of Jewish settlers advertise their homes for rent in a number of locations across the West Bank.
Husam Zomlot, ambassador at large for the Palestinian government, said it was seeking an immediate change of policy from the company.
"Certainly we will take further action. This is strikingly illegal," he told AFP, accusing the company of "illegally profiting from occupation".
"Such acts by international firms and the private sector have been a main contributor to the continuity and escalation of the situation."
But Miri Maoz-Ovadia of the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization representing Israelis living in the West Bank, told AFP they would not stop advertising their listings.
"We are extremely proud of our thriving tourism industry, with hundreds of unique BnBs that offer breathtaking views and world-class service," she said.
(staff with AFP)DONALD Trump may have held hands with Theresa May in the White House because he has a fear of stairs.
Stunning images of the two leaders’ intimate moment was captured by photographers and flashed around the world.
Getty Images 4 It has recently emerged Donald Trump may be scared of stairs and slopes
Getty Images 4 The US President was snapped holding hands with Theresa May yesterday
Taken as they walked from the building’s state rooms to the West Wing, it seemed to sum up how deeply they had bonded after a historic first meeting on Friday afternoon in Washington DC.
But an alternative explanation emerged that the US president suffers from bathmophobia - a fear of stairs or slopes.
Government sources in Washington DC said they had been told the New York property billionaire is uncomfortable with using either.
Getty Images 4 Government sources say Trump is uncomfortable using both stairs and slopes
The 70-year-old president is thought to have grabbed Theresa May’s hand to steady himself as the pair walked down a ramp in a colonnade, before then rubbing it in thanks.
Trump’s phobia also means he refuses to visit one close aide’s office in the White House because it’s up a flight of stairs from the Oval Office.
Downing Street last night would not discuss the president’s alleged phobia, instead dubbing the hand holding “a chivalrous gesture”.
Getty Images 4 Downing Street called the hand holding a 'chivalrous gesture' by the President
RELATED STORIES A VERY SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP Moment Trump and May HOLD HANDS before announcing renewal of 'deep bond' between the UK and US Video oscars BAN Iranian film director nominated for Oscar 'won’t be able to attend ceremony' after Trump issues 'Muslim ban' 'DON'T BLOCK MUSLIMS' UN calls on Trump to continue 'long tradition' of welcoming refugees as he announces ban DIRTY DOSSIER DEATH Russian spy linked to Donald Trump’s dirty dossier found DEAD in his car in Moscow the sun says It's mission accomplished for Theresa May after silencing the cynics with show of strength in Washington THE NOT-SO-SECRET DOOR Trump's Oval Office'secret door' leaves Twitter users stumped - but there's an obvious reason for it hands on diplomacy Donald Trump grabs Theresa May by the hand as he says 'Brexit will be a wonderful thing'
Getty Images
The PM’s spokeswoman said: “They were walking along and there is an unseen ramp.
“He offered his hand, which she took as they stepped down the ramp.”
Quizzed on why Trump took the PM's hand, the spokeswoman added: “They'd had a very friendly bilateral meeting, and we're getting on very well".
Earlier this month, President Trump confessed to also being “germaphobic”, as he rubbished claims that he had paid prostitutes to wee on a Moscow hotel bed that President Obama once slept in.BROCKTON (CBS) – It’s been 24 years since anyone has seen Jennifer |
Tapper snarked, “I look forward to further clarity on the sanctuary cities issue.”
Mook must be excellent behind the scenes, because as a surrogate, he’s simply awful. A debate between Mook and Katrina Pierson would be the verbal equivalent of two cats attempting to fornicate with a basketball. We know less about Hillary’s policies and activities than before Mook spoke on CNN today.
Which was probably the point. The more we know about Hillary, the less we like her. Mook’s entire job is apparently to act as a barrier of opacity. If he has to play Lenny from Of Mice And Men to do it, he’ll do that, too.The Nexus 9 in a nutshell: it’s big, and it’s beautiful.
I got to spend a few fleeting minutes with the device this afternoon, and though we plan to have a full review in the coming days, I thought I’d share my initial thoughts.
Like the jump from Nexus 5 to Nexus 6, there’s a pretty huge spike in quality and build feel from the Nexus 7 to the Nexus 9. The predecessor never felt cheap, mind you — but the new guy just feels great. The Nexus 9 is expected to cost $200 more than the Nexus 7 ($400 vs. $200), and it certainly feels like a pricier device.
With that said, it’s hard to look at the Nexus 9 and not see an iPad. It was easy to avoid with the Nexus 7, with its 16:10 (read: widescreen) display. By switching to a more traditional 4:3 aspect ratio, the Nexus 9 instantly looks a whole lot more like its closest competition.
Is that a bad thing? Not really. Outside of the devout fanboys, no one should really care. Use whichever device you like, and let them squabble amongst each other about the similarities.
Anyway: build quality, device heft, platform performance — at a cursory glance, it all seems top notch.
Android Lollipop runs like butter — for our impressions there, and for our experience tinkering with the wonderfully shiny Nexus 6, click right over here.
A few neat things to note about the Nexus 9:
You can now double tap the screen to wake it up, rather than having to hunt for an unlock button.
The new multitasking view found in Lollipop is quite impressive, particularly on tablets. While I wasn’t able to get it to work on-the-fly in my video above, many apps (like games) can be ‘pinned’ to the screen. In doing so, you make it so that whoever is using the device is unable to leave the application without entering your password. It’s great for handing the tablet off to kids, or whoever, and it takes all of a single tap to enable.
There’s a new guest mode that creates a temporary, sandboxed user account on-the-fly. Create the guest account, hand it to a friend, and all of your stuff is protected. When they’re done, tap a button and the account is gone. I’ve been asking for this for 2 1/2 years now, so you can imagine that I’m quite pleased.Such an amazing collection of gifts! I am a history teacher and my santa works at a History and Science museum- what a great pair up!
I got so many cool things! To starts, I got a huge, beautiful geological map of the town he is from, some magazines and postcards from the museum where he works.
I also got some local goodies, such as a set of buttons from a local brewery, some locally collected honey, some strawberry white tea (yum!) and some locally roasted almonds.
He also sent a historical book called Armageddon Averted, which I have never read!
Finally, my favorite gift was a fossil rock! It is about 400 Million years old and has been polished so I can see the imprints inside. So cool! I have it sitting on my desk at school.
Thanks so much santa! You were so very generous and I love it all!You don’t have to be fighting in a war to suffer irrevocable brain damage from one.
That’s the finding from a new United Nations report released this week showing that an estimated 87 million children under the age of 7 have lived their entire lives in conflict zones, an environment so stressful that it has the potential to significantly impact the development of their brains.
The discovery stems from a report released Thursday by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), an organization that works to bring resources to children in the 22 countries affected by conflict worldwide. This year the organization released a report showing that one in four of the more than 100 million school-age kids living in these zones are not in school.
Now, on top of the fact that 25 percent of these children are not able to access education, comes the news that even those who do may be suffering irreversible damage to their brains.
Conflict zones create a stressful environment, one that causes severe, prolonged trauma. While some amount of stress is normal to warn the body that danger is imminent, too much stress can be damaging.
“In addition to the immediate physical threats that children in crises face, they are also at risk of deep-rooted emotional scars,” said UNICEF Chief of Early Child Development Pia Britto, one of the main researchers behind the study.
The scars are not metaphorical: Stress actually rewires young brains.
Humans are born with 253 functioning neurons, nerve cells that receive and transmit information. From that point onwards, hundreds of new neurons are formed every second, until there are nearly 1 billion in most adults.
That’s just the number of circuits, but how they are wired depends on what happens in development.
Harvard researchers elaborated on the process in a 2004 paper titled Excessive Stress Disrupts the Architecture of the Developing Brain. In it, they explain how healthy development can be “derailed” by toxic stress.
Happy moments activate positive circuits, stressful ones negative circuits. The circuits that are activated most frequently are strengthened, sometimes to excess. The result is a body and mind that is constantly on high alert, no matter whether actual danger is present.
“Children may feel threatened by or respond impulsively to situations where no real threat exists, such as seeing anger or hostility in a facial expression that is actually neutral,” the paper reads. “Or they may remain excessively anxious long after a threat has been posed.”
Although learning to manage tough situations is critical to a child’s growth, too much stress can have a toxic effect on a young brain. Chronic stress causes a host of physiological responses, raising our heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol (the stress hormone). Continuous high levels of these have been linked to a variety of behavioral and physical disorders including depression, anxiety, drug abuse, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke.
In light of these facts, UNICEF’s data is particularly grim. By their calculations, one in 11 children under age 7 has spent the most critical period of brain development in a conflict zone.
Beyond symptoms like depression, damage to early child brain development has been shown to significantly hinder a child’s ability to reap the benefits of education. A 1999 study from Yale University and three other major institutions found that the quality of development near the time a child begins school directly influences their ability to learn.
Among the countries mentioned in the report are Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria—one of the most dangerous places on the globe for children today. The numbers were calculated using the UN’s Office of the Special Representative and of the Secretary General’s Children and Armed Conflict annual report.
“Conflict robs children of their safety, family and friends, play and routine,” said Britto. “Yet these are all elements of childhood that give children the best possible chance of developing fully and learning effectively, enabling them to contribute to their economies and societies, and building strong and safe communities when they reach adulthood.”(Health.com) -- Children in Grades 3 through 6 who are obese are more likely to be bullied than their normal-weight peers, a new study has found.
No one who has attended grade school -- or who has even the slightest familiarity with children -- will be surprised by these findings. What is surprising, however, is that obese children are bullied more often even if they possess qualities that can discourage bullies, such as having good social skills or doing well in school.
"When we started this study, I really suspected that we might find that the obesity or overweight might not be the driving force," says the lead author of the study, Julie Lumeng, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. "What we found is that it didn't matter. No matter how good your social skills, if you were overweight or obese you were more likely to be bullied."
In the study, which appears this week in the journal Pediatrics, Lumeng and her colleagues followed more than 800 children -- all born in 1991 -- from 10 cities across the U.S. When the children were in the third, fifth, and sixth grades, the researchers surveyed teachers, mothers, and the children themselves about whether they were bullied, and also surveyed the adults about the children's social skills. They then compared these responses with the children's body mass index, a simple ratio of height and weight.
Overall, kids who were obese were 65 percent more likely to be bullied than their peers of normal weight; overweight kids were 13 percent more likely to be bullied, although that finding was not statistically significant, the study notes. This pattern persisted even when the researchers took into account other factors that are associated with both obesity and being bullied, such as coming from a low-income family or doing poorly in school.
Health.com: 10 habits of healthy families
Still, the findings don't rule out the possibility that being overweight and being bullied share a common, underlying cause, says Matthew N. Davis, M.D., a primary care physician and the director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.
"There's always been the question in the back of people's minds about whether there was another factor involved which was related to both bullying and obesity," says Davis, who was not involved in Lumeng's study.
Sylvia Rimm, Ph.D., a clinical professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, in Cleveland, Ohio, suggests that the low self-esteem of overweight children may make them targets for their peers.
Rimm, who wasn't involved in the study, surveyed thousands of middle-school children for a 2004 book, "Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Kids." "Kids who considered themselves very overweight not only were bullied, but...indicated more loneliness, saw themselves as troublemakers, and saw themselves as sad, fearful, and wimpy," she says. "They really have huge struggles."
One reason that children might be more apt to pick on their overweight classmates is that they are taking after adults, says Davis.
"Children pick up behaviors from adults, so we always have to keep in mind how we're modeling respect for others around multiple issues, including weight," he says. "Imagine how many signals kids get about weight just by hearing conversations by adults or seeing advertisements on TV. The messages are everywhere in terms of trying to control weight and be a different size than you are right now."
Wendy Craig, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, says that bullying and obesity are both major public health concerns that teachers and schools -- and not just parents -- need to address.
Health.com: 20 easy meals for families to enjoy together
Teachers "are like social architects," says Craig, who has studied bullying for more than a decade but wasn't involved in the current study. "They set the tone for what's acceptable. Teachers reinforce these messages every day in their classroom when they interact with kids."
In fact, positive interactions with parents may help prevent bullying in the first place, according to another new study, presented today at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Vancouver, B.C.
In that study, researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center analyzed data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health, which included more than 45,000 parents of children between the ages of 10 and 17.
Children whose parents shared ideas and talked often with them were about 40 percent less likely to bully other children compared to the children of parents who said they didn't do those things regularly. On the other hand, the children of parents who said they are often angry with them or who feel bothered by them were up to three times more likely to be bullies, according to the study.
Interestingly, previous studies have suggested that obese children are more likely to bully others, in addition to being the victims of bullying. One possible explanation for this, Lumeng says, is that children who have difficulty staying calm and controlling their impulses to lash out at others may also have a hard time regulating their eating, and may eat for emotional reasons rather than out of hunger.
Health.com: Is it baby fat or obesity?
Overweight children are caught in a vicious circle of self-destructive behavior, Rimm says. "They're inactive, and they're sad kids, and they use eating as gratification," she says. "Of course, the effect is that continued eating is almost their only source of satisfaction, and so it's a terrible cycle."
Protecting overweight kids -- socially and physically --requires helping them break this cycle, Rimm adds.
"A key thing is to discover their strengths and get them involved and active in extracurricular activities," she says. "If they concentrate only on their weight, they're not going to build confidence."A Personal History of Compilation Speed, Part 1
The first compiled language I used was the Assembler Editor cartridge for the Atari 8-bit computers. Really, it had the awful name "Assembler Editor." I expect some pedantic folks want to interject that an assembler is not a compiler. At one time I would have made that argument myself. But there was a very clear divide between editing 6502 code and running it, a divide that took time to cross, when the textual source was converted into machine-runnable form. Contrast that to Atari BASIC, the only language I knew previously, which didn't feature a human-initiated conversion step and the inevitable time it took.
Conceptually, the Assembler Editor was a clever design. Source code was entered line by line, even using line numbers, just like BASIC. The assembler could compile the source straight from memory and create object code in memory, with no disk access to speak of. The debugger was right there, too, resident in memory, setting the stage for what looked like an efficient and tightly integrated development system.
Except for whatever reason, the assembler was impressively slow, and it got disproportionately slower as program size increased. A linear look-up in the symbol table? Some kind of N-squared algorithm buried in there? Who knows, but I remember waiting over seven minutes for a few hundred lines of code to assemble. Atari knew this was a problem, because there was a note in the manual about it only being suitable for small projects. They offered the friendly advice of purchasing a more expensive product, the Atari Macro Assembler (which was a standalone assembler, not an integrated environment).
Instead I upgraded to MAC/65, a third party alternative that followed the formula set by the Assembler Editor: cartridge-based for fast booting, BASIC-like editor and assembler and debugger all loaded into memory at once. MAC/65 was popular among assembly coders primarily on its reputation for quick assembly times. And quick it was.
Almost certainly the slowness of the Assembler Editor was because of a bad design decision, one not present in MAC/65. But MAC/65 went one step further: source code was parsed and tokenized after each line was entered. For example, take this simple statement:
LDA #19 ; draw all bonus items
It takes a good amount of work, especially on a sub-2MHz processor, to pick that apart. "LDA" needs to be scanned and looked-up somewhere. "19" needs to be converted to binary. The MAC/65 approach was to do much of this at edit-time, storing the tokenized representation in memory instead of the raw text.
In the above example, the tokenized version could be reduced to a byte indicating "load accumulator immediate," plus the binary value 19 (stored as a byte, not as two ASCII characters), and then a token indicating the rest of the line was a comment and could be ignored at assembly time. When the user viewed the source code, it had to be converted from the tokenized form back into text. This had the side-effect of enforcing a single standard for indentation style, whether or not there was a space after the comment semicolon, and so on.
When my Atari 8-bit days ended, and I moved to newer systems, I noticed two definite paths in assembler design. There were the traditional, lumbering assemblers that ran as standalone applications, which almost always required a final linking step. These were usually slow and awkward, seemingly designed as back-ends to high-level language compilers, not meant to be used directly by programmers. And then there were the lightning-fast assemblers, often integrated with editors and debuggers in the tradition of the Assembler Editor and MAC/65. For dedicated assembly programmers during the Amiga and Atari ST years, those were clearly the way to go.
By that time, except when there was no alternative, I was using compilers for higher-level languages. And I was wondering if the "slow, lumbering" and "lightning fast" split applied to those development systems as well.
Part 2
permalink August 2, 2009
previouslyAs some residents of South Texas begin to dry out their homes and belongings, significant challenges lie ahead as the city of Houston and others in the affected area look to recover and rebuild.
Congress is fast-tracking billions of dollars in recovery funding. But just because that down payment on Harvey recovery is on the way, that doesn't mean the rebuilding of Houston and other areas hammered by the storm's high winds and historic rains will go quickly or smoothly.
Here are five challenges ahead for the Harvey recovery:
1. 100+ roads are still closed
Residents can't begin to assess the damage to their homes and businesses until they can get to them, and many local roads and main thoroughfares remain flooded or closed owing to storm damage. Even those that are now dry have to be inspected for possible damage and may need some repairs before they can reopen.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday that while all the interstate highways are now open, at least 118 other roadways remained closed because of high floodwaters, and with continuing releases of water from reservoirs into overflowing rivers and bayous, some roads may remain closed for a couple of weeks.
On many of the roads and highways that are open, traffic signals are out and lane restrictions may be in place. And that is causing brutal traffic jams as many area residents began trying to return home or get back to work this week, while often needing to take alternative routes.
"Traffic is going to be heavy and somewhat confusing," Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters Wednesday. "This is going to be the roughest week," he added. "I certainly would encourage people to be patient."
How well the concrete and asphalt held up under the floodwaters depends in part on the type of road it is, what level of traffic it was designed to handle, how long it was underwater and what kind of shape it was in before the storm, says David Newcomb, a research engineer at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. Interstates, he says, should fare pretty well, while "lower-volume roads are going to be weaker."
A car is left stranded in Houston on Aug. 27. (Katie Hayes Luke for NPR)
Newcomb adds that "the longer the water stays on the road, the greater the opportunity for it to seep in the ground, and it could leave the soil in a weakened state."
The Texas Department of Transportation has 2,400 employees in the region assessing damage and addressing highway and traffic problems.
Bridge and highway inspectors "will be looking for [signs of scouring] underneath bridges, spots on the road where erosion might have occurred around culverts," and similar signs of flood damage, says Newcomb.
Even if some roads appear to be in relatively good shape after the water recedes, the wear and tear from bigger trucks carrying heavier loads to help in the recovery is likely to cause additional damage, says Newcomb.
"There's going to be a lot of heavier trucks, dump trucks," and other heavy vehicles helping remove debris and bring in materials to rebuild homes. "That's more traffic and larger loads than you'd normally see on residential streets."
It's not yet clear how long some roads and highways in and around Houston and elsewhere in South Texas may be closed, but Newcomb says repairing all the damage "will take a long time."
"Funding won't be available to fix all of them at once," he says, "so I foresee this going on for years in terms of getting highways back to the condition they were before the storm."
2. 50,000+ are in temporary housing
The biggest challenge for Houston is temporary housing. Those evacuated from their homes have been leaving the temporary shelters set up around the area, but many will be unable to return to their homes for months, maybe even years. FEMA has placed 56,000 people in hotels, paid for by the government; thousands of others are staying with friends and relatives. The agency is considering longer-term solutions, including mobile homes.
The shelter at the city's convention center, which at its peak housed about 10,000 people and now has about 1,600, will very likely remain open until the end of next week, Turner said in an interview with PBS NewsHour Wednesday.
But he notes that those still in the shelter likely have few — if any — other options. "It is the hardest population to place," he said, adding that the city is working on developing a longer-term housing plan for those displaced by the storm. "We want to try to provide the most suitable placement for them... and put forth a transitional housing plan that meets the needs of individuals and the families."
"For those who were homeless prior, we'll look for shelters in other areas. But the goal is not to increase the population of people who are homeless on our streets that existed prior to the storm."
3. 8 million cubic yards of debris need removal
Once residents can get back to their homes, there's the task of getting rid of water-soaked mattresses, couches and other damaged furniture, plus ruined appliances and other items inside their flooded homes. Then there's the flooded carpeting, moldy drywall, damaged floor tiles and other debris, not to mention downed trees, damaged shingles and junk that may have just floated into their yards.
The city of Houston estimates it will remove more than 8 million cubic yards of hurricane debris and flood-related trash at a cost of more than $200 million. Harris County has not yet disclosed figures, but FEMA estimates the county and all the cities in it spent $242 million removing debris after Hurricane Ike and that this will far surpass the totals from that 2008 storm.
"We're going to pick it up, and we're going to operate with the highest degree of urgency," Turner said. But he acknowledges it will be a "herculean" task to get rid of all the debris and will probably take months.
Asked about debris removal at a press conference Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott said "we want to get it removed as quickly as possible," adding that FEMA is providing funding to speed up the removal process.
The mayor says there are public health concerns about piles of flood debris in city neighborhoods, and if it takes too long to remove it, there could be a negative psychological impact on residents.
How successful the city is in responding to the hurricane is "going to be determined by how quickly we can move that debris from in front of their house," Turner said. "Because that will be a constant reminder of this storm."
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett agrees.
"Everybody is fully aware that people want to get on with their lives," he said. "That's real difficult to do if you have a whole mountain of debris sitting in front of your yard."
Ray Blanchette stands in his flooded home in the Nottingham Forest subdivision of Houston on Aug. 31. (Scott Dalton for NPR)
4. 126,000 homes have severe damage
Once the water recedes and residents can get inside their homes, the next challenge is assessing the damage and determining whether the home is salvageable. The city of Houston estimates 126,000 homes were "severely impacted" by Harvey and the subsequent flooding. There are tens of thousands more homes across South Texas that were damaged or destroyed, but it is far too early for authorities to determine how many of those homes will be inhabitable.
The first thing to do is to check the structural integrity of the home, says Norma Jean Mattei, a professor of civil engineering at the University of New Orleans and president of the American Society of Civil Engineers. She says unlike the flooding from levee breaches in her city after Katrina, "where it was like a bathtub filling up slowly," Harvey floodwaters appear to have risen fast.
"More of the structures were closer to high-velocity water, those channels, flood control canal, a bayou or a creek," says Mattei, who teaches structural design and analysis. "If it was really close to fast-flowing water, then some of those structures are going to have foundation issues, possibly."
"If there is some significant foundation damage, that then would be more likely to require replacement instead of just gutting, drying out and repairing," she adds.
Those homes that can be repaired, Mattei and other experts say, might have to have walls and insulation ripped out and the house stripped down to the studs, which then will need to dry out.
Depending on how high the water was and how long a home remained flooded, water can soak up into and rot drywall, it can ruin insulation and electrical systems and it can swell or warp wooden floors, doors and trim.
There could be dangers lurking in your home, even after the floodwater recedes, says Steve Cain, a disaster specialist at the Purdue University Extension.
"You don't want to be rushing into your home after a flood," Cain told The Associated Press. "You can fall through a floor, gas lines could be leaking, electrical systems can be damaged and if the electricity is not shut off, you could get electrocuted.... You want to make sure you go back when it's safe."
Families are going to need help assessing their homes, says Mattei, who did a lot of pro bono structural assessments of homes after Katrina. "Giving those families the information they needed to make a decision — do we eliminate the house and start from scratch or do we gut this thing and put it back together as is... that can be very helpful," she says, especially considering that many homeowners will be shell-shocked when they see the damage. "They're walking into a house and they've lost everything."
5. Painful decisions lie ahead on what — and how — to rebuild
There's some question about whether some Houston-area residents should be allowed to repair or rebuild the most severely flooded homes and apartment buildings at all. Harvey is the third major flood in three years in Houston, so many homes have flooded previously. Some had recently completed repairs to their homes from flood damage caused by the April 2016 "Tax Day" floods, and some flooded the year before that. The city's somewhat unregulated development has been widely criticized as a possible contributing factor to the scope of Harvey devastation. Thousands of homes and many multifamily complexes have been built, and many of them were rebuilt in flood plains near Houston's reservoirs, creeks and bayous. Some engineers, urban planners and other experts say it's time to stop building and rebuilding homes where flooding is likely to happen again.
"We certainly shouldn't be doing any building in flood-prone areas and we should be very careful about building in areas along the bayous," Turner told PBS NewsHour. "We will continue to grow and continue to develop, but we will do it in a very smart and intelligent way. We certainly can take definitive steps to minimize the risk of flooding. We just can't continue to do things as we've always done it and expect a different result," he said.
The mayor told reporters Wednesday that the city has started conversations with FEMA about buying out homes and apartment complexes "that are in the flood plain and have flooded repeatedly." But when it comes to apartments in particular, he says "one of the reasons why those housing units keep getting rehabbed is because there's not sufficient affordable housing [available]." So buying out those properties would require affordable rental housing to be built elsewhere.
If the government doesn't buy out flooded homes, those wanting to rebuild may have to meet new FEMA codes or flood control elevations, says Mattei. She says FEMA did just that in and around New Orleans and all along the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts. "So therein lies the ability to change how neighborhoods are rebuilt if you're in an area that really had a high level of flooding," she says.
But she adds a few words of caution: The recovery is going to be a long, and at times frustrating and painful, process.
"It's going to take a while for Texas to recover from this historic event," and one of the biggest lessons learned in New Orleans after Katrina is the need for patience above all else, says Mattei. "The damage may have occurred very quickly but the recovery is going to take a while, and you just have to have patience."
Copyright NPR 2019.I have read with interest your recent articles focusing on child protective services and their impact on children and families. I am a child protection lawyer in Connecticut—I am appointed to represent indigent children or parents and also handle appeals—and I find that much of what you describe rings true to my experience on the ground: Removals are traumatic, even when arguably necessary.
Another element of child protection systems that is worth considering is the role of class and race. Some of the comments to your most recent article suggested that caseworkers come from a very different background from the families with which they interact, and I've found that not to be true. But the lawyers and judges in juvenile court are definitely from another world, and the distance between them and the parents and children who come through the system is palpable and damaging.
To begin with, as you allude to in your article, a lot of what gets called neglect is really, at base, poverty without more. The case of Debra Harrell is a good example of this, but I have seen many many others. In Connecticut, parents whose children are removed leave court with a list of "Specific Steps" that they must follow if they are to have any chance of reunifying. These often include multiple weekly meetings with job counselors, drug counselors, mental health providers, and parenting instructors. The parents, many of whom do not have cars and live in areas with sub-par public transportation, must sometimes attend four or five different weekly appointments in different locations, and then find themselves called to account in court for remaining unemployed.
Judges and assistant attorneys general (the lawyers who represent the child protection agency and prosecute neglect cases) are also frequently woefully out of touch with the realities of the poor families involved in CP cases. Connecticut is a land of economic extremes, and the professional classes, almost without exception, live in the suburbs and look with genuine fear on the very poor urban centers. I've heard state lawyers argue that parents were neglectful simply for letting their children play on the sidewalk during the day in poor neighborhoods, or for leaving a baby unattended in a crib while taking out garbage three flights down—even though suburban parents who take garbage to the bins in their driveway are probably equally distant from a sleeping infants. Judges chide poor working mothers for leaving their children with questionable babysitters, as though childcare, money, and jobs were so plentiful that a parent could just call in sick to work without worry any time a childcare arrangement fell through.
I also get the impression—although it's not something that can likely be proved with data—that judges who must look across the divides of class, race, and sometimes language, have difficulty identifying with the poor, brown families before them. Whenever I look at fact patterns in child protection cases, I find myself saying, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." I mean, raising kids is hard, right? But somehow, from the remove of the affluent suburbs, many of the (mostly white) judges I've appeared in front of, most of whom have raised children themselves, seem to struggle to find sympathy or understanding. I will give you one example:
I can recall a case where a young mother of two went to a probate court to transfer guardianship of her children to her aunt so she could work full time and study for her GED. The aunt and the mother lived close together and had had a similar arrangement a couple years before, so the probate judge approved the transfer, even though the child protection agency objected because the aunt had a twenty-year-old child abuse conviction. Frustrated that the probate judge had ignored its recommendation, the agency sought to remove the children from the aunt on an emergency basis, sending a caseworker accompanied by a state trooper to the aunt's house. As it happened, the children and their aunt were out of the house when the cop and the caseworker arrived, but when the aunt heard they had been there, she assumed that something had gone wrong with the transfer of guardianship and went to give the kids back to their mother.
Eventually, the case came to juvenile (not probate) court: The mother was accused of neglect for giving the children to the aunt (since she had an old child abuse conviction); the aunt was accused of neglect for giving the children back to the mother. The aunt, a middle-aged Jamaican woman, testified that after the state trooper came to her house, she was worried CPS would put her nieces in foster care, so she took them to their mom. The judge, an elderly white man, kept asking her why on earth she would think that.
"Did they every say they were taking the kids?" he asked, over and over.
"No," said the aunt. "I was just worried they might."
All I could do was shake my head: In poor black and Hispanic communities (like the one I live in, by the way), everyone knows what it means when CPS shows up at your door with a cop. Everyone. But the judge acted mystified, and even seemed to imply that the aunt's actions betrayed a guilty conscience.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share some impressions from the trenches. Keep up the good work.
Josh Michtom
Assistant Public Defender
Office of the Chief Public Defender, Juvenile / Child Protection Unit
Hartford, CTNo matter how many thousands of things confront you,
no matter how painful or difficult,
even if someone you love is about to die,
entrust all of these to your foundation,
your inherent nature,
your true essence.
It’s always been taking care of me,
it’s guiding me even now,
so what’s there to worry about?
Just entrust everything there
while going forward.
You need this kind of attitude.
All of those things that confront you are your homework,
the path through which you can grow.
If everything in your life is smooth and trouble free,
you won’t be able to rise above the level
of an unenlightened being,
or understand the hardships facing others.
It all depends upon how well you can handle good and evil,
on how non-dually you can let go of both sides,
even including the Buddha.
Frustration, stress, and loneliness,
and situations where success seems unlikely,
all of these things are the raw materials of your spiritual practice.
So, when difficulties and suffering come,
be grateful for them.
For through these
you are able to practice and to grow.
–Daehaeng Kun Sunim
copyright 2010, the Hanmaum Seonwon FoundationHow about 2020?
“I think only Rog will know when it’s the moment that he’ll want to say perhaps this is enough,” Paganini said. “Rog does have the biological age of 36 but for me, he has an athletic age that is younger than that and yet he has the maturity of someone well over 40. So it’s quite a balance. And because of that it’s very difficult to say or predict. It’s the man who makes the decision, not just the athlete, unless there’s a serious injury that leaves you no choice.”
The two met when Federer was 14 and a new arrival at the Swiss national training center in Ecublens near Lausanne. Federer, the youngest boarder there, was still working through his talent and his temper. When he eventually put together his own team in 2000, he asked Paganini to join him.
“He’s made fitness workouts so enjoyable, if they ever can be,” Federer said. “I just follow his beat. Whatever he tells me I’ll do it because I trust him. People ask me, do you still do your physical tests and stuff? I don’t have to do any tests because I work with Pierre and he knows and sees if I’m moving well or not; if I’m slow or fast; all these things. He’s had a huge part of this success, and I’m happy I called him way back when.”
Paganini said his methods of training Federer have changed with the years. They used to play other sports like basketball in Federer’s youth to add variety but now focus on activities that directly correspond to tennis and, according to Paganini, they emphasize complex drills that mimic the multipronged challenges of the sport.
“You have to be strong, fast, coordinated and have endurance in tennis and you have to do drills for that,” Paganini said. “But you also should never forget you have to use this on a tennis court; not on the road or in the pool. So you always have to create a link between the speed and the athletic way it’s used on the court. Nine times out of 10 on the court, the speed is in the first three steps and then you’re playing the tennis ball. So you have to train to be particularly strong in the first three steps.”Hillary Clinton's campaign noted that more than 60 percent of donations came from women. | Getty Clinton campaign raises $55M in final quarter, $112M total in 2015
Hillary Clinton’s campaign had good news to announce as it rang in the New Year — the campaign said Friday it raised $55 million in the final fundraising quarter of 2015, and $112 million in total for the year.
About $37 million of the year’s final haul was in hard primary dollars, and $18 million was raised for the Democratic National Committee and state parties through the Hillary Victory Fund. The final quarter of the year put the campaign over its goal of raising $100 million for the year. The campaign has spent $74 million so far, and now enters the election year with about $38 million in cash on hand.
Story Continued Below
In the final weeks of the year, Clinton operatives said they expected her main Democratic rival Bernie Sanders |
previous status report, OpenCL test programs are running fine now, thanks to upgrades and fixes to libc++ and Clang. The relevant ports are still not ready to hit the ports tree, unfortunately.
Open tasks:
See the "Graphics" wiki page for up-to-date information.
Contact: Quarterly Status Report Team <[email protected]>
These quarterly status reports help the FreeBSD community stay up-to-date with the happenings in and around the project. Updates from FreeBSD teams, new features being developed in- or out-of-tree, products derived from FreeBSD, and FreeBSD events are all welcome additions to the status reports.
The Monthly team has been busy since the last report, with longtime organizer Gábor Páli having stepped down from the team — thank you Gábor for all your hard work! This has left something of a void in the preparation of this report, for which the call for items was issued quite late. To help fill the void, Warren Block and Benjamin Kaduk have been added to the monthly@ team, joining Glen Barber, Gavin Atkinson, Ed Maste, and the rest of the team in preparing this report. Special thanks to Glen for doing most of the work while simultaneously getting 9.3-RELEASE out the door!
The next cycle is sooner than you think! The deadline for submitting entries for the Q3 report is October 7th, 2014.
This project was sponsored by The FreeBSD Foundation.
Open tasks:
Submit reports for Q42014 to [email protected]!
Contact: Grzegorz Bernacki <[email protected]>
Contact: Michal Dubiel <[email protected]>
Contact: Dominik Ermel <[email protected]>
Contact: Rafal Jaworowski <[email protected]>
OpenStack is a cloud operating system that controls large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources in a datacenter.
OpenContrail is a network virtualization (SDN) solution comprising network controller, virtual router, and analytics engine, which can be integrated with cloud orchestration systems like OpenStack or CloudStack.
The goal of this work is to enable FreeBSD as a fully supported compute host for OpenStack using OpenContrail virtualized networking. The main areas of development are:
Libvirt hypervisor driver for bhyve.
Support for bhyve (via libvirt compute driver) and the overall FreeBSD platform in nova-compute.
OpenContrail vRouter (forwarding plane kernel module) port to FreeBSD.
OpenContrail Agent (network controller node) port to FreeBSD.
Integration and performance optimizations.
Since the last report the following items have been completed, which allow for a working demo of an OpenStack compute node on a FreeBSD host using OpenContrail for network virtualization:
Port of the OpenContrail vRouter kernel module for FreeBSD (MPLS over GRE mode only)
Port of the OpenContrail Agent for FreeBSD
FreeBSD version of a Devstack installation/configuration script with support for the OpenContrail solution (Compute node components only)
A demo was presented at the DevSummit during BSDCan2014 in Ottawa. Also, a meetup regarding the subject was organized in Krakow, Poland.
Work on this project is sponsored by Juniper Networks.
Contact: Deb Goodkin <[email protected]>
The FreeBSD Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the FreeBSD Project and community worldwide. Most of the funding is used to support FreeBSD development projects, conferences and developer summits, purchase equipment to grow and improve the FreeBSD infrastructure, and provide legal support for the Project.
We published our third issue of the FreeBSD Journal. We have over 2700 subscriptions so far. We continued working on the digital edition, which will allow subscribers to read the magazine in different web browsers, including those than run on FreeBSD. This will be available for the July/August issue of the Journal.
We hired Anne Dickison, on a freelance basis, as our new marketing director, to help us promote the Foundation and Project.
The annual board meeting was held in Ottawa, Canada, in May. Directors and officers were elected, and we did some long-term planning. We worked on our vision, core values, project road mapping, and our near-term goals. We also met with the core team to discuss roles and responsibilities, project roadmapping, and what we can do to help the Project more.
We were a Gold+ sponsor for BSDCan, May 16-17 and provided 7 travel grants for developers to attend the conference. We also were the sponsor for both the developer and vendor summits.
Justin Gibbs gave a FreeBSD presentation at a FreeBSD user's internal technology summit. Company visits like this help users understand the Project structure better and gives us a chance to communicate what FreeBSD people are working on as well as learn what different companies are doing with FreeBSD, as well as what they'd like to see supported. We can then help facilitate collaboration between the companies and FreeBSD developers.
We were represented at Great Wide Open, April 2-3 (greatwideopen.org), Texas LinuxFest, June 13-14 (texaslinuxfest.org), and SouthEast LinuxFest, June 20-22 (southeastlinuxfest.org).
Hardware was purchased to support an upgrade at Sentex. A new high-capacity 1Gbps switch was deployed to allow for more systems to be added to the test lab. The main file server and development box was upgraded to allow more users in the lab simultaneously.
We purchased hardware, including package builders, and a larger server to allow NYI to be a full replica of all Project systems, comparable to what is in place at Yahoo Inc. and ISC.
We worked with our lawyer to create an NDA between the Foundation and individuals for third party NDAs. This allows developers who need access to proprietary documents, to go through the Foundation, via an NDA for access.
FreeBSD Foundation Systems Administrator and Release Engineer, Glen Barber, continued work on producing regularly-updated FreeBSD/arm snapshots for embedded devices, such as the Raspberry Pi, ZedBoard, and BeagleBone.
In addition to producing weekly development snapshots from the head/ and stable/ branches, with feedback and help from Ed Maste, Glen finished work to produce release images that will, by default, provide debugging files for userland and kernel available on the FreeBSD Project FTP mirrors. Note that the debugging files will not be included on the bootonly.iso, disc1.iso, or dvd1.iso images due to the size of the resulting images.
Foundation staff member Konstantin Belousov completed an investigation into poor performance of PostgreSQL on FreeBSD. This uncovered scalability problems in the FreeBSD kernel, and changes to address these issues are in progress.
Some previously completed Foundation-sponsored projects received enhancements or additional work. The ARM superpages project was completed last year, but is now enabled by default in FreeBSD-CURRENT. Many stability fixes and enhancements have been committed to the in-kernel iSCSI stack. The iSCSI project was released in FreeBSD 10.0. Many stability fixes and enhancements have been committed and will be included in FreeBSD 10.1.DUBLIN, Ohio -- Everyone has seen a golfer swivel and angrily stare at a news photographer who accidentally clicked a shutter during a swing.
Now imagine what it's like when there are 10,000 or even 40,000 people on a golf course, all with cell phones that take pictures.
With a huge gallery following the marquee matchup of Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson in Thursday's first round of the Memorial, the continual distraction of fans with cell phones may have played a role in Mickelson's withdrawal from the tournament.
"It took Phil out of his game," Watson said of the continual clicks and snaps of cell phone-camera shutters. "Phil's a great player and a great champion and it just took him out of his game. It's sad. It's sad that cell phones can make or break a championship."
Mickelson said the reason he was going home in the wake of a frustrating round of 7-over 79 was because he was tired after a recent trip to Italy and France to celebrate wife Amy's 40th birthday.
"There were a few phones out there," Fowler said with a laugh. "There were a few times when we had to back off and reset. You could see Phil was a little fatigued and was having trouble blocking it out a bit."
Mickelson made the turn at 1 over before struggling. Fowler shot a 71 and Watson, who won the Masters last month, had a 75.
Watson blamed a PGA Tour rule which permits fans to have cell phones on the course -- if they are on vibrate and are only used in specified areas.
"Yeah, it was bad. But it's been pretty bad ever since they made that rule," Watson said. "When they make these marquee pairings, more people are going to follow them and more people want to take pictures. So it makes it very difficult. Ever since they made that rule that cell phones are allowed, it's just not fun playing."
QUADRUPLE DISASTER: The treacherous 184-yard, par-3 12th is often considered the signature hole at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
Rory McIlroy's weekend almost became wide open after he played it in Thursday's first round of the Memorial.
The world's No. 2-ranked golfer had parred his first two holes after starting the opening round on the back nine.
His drive at the 12th cleared the large lake which covers most of the territory between an elevated tee and a narrow ribbon of green, landing in the deep sand bunker behind the green. His ball ended up on a downslope, which added danger since the green ran away from him and toward the water.
"I had no shot," he said later. "I was trying to land it just out of the bunker in the rough and let it tumble onto the green. But I had such an awkward stance, it was just hard to execute the shot."
McIlroy's sand shot landed on the green but picked up pace as it rolled through the green and ran all the way into the water.
He had to return to the ball drop, about 100 yards on the other side of the lake, for his fourth shot. His wedge shot ended up in the front bunker. From there he blasted out to 10 feet past the cup and missed the comebacker, settling for a quadruple-bogey 7.
"Rory obviously got unstuck," said playing partner Luke Donald, the world's top-ranked golfer. "He fought back pretty well."
McIlroy, shoulders slumping as he went to the 13th tee, regrouped. He put up four more birdies and chipped in for an eagle at the par-5 fifth hole against one bogey and finished with a 1-under 71.
It was quite a salvage job.
"I just tried to stay patient and not even think about the score, just think about what I'm working on in my swing and try to make good swings," said McIlroy, who will defend his U.S. Open title in two weeks at Olympic in San Francisco. "That's really all I could do out there. I saw enough good (shots) that there was a little bit of encouragement, and to string a few good holes together on the back nine was nice."
McIlroy wasn't close to setting a record. The highest competitive score on 12 is a 10 -- set by the late Hall of Famer Payne Stewart in the 1998 Memorial.
HERE COMES THE RAIN: It's a running joke that if Central Ohio ever gets hit by a drought, all anyone would have to do is stage the Memorial Tournament and the rains would come.
Over the tournament's 36 years, 39 rounds have been delayed, suspended or canceled by inclement weather.
But this has been a dry last few weeks at Muirfield Village Golf Club and a quicker, harder layout is baring its teeth.
"It's a hell of a test out there, really," Tiger Woods said after a 70 that left him among the leaders.
Drives are hard to keep in the sloped fairways because the ball runs into the deep, clingy rough. The greens hold shots but not like the years after monsoons turned them into huge dartboards for the world's top players. And errant putts can result in some knee-knockers.
"You have to find the right parts of every green or else you're in for a long day," Blake Adams said after a 69.
There are several trouble spots that require players to be diligent. For example, many hit drives to the end of the fairway at the par-5 fifth hole. But with the added roll from drier fairways, there's a danger of the ball kicking into a lake.
"It definitely is playing firm and fast right now," said Rory Sabbatini, who also had a 69. "We're not quite accustomed to that here."
They may have to get accustomed to it again. Thunderstorms are expected on Thursday night and during the second round before the skies clear once again.
TOUGH HOMECOMING: Bo Hoag grew up not far from Muirfield Village, played there throughout his high school and college career and was making only his second PGA Tour start.
It didn't go well.
Hoag, the grandson of one of tournament founder Jack Nicklaus' best friends, had two double-bogeys and six other bogeys in an 80. Maybe it was even worse that everywhere he turned, there were family and friends cheering him on.
He felt as if he let them down.
"I'm disappointed. I really wanted to kind of be in the mix of it," said Hoag, who missed the cut in his only previous tour start. "But I've got a round tomorrow and if I play good I think I can get back in it. You never know what can happen. And I honestly believe I can play good here tomorrow."
He admitted that there was some pressure in playing not far from his home in suburban Upper Arlington -- he slept in his own bed this week -- and living up to everyone's expectations.
Kyle Reifers grew up in Dublin and, like Hoag, received a sponsor's exemption to play in the 2007 Memorial. He shot rounds of 76 and 75 and missed the cut.
He returned on Thursday and had a 1-under 71 that left him in the thick of contention. He had some words of advice and consolation for Hoag.
"It's tough playing in front of the home crowd, a lot of pressure," Reifers said. "He'll probably have more tournaments in his career and he'll look back and kind of laugh at it, hopefully. I'm sure he'll play solid tomorrow and take something from this week."
DIVOTS: The group of Chris Kirk, Robert Garrigus and Robert Allenby combined to take one less shot than McIlroy did at No. 12. Each had a birdie 2.... A young woman in the gallery passed out just as Fred Couples was lining up a par putt on the 13th hole. After he was assured she was getting attention, he holed the putt. He later cracked, "Is she OK? I'm no doctor, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night."... Scott Stallings needed just 25 putts -- including nine one-putt greens and a chip-in for birdie at the par-5 fifth -- in his 66 to take the first-round lead.... Spencer Levin made birdie putts of 25, 32 and 33 feet in his round of 67.NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of law enforcement agents hunting for two upstate New York prison escapees focused their search on Thursday on a heavily wooded area just a few miles from the maximum security facility where they broke out last week, police said.
The tattoos of escaped prisoners Richard Matt (top) and David Sweat are seen in a combination of undated photos released by the New York State Police in Ray Brook, New York. REUTERS/New York State Police/handout via Reuters
Convicted murderers Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, escaped from the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York through underground pipes and a manhole. They were discovered missing early on Saturday.
More than 500 law enforcement officers, along with canine and aviation units, were involved in the manhunt, along with the FBI and other agencies, New York State Police said.
A stretch of highway in Dannemora just miles from the prison was off-limits to traffic and schools in the Saranac Central School District were closed due to the search, officials said.
A female prison worker questioned by police thought she had a romantic relationship with one of them and planned to drive the getaway car, NBC News reported.
However, Joyce Mitchell, an industrial training supervisor in the tailor shop got cold feet and checked into a hospital for nerves on Saturday, the day the inmates were discovered missing, NBC reported, citing unnamed senior government officials.
The older inmate, Matt, who has a history of escape attempts, wooed Mitchell for months and established a relationship in which she agreed to drive the getaway car, the report said.
“She thought it was love,” an official told NBC News.
The ground search was focused on a heavily wooded area east of Dannemora, along New York State Route 374, New York State Police said in a statement.
Search teams were following up on a lead developed on Wednesday, police said, without elaborating.
CNN, citing unidentified sources, reported that bloodhounds picked up the scent of the escapees about 3 miles from the prison.
Mitchell’s statements to police were incriminating enough to result in her being indicted for her role in the escape, The New York Times reported.
Mitchell, who is married to another prison worker and has an adult son, earns a salary of $57,700 for the state corrections department job she has held since 2008, the Buffalo News reported.
Police have declined to comment further on Mitchell, but State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said at a news conference on Wednesday: “She befriended the inmates and may have had some sort of role in assisting them.”Although things seem “almost too quiet” in the open world at the moment, the war in the Secret Space Program world has never been hotter or more intense.
We are no longer getting full intel due to operational security — but we have strong clues as to what this is leading to.
The art at the top of this article is a professional rendition of the aerial part of the battle that is happening now, based on high-level intel.
This is not at all a normal situation. Due to “masking” technology this war is mostly invisible to us, but there are traces of the battle that we can measure.
The teardrop-shaped craft are of the Draco, and the triangular “chevron” craft are a new and unexpected surprise attack from what appears to be the Alliance.
We will provide the full context in this article to help you understand what is going on now, and where it may be leading.
In order to set up the story, it is necessary to frame the expansive new view that is required through some little-known but conventional examples.
[Note: The article will undergo updates that will be added in red after it is first posted, over the next 24 hours. We will notate them here as it unfolds.]
PART ONE: CARGO CULTS AND THE SECRET SPACE PROGRAM
A RADICAL CHANGE CAN QUICKLY BECOME THE BORING “NEW NORMAL”
Take a look at the device you are reading these words on right now. It’s a part of your everyday routine to use it. You don’t even think that much about it.
The gadget generally works the way it is supposed to. Although you don’t know everything, you learned how to use it and can function with it.
You can read articles, play videos with impressive production effects, talk to people who you can see on the screen, and order goods and services delivered.
With just a few clicks, you can guarantee that in as little as 24 hours, someone will arrive at your doorstep with a box containing whatever you want.
You don’t have to do any work to make those items. Nor do you have to go anywhere to find them. They just manifest as if by magic.
EVERYTHING SEEMS ORDINARY
Now take a look at your surroundings. If you are indoors, notice things like glass windows, carpeted floors, electric appliances and the clothing you wear.
You probably have a wallet containing plastic cards that can get you the things you want just by swiping them through a machine with buttons.
Look at the materials your surroundings are made of, the functions they perform and the comforts they afford you. All very normal.
Yet if you projected someone from even a few hundred years ago into your situation, they would be dazzled by the mysterious things they saw.
If they were then returned to their own vicinity, they would soon tell tales of meeting mystical “gods” in a heavenly realm with inexplicable magic and wizardry.
EVERYTHING YOU EXPERIENCE BECOMES “NORMAL”
You can also jump on a plane and travel vast distances that would have taken months, either by horse or by boat, before the railroad was invented in 1804.
You can now travel fast enough that the time your body expected to be day becomes night — and vice versa.
Any interior location is ultimately just some form of a room. There you are in a room, sitting down, maybe looking out the window, and it’s all very typical.
If you are in a car, train or plane, you are still inside a familiar craft.
The seats, the windows, the decor and what you see outside the craft is all completely non-challenging to your belief systems. Everybody knows this stuff.
LOTS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE TO MEET
You see people of all different races in the course of your daily routine — both in person and in other forms. Asians, Latinos, Caucasians, people of African descent and others.
You are not in the least bit surprised or unsettled by the differences in how they look. It’s all very normal to you.
It’s only when something or someone new comes along that, for a brief time, your entire reality can turn upside down.
Soon, however, even a radical new change — like discovering a new and different race of people — becomes a normal, everyday part of life.
CARGO CULTS
Thayer Watkins, a faculty member at San Jose State University, is one of many scholars to have covered the intriguing phenomenon of “cargo cults” that formed in some of the South Pacific islands.
Most of these islands were in an area called Melanesia, to the northeast of Australia. This area was right near Japan in the theater of battle during World War II.
Several different Melanesian islands that had lived in almost complete isolation were suddenly contacted by mysterious-looking people with white skin during the war.
Military troops flew in with advanced technology, concerned that these islands could be infiltrated by the enemy and used as bases to mount new attacks.
Australia and New Zealand were Allied countries and there were fears that Japan would try to invade them by air or by sea from the northeast.
These islands were also used as staging areas to fight active and bloody battles, such as in Guadalcanal, which is within the Solomon Islands in the map below.
Hence, Melanesia suddenly became an area of key tactical significance in WWII, providing a very dynamic example of “enculturation” in 20th century history.
The natives were exposed to a level of sophistication, civilization and technology unlike anything they could possibly have expected before then.
This is of far greater significance to our current situation than almost anyone realizes.
The people of Melanesia were unaware of the greater world around them.
As far as they were concerned, Melanesia was the world, and everyone there was to know lived there.
The idea that their population was very small, and there were far greater places to live than where they were, never even occurred to them.
Nor could they imagine technology beyond the primitive level they had attained on their own.
PROF. THAYER WATKINS ON THE ‘CARGO CULTS’
Here is the excerpt from our San Jose State University professor that helps us get this discussion started.
This is an issue of key importance to the insider world that I have heard about for years. After following up on this research lead, I now understand why.
We have added images to strengthen the point. Take a look:
Prof. Thayer Watkins on “Cargo Cults”
After World War II, anthropologists discovered that an unusual religion had developed among the islanders of the South Pacific.
It was oriented around the concept of cargo, which the islanders perceived as the source of the wealth and power of the Europeans and Americans.
This religion, known as the Cargo Cult, held that if the proper ceremonies were performed, shipments of riches would be sent from some heavenly place.
It was all very logical to the islanders.
The islanders saw that they worked hard but were poor, whereas the Europeans and Americans did not work but instead wrote things down on paper.
In due time, a shipment of wonderful things would arrive.
The Cargo Cult members built replicas of airports and airplanes out of twigs and branches.
They made the sounds associated with airplanes to try to activate the shipment of cargo.
Although the existence of the Cargo Cult only became known after World War II, the cult had developed long before, when the Europeans first arrived in the area in ships.
There were legends among the islanders of their distant ancestor-god having journeyed to the west, and promising to someday return….
Islanders would build a hut in the forest, and the cultees would bring money and leave it in the hut in expectation that it would grow.
Sometimes replicas of briefcases would be used to hold the money.
Unfortunately the money would often be stolen from these jungle banks, leaving the islanders even poorer than they were before….
In New Guinea, the Australian authorities enlisted the aid of the son of a famous warrior to discourage the Cargo Cult.
He was effective, and as a reward the Australians gave him a trip to Sydney.
While in Sydney, this man visited an anthropological museum. There he saw the sacred cult objects of his people on display.
When the man returned to New Guinea, he spread the word that the source of the Australians’ power was that they had stolen the sacred art of his people — and built a temple to house it.
A new cult developed around this idea.
THE PROMISES OF THE “GODS” WERE NOT KEPT
The WWII soldiers who visited and assisted these islands also shared their own Christian teachings, including the idea of end times and Ascension.
The war ended. The enemy of U.S.A. never tried to invade the islands or use them as a staging area.
The tactical significance of the islands disappeared. The promises of the “gods” were not kept. No one went back to give them more Cargo.
The “Cargo cults” formed after these cultures were left alone. The results were wildly unanticipated.
Even the most mundane aspects of our “modern” civilization were elevated into elaborate, arcane religious ceremonies, held in extremely high importance.
AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT CIVILIZATION COULD BE OPERATING ON EARTH WITHOUT OUR AWARENESS
Although this knowledge is publicly available, it carries far greater significance within the insider military-industrial complex community than in the world at large.
You and I could be living on “islands” right here on Earth that we call continents — thinking these are the only places where anyone can live.
Despite how advanced we think we are, we may have no idea of the true scope of people and technology that is operating around us.
These people may have visited us and given us “Cargo” in what we would think of as the distant past. We soon formed elaborate belief systems around it.
The original “Cargo” may have long since disappeared, but various relics and artwork remain — paying homage to what our ancestors once saw.
Other “Cargo” may have crashed in far more recently — and inspired many of the breakthroughs we now take for granted in our society.
We now think we have all the answers. We fervently believe we understand reality, and that our conclusions are sensible, even obvious.
We fight and defend our belief systems, even to the death, since they are “normal.” It is what “God” has revealed to us — such as the god of Science.
We feel whatever level of technology we have right now is the best there is, or will be.
We can barely imagine having anything better at this point.
Each new change is gradual enough that we are only somewhat excited before it, too, becomes “normal.”
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN DISCUSSED THE CARGO CULT RELIGION IN MAY 1959
Like the cargo cults, we have only had brief glimpses of “unidentified flying objects” and “aliens” in the everyday world.
Not everyone believes the multitudinous eyewitness accounts. Those who do are only further emboldened by their opposition.
Like the cargo cults, the knowledge we gain from our visitors can quickly get contorted into belief systems that are rarely, if ever questioned:
May 1959 Scientific American Article on “Cargo Cult” Religions
The people of the central highlands of New Guinea are only the latest to be gripped in the recurrent religious frenzy of the “cargo cults.”
However variously embellished with details from native myth and Christian belief, these cults all advance the same central theme: the world is about to end in a terrible cataclysm.
Thereafter God, the ancestors or some local culture hero will appear and inaugurate a blissful paradise on earth.
Death, old age, illness and evil will be unknown. The riches of the white man will accrue to the Melanesians.
Although the news of such a movement in one area has doubtless often inspired similar movements in other areas, the evidence indicates that these cults have arisen independently in many places as parallel responses to the same enormous social stress and strain.
Among the movements best known to students of Melanesia are the “Taro Cult” of New Guinea, the “Vailala Madness” of Papua, the “Naked Cult” of Espiritu Santo, the “John Frum Movement” of the New Hebrides and the “Tuka Cult” of the Fiji Islands.
At times the cults have been so well organized and fanatically persistent that they have brought the work of government to a standstill.
The outbreaks have often taken the authorities completely by surprise and have confronted them with mass opposition of an alarming kind….
Troops on both sides in World War II found their arrival in Melanesia heralded as a sign of the Apocalypse.
The G.I.s who landed in the New Hebrides, moving up for the bloody fighting on Guadalcanal, found the natives furiously at work.
[The natives were] preparing airfields, roads and docks for the magic ships and planes that they believed were coming from “Rusefel” (Roosevelt), the friendly king of America.
LET’S THINK IF THERE ARE ANY PARALLELS
If you don’t think the “cargo cults” have any similarity to what is going now, these images may cause you to think again:
DON’T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY
Please don’t take this the wrong way. This information is not intended to belittle you or your beliefs.
It is simply being offered to provide you with a highly relevant example of truth. Every era that thought they “knew it all” has been horribly wrong.
In our own case, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas are the “islands” where this much larger cargo cult has formed.
Hardly any of us have ever visited the Antarctic or bases inside the earth.
We do know these places exist, but access is very tightly regulated.
Our own “cargo cult” has certain religious beliefs about these places that are never questioned. Therefore, we believe hardly anyone lives in these areas.
Everything we think we know is ‘normal’ to us, and therefore considered to be an everyday fact of life.
WE ARE THE ISLANDS WITH OUR OWN “CARGO CULTS”
We now have extensive, undeniable evidence that our solar system and our own Earth is already colonized on a vast scale by people we are not normally familiar with.
This includes remarkably cross-correlating insider testimony as well as photographic evidence of anomalous structures on the Moon, Mars and other moons.
These structures include pyramids, obelisks, a gigantic human face, enormous glass-like domes and collapsed rooftops of squared-off underground rooms.
Much of this evidence has been summarized and presented in The Ascension Mysteries, which I just finished writing and is due out August 30th.
Never before have I put together a “grand summary” of all the best insider data like this. I am very enthusiastic about the effect it will have on you as you read it.
Thanks to your support, this book hit #1 in four different Amazon categories, and made it up to #64 out of all books in their entire catalog.
Pre-ordering the book locks in a lower price and ensures you will receive “cargo” on or around August 30th!
LINK TO AMAZON LISTING OF “THE ASCENSION MYSTERIES”
SOME PEOPLE ON OUR ISLANDS DO KNOW ABOUT “THE REST OF THE WORLD”
There are also people from our own ‘islands’ who are already deeply involved in this greater civilization.
They have hidden that connection from the rest of us.
New insider testimony has revealed that the Cabal — the global elite bankers — were pursuing a Secret Space Program (SSP) ever since the late 1700s, at least.
THE FIRST SSP MOVES WERE TO MAKE DIRIGIBLES
The Cabal’s first move was to set up secret bases in South America in the early 1800s.
There, they attempted to achieve space travel through secret balloon / dirigible technology.
The work began on a larger scale by 1825, and significant success was achieved by 1850.
In the open, declassified world, the first steam-powered airship appeared in 1852. It traveled for 17 miles at 6 miles per hour.
As always, the classified tech was much better than anything the world was seeing.
Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin patented a rigid airship design in 1895 that led to dirigibles becoming destructive weapons in World War I.
Von Zeppelin’s patent was another example of a classified technology leaking out into the open so it could eventually be used for tactical purposes.
Ultimately dirigibles were discontinued after events like the Hindenberg in 1937, and the realization that strong wind currents could slam them to earth and kill everyone.
Classified German dirigibles from World War I were so huge that they served as flying aircraft carriers, capable of transporting multiple warplanes at once.
CLASSIFIED AIRSHIPS MADE A BIG SHOWING IN 1895-96
In the classified world, things were moving along much better in the 1800s.
This peaked in a wave of “airship” sightings where German-speaking people piloted their craft along the Transcontinental Railroad in America.
The railroad was built and owned by Harriman, a Cabal member. The craft landed and German-speaking individuals spoke to locals and even gave them rides.
Since this was a classified program intended to colonize our solar system, these events have never been officially acknowledged even to this day.
Real antigravity and the ability to leave Earth orbit did not arrive until the Germans cut deals with certain ET groups in the early 20th century.
This data has been provided by insiders including “Bruce,” Hoagland’s top insider featured in the new book, as well as aerospace engineer William Tompkins.
WARS ARE ONGOING TO KEEP US FROM KNOWING THE TRUTH
Wars have been fought for millennia to keep our ‘islands’ from knowing about the vastly larger populations that surround us, and the technology they have.
Like the Melanesians just prior to World War II, we think the island continents we now live on are the full extent of the civilized life out there in the universe.
Now, instead of seas that are too difficult to travel across long distances, we have the vastness of space.
Just as the Melanesians did not have boats that could circumnavigate the globe, we do not openly have any tech that allows us to travel into space.
Therefore, wars could be going in our solar system, and around our earth with the use of cloaking technology, that we are completely unaware of.
These wars appear in our terms to be very ancient.
The written reports of them have since turned into religions, filled with beliefs and ceremonial re-enactments.
The Melanesians had no idea how huge our world really was. All they saw were a few soldiers and their tech. Entire belief systems were created around this.
As we head into Part Two, we will discuss the massive amount of human life in our galaxy, and the differences in time perception that can and do occur.
CLICK HERE FOR PART TWO: TIME AND SPACEHighlights of a middling edition of the festival included a riveting Holocaust thriller that offended some, a beautiful Italian film that Italians hate and a bold experiment from Pixar.
This story first appeared in the June 5 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
The Cannes Film Festival put all its chips on its own national cinema this year, as five of the 19 competition titles, plus the opening-night film, were French. It was a bet that paid off — rather inexplicably — on prize night, but not in terms of critical love: The home team led the way with three big awards, despite a listless contribution that reflected the disappointing quality of not only the official selection but the entire 68th edition of the festival.
Jacques Audiard's late-in-the-fest entry, Dheepan, about Sri Lankan immigrants in Paris, hoisted the French flag by snagging the Palme d'Or, but it was a letdown, from the lackluster visuals to the unsatisfactory ending. His previous two films at the festival, A Prophet (2009) and Rust and Bone (2012), were almost indisputably stronger.
Among the French movies in competition, the best received was Stephane Brize's small, Dardenne-like drama, The Measure of a Man, starring Vincent Lindon as an unemployed factory worker. Lindon took home best actor, while French actress-director Emmanuelle Bercot, of Maiwenn's largely disliked Mon Roi, shared best actress with Carol's Rooney Mara.
Strangely, it was widely reckoned that the best new French film in Cannes was one that was explicitly rejected for the competition and instead was scooped up immediately by rival sidebar section Directors' Fortnight: Arnaud Desplechin's My Golden Days.
Overall, it was a festival with few highlights, a number of films "of interest," as they say, but many that simply did not seem worthy of what remains the planet's most august annual film event. The plague was certainly not limited to France, as no part of the world produced a conspicuously high batting average this year.
Despite the uptick in French representation, one conspicuous development was the high number of English-language films in competition — nine out of the 19. Two of |
watched as he stood at the edge of the museum park, scouring the tourists. He was looking anxious. I waved cheerily when he finally spotted me. It was him. It was proof. Everything up until now could be fudged, denied, explained away, attributed to coincidence or paranoia, but not this.
I think he was as shocked to see me as I was to see him. He didn't know what to do, so he literally ran off. He ran away, into his office. I darted after him – what was I doing? I was yelling, I was pointing: "Here! One of the men! One of the men who's following me!" I whistled to the captain up the hall: "In here, he went in here!"
It was absolute, unbridled mayhem. Detectives came into the hall, people were shouting, I was led back up the hall. I was FUMING. I was shaking. I was angrier than I've ever been in my life. All I've been, all along, is lied to. Harassed and lied to. And I only caught them out because of an extra cup of coffee at breakfast.
The captain was in a tizz. "Wait here, we sort this all out now." Mutterings from next door. A minute later and I'm ushered into the boss's room. The chairs were plumper, the TV screen showing Eurovision highlights was bigger, and he was fatter. "Sit down." I sat.
"What's your problem?"
"I think you know what my problem is."
"There is no problem."
"I saw a man, up the hall, in the lavatory. One of the men who has been following me."
He looks me deep in the eye, not a blink.
"There was no man. You did not see any man."
My mouth actually fell open. I looked at him open-mouthed. There were no words. Again, it was just "an idea in my mind". I had imagined it all. I'd encountered a phantom taking a leak.
"Close your mouth. It is rude to sit like that with mouth open."
I wasn't blinking either as I said: "It's rude to lie."
"There was no man."
"Shall we go and ask him? He is just up the corridor."
"You go now."
"And that's the best you can do?" I looked around at the captain; at his colleague. "This is crazy."
"To you it is crazy. Not to me." He started punching numbers into his phone, it was over. "I have a job."
"I have a job, too."
But you know, it didn't matter what he said. I have been stalked and harassed by Greek government security, I have hidden from them in stairwells, challenged them in the street, tried to arrest them, and been lied to by them. The Greek prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis, was a delegate at Bilderberg 2009, and the special government security department of his police force has been protecting him from me. Protecting the dignitaries from a sort of journalist. A dangerous man. I wonder how much it all cost. How many thousand euro. I bet Greek taxpayers would love to know.
I haven't had time to reflect yet. This is me writing off the top of my head in a nice populous cafe attached to my hotel. Lots of people around. I'm too tired and baffled to think any more. I may not know a whole lot more about what went on at this year's Bilderberg, but I know what went on up the road, and further still, in Athens' city centre. I came to make a few cracks about Bilderberg and ended up getting sledgehammered in the nuts.
I tell you one thing: they're not very good at their job (unless their job was to freak me out). If I was the Greek prime minister I'd be out looking for better spooks. How about Avion? We know they were at Bilderberg, why not extend their contract...?
Right now, all I want to do is to go home. I'm sitting here scared to go to the loo. I don't like the look of the stairs. I'm thinking of giving the bellboy €20 to stand outside while I pee. When I filled out my report in Sintagma police station, with the nice captain, he was obviously using the wrong paperwork because there was a box where it said: "Name of item lost." It was a lost property form. I wrote "innocence".DeTour Vegas strives to be the best outdoor adventure tour company in Las Vegas. If you are looking for an ATV tour in Las Vegas or Land Sailing in the dry lake beds near Las Vegas, then look no further! We provide the highest independently rated (Yelp, Trip Advisor, and Google) quad tour and Land Sailing tour in town. We take you to great locations, provide honest, top-notch service at competitive prices. We take you to the heart of the desert for ATV tours and land sailing, where you'll see the vast desert surrounded by stunning mountains.
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Unless Jennings makes a miraculous recovery, gets on the practice field Friday and proves to coach Tom Coughlin and the Giants that he's healthy enough to run and cut without restrictions, there will be a new face in the backfield.
Rookie Andre Williams is expected to start against the Titans if Jennings can't play. Fellow rookie Orleans Darkwa would also get some snaps. It sure sounded Thursday as if Darkwa (6-0, 215) was part of the plan. The Tulane product was signed off the Miami Dolphins practice squad last month.
"He is working his way into it, he has been here a little while, he is smart, conscientious, we trust him," offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo said. "He has a little different flavor back there for us. Next man up."
Different flavor is an interesting term. The Giants have been insistent on stacking their backfield this season with big, powerful, straight-line backs. Darkwa brings slightly different skills to the table.
"He is a shiftier type guy and we like him … stay tuned. We will leave it at that," McAdoo said.
This is what happens in Week 14 when you are 3-9 and have 20 players ‐ including three running backs (David Wilson, Peyton Hillis and Michael Cox) ‐ on injured reserve. The secret weapon becomes an undrafted rookie who spent much of the season on Miami's practice squad.
McAdoo noted that Darkwa does have "a good set of hands." With that not being Williams' strength, there is a good chance Darkwa is utilized in passing situations.
It's an area where the Giants have lacked production. Their running backs have combined for 49 total receptions this season. Chicago's Matt Forte and Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell each have more than the entire Giants backfield.
This is where the Giants were hoping to have Wilson. He was the different kind of back that would have provided a more versatile backfield.
It also didn't help when Jennings missed four games earlier this season with a knee injury. Williams caught 10 passes in four years at Boston College. Catching the ball out of the backfield is not his forte.
Enter Darkwa on Sunday in Tennessee. It looks as if he'll be asked to play that role.
The Giants also signed veteran running back Chris Ogbonnaya this week for depth.
Jordan Raanan may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan. Find NJ.com Giants on Facebook.Top liberals call for Warren candidacy They say that Hillary Clinton needs a Democratic opponent.
Three prominent liberal activists — including the president of a large union — are calling for Elizabeth Warren to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, insisting that the Massachusetts senator’s participation in a competitive primary process would benefit the party.
Warren hasn’t budged from her insistence that she won’t pursue a White House bid. But the new voices calling for her candidacy represent a new phase in the progressive push to persuade her to run, just days after Clinton appeared alongside two other union chiefs on a panel in Washington — and not long before Clinton is expected to launch her long-anticipated presidential bid.
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“We agree with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, the Boston Globe, and many others that Sen. Elizabeth Warren would be a strong candidate, and that if Hillary Clinton also declares, the debate between the two of them would be critical for our nation,” write Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America, and Annie Leonard, executive director of Greenpeace USA — the environmental group — in a new letter published by Run Warren Run, a campaign organized by liberal political organizations.
The letter’s authors argue that Democrats deserve a lively debate over issues, including the role of money in politics, voting rights, global trade, global warming and worker’s rights, and that the “country needs new ideas and new leaders.”
“If we end up with a single Democratic candidate — and little to no debate in the primaries — those of us unlikely to support a Republican nominee will be left voting for a Democrat who may be opposed to the Republican agenda but is not necessarily a champion of the vision of change that millions of us seek and that this country needs,” write Cohen, a Democratic National Committee member who endorsed then-Sen. Barack Obama over Clinton in 2008, and Leonard.
Run Warren Run, the campaign jointly operated by liberal groups MoveOn and Democracy for America, will also unveil an op-ed by Javier Valdes, secretary of the Working Families Party in New York and a leader of a progressive political committee focused on Hispanics, encouraging Warren to run for the sake of spurring a debate about “racial and immigrant justice.”
A significant group of liberal activists, academics and groups — including New York’s Working Families Party and The Boston Globe’s editorial board — have lined up behind the efforts to draft Warren, often citing the importance of a competitive primary rather than any animus toward Clinton. But many progressives regard the presumptive front-runner as being too close to Wall Street. They believe Warren, an antagonist of big banks, represents an attractive alternative despite her repeated insistence that she will not run. At the very least, they expect she could help pull Clinton farther to the political left.
The addition of Cohen to the pro-Warren group is sure to complicate organized labor’s role in the nominating process. Most labor leaders have yet to weigh in, but many have a long history with Clinton and some have appeared with her at recent events.
Just last week, Clinton spoke on a panel in Washington co-sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which endorsed her early in her failed bid for the 2008 nomination. She sat next to AFSCME President Lee Saunders, and close by the American Federation of Teachers’ Randi Weingarten.
With Clinton enjoying large leads in early state and national polls, any serious competitor on the left would have considerable ground to make up.
Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley appears to be positioning himself as the primary liberal Clinton alternative in the Democratic field, recently stepping up his implied criticisms of the former secretary of state. Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermont senator, could also challenge Clinton from the left, but it is unclear whether he would run as a Democrat.The man had removed all but one of the wheel nuts
The 66-year-old man from Washington state was repairing his car outside his home when the accident took place.
Shooting at the wheel from arm's length with his 12-gauge shotgun, he was peppered with buckshot and debris.
The man - who police say was on his own and not intoxicated - was taken to hospital with severe, but not life-threatening, injuries.
The man, from South Kitsap, 10 miles (16km) southwest of Seattle, had been repairing his Lincoln Continental for two weeks, according to the police, and had removed all but one of the nuts on the right rear wheel.
Frustrated by the one remaining nut which refused to budge, he resorted to fire power in an effort to shift it.
"He's bound and determined to get that lug nut off," said Deputy Scott Wilson, a spokesman from the sheriff's office.
He sustained injuries from his feet to the middle of his abdomen, with some pellets reaching as high as his chin, police said.As Android supports OpenGL ES, I wanted to provide the basic and probably most read OpenGL tutorials available for the Android platform. The NeHe OpenGL tutorials are what every OpenGL starter is beginning with or pointed at. The set of nearly 50 tutorials give an overview about OpenGL functions and principles and are easy to understand and to be converted to the own needs. They are already available in many versions, many different programming languages (e.g. C#, D, Java) as well as for many frameworks (e.g. JOGL, REALBasic).
I ported/am porting the original tutorials to the Android platform, adapted to the specifics and requirements and in a somehow more Object-Oriented way. Some specifics and requirements given from the OpenGL ES Android implementation require changes such as
glBegin/glEnd is a common way to immediately draw something to the OpenGL screen and permanently used in the NeHe tutorials. But as these are not supported on the Android platform, everything will be handled by Arrays (Vertex, Indices, Colors, Textures Coordinates). Anyway, we are still immediately drawing these, but for future tasks and buffer binding on GL11 supporting devices, this is the basic way to go, therefore the change should be seen as an advantage (Anyway, glBegin and End will drop out of the OpenGL Specification).
GL_QUADS are not available. Therefore, in correlation with the used Vertex and Index Arrays most things will be drawn with GL_TRIANGLES, which again is no direct disadvantage.
and some more things. Overall, I try to keep everything as near as possible to the NeHe source and comments, so that everybody can use these sources with the description of the original tutorials. Additional elements and structures added for a better utilization, visibility, style and organisation are commented by myself here on this page as well as in the source code itself. If questions occur, please comment to this page.
Please note that the source is a mere port and is not necessarily best practice or for best performance. It is just a plain port to show how to accomplish the original intend on the Android platform. This source has been developed and tested with the Android 1.5r3 SDK in an Eclipse 3.5 environment. All ran fine on the provided emulator.
Not every little aspect of Android or Java is explained. You should now how the basics work to understand the lessons.
The ports are now also available on GitHub.
Lesson 01 – Download and set up Eclipse and Android In this very first tutorial you will get a quick overview where to get all you need (of course, depending on your personal preferences you have to adapt the tutorial) to start developing Android applications. Go to tutorial…
Lesson 02 – Your First Polygon In this first OpenGL tutorial you will see the basic structure to initiate an OpenGL View on an Android system. It contains four classes: One Runner, to base the activity on (will be nearly the same for each lesson), the OpenGL View and the two objects which are drawn. Both objects are properly separated but resemble the same structure to be drawn by vertex buffers. As mentioned, this should be the preferred way and could also be used as an initial idea for a later game entity design structure.
Note: As JoshuaFalken pointed out it is to note that by creating the GLSurfaceView and setting the renderer the drawing process is continously. This means you do not have to make any loop yourself. While in most cases this is what you want, to draw all the time. If you need or want to do it on your own you can set the render mode to RENDERMODE_WHEN_DIRTY. By that you would have to requestRender on the GLSurfaceView by yourself. You can read about it here.
Changes regarding NeHe: The biggest changes to the original tutorial come from the Android platform and classes structure. Everything is separated into its own classes (Renderer, Triangle and Square), as well as the objects are drawn by Vertex Buffers (see remark above). The init, resize and draw methods are nearly the same but they refer to the respective instanced objects of the Triangle and Square. In addition to fit the normal up-side screen layout I changed the location of both to be among each other. Original Lesson 02 Download Lesson02
Lesson 03 – Adding Color In this lesson you add colors to the objects. The triangle gets colored with with a gradient and the Square is colored in blue.
Changes to previous: The changes are only made in both object classes, Triangle and Square. In Sqaure.java only one line has been added to the draw method, which defines the color before drawing. The Triangle.java does not only draw one color but many. These are again defined by values in a buffer like the vertices. The values are based on RGB and luminance. In the draw method this buffer is also added like the vertex buffer and the mapped colors are drawn according to their order. Original Lesson 03 Download Lesson03
Lesson 04 – Rotation Now that we have colored Triangles and Squares we need to spin these round n’ round. Whoohi^^’!!! In this tutorial you will add rotation to both objects.
Changes to previous: Only the method onDrawFrame(GL10 gl) in Lesson04.java has been altered. Before we draw the Triangle and Square we rotate the drawing matrix. A dynamic value, which is increased in each drawing round ensures that our objects start spinning. Between both drawing procedures we reset the matrix by calling gl.glLoadIdentity(). This is very important, otherwise the following translation and rotation is based on the position set through the previous translation and rotation. Just try and comment that line. Funny results ^^°! Original Lesson 04 Download Lesson04
Lesson 05 – 3D Shapes In this tutorial you will enter another dimension: The THIRD! based on our Triangle and Square you will create the three-dimensional representation of these. Therefore, we change the Triangle to a Pyramid and the Square to a Cube.
Changes to previous: The biggest changes are done to our objects. We converted and extended both to three-dimensional representations. If you have a look at the Cube and Pyramid class you will notice that they resemble the structure of the Square and Triangle. We just added additional vertices and indices to the Cube. It is important to notice the difference between e.g. Square and Cube to understand how to draw and how to create objects. The Cube uses as mentioned indices to gl.glDrawElements itself. To understand the indices it is important to understand a cube. A cube has 8 vertices, 12 edges and 6 faces. All faces share different vertices and this is what we want to use to our advantage. If we draw a cube we would have to put every vertex in the array and so that the drawing function can follow the vertices to conclude in surfaces. Now, we just define the 8 vertices a cube has overall and put them in “drawing order” through our indices. The values in the index buffer are to be seen as pointer to the defined vertices. 0 for the first, 1 for the second and so on.
Note: Please note that the Pyramid has no “base”. In the original NeHe tutorial this was not needed because of the perspective. But as I altered the code to fit the normal screen layout you can see into the Pyramid. I was too lazy to add the floor but you could add it to test and see if you understood the lesson. Original Lesson 05 Download Lesson05
Lesson 06 – Texture Mapping In this tutorial we will concentrate and continue with the Cube. We step away from the psychedelic colors and add a texture. In honour of the original tutorials I keep the original texture.
Changes to previous: Some small changes are in Lesson06.java where there were some variables added, 2D textures are enabled (gl.glEnable(GL10.GL_TEXTURE_2D)) and the texture is loaded in the Cube class. The biggest change experience the Cube.java. First of all the color array was replaced by the texture array, which contains the texture mapping coordinates. Therefore, instead of the color array the texture array is enabled in the draw method (gl.glEnableClientState(GL10.GL_TEXTURE_COORD_ARRAY)). You will notice much more vertices than before. This results from the fact that we do not want to color them but to texture them. Now, if we use vertices for more than one face the texture mapping becomes inconsistent. Therefore, each “real” face vertex has been defined and the according texture mapping with one mapping per vertex. There are possible cases where texture mapping with shared vertices can work but not with this cube. The biggest extension to the Cube class is the loadGLTexture method. It combines the OpenGL texture generation with the Android resource loading possibilities and shows best the advantages and possibilities Android can provide for such a development. Original Lesson 06 Download Lesson06
Lesson 07 – Texture Filters, Lighting & Control In this tutorial we change our texture, add texture filters, lighting AND controls.
Changes to previous: Several changes have been made to the Run, Cube and Lesson07 classes. The Lesson07.java now defines light arrays for ambient, diffuse and position values and converts these into the buffers in the constructor. What can be noticed here also is that the constructor sets itself as renderer, what was done before in the Run class. If you look up in the class you will see that I changed the class from a Renderer to a full GLSurfaceView, Renderer and some InputListener. The Run class now only instances the Lesson07 and sets it as content view. I have changed this because of the input functionality in this lesson. It is quicker and easier to implement a change of values in the same class these are used and drawn. It is no best practice as you should really use a real input manager for yourself, but to keep it simple to understand and near to the original I chose this way. When the surface is created a OpenGL light is created. This can be enabled through input and a flag queried in the draw method. The Cube class is nearly the same but it got another array (yes, another one): Normals! Please refer to the Wikipedia entry for further information about normals. We need them, otherwise OpenGL would not know how to work with the light if it hits the surface. The buffer is enabled and added as the other ones. Everything common here. But the Texture loading method has changed a bit as different filters are now created: Nearest, Linear and Mipmapped. Nearest and Linear are just different in flags but the mipmapping needs some changes. Please refer to this post of me, where I described it in more detail. But overall the probably biggest change to the NeHe tutorial are the controls.
Controls: As first lesson this one has controls to control what should happen on the screen. The emulator has a keyboard but I wanted to also use this lesson to give away some InputHandler basics. Therefore, I converted all controls of the original tutorial to the Touchscreen and D+Pad. The controls are: D+Pad: Acceleration in the respective direction
Acceleration in the respective direction D+Pad Button: Change the filter
Change the filter Touchscreen: Control the Box by spinning it according to your movement on the touchscreen
Control the Box by spinning it according to your movement on the touchscreen Upper Touchscreen: From left to right you can zoom in and out by moving on the screen
From left to right you can zoom in and out by moving on the screen Lower Touchscreen: By clicking in the lower part you can enable and disable the lighting The implementation is done in the Lesson07 class as mentioned. It is pretty straight forward if you know the listener principles in Java. We catch key and touch events and interpret these to set the according variables in our code (that is why I wanted to have Renderer and Listener in one class). It should be self-explanatory, but a very important point is done in the constructor. By setting it focusable in touchscreen mode and requesting the focus the D+Pad is catched for that Activity. Always ensure this. Original Lesson 07 Download Lesson07
Lesson 08 – Blending In this tutorial we again change the texture and enable blending for the textures.
Changes to previous: There are not that many changes to this lesson as it only sets and enables blending in the Lesson08 class with the according flags and method to blend in-between textures.
Controls: The controls are the same as in the previous lesson but the lower touchscreen has been split into left and right Lower Touchscreen LEFT: By clicking you can enable and disable the blending
By clicking you can enable and disable the blending Lower Touchscreen RIGHT: By clicking you can enable and disable the lighting Original Lesson 08 Download Lesson08
Lesson 09 – Moving Bitmaps In 3D Space This tutorial slightly leaves the previous tutorials and shows how to move and blend textured objects in our 3D space.
Changes to previous: Basically, you will find much same code as before, as I kept the basic structure to have everything as clear as possible. Two bigger changes have been made: Now, there is a Stars and a Star class. The Star.java is basically the textured object class representation of one single star. It has the vertices and texture coordinates, handles to draw itself. The Stars class is instanced and called by our renderer and initiates the star texture once, sets random colors and iterates through all stars. This can show how a possible “world” representation could call its sub-objects. In the Lesson09 class you can change the number of stars or for example change glBlendFunc to see which effects occur. This may help to understand blending.
Controls: The controls are just: Lower Touchscreen LEFT: By clicking you can enable and disable the blending (just looks funny ^^)
By clicking you can enable and disable the blending (just looks funny ^^) Lower Touchscreen RIGHT: By clicking you can enable and disable twinkling Original Lesson 09 Download Lesson09
Lesson 10 – Loading And Moving Through A 3D World This tutorial is different from the ones before as it does not only show a geometric object but allows you to move through a 3D world.
Changes: The changes here are basically additions. The drawing and rendering is pretty similar to the NeHe Android Port structure before. But this time, we do not define the vertices etc. by hand, but read these from a text file. Therefore, the World class is a representation of a World, based on what has been read from the world.txt file. The biggest additions are made here, in the World class. The text file is interpreted and the controls are moved here. The controls are similar to the original but converted to the Android platform.
Controls: The controls are moving by pressing the D-Pad or your arrow keys on the keyboard. In addition you can look up and down and turn around by scrolling on the touchscreen. The texture filter can be changed with the D-Pad Center button and by pressing Lower Touchscreen LEFT: By clicking you can enable and disable the blending (just looks funny ^^) Original Lesson 10 Download Lesson10
Lesson 16 – Cool Looking Fog This tutorial is based on tutorial 07 and adds fog.
Changes to lesson 07/08: The changes to Lesson 07/08 are minimal and are just in the Lesson16 class. In the beginning we define specific fog color, mode and filter variables. In onSurfaceCreated() we set the OpenGL Fog settings and in draw check which fog mode filter should be used. The listener onTouchEvent() now checks for presses in the lower left and changes the fog mode accordingly.
Controls: The controls are the same as in Lesson 07/08 but Lower Touchscreen LEFT: By clicking you can switch the fog mode Original Lesson 16 Download Lesson16
…more to come…
I hope these ports can help at least some people trying to figure out the platform. If you like it, have questions, are mad at me or you have ideas for improvement, please let me know. The comments are open!A plain metal washer, if of the correct size and weight, may be accepted as a coin by a vending machine
A slug is a counterfeit coin that is used to make illegal purchases from a coin-operated device, such as a vending machine, payphone, parking meter, transit farebox, copy machine, coin laundry, gaming machine, or arcade game.[1] By resembling various features of a genuine coin, including the weight, size, and shape, a slug is designed to trick the machine into accepting it as a real coin.
Though slug usage is a violation of the law,[2] prosecution for slug usage is rare due to the low value of the theft and the difficulty in identifying the offender. Offenders in casinos are most likely to be prosecuted,[example needed] as casinos have high levels of video surveillance and other security measures, and are more proactive in enforcement.[citation needed]
Losses caused to vendors by slug usage may be the result of the loss of sales, the absence of revenue following the distribution of merchandise that was obtained at the vendor's expense, or the loss of cash that is distributed by the machine for overpayment with slugs. Honest customers may also suffer losses when change returned for overpayment is in the form of a slug rather than a genuine coin.
Use of other currencies [ edit ]
The 1000 Indonesian Rupiah coin, minted between 1993 and 2000, is very similar to the 2 Euro coin, while having approximately 1/30th the value.
In some cases, a slug can be a genuine coin used in another country, with or without knowledge of the user. One example was the interchangeable use of Australian and New Zealand 5c, 10c and 20c pieces in both countries, from 1967 until 2006 (when New Zealand coins were redesigned). These coins were of the same material and size with near identical obverses, so could circulate outside their home country for some time, although the New Zealand coins were worth about 20% less, potentially resulting in a small gain (to those passing them) in Australia and a similar loss in New Zealand.
The Canadian quarter was also accepted by at least some US vending machines interchangeably with the US quarter until at least 2001. The usefulness of this to offenders varied greatly over time; during the 1970s and 1980s, the Canadian and US quarters were very similar in value.
The 10 Syrian pound coin is often used as a slug in Norway, as the shape and weight of this coin strongly resembles the 20 Norwegian krone coin. As of February 1, 2014, ten Syrian pounds converts to 44 øre (0.44 kroner). 20 kroner is over 45.4 times the value of the Syrian coin. While not easy to find in Norway, the Syrian coins are still used in automated machines there with such frequency that Posten Norge, the Norwegian postal service, decided to close many of their coins-to-cash machines on February 18, 2006, with plans to develop a system able to differentiate between the two coins. In the summer of 2005, a Norwegian man was sentenced to 30 days, suspended, for having used Syrian coins in arcade machines in the municipality of Bærum.[3]
In the UK, during the late 1990s some coin-operated slot machines would accept two Austrian schillings glued together as if they were a £1 coin. The two original coins had a net value of under 10p at the then-current exchange rate. Coin detectors were soon reprogrammed to detect and reject the Austrian Schilling. Not long after it was possible to buy on the Internet a bag of 100 washers for under £20 that had been deliberately made to fool the machines into accepting them as £1 coins. Coin detectors were again reprogrammed to reject those slugs as well.
The Irish pound coin in use from 1990 to 2002 was the same size as the old pre-decimal penny, so vending machines had to be modified to differentiate them. Many machines simply had the pound slot disabled with a riveted plate.
Many coin-operated machines in Germany would accept the 1992, 1993 and 1995 stampings of the cupronickel Estonian 1 kroon coin as a German 1 mark coin. This was profitable for users of the Estonian coins as the kroon was pegged to the mark at a fixed rate of 8:1. All cupronickel 1 kroon coins were demonetized in May 1998 and the replacement aluminium-bronze Estonian 1 kroon coin was not interchangeable with the German mark in coin-operated machines.
The use of 100-won coins for the slug of 100-yen coins and cupronickel 20-sen (RM 0.20) pieces still commonly occurs, contributing to the continued conflict between Japanese and Korean citizens.[4] Similarly, until 2000, the Korean 500-won coin could be modified to match the weight of the original 500-yen coin which was otherwise identical in diameter and composition, and thereby used to fool weight-sensitive vending machines.[5][6]
From the fall of the Soviet Union to the monetary reform in 1998, the Russian Federation often issued a commemorative one-ruble coin that was identical in size and weight to a 5 Swiss franc coin. For this reason, there have been several instances of these (now worthless) ruble coins being used on a large scale to defraud automated vending machines in Switzerland.[7]
In the US, Connecticut Turnpike tokens had a value of 17.5 cents in the early 1980s, but due to having a similar design as New York City subway tokens worth 75 cents it became common for commuters to use the Turnpike tokens on the subway. The matter went unresolved for three years; users were not prosecuted, but when Connecticut discontinued tolls on the Turnpike, they agreed to redeem the roughly two million tokens from the MTA at face value.
In 1998, Thailand started minting a bimetallic ten baht coin that is quite similar to the 2 Euro coin (first issue in 2002) in weight, size and appearance. Because it is worth substantially less, it has been used to fool cashiers and automated vending machines since the very first days of the 2 Euro coin circulation.[8][9]
Composition comparison [ edit ]
Slugs are usually made from metals differing from those of real coins. While genuine coins in the United States currency are made from various alloys of copper, nickel, and zinc, Canadian coins are made mostly from steel with some copper and nickel, and euro coins are made from steel, nickel, and brass, slugs are frequently made from differing metals and alloys that are cheaper to obtain and mold, such as aluminum, tin, and lead.
Slugs may or may not have the face details of real coins. Some slugs that are made to match the face details may not be immediately recognizable as such to handlers, and may enter circulation.
Older, cheaper, and other low-tech machines that have fewer security measures are more likely to be defrauded by slug users. As an example, the full-mechanical mechanisms still used today in candy machines can be fooled by a cardboard coin. Many newer machines, especially those found in casinos, have additional detection that can identify more details of coins and detect those that do not resemble real coins.
See also [ edit ]ST. JOHN’S, N.L. (theahl.com) … For the second game in a row, Texas Stars forward Travis Morin played the role of overtime hero. This time, it has his team one win away from a Calder Cup championship.
Morin’s second goal of the night 2:24 into overtime gave the Stars a 4-3 victory over the St. John’s IceCaps in Game 4 of the 2014 Calder Cup Finals at Mile One Centre on Monday night. With a 3-1 series lead, the Stars can secure their first league championship with another win in Game 5 on Tuesday.
Morin became just the third player in AHL history to score two overtime goals in the same Calder Cup Finals series, joining Bud Stefanski of the 1984 Maine Mariners and Doug Robinson of the 1963 Buffalo Bisons.
Morin added an assist for a three-point night, Curtis McKenzie had a goal and an assist and Brendan Ranford recorded three assists as Texas rallied from a 3-0 deficit by dominating the second half of the game.
Cristopher Nilstorp was sharp early in the Texas net — including a shorthanded stop on John Albert, who led the AHL with six shorthanded goals in the regular season — as St. John’s built a decided early edge in shots
But off the ensuing faceoff, Patrice Cormier won the draw and Adam Lowry sent it back to Ben Chiarot, whose drive from the point got past Nilstorp for his second goal of the postseason at 13:02 of the first period.
Shots wound up 21-5 in favor of St. John’s in the opening period.
Carl Klingberg gave the IceCaps their first two-goal lead of the series just 57 seconds into the second period, racing past the Texas defense, taking a lead pass from Kael Mouillierat and beating Nilstorp for his third goal of the playoffs.
Mouillierat then made it 3-0 with a goal during a two-man IceCaps power play at 9:21, snapping a one-timer from the bottom of the right-wing circle that trickled past Nilstorp after the goaltender got a piece of it. It was Mouillierat’s fourth goal in as many games during the Finals after scoring three times total in the first three postseason rounds.
After the IceCaps had built a 29-6 edge on the shot clock, the Stars tilted the ice back in their favor and drew within a goal before the second intermission.
First, Morin put Texas on the board with 4:27 to play in the second. Ranford worked the puck out of a scrum along the boards, moved behind the IceCaps cage and threw a pass in front that was snapped home by the regular-season AHL MVP for his fourth goal of the series and eighth of the playoffs.
Texas then cut the deficit to 3-2 when McKenzie chipped a bouncing rebound of Ranford’s shot over Michael Hutchinson with 1:51 remaining in the second, his third postseason goal.
Shots were 16-2 in the Stars’ favor to close out the period, cutting the IceCaps’ advantage to 31-22 through 40 minutes.
Just over two minutes into the third period, Hutchinson made a big stop on Ranford to preserve the one-goal lead, then denied Dustin Jeffrey‘s point-blank bid with 13:48 to play and R |
Goddard Institute for Space Studies gridded temperature data set8 suggests that seasonal mean temperatures are starting to show increased variability, with a particularly large difference between the 1970s and the 1980s. The analysis first calculates for each geographical position the standard deviation of temperature for period 1951–1980. It then divides each local time series of anomalies away from a mean (also calculated for 1951–1980) by those standard deviation values, and hence provides a normalization of year-to-year variations on to a single distribution for all points across the globe. When the distribution is presented for different decades, it is shown to widen, particularly when comparing the periods before and after 1980, indicating major changes in climate variability. Some features of climate shifts around that time have been linked to changes in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation9,10. In this work, we perform an analysis similar to that in ref. 2, using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-4011 data set that starts in 1958, and generate analogous distribution curves (Fig. 1a). The change in standard deviation between the distribution for 1958–1970 and that for 1991–2001 (Fig. 1a) is an increase of 43% (Supplementary Table 1, first row). There are seasonal and hemispheric variations in these distributions (Supplementary Fig. 1 and Supplementary Table 1), although the common feature of generally increasing variance remains present in all cases. All statistical details are described in Methods.
Figure 1: Measured changes in temperature variability. a, Normalized probability density functions for four periods of anomalies in the ECMWF ERA-40 data set. Anomalies are calculated relative to 1958–1980 mean values and then divided by their local standard deviation for that period. b, Anomalies calculated relative to the mean for each of the four periods and then divided by the standard deviation of these anomalies for 1958–1980. c, Global, yearly spatial average of standard deviations of anomalies from local, 11-yr detrending. Black curve, ERA-40; cyan, ERA-Interim (K). The only difference between the red curve and the black is that, for the former, the anomalies are divided by their local standard deviation for 1963–1980. The green curve is the ratio of the red and black curves. The black and red dashed lines are the average values of the correspondingly coloured curves to 1980. The green dash–dot lines are mean values of the green curve before and after 1980. d, Grid-box (area-weighted, detrended data) occurrences, for bins of size 0.01 K, showing increases (red) and decreases (green) in standard deviation in 1981–1996 compared with 1963–1980. e, Percentage change in standard deviation of ERA-40 data, again comparing the periods after and before 1980: yellow, orange and red indicate more variability after 1980. Full size image Download PowerPoint slide
One contribution to the increase over time of the standard deviations of the distributions, when using the algorithm leading to Fig. 1a, is geographically diverse rates of mean warming. To account for this, we reconsider the curves of Fig. 1a and, for each of the four periods, instead calculate anomalies relative to the average of each period (as opposed to always relative to 1958–1980). Division is again made by local standard deviations calculated for before 1980, but now for these new anomalies, giving the revised curves in Fig. 1b. Although this reduces the changes to the distributions between periods, there remains an increase of 22% in standard deviation between 1958–1970 and 1991–2001 (Supplementary Table 2, first row).
To understand further, we instead derive at each ERA-40 data set grid box the yearly temperature anomaly (detrending with an 11-year local running mean) and then calculate a time-evolving, area-weighted, global, annual standard deviation from these. This time series of total variability is the black curve in Fig. 1c. Although there is evidence of some increase around 1980, this is an order of magnitude less than would be implied by ref. 2 and our Fig. 1a or Fig. 1b. The mean of the black curve in Fig. 1c before and after 1980 shows only a 2% change. We then normalize the value at each point by the local standard deviation calculated up to 1980, and re-derive the yearly, global standard deviation values based on this. We observe these values to increase more (Fig. 1c, red curve): the mean after 1980 is 16% greater than the mean before 1980, which is similar to the change calculated from Fig. 1b. The green curve in Fig. 1c is the ratio of the red and black curves. In Fig. 1d, we plot, for local standard deviations of the anomalies from detrending, calculated before and after 1980, the number of grid boxes in which the standard deviation subsequently increases (red curve) or decreases (green curve) after 1980. The curves are not similar and there is a tendency for low-variance regions to have a higher chance of becoming more variable. We offer this as an explanation why, overall, normalized variability has increased more. In terms of relative magnitude, an increase in variance for regions of low standard deviation will outweigh a similar decrease for a region of high variation. Absolute global standard deviation for the ERA-Interim12 period (1984–2006) is also plotted (Fig. 1c, cyan curve; overlapping the black curve for 1984–1996), and, rather than increasing, is actually found to be decreasing in the most recent years.
Nevertheless, changes to regional variability have occurred. Supplementary Table 2 (and Supplementary Fig. 2) suggests that the largest changes in standard deviation, by season and hemisphere, are in the Northern Hemisphere spring and summer and the Southern Hemisphere autumn and summer. There is already some evidence that increased variability for Europe, imposed additionally on general warming, is increasing the frequency of European summer heatwaves13. Supplementary Fig. 3 shows the average zonal changes to standard deviation before and after 1980, with prominent increases over mid latitudes for both hemispheres. We note observations from the hydrological cycle indicating that storm tracks have moved polewards in recent decades14,15,16, along with Hadley cell expansion17,18. To confirm more directly than by use of gridded re-analysis data that major temperature variability changes are occurring, we analyse weather station data19 that contributes to the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit (CRU) climatology. We detrend each station data set of calculated yearly mean temperatures and derive a time-evolving series of standard deviations. To illustrate behaviour before and after 1980, we scale such that each series has mean of unity between 1975 and 1985. The spread of curves in Supplementary Fig. 4a is large before and after 1980, confirming significant change. In Supplementary Fig. 4b, c, we show only stations in mid Europe and North America; here variability predominantly increased during the 1970s and 1980s, but less so in more recent years.
Figure 1e shows geographical change in standard deviation based on the ERA-40 data set. Each grid point is the percentage change in standard deviation in detrended annual temperature, comparing again the periods before and after 1980. Of particular interest are the very large changes in variability: in many places there are changes of more than 25%, both increases after 1980 (red) and decreases (dark blue). North America and Europe are once more seen to have generally experienced increases in standard deviation, although the magnitude of changes is seasonally dependent (Supplementary Fig. 5; for much of Europe the largest increases occur during December–May). Of note is the strong spatial structure of the map in Fig. 1e, which has large coherent regions of change.
Hovmöller plots provide time-evolving spatial (zonal) information. Figure 2 complements the map in Fig. 1e and shows, for each year and 10° latitude band, standard deviation as a percentage of its value for 1968–1980, calculated for both the ERA-40 period and the ERA-Interim period. The increased mid-latitude standard deviation values are apparent, along with a general tropical decrease. There is again a suggestion, towards the end of the ERA-Interim data, that the zones of increased standard deviation are starting to subside, especially after 1995.
Figure 2: Zonal changes in measured temperature variability. Hovmöller plots of time-evolving standard deviation in 10° latitudinal zonal bands. a, ERA-40 data set; b, ERA-Interim data set. All data shown as percentage change relative to zonal averages for 1968–1980. Full size image Download PowerPoint slide
To assess whether the observed changes in variability are transitory, we analyse projections made using general circulation models. Figure 3a shows the global, time-evolving standard deviation from one such model, HadGEM2-ES20, using the same method as that giving the black and cyan curves in Fig. 1c for ECMWF data. For this model, the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) database21 has four ensemble members (all shown in Fig. 3a) driven first with all historical climatic forcings and then by the atmospheric greenhouse gas changes prescribed in representative concentration pathway RCP8.522. The mean of the 11-yr moving averages of each ensemble member is the thick black curve. This predicts major ongoing reductions in variability during the twenty-first century, and suggests that there was a small increase in variability during the 1980s and 1990s. The thick red curve is the mean of the global standard deviation for ERA-40/ERA-Interim (moving average of black and cyan values in Fig. 1c), and shows that global variability first increased slightly and then decreased.
Figure 3: Projected changes in temperature variability under the RCP8.5 scenario. a, Global, spatially averaged standard deviation in yearly temperature anomalies (from 11-yr detrending) for four HadGEM2-ES simulations, driven with all historical forcings and then the RCP8.5 scenario. The mean of the 11-yr moving averages of the ensemble members is the thick black curve; dashed line shows the average of the black curve up to 1980. The thick red curve is the 11-yr moving average of ERA-40 and ERA-Interim global standard deviations, and for comparison is scaled to have the same average value as the model ensemble average before 1980 (black dashed line). b–e, Percentage changes in zonal standard deviation relative to average before 1980, for the four simulations shown in a. The colour scale is as in Fig. 2. f, Thick black curve as in a, but averaged across CMIP5 models (for individual models, see Supplementary Fig. 6). Then each model is scaled such that its pre-1980 average is the same as the all-model mean (dashed line), which allows comparison of relative changes (turquoise model spread). g, As in f, except local anomalies use 31-yr detrending, and data plotted are 31-yr moving averages of global standard deviations. Full size image Download PowerPoint slide
Figure 3b–e shows the percentage changes in yearly zonal standard deviation for the four HadGEM2-ES ensembles with historical forcings and RCP8.5, compared with their mean to 1980. Eventual variance reduction occurs across most latitudinal bands, and all changes have spatial structure and some evidence of temporal persistence beyond the 11 yr implicit in the moving averages (Methods), although regional timings differ between simulations. There are predictions of transitory occurrences of increased variability (orange/red patches) in recent decades, but the timings, positions and magnitudes of these variations vary markedly between ensemble members.
Figure 3f shows the mean, time-evolving, global standard deviation for all 17 climate models with historical-plus-RCP8.5 simulations in the CMIP5 database21 (thick black curve). Individual model standard deviation curves are shown in Supplementary Fig. 6, and approximately two-thirds show an eventual definite decrease in average variability. Scaling each model’s time-evolving standard deviation curve to have the same average value (same as dashed line) before 1980 allows relative change to be seen more clearly. The bounds of these scaled curves also highlight this cross-model decrease towards the end of the twenty-first century (turquoise area). These multimodel findings are robust to changes in the timescale selected for both detrending by local means and subsequent calculation of global, moving averages of standard deviation. Figure 3g and Supplementary Fig. 7 have features in common with Fig. 3f and Supplementary Fig. 6 when instead using 31-yr timescales.
One possible reason for the reduction in global temperature variability is the decrease in Arctic sea-ice cover in these model projections. Sea-ice extent strongly affects multiple features of the global climate system23,24,25. Changes in it have been argued to amplify, in particular, Northern Hemisphere temperature anomalies through sea-ice albedo feedbacks26,27. Reductions in sea-ice thickness and age have reduced the timescale of changes in sea-ice extent, acting to increase temporarily the amplification of interannual temperature anomalies for mid latitudes27. Ultimately, however, major loss of summer sea ice in extreme global warming scenarios will lead to the removal of a possible enhancement of interannual temperature anomalies. In Fig. 4, we plot, for the CMIP5 models, our global standard deviation values against sea-ice extent. This shows a general decrease in standard deviation for less sea ice. When presented as individual plots for each model (Supplementary Fig. 8), some models show an almost linear correspondence between the two quantities, potentially consistent with the hypothesis that the loss of sea ice removes an important amplifier of interannual temperature variability27. However, these figures do not demonstrate a causal link, which would require additional climate change projections excluding sea-ice feedbacks.
Figure 4: Projected changes in temperature variability against changes in sea-ice cover. Thirty-one-year moving averages of CMIP5 estimates of global, annual sea-ice cover, plotted against the 31-yr moving averages of global temperature standard deviation. Non-black colours and symbols represent the various models, shown every decade after 2000 (for individual model values, see Supplementary Figs 7 and 8). For comparison, each model’s predictions of standard deviation and sea ice are scaled to unity for the year 2000 (arrow). The dashed black line is the average across scaled models, covering change in sea ice over the range that most models span. The straight black line is linear fit to the dashed curve. Full size image Download PowerPoint slide
We identify major changes in temperature fluctuations in ECMWF gridded data and CRU data from individual stations. Significant and coherent spatial shifts are detected in regions of differing temperature variability, but we find much less evidence of changes when the data are averaged globally2. Increases in variability are especially evident during the 1980s and 1990s in the densely monitored regions of Europe and North America. However, even in these regions there is observational evidence that interannual temperature variability is now decreasing. Climate models strongly suggest that this might be the beginning of a longer-term decline in year-to-year temperature variability in response to increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.
Changes in climate variability are arguably more important for society than changes in mean climate such as overall warming, especially if they relate to altered extremes3,28,29. On the basis of the results presented here, we believe that greater emphasis now needs to be placed on analysing changes in climate variability in the context of anthropogenic climate change, so as to inform more effective adaptation strategies.This article be bout Ganondorfz appearizzle up in Supa Smash Bros. 4. For tha characta up in other contexts, peep Ganondorf.
Ganondorf (ガノンドロフ, Ganondorf) be a playable characta up in Supa Smash Bros. 4 fo' realz. Alongside R.O.B., da thug was officially revealed as a playable veteran on October 15th, 2014, although da thug was leaked four times prior ta his bangin reveal: via video footage from ESRB, outside tha in-game stage boundaries up in a straight-up legit vizzle (lata replaced wit a nearly-identical vizzle sans Ganondorf), up in Twitch livestreams n' even a mention up in Masahiro Sakuraiz Pic of tha Dizzle five minutes before his straight-up legit reveal. It aint nuthin but tha nick nack patty wack, I still gots tha bigger sack. Ganondorf is once again n' again n' again voiced by Hironori Miyata, albeit via recycled voice clips from his thugged-out appearizzle up in Da Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Ganondorf is currently ranked 53rd outta 55 on tha tier list, placin his ass up in tha G tier n' tyin his ass wit Zelda. This be a straight-up slight improvement from his bangin rankin up in Brawl, where da thug was tha gamez lowest-rankin character n' shiznit fo' realz. As up in previous games, Ganondorf remains as tha gamez archetypal supa heavyweight, boastin high endurance, slow yet bangin moves dat can KO straight-up early, along wit a cold-ass lil capable edgeguarding game courtesy of hard-hittin aerials. This is further enhanced by tha buffs ta his crazy-ass mobility, combo game n' already high power, up in addizzle ta tha general chizzlez ta game mechanics patchin up nuff muthafuckin key weaknesses dat schmoooove muthafucka had up in Brawl fo' realz. Altogether, Ganondorfz high juice allows his ass ta deal ruthless punishes when tha opportunitizzle arises, up in addizzle ta bein capable of endin stocks wit straight-up few hits.
But fuck dat shiznit yo, tha word on tha street is dat Ganondorf still remains hella disadvantaged by his slow mobility, straight-up sluggish frame data when compared ta tha cast, n' big-ass target, makin his ass exceptionally susceptible ta rushdowns, combos n' projectile camping, up in addizzle ta givin his ass a linear approach yo. His grab game, outside of Flame Choke, be also straight-up lackluster, while his recovery is still easily exploitable cuz of bein slow, linear n' predictable. Finally, Ganondorf has a gangbangin' fair number of unrewardin moves dat can neither combo or KO reliably, despite his overall juice n' shit.
As a result of these factors, Ganondorf still relies primarily on punishes n' hard reads, n' his weaknesses from Brawl is still prominent; however, he is commonly considered ta fare betta against hard as fuck matchups, despite still bein lacklusta overall. This has resulted up in Ganondorf bustin a low amount of representation up in tournaments, up in addizzle ta attainin below-average success. Nevertheless, he is ghettofab up in tha SSB4 hood cuz of his wild lil' fuckin mad strong, over-the-top, n' extravagant punishment options dat can easily KO unaware opponents, wit a fuckin shitload of dedicated playas like fuckin Gungnir, Vermanubis n' Ray Kalm, a shitload of which even use his ass as a solo main up in tournaments despite his standin on tha tier list.
How tha fuck ta unlock [ edit ]
Play 80 VS Matches.
Clear Funky-Ass Mode as Link or Zelda on hang-up 5.0 or higher.
Afta completin one of tha two methods, Ganondorf must then be defeated on Gerudo Valley.
Ganondorf do not gotta be unlocked up in Supa Smash Bros. fo' Wii U.
Attributes [ edit ]
Ganondorf is tha epitome of tha archetypal heavyweight: da perved-out muthafucka sacrifices speed n' mobilitizzle fo' juice n' endurance, n' has a tall frame fo' realz. Aside from bein tied fo' havin tha sixth highest traction, Ganondorfz archetype is reflected up in his other attributes: he is tha fifth heaviest character, has tha second slowest walking speed, tha third slowest dashing n' air speeds, moderately high fallin speed, high gravity n' is tied fo' tha third lowest air acceleration. But fuck dat shiznit yo, tha word on tha street is dat while dat schmoooove muthafucka has tha third lowest jump n' double jump heights, da perved-out muthafucka still has da most thugged-out shitty total jump height overall cuz of Kirby n' Jigglypuff, tha other lower height jumpers, possessin multiple midair jumps ta counteract all dis bullshit fo' realz. As such, Ganondorf is tha least mobile characta up in tha game cuz of his skanky speed on both tha ground n' up in tha air bein ranked among tha lowest, as well as havin da most thugged-out shitty jump heights up in tha game.
Ganondorfz top billin trait is his bangin raw juice n' shiznit yo. Dude possesses attacks dat is on par wit Bowser up in termz of damage n' knockback, wit almost his wild lil' fuckin entire moveset grantin his ass tha mobilitizzle ta KO under 150% or even 100% wit ease, even if tha opponent is up in tha middle of Final Destination. This becomes especially evident wit rage, makin his punishes a shitload of da most thugged-out potent up in SSB4, while nuff muthafuckin other moves have tha mobilitizzle ta KO at exceedingly low cementages, like fuckin a aerial reversed Warlock Punch (which one-hit KOs Mario wit rage) n' dopespotted up tilt (which KOs middleweights at 33% near tha ledge). While Ganondorfz combo game is limited when compared ta tha majoritizzle of tha cast, his wild lil' followups make up fo' it by dealin high amountz of damage up in a gangbangin' finger-lickin' dirty-ass short time, like fuckin sourspotted dash battle ta up aerial, or tha followups from Flame Choke (either from opponents missin they tech, or all up in predictin they erections). Because of his strength, Ganondorf has one of tha strongest KO abilitizzles up in tha game, as he is capable of rackin up damage n' KOin opponents up in less than all dem hits, n' you can put dat on yo' toast.
In addition, his thugged-out lil' previously mentioned attributes give his ass high survivabilitizzle n' allows his ass ta use rage ta full effect, further boostin his thugged-out already bangin moves at high cementages. Ganondorfz strength also make mistimin or overusin a gangbangin' finger-lickin' dirty-ass shield incredibly deadly, wit multiple attacks capable of dealin massive shield damage or outright breakin shieldz wit a single hit. Notable examplez of dis is up tiltz dopespot, which can break full shields, his wild lil' forward n' up smashes n' aerial Wizardz Foot yo. Dude can also play mindgames ta make opponents wit low shield game play mo' carefully as a single hit from one of his thugged-out attacks can break they shield or KO dem at relatively low cementages.
Ganondorf be among tha dopest edgeguarders up in tha game, as his bangin aerials is relatively fast fo' they immense juice (excludin forward aerial) n' bust foes far away from tha stage even at medium cements, spellin shiznit fo' any fighta without a long-distizzle recovery yo. His down aerial is da most thugged-out bangin meteor smash up in tha game wit low endin lag, n' his up aerialz late hitbox be among tha dopest gimps up in tha game wit its semi-spike angle n' high hitstun. Finally, his back aerial be a thugged-out deceptively fast, safe n' bangin KO move, as it starts up as fast as Captain Falconz wit relatively lil lag n' can autocancel up in a gangbangin' finger-lickin' dirty-ass short hop, despite its immense juice n' shiznit yo. His grounded moveset be also useful fo' punishin impromptu recoveries, like fuckin rockin a up tilt against badly positioned fightas or a up smash against horizontal recoverin charactas like Ike. Ganondorf also has tha lowest n' safest ledge grab, allowin his ass ta camp on tha ledge effectively n' givin his ass decent protection from opponents when hangin from a ledge.
But fuck dat shiznit yo, tha word on tha street is dat Ganondorf possesses nuff notable flaws yo. His shield is straight-up vulnerable ta shield stabbing cuz of its lil' small-ass size relatizzle ta his height fo' realz. Also, lil' small-ass characters, like fuckin Kirby, can easily stay tha fuck away from his thugged-out attacks cuz of tha majoritizzle of his crazy-ass moves havin short range, skankyly placed hitboxes wit low durations, while also extendin his hurtboxes n' make his ass vulnerable ta tradin or simply bein grabbed outta a battle despite bein visually outta range fo' realz. Although Ganondorfz frame data is similar (albeit slightly slower) ta Captain Falcon up in termz of start up (barrin neutral attack, up tilt, n' Warlock Punch), his thugged-out attacks is straight-up hard as fuck ta land while bein easily punished cuz of high endin lag and/or landin lag; most notoriously, his wild lil' forward aerial has tha highest endin lag outta all of his thugged-out aerials, n' cannot autocancel even from a gangbangin' full hop, forcin Ganondorf ta enta tha landin animation. I aint talkin' bout chicken n' gravy biatch fo' realz. As a result of his high end lag, a shitload of his crazy-ass moves is straight-up unsafe on shield, makin it straight-up hard as fuck ta take full advantage of his wild lil' fuckin off tha hook shield breakin capabilities.
Additionally, Ganondorfz overall physics leave his ass wit straight-up skanky mobilitizzle n' approachin options, which make closin tha distizzle or bustin space considerably hard as fuck fo' him, n' he is easily unitd up by projectile charactas cuz of his ass lackin a projectile his dirty ass fo' realz. Also, his high knockback n' sluggish moves, his skanky range as well as his shitty air speed all give his ass a straight-up skanky combo game, as his schmoooove ass cannot easily or reliably pursue his opponents up in tha air while his thugged-out aforementioned high juice moves will almost always knock his opponents too far away fo' follow-ups. But fuck dat shiznit yo, tha word on tha street is dat Ganondorf his dirty ass is straight-up easy as fuck ta combo; his heavy weight, tall stature, low air speed, n' unsafe landin options make his ass straight-up susceptible ta combos n' juggling, n' his skanky out of shield options gives his ass hang-up protectin his dirty ass against rushdowns. Overall, dis make Ganondorf rely heavily on proper spacin n' mindgames, as his schmoooove ass cannot afford ta whiff a single move.
Another prominent weaknizz is his wild lil' frame data fo' realz. As mentioned before, all of his crazy-ass moves is burdened wit off tha hook amountz of lag, wit straight-up few moves bein actizzle before frame 9 (with dem moves bein limited ta up aerial, neutral aerial, standin grab, n' neutral attack), while a shitload of his crazy-ass moves do not come up before frame 30, like fuckin Warlock Punch n' his notoriously bangin up tilt. This offsets Ganondorfz bangin KO mobilitizzle by forcin his ass ta rely on readz n' hard punishes, wit few effectizzle setups ta end stocks via combos. When thankin bout his overall skanky speed n' frame data, dis also make it hard as fuck fo' Ganondorf ta close tha gap between his ass n' a opponent should his thugged-out lil' punk-ass be goin against a speedy foe, like fuckin Sheik fo' realz. As a result, he is collectively considered ta have among da most thugged-out shitty frame data up in SSB4, along wit Shulk, Palutena, n' Mack Dedede.
Other thangs include a skanky grab game. Ganondorfz grab range is surprisingly short despite his size, while his thugged-out lil' physics, ineffectizzle angles, n' high knockback result up in his cold-ass throws havin lil follow-up yo, but aint phat enough ta KO reliably. But fuck dat shiznit yo, tha word on tha street is dat his wild lil' forward throw do straight-up high damage n' can decently lead tha fuck into down aerial meteor smashes off-stage, while down throw has fairly low knockback ta decently combo (albeit not as phat as other characterz combo throws). Flame Choke can also work against Ganondorf cuz of it enforcin unreliable hard reads, especially if teched, wit incorrect readz likely puttin Ganondorf up in a vulnerable position. I aint talkin' bout chicken n' gravy biatch.
His recovery remains straight-up lacklusta n' one iz of da most thugged-out shitty up in tha game cuz of its low distance, low air speed n' high vulnerabilitizzle ta edgeguardin n' gimps. Flame Chokez n' Dark Divez lack of speed, distizzle n' resilience allows Ganondorf ta be knocked away by even tha weakest of moves, despite tha formerz fearsome sacrificial KO potential. It aint nuthin but tha nick nack patty wack, I still gots tha bigger sack. Even if Dark Dive is landed n' lets his ass reuse tha move, itz high endin lag also make it highly susceptible ta bein teched n' punished, wit opponents bein able ta act before Ganondorf can.
Finally, despite his status as a powerhouse, Ganondorf still possesses some moves dat offer lil reward cuz of they inabilitizzle ta combo reliably or KO at realistic cementages (with some not even KOin past 200%), like fuckin his neutral attackz sourspot, neutral aerialz late hitboxes, Dark Dive, n' all his cold-ass throws.
Ganondorf drastically benefits from a shitload of his custom moves; most notably, Wizardz Dropkick n' Dark Fists, n' you can put dat on yo' toast. While Wizardz Dropkick is weaker, cannot meteor smash, n' has slightly mo' endin lag when performed up in tha air, it is pimpin against projectilez n' fo' recovery, actin as a superior version of Flame Chokez recovery dat do not leave his ass helpless while allowin Ganondorf ta fly over projectilez while attacking. Dark Fists be a two-hit battle wit betta horizontal reach, armor, n' straight-up potent power, givin his ass impressive protection against edgeguardaz if used as a recovery n' a straight-up effectizzle out-of-shield option, suttin' dat he lacks. When rockin both of these moves on his crazy-ass moveset, Ganondorf is granted a straight-up efficient recovery n' improved bitch ass prowess, as his schmoooove ass can travel high distances while bein exceedingly hard as fuck ta edgeguard without bein punished. Y'all KNOW dat shit, muthafucka! For other notable customs, Warlock Blade offers betta utilitizzle over Warlock Punch cuz of its lower start-up, increased range, transcendent priority, n' high shield damage yo, but replaces one of Ganondorfz dopest punishin options cuz of its reduced strength. Flame Chain n' Flame Wave is semi-viable alternatives ta Flame Choke, wit tha forma bein a multiple hittin battle wit decent horizontal knockback n' tha latta havin high damage n' phat KO power; however, both is laggier n' sacrifice bangin combos, while tha latta covers hella less distance, ta tha point where it only reaches opponents directly up in front of Ganondorf. Da rest of his custom moves is ineffectizzle as they offer straight-up lil bonuses over tha default or other custom moves; tha dopest example is Warlock Thrust, which has mad minimal KO juice n' high endin lag ta overwhelmingly outweigh its benefitz of a larger hitbox n' fasta start-up. But fuck dat shiznit yo, tha word on tha street is dat while his custom moves address his bangin recovery thangs n' make his ass a mo' fucked up characta wit betta stayin power, they aint allowed up in tha standard metagame.
All up in all, Ganondorf be a powerhouse whoz ass can deal big-ass amountz of damage up in only all dem hits n' just as easily finish off a opponent wit a single, well-placed attack, though da perved-out muthafucka suffers from lacklusta mobility, skankyly placed hitboxes n' reach, frame data, recovery, n' lack of approachin n' zonin options, forcin his ass ta rely almost straight-up on punishes n' mindgames fo' realz. As such, da perved-out muthafucka still must play straight-up cautiously like up in Brawl, patiently waitin n' readin tha opponentz movements before striking; additionally, tha playa should not be afraid ta allow Ganondorf ta trade blows cuz of his high endurizzle yo, but should also keep his ass onstage as much as possible cuz of his skanky recovery. But fuck dat shiznit yo, tha word on tha street is dat his crazy-ass muthafuckin improved juice n' miscellaneous buffs have made Ganondorf hella mo' effectizzle than up in Brawl fo' realz. As such, Ganondorf be a high risk, high reward character; while da perved-out muthafucka strugglez up in consistent high-level play, playas dat is straight-up skilled wit readz n' mindgame can use his bangin raw juice ta they advantage n' end matches up in a gangbangin' flash wit tha right game. Cuz of these reasons, Ganondorf has among tha highest tournament representation outta tha G-tier charactas n' slightly betta thangs up in dis biatch than dem yo, but they is still lacklusta overall, wit most of his success only comin from minor tournaments, n' you can put dat on yo' toast. Throughout tha gamez gamespan, Ganondorf has been consistently buffed, though they aint brought his ass up ta speed up in comparison ta most of tha other veterans; thus, he remains up in tha lowest tier of tha current tier list.
Changes from Brawl [ edit ]
Ganondorf has been considerably buffed up in tha transizzle from Brawl ta SSB4, albeit not enough ta raise his standin among tha cast fo' realz. Aside from all dem minor animation chizzlez n' different custom moves, Ganondorf is still a semi-clone of Captain Falcon, havin even been slightly re-cloned wit his fuckin lil' down aerial n' neutral aerialz first hit functionin almost exactly like Falcon's, albeit tha latta havin no set knockback n' a added hitbox on tha foot wit increased knockback. Outside of this, a shitload of his crazy-ass moves is fasta (notably neutral attack, dash attack, n' neutral aerial), have even mo' juice (most notably down smash, back aerial, n' Wizardz Foot), or deal mo' damage (notably up smash, forward aerial, n' Flame Choke) His dash attackz sourspot has vastly improved combo potential, while tha sourspots on a shitload of his thugged-out battle is less of a hindrizzle now cuz of either havin consistent knockback on all they hitboxes and/or deal mo' damage. Unlike nuff other charactas whoz ass gots increases up in landin lag, Ganondorfz aerials have less landin lag, most prominently forward n' down aerials, while tha others is still noticeable as well yo. His slowest but most rewardin moves, like fuckin his up tilt n' Warlock Punch, is much easier ta land n' is even mo' bangin naaahhmean, biatch? His grab game has been slightly improved, though it remains straight-up skanky. One of da most thugged-out notable chizzlez is dat tha use of Flame Choke fo' Ganonciding now consistently KOs tha opponent before Ganondorf, allowin it ta be used as a guaranteed win if both playas up in a one-on-one match is on they last stock.
Ganondorf also hella benefits from tha general chizzlez of SSB4. Da removal of chain grabbing, which heavily plagued Ganondorf up in previous games, improves his survival, while tha chizzlez ta hitstun canceling, now only bein possible afta frame 40, allows a reasonable period fo' Ganondorfz attacks ta connect betta (notably from down throw) n' make opponents less capable of comin' at his ass right outta Dark Dive (though it is still straight-up capable of bein beat down out). Da removal of damage reduction on shields n' increased shieldstun allows nuff of Ganondorfz attacks ta break dem mo' easily, tha introduction of edge-stealin which allows Ganondorf ta edge-hog mo' effectively while limitin his opponents' mobilitizzle ta do tha same (which is only helped by his fuckin ledge |
- 2023 An accidental detour leads two Canadians to a dead end. An ornate frame holds more than just a picture. A man is suspected of money laundering when officers find thousands in undeclared cash. A bus passenger with a past may have his travel plans snatched. An Afghani groom reunites with his Canadian love.
Border Security: Border Security - 2024 An American traveller can’t remember his hazy past. Officers discover a visitor’s half-truths make up whole lies. An abandoned bag is found in a restricted area. Bad decisions may keep a rugby player off the pitch. An officer helps a traveller get his ducks in a row.
Border Security: Border Security - 2025 A traveller’s belongings raise repeated alarms. An intercepted heat lamp may be keeping narcotics warm. Officers suspect a traveller may be hiding a handgun. A man’s reasons for studying in Canada may not be academic. An American couple packs heat for a move to Alaska.
Border Security: Border Security - 2026 A currency dog sniffs out thousands in undeclared cash. An aspiring actor has trouble keeping track of the plot. Unusual body art may not be what it seems. An officer suspects a Canadian is bringing home some illicit souvenirs. Coffee cans contain a different kind of buzz. Officers arrest a wanted burglar.
Border Security: Border Security - 2027 An American's trip to Alaska may be heading south. Cheap books with high shipping costs raise suspicion. Officers suspect a convicted drug dealer is bringing his business north. A high-risk ship containing weapons is searched. A competitive skateboarder puts a spin on his luggage exam.
Border Security: Border Security - 2028 A young woman's Jamaican holiday ends in a cell. A father and son have loads of ammo, but where's the gun? The Vessel Search Unit finds a suspect sailor on a US tug.
Border Security: Border Security - 2029 A young man's lies could keep him from his fiancée. A gold bar and a pile of cash put a traveller on the watch list. A US visitor is shocked to learn about his unusual criminal record. Mail Centre officers find a riveting artwork has hidden value. A gambler shows his cards, but it's not a winning hand.
Border Security: Border Security - 2030 A last minute booking takes a farm worker down a rough road. Toy trucks arrive loaded with contraband. An outbound Canadian might carry dirty cash. Some medicine is best left at home. A big rig gets a whole-body scan.
Border Security: Border Security - 2031 A visiting worker learns he got some bad advice. A fisherman's pot could get him in hot water. Suspicions about a convicted smuggler uncover a scam. A suitcase full of meat is not the main course in a traveller's smuggling buffet. Two hunters learn canned weapons aren't sporting.
Border Security: Border Security - 2032 Engineering students carry an unusual experiment. A construction worker's story has no foundation. An American moving to a new home learns he can't get there from here. A traveller blames his mom for a costly baggage surprise. Is one gun enough for an Alaska-bound man? Toy cameras contain contraband, but the smugglers may be waiting to see what develops.
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Border Security: Border Security - 4094At a Syfy holiday party in New York, the casts of Childhood's End and The Expanse gathered with executives and select press to celebrate as those debuts are both less than one week out. Julian McMahon plays Rupert Boyce in the former, based on the Arthur C. Clarke novel, marking a return to science fiction for the actor.
Of course, he played Doctor Doom in the pair of original 20th Century Fox Fantastic Four films, in 2005 and 2007. Many of his castmates have gone on to play other comic book characters since then, with Jessica Alba in Sin City, Michael Chiklis on Gotham, and of course, Chris Evans has found incredible success as Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But when I asked McMahon if there was another comic book character he'd like a crack at, his answer was the same as it's always been: Doctor Doom. "It's interesting, I was thinking the other day, and I looked online and looked at the new Fantastic Four movie, and I saw it, saw the trailer and I just thought, okay, that's interesting," McMahon said during an interview with ComicBook.com. "But I never got to express Doctor Doom the way that I saw Doctor Doom."
After we talked about the canceled sequel to the reboot (what a weird thing to imagine) and even the possibility of Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four returning to Marvel Studios, his eyes lit up. "If Marvel Studios got Doctor Doom back, and I could play him the way I always wanted to, as a sniveling, conniving, freaky guy, I would do that for sure. The character I most want to play is the character I've already played!" he said with a laugh. "There's so much there!"11 May 2016
Nigerian trade unions called for oil companies to evacuate workers on Tuesday, following two attacks in the Niger Delta which left five people dead. Armed men killed two police officers and three soldiers in separate attacks in a region that has seen a resurgence of militancy.
After coming under fire from militants, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron have evacuated some of their workforce in high-risk areas. Last week, a group known as Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) attacked a Chevron oil facility in the Delta and succeeding in blowing up the platform. The NDA went on to claim responsibility for bombing an underwater Royal Dutch Shell pipeline in February. Consequently, Nigeria’s crude output has fallen to its lowest point in 22 years.In a country whose economy and foreign currency reserves are largely dependant on oil and gas, the destruction of its pipelines by such armed groups could be absolutely catastrophic,” strategic consultant Leke Adebayo told The World Weekly. “Bad enough in boom times but in the middle of a crippling recession, the results would be devastating. This provides yet another reason as to why Nigeria needs to diversify its economy as soon as is reasonably practicable.”
Much of Nigeria’s oil wealth comes from the Niger Delta. However, the southern region is still underdeveloped and pollution from oil spills is widespread. Royal Dutch Shell and ENI admitted to 550 oil spills in 2014 alone.
The Niger Delta was a site of armed struggle from 2004 to 2009, with groups such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) staging attacks against the federal government and multinational oil companies.
To end the conflict, the Nigerian government launched an amnesty programme for militants, which offered them income, work and education. However, the programme is hard to sustain indefinitely, and President Buhari does want to wind down the amnesty.
The NDA is believed to be composed of former MEND rebels. Many such groups demand reparations for environmental damage and local control over production. Some want self-determination for their ethnic group.
As the Financial Times reports, Nigerian politicians fear cuts to the amnesty programme may spur on the militants and, in turn, threaten the energy industry. [Paywall]
The Nigerian authorities ought to consider talks between the militants and stakeholders to prevent further violence, Omotola Omolayo suggests in Ventures Africa.
The upsurge in violence in the Niger Delta is a further challenge for the Buhari administration, which faces an economic crisis and the Boko Haram insurgency in the north, as reported by Reuters.
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PrintAnyone with even a quarter of a brain now understands that the US economy got off to a bad start this year.
There was an economic contraction in the first three months — when the nation’s gross domestic product fell at an annualized rate of 0.7 percent — that some quarter-brainers are still blaming on the cold weather, strikes at ports, the strong dollar, solar flares, Martian landings and (insert your own poor excuse here).
The truth: Most of these excuses are part of the problem, although I didn’t personally see or not see the Martians.
But the biggest part is that people don’t have enough money to spend. Interest from savings is down to zero, people don’t liquidate stock gains to make purchases, and job and income growth has been sketchy.
The economy isn’t doing much better in the current quarter either. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, an independent observer if ever there was one, measures growth so far in the second quarter at an annual rate of just 1.1 percent. That means growth — un-annualized — is a paltry 0.275 percent with less than four weeks left in the quarter.
It’s quite possible that we will eventually be told, after all revisions are made, that the economy met the official definition of a recession in the first half of 2015, which is two straight quarters of contractions.
But the quarter-brainers will probably get something to cheer about when Friday’s employment numbers come out. And, if they don’t strain their quarter-brains looking too deeply into the numbers, they could come away with a smile that can only happen because ignorance is bliss.
Wall Street expects the Labor Department to report that 235,000 new jobs were created in May. That would be higher than the 223,000 new jobs that — before any revisions are made — were created in April.
I’ve written before about the so-called birth/death model, which is the government’s fist-on-the-scale way of adding jobs they assume but can’t prove exist when new companies suddenly come into business in springtime.
The only problem is, entrepreneurs — especially those just starting out and risking their own capital — aren’t very daring when it’s clear to everyone that the economy isn’t doing well. So maybe, just maybe, there are more companies dying this spring than being born.
Labor must be having some second thoughts about the validity of that model since it guessed that only 213,000 phantom jobs were created by newly born companies in April. That’s way down from the 263,000-phantom-job guesstimate in April 2014.
The guesstimate for May should still be substantial. In May of 2014, Labor’s phantom jobs guesstimate added 204,000 jobs. Even if that’s been adjusted downward, this will still give a nice boost to the job growth that will be reported Friday.
There’s no guarantee, of course, that Friday’s number will be good. Any number of things could go wrong. Seasonal adjustments could hurt Friday’s number. And, of course, companies could have actually cut jobs in April. There were plenty of announcements of such cuts.
So, will Wall Street get the 235,000-job growth it expects? I say there’s a 60 percent chance Friday’s number meets or exceeds that guess.
But even if you guess right on Friday’s jobs figure, the prize could be elusive.
Most folks don’t know how Wall Street will react to a better-than-expected number.
If the figure is too strong, it’ll causes interest rates to rise and bond prices to fall in anticipation that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike is back on the table.
If the number is weaker than expected, even the quarter-brainers will start worrying the economy is tanking.
Want to gamble? Head to Belmont on Saturday, when American Pharoah is going to win the Triple Crown.
At least you’ll see some history and get fresh air.
The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 5.4 percent in May. This is such a nonsense indicator of the US economy that it isn’t even worth the two sentences I’m wasting on it now.
Ben Bernanke has it made.
The former Federal Reserve chief got the US involved in quantitative easing, or QE, which probably helped get the country out of the financial crisis in 2008 — which, incidentally, was caused by the Fed.
But QE has since caused very slow economic growth and allowed the rich to get much richer — and the rest of us to eat dirt.
Now, Bernanke is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he is paid a lot of money to defend his Fed policies. Bernanke’s basic message: I did a great job as Fed chief. (Here’s your paycheck, Mr. Bernanke. Keep up the self-serving good work.)
Why, then, has the economy been in the doldrums for seven years?
Give the guy credit for one thing: At least he’s now owning up to his QE legacy.
In his first postings after leaving the Fed, Bernanke completely ignored QE like I used to do when I did something wrong and hoped people would forget.Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton attend a CNN debate. (Photo: AP)
WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have agreed to a Democratic presidential debate next week in New York, ensuring a high-stakes televised showdown ahead of the state’s influential primary.
The two campaigns confirmed Monday the candidates would appear at the debate April 14 in Brooklyn, New York, putting the Democratic rivals onstage together before New York’s April 19 primary.
Clinton, a former New York senator, holds a significant lead over Sanders among delegates, but the Vermont senator is hoping a win in Tuesday’s primary in Wisconsin will build more momentum against Clinton in her adopted home state. Sanders has won five of the past six states to hold contests.
COVERAGE: Kasich vows to stay in race
EXPLAINER: How the New York primary works and why it matters
RELATED: New York primary: Clinton, Sanders off to fast start
APPEARANCES: Where to see the candidates in the New York primary
The announcement by CNN that it would host the debate ended days of acrimonious negotiations, with both sides accusing each other of playing games with the proposed forum. Sanders’ campaign said it agreed to move a major New York City rally scheduled for April 14 to the night before so Sanders could attend the debate.
CNN said it will partner with Time Warner Cable’s NY1, a channel focused on New York news.
Both candidates have personal ties to the debate site. Sanders was born and raised in Brooklyn, while Clinton’s campaign’s headquarters is based in Brooklyn, about a mile from the debate site at the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Duggal Greenhouse.
Democrats have held eight previous debates. This will be the first since March 9 in Miami.
Read or Share this story: http://lohud.us/1RVc3czThe apparent abduction of Vietnamese businessman Trinh Xuan Thanh in Berlin has triggered a diplomatic spat between Germany and Vietnam.
Berlin police confirmed to DW that a Vietnamese citizen is thought to have been kidnapped in the city on July 23, but they declined to offer any more details on the ongoing investigation.
And in a statement to Berlin's taz newspaper, Thanh's lawyer Petra Schlagenhauf said that her client had been forcibly abducted around 10:40 a.m. while on the street near Berlin's centrally located Tiergarten park.
But Vietnamese media, citing the country's Ministry of Public Security, reported on Monday that Thanh had voluntarily given himself up in Hanoi to criminal investigators, who had been searching for him since April.
Read more: Vietnamese-French dissident blogger deported to Paris
The German Foreign Ministry reacted with considerable anger to the reports. "Now that there are no longer any serious doubts about the involvement of the Vietnamese services and the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Berlin, the state secretary in the Foreign Ministry, Markus Ederer, yesterday summoned the ambassador," a Wednesday statement said. "The kidnapping of Vietnamese citizen Trinh Xuan Thanh on German soil is an unprecedented and blatant violation of German law and international law."
The ministry went on to say that the incident had "the potential to massively negatively impact relations between Germany and … Vietnam." As a first step, the official representative of Vietnam's intelligence agency in Germany was to be "declared persona non grata" and given 48 hours to leave the country.
Dissidents are suffering a crackdown in Vietnam
The government admitted that Vietnam had asked Germany to extradite Thanh during last month's G20 summit in Hamburg. Germany is now demanding that Thanh be returned to Germany so that both an application for extradition and Thanh's application for asylum can be considered and processed in the proper legal fashion.
'Great pity'
Vietnam's foreign ministry on Thursday rebuked the claims made by their German counterparts.
"I feel sorry about the statement on August 2 of the German foreign ministry spokesperson," Vietnamese foreign ministry's spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang told reporters in Hanoi. "Vietnam very much respects and wants to develop the strategic partnership relation between Vietnam and Germany."
Kidnapped or pressured?
Viet Tan, an unsanctioned Vietnamese pro-democracy party, expressed some surprise at the boldness of Vietnam's move. "Abducting dissidents is something that Vietnamese intelligence would more likely attempt in Southeast Asia," spokesperson Duy Hoang told DW by email. "It's practically unheard of happening in the West. The German government needs to condemn this brazen action in the strongest terms. The kidnapping of Trinh Xuan Thanh comes amidst a widespread crackdown by the Vietnamese communist authorities."
Though the Vietnamese media did not mention a kidnapping, Tran Quoc Thuan, a former member of the country's National Assembly, told the BBC on Tuesday that he was "surprised" to hear that Thanh had returned to the country.
He also speculated that Thanh was pressured into returning to Vietnam and confessing, rather than actually having been kidnapped, though Thuan added, "The possibility of kidnapping is higher."
Anti-corruption as a political weapon
The 51-year-old Thanh was a political functionary in Vietnam for many years before being stripped of all posts amid corruption accusations in September 2016. In a communist country where business and politics are closely integrated, Thanh was chairman of the board of the state's Petro Vietnam Construction Joint Stock Corporation (PVC) and held a number of leading positions in state companies while simultaneously holding a seat in parliament.
The conservatives currently have the upper hand in Vietnamese single-party politics
According to taz, Thanh also spent some time in Germany in the early 1990s and even applied for asylum, but returned to Vietnam voluntarily to begin his career.
Vietnamese outlet Vietnamnet reported this week that Thanh was accused of "property misappropriation" by selling shares of a state company at a lower price than they were actually valued at and then pocketing the difference. Some 10 former PVC employees are being prosecuted as part of the investigation, the news outlet said.
But there are plenty of other reasons why authorities may be pursuing Thanh, whose whereabouts had been the subject of speculation for some time. In an interview he gave to a Berlin-based Vietnamese blog a few months ago, Thanh said he was part of a wing of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) that had become dangerous to former president and current party leader Nguyen Phu Trong. Thanh also used the blog to threaten to shed light on the power structures in Vietnamese politics.
There have been signs of a power struggle within the CPV between conservative communists and pragmatic capitalist reformers for some time, with the conservatives currently enjoying the upper hand. Much like in China, anti-corruption campaigns have become a preferred method for weeding out political opponents. Dozens of high-ranking Vietnamese government and party officials have been arrested in the past few months - and some sentenced to death.Yerba Buena 4 MW / 28 MWh Energy Storage Project Recognized As “Innovative”
October 15th, 2015 by Jake Richardson
1. Sodium sulphur batteries are used in the storage system… why was that type of battery selected?
NaS was the best energy battery on the market in terms of price, energy density, and reliability.
2. About how long is it expected that these batteries will last?
At least 15 years with a daily charge/discharge cycle.
3. How are the batteries monitored to keep tabs on how they are performing or if there are any issues, such as if the chemistry is optimal or perhaps if an individual battery needs to be adjusted or even replaced?
The individual cells and the overall system is monitored by a Battery Management System (BMS). The BMS keeps tabs and recommends any required optimization or individual cell replacement.
4. Power is provided to the research facility… what kind of research is being conducted there?
Semiconductor.
5. 4 MW and 24 MWh of backup electricity is provided by the system. The number of megawatt-hours is very impressive. Does that number mean there can be backup power for up to a full day and night, if necessary, if one MW was being used? Or is the configuration for the full 4 MW for 6 hours?
Correct, either 1 MW for a day or 4 MW for 6 hours.
6. The energy storage seems to have been a success. Would you say it has been very successful, mildly successful, or a home run?
I would say that this has been a home run.
7. Will the utility consider installing similar energy storage solutions in the San Jose area or at other sites in the Bay Area?
Yes.
8. Are there any other energy storage solution projects in development?
PG&E has several recent energy storage procurements for deployment within the next 3 years.
9. Because of the benefits these energy storage systems provide, would you expect that they will become more common in Northern California?
I would expect so, yes.
10. Eventually, will it be possible for a number of energy storage systems to replace a peaker plant?
I do believe that energy storage will eventually replace peaker plants in the US. Please see this recent interview with the NextEra CEO, Jim Robo, where he suggests the same.
Related: What Will Drive Growth Of Stationary Battery Energy Storage Systems?
Image Credit: S&C ElectricDear Diary,
It's happened again. Another talented kid has joined the list of hot-footed players who've decided to be non-Raiders; a mini-squadron that would form a highly potent backline had fate ever tossed them into the same lime green salad.
Indeed one would pay good money to see Todd Carney, Josh Dugan, Anthony Milford, Blake Ferguson, Josh Mansour and James Tedesco running about together, and certainly Raiders Suits were going to pay serious money to Jimmy Tedesco. Few years, 'Teddy' could've owned Tuggeranong.
But, alas, Diary, these fractious colts of Generation-Y (Me? Y-Me?) either didn't conform to the club's – and society's – No Bad Seeds Policy, or preferred to live in Sydney or Penrith or in Brissie.
And that's all fair enough, sorta. We all make our choices.
Actually, no. It's not fair enough. It's rubbish. The club's been done over. Again.
Sure, we're probably best rid of Duges and Fergy and hot Toddy. Those cats never really bought into being pro footy players in our midst.
The loss of Milford, though, certainly pains a green man-fan. Canberra identified him as a toddler. Got him down here into The System, fed him the finest meats. And now that he's just about to emerge like a butterfly from chrysalis into a genuine superstar, he's away to Brisbane. Who already have Ben Barba.
That's not fair. And it hurts. And it's not fair.
But then, Diary, to lose Milford's ready-made replacement, a player as quick and elusive and flat-out damn good as 21-year-old James Tedesco, a player who would attract others and whom around you could build a dynasty, to lose that sort of player… after he'd signed a bloody contract … well, it's beyond the pale.
Am I angry, Diary? I am a bit, yes. To be a green machinist is to know anger. What colour did Dr Bruce Banner turn when he was angry? Damn straight.
Yet, this time, it's more resignation that it's happened, again. Mansour, the Menace, big Kevvy Proctor... at least we hadn't signed them before they brushed us. They came down and had a look, and we showed them about: There's the Institute of Sport; there's the War Memorial; there's the fine meat locker. We schmoozed them, and they weighed up their options. And we were slightly miffed they didn't choose to play for Canberra. But, y'know, pass the beer nuts.
But they weren't in our pockets. We hadn't announced them. They weren't ours. Damn it, Diary, we had Tedesco. He was ours! And now he's not. And who do we have to play fullback? No-one. Reece Robinson's a winger. Mitch Cornish is a boy. Jack Wighton could be anything in the centres, five-eighth or back row. But no. We don't have a fullback. We've been done over. Again.
But do I curse and decry and rail against the dying of the light as Other Fans might expect? Do I play out the ugly pantomime of Outraged Raiders Fan, shouting both fists at the gods and taking to talkback radio with great vengeance and furious anger? All that?
No. For that time has passed. We shouted and railed and protested that we'd Done The Right Thing and yet Carney and Dugan now play against us. That Milford and Ferguson (probably) soon would. That Terry Campese, an Origin five-eighth, was injured more than Tony Abbott's feelings. And that a forward pack weighing upwards of six thousand kilograms was not rumbling across advantage lines as it once had.
And we copped all that sweet. As sweet as we could, anyway.
Yet with Tedesco's recalcitrance, the time for anger and copping-it-sweet has passed. It's now time instead for furious… introspection. Deep introspection, the best kind.
Why, for one, is Brett White the last major "name" to come aboard? Why, even with a fistful of dollars and a blue-sky salary cap, can Canberra not entice and keep the game's elite? Why is Canberra so on the nose?
For mine, Diary, the problem is Canberra itself. Well, it's not a problem. It's a fine city-town, Canberra. What do you need in a city-town? Coffee, food, night life. Two hours to the beach, two hours to the snow. Australia's best empty golf courses. Twenty minutes to everywhere on Australia's best roads. Questacon.
Yet the joint has an image problem. A branding problem. I can hear them now, rival fans fairly guffawing into their mugaccinos, spraying forth froth and deriding Canberra as a City Without a Soul, as the lair of politicians, as a bush-capital of roundabouts, firecrackers and adults-only periodicals and videos. And while stereotypes have a semblance of truth, they're not the full story.
No, Diary, I'm talking about a perception among rugby league players that outside of playing games and training, there's nothing to do. And that it's freezing cold. And there's nothing to do in the freezing cold.
Consider: Most players only visit Canberra to play games. They spend a night in a hotel, train in the frost, play in the cold and (only occasionally of late) have the tripe belted out of them. Then they leave on a Murray's Coach covered in ice and watching a video of said beating. Then they sit around the airport. Read how badly they played. And nick off. And that's their "Canberra" experience.
So there's that.
There is also, Diary, in my opinion, a fear of Ricky Stuart. That's right – fear. I think the kids are scared of him. Of his reputation. Of his intensity. Has there been a more competitive critter in all rugby league? Stuart wants to win games like scuba divers require oxygen. And it shows. And there is yelling. The man demands. And some of these Gen-Y boys… well… y'know. Their tatts might say Carpe Diem but they don't want to seize days that are too cold.
And another reason for players' lack of desire to make the Capital home is this: players want to win. And they want to play with other good players. Melbourne's taken in more journeymen than Jerusalem. Go to the Dogs and play behind James Graham and Frank Pritchard, all those monsters. And under Des. You'll shine. And you'll win.
At Canberra, though? Hmm. Been battling for a few years. Keep threatening to sneak into the eight and beyond. Then don't. Then lose their best player. Can't get anyone else. Blood hot kids. And repeat.
And there's the rub: The less players head to Canberra, the more players don't head to Canberra. Think that's right. The Suits would be f-f-filthy about Tedesco. Player like him would've brought others. And he'd have won games.
Yet, Dear Diary, oh mute whinge-vessel, all is not lost. For mine, it's just a matter of salesmanship. To an extent.
For one, anyone who doesn't want to come to Canberra because it's too cold is so soft they're a man-sized Tontine. They can stay put. And anyone who thinks there's nothing to do in Canberra is not coming to the club for the right reason, that being to play rugby league. I mean, Canberra trains near the Australian Institute of Sport, a multi-billion dollar taxpayer-funded resource. They have the world's best sports science on tap. If you can't improve in that environment, you're not putting in.
Sticky Stuart? Maybe could sell himself better. Be more of a friend. Be more cuddly.
Actually scratch that. Stuart's about as cuddly as a short-beaked echidna. And competitiveness in pro sport is good. And Stuart's more competitive than the Aussie dollar. And all he knows is rugby league. Ask him the capital of Namibia you'll probably draw a blank. Ask him how to slide in defence to cover a ball-playing edge-runner and our Stick will whip about the salt-and-pepper shakers like chess pieces.
And finally, Diary, we should spruik that Canberra has some top kids. Always has had. Joint's a cold-climate breeding ground for hard-boned, fast-twitching super kids. Jack Wighton could be anything. Mitch Cornish steps like he's trod on a firecracker. Paul Vaughan blocks out the very moon. The kids are good. Especially if we can keep 'em.
In summary, Diary, Canberra's sell should be:
* If you think it's too cold, wear a beanie. Fans go to games rugged up like Arctic explorers. Oh, and another thing? Bring it in tight: nick off, you're soft.
* If you worry there's nothing to do, buy some golf clubs, fishing rods, water skis, snow skis and a surfboard. And on your days off play golf, fish, water-ski, snow-ski or surf (though do pack that steamer).
* If you want to improve yourself as a rugby league player, Canberra has purpose-built institutions.
* It's 20 minutes to training. And everywhere.
* Ricky Stuart has two purposes in life: He wants to win. He wants to improve You. The list of things he does not care about could fill Wikipedia.
* Canberra's kids are hot. And if they can convince them to stay – and the odd fresh one to come – watch this space in the mid-to-late 2010s.
* We're desperate.
* We have lots of money.
* Finally, if you sign a contract and then stuff us around, we'll tell the government and get the Tax Office to audit you. We're tight with them. Don't think we won't.
The views and opinions expressed above do not necessarily represent those of the NRL, NRL clubs or Telstra, its management or employees.Despite objections and courthouse maneuvers by Texas officials, a group of Syrian refugees are to arrive next week -- including a family of six that will settle in the Dallas area.A legal challenge by state officials fizzled on Friday, when the state withdrew its request for a temporary court order that would have halted the resettlement.That occurred after the Justice Department, the ACLU and others filed lengthy briefs on behalf of a refugee relief agency and the federal government, contending that Texas was seeking “unwarranted veto power over individual federal refugee resettlement decisions.”The state on Wednesday sued the federal government and the International Rescue Committee, a nonprofit relief agency, to block the relocation of any additional Syrian refugees in Texas. The suit is pending before U.S. District Judge David Godbey of Dallas.Lawyers for the state have requested a hearing next week on whether Godbey should issue an injunction requiring the federal government to "comply with its statutory duty to consult with Texas in advance of resettling refugees," according to a news release from the Texas attorney general's office.In the meantime, three families and one individual who are refugees from Syria’s civil war are to arrive next week, according to court documents.The Syrian family headed to the Dallas area is a couple, their children, who are 3 and 6, and the children's grandparents, according to the court papers. They already have relatives living in the area; those relatives arrived earlier this year.In all next week, 21 Syrian refugees are scheduled to arrive in Texas, the court documents said. Two families with children will settle in the Houston area, as will a 26-year-old single woman who will join her mother already living there.Friday’s turn of events represented a pronounced retreat from the position set forth by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott just two weeks ago, when he declared: No Syrian refugees, period.Security concerns about the refugees were raised by Abbott and many other governors, mostly Republicans, after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 persons. The Islamic State, one faction involved in Syria’s civil war, claimed responsibility for the attacks. A Syrian passport was found near the body of one Paris suicide bomber, although its authenticity has been questioned.Abbott said earlier this week that national security experts had expressed a “very real concern” that terrorists could infiltrate Syrian refugee groups and use the guise of refugee status to enter the United States and commit acts of mass violence. The governor has cited testimony from FBI Director James Comey on whether it was possible to conduct proper security checks on Syrian nationals.On Friday, after the state dropped its request for a temporary restraining order to halt the resettlelement of refugees in Texas, Abbott spokesman Matt Hirsch reaffirmed the governor's "will to continue the lawsuit against the federal government."State Attorney General Ken Paxton said, "Texas shouldn't have to go to court to require Washington to comply with federal law regarding its duties to consult with Texas in advance. Our state will continue legal proceedings to ensure we get the information necessary to adequately protect the safety of Texas residents."In their brief, Justice Department attorneys said the state “has made no showing that these refugees pose any threat, much less an imminent one, to the safety or security of Texas residents or any other Americans."The filing noted that since the start of fiscal year 2011, 243 Syrian refugees have resettled in Texas.With regard to the new arrivals, it said, Texas "does not explain how these specific refugees, mostly children, their parents and in one case their grandparents -- pose a danger to anyone anywhere, let alone to the state of Texas."Delaying the refugees' resettlement, the brief said, "would prolong their suffering and inflict further hardship upon them that is unjustified."Attorneys for the government and the International Rescue Committee added that Texas had failed to show that continued resettlements would cause "irreparable harm" or any grave injury that would justify "interference with the federal government's authority." The IRC is one of nine resettlement contractors working with the State Department.The federal Refugee Act of 1980 requires that the government consult regularly with states about the "sponsorship process" and "the distribution of refugees among the states," Friday's court filing by the Justice Department noted.However, it added, there is no requirement to provide states with "demographic, medical, security and other case information" about individual refugees.Lawyers for the government and the IRC said a |
places a device on Captain America's neck that instantly calms him down. After he manages to talk down Ms. Marvel and Wolverine, the two most aggressive members of the team due to Ms. Marvel's Kree nature and.... Wolverine being who he is, the rest of the team talk to the Autobots, and Doom reveals that the Avengers' heightened aggression was caused by a device he developed which was stolen by the Decepticons. Doom departs to attempt to reach a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Symkaria, leaving the Autobots and the Avengers to storm the Decepticon base to rescue Spider-Man. However, Megatron has already determined that the mutated elements of Spider-Man's blood will enable him to enhance his forces' power to a level that not even Energon has accomplished, the enhanced firepower knocking out Optimus Prime just as Iron Man arrives on the scene. Iron Man, in new, Transformer-sized armor, helped to turn the tide against the Decepticons, allowing Prowl, Ratchet, Luke Cage and Wolverine to get inside the ship and rescue Spider-Man.
As Iron Man and Megatron face off outside the base, the Autobots track down Spider-Man, subsequently freeing him with the aid of Doctor Doom (who has turned on the Decepticons after they betrayed him). Realizing that the Decepticons are too powerful to take on as they are, the Autobots ask for Spider-Man and Wolverine's permission to use the same energy-enhancement method that the Decepticons used, taking blood samples from the two and using it to enhance their own abilities, and the two heroes agree to the procedure. While Spider-Man joins the Autobots outside the ship, Wolverine and Doctor Doom track down the device that initially amplified the Avengers' aggression and Wolverine destroys it, leaving Doom to make his own way out as he rejoins his teammates. Although Iron Man's Transformer armor is destroyed after it suffers an overload while fighting Megatron, the Autobots are still able to turn the tide, thanks to their power boost Spider-Man and Luke Cage knocking down Megatron and forcing him to flee. With the other Decepticons and the Autobots subsequently departing themselves, the Avengers are left to report to the government about the situation. Meanwhile, the Autobots reports that Ramjet has gone to earth and it is implied that he has taken the form of the Avengers Quinjet.
References [ edit ]The startup world has matured. It’s time for most accelerators to go.
Ivy Nguyen Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jan 27, 2016
Y Combinator reignited the conversation about the role of accelerator programs after publishing some interesting findings about how applicants that have previously participated in another accelerator are less successful when applying to YC’s programs.
Ten years in since YC popularized the concept, you’d think that the sheer abundance of “What I learned” post-mortems published on Medium would have been enough to put all but the most effective accelerators out of business. In fact, the opposite has happened: today, it feels as if every university program, every backwoods local chamber of commerce, and every corporate entity is racing to avoid being the last one in on the accelerator game. I used to run an accelerator and spent many sleepless nights trying to figure out how to help each and every one of its portfolio companies equally well (I couldn’t) — I have a major soft spot for these programs and the well meaning people behind them. Still, I worry about the damage many of these newer programs might incur on the greater startup ecosystem.
By now, all of the information on how to navigate the early hurdles of starting up is available online. All of this information can be found, answered over and over again, on Quora. All of the advice that you could ever seek out can be found on is being given freely on Medium, or blogs from veteran VC operators like Fred Wilson’s MBA Mondays series, and anything Mark Suster has to say on Both Sides of the Table. So what the hell are you doing paying these accelerator and pre-accelerator programs for basic startup information you can find literally anywhere, for free?
Never mind antidilution and polluted cap tables. It’s hard to see straight when you’re eating top ramen for the second month in a row because you’re worth nothing and your company is worth nothing, so let me spell it out for you: even one percent of your company, if you exit at a respectable $200M, is a lot of money. $2M can buy you a lot of nicer ramen. Do you really want to hand that over for, as Andrew Lockley so eloquently put it, “cheering and a little desk, and little more”?
With so many accelerators of varying quality competing for startups’ attention and equity, it’s time to take a clear eyed survey of the landscape. Below is a decision tree I hope all founders will use while evaluating whether that startup accelerator program truly makes sense for them.
Be most wary of the mediocre actors with good intentions
1) Does it actually offer what you need?
Chris Lynch at Accomplice VC caused quite a stir last year when he warned founders to beware of accelerators as wolves in sheep’s clothing. The problem isn’t that these accelerators are intentionally harmful — for every predatory program, there are at least twenty well intentioned others out there taking applications. Unfortunately, as well meaning as they may be, many of the people who run these programs aren’t qualified to do so, whether it’s because they have a limited VC feeder network, have limited entrepreneurial experience, or are out of their depth when it comes to your specific vertical. Have they run their own startup before, cradle to exit? Do they actually have the investor network for you to plug into, once they help you polish that pitch? Don’t be that startup that gets all dressed up with nowhere to go.
2) If yes, are you actually going to get it from the program?
Many accelerators are time-constrained by design — each cohort gets about eight to twelve weeks of attention, then it’s onto the next shiny batch. Each batch has anywhere from a dozen to even fifty companies. How are you going to guarantee that your 7% will give you access to that top mentor? Would the second- and third- best options even be qualified to effectively help you? They might be if you’re an enterprise SaaS company, but what if you’re in space aquaponics and there’s only one mentor knowledgeable in that space — and he gets assigned to someone else? For how to evaluate promises of strategic introductions to customers and distribution partners, see point 4 below.
3) If yes, does it make sense right now?
We hear the word “accelerator” so often now that we seem to have forgotten the root meaning: accelerators help you move faster. As Paul Graham said in the Hacker News thread about the recent YC findings, “A simple way of thinking about this is that acceleration only helps if you are pointed in the right direction!” Don’t get pushed 100 mph forward only to find yourself having to double back.
Most accelerators I’ve seen focus on refining the pitch and pushing you out to investors. I want to see more teach companies how to give investors a strong return on their investment — it seems like beyond coaching pitch and sales tactics, the accelerators leave the lessons on corporate strategy and scaling to the institutional investors. The motivation behind the accelerators’ approach makes sense — for them: you’re paying them money to learn how to get more money, which will make them more money. This is what accelerators are designed to do, and what they’re best at doing. If you want to take advantage of that, have an MVP and be ready to sell before you go in.
What about no equity programs? Read beyond the fine print
4) Follow the money: who do they have to answer to? Does that conflict with what you need?
Even if they’re not getting it from you, the accelerator has to find money somewhere to keep its lights on and pay its staff. Some of them are sponsored piecemeal by service firms and are thinly veiled attempts to sell you recruiting, tax, legal, and other services. The ones that aren’t are still limited in many ways. Dig into their Form 990s and anything else you can find to follow the money and see where it leads.
Local economic development plays
Some accelerators rely on government grants and are designed to attract innovation and entrepreneurial talent to an economically blighted area, requiring you to move to a certain city for a specified (and sometimes too long) number of years. They’re often run by former members of chambers of commerce, or local talent with no previous startup experience or startup investor network. (Don’t get me wrong, there are still some fantastic ones that fit this profile but are executed very well, too). And if the region is still recovering economically, will you be able to attract the talent that you need to move quickly? How much time are you going to have to give up to shake hands with visiting politicians and dignitaries? Does it really make sense for your team to stay in Madison, WI for another six months? Or move to Detroit, MI for a year to get that $200,000 grant? As always, it depends.
Emerging sector, vertical-specific programs
Startup fever is catching on in many creaky old sectors ripe for disruption (fintech) and others that previously crashed and burned but seem primed for a reboot (cleantech, anyone?). Think about it: for sectors with emerging startup activity, the number of people who both know the space well and know how to run a startup is likely small. These people are almost certainly not running your accelerator program — they’re probably chasing startup dreams of their own. For re-emerging sectors that previously experienced a massive flameout like cleantech, the number of people who know what they’re doing is even smaller — otherwise, there would not have been such a massive collapse in the first place. It’s an structural ecosystem problem. Leverage these programs to cut through the noise and grab those strategic partnerships, pilots and customers, but don’t expect much more from most of them.
Corporate accelerators
Even more are backed by corporations looking for competitive information or to get ahead on the M&A game — would your participation hamper you strategically in the future? Are you locked into using a specific cloud storage service, or certain data visualization platform? Are you prevented from working with certain entities in the future as strategic partners? If so, would it matter to your product development roadmap and growth plans?
Look to these above programs for introductions to sources of non-dilutive capital, including cheap loans, free or reduced rent, and grants from governmental and nonprofit agencies. It’s very hard to find and get accepted into a good program. If you don’t get in, don’t waste your time settling for one that isn’t good enough.
But what if I’m not in a hot VC market?
I count on one hand the number of general-purpose accelerators, and no more than a dozen vertical specific ones, that I’d recommend. I understand the allure of a built-in network of investors when you’re outside one of the current startup hotspots. NewGen recognizes this, and we invest everywhere across the U.S., as do an increasingly large number of VC firms. Trawl Crunchbase and figure out who they are, then reach out. I second Chris Lynch’s declaration: any startup who gets in touch with me will have at least 15 minutes to convince me if I should spend more time learning about them. Seriously — email me with your pitch deck and a 3–4 sentence blurb at [email protected].
There’s still room for good accelerator programs to be useful. And if your startup is ready for it, knows what you want out of it, and is prepared to fight for it, it can truly accelerate (there’s that word again!) your growth. But just because there’s a wealth of “opportunities” beckoning and offered by the second and worse tier programs, doesn’t mean you have to take it. As an early stage startup, every second of your time and every sub-percentage of your equity counts, because that’s all you have to give. Use it wisely.
EDIT: Thanks for the awesome response! Still not sure whether you need an accelerator or should join one right now? Email me with 1) your deck 2) where you’re located, 3) a 2–3 sentence blurb on what you do 4) where you are in your company development, and I’ll help you find an answer. [email protected] trade union boss has had his Labour party suspension lifted - leaving him free to vote for Jeremy Corbyn in the leadership contest.
Ronnie Draper, general secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, was told he faced disciplinary action last month over unspecified tweets.
At the time, the veteran left-winer said the move "flies in the face of natural justice".
But on his Twitter page last night, Mr Draper announced that Labour officials had decided to lift his suspension.
Labour announced earlier this week that more than 3,000 Labour supporters have been barred from taking part int he leadership election for either being members of other parties, supporting rival poltiical groups or being abusive on social media.
Mr Draper told the International Business Times that Labour should lift the bans.
"We want the same treatment for those people that I got," he said.
"How many people do the Labour party employ, have they got enough people to listen to all of these hearings for these thousands of people who have been suspended? I would call for a blanket lifting of the ban. If you want to talk to people afterwards about whether they've done something wrong, then do it."
Ian Hodson, the BFAWU's national president, said: "Although we are pleased that common sense has prevailed in this instance, we are extremely disappointed that the decision to suspend Ronnie was taken in the first place and we are very concerned that thousands of rank and file members have been refused the right to take part in this unnecessary leadership election.
"We demand that all paid up Labour party members and supporters be reinstated and that this undemocratic and ideological purge is brought to an end.
"We call on the parliamentary Labour party and those who have wilfully and selfishly created chaos to end this civil war now and get on with the job of standing up for our communities, who desperately need a strong and united Labour party.
"The focus should be on stopping this Conservative government led by an unelected Prime Minister. The energy and passion should be directed at preventing Theresa May from her agenda of furthering inequality, not at vain, ego-driven, internal squabbles."
John McDonnell has accused Labour officials of carrying out a "rigged purge" of Jeremy Corbyn supporters - claims vehemently denied by the party's general secretary, Iain McNicol.Cartoon Network has defended its decision to censor Steven Universe to make it less ‘gay’.
Fans have reacted angrily after a decision was made to alter a scene in their broadcasts which showed two female-presenting characters dancing together intimately.
In the original, the scene showed two female characters Pearl and Rose Quartz shared a dance together – which many fans believe to be romantic. But in the alteration, the UK broadcast replaces the more intimate moments of the dance with frames of a male character’s face.
‘Cartoon Network (in Europe) often shows amended versions of programs from US originals,’ a statement read.
‘The US broadcast system requires that shows are marked with a rating –in this case PG (parental guidance necessary). In the UK we have to ensure everything on air is suitable for kids of any age at any time.
‘We do feel that the slightly edited version is more comfortable for local kids and their parents.
‘We have an ongoing dialogue with our audiences and our shows reflect their preferences. Research shows that UK kids often watch with younger siblings without parental supervision.
‘Be assured that as a channel and network we celebrate diversity – evident across many of our shows and characters.’
This is clear Cartoon Network considers same-sex gender relationships to cross the British ratings system, which allows kissing and cuddling in ‘U’ or universal rated content.
‘Cartoon Network UK is taking much-needed role models away from vulnerable kids,’ a petition reads, which has already been signed by over 3,000 people so far.
‘Steven Universe is a beloved series acclaimed for its groundbreaking portrayal of queer characters. I’ve heard many young people say it changed their lives.’
Ruby and Sapphire are two female-presenting characters who combine to create the superpowered kickass warrior Garnet. Producers in July confirmed they were a lesbian couple.
When Cartoon Network in France did something similar, there was also outrage. The channel listened and let the original broadcast go out in future airings.Sobek (also called Sebek, Sochet, Sobk, and Sobki), in Greek, Suchos (Σοῦχος) and from Latin Suchus, was an ancient Egyptian deity with a complex and fluid nature. He is associated with the Nile crocodile or the West African crocodile and is represented either in its form or as a human with a crocodile head. Sobek was also associated with pharaonic power, fertility, and military prowess, but served additionally as a protective deity with apotropaic qualities, invoked particularly for protection against the dangers presented by the Nile.
History [ edit ]
Sobek enjoyed a longstanding presence in the ancient Egyptian pantheon, from the Old Kingdom of Egypt (c. 2686–2181 BCE) through the Roman period (c. 30 BCE – 350 CE). He is first known from several different Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom, particularly from spell PT 317. The spell, which praises the pharaoh as the living incarnation of the crocodile god, reads:
Unis is Sobek, green of plumage, with alert face and raised fore, the splashing one who came from the thigh and tail of the great goddess in the sunlight... Unis has appeared as Sobek, Neith's son. Unis will eat with his mouth, Unis will urinate and Unis will copulate with his penis. Unis is lord of semen, who takes women from their husbands to the place Unis likes according to his heart's fancy.
The origin of his name, Sbk[7] in Egyptian, is debated among scholars, but many believe that it is derived from a causative of the verb "to impregnate".
Though Sobek was worshipped in the Old Kingdom, he truly gained prominence in the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BCE), most notably under the Twelfth Dynasty pharaoh, Amenemhat III. Amenemhat III had taken a particular interest in the Faiyum of Egypt, a region heavily associated with Sobek. Amenemhat and many of his dynastic contemporaries engaged in building projects to promote Sobek – projects that were often executed in the Faiyum. In this period, Sobek also underwent an important change: he was often fused with the falcon-headed god of divine kingship, Horus. This brought Sobek even closer with the kings of Egypt, thereby giving him a place of greater prominence in the Egyptian pantheon. The fusion added a finer level of complexity to the god's nature, as he was adopted into the divine triad of Horus and his two parents: Osiris and Isis.
Sobek first acquired a role as a solar deity through his connection to Horus, but this was further strengthened in later periods with the emergence of Sobek-Ra, a fusion of Sobek and Egypt's primary sun god, Ra. Sobek-Horus persisted as a figure in the New Kingdom (1550–1069 BCE), but it was not until the last dynasties of Egypt that Sobek-Ra gained prominence. This understanding of the god was maintained after the fall of Egypt's last native dynasty in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (c. 332 BCE – 390 CE). The prestige of both Sobek and Sobek-Ra endured in this time period and tributes to him attained greater prominence – both through the expansion of his dedicated cultic sites and a concerted scholarly effort to make him the subject of religious doctrine.
This relief from the Temple of Kom Ombo shows Sobek with typical attributes of kingship, including a was-sceptre and royal kilt. The ankh in his hand represents his role as an Osirian healer and his crown is a solar crown associated with one of the many forms of Ra
Cult centers [ edit ]
The entire Faiyum region – the "Land of the Lake" in Egyptian (specifically referring to Lake Moeris) – served as a cult center of Sobek. Most Faiyum towns developed their own localized versions of the god, such as Soknebtunis at Tebtunis, Sokonnokonni at Bacchias, and Souxei at an unknown site in the area. At Karanis, two forms of the god were worshipped: Pnepheros and Petsuchos. There, mummified crocodiles were employed as cult images of Petsuchos.
Sobek Shedety, the patron of the Faiyum's centrally located capital, Crocodilopolis (or Egyptian "Shedet"), was the most prominent form of the god. Extensive building programs honoring Sobek were realized in Shedet, as it was the capital of the entire Arsinoite nome and consequently the most important city in the region. It is thought that the effort to expand Sobek's main temple was initially driven by Ptolemy II. Specialized priests in the main temple at Shedet functioned solely to serve Sobek, boasting titles like "prophet of the crocodile-gods" and "one who buries of the bodies of the crocodile-gods of the Land of the Lake".
Baltimore. This Roman period box shows a king making an offering to a solar form of Sobek. It is thought that this box could have been used in such offering rituals. Walters Art Museum
Outside the Faiyum, Kom Ombo, in southern Egypt, was the biggest cultic center of Sobek, particularly during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Kom Ombo is located about 30 miles (48 km) north of Aswan and was built during the Graeco-Roman period (332 BC AD 395).[17] The temple at this site was called the "Per-Sobek", meaning the "house of Sobek".
Character and surrounding mythologies [ edit ]
Sobek is, above all else, an aggressive and animalistic deity who lives up to the vicious reputation of his patron animal, the large and violent Nile crocodile/West African crocodile. Some of his common epithets betray this nature succinctly, the most notable of which being: "he who loves robbery", "he who eats while he also mates", and "pointed of teeth". However, he also displays grand benevolence in more than one celebrated myth. After his association with Horus and consequent adoption into the Osirian triad of Osiris, Isis, and Horus in the Middle Kingdom, Sobek became associated with Isis as a healer of the deceased Osiris (following his violent murder by Set in the central Osiris myth). In fact, though many scholars believe that the name of Sobek, Sbk, is derived from s-bAk, "to impregnate", others postulate that it is a participial form of the verb sbq,[7] an alternative writing of sAq, "to unite", thereby meaning Sbk could roughly translate to "he who unites (the dismembered limbs of Osiris)".
It is from this association with healing that Sobek was considered a protective deity. His fierceness was able to ward off evil while simultaneously defending the innocent. He was thus made a subject of personal piety and a common recipient of votive offerings, particularly in the later periods of ancient Egyptian history. It was not uncommon, particularly in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, for crocodiles to be preserved as mummies in order to present at Sobek's cultic centers. Sobek was also offered mummified crocodile eggs, meant to emphasize the cyclical nature of his solar attributes as Sobek-Ra. Likewise, crocodiles were raised on religious grounds as living incarnations of Sobek. Upon their deaths, they were mummified in a grand ritual display as sacred, but earthly, manifestations of their patron god. This practice was executed specifically at the main temple of Crocodilopolis. These mummified crocodiles have been found with baby crocodiles in their mouths and on their backs. The crocodile – one of the few reptiles that diligently care for their young – often transports its offspring in this manner. The practice of preserving this aspect of the animal's behavior via mummification is likely intended to emphasize the protective and nurturing aspects of the fierce Sobek, as he protects the Egyptian people in the same manner that the crocodile protects its young.
In Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, a local monograph called the Book of the Faiyum centered on Sobek with a considerable portion devoted to the journey made by Sobek-Ra each day with the movement of the sun through the sky. The text also focuses heavily on Sobek's central role in creation as a manifestation of Ra, as he is said to have risen from the primal waters of Lake Moeris, not unlike the Ogdoad in the traditional creation myth of Hermopolis.[21]
Many varied copies of the book exist and many scholars feel that it was produced in large quantities as a "best-seller" in antiquity. The integral relationship between the Faiyum and Sobek is highlighted via this text, and his far reaching influence is seen in localities that are outside of the Faiyum as well; a portion of the book is copied on the Upper Egyptian (meaning southern Egyptian) Temple of Kom Ombo.[22]
In popular culture [ edit ]
Gallery [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]
Beinlich, Horst. Das Buch vom Fayum: zum religiösen Eigenverständnis einer ägyptischen Landschaft. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1991.
Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1991. Dolzani, Claudia. Il Dio Sobk. Roma: Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, 1961.
. Roma: Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, 1961. Kockelmann, Holger. Der Herr der Seen, Sümpfe und Flussläufe: Untersuchungen zum Gott Sobek und den ägyptischen Krokodilgötter-Kulten von den Anfängen bis zur Römerzeit. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2018.
Media related to Sobek at Wikimedia CommonsNCAA tournament: Michigan State vs. Miami - March 17, 2017
Michigan State and head coach Tom Izzo will play at Florida during the 2018-19 season as the return trip of a home-and-home contract between the schools.
(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)
Michigan State basketball's 2017-18 schedule will be taxing, but a trip to Gainesville won't be part of it.
An MSU official confirmed to MLive on Monday that the Spartans' originally scheduled game at Florida next season has been pushed to the 2018-19 season.
Previously, Michigan State was slated to play the return trip on a home-and-home contract between the schools this upcoming season. The Gators previously played in East Lansing in 2015-16.
Instead, due to a scheduling crunch, MSU and Florida moved the game to 2018-19.
The change came amid the need for symmetry in the schedule, both in the number of games being played in a short amount of time and home/road balance.
MSU is trying to navigate some significant scheduling changes. The Big Ten Tournament is being played a week earlier than usual this season -- on February 28-March 4, 2018 -- in order for the event to be held at Madison Square Garden. Because of that curveball, and to still accommodate an 18-game Big Ten schedule, all league teams are playing two conference games in early December this season.
Think Big Ten basketball is starting early? Just wait until 2017-18 Next year, Big Ten teams will likely play two league games before Christmas.
Those games are expected to land on the first week of December -- in the heart of non-conference play -- with all Big Ten teams playing one home game and one road game.
Shoehorning in a trip to Florida amid such a crunch proved daunting.
A replacement game on MSU's 2017-18 schedule for the postponed UF trip is still being finalized, along with a few other openings on the Spartans' schedule.
Of the known games that are set, Tom Izzo's team will be well-tested.
One season after falling at Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Michigan State will again face the Blue Devils in the Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago on Nov. 14. Izzo is 1-10 all-time against Mike Krzyzewski.
From Nov. 23-26, MSU will play three games in the Phil Knight Invitational, a Nike-organized event in Portland consisting of two brackets of eight teams playing games at Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The brackets have not yet been released, but other participants include Arkansas, Butler, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Portland, Portland State, Stanford and Texas.
While the Spartans will avoid having Duke and Ohio State in their bracket, they could, in fact, end up facing Florida, after all.
MSU will play in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge after the trip to Portland, most likely on Nov. 29. Since the Spartans played at Duke last year, they're anticipating a home game in 2017-18.
Then Michigan State will play its two aforementioned December conference games.
On Dec. 16, the Spartans will partake in a doubleheader at the new Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. They'll face Oakland, while Michigan and Detroit Mercy play the other game.
The remainder of MSU's 2017-18 schedule remains to-be-announced.
Looking ahead, by moving the Florida game to 2018-19, Michigan State will likely play at least two true road games against high-major competition in non-conference play. The Spartans will assumingly be on the docket for a road date in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge that season.What happens when you post a threatening status on ‘the book of faces’ AKA Facebook? What happens if you write on your friend’s wall that you are going to kill him? Would the result differ if you added a friendly emoticon at the end of the sentence? Are you a criminal? Or are you protected by free speech and The First Amendment?
This is discussed in Elonis v. United States. A case in which a thirty-one-year-old man was convicted in 2011 for a series of threatening Facebook posts against his ex-wife, a fellow employee, and the FBI. The significance of this case is enormous, as it could potentially change the way the law deals with online threats and recalibrate the power of the First Amendment regarding the internet.
Do we need a subjective intent to threaten? Or is it enough to show that a “reasonable person” would regard the statement as threatening? When is speech on social media protected by The First Amendment, and when will you be convicted and shipped off to jail? There’s a fine line between the two.
The facts
In 2010, Elonis’ wife decided to leave him, taking their two young children with her. Things immediately took a turn for the worse, when soon after, Elonis also lost his job after a female employee filed a series of sexual harassment reports against him.
After those reports were filed and Elonis was sent home, he decided that the best thing he could possibly do, considering the circumstances, was to post on Facebook a picture of himself with the said employee at a Halloween event. The photo showed him holding a knife to her neck and he added then following in the description “I wish.”
Afterwards, Elonis decided to divert his worthy Facebook posts towards his ex-wife. He lovingly wrote the following about this wife: “If I only knew then what I know now… I would have smothered your ass with a pillow. Dumped your body in the back seat. Dropped you off in Toad Creek and made it look like a rape and murder.” Elonis was alwys quick to wave The First Amendment flag, stating that he was exercising his constitutional right to freedom of speech.
One thing led to another and eventually Elonis successfully got the attention of the FBI. Of course he thought that the best possible thing he could do would be best to insult and threaten them as well.
Things progressed, Elonis was sent to prison and the case made it to the United States Supreme court.
What did Elonis have to say for himself in court?
Elonis’ main defence was that he wasn’t in any way serious and was merely unleashing his discomfort and frustration online, on Facebook. He claimed that seeing his rants as a crime would essentially turn The First Amendment on it’s head and rewrite the status quo regarding freedom of speech. Chief Justice Roberts elaborated on this claim and stated that:
It shows that he was going to do something dangerous. It’s a good thing that he had this outlet of the internet so he didn’t have to do it.
What did the Department of Justice have to say?
The Department of Justice, states that the circumstances and the context are the crucial factors. Elonis’ true subjective intentions are irrelevant. What matters is whether his words caused fear in hearts and minds of the people he targeted, and whether objectively, a “reasonable person” would understand the statement as a threat. The prosecution argues that Elonis’ words were in fact a “true threat” and therefore The First Amendment won’t be able to bail him out.
Why is this huge?
Considering that Facebook was founded way back in 2004, it’s surprising that only now, 10 years later, this issue has made it to the United States Supreme Court. This case is likely to set a precedent that is relevant for each and every person with internet access. How will the law distinguish between what is protected by The First Amendment and what isn’t. With trash talk about politicians and celebrities on their official Facebook pages becoming the norm, this is a big deal. Research shows that 24% of adult American Internet users have been exposed to some form of online threats. Does this mean that the reaming 76% of adult American internet users spend their days writing those threats?
If the court sides with Elonis, they are essentially giving the green light for such harassment. If they rule against Elonis, there is going to be real uncertainty as to what is protected under The First Ammendment and what is not.
What does this mean for us?
The Supreme Court is yet to issue a final verdict. It’s hard to predict which way this case is going to go, as the Justices have a real lack of understanding when it comes to new technologies and Internet issues. This sometimes leads to absurd rulings – see the Riley v California case on cell phone searches.
The real question is what is a true threat? Justice Kennedy said:
I’m not sure that the Court did either the law or the English language much of a good service when it said “true threat.” It could mean so many things. It could mean that you really intend to carry it out, A; you really intend to intimidate the person; or that no one could possibly believe it.
Another question that needs to be answered is, what happens if a threat is aimed at person A, who doesn’t find the text threatening but a third party (person B) sees the text as a threat? For example, there is a pending case involving a couple of Texas teenagers who were in a video game chat room. One called the other one crazy, apparently for something that he said about a video game, and the other one responded: “Yeah, I’m crazy; I’m going to shoot up a kindergarten and eat one of their still beating hearts.”
Both of them understood this was sarcasm, but as it happens, there was a woman in Canada who was watching. She reported them to the authorities. He was arrested and held for four and a half months before he was eventually let out, but he is still facing trial.
We can’t wait to read the final verdict. Until it’s decided, let us know what you think in the comments below.The first demonstration that a single adult stem cell can self-renew in a mammal was reported at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco.
The transplanted adult stem cell and its differentiated descendants restored lost function to mice with hind limb muscle tissue damage.
The adult stem cells used in the study, conducted at Stanford University, were isolated from a mixed population of satellite cells in the skeletal muscle of mice.
The skeletal adult muscle stem cells (MusSC), which live just under the membrane that surrounds muscle fibers, normally respond to tissue damage by giving rise to progenitor cells that become myoblasts, fusing into myofibers to repair the tissue damage.
The scientists transplanted the MusSC into special immune-suppressed "nude" mice whose muscle satellite cells had been wiped out in a hind limb by irradiation.
The mice would only be able to repair injury if the transplanted MuSC "took." The scientists, Alessandra Sacco and Helen Blau, had genetically engineered the transplanted MusSC to express Pax7 and luciferase proteins. As a result, every transplanted cell glowed under ultraviolet light and was easy to trace.
"To be able to detect the presence of the cells by bioluminescence was really a breakthrough," says Blau. "It taught us so much more. We could see how the cells were responding, and really monitor their dynamics."
Through luminescent imaging as well as quantitative and kinetic analyses, Sacco and Blau tracked each transplanted stem cell as it rapidly proliferated and engrafted its progeny into the irradiated muscle tissue.
The scientists then injured the regenerated tissue, setting off massive waves of muscle cell growth and repair, and subsequently showed that the MuSC and descendents rescued the second animal's lost muscle healing function.
After isolating the luciferase-glowing muscle stem cells from the transplanted animal, the scientists duplicated, or cloned, the cells in the lab. Like the original MuSC, the cloned copies were intact and capable of self-renewal.
"We are thrilled with the results," says Sacco. "It's been known that these satellite cells are crucial for the regeneration of muscle tissue, but this is the first demonstration of self-renewal of a single cell."
The ability to isolate and then transplant skeletal adult muscle stems cells could have a wide impact in treating not only a variety of muscle wasting diseases such as muscular dystrophy but also severe muscle injuries or loss of |
the best.
For Kyon, Haruhi herself becomes the solution to boredom. No matter how intelligent or how perceptive he is (and he is), he'll never quite figure her out. Not even touching all of that Haruhi-might-be-God stuff, he's as baffled by Haruhi at times as he would be by the arrival of an alien spacecraft, complete with futuristic ray guns and bio-mechanical parts. She's his UFO (Undeniable Female Other).
Haruhi tries to fight boredom head-on, but she never quite succeeds. She thinks that only the existence of supernatural elements could possibly interest her; since the world seems to bore her, she makes the mistake of thinking that she needs something outside of the world to interest her. Like many people, she fails to realize that there are some things in this plain ole', meat-and-potatoes world that she hasn't experienced yet, and they are game-changers; they will leave no dendrite untouched when they systematically blow your mind. Sometimes, people give up on the world before they've given the world a chance to bring it's A-game.
In the moment when Kyon confesses that he likes it when she wears a ponytail, Haruhi unconsciously realizes something: that more than she cares about the existence of spacemen and time travelers, she cares about whether or not this guy- this frustratingly logical guy who regards everything with a cool detachment and never loses his sense of self- would ever lose himself in her. That Kyon, who never participates directly, but provides the wryest of commentary on the participation of everyone else, would fess up to what his personal turn-on was. When he kisses her, the new world that Haruhi was creating evaporates because it's redundant now; because when the person you love loves you back, it's a new world just for you.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has basically taken the position that Evangelion held for years as THE show that everyone talks about. Both deal with a kind of personal apocalypse, only in my view, Haruhi deals with it in a more mature way. While Evangelion was left unfinished, in the sense of being literally unfinished- in the sense that they literally didn't finish painting the cels- Haruhi is finished perfectly. We shouldn't be able to go back to the world before episode 14 (or 6, or 35, whatever the fuck it is), because it's a new world for them now. You can say things remain the same because they haven't acknowledged how they feel, even to themselves, but I think that's belied by Haruhi's ponytail the next day; both because she wanted him to see it, and because of his smile when he does.
Now, I'm not completely naive. I know that the anime made lots of money, therefore it got a second season, etc. That's life-- Kyoto Animation has plenty of bills to pay, I imagine. But it's not at all surprising to me, as it seems to have been for a lot of fans, that half of the second season was basically wasted on a pointless, masturbatory exercise. When you communicate one of the greater truths about life in one season, what is there left to do? The story shows us that, rather than long for a world that will never exist, with the right person we can create our own fascinating, baffling, exasperating, exhilarating world, customized just for us. And in MY world, this show is over.
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Click to open photo gallery:Record Store Day 2018 is here and we are here to help you to make the most of it!
Most of our tips for effective Record Store Day shopping come down to preparation, getting a little feisty when you need to, and perhaps a little cunning.
If you don’t feel like leaving the house, you can find all Record Store Day releases as they become available on Discogs here.
Many of you will be seasoned veterans and will have your own routines, strategies, and tactics for getting hold of what you want. Share below!
Here are our tips for beating the chaos and getting what you want on Record Store Day:
1. Plan out which record stores you want to get to before Record Store Day
Better yet, make a timetable. Be realistic – do you really want to waste an hour traveling across town? Time is money and money is records. The Vinylhub interactive map will help you with this task.
2. Check public transport or traffic impediments
Ever planned your journey down to the minute, only show up and find ‘planned engineering works’ have made the only parts of the city worth visiting near impossible to reach? Check what’s going on with your public transport links, roads, highways, bike paths ahead of time.
3. Make a list of the releases you really want
Know what’s available and what you’ve got to get before Record Store Day hits. Better yet, make it a prioritized list of needs, wants, and maybe-for-the-right-price/if-you-see-it records. There’ll be loud music, people talking, distractions – being armed with a list will help you stay focused on your mission.
4. Get there early.
Duh-doy. I know it’s Saturday and you want to sleep in. That’s not on the agenda on Record Store Day. Not if you’re going to get your hands on a copy of that super rare soul 7-inch Third Man Records will be releasing.
5. Eat a decent breakfast.
You’re going to need your strength. That means protein, carbs, fibre, omega 3, vitamin B. Ok, so I don’t know anything about nutrition, but you sure as hell don’t want to be ducking out to get a bagel at 9.30am, so eat up.
6. Be prepared to apply force
But just the right amount. I’m a fan of the sly elbow – just enough to get where I want to be and look at what I want to look at, and perhaps make them think “Did she just…?” but not enough for them actually say it. You definitely do not want to draw attention to yourself, or worse – get yourself kicked out before you get what you came for. Subtlety is key. Lift weights for a few days before (but not the really heavy kind) and practice with your dog.
7. Bring decoy treats
A strategically placed fun-sized Snickers in front of the Ed Sheeran records could be the perfect distraction to herd people out of your way so you can browse your desired section in peace.
Hot tip: save some for yourself (even if you followed #5, if you’re doing Record Store Day right you’ll be burning mega calories and you need your energy).
8. Dig deeper
Yeah, Record Store Day releases are cool, but records aren’t just for Record Store Day. Have a proper dig and find some gems. Nothing is more satisfying than taking a chance on a record and finding the most perfect blend of sounds that you never knew existed. Get obscure and buy records with and without the RSD sticker.
Use these tips to get what you want at your local record store – or outsmart the crowds; stay home and shop on Discogs!Update 11/8/18: On November 7, The Trump administration issued final rules allowing virtually any employer to claim a religious or moral exemption and deny any employee insurance coverage for contraception. This fight isn't over. We'll continue to demand equal access to reproductive care – in the streets and in the courts.
Donald Trump opened the floodgates to discrimination in the name of religion with his so-called “religious freedom” executive order. The first wave has arrived – and it’s a direct attack on contraception access.
Trump’s new rules threaten to gut the benefit ensuring that all insurance plans cover birth control at no cost – all under the guise of religious “liberty.” No one should have to pay for their bosses’ religious beliefs. That’s why the ACLU is suing the Trump administration – and why we need you to take action now.
The rule must go through a public comment process – which means that we have a key moment to raise our voices and make this rule so toxic that they have to drop it.
The Affordable Care Act contraceptive benefit was meant to advance women’s health and equality. But the new rule proves once again that women’s health and equality are not on the Trump administration’s agenda.
Here are some lowlights:
The new rules authorize an employer to deny its employees contraceptive coverage if it has a religious or moral objection. It also allows universities to deny this coverage to their students.
The new rules suggest women won’t suffer because they can still access contraception through safety-net programs like Title X and Medicaid – two programs that have been under steady attack from Congress and the White House.
The rules reveal the administration’s belief that even if contraception coverage furthers gender equality, that’s not a good enough reason to ensure that women get it.
The vendetta mounted by President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and their anti-women gang is a coordinated assault on our rights and liberties. These new rules pervert the definition of religious liberty and disrupt progress toward gender equality. That’s why we’ll see Trump in court.
We deserve better — and we’re going to have to fight for it. Submit your public comment now and put your values on the record.
NOTE: When you submit a public comment, your comment and the information you submit may be visible as part of the public record.“Alicia and Corry” CBS
Twilight Zone Poetry No.1 (The Lonely)
S.A.Carter Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 9, 2016
___________________________________________________________________
I pieced this car together, four years of my hard work.
Built it out of old scraps, blood and meteor dust.
There’s nothing left here to keep me sane.
Waiting for that ship to come and take me outta this place.
Trapped on this asteroid, millions of miles away,
Sentenced with fifty years to gaze the stars and count the days.
I see that ship land, feel the rush of blood.
It’s been over three months without one sign of love.
“Allenby!’ I cry out…loud and shrill,
“Allenby, it’s been ages since you’ve landed here!”
“Stay awhile, play a game of chess!”
A hand of poker cards pressed against my beating chest.
A mere quarter hour, they make their quick escape,
Leaving behind fresh supplies and a shiny crate.
Crack open this metal box, unveil the female machine.
Staring at me deeply…blue eyes like an ocean scene.
I ask it what it is, she says that she’s like me.
But she’s nothing but electrodes, wires and circuitry.
A lie to keep me sane, a false entity…
A giant hunk of metal trying it’s best to relate to me.
Dying of loneliness, fighting the urge to love.
The sun is shriveling my brain, I don’t know where to turn.
She calls out to me, they’ve named it Alicia,
She claims to feel emotions, she says, “It’s nice to meet ya”.
She chips cracks in my wall, with every programmed smile.
I let my guard down, we’ll both be here for awhile.
I teach her constellations, my Gynoid companion.
We pass the time here having picnics in the canyon.
Years go by and by, I don’t much care to count.
But soon enough that supply ship will be due for another round.
She programs excitement, she knows it’s Captain Allenby,
But nothing really matters as long as she stays here with me.
Allenby’s ecstatic, he’s jumping over hurdles.
He reaches me with news that I’ve been officially fully pardoned.
I’ve got twenty minutes and only fifteen pounds to carry.
They say I have to leave my girl alone in this prison town.
“I won’t leave without her, she’s more human than you!”
“Just give her one chance to show you what she has to prove!”
She’s on the ground calling out with her metal mouth,
She only says my name, before he goes to shut her down.
It’s over now, and at last I’m free.
Back on earth, but…my mind never came back with me.
I’m lonelier than ever, still imprisoned…a wingless dove.
I’ll never adjust to this life without Alicia’s cold cyborg love.Voters in Sedgwick and 16 other Kansas counties will go to the polls on Tuesday in a special election to fill the open 4th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Here’s what you need to know to have a smooth Election Day.
Wait, we just had an election for Congress. Why are we doing this again?
In November, Kansas’ 4th District voters elected Republican Mike Pompeo to his fourth term as their congressman. About two weeks later, the newly elected President Trump, also a Republican, picked Pompeo to head the Central Intelligence Agency.
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Pompeo took the job and resigned his seat in Congress on Jan. 23 after the Senate confirmed his appointment to the CIA. That leaves the seat vacant, so Gov. Sam Brownback scheduled a special election to replace Pompeo for April 11.
Yes, but why do I have to vote again?
Blame the Founding Fathers. When they set up the government, they envisioned the House of Representatives as being “the people’s house” of Congress. So only the people can fill a vacancy there.
I don’t remember having to do this before.
Unless you’re at least 88, you haven’t.
This is the first congressional special election in Kansas since 1950, when state highway commissioner Myron V. George beat lawyer Barnes Griffith in a special election to replace Rep. Herbert A. Meyer, who died in office.
OK, so what are my choices?
You’ve got three: Republican Ron Estes, Democrat James Thompson or Libertarian Chris Rockhold.
Where can I find out about the candidates?
The Wichita Eagle and Kansas.com have profiled all three candidates, and you can find those articles online at:
▪ Thompson: http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article140789033.html
▪ Estes: http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article140790238.html
▪ Rockhold: http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article140788533.html
To see where they stand, in their own words, on issues such as gun rights, health care, Social Security and immigration, go to The Eagle’s Voter Guide at kansas.com/election.
You also will find other coverage of the race on the election page at Kansas.com.
Who can vote in this election?
Every eligible voter in the 4th District. That includes 16 full counties and part of one in south-central Kansas.
The full counties are Barber, Butler, Chautauqua, Comanche, Cowley, Edwards, Elk, Greenwood, Harper, Harvey, Kingman, Kiowa, Pratt, Sedgwick, Stafford and Sumner.
Part of southwest Pawnee County is also in the 4th District. A good rule of thumb there is if Pompeo was on your ballot in November, you’re eligible to vote in this election.
If you don’t remember that, you can call the Pawnee County clerk’s office at 620-285-3721. They can check your registration to see whether you should be voting in this election and tell you where your polling place is.
Do I vote in the same place I did in November?
Generally, yes, although there are a few changes because some sites weren’t available Tuesday. Here are the polling places that have been moved for this election only. The sites are in Wichita unless otherwise noted.
▪ Maranatha Worship Center polling site has moved to Woodland Lakes Community Church, 770 S. Greenwich Road.
▪ The Mount at Catholic Charities polling site has moved to All Saints Catholic Church, 3205 E. Grand.
▪ Congregation Emanu-El polling site has moved to Edgemoor Recreation Center, 5815 E. Ninth St.
▪ First Mennonite Brethren Church polling site has moved to Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 7901 W. 21st St.
▪ Church of the Magdalen polling site has moved to Holiday Inn Northeast, 2340 N. Greenwich Road.
▪ Central Community Church polling site has moved to three sites, depending on which precinct you live in: Glen Park Christian Church, 2757 S. Glen (Precinct 404 voters); Westwood Presbyterian Church, 8007 W. Maple (Precinct 504 voters); Olivet Baptist Church, 3440 W. 13th St. (Precinct 616 voters).
▪ First Christian Church, Sedgwick, polling site has moved to Valley Center Christian Church, 1801 E. Fifth St., Valley Center.
▪ Haysville Activity Center polling site has moved to Studio at Illusions Productions, 1939 E. Dietrich, Haysville.
▪ Maize City Building polling site has moved to Ark Church, 5501 N. Maize Road, Maize.
Can I just look up my polling place?
In Sedgwick County, there’s an app for that. Actually, two apps.
You can access either one from the election office home page at http://sedgwickcounty.org/elections.
You can click the “Where do I vote” link in the upper left part of the page or the “Check my polling location” link under “Important Updates” in the middle of the web page. Pro tip: If you use the “Check my polling location” app, you need to click on the magnifying glass in the upper right corner to get to the form to fill in your address.
I’m not really a computer person.
You can call the election office in Sedgwick County at 316-660-7100 and they’ll tell you where to vote.
Sedgwick County is the only county in the 4th District that has a separate election office. In other counties, call your county clerk.
Dang. I went to the wrong polling place. What do I do now?
You have two choices. You can go to the correct polling place, or, if you’re at any polling place anywhere in your home county, you can ask for a provisional ballot (they must give you one).
State law requires that your provisional vote be counted in any races you’re eligible to vote on.
In Tuesday’s election, there’s only one race on the ballot, and every voter in the congressional district is eligible to vote in it.
Election officials prefer you vote at the correct polling place because provisional ballots are an administrative headache. But if it’s a choice between voting provisional or not voting, do what you gotta do.
When are the polls open?
Polls in Sedgwick County open at 6 a.m. Tuesday, and polls elsewhere open at 7 a.m. They stay open until the last person in line at 7 p.m. gets to vote.
What do I need to bring?
A state-issued photo ID. A driver’s license or nondriver Department of Motor Vehicles identification card from any state will suffice.
Also accepted: U.S. passports, military and public-employee ID badges, tribal ID, public-assistance ID, college and university student ID, concealed-carry gun licenses issued by any state.
The ID doesn’t have to have an expiration date. But if it does, in most cases, it has to be unexpired at the time of voting. Only voters 65 or older can use expired ID.
I hear we’ve got new voting machines in Sedgwick County.
Not to worry. You still make your selections using an electronic touch screen.
The only significant difference between the old and new voting machines is that the new ones print out your ballot, which you can then review and feed into a nearby counting machine. If you find you need assistance, ask a poll worker for help.
What’s the turnout supposed to be like?
Election officials are predicting a light turnout because there’s only one race on the ballot and the timing is out-of-cycle. Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman said she’ll be thrilled if turnout tops 20 percent.
How do I find out who won?
Kansas.com will be updating results as they are reported by election officials throughout election night.A hacker affiliated with the "LulzSec movement" has dumped data online belonging to the Costa Rica Ministry of Culture and Foreign Affairs.
The hacker, Hanom1960 (@hanomlulzsec on Twitter), managed to breach the database of the official rree.go.cr government website. As Hanom1960 told Softpedia in a private conversation, the breach took place in the past few days and is part of the #OpPuraVida campaign launched at the start of January 2016.
LulzSec takes aim at weak Costa Rican government
This campaign's message centers around CAFTA, or the Central America Free Trade Agreement, a state-level partnership that binds all participating countries to a list of pretty shady economic agreements, which many have argued to give foreign companies more rights than a country's own citizens.
As you'd imagine, something as nefarious as this has quickly drawn the attention of online hacktivism groups like Anonymous and LulzSec, even if the members of the two groups don't tend to agree and get along with each other that much.
Even if Hanom1960 confirmed to Softpedia that LulzSec is not officially working together with Anonymous on this campaign, fortunately for Costa Rica, coincidence has it that both groups are now planning campaigns against the same target, the Costa Rican government.
In LulzSec's view, the government is putting their citizens at risk by allowing to be pressured by the US into signing the CAFTA deal, in spite of the fact that "CAFTA would be a setback for unemployed labor and human rights in Central America," as Hanom1960 described it.
Data breach includes government officials' information
Taking a closer look at the data breach itself, we can see details like real names, usernames, email addresses, ID card type and numbers, telephone numbers, and even some hashed passwords.
Details for at least 530 users were included, and possibly more since most data was overlapping. Some information seemed to belong to government employees while other data looked like it was associated with some kind of Web profile. The official website lists multiple sections with login forms, and we couldn't tie the dumped data to a specific service.
The incident featured only a data breach, followed by a data dump, with no defacement.
"I see many mistakes in [their IT] systems. It is something that does not concern Governments and [we] must be let them see that they are not invulnerable," Hanom1960 told Softpedia.
If you can speak Spanish, some details on OpPuraVida are presented in this video from Anonymous, below.Chief Victor “Buddy” Amato, a top animal welfare officer in New Jersey, allegedly sent his staff “derogatory, degrading, and racist statements” in text messages that also disparaged gays, women, and Jews. When a female member of the department complained, a lawsuit says, she was pushed out.
Mel Evans / AP
Chief Victor “Buddy” Amato, who runs a law enforcement agency in New Jersey enforcing animal cruelty laws, sent a slew of racist and homophobic text messages to his staff, according to a lawsuit filed in Monmouth County Superior Court. The “pervasive” messages included themes that black people resemble primates, according to the suit, filed on March 2. Other messages allegedly disparaged LGBT people and casually referenced rape. “I have never in my life seen anything that bad,” Sue DesMarais, who first became a sworn officer in 1997 and started as a volunteer investigator for the animal-protection agency last August, told BuzzFeed News. Her suit names Amato and the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Under New Jersey law, the SPCA is a law enforcement agency. “For a police chief to come out and put out those vile, hate-filled text messages — it shouldn’t exist," DesMarais said. DesMarais shared screenshots of nearly two dozen text messages described in the suit with BuzzFeed News, including one that compares Michelle Obama’s face to a chimp’s. Another features rhyming invective, allegedly signed by Amato, that says civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton “should find a bullet marked for his head.”
The message allegedly says: “He’s a bobble head walking turd! Who smells like shit with every word! That life is wrong and people hate, his color and race and his followers fate! But as we know this pice [sic] of dung, this walking condom of sub human scum! Should find a bullet marked for his head! Right through his bobble an ounce of lead! Amato allegedly signs off, "From the book of Bud!” “What he is putting out is there is the exact stereotype of why people hate police officers,” DesMarais said. “He is putting this hate into the world. This is what gets cops killed.” Other messages focus on policing, including Amato allegedly warning his staff on Nov. 14, 2014, about dangers of patrolling “racially mixed areas." Another text, from December 2014, features a famously doctored image of a protester holding a sign that purportedly says, "No mother should have to fear for her son's life every time he robs a store." Another text message, according to the lawsuit, alludes to dogs urinating on Michael Brown, the black man whose killing by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer triggered national protests. "That's why they left him in the street for a couple hours," the message allegedly said. "They did not want to disturb the dogs that stopped to take a hard piss!"
Reached by phone, Amato said he was unaware of the lawsuit and referred questions to his director at SPCA. “I have got no comment on any of that,” he told BuzzFeed News. Asked specifically he had any comment on allegations that he sent messages that were allegedly racist, intimated the homicide of Sharpton, and compared first lady Obama to a primate, Amato said, “None whatsoever.” Officers for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals derive authority from Title 4 of New Jersey state law, which allows the them to carry firearms, arrest suspects, and issue court summonses. Working under authority of the statewide agency, Chief Amato leads the Monmouth County SPCA. After a 12-year career in law enforcement working for several New Jersey townships, interrupted when she was injured in the line of duty, DesMarais joined Monmouth County SPCA last year as a volunteer investigator working under Amato. DesMarais intended to work her way into becoming an officer. “It was such a perfect fit for me — to still feel productive in the law enforcement community and be involved in animal welfare,” DesMarais said. But DesMarais became increasingly alarmed, she told BuzzFeed News, as the text messages persisted. One message appears to fabricate a Kwanzaa mythology involving “three not so wise men [who] brought welfare checks to the baby chimp Cornelius. And when Cornelius first spokeyou could hear him say which one of you raped mymother?" Another allegedly refers to a “gay slope” and an Asian man.
Another message, apparently adapting a Christmas song, allegedly invokes Santa, sodomy, and a “guy with a slit for a dick.” Yet another asks for advice on hygiene products from female agents after Amato ostensibly announced plans for a “sex change operation.”
DesMarais told BuzzFeed News she filed complaints about the messages with SPCA authorities on Jan. 12 and Jan. 16. But she said at that point she was “cut off" by her superiors, so she sought help from Garden State Equality, a New Jersey-based LGBT rights group, and filed the lawsuit. Amato declined to say whether he was aware of internal complaints filed in January. Two people who answered the phone at the Monmouth County SCPA, which is also named in the lawsuit, said the only person authorized to speak on the matter was CEO Jerry Rosenthal. Rosenthal did not respond to BuzzFeed News' requests to comment on the lawsuit. “The messages were harassing to Plaintiff in that they were severe and pervasive, they directly attacked her gender and her sexual orientation and/or they were intended to harass,” the suit said. “The regular, pervasive and continuous nature of the illegal and intentional conduct was done with full knowledge, consent and participating of supervising employees, including and not limited to Defendant Chief Amato." When DesMarais reported her boss to agency directors at the Monmouth County SPCA, the lawsuit alleged they retaliated against her for speaking up. “The Plaintiff was no longer given work," according to the suit, "and was constructively terminated from her employment."Get ready to play a near-infinite number of side-scrolling 2D Mario courses anytime, anywhere!
Earn in-game medals in 100 built-in courses and access recommended courses from the Super Mario Maker™ game on the Wii U™ console*. Plus, design courses and share them with other players via the StreetPass™ feature and local wireless**!
Want your cannons to shoot coins? Go for it! In this game, you call the shots, and simple touch-screen controls and interactive tutorials make designing courses a snap. Learn design tips and tricks from Mary O. and Yamamura, then share your masterpieces via the StreetPass™ feature and local wireless. Collaborating has never been easier now that you can share incomplete courses with other players. Finish off a course together and a special icon will commemorate the collaboration. That's one of many reasons that this is the must-play portable Mario™ game for inventive groups of friends and anyone yearning for never-ending Super Mario™ magic.by Laurie Sullivan, Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, April 8, 2013
It takes bandwidth to build the next-generation Internet. Austin, Texas, the home of SXSW Interactive, will become the next lucky city to give it a try with help from Google Fiber, which supports 1 gigabit-per-second Internet access for computers and connected TVs. While the online buzz points to Austin, job postings to support the network lead to Ontario, Canada.
Naming Austin as the next city to receive faster Internet speeds makes sense. As the service expands to nearby cities, Google's service could find support from some of the biggest tech and telecommunications companies in the United States -- namely Dell, AT&T, and Sony. All call Texas home either to their respective headquarters, distribution or repair centers. Businesses and consumers in service areas have an option to pay for faster services or get free Internet access at today's average speeds.
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Crunching data and turning the signals into real-time marketing tactics takes bandwidth, along with the increasing amount of video and rich media ads. The real-time bidding platforms -- and marketers looking to immediately connect with brand loyalists -- take processing power.
As Pivotal Research Group Analyst Brian Wieser says, providing advanced Internet speed services to consumers and businesses "can help to drive the evolution of the Web, providing Google with a first look at how it may need to evolve itself." He also points out that Austin -- home to the SXSW Interactive festival -- will serve as a showcase for its services to politicians and regulators.
Analysts are more concerned with how the fiber project will influence stock prices. It makes sense. "Our concern about this initiative in context of Google's stock comes back to the same cost and margin compression issues we have been highlighting in recent months, and which are reinforced by our colleague's view on over-builders," Wieser writes in a research note.
A quick search on Google's job site doesn't return openings in Austin related to fiber, but those seeking employment on the project will find an opening for a test engineer in Waterloo-Kitchener, ON, Canada. Test Engineer for Google fiber will create test strategies and write test plans to validate the products with a focus on mobile. The job requires coding to develop automated scripts in Java/Python/ObjectiveC to test out Fiber Android and iOS applications.
With a little more bandwidth, how can search engine marketing evolve? And what type of Internet technology will eat up the most bandwidth?By, 0
PARIS—Italian researchers from the Energy and Propulsion Laboratory (eProLab) at the University of Salerno have developed a kit, dubbed the HySolarKit, which converts conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) two-wheel cars into a four-wheel drive hybrid.
Currently prototyped and tested on a FIAT Punto, the hybridization kit consists of two in-wheel motors replacing conventional passive rear wheels, flexible photovoltaic panels mounted on the roof and the car bonnet, a battery and some control electronics.
Lead project researcher and professor at the Industrial Engineering Departement of Salerno's University, Gianfranco Rizzo says the prototype served as a proof-of-concept to study the upgrade feasibility from ICE to hybrid vehicles and to work on the control algorithms.
Together with research partners, he has set up the startup EProInn (short for Energy and Propulsion Innovation - www.eproinn.com) and is now seeking funding through the Equity Crowdfunding platform Assiteca Crowd to produce and commercialize the kit.
The spin-off company is also looking at a possible partnership with Landi Renzo SpA, a company that designs and sells Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and Compressed natural gas (CNG) alternative automotive fuel systems and components and whose distribution network could give a boost to EProInn's visibility.
Initial tests have shown that during sunny days, the on-board photovoltaic panels can contribute up to 30% of the overall energy requested for vehicle traction, when vehicles are used for approximately one hour per day in urban areas (all this without relying on a lagging EV recharging infrastructure).
This has two effects on the ICE car, reducing fuel consumption and emissions while improving performance thanks to the added traction.
Currently, the hybridization kit sports 18% efficient flexible single-crystal silicon HF65 photovoltaic panels manufactured by Enecom, adding to the car about 270W of solar power. But Rizzo is confident that by the time the kit matures to a full production run, he'll be able to choose more efficient solar panels at decreased costs.
The researcher has published several papers on the optimization of power distribution across the four wheels, correlated with the driver's behaviour. Together with his colleagues, he developed a mathematical model for the real-time identification of the active gear, using only data measured by the On Board Diagnostics (OBD) port to effectively detect the driver's intention (based on pedal position, vehicle speed, engine speed and other variables) and deliver the appropriate torque to the rear wheels.
"We don't enter the vehicle's ECU because we don't want to invalidate the manufacturer's guarantee, but we use fuzzy logic to interact with the vehicle's management unit. We also plan to apply ABS to the rear wheels and in principle, the vehicle's stability could be improved".
The kit will be priced to be on par with the typical difference between today's ICE and hybrid vehicles, around 3000 euros. The investment payback for consumers is estimated to be within 3 to 4 years for the hybrid configuration but could be shortened when using the plug-in option (recharging from the grid).
"The good thing is that you could make your vehicle greener without having to buy a new and more expansive one" emphasized Rizzo. After the retrofit, your ICE car may even qualify as a hybrid under new legislations that restrict the circulation of conventional cars in some cities during carbon emissions peaks, hopes Rizzo.
In principle, the kit could be sold B2C, directly to consumers, but preferably, Rizzo would want to license the IP for car manufacturers to integrate the hybridization kit at the end of their manufacturing line.
"This would allow for a better integration and a better optimization of the fuel saving modes" he expects.
More about the HySolarKit at www.hysolarkit.com
Article originally posted on EE Times Europe.Christianity is in danger of becoming extinct in its ancient homelands because of a rising tide of sectarian attacks, a senior minister will warn on Friday.
Violence against Christian worshippers and other religious minorities by fanatics has become a “global crisis” and is the gravest challenge facing the world this century, Baroness Warsi will say.
“A mass exodus is taking place, on a Biblical scale. In some places, there is a real danger that Christianity will become extinct,” she will say at a speech at Georgetown University in Washington.
In the new year, Lady Warsi, the Minister for Faith who sits in the Cabinet, will host an international summit to draw up a plan to end the violence against Christians - particularly in the countries where the faith was born.
Writing for Telegraph.co.uk, Lady Warsi highlights the bombing of All Saints Church in Pakistan, killing 85 congregants, in September and the gun attack on a Coptic wedding party in Egypt as the latest outrages by militants who have turned “religion upon religion, sect upon sect”.
“There are parts of the world today where to be a Christian is to put your life in danger,” she writes. “From continent to continent, Christians are facing discrimination, ostracism, torture, even murder, simply for the faith they follow.
“Christian populations are plummeting and the religion is being driven out of some of its historic heartlands. In Iraq, the Christian community has fallen from 1.2m in 1990 to 200,000 today. In Syria, the horrific bloodshed has masked the haemorrhaging of its Christian population,” she says.
Terrorists are subjecting Christians in the Middle East to “collective punishment” for American foreign policy. Worshippers are now regarded as newcomers and agents of the West, despite having lived there for centuries.
The attacks come against a diverse background of political upheaval, local turf wars and social unrest – but they share the common trait of Christians becoming a “scapegoat” for extremists who are insecure in their own religious identity, she will say.
It is the same mindset that motivated the Nazis to persecute the Jews and the Communists to suppress the Russian church, she says.
Lady Warsi is the first senior British politician to draw attention to the plight of Christians in the Arab world, and will call on other Muslims to defend Christians, citing the example of Christians who defended praying Muslims in Tahrir Square during the Egyptian uprising.
“A bomb going off in a Pakistani church shouldn’t just reverberate through Christian communities; it should stir the world,” she says.
The response must be a co-ordinated international effort similar to the campaign against Apartheid and for Civil Rights in the United States, Lady Warsi will argue. Extremists must be prevented from “twisting history” by claiming co-existence is not possible. She will hold up the example of her daughter, a Muslim who attends a convent school.
Her intervention comes as church leaders become increasingly alarmed at the rising numbers of sectarian attacks on churches in the Islamic world.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has described the |
District Judge James Edwin Horton and tried in Morgan County. His appointment to the case drew local praise. The judge carried a loaded pistol in his car throughout the time he presided over these cases.[why?][57]
The two years that had passed since the first trials had not dampened community hostility for the Scottsboro Boys. But others believed they were victims of Jim Crow justice, and the case was covered by numerous national newspapers.
At the trial, some 100 reporters were seated at the press tables. Hundreds more gathered on the courthouse lawn. National Guard members in plain clothes mingled in the crowd, looking for any sign of trouble. The Sheriff's department brought the defendants to Court in a patrol wagon guarded by two carloads of deputies armed with automatic shotguns.
In the courtroom, the Scottsboro Boys sat in a row wearing blue prison denims and guarded by National Guardsmen, except for Roy Wright, who had not been convicted. Wright wore street clothes. The Birmingham News described him as "dressed up like a Georgia gigolo."[58]
Leibowitz asserted his trust in the "God fearing people of Decatur and Morgan County";[58] he made a pretrial motion to quash the indictment on the ground that blacks had been systematically excluded from the grand jury. Although the motion was denied, this got the issue in the record for future appeals. To this motion, Attorney General Thomas Knight responded, "The State will concede nothing. Put on your case."[58]
Leibowitz called the editor of the Scottsboro weekly newspaper, who testified that he'd never heard of a black juror in Decatur because "they all steal."[59] He called local jury commissioners to explain the absence of African-Americans from Jackson County juries. When Leibowitz accused them of excluding black men from juries, they did not seem to understand his accusation. It was as if the exclusion was so ordinary as to be unconscious.[60] (Note: Since most blacks could not vote after having been disenfranchised by the Alabama constitution, the local jury commissioners probably never thought about them as potential jurors, who were limited to voters.)
Leibowitz called local black professionals as witnesses to show they were qualified for jury service. Leibowitz called John Sanford, an African-American of Scottsboro, who was educated, well-spoken, and respected. The defense attorney showed that "Mr. Sanford" was evidently qualified in all manner except by virtue of his race to be a candidate for participation in a jury. During the following cross examination, Knight addressed the witness by his first name, "John." The first two times that he did so, Leibowitz asked the court to have him alter his behavior. He did not, and this insult eventually caused Leibowitz to leap to his feet saying, "Now listen, Mr. Attorney-General, I've warned you twice about your treatment of my witness. For the last time now, stand back, take your finger out of his eye, and call him mister", causing gasps from the public seated in the gallery.[61] The judge abruptly interrupted Leibowitz.[62]
While the pretrial motion to quash the indictment was denied, Leibowitz had positioned the case for appeal. The issue of composition of the jury was addressed in a second landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that race could not be used to exclude anyone from candidacy for participation on a jury anywhere in the United States. This astonished (and infuriated) many residents of Alabama and many other Southern states.
Patterson trial [ edit ]
Judge Horton called the first case against Haywood Patterson and began jury selection. Leibowitz objected that African-American jurors had been excluded from the jury pool. He called the jury commissioner to the stand, asking if there were any blacks on the juror rolls, and when told yes, suggested his answer was not honest.[59] The locals resented his questioning of the official and "chewed their tobacco meditatively."[63] The National Guard posted five men with fixed bayonets in front of Leibowitz's residence that night.[63] The jury was selected by the end of the day on Friday and sequestered in the Lyons Hotel.[63]
Attorney General Thomas Knight, Jr
A large crowd gathered outside the court house for the start of the Patterson trial on Monday, April 2. Without the "vivid detail" she had used in the Scottsboro trials, Victoria Price told her account in 16 minutes.[64] The defense had what she had said before under oath on paper, and could confront her with any inconsistencies. The only drama came when Knight pulled a torn pair of step-ins from his brief case and tossed them into the lap of a juror to support the claim of rape.[64]
Leibowitz used a 32-foot model train set up on a table in front of the witness stand to illustrate where each of the parties was during the alleged events, and other points of his defense.[64] When asked if the model in front of her was like the train where she claimed she was raped, Price cracked, "It was bigger. Lots bigger. That is a toy."[64] Leibowitz later conceded that Price was "one of the toughest witnesses he ever cross examined."[65] Her answers were evasive and derisive. She often replied, "I can't remember" or "I won't say." Once when Leibowitz confronted her with a contradiction in her testimony, she exclaimed, sticking a finger in the direction of defendant Patterson, "One thing I will never forget is that one sitting right there raped me."[64] The attorney tried to question her about a conviction for fornication and adultery in Huntsville, but the court sustained a prosecution objection.[65]
Price insisted that she had spent the evening before the alleged rape at the home of a Mrs. Callie Brochie in Chattanooga. Leibowitz asked her whether she had spent the evening in a "hobo jungle" in Huntsville, Alabama, with a Lester Carter and Jack Tiller, but she denied it. Leibowitz said that Callie Brochie was a fictional character in a Saturday Evening Post short story and suggested that Price's stay with her had been equally fictional.[66]
Victoria Price responded on cross-examination at the trial: "You're a pretty good actor yourself, Mr. Leibowitz"
As the historian James Goodman wrote:
Price was not the first hardened witness [Leibowitz] had faced, and certainly not the most depraved. Nor was she the first witness who tried to stare him down and, failing that, who seemed as if she were about to leap out of her seat and strike him. She was not the first witness to be evasive, sarcastic and crude. She was, however, the first witness to use her bad memory, truculence, and total lack of refinement, and at times, even ignorance, to great advantage.[67]
Many of the whites in the court room likely resented Leibowitz as a Jew from New York hired by the Communists, and for his treatment of a southern white woman, even a low-class one, as a hostile witness.[67] Some wondered if there was any way he could leave Decatur alive. The National Guard Captain Joe Burelson promised Judge Horton that he would protect Leibowitz and the defendants "as long as we have a piece of ammunition or a man alive."[67] Once Captain Burelson learned that a group was on their way to "take care of Leibowitz", he raised the drawbridge across the Tennessee River, keeping them out of Decatur.[citation needed]
Judge Horton learned that the prisoners were in danger from locals. Once he sent out the jury and warned the courtroom, "I want it to be known that these prisoners are under the protection of this court. This court intends to protect these prisoners and any other persons engaged in this trial."[68] Threats of violence came from the North as well. One letter from Chicago read, "When those Boys are dead, within six months your state will lose 500 lives."[69]
Dr. R.R. Bridges testifying in Decatur
Leibowitz systematically dismantled each prosecution witness' story under cross-examination. He got Dr. Bridges to admit on cross-examination that "the best you can say about the whole case is that both of these women showed they had sexual intercourse."[70] Paint Rock ticket agent W. H. Hill testified to seeing the women and the black youths in the same car, but on cross-examination admitted to not seeing the women at all until they got off the train. Posse member Tom Rousseau claimed to have seen the women and youths get off the same car but under cross-examination admitted finding the defendants scattered in various cars at the front of the train. Lee Adams testified that he had seen the fight, but later saying that he was a quarter mile from the tracks. Ory Dobbins repeated that he'd seen the women try to jump off the train, but Leibowitz showed photos of the positions of the parties that proved Dobbins could not have seen everything he claimed. Dobbins insisted he had seen the girls wearing women's clothing, but other witnesses had testified they were in overalls.[71]
The prosecution withdrew the testimony of Dr. Marvin Lynch, the other examining doctor, as "repetitive." Many years later, Judge Horton said that Dr. Lynch confided that the women had not been raped and had laughed when he examined them. He said that if he testified for the defense, his practice in Jackson County would be over. Thinking Patterson would be acquitted, Judge Horton did not force Dr. Lynch to testify, but the judge had become convinced the defendants were innocent.[72]
Defense [ edit ]
Leibowitz began his defense by calling Chattanooga resident Dallas Ramsey, who testified that his home was next to the hobo jungle mentioned earlier. He said that he had seen both Price and Bates get on a train there with a white man on the morning of the alleged rape.[73]
Train fireman Percy Ricks testified that he saw the two women slipping along the side of the train right after it stopped in Paint Rock, as if they were trying to escape the posse. Leibowitz put on the testimony of Chattanooga gynecologist, Dr. Edward A. Reisman, who testified that after a woman had been raped by six men, it was impossible that she would have only a trace of semen, as was found in this case.[74]
Leibowitz next called Lester Carter, a white man who testified that he had had intercourse with Bates. Jack Tiller, another white, said he had had sex with Price, two days before the alleged rapes. He testified that he had been on the train on the morning of the arrests. He had heard Price ask Orville Gilley, a white youth, to confirm that she had been raped. However, Gilley had told her to "go to hell." Morgan County Solicitor Wade Wright cross-examined Carter. Wright tried to get Carter to admit that the Communist Party had bought his testimony, which Carter denied. But he said that the defense attorney Joseph Brodsky had paid his rent and bought him a new suit for the trial.[75]
Five of the original nine Scottsboro defendants testified that they had not seen Price or Bates until after the train stopped in Paint Rock. Willie Roberson testified that he was suffering from syphilis, with sores that prevented him from walking, and that he was in a car at the back of the train.[citation needed]
Olen Montgomery testified that he had been alone on a tank car the entire trip, and had not known about the fight or alleged rapes. Ozie Powell said that while he was not a participant, he had seen the fight with the white teenagers from his vantage point between a box car and a gondola car, where he had been hanging on. He said he saw the white teenagers jump off the train. Roberson, Montgomery, and Powell all denied they had known each other or the other defendants before that day. Andy Wright, Eugene Williams, and Haywood Patterson testified that they had previously known each other, but had not seen the women until the train stopped in Paint Rock. Knight questioned them extensively about instances in which their testimony supposedly differed from their testimony at their trial in Scottsboro. They did not contradict themselves in any meaningful way.[76]
Haywood Patterson testified on his own behalf that he had not seen the women before stopping in Paint Rock; he withstood a cross examination from Knight who "shouted, shook his finger at, and ran back and forth in front of the defendant."[77] At one point, Knight demanded, "You were tried at Scottsboro?" Patterson snapped, "I was framed at Scottsboro." Knight thundered, "Who told you to say that?" Patterson replied, "I told myself to say it."[77]
Just after the defense rested "with reservations", someone handed Leibowitz a note. The attorneys approached the bench for a hushed conversation, which was followed by a short recess. Leibowitz called one final witness. Thus far in the trial, Ruby Bates had been notably absent. She had disappeared from her home in Huntsville weeks before the new trial, and every sheriff in Alabama had been ordered to search for her, to no avail.[62] Now, two guardsmen with bayonets opened the courtroom doors, and Bates entered, "in stylish clothes, eyes downcast."[78]
Her dramatic and unexpected entrance drew stares from the residents of the courtroom. Victoria Price, brought out for Bates to identify, glared at her. Attorney General Knight warned Price to "keep your temper."[78] Bates proceeded to testify, and explained that no rape had occurred. She said none of the defendants had touched her or even spoken to her. When asked if she had been raped on March 25, 1931, Bates said, "No sir." When asked why she had initially said she had been raped, Bates replied, "I told it just like Victoria did because she said we might have to stay in jail if we did not frame up a story after crossing a state line with men." Bates explained that Price had said "she didn't care if all the Negroes in Alabama were put in jail." This recantation seemed to be a severe blow to the prosecution.[78]
Bates admitted having intercourse with Lester Carter in the Huntsville railway yards two days before making accusations. Finally, she testified she had been in New York City and had decided to return to Alabama to tell the truth, at the urging of Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick of that city.[78]
Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick
Ruby Bates testifying.
With his eye tuned to the southern jury, Knight cross-examined her. He noted her stylish dress and demanded where she had gotten her fine clothes. When she responded that the Communist Party had paid for her clothes, any credibility she had with the jury was destroyed. Judge Horton warned spectators to stop laughing at her testimony or he would eject them.[78][citation needed]
Closing arguments [ edit ]
By the time Leibowitz closed, the prosecution had employed anti-semitic remarks to discredit him.[79] Wade Wright added to this, referring to Ruby's boyfriend Lester Carter as "Mr. Caterinsky" and called him "the prettiest Jew" he ever saw. He said, "Don't you know these defense witnesses are bought and paid for? May the Lord have mercy on the soul of Ruby Bates. Now the question in this case is this—Is justice in the case going to be bought and sold in Alabama with Jew money from New York?"[79]
Leibowitz objected and moved for a new trial. Judge Horton refused to grant a new trial, telling the jury to "put [the remarks] out of your minds."[80] One author describes Wright's closing argument as "the now-famous Jew-baiting summary to the jury."[81] He goes on to say that, "Until Wright spoke, many of the newspapermen felt that there was an outside chance for acquittal, at least a hung jury. But... From then on the defense was helpless."[81]
In his closing, Leibowitz called Wright's argument an appeal to regional bigotry, claiming talk about Communists was just to "befuddle" the jury. He described himself as a patriot, a "Roosevelt Democrat", who had served the "Stars and Stripes" in World War I, "when there was no talk of Jew or Gentile, white or black."[82] As to Wright's reference to "Jew money", Leibowitz said that he was defending the Scottsboro Boys for nothing and was personally paying the expenses of his wife, who had accompanied him.[82]
"I'm interested", Leibowitz argued, "solely in seeing that that poor, moronic colored boy over there and his co-defendants in the other cases get a square shake of the dice, because I believe, before God, they are the victims of a dastardly frame up."[83] He called Price's testimony "a foul, contemptible, outrageous lie."[83] He ended with the Lord's Prayer and a challenge to either acquit or render the death sentence—nothing in between.[83]
Attorney General Knight delivered his rebuttal, roaring that if the jury found Haywood not guilty, they ought to "put a garland of roses around his neck, give him a supper, and send him to New York City." Considering the evidence, he continued, "there can be but one verdict—death in the electric chair for raping Victoria Price."[84]
Verdict [ edit ]
The jury began deliberating Saturday afternoon and announced it had a verdict at ten the next morning, while many residents of Decatur were in church. The jury foreman, Eugene Bailey, handed the handwritten verdict to Judge Horton. The jury found the defendant guilty of rape, and sentenced Patterson to death in the electric chair.[85] Bailey had held out for eleven hours for life in prison, but in the end agreed to the death sentence.[85]
According to one account, juror Irwin Craig held out against imposition of the death penalty, because he thought that Patterson was innocent.[86]
Irwin Craig [ edit ]
Irwin "Red" Craig (died 1970) (nicknamed from the color of his hair) was the sole juror to refuse to impose the death penalty in the retrial of Haywood Patterson, one of the Scottsboro Boys, in what was then the small town of Decatur, Alabama. His son, Sonny, later recalled him as saying: "Those young men were innocent; everybody knew that but they were going to be punished for what they didn't do." The Ku Klux Klan staked a burning cross in his family yard.
He was called in to see the judge presiding over that retrial, James Horton, who exhorted him to change his vote to guilty. "If you don't, they will kill you, Red", said the judge. Craig protested: "I can't change my vote, judge." Horton replied: "Don't worry about that, I'll take care of it."[86]
Horton grants Patterson a new trial [ edit ]
The defense moved for a retrial and, believing the defendants innocent, Judge James Edwin Horton agreed to set aside the guilty verdict for Patterson. Horton ruled the rest of defendants could not get a fair trial at that time and indefinitely postponed the rest of the trials, knowing it would cost him his job when he ran for re-election.[87]
Judge Horton heard arguments on the motion for new trial in the Limestone County Court House in Athens, Alabama, where he read his decision to the astonished defense and a furious Knight:
These women are shown... to have falsely accused two Negroes... This tendency on the part of the women shows that they are predisposed to make false accusations... The Court will not pursue the evidence any further.
Horton ordered a new trial— which would turn out to be the third for Patterson.
When Judge Horton announced his decision, Knight stated that he would retry Patterson. He said that he had found Orville "Carolina Slim" Gilley, the white teenager in the gondola car, and that Gilley would corroborate Price's story in full. At Knight's request, the court replaced Judge Horton with Judge William Washington Callahan, described as a racist. He later instructed the jury in the next round of trials that no white woman would voluntarily have sex with a black man.[88]
New trials under Callahan [ edit ]
During the Decatur retrial, held from November 1933 to July 1937, Judge Callahan wanted to take the case off "the front pages of America's newspapers."[89] He banned photographers from the courthouse grounds and typewriters from his court room.[85] "There ain't going to be no more picture snappin' round here", he ordered. He also imposed a strict three-day time limit on each trial, running them into the evening.[90] He removed protection from the defense, convincing Governor Benjamin Meek Miller to keep the National Guard away.
The defense moved for another change of venue, submitting affidavits in which hundreds of residents stated their intense dislike for the defendants, to show there was "overwhelming prejudice" against them.[91] The prosecution countered with testimony that some of the quotes in the affidavits were untrue, and that six of the people quoted were dead.[92] The defense countered that they had received numerous death threats, and the judge replied that he and the prosecution had received more from the Communists. The motion was denied.[93]
Leibowitz led Commissioner Moody and Jackson County Circuit Clerk C.A. Wann through every page of the Jackson County jury roll to show that it contained no names of African-Americans. When, after several hours of reading names, Commissioner Moody finally claimed several names to be of African-Americans,[94] Leibowitz got handwriting samples from all present. One man admitted that the handwriting appeared to be his. Leibowitz called in a handwriting expert, who testified that names identified as African-American had been added later to the list, and signed by former Jury Commissioner Morgan.[95]
Judge Callahan did not rule that excluding people by race was constitutional, only that the defense had not proven that African-Americans had been deliberately excluded. By letting Leibowitz go on record on this issue, Judge Callahan provided grounds for the case to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for a second time. It was the basis for the court's finding in Norris v. Alabama (1935), that an exclusion of African-American grand jurors had occurred, violating the due process clause of the Constitution.
Haywood Patterson's Decatur retrial began on November 27, 1933. Thirty-six potential jurors admitted having a "fixed opinion" in the case,[95] which caused Leibowitz to move for a change of venue. Callahan denied the motion.[93] Callahan excluded defense evidence that Horton had admitted, at one point exclaiming to Leibowitz, "Judge Horton can't help you [now]."[90] He routinely sustained prosecution objections but overruled defense objections.
Price testified again that a dozen armed negro men entered the gondola car. She said Patterson had fired a shot and ordered all whites but Gilley off the train.[96] She said the negros had ripped her clothes off and repeatedly raped her at knife point, and pointed out Patterson as one of the rapists.[97] She said they raped her and Bates, afterward saying they would take them north or throw them in the river.[95] She testified that she had fallen while getting out of the gondola car, passed out and came to seated in a store at Paint Rock. Leibowitz questioned her until Judge Callahan stopped court for the day at 6:30. When he resumed the next morning, he pointed out many contradictions among her various versions of the rape.
Judge Callahan repeatedly interrupted Leibowitz's cross-examination of Price, calling defense questions "arguing with the witness", "immaterial, "useless", "a waste of time" and even "illegal."[98] The many contradictions notwithstanding, Price steadfastly stuck to her testimony that Patterson had raped her.[99]
Orville Gilley's testimony at Patterson's Decatur retrial was a mild sensation.[97] He denied being a "bought witness", repeating his testimony about armed blacks ordering the white teenagers off the train.[96] He confirmed Price's rape account, adding that he stopped the rape by convincing the "negro" with the gun to make the rapists stop "before they killed that woman."[100] Leibowitz cross-examined him at length about contradictions between his account and Price's testimony, but he remained "unruffled."[100] Gilley testified to meeting Lester Carter and the women the evening before the alleged rapes, and getting them coffee and sandwiches. Callahan interrupted before Leibowitz could find out if Gilley went "somewhere with [the women]" that night.[101]
The prosecution called several white farmers who testified that they had seen the fight on the train and saw the girls "a-fixin' to get out", but they saw the defendants drag them back.[96][102]
Lester Carter took the stand for the defense. He had testified in the first Decatur trial that Price and Bates had had sex with him and Gilley in the hobo jungle in Chattanooga prior to the alleged rapes, which could account for the semen found in the women. But Judge Callahan would not let him repeat that testimony at the trial, stating that any such testimony was "immaterial."
Ruby Bates was apparently too sick to travel. She had had surgery in New York, and at one point Leibowitz requested that her deposition be taken as a dying declaration. While she was not dying, committed to his three-day time limit for the trial, Judge Callahan denied the request to arrange to take her deposition.[103] Although the defense needed her testimony, by the time a deposition arrived, the case had gone to the jury and they did not hear it at all.[104]
Haywood Patterson took the stand, admitting he had "cussed" at the white teenagers, but only because they cussed at him first. He denied seeing the white women before Paint Rock. On cross-examination Knight confronted him with previous testimony from his Scottsboro trial that he had not touched the women, but that he had seen the other five defendants rape them. Leibowitz objected, stating that the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled previous testimony illegal. Judge Callahan allowed it, although he would not allow testimony by Patterson stating that he had not seen the women before Paint Rock.[102] Patterson explained contradictions in his testimony: "We was scared and I don't know what I said. They told us if we didn't confess they'd kill us—give us to the mob outside."[105]
Patterson claimed the threats had been made by guards and militiamen while the defendants were in the Jackson County jail. He said threats were made even in the presence of the judge. Patterson pointed at H.G. Bailey, prosecutor in his Scottsboro trial, stating, "And Mr. Bailey over there—he said send all the niggers to the electric chair. There's too many niggers in the world anyway."[105]
Closing arguments were made November 29 through November 30, without stopping for Thanksgiving. Callahan limited each side to two hours of argument.[106]
Knight declared in his closing that the prosecution was not avenging what the defendants had done to Price. "What has been done to her cannot be undone. What you can do now is to make sure that it doesn't happen to some other woman." Leibowitz objected that the argument was "an appeal to passion and prejudice" and moved for a mistrial. Knight agreed that it was an appeal to passion, and Callahan overruled the motion. Knight continued, "We all have a passion, all men in this court room to protect the womanhood in Alabama."[107] For his summation, solicitor Wade Wright reviewed the testimony and warned the jury, "that this crime could have happened to any woman, even though she was riding in a parlor car, instead of box car."[102]
Solicitor H.G. Bailey reminded the jury that the law presumed Patterson innocent, even if what Gilley and Price had described was "as sordid as ever a human tongue has uttered." Finally he defended the women, "Instead of painting their faces... they were brave enough to go to Chattanooga and look for honest work."[102] Bailey attacked the defense case.
They say this is a frame-up! They have been yelling frame-up ever since this case started! Who framed them? Did Ory Dobbins frame them? Did brother Hill frame them? We did a lot of awful things over there is Scottsboro, didn't we? My, my, my. And now they come over here and try to convince you that that sort of thing happened in your neighboring county.[108]
Judge Callahan charged the jury that Price and Bates could have been raped without force, just by withholding their consent. He instructed them, "Where the woman charged to have been raped is white, there is a strong presumption under the law that she will not and did not yield voluntarily to intercourse with the defendant, a Negro."[109] He instructed the jury that if Patterson was so much as present for the "purpose of aiding, encouraging, assisting or abetting" the rapes "in any way", he was as guilty as the person who committed the rapes.[109]
He told them that they did not need to find corroboration of Price's testimony. If they believed her, that was enough to convict. Judge Callahan said he was giving them two forms – one for conviction and one for acquittal, but he supplied the jury with only a form to convict. He supplied them with an acquittal form only after the prosecution, fearing reversible error, urged him do so.[110]
As Time described it, "Twenty-six hours later came a resounding thump on the brown wooden jury room door. The bailiff let the jurors out [from the Patterson trial]. The foreman unfisted a moist crumpled note, handed it to the clerk. A thin smile faded from Patterson's lips as the clerk read his third death sentence."[111]
In May 1934, despite having run unopposed in the previous election for the position, James Horton was soundly defeated when he ran for re-election as a circuit judge. The vote against him was especially heavy in Morgan County. In the same election, Thomas Knight was elected Lieutenant Governor of Alabama.[112]
Norris' retrial [ edit ]
Judge Callahan started jury selection for the trial of defendant Norris on November 30, 1933, Thanksgiving afternoon. At this trial, Victoria Price testified that two of her alleged assailants had pistols, that they threw off the white teenagers, that she tried to jump off but was grabbed, thrown onto the gravel in the gondola, one of them held her legs, and one held a knife on her, and one raped both her and Ruby Bates.[113] She claimed Norris raped her, along with five others.
Callahan would not allow Leibowitz to ask Price about any "crime of moral turpitude." Nor would he allow Leibowitz to ask why she went to Chattanooga, where she had spent the night there, or about Carter or Gilley. Neither would he allow questions as to whether she'd had sexual intercourse with Carter or Gilley. During more cross-examination, Price looked at Knight so often Leibowitz accused her of looking for signals. Judge Callahan cautioned Leibowitz he would not permit "such tactics" in his courtroom.[114]
Dr. Bridges was a state witness, and Leibowitz cross-examined him at length, trying to get him to agree that a rape would have produced more injuries than he found. Callahan sustained a prosecution objection, ruling "the question is not based on the evidence."[115]
Ruby Bates had given a deposition from her hospital bed in New York, which arrived in time to be read to the jury in the Norris trial. Judge Callahan sustained prosecution objections to large portions of it, most significantly the part where she said that she and Price both had sex voluntarily in Chattanooga the night before the alleged rapes.
Leibowitz read the rest of Bates' deposition, including her version of what happened on the train.[116] She said that there were white teenagers riding in the gondola car with them, that some black teenagers came into the car, that a fight broke out, that most of the white teenagers got off the train, and that the blacks "disappeared" until the posse stopped the train at Paint Rock. She testified that she, Price and Gilley were arrested, and that Price made the rape accusation, instructing her to go along with the story to stay out of jail. She reiterated that neither she nor Price had been raped.[117] Leibowitz chose to keep Norris off the stand.[116]
Closing arguments were on December 4, 1933. In his closing argument, Leibowitz called the prosecution's case "a contemptible frame-up by two bums."[118] He attempted to overcome local prejudice, saying "if you have a reasonable doubt, hold out. Stand your ground, show you are a man, a red-blooded he-man."[118] The prosecution's closing argument was shorter and less "barbed" than it had been in the Patterson case. It was addressed more to the evidence and less to the regional prejudice of the jury.[118]
Leibowitz made many objections to Judge Callahan's charge to the jury. The New York Times described Leibowitz as "pressing the judge almost as though he were a hostile witness."[119] New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia had dispatched two burly New York City police officers to protect Leibowitz. During the long jury deliberations, Judge Callahan also assigned two Morgan County deputies to guard him.
The jury began deliberation on December 5. After 14 hours of deliberation, the jury filed into the court room; they returned a guilty verdict and sentenced Norris to death. Norris took the news stoically.
Leibowitz's prompt appeal stayed the execution date, so Patterson and Norris were both returned to death row in Kilby Prison. The other defendants waited in the Jefferson County jail in Birmingham for the outcome of the appeals. Leibowitz was escorted to the train station under heavy guard, and he boarded a train back to New York.[120]
United States Supreme Court reverses Decatur convictions [ edit ]
Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes
The case went to the United States Supreme Court for a second time as Norris v. Alabama. The court reversed the convictions for a second time on the basis that blacks had been excluded from the jury pool because of their race.[121]
Attorneys Samuel Leibowitz, Walter H. Pollak and Osmond Frankel argued the case from February 15 to 18, 1935. Leibowitz showed the justices that the names of African Americans had been added to the jury rolls. The Justices examined the items closely with a magnifying glass. Thomas Knight maintained that the jury process was color blind.
Because the case of Haywood Patterson had been dismissed due to the technical failure to appeal it on time, it presented different issues. Attorneys Osmond Frankel and Walter Pollak argued those.[122]
On April 1, 1935, the United States Supreme Court sent the cases back a second time for retrials in Alabama. Writing for the Court, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes observed the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution clearly forbade the states from excluding citizens from juries due solely to their race.[123] He noted that the Court had inspected the jury rolls, chastising Judge Callahan and the Alabama Supreme Court for accepting assertions that black citizens had not been excluded. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, "something more" was needed. The Court concluded, "the motion to quash... should have been granted."[5] The Court ruled that it would be a great injustice to execute Patterson when Norris would receive a new trial, reasoning that Alabama should have opportunity to reexamine Patterson's case as well.[124]
Alabama Governor Bibb Graves instructed every solicitor and judge in the state, "Whether we like the decisions or not... We must put Negroes in jury boxes. Alabama is going to observe the supreme law of America."[125]
Final round of trials [ edit ]
After the case was remanded, on May 1, 1935, Victoria Price swore new rape complaints against the defendants as the sole complaining witness. An African American, Creed Conyer, was selected as the first black person since Reconstruction to sit on an Alabama grand jury. Indictment could be made with a two-thirds vote, and the grand jury voted to indict the defendants. Thomas Knight, Jr. by now (May 1935) Lieutenant Governor, was appointed special prosecutor to the cases.[126]
Leibowitz recognized that he was viewed by Southerners as an outsider, and allowed the local attorney Charles Watts to be the lead attorney; he assisted from the sidelines. Judge Callahan arraigned all the defendants except the two juveniles in Decatur; they all pleaded not guilty.
Watts moved to have the case sent to the Federal Court as a civil rights case, which Callahan promptly denied. He set the retrials for January 20, 1936.[127]
Final decisions [ edit ]
Ozie Powell in hospital
By January 23, 1936 Haywood Patterson was convicted of rape and sentenced to 75 years—the first time in Alabama that a black man had not been sentenced to death in the rape of a white woman.[2] Patterson escaped from prison in 1948; he published The Scottsboro Boy in 1950. That year he was caught by the FBI in Michigan. The governor of the state refused to extradite Patterson to Alabama. He was later arrested for stabbing a man in a bar fight and convicted of manslaughter. Patterson died of cancer in prison in 1952, after serving one year of his second sentence.
On January 24, 1936, Ozie Powell was involved in injuring a deputy.
During May 1937, Thomas Knight died.
On July 15, 1937, Clarence Norris was convicted of rape and sexual assault and sentenced to death. Governor Bibb Graves of Alabama in 1938 commuted his death sentence to life in prison. He was paroled in 1946 and moved north, where he married and had children. In 1970 he began seeking a pardon, with the help of the NAACP and Alabama's attorney. In 1976 Governor George Wallace pardoned Norris, declaring him "not guilty." Norris' autobiography, The Last of the Scottsboro Boys, was published in 1979. Norris died on January 23, 1989, of Alzheimer's disease.
On July 22, 1937, Andrew Wright was convicted of rape and sentenced to 99 years. He was paroled, but returned to prison after violating parole. Finally released in 1950, he was paroled in New York State.
On July 24, 1937, Charlie Weems was convicted of rape and sentenced to 105 years in prison. He was paroled in 1943.
On July 24, 1937, Ozie Powell was brought into court and the new prosecutor, Thomas Lawson, announced |
when I’d attended a pipeline event at a school in Tuskegee. A bespectacled boy raised his hand to ask, “If we get into the program, how are we supposed to get to campus?” He didn’t know anyone with a car who would be willing to drive him to Tuscaloosa.
Several years ago, when many of Wheat’s first students — only teenagers at the time they entered his orbit — had just finished their residency training, he drew up a map. He’d plotted red dots on their home counties and gold stars where they went on to practice. Looking at the results, he could see that there was a strip in the middle that was virtually blank. “They go around the Black Belt or cross over the Black Belt, but they don’t go into the Black Belt,” he said. For years, he realized, he’d been inadvertently omitting the very place he’d started from.
Many people in Marion wanted their hospital back, I said — would that help?
“They think the cure-all is to open another hospital,” Lee replied. “That’s the worst thing you can do! You’ve got to get physicians first.”
Wheat agreed. “The old theory of ‘Build a hospital, and they will come.’ Well, they don’t come!” The Black Belt, he had found, was a place where health care never seemed eager to go.
The standard treatment for tuberculosis is directly observed therapy — nurses watch over patients and give them each dose of medication, which can be upwards of two dozen pills at a time. Some of the drugs are as large as almonds. Early on, pills must be taken daily, and then they’re spaced out to twice a week, usually for another six to nine months. The treatment can make people feel awful, like they have the flu, and it can harm the liver, so patients are not allowed to drink alcohol.
Once Marion’s test results came in, the state health workers arduously tracked down people around the Hill. Barrett told me what this entailed: “You have to pick them up at the dumpster behind Hardee’s, and then drive them in your car with their head in your lap so no one would see them, and drop them off twenty yards away.” The health department bought a cell phone for a man who didn’t have one, so that his nurse could find him to give him his medication. Patients without cars were taken for rides where they wanted to go. Others received fresh groceries. On completion of their treatment, to increase compliance, they earned a hundred dollars. If they were desperate, health workers would try to hand them extra money. “Any scenario, any way we could get people to take their medicines,” Barrett said.
The state health workers left their homes in Montgomery for long stretches in order to work all hours on the Hill. They stayed at an inn in Marion and subsisted on takeout. “They care more about the patients than the patients care about themselves,” Barrett told me. But even if it seemed that way, all the health department’s efforts couldn’t fill the underlying void of care within the community. “Everything was reactive, not proactive,” Frances Ford said.
Wheat sees the spread of tuberculosis as the ultimate manifestation of an ongoing health care crisis in the region, characterized by mistreatment and neglect. “If we don’t respond, these are the things that happen,” he said. If a physician raised around Perry County had been working in Marion, he suggested, the outbreak would never have become so dire.
Last summer, as the state dispensed pills on the Hill, Wheat proposed to the University of Alabama a Black Belt Health Professional Scholars Program, in order to make it easier to bring students from the area into his pipeline. He hopes to further lower score requirements for their admission to medical school and to recruit students for a master’s in rural health — a one-year degree that can be stretched out to two years, for extra MCAT prep time. Courses would be open to anyone interested in working as a physician assistant, dentist, or physical therapist, which would deliver more people home to provide valuable medical services. “Over the long haul, this is the best way I can see to make a dent in this social circumstance that we’ve allowed to smolder here for two hundred years,” he said.
Wheat’s pipeline is paid for mostly by the state, which provides about $875,000 on a year-to-year basis; he also occasionally gets money from philanthropic foundations and federal grants. The school is committed to sustaining the program, but the fate of Wheat’s new proposal is less clear. His vision — $10 million spent over ten years and coordination across fifteen schools and campuses — may be too ambitious. “The idea of having physicians target the Black Belt, I think that’s tremendously timely and admirable,” Selwyn Vickers, the dean of the medical school, who was born in the Black Belt, told me. “But it’s not just getting individuals who want to go back. It requires broader infrastructure changes in the Black Belt. The state has to make the place attractive and build infrastructure so people want to go back. Otherwise, you’re not treating the cycle of poverty.”
In the meantime, Wheat has become ever more solicitous toward Black Belt students. He leaves his door open for advising sessions. “I keep a box of Kleenex,” he said. “Many tears have been shed in my office.” He has purchased textbooks for kids who couldn’t afford them and covered the costs of test fees. To beef up résumés, he has offered students jobs doing administrative work and postgraduate research.
One afternoon, I met Deanah Maxwell, a graduate of the program who is now thirty-seven. She entered the pipeline in its early years, as a teenager from Booker T. Washington High School in Tuskegee. (The current principal summed up her students’ circumstances to me: “Ninety-nine percent get free or reduced lunch.” She added, “They may have seen a shooting and stayed up late.”) When Maxwell arrived at the University of Alabama that first summer, she saw the possibility of a new life. “I’m a junior in high school, about to be a senior,” she recalled. “We didn’t do a lot of chemistry labs. This is a full-fledged lab! Folks are lighting Bunsen burners, and I was like, ‘What am I supposed to be doing?’ ”
She was enthralled, and persisted with premedical courses through college. She struggled with the MCAT — she took it twice before graduation, and both times failed to meet the pipeline’s minimum score requirement for rural students — so Wheat found her a job as a research assistant, which gave her access to prep courses and study materials. On her third try, she passed. When she finished medical school, she worked in southern Alabama for a while before returning two years ago to Tuskegee, where she intends to stay.
Tuskegee, due east of Marion, is flat with green and yellow fields; in the center of town, near the site of the infamous syphilis study, is Maxwell’s clinic. When I visited, she introduced me to one of her patients, Roberta Crenshaw, who sat in the exam room wearing a colorful floral shirt and bright red pants. I asked what she remembered of Maxwell’s return. “I was so happy to see her!” she told me. “A home person. Somebody that grew up here. I know her father, I know her mother.” Beaming, Crenshaw turned to Maxwell. “I’d been waiting fifteen years for you to come home!”
Where a doctor comes from matters to the place she works. Yet results of the MCAT — a grueling, eight-hour exam — can be entered into admissions algorithms such that applicants to medical school are axed before a human being even considers their background. When I asked Wheat whether any of his doctors-in-training resented his helicoptering or were irked that he was lowering the score bar for them, he replied, “No, the minority population that comes to us have found it a relief that someone understands that these quantitative measures are not measures of their potential.” He continued, “Now, I’ve certainly had the Caucasian population question lowering the quality. And I say, ‘Quality of what?’ ” Black Belt students, he went on, “bring an intention and an identity with an underserved population that it is a mission of our medical school to serve.”
The purpose of doctors, after all, is to tend to patients’ ultimate needs. Increasing the supply of primary care physicians is linked to lower mortality rates; after compiling data from studies across different parts of the country, a group of public health researchers found that by adding one more doctor for every 10,000 people, as many as 160,000 deaths per year could be averted. When the same researchers considered race as a factor, this benefit was found to be four times greater in the African-American population than among white people. Studies have also observed that the availability of primary care significantly reduces health disparities that result from income inequality.
Outside Alabama, a handful of other programs have tried to correct the distribution imbalance of physicians in the United States. At Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia, a rural health pipeline has been targeting poor, mostly white areas of Pennsylvania and Delaware for forty years. The University of Missouri and the University of Louisville run similar initiatives. Last year, the City University of New York welcomed its first class of medical students; the school intends to train doctors to care for communities in the Bronx and Harlem — which, in health care terms, have more in common with Perry County than with most of Manhattan.
Yet for the most part, medical schools are focused on selecting high achievers rather than grappling with inequality. While this has been an effective strategy in advancing American medicine, large swaths of the population perpetually go without proper health care, and it’s hard not to see — as Lee, Wheat, and Ford do — that the lack of attention to places like the Black Belt creates the conditions for an outbreak of tuberculosis, along with scores of other diseases.
When I posed this dilemma to Robert Alpern, the dean of Yale Medical School, he conceded that interest in diversity doesn’t always serve its true purpose. “We all offer scholarships to steal students from other schools, to save our own skin, but in fact we don’t do anything for the country,” Alpern told me. “All we do is shuffle these students around.” A more comprehensive solution, he said, would be beyond the university’s capacity.
George Daley, who became the dean of Harvard Medical School in January, spent his first month on the job creating a diversity task force to address gaps in racial and socioeconomic representation, at a moment when only about 5 percent of America’s medical school graduates are black. But he won’t be lowering academic standards to bring in applicants who wouldn’t otherwise be accepted. “We’re in a position of taking absolutely stellar students and aspire to train the best doctors,” he told me. And while Harvard has a center devoted to primary care, he said, “I’m not sure our role is to prespecify where you should go. We try to inspire them to go into public service and try to encourage people to work in diverse communities.” He added, “Harvard can’t be all things to all people.”
The state health department’s efforts in Marion were astounding, and they seemed to be effective. For a while Barrett believed that the spread of tuberculosis had been controlled. But when I checked in with her again in the spring, she told me that four cases had been discovered since I’d been to town, and that she wasn’t sure when the outbreak would be over. “It’s not looking good,” she said.
Lee is still on the lookout for symptoms. He has yet to find another doctor to join his practice, but he is hoping that his son, who just finished medical school, will take the job. “I’m getting old,” Lee said. “If my son doesn’t come back to take over the clinic, I’m going to work until I’m sixty, and I’m done.”
One evening, I drove along the route that leads from Marion to the hospital in Greensboro. A doctor there named Dana Todd had invited me to visit her house. The night was foggy and the road curved; even with my high beams on, I couldn’t see more than a foot or two ahead. The thought of an ambulance trying to navigate the blind turns was terrifying.
When I arrived, Todd greeted me at her front door wearing a sleek red dress and magenta lipstick that popped against her dark skin. She was tall with short hair. “This feels really weird,” she said as she invited me inside. I saw what she meant: the whole house was empty. “The movers came while I was at work,” she explained. As it happened, it was her last night in Greensboro. The next morning she was moving to Durham, North Carolina, to start a new job at a primary care clinic affiliated with Duke University.
Wheat had told me that Todd was “the poster child” of the Rural Health Leaders Pipeline. She flew through the high school program into the minority summer course and then earned a master’s degree in rural community health as well as a spot in medical school. She also returned as a counselor. After finishing her training, she came back to live and work in her hometown as a family doctor — exactly as Wheat had hoped. Yet she couldn’t stay. “I did three and a half years here,” Todd said. “But my intent was to do thirty.”
She decided to take me to a Mexican restaurant, since she had no furniture for us to sit on. I hopped in her car, and as she took off and started talking at a fast clip, she struck me as more of a city person than someone who grew up in the rural South. Passing the town’s private school, she said, “It’s ninety-nine percent white. I’ve never known a single black person to go to that private school.” In Marion too, the public schools are filled almost entirely with black children from poor families, and the white kids attend a private school in town. This is the default scenario throughout the Black Belt counties of Alabama, leaving the public schools homogeneously black and severely underfunded.
Todd has a son, who is seven, and he had been going to the same public elementary school that she attended. She was worried that his prospects would be limited if they remained. As he gets older, she wants him to meet a more diverse group of people — a different group — and have access to greater opportunities, the ones that had yet to come to the Black Belt. “That’s the most unfortunate part about living here,” she told me. “We’re not progressing at the same rate as everything else around us.” She sighed. “We’re just kind of stuck.”
At the restaurant, we slid into a booth. “This is one of the few places in town I can come and not see eight people I know,” Todd said. People have come up to her at church and asked for medication refills, stopped her in the grocery store for their test results, knocked on her door at night with medical queries. Being the only doctor in town, she felt like she was at work all the time.
And in her personal life, she was isolated. Most of her peers lived in cities with greater employment potential. Few of her childhood friends with professional degrees had returned to Greensboro. Her mother had worked in a sewing factory and her dad was a truck driver; she was the first in her immediate family to graduate from college. “People think you are a millionaire,” she told me. “To make six figures in a town where people don’t earn that sort of living.”
Now she was discouraged by a forsaken quality of her hometown. “One person just can’t do it,” she said. “It sounds very nice, but one person cannot change everything.”
I thought of Marion, still in jeopardy. Later, I called Marsha White to find out how she was doing. When she answered, she sounded stressed, and said that she was taking care of her grandson. I could hear the baby crying in the background. But as we talked, I learned the real reason for the strain in her voice. She told me that, months after she thought the town had come out of its sickness, she had been reinfected with tuberculosis.OK, that is a strong opinion but I can say that I honestly believe that while the Champions League final will be a great match (going to pick Bayern Munich to win), and while I always think Real Salt Lake matches are huge. There is only one match that could mean the difference between financial ruin and playing at the highest level in the world. It will take place on a grand stage of Wembley, as Blackpool and Cardiff City face off in the Championship playoff to see which team will take their place next year in the premiership.
How important is this match? Well here is just one aspect of the importance:
"In financial terms, this match offers the winning club the most substantial prize in world football and the value is now even greater as a result of the Premier League's increased revenues from international broadcast rights and the proposals to extend parachute payments over four seasons. It is a prize which provides the opportunity for sound investment and strengthening the foundations of a club for years to come."
from Paul Rawnsley, director of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte via sports-city.org
But there is so much more at stake for these two teams, Blackpool haven't played in the premiership since 1971, and for Cardiff City it has been even longer, 10 years longer in fact as the Bluebirds last played at England's top level in 1961. It isn't the first time that Cardiff City have played in a huge match at Wembley, just two years ago they found themselves battling for the FA Cup title against Portsmouth (details here and here) and the heartbreaking 1-0 loss still pains their fans to this day.
More on this important match after the jump:
I can't claim to be an expert on either team, but I have to say I love the system of relegation and promotion, and while I don't believe it will ever take hold in the US, it is one of the best stories in world football. For every team that goes down, there are teams that come up. This year the three sides leaving the EPL are Burnley, Hull City, and Portsmouth, and the top two teams in the Championship (the level below the EPL) are promoted (this year it is Newcastle United, and West Brom). It is how the final promotion slot is filled that I love, they take teams 3-6 and have them face off in a home and home to determine the final two who will fight it out on neutral turf to see who will claim the spot.
So there are a number of things you can read online that will help you understand this matchup more:
Cardiff City FC page on Wikipedia
Blackpool FC page on Wikipedia
match preview from uk.yahoo.com
story from the US version of yahoo
BBC talks about the huge financial windfall one of these teams will gain
The match preview from the BBC
I can offer up just these couple things, to know that a team is just days away from tax bills that could cause the club to be put into administration, to know that 6 million pounds could buy you 49% of the club just weeks ago, knowing that Cardiff City could be playing host to the top teams in their new stadium which opened this year, and having a friend/co-worker who is as passionate about his Bluebirds as I am about Real Salt Lake. Makes me a Cardiff fan, to not be one would be too hard in a match like this.
Here are his words about the match:
This truly is the biggest game of my supporting life and the biggest of Cardiff City's for over 50 years. I have been supporting the Bluebirds for 20 years and have been to over 75 league grounds following them around the country. I have seen us relegated in front of a few thousand fans, lose at faraway places such as Carlisle and bore draws at Port Vale, so to go to Wembley and be 90 minutes away from the biggest and most lucrative league in the world is incredible. My whole family will be going to the game (Mum, Dad and Brother) and it is going to be an amazing experience, but very nerve wrecking as so much hinges on this game. After we beat Leicester in the semi's I was sat on my sofa (I could not go to the game, as I was recovering from an operation) blubbing my eyes out like a baby...why and how does this affect me so much? It is because football and Cardiff city is a huge part of my life and my family, it is going to games for years with my Dad and brother and feeling the energy of the faithful fans cheering the team to victory. Sleeping tonight is going to be hard...On Sunday morning, we will wall wake up knowing we will be playing either Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace OR Man U, Liverpool and Tottenham - THAT IS HUGE!!! Good luck to all Bluebirds and let's hope (no lets pray) that this result goes our way, because I cannot actually contemplate defeat...it cannot happen. "I'll be there, with my little pick and shovel, I'll be there..."
He sent along a link to this video, which was made in the days leading up to the 2008 FA Cup and of course after watching it I knew I would be cheering for Cardiff on Saturday:
These two teams faced each other twice this year in league action, and each ended in a 1-1 draw. There will be no draw at Wembley and one of these teams will be playing on TV's around the world next year. I don't think there could be any better drama written, as a season of football can bring.
OFF MY SOAPBOX
Go BluebirdsThe Constitution of California is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of California, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of California. Following cession of the area from Mexico to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican–American War, California's original constitution was drafted in both English and Spanish by delegates elected on August 1, 1849, to represent all communities home to non-indigenous citizens (Mexican citizens resident in California had become U.S. citizens by proclamation, but indigenous residents were not yet U.S. citizens). The delegates wrote and adopted the constitution at the 1849 Constitutional Convention, held beginning on September 3 in Monterey, and voters approved the new constitution on November 13, 1849. Adoption of the "state" constitution actually preceded California's Admission to the Union on September 9, 1850 by almost ten months.[1]
A second constitutional convention, the Sacramento Convention of 1878–79, amended the original document, ratifying the amended constitution on 7 May 1879.[2]
The Constitution of California is one of the longest collections of laws in the world,[3] partially due to provisions enacted during the Progressive Era limiting powers of elected officials, but largely due to additions by California ballot proposition and voter initiatives, which take form as constitutional amendments. Initiatives can be proposed by the governor, legislature, or by popular petition, giving California one of the most flexible legal systems in the world. It is currently the 8th longest constitution in the world.[4]
Many of the individual rights clauses in the state constitution have been construed as protecting rights even broader than the United States Bill of Rights in the Federal Constitution. An example is the case of Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, in which "free speech" rights beyond those addressed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution were found in the California Constitution by the California courts.[5] One of California's most significant prohibitions is against "cruel or unusual punishment," a stronger prohibition than the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment." This caused the California Supreme Court to find Capital Punishment unconstitutional on state Constitutional grounds in the 1972 case of People v. Anderson.
History [ edit ]
The constitution has undergone numerous changes since its original drafting. It was rewritten from scratch several times before the drafting of the current 1879 constitution, which has itself been amended or revised (see below).[citation needed]
In response to widespread public disgust with the powerful railroads that controlled California's politics and economy at the start of the 20th century, Progressive Era politicians pioneered the concept of aggressively amending the state constitution by initiative in order to remedy perceived evils.[6] From 1911, the height of the U.S. Progressive Era, to 1986, the California Constitution was amended or revised over 500 times.[7]
The constitution gradually became increasingly bloated, leading to abortive efforts towards a third constitutional convention in 1897, 1914, 1919, 1930, 1934 and 1947.[8] By 1962, the constitution had grown to 75,000 words, which at that time was longer than any other state constitution but Louisiana's.[9]
That year, the electorate approved the creation of a California Constitution Revision Commission, which worked on a comprehensive revision of the constitution from 1964 to 1976. The electorate ratified the Commission's revisions in 1966, 1970, 1972, and 1974, but rejected the 1968 revision, whose primary substantive effect would have been to make the state's superintendent of schools into an appointed rather than an elected official.[10] The Commission ultimately removed about 40,000 words from the constitution.[9]
Provisions [ edit ]
The California Constitution is one of the longest in the world.[3] The length has been attributed to a variety of factors, such as influence of previous Mexican civil law, lack of faith in elected officials and the fact that many initiatives take the form of a constitutional amendment.[11] Several amendments involved the authorization of the creation of state government agencies, including the State Compensation Insurance Fund and the State Bar of California; the purpose of such amendments was to insulate the agencies from being attacked as an unconstitutionally broad exercise of police power or inherent judicial power.[12]
Unlike other state constitutions, the California Constitution strongly protects the corporate existence of cities and counties and grants them broad plenary home rule powers.[13] The Constitution gives charter cities, in particular, supreme authority over municipal affairs, even allowing such cities' local laws to trump state law.[14] By specifically enabling cities to pay counties to perform governmental functions for them, Section 8 of Article XI resulted in the rise of the contract city.[15]
Article 4, section 8(d) defines an "urgency statute" as one "necessary for immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety"; any proposed bill including such a provision includes a "statement of facts constituting the necessity" and a two-thirds majority of each house is required to also separately pass the bill's urgency section.[16]
Many of the individual rights clauses in the state constitution have been construed as protecting rights broader than the Bill of Rights in the federal constitution.[17] Two examples include (1) the Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins case involving an implied right to free speech in private shopping centers, and (2) the first decision in America in 1972 which found the death penalty unconstitutional, California v. Anderson, 6 Cal. 3d 628. This noted that under California's state constitution a stronger protection applies than under the U.S. Constitution's 8th Amendment; the former prohibits punishments that are "cruel or unusual", while the latter only prohibits punishments that are "cruel and unusual". The constitution also confers upon women equality of rights in "entering or pursuing a business, profession, vocation, or employment." This is the earliest state constitutional equal rights provision on record.[18]
Two universities are expressly mentioned in the constitution: the University of California and Stanford University. UC is one of only nine state-run public universities in the United States whose independence from political interference is expressly guaranteed by the state constitution.[19] Since 1900, Stanford has enjoyed the benefit of a constitutional clause shielding Stanford-owned property from taxes as long as it is used for educational purposes.[20]
Amendments and revisions [ edit ]
The constitution of California distinguishes between constitutional amendments and revisions, the latter of which is considered to be a "substantial change to the entire constitution, rather than... a less extensive change in one or more of its provisions".[21] Both require passage of a California ballot proposition by voters, but they differ in how they may be proposed. An amendment may be placed on the ballot by either a two-thirds vote in the California State Legislature or signatures equal to 8% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, among the lowest thresholds for similar measures of any U.S. state.[22]
As of 2008, this was 694,354 signatures[23] compared to an estimated 2007 population of 36,553,215.[24] Revisions originally required a constitutional convention but today may be passed with the approval of both two-thirds of the legislature and a majority of voters; while simplified since its beginnings, the revision process is considered more politically charged and difficult to successfully pass than an amendment.[25]
Signatories of the 1849 Constitution [ edit ]
Signatures of the 1849 California Constitution.
Many of the signatories to the state's original 1849 constitution were themselves prominent in their own right, and are listed below.[26][27] The list is notable for the inclusion of several Californios (California-born, Spanish-speaking residents who were formerly Mexican citizens).
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]TAIPEI -- ARM Holdings, a British chip innovator controlled by SoftBank Group, will form a joint venture with Chinese partners "within months" to help companies in China develop semiconductor technologies, including products that could have security uses, a company executive told the Nikkei Asian Review on Monday.
"The intent is for that joint venture to develop products for the Chinese market for China partners, and specifically around the areas of technology that a Western company might not be able to do," said Rene Haas, president of ARM's intellectual property products group.
"For example, if somebody was building [a system on a chip] for China military or China surveillance, the security had to be at very high clearance in such a way that China wants to have it only inside China. With this kind of new joint venture, this company can develop that. In the past this is something we couldn't do," Haas said.
System on a chip, or SoC, refers to a chip that integrates various functions that can include computing and communications.
ARM's architecture is widely used by chipmakers everywhere for their SoC products, and the company has a 90% global market share of the mobile gadget chip market including smartphones, tablets and connected devices. Major global tech hardware and chip companies including Apple, Qualcomm and Samsung Electronics all license technologies from ARM.
But according to a story in the U.S. defense trade publication Military & Aerospace Electronics published in December 2016, bigger rival Intel's microprocessors dominate the embedded computing systems in the defense sector, while ARM remains a newcomer in that area.
Beijing's semiconductor push
Still, Haas pointed out that ARM sees Beijing's big push to build a domestic semiconductor industry to cut reliance on foreign products as a great opportunity. The British chip designer was bought by Japanese technology group SoftBank in mid-2016.
To become self-sufficient in key technologies, particularly following the U.S. National Security Agency's wiretapping scandal revealed by computer analyst Edward Snowden, Beijing has proposed to invest at least 1.2 trillion yuan ($177 billion) over a decade to build its own chip industry. Eventually, China wants to compete with Taiwan's world-class chipmakers and global semiconductor titans like Intel and Qualcomm.
"We think it's a good thing as China wants to be secure and controllable. They want to grow the market and ultimately they want to have control of their technology that only resides inside China. We thought it's the best way to grow there," Haas said, adding that ARM will provide intellectual property products, technical support and training, while Chinese investors will be responsible for management of the venture.
"This hypothetical security thing is the completely new area and it's the area that China wants to have domestic control and capability that Western companies would not be able to participate in it. If it's based on the technology that we bring, we could benefit from that," the executive said.
ARM's new business direction comes at a time when China is spending an exorbitant amount on bolstering its defense capabilities, a move that worries its neighbors and alarms some governments in the West.
Defense spending
The International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank, says China's overall defense budget for 2016 was $145 billion, accounting for one-third of the total military spending in Asia and ranking second globally behind only the $604.5 billion spent by the U.S. The think tank further claimed that China seems to be achieving "near-parity with the West" on air power.
Commenting on possible concerns from governments in the West, Haas downplayed the sensitivity of the issue.
"Let's say China wants to have something that is very secure and specific to China," he said. "That will be something today that as a Western company we could not do. The joint venture can do it. And it could be based on the ARM technology but made specifically for China. That's what is different."
"I will give you a simple analogy of cars," the executive said. "In the U.S., the steering wheels are on the left, and in England it's on the right -- and let's say the Chinese said, 'I want the steering wheels in the middle.' We said that we will never do that. But Chinese policies said it's steering wheels in the middle. So we give them the tools to build the cars with steering wheels in the middle. That's kind of what it is."
Asked about how ARM can ensure sensitive technologies developed in China will not be leaked to North Korea or countries under a United Nations embargo, Haas said his company is still working it out. "That's a good question and we have to figure that one out. Those are the kind of the questions that have to be finalized. But one thing is clear -- that the products can be only sold in [China]," he said.
There have been several instances of Chinese companies being sanctioned by the U.S. authorities for exporting sensitive goods to countries embargoed by the U.N.
In March, Chinese telecommunications group ZTE pleaded guilty and and agreed to pay a fine of $1.19 billion to the U.S. authorities for exporting electronics to North Korea and Iran.
Haas said that ARM is partnering with Chinese private equity firm Hopu Investments on the joint venture, which was announced on May 14 in China and reported about in Chinese language media. He said the two companies had signed a letter of intent, and added the Shenzhen government is also involved as the new entity will be based in the southern Chinese city.
But it is not clear yet how much capital will be injected into the new entity and which other Chinese investors or companies may be engaged, according to Haas, although he did say ARM estimates the joint venture will be up and running "within months."
It will be the first time that ARM has created a separate company to transfer technology for doing business, Haas said.
Hopu is headed by Fang Fenglei, a Chinese financier and titular chairman and majority shareholder of Goldman Sachs' China operations, according to the Financial Times. The fund has $2.5 billion to $3 billion in assets under management, according to various reports in Chinese media.
In January, China's Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement on its website that Hopu and ARM were launching a new investment fund with backing from Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation, the Beijing-owned Silk Road Fund, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, and Shenzhen government-owned conglomerate Shum Yip Group.
ARM confirmed the ministry's announcement with a statement in February, without naming other investors beyond Hopu. ARM said the fund aims to invest in startups in China and beyond and to work on emerging technologies including the "internet of things," autonomous vehicles, cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence. The fund has $800 million under its investment.
ARM continues to be confident about China's growth potential, said Haas, adding that the country will become the chip designer's top market in the world in five to 10 years.Morales is a rangy, lanky athlete who’s been described as a “true shortstop” and a good hitter. The signing continues another point of emphasis for the Braves in free-agent pursuits: Up the middle defense. Their organization philosophy is to load up on young pitching and up-the-middle defenders – middle infielders, center fielders, and catchers.
To sign him without going over their prescribed international spending allotment and incurring expensive penalties and a possible restriction on future signings, the Braves created more room Monday by trading minor league reliever Aaron Kurcz to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for the 113th international bonus-pool slot, valued at $167,000.
On Thursday, the Braves completed three trades to add bonus-pool slots: pitcher Cody Martin to the Athletics for the 53rd slot ($388,400); two minor leaguers, pitcher Caleb Dirks and outfielder Jordan Paroubeck, to the Dodgers for the No. 87 slot ($249,000), and minor league pitcher Garrett Fulenchek to the Rays for the Nos. 73 ($299,000) and 103 slots ($195,200).
With those deals, plus Monday’s trade of Kurcz, the Braves added about $1.3 million to their international-pool spending allotment, pushing the total to about $3.7 million.
They needed that much because last week the Braves signed shortstop Derian Cruz ($2 million bonus) and center fielder Christian Pache ($1.4 million), a pair of 16-year-old Dominicans. Cruz and Pache were each ranked among the top 10 international free-agent prospects by at least one service. Morales was rated in the top 30 to 40 range by most.
Although the Braves now have a surplus of pitchers and shortstops in their organization, young pitchers and players at up-the-middle defensive positions can be like currency later, allowing the team to trade from those positions of strength to fill a specific need – such as a big bat — when the timing is right.
Signing Cruz and Pache alone would’ve surpassed the Braves’ intial total international-pool spending allotment of $2,458,400, if the Braves hadn’t made moves to acquire other slots and give themselves more spending room.
Teams that exceed the international signing-bonus pools by up to 5 percent must pay a 100 percent tax on the amount over the limit, and teams that exceed the pools by 5-10 percent aren’t permitted to sign a player for more than $500,000 in next year’s signing period, in addition to paying a 100-percent tax on the amount over the limit. The penalties are even steeper when teams go more than 10 percent over their pool allotment.Every few months I trip over another earnest attempt to rectify the gender imbalance in software and computing fields. Very few women opt to become programmers, system administrators, |
are a lot of adopted kids who are trans.’ And that’s pretty amazing.”
Doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital’s Gender Management Service clinic, where Nathan is a patient, began making the same connection a few years ago. They combed through patient records and found that 8.2 percent of the 184 young people seen in the clinic between 2007 and 2015 were raised in adoptive families. Overall, only 2.3 percent of children living in Massachusetts were adopted.
“Before I started seeing transgender kids, it would not have occurred to me that we might see more adopted kids,” said Dr. Daniel Shumer, a pediatric endocrinologist who treated transgender kids at the GeMS clinic for three years before moving to Ann Arbor, Mich., to work in a similar clinic. Shumer and three co-authors recently presented their adoption data at a conference and have submitted it for publication.
Nathan and his doctors aren’t the only members of the transgender community who’ve noticed this phenomenon.
This story is part of a partnership that includes WBUR NPR and Kaiser Health News. It can be republished for free. ( details
“People have been talking about this for a long time,” said Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, medical director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, the largest such clinic in the country. Olson-Kennedy says she often hears colleagues around the country say, “we have a lot of kids who are adopted in the gender clinics.”
And Diane Ehrensaft, a psychologist and author of the book, Gender Born, Gender Made: Raising Healthy Gender-Nonconforming Children, said in an email, “I am seeing the same thing in my work as a gender specialist in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
Looking For Explanations
No one seems to know why. But there is some agreement about possible explanations.
First, it may be that there’s a higher percentage of trans adopted children who get health care, rather than a higher rate of trans kids who are adopted.
“Adopted people of all ages, especially children, are disproportionately represented in clinical settings,” said Adam Pertman, president of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency, and author of the book Adoption Nation. “The majority of adoptions today are from foster care. Then add to those the children adopted from institutions abroad and you have a population who suffered early trauma — so of course they are disproportionately represented in clinical settings.”
Shumer suggested another factor when it comes to families with adopted trans children: “Perhaps parents who adopt kids are more open to differences in gender identity — may have less shame in the fact that their child may be transgender,” he said, “[and] may be more likely to present to clinics for help.”
That idea resonated with Olson-Kennedy,
“When parents have biological children [who] are transgender,” she said, “what happens is a blame game, like, ‘Whose fault is it?’ I’ve heard many families say, ‘Well, you know, my husband has two gay cousins’ or, ‘My wife has a trans aunt.’ ”
Olson-Kennedy said adoptive parents seem to “let go of the ‘this is my fault’ piece.”
But maybe there’s something else about growing up adopted — about coming to terms with that experience — that explains why transgender clinics are seeing more such children.
“Adopted children who are aware of their adopted status also have an easier time being ‘other’ than their parents, and therefore find greater ease in being forthcoming in expressing their true gender selves,” said Ehrensaft.
Shumer said he wonders whether children who grow up knowing they are adopted might develop their identities in ways that make them more open to rethinking gender.
“As adoptive kids are becoming teenagers,” Shumer said, “they may more actively consider their gender identity in the context of their overall identity [than kids who aren’t adopted]. This might help them identify that they have a gender difference more frequently than kids that aren’t adopted, that aren’t going through as rigorous an identity-formation thought process.”
Pertman said that’s a new, but reasonable idea.
“Identity in adoption is a complex issue,” Pertman said. “I mean it’s complex for everybody, but there’s a whole other layer for adopted people that sort of triggers, in many of them, a deeper look within themselves about identity. And maybe this is part of what they find.”
More Theories — And The Need For More Study
Maybe, but that reasoning doesn’t ring true to Hunter Keith, a 17-year-old trans male who was adopted at birth — at least not in terms of his own experience. Hunter said the gender transition he started in the eighth grade did not coincide with questions about his adoption.
“I’ve been part of my family my whole life,” Hunter said. “I’ve never had that feeling of not belonging. It’s not something I ever questioned.”
Hunter’s mother Roz, who lives with Hunter and her husband and daughter in the metropolitan Detroit area, would like to see more research about the neurological roots of gender identity. She believes there may be all kinds of connections that no one understands yet.
Here’s one possibility Roz Keith has discussed with friends, based on studies that show greater rates of autism and learning disorders among transgender kids than among the general population: Could the kids be inheriting those conditions from their birth parents, and could those conditions be one reason the mothers place their children for adoption?
“There’s this incidence, then, of children who are adopted who have a genetic history coming from families where there are learning issues — ADD, ADHD,” Roz Keith suggested. “It does seem that those things overlap and correspond in greater numbers [in the transgender population].”
Some members of the transgender community say all these theories deserve more attention, but for now, they don’t see any connection between being trans and being adopted.
“I think it’s a stretch, frankly,” said Jamison Green, the immediate past president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. “People, in trying to understand what ‘transness’ is and how it manifests, and why some of us are this way, will elicit all kinds of conjectures.”
Nonetheless, Green, who is adopted, said he would like to see more research in this area.
The speculation “speaks to how little we actually know,” Green said. “There’s much more to be learned about transness, about gender, about gender identity development in all people.”
With so little research, it’s not clear if or how these findings should affect care for children at transgender clinics. Shumer said it may help parents contemplating adoption to learn more about gender identity as a spectrum. Doctors, nurses and counselors may want to set up support groups for adopted children, to help kids who might find such groups useful explore any and all sorts of issues as they arise.
Judy Tasker, Nathan’s mom, said she’s sure that being transgender and adopted makes life more complicated for her son.
“It’s the transgender piece that throws everyone off,” she said, “but, really, it’s his issues from being in a poor foster home for the first 15 months of his life that really make him struggle at school, struggle with anger. The trans piece is this little piece, but it over-complicates what therapists see, what schools see, and they fixate on it.”
Nathan said he’s always assumed that being adopted and being trans were two separate experiences. But, “maybe somehow they’re connected,” he said. “Maybe adopted kids feel some dimensions that non-adopted kids can’t feel, because they haven’t been in that situation.”
There are a lot of maybes in the expanding world of gender identity.
This story is part of a partnership that includes WBUR, NPR and Kaiser Health News.I’m going to be writing extensively about my PT experience and my deck this weekend for StarCityGames, so be sure to head there on Friday if you want details about my card choices and what I might change. In the meantime, I’ve gotten a ton of requests for the list I played at Pro Tour Born of the Gods, so here it is:
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Scavenging Ooze
2 Qasali Pridemage
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Loxodon Smiter
2 Domri Rade
1 Elspeth, Knight-errant
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
2 Stomping Ground
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Temple Garden
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Forest
1 Plains
Sideboard
2 Choke
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Fracturing Gust
1 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Tectonic EdgeThe case of a jeweller charged with murdering a fleeing thief in Nice has become a subject of intense debate in France. While some decried an act of dangerous vigilantism, others have rallied in massive support of a man who could face life in prison.
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The case of a jeweller who shot a fleeing thief in the back has unleashed a vivid debate in the French Riviera city of Nice and around the country, with President François Hollande being asked to weigh in on the controversy.
Stephan Turk, 67, has been charged with murder by public prosecutors after he shot dead a youth with an unlicensed semi-automatic pistol on September 11. The 18-year-old thief was fleeing the scene on the back of a scooter with stolen gems when the shopkeeper opened fire.
A second thief who was driving the getaway bike got away.
Turk has been put on house arrest with an ankle-bracelet monitor, following wide outcry for his release from prison. But while he awaits trial, support for the jeweller has grown massively among web users and fellow shopkeepers.
While some commentators warned of a dangerous threat of vigilantism, others said the jeweller had acted in self-defence and applauded a “bold” move against a wave of Riviera robberies that authorities have appeared powerless to counter.
A Facebook page in support of Turk ballooned over the weekend, earning more than 1.5 million “likes”. That figure grew so quickly that it was called into question by some social network experts.
It remained difficult to determine if all the Facebook fans were genuine, and the company refused to divulge the identity of the web page’s anonymous author, but observers said it was difficult to ignore widespread support for the jeweller.
On Monday, Nice shopkeepers planned to shut their businesses at 2pm and rally in support of Turk and their livelihoods.
“We want to call the attention of authorities so that they will protect jewellers, because we are all potential victims,” Jan Arin, president of the region’s jewellers union, told local daily Nice-Matin.
Arin and other organizers said they expected around 1,000 business owners to participate.
Other representatives of shopkeepers who were joining the demonstration used a more cautious tone. “Our objective is that there is no repeat of this drama,” said Philippe Desjardins, president of Nice’s business-owners federation. “To prevent this kind of violent reaction, business owners need to feel protected.”
Politicians join debate
French law allows for killers to escape conviction for murder if they can show they acted in legitimate defence, but prosecutors said it would be difficult for Turk to claim his was an act of survival. Turk risks life in prison if found guilty of murder.
French politicians have been cautious to join the debate, but there have been some noteworthy exceptions.
Christian Estrosi, the staunchly conservative mayor of Nice who faces an election for his job early next year, said Turk was the “first victim” of the tragedy and hailed the court’s decision to place him under house arrest.
French far-right figurehead Jean-Marie Le Pen said “he would have done the same” as Turk, while members of his National Front party came out in public defence of the jeweller.
On Sunday, President François Hollande was forced to wade into the fray.
In a televised interview on French TF1 television, the president said he recognised the “exasperation and anger” in the case but insisted that “it's up to the justice system to do justice, and no one else.”
The French Riviera has seen a series of audacious armed robberies in recent months, notably a record haul of 103 million euros worth of jewels in July from a hotel in Cannes during the celebrated international film festival.From Fordham University's Costas Panagopoulos, director of the university's Center for Electoral Politics and Democracy.
"For all the ridicule directed towards pre-election polling, the final poll estimates were not far off from the actual nationwide vote shares for the two candidates," said Dr. Panagopoulos. On average, pre-election polls from 28 public polling organizations projected a Democratic advantage of 1.07 percentage points on Election Day, which is only about 0.63 percentage points away from the current estimate of a 1.7-point Obama margin in the national popular vote. [...] 1. PPP (D)
1. Daily Kos/SEIU/PPP
3. YouGov
4. Ipsos/Reuters
5. Purple Strategies
6. NBC/WSJ
6. CBS/NYT
6. YouGov/Economist
9. UPI/CVOTER
10. IBD/TIPP
11. Angus-Reid
12. ABC/WP
13. Pew Research
13. Hartford Courant/UConn
15. CNN/ORC
15. Monmouth/SurveyUSA
15. Politico/GWU/Battleground
15. FOX News
15. Washington Times/JZ Analytics
15. Newsmax/JZ Analytics
15. American Research Group
15. Gravis Marketing
23. Democracy Corps (D)
24. Rasmussen
24. Gallup
26. NPR
27. National Journal
28. AP/GfK
Ha ha, look at Gallup way at the bottom, even below Rasmussen. But let's focus on the positive—PPP took top honors with a two-way tie for first place. Both their tracking poll and their weekly poll for Daily Kos/SEIU ended up with the same 50-48 margin. The final result? Obama 51.1-48.9—a 2.2-point margin.
PPP is a robo-pollster that doesn't call cell phones, which was supposedly a cardinal sin—particularly when their numbers weren't looking so hot for Obama post-first debate. But there's a reason we've worked with them the past year—because their track record is the best in the biz.
So thanks to PPP for making us look good, and thanks to SEIU for sponsoring our weekly State of the Nation poll for the past two years. It's been an awesome ride.
One last point—YouGov and Ipsos/Reuters were both internet polls. YouGov has now been pretty good two elections in a row. With cell phones becoming a bigger and bigger issue every year, it seems clear that the internet is the future of polling. I'm glad someone is figuring it out.
But let's be clear, you have to go down to number six on the list to get to someone who called cell phones. And Gallup called 50 percent cell phones and they were a laughingstock this cycle.Every now and then, we will attempt to write the worst sports column on earth. Today: Let’s talk about Notre Dame and the Dallas Cowboys.
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA — There are plenty of good football teams every year. But how many of them are truly iconic?
If someone asks you about classic college football, the platonic ideal, it won’t take long before your mind is transported to northern Indiana. You see Touchdown Jesus off in the distance, the sun beating down on that big golden dome, and then the rays glimmering off those golden helmets while the band plays them all to victory.
Someone asks you about classic pro football, and suddenly you’re sitting in your parents’ living room. You’re gawking at that big hole in the roof, following those giant stars in the middle of 11 silver helmets dancing across your television screen.
Notre Dame and the Dallas Cowboys. Gold and silver.
Two different metals.
Both precious.
I’m not saying they’re better than all the other great teams in football. But they might be more important.
Especially this year.
We live in an era of gotcha journalism with a world full of clickbait headlines, and nothing moves the needle like a good ol’ fashioned attack on football. Every other week, Time magazine has a new cover asking if we should put an end to life on the gridiron. The most American game in American history is under attack. Every blogger with a modem wants to go viral on BuzzFeed, and it doesn’t matter whether we’re all BuzzFed up. Negativity sells, so the stories just keep coming. The media’s in a race to see who can get us the most outraged, and they’re all winning.
One week we’re tearing down the NFL, the next week we need to burn down the NCAA and write checks to every college kid.
Even the leadership is powerless. Roger Goodell has always ruled with an iron fist and velvet glove — power and finesse, kids — but lately, nothing’s good enough to satisfy the masses. The same is true with Mark Emmert and the NCAA. No matter how big and successful college sports become with Emmert as the ringleader — oh, look, another billion-dollar TV deal — the peanut gallery just pushes harder to run the whole circus out of town.
Nobody’s saying football is perfect. Don’t get me wrong.
Just look at a guy like Super Bowl winner Richard Sherman. He’s the prototype for today’s superstars. A whole lotta hype and zero respect for the game. The only thing bigger than his contract is his mouth. Or look at a football program like the defending national champions, Florida State. I’m all for letting college kids blow off a little steam, but once you start breaking laws and signing autographs for money, I blow my whistle. Flag on the play. Unsportsmanlike.
Our winners are supposed to be the best and the brightest, but lately, they’ve been as disappointing as anyone.
Maybe we need some new winners.
Or maybe we just need the old winners to start winning again.
The Domers were goners if you listened to the media the past few years. Because this isn’t Florida State. Because you can’t win football games and have integrity at the same time. Because you can’t be a powerhouse in the classrooms and a powerhouse on the field. Because your dad’s favorite football team can’t get through to today’s high school kids.
Well, breaking news: Notre Dame is sitting at 6-0, headed to Tallahassee this weekend to take on the Criminoles. While the rest of the country cuts corners and runs in circles, the program that refuses to forfeit its principles is still outrunning them all.
How’s that for a good story?
Put that on BuzzFeed.
Everett Golson has been a wizard at quarterback for the Irish all year long, and coach Brian Kelly is on the sideline pumping his fist, and they’re all playing like champions today.
In recent years, it’s been popular to turn Notre Dame into a punching bag, and it only makes sense if you pay attention to the rest of our society. It’s something I like to call the “politics of achievement.” The higher you climb, the quicker someone will try to tear you down. Achievement doesn’t score any points with us, it just makes you a bigger target. The Manti Te’o debacle is a great example. When sportswriters were talking about his late girlfriend and his perseverance through tragedy, how many people even noticed? But as soon as we found out his girlfriend never died and never even existed, suddenly it turns into a national craze with millions of web hits. We don’t want heroes in this culture.
We want scandal, we want clicks.
Anyone who’s trying to set an example today gets torn down by the media, dragged to the middle with the rest of us. It’s hard to keep climbing when we can’t see anyone on the mountaintop.
But there’s Notre Dame this season, climbing higher every week. Your dad’s favorite team might just impress these kids after all.
And then there’s the Dallas Cowboys, doing the same thing in the NFL.
I’m old enough to remember when it was cool to love the Cowboys. Lately, it’s just cool to make jokes. The politics of achievement again. Let’s all tear down America’s Team.
That was supposed to be the plan this year, too. The Cowboys were supposed to be one big punch line for one more year. The critics said owner and GM Jerry Jones has been shooting blanks for a decade.
But ol’ Jerry stuck to his guns.
And you know what? While the rest of the NFL falls in love with the spread offense gimmick, Jerry’s boys bet big on a huge offensive line and running game that’s as simple as it is devastating. Let Chump Kelly and the Eagles diagram 20 different ways to throw a screen pass. These Dallas Cowboys hand it off and hit you in the friggin’ mouth.
It’s not new, but some things never go out of style.
And it’s working. After a false start in Week 1 against the Niners, Dallas has gone undefeated ever since. No bells and whistles, just wins. It all crested with an upset on national TV this weekend, against (guess who?) Richard Sherman and the Seahawks. With the whole world watching, there was no postgame interview for Sherman to hijack. They don’t interview losers.
“I’ve been here 23 years,” Jerry Jones once said. “I’ve been here when it was glory hole days and I’ve been here when it wasn’t. And, so, having said that, I want me some glory hole.”
Well, Sunday was Jerry’s 72nd birthday. And you better believe there was plenty of glory hole back in that Cowboys locker room.
There’s an old joke I’ve always loved to tell friends. Why does Cowboys Stadium have a hole in the middle of the roof?
Answer: So God can watch his favorite football team on Sundays.
Of course, that’s only after Touchdown Jesus gets done watching the Fighting Irish on Saturdays.
It makes you think. Maybe these teams can make us all believers again.
Football matters more when Notre Dame and the Cowboys are winning. It feels more important. With clouds of controversy in every day’s web forecast, maybe two iconic brands are what help this sport shine again. For once, the best teams might be the best story, too.
It’s only human to romanticize the past. I know. It’s just as human to worry about the future. It’s what we do now. We look at all the headlines, then look at our kids, and we ask, “Weren’t things better in the good ol’ days?” But when we play this game, everybody loses.
Forget the past. Forget the future, too.
Watch Jerry and the Cowboys riding high in first place. Watch the Irish fighting to the top of polls one more time.
What if we’re living in the good ol’ days right now?Hot of the pod! We visited the preview of Takashi Murakami’s exhibition “The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. We discuss isolationism, nationalism, adults telling teenagers the best use of their creativity is to participate in capitalism and pigeons getting it on in the park.
LISTEN HERE or subscribe on itunes
Lecture Notes:
Mies van der Road
Tips and TripTiks
I wish I could colonize the world with a Coke
The isolationist turn
Playing into Russia’s hands
New scandal suffixes
Yippies, you know, like violent hippies
France isn’t just French people anymore
The Full English Brexit
Jumpin’ into a pool of money like Scrooge McDuck
At least I know I’m ambivalent
DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I’M NOBODY
Art networking vacation trips
Spaghetti and resin in a swirl
We’re all on two medications
The diagonal line that prevented Erik’s fandom and defined Nina’s high school yearsCCP has just revealed Project Legion at this year’s Fanfest. It’s a free to play, first person shooter on the PC which will tie into the EVE Universe. You can compete with other players for loot, and even have opportunities to “betray your friends”. The line between friends and foe will blur as you go deeper into null-sec.
Building upon their knowledge with DUST 514, CCP aims to provide an improved experience with Project Legion. CCP Shanghai have been working on it for the past few months.
“When I came to CCP several months ago, it was to fulfill a vision that was our goal since DUST 514 was first announced: Merge a deep sandbox experience with an FPS in New Eden, to create a massive living world more meaningful as real life. As the team and I worked on that vision, we came to understand the effort centered around four pillars.” said CCP Frame. “We had to build the right ecosystem incorporating a fun and balanced competitive shooter; player vs. environment allowing for emergent behaviors; a player-driven economy that is distinctly CCP; and deep immersion that brings it all together.”
“We also feel that, to do this right, we need to do it on the PC platform first.”
It will be a free to play game with a focus on accessibility, something that has a notorious reputation within EVE Online. Players will use the starmap to scan the universe for “loot, battles and Guristas-sponsored tournaments”. With valuable commodities for grabs, players will have to make meaningful choices to come out on top.
“Let’s start with the loot. I didn’t want to add drones simply to have AI to shoot at; instead we tried to find a way to make that meaningful. That’s when the idea of scavenging emerged.” explained CCP Frame. “What if the loot being dropped is gear that the other players and reclaimer drones (which, by the way, are cool so long as you don’t get too close!) are fighting for in “open” scavenging grounds? In High-Security space the loot is more basic and the drones less aggressive, but in Low-Security the stakes get higher. As all those in New Eden know, with greater risk comes greater reward. So in lowsec, with CONCORD nowhere to be found, the line between friend and foe becomes very blurry – you and I might team up to go after better loot against more powerful drones… but you won’t shoot me in the back and steal my stuff, right?”
CCP are going to be heavily consulting fans during Project Legion’s development. There’s no set release date, and Project Legion isn’t the final name for the new PC shooter.
We’ll have more info soon in the form of an interview with Executive Producer of DUST 514,JC Gaudechon (CCP Rouge), but here’s some screenshots to tide you over:
Addtional reporting by Steve HogartyWriting a résumé can be a daunting task. It has a style unlike virtually any other document you are likely to write. Consequently, many people rely on either preconceived ideas or stock templates when setting down their credentials for a new position, dooming themselves to a mediocre product from the get-go.
We often carry around outdated concepts when we don’t keep up to date with current trends. Today’s quality résumés have dispensed with objective statements, and must contain far more information about your accomplishments than your responsibilities. To stand out from the competition you must convey your personal brand, highlight your skills and explain the results of your work. And at the same time, your résumé should be formatted to be applicant tracking system (ATS) friendly.
Rather than just trying to initially compose a document in résumé format, it is often very helpful to first create a background document you might think of as a well of information from which to draw. To get organized, begin by creating topic headings for each of the sections of the résumé: Professional Experience, Skills, Education, Certifications & Training, Volunteer / Community Activities.
Compose bullet points where you highlight each of your major accomplishments. And fill them in with a longhand version of what you did, how you did it and what happened because of your activity.
Don’t worry about conforming to the space limitation of a page or two in this private document. Just pour out your story on to several pages, and then you will be able to cull the highlights for your finished product. Moreover, having thought about and articulated your experiences you will also have taken an important step forward in preparing stories to tell when you get to interviewing for coveted roles.
In each section or bullet point of your résumé well, answer these questions as best you can:
1. How did you get this job? What does the company do? Who buys its products or services?
2. What are your major responsibilities? What have been the biggest challenges you faced in accomplishing them? What did you do, and how did it turn out? What resulted from your actions?
3. What are you most proud to have accomplished in this role?
4. How have you saved your employer time or increased productivity?
5. What have you done, to increase sales or revenue for your employer? How did you go about doing it? What tools, skills, knowledge or software did you utilize?
6. What have you done, and how did you do it, to decrease costs or expenses for your employer? Again, what tools, skills, knowledge or software did you utilize?
7. How have your accomplishments in this role stacked up against others in your department, company or industry?
8. Why is your employer better off because you were hired?
9. What did you start or set up that became a model for others to copy in other locations or companies?
10. How did you make life easier for your boss, your peers or others with whom you worked?
11. How are you viewed by your boss, peers and those you supervise?
12. What is your reputation among your vendors, customers or clients? Why do they have this opinion of you?
Your résumé well will likely turn out to be several pages long. Then, you can draw from it the main substance and ideas that emerge from your self-reflection.
Once you've completed this preliminary document and are ready to write the résumé itself, determine for yourself the overall impression of what you want to create in the mind of your reader. With this in mind, go back to highlight all the things that you’ve written that will contribute to someone coming to the conclusion you seek. Now you are well underway to figuring out what to include in the bullet points you will be fashioning.
Bear in mind, employers are ultimately far less concerned about reading a listing of your current and former job descriptions than coming to understand how you have fulfilled your responsibilities in a way that sets you apart from everyone else. That is why each bullet point should be in what professional résumé writers call a STAR format that conveys succinctly your Situation, Task, Action and Results.
When you go about the task of résumé creation this way, you will create a document that will interest its readers to invest far more than the six to 10 seconds they give to your competition.
Happy hunting!Daniel Therrien is the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Canadians have reacted with a healthy dose of indignation to recent revelations that journalists have been subject to electronic surveillance under warrants issued as part of police investigations.
Governments have also moved quickly to respond. Quebec announced the creation of a commission of inquiry and the federal government has indicated it is open to strengthening rules that protect freedom of the press.
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However, the threat highlighted by this controversy is not limited to press freedom.
The privacy of all Canadians has been put at risk following Parliament's adoption of Bill C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, which made it easier for police to obtain electronic surveillance warrants.
We don't yet know all the facts surrounding the authorization of warrants targeting Quebec journalists. However, it appears some of these court orders permitted the collection of metadata, which is information related to telephone or electronic communications, including telephone numbers, IP addresses and location data, but not the content of communications.
Among other changes, Bill C-13 sought to ease the requirements for obtaining warrants for metadata on the grounds that this information is much less sensitive than the actual content of electronic communications.
However, we now understand that metadata can reveal sensitive information, including the identity of journalistic sources. Studies by academics and by my office have also shown that metadata can reveal very sensitive information about an individual, for example, someone's sexual orientation, religious beliefs, political leanings, or the fact that a person suffers from a mental health issue.
Recent events also demonstrate the fact that warrants for metadata are not exclusive to individuals suspected of criminal activity. These warrants can involve innocent people believed to have had contact with a suspect under investigation for reasons that may have nothing to do with the commission of a crime.
The federal government's recent discussion paper on national security suggests loosening even further the rules allowing police to obtain metadata. One of the options put forward by the government opens the door to warrants for certain metadata to be authorized, not by a judge, but by "senior public officers."
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In my view, recent events show that standards should, in fact, be tightened and that privacy protections for innocent individuals need to be enhanced.
It is important to maintain the role of judges in the authorization of warrants for the collection of metadata by law enforcement. Despite its imperfections, the judicial system ensures the necessary independence for the protection of human rights.
But we also now know that it is probably not enough to rely solely on the judiciary. Indeed, some judges have made this point themselves.
In a recent ruling, Ontario Superior Court Justice John Sproat found he did not have the power to impose privacy protective conditions on a production order involving the metadata of thousands of individuals who happened to be within the vicinity of a number of crimes. He said this responsibility rests with legislators.
I also believe that it is incumbent on Parliament to better define the conditions under which the sensitive metadata of Canadians should be available to police forces.
To start with, these standards should clarify the conditions that must be met in order to obtain a warrant or court order. For example: What should be the burden of proof required of police – a mere suspicion of wrongdoing, or the higher threshold of reasonable belief? Should the collection of metadata be a last resort; available only when all other investigative techniques have been exhausted? And should this type of surveillance be limited only to cases involving serious crimes?
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In cases where those conditions are met, the standards could then enable judges to attach conditions to protect the privacy of people who are incidentally targeted by a warrant, but are not suspected of involvement in a crime. For example, metadata related to communications that have no connection with criminal activity should be destroyed without delay.
Canadians want police to have the means to protect them, but they also want their rights respected. They have been shocked to learn just how easily law enforcement can access personal data transmitted via modern telecommunications, apparently without sufficient consideration of their fundamental rights.
Canada's Parliament has an important role to play in preventing such violations of the right to privacy.Prince Andrew launched a scathing attack on British anticorruption investigators, journalists and the French during an "astonishingly candid" performance at an official engagement that shocked a US diplomat.
Tatiana Gfoeller, Washington's ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, recorded in a secret cable that Andrew spoke "cockily" at the brunch with British and Canadian business people, leading a discussion that "verged on the rude".
During the two-hour engagement in 2008 at a hotel in the capital, Bishkek, Andrew, who travels the globe as a special UK trade representative, attacked Britain's corruption investigators in the Serious Fraud Office for what he called "idiocy".
He went on to denounce Guardian reporters investigating bribery as "those (expletive) journalists … who poke their noses everywhere".
In the cable from the US embassy to Washington in October 2008, Gfoeller wrote: "Rude language à la British … [Andrew] turned to the general issue of promoting British economic interests abroad. He railed at British anticorruption investigators, who had had the 'idiocy' of almost scuttling the al-Yamama deal with Saudi Arabia."
The prince, she explained, "was referencing an investigation, subsequently closed, into alleged kickbacks a senior Saudi royal had received in exchange for the multi-year, lucrative BAE Systems contract to provide equipment and training to Saudi security forces".
The dispatch continued: "His mother's subjects seated around the table roared their approval. He then went on to 'these (expletive) journalists, especially from the National [sic] Guardian, who poke their noses everywhere' and (presumably) make it harder for British businessmen to do business. The crowd practically clapped."
She said the talk turned at another point to allegations of corruption in the post-Soviet state: "While claiming that all of them never participated in it and never gave out bribes, one representative of a middle-sized company stated that 'it is sometimes an awful temptation'.
"In an astonishing display of candour in a public hotel where the brunch was taking place, all of the businessmen then chorused that nothing gets done in Kyrgyzstan if President [Kurmanbek] Bakiyev's son Maxim does not get 'his cut'.
"Prince Andrew took up the topic with gusto, saying that he keeps hearing Maxim's name 'over and over again' whenever he discusses doing business in this country. Emboldened, one businessman said that doing business here is 'like doing business in the Yukon' in the 19th century, ie only those willing to participate in local corrupt practices are able to make any money … At this point the Duke of York laughed uproariously, saying that: 'All of this sounds exactly like France.'"
The US ambassador, a veteran career diplomat who speaks six languages, did not appear to have great regard for Andrew's intellect.
Her dispatch included some passages noticeably tinged with sarcasm. In a section headed: "You have to cure yourself of anorexia", she wrote: "Again turning thoughtful, the prince mused that outsiders could do little to change the culture of corruption here. They themselves have to have a change of heart. Just like you have to cure yourself of anorexia. No one else can do it for you."
She added: "He reacted with almost neuralgic patriotism whenever any comparison between the US and UK came up. For example, one British businessman noted that despite the 'overwhelming might of the American economy compared to ours' the amount of American and British investment in Kyrgyzstan was similar. Snapped the duke: 'No surprise there. The Americans don't understand geography. Never have. In the UK, we have the best geography teachers in the world!'"
Maxim Bakiyev, whose |
The man behind the conspiracy. Simon & Schuster Imagine that Apple CEO Tim Cook secretly called the heads of the Big Four record labels, which control most of the music on the planet, and said, "Hey, next month let's all agree to raise the price of a song in iTunes from $1.29 to $2, minimum." And imagine that the record labels — who are supposed to be competing — all agreed.
And imagine that this took the form of a literal conspiracy, like in a movie, involving secret dinners between CEOs, emails being deleted, and an all-powerful villain, who, facing death from an incurable illness, demanded that when it came to pop music, "The price will be the same!" for everyone.
The icing on the cake: Rupert Murdoch is in on it, too.
And lo and behold, music on iTunes goes up to $2 — a 50% hike — for no reason whatsoever.
You'd be furious. People would call for boycotts. The FTC might investigate. It would be front page news.
And rightly so: That would be the very definition of illegal, anti-competitive monopoly exploitation of the $2.9 billion music download market.
But Apple founder Steve Jobs basically did just that in the book market, a federal judge ruled last week.
It's a huge, watershed decision. Books are a much bigger business than music. Ebook downloads were worth ~$3 billion in 2012, and they're expected to grow to $8.2 billion in 2017. (The total book market including hardbacks is worth up to $42 billion.)
The affect Apple had on book prices in 2010. U.S. Federal Court Yet no one seems to care.
People shrugged at the news. Normally, when an entire industry executes a permanent 50% price hike in a single month, consumers go crazy.
This chart (right) shows what happened to ebook prices back in 2010, once the iPad and its iBooks store came online. The average price of books leaped from ~$8 to just under $12.
By the way, this isn't just some legal technicality in which a couple of contracts were altered and there was a happy side effect for Apple.
This was Steve Jobs, creating an iBook store for the iPad and wanting all publishers to sign up for it at prices 50% higher than the $9.99 level Amazon was charging. Apple and the publishers discussed it at their very first meeting.
The CEOs of the publishing houses had secret dinners in the back rooms of New York restaurants to figure out how to screw Amazon and its low prices. Hachette executives were told to delete emails in case they contained evidence of the conspiracy. Jobs and his staff wanted the deal done before he died. Murdoch was in on it. Apple's Eddy Cue pursued the deal monomaniacally, pausing only to eat and sleep. And then, at the iPad launch event, Jobs gave the game away: When asked why anyone would pay $15 for a book on the iPad when Amazon sold them for $9.99, he replied "The price will be the same."
The only thing the scene lacked was a thunderous sky and flashes of lightning as Jobs spoke.
The implication was clear: He knew ahead of time that Apple's book deal would lock in a uniform new price for the entire market.
A chart from the Apple ruling showing higher prices marketwide. U.S. Federal Court And by the entire market, I mean Amazon, too, which once controlled 90% of the ebook business. This chart (right) shows the effect on Amazon's prices.
With their Apple pricing deals in hand, the publishers all renegotiated terms with Amazon — which is why all the top selling books on Amazon are now nearly $14, not $9.99.
Jobs even confessed that he wanted prices for ebooks to go up in his autobiography.
You can read it yourself. On Amazon, it's currently selling for nearly $14— not $9.99.Women in India who don’t have adequate access to sanitation facilities and are forced to openly defecate are more likely to experience sexual violence, according to a new study.
Approva Jadhav, a researcher from the University of Michigan, said that “open defecation places women at uniquely higher risk of type of sexual violence: non-partner” in the co-authored report.
In their findings, researchers said it was twice as likely for women without access to “household toilets” to face sexual violence than women who do have such access, suggesting that improvement of infrastructure and access to toilets would provide a safer environment for women.
“Women who use open defecation sites such as open fields or the side of a railway track are twice as likely to get raped when compared with women using a home toilet,” the study stated.
In #India, women leaders go to communities to equip women & girls w/ information about proper sanitation & hygiene #worldtoiletday — The Hunger Project (@HungerProject) November 19, 2016
#MenstruationMatters because only 34% of girl’s schools in India have functioning toilets. http://t.co/vo7suNnR2Y — Women Deliver (@WomenDeliver) May 27, 2015
Never really know open defecation is so common in sub saharan Africa and India. Women are also at risk of rape only to go to toilet! Crazy! — Izzuddin Nor (@IzzuddinNor) November 4, 2014
“Our findings provide further rationale for NGO’s and the Indian government to expand sanitation programs, and raise new questions about the potentially protective role of sanitation facilities in other contexts beyond India,” the research found.
Almost half of India’s population do not have access to basic sanitation and have to defecate in public and women appear to be affected the most.
“This is an urgent need that cannot be ignored anymore,” Ms Jadhav, lead author of the report, told NDTV. “We need more than anecdotes to bring a policy change.”
READ MORE: It’s the toilet police! India to track WC usage with tablets in real time
By analyzing data from the Indian National Family Health Survey along with an overall representative sample of 75,000 women who answered questions on accessibility to toilets in their homes and experiences of various types of violence, the researchers found that previous sanitation studies did not examine the synonymous link between the two.
The issue of India’s sanitation crisis being linked to sexual violence came to light in 2014 when two teenage girls were raped and hanged in Uttar Pradesh while they were making their way to fields to defecate.
In the slums of Delhi, where communities often have to share public toilets, girls under the age of 10 have been found to be at risk of “being raped while on their way to use a public toilet,” according to a BBC report, which also states that around 300 million women and girls in the country defecate in the open.
READ MORE: 10yo Indian girl stripped, set ablaze, thrown in abandoned well for resisting rape attemptThe Philippines effectively domesticated the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court when it enacted Republic Act 9851 – the commander in chief can be held liable for crimes against humanity
Published 9:45 PM, March 04, 2017
Two international human rights groups recently released findings that the police are behind the spate of extrajudicial drug-related killings in the Philippines.
They bring us back to the time in 2016 when President Rodrigo Duterte scoffed at the warning aired by International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fetou Bensouda that the ICC would be closely monitoring incitements for mass murder. As of end-January 2017, the fatalities have reached more than 7,000 (and still counting) in the country.
ICC Prosecutor Bensouda warned: “Let me be clear: any person in the Philippines who incites or engages in acts of mass violence including by ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing, in any other manner, to the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC is potentially liable to prosecution before the Court.” (READ: Things to know about Duterte's pet peeve ICC)
What Duterte fails to appreciate is that at this day and age the doctrine of command responsibility has been institutionalized and operationalized both in the international and domestic criminal law regimes. He can be investigated, prosecuted, arrested, and tried for crimes against humanity. And the doctrine of command responsibility will indispensably figure prominently in those proceedings.
Contrary to his pronouncements, Duterte as head of state lacks the mantle of immunity from prosecution either by Philippine authorities (arguably) or the ICC for gravest breaches of international human rights law. (READ: Duterte threatens PH withdrawal from ICC)
Two criminal law frameworks apply to the ongoing mass murders in the Philippines: one domestic, another international.
The Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity (Republic Act 9851) penalizes those acts as “willful killing” under Section 6(a). Then President Arroyo signed RA 9851 into law on December 11, 2009. It is also known as An Act Defining and Penalizing Crimes against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes against Humanity, Organizing Jurisdiction, Designating Special Courts, and For Related Purposes.
RA 9851 characterizes as “other crimes against humanity” the unabated mass murders “when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.”
Command responsibility
As commander-in-chief, President Duterte can be held liable under Section 10 (Responsibility of Superiors) of RA 9851. It provides that “a superior shall be criminally responsible as a principal for such crimes committed by subordinates under his/her effective command and control, or effective authority and control as the case may be, as a result of his/her failure to properly exercise control over such subordinates, where:
(a) That superior either knew or, owing to the circumstances at the time, should have known that the subordinates were committing or about to commit such crimes;
(b) That superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his/her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.”
According to the Philippine Supreme Court in the Boac v. Cadapan en banc decision dated May 31, 2011, RA 9851 enunciated “command responsibility as a form of criminal complicity in crimes against international humanitarian law, genocide and other crimes.”
In this case, the Supreme Court underscored, “It bears stressing that command responsibility is properly a form of criminal complicity, and thus a substantive rule that points to criminal or administrative liability.”
The law imposes the penalty of reclusion perpetua (technically maximum imprisonment of 40 years) and P500,000 to P1 million fine upon those found guilty of the crime of other crimes against humanity of willful killing, considering “the extreme gravity of the crime, especially where the commission of any of the crimes…results in death…and considering the individual circumstances of the accused.”
Rome Statute of the ICC
No one has criticized President Duterte’s proven track record and determination to fight narco-traffickers per se. The President, in fact, enjoys everyone’s support in ensuring that our country will not fall prey to narco-politicians and turn our nation into a narco-state. The President’s strong political will to combat narco-politicos and narco-generals is truly laudable and deserving of our wholehearted support.
The apparent method, however, is inherently reprehensible, “shocking to humanity’s conscience,” and offends our collective and most fundamental sense of decency and humanity. These characterize the very crimes codified in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, namely, war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and crime of aggression.
We effectively domesticated this international treaty by enacting RA 9851 ahead of our country’s ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC.
At the international level, the continuing mass murders constitute a crime against humanity of murder under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Applicability to Philippines
Adopted by the Rome Conference on July 7, 1998, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court established the ICC as the world’s first permanent criminal court. It entered into force on July 1, 2002, or 60 days after its ratification by the 60th state party. Ten states simultaneously deposited their instruments of ratification with the United Nations Secretary General, who acts as treaty depositary, raising to 66 the total number of state parties, triggering the Rome Statute to enter into force.
We are subject to the ICC’s jurisdiction. We were, in fact, one of the pioneers behind the creation of this first-ever global criminal court, being a state party to the Final Act of The United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on The Establishment of An International Criminal Court held in Rome on July 17, 1998.
Our country – represented by then Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Enrique Manalo – signed the Rome Statute of the ICC on December 28, 2000. The Philippines ratified the Rome Statute on August 30, 2011. We thus became the 117th state party to this treaty, the second ASEAN country to do so.
ICC’s legal framework
Together, 7 documents provide the legal framework of the ICC. These include the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Elements of Crimes, the Regulations of the Court, the Regulations of the Registry, the Regulations of the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel.
History
In March 2011, ICC President Judge Sang Hyun Song visited the country. Then President Benigno Aquino III signed the Instrument of Ratification on May 6, 2011. Casting their vote, members of the Philippine Senate concurred with then President Aquino on August 23, 2011, in ratifying the Rome Statute.
The Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations deposited our Instrument of Ratification with the UN Secretary General on August 30, 2011. By virtue of Article 126 (Entry into force), the Rome Statute’s date of effectivity in the Philippines starts on November 1, 2011.
Significance and rationale
Then Philippine Permanent Representative Ambassador Libran Cabactulan articulated the significance of the Philippine ratification of the statute, stating: “The Philippines, a democracy that champions international law and the rule of law, views being party to the Rome Statute of the ICC as a vital part of the ongoing global campaign to end impunity and violence against individuals and to further strengthen a rules-based international system, specifically in relation to international human rights law and humanitarian law.”
Cabactulan added: “It is a clear signal of the importance the Philippines [attaches] to this treaty.... The ICC also serves as a deterrent against genocide and other heinous crimes and ensures that all perpetrators of these serious crimes of concern are held accountable.”
Historically, civil society organizations in the Philippines had also lobbied for its ratification.
ICC’s jurisdiction over the Philippines
The statute became effective and applicable to the Philippines 60 days after the deposit of our Instrument of Ratification, or on November 1, 2011, as provided for under Article 126. The crime against humanity of murder allegedly perpetrated by state actors therefore falls under the jurisdiction and is cognizable by the International Criminal Court, inasmuch as the continuing mass murders occurred after November 1, 2011.
Principle of complementarity
This principle of jurisdiction, however, interplays with the principle of complementarity. It means national jurisdictions, just like the Philippines, have primacy over the ICC, as far as investigating, prosecuting and trying cases – like the crime against humanity of murder under the Rome Statute of the ICC – are concerned. Hence, in the context of the open-season murder of drug suspects, the Philippines, and not the ICC, is the one that theoretically has primacy to carry out investigations, prosecutions, and trial.
But such state-initiated investigations, prosecutions, and trials should not be a mere facade, but rather an impartial, honest, and good faith investigation, prosecution, and trial. Otherwise, the ICC can step in, pursuant to the principle of complementarity, if the Philippines is shown to be unwilling or unable to investigate, prosecute, and try in good faith.
Philippine criminal law framework
We have an adequate legal system to carry out domestically this obligation to prosecute, try, and punish perpetrators under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, given our own RA 9851 – Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.
We have duly-constituted and fully functioning criminal courts and a hierarchy of judicial review. Section 18 (Philippine Court, Prosecutors and Investigators) of RA 9851 provides regional trial courts with original and exclusive jurisdiction over crimes punishable under RA 9851. Our Supreme Court also has the power to “designate special courts to try” such cases, according to Section 18.
Section 18 further provides that “the Commission on Human Rights, the Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police or other concerned law enforcement agencies shall designate prosecutors or investigators.”
Will our own executive department be willing and sincere in carrying out an honest, thorough, and good faith investigation, prosecution, and trial of the killers, particularly the mastermind, the planner, and the direct perpetrator?
There are at least 3 emerging categories of killers: police officers; motorcycle-riding vigilantes; and salvagers. (READ: PH police 'falsifying' evidence in drugs war – Human Rights Watch)
It seems that only the Commission on Human Rights can carry out an impartial and independent investigation into the mass murders.
International Criminal Court intervention
It’s this factual element that can potentially bring about in the future an active and direct ICC involvement in investigating the spate of mass atrocities in the country. An ICC prosecutor can conduct a preliminary examination to see if adequate information exists to warrant the opening of an investigation into crimes within the ICC's jurisdiction.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda can initiate such a preliminary investigation motu proprio or on her own accord “on the basis of information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court,” per Article 15(1) of the Rome Statute, as she herself has warned.
The ICC merely serves to complement the Philippines’ primary jurisdiction over the gravest crimes punishable under the Rome Statute – the crime against humanity of murder in the case of the Philippines. The ICC, however, will likely step in, if Philippine authorities fail to act on the killings, as crimes against humanity undermine the rule of international human rights law.
Failure or refusal on the part of the ICC to act will constitute a betrayal of its mandate to dismantle the wall of impunity by holding notorious human rights violators accountable before the bar of international justice. – Rappler.com
The author serves as the Associate Director of Graduate Programs of Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law (stated only for purposes of showing affiliation). He holds a Master of Laws degree in Human Rights (University of Hong Kong; Honors) and a Master of Laws in American Law for Foreign Lawyers (Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law). He worked as a journalist of Ang Pahayagang Malaya, The Manila Times, The Philippine Post, Pinoy Gazette, UCANews and ISYU Newsmagazine. He is a lifetime member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. The views expressed here exclusively belong to the author.
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For years, Republicans have been selling themselves as the party of business, using Small Business as the banner from which to launch their tax cuts for huge corporations. In Joe the Plumber, they epitomized this tactic; Using the sometimes less than accurate “Joe the Plumber” — who wasn’t a licensed plumber and didn’t, in fact, pay all of those taxes he moaned about on TV — to prop up the agenda for Big Business.
And for years, the American public has bought the costly mistaken guise of the Republican Party as being good for small business. In fact, many moderate Main Streeters were only nudged into Obama territory over Palin outrage, but their hard-working fiscal hearts remained with the Republican Party. Yes, the Republican Party, the party of hard work, fiscal accountability, balanced budgets, personal responsibility and meritocracy.
Only that party is no longer recognizable. While the actions of the Republican Party are those of a Party whose ideology has been bastardized beyond recognition until it is being used to justify some sort of social Darwinistic “Christian” jihad on humanity justified by the “Jesus-blessed” “free market” “winners”, this reality has been slow to dim on the heartland. We were, after all, used to believing what they tell us they stand for. We might not have agreed, but we took them at their word regarding their ideology.
We can no longer afford to take Republicans at their word.
Yesterday, President Obama urged Senate Republicans to stand by their own ideology by backing a bill designed to cut taxes for small businesses. The President spoke at a New Jersey sandwich shop, and called this bill “as American as apple pie”. Obama also noted its provisions were “things the Republican Party has said it supported for years,” and today Senate Republicans responded by blocking the small business jobs bill 58-42. As Sen. Patty Murray said on the Senate floor, according to Bloomberg, “Once again a common-sense bill that would help Americans is being held hostage by political calculation.”
On paper, it seemed a non-issue. CNN reported:
“The small-business bill before the Senate would set up a $30 billion lending fund to help community banks offer small businesses credit. It also would provide tax breaks to small businesses that invest in new equipment and hire unemployed workers. The House passed a similar bill in June.”
Lower taxes for small business? Isn’t that what the Republicans are always nattering on about? Don’t they say that creates jobs? And isn’t this bill designed to give tax cuts precisely for hiring new workers and buying equipment? And aren’t economists all in agreement about the necessity to get money moving in this economy, something a small business loan does quite effectively?
Hmmm. What’s the problem?
Well, this bill would also eliminate capital gains taxes for key investments and allow small businesses to write off appreciation on new equipment. Um, yeah. I dunno know about you, but when I hear “eliminate capital gains taxes”, I think “capitalism”, “free market” and maybe on a bad day of too much Right Wing Radio, “liberty”. But I sure as heck don’t think that Republicans will be voting NO on eliminating capital gains taxes.
Unless, of course, said bill would actually help our economy……seeing as a boost in our economy would not help the Republicans this fall.
Yes, in that case, I can sure imagine the Republicans voting no on their own ideas. And of course, they’ll need to take cover for their desperate politics.
Cut to: Republicans claim to be worried about the “Cost” of the measure.
Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen. The Republican Party has found their Fiscal Political Savior and her name is “Cost”. You heard a lot about “Cost” during the healthcare debates, during the unemployment extension debates, and now you’re hearing it as an excuse to not cut taxes for small businesses. Cost.
Cost, as in, the cost of the Iraq War. Cost, as in the Bush unpaid for tax cuts. Cost, as in the Medicare prescription drug bill. Cost.
So, suddenly the Republicans don’t want to give small businesses a tax break because of “Cost”. And yet, they are still campaigning on cutting taxes for small businesses. Yes, in fact, I’m watching one of their ads right now on my TV. It’s really tough to vote against your own platform and claim you stand for anything. Tough, if not impossible, in fact.
Maybe someone should tell the Republicans that even when they leave something off of the budget all together, it still has to be paid for. I mean, heck, that’s how it runs in my small business. Maybe it’s different when you’re running the country, eh? Maybe “cost” doesn’t matter when you’re in charge. Maybe it only matters when you’ve been trounced/whooped/clobbered in an election and the guy who won just keeps on passing liberal legislation that will change the role government will play in American lives for a very long time. Yeah. That has to hurt.
And they have nothing to run on. Their ideology failed when implemented and their politicians turned out to be the opposite of everything the party claims to stand for. All they can do at this point is hope that America, still struggling to overcome their last dangerously drunken turn at the wheel, will fail. And that Americans are too stupid to remember who caused this problem.
So, when Obama wants to give a tax cut to the small business owners, the Republicans call that a “hand out” but when they give tax cuts to big business, they call it “stimulating job growth” (and hush, not a word about those jobs they “incentivized” right out of the country). And still, when they campaign, they wave their American flags and stand next to Joe the Plumber, touting themselves as the Only Choice for Small Business owners.
I don’t know about you, but where I come from, we call that talkin’ outta both sides of your mouth. Now that Senate Republicans have voted ‘No’ on tax cuts for small businesses, they have definitively jumped their ideological shark.
Show-Me-The-Money Joe the Plumber turned out to be the perfect poster child for the modern day Republican Party: One embarrassing fib after another, piled onto a dung heap of hypocrisy and sketchy ethics, all topped off with a healthy dose of misinformation and not a drop of shame after being exposed.
If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human:The B.C. government’s decision this month to freeze electricity rates is the latest move by governments to handcuff the rate-setting authority of energy regulators. It follows legislation passed this summer in Ontario that transfers the power of setting rates to the minister of energy and ends one of the last vestiges of regulatory independence in the province’s energy sector.
BC Hydro had requested a three-per-cent increase from the energy regulator, the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC). The newly elected NDP government has instead decided it will set the rate increase — at zero.
While the rate freeze will “save” consumers $140 million over the next year, those savings are an illusion, since that money will be added to what are known as deferral accounts and collected from future ratepayers. B.C.’s auditor general has called this practice of kicking billions of dollars in costs to future customers “unsustainable.” The AG came to that conclusion in 2011, when BC Hydro had $2.2 billion in deferral accounts. It now has $5.9 billion.
The move marks further intervention by the province
The move marks further intervention by the province in the regulatory process and further undermines the independence and credibility of the BCUC. The NDP had promised on the campaign trail to improve the regulatory process and restore the independence of the BCUC. Instead, the decision to freeze rates — another campaign promise — only makes the situation worse.
In 2013, the government introduced a 10-year plan that directed what level of rate increases the BCUC was allowed to approve for BC Hydro over the first five years. Because those rate increases were below BC Hydro’s cost to generate and deliver power, the difference between rates and costs went into deferral accounts. The price that ratepayers now pay is largely a political determination.
Undercharging consumers will encourage wasteful consumption and lead to the overbuilding of the energy system. Megaprojects like the $10-billion (and counting) Site C dam — which a recent review by the BCUC concluded wasn’t needed, even though $2 billion has already been spent on construction — would be even more unnecessary if consumers paid a rate for power that reflected the cost of generating it.
Undercharging consumers will encourage wasteful consumption
And this same story has already been written in Ontario. This summer, the province passed the Fair Hydro Act, which allows the minister of energy to set electricity rates as he sees fit. Prior to the legislation, the province’s regulator, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), forecast the cost of generating electricity and then set rates to fully recover those costs. The price consumers paid for power reflected the “real” cost of generating it.
The Fair Hydro Plan breaks that relationship and makes the OEB subservient to political whims. The minister of energy can now use any number of “methodologies” to set electricity rates, regardless of whether rates have any relationship to the cost of generating that power. Any difference between the price consumers pay for power and its actual cost is being deferred to future generations through the issuance of debt. Over the next decade this policy will artificially lower power bills by $26 billion while, over the next two decades, adding $21 billion — on top of that $26 billion — to pay it off.
BC Hydro is following Ontario down a road where the price of electricity becomes a political determination and the regulatory agencies, which were explicitly established to prevent this from happening, watch powerlessly from the sidelines.0 Shares
by Fooomanchu
You can’t trust the media. Even if you don’t support Trump, this is a fact that cannot be escaped. It is the same media that lied us into killing millions of people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria while bankrupting the country. It is the same media that are beholden to their corporate masters. And it is the same media that are now frantically against Trump.
When nothing is ever confirmed or verified, and it’s all coming from “sources”, it’s dishonest to even describe it as a story, let alone some kind of smoking gun. With the email leaks on Hillary, there was real evidence to evaluate. The worst they claim Flynn did was that, while setting up a meeting (literally his job), he said something to the effect of “all topics can be discussed”. The contrast between these two examples cannot be more stark.
I wonder if the people who are stuck in the left/right paradigm, or enthralled by the Trump haters have asked themselves, why are all the Republican leadership so openly against Trump? Why are Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Tulsi Gabbard warning us that the deep state is trying to take over against all Americans, and that we need to stop funding Al Qaeda and ISIS? How does it feel to be fighting for the side of people like Dick Cheney, John McCain, Bill Kristol, Charles and David Koch, Paul Ryan, and Lindsey Graham? Could it maybe, possibly, be that, this isn’t about left or right?
Even the most skeptical American should recognize that there’s almost nothing lost by giving Trump a chance for a few months versus supporting neocon warmongers in a coup attempt that apparently has to happen instantly. When every poll shows that people are progressively and increasingly losing trust in the media, why is it that they’ve quintupled down on the same hysterical and apocalyptic rhetoric? Why are they crying wolf, and in the process destroying their most precious assets, their credibility and viewership? Whatever the reason, it must be pretty darned important if they’re willing to destroy their own businesses!
What’s more likely, that all the “conspiracy theories” regarding the misdeeds of the existing fossilized leadership of both parties are true? Or that Trump is a misogynistic, bigoted, homophobic, sexist, racist, transphobic, fascist, Nazi, KKK member who is bent on global genocide, while also being controlled by Putin, Sessions, Bannon, Kushner, and a racist frog?
Hey, Trump says let’s “drain the swamp” and he appointed all these powerful people into his cabinet. I know these billionaires types are usually bad, but sometimes they aren’t, and since it changes virtually nothing to wait and see what Trump does, maybe this will be a case where they actually drain that swamp of corrupt politicians everyone has always claimed to be against? It won’t take very long for us to know definitively whether his actions are good or bad for your average person. Why not wait 6 months? Talk is cheap, judge by actions. We learned that one the hard way with Obama, we won’t forget it just because 6 months goes by.
You don’t have to be a “Trump supporter” to see that you can’t trust the media.
Now is the time to point out these facts to your friends who remain under a spell. Show them how the media lies. Help them get out of the left/right paradigm, but do it with a friendly smile using key questions so that they figure it out for themselves.
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Related Posts:Wikipedia David Brooks, Ruth Marcus, and Tina Brown want to keep laws against marijuana. They're aiming at the wrong target. Really, we should legalize marijuana and throw people in jail for being fat.
By Brooks' and Marcus' own admission, marijuana itself doesn't necessarily have such bad effects. They both smoked quite a bit of it back in the day and still managed highly successful careers as national opinion columnists. Really, they are worried about marijuana's negative second-order effects when other people smoke it.
Marcus worries about effects on IQ. Brooks says weed makes people unambitious and distracts them from "the highest pleasures, like enjoying the arts or being in nature." Brown is the most blunt, tweeting that "legal weed contributes to us being a fatter, dumber, sleepier nation even less able to compete with the Chinese."
Brooks, Marcus, and Brown want to address these negative effects through a regime of criminal penalties that imprisons at least some subset of the people involved in cultivating, distributing and consuming the marijuana that Brooks and Marcus enjoyed so much in the 1970s. (Brown didn't answer my Twitter question about whether she's ever smoked marijuana but, well, she works in publishing, so we can all hazard a guess.)
But why go after marijuana for its second-order effects? Why not just ban stupidity, laziness, obesity, unambitious taste, or whatever social ills are of concern to national opinion columnists? As Brooks asks, "Laws profoundly mold culture, so what sort of community do we want our laws to nurture?" If the answer is "one where people are thin," the obvious answer is to ban fatness.
Fat is an ideal menace to be targeted with a criminal law. To some extent, it's a subjective matter who is lazy or stupid, but it's pretty easy to figure out who's guilty of being fat. A law against fat would scare people into losing weight. Even independent of actual legal penalties, it would set a strong norm, showing that society is opposed to fatness and wants people to stay at healthy weights. It would lead to improved cardiovascular health, higher labor productivity (fewer sick days!), and longer life expectancy.
Of course, we'd have to actually jail some people for their fatness. (Otherwise the policy wouldn't work!) Those who are jailed might find, upon release, that their records of criminal fatness make it harder for them to find work in their desired fields, such as national opinion columnist.
But we can mitigate the importance of this impact by mostly using fat jail for racial minorities and people with lower education levels. Wealthy white fat people will apologize profusely for their fatness and then go to "fat rehab," ideally led by Jillian Michaels, multiple times if necessary.
This two-track system will make the costs of punishment so trivial to society that you can go ahead and leave it out of any column discussing the pros and cons of fat legalization. Brooks and Marcus provide a good guide at this — their columns show no concern at all about whether the hardworking drug dealers who sold them so much marijuana back in the 1970s should have been imprisoned, because those people don't count. So, too, with the fat.
The logic is unimpeachable. I look forward to Marcus, Brooks, and Brown joining me in my campaign to jail the fat, so that the rest of us may stay thin, and even smoke weed while we do it.Say hello to GoSmart Mobile, a brand new ______ operated and trademark licensed to T-Mobile USA. I’ve intentionally left a blank space in the sentence before because I’m honestly not sure what this is… It’s not an MVNO in the traditional sense. It’s a prepaid carrier, that much looks clear, and ownership records tell us that Deutsche Telekom used a “Corporation Service Company” to trademark the name in the US. So, we know this is owned by Deutsche Telekom, operated by T-Mobile and trademarked under T-Mobile, but what is it?
As of this writing, the www.GoSmartMobile.com website doesn’t load, and we’ve been told that a soft launch could happen as early as tonight. We’ve also found what appears to be the Twitter feed for it @GoSmartMobile. The feed is empty, with not even a proper avatar yet.
It appears that this could be a situation like Sprint and Boost Mobile. T-Mobile seems to have created what is known as a “fight brand” that it will use to offer prepaid services. The plans are likely set up so T-Mobile can attack prepaid on multiple levels, with its Monthly4G under the T-Mobile name, and the secondary “fight brand” to offer various pricing tiers without licensing out to MVNOs. This would again be similar to the strategy Sprint has adopted with Virgin Mobile and Boost, both of which attack various pricing tiers and cover a wide array of prepaid pricing options.
So here’s our guess, based on the idea that GoSmart mentions it only uses the T-Mobile 3G network: T-Mobile will reposition itself as a premier value postpaid brand while using both GoSmart Mobile and MetroPCS to offer various prepaid options in the near future. GoSmart looks positioned to take on the lower end allowing Monthly4G and the future GSM MetroPCS lineup to offer higher priced and more feature rich prepaid options, including 4G network opportunities.
The $45 plan looks to be the only option for 3G services, with $35 and $30 levels operating at 2G speeds, which helps explain why this is a “bottom of the barrel” prepaid offering. Look for a possible soft launch this week and hopefully more details to arrive at the same time. There’s no word as to whether this will be sold out of T-Mobile owned stores or T-Mobile authorized retailers, which again leaves us waiting for more info before passing final judgment on this new prepaid entry.
Hat tip to Conan Kudo for the research and help!Image copyright Getty Images |
series was perhaps a little slower than the first, which is why it is further down the list than some may expect, but for those who pick it up for the exploration of fantastical societies that reflect our own, there’s not a better book for you.
4. Saint’s Blood (Greatcoats #3) by Sebastien de Castell
“How do you kill a Saint?
Falcio, Kest, and Brasti are about to find out, because someone has figured out a way to do it and they’ve started with a friend.
The Dukes were already looking for ways out of their agreement to put Aline on the throne, but with the Saints turning up dead, rumours are spreading that the Gods themselves oppose her ascension. Now churches are looking to protect themselves by bringing back the military orders of religious soldiers, assassins, and (especially) Inquisitors – a move that could turn the country into a theocracy. The only way Falcio can put a stop to it is by finding the murderer. He has only one clue: a terrifying iron mask which makes the Saints vulnerable by driving them mad. But even if he can find the killer, he’ll still have to face him in battle.
And that may be a duel that no swordsman, no matter how skilled, can hope to win.”
This is a one in a million series. Each book is fantastic yet manages to be better than the last and with Saint’s Blood Castell takes the characters and readers into some hugely unexpected and exciting places with the consummate precision and skill of a master dueller. There is actually not a high enough recommendation I could give that would reflect how much I truly think people should pick this series up. It’s amazing and will leave you desperate for more. And with only one more book in the series it promises to be an explosive finish. I’d step over my mother for a copy of the finale known as Tyrant’s Throne, even if she were having a really rotten day and just needed a tiny bit of human decency. Sorry mum.
3. The Wheel of Osheim (The Red Queen’s War #3) by Mark Lawrence
“All the horrors of Hell stand between Snorri Ver Snagason and the rescue of his family, if indeed the dead can be rescued. For Jalan Kendeth, getting back out alive and with Loki’s key is all that matters. Loki’s creation can open any lock, any door, and it may also be the key to Jalan’s fortune back in the living world.
Jalan plans to return to the three w’s that have been the core of his idle and debauched life: wine, women, and wagering. Fate however has other plans, larger plans. The Wheel of Osheim is turning ever faster, and it will crack the world unless it’s stopped. When the end of all things looms, and there’s nowhere to run, even the worst coward must find new answers. Jalan and Snorri face many dangers, from the corpse hordes of the Dead King to the many mirrors of the Lady Blue, but in the end, fast or slow, the Wheel of Osheim always pulls you back. In the end it’s win or die.”
A stunning conclusion to an incredible trilogy. Despite a larger cast and more twists, the tone remains mostly light and humorous throughout, even when the mood is tense or the subject matter dark. As hardly needs to be said when it comes to Mark Lawrence’s writing, each page is a pleasure to read. His prose is poetic and flowing, frequently beautiful and never less than engaging. Lawrence is without doubt one of the finest voices in modern fantasy, and The Wheel of Osheim his most outstanding contribution to the genre so far.
(Oh yeah, and we see Jorg again too.)
2. City of Blades (The Divine Cities #2) by Robert Jackson Bennett
“A generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions.
Now, the city’s god is dead. The city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings.
So it makes perfect sense that General Turyin Mulaghesh — foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumored war criminal, ally of an embattled Prime Minister — has been exiled there to count down the days until she can draw her pension and be forgotten.
At least, it makes the perfect cover story.
The truth is that the general has been pressed into service one last time, dispatched to investigate a discovery. For while the city’s god is most certainly dead, something is awakening in Voortyashtan. And someone is determined to make the world tremble at the the city’s awful power again.”
Robert Jackson Bennett’s novels explore topics such as oppression, colonization, religion and mortality. They are powerful to the extent that they can open your eyes and reshape your views. This is a powerful thing, a book that has the ability to renew your opinions, having been encouraged to consider difficult questions. In my opinion, Robert Jackson Bennett is one of the most talented authors writing in SFF today and this is his finest work to date.
And Finally…
1. Wrath (The Faithful and the Fallen #4) by John Gwynne
“Events are coming to a climax in the Banished Lands, as the war reaches new heights. King Nathair has taken control of the fortress at Drassil and three of the Seven Treasures are in his possession. And together with Calidus and his ally Queen Rhin, Nathair will do anything to obtain the remaining Treasures. With all seven under his command, he can open a portal to the Otherworld. Then Asroth and his demon-horde will finally break into the Banished Lands and become flesh.
Meanwhile Corban has been taken prisoner by the Jotun, warrior giants who ride their enormous bears into battle. His warband scattered, Corban must make new allies if he hopes to survive. But can he bond with competing factions of warlike giants? Somehow he must, if he’s to counter the threat Nathair represents.
His life hangs in the balance – and with it, the fate of the Banished Lands.”
Since 2012, John Gwynne has been promising us that ‘even the brave will fall’ and dear god, they have. Each successive instalment in the epic Faithful & Fallen quartet has seen greater numbers of beloved characters succumb to a rising tide of evil. Casualties of war, victims of treachery – with each novel the death toll has mounted. And so have the stakes.
Far too often the final book in a series leaves a reader disappointed and wishing that the author hadn’t tried too much or shied away from what should have been. John Gwynne did quite the opposite with Wrath. He has crafted a breathtakingly perfect finale to a series that has grown from strength to wonderful strength. Poignant, pulse-pounding and phenomenally paced, Wrath is a satisfying – and heart-breaking – climax that Tolkien himself would be proud to have penned.
Title image by Nakarin Sukontakorn.For the past few years, I have pointed out that the economy is an ecosystem and that, as in any ecosystem, when one set of participants begins hogging a huge percentage of the overall resources, other participants get weaker or die and the whole ecosystem becomes unstable.
Eventually, if the hogging becomes too overwhelming, the ecosystem may collapse.
(Think an algae-choked pond in which all light and oxygen gets consumed by one particularly rapacious plant.)
Specifically, I have observed that, over the past three decades, more and more of this country’s wealth and income have been consumed by a small percentage of the population — for lack of a better term, “the 10%” — while everyone else has gotten hosed.
I have also observed that what’s wrong with this picture — aside from romantic notions of sharing, teamwork, et al. — is that the 90% of the people in the country who are getting screwed are actually the customers of the companies owned by the 10%. And, therefore, that by paying themselves as much as possible, and paying the 90% as little as possible, the 10% are, in fact, impoverishing their own customers.
At some point, when the 10% have finished extracting every ounce of wealth from the 90%, the 90% will simply have no money with which to buy the products and services of the 10% — at which point, the companies owned by the 10% will collapse.
(Before that, though, we might also have a revolution, political or other. Economic inequality and desperation like the kind we are developing has triggered many of those throughout history.)
Whenever I point all this out, of course, I get pelted with fruit and garbage by the 10%, who say, in effect, “You get what you deserve. If the 90% are unhappy, they should stop being so lazy and get to work.”
I would respectfully suggest that it has apparently been a while since the members of the 10% who say this have had to try to support families by working two jobs at McDonald’s and Pizza Hut for $US8 an hour and that “laziness” is not actually the causal agent here. But that’s another argument.
Anyway, today, to avoid getting pelted with fruit and garbage, I’ll try a different tack.
Specifically, I’ll congratulate the 10% for their ongoing drubbing of the “other team” in our economy, the hapless 90%. A few more years like this, and the game will be over, and the 10% can high-five their way into the sunset. (Though they may have to move fast, to outrun the torches and pitchforks).
Way to go, capital! You’re totally crushing labour! You’ve reduced your workers’ wages so much that wages have hit an all-time low as a percentage of the economy! Meanwhile, your profits have hit an all-time high! Today’s jobs report confirmed it! Yes, you’ve had to give a few more people jobs, but for the past 5 years you’ve held their wage growth down to a tiny 2% and falling! Over the past 30 years, you’ve captured an astonishing 90% of the growth in incomes in this country! Admire the charts below and toast your great work. You’re killing it!
WAGES AS A PER CENT OF THE ECONOMY (lowest in history)
CORPORATE PROFITS AS A PER CENT OF THE ECONOMY (highest ever)
WAGE GROWTH (flat and low for five years)
INCOME SHARE OF THE 10% (the highest in history except for 1929)
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Rooney played key part in both of United's goals against the Eagles
Manchester United deserved to win the FA Cup. It was their possession football versus Crystal Palace's counter-attacking, as we knew it would be.
But their individuals were better, and none more so than Wayne Rooney in his new deeper-lying role. He was man-of-the-match by a mile.
To enjoy cup finals, you have to win. But in addition, I think Rooney probably loved being so involved in the game.
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney put in a fine performance to help his side lift the FA Cup
Rooney starred in a deep-lying midfield role as United beat Crystal Palace 2-1 after extra time at Wembley
That 120 minutes would have given him a great deal of pleasure because he was never far from the ball. He was able to drop in behind the play where he couldn't get marked. He can hit the crossfield pass as we all know, he defended well when he had to.
I'd say that was the best I've seen him play in midfield, for United or England. He smacked of Paul Scholes in the way he sprayed the ball about.
He didn't break forward often, but when he did with United behind, he went through three or four players and created the equaliser.
Of course, he's good enough to play for England there. Either in a 4-3-3 as the most advanced midfielder or in a 4-4-2 diamond, Eric Dier at the base and Rooney at the top.
There isn't the same pressure for him to score goals in that position but he can come in and create for others. And of course he will get his share of goals took, as Scholes did. There are a lot of strings to his bow.
Yes, there were one or two sloppy passes but they were in the last third when he took a risk. People have to understand it's going to happen if you're ambitious. The important thing is not to give the ball away in your own third when it can lead to big problems.
You're entitled to hit a couple of loose passes when you have as much possession as Rooney did. He ran the show.
The 30-year-old made a purposeful run before providing a great cross to assist United's equaliser
Saturday's victory means that Rooney has won the FA Cup for the first time in his career
As for his part in the equaliser, that showed Rooney's desire. You can say things as a captain but there is no substitute for leading by example.
United must have been rocked by falling behind but it lasted only three minutes thanks to their leader, and credit to Marouane Fellaini in his part for Juan Mata's goal as well.
United have been a club in transition since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement and still are. But winning the FA Cup, their first trophy since 2013, will be a massive lift.
It's ironic it should be this cup. They semi-let the competition down when they withdrew from it, though we don't know what happened behind-the-scenes. Now all these years later, this is a massive trophy after a couple of years in the doldrums.
The youngsters have shown an exciting glimpse of what they could become, but the team still needs experience for progress to continue.
Rooney led by example as the Red Devils battled to a comeback victory over Palace at Wembley
Rooney's positional versatility is proving to be a valuable asset for both United and England
Rooney is part of that of course and I am surprised Michael Carrick hasn't been offered a new contract yet.
He is due to leave in the summer but I haven't seen enough from Bastian Schweinsteiger or Morgan Schneiderlin to suggest Carrick should be discarded.
If he does end up leaving Old Trafford, he won't be short of clubs who want him.
A lot will be made now of Louis van Gaal's future. If they'd also finished fourth, it would be virtually certain but qualifying for the Champions League was top of the agenda so they'll be taking a lot of different factors into account.
I suppose as a manager, if you've won a trophy and worked hard for it, you would feel you deserve another chance. The owners will have to think what is best in the long-term though. It's a big decision that will define United over the next few years.Capcom: Deep Down is “Still Quite far off,” Dead Rising 3 has “no Current Plans” for PS4, Other Platforms
Now that E3 is over, Christian Svensson, Corporate Officer/Senior Vice President at Capcom, has returned to answering questions on the Ask Capcom forums.
Dispelling any notion that Deep Down on PS4 might be related to their successful Dragon’s Dogma franchise, Sven made it clear that “[Dead Rising 3] and Deep Down have nothing to do with Dragon’s Dogma.” As for when we can expect to hear more on Deep Down, he just said “it’s still quite far off” and pointed everyone towards a Yoshinori Ono tweet, which basically stated that it would be playable at E3 2014.
Looking at Dead Rising 3, which is an Xbox One exclusive, he said there’s “no current plans for any other platforms,” which is due to the fact that Microsoft is publishing the game, “so it would be tantamount to asking Nintendo to put their key franchises on other platforms.”
And finally, when asked about the poor sales of Resident Evil: Revelations (which didn’t even crack the May NPD top 10), Sven replied with, “All I’ll say is that the teams in Osaka have a clear vision for where they are going with the brand.”
Are you excited to hear more about Deep Down at E3 2014? Let us know in the comments below.From the start of this year's SS exchange, I was apprehensive about being a part of it. My last exchange ended in tragedy; both my original match and rematch snubbed me on the Nintendo Exchange :(
But I'm glad I participated; giving is always better than receiving, but hey - getting something more than just the satisfaction of giving a good gift is nice too, lol!
"Yellow Santa" has really brightened my season. The gifts they've sent along are awesome and touching. I'm dealing with depression and generally being broke, so I hope you see this Yellow Santa: You're awesome - thank you so much.
UPDATTE! I received the final piece to my gift today - a vinyl decal of the Hylian Crest from The Legend of Zelda! Yellow Santa is the sh*t!
So if you see this, I want you to know my friends and I had a BLAST playing Cards Against Humanity on New Year's Eve! You made the start of 2014 so much better than it could have been, and again I need to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Feel free to send me a +f on Reddit - and I hope the corporate life starts treating you better!The race to the $1,000 genome heated up today as Life Technologies, based in Carlsbad, Calif., announced that it will debut a new sequencing machine this year that will eventually be capable of decoding entire human genomes in a day for less than $1,000. The machine, called the Ion Proton, will be the successor to the Personal Genome Machine made by the company Ion Torrent, a subsidiary of Life Technologies.
Not to be outdone, Illumina, the present market leader based in San Diego, Calif., said that it will release its own genome-in-a-day contender, the HiSeq 2500, in the second half of this year. Unlike Life Technologies, which is asking customers to buy an entirely new machine, Illumina says that it will be able to upgrade existing customers’ HiSeq 2000 machines for a relatively low price.
So how will this battle of the sequencers shake out?
Ion Torrent is positioning its new machine as a lower-cost alternative to Illumina’s $690,000 HiSeq. Scientists seem willing to believe that the Ion Proton will reach its speed goals, largely because Ion Torrent’s present model, the Personal Genome Machine, is performing well for its customers. That sets Ion Torrent apart from other companies with novel technologies that couldn’t deliver on their first-generation models, such as Pacific Biosciences of Menlo Park, Calif., which switched CEOs last week amidfinancial and legal hiccups, and the Cambridge, Mass.-based Helicos, which continues to struggle with lackluster demand for its machines.
This post at the forum SeqAnswers.com has calculated that the first sequencing chip released with the Ion Proton in mid-2012, the Proton 1, will be capable of sequencing three to six human exomes—the gene-encoding portion of the genome. Life Technologies said that the second sequencing chip released with the machine at the end of this year, the Proton II, will contain enough sensors to sequence an entire genome. Life Technologies is angling the Ion Proton to take on a clinical diagnostic-sequencing market, and plans to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for clearance to use the machine as a medical device this year. So far, Illumina has captured much of the small-but-growing clinical-sequencing market.
But scientists are less convinced that the cost of sequencing a human genome with the Ion Proton will come in under $1,000, or that it would cost less to run than the HiSeq. Researchers note that at present, it would cost tens of thousands of dollars to sequence a human genome using the Personal Genome Machine. Life Technologies told me that the $1,000-human-genome estimate for the Ion Proton includes the cost of the sequencing chip and reagents for the run, but analyst Isaac Ro of Goldman Sachs reports in a research note that the Proton II chip itself will cost $1,000, so it’s unclear how exactly Life Technologies arrived at that $1,000 number.
The Ion Proton machine will cost a relatively inexpensive $149,000, so even though customers will have to pay an additional $95,000 for a server and automated sample-prep device, according to Ro, he notes that "the price point is clearly best-in-class by a wide margin."
But Illumina is offering to upgrade its present customers to the HiSeq 2500 for the fairly low cost of $50,000, so there may be little incentive for them to invest in a new Ion Proton machine, especially because they already know that Illumina’s technology is highly accurate and because the sequencing business has already been hit by the present climate of fiscal austerity. Life Technologies also appears to have annoyed some of its present customers by announcing the debut of a new device barely a year after releasing the Personal Genome Machine: "Was it really a wise move to announce a PGM-killer so early into this [machine's] life?" asks Nick Loman at the blog Pathogens: Genes and Genomes.
Nonetheless, in the Ion Torrent platform, Life Technologies has finally found a way to give Illumina a run for its money in a way that no other company has to date, and the competition can only be a win for customers. With a slew of other sequencing technologies in various stages of development, these announcements kick off what should be another exciting year for new sequencing technologies.
This blog post is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The post was first published on January 10, 2012.Approval for a reality show production crew to film an immigration raid at a Vancouver construction site came directly from the federal government, documents obtained by a Vancouver woman show.
Helesia Luke, who has a background in television production and now works with non-profits in Vancouver, was troubled by news of the immigration raid being filmed on Wednesday, so she asked the federal government for the production agreement.
The document, which she received within hours, outlines Force Four Entertainment's desire to enter into discussions with the Canadian Border Services Agency to produce a series on border security in Canada.
The document was prepared for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and it bears his signature and approval.
It also says someone from the Prime Minister's Office viewed a demo reel provided by Force Four Entertainment, as well as members of Toews' staff and CBSA senior managers and legal services.
"And to see it go all the way to a ministerial level and be signed off by a minister was just really shocking, actually, because it's so abusive, it's so exploitative," Luke said.
Helesia Luke reviews a document she requested from the federal government, which outlines the plan to film Canada Border Services Agency officers arresting undocumented workers. (CBC)
The document also discusses how the Border Security show would be a valuable opportunity to promote messages about Canada's commitment to border security.
"They [the CBSA] have the attention of media. They have paid advertising at their disposal. I really think it's a stretch to say they have to resort to an agreement with a reality television show to get their story out," Luke said.
Diana Thompson, whose husband was arrested in the raid in East Vancouver, says he is facing deportation back to Honduras. Thompson is against the use of footage from the raid for a reality television show, and said the filming makes the process more hurtful.
"I feel that it makes it that much worse, that these companies are going to profit off a reality show of them tearing families apart," she said Thursday.
Company defends documentary
In a statement sent to media Friday, Rob Bromley, the president of Force Four Entertainment, said Border Security is a documentary series that follows strict protocols.
Bromley said the film crew that was at the CBSA raid on March 13 was filming events that were already taking place.
"The situation was in no way orchestrated for the cameras, and no one can be identified on the series without their written permission," the statement read.
In another statement, the company clarified that in one case, a member of its team asked for signed consent after the detainee had dealt with the CBSA, and without an officer present. The company also said the consent forms are provided in 16 different languages.
Border Services vets footage
The documents outlining the agreement between Force Four and the CBSA also lay out how a potentially negative portrayal of the CBSA would be mitigated through a number of pre-broadcast federal approvals.
The documents state that the CBSA must approve every segment on the program, and can hold them for a variety of reasons, including privacy violations or national security.
"All rough footage and final episodes are reviewed and approved by the CBSA so that factual inaccuracies, disclosure of restricted information, classified, or law enforcement sensitive materials are removed from aired episodes," the document says.
Luke questions how much the CBSA is subsidizing the show, if they are committing resources to review the show's material.
"I think CBSA is putting in in-kind contributions in the way of staff time. Clearly, they have a huge burden in terms of vetting the footage," she said.
The documents describe the costs of staff time as "not insignificant," but the next couple of lines appear to be whited out.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has not made a public statement about the show.Scaremongering About Cell Phones
Once again sensation click-bait headlines declare that a new study confirms that cell phones cause cancer, when the truth is nothing of the sort. This fearmongering journalism fails to actually inform readers, and instead tries to alarm them with misinformation.
Most of the headlines are some version of: “SHOCK STUDY: CELLPHONES CAN CAUSE CANCER,” in all caps to make sure you understand that you should be alarmed. None of the mainstream reporting I saw looked passed the press release.
Let’s take a look at the actual study: Oxidative mechanisms of biological activity of low-intensity radiofrequency radiation.
The first thing to note as that this is a review article. It does not present any new data. It is not an experiment or observational study. It’s not even a meta-analysis. It is just a group of researchers looking at the literature and proclaiming that it confirms what they already believed.
Review articles serve a legitimate purpose in science. They are a primary way that researchers communicate with each other and express their opinion. But they should not be presented as if they are new data, or as if they confirm one side in a debate. They can be abused, however, in a process called citation bias – packing the literature with reviews that support your side to make it seem like it is more robust than it actually is.
It also needs to be clear that this review does not look at studies which examine whether or not there is an actual increase in brain cancer or other illness associated with cell phone use. While there are still minority dissenters, there is a growing consensus among scientists that cell phone use does not cause brain cancer. Most reassuring is that, as cell phone use has skyrocketed over the last 20 years, the incidence of brain cancer has not budged.
The lead author of the current review (to avoid confusion it really shouldn’t be called a “study”), Igor Yakymenko, has published several articles arguing that low intensity radio-frequency radiation (RFR) can increase oxidative stress in tissues and this is a possible mechanism of increased disease risk. In his current review he argues that the published evidence supports this position.
While the evidence may support the notion that RFR can increase markers of oxidative activity in tissue, it does not establish that this increase is biologically important and can actually lead to specific diseases. It also does not establish that cell phone use causes any harm by this mechanism.
At this point Yakymenko’s hypothesis is still speculative, and there is no evidence to make claims for actual health effects. There is no problem with him publishing a review of the data and arguing for his hypothesis, but it is dubious behavior to send out a sensational press release declaring victory in a scientific debate because of your own review, and then linking your claims to scary health concerns.
The media, as I have noted, happily obliged Yakymenko by presented the press release without first consulting independent experts or conducting anything resembling actual journalism.E-commerce giant Amazon topped Wall Street expectations for the second quarter of 2016 in dramatic fashion, posting record quarterly net income of $857 million as net sales rose 31% to $30.4 billion.
The company reported Q2 earnings of $1.78 per diluted share, versus 19 cents a year earlier, Amazon’s fifth straight quarter of posting a profit (and third straight quarterly record for profits). Analysts expected revenue of $29.55 billion with earnings of $1.11 per share.
In announcing the results, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos called out the launch earlier this week of the Amazon Prime membership program in India, offering customers in more than 100 cities unlimited free one-day and two-day delivery on hundreds of thousands of products. Amazon Prime Video is “coming soon” to the country, which will offer Prime members in India exclusive access to Amazon Studios’ original series and movies and will include original content featuring top Indian creators and talent.
“The team in India is inventing at a torrid pace, and we’re very grateful to our Indian customers for their welcoming response,” Bezos said in a statement.
Related Amazon Adds Two Original Series in Japan Amazon Prime Video Gets All ‘Matrix,’ ‘Lethal Weapon’ Movies Under Warner Bros. Exclusive Pact
Amazon’s earnings again were boosted by continued strong growth of the Amazon Web Services cloud-computing services division. AWS sales totaled $2.89 billion in the quarter, up 58% year over year, while operating income more than doubled to $718 million.
Amazon Prime Video is available in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Austria and Japan, with India its first market expansion for the service since launching in Japan in September 2015. The company doesn’t disclose numbers on Prime subscribers; in a research note last month, Sanford Bernstein estimated that Amazon has between 58 million and 69 million Prime members worldwide.
On the earnings call with investors, CFO Brian Olsavsky said Amazon expects to double its content spending in the second half of 2016 versus the same period in 2015, as it nearly triples the number of Amazon original TV shows and movies. He declined to provide specific figures on spending. Last year, Amazon said it spent $1.3 billion on Prime Video content in 2014.
Amazon Studios original series scheduled to premiere this fall include new seasons of “Transparent,” “Mozart in the Jungle,” the second season of drama “The Man in the High Castle,” and new shows “Good Girls Revolt,” “Goliath” and “Crisis in Six Scenes,” Woody Allen’s first TV series, as well as “The Grand Tour,” the new series from former “Top Gear” hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
On the film side, Amazon Studios has set a theatrical release this fall for movies including “Manchester by the Sea,” “The Handmaiden” and “Gleason,” joining Woody Allen’s “Café Society,” which bowed July 15 in theaters. The films will be available exclusively on Prime Video following their theatrical runs.
Amazon also highlighted the second annual Prime Day on July 12 as the biggest single day of sales in its history, and was also a record day for Amazon devices globally. Compared with Prime Day 2015, worldwide orders grew by more than 60%, while orders from third-party sellers with Prime Day deals nearly tripled. According to Amazon, Prime members saved over twice as much on deals over last year.
For the third quarter, Amazon said it expects revenue of between $31.0 billion and $33.5 billion (up 22%-32% compared with the third quarter of 2015), with operating income of $50 million to $650 million, compared with $406 million in the third quarter of 2015.In the spirit of Independence Day, we’d like to share this statement on public education and Civics in particular, which comes to us from Academy Award-winning actor and friend of the March Richard Dreyfuss. Best known for his roles in films like The Goodbye Girl and Mr. Holland’s Opus, Dreyfuss is also a staunch supporter of a well-rounded public school education for all students.
From his video statement:
There can be no greater mandate in education than enabling and guiding our children to act as responsible citizens engaged in their community, nation, and the world around them. We know that our children will be the source of new ideas, new industries and new jobs; the source of solutions to new problems facing our world… Teachers are not the problem. Teachers are the solution. But teachers must have the tools, knowledge and resources they need to convey these ‘truths we hold self-evident’ to the students they serve, who in turn serve our collective future.
Please enjoy the video, and be sure to join Richard Dreyfuss and other public school advocates in taking action for public schools this July 30th!
ETA: Also, check out our joint statement on the importance of Civics.
Dreyfuss TestimonialFor the first three years of his CFL career, Toronto Argonauts slotback Anthony Coombs found himself inexorably linked to Andre Durie.
Similar in style and ability – not to mention Canadian – Durie was the experienced, proven veteran while Coombs was the up-and-comer. With Durie having moved on from football before this season, Coombs is now flourishing on his own.
“He’s been a versatile athlete since the moment he came here,” Toronto quarterback Ricky Ray says. “Now he’s the guy, not splitting time like he was the last few years.”
A 2014 third overall pick, who extended with Toronto for two years in January, Coombs has put together back-to-back eight catch games with 94 and 73 yards respectively. Through five games, he’s made 28 receptions for 253 yards – 133 have been yards after the catch – and one touchdown. That puts him on pace for the most productive season of his career – 100 grabs and over 900 receiving yards. Durie’s best season: 92 receptions for 986 yards.
“If there’s one thing that is different it’s me being more comfortable and I don’t have to think as much out there,” Coombs explains. “In order to really play fast you have to know everything inside and out.”
Ray and Coombs have been together since the University of Manitoba product’s first day in the CFL.
“We’ve had a lot of experience together and the more experience you get with a guy the more comfortable you feel, and that’s the way with Anthony. I’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” Rays says.
“Ricky and I have that connection,” Coombs adds.
What makes the diminutive Canadian valuable is the ability to be used like a queen chess piece that can move all over the board.
“We have him doing a lot of different things, he’s running the ball, pass protecting, coming out of the backfield with catches, lining up at receiver running routes,” Ray says. “He’s just a well-versed athlete and can do a lot of things for us.”Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
May 5, 2015, 11:49 PM GMT / Updated May 6, 2015, 11:53 AM GMT By Andrew Blankstein
Fighter Manny Pacquiao was named in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Las Vegas seeking damages for what it said was the failure to disclose injuries to the fighter that took place before his welterweight championship bout with Floyd Mayweather.
Pacquiao and others failed to disclose the information on a disclosure form and checked ‘no’ on the questionnaire that asked if he had a shoulder injury, the suit claims. The disclosure was made Saturday night shortly before the main event.
Also named in the suit is Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum, his firm, Top Rank Inc., the company’s President Todd Duboef and Michael Koncz, an advisor to Pacquiao, saying the defendants broke Nevada laws by failing to disclose the injuries before the May 2 fight to the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Neither Pacquiao nor promoter Bob Arum could immediately be reached for comment.
The class-action suit filed by Las Vegas attorney Brandon McDonald alleges fraud and conspiracy seeking more than $5 million in damages, "exclusive of costs and interest."
Two named plaintiffs, Staphane Vanel and Kami Rahbaran, are Clark County Nevada residents who either purchased tickets to the fight or paid the $100 to view it on cable television.
More broadly, attorney Brandon B. McDonald says the case was filed on behalf of all persons “who purchased tickets; purchased the pay per view event or who wagered money on the event.”
“All members of the Class relied upon the misrepresentations and the non-disclosures in purchasing tickets; purchasing pay per view showings; and in making wagers on the event,” the suit said.
Before the fight it was reported that some 3 million people in the U.S. were set to purchase it on pay-per-view — at $100 a pop that would be $300 million owed to domestic viewers alone.
Pacquiao could face disciplinary action — including a fine or suspension —from Nevada boxing officials for failing to disclose the shoulder injury before the bout.
Nevada Athletic Commission chairman Francisco Aguilar said Monday that the state attorney general's office will look at why Pacquiao checked "no" a day before the fight on a commission questionnaire asking if he had a shoulder injury.Please enable Javascript to watch this video
NEW HAVEN – Sentenced several years ago to die for what one attorney called “an assault on the American dream,” two of Connecticut’s most despised criminals are among the 11 Connecticut death row inmates who will no longer be executed.
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Connecticut’s death penalty is unconstitutional. The state passed a law in April 2012 to repeal the death penalty for all future capital offenses. But one death row inmate, Eduardo Santiago, whose attorneys have argued since the law change that any execution carried out after the 2012 repeal would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, won his appeal today.
Nearly five years ago, on the day Steven Hayes was sentenced to death for his role in the July 2007 murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley and Michaela, Hawke-Pet |
6%.
Tweeting the Earthquake
Even while the details of the disaster were still unclear and before many mainstream news outlets reported specifics, a number of people in Japan who had web access began producing first-hand accounts.
Within an hour of the quake, at least 1,200 tweets per minute were coming from Tokyo, according to Tweet-o-Meter, a site that measures Twitter traffic.
"Wow, that was the biggest earthquake I’ve felt in my nine years in Japan. Very scary," tweeted Tomoko A. Hosaka, a journalist for The Associated Press in Japan.
"We’re on the 7th floor of the Kyodo building. It’s still shaking," she added five minutes later.
"Anyone hurt in that one?" asked Matt Alt, an American writer and translator living in Japan, following an aftershock.
"Running cars on road in path of flood. This is beyond words," tweeted TokyoReporter, an unnamed journalist and photographer living in Tokyo. Within an hour, TokyoReporter posted several more tweets such as "And we are shaking again in Tokyo, not too bad tho. Real worries w/ Tsunami."
Within hours, a number of official and independent sources used Twitter to relay important information. The U.S. State Department, for example, used the site to publish emergency numbers and tell Japanese residents in America how to contact families in the region. In Japan itself, where an estimated 10 million people are active users of Twitter, people used the site to exchange information about family and friends, discuss rolling power failures, and share other tips.
"Just fyi for anyone who needs, there are public emergency toilets in Shiba Park," wrote AP reporter Hosaka three hours after the initial quake hit.
By 9:00 am ET, one of the most popular links tweeted around the world was Google Person Finder, a place where people around the world could post or find information about the whereabouts of individuals.
Users could convey any information they had, such as this note written by Andrew Meyerhoff three days after the quake: "[Dr.] Judith [Ann Johnson] contacted me last night. She is very genki, alive and well, and safe in Iizuka. No worries, Steve!"
As the details of the disaster became clearer and official news sources were able to provide detailed reporting, Twitter offered users opportunities to get breaking information from a variety of sources in real-time.
A number of observers outside of Japan tried to make sense of breaking information they gleaned from other sources. Julian Dierkes, a sociologist living in Canada, followed a number of news outlets including NHK.
"Can’t tell whether nuclear power plant shutdowns are routine safety precaution or sign of trouble, no specifics on this in news," Dierkes wrote in the hours following the quake.
For those on the west coast of the U.S., Twitter was a way to track the approaching tsunami created by the quake. Many twitterers linked to a bulletin by the National Weather Service Forecast Office warning about the potential impact.
News outlets, such as a local NBC affiliate in Seattle called King 5 News, also posted a number of updates.
"NWS tsunami watch issued for the S. Washington and N. and Central Oregon coasts," the station posted about an hour after the quake hit.
And is often the case with Twitter, informal patterns quickly turned into formal designations, especially in regard to hashtags, symbols used to mark keywords or topics. Within hours, thousands of users were including tags such as #earthquake, #JPQuake and #savejapan in their messages.
For those who were not directly impacted by the catastrophe, Twitter became a way to share methods for donating money to help the recovery-a process reminiscent of the effort during the 2010 Haiti quake. According to the New York Times, the American Red Cross raised $34 million in the five days after the incident, in part because of the Twitter messages.
Many people tweeted the message, "Text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to Japan’s emergency relief."
Finally, Twitter served as a platform for people to share their condolences and prayers for those affected-many of whom used the hashtag #prayforjapan.
"As I lay my head down to sleep tonight, I will say a prayer for the victims of the Japan disaster," shared Natisha Patel.
YouTube
Demonstrating the international influence on YouTube and social media in general, the most viewed news video last week was a news story in Spanish that received almost no attention in the U.S. press.
During a March 1 soccer match in Colombia, a defender named Luis Moreno kicked an owl (the mascot of the opposing team) that had landed on the playing field. The bird went into shock and died several hours later.
Moreno, who is from Panama, was fined and suspended for 2 games because of the incident, and was reviled throughout much of Colombia.
The television story about the event was viewed more than 1.5 million times.
Most Viewed News & Politics Videos on YouTube
For the Week of March 5 – 11, 2011 1. A Spanish news report about a soccer player kicking an owl during a game 2. First-person footage of gunfire in a Libyan city (Warning: the footage contains graphic images.) 3. A clip from Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor where footage shown during a discussion about protestors in Wisconsin does not match the conversation 4. Footage of migrants struggling to leave Libya at the Tunisian border 5. An Italian news report about an unidentified flying object seen over Russia on March 7
The New Media Index is a weekly report that captures the leading commentary of blogs and social media sites focused on news and compares those subjects to that of the mainstream press.
PEJ’s New Media Index is a companion to its weekly News Coverage Index. Blogs and other new media are an important part of creating today’s news information narrative and in shaping the way Americans interact with the news. The expansion of online blogs and other social media sites has allowed news-consumers and others outside the mainstream press to have more of a role in agenda setting, dissemination and interpretation. PEJ aims to find out what subjects in the national news the online sites focus on, and how that compared with the narrative in the traditional press.
A prominent Web tracking site Icerocket, which monitors millions of blogs, uses the links to articles embedded on these sites as a proxy for determining what these subjects are. Using this tracking process as a base, PEJ staff compiles the lists of links weekday each day. They capture the top five linked-to stories on each list (25 stories each week), and reads, watches or listens to these posts and conducts a content analysis of their subject matter, just as it does for the mainstream press in its weekly News Coverage Index. It follows the same coding methodology as that of the NCI. Note: When the NMI was launched in January 2009, another web-tracking site Technorati was similarly monitoring blogs and social media. PEJ originally captured both Technorati’s and Icerocket’s daily aggregation. In recent months, though, this component of Technorati’s site has been down with no indication of when it might resume.
The priorities of the bloggers are measured in terms of percentage of links. Each time a news blog or social media Web page adds a link to its site directing its readers to a news story, it suggests that the author of the blog places at least some importance on the content of that article. The user may or may not agree with the contents of the article, but they feel it is important enough to draw the reader’s attention to it. PEJ measures the topics that are of most interest to bloggers by compiling the quantitative information on links and analyzing the results.
For the examination of the links from Twitter, PEJ staff monitors the tracking site Tweetmeme. Similar to Icerocket, Tweetmeme measures the number of times a link to a particular story or blog post is tweeted and retweeted. Then, as we do with Icerocket, PEJ captures the five most popular linked-to pages each weekday under the heading of "news" as determined by Tweetmeme’s method of categorization. And as with the other data provided in the NMI, the top stories are determined in terms of percentage of links. (One minor difference is that Tweetmeme offers the top links over the prior 24 hours while the list used on Icerocket offers the top links over the previous 48 hours.)
The Project also tracks the most popular news videos on YouTube each week.
*For the sake of authenticity, PEJ has a policy of not correcting misspellings or grammatical errors that appear in direct quotes from blog postings.
Note: PEJ’s weekly News Coverage Index includes Sunday newspapers while the New Media Index is Monday through Friday.Jay Middle School in Jay, Oklahoma, is under fire from some parents who say the school took a sex education class way too far.
What happened?
Parent Mandy Callihan posted on Facebook that her 12-year-old daughter came to her in tears earlier this month after she was too embarrassed to complete her sex education assignment. Callihan said she understood why as soon as she read the worksheet.
Comprehensive Sex Education came to Jay Middle School in Oklahoma last week. https://t.co/4eAzPeyG1w pic.twitter.com/Ps3yPJU5lS — ShannonJoy (@ShannonJoyRadio) October 19, 2017
"I was appalled at what someone in our school system had deemed appropriate to talk to my child about. My TWELVE year old child (who still colors in coloring books). In a room where boys and girls are combined. With male instructors (or female, depending on the time of day, I guess) who are not teachers (or Nurses) in our school system," Callihan wrote, infuriated that she was not made aware of the school's plans to teach the students about masturbation and sex.
"They most certainly did NOT say, 'Hey moms and dads we’re gonna be teaching your very young sons and daughters about masturbating by themselves (and mutual masturbation with partners), spend some time talking about oral sex, and anal sex,'" she said.
And it gets worse.
Callihan said one of the male teachers allegedly told the male students in front of the rest of the class, "'when [you] are going down on a girl, and it looks like cauliflower, you need to just get up out of there.'"
She contacted the school district in search of a reasonable answer.
What was the school district's response?
"The teacher said it was board approved. The school counselor said it was board approved. The school nurse said it was board approved. The Principal said 'HE approved it and there was nothing wrong with it,'" Callihan wrote.
According to Callihan, the school district claimed they sent home a pamphlet — not requiring a parental signature — but Callihan said she never saw one.
"We never saw a pamphlet.... so we didn’t have the opportunity to get her out of the class before it started. Signatures for permission were NOT required, but you could opt out (depending on who you talk too, because we got different answers on the permission part)," Callihan said.
Callihan and her husband contacted the superintendent, who she said didn't call her back until the following week, once the local news station had picked up the story.
"[He said] the class has been pulled for now and is being investigated, but other than that he really didn’t know what we wanted from him," Callihan told TheBlaze.
"Even more, we were told that while the program was discontinued this school year, it'must continue to be taught in the coming years, as per state requirements.' We were also told that'separating genders will no longer take place due to transgender laws,'" she added.
Callihan also told TheBlaze that her 12-year-old received several notes from her classmates thanking her for speaking up and "getting that class stopped."
Jay School District did not return a request for comment from TheBlaze.Creative Confidence
Julie Zhuo Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 9, 2016
Recently, someone I was interviewing asked me what I looked for in the perfect maker.
Immediately, reams and reams of qualities came to mind. I opened my mouth to call forth what have been a ten-minute projectile of words. I’ve written about some of them. I’ve drawn pictures of others. After all, it is the endless fascination of my career, analyzing and exploring and asking and learning the nuances of this simple little question: what does it to take to make a good new thing out of nothing?
Alas, a long list of traits is inherently unhelpful. The candidate would have sat politely, eyes glazing over as I prattled on. We humans are designed for parables, proverbs, simplicity. An answer is not really an answer if it is too complex to be remembered.
So I said this instead: creative confidence. These days, this is most top of mind for me when talking with candidates.
I first came across the term in the title of David and Tom Kelley’s book. The term rolled off my tongue and danced in my ear with its pleasing chime. I knew instantly what it meant. This was the quality I had been questing for, the holy grail of creatives everywhere, the unwavering faith that, at the end of this mess, the thing we have touched and molded will be something wonderful.
But here is the double-edged truth of makers: the act of creating anything original is uncertain. By virtue of the fact that what you are trying to do has not been done before, you cannot know how it will turn out. You cannot know how long it will take to get to something good.
At the same time, we humans crave certainty. We like knowing where our next meal will come from. We like folks who keep their promises. To get a group of people to accomplish anything together, planning is essential.
The magic trick is keeping these two facts in balance. When the unpredictable forces of creativity take over, you get situations that can’t scale. Would you back a director who couldn’t tell you whether her next movie would come out in one year or seven, even if her movies are brilliant? Would you work with someone who was a genius but who was completely unreliable when it came to when and how you two would work together?
Similarly, when the desire for certainty trumps everything else, you get derivative and mediocre results, like too many movies with the same predictable ending. Overvaluing certainty means you end up choosing the same paths that have already been trodden, so while you may have a good idea of exactly how the budget, schedule, process and product will turn out, you’ll also rarely find yourself winning awards for innovation.
A person with creative confidence understands how to strike this balance. She understands and accepts that uncertainty, false starts, and mistakes are part of the creative process, but she also projects a sense of stability and progress to those around her. Yes, she makes you believe, there is indeed a beautiful story in this collection of random footage, the mistakes we are making are teaching us new lessons and making us better, and when we premiere our movie, the applause will roll through the auditorium like thunder.Republican Senator Ted Stevens gained infamy in 2006 when he gave his legendarily inaccurate description of the internet: “It’s not a big truck. It’s a series of tubes!” The reason he was talking about the internet at all was because of net neutrality — an issue that, 11 years later, might at last face its final reckoning.
Though many corporations and conservative lawmakers have long wanted net neutrality, their efforts to make it happen have been about as successful as Stevens’s attempt to describe the internet. That could change this week as Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to release the draft of his new net neutrality rules ahead of the FCC’s final meeting of the year on December 14.
Eleven years ago, Stevens was speaking against a proposed amendment to a bill that would forbid internet providers like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast from charging companies to have their data prioritized over others. That’s always been the crux of the net neutrality argument — whether all data should be treated equally, or whether those with deeper pockets should have the ability to pay to jump the line.
Now more than a decade later, Stevens’ wish to give corporations the choice to deliver information their way may finally come true. And while this is hardly the first time online activists have raised the alarm over net neutrality, the stakes have never been higher than they are now, with Republicans’ long-desired reforms at last within their grasp.
While the FCC did adopt in 2005 principles that were broadly favorable to net neutrality, there weren’t actually any explicit rules on the books until a decade later, despite repeated efforts both from internet activists looking to enshrine net neutrality and from telecom companies looking to end it.
This prolonged uncertainty set the stage for a series of battles — you probably heard about these, given how much the wider internet was made a part of the movement to save net neutrality. A court ruling in 2014 ultimately forced the FCC to reclassify internet providers as what are known as common carriers in order to enforce net neutrality, with President Obama specifically recommending such a move.
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Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump takes a less positive view of net neutrality than his predecessor, and his FCC pick Pai moved swiftly in April to recommend the commission restore internet providers’ old classification, paving the way for the end of net neutrality. The FCC advanced Pai’s proposal in a May meeting, despite a coordinated nationwide effort to flood the FCC with pro-neutrality public comments — and the suspected use of bots to create anti-neutrality ones.
Now the December meeting is where the new rules will finally be laid down, with a draft version made available sometime this week. What exactly will be in them isn’t known, but what’s already been written provides a clue. At best, expect the rules to be loosened for corporations.
“We … propose to relinquish any authority over Internet traffic exchange,” the FCC’s initial net neutrality proposal said back in May.
While this may be a far more knowledgeable assessment than Stevens’s old line, they both ultimately mean the same thing: nothing good for net neutrality.Let’s get started
The procedure works on Mac and Linux. We are going to the Risingstack Node.js Docker image for Node 6. Please install Yarn on your machine before proceeding.
Download Yarn installation package in a local folder:
Create a new Dockerfile :
FROM risingstack/alpine:3.4-v6.7.0-4.0.0
WORKDIR /opt/app
# Install yarn from the local.tgz
RUN mkdir -p /opt
ADD latest.tar.gz /opt/
RUN mv /opt/dist /opt/yarn
ENV PATH "$PATH:/opt/yarn/bin"
# Install packages using Yarn
ADD package.json /tmp/package.json
RUN cd /tmp && yarn
RUN mkdir -p /opt/app && cd /opt/app && ln -s /tmp/node_modules
This is based on a well-known trick to make use of Docker layer caching to avoid to reinstall all your modules each time you build the container. In this way, Yarn is executed only when you change package.json (and the first time, of course).
Init package.json
yarn init
Add your first package:
yarn add react
Build and run your new container:
docker build. -t yarn-demo
docker run yarn-demo node -e "console.log('Hello, World')"
Congratulations! You’re using yarn with Docker.
Wait! What about " yarn.lock”?
Yarn stores the exact version of each package and sub-package in order to be able to reproduce exactly the same dependency tree on each run. Both package.json and yarn.lock must be checked into source control. As we run Yarn inside the container, we need to retrieve yarn.lock. Luckily, it’s not hard to extract yarn.lock after each run. Simply change the ADD line in the Dockerfile with the following:
ADD package.json yarn.lock /tmp/
and build the container using the following command:
docker build. -t yarn-demo; docker run --rm --entrypoint cat yarn-demo:latest /tmp/yarn.lock > yarn.lock
After the build, yarn.lock is copied to your working directory, and it will be reused on next Docker run, installing the same dependencies each time.
Congratulations! Now you have deterministic Yarn execution.
Wait! Now Yarn is executed at each container build
That is correct, we are now running Yarn at each build, even if package.json has not been modified. This is because yarn.lock is copied from the container to your working directory each time, even if it’s not changed, thus invalidating Docker layer caching. To solve this, we need to copy yarn.lock only if it’s really changed. To do so:
Create a build.sh file:
#!/bin/bash
docker build. -t yarn-demo
docker run --rm --entrypoint cat yarn-demo:latest /tmp/yarn.lock > /tmp/yarn.lock
if! diff -q yarn.lock /tmp/yarn.lock > /dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "We have a new yarn.lock"
cp /tmp/yarn.lock yarn.lock
fi
Make it executable:
chmod +x build.sh
Use it to build the container:
./build.sh
Then run the container:
docker run yarn-demo node -e "console.log('Hello, World')"
Congratulations! You have now a deterministic Yarn execution, and Yarn is executed only when you change package.json.
What about Yarn package cache?
Another powerful feature of Yarn is package cache, which is stored on the local filesystem, to avoid downloading packages again. Our procedure so far does not maintain cache over container builds. This could be an issue for big package.json files.
The following build.sh solves the issue by saving Yarn cache on your working directory.
#!/bin/bash
# Init empty cache file
if [! -f.yarn-cache.tgz ]; then
echo "Init empty.yarn-cache.tgz"
tar cvzf.yarn-cache.tgz --files-from /dev/null
fi
docker build. -t yarn-demo
docker run --rm --entrypoint cat yarn-demo:latest /tmp/yarn.lock > /tmp/yarn.lock
if! diff -q yarn.lock /tmp/yarn.lock > /dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "Saving Yarn cache"
docker run --rm --entrypoint tar yarn-demo:latest czf - /root/.yarn-cache/ >.yarn-cache.tgz
echo "Saving yarn.lock"
cp /tmp/yarn.lock yarn.lock
fi
You also need to add this to your Dockerfile, after the ADD package.json... line:
# Copy cache contents (if any) from local machine
ADD.yarn-cache.tgz /
The cache file is not meant to be pushed to the repo, so it should be added to a.gitignore file.
Congratulations, again! You have now a deterministic Yarn execution, which is executed only when you change package.json, and it uses Yarn caching. Try this with a complex package.json file from a real project, you will be amazed!
If you enjoyed this piece click the “♥︎” button below. For more pieces on DevOps and Docker, join my mailing list.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The attack is seen as punishment for Hezbollah's military involvement in Syria, Carine Torbey reports
A car bomb has exploded in a Hezbollah stronghold near Lebanon's northern border with Syria, killing at least three people, officials say.
The blast happened near a petrol station in the eastern town of Hermel in the Bekaa Valley, state media said.
A group calling itself the al-Nusra Front in Lebanon claimed it had carried out the attack.
There has been a spike in sectarian tension in Lebanon blamed on the conflict in neighbouring Syria.
Dozens of people have been killed in a series of car bombings in Beirut and Tripoli in recent months.
Both Sunni and Shia militants have been blamed for recent attacks.
Revenge attack
Local television showed pictures of a large fireball lighting up the area, and burning cars engulfed in flames. At least 15 people were injured.
Image copyright AP Image caption It is the second attack claimed by the group in Hermel since January
The Lebanese National News Agency initially reported that four people were killed, but later revised the number down to three.
In a statement on Twitter, the al-Nusra Front in Lebanon said the attack was in revenge for "massacres" perpetrated by the Shia Islamist movement, Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has been supporting government forces in Syria.
It is not clear what links the al-Nusra Front in Lebanon has to the al-Nusra Front in Syria - an al-Qaeda-linked force fighting Mr Assad's government
Saturday's bombing is the second deadly attack claimed by the group in Hermel within a fortnight.
Five people were killed and 20 others injured in a bombing there on 16 January.
Lebanon has been politically deadlocked since last March, with an alliance led by Sunni former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah unable to agree on a coalition government.Update Thursday night: Greg Gianforte has been declared the winner in the special election.
A wild, bitterly contested special election for Montana’s lone congressional seat will come to a close on Thursday night — just one day after Republican candidate Greg Gianforte was charged with assaulting a reporter.
The seat opened up after President Donald Trump appointed former Rep. Ryan Zinke as his interior secretary. Democrat Rob Quist, well known across the state for his banjo playing but facing criticism over a checkered history of failed debt payments, is looking for an upset in a state Trump won by 20 points this fall.
Polls across the state are expected to close at 8 pm Montana time (10 pm EST). If you’re on the East Coast and eager to learn the results, it may make more sense to just wait until tomorrow morning. As the New York Times’s Nate Cohn writes, it could be well after the polls close before we get a final victory.
Bad news about Montana: The count could take a while.
D primary wasn't called until 2AM (Sanders+7)
Gov '16 wasn't called until 10AM (D+4) — Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) May 25, 2017
If you (like us!) are staying up until the ballots are counted, check back here for updates.
Montana is also posting vote totals on its website. And for live analysis, three of the best Twitter accounts you can follow for election night are Cohn, the DecisionDesk and the Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman.
In the meantime, here’s a brief guide to the two main candidates in the race — as well as what the outcome may mean for the national political scene as Democrats look for their first election win of the Trump era.
Who are the candidates in Montana’s special election?
Even though the Montana race may have consequences for evaluating the national political landscape, the outcome may be just as shaped by the personalities and personal eccentricities of the candidates themselves.
Quist, 69, is renowned at home as a founding member of the Mission Mountain Wood Band (M2WB). Attacked by his opponents as a “cowboy hat wearing hippie,” Quist has praised Bernie Sanders and made affordable health care and defending public lands the centerpieces of his campaign. He’s well known in the state for his music, which leads to headlines about “the poet” running for Congress and allows Quist to get away with campaign lines like, “I’ve really been representing Montana through my music and poetry all my life.”
More recently, Quist has come under a barrage of criticism for his personal financial history. In 2013, he was sued by Mission Mountain Wood Band bassist Steve Riddle for breach of contract. In May, the Associated Press revealed that Montana filed three tax liens to collect about $15,000 in back taxes from Quist. A subsequent AP report showed that he underreported his income by $57,000 — an embarrassment Republicans seized on immediately.
Still, it’s not as if Quist’s opponent comes through as a squeaky-clean candidate, either.
Gianforte, 56, was born in California, educated in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and only came to Montana in 1995. After moving to Montana, Gianforte sued to try to keep people from being able to fish in a stream that ran by his property.
As The Huffington Post notes, Gianforte ran for governor and lost to Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT) in 2016. In the process, he spent more than $5 million of his own money in a failed gubernatorial bid. That was good for airing 30,661 television ads — more than that of any other state candidate in history, a staggering figure in such a small state.
Gianforte’s career has led Quist to seek inroads with voters by portraying his opponent as a corporate stooge. “The other choices we’re offered are really connected to corporate America, which in a lot of ways has undue influence on the politics of our country,” Quist told the Guardian. “My goal is to be a strong, independent voice for the people of Montana.”
A close Montana race could bolster Democratic recruiting efforts
In 2016, House Democrats didn’t just face the obstacle of gerrymandering when going up against the GOP. They also ran a slew of extraordinarily weak candidates in red but achievable districts, including someone who had been unemployed for the past six years and a beekeeper with no elected experience.
The special elections held so far — including Democrats’ surprisingly strong showings in Georgia and Kansas — have helped encourage better Democratic candidates to throw their hats into the ring. Another surprisingly close race could indicate that Republicans face a rough map in 2018, which may encourage more qualified Democratic candidates to enter local races.
“If the general feeling is that it represents a warning sign for Republicans, that has strong implications for whether Democratic candidates jump in for 2018,” said Dave Hopkins, a Boston College political scientist.
And the reverse effect also holds: If Republicans sense they’re in for a rough reelection bid, then vulnerable Republican incumbents will race toward the exits — creating more opportunities for House Democrats.
“There’s a self-fulfilling prophecy here, as incumbents consider retirement thinking they’ll face a tough race, which in turn makes the field tougher for Republicans,” Hopkins said.
We’re already getting signs that this trend is underway, with the unexpected retirement of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in a competitive Florida House seat. A scare for the GOP in Montana would accelerate it.
Implications for health care on Capitol Hill
Similarly, on Capitol Hill, the Montana race put Republicans’ legislative agenda on ice. In particular, the Montana race may reveal the extent to which Republicans embrace House Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Health Care Act at their own political peril.
On the campaign trail, Quist has responded to his personal travails by emphasizing the horror of the Republican health care bill. Last week, he hosted a series of “Hands Off Our Health Care” events around the state. His rallies around the state with Sanders were billed as attempts to rail against the “un-American health care plan.” His last ad buy, “Preexisting,” goes after Republicans for ending the Affordable Care Act’s protections for patients with preexisting conditions:
There’s a good reason for Quist’s team to go after the AHCA rather than Trump: The president remains popular in Montana. Meanwhile, the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare covered 70,000 Montanans, the AHCA is polling in the mid-20s nationally, and the approval rating of Obamacare is skyrocketing.
Gianforte, meanwhile, has mostly ducked questions about his support for Ryan’s health care bill. A tape obtained by the New York Times revealed that Gianforte had praised the bill behind closed doors, but has said he wouldn’t have voted for it because of a lack of “data.”
The “data” that came out on Wednesday night from the Congressional Budget Office, which conducts official analysis of bills, looked bad — an estimated 23 million more Americans would be uninsured in 10 years than under current law, as well grim outcomes for patients with preexisting conditions.
A Guardian reporter, Ben Jacobs, was allegedly assaulted after asking Gianforte about the health care bill. Gianforte ran after being attacked over the AHCA. If Quist wins in a statewide race viewed as a referendum on the bill, Senate Republicans may be less willing to pass it.Note: This article, arguing that linking bank accounts with Aadhaar is unconstitutional and illegal, was first published on June 19, 2017 and is being republished on September 26, 2018 in light of the Supreme Court saying banks should not be asking for Aadhaar numbers.
The central government recently announced that it shall be mandatory to link Aadhaar numbers to all non-small bank accounts, failing which, access to the bank accounts will be disabled after December 31. This requirement has been brought into the law via Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) (Second Amendment) Rules, 2017 which have been notified by the government under powers delegated to it by the parliament through the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
As is often the case with this government, the question now is whether this new mandatory Aadhaar requirement (and the threatened punishment) is legal.
The legality of mandating Aadhaar-bank linking
The Aadhaar Act, 2016 imposes certain limitations on the type of activities for which the government can mandate the use of Aadhaar number for authentication. The pertinent part of the legislation, Section 7, states:
“The Central Government or, as the case may be, the State Government may, for the purpose of establishing identity of an individual as a condition for receipt of a subsidy, benefit or service for which the expenditure is incurred from, or the receipt therefrom forms part of, the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI), require that such individual undergo authentication, or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number….”
The operative words here are “receipt of a subsidy, benefit or service” where money is either appropriated or deposited in “the Consolidated Fund of India” which is basically the government’s most important account where revenue is deposited and from which the government deducts its expenses. This would cover central government schemes and services like MNREGA or issuance of passports.
Section 7 is very likely one of the reasons that the government had to get the parliament to amend the Income Tax Act to make the linking of PAN and Aadhaar numbers mandatory, rather than do it through its rule-making power under the Income Tax Act.
Although revenue from income tax is deposited in the CFI, the levy of income tax does not qualify as a “subsidy, benefit or service”. Rather, the levy of income tax is an administrative or sovereign function of the central government. However, with regard to services provided by public or private banks through bank accounts, it should be noted that this function will not be covered by Section 7 because bank accounts have no connection whatsoever to the CFI. The money deposited in a bank account is not deposited in the CFI. The balance sheets of banks are entirely different from the CFI.
The essential question now is whether the government can use its rule-making powers under the PMLA, 2002 to circumvent the limitations imposed by Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016?
The PMLA, 2002 is silent on the power of the central government to require authentication of bank customers. In such cases, courts usually invoke the principle of generalia specialibus non derogant, which basically means the provisions of a general law have to concede to a special legislation. In this case, the Aadhaar Act will trump the silence of the PMLA on the use of Aadhaar numbers and as already discussed above, Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act limits the purposes for which an Aadhaar number can be used.
Thus, for Aadhaar numbers to be mandatorily linked to bank accounts for customer authentication, the parliament has to amend the PMLA as it did with the Income Tax Act. Till then, the limitations of Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act will rule the field and the government cannot circumvent the provision by using its rule-making powers under different legislations.
Blocking access to bank accounts?
The second aspect of the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) (Second Amendment) Rules, 2017 is the requirement for banks to block access to those bank accounts of those customers who do not link their Aadhaar numbers to their accounts. Rule 17(c) states:
“In case the client fails to submit the Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number within the aforesaid six months period, the said account shall cease to be operational till the time the Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number is submitted by the client.”
This rule is without doubt unconstitutional because the parliament did not delegate to the central government the right to block bank accounts and deprive Indian citizens of their property.
In its preamble, the PMLA (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 clearly identifies the source of its power as “sub-section (1) read with clause (h), clause (i), clause (j) and clause (k) of sub-section (2) of section 73 of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002”. None of those provisions in Section 73 of the PMLA Act allow the central government to make rules that allow it to block access to bank accounts. Those provisions only allow the central government to make rules regarding the maintenance of financial records. Blocking access to bank accounts are akin to property seizures and will in effect violate the constitutional right to property under Article 300A.
The PMLA does have extensive provisions on attachment or freezing of assets that are suspected or proven to be the fruits of money laundering or criminal activity. However, this process is quite complicated and requires a reasoned order by certain designated officers of the central government. It is simply absurd for the government to claim powers to automatically block access to bank accounts for failing to link Aadhaar numbers to bank accounts.
Modi sarkar and rule-making powers
Over the last month, the Modi government has increasingly used its rule-making powers under various laws in a manner which is contrary to the law of the land. The first instance was the highly controversial Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2016, which were notified under the Prevention of Cruelty Act. One law professor described these rules as “… a constitutional misadventure on multiple grounds involving fundamental rights, separation of powers and federalism”. The constitutionality of the rules have been challenged before the Supreme Court.
The second instance were the “Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2017. These rules were notified under Section 184 of the Finance Act, 2017 and as I argued in a previous piece, these rules are most certainly in violation of the law. The Madras Bar Association has now challenged the constitutionality of these rules before the Madras high court.
The PMLA ( |
computer software to provide a 3-dimensional image of the target in a fraction of the time it takes using a conventional X-ray device. The system also allows rapid, precise control, enabling prospective physiological gated imaging.[5]
Engineers at the University of Missouri (MU), Columbia, have invented a compact source of x-rays and other forms of radiation. The radiation source is the size of a stick of gum and could be used to create portable x-ray scanners. A prototype handheld x-ray scanner using the source could be manufactured in as soon as three years.[6]
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]In number theory, a weird number is a natural number that is abundant but not semiperfect.[1][2] In other words, the sum of the proper divisors (divisors including 1 but not itself) of the number is greater than the number, but no subset of those divisors sums to the number itself.
Examples [ edit ]
The smallest weird number is 70. Its proper divisors are 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 35; these sum to 74, but no subset of these sums to 70. The number 12, for example, is abundant but not weird, because the proper divisors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, which sum to 16; but 2 + 4 + 6 = 12.
The first few weird numbers are
Properties [ edit ]
Unsolved problem in mathematics:
Are there any odd weird numbers? (more unsolved problems in mathematics)
Infinitely many weird numbers exist.[3] For example, 70p is weird for all primes p ≥ 149. In fact, the set of weird numbers has positive asymptotic density.[4]
It is not known if any odd weird numbers exist. If so, they must be greater than 1021.[5]
Sidney Kravitz has shown that for k a positive integer, Q a prime exceeding 2k, and
R = 2 k Q − ( Q + 1 ) ( Q + 1 ) − 2 k ; {\displaystyle R={\frac {2^{k}Q-(Q+1)}{(Q+1)-2^{k}}};}
also prime and greater than 2k, then
n = 2 k − 1 Q R {\displaystyle n=2^{k-1}QR}
is a weird number.[6] With this formula, he found a large weird number
n = 2 56 ⋅ ( 2 61 − 1 ) ⋅ 153722867280912929 ≈ 2 ⋅ 10 52. {\displaystyle n=2^{56}\cdot (2^{61}-1)\cdot 153722867280912929\ \approx \ 2\cdot 10^{52}.}
Primitive weird numbers [ edit ]
A property of weird numbers is that if n is weird, and p is a prime greater than the sum of divisors σ(n), then pn is also weird.[4] This leads to the definition of primitive weird numbers, i.e. weird numbers that are not multiple of other weird numbers (sequence A002975 in the OEIS). There are only 24 primitive weird numbers smaller than a million, compared to 1765 weird numbers up to that limit. The construction of Kravitz yields primitive weird numbers, since all weird numbers of the form 2 k p q {\displaystyle 2^{k}pq} are primitive, but the existence of infinitely many k and Q which yield a prime R is not guaranteed. It is conjectured that there exist infinitely many primitive numbers, and Melfi has shown that the infiniteness of primitive weird numbers is a consequence of Cramér's conjecture.[7]
See also [ edit ]Employee of homeless shelter attacked with knife on SF bus
A man was attacked on the bus in San Francisco Monday, police said. A man was attacked on the bus in San Francisco Monday, police said. Photo: Jacom Stephens / Getty Image Photo: Jacom Stephens / Getty Image Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Employee of homeless shelter attacked with knife on SF bus 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
An employee of a homeless shelter was attacked on a Monday afternoon bus ride by a man he'd once had to remove from the shelter for disorderly conduct, police said.
The attack occurred about 4 p.m. on the 100 block of Albatross Court in the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco as the 54-year-old victim rode home from his job at a homeless shelter, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
The victim saw the suspect on the bus and recognized him from an earlier incident during which the employee had to remove the man from the shelter, police said.
Related: Man stabbed on bus near Powell Street BART
The suspect apparently recognized the victim as well, and allegedly began screaming obscenities at him before taking out a knife and swinging at the victim, who dodged the attack and moved out of the way, police reported.
The suspect got off the bus and ran from the scene on foot, according to police. He was not located, and a description of the suspect was not initially released.
Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at [email protected] and visit her on Twitter.Philippe Wojazer / Reuters French President Emmanuel Macron attends a news conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (not seen) at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France December 19, 2017. (REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer)
France’s parliament has approved legislation banning all oil and gas production within the country and its overseas territories by 2040.
Under the law, which passed a final vote on Tuesday, France will no longer grant new fossil fuel exploration permits or renew existing drilling permits in an effort to slow global warming by reducing carbon emissions.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has carved out a leading role for his country in the fight against climate change, tweeted that the legislation was the first of its kind across the world.
Very proud that France has become the first country in the world today to ban any new oil exploration licences with immediate effect and all oil extraction by 2040. #KeepItInTheGround #MakeOurPlanetGreatAgain — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 19, 2017
The law’s passage may be historic, but it’s largely symbolic since just 1 percent of the country’s oil consumption is produced domestically, according to The Associated Press.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, France produced roughly 16,000 barrels of petroleum per day in 2016, a minuscule amount compared to countries like Saudi Arabia, which produced roughly 10.4 million barrels per day that year. Despite its new legislation, France will continue to import and refine oil, Reuters reported.
When the draft bill of the legislation was unveiled in September, French Environmental Minister Nicolas Hulot said he hoped it would inspire other countries to follow suit. He tweeted Tuesday that the law’s passage offered “proof that our generation can take care of future generations.”
Under Macron’s administration, France has moved to more aggressively embrace renewable energy and take steps to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. In July, the country announced it would ban the sales of gas and diesel cars by 2040.
The French president has tried to claim the mantle of global climate leadership that President Donald Trump abandoned after the United States pulled out of the Paris climate accord in June.This article is part of a series on the OWASP Top 10 for ASP.net Core. See below for links to other articles in the series.
In previous iterations of this post, I had a big long text wall explanation of what exactly Cross Site Scripting (XSS) was. But after spending hours perfecting it, I think it’s easier to show you a simple screenshot that says it all.
This was simple to do. I have a “search” page for a user, and any query they type I relay back to them in the form of “Search Query {YourQueryHere}”. The code looks like this :
1 < h2 > Search Results for "@Html.Raw(Context.Request.Query[" query "])" < / h2 >
So we are taking whatever the user searched (Or put in the query string) and placing it directly on the page. Thus allowing the user to enter script tags, or really anything they want in there. This is essentially at the heart of what XSS is about. Taking unverified user input, and displaying it wholesale on a webpage.
For the duration of this post, I will refer back to “code I prepared earlier”. This code is up on Github if you want to take a look and test out some XSS yourself. You can download it here.
What Is XSS?
XSS is when a webpage enables an attacker to inject client side scripts (Typically javascript although other types of injections are possible) onto a webpage that is then subsequently shown to other users. Often these scripts seek to steal private data (For example cookies or browser storage), redirect a browser, or sometimes even just trick a user into doing an action that they wouldn’t normally do.
XSS is usually defined into two different types :
Reflected XSS
Reflected XSS is when cross site scripting occurs immediately as a result of the input from a user. An example might be when a user searches, and that search query is displayed immediately on the page. Typically the danger from XSS comes from the ability to send a link to an unsuspecting user, and that user see something completely unexpected.
Stored XSS
Stored XSS is when you are able to save something to a database or backend store, and have it relayed to users without having to send them a link. If we use an example of a blog that accepts comments on posts. If you are able to store a XSS exploit in a blog comment, then everyone who views that blog post from then on will be affected. Obviously this has the potential to be a much larger exploit than reflected XSS because it doesn’t depend on the user being sent a dodgy link or having to do anything extra on their part.
What Could Someone Do With XSS?
Javascript
The holy grail is of course to be able to inject script tags on a webpage. With this, the world really is the attackers oyster. They could do something as simple as redirecting the user to a different page (Where they then steal a users credentials), they could inject javascript to build a fake login form right there on the page (Where they then steal a users credentials), or they could even use it to steal a users login cookie (Where they then steal a users credentials). It can be devastating.
While injecting javascript on a page can be nothing short of devastating, protecting your site should be more than just disallowing the word “script” to be submitted anywhere. You can actually do some pretty dangerous stuff without CSS at all.
CSS
By injecting styles into a page, an attacker could change the entire layout of the page to trick the user into doing something they don’t want to do. A “clever” exploit I saw in the past was an attacker redesigning a page to trick the user into deleting their own account by moving the delete button around and changing the text (All now possible that you can add “content” inside CSS).
With CSS alone, you can pretty much rewrite the entire website. Let’s take a quick looking using a site I whipped up early. (Again, you can get the source code on Github here). By default it looks a bit like this :
Now let’s try something. Let’s try and inject the following CSS Payload in here :
1 2 3 4 5 <style>.container,.navbar { display : none ; } body { padding : 5px } body:before { content : "We have moved. Head over to www.bogussite.com to continue" ; } </style>
So the URL will look something like :
1 http://localhost:57423/?query=<style>.container,.navbar{display:none;}body {padding:5px}body:before{content:"We have moved. Head over to www.bogussite.com to continue";}</style>
Now when we view this URL :
IFrames
Injecting IFrames is an XSS exploit that can go undetected for quite some time because it can be essentially invisible to end users. IFraming can be as “harmless” as someone trying to rack up views on their own site that contain ads that pay per view, to something as harmful as IFraming a fake login form into the page.
HTML Encoding User Output
Now, if you’ve been looking at my sample code, you would have noticed something a bit iffy. I’m talking about this Html.Raw(Context.Request.Query["query"]). And I want to admit, I cheated a little. You see, by default, when ASP.net Core Razor outputs values onto a page, it always encodes them. If we remove this raw tag helper and try and inject a script tag, we instead see this on the page :
So why didn’t this actually run the script tag? It looks like it should right? Let’s actually look at the source code of the page then.
Look at how our script tag actually got written to the HTML. It’s been escaped for us meaning that the script tag hasn’t actually been ran! Hurrah! So for content that gets written directly to the page, we are actually somewhat protected by the framework.
How about other places we are displaying this data? Maybe we are building a SPA and not using ASP.net Core Razor at all. Every javascript library (Even jQuery) will actually encode data for you. But it pays to check whether this is an automatic or manual process, and anywhere you are outputting user input directly into HTML should be triple checked for valid encoding.
An interesting argument to note is that I have come across developers who insist on HTML Encoding things as they are stored in the database, and then displaying them as is on the webpage (Typically when you aren’t using Razor so you don’t get the auto encoding). This will work, but I think it’s a bad practice to follow. When you only encode data when you store it, you leave yourself open for reflected XSS attacks because this data is never stored anywhere (It’s shown directly back to the user).
URL Encoding User Input
While HTML encoding is fine when you are outputting user data directly into HTML. But at times you may need to accept user input and put it into a URL. URL’s do not encode with the same characters as HTML, so you may find yourself trying to override everything with the Raw tag helper. Do not do this!.NET Core has you covered with URL Encode.
To access it, you first need to install the the following nuget package from your package manager console in Visual Studio :
1 Install - Package Microsoft. AspNet. WebUtilities - Pre
You can then encode your URL’s in a view like so :
1 < a href = "/ [email protected] (Context.Request.Query[" query "])" > Search Query < / a >
Browser Protection
An interesting point to note is that browsers are jumping in to protect users against XSS. With a very simple payload of <script>alert("this is an XSS")</script> in Chrome, I actually end up with the following :
In saying that, you can basically find cheat sheets online that show you values to try and bypass these filters. A good writeup by a user trying to get around Chrome’s XSS filter can be found here https://blog.securitee.org/?p=37. Essentially, it’s always going to be an arms race and relying on a browser to protect your users would be fool hardy. Not to mention users who don’t update their browsers anyway.
X-XSS-Protection Headers
This is another way of protecting your users that fall into the basket of “great to have, but encode your output please”. Using the X-XSS-Protection header you are able to direct a browser how best to handle any XSS exploits it detects. The header has 4 different values you can user.
X-XSS-Protection: 0
Attempts to disable XSS Protection in the browser (Good if you want to try and test things out).
X-XSS-Protection: 1
Enables XSS protection but if XSS is detected, it will try and sanitize the output (e.g. Encode it or strip the characters). This can be dangerous to do because the resulting HTML could be just as dangerous. See here : http://blog.innerht.ml/the-misunderstood-x-xss-protection/.
X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block
Enables XSS protection and will block the page loading all together if any XSS exploit is detected.
X-XSS-Protection: 1; report=<reporting-uri>
This is a chromium only header that will allow you to report back to you any URL’s that were detected in having an XSS exploit.
Realistically the only option you should be using is block as this will protect you the best. You can set the header at the code or server level. For the code level, it’s as easy as adding an additional middleware in your pipeline. Something like so :
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 public void Configure ( IApplicationBuilder app, IHostingEnvironment env, ILoggerFactory loggerFactory ) { app. Use ( async ( context, next ) = > { context. Response. Headers. Add ( "X-Xss-Protection", "1" ) ; await next ( ) ; } ) ; app. UseMvc ( ) ; }
If you are interested in further reading, we have an entire article dedicated to just the X-XSS-Protection header, and another on 3 Security Headers That Every Site Should Have.
Summary
Cross Site Scripting is one of those exploits that refuses to die, mostly because of people not doing the basics right. As we’ve seen, in ASP.net Core our razor tag helpers are a great out of the box solution to protecting us, and indeed HTML encoding in general no matter the framework will solve a big deal of our problems. Browsers are making big strides in trying to protect people too, but this doesn’t mean developers can suddenly become complacent about their role in protecting end users.
In our next topic from the OWASP Top 10 – 2017, We will be tackling Broken Access Control.
ENJOY THIS POST? Join over 3.000 subscribers who are receiving our weekly post digest, a roundup of this weeks blog posts. We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.During World War I, many German or German-sounding place names in Australia were changed due to anti-German sentiment. The presence of German-derived place names was seen as an affront to the war effort at the time.[citation needed]
The names of locations were often Anglicised (Peterborough), given Aboriginal names (Kobandilla, Karawirra), or were named after notable soldiers (Kitchener and Holbrook) or World War I battlefields (Verdun, The Somme). This was done by local councils or the postal authorities, often as the result of a petition by locals.[citation needed]
In South Australia, the Nomenclature Act, 1917 officially changed the name of "towns and districts" in 1918 while the Nomenclature Act, 1935 restored the former German names to the towns of Hahndorf and Lobethal, and the Adelaide suburb of Klemzig.[1][2]
New South Wales [ edit ]
Old name New name Date of name change Notes Bismarck Street (Canterbury) Cressy Street December 1914[3][4][5] Bismarck Street (Kogarah) Kitchener Street 10 November 1914[6] Deutschland Street (Canterbury) Onslow Street December 1914[3][4][5] Germanton Holbrook 20 September 1915[7] German's Hill Lidster 1 February 1916[7] German Creek Empire Vale 1 May 1915[7] Hamburger Street (Punchbowl) Victoria Road December 1914[3] Kaiser Street (Canterbury) Mons Street December 1914[3][4][5] Reuss Street (Merewether) Kilgour Avenue 14 January 1918[8] Newcastle section renamed 1918. Merewether Municipality section Reuss Street until 1938.[9] Schlinkers Lane (Ultimo, Sydney) Bullecourt Lane 1917 No longer exists. Development on 428-466 Harris Street, Ultimo is named "Bullecourt Place". Webber's Road (Kogarah) English Street 7 September 1915[10]
Queensland [ edit ]
South Australia [ edit ]
Many names were changed as a result of the Nomenclature Act, 1917, with the names gazetted on 10 January 1918.[1]
Tasmania [ edit ]
Old name New name Date of name change Notes Bismarck Collinsvale 1 July 1915[27] Germantown Lilydale [28]
Victoria [ edit ]
Victorian stamp with Hochkirch postmark
Western Australia [ edit ]
Old name New name Date of name change Notes Heidelberg Bickley [32] Mueller Park Kitchener Park reverted to Mueller Park 1981
See also [ edit ]Dan Scarf was in a pretty “mundane” part of his bike commute home to his wife and three kids on a street marked for 25 mph and calmed with speed humps when someone driving a black Ford F150 struck him hard and fled the scene without stopping.
“I’m really angry at the guy, and I’m just shocked,” Scarf said. “How could you actually do it?”
Scarf’s hip was broken in the crash, which happened around 5:30 p.m. April 13 on 161st Ave SE just south of SE 28th Place in Bellevue.
He caught the collision on a handlebar-mounted camera, but the video didn’t get a shot of the person driving or the license plate number. Scarf posted the video to YouTube (collision happens at the 2:00 mark):
There were witnesses, and Bellevue Police are investigating. Police are looking for a black F150 (a YouTube commenter says it could also be a Ford Expedition), possibly with a license plate starting “D9.”
Scarf called Seattle Bike Blog from the hospital to get the word out about the hit and run and tell his story. As you can see in the video, it was not raining and there was no oncoming traffic at the time.
“I was tracking with the sharrows, which is where you’re supposed to be,” said Scarf. The street has a parking lane, but it is typically safest to maintain a predictable position in the lane rather than weave in and out around each parked car. This path is marked with “sharrows” on this street. So Scarf was doing everything exactly right.
“Most people just move over, but this guy didn’t.”
The person driving veered into Scarf and sideswiped him. Its not clear from the video if the collision was intentional or not, but it certainly seems possible. Running from the scene, however, is intentional. It’s also cowardly and disgusting.
As painful and disruptive as his injuries are, it could have been worse.
“Frankly, I’m most disappointed that I’m gonna have to be off my bike,” he said. The doctors told him it would be at least six weeks before he could try biking again.
This hit and run comes just weeks after another hit and run in Bellevue that left Jane Kriehn in critical condition. In that case, there were no apparent witnesses, so the person who fled the scene left her to die in a ditch. She was found an unknown amount of time later and rushed to the hospital.
Kriehn has a long road to recovery, as her family told Q13 a few weeks ago:
People who injure other people and run away represent humankind at its most shameful. The only way to begin the road to redemption is to turn yourself in and take responsibility for what you did.The Bombers are considering playing one more game at the MCG in future seasons
ESSENDON could push to play an extra home game at the MCG in future seasons after posting a record membership in 2017 and drawing more than one million fans to its home games.
The Bombers hold an agreement to host seven matches at Etihad Stadium and four at the MCG, and chief executive Xavier Campbell said an annual survey showed both venues were equally supported by members.
He said potential upgrades to Etihad Stadium would be considered in any push to add an extra MCG game to the club's fixture after the Docklands venue was bought out by the AFL.
"I feel like we need to get to a point where we seriously consider an additional game at the MCG," Campbell told the club's website.
"But there are still a lot of discussions with the AFL, the changing landscape at Etihad Stadium with the early buyout and the potential for significant Government funding to improve the experience that should be seriously taken into consideration.
"But an additional game at the MCG does feel like the right way to go."
Essendon had a total home attendance of 558,936 this season, second only to Richmond, which drew a total of 615,542 fans to its 10 MCG home games and one home game at Etihad Stadium.
The Bombers hosted Melbourne and North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium this season, drawing crowds of more than 40,000, averaging 39,603 across its seven games at the Docklands venue.
They hosted Hawthorn at the MCG in round one as well as the Anzac Day blockbuster, averaging crowds of 70,428 at the MCG this season with a low of 57,173 against Geelong in the round eight 'Country Game'.
The club's deal with Etihad Stadium has been in place for 17 years after they were the first club to sign with the venue.
They have played at least seven of their home games there since 2000, hosting eight games in 2002.The Id is a 2015 American horror/thriller movie that was written by Sean H. Stewart and directed by Tommy Hutson. Featuring Amanda Wyss (A Nightmare On Elm Street and Better Off Dead), Patrick Peduto (Postmen Don’t Deliver On Christmas and Weekly Meeting) and Jamye Grant (Death Suspects A Murder and Last To Love); we are taken into a world where the lead characters domineering and psychologically abusive father has re-entered her life as she tries to care for him.
A lot of people understand the importance their parents have played throughout their life, regardless of how they treated them throughout their childhood. If someone’s mother or father became ill and need someone to take care of them, the children will more than likely step up and do the right thing to help out. The Id tells us the story of just that. Generally receiving positive feedback from critics, it has been said that this film is a thought provoking psychological chiller that is well worth the look. It should also be noted that this film was the winner of Best Thriller at the 2016 Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival.
The Film Itself (2/5):
For the most part, I found The Id to give a less than enjoyable experience. Mostly because of the extremely low-budget production, it had as it felt like it was filmed on a home camcorder when it isn’t being told from that perspective. The only part of this movie that I liked was the psychological thrill it did give as there were quite a few parts where I was asking “What The Fuck?” or “How Does She Keep Dealing With It?” I understand that dealing with an abusive parent in any capacity can not only be exhausting, but it can cause someone to simply break down. I know if I were in that kind of situation, I’d definitely do my best to provide the necessary care; however I feel as if I would end up placing my parent into assisted living because they would be more more qualified to handle behavior like that.
Picture Quality (3/5):
While The Id is brought to us in 1080p high definition, the low-production value that this film had really degraded the visual quality. I understand that this is an independent film, however there have been much better production quality done with independent films, especially as cameras get cheaper. Hell, the newest cell phones can shoot in 4K, so a film like this should look a lot better. Feeling as if it were filmed on a cheap Sony Handycam, I felt really uneasy watching this movie. This is only my second release from this company that I’ve seen, so I’m hoping to see some more quality releases as I really enjoyed the first one that I had the pleasure of viewing.
Audio Quality (4/5):
The Id comes packaged with a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track that measures in at 640 kbps. While it had a less than pleasurable visual presentation, the sound quality was pretty stellar. I was able to completely hear and understand everything without having to manually adjust the volume levels on my home theater to compensate for degraded sound; there was no audible distortion to anything as the scenes played out. In fact, closing my eyes as some of the more strenuous parts played out allowed me to have much more of an appreciation for the story itself that was being presented.
The Packaging (3/5):
Released in a non-standard amaray Blu-ray case, The Id comes packaged in an amaray case, however it is a little bit slimmer in comparison to the standard casing. It still feels pretty durable and able to protect the contents. Included within the packaging is what is considered to be a made on demand (MOD) Blu-ray disc. Upon placing it into my player, more often than not, it displays the films title and maybe some artwork that’s related to this film; however, with this being a MOD release, the player simply read “Untitled”.
Special Features (5/5):
This release of The Id comes with exactly what I was hoping it would be after watching this film. While my previous experiences with the company that released this film were lacking in terms of additional content; this release was pleasantly surprising. Obviously there are other releases that we would give a “5” and include hours and hours of content. but this score is graded to account for the source materials, which typically include nothing at all, especially from a MOD disc. Included with this release is:
The Id Trailer
Photo Gallery
Audition Clips
Behind The Scenes
Needs, Wants & Desires
Deleted And Alternate Scenes
Technical Specs:
Video
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Subtitles
none
Runtime
Original Film: 87 minutes
Final Thoughts:
Generally speaking, I was rather displeased with the visual presentation that The Id offered audiences. As noted above, this is mostly because of the cheap production feel it had for its visual aspect. However, the story that it gives us was a pretty on- edge psychological thriller, allowing the audience to question the sanity of the main character’s father. I praise the lead actress for her willpower in dealing with what she had to go through. The overall audible experience that this release gives us was fascinating and allowed me to gain more respect for the story that it was trying to give me.
While being a made on demand release, the release itself is pretty barebones in terms of packaging, but it does come packed with a more than fair amount of bonus features. If you’re interested in checking The Id out, you can pick it up from Amazon today.
Note: This Blu-ray was sent to us for review. This has not affected our judgement or editorial process in any way. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this process.I first came to love ultimate one Saturday evening in 1995, sitting in a cafeteria in Amherst, MA. My high school team had just competed in its first big tournament, and now we were sharing a meal with our opponents. As we ate lasagna, someone wheeled out a television and played videos of Kenny Dobyns talking about how ultimate was more important than girlfriends or God. We diagrammed plays on napkins. We gawked across the room at the twin brothers from Scarsdale – “the best high school players in the country,” someone whispered – whom we would face in semifinals the next morning. The room was buzzing with talk of cup zones and clams and i-o flicks. I was in the company of athletes from all around the country who had discovered the same amazing secret I had, and together we made up an underground universe.
Three months earlier, I had nearly given up on sports. The problem had not been a lack of talent or inclination. I loved releasing a jump shot and knowing it would go in as soon as it left my fingers; I loved cradling a lacrosse ball and sprinting painless through the bruising stick checks and body checks of a tight defense. What I did not love was participating in a culture of jocks. There was a whole caste of guys who couldn’t feel good unless they were putting someone down. What’s worse, they were surrounded by a sub-caste of fake jocks, who felt compelled to feign enthusiasm when the jocks talked shit about how much someone sucked. The other team, for example, always sucked. Basketball and lacrosse were hardly to blame for the narcissism of teenage boys, but they became conduits for it all the same. To compete was to impose your ego on someone else.
Ultimate was different. It aspired to a higher ideal of competition. That day in Amherst, we played because it was fun – and we played hard because we wanted respect, and we played fair because we wanted self-respect. When our opponents made huge plays, we thought it was awesome, because they inspired us to rise and meet their challenge. There was no coach telling us to think like this. There was merely the Spirit of the Game, and the fact that, if we didn’t use it, the game wouldn’t work and we wouldn’t be able to look our opponents in the eye later that night as we ate our lasagna. Ultimate was different: not because it emphasized sportsmanship – which is an ancient thing compared to our young sport – but because ultimate couldn’t function without it.
Lots of people are trying to change this nowadays. They might say they aren’t, but they are. They might not realize it, but they’re doing it all the same. They love ultimate so much that they want everyone else to know how great it is, so they’re trying to make it marketable. They want to put us in promotional videos and shop us to cable networks; they’re trying to gain fans and sell tickets; they’re trying to monetize our play.
I know where they’re coming from. I love playing in front of crowds. And of all the great plays I’ve made, only a couple have been captured on video, though I’m sure more than a few were good enough for SportsCenter. I’ve also spent thousands of dollars playing 11 club seasons. If someone offered to fill a stadium with fans to cheer me on, and put me on TV, and pay me for doing what I already love, I’d hardly complain. Promoting the sport: it’s a noble goal, and I support it.
But should it be our biggest goal? Should we change the game to achieve it?
**
Through the history of our sport, we’ve been guided by a north star first identified by a bunch of high school kids in 1968: the search for the ultimate competitive experience. I can draw a straight line from the vision those kids developed in a New Jersey parking lot, and trace it across three decades, to the joy I felt on the fields of Amherst; and I can extend that line through another decade and more, to the feeling I’ve had in Sarasota, making a diving catch past my rival, and then getting skied by him, and then seeing him at the Daiquiri Deck on Saturday night and giving him a hug – and really meaning it. (I am referring, of course, to Brian Stout: that guy can jump through the roof and give great hugs.)
What we love about ultimate is only partly a function of the structure of the game and the way discs fly. Plenty of other sports can give you the visceral thrills of playmaking, effortless flow, and being in the zone. What makes ultimate different is the ethos that has grown around it. There’s a reason Howard Cosell famously called our sport “a refreshing reminder of what sport was meant to be and still, on rare occasions, can be.” That’s the part of the quote that is most often printed on t-shirts and discs, but what he said right before that should also be instructive: “The ultimate reward for their time? Nothing. Nothing, save the joy of competition.”
That’s my goal for our sport: joy of competition. And for anyone else who wants to push our sport to evolve, I would ask: what is your highest goal? Are you dedicated to helping promote the joy of competition? Or are you interested first in selling a product? An evangelist of the so-called professional leagues might tell you he aspires to both of these goals at the same time. But anyone who says this marks himself as a person rich in ambition but poor in either wisdom or honesty. As any good leader has learned, you can’t have two primary goals.
Great competition and marketability are complementary perhaps 80% of the time, but when push comes to shove, the “pro” leagues exist to make money. I’m not against for-profit businesses, but I am also not naïve about their priorities. Look at the compromises that the MLU and AUDL have already made: they have changed the field, to conform to the dimensions of football, and they have put referees on it, to conform to the expectations of prospective fans. The MLU has even taken Ultrastars out of their players’ hands and replaced them with Innovas, presumably because that was the highest bidder. The cart is hitched in front of the horse.
I expect the competition will still be joyful, at least for a while. My friends who played in the AUDL last season said the games were really fun, and even cited examples of times when players rejected incorrect referee calls that had gone in their favor. “See?” they said, “it’s still ultimate.” But they weren’t quite right. The sport they were playing was now a for-profit business, which was evident in how the season ended. Various franchises began to disagree about how the league might expand, and in a stroke of high irony, the organization that had done away with self-officiating imploded as the owners failed at dispute resolution. If everyone had been dedicated primarily to the pursuit of great competition, one could hardly imagine such an issue would threaten the life of a season. But, alas, business came first.
Not that this will |
duty Tuesday night. A message left after-hours for the public defender who represented him at the arraignment was not returned. Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said the girl’s mother complained to the police department Monday that the officer had made inappropriate comments to her daughter, had given her his private cell phone number and had asked her to text him. Woodland Park Police Chief Anthony Galietti said they immediately contacted the prosecutor’s office, whose detectives posed as the girl and started exchanging texts with Vigorito. The texts became increasingly explicit over the course of several days, prosecutors said. Vigorito eventually texted the girl photographs in which he was exposing himself while wearing his police uniform and arranged to meet her for a sexual encounter, prosecutors alleged. The girl was never in harm’s way, and never exchanged texts with the officer, Valdes said. "What is so disturbing about this, is the person who was to assist the family, ends up preying on the family," Valdes said. The 39-year-old Vigorito has been with the police department for 12 years in Woodland Park, a small suburb about 15 miles from Manhattan. The town, known until a recent voter-approved name change as West Paterson, is a bucolic, leafy borough of neatly landscaped homes adjacent to Paterson, a grittier, more industrialized urban neighbor. Vigorito, who New York television station WABC-7 reported is a married father of two, was arrested Tuesday night in the police station while on the night shift, according to Galietti, who said the patrolman was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation. The arrest of one of the 25 officers on the force has shaken the small department, Galietti said. "It’s very upsetting, when you have one of your own do something like this. It’s very upsetting," he said. Galietti added that department officials had acted immediately upon receiving the family’s complaint about the officer, and had no hesitation in alerting the prosecutor’s office. "When this came to light we went into it head-on. We didn’t care if it was one of our own," he said. "I’m the father of five kids, and this is wrong. It’s a very inappropriate situation. Unfortunately, he (Vigorito) had a badge at the time."
Related coverage:
•A small Web development and open source software company called CityWare was recently named alongside Google, Yahoo, Amazon and other software giants in a patent infringement lawsuit. What makes this unusual is that CityWare has no products or customers and no longer exists. The company was formed by software developer Nate Neel in 2004, but folded soon after due to lack of customers.
The art of patent trolling has inherited an important maxim from the real estate business: location is everything. The defunct company became the victim of a patent infringement lawsuit because it was operating in the Eastern District of Texas, a jurisdiction that is notoriously friendly to patent trolls. Bedrock Computer Technologies, the company that filed the patent suit, likely named CityWare in the suit solely to increase the chances of having the case heard in that region.
Another characteristic that makes this case unusual is the person behind it. Bedrock Computer Technologies is owned by David Garrod, a former Goodwin Procter lawyer who is an active contributor to patent reform efforts. Garrod is leading an initiative against false patent markings in collaboration with PubPat, a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2003 to fight against abuses of the patent system.
Garrod contends that the technology companies infringe Patent 5,893,120, which describes "methods and apparatus for information storage and retrieval using a hashing technique with external chaining and on-the-fly removal of expired data." It's a textbook example of patent trolling: a lawsuit over a relatively broad and dubious patent executed by a company that makes nothing itself against a random assortment of deep-pocketed industry leaders. The fact that CityWare, which doesn't even exist, was named in the suit to help obtain a favorable venue further erodes the credibility of the lawsuit's claims.
IP reporter Joe Mullin tracked down PubPat founder Dan Ravicher and asked if he was aware of Garrod's outside activities. Ravicher has a pragmatic view of the issue and says that Garrod's commitment to fighting against false marking makes him a valuable partner for PubPat despite his outside trolling work.
"Without Dave's assistance we couldn't do this campaign, which I'm convinced is a public good," Ravicher told Mullin. "We disagree about software patents. Dave's going to do that other stuff, with or without the false marking campaign."
False marking primarily describes scenarios where companies mark their products as patented when they do not have a patent or when the relevant patent has expired. On behalf of PubPat, Garrod has filed several lawsuits against companies that perpetrate false marking. He does this as a volunteer without compensation from PubPat.
This situation reflects the diverse spectrum of ideological views about what constitutes abuse of the patent system. Garrod clearly recognizes the problematic nature of false marking, but seemingly feels no ethical compulsion to refrain from filing arguably spurious patent infringement lawsuits.
Further readingSeeing Things : ghost polaroids
October 26 - November 2, 2013
On Friday, February 5, 1993, the Fox TV reality show SIGHTINGS examined what may be a landmark discovery in parapsychology: convincing evidence that ghosts exist and can actually communicate with us. Two residents of an old house in the hills of Los Angeles began receiving ghostly messages in Polaroid photographs. The pair started taking photos inside the house in the hope of obtaining a picture of the entity they believed haunted the house.
After first capturing a ghostly image on film, the men discovered that if they asked questions about the entity and why it was inhabiting their house, words and messages appeared in response on their film. So far, more than 1000 photos have captured messages – photos taken not only by the residents but by paranormal researchers and other outsiders. A photographic expert at Polaroid has no explanation for the messages. An expert at California’s Brooks Institute of Photography can suggest an explanation, but it requires a lengthy set up process and hours of lab work.
The ghost or spirit calls himself “WRIGHT”. He shows signs of erudition and intelligence, writing many of his messages in Latin. The ghost first appeared on film in March 1992 after one of the residents kept hearing unexplained noises throughout the house. After a door opened mysteriously, he took a series of photos, several of which revealed a classic ghost-like shape, including dark shadows at the eyes and mouth. The messages began to appear on film in June 1992. The first was in response to a friend’s question about the ghost, “Is he here now?” The photo revealed a barely discernible “yes” in cloudy white shapes. After that, the writing became far more legible.
They were skeptical at first, suspecting a bizarre prank by the film’s manufacturer or local distributor or some other technological trickery, such as projected holograms or shaving cream sprayed on cellophone. The paranormal research teams, similarly skeptical, used their own cameras and their own film to take photos in the house. Their photos also yielded answers to specific psychics, visiting independently of each other, agreed that not only this spirit but three others reside inside the house. Polaroid Corp. representative, Howard Wurtzel, examined the photographs and could find no physical evidence of tampering. His only explanation for the writing was that it was some form of radiation created by a high energy field.
Renowned spiritualist and psychic Peter James was called in to explore this phenomenon, in addition to three other psychics who also lent their insight to this investigation. James visited the house numerous times and believes that it is situated on the grounds of an ancient ritual site and that spirits are definitely trying to communicate with the living.
...As he walked around the house, Peter James stopped in one spot he called a "spiritual vortex," a kind of doorway through which he felt spirits were entering the house. "I feel a very strong vibration. Something is definitely coming up from the floor," he reported. "I get a tingling sensation. It's also very cold here. My legs are trembling. It feels like something is coming from below and it's going through my entire body." Then someone snapped several polaroids of Peter standing in the vortex. In the photos, strange ghostly images appeared to surround him... SEEING THINGS: Ghost Polaroids
Third Ed. Softcover 10.75"x 8.25" 56 pgs
Most of the photographs on display were taken before Photoshop, digital imaging and cell phone cameras changed photography. Each Polaroid is original and unique. They show familiar rooms with wispy, feathery tendrils and misty tufts of white substances and, amazingly, cloud-like writing. Even more extraordinary is the relevance of the words to whatever questions had been asked. Usually a response came in English, but sometimes it appeared in Latin. For example, after questioning the identity of the answering spirit, a response came in Latin; “Et alla Corpus delicti,” (among other things, a murder victim). The words floating in midair were invisible when the photo was taken.
Seeing Things explores the boundary between the known and the unknown. It asks whether something as simple and functional as photographs of record — people at a party, an empty room, an open door — can be a gateway to something more.
These startling photographs challenge perceptions of reality and art. Is the image of the room with the ghostly writing the way we see ghosts, or is it the way ghosts see us? Who is seeing things, after all? Come explore these strangely surreal photographs and decide for yourself.
backNapoleon and Josephine By John Schneider Editor of Editor of Napoleonic Literature Napoleon became a general at a very young age and was put in a position of authority where the generals and almost all other officers he commanded were older than him. He felt that this wasn't a satisfactory situation and concluded that if he married a woman older than himself, he might claim to be older than he actually was and thereby obtain a little more respect from his officers. He also wanted to marry a rich, older woman. After the battle of Toulon and after saving the Directory from the Paris mob, Napoleon was invited to a party given by one of the Directors, Paul Barras. In effect, Barras was the next best thing to being king of France at the time. Barras envisioned using Napoleon's military talents for his own political and personal benefit. Barras also had at that time a mistress that he wanted to get rid of (Marie-Josephe-Rose de Beauharnais) because he had decided to take her best friend as his new mistress and couldn't afford to keep both. He knew that Napoleon was looking for a wife. He therefore decided to marry his mistress off to Napoleon; however, he didn't tell her this. He just told her that he wanted her to entertain Napoleon at the party and show an interest in him and praise his military skills. Well, this was all Napoleon needed. A beautiful woman fawning over him, apparently well to do, a member of the old aristocracy that had escaped the guillotine, she was older than himself but not too much (he thought), and she displayed keen interest in him (he thought). This, and a little urging from Barras after the party, was all that Napoleon needed to pursue her hand in marriage. Barras assured Napoleon that she had money, that she was a good catch, and that she would make a perfect wife for him. Napoleon began to pursue Rose. By the way, he didn't like her name so he told her he would call her Josephine. He pursued and pursued and Josephine kept humoring him. Finally, Barras strongly advised her to marry Napoleon. She said she would not. Then Barras told her that he had a new mistress, that he couldn't afford to maintain them both, that she was very expensive to maintain, and that if she didn't marry Napoleon he would stop providing for her and she would, in effect, be thrown out on the street. This was the one thing that Josephine couldn't bear. She was a compulsive spender. Another concern was her two children, Eugene and Hortense. Therefore, she gave in and agreed to marry Napoleon. By the way, she was much older than Napoleon thought and, although she said she was still of child bearing age, knew that she was barren and had been so for some time. They were married and a few days later Napoleon departed to Italy. He genuinely loved Josephine at this time. She despised him and thought he was a total bore. As soon as he was gone she began playing around on him. As time went on she had a string of lovers, pretended to miss him very much in response to his daily love letters, and did everything in her power to avoid going to join him in Italy as he was constantly urging. She even went so far as to pretend she was pregnant and couldn't travel. All this time she was attending balls and parties and committing adultery. From time to time, when Napoleon begged her to join him, she required Barras' assistance to convince Napoleon that she should not go. During this time some of Napoleon's officers, Murat, for example, had returned to Paris for one reason or another and had occasion to attend one of Josephine's parties or a party that she attended. In Murat's case, Napoleon had sent him back to Paris with the express mission of escorting Josephine to Italy, willingly or unwillingly. This was when Josephine made up the pregnancy story, which Murat "took" back to Napoleon instead of Josephine. While in Paris, Murat also heard all the gossip about Josephine and how she was making a fool out of Napoleon. Finally, it got to the point where Napoleon was getting so edgy that Barras was afraid he would return to France and forget about the Italian Campaign. This didn't suit Barras because he was making a lot of money out of that campaign. So he ordered Josephine to go to Napoleon. She did. Napoleon expected a pregnant Josephine. When she arrived she explained to him that she had had a miscarriage. He was torn with grief over losing his "son." Anyway, the Italian Campaign was finally over and Napoleon returned to Paris. Josephine had to be good (or at least try to be better) while he was there. Then Napoleon decided to go to Egypt. Barras thought this was a good idea because Napoleon was beginning to become too popular. When he left, Josephine went back to her old ways. Napoleon was still genuinely in love with her and doted over her. On 19 July 1798, while marching toward Cairo in the scorching sun, Bourrienne, Napoleon's Secretary, out of the corner of his eye, noticed Napoleon and Junot walking together. Bourrienne wrote, "I noticed Bonaparte walking alone with Junot. I was only a short distance away, but I do not know why my eyes fastened on him during that conversation. The general's pale face was paler than ever. His features were suddenly convulsed, a wild look came into his eyes, and several times he struck his head with his fists! Some fifteen minutes later, he left Junot and came toward me. I had never seen him so distraught, preoccupied. As I went to join him, he burst out with: "You are not genuinely devoted to me, or you would have told me what I have just learned from Junot. There's a true friend for you. Josephine! And I six hundred leagues away! You should have told me! Josephine--this to have deceived me! Damn them, I shall exterminate that whole breed of fops and coxcombs! As for her, divorce! Yes divorce--a public divorce, open scandal! I must write immediately. I know everything. It's your fault, you should have told me!" Bourrienne reasoned the subject of the conversation between Junot and Napoleon, had no personal knowledge of this himself, and was certain that what Junot had stated to Napoleon must have been exaggerations of the truth. They were not. The fact is that many of Napoleon staff officers were aware of Josephine's activities and it was common knowledge in Paris. Junot, unlike the rest of Napoleon's close friends, never achieved the rank of Marshal of France but stopped at general. It is believed by many historians that Napoleon never forgave Junot for telling him about Josephine and for this reason withheld the rank of Marshal from him. This information, once he confirmed it, totally destroyed Napoleon's love for Josephine. From this time onward, he never really loved another woman the way he had loved Josephine. When Josephine learned that Napoleon was coming back from Egypt early and that he had found out about her, she panicked. She departed with her daughter, Hortense, to meet Napoleon at the port so that she could persuade him that she had been faithful. But Napoleon landed at another port and got back to Paris ahead of them. When Josephine got back to Paris, she found that Napoleon had arrived ahead of her and had secluded himself in a room in the house. All of a sudden, after all of her affairs, Josephine had finally fallen in love with Napoleon--very deeply. But she was too late. He wouldn't see her until Hortense interceded and begged him to. Basically, he informed Josephine that she had killed his heart and that he could never love again. They remained husband and wife but from that point onward he was not a faithful husband. Strangely, she had become a faithful wife. The tables had turned. Napoleon had mistress after mistress. Now, although Napoleon didn't live Josephine, he did hold a deep devotion to her two children and he respected her abilities as a hostess and her persuasiveness in getting people to do things for him. He knew that while he was married to Josephine he could not produce a legitimate heir of his own, so eventually, when Hortense and his brother Louis had a son, Napoleon named him his heir. Now that Napoleon had an heir he felt that he could divorce Josephine. Then, in December 1805, he became Emperor of the French. He brought the pope to Paris to perform the coronation. Shortly after the pope's arrival Josephine accidentally let it slip that she and Napoleon had never had a church wedding, only a civil marriage. In the eyes of the church, therefore, they were not married and had been living in sin all this time. Napoleon was furious. Josephine had trapped him. Now, in order to be crowned Emperor he had to make the marriage respectable first and had to lay aside the design for divorce. Time marches on and so do the French armies, triumphantly across Europe. Napoleon still wanted an heir of his own blood. Therefore, he began negotiations with the Czar Alexander of Russia to marry his sister. This would serve three purposes: t It would create a strong alliance with another major power It would help to legitimize Napoleon's somewhat shaky claim to royalty, and It would give Napoleon a young wife whom could bear his heir. Negotiations soon fell apart. Napoleon's foreign minister, Talleyrand, did not want this alliance and made sure it wouldn't occur by leaking information concerning Napoleon to the Russian Court. The Czar's mother refused to let her daughter enter into the marriage. Therefore, Napoleon turned his sights on Austria. As you know, he arranged to marry Maria-Louisa (whom he renamed Marie Louise because he didn't like her real name), who was the Emperor of Austria's favorite daughter and an Archduchess of Austria. I won't go into Marie Louise except to say that she was not at all that Napoleon had expected. (There are books about her and maybe one of these days you can read about her and how much of a disappointment she was.) Anyway, to marry Marie Louise he first had to divorce Josephine, which he did. However, he had grown to love her again--not the great love he held for her in the beginning--but a respectful love. He insisted that she retain the title of Empress and provided for her and her children. In 1814, when Napoleon abdicated, Marie-Louise returned to Austria with her father, taking her son with her. Napoleon never saw them again. Josephine continued to love Napoleon and later in the year, as she was dying from diphtheria, Napoleon's name was one of the last words she uttered, if not the last. Hortense and Eugene continued to be faithful to Napoleon. [ Napoleon Himself Index ]Blog
New Super Fast Droplet Console. Thanks, Golang!
We think Go is awesome! A year ago we started looking into Go as a potential language to standardize our backend around. Since then we've been looking for every excuse to rewrite some of our services in Go.
The first publicly visible service we've rewritten is our new web console. Using Go, we were able to dramatically decrease load and connection times from seconds to milliseconds. Aside from the immediate benefits, the console is also much more reliable and scalable.
What benefits did we get from using Go?
Goroutines made it easy to duplex the tcp and websocket connections, allowing us to dramatically improve the speed of the entire service.
Interfaces allowed us to build end to end testing, ensuring future updates are easier to ship and bugs can be fixed quickly.
Go's built in net/http package means we are able to do live deploys and keep on-going development invisible to users. In fact, the three or four times that we have deployed code to the console since we switched to the new version were done with no interruptions or customer tickets being opened.
Go's package system makes sharing code incredibly easy. That means we can share the code developed for the new console between projects seamlessly.
The more services that we rewrite in Go, the more we fall in love with the language and the more we feel it complements the development of distributed systems.
Oh, by the way. If you're a software engineer that's interested in writing Go -- we are hiring.Editor's note: Military Times is supplementing our Best for Vets series of survey-based rankings with themed computer-based rankings from College Factual. College Factual uses public databases to evaluate colleges. These rankings were not compiled by Military Times.
Engineering is a lucrative and growing career field with many different options available. Veterans or active-duty military students who have interest or prior experience in aerospace or aviation should think about pursuing a major in aerospace and aeronautical engineering.
Careers for experienced aerospace engineers in the field can pay more than $100,000. Aerospace and aeronautical engineers can find jobs working for the government or for private companies developing, designing, building and testing space and aircraft. Read the story of an Army officer in the University of Colorado Boulder doctorate program on her way to becoming the first female academy professor in physics and nuclear engineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
Rebootcamp Recommendations
Interested in learning more? College Factual has put together a list of veteran-friendly colleges for getting a degree in aerospace and aeronautical engineering.
To come up with this ranking, College Factual measures the quality of the aerospace engineering program by looking at average salaries of graduates, graduation rates, student loan default rates, as well as the popularity, depth and breadth of the program offered. Read more about the methodology here. Salaries are estimates with data provided by Payscale.
CU-Boulder aerospace engineering PhD student Diana Loucks. (Photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado)
× Fear of missing out? Fear no longer. Be the first to hear about breaking news, as it happens. You'll get alerts delivered directly to your inbox each time something noteworthy happens in the Military community. Thanks for signing up. By giving us your email, you are opting in to our Newsletter: Sign up for our weekly newsletter
Army space operations officer Lt. Col. Diana Loucks is a University of Colorado Boulder aerospace engineering Ph.D. student on her way to becoming the first female academy professor in physics and nuclear engineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. She graduated with a master's in aerospace engineering from CU-Boulder in 2008. "When I was searching online for universities with programs in aerospace engineering," she says in a profile on the university's website, "the top two universities that popped up were CU-Boulder and MIT. I chose CU thanks to the diversity of its programs and ability to absorb students with varied academic backgrounds."
Photo Credit: Glenn J. Asakawa/University of Colorado
To measure support for veterans and active-duty students, College Factual looks at a variety of factors, including how affordable the school is for those using the Post-9/11 GI Bill, numbers of veterans and active-duty service members studying at the school, policies that favor veterans, support services offered, and the availability of flexible learning options. You can read more about the methodology behind the ranking here.
Below, we've included a list of the top 10 veteran-friendly schools to study aerospace and aeronautical engineering, but this list is by no means exhaustive.
1. Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
Arizona State is a public university with a large veteran population making use of the GI Bill. The school also participates in four different federal programs setting standards for military education. ASU offers different engineering programs, including a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering with a concentration in either aeronautics or astronautics. Graduates from the aerospace engineering program can expect average early-career earnings of $64,000, which jumps to over $100,000 mid-career. ASU also offers master’s and Ph.D. programs in aerospace engineering.
2. University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.
The University of Oklahoma is a large and diverse public university. The university participates in the Principles of Excellence and the DOD Memorandum of Understanding and keeps costs affordable for all students, especially those who can make use of the GI Bill. Students can earn a bachelor's in aerospace engineering or choose a five-year accelerated bachelor's to master's program. Graduates with a bachelor's in aerospace engineering from the University of Oklahoma report average earnings of $60,000 in their early career.
3. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Located in the vibrant city of Austin, the University of Texas at Austin is a great choice for those seeking a large and diverse university. The university has a large population of veteran students and participates in both the DoD Memorandum of Understanding as well as VetSuccess on Campus. It offers veterans and active-duty service members in-state tuition regardless of the student's home state. The university has a large engineering program and offers both bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering. Graduates from the aerospace program average early-career earnings of $61,000.
4. San Diego State University, San Diego
San Diego State is another large public university located in a major city. SDSU supports a large population of veterans and is part of four different federal programs setting educational standards for veteran and active-duty military students. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in aerospace engineering. Graduates with a bachelor's degree in this subject report average earnings of $62,000 in their early career.
5. Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Penn.
Penn State was founded in 1855 as a college of agricultural science. Since then, the university has expanded to offer degrees up to the Ph.D. level in a wide variety of subjects. The school has a large engineering department and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in aerospace engineering. Graduates from the aerospace engineering program report average early-career earnings of $65,000. Penn State has many GI Bill recipients on campus and participates in three important federal programs for veterans. The school does participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program, but there are some limitations on awards.
6. Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Iowa State is a large university located in the small city of Ames. The university offers a bachelor's in aerospace engineering as well as an online option for a master's degree in the subject. Iowa State participates in three federal programs setting standards for veteran education and is part of the Yellow Ribbon Program, with some limitations. Average earnings for aerospace graduates from Iowa State in their early career are $60,000 per year.
7. University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
8. University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
The University of Florida participates in three federal programs setting standards for veteran education. The maximum GI Bill benefit is more than enough to cover in-state tuition, but students who apply out-of-state may have to pay some tuition out of pocket unless they can qualify for financial aid. Graduates with a bachelor's in aerospace engineering from Florida earn an average of $63,000 in their early career.
9. Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Miss.
10. University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colo.For every candidate, that tends to boil down to because I want to be president, but they have to find some way to sheath that in selflessness. For Clinton, one answer is experience and technocratic competence, a message that is not especially inspiring. It’s also undermined by questions about her management of the State Department, raised by her email scandal.
But Clinton received a gift in the candidacy of Donald Trump, which gave her a new motivating force: stopping Trump. Her standing has reached its highest points when Trump looks worst—for example, when, after a Democratic National Convention focused on criticizing him, he chose to play into her hands by picking a fight with Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan.
Lately, however, he hasn’t been as potent a helper. It’s tough to say quite why that is. Her own illness and email questions have helped distract attention from Trump. He has managed to avoid a Khan-level gaffe, though he hasn’t stopped saying outlandish things. (On Thursday, Trump refused to say whether he believed Barack Obama was born in the United States.) Maybe the press and the electorate have been somewhat desensitized by months of Trump. Whatever the reason or reasons, Palmieri’s statement seemed to point to the need for a fresh, affirmative case for a Clinton presidency.
There was no sweeping new message on display in Greensboro, though there were several thrusts —perhaps fitting for a candidate who, while quipping that “When it comes to public service, I’m better at the service part than the public part,” humblebragged that she had 38 separate policies laid out on her website.
Speaking to an audience of more than 1,400—hundreds more didn’t make it inside before she kicked off her speech, a few minutes early—Clinton sought to connect her own illness with the struggles of everyday Americans.
“When I’m under the weather I can afford to take a few days off. Millions of Americans can’t. They either go to work sick or they lose a paycheck,” she said. “Life events like these are catastrophic for some families, but mere bumps in the road for others …. That right there, that’s why I got into this race.”
Clinton also spoke at length about young people, broadly defined. She noted that she began her career focused on children’s legal rights and situated her fight for the 1997 Children’s Health Insurance Program in that history. In her current platform, she pointed to her proposal for debt-free college education and her concerns about national security and climate change as youth-oriented. There’s likely some strategy behind this. Clinton is facing worrying numbers among younger voters, and she’s enlisting Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to take to the trail in her support in the coming days, in a bid to win them over.
For the most part, Clinton avoided discussing Trump, except obliquely. “I have this old-fashioned notion that if you’re running for president, you should say what you’re going to do, how you’re going to get it done, and how you’re going to pay for it,” she said. She also portrayed Trump as a loose cannon unfit to command the troops, and gently mocked his appearance on Dr. Oz’s television show.Bobby Rhine Fall Invitational to become qualifiying tournament for Dallas Cup
Fall classic honors former FC Dallas player and broadcaster
FRISCO, Texas (Thursday, March 8, 2012) – Beginning this November, the Bobby Rhine Fall Invitational presented by MoneyGram will be a qualifying tournament for the prestigious Dr Pepper Dallas Cup.
The tournament, held November 23-25 at the FC Dallas Stadium complex, will field 130-150 teams in the Under-11 through Under-16 age groups. Four teams (one each in the U-13, U-14, U-15 and U-16 age groups) will ultimately qualify for the Dr Pepper Dallas Cup based on their results in the Bobby Rhine Fall Invitational presented by MoneyGram.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to assist FC Dallas in every way possible to have a successful qualifying tournament,” said Randy Jones, Dallas Cup tournament manager.
FC Dallas Vice President of Youth Chris Hayden echoed Jones’ excitement about the new qualifying tournament and the potential top tournament field expected at FC Dallas Stadium in November.
“We are also pleased we are honoring the legacy of Bobby Rhine with what will become a prestigious youth event held in Frisco each Thanksgiving,” said Hayden. “Bobby Rhine meant so much to our organization as a player, coach, broadcaster and friend. This event will remind our fans, supporters and the overall youth soccer community of Bobby’s selfless and enduring contribution to FC Dallas.”
Rhine, who spent his 10-year MLS career as a player for Dallas, and then retired to the broadcast booth and front office with the club, passed away suddenly in September 2011 at the age of 35.
“Our boys and I are so proud to have this tournament named for Bobby,” said Rhine’s wife, Bevan. “Bobby played in Dallas Cup as a youth player and coached in it several years ago. He was always impressed by the Dallas Cup’s long term commitment to keeping the tournament one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world. I know he would be honored to have his name associated with a qualifying tournament that helps to ensure the exceptional quality of the Dallas Cup.”
After ending his playing career following the 2008 season, Rhine remained as a key figure with FC Dallas, making valuable contributions in both community development and broadcasting.
During his career, Rhine appeared in 212 games for Dallas, making 136 starts and playing more than 12,000 minutes. He scored 23 goals and recorded 34 assists. His goals total is good for eighth all-time in the FC Dallas record books, while his assists total ranks fourth behind Jason Kreis, Oscar Pareja and Ronnie O’Brien. Rhine was selected in the First Round (sixth overall) in the 1999 MLS SuperDraft.
In addition to naming the invitational after Bobby, the FC Dallas Foundation is starting the Bobby Rhine Heart Project which will provide life protecting devices to sports complexes and facilities.
“Bobby Rhine was a great friend to all of us here at the Dallas Cup and we are only too pleased to assist Bobby’s wife, Bevan, and the FC Dallas Foundation in raising funds for the Bobby Rhine Heart Project,” said Gordon Jago, executive director of the Dallas Cup.
— www.FCDallas.com —Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks in Washington on Dec. 4, 2013. (Photo: Paul J. Richards, AFP/Getty Images) Story Highlights Hagel has asked other services whether they think their work was as thorough as the Army's
Rep. Jackie Speier of California questioned Hagel about the issue Thursday
The Army has removed 588 soldiers from positions of trust after its review
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has discussed with Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy leaders an Army review that disqualified 588 soldiers from posts as sexual assault counselors and whether those services should follow the Army's lead.
Hagel's request stopped short of a directive to re-screen those troops. The Navy disqualified five sailors, while the Marine Corps and Air Force had no suspensions. USA TODAY reported last week that the Army suspended its soldiers for offenses ranging from sexual assault to child abuse and drunken driving. It is seeking to kick 79 of those soldiers from its ranks entirely; the others have been reassigned.
Rear Adm. John Kirby, Hagel's spokesman, said Hagel "has discussed the Army's results with the other services and solicited their views about whether or not they should follow suit."
STORY: Army disqualifies 588 soldiers after sexual assault review
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., told Hagel during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday that it appeared the other services used different criteria than the Army in screening its troops. She pressed him on whether he would issue a new directive, calling on the other services to follow the Army's path.
Speier said she learned of the Army's move to suspend its soldiers from the news story and asked that the results of a new review be made public.
In May, Hagel issued a broad order to the services telling them to "review the credentials and qualifications" of sexual assault counselors, victim advocates and recruiters to ensure they met applicable standards.
Army Secretary John McHugh expanded Hagel's order, calling for a "comprehensive review" that also included drill instructors and sergeants conducting advanced individual training, according to a memo. In all, the Army examined records of more than 20,000 soldiers for fitness in handling sensitive posts.
The last year has seen major changes in the way the military handles sexual assault in its ranks. The Pentagon's own reporting in May found that incidents of unwanted sexual contact reported by troops had spiked by more than one-third from 2010 to 2012.
High-profile sexual assault allegations fueled calls for sweeping changes. The arrest and trial of an Air Force officer in charge of sexual assault prevention programs who was accused of drunkenly groping a woman outside a bar is emblematic of the incidents. The officer was later acquitted of sexual assault charges.
On Thursday, a measure to strip commanders of the authority to decide whether sexual assault allegations go to trial died in the Senate because it fell five votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster. It was the most radical approach to overhauling the military justice system in the past year, and several others were passed, including one that prevents commanders from overturning jury convictions and another that assigns special counsel to those bringing complaints.
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Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1inxp3yAny "best of" list must surely be subjective. This one is no different. Choosing the best photographs of the year is an enormously difficult task, with many terrific photographs slipping through the cracks. But with major news events as a guide, and with single images I fell in love with throughout the year forcing their way into the edit, I look at my favorite pictures from the first four months of the year. Two main stories dominated headlines in the first part of the year: the Japan earthquake and tsunami, and the rising of the Arab Spring. The protests in the Middle East would spread to Greece, Spain, and eventually inspire the Occupy movement in Western nations. Other stories included a historic wave of tornados in the U.S., a Royal wedding in London, and the creation of the world's newest nation in South Sudan. Images from the rest of the year will follow in posts later this week. |
time I was done, started at 10pm) and the crust wasn’t as thick and crusty as the 1st time.
For my other rice-cooker recipes:
Matcha “pan” cakes (green-tea rice cooker pancake)
AdvertisementsThe Kentucky Democratic Party has hired a former team leader of Bernie Sanders presidential campaign as its new executive director.
The party announced Mary Nishimuta of Frankfort as the new executive director on Friday. She will serve under state party chairwoman Sannie Overly, a state representative from Paris.
Nishimuta was a national team leader for Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign and was a delegate for him to the Democratic National Convention. Sanders narrowly lost Kentucky's Democratic presidential primary to eventual nominee Hillary Clinton by less than one-half of 1 percent of the vote.
A graduate of Georgia Tech, Nishimuta has worked for various Fortune 500 companies and is the co-owner of the Kentucky Coffeetree Cafe in Frankfort. She said her goal is to build a strong party in all of Kentucky's 120 counties.Journalism students at Nova Scotia Community College have won Amnesty International Canada's 2016 Youth Media Award.
The students were recognized Monday for a digital documentary called Untitled: The Legacy of Land in North Preston. The award honours the best human rights journalism from a Canadian post-secondary institution.
Rick MacInnes-Rae, one of the Amnesty judges, said their work showed "initiative and enterprise" in telling the long and complex story of how some North Preston, N.S., residents have struggled to get legal title to land that has been in their family for generations.
"The producers recognized that telling the story of the past was key to understanding the future, and found the video and archival pictures that let them do it with flair and fairness," MacInnes-Rae, a former CBC journalist, wrote on behalf of the judges.
"As one lawyer points out, part of the problem is that the Nova Scotia government views this as a land issue and not a human rights issue, which takes in a racial bias. As a consequence of the NSCC documentaries, the provincial government was moved to take the first of what may lead to other steps to resolve this historic indignity."
Shining light on North Preston
Student Whitney Middleton-Oickle said the team behind the project were delighted with the recognition.
"I was blown away. I was beyond honoured. I felt like it was another positive stepping stone to lead to more awareness to the land-title issue in North Preston, and not just beneficial to us as student journalists," she told CBC News on Monday.
Middleton-Oickle and the other students interviewed North Preston citizens and legal experts. The students also filmed and edited the documentary and did deep research.
She credited the people of North Preston with trusting the student journalists with their stories.
"I never thought, going into this program, that I would even have the courage to go and interview people in the first place, never mind trying to make a difference for somebody in their life," Middleton-Oickle said.
"I found it difficult almost to separate myself from being a human being and being a journalist, because it was so deep and heartwrenching, and the stories were so personal.
The students hope to travel to Toronto on April 5 to collect the award at the Gardiner Museum.Yet Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose insistence that he has presided over an educational miracle recognizes few bounds of contrary fact, has proposed laying off the principal and half the teachers before it can reopen for the next school year. City officials complain that a majority of students fail to graduate in six years.
This bill of indictment appears math-challenged.
If students enter at 17 or 18, with less than a year’s worth of credits, the chances seem strikingly good that the students will not graduate within six years of freshman year. (The State Education Department takes the view that the metrics, rather than the high school, are most likely broken.)
The city’s Education Department has adopted a resolutely cheery tone.
“This really empowers them to take ownership of this school,” a department spokesman said. “What kind of change can they imagine?”
Public education across the nation has sunk deep into a bog of metrics. We presume to measure teaching and achievement as a chemist does a proper mixture of chemicals. To this conceit, you can add the draconian demands of the federal No Child Left Behind law, which offers millions of dollars in help for poor urban schools only if city officials adhere to the same unyielding metrics.
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This is a particular problem for a transfer high school, whose faculty takes children bruised by years of neglect. Bushwick Community is run, in part, by its faculty members, who offer the usual collection of the smart, the eccentric and the deeply committed found in most schools that work.
To sit with a dozen of the students at a community center not far from the high school was to watch as one girl nursed a baby and another spoke of living with her child in a shelter. Two had been tossed out of their family homes. Another lived with her grandmother on Coney Island — she commutes one and a half hours each way to this high school in Bushwick.
These are nonlinear kids with nonlinear lives.
There are no fairy tales in public education. These teachers are their own harshest critics. Yet the Education Department’s report card compares this school with other transfer schools, and gives it a 95 percent grade in improving student attendance, 90 percent for passing the English Regents exam and 100 percent for the math Regents.
All of which is fine, though not nearly as moving as listening to these teenagers talk of lives adrift until they washed ashore here.
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Justin Soto, short and muscular with a goatee, raises his hand. “I had not passed a class since junior high school,” he says, as tears roll down his cheeks and a girl rubs his neck. “I’m 21, but I’m not a man yet. This school has given me a life.”
Ms. McAllister raises her hand. A year ago, she asked her teacher if she was smart enough to graduate. He spent an hour talking to her. Next year, she will attend Medgar Evers College. She, too, is crying.
“Failure was all I knew,” she says.
What, I ask, would you like to be?
“A teacher, oddly,” she says. “I mean, it’s inspiring when you know what you were and see what you are now.”After tape emerged on Thursday of Leftist icon, anti-Semite, Shariah-law advocate and Women’s March organizer Linda Sarsour calling for “jihad” against President Trump and his administration, the Leftist media immediately sprang into action. Sarsour, they said, was blameless in this debacle — after all, she wasn’t advocating violence. The context of her remarks had to be taken into account.
Obviously, the context of Sarsour’s remarks matters. So, let’s look at the context. For reference, here is the entire video (which, by the way, we posted in our original story on this matter):
1. The Word "Jihad" Has Several Meanings. It is, of course, correct that the word “jihad” has been used in many different ways by different people. Its most obvious use throughout the world of political discourse has been violent; terrorists routinely invoke jihad, violent war against the nonbeliever. But moderate Muslims attempt to use the word “jihad” to mean struggle, whether internally or externally.
2. Sarsour Used “Jihad” To Mean “A Word Of Truth In Front Of A Tyrant Or Leader.” Here’s what Sarsour said regarding “jihad”:
There is a man who once asked our beloved prophet … he said to him, “What is the best form of jihad or struggle?’ And our beloved prophet … said to him, “A word of truth in front of a tyrant ruler or leader, that is the best form of jihad.” I hope, that when we stand up to those who oppress our communities, that Allah accepts from us that as a form of jihad, that we are struggling against tyrants and rulers not only abroad in the Middle East or the other side of the world, but here in these United States of America, where you have fascists and white supremacists and Islamophobes reining in the White House.
Note that in this formulation, speaking a “word of truth” is only “a form of jihad.” It is not the only legitimate form of jihad. Sarsour isn’t calling for violence against Trump here, but she’s using the word "jihad" with full awareness of the other contexts in which jihad is used.
3. Sarsour Praised An Alleged Terror Co-Conspirator At The Outset Of Her Speech. Sarsour proclaims that her words regarding “jihad” should be taken in their least suggestive way — as a mere synonym for Leftist “resistance.” It’s hard to take them that way when she opened her speech by praising Siraj Wajjah, “her favorite person in the room.” Wajjah was listed as a possible unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, and testified on behalf of the Blind Sheikh. Wahhaj has a long history of speaking about jihad in the most traditional way: “I will never ever tell people ‘don’t be violent, that is not the Islamic way.’ The violence has to be selected.”
4. Sarsour Explicitly Rejected Assimilation To Western Values. In the “jihad” speech, Sarsour stated, “Our number one and top priority is to protect and defend our community. It is not to assimilate and to please any other people in authority. And our top priority … is to please Allah, and only Allah.” That’s no shock. She has a long history of advocating for shariah law and tut-tutting terrorism. That context must be taken into account when looking at the use of the word “jihad” as well. What is the end-goal here? Is it stock Leftism? Or is it something else?
5. Sarsour Knew What She Was Doing. Back in 2001, shortly after 9/11, President Bush gave a speech in which he called for a “crusade” against Islamist terrorism. The press went crazy, suggesting that this was the language of religious war. This was approximately a millennium after the actual crusades; the word crusade has been stripped of its religious meaning for centuries. Unlike the word crusade, the word “jihad” is alive and well as a mode of religious violence. Sarsour knows that, and she used the word anyway. Sarsour used the word “jihad” for a reason here: to seek attention, to link it with other “struggles” with which she identifies.YouTube
A season to forget for the Dallas Stars continued Thursday night with a 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders and an injury to Antoine Roussel.
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Late in the first period, Roussel blocked a Johnny Boychuk blast with his hand and left the game.
Stars head coach Lindy Ruff noted the injury was likely season-ending and on Friday GM Jim Nill confirmed that the forward would be lost for 6-8 weeks.
It’s a shame this is how Roussel’s season ends. He was on pace to have the best offensive year of his career. Through 60 games he had 12 goals and 27 points and likely would have surpassed his highs of 14 goals and 29 points. He also made strides in the possession game with a career best 54.4 percent Corsi while getting the most ice time of his career per game (15:31).
Dallas sits eight points out of a playoff spot with 18 games to go. They’ve now lost Roussel, Lauri Korpikoski and Patrick Eaves in the last week, and Patrick Sharp is playing hurt. A final month playoff push seems to be a distant thought.
– – – – – – –
Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!European Commission Vice President and ‘Digital Chief’ Neelie Kroes wrote in a blog post that the computers of her advisers were hacked while she and her team were attending a conference on… internet security in Azerbaijan. Here’s her take:
I wondered for a very long time whether I should attend this week’s Internet Governance Forum in Baku. But in fact many of the dozens of journalists, bloggers, and human rights defenders I met here thought it was helpful. And when the IGF comes to town, radical change often follows. Because, when empowered, connected citizens press for greater freedom. As happened in Tunisia and Egypt in the years after they held this conference. Waiting to meet political prisoners in a Baku jail, before the authorities eventually denied me access But on the other hand I was denied access to meet political prisoners, despite a commitment from the President himself. Activists were harassed at the Internet conference. My advisers had their computers hacked. So much for openness.
Kroes’ spokesman Ryan Heath (who was the user of one of the targeted computers), said the attack occured in their hotel. Apparently it was Apple who warned the delecation that their computers were accessed by an unauthorized party.
“I’m presuming it was some kind of surveillance,” he said in a telephone interview to the AP. “What we’re going to do is to get the computers forensically analyzed to see what if anything was taken out of them.”
He declined to say who he thought might be responsible.
via Neelie Kroes blog – Malala day: an inspiring girl reminds us of the power of the Internet – European Commission.
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Powered by Facebook CommentsNow with live TV and in-progress recording seeking
Rolling out to the store right now, a new version of Emby for both Android TV and Live TV adds live TV and in-progress recording seeking as well as a number of other improvements and new features.
Live TV Seeking
Now you can seek within live TV and in-progress recording streams (within the time you started playback and up to real time) filling out the DVR features of Emby on the Android TV and Fire TV platforms. Pause, rewind and skip ahead to your heart's content with an intuitive and easy-to-use interface.
Live TV Guide Design Refresh
This new version refreshes the look of the Live TV guide to make it more modern and fit the more "material" design of the device. All the same great functionality is still there - just in a new and easier to read package.
Other Enhancements and Fixes
In addition to the above, this new version of the apps include the following other enhancements and fixes:
More in-playback controls - change quality, refresh rate (on supported hardware) and other settings during playback
More stream copy and less transcoding
Convert DTS to DD on systems that don't support DTS
Record or cancel a program from the playback OSD
General bug fixes and stability improvements
Update or install the app now via the Google Play or Amazon stores!China launched its first cargo resupply spacecraft Thursday on a mission to test docking and refueling technologies.
A Long March 7 rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 7:41 a.m.Eastern and placed the Tainzhou-1 spacecraft into orbit.
The spacecraft, the first in a new line of spacecraft designed to eventually support a Chinese space station, will dock with the uncrewed Tiangong-2 laboratory module in orbit to test automated docking technologies and refueling of the lab module by the cargo spacecraft.
Tianzhou-1 also carries experiments it will perform for three months after completing initial docking and refueling tests. [gbtimes]
More News
A Soyuz spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station after a launch early Thursday. The Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Kazakhstan at 3:13 a.m. Eastern and placed the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft into its planned orbit. The spacecraft is carrying NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Roscosmos cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin to the ISS. The Soyuz is scheduled to dock with the station about six hours after launch. This is the first Soyuz to carry only two people in more than a decade, as Russia temporarily reduces the size of its crew on the station from three to two. [CBS]
NASA is facing the prospect of five years of flat budgets without inflation adjustments, putting the pinch on research funding. At a microgravity research meeting Wednesday, Gale Allen, acting chief scientist at NASA, said the agency has been advised to expect those flat budgets for the next five years, which, without keeping pace with inflation, would result in an effective cut of $3.4 billion over that time. That, she warned, could put pressure on technology development and research programs, which she noted have traditionally been the “bankers” for other programs seeking funding in tough budget times. [SpaceNews]
Astronomers said Wednesday they have discovered an exoplanet that may be the most hospitable yet to life. The planet, LHS 1140b, is a rocky “super-Earth” about 1.4 times the diameter of the Earth, orbiting in the habitable zone of a star less than 40 light-years away. Scientists acknowledged that they don’t know for certain if the planet is habitable, since they lack information about any atmosphere it may have, but are planning follow-up observations using the Hubble Space Telescope and the future James Webb Space Telescope. [Space.com]
Astronaut Peggy Whitson will celebrate breaking a spaceflight record on the ISS Monday with a call from President Trump. The president, along with Ivanka Trump and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, plan to call Whitson Monday when she breaks the NASA record of 534 cumulative days in space. NASA and the Department of Education plan to encourage classrooms across the country to tune in to the call on NASA TV. [NASA]
A Canadian parliamentary committee is recommending to the government that it classify satellites as “critical infrastructure.” The report by the Canadian Senate’s Standing Committee on National Security and Defence said the country should work in partnership with the United States and other countries to secure satellites and radar facilities from “significant threats” by 2020. An example mentioned in the report is a malfunction of the Anik F2 satellite in 2011, which cut off much of the telecommunications capacity for the territory of Nunavut in the Canadian Arctic. [SpaceNews]
Luxembourg’s interest in space mining means it’s prospecting in Silicon Valley. A delegation from the country visited NASA’s Ames Research Center and companies in the area earlier this month. Luxembourg’s SpaceResources.lu initiative has 200 million euros to invest in space companies, and Étienne Schneider, deputy prime minister and economy minister, said a new space agency in the country, working with private capital, could invest 70-100-million euros more. Startups are particularly interested in that funding because the country is taking a long-term approach to its investments. [SpaceNews]
The Internet of Things poses a cybersecurity challenge for satellite systems. Each internet-connected device, security experts warn, provides a means of entry into a network. Satellite companies are also assessing the security of more traditional systems, like VSAT antennas, that can access satellite networks. Some companies have even said they have turned down business when customers proposed using equipment from an unnamed manufacturer the U.S. government cited as a potential threat. [SpaceNews]
Part of an Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) spacecraft will become Mongolia’s first communications satellite. ABS announced Wednesday that 12 transponders on the ABS-2A spacecraft would be co-branded as MongolSat-1, providing free nationwide television and other telecommunications services. ABS-2A, a Boeing 702SP, entered service earlier this year after a launch last year on a Falcon 9. [ABS]
A private group has selected two finalists in an effort to fly the first German woman in space. Die Astronautin is a project that seeks to fly a German woman to the ISS by 2020. At a ceremony in Berlin Wednesday, the project announced its two finalists: Nicola Baumann, a test pilot, and Insa Thiele-Eich, a meteorologist and daughter of German astronaut Gerhard Thiele. The two will begin training on a part-time basis later this year as the project rasies money to pay for a flight. [collectSPACE]Baton Pass grants these aforementioned Pokemon with free boosts, without requiring they run a Speed boosting move such as Rock Polish or Shift Gear.
Baton Pass teams give the user the choice to send the specific boosts to a certain Pokemon; while a Pokemon could potentially obtain the same boosts, it necessitates they set up on Pokemon that potentially can eliminate them, while the boosts come to them safe of harm.
Baton Pass teams do not require skill to win; one of the biggest points in our Tiering philosophy is that the better player should win more often than not, and Baton Pass severely hurts this idea.
Baton Pass has incredibly limited counterplay. While there are ways to be 100% well prepared for Baton Pass teams, they simply have no practicality outside of being used to beat these teams. While metagame adaptation is not something we shun, having some form of counterplay does not mean a Pokemon shouldn't be banned. Every Pokemon has some surefire counter, even those banished to Ubers, however, even though this specified counterplay may be legal in OU, does not mean the banished Uber would be OK in OU just due to the existence of a counter.
Baton Pass is now
BANNED
from SM OU
In SM, with the introduction of Necrozma and Magearna, Baton Pass practically got the two best Speed Pass recipients seen in Pokemon thus far. In all my time using and playing Baton Pass teams, the only thing to reach anywhere near the same level as efficiency these two is Manaphy in ORAS, which has plenty of all out stops. Nothing else even comes close to the amount of games these two just win after freely receiving speed boosts.With a few speed boosts behind it, Necrozma becomes one of the most potent set up sweepers in the game. While it most surely cannot break past a Dark-type, when paired with a Dugtrio, it becomes incredibly simple to remove every viable Dark-type from the match via a death fodder. Outside of this, Necrozma quickly and surely gathers boosts and is capable of nailing every possible form of counterplay with a boosted Stored Power. Pokemon can attempt to status Necrozma, but 1) they must be able to survive a boosted Stored Power and 2) must force the player to send in Necrozma rather than Espeon somehow. In matchups where there is evidently something carrying Toxic that can trouble Necrozma, Espeon will be passed to instead. Necrozma quickly gathers defense boosts, allowing it to take hits from either side, and, thanks to its ability, is able to shrug off even super effective attacks after a boost or two.The other threatening sweeper, Magearna, is quite different than the previously mentioned Necrozma. While Magearna's ability makes it harder to stop once it gets going, it also takes less to get going than Necrozma does. Thanks to Z Moves, Magearna's base SpA and movepool, it is capable of nabbing a quick kill with a Twinkle Tackle, and then gaining a boost and becoming incredibly troubling to handle afterwards. Magearna also can set up, should it find the opportunity to do so, with Calm Mind. While Magearna is a lot more threatening due to its immediate firepower, it does have hardstops that it cannot get past, unlike Necrozma.Now, what exactly is broken about Baton Pass?Some Replays of Baton Pass in action:I'd like to preface this bit by stating clearly that I think the past editions of the Baton Pass clause were simply mistakes. I was not apart of the Council at the time; in fact everyone on the current Council aside from M Dragon wasn't, and I do not wish to defame them for following through with the decision they made, but I definitely do not agree with it being the right one. Our tiering is meant to be simple, straightforward, and efficient. Our previous clause was none of these things and was only put in place to save collateral damage, which completely goes against past decisions made and is not something I wish to do ourselves. Did we ban Speed Boost off of Blaziken? No. Did we ban Protean off of Greninja? No. Did we ban King's Shield off of Aegislash? No. The list goes on and on. Personally, I do not care in the slightest about what should happen do Pokemon that get effected by the loss of Dry Pass, nor should they be taken into account for this decision. Albeit, loads of people surely disagree with this sentiment and philosophy, however it is the way we've done things in the past and is the way the current OU Council wishes to do things now. We should not create silly and unnecessary clauses to preserve a Pokemon's ability to run a certain set. I previously made a post reiterating what I have inside of this post; nerfing an aspect of a move that inherently has broken aspects is simply foolish. Banning a part of Baton Pass would lead to an ability being banned off of a Pokemon, an item being banned off of a Pokemon, and so forth until we have an absurd amount of ridiculous bans that really don't make sense practically.Baton Pass, as a whole, has very uncompetitive and overpowered aspects that can be abused to similar levels of efficiency regardless of what Pokemon runs it. Meaning, Baton Pass, the move, is broken, in the opinion of the OU Council, a very large portion of the community, and myself. The move itself has issues surrounding it that make it unfit for the metagame. We are not going to restrict the move itself when it in itself is the issue and should be banned. While our most recent variation of the clause did do this, to a lesser extent, we believe it was the wrong philosophy and a mistake. This is a move that certain Pokemon abuse; while not every Pokemon that abuses this move is banworthy while using it, it is not only one Pokemon that can use the move to the extent it will be brought up as banworthy.To make things abundantly clear; Scolipedethe only viable Baton Passer that can lead to unfair strategies. In fact, earlier on in the generation we saw ben gay's Mew Pass team as much as we did Scolipede pass. While it isn't quite as effective as the standard Baton Pass roaming around currently, it still has the same traits as standard, providing players with mindless autowin scenarios, uncompetitive strategies, and simply being flat out broken. This in of itself pretty much negates any discussion of anything beyond Stat Passing, which is not something we shall be doing, not an option. Should this in itself not convince you, I also urge you to consider the lesser Speed Passers than Scolipede. Ninjask, Rock Polish Mew, Rock Polish Gliscor, and even Combusken would see usage in OU should Scolipede find itself banned because of the move Baton Pass. Should Speed Passing as a whole be banned, other means would be abused, such as Defense passing with Mew and the like. Scolipede is not the reason Baton Pass is as effective as it is; the abusers presented to it in Sun and Moon have pushed it over the edge and would continue to be broken even if the extent of stats being passed were changed.Due to the fact the last version of Baton Pass was simply decided amongst the OU Council, I believe it to be fit to follow up this decision with refinement. We do not see a Suspect Test providing unexpected results, and we have heard a large amount of community input, between this thread and the loads of discussion brought up to us about Baton Pass. As such, we simply do not seek to waste time and would rather make a quick decision.With all of the above considered,While tiering with old generations is always an awkward discussion, as there is no active Council for said generation, it is not something we simply have ignored. While discussion on the tiering of Baton Pass in past generations is more than welcome, we will not be making a decision on it at this point in time. While I do believe the current Council should be more than free to make a decision on tiering in ORAS, considering all of our members were active players of this generation and most were apart of the Council towards the tailend of the generation, I do not however see reason to make a hasty decision when there is little unanimity. Simply put, I do not find Baton Pass in ORAS, at this point in time, to be broken or banworthy. While I do entirely disagree with the clause put in place, making a change to it is not necessary considering the effectiveness for current Baton Pass in ORAS OU. The primary sweepers in this generation, Manaphy and Espeon, meet themselves with issues and potential hard stops that are far more difficult to work around than Baton Pass in SM. Their counters are not easily circumvented.While this is mostly my opinion, I'm not going to rule out a potential discussion should one come to be, however I do not agree with any action being taken against BP in ORAS. A sub-optimal clause that functions to an acceptable level does not warrant fixing. Should there be disagreement in regards to this philosophy or the degree of 'brokeness' of Baton Pass in ORAS or BW, feel free to create a discussion on this.Sketch Price: USD 5.00 - 12.00 Slots: 0 Just a rough sketch, any pose! NSFW will add an additional $2. Color will add $5. Icons Price: USD 10.00 - 20.00 Slots: 0 Price varies on amount of detail! 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Information Submision ID Display Order Name * Description * Pricing and availability Currency Fixed Price Price Range to Slots Addon CancelPlaylist-based Matchmaking is crap.
Josh screams into the void about developer's choice of matchmaking and game modes.
In preparation for Respawn’s highly-anticipated Titanfall 2 (dropping at the end of the month), I reinstalled its predecessor last week. The last time I had played Titanfall was November 2014, according to my Origin account.
The game is highly mechanical and there are a lot of advanced tactics to brush up on. Being built on the Source engine (which itself was built from iD tech/Quake engine code), you’ve got full air control and momentum conservation in the form of bunnyhopping, on top of the already-excellent wall running and double jumping. All of this is promised to return in the sequel, so I figured why not re-master these techniques to get a bigger edge on the competition in Titanfall 2.
I want to make one thing perfectly clear before I dive into the meat here: Titanfall is fun. One of the most fun FPS games I have ever played, in fact – there’s an excellent blend of tactics, movement, aim and general FPS skill that doesn’t often get to shine in such a broad spectrum in other games. With so many different ways to play, it certainly ticks the box for the competitive mantra “easy to learn, hard to master.” The gameplay is beautifully sculpted in such a way that you can only come to expect from the geniuses behind Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (the best Call of Duty title to date, I might add). It sounds cool, it looks cool, it’s fast-paced, there’s an extremely high skill ceiling
However, nearly everything else about the game is crap.
The netcode certainly leaves something to be desired – hit registration is lackluster, the tick rate (the rate at which the server updates the world with new information, ie: you shot the bad guy and he is now dead; higher tick rate is better but requires more bandwidth) is on the low end, and Microsoft’s Azure servers seem to have terrible routing, at least for me and my Edmontonian ISP. I haven’t played a game where I had 60 ping to US West in awhile… (Okay, maybe I’ve been babied a bit here by Blizzard and Overwatch, but still…). You can’t change certain graphics options like texture resolution unless you’re in the main menu, and worst of all, it runs on Origin. Yet another launcher to install and account to keep secure, with notifications that trash framerates and need to be disabled. Gross!
But by far the biggest problem with Titanfall (and many, many other games) is its playlist-based matchmaking system.
I strongly believe that this is one of the biggest factors in why Titanfall saw such an insane drop off in players so shortly after launch. To provide some context, the game released in March of 2014. The last time I had played it was November of 2014. In that time, I put in 220 hours. And then bam, flatline. Nothing. Why would I put down a game with such delightful gameplay, you might ask?
To answer that, let me explain what playlist-based matchmaking is. “Playlists” have existed forever – my first encounter with them was on Xbox Live with Halo 2. In order to play multiplayer, you’d choose a playlist and queue up for a match. That playlist would be for one of the game’s various modes: Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, King of the Hill, etc. You’d see a population count to get an idea of how many players were currently in that playlist. The less popular modes would have less players, so if you were feeling impatient you could just go and play a more popular mode to find a game faster.
There’s an inherent catch-22 here. Players see nobody playing a given game mode’s playlist, so they don’t queue for it. The matchmaking system finds it harder and harder to find a complete match and in due time, the playlist is completely dead. There could be dozens – if not hundreds – of players who would prefer to play Capture the Flag instead of Team Deathmatch, but because they see nobody else is playing it they don’t bother to wait. They just queue Team Deathmatch instead, and queues for Capture the Flag never pop again.
It’s a problem that is clearly exacerbated by a small playerbase overall – as you can see above there’s only some 380-odd people playing, which is par for the course in Titfanfall on PC in 2016. Xbox is a little more active, but with no cross-platform play that doesn’t help me play any CTF games. The catch-22 strikes again here: If you’re someone who doesn’t want to play “Attrition” (Titanfall’s version of Team Deathmatch with a hint of PvE mixed in) and instead wants to play Hardpoint (King of the Hill with 3 hills, otherwise known as Domination in other games), Capture the Flag or any other objective-based modes, you’re not going to be able to and will likely decide to just go and play a different game entirely. The population suffers and it becomes even harder to ever get a full queue for those game modes.
Franchises like Halo and Call of Duty have established the standard for playlist-based matchmaking over the last 10+ years. In the absence of a server browser, developers look at it as the next best thing: You get to play the game modes you want when you want. And when you can’t, come back next year for the new game to try again. I’m sad to say that’s what I’m looking forward to most about Titanfall 2: The chance to play CTF and Hardpoint on-demand again, rest of the game and its new changes be damned.
To compare, Overwatch is the first game I’ve seen “do it right” as far as playlists go. In Overwatch, the choice of game mode is removed from you entirely: You can queue for “quick play” – a non-competitive mode with no hero limits and emphatically not to be taken seriously, play with bots, queue for competitive matches, start a custom game to set the rules (and matchmaking) yourself, or play Blizzard’s weekly brawl where they go and break the game in fun and silly ways.From the U.S. State Department:
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO): Supporting Objective Media in Hungary
November 7, 2017
This is the announcement of funding opportunity number DRLA-DRLAQM-18-032
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 19.345
Application Deadline: January 19, 2018
For new application submission instructions, see Section D below.
A. Project Description
The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations interested in submitting applications for projects that increase citizens’ access to objective information about domestic and global issues in Hungary.
***
DRL’s goal is to support media outlets operating outside the capital in Hungary to produce fact-based reporting and increase their audience and economic sustainability. The program should increase citizens’ access to objective information about domestic and global issues of public importance, by enhancing local media’s ability to engage a larger audience, including their print, multimedia, and online readership. The program should improve the |
say so, you are expecting to deal some sort of damage but it is now so low it is being rounded down to ZERO.This is unlike just hitting a 100% block shield which flat out always mitigates the damage to zero. But feel free to debate!-------------MUSIC CREATIVELY COMMONED---------------Chill Wave - incompetech.comCasa Bossa Nova -incompetech.comGoogle will continue to assist companies using its Android operating system if they are involved in legal disputes over technologies used within the platform, executive chairman Eric Schmidt told reporters during the final day of his visit to Taiwan, Reuters reports.
Schmidt’s tour has seen the Google executive try to cement relations with the Taiwanese government, pledging support to web companies in the region and also try to improve its relationship with China.
The Google chairman told reporters:
“We tell our partners, including the ones here in Taiwan, we will support them. For example we have been supporting HTC in its dispute with Apple because we think that the Apple thing is not correct.”
Support includes access to patents for licensing and legal purposes, as it did for the world’s fifth biggest smartphone manufacturer HTC.
Google ‘transferred’ patents to the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer on September 1st, helping the company bolster its patent defence against Apple. The nine patents named in the suit originated in a collection of different mobile tech companies including Palm, Motorola and Openwave with Google taking ownership of the patents within the past year.
HTC immediately sued Apple using four of the patents it had been gifted.
Industry insiders believe Schmidt has used his three-day tour of Taiwan to increase confidence in the Android platform, particularly as Taiwanese smartphone makers begin to roll out new handsets running Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. Schmidt reiterated that Google would not mistreat its Android partners by focusing its Motorola acquisition, keeping the platform open for all that wished to use it to power their smartphones.
Read next: Walmart to open innovation lab in India to boost online presenceFormer U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to making false statements to the FBI about his conversations with a Russian ambassador and said a senior member of President Donald Trump's transition team knew about the conversations.
Flynn admitted to lying to the FBI earlier about his conversations with then-ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition period before Trump's inauguration.
In addition, court documents revealed today show Flynn told prosecutors that a senior member of the Trump transition team knew about his contact with Russian officials in December 2016. The government didn't reveal the identity of the senior official.
Initial reports said the senior official directed Flynn's conversations with Russia, but that has not been confirmed.
Court documents released today show Flynn has been charged with a single count of "willfully and knowingly" making false statements to the FBI on Jan. 24.
In a statement, the retired Army lieutenant general said he accepted responsibility for his actions and added: "My guilty plea and agreement to co-operate with the special counsel's office reflect a decision I made in the best interests of my family and of our country."
The guilty plea makes Flynn the first person to have actually worked in the Trump White House to face formal charges in the investigation, which is examining possible co-ordination between Russia and the Trump campaign to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
( )
Trump has not made a statement today or tweeted about the indictment. The White House cancelled a scheduled opportunity for reporters to question the president. The public White House schedule had said that reporters would be allowed to document part of Trump's meeting with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.
During these media events, called "pool sprays," reporters usually pepper the president with questions. Trump often answers, using opportunity to deliver his message directly to voters.
Reporters had been lined up outside the Oval Office, waiting to enter the room, when White House staffers walked them back into the press room. White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters then told them the media event was cancelled. Earlier, Trump ignored shouted questions about Flynn as he greeted the prime minister at the door.
The Libyan leader arrived Friday morning. The White House has said they will discuss reaffirming U.S. support for Libya's unity government and help stabilizing the country.
Prosecutors with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office say Flynn falsely stated to the FBI that he hadn't discussed sanctions with the then-Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak. The Obama administration had recently imposed sanctions against Russia over interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
Court documents revealed today detail the new revelations about Flynn's conversations with Kislyak and make it clear he will testify that Trump's transition team knew about his contact the Russian ambassador about the sanctions.
The documents also say:
"On or about December 29, 2016, FLYNN called a senior official of the Presidential Transition Team ("PTT official"), who was with other senior members of the Presidential Transition Team at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, to discuss what, if anything to communicate to the Russian Ambassador about the sanctions."
Flynn is the fourth person charged in connection with Mueller's investigation after ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort and two colleagues.
Former Trump adviser Flynn expected to plead guilty to lying to the FBI 0:31
Trump interested
Flynn has been under investigation for a wide range of allegations, including lobbying work on behalf of Turkey, but the fact that he was charged only with a single count of false statements suggests he is co-operating with Mueller's investigation in exchange for leniency.
Early on, Trump had taken a particular interest in the status of the Flynn investigation. Former FBI director James Comey has said Trump had asked him in a private Oval Office meeting to consider ending the investigation. The White House has denied that assertion.
Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI just days after Trump's inauguration, was forced to resign in February after White House officials said he had misled them about whether he had discussed sanctions with Kislyak.
3 others charged
Mueller's team announced charges last month against three other Trump campaign officials, former chairman Paul Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates, and a former foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos.
Signs of Flynn co-operating with Mueller's team surfaced in the past week, as his lawyers said they could no longer discuss information about the case with Trump's legal team. Scheduled grand jury testimony regarding Flynn was also postponed by prosecutors.
The two-page charging document refers to two separate conversations with Kislyak and two separate false statements prosecutors say he made regarding that communication.
Flynn, an early and vocal supporter on the campaign trail of President Donald Trump, admits to lying about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States during the transition period before Trump's inauguration. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press)
Besides a Dec. 29 conversation about sanctions, prosecutors also cite an earlier December meeting, in which Flynn asked Kislyak to delay or defeat a UN Security Council resolution. That appears to refer to the body's vote a day later to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
In a striking rupture with past practice, the Obama administration refrained from vetoing the condemnation, opting instead to abstain. The rest of the 15-nation council, including Russia, voted unanimously against Israel.
At the time, Israel was lobbying furiously against the resolution and President-elect Trump's team spoke up on behalf of the Jewish state. Trump personally called Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi to press the case against the condemnation, and Egypt surprisingly postponed the scheduled showdown on Dec. 22 — the same day Flynn met Kislyak.
'Things will be different'
After more procedural wrangling, the vote occurred a day later. Trump almost immediately condemned the UN result via Twitter.
"As to the UN, things will be different after Jan. 20th," Trump said, referencing his upcoming inauguration.Wang Jianlin (Chinese: 王健林; pinyin: Wáng Jiànlín; born 24 October 1954) is a Chinese business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder of the conglomerate company Dalian Wanda Group, China's largest real estate development company, as well as the world's largest movie theater operator.[3] He owns 15% of the Spanish football club Atlético Madrid.[4] In 2016, Wang agreed on a deal with FIFA to launch the China Cup, in which national football teams compete in Asia each year.[5]
During the course of his career, Wang was the economic consultant of Yunnan province, as well as a construction consultant of the Guiyang government, and was named honorable citizen of Changchun city, and "outstanding contributor" to the construction of Dalian city.[6]
As of February 2018, Wang is estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of $30.1 billion, making him one of the richest men in China and Asia.[7]
Early life and Career [ edit ]
Wang Jianlin was born on October 24, 1954, in Cangxi County, Guangyuan, Sichuan, China. His father fought for Mao Zedong's People's Liberation Army during the Long March (October 1934–October 1935).
After sixteen years in the People's Liberation Army, Wang started working as the Office Administrator for the Xigang District in the city of Dalian.[9] In 1989, he became the General Manager of Xigang Residential Development. He was Head of Factory in a Jiangyin-based factory. In 1992, he started working as the Chairman for the Dalian Wanda Group. He has also been serving as Assistant to the Regional Manager, Assistant Regional Manager and Director in Jiangsu Jiangnan Water Co.[10]
His company owns 21.57 million square metres of investment property, 168 Wanda Shopping Plazas, 82 luxury hotels, 213 cinemas, 99 department stores, and 54 karaoke centres around China. The company became the world's largest theatre owner in 2012 when it acquired AMC Theatres. He bought out U.S.-based AMC Entertainment for US$2.6 billion. He listed it on the New York Stock Exchange in December. He flew in celebrities Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Beckinsale, and John Travolta to help launch an US$8 billion mini-Hollywood in the coastal city of Qingdao in January 2014.
Wanda Group acquired the landmark Edificio España building in Madrid, Spain, in March 2014 from Grupo Santander for "about a third less than the €389 million that Banco Santander paid in 2005, at the height of Spain's construction boom".[11] Previously, Dalian Wanda had taken on billion-dollar hotel development projects in London and New York, as well as property projects in India.
In January 2014, he announced plans to build the world's largest studio pavilion at Oriental Movie Metropolis which include a 10,000 square meter studio and an underwater stage.[12]
In 2014, he acquired land at 9900 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California to build the American headquarters named "One Beverly Hills" of his entertainment company.[13]
In January 2015 it was reported that he was buying a 20% stake in the Spanish football club Atletico Madrid for €45m.[14]
In November 2016 Wang's Dalian Wanda Group announced plans to acquire Dick Clark Productions for about US$1 billion, giving it the broadcasting rights to the Golden Globe Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, and the New Year countdown celebrations in New York.[15] Wanda already owns Legendary Entertainment, co-producer of films such as Jurassic World, and U.S. cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings.[16]
The Economist called him "a man of Napoleonic ambition", and citing his military background in the PLA, where he rose from border guard to regimental commander. He enforces "iron discipline" in the workplace, where employees are fined when they violate the company's conservative dress code. Despite his age, he has a "trim figure".[17]
Politics [ edit ]
At the age of 15, Wang started his 17-year service with the People's Liberation Army, initially as a border guard before rising to become a regimental commander.[18] In 1976, he joined the Communist Party of China. He served as deputy to the 17th National Congress.[19]
Wang is a delegate to the Chinese National People's Congress.[20] He was twice named CCTV's "Economic Person of the Year".[17] He serves as the Vice-Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and has been a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since 2008.[citation needed]
He currently serves as vice chair of the China Charity Confederation; vice chair of the China Folk Chamber of Commerce; vice chair of the China Enterprise Confederation and the China Enterprise Directors Association; vice chair of the China General Chamber of Commerce; vice-chair of the Global Advisory Council of Harvard University.[21]
In 2011, he donated US$197 million to charitable causes,[22] such as underwriting the restoration of an ancient temple in Nanjing.[22] In 2014-2015 he donated US$200,000 for the restoration of the Electric Fountain in Beverly Hills, California.[23]
While Wang maintains a close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, his personal motto is “stay close to the government and distant from politics.”[24] He believes entrepreneurs should be "close" to the government and "clear" from the government as well. "If the government never talk to entrepreneurs, they'll never know what entrepreneurs want to invest, develop or solve." [25]
Wealth [ edit ]
Wang Jianlin has been ranked prominently in worldwide billionaire lists for years.
The previous year, Forbes ranked him the 128th richest person in the world, with US$8.6 billion.[3] In August 2013, he was listed as the wealthiest person in China with a net worth of US$14.2 billion by Bloomberg.[26] In September 2013, his net worth rose to US$22 billion, according to numbers of the Hurun Report.[27]
According to the Hurun Report, in 2014 he was the 25th richest person in the world with US$25 billion.[28][29]
In 2015, Bloomberg, listed him as the richest person in Asia with US$9.9 billion.[30]
According to Forbes, in 2016 he was the richest person in Asia with US$28.7 billion.[31]
A year later, Forbes ranked him 18th in its 2017 World's Billionaires list, making him the richest man in China with a net worth of US$31.3 billion.[32] However, on May 14, Jack Ma overtook Wang Jianlin as the richest man in China, thanks to Ma's Alibaba Group's increases in stock prices.[33]
Personal life [ edit ]
He is married to Lin Ning (Chinese: 林宁; pinyin: Lín Níng), and has a son, Wang Sicong (Chinese: 王思聪; pinyin: Wáng Sīcōng; born 1988), educated at Winchester College and University College London in the UK.[34] Wang Sicong is currently a board member of the Wanda Group and a venture capitalist in China through his Beijing-based private equity fund, Prometheus Capital (普思投资).[35]
In December 2015 Wang Jianlin bought 15a Kensington Palace Gardens, London, for GB£80 million. The house was previously lived in by the Ukrainian billionaire, Leonard Blavatnik, who rented it during lengthy works on the house he owns opposite.[34]
In July 2016 Wang Jianlin's book The Wanda Way: The managerial philosophy and values of one of China's largest companies was published globally by LID Publishing.[36] The book includes his renowned 2013 ChinaCentral Television Voice interview, his speech and question-and-answer session to the Harvard Business School, and Wang Jianlin's business philosophy on Wanda's real estate, resort, and movie units. In 2016, Wang picked a fight with Disney by declaring that he wants to make sure the Magic Kingdom doesn't make any money in China.[37]In the late ’80s, producer James L. Brooks was working on The Tracey Ullman Show when he happened upon a strange comic strip about rabbits. He contacted the strip’s creator, a cartoonist named Matt Groening, about creating short, animated sketches for his show. Groening didn’t want to lose the publication rights for his strip, so he pitched Brooks on a dysfunctional cartoon family instead, and The Simpsons was born. After a couple of years with The Tracey Ullman Show, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie got their own show in 1989, and the rest is history. They’ve been on the air for 30 years, and in that time they’ve completely changed the landscape of television. Never has there been a show so interwoven with pop culture, while at the same time influencing it so heavily. Hundreds of famous guest stars visited the town, Apu had octuplets long before Nadya Suleman made it fashionable, and Lisa went through four Snowballs before settling on Snowball V (who still goes by Snowball II, to save money on a new bowl).
A show that has been on the air for so long has a long and rich history. Let’s see if you know these facts about the one of the greatest shows in TV history!
50. You Just Saved My Network!
The Fox Broadcasting Company owns the rights to the show until 2082. That being said, it doesn’t hold the writers back from poking fun at the network (it is stated in the show’s contract with Fox that they may do so) on many occasions. At one point, the Simpson family even recommended viewers to switch channels to competing networks.
49. They Call Me Mellow Yellow
Show creator Matt Groening admitted that he and his team chose yellow as the Simpsons’ skin color to distinguish themselves from an oversaturated market and to attract the attention of channel hoppers.
48. The Shape of Things to Come
While designing the characters, Matt Groening purposely gave each of them a different shape so that they could be recognized by their silhouette. He had the basic designs for the main cast ready in a few minutes while waiting outside Producer James L. Brooks’ office.
47. So much Do’h!
The main voice actors made $30,000 per episode until 1998, when they got a raise and earned $125,000 per show. Since 2004, they started earning $400,000 per episode until FOX demanded that the show lower its production costs. The voice actors took a severe 45% reduction in pay and Harry Shearer was not set to return as he didn’t agree with the deal. Shearer wanted to take a 70% pay cut, but with a small percentage of the back-end profits. After holding out for months, Shearer agreed to return for the same deal as the other main cast.
46. Where’s My Elephant?
The episode where Bart wins an elephant is based on a real-life incident where a Price Is Right contestant was offered $4,000 or a gag prize of an elephant. The contestant—like Bart—chose the elephant.
45. Goodnight Springton. There Will Be No Encore.
It is not unusual for the show to feature a band as guest stars, but the visit of the band Spinal Tap to Springfield is worth remembering. The band has its origins as a fictional heavy metal trio from an ABC sketch show called The TV Show, starring Rob Reiner. Later, the band would gain fame through the movie/mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, but has since occasionally performed real concerts.
The Simpsons and Spinal Tap are connected through voice actor Harry Shearer, who plays a lot of characters in The Simpsons (Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, and many others), but also plays Derek Smalls, the bass player from Spinal Tap.
44. Yeah, Hi Roy
In 1997, The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones as the longest-running prime-time animated series when it aired its 167th episode, “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochy Show.” This episode dealt—not so coincidentally—with the problems of a show getting stale in its long run and trying to keep it “fresh” by introducing a new character.
43. The Jet-soooooons
When Matt Groening asked Danny Elfman to compose the theme song for The Simpsons, he gave him a cassette tape with a few songs to inspire Elfman to write something similar. The tape featured The Jetsons theme, songs from Nino Rota’s Juliet Of The Spirits, and a jingle that Frank Zappa had written for an electric shaver company. Not sure how you take those ingredients and make a gumbo, but Elfman certainly hit the mark!
42. Beep, Beep
According to Elfman himself, he got the idea for The Simpsons theme while driving home from a meeting with Groening. He had to rush to his house to commit it to tape (we just wonder if he happened to have a plutonium rod caught in his collar at the time). The whole process from idea to finished theme only took him three days, and he’s since called it “the easiest thing [he’s] ever done.” Not bad for a song so catchy that it’s probably playing in your head right now. No? How about now?
41. Ahoy-Hoy
The telephone number at Moe’s Tavern is 764-8437, or SMITHERS, as was revealed in the episode “Homer the Smithers.” Mr. Burns tries to call Smithers, but has no clue as to what’s the correct phone number, so he simply dials SMITHERS. He ends up getting the classic watering hole, and Moe, who’s understandably a little gun-shy about prank phone calls, does not give him a warm reception.
40. Are They Finally Going To Adapt “Honk If You’re Horny”??
You know the old saying: 30 seasons and three movies. The primary cast has a clause in their contract to provide their vocal talents for three movies based on the show—though that was originally announced over a decade ago, so who can say for sure what the future holds.
39. Where The Schoolyard’s Up And The Shopping Mall’s Down
The location of Springfield is never revealed. Whenever they locate the town on a map, the audience never gets to see the map. Whenever someone says it out loud, the sound is muffled or masked by noise. In The Simpsons Movie, Ned Flanders says that the city is bordered by Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky. But, as Lisa said, “it’s a bit of a mystery, yes. But if you look at the clues, you can figure it out.”
38. Works on Contingency? No, Money Down!
Lawyer Lionel Hutz claims to have a law degree from Princeton, but unlike many other Ivy League schools, Princeton does not offer a law degree.
37. Show Me The Money
When the sixth season ended with “Who Shot Mr. Burns Part One,” the network had a competition to have the fans guess who the shooter was. Viewers could call a phone number and the winner would be animated in one of the future episodes or could choose a cash prize that was to be divided between all the winners.
However, when season seven premiered with “Who Shot Mr. Burns Part Two,” no one had guessed the right answer. The network picked out one (wrong) answer and contacted the viewer to share the good news. The viewer did not watch the show and asked for the cash prize instead of being animated. I wonder how many people guessed Smithers?
36. MENDOZAAAA!
If you edit all the scenes from the McBain movies that were shown throughout the early seasons, they add up to a coherent mini movie!
35. Tossed Salad And Scrambled Bob
The Simpsons has a huge Frasier connection. Frasier star Kelsey Grammer performs the voice of Sideshow Bob Terwilliger. In later episodes, Sideshow Bob’s brother Cecil gets introduced, who’s voice is performed by David Hyde Pierce, who played Frasier’s brother Niles. Season 19 would introduce the patriarch of the Terwilliger family, Dr. Robert Terwilliger, played by John Mahoney, who also played the father of the brothers in Frasier.
34. Thank You, Come Again!
When The Simpsons Movie premiered, 20th Century Fox made a deal with convenience store chain 7-Eleven to transform twelve of their shops into Kwik-E-Marts. The real Kwik-E-Marts sold products that were sold in the fictional Kwik-E-Mart, such as Squishees, Buzz Cola and Krusty-O’s.
33. I Thought I Was The Only One!
Milhouse’s name has a presidential origin. When creator Matt Groening had to come up with a name for the character, he thought it had to be most unfortunate name for a kid, so he chose the middle name of former president Richard Nixon. Groening would refer to the name later on in his comic strip Life In Hell as a “no longer recommended” baby name.
32. Don’t Cry For Me, I’m Already Dead
Barney Gumble, Homer’s best friend and fellow barfly, was inspired by The Flintstones’ Barney Rubble. Just like in the Flintstones, Barney was intended to be the neighbor of the Simpsons, but that idea changed when Ned Flanders became part of the neighborhood.
31. Worst… Name… ever!
Comic Book Guy’s real name is Jeff Albertson. The writers of the show made it a running gag to keep a few of the supporting characters nameless, so they waited until season 16 to reveal the name. Showrunner Al Jean remarked: “That was specifically done to make people really mad. We just tried to pick a generic name.” Creator Matt Groening stated that he had originally intended him to be called Louis Lane, but Groening was not present when the writers chose the name.
30. Entrance Denied
People banned for life from the Android’s Dungeon comic book store are: Bart Simpson, Milhouse Van Houten, Sideshow Bob Terwilliger, Nelson Muntz, George Lucas, and Matt Groening.
29. Loneliness and Cheeseburgers are a Dangerous Mix
Matt Groening based Comic Book Guy on himself: He stated: “He’s the way I think I look to other people.”
28. I’ve Been Calling Her Crandle!
Although most cast members perform multiple voices for the show, Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson) and Marcia Wallace (Edna Krabappel) only regularly performed one voice. Smith does very occasionally voice other characters, but Wallace only was only ever Mrs. Krabappel.
27. Loop de Loop
With no end of the show in sight, showrunner Al Jean wants to end the final episode with the Simpson family arriving at the Christmas Pageant where the series premiere began. This would make all the seasons of The Simpsons one continuous loop. Woah.
26. I Didn’t Even Give You My Coat!
Before the Supreme Commander of the EPA Armed Forces and the Head of the Dome operation Russ Cargill became the main antagonist in The Simpsons Movie, the writers were thinking of bringing back Hank Scorpio as a villain. Regardless, they brought back the same voice actor, Albert Brooks, who is generally regarded as the greatest guest star in the show’s history. On top of Cargill and Scorpio, Brooks also voiced classic characters such as Brad Goodman, Cowboy Bob and Jacques.
25. Shake Your Body, Turn It Out, If You Can, Man!
In 1990, “Do The Bartman” topped the UK and Australian Singles Chart, but it was never released as a single in the US. The song was written and produced by Michael Jackson and Bryan Loren, while the music video was directed by Brad Bird, a Simpsons alumni who would later direct The Iron Giant for Warner Bros. and The Incredibles for Pixar.
Fox Broadcasting Company
24. Ceci N’est Pas Une Couch Gag
The Simpsons’ couch gags are not only a classic icon of the show, but they also allow the writers a little extra flexibility. Ever notice how some couch gags are way longer than others? Well, if the writers have produced a show that runs a little long or short, they can simply make the couch gag ensure that everything ends up running the proper amount of time.
23. Everything’s Coming Up Milhouse!
Bart’s best friend Milhouse was created for a line of Butterfinger commercials that were being aired during The Tracey Ullman Show. Although he was present in the premiere episode, it would take until the third season for this poor unnamed friend to get his name.
22. I Got News For Ya Kid: This Ain’t Makeup!
The resemblance between Homer and Krusty does play a part in the psychology of the show, or as Matt Groening would put it: “The satirical conceit that I was going for at the time was that The Simpsons was about a kid who had no respect for his father, but worshiped a clown who looked exactly like his father.”
21. This Is Not The Way To Get Healthy!
Psychotherapist Dr. Marvin Monroe was killed off in the show’s seventh season, although he reappeared eight seasons later, stating he had just “been very sick.” The character was “dead” for a while because of the strain the character’s voice had on actor Harry Shearers’ throat.
PxHere
20. Scarred For Life
On the DVD commentary of the fifth season episode “Some Enchanted Evening,” Matt Groening states that the original idea behind the character of Marvin Monroe was that he was born with the name Marilyn Monroe and was “very caught up over that,” which is the reason why he became a therapist.
19. That Monkey Is Going To Pay
Professor Frink borrows his name from Simpsons writer John Frink, who’s been writing for the show for more than 17 years.
18. Not So Smrt After All
While recording Homer’s “I Am So Smart” song, Dan Castellaneta spelled S-M-R-T wrong by accident, but the producers thought it was so funny that they kept it in the show.
17. Average Maggie
In the opening credits, the cash register shows $847.63 when Maggie is “scanned,” a figure that was taken from a survey that said that this was the average monthly cost of caring for a newborn baby. However, during the episode “The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase,” the credit sequence is spoofed and paused while the machine reads “NRA 4EVER.”
16. “Annoyed Grunt”
The writers never write Homer’s trademark expression, the frustrated “D’oh!”, in their scripts, but always refer to it as “annoyed grunt.” When Matt Groening asked Dan Castellaneta to create an annoyed grunt for Homer, the only thing Dan could think of was “D’ooohh…”, but Groening thought it was it would fit the show’s animation better if it didn’t take as long to say, so Castellaneta shortened it drastically.
15. Maybe It’s the Beer Talking Marge but You got a Butt That Won’t Quit
Marge Simpson was featured as a centerfold Playboy in 2009. Because that’s what the world definitely wanted.
14. Stuffing in Cameos
The cartoon rabbit Binky from Groening’s comic strip Life in Hell has made many appearances in The Simpsons throughout the years, including as Maggie’s stuffed bunny.
13. Hey Baby, Wanna Kill All Humans?
Futurama’s Bender appears in eleven episodes of The Simpsons, with his biggest role in “Simpsorama” (2014), which was a crossover of The Simpsons and Futurama to celebrate The Simpsons 25th anniversary. Bender and the rest of the Planet Express crew travel back from the future to dispose of Homer in a spoof of the movie Terminator.
12. Did He Know a Bort?
Many of the characters’ names are family and relatives of show creator Matt Groening, including Homer, Marge, Lisa, and Maggie, which are the real names of his parents and younger sisters. The family name Wiggum comes from Groening’s mother’s maiden name.
11. A Noble Spirit Embiggens The Smallest Man
Over the years, The Simpsons has entered pop culture on many levels, but it has also invaded the scholarly field through the words “cromulent” and “embiggen.” In the episode “Lisa The Iconoclast,” Ms. Hoover tells Ms. Krabappel that embiggen is “a perfectly cromulent word.” Since then, the word cromulent has been used in academic articles and Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary of English says that it is an adjective meaning “fine” or “acceptable.”
10. Who Likes Short Shorts?
The Simpsons started out as shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show, where it grew from thirty-second segments that aired between comedy sketches. Actors Julie Kavner and Dan Castellaneta were regulars on the show, while Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith were brought in to provide voices specifically for the shorts. Tracey Ullman sued Fox to earn a share of the show’s merchandise-related profits, but failed in her attempt to do so. That’s the sweetest plum!
9. Dear John
John Swartzwelder is perhaps the show’s most iconic and prolific writer, and also its most bizarre. He has written nearly 60 episodes for the show, including classics like “Bart the General,” “Homer at the Bat,” “Whacking Day,” “Krusty Gets Kancelled,” and “Homer the Great,” among many, many others. On top of his writing accomplishments, Swartzwelder is known for being reclusive and strange, refusing to make any appearances to promote the show. He’s so reclusive, in fact, that for years fans speculated that he wasn’t even real, and the writers simply stamped his name on an episode when no single writer wanted to take credit for it.
Wikimedia Commons
8. Whatever Works For You
Matt Groening has said that Swartzwelder would write his episodes of The Simpsons in a specific booth at a diner, while “drinking copious amounts of coffee and smoking endless cigarettes.” Eventually, it became illegal to smoke indoors in public places in California, so rather than give up his spot, Swartzwelder bought the booth from the diner and had it installed in his house.
7. Lisa, It’s Your Birthday
Michael Jackson was a big fan of The Simpsons, and he lent his voice for the episode “Stark Raving Dad.” However, in an odd twist, though he wrote the song “Happy Birthday, Lisa” for the show, he didn’t actually sing it. As a joke on his brothers, he actually had a Michael Jackson impersonator sing in his stead. In another odd twist, Jackson wasn’t credited as himself either, and instead went by John Jay Smith in the credits.
6. The Sooner They Talk, The Sooner They Talk Back
Despite the fact that she’s technically in her 30s, little baby Maggie has remained almost entirely silent throughout the show’s run. One notable exception was in the fourth season episode “Lisa’s First Word.” In one of the show’s heartwarming moments (which were far more common during the early seasons), Homer puts Maggie to bed as Bart and Lisa argue with each other. Once Homer tucks her in and leaves, Maggie takes out her trademark pacifier and says a single word: “Daddy.” This moment was a landmark for the show, but most people don’t realize that they actually got Elizabeth Taylor to voice that single word.
5. Two Bad Neighbors
Though they may seem tame by today’s standards, the dysfunctional Simpsons were once seen as quite controversial. George and Barbara Bush got into a famous public spat with the show, with the president once famously saying he wanted to make American families “a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons.” Barbara also said that she thought the show was “the dumbest thing [she’d] ever seen,” which led to the show’s writers penning an impassioned letter to the first lady as Marge Simpson. Bush was apparently moved by the appeal, and she responded with an apology letter.
4. They Call Them Fingers, But I’ve Never Seen Them Fing
It’s an often referenced fact that people in the world of The Simpsons only have four fingers, but there’s one character that the animators saw fit to give the regular five: God himself. If you look closely during Homer’s vision of God in the episode “Homer the Heretic,” you’ll notice that God, while being a large, bearded man with “Perfect teeth. A nice smell. A class act all the way,” he also has the usual five fingers on his hand, a feature he kept in subsequent appearances.
Fox Broadcasting Company
3. We’ll Really Miss You Mrs. K.
After Marcia Wallace (Edna Krabappel) passed away in 2013, they didn’t recast her part, and instead retired the character. Soon after, the show paid tribute to Wallace in the opening credits for the episode “Four Regrettings and a Funeral,” where the chalkboard gag features only a single line: “We’ll really miss you Mrs. K.”
2. You Might Remember Me From Such Movies As…
Wallace’s death was not the first time that the producers would not recast an actor. When actor Phil Hartman was murdered in 1998, the producers did not recast for Hartman’s recurring characters of actor Troy McClure and lawyer Lionel Hutz.
1. Homie The Clown
An early idea for the show, long before the writers had any idea that it would run for so long, was to have Krusty the Clown actually be Homer in disguise. That would have made for quite the reveal, but eventually, the writers realized that this would be extremely hard to pull off in the continuity of the show, and so it was easier just to keep Krusty as a separate character.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann WarrenWoman to undecided Biden: 'Just say yes' to 2020 bid Raising taxes on the wealthy is 'extremely popular,' says Dem pollster 64 percent say Democratic Party supports socialism, says poll MORE (D-Mass.) will endorse presumptive Democratic nominee 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 in a Thursday TV appearance.
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Warren will announce her support for Clinton on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" at 9 p.m., the network confirmed.
Warren has so far remained neutral during Clinton's heated Democratic presidential primary against Bernie Sanders Bernard (Bernie) SandersSenate Dems seek to turn tables on GOP in climate change |
MPAS approach applies to all components of the climate system. It’s possible to combine global data from the atmosphere, ocean currents, ice and landforms on this single mesh framework. And by focusing computing resources on, say, the North Atlantic Ocean, resolution in that region goes from about a 100 kilometer (km) mesh to a 10 km mesh, small enough to pick up subtleties in ocean circulation, such as the loop current in the Gulf of Mexico.
Even today’s most powerful computers can’t effectively simulate, for example, the effect of ocean processes on large ice sheets and massive ice shelves. The scale needed to resolve ocean-ice interactions is just too fine for current global-scale modeling capabilities. Scientists are working on the problem, but they rely on local and regional climate systems to supply data for their models. The ability to resolve these ocean-ice interactions at the scale needed to predict events 50 or 100 years from now is beyond today’s computing capacity.
Because the Los Alamos approach allows each grid component the flexibility to change its size depending on where the research is focused, computational scientists on the MPAS team have had to start from scratch, writing code to accommodate that flexibility. Currently, the New Mexico group is using the approach to develop the ocean model and ice sheet model. Another group, at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., is developing the atmosphere model. In a couple of years, the MPAS team expects to conduct global coupled climate simulations using the MPAS atmosphere, ocean and land ice components with enhanced local resolution.
Recently, Ringler and his colleagues compared the MPAS version of their ocean model against observational data in a series of 20-year simulations. A simulation that used 15 km resolution in the North Atlantic produced the same representation of the Gulf Stream dynamics as a simulation that used 15 km resolution throughout the ocean domain.
“By using 15 km resolution in the North Atlantic and 80 km elsewhere, we found that the model agrees well with observations of the Gulf of Mexico loop current, Gulf Stream separation and ocean eddy activity in the North Atlantic,” he says.
One of the first sets of questions regional climate modelers would like to ask, Ringler says, is how to predict extreme precipitation events, which are sensitive to cloud cover. To resolve cumulus clouds requires a mesh resolution of 1 km to 10 km, he says. Using full global data to resolve such a problem will require an adaptive mesh such as MPAS. But to run such as model, Ringler and colleagues must first optimize their system for petascale computing and the even faster exascale computing to come.
To date, most of MPAS development support has come from the DOE Office of Science’s Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program. “But right now I would say our biggest challenge, period, is making these models efficient on current and next-generation machines,” Ringler says. That capability will come from advances in projects supported by ASCR, the science office’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research program and by the BER-ASCR SciDAC (Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing) partnership program that supports developments for MPAS ocean and ice sheets.
“The MPAS is a central theme in our exascale computing initiative,” Ringler says. A traditional model running on an inflexible, structured grid “means access to computer memory is uniform and regular. In the MPAS, the price we pay for a variable resolution is that we have to use an unstructured grid, meaning that access to memory is not regular and is not as predictable. This has profound implications for how we write the algorithms.”
The big challenge for next-generation climate models will be developing what Ringler calls scale-aware physical algorithms. “MPAS allows us to directly simulate important climate processes, such as eddies in the ocean or clouds in the atmosphere, (but) we can only directly resolve those processes in regions of local mesh refinement. In other regions, those processes will need to be modeled indirectly. Figuring out how to transition from low-resolution regions to high-resolution regions will be a huge task.
“Right now we are asking the climate modelers to think about ways to use this new approach to global climate modeling. We want them to bring their creativity to devising new questions to answer.”SCP-1000
Still from unverified amateur "Patterson footage"
Item #: SCP-1000
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: All media reports related to SCP-1000 are to be examined for potential verifiability. All organizations and individuals investigating SCP-1000's existence are to be kept under surveillance by Mobile Task Force Zeta-1000 and discredited or administered amnestics. All physical signs of SCP-1000's existence must be retrieved and kept in Foundation custody, and replaced with decoy items if necessary. Alleged sightings of SCP-1000 must always be investigated by MTF Zeta-1000, however trivial the claim.
Absolutely no contact with wild or captive instances of SCP-1000 is allowed without prior approval by Director Jones. Any interaction between SCP-1000 and humans, including Foundation personnel, must be reported to Director Jones immediately.
Description: SCP-1000 is a nocturnal, omnivorous ape, classified in the Hominini branch along with genera Pan and Homo. Adults range in size from 1.5 to 3 m (5 to 10 ft) in height, and weigh between 90 and 270 kg (200 - 600 lbs). They have grey, brown, black, red, and occasionally white fur. They possess large eyes with good vision, a pronounced brow ridge, and a sagittal crest on the forehead similar to that of the gorilla, but present in both sexes. Their intelligence is on par with that of Pan troglodytes (the common chimpanzee).
SCP-1000 evolved alongside Homo sapiens, existing contemporaneously with proto-humans and humans in large numbers until 10,000-15,000 years ago, when an extinction event eliminated all but 1-5% of their population. This event was triggered by SCP-1000 contracting an anomalous "pseudo-disease" classified as SCP-1000-f1. This disease is passed on at the genetic level and affects every present-day instance of SCP-1000. The majority of SCP-1000 instances are born immune to the effect; those who are not born immune quickly die.
The effect of SCP-1000-f1 is as follows: Any hominid (including humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and non-immune instances of SCP-1000) that directly or indirectly observes any instance of SCP-1000 has a minimum 2% chance of being instantly killed through anomalous means via permanent cessation of brain function. This percentage is cumulative, and the longer a human views SCP-1000, the higher the chance of instantaneous death increases, at a rate of +1% chance per 20 minutes of viewing. This effect varies between individual members of SCP-1000's species, with some individuals carrying a 'death chance' of 90%. The effect is also produced by dead individuals, though small fur samples do not exhibit the effect.
Known means of preventing this effect are small-scale only and include [REDACTED] (see attached documentation; Level 3 clearance required).
Because of SCP-1000's close relation to humanity, it is considered likely that SCP-1000-f1 could eventually transfer to human carriers. Any instance of SCP-1000 finding its way to a major population center could constitute an ██-class end of the world scenario with a minimum death toll of [REDACTED] and possible extinction of humanity. Fortunately, SCP-1000 appears to instinctively avoid human contact.
It is not currently feasible to exterminate SCP-1000 entirely.
The highest known population concentrations of SCP-1000 are at present located in the Pacific Northwest region of North America and the Himalayan Mountain range in Asia. As of ██/██/████, these populations remain extant. SCP-1000's presence and [DATA EXPUNGED] have also been documented within the past 5 years on every continent. All known significant populations of SCP-1000 located near human population centers have been eliminated.
SCP-1000 came to the attention of the Foundation via contact by Doctor Franz M███████ in 14██ with the Children of the Sun, who identified themselves as outcast members of the Serpent's Hand. This group has since been completely destroyed by the Foundation, due to their reluctance to surrender information about SCP-1000, SCP-███, and SCP-███ (since reclassified as SCP-1000-███ and SCP-1000-███). Remaining members have either joined the Foundation, or have gone into hiding, presumably as members of the Serpent's Hand. Weapons, tools, and other unique pseudo-technological resources in possession of the organization have been classified as SCP-1000-001 through SCP-1000-████. These resources have been made use of by the Foundation in multiple instances; for a full list, see Document 1000-3534-Y (Level 3 clearance required). Access to surviving ex-members of the Children of the Sun is restricted to personnel with clearance level 4/1000 unless given direct authorization for contact by Director Jones.
Further information is available to personnel with clearance level 3/1000 or above. Personnel with clearance level 3/1000 or above are required to read Document Alpha-1596-1000.
Addendum 1000-466-X: Update to Special Containment Procedures: As of ██/██/████, SCP-1000's Special Containment Procedures no longer include Procedure 516-Lumina. [DATA EXPUNGED] indicates that SCP-1000 may be developing a resistance to the sonic element [DATA EXPUNGED] will not develop further, so that Procedure 516-Lumina can still be used in emergency situations. Investigation into alternate means of reliably keeping SCP-1000 away from human population centers is underway. Whether SCP-1000 resistance to Procedure 516-Lumina was calculated (and as such may be a sign of SCP-1000 [REDACTED]) or coincidental (by chance of natural species variation) is not known at this time.
== LEVEL 3 CLEARANCE REQUIRED ==
Document Alpha-1596-1000: Missive from Director Jones
You've probably heard the rumors before now. Everyone without the clearance level to know better wants to get their dig in. "Did you hear Sasquatch is an SCP? Are we gonna capture and contain Batboy next?" Yes. SCP-1000 is Bigfoot. I'm sure you've snickered. Don't worry. Contrary to rumors, we don't actually assign you to "Keter duty" for finding something humorous. You think Bigfoot is funny because we want you to think Bigfoot is funny. We've bankrolled Hollywood comedies and farcical documentaries, paid off men in gorilla suits, perpetrated hoaxes with bear prints and goat fur, bribed and brainwashed cartoonists to get especially silly depictions on children's television. Even the term "Bigfoot" comes from us, planted in the media in 1958, a term people would find even harder to take seriously than "Sasquatch". Why? We'll get to that. The information in the article that you've already read isn't entirely true. There are two direct lies, and plenty of lies of omission. There is no such thing as the "anomalous pseudo-disease" referred to as SCP-1000-f1. SCP-1000 does not possess a magical death aura. In fact, SCP-1000 does not directly exhibit any anomalous effect whatsoever. We also lied about SCP-1000's intelligence level. SCP-1000 aren't chimp-level smart. They're smarter - to be precise, they are exactly as smart as us. That brings us to the lies of omission. That's what this letter is for. The lies came from me, so I figure the truth should come from me as well. This is the story we got from the Children of the Sun who defected to us. It's a story we didn't believe - refused to believe, at first. As you've already read, the apes we call SCP-1000 evolved alongside us. We walked in the daytime, they walked in the nighttime, our nocturnal siblings in the shadows. But while we were still wandering hunter-gatherers, they… changed. Like we would, a few thousand years later. Tools. Weapons. Agriculture. Domesticated animals. Stable settlements. As humanity blinked in the Pleistocene sun, SCP-1000's population exploded across the night. They blanketed the planet in the tens of billions. They made things that we still can't comprehend, even though we've thoroughly studied the surviving pieces. Organic technology. They made trees and birds of prey grow into fast-moving ships, herds of animals that became trains, bushes that became flying vehicles. From insects and pigeons they made things equivalent to cell phones, televisions, computers. Atomic bombs. The Children describe vast shining cities, stretching across glaciers and penetrating the deepest caverns, grown skyships of ivory and spider-silk, creatures tending them with hundreds of blinking eyes. We were rare, like gorillas now, a few hundred thousand left at best. We avoided their settlements just like wild animals today avoid ours. SCP-1000 understood we were intelligent like them, but avoided us just as we avoided them, saw us as fairies, as gnomes, ascribed us supernatural powers, said we ate bad children while they slept in daylight. They fenced off our dwindling wild populations in conservatories, outlawed poaching but in the underground consumed our bones as aphrodisiacs. Then their civilization fell. And we did it. By 'we' I don't mean the Foundation. By 'we', I mean humanity. The story is muddy. Supposedly a trickster forest god showed humanity favor, showed us the master's tools and how to use them. Why we did it, we don't know. Perhaps they hunted us, perhaps we were simply afraid. Perhaps it was just that they fenced us in, unintentionally or not. We simply don't know what the truth is. Somehow we acquired SCP-1000's own technology, and with it, we instigated an SK-class dominance shift in which humanity became the dominant species of Earth. We wiped out 70% of SCP-1000's population in a single day. The Day of Flowers, the Children called it. Supposedly every flower bloomed that day, while our enemies died in their sleep. Then we hunted the rest down. But we went further than just killing them. With a few of the more twisted of SCP-1000's devices, we drove the survivors mad, even those hiding beyond our reach. We trapped them in their own minds, blocking higher functions and leaving their bodies to fend for themselves like any ordinary ape. We slaughtered their living machines and burned their vast shining cities with SCP-1000's bioweapons that reduced everything to slurry and dust that washed or blew away in spring rain and wind. We left no traces. Not even our own memory. We turned one of the weapons on ourselves, wiped out any knowledge of SCP-1000 and the greatest civilization the planet had ever seen. Only a few humans protected themselves from the effect, kept the forbidden knowledge, just in case. The rest of us went back to being hunter-gatherers, none the wiser. Which brings us to today. You're going to read all about this in the level 3 documentation, but I'll give you the short version here: SCP-1000 are somehow regaining their forgotten intelligence and knowledge. Maybe they never truly lost it. We don't know. This is why the ever-increasing number of "Bigfoot sightings" is so worrying. Why the attempts at contact, however indecipherable, are even more worrying. Yes. SCP-1000 are just like us. That's what makes them so dangerous. We wiped them from history and memory. We dissolved their civilization and we slaughtered most of their species. Just ask yourselves: If they got the chance, what more would they do to us?
Addendum 1000-056-D: Instances of SCP-1000 have tried to make contact with Foundation personnel on multiple occasions. Most of these attempts at contact have [DATA EXPUNGED] untranslated, though recent attempts show that some instances of SCP-1000 are capable of communicating in English.
Display Ancillary Anomaly Reports Close Ancillary Anomaly Reports Addendum 1000-104-Y: Certain acquired documents contain extensive references to SCP-1000. Relevant is that the documents appear to be composed by entities associated directly with the location known as the Wanderer's Library. Context or significance of document details not yet clarified. Addendum 1000-276-A: Numerous anomalous objects with a known connection to SCP-1000 [DATA EXPUNGED] prior cyclical iterations. As one example, SCP-2273 may not have a point of origin in a parallel timeline, but instead a prior "iteration". SCP-2932, SCP-2511, and other sources of living cultural insight into SCP-1000 (or a variation) all present "consistent inconsistencies" which may be used to create a fuller picture of the nature of these "iterations", though conclusions are uncertain. Addendum 1000-276-Q: Special report [DATA EXPUNGED] This unnumbered "black box" anomalous item anchored underneath the structure is likely the most significant anomalous object known to have been utilized. Central to understanding SCP-1000's anomalous capabilities, including capabilities not developed directly, but accessed from prior [DATA EXPUNGED] modern-day relevance to the Foundation and to society at large in a scenario of general containment failure. Close Ancillary Anomaly Reports
Log 1000-ad065-x1: The following is a rough translation of recent SCP-1000 attempt at communication with Foundation personnel on ██/██/███ (see attached documentation).My mother never liked me playing with Barbie dolls as a girl. She felt they were too sexualized for a 5-year-old. My grandmother thought she was nuts. Turns out, Mom was right.
Not only does Barbie have an Instagram account, Mattel contracts with designers to create special edition clothing for the doll. Recently they contracted with L.A.-based fashion designer and blogger Aimee Song to create a series of looks for Barbie. One design: an embroidered "Love Wins" t-shirt. According to Romper, "The shirts are modeled after Song's own line of T-shirts. The T-shirt comes in two colors, red and white, with embroidered rainbow letters and retails for $68 on her website, Song of Style. While that might seem steep for a T-shirt, it's worth it. Half of the profits from the shirts go to the Trevor Project, which does outreach for LGBTQ youth."
Because every little girl needs to know that gay teens are at a higher risk of committing suicide.
Lest you think I'm being unnecessarily paranoid about the gross over-sexualization of a little girl's toy, Romper's coverage goes on to note:
Aside from a few trolls, the response on Barbie's Instagram profile has been super positive. Since we all know that Barbie and Ken have had a long relationship together, tons of commenters were thrilled to see Barbie not just supporting LGBTQ rights, but many also imagined that maybe she was "coming out as bisexual," though that's just a fan theory, since Mattel and Barbie were only plugging the "Love Wins" shirts in the Instagram post. Others felt bad for Ken and wondered if he was getting his own "Love Wins" shirt, too. Ken's actually become a gay icon since the 1990s when he was sold as "Earring Magic Ken," complete with an earring and a necklace that resembled a sex toy. So, Ken's probably very happy that Barbie has come out in support of the LGBTQ community, even just as an ally.
To be fair, the gay community has a habit of stealing icons from underage girls. Barbie is only the latest in a long line of pop icons— including Madonna, the Spice Girls, and Britney Spears—to become a symbol for the gay community. What makes this episode in Barbie history particularly creepy isn't so much the Marilyn Monroe-ing of the blonde doll, but the gross oversexualization of little girls (and boys) in general. This is the era of Harvey Weinstein & Co. Should men (or women) be presumed unable to sexually take advantage of underage females simply because they're presumed to be LGBTQ affiliated or allied?The U.S., Japan and South Korea have agreed to prepare a "shock therapy package" for North Korea in case it conducts another nuclear or missile test, officials here said Monday.
"Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo are going to discuss concrete ways to take punitive actions against the North in case it carries out a further provocation," a Foreign Ministry official here said. "Talk of shock therapy itself is sends a strong deterrent message."
"Beijing has already given consent to the idea," another Foreign Ministry official claimed. "The key point is to cut off the North's sources of hard currency with the help of China, while the three countries are mulling their own sanctions like the U.S. designating the North as a state sponsor of terrorism and a secondary boycott."
The chief nuclear negotiators from the three countries meet in Tokyo on Tuesday, and their foreign ministers will sit down in New York on the sidelines of the UN Security Council Ministerial Meeting on Friday.The rise ofand an increasing expectation ofis transforming the political, social and cultural climate of our times. What relevance does this have forBuilding on concerns explored by Latitudes' 'The Last Newspaper' project (New Museum, New York, 2010), and drawing on the emerging practices of so-called– which seek to better collaborate with and use the ability of anyone to publish and share –is a research project which investigates how contemporary art projects can function beyond the traditional format of exhibition-and-catalogue in ways which might be more fully knitted into the web of information which exists in the world today. #OpenCurating is concerned with– whether online followers or physical visitors – with artworks and their production, display and discursive context.The Guardian's Editor-in-Chief Alan Rusbridger has offered ten speculative principles of Open Journalism, which offer a guide for #OpenCurating in terms of contemporary art and, and by whom. Taking this principles, what happens if we change 'journalism' for 'curating' and 'publishing' for 'exhibition making'? What are the possibilities – as well as the problems – associated with the related expectation of participation and transparency?The #OpenCurating research is structured around three strands: A series ofwith curators, artists, writers and online experts published asvia Issuu. Secondly, a Twitter discussion moderated around the hashtag #OpenCurating, and an open live discussion with Yasmil Raymond, Curator of the Dia Art Foundation, in New York, which took place onat the Auditorium of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA).This research examines new behaviours – not merely new technologies – which have implications for artistic practice and exhibition making as well as. Instead of the curator as an insider-pundit presenting exhibitions as a proprietary form of endorsement (monologue), #OpenCurating looks at(dialogue), abolishing the dichotomy consumer/producer, professional/amateur. Where the notion of a single narrative or an agreed upon set of facts has seemingly been abandoned, and instead it is a question of refereeing or moderating diverse interests within the architecture of public knowledge, how does one define an? This research aims to tackle such questions at the heart of contemporary art with respect to its publics, and what is made visible and valued.Kay Redfield Jamison (born June 22, 1946) is an American clinical psychologist and writer. Her work has centered on bipolar disorder, which she has had since her early adulthood. She holds the post of the Dalio Professor in Mood Disorders and Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and is an Honorary Professor of English at the University of St Andrews
Education and career [ edit ]
Jamison began her study of clinical psychology at University of California, Los Angeles in the late 1960s, receiving both B.A. and M.A. degrees in 1971. She continued on at UCLA, receiving a C.Phil. in 1973 and a Ph.D. in 1975, and became a faculty member at the university. She went on to found and direct the school's Affective Disorders Clinic, a large teaching and research facility for outpatient treatment. She also studied zoology and neurophysiology as an undergraduate at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
After several years as a tenured professor at UCLA, Jamison was offered a position as Assistant Professor and then Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Jamison has given visiting lectures at a number of different institutions while maintaining her professorship at Hopkins. She was distinguished lecturer at Harvard University in 2002 and the Litchfield lecturer at the University of Oxford in 2003. She was Honorary President and Board Member of the Canadian Psychological Association from 2009–2010. In 2010, she was a panelist in the series of discussions on the latest research into the brain, hosted by Charlie Rose with series scientist Eric Kandel on PBS.[1]
Throughout Jamison's career she has won numerous awards and published over one hundred academic articles. She has been named one of the "Best Doctors in the United States" and was chosen by Time as a "Hero of Medicine."[2] She was also chosen as one of the five individuals for the public television series Great Minds of Medicine.[3][4] Jamison is the recipient of the National Mental Health Association's William Styron Award (1995), the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Research Award (1996), the Community Mental Health Leadership Award (1999), and was a 2001 MacArthur Fellowship recipient. In 2010, Jamison was conferred with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of St Andrews in recognition of all her life's work.[5][6] In May 2011, The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, New York, made her a Doctor of Divinity honoris causa at its annual Commencement.[7] In 2017 Jamison was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (CorrFRSE).[8]
Academic contributions [ edit ]
Her latest book, Robert Lowell: Setting the River on Fire was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Biography in 2018.
Her book Manic-Depressive Illness, first published in 1990 and co-authored with psychiatrist Frederick K. Goodwin is considered a classic textbook on bipolar disorder. The Acknowledgements section states that Goodwin "received unrestricted educational grants to support the production of this book from Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Forest, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Sanofi", but that although Jamison has "received occasional lecture honoraria from AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, and Eli Lilly" she "has received no research support from any pharmaceutical or biotechnology company" and donates her royalties to a non-profit foundation.
Her seminal works among laypeople are her memoir An Unquiet Mind, which details her experience with severe mania and depression, and Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide, providing historical, religious, and cultural responses to suicide, as well as the relationship between mental illness and suicide. In Night Falls Fast, Jamison dedicates a chapter to American public policy and public opinion as it relates to suicide. Her second memoir, Nothing Was the Same, examines her relationship with her second husband, the psychiatrist Richard Jed Wyatt, who was Chief of the Neuropsychiatry Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health until his death in 2002.
In her study Exuberance: The Passion for Life, she cites research that suggests that 15 percent of people who could be diagnosed as bipolar may never actually become depressed; in effect, they are permanently "high" on life. She mentions President Theodore Roosevelt as an example.
Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament is Jamison's exploration of how bipolar disorder can run in artistic or high-achieving families. As an example, she cites Lord Byron and his relatives.
Jamison wrote An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness in part to help clinicians see what patients find helpful in therapy. J. Wesley Boyd, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at Tufts University's School of Medicine, wrote, "Jamison's description [of the debt she owed her psychiatrist] illustrates the importance of merely being present for our patients and not trying to soothe them with platitudes or promises of a better future."[9]
Jamison has also been criticized. In a 2005 Larry King Live interview she said of bipolar disorder, "We have known for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years that it is genetic", but the most that could have been known was that it sometimes ran in families, and even in modern scientific studies the extent of genetic and environmental influences is debated.[10]
Personal life [ edit ]
Jamison has said she is an "exuberant" person who longs for peace and tranquility but in the end prefers "tumultuousness coupled to iron discipline" to a "stunningly boring life."[11] In An Unquiet Mind, she concluded:
I long ago abandoned the notion of a life without storms, or a world without dry and killing seasons. Life is too complicated, too constantly changing, to be anything but what it is. And I am, by nature, too mercurial to be anything but deeply wary of the grave unnaturalness involved in any attempt to exert too much control over essentially uncontrollable forces. There will always be propelling, disturbing elements, and they will be there until, as Lowell put it, the watch is taken from the wrist. It is, at the end of the day, the individual moments of restlessness, of bleakness, of strong persuasions and maddened enthusiasms, that inform one's life, change the nature and direction of one's work, and give final meaning and color to one's loves and friendships.[12]
Jamison was born to Dr. Marshall Verdine Jamison (1916–2012), an officer in the Air Force, and Mary Dell Temple Jamison (1916–2007).[13][14] Jamison's father, and many others in his family, had bipolar disorder.[14]
As a result of Jamison's military background, she grew up in many different places, including Florida, Puerto Rico, California, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C.. She has two older siblings, a brother and a sister, who are three years and half a year older, respectively.[14] Her niece is writer Leslie Jamison.[15] Jamison's interest in science and medicine began at a young age and was fostered by her parents. She worked as a candy striper at the hospital on the Andrews Air Force Base.[14]
Jamison moved to California during adolescence, and soon thereafter began to struggle with bipolar disorder. She continued to struggle in college at UCLA. At first she wanted to become a doctor, but because of her increasing manic episodes she decided she could not maintain the rigorous discipline needed for medical school. She then found her calling in psychology. She flourished in this field and was extremely interested in mood disorders. Despite her studies, Jamison did not realize she was bipolar until three months into her first job as a professor in UCLA's Department of Psychology. After her diagnosis, she was put on lithium (medication), a common drug used to contain moods. At times, she would refuse the medication because it impaired her motor skills, but after a greater depression she decided to continue to take it. Jamison once attempted suicide by overdosing on lithium during a severe depressive episode.
Jamison is an Episcopalian,[16] and was married to her first husband, Alain André Moreau, an artist, during her graduate school years.[14] She then married Dr. Richard Wyatt in 1994;[17] they remained married until his death in 2002.[18] Wyatt was a psychiatrist who studied schizophrenia at the National Institutes of Health. Their romance is detailed in her memoir Nothing Was the Same.
In 2010, Jamison married Thomas Traill, a cardiologist and colleague of hers at Johns Hopkins.[19]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Kay Redfield Jamison talks about Nothing Was the Same on Bookbits radio.
Goodwin, Frederick K.; Jamison, Kay Redfield (1990), Manic-Depressive Illness, New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-503934-3
Goodwin, Frederick K.; Jamison, Kay Redfield (2007), Manic-Depressive Illness (Second ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195135794The deeds of Ancient peoples and historical figures often echo throughout history and into the
future. There are many example of notable tribes, nations and individuals leaving entymological
imprints, permament marks on language that last to this day. Like the Vandals, and ancient tribe
whose name took on a new meaning and survived to this day, the Hipsters are also known to us,
although their memory is limited almost entirely to their name. A fierce people, capable even of
defeating a Roman legion, the Hipsters took great pride in the appearance of their beards, and the
Roman fashion of shaved faces agitated them greatly, since they found the very concept of shaving
deplorable. The victory in the battle of Strasbourg, depicted here, further consolidated the
Hipsters' belief that a warrior with a fabulous beard is far superior to one without one. This
reverence of beards and a sense of superiority is the only legacy and the only connection of the
Hipsters of the ancient world to the Hipsters of today.FinCEN, The United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has publicized rulings that clarify where the digital currency space will fall under.
The network says that those who are mining for personal gain and companies that buy and sell transferable virtual currency for the sole purpose of investing will not be subjugated to the Bank Secrecy Act. The press release states:
“The first ruling states that, to the extent a user creates or “mines” a convertible virtual currency solely for a user’s own purposes, the user is not a money transmitter under the BSA. The second states that a company purchasing and selling convertible virtual currency as an investment exclusively for the company’s benefit is not a money transmitter.”
The announcement looked to clear up FinCEN’s announcement from March 2013, which indicated that businesses took responsibility in having to comply with anti-money laundering, keeping records and reporting under FinCEN regulations.
NYDFS Hearings
The news was released shortly after the NYDFS hearings took place this past Tuesday and Wednesday. During the hearings, NYS regulator Benjamin Lawsky chimed in on how the world does not yet have a regulated structure for the digital currency system.
Digital currency issues are something new that our generation will have to figure out and uncover. FinCEN has taken the first few baby steps in deciphering what can be done with bitcoin, at least on the mining side of the spectrum.
Regulation of virtual currencies are looked at with more open-mindedness than before within New York. For bitcoin to become more successful, it will have to be viewed with similar unbiased outlooks on a world-wide platform.
FinCEN Has Best Interests in Mind
Many users of the digital currency community took to social media to celebrate what they are calling a ‘huge victory.’ However, some members of the digital mining community feel that the US government can always change their mind on bitcoin regulated decisions.
Jeff Garzik voiced that more clarity has to be given to the grounds in which bitmining can resume under. The bitcoin developer says:
“I hope to see future additional clarity from FinCEN and IRS vis-a-vis mining pools vs. miners”.
This is a victory for bitcoin enthusiasts as digital currency is starting to become well recognized as a formidable asset to the rest of the world. FinCEN’s decree is a great start for bitcoin’s rise to glory, although it still has a long way to go.
With the mining of electronic coins being legal, other bitcoin related systems may soon be joining in on the party.
Stay tuned with Coinreport for the latest bitcoin and FinCEN news.The Blaze has obtained an exclusive letter sent from Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) to Attorney General Eric Holder regarding shocking video uncovered by The Blaze on Tuesday.
In the letter, Chaffetz references video, posted yesterday on this site, showing a one-time SEIU official, Stephen Lerner, outlining a plan to collapse the American economy — including crashing the stock market — so that unions can become more powerful.
The sinister plan is set to take place in May and includes mass homeowner mortgage strikes.
Chaffetz tells Holder "the escalation of Mr. Lerner's threats would clearly constitute domestic terrorism and pose substantial harm to the American people and the economy." He goes on to request Holder investigate "Mr. Lerner's terrorist plans and notify me how the Department of Justice plans to respond to these threats."
The letter, sent Wednesday, was also distributed to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House committee on Oversight & Government Reform, and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the ranking minority member.
You can read the letter below:
March 23, 2011
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Attorney General Holder:
Recent media reports suggest that the former director of the Service Employees International Union's ("SEIU") banking and finance campaign has threatened to seriously endanger the welfare of the United States. In a forum at Pace University earlier this month, Stephen Lerner, the former SEIU official, revealed a "secret plan" to "cause a new financial crisis... destroy J.P. Morgan... and weaken Wall Street's grip on power" by using "civil disobedience" to create "the conditions necessary for a redistribution of wealth and a change in government."[1]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") defines terrorism as "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."[2] The escalation of Mr. Lerner's threats would clearly constitute domestic terrorism and pose substantial harm to the American people and the economy. I am therefore requesting that you investigate Mr. Lerner's terrorist plans and notify me how the Department of Justice plans to respond to these threats.
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives and may at "any time" investigate "any matter" as set forth in House Rule X |
have promise to furthering the simple goal of making the blockchain technology advance. I’m currently working to develop a DAPP on Ethereum because the coding language isn’t terrible to learn.
These DAPPs are in the infancy stage but in a couple years they will be complex applications solving all the problems of the world. This is the closest we will get to a system that can support artificial intelligence in the future. The market is going to be big and the people that realize it will win over time.
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FacebookCanada is blessed with an abundance of oil and gas, the jobs that go with it, and the potential for hundreds of billions of dollars in investment to extract, upgrade and move these resources. But Canada is also committed to dramatically lowering its greenhouse-gas output, and its use of carbon-based fuels like oil and gas, as part of the fight against global warming. Figuring out how to strike a balance between the two, so as to achieve the greatest environmental improvement at the lowest possible economic cost, is the most important, complex and politically fraught issue on Ottawa's plate.
And in its first big moves on the file, the Trudeau government appears to be moving in the right direction – and aiming to tackle the issue armed with the right principles.
This week, Ottawa gave the green light to the $36-billion Pacific Northwest liquefied natural gas project in British Columbia. At the same time, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has been laying the groundwork for a pan-Canadian carbon price, designed to lower consumption of carbon-based fuels by putting a tax on it.
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With the LNG announcement, the government appears to be setting the stage for approval of other, more contentious pipelines, like the expansion of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain line to Burnaby, B.C. And by pushing every province to tax carbon, or else seeing the feds do it for them, the Liberals are setting the stage for meaningful action on climate change and reducing the use of fossil fuels, using the most economically logical tool available.
This approach is not going to please everyone. But consider the alternatives.
On the left, many believe the only way forward is to say no to any and all new pipelines. But that approach has huge economic costs – and when it comes to greenhouse-gas reduction, limited environmental benefits.
Think lowering Canada's oil production will lower Canadian oil use? Not unless you build a wall around the country and ban oil imports it won't. Even if not one drop of oil were produced in Canada, this country's millions of cars would still be on the road, their tanks filled with fuel from the Middle East, Venezuela or the United States.
Choking off the supply of Canadian oil – which the lack of pipeline capacity has been doing for years – won't reduce Canadians' demand for oil, nor will it lower global demand. It will simply mean that our country will buy more of its oil from overseas.
The goal of any sane environmental policy should be the largest reduction in carbon use at the least economic cost – the biggest bang for the buck. Blocking all new pipeline projects is the opposite: It means big economic costs, with few greenhouse-gas reduction benefits. Environmentally speaking, it's small bang, big bucks.
The Harper government, in contrast, was always eager to say yes to pipeline projects, and to wax eloquent about the economic benefits of Canada's oil and gas industry. But when it came to talking about paying the environmental costs of carbon use, the cat had the Harper government's tongue. In the post-Harper era, most Conservatives remain tongue-tied when asked to address the environmental half of the ledger.
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In fact, it is possible to come up with a policy that allows the economy to grow, the oil and gas industry to expand, the free market to function, and the environment to benefit from Canada meeting its commitment to significantly lower greenhouse-gas emissions. Not only is it possible, but the Liberals appear to be laying the groundwork for it.
Here's what a logical and effective policy would look like.
First principle: Curtail demand, not supply. The goal should be reducing demand for carbon fuels, not artificially and ineffectually trying to strangle Canada's production of carbon fuels.
Second principle: Reduce demand by putting a price on carbon.
The Trudeau government has said it will insist that every province have some kind of carbon levy, that it must be high enough to meet a national standard – and that it must be increased over time. In principle, that's exactly the way to go. In practice, it will be challenging. Particularly the part about regularly raising carbon taxes, which is necessary for the policy to work.
In a few years, carbon taxes and cap-and-trade will be taking in billions of dollars a year across 10 provinces. This will create both political opportunities and arguments. Should these carbon revenues be used to fund new government spending, as Ontario is proposing? Or to fund lower income and business taxes, as B.C. has long done? Either way, taxing something we want less of – carbon emissions – is the most economically efficient way of reducing demand for it.
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Third principle: When it comes to pipelines, government should be the referee, not a cheerleader. The federal government has a ways to go in this area.
Ottawa will never be able to create a regulatory process that can please everyone. But if it has a legitimate, science-based review board in place, the government can stand back and let it do its job. It shouldn't be left to politicians to cherry-pick which oil and gas projects get built. That should be a matter for clear environmental rules overseen by independent regulators.
That doesn't mean saying yes to every pipeline proposal. There must be extremely stringent conditions to prevent spills and to force the private developers behind any pipeline to fully bear all environmental costs. But if those conditions are met, the regulator – the National Energy Board, or other bodies – should be able to deliver an impartial, science-based, thumbs-up to at least some projects.
How well the government will follow through on all this remains to be seen. These are early days; if this were a baseball game, we'd still be in the first inning. But so far, Team Trudeau's approach looks promising.Share. The burning bayou. The burning bayou.
The Refueling Tower has seen better days. In exploring Evolve’s newest map, I was reminded of Fusion Plant, the first map we saw for Turtle Rock’s 4v1 shooter, and its lush jungle setting. But the Refueling Tower’s bayou-style surroundings, distinct wildlife, and destroyed environment gave it a distinct sense of place.
The refueling tower itself is a junkyard, with flaming rubble scattered after some sort of catastrophic event. Homes around the tower are mostly unaffected -- abandoned, but intact -- and have become the grazing grounds for creatures such as the incredibly powerful Armodon. Its an elite creature with a helpful perk in store for the Monster or Hunter than happens to kill it -- the damage resistance bonus could keep an escaping Goliath or Kraken alive longer as it makes its way to the river cutting its way through Refueling Tower.
Monster tracks can’t be seen in the river, giving Goliath and Kraken a great place to kill their own trail, and sneak away to a new location to feed on, say, an Armodon.
For a detailed exploration of the new map, take a guided tour with 2K’s Scott James in the video above, and non-narrated gameplay below.
Exit Theatre Mode
Mitch Dyer is an Editor at IGN. He hosts IGN Arena, a podcast about MOBAs, and is trying to read more. Here's his reading list. Talk to Mitch about books, Dota 2, and other stuff on Twitter at @MitchyD and subscribe to MitchyD on Twitch.Arsene Wenger has admitted the Premier League is no longer at the forefront of European football after Arsenal were the last English side to be bundled out of this season's Champions League.
• Palmer: Signs of revival
• Blog: Hope for next season
Arsenal completed their round of 16 tie with Bayern level 3-3 on aggregate but their 2-0 win in Germany was not enough to secure their passage into the quarter-finals as they joined Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea as Premier League casualties in Europe this season.
It will be the first time since the 1995-96 season that no English sides are represented beyond the round of 16 and Wenger believes it is no coincidence that the Premier League has been overpowered in the Champions League.
"It's a massive disappointment for English football," he said. "For a number of years we've not had that. I think it's a massive wake-up call for us. It means the rest of Europe has caught up on us. We have to take that into consideration when we think about the future of the Premier League."
Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes shared Wenger's view, insisting the Premier League has only been placed on a pedestal in England, not the rest of Europe.
"The gap between the Bundesliga and the (English) Premier League is not as big as it has been made out," he said. "The English teams had an unlucky draw, with Manchester United against Real Madrid and Arsenal with us. Arsenal will be back again."
Despite pre-match claims that Wenger had already conceded his side's chances of qualification, the Frenchman insists Arsenal were confident of progressing until the final whistle.
"Of course I'm very proud of the performance of the team," he said. "I think there was room to score (a third goal) and when you look at the game. Tonight you have many regrets about our first game.
"I believe that it was very feasible to knock Bayern out. We got the belief of that when we watched the (first) game again, we had a plan that we respected tonight, it went a bit fast on some occasions, but overall I felt that we had the quality to be there."
Gunners captain Thomas Vermaelen was rested for the match as Kieran Gibbs returned from injury and Lukasz Fabianski replaced Wojciech Szczesny in a number of changes for Arsenal.
Wenger remains uncertain whether Vermaelen will return to the starting line-up for Arsenal's match against Swansea on Saturday, insisting he has the luxury of rotating his defenders.
"I don't want to explain too much," he said. "It's possible yes, I don't know yet. We may rotate a bit at the back and in the midfield as well. We have players like Abou Diaby back so we can rotate a little bit."
Former England international Gary Neville has denied there is any serious concern for Premier League clubs, citing Chelsea's win last season and Liverpool's 2005 glory as prime examples.
"We are not in a strong moment. There is no point denying it," Neville said. "From 2005 to 2012 we had eight or nine finalists, which is a ridiculous success rate when you include semi-finals as well.
"But Barcelona and Real Madrid are stronger, the German teams are stronger, Juventus look like they are getting back to it. It works in cycles. You cannot always be at the top. Maybe we are having a period where we are in a little bit of a dip. But it may change around completely next year or the year after."
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.Jan Vertonghen: Hopeful injury will not stop him facing Crystal Palace
Vertonghen suffered an ankle injury during the 3-1 defeat by Sunderland at the Asia Trophy last month.
Boss Andre Villas-Boas has all but ruled the Belgian out of the opening match of the season, at Crystal Palace on August 18, but Vertonghen says he is feeling better and hopeful of being available.
"It was two weeks ago that I was injured in Hong Kong and I'm making a lot of progress," Vertonghen said.
"I'm starting to run, but the next game is in 10 days' time so it is going to be quite close. You never know what can happen and I will always aim for the best and hope next week I'll be very close."
Vertonghen is also feeling positive about the arrival of Spanish striker Roberto Soldado, a high-profile signing from Valencia last week.
When asked if his arrival was important for the club, Vertonghen added: "Especially when you are aiming for bigger things than fifth place, you need players who are ready for the biggest games in the world against United, City and Chelsea.
"He can improve as well. We want to be there from the first game of the season, not the seventh or the eighth, and we want to perform from the start."Image caption The divers are alleged to have cut a cable belonging to Egypt's main telecom company
Egyptian authorities say they have arrested three divers trying to cut through an undersea internet cable.
The men were caught on a fishing boat just off the port city of Alexandria, said military spokesman Col Ahmed Mohammed Ali.
The damaged cable caused a drop in the speed of online services in Egypt and some other countries, said Egyptian news agency Mena.
It was unclear whether the incident was linked to cables damaged last Friday.
At the time, cable operator Seacom said several lines connecting Europe with Africa, the Middle East and Asia were hit, also slowing down internet services, reported Reuters news agency.
The cable hit in Wednesday's apparent sabotage was the South East Asia Middle East Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) - one of the main cables snaking under the Mediterranean, Mena said.
The attack took place some 750m (820 yards) north of Alexandria, it said.
In the statement on his official Facebook page, Col Ali said the divers were arrested while "cutting the undersea cable" of the main telecommunications company, Telecom Egypt.
He did not give any explanation for the divers' alleged motive.
The men were due to be interrogated.
Mediterranean telecoms cables have suffered disruptions several times in recent years, but they have usually been attributed to accidents involving ship propellers.A substantial update for the PC version of Double Fine's adventure classic Psychonauts has dropped in from out of nowhere.
The developer today announced that Steam users can download a patch that adds in achievements, cloud saves and modifications that make the game's infamously tricky Meat Circus section a little easy to manage.
On top of that, awesome-sounding private investment outfit Dracogen Strategic Investments has stepped up to help fund a Mac version of the game, available now on Steam and the Mac App Store.
"I have been a fan of Psychonauts and Double Fine for a long time," commented Dracogen CEO Steven Dengler, "and I'm extremely happy to be helping them bring their games to new platforms like the Macintosh. All hail the supremacy of Dragons!"
Finally, there's also a new iOS app up for download.The Psychonauts Vault Viewer lets you view the game's Memory Vaults with newly-recorded audio commentary from creators Tim Schafer and Scott Campbell.
The game originally launched on PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox back in 2005. Not played it? Eurogamer's Psychonauts review should explain why you need to catch up.Second Division team will aid in long-term player development for Academy and Homegrown Players; provide short-term loan opportunities for First Team
Atlanta United today announced plans to own and operate a second-division team that will join the United Soccer League (USL) for the 2018 season. The club’s name and crest will be released in the coming months.
“This is a great opportunity for our club’s long-term success to be able to bridge the gap between our best in class academy and our First Team,” Atlanta United President Darren Eales said. “Establishing a top-level Academy was the first priority for our club and while our staff has done a marvelous job in identifying and developing young players, the next step has always been to create the pathway for the 18-to-19-year-old player who needs to continue his development before competing for a starting position at the MLS level. We’ll now have the capability to develop players in our system from the time they’re 12 years-old until the minute they reach the First Team. We also want to thank Charleston Battery for being fantastic partners over the last two years. The Battery are a first-class organization and we’ll continue to maintain a professional working relationship with the club.”
USL, which will enter its eighth season in 2018, has been a partner of Major League Soccer (MLS) since 2013. It is one of the largest professional soccer leagues in the world, with more than 30 teams across the United States and Canada.
“Atlanta United’s organization has quickly proven itself among the leaders in Major League Soccer, and we are delighted to welcome them to our already world-class ownership groups that make up the USL,” said USL CEO Alec Papadakis. “The caliber of organization that has been assembled by Arthur Blank and his team has raised the bar for professional soccer in the United States, and their addition to our league is another step toward the USL’s goal of becoming one of the best Division II professional soccer leagues in the world, on par with the English Championship, Liga Adelante and 2. Bundesliga.”
The USL team will provide the Atlanta United First Team with both short-term and long-term benefits, namely by continuing the pathway to the professional level for Atlanta United Academy players and the opportunity for First Team players to receive playing time on loan. Atlanta United’s current roster has 12 players with USL experience, in addition to three players who will join the team effective Jan. 1, 2018 (Lagos Kunga, George Bello and Patrick Okonkwo).
Open tryouts for the new USL team will be held on Saturday, Dec. 16 at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground in Marietta as part the American Family Dream Tryout series. Additional information for the event can be found here.
Atlanta’s USL team will train alongside the Atlanta United First Team and Academy teams at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground, while the team will play its home matches at Coolray Field, the home of the International League’s Gwinnett Braves. Coolray Field opened in 2008 and will have a soccer capacity of 10,427. Ticket information will be announced at a later date.
“The Gwinnett Sports Commission is extremely excited to have Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United organization, via the USL, join our existing professional sports franchises in Gwinnett,” GSC Executive Director Stan Hall said. “Obviously, AMB Sports & Entertainment brings a level of professionalism and credibility that is second to none in the professional sports arena. Gwinnett has long been a soccer stronghold, and we expect great success as the USL and professional soccer is introduced to our area and our fans. Coolray Field and its great staff enjoys a reputation of excellence among sports venues across the country and it will provide an excellent and fitting backdrop to this new team.”
Atlanta United’s new USL club will join the previously announced Fresno FC, Las Vegas Lights FC and Nashville SC making their debut in the 2018 regular season.
ABOUT USL
The USL is one of the most prominent Division II professional soccer leagues in the world, with 30 markets in 20 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces for the 2017 season. In total, the USL reaches a population of 75 million people, fueling the growth of professional soccer across North America.
In 2016, more than $100 million were invested league-wide into stadium infrastructure to create venues that deliver an unforgettable fan and competitor experience. The USL has national media partnerships with ESPN and SiriusXM, and recently invested $10 million to create USL Productions – which includes a state-of-the-art facility that will produce and distribute nearly 500 league matches and more than 1,000 hours of original content to national partners, local affiliates, USL’s Match Center and international markets.
A growing league, the USL has more than doubled in size since 2014, with Ottawa Fury FC, Reno 1868 FC and the Tampa Bay Rowdies debuting in 2017. Nashville SC is the first club set to join the league for 2018. Beyond league play, the USL regularly features international exhibitions against leading Premier League, Liga MX, and Bundesliga clubs, among others.
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., the USL provides unparalleled club support with a growing team of more than 50 professionals across 17 departments, ranging from operations to marketing, communications and sponsorship. Follow the USL at USLSoccer.com, the USL Match Center, and on social media via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
ABOUT GWINNETT SPORTS COMMISSION
Located in Metro-Atlanta in Gwinnett County, the mission of the Gwinnett Sports Commission is to foster economic development through coordinating and developing Gwinnett’s role as a leading site for sports events involving youth, collegiate, amateur, and professional organizations. For more information, visit www.gwinnettsportscommission.com.New MLB commissioner Rob Manfred talks about the possibility of Pete Rose being reinstated and becoming Hall of Fame-eligible. (1:19)
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred says he has received a formal request from Pete Rose asking that his lifetime ban be lifted and that he will consider the all-time hits leader's request "on its merits."
"I want to make sure I understand all of the details of the Dowd Report and Commissioner [Bart] Giamatti's decision and the agreement that was ultimately reached," Manfred said after a meeting with Los Angeles Dodgers players in Arizona on Monday morning. "I want to hear what Pete has to say, and I'll make a decision once I've done that."
Commissioner Rob Manfred says Pete Rose has petitioned him to lift the hits leader's lifetime ban. AP Photo/Steve Ruark
Rose's previous efforts to gain leniency from commissioners Fay Vincent and Bud Selig were never considered.
Rose, 73, played from 1963 to 1986, amassing 4,256 hits, still a major league record. Three years after he retired, Rose agreed to a permanent ban from baseball amid accusations he gambled on games while playing and managing for the Cincinnati Reds.
Gaining reinstatement from the commissioner could be the first step to Rose reaching the Hall of Fame. In 1991, the Hall voted to ban players on the permanently ineligible list from induction.
Manfred, who is a member of the Hall of Fame board, said he has had no discussions with the museum about its plans regarding Rose.
"Honestly, I don't think people should read any disposition into what I'm saying about this. I see it as a really simple thing. He's made a request," Manfred said. "Part of my obligations under the major league constitution is to deal with those requests, and I'll deal with it."
Manfred took over from Selig in January after serving under him as MLB's chief operating officer and longtime negotiator in collective bargaining. Selig was a staunch opponent of allowing Rose back into the game.
Manfred, who has been making the rounds of major league spring training camps in Florida and Arizona, said the subject of Rose's standing has been among the more frequent questions he has fielded from players. Manfred addressed the Dodgers players and coaches briefly Monday morning.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he thinks there will come a time "when we all kind of move on." Mattingly said he first met Rose in a spring training game when Rose was playing for the Montreal Expos.
"I got a hit off somebody, and he said, '200 a year, kid. Just get 200 a year.' Any time I see him, I love seeing him," Mattingly said. "Obviously, as a kid, I loved Pete and the way he played. I'm not going to get into all the politics and everything that goes along with that, but I love Pete and I think Pete's a great player."1. Overview
In this tutorial, we’re going to illustrate the broad range of operations where the Spring REST Client – RestTemplate – can be used, and used well.
For the API side of all examples, we’ll be running the RESTful service from here.
2. Use GET to Retrieve Resources
2.1. Get Plain JSON
Let’s start simple and talk about GET requests – with a quick example using the getForEntity() API:
RestTemplate restTemplate = new RestTemplate(); String fooResourceUrl = "http://localhost:8080/spring-rest/foos"; ResponseEntity<String> response = restTemplate.getForEntity(fooResourceUrl + "/1", String.class); assertThat(response.getStatusCode(), equalTo(HttpStatus.OK));
Notice that we have full access to the HTTP response – so we can do things like checking the status code to make sure the operation was actually successful, or work with the actual body of the response:
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper(); JsonNode root = mapper.readTree(response.getBody()); JsonNode name = root.path("name"); assertThat(name.asText(), notNullValue());
We’re working with the response body as a standard String here – and using Jackson (and the JSON node structure that Jackson provides) to verify some details.
2.1. Retrieving POJO Instead of JSON
We can also map the response directly to a Resource DTO – for example:
public class Foo implements Serializable { private long id; private String name; // standard getters and setters }
Now – we can simply use the getForObject API in the template:
Foo foo = restTemplate.getForObject(fooResourceUrl + "/1", Foo.class); assertThat(foo.getName(), notNullValue()); assertThat(foo.getId(), is(1L));
3. Use HEAD to Retrieve Headers
Let’s now have a quick look at using HEAD before moving on to the more common methods – we’re going to be using the headForHeaders() API here:
HttpHeaders httpHeaders = restTemplate.headForHeaders(fooResourceUrl); assertTrue(httpHeaders.getContentType().includes(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON));
4. Use POST to Create a Resource
In order to create a new Resource in the API – we can make good use of the postForLocation(), postForObject() or postForEntity() APIs.
The first returns the URI of the newly created Resource while the second returns the Resource itself.
4.1. The postForObject API
ClientHttpRequestFactory requestFactory = getClientHttpRequestFactory(); RestTemplate restTemplate = new RestTemplate(requestFactory); HttpEntity<Foo> request = new HttpEntity<>(new Foo("bar")); Foo foo = restTemplate.postForObject(fooResourceUrl, request, Foo.class); assertThat(foo, notNullValue()); assertThat(foo.getName(), is("bar"));
4.2. The postForLocation API
Similarly, let’s have a look at the operation that – instead of returning the full Resource, just returns the Location of that newly created Resource:
HttpEntity<Foo> request = new HttpEntity<>(new Foo("bar")); URI location = restTemplate.postForLocation(fooResourceUrl, request); assertThat(location, notNullValue());
4.3. The exchange API
Let’s have a look at how to do a POST with the more generic exchange API:
RestTemplate restTemplate = new RestTemplate(); HttpEntity<Foo> request = new HttpEntity<>(new Foo("bar")); ResponseEntity<Foo> response = restTemplate.exchange(fooResourceUrl, HttpMethod.POST, request, Foo.class); assertThat(response.getStatusCode(), is(HttpStatus.CREATED)); Foo foo = response.getBody(); assertThat(foo, notNullValue()); assertThat(foo.getName(), is("bar"));
4.4. Submit Form Data
Next, let’s look at how to submit a form using the POST method.
First, we need to set the “Content-Type” header to application/x-www-form-urlencoded.
This makes sure that a large query string can be sent to the server, containing name/value pairs separated by ‘&‘:
HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders(); headers.setContentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED);
We can wrap the form variables into a LinkedMultiValueMap:
MultiValueMap<String, String> map= new LinkedMultiValueMap<>(); map.add("id", "1");
Next, we build the Request using an HttpEntity instance:
HttpEntity<MultiValueMap<String, String>> request = new HttpEntity<>(map, headers);
Finally, we can connect to the REST service by calling restTemplate.postForEntity() on the Endpoint: /foos/form
ResponseEntity<String> response = restTemplate.postForEntity( fooResourceUrl+"/form", request, String.class); assertThat(response.getStatusCode(), is(HttpStatus.CREATED));
5. Use OPTIONS to get Allowed Operations
Next, we’re going to have a quick look at using an OPTIONS request and exploring the allowed operations on a specific URI using this kind of request; the API is optionsForAllow:
Set<HttpMethod> optionsForAllow = restTemplate.optionsForAllow(fooResourceUrl); HttpMethod[] supportedMethods = {HttpMethod.GET, HttpMethod.POST, HttpMethod.PUT, HttpMethod.DELETE}; assertTrue(optionsForAllow.containsAll(Arrays.asList(supportedMethods)));
6. Use PUT to Update a Resource
Next, we’ll start looking at PUT – and more specifically the exchange API for this operation, because of the template.put API is pretty straightforward.
6.1. Simple PUT with exchange
We’ll start with a simple PUT operation against the API – and keep in mind that the operation isn’t returning anybody back to the client:
Foo updatedInstance = new Foo("newName"); updatedInstance.setId(createResponse.getBody().getId()); String resourceUrl = fooResourceUrl + '/' + createResponse.getBody().getId(); HttpEntity<Foo> requestUpdate = new HttpEntity<>(updatedInstance, headers); template.exchange(resourceUrl, HttpMethod.PUT, requestUpdate, Void.class);
6.2. PUT with.exchange and a Request Callback
Next, we’re going to be using a request callback to issue a PUT.
Let’s make sure we prepare the callback – where we can set all the headers we need as well as a request body:
RequestCallback requestCallback(final Foo updatedInstance) { return clientHttpRequest -> { ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper(); mapper.writeValue(clientHttpRequest.getBody(), updatedInstance); clientHttpRequest.getHeaders().add( HttpHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE, MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE); clientHttpRequest.getHeaders().add( HttpHeaders.AUTHORIZATION, "Basic " + getBase64EncodedLogPass()); }; }
Next, we create the Resource with POST request:
ResponseEntity<Foo> response = restTemplate.exchange(fooResourceUrl, HttpMethod.POST, request, Foo.class); assertThat(response.getStatusCode(), is(HttpStatus.CREATED));
And then we update the Resource:
Foo updatedInstance = new Foo("newName"); updatedInstance.setId(response.getBody().getId()); String resourceUrl =fooResourceUrl + '/' + response.getBody().getId(); restTemplate.execute( resourceUrl, HttpMethod.PUT, requestCallback(updatedInstance), clientHttpResponse -> null);
7. Use DELETE to Remove a Resource
To remove an existing Resource we’ll make short work of the delete() API:
String entityUrl = fooResourceUrl + "/" + existingResource.getId(); restTemplate.delete(entityUrl);
8. Configure Timeout
We can configure RestTemplate to time out by simply using ClientHttpRequestFactory – as follows:
RestTemplate restTemplate = new RestTemplate(getClientHttpRequestFactory()); private ClientHttpRequestFactory getClientHttpRequestFactory() { int timeout = 5000; HttpComponentsClientHttpRequestFactory clientHttpRequestFactory = new HttpComponentsClientHttpRequestFactory(); clientHttpRequestFactory.setConnectTimeout(timeout); return clientHttpRequestFactory; }
And we can use HttpClient for further configuration options – as follows:
private ClientHttpRequestFactory getClientHttpRequestFactory() { int timeout = 5000; RequestConfig config = RequestConfig.custom().setConnectTimeout(timeout).setConnectionRequestTimeout(timeout).setSocketTimeout(timeout).build(); CloseableHttpClient client = HttpClientBuilder.create().setDefaultRequestConfig(config).build(); return new HttpComponentsClientHttpRequestFactory(client); }
9. Conclusion
We went over the main HTTP Verbs, using RestTemplate to orchestrate requests using all of these.
If you want to dig into how to do authentication with the template – check out my write-up on Basic Auth with RestTemplate.
The implementation of all these examples and code snippets can be found in my GitHub project – this is a Maven-based project, so it should be easy to import and run as it is.In light of the recent border skirmishes between India and China, Indian media and political commentators have spent much time debating India’s proper response in a narrow military sense. However, there has been very little discussion with respect to the larger geopolitical question facing India, of which the recent skirmishes are only minor yet dangerous incarnation. Not since the 1950s has Indian foreign policy encountered such a critical crossroads, and for now the country is sleepwalking its way forward, with no clear vision or strategy.
In the 1950s, the Cold War was gathering steam and countries faced immense pressures to align with either the Soviets or the Americans. This choice determined their destinies for the next four decades and the after-effects still persist. India chose to be non-aligned, though eventually growing close with the Soviet Union. This choice had profound implications. While it allowed India to punch above its weight by giving it a global stature, it also provided space for Pakistan to forge a close relationship with the United States, which continues to be a thorn in the India-U.S. relationship. India had to slowly rebuild its relationship with the United States after the dissolution of the Soviet Union orphaned a dependent poor state. One could even argue that India’s domestic liberalization program was delayed by a couple of decades owing to Soviet influence. Choices have consequences.
In the present day, another fork in the road awaits India, as a new Cold War is brewing between a United States in relative decline and an ascendant China. The former will continue to be powerful for the foreseeable future despite being in decline and the latter is set to be the world’s largest economy in the near future. Both have begun posturing in anticipation of an epic struggle that will shape the contours of this century. Former U.S. President Barack Obama signaled this clearly with his pivot to Asia, which was an attempt to encircle China. On the other hand, Beijing is fast closing its military gap with the United States and has pursued policies like the Belt and Road initiative and its “String of Pearls” to dominate the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Once again, the rest of the world will have to choose sides or find a plausible alternate strategy to alignment.
India needs to have a clear approach going forward in order to avoid being overwhelmed by forces beyond its control. While it is too early to choose sides or affirm another non-aligned doctrine, it is also unwise to merely keep reacting to events instead of being proactive. There has to be a vigorous debate about the best course to pursue in the short, medium, and long term. It has to be first acknowledged that even though the present Indian course is nothing but a reflex extension of status quo, it is firmly taking India to the U.S. camp and very soon this might become irreversible. While there is nothing inherently wrong in that, the concern is whether this is a conscious choice backed up by a long-term vision or merely a path-dependent accidental trajectory due to intellectual lethargy. All indications so far seem to point to the latter. India appears to be veering towards the United States largely because Indo-China relations never really recovered after the 1962 war. However, to just accept that as a fact without evaluating the possibly changing needs of the present is strategic inertia, which could have disastrous long-term consequences.
Present realities raise many troubling questions about India’s current course. Firstly, should India continue to slow walk toward an increasingly unreliable United States? The election of an anti-globalist administration in the U.S., which has already admonished India with respect to its position on Paris Climate Accords as well as on trade issues, does raise the question of whether Washington is a dependable partner. Even closer allies of the United States like Germany are asking themselves the same question; India should not bury its head in the sand and hope for the best. The United States has grown reluctant to continue as the champion of the liberal economic world order, from which India has benefited in the last two decades. New president Donald Trump’s proposed protectionist policies are likely to greatly impact Indian businesses and professionals. Placing bets blindly on a potentially protectionist and isolationist United States is foolhardy.
India should also be wary of any close military alliance with Washington as that could potentially serve India up as a theater for a proxy war between China and the United States in future. Pakistan can be used to fight such a war on behalf of China or alongside China. In such a scenario, it is not clear how much help the United States can offer with India fighting a catastrophic two-front war against nuclear powers. Would Washington be ready to go to war with China for India and risk a nuclear war? The fact that the present U.S. administration is wobbling even on long standing alliances like NATO does not inspire much confidence.
The other obvious and synchronous question is whether India should continue to let the 1962 war and the persistent border disputes define its relationship with China. Strategic thinking should avoid being captive to history and be ready to cast aside past animosities if present interests are better served by turning a new page. India is understandably still traumatized by the humiliating defeat in the 1962 war and this clouds its view of China. However, sometimes reimagining relationships in light of new realities is important. For instance, it can be argued that the thawing of Sino-U.S. relations in the 1970s, despite historical and ideological animosity between the two countries, is a reason why China is ascendant now. Shouldn’t Indian policymakers at the least consider reimagining Indo-China relationship before jumping to the opposite side?
One of the consequences of the 1962 war and the continuing failure of Indian diplomacy is the way Pakistan manages to gain political as well as military favors from both the United States and China. With the U.S. in retreat from the world and also wary of Pakistan’s terror links, decoupling Pakistan and China will isolate the former. A strong Indo-China relationship will also counter the de-globalizing noises emerging from a tired West, which is growing fearful of the very phenomenon it used to push as a panacea for all evils. Such an alliance can also effectively defend the interests of the developing world on issues like climate change and WTO negotiations. The economic benefits of a closer alliance with China hardly need to be stated. Geographic proximity as well as the sheer size of the two markets underline the immense untapped economic potential. Thus, a mutually beneficial Indo-China partnership is imaginable and is possible. Such an alliance also has the potential to secure peace and prosperity for all of Asia.
It is, however, true that realigning relations with China will not be easy, nor is it fully in the hands of India alone. Thoughtful and difficult concessions have to be made by both sides on the border disputes. Even if India is willing, China might not be interested. Also, a compelling case can be made for closely aligning with the United States instead of China. Both are open societies and the current Trump-inspired turmoil in U.S. policies might turn out to be just a short term aberration.
The core argument here is not to advocate for choosing China over the United States or vice versa, or even for a new non-alignment. Rather it is a call to have wider and fresh deliberations on the future course of action for India in a changing strategic scenario. India’s tumultuous past with China should not preclude future possibilities and there should not be a rush to side with the United |
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Classic Review: Marvel US #20 “Showdown!” [0:59:15] Yoshi’s Blog ReviewNEW YORK (Reuters) - A naked slasher attacked his neighbors in a New York apartment building, killing one and wounding four others after shouting that the East Coast earthquake marked the end of the world, a victim’s family said on Wednesday.
Hours after the temblor shook his building in Washington Heights on Tuesday, Christian Falero, 23, stripped naked and banged on neighboring apartment doors, stabbing anyone who answered, police said.
“He was shouting, ‘The world is going to end! I want to die!’” said Edwin Rivera, 65, whose 85-year-old mother was stabbed eight times by the suspect. “He was saying the world was ending because of the quake. The guy was bugging out.”
Falero injured four people and killed Ignacio Reyes-Collazo, 81, before stabbing himself, police said. He was charged with murder and robbery.
Rivera, who lives down the hall from his mother, said he saw the naked, knife-wielding suspect through his apartment door peephole. He tried calling his mother, Isabel, but did not reach her in time.
Isabel Rivera, who was cut in her face, chest and leg, was in stable condition at Harlem Hospital, relatives said. She was scheduled for surgery on Thursday.
“My grandmother tells me that the man with the knife said the world was going to end and that he (was) ready to die,” said the elderly victim’s granddaughter Giovanna Rivera, 32, who was visiting her at the hospital.
The stabbing spree occurred more than two hours after the 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit at 1:51 p.m., rattling the U.S. East Coast and sent tremors as far as Canada.
Police said Reyes-Collazo died from stab wounds to his head and chest. His wife, Margarita Reyes-Collazo, 75, was recovering from stab wounds at a New York hospital.
Another victim, who was not identified, was hospitalized in critical condition with stab wounds to the chest and eye.
A fourth victim, a 22-year-old woman who was punched in the face outside building, was taken to Harlem Hospital in stable condition.[WCS] Dreamhack Austin - Interviews Text by TeamLiquid ESPORTS Graphics by shiroiusagi
DH Austin Interviews
Brackets and standings on Brackets and standings on Liquipedia
Dreamhack Open: Austin Interviews
TL's staff writer banjoe was in Austin for a few days and managed to catch up with some players at DreamHack. Using a similar line of questioning for each interview, he attempted a more conversational approach with less emphasis on the game itself and more on the players as people. The interviews were all recorded via smart phone, and transcribed with minor edits for clarity. All balance whine is to be taken with a grain of snarkiness.
Click a pro's photo to see their interview.
Bly
So to start things off, I know you may be frustrated with your performance, and balance in general, so if you have anything to say about balance just go ahead and get it out of the way.
I think the game is balanced, actually. I like it, there are a few changes coning soon, but I don’t think it’ll be too big of a problem. They want to change the liberator, which in the late game is kind of OP, but you don’t usually let terrans get to the late game, so overall I think the game is balanced right now. I don’t think they need any patch. Maybe they should patch the phoenix.
But if you did think that there were problems, do you feel confident in your ability to express feedback to blizzard?
Yeah sure, I do it regularly to David, directly.
You have the hotline to David Kim?
Yeah, I spam him a lot. But right now, I don’t have any problems, except maybe phoenix as I said, they’re too cost efficient. I didn’t have too many problems with protoss recently, but every time I play versus phoenix it’s so frustrating because they counter mutas, and in the meantime it’s a cost efficient unit that’s always paying off. It’s a scout, it’s drone kills, it’s everything.
So you’re pretty well known as a player that likes to have interesting strategies sometimes, and be a little bit unique in some respects. How do you practice and prepare strategies that are little bit unique compared to other people?
Usually I just play online cups, and if I play some noobs, sorry, no offense, if I play some bad players, I’m just trying to do something, I just improvise, and if it works, I check it, and I can do this and this and this, and maybe it might work, so this is how I make new strategies. I just test it on bad players, and then better players, and better, and then it works.
So you practice in that respect with online cups, how else do you practice?
Ladder, mostly ladder. I don’t play customs too much because it’s kind of hard to find guys who want to play customs instead of playing ladder because ladder is so good to play. So overall it’s mostly ladder. And online cups of course. For me it’s 50//50 about amount of games. If there is an online cup you play at least 10 games, if it’s ladder you play at least 10 games, so you play 5, 6, 8 hours.
Alright let’s shift away from the game a bit and talk about Bly as a person. What is the story of Bly becoming a progamer?
I was young, I was like 15 years old, it was 2004, I started to drive with my friends to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, to play in tournaments for Warcraft 3. I didn’t have internet at this time so we would just practice with each other and go to LANs. Then in 2 years I got internet and I just instantly started to play really good because i had passion. And 3 months after I got internet I got a team, I became a progamer, I got a salary, I drove to a few tournaments, then I started to play way better and better and better. I got WCG high rankings, and after I qualified for WCG China in 2009, it was an awesome experience. So I flew to China, I played really well. I lost in the group stage but I lost to the top 2 Chinese players, who were like Koreans in StarCraft 2. And after WarCraft 3 I switched to StarCraft 2 because I liked it and I saw that everybody was switching, and why not, I’m still young, and it worked out pretty good.
You’ve been a progamer for a while now, then. Do you see yourself keeping up with it? Three to five years from now, where do you see yourself?
I’m not going to play for even three years. I’m too old for this, I’m 27 years old. I already feel like it’s hard to play when you've played like 15,000 games. And those young guys, kids, 17, 14 years old, they’re playing pretty good and, I feel like I might have passion for a year or two maybe, but I doubt above three years.
How did you do school once you became a progamer?
I always did good. School and uni, I did perfectly. I never studied too hard, it was always easy for me. All the studying, even at school, even at uni, it was always easy.
So you completed university?
Yeah
What did you study?
Audit and accounting.
Would you imagine yourself going int-?
No.
What do you think you’ll do when you’re done with progaming then?
I didn’t decide yet but I’m thinking about studying a bit more about marketing because I see the market in e-sports, and it’s really cool, and maybe I can study it and maybe I can find my place in the world I love and where I have a passion. I would like to enjoy my job.
So you said that you practice maybe 5- 8 hours a day. What else do you do to take up the other time in the day? Do you have any interests or hobbies?
I watch series, I watch movies, play other games, spend time with my girlfriend. You have to spend some time always, so yeah.
Do you have any specific types of series or movies that you watch?
A lot of TV shows, like Game of Thrones, Person of Interest, Big Bang Theory, Flash, like half of the popular TV shows right now, Vikings, a lot.
Where are you living right now?
Ukraine, Zhytomyr [I/N: Sorry I couldn’t quite hear/understand the name], my hometown.
Have you always lived there as a progamer?
Most of the time, it was a team house a few times. We had the team house in Acer, the team house was close to Munich, one time i lived here for 3 months, one time for 6 weeks, so overall it went quite well. Oh, and one time I lived in Germany for like 6 months, I had a relationship here so yeah it was complicated.
How would you compare living in a team house to living by yourself in terms of practice?
Actually living in a team house is really hard. It’s really hard to practice so much. I could keep up with this for like a month, 15 hours just playing playing playing playing, eat, sleep, and play, repeat. One month, then my brain just explodes, it’s so hard. Because when I went home after the team house, I stopped playing for like 2 months, I didn’t play at all. I didn’t want to. I was so bored by this because it was so much. It stopped being interesting and it started to be boring. When it starts to be boring you lose passion, when you lose passion you don’t play as good.
How about a fun question now to wrap things up. If your family was kidnapped by pirates, which three progamers would you choose to rescue them and why?
iNcontroL, he’s a pro caster, but still, you know why. Rotterdam is weak, I beat him in arm wrestling so no. I don’t know, maybe...Who is strong from progaming? There is like nobody!
Everybody says sLivko
Ah ok, he’s not a progamer anymore, but yeah, sLivko for sure. iNcontroL and sLivko is a good team already, I don’t need anyone else.
(And banjoe drops the ball) Ok so let’s do some sponsor shout outs, but be creative with them.
I don’t have sponsors, so Blyonfire.
Any other shout outs then?
Thanks to my fans for cheering for me, I got so much on twitter like #blyonfire. I”m trying, I am really trying guys. I failed you this tournament. I played really bad, but I’ll try to improve at DreamHack Tours. I qualified here, I have Cham in the first round, second round is Harstem vs Jim. I will prepare for both my opponents really good and I will really try to do my best, I have really good chances, actually I am in one of my best shapes for like the past year but I couldn’t show it at this tournament, I will try to show it at Tours.
Thank you very much Bly!
PtitDrogo
I’m going to give you some time to balance whine as much as you can, to get it out of the way before the rest of the interview.
Yeah, I don’t really have too much to whine about these days. Maybe protoss is OP?
How do you feel about your ability to communicate your opinions on balance with Blizzard?
I don’t talk to them that much. I mean, if I was David Kim listening to the foreigner scene, I would have a very hard time wondering what the fuck consensus is. We all whine about different stuff. I think him listening to the Koreans is good. Don’t get me wrong—the Koreans are whiny pieces of shit. I mean, people really underestimate how much whining the Koreans do. They go “Oh, they’re perfect players, they never complain, #nowhine”. It’s completely contrary. But apparently they have a system where the KeSPA players give one report, based on an average of everyone’s opinions. I like that, and if Blizzard switches to that it might be better.
For example the cannon buff idea. Personally, I think it was one of the most retarded, out of touch ideas they could have done. It doesn’t do shit, except nerf the cool baneling drop stuff and buffing turtle mass air. It wasn’t fixing the mutalisk problem really, but nerfing all the cool stuff. This change really frustrated me, so I’m happy that they’re not going with it, and I hope David Kim listens to the Koreans more. I don’t think I have a good understanding [of the game]; for example I’m losing a lot in PvT because I’m trash at that matchup. Maybe I can give some good advice about what to change in PvZ because I’m good at that, but in general I don’t feel like I can give good advice to David, and I feel that’s the same for a lot of the players who aren’t at the top level.
Do you feel like the feedback given by pros is heard? Are you content with how that’s being handled?
That’s the thing I don’t get. I haven’t ever talked to David Kim except for during the beta of Legacy of the Void to complain about lurkers, which got nerfed. Since then, I haven’t talked to him at all. I just feel like he’s going through reddit, seeing what shit is upvoted, and saying “yeah, we’re going to look into that”. He’s not even listening to pro players, he’s listening to the community as a whole. And I don’t want to be a dick, but I almost never go on reddit, see the top rated post on balance, and say “yeah, this guy is right”. Most people have no idea what the fuck they’re talking about. It’s less true for the pros, but obviously David Kim has a tough job.
You still sound a little frustrated then?
Apparently the thing they have with the Koreans is a bit stricter, but that’s because the Korean culture is less bullshit, and also because there’s an actual organisation behind it. The feedback with foreign pros though is non-existent, so maybe they can improve that a lot. Then again, we’re shit compared to the Koreans, so maybe he won’t listen to us.
In your daily practice schedule then, how long do you spend watching Korean VODs?
It depends. I don’t study VODs all the time, but sometimes I just need a new gameplan. Then, it’s only studying VODs, until it’s time to put it all into practice. It’s kind of like learning guitar—a lot of music theory for a while, and then practice. Never the two at the same time.
So aside from VODs then, what else do you do for daily practice?
Ladder, custom games, depending on my mood. There’s nothing really special that I do. For Dreamhack, you need to be good at every matchup. For Tours, I’ll obviously have prepared some custom games vs terran [PtitDrogo is playing Bunny in the Ro.32]. But usually, you try to see where you lose most often, and then practice that area. For example, I’ve been practicing PvZ but in very specific situations, and now I’m incredibly confident in the matchup in general. PvP is a bit random, I’ll practice that on ladder, and hopefully there aren’t too many good terrans in this tournament, so my weakness in that area isn’t going to hit me too hard.
Shifting away from you as a player, let’s talk about you as a person. What’s the story of PtitDrogo turning from a young man into a progamer?
I started playing Starcraft 2 when it came out. For 4 or 5 years of high school, I played it rather casually. Sometimes I’d play five games a week, then some League of Legends, but I had a slow but steady increase into GM top 50. When I finished high school though, I thought that I wanted to do this full time because I think I can really improve. At the time, I had very little sleep all the time because school was shitty, and then I couldn’t really play and be efficient. It was very hard in that environment, especially because I was living at home, always tired. So I went into the mYinsanity gaming house not as part of the team, but as someone paying to be there, and within two months, everything that I’d expected had happened. I could practice with good players, and I just copied Lilbow, who at the time was on the way to be the best. One and a half months later, I qualified for WCS by beating purely zerg.
After that, I was off air a bit and couldn’t really do anytime. Obviously if you were following the scene hardcore you’d have seen my name, see me losing online, but especially as I failed to qualify for WCS twice in a row, it was a lot of playing and not being that motivated, so doing dumb stuff like watching anime. I don’t really do that anymore, I have more stuff to do these days. Eventually, I went to Homestory Cup, had a really good performance there. At the end of HotS, especially in PvZ, I was one of the best, and I was still one of the top Europeans. When Legacy started, I had a really hard time getting started. I went to Korea, but even my Dreamhack after Korea sucked [DH Winter].
I’m a guy who spent one year in the mYi gaming house. Behind every player that’s good now, there’s always a period where they were an up-and-comer going to tournaments all over the place, which was the case for me. After getting out of Switzerland, I was living with DnS and Lilbow for some months in Paris, and then we went to our current apartment in Poitiers. So far, it’s been a blast, and I hope to be able to do this for a while.
How do you think you’ve changed as a person since becoming a progamer
To be perfectly frank, I don’t think I’ve changed that much. In general, especially in Legacy, I think I’ve become a bit more salty towards the game. When the stakes are higher, we have a tendency to take things more personally. It’s hard for me to judge how I’ve changed—maybe you should ask Lilbow or DnS how I’ve changed over the years.
You said that back in high school, things weren’t going so well. What did you mean by that?
Usually when people say things like that, it’s because they got bullied. That wasn’t really the case for me.I had some really good friends in high school, but I really just hated every class, I was that guy who just sleeps during all the classes, I wasn’t listening to anything. Sometime, when people at school in Europe, or Sweden and Germany, say “oh yeah, I have 6 hours of school today, I got out at 2pm. But for me, I’d get up at 7, go to school at 7:30, and at minimum be back at home at 6. So it was a lot of school every day for things I didn’t care about. I wasn’t depressed, but it was still very shitty. I’d sleep very little. My life right after, when I could sleep well every night and not do shit that I didn’t want to was an incredible change. In the first month after I left school, I was so thankful to be able to play full time that it genuinely helped me improve a lot.
You said that you weren’t studying anything that you were interested in. Is there something academically that you were interested in that you just didn’t get to study, or did you just find school very boring?
I was doing engineering studies, but I wasn’t good at maths or physics; I was kind of good at explaining engineering stuff when it was just explaining how stuff works, but still academically there wasn’t a lot of stuff I liked. The only thing I liked was music; in my high school exam I nearly got a perfect score in music, and it was the only class that I looked forward to. I actually looked into it, but usually the only people studying it are those who’ve been playing an instrument since they were really young. In music theory, I wasn’t really good enough to pretend to go into it any further. I either had to become successful in a band, or be really good at music theory and play in an orchestra. I wasn’t particularly good at either, but I like music by itself so I still play violin a little. I’m pretty bad at that, but I’m quite good at guitar. I’m trying to learn violin but I don’t think I have the time. Maybe one day when I leave Starcraft music is one of the things I’ll look into, but I think it’s too competitive, so I don’t think I’ll be able to take that seriously.
Isn’t Starcraft just as competitive
Yeah, but I’ve played Starcraft for five years. Going into music would mean that I would have years of struggle to get into something, and for that you need a lot of patience. I’m not sure if I have quite that much patience for music.
You said that if eventually you stop being a progamer that would be something you consider, but where do you really see yourself three to five years from now?
I’m going to try to be a progamer for as long as possible. I feel that more than ever progamers have a lot of opportunity to transition out, but still be in the esports world. For that, you need to be outspoken and popular in the community. I’ll see if I have that status. In the international scene, probably not, but in the French scene, maybe I could still do something esports related. Right now, I’m just trying to be the best I can.
Aside from music, do you have any interests outside Starcraft?
Every hobby I have is gaming related. I play a lot of Rocket League, some Civilisation. All my friends like to play games. Outside of that, I lose a lot of my time on the internet, reading reddit. I like it; I do what I want. Sometimes what you want isn’t what’s depicted in Hollywood movies, but I still really enjoy it.
A couple fun questions now. If your family was captured by pirates, which three progamers would you pick to rescue them and why?
sLivko, cause he’s buff as fuck. NonY because he can run really fast. The last one’s a bit tricky. Who’s that really scary progamer? [Thinks] I don’t know, let’s just pick DnS and throw him to the pirates as a sacrifice.
This will go up on TeamLiquid, but feel free to smacktalk anyone in the scene as much as you want.
People usually get really salty about smacktalk in public, whereas in private everyone smacktalks usually.
Really? So what do they normally say? You don’t have to give any names.
Well, everyone is shit and can only do X thing. It’s pretty much always going to be two things. If you didn’t win anything, then you’re shit. Or if you’ve won an event, then you’re shit but you only won that event because of [insert reason]. For me, it’s really easy to shittalk me. Like, “Drogo only won when protoss was so fucking OP!”. All in all, it’s just esports. There’s no one I hate, it’s all just shittalk. The only person I would shittalk all the time is FireCake, because he’s a really evil human being. Actually, evil is the wrong word; he’s stupid and obnoxious; malicious is probably better. Evil is too hard, he’s malicious. He actually does stuff that’s really bad. All the insults, all the lies he kept telling everybody. I’m still waiting for a big apology, that’s why I’m a bit salty about FireCake. But right now, it’s good. A lot of his mistakes are in the past, but I’d still like an apology for that.
Do you have any fun stories from the time you spent in the mYi house?
At one point it was only me and Petraeus in the house. The difference between us two was so funny; it was always something I felt bad about. Petraeus would always wake up on time, watch one episode of his TV show, cook one of his vegetarian meals, then go ladder and practice for the entire day. Then, he’d cook another meal, watch another show, then go to sleep. Perfect Korean. I would have a weird schedule where I’d stay awake for 30 hours, then go to sleep for 15 hours or more. I’d wake up and eat a salami sandwich, then I’d have nothing to eat because I couldn’t cook at the time. I’d just have some nutella until I’d fall asleep.
I’d insult myself so much “How could you live like that! Come on!”. My desk was messy, his was clean, and it was funny to see the difference. To be fair, he got results before me—he went quite far in WCS. There were a lot of fun things in the mYi house, but that’s the only thing that’s in my mind at the moment.
So, you said that you don’t cook very well?
Now I do. I have to cook now, I’m decent. At the time, I was too lazy because I didn’t even bother to try. I actually eat really healthy now—I’m five months Nutella-free. I try to have a lot of rice and pasta, meat and vegetables and fruit.
Have you had any good food in Austin yet?
Yeah, this morning we went to a bar for some Cuban-Texan stuff. American food is so good, but after a while you realise there’s a lot of meat and grease. I couldn’t finish it; I guess that it’s good that I couldn’t finish it.
Thank you for doing this interview; it’s been fun to get to know you a bit more. Finally, you have to do sponsor shoutouts, but I want you to be creative instead of just reading it off your jersey.
You’re asking for a lot here! [Imitates the advert] G2A! BEST VIDEO GAME STORE EVER! Esports clothing as well, for all of your clothing needs. Pretty much everyone’s on there. And Logitech for making the most awesome keyboard. They make very good headsets, and good mice as well. Go buy their stuff.
Harstem
First up, how do you feel about the game as far as balance goes?
I think balance wise we’re in a pretty decent spot. But I think design wise there are some things that could be better. For example, PvZ I think is an extremely boring matchup the way it’s played right now. Phoenix immortal archon against lurker hydra into brood lord, or just ling bane into brood lord. I think it’s pretty bad design wise. I wish it was a little bit different, maybe some more stalker play. I think the stalker is a very fun unit, but for PvT and PvP I don’t think we have that much to complain. I think balance wise in general there is not much to complain, just some things that I think could be more fun, just lacking some options for Protoss.
How do you feel about your ability to voice that feedback, through Blizzard, and also the community’s ability to voice feedback
I think the giving feedback part is fine, but sometimes I feel like they don’t really use the feedback as well as they could or should. They seem a bit too reliant on moods in the community. So if the community is spamming “oh, Zerg is so broken” one day, we’ll really see that the team listens to it, even though maybe they shouldn’t really be listening to the community as much but more to the top KeSPA players, maybe not even to Europeans or NA top players, but really just to the top players. Of course it’s always good to have an opinion on all levels, you don’t want to completely fuck over the gold players and the platinum players, but when it comes to balance then I think it’s important to listen to the top. Design wise, I think it’s good to listen to gold, platinum, and all the lower leagues as well. And then, the European pros.
You seem to have a lot of faith in the top Korean pros to really know what they’re doing. Do you study a lot of Korean pros as you practice?
I think anyone with a brain is studying the best players. I think every good player studies the other players, even Koreans themselves look at the other Koreans to see what did they do different. So you just look at good players, obviously top Europeans, but if I get to pick between watching a game of Zest and a game of PtitDrogo, that’s not a very difficult choice to make of course, I’ll be watching Zest.
Relative to the amount that you study the game as a whole, would you say that most of it is the Koreans
Yeah
And so how much of that makes up your practice on a daily basis?
It depends a bit. If it’s really good matches then it’s more time because I’ll watch live, and otherwise I’ll watch on youtube on like 2x speed, or I’ll watch on Twitch and kind of skip through. But I mean a GSL finals I’ll be watching live, so then it’ll be like 4 hours or 3 hours or whatever it is. I like to play 6, 7 hours of pure games, and the rest is spent studying. And I think i’m one of the only players who plays quite a bit against the AI just to test build orders. I do that quite a bit, I like watching my own replays from the day before. I think in general i spend like maybe 10 to 11, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less, something like this a day on StarCraft.
Ok, so shifting away from the game, tell us the story of how you went from normal Kevin to progamer Kevin.
Pretty funny, I think I was 16 when the game came out, I came back from a holiday in Norway, and the game came out either the day before my birthday, or on my birthday, so I had the game when I came home from my holiday in Norway. I arrived on my birthday, and I had the game as well and started playing. I played Warcraft 3 before that, so I knew about the esports scene and I knew I kinda wanted to be good at StarCraft so I just played a lot. I kinda neglected school—high school that was—so my grades weren’t the best, but still good enough. I did my final exams in high school, and at the same time I already was considering taking a gap year to play StarCraft full time, and then I went to DreamHack Summer in 2012 where I beat ThorZaIN, which I guess was a pretty big achievement because he won the DreamHack before that. I got Round of 16, but in a group with Mana, Bly, Naugrim I think it was, so it was like a decent result for a European, especially because I was a complete no-name at that point. And then I got very lucky, I think, and I got picked up by Fnatic. I had a few other team offers as well actually, but I think Fnatic really helped me, sent me to a lot of events even though I don’t really think I was deserving of being sent there. But because Fnatic was such a powerhouse name, just a household name, a real powerhouse, they were able to get me in tournaments, and I got a lot of experience, and I guess that’s just kinda how it went.
What led you to consider taking a gap year for StarCraft anyways?
I really liked the game and I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to study. So it was more of trying to push the big decisions away a year, and I guess StarCraft was just going to fill that up. Yeah that gap year kind of extended itself into, four? No, I’m starting my fourth year, this is three years and seven months.
So how do you think you’ve changed as a person over that time?
I think I became more mature, naturally, it’s been 4 years since I started. I think I’m, personally, pretty much the same. I’ve always been very spontaneous, I would say I’m pretty open, easy to talk to. I don’t really get angry very fast. I don’t like to confront people, in a lot of things. I think I got a bit better with that. I’m a, I think the term is a “yes man,” so someone that would say yes to almost everything in order to avoid conflict. I think I’m getting better at saying no, not as much of a pushover anymore. I guess that’s kind of what esports helped me with. I got interested in a lot of different topics. Before I really wasn’t that interested in school, mainly in games. Now I’m not that interested in other games, I really like playing StarCraft, but I’m not that interested in playing video games in general, before I played like Dota, WarCraft 3, Smash, like 6 games at the same time. And now I’m kinda just focused on StarCraft, and I like to learn about other things. Right now I’m kind of interested in neuroscience so I read a few books about that. I got into meditation a few months back, so just a lot of different things. You have quite a bit of time to spend, and I like to spend it reading about stuff, most of the time just reading articles online. I think that’s something definitely that started in the past 2 years or something.
It seems like you’ve done a fair amount of self-reflection in your time as a progamer to realize that you’re interested in stuff like neuroscience or meditation. In that self-reflection, have you been able to identify more about yourself that would help you improve? So like strengths and weaknesses within and outside the game that helped you develop yourself?
It’s very difficult to say. Maybe my discipline got a bit better so that might help me practice, but I don’t feel like I learned some magic tricks by being able to meditate for 15 minutes a day. I don’t think I have changed much over the years now when I practice. I think I play more against the computer now and I watch my replays a bit more. But in general, I’ve always been a guy that plays a lot of custom games, I don’t really like ladder for practice. That has remained the same over the years, actually. I don’t think I changed much StarCraft wise over the years.
You said you’re pretty content with the progamer lifestyle as it is right now and you’re travelling a lot, going to a lot of tournaments and doing pretty well recently. Where do you see yourself in 3 to 5 years from now?
Three to five years? It’s sort of difficult I’ve actually been thinking a lot about it, and I’m really not that sure. I think there’s a lot of opportunities for me to stay in the esports industry, but I don't really have a big interest in video games in general. I like playing StarCraft and i like the people in StarCraft, but I feel like there’s a lot of nice people everywhere so I think staying for people is a really dumb reason to stay somewhere to pick a job or a school. I really like to study, but when I speak to old buddies from school they all say that studying is killing them, or like it’s really boring, or it would be very difficult for me to do that. And I really didn’t anticipate that I was going to be out of it for four years and I have no clue if I would go back to studying what my mindset would be toward it. I feel very motivated to study now, like I’m gonna study for fucking like 6 hours a day, but I guess after one or two weeks sometimes that doesn’t go that well anymore. I feel like it’s very difficult to predict what I’m going to do. But that’s fine, you don’t always need to have a plan. So far my life has worked out pretty well. I think in general I’m pretty lucky in life, so let’s hope that streak of luck continues.
I think the fact that you still seem pretty curious intellectually is probably good if you do want to go back to studying. Would you say that you have identified anybody as a role model? And in what ways?
Grubby. I think he is a role model competitor. He is hungry, extremely hungry for victory, when he competed. Now he’s a caster of course, but whenever I would speak with him, I actually was very close to him I must admit, so I might be a little biased, but even before I knew him he always was someone to look up to. Of course I’m Dutch, just like him, so I guess that kinda helped as well. But he was just really hungry as a competitor, he does everything to win, but he is fair. I think he’s extremely nice, he’s very kind to fans, I have nothing but positive words for him. And the way he always opened himself toward me I think has been truly magnificent, the way he treated me even when I wasn’t useful to him in any way. I don’t think I’ve ever really been very useful to him in any way, but ever since I started playing StarCraft in 2010 I think, early 2011 he basically took some kind of mentor role over me and always helped me and helped me in contract negotiations.
He helped me make decisions within StarCraft and outside of StarCraft, just as a person, what to do. And I must admit that I kinda lost contact after he switched to Heroes, out of sight out of mind? Which I’m pretty sad about, I really |
twice before calling the police on someone you love.
This article originally appeared on Free Thought Project.More than half of the 1.4 million people living in Bahrain are thought to be migrant workers, journeying from South Asia and elsewhere to the Persian Gulf state because of economic factors. Many end up in low-paid, menial work once they are there, living a very different life compared with the Bahrainis around them.
Last week, a young Bahraini named Yousif Hassan decided to show the gulf between his life and that of migrant workers, by living a "day in the life" of a low-paid convenience store worker. With the help of some friends, he filmed his day.
In his new job, Hassan, an 18-year-old media student, has to run back and forth to fetch items from a convenience store for largely Bahraini clients as they sit in their cars. He notes that when they see an Arab come out to take their order, rather than a South Asian, they suddenly become more polite. Some even ask: "Are you seriously working here?" Some wouldn't even allow him to take their orders.
Hassan also found the experience extremely frustrating, even as a Bahraini. He wondered how tough it must be for a migrant worker who doesn't really speak the language, is away from his family and works grueling 16-hour days. "We are all human beings that have the right to be respected regardless of our work, nationality and our social state," Hassan says in a voiceover.
The end result is a video with almost half a million views on YouTube that has received many positive and supportive comments from Bahraini viewers and others. "Thank you my brother for this great video," one YouTube comment reads. "Equality and a lack of arrogance are the most important values of Islam."
The plight of migrant workers in Bahrain sometimes doesn't receive quite the attention as those in the United Arab Emirates or Qatar, but similar problems exist. Hassan's video is a lighthearted but important look at the social interactions between Arabs and migrant workers, but sometimes the reality is even worse: A 2012 Human Rights Watch report found that hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in Bahrain were exploited and abused in the country, despite government reforms. A year later, the U.S. State department noted that a number of suicides among migrant workers in the country were "allegedly due at least in part to conditions of forced labor and debt bondage, including the withholding of wages and passport confiscation."A Brooklyn high school freshman took advantage of the newly lifted cellphone ban by snapping an up-skirt shot of a teacher — and the photo was shared by his classmates on Facebook, The Post has learned.
The 15-year-old student secretly took the picture with his iPhone as the newly hired teacher stood at a chalkboard at John Dewey High School in Gravesend last week, school sources said.
The freshman’s fellow students ratted out the teen to school officials Thursday after the image made the rounds on social media.
That day, the teen was sent to the principal’s office, sources said.
Police and officials from the city Department of Education were called to the school to investigate.
“It’s outrageous to have a kid take an inappropriate cellphone picture of a teacher,” a Dewey teacher said Monday. “This is something that should never happen.”
A citywide ban on cellphones on school grounds was lifted on March 2, less than two months after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan to overturn the rule.
The rules now vary by school. Students at Dewey are permitted to bring their cellphones to school as long as the devices are turned off and stowed in their backpacks or lockers throughout the day.
“A lot of teachers are concerned about the lifting of the ban,” a staffer said. “It has really traumatized the teacher.”
The teacher, hired recently to replace a Spanish instructor who died, was in school on Monday but felt violated and was worried that the photo would explode on social media.
Her peeved parents even showed up at the school, threatening to sue the city.
Dewey’s principal, Kathleen Elvin, has not addressed the issue with either teachers or students, staff sources said.
But the boy’s mother stood by her son on Monday, blaming his behavior on the teacher’s choice of attire.
“The teacher was dressed inappropriately,” she told The Post.
But students who have seen the teacher around campus said she wore appropriate clothes.
“She dresses normally,” one student said. “I mean, to me, she doesn’t stand out too much. She just looks young.”
The city Department of Education confirmed the up-skirt incident, saying that it was taking the matter seriously and that appropriate actions have been taken.
One teacher walking out of the high school Monday afternoon said it was not the cellphone policy educators need to be worried about.
“The rules are fine — some kids have bad manners,” the staffer said.Microsoft has officially begun encouraging Windows 10 users to download and install the Creators Edition patch, and that has been met with an update to the Windows Store's rules. Among other policy changes is one that went into effect almost immediately: a ban on emulators.
An affected developer was notified of the change on Tuesday when its product, Universal Emulator, was delisted from the Windows Store. While no proof of a letter or notice from Microsoft was published, the developers at NESBox linked to relevant changes in the Windows Store application rules, dated March 29, which now include this line: "Apps that emulate a game system are not allowed on any device family."
This list of general Windows Store rules, written for developers, received a massive update to its "Gaming and Xbox" requirements; these used to contain only one sentence, and it referred hopeful Windows Store game developers to the ID@Xbox program. That existing program requires pre-approval by Microsoft, but developers will soon be able to publish their games directly to both Xbox and Windows 10 marketplaces by paying a one-time fee of $100 or less as part of the Xbox Live Creators Program. (The biggest catch is that these games must run in Universal Windows Platform [UWP] mode.)
Games in the new program will be approved in a less stringent, App Store-styled manner and sectioned off in a "creators" sub-category. They will have to abide by Windows Store rules, whose new gaming-specific section has 11 subcategories. The emulation-related one is cut and dry, without any references to other possible use cases. Running open sourced, homebrew software on Xbox One using console emulators is now out of the question.
Some game makers and license holders may want to emulate consoles to port older games to Xbox One, but this rule might prohibit that path. Also, the rule's phrasing doesn't answer whether all computer and device emulation will be banned from the Windows Store. (Maybe we want to emulate AppleWorks on our Xbox One consoles. Why? Because it integrates word processing, electronic filing, and spreadsheets, duh.)
Otherwise, this formally ties a bow on the selective bans that Microsoft doled out to Xbox-compatible game console emulators last year. And just to clarify: this rule applies to "apps that are primarily gaming experiences or target Xbox One." Thus, there's no Windows 10 loophole for emulation listings within the Windows Store.
The creators of the free Universal Emulator were quick to explain how they'd deal with the delisting: "This means nothing for the [Web] browser version, it doesn't depend on'stores.'"
Bad news for cross-platform indies
The new rules also had bad news for anybody who wants to quickly publish an online multiplayer game via the Xbox Live Creators Program. Doing so will not be enough to enable cross-platform play. If you want your gamers on both Xbox One consoles and Windows 10 PCs to play with or against each other, you'll have to submit your game to the ID@Xbox program and go through its own hoops and costs.
Among other new rules this week: Windows Store now officially prohibits UWP games and apps that "pose a safety risk or result in discomfort, injury or any other harm" to users. This rules change likely stems from cases of targeted attempts to trigger epileptic seizures via Tweets and files.Duke Nukem Forever Teaser Debuts on Shacknews Hail to the king, baby.
"The release is still 'when it's done,' but you can expect more frequent media releases and we're not changing engines again and we have considerable work behind us," Broussard told Shacknews today when asked about a release date.
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The trailer features the work of longtime Duke voice actor Jon St. John as well as prolific game composers Jeremy and Julian Soule. Several captures from the video are available below.
Platforms for the game were not confirmed, but when asked today whether Xbox 360 in addition to PC is likely, Broussard's response sounded positive though not definitive. "I don't think we've stated that yet for the record but your observations are probably correct," he conceded.
First announced for PC in 1997 as a followup to the studio's classic Duke Nukem 3D, Duke Nukem Forever is known to have gone through several significant development iterations. Its last major showing was at E3 2001 with its impressive gameplay trailer; the current Duke Nukem Forever is said to share little in common with that game. For more on the history of Duke Nukem Forever, check out Nick Breckon's feature, published today.
"It's basically a restart as the tech changed and we've been on this version of the game since 2004 or so," Broussard said today. "The released media up to this point are not longer relevant other than for curiosity purposes."2013, like just about every year before it, was the year nearly all of us complained about our Internet service.
"It's too slow!" we said. "Too expensive!" And we were generally right, as a study by the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute found that US consumers pay more for slower service than counterparts in other countries.
But 2013 wasn't just more of the same—there were big developments that make 2014 worth watching, for good and bad reasons. Inspired by Google Fiber, cities are increasingly looking for ways to get their own fiber networks and give the US broadband market much-needed competition. On the potentially bad side of the equation, a legal challenge to network neutrality laws by Verizon could further degrade competition, particularly in streaming video.
As we look back at 2013 and ahead to next year, let's start with the good news. Google Fiber came to Kansas City in late 2012 and is headed to Provo, Utah, and Austin, Texas, in 2014. Google isn't about to wire up the whole country, and it's far from the first to install fiber-to-the-home networks. But the Web company's entry into the ISP market showed that competition does benefit consumers. In Austin, Google's planned network spurred AT&T to bring fiber to homes with download speeds of 300Mbps today and a gigabit next year. (One caveat: AT&T's standard service comes with ads targeted to you based on your Web history.) Even communities that didn't win the Google Fiber lottery are taking it upon themselves to lure fiber providers as an alternative to cable or DSL.
In November we described how officials in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Bryan/College Station area in Texas are laying the groundwork for fiber networks to benefit residents and make the cities more attractive to businesses. Los Angeles has a similar plan (although it may not be an entirely realistic one ).
These cities are still planning to rely on ISPs, hoping that incentives can lure a new provider or convince existing ones to build out fiber networks to rival Google's.
Some communities are taking more direct control over their fates. In Leverett, Mass., planning that began in 2011 is expected to result in the deployment next year of a fiber-to-the-home network "that will be operated by a publicly controlled Municipal Light Plant entity," a case study by Harvard researchers said. "The MLP will operate independently of Leverett’s political infrastructure, but will be required by state law to charge subscribers no more than the cost of providing service."
This month, the city of Ellensburg, Washington, approved a contract to begin construction of a publicly owned fiber network. Officials in Chattanooga, Tennessee, previously showed how a government-run fiber network can rival or surpass a private one. Residents there can purchase 100Mbps connections for $57.99 a month and gigabit connections for $69.99 a month from the community-owned electric utility. It even helped residents who subscribe to traditional ISPs—after the network launched in 2011, incumbents Comcast and AT&T finally started upgrading their services, utility officials told Ars.
Another approach is for cities to create an open network that can be used by any provider to sell Internet. The Utopia network in Utah is perhaps the best example, but its mixed track record may be holding back the open access model.
"The network is deep in debt while serving a fraction of those they intended to," Christopher Mitchell, director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, told Ars. "On the other hand, Utopia has some of the fastest Internet access in the nation and affordable rates, and people who have access have a real choice in providers. Plus it encouraged Comcast and US West [now CenturyLink] to expedite their local investments."
Lessons were learned in Utah that can help other cities looking to bypass the private market, Mitchell believes. Still, he notes that "the open access model has been set back by Utopia's experience, and Utopia is regularly cited by those who try to convince cities to just let the 'private sector' solve this—as though it were a functioning market."
In 2014, we'll find out just how the plans of Los Angeles, Louisville, Bryan/College Station, Leverett, Ellensburg, and other cities pan out. Although competition is still distressingly absent in much of America, one thing that's clear is numerous cities are no longer content to simply accept what few options ISPs give them.
Now for the bad news...
While US residents rarely have many good choices of home Internet providers, at least we have the guarantee that ISPs can't place any giant restrictions on what content we can access over the Internet.
That's because of the Federal Communication Commission's 2010 Open Internet Order, a set of network neutrality rules that forbid ISPs from blocking services or charging content providers for access to their networks.
If the law were overturned, ISPs could more easily steer customers to their own services and away from those of their rivals. They could charge companies like Netflix for the right to have their videos prioritized over other types of Internet traffic, perhaps indirectly raising the price consumers pay for streaming video and making it more difficult for startups to compete against established players who can afford the "Internet fast lane" fees.
That's what Verizon wants, as its lawsuit to overturn the network neutrality law went to court in September. A ruling is likely to come in early 2014 from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The appeals court judges were skeptical of the FCC's arguments in favor of network neutrality, giving cheer to opponents of the law and reason to worry for consumer advocates.
"We believe a DC Circuit panel majority signaled today at oral arguments that it’s inclined to pare back FCC Open Internet rules in a way that would allow cable and telco broadband providers to charge Internet edge providers for improved connections to broadband customers," the telecom analyst firm Stifel wrote after a September court proceeding. "At the same time, the panel seemed inclined to uphold the FCC’s authority to regulate broadband to some extent… Such an outcome could give telcos and cable new flexibility to strike paid-prioritization deals for offering better service to Internet edge providers (e.g., Google, Amazon, Netflix), which could also include media companies (e.g., Disney, Fox, CBS, Viacom, Time Warner Cable). Whether it would be good or bad for edge/media providers would depend on their business plans and financial wherewithal, but it could create faster 'toll' lanes that give big edge players advantages over upstarts."
ISPs can already degrade the quality of rival video services indirectly by refusing to upgrade the peering infrastructure that lets traffic pass from one network to another, or by refusing to use caching systems that improve the quality of services like Netflix and YouTube. Gutting the Open Internet Order would let ISPs take more direct aim at their rivals.
Some members of Congress are concerned about ISPs limiting consumers' choice in video services. US Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has proposed comprehensive legislation to restrict the ways ISPs can overcharge customers and degrade the quality of rival online video services, while boosting the FCC's ability to regulate.
Rockefeller wants to prevent ISPs from using data caps to discriminate against third-party services, an important goal as Comcast and other cable providers are likely to increase the use of caps in 2014, making you pay more if you use a lot of bandwidth-heavy services.
There is also reason to worry about newly sworn-in FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's approach to network neutrality. In recent comments, he seemed to accept as inevitable a future in which Netflix will have to pay ISPs to get high-quality access to consumers.
"I am a firm believer in the market," he said in response to a question after a policy speech. “I think we’re also going to see a two-sided market where Netflix might say, ‘well, I’ll pay in order to make sure that you might receive, my subscriber receives, the best possible transmission of this movie.’ I think we want to let those kinds of things evolve. We want to observe what happens from that, and we want to make decisions accordingly, but I go back to the fact that the marketplace is where these decisions ought to be made, and the functionality of a competitive marketplace dictates the degree of regulation."
Wheeler was asked by US Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to clarify what he meant in a subsequent congressional hearing. Wheeler responded:
I am strong supporter of the Open Internet rules, full stop. The rules were written in such a way as to envision opportunities for innovation and experimentation, and to impose on them a balance between protecting the open Internet, protection consumers, and stimulating innovation. New ideas under the Open Internet order, new ideas such as those you have referenced, in a wireless environment particularly, are not prohibited. But there is a clear responsibility for the Commission to make sure that what takes place does not interfere with Internet access, is not anticompetitive, and does not provide preferential treatment. And we will enforce that. We will maintain the balance between innovation and ensuring there is an open Internet.
Wheeler's reference to "a wireless environment" is potentially important, because the Open Internet Order's rules generally apply to wired Internet rather than cellular service. Still, he hasn't quite answered the question of whether Netflix could be forced to pay ISPs for better access to consumers of fixed Internet service, even though such a scenario would likely violate the FCC's rules. We've asked an FCC spokesman for a more specific answer or an interview with Wheeler, but no further clarification seems to be coming.
All of this is to say that there are many reasons to watch what happens in the US Internet market in 2014 and beyond. We don't know just how far fiber deployments will advance next year or how the regulatory questions will be resolved, but the issues we've described are sure to have a big impact on broadband prices, competition, and quality of service.Bringing her term in Congress to an end, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann creates a buzz-worthy list of things she will miss.
Her list of 16 miss-able things, posted on BuzzFeed, ranges from the serious -- "Daily reminders of our nation’s founding" -- to the snarky -- "MSNBC’s even-handed reporting" -- to the slightly bizarre -- she sings a snippet of "Thrift Shop," Mackelmore's modern paean to discount shopping.
Bachmann, who stirred up more controversy, attention, adoration and dismay than most House members in her four terms, decided not to run for a fifth term early this year. She has not said what she will do next.
Here's a selection from her BuzzFeed post, cruise on over here to see the rest:
16. Smoke-filled rooms Via Twitter: @MicheleBachmann... 8. Friendly chats with Nancy Pelosi U.S. House Office of Photography
...
6. MSNBC’s even-handed reporting
...
And here's the congresswoman singing "Thrift Shop", which was listed as "4. Speech prep with my staff":The EU is set to inflict a double humiliation on Theresa May, stripping Britain of its European agencies within weeks, while formally rejecting the prime minister’s calls for early trade talks.
The Observer has learned that EU diplomats agreed their uncompromising position at a crunch meeting on Tuesday, held to set out the union’s strategy in the talks due to start next month.
A beauty contest between member states who want the European banking and medicine agencies, currently located in London, will begin within two weeks, with selection criteria to be unveiled by the president of the European council, Donald Tusk.
The European Banking Authority and the European Medicines Agency employ about 1,000 people, many of them British, and provide a hub for businesses in the UK. It is understood that the EU’s chief negotiator hopes the agencies will know their new locations by June, although the process may take longer. Cities such as Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam and Paris are competing to take the agencies, which are regarded as among the EU’s crown jewels.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Britain failed to secure the backing of any of the 27 countries for its case that trade talks should start early in the two years of negotiations allowed by article 50 of the Lisbon treaty. The position will be announced at a Brussels summit on 29 April.
Despite a recent whistlestop tour of EU capitals by the Brexit secretary, David Davis, diplomats concluded unanimously that the European commission was right to block any talks about a future comprehensive trade deal until the UK agrees to settle its divorce bill – which some estimate could be as high as €60bn – and comes to a settlement on the rights of EU citizens.
May will have hoped that draft European council guidelines, leaked last month, which took a tough line on the negotiations, including a clause ruling out a trade deal within two years, would have been softened during consultation with the member states. However, the lack of any questioning of the European commission’s position on the timeline surprised Brussels veterans, wearily used to displays of EU disunity.
The future prosperity of the of the single market was challenged. That had an impact – it pushed people together
Senior EU sources claimed that Britain’s aggressive approach to the talks, including threats of becoming a low-tax, low-regulation state unless it was given a good deal, had backfired. “However realistic the threats were, or not, they were noticed,” one senior EU source said. “The future prosperity of the single market was challenged. That had an impact – it pushed people together.”
Another senior diplomat said initial sympathy with Britain had fallen away in many capitals, due to the approach of Theresa May’s government. “Of course, we want to protect trade with Britain, but maintaining the single market, keeping trade flowing there, is the priority, and so we will work through [the EU’s chief negotiator] Michel Barnier,” the source said. “Britain used to be pragmatic. That doesn’t seem to be the case any more, and we need to protect our interests.”
It is understood that diplomats representing the right-wing Polish government voiced concerns about the rigid timetable for the talks in the private meeting on Tuesday, suggesting there were grounds for “flexibility”.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Some have criticised Theresa May for adopting the ‘wrong tone’ on Brexit negotiations and leaving the UK at a disadvantage. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Even then the intervention fell far short of backing the UK’s position that there could be parallel negotiations on the terms of withdrawal and the future relationship. A senior EU source said: “No one questioned the phased approach.”
In a further sign of Britain’s isolation, Spain’s right of veto over any future EU-UK deal applying to Gibraltar was not discussed on Tuesday, despite the UK’s anger over the issue, EU sources said. The contentious position is set to be waved into the final EU negotiating position by consensus.
French diplomats instead spent part of the meeting warning member states to help companies on the continent prepare for a scenario in which the UK crashes out of the EU without any deal or even transitional arrangement in place for after the country leaves the bloc in 2019, leading to tariffs and customs checks.
Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, accused the government of wasting an opportunity where ministers should have been building bridges, as it approaches what have been billed as the most important negotiations the UK has ever faced.
He said: “It is deeply concerning that the prime minister is now so isolated from our EU partners. I have emphasised in parliament on a number of occasions that the tone adopted so far by the government is unlikely to get the talks off to a good start.
“The prime minister should have spent the last nine months building alliances across Europe, not pandering to those in her cabinet and her party who want to sever all links with the EU and retreat from our closest allies and most important trading partners.”
Gibraltar's future at stake in Brexit negotiations Read more
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “April is set to be a humiliating month for May. Her choice to pursue a hard Brexit is starting to hit with reality and we are starting to see the impact that is going to have on Britain.”
The European commission said earlier this month that talks about a potential trade deal would occur only once “sufficient progress” had been made on Britain’s €60bn divorce bill and the position of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens on the continent.
It is understood diplomats representing the EU27 did discuss a definition of “sufficient progress”, but ultimately left it to the leaders to decide. An EU source said it was hoped that “scoping” talks on a deal, and a transitional arrangement on access to the single market, could start in the autumn.
The EU’s negotiating position detailed in the European council’s so-called draft guidelines will also be redrafted to include mention of the European parliament’s role, in a sign that MEPs are angling to play a greater part in shaping the talks.
Tusk’s team will “fine-tune” the guidelines ahead of a final meeting of diplomats on 24 April, an EU source said. A one-day summit of leaders will take place on 29 April in Brussels to sign off on the document.EU’s post-Brexit plans foresee growing conflict
By Alex Lantier
4 March 2017
The March 1 White Paper on Europe issued by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was billed as the most significant global policy response by the executive of the European Union (EU) to Britain's unprecedented vote to leave the EU last year.
The Brexit vote last June was the first in a series of political blows dealt to the EU. Italian voters turned down a pro-EU constitutional referendum last autumn, and voters are going to the polls this spring in Dutch and French elections dominated by the rise of far-right, anti-EU parties exploiting deep popular anger at the EU's austerity policies. Should France's neo-fascist National Front (FN) take power on its anti-euro and anti-EU program, the prospect of a collapse of the EU and of its central Franco-German axis is very real.
Above all, the election of Donald Trump as US president, and his denunciation of the EU as a tool of Germany to strangle other European countries, showed that the main historic driver of attempts to unify European capitalism—US imperialism—is divided over the EU. During the election campaign, as the Obama administration and the EU stoked conflicts with Russia over Syria and Ukraine, Trump explicitly raised the possible use of nuclear weapons in Europe.
Juncker's document shows that the leaders of the EU executive, which is especially close to Berlin, have nothing to propose to address the ongoing social collapse and drive to war. While it tries to put the best possible face on the situation, it paints a devastating, deeply pessimistic picture of the EU. The five scenarios that it forecasts, in broad and vague lines, foresee escalating divisions and political disunity inside the EU's existing borders, and advocate trying to paper them over with calls for rearmament.
“For generations, Europe was always the future,” the document begins, having noted in its foreword that on March 25, EU leaders will meet in Rome to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1957 Treaty of Rome that launched attempts to integrate capitalist Europe. Today, however, the EU is unmistakably the past: as the White Paper admits, its population faces a prospect of war and relentless social decline.
The document warns of vast foreign dangers, including both “wars and terrorism in the Middle East and Africa” and the ongoing “build-up of troops on our eastern borders.” It does not add that the leading EU powers participated from within the NATO alliance in creating these dangers—through a decades-long campaign of wars for regime change in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and beyond, and since the 2014 NATO-backed putsch against a pro-Russian government in Ukraine, after which they launched a vast military build-up on Russia's borders.
In line with multi-billion-euro military spending increases by Germany, France, and beyond, as well as the recent return to the military draft in Sweden, it bluntly calls for massive rearmament and war preparations. It writes, “Europe cannot be naïve and has to take care of its own security. Being a'soft power' is no longer powerful enough when force can prevail over rules.”
This drive to war goes hand-in-hand with escalating fears of a new global economic break-down rooted in a collapse of free trade. Noting “doubts over the future of international trade and multilateralism,” the document foresees that “standing up for free and progressive trade and shaping globalisation so that it benefits all will be a growing crisis.”
One of the main causes of the growing discrediting of international capitalism and trade, the White Paper admits, is the social collapse left behind by the aftershocks of the 2008 economic crash. “Addressing the legacy of the crisis, from long-term unemployment to high levels of public and private debt in many parts of Europe, remains an urgent priority. The challenge is particularly acute for the younger generation,” it states. “For the first time since the Second World War, there is a real risk that the generation of today's young adults ends up less well-off than their parents.”
The White Paper forecasts a constant relative decline of Europe's demographic and economic weight: its share of world population is expected to pass from 25 percent in 1900 to 4 percent in 2060, and its share of the global economy from 26 percent in 2004 to under 20 percent by 2030.
The White Paper outlines five vaguely defined strategies for how the remaining 27 EU member states could try to remain together: “carrying on”, “nothing but the single market”, “those who want more do more”, “doing less more efficiently” and “doing much more together”.
The fact that “carrying on” with the agreements signed before and just after Brexit is only one of five options—and one that would not prevent the EU's unity from being “tested in the event of major disputes,” the White Paper asserts—underscores the enormous fragility of the EU. The White Paper foresees the distinct possibility that the EU might collapse into just a “single market” free-trade zone.
The press and political commentators pointed out that the appeal to continue uniting only those “who want more” would lead to the formation of a “core” EU and the de facto relegation to second class status or outright exclusion of countries who do not “want more” of the EU.
Hungarian Economy Minister Mihaly Varga explicitly denounced this possibility, warning that “strong actors” could try to sideline others, producing “social unrest” in states left behind. “There's a real threat that [those] who favour a two-speed Europe will say that those who're in the euro area are in, and those who are out of the euro are out,” he declared.
At the same time, there are increasing indications that key euro zone member states could decide to abandon the euro currency. Besides the possibility of a FN presidential victory in France, the Dutch parliament has commissioned a report evaluating the pros and cons of the euro for the Netherlands, and Italian bank Mediobanca published a report in January claiming that Italian public debt servicing would not be harmed by Italy's exit from the euro.
Amid the crisis of European capitalism, institutions built over decades, ostensibly to avert a new war between the European powers like the two world wars of the last century, are collapsing. The great contradictions of capitalism that the great Marxists explained would provoke international revolutionary struggles a century ago, at the time of World War I and the 1917 revolution—above all, between global economy and the nation state system—have returned.
Reacting to the White Paper, the press pointed to deep divisions and electoral crises in Europe, concluding that they kept Juncker from proposing anything more definite or ambitious for the EU.
With the White Paper, Le Monde wrote, Juncker is hoping to “take back control of a ship that has been navigating heavy waters for several months. The federalist is constrained and forced to become a realist.”
Mujtaba Rahman of the Eurasia Group risk consultancy said, “Juncker’s proposals aren’t going to be particularly ambitious. Germany and France disagree about what to do with the Eurozone, and states in Central and Eastern Europe want more powers to return from Brussels following Brexit. That sets clear limits on what Juncker’s plan can achieve.”
The Financial Times of London cited a report by Italian consulting firm MacroGeo, titled “Europe in the Brexit and Trump Era: Disintegration and Regrouping.”
The report, the FT wrote, “asserts that the EU in its present form is most likely going to decompose, even if pro-integrationists such as Emmanuel Macron, the French independent centrist, and Martin Schulz, the German Social Democrat, win this year’s elections. 'By the 2021-22 electoral cycle, the EU might be entering the last five years of its ‘real’ existence,' the report says.”
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.A new video posted on Donald Trump’s Instagram attacks Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy credentials by showing her—out of context—barking like a dog. The spot opens with the words “When it comes to facing our opponents,” then shows Russian president Vladimir Putin performing martial arts. “Democrats have the answer,” the video goes on, cutting to a clip of the Democratic presidential frontrunner yelping like a canine. It’s followed by another spliced clip of Putin laughing.
The video of Clinton comes from a February rally in Nevada. She was telling a story about a political radio ad from her time in Arkansas that used a barking dog to indicate when politicians were lying. She then imagined how the ad would play today with rhetoric from the GOP field, and she acted out the fact-checking barks.
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Though Trump’s ad warns that electing Clinton would make America a “punchline” on the world stage, global leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, have spoken out against the GOP frontrunner.
Contact us at [email protected]'s Note: This story originally ran on Oct. 7, 2017
In early August, Corey Seager assumed responsibility for a decision more daunting than any double-play pivot or swing choice. He was entrusted with the responsibility of picking his double play partner's nickname for MLB's Players Weekend. The mandate came from none other than Chase Utley himself.
"I said 'Corey, this really isn't my thing, so I'm going to leave it up to you to decide what they put on the back of the jersey,'" Utley said.
Seager considered going with "The Man," the moniker that broadcasting great Harry Kalas bestowed upon Utley in Philadelphia. He talked to Utley's wife, Jen, and flirted with the idea of "Daddy," in mock reference to Utley's nurturing influence with Seager and the other young Los Angeles Dodgers. Ultimately, with input from his teammates, Seager opted for "Silver Fox," so that's the designation Utley wore on the back of his uniform. He wasn't especially thrilled with the nickname. But a deal's a deal.
"At this point, I get it," Utley said. "I hear jokes pretty much on a daily basis. We'll be watching an old game from the '80s and guys will say, 'Hey Chase, are you playing in that game?' I take it in stride, but I can dish it back for sure -- especially to guys that I'm in better shape than."
It's an extensive list. Utley, who turns 39 in December, was the 13th oldest player in the majors this season and the third oldest position player behind Ichiro Suzuki and Carlos Beltran. But with the exception of a worry line or two and the gray around the temples, he doesn't look all that much different from the UCLA kid who arrived in Philadelphia at age 24 and emerged as a driving force for a World Series champion and five straight first-place finishers from 2007 through 2011.
Silver Foxes in 2017 Chase Utley was the 13th-oldest player to play in the majors this season, and the third-oldest position player. Here's the full list: Player Born Bartolo Colon 5-24-1973 Ichiro Suzuki 10-22-1973 R.A. Dickey 10-29-1974 Koji Uehara 4-3-1975 Jason Grilli 11-11-1976 Bronson Arroyo 2-24-1977 Fernando Rodney 3-18-1977 Carlos Beltran 4-24-1977 Joaquin Benoit 7-26-1977 Chad Qualls 8-17-1978 John Lackey 10-23-1978 Peter Moylan 12-2-1978 Chase Utley 12-17-1978
Utley's skills have diminished since his career peak, when he made five All-Star teams, won four Silver Slugger Awards and finished among the top 10 in NL MVP voting three times. And the numbers reflect the toll of age, time and injuries on his bat speed. Utley logged a mere 24 at-bats against left-handers this year, while slashing a modest.242/.327/.407 against righties.
But his influence in the Dodgers' clubhouse resonates in a way that statistics could never measure. It bridges races, cultures, ages and position groups and helps explain why Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was besieged with calls from teammates lobbying on Utley's behalf before the Dodgers signed him to a one-year, $2 million extension in February.
Utley's career keeps chugging along even as his old Philly running mates have drifted into retirement. Jimmy Rollins failed to make it through spring training with the |
rights. They will understand they cannot do this,” the Rev. William Barber, head of North Carolina’s NAACP, said on the eve of the trial, according to ThinkProgress. “This case will also show Congress they must fix Section 4 and reinstate Section 5 [of the Voting Rights Act] so that states like North Carolina are covered.”
The state in June did loosen its identification standards somewhat. According to Samantha Lachman of The Huffington Post, one can vote without a state-approved ID if there is a “reasonable impediment” to obtaining one. The law says a reasonable impediment could include lack of transportation or a birth certificate, disability or illness, and work or family responsibilities. If a voter provides other forms of identification, such as the last four digits of their Social Security number or a utility bill, their ballot is supposed to be counted. But that’s assuming the poll workers are up on the law.
“They’re gonna stick to the law that says you need to present a photo ID when you come to vote, so it’s going to be small print what the alternatives are and that’s a concern,” Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina, told The Huffington Post.
If poll workers show the same attention to detail that some of that state’s DMV employees do, it could be a problem. Voting rights groups have sent a complaint letter (pdf) to McCrory, suggesting that the state has violated the National Voter Registration Act. Many who have put in change-of-address forms at state DMV offices over the past couple years have found when they went to vote that the changes were not noted. The victims of the DMV’s inaction include a voting-rights worker and paralegal and the daughter of the chief justice of the state’s Supreme Court. The justice had even been present at the DMV when his daughter requested her voting address be changed. Nonetheless, she was denied the chance to vote.
The same thing happened to U.S. Army veteran Sherry Holverson, who told ThinkProgress that she is concerned about the state’s large population of veterans being particularly vulnerable to disenfranchisement due to their need to make frequent address changes. “We risk our lives for our state and our country, and then we can’t even vote?” she said. “It’s sad, because people are not even going to try to vote if they feel like they’re wasting their time. They’re doing what they’re supposed to do and then their vote isn’t counted or it becomes a big frustration. Who wants to stay in North Carolina if you can’t even get the right to vote?”
The state’s welfare offices have also been part of the problem. By federal law, offices where people can sign up for welfare, food stamps and other assistance must offer voter registration. But those doing so at such offices in North Carolina fell from 43,000 to 13,000 from 2011 to 2014, according to ThinkProgress. Voting rights groups found that at 19 offices, there weren’t even registration forms in the building.
Nor are the Republicans’ efforts limited to voting restrictions. Residents of Greensboro are suing to block a law that put the city’s voting maps in the hands of the Republican-dominated legislature. The law, pushed through the legislature in an irregular manner, will end up forcing some of the city’s black council members to face each other for re-election, taking away the mayor’s vote and preventing the city from changing its voting laws and maps. It’s the only city in the state with such restrictions.
“It’s a prime example of government overreach,” Rep. Cecil Brockman (D), whose district includes Greensboro, told ThinkProgress. “Yet these are the same people who talk about the federal government being too intrusive into state’s rights and go on about how local government should have the power because they know best.”
The effects of statewide gerrymandering since 2010 have taken what is in fact a “purple” state (given its 50/50 split between a Democratic and Republican electorate) and contributed to turning it into a “red” one in terms of election outcomes. Both houses of the state legislature are dominated by Republicans.
“Nobody can say that’s the electorate of North Carolina,” said Brockman. “So you have African-American voters right now who may have representation but don’t have any power. It’s purposeful and it’s wrong. It’s the reason North Carolina has taken such a conservative turn.”
-Steve Straehley
To Learn More:
North Carolina’s Voter Registration Errors Hit Veterans and the Poor (by Alice Ollstein, ThinkProgress)
North Carolina Just Relaxed Its Voter ID Law, But Will Voters Get The Memo? (by Samantha Lachman, Huffington Post)
Sides Dispute Basis of North Carolina Voting Laws as Trial Contesting Them Opens (by Erik Eckholm, New York Times)
This City Is Making African American Councilmembers Run Against Each Other (by Alice Ollstein, ThinkProgress)
Trial Begins For ‘The Worst Voter Suppression Law We’ve Seen Since the 1960s’ (by Alice Ollstein, ThinkProgress)
Letter to Kim Westbrook Strach, Executive Director, North Carolina State Board of Elections (Demos / Project Vote / Southern Coalition for Social Justice) (pdf)
Federal Judge Supports North Carolina Voter Restrictions (by Noel Brinkerhoff and Steve Straehley, AllGov)
North Carolina Latest State to be Sued by Justice Department Over Voter ID Law (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)May Savidge: The Woman Who Moved Her House 100 Miles and Spent Her Life Rebuilding It
When city council told May Savidge that her home would be destroyed to make way for a new road, this determined woman decided to take the construction materials and rebuild her historic home—by hand—100 miles away.
Home renovations are never as easy as they seem on HGTV. The moment you tackle one project, there’s always another, even bigger one that you won’t be able to rest until you finish. But for those of us who find ourselves constantly surrounded by paint tins, brushes, and stacks of tiles just waiting to be put into place, take heart: no matter how major your project might seem, it can’t compare with the scope of May Savidge’s DIY home makeover.
For this one-of-a-kind woman from Great Britain, it wasn’t so much a makeover as a move-over, in fact: When city council members in her town, Hertfordshire, told her that her 400-year-old home would soon be demolished to make way for a new road, she refused to see the house that she had lovingly restored be destroyed. Instead, she wrote the city council a letter: “If this little house is really in the way, I would rather move it and re-erect it than see it destroyed,” she said.
When the city council refused to bend, Savidge made good on her vow. As a bulldozer rolled over her home, she walked among the debris with a permanent marker, numbering every wooden beam and pane of glass to mark where they should go when the home was reassembled. Each night after the demolishers left, Savidge slept inside the remains of the house, despite the bitter cold.
Savidge decided to relocate her home in a coastal town 100 miles away, Wells-next-to-the-Sea in Norfolk, and sent a truck on eleven delivery runs to carry all of the building materials there. Rather than hiring a construction crew to rebuild her beautiful house, though, Savidge then 58, decided to take on the entire project by herself, sleeping in a trailer on the property while working on construction.
It was eight years before Savidge could finally move back into her home, though she continued to work on improvements every day. By the time she passed away at age 81 in 1993, “the walls were up and the roof was on, but the place was little more than a shaky shell,” Savidge’s niece, Christine Adams, said in her book, A Lifetime in the Building: The Extraordinary Story of May Savidge and the House She Moved.
Adams inherited the home upon her aunt’s death, and was surprised to find decades’ worth of memorabilia, including service medals from Savidge’s wartime nursing days, hundreds of diaries, and correspondence between Savidge and a man that she had loved, who eventually left her for another woman. The house, unfinished as it was, contained the woman’s entire life history. Adams knew she must pay tribute to her aunt by transforming the home into the beautiful mansion her aunt had worked so hard to build.
Adams soon sold much of her aunt’s memorabilia, which paid for the final touches in the home’s restoration. Now, Adams lives in the stunning home and runs it as a bed-and-breakfast, where guests can stop in to spend a night in the magnificent home that a determined woman spent her entire life creating.
See photos and read more of this remarkable story in this excerpt from A Lifetime in the Building: The Extraordinary Story of May Savidge and the House She Moved in The Daily Mail, or pre-order your copy of the book from Amazon.
Originally published May 2009
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Connor Smith
I haven't even finished the course and already my mixes have improved dramatically. Night and day difference. I haven't watched the portions with Matt as I'm using drum samples (GGD specifically), but I have no doubt it's great. Matt is always incredibly helpful and is a brilliant drummer. I thoroughly enjoy listening to Nolly, he's very articulate and his approach to audio engineering is flat out brilliant. I'm so happy I purchased this course. Before my mixes were good (balance and things of that nature) but lacked life and energy. I just wasn't getting the professional level sound I was searching for. Now, I am proud of my mixes and actually think they're getting to the point where they sound professional and don't sound like they were produced by a dude in his bedroom with about half of year of recording and audio engineering experience. The metal genre is difficult to mix as there's a lot going on and the "current metal sound" is very crisp and clear while still being very heavy and punchy. It isn't 80s dad metal where guitars are hissy and flubby. lol I am a huge Periphery fan and it's a privilege to watch Nolly share his knowledge. I really enjoy his approach as its very simple but very effective. He doesn't have insane mixing strategies, he just does what works and it's applicable to any DAW and is helpful for almost any genre of music. Brilliant course!The Grand Theft Auto series has been the poster child for What’s Wrong With Video Games for more than a decade, portraying a series of homicidal anti-heroes shooting and carjacking their way across US city stand-ins. But the games also are weirdly moral—you shoot people and the cops chase you, for example—and this includes drinking. When GTA IV protagonist Niko Bellic, an Eastern European mercenary, bellies up to a Liberty City watering hole, he gets plastered—and when he stumbles outside, the "camera" is woozy, the game controller shudders, and you have trouble keeping Niko upright. If you get behind the wheel, it’s even worse, as it’s nearly impossible to stay on the road without smashing into streetlamps, cars and pedestrians.
Bryan Le is a staff writer for The Fix. Hunter Slaton is The Fix's Rehab Review editor.Disney quietly gave us an updated story synopsis for its eagerly anticipated 2016 animated musical film, Moana. The new synopsis adds a mysterious new twist to the story and premise:
Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast South Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped — and no one today knows why. From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes ‘Moana,’ a sweeping, CG-animated adventure about a spirited teenager who sails out on a daring mission to prove herself a master wayfinder and fulfill her ancestors’ unfinished quest. During her journey, she meets the once-mighty demi-god Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), and together, they traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous fiery creatures and impossible odds.
It looks like Moana will be just as exciting, intriguing, and wonderful as we hoped it would be!
From John Musker and Ron Clements (the directors of your childhood favorites The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Treasure Planet), and starring the vocal talents of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ CGI musical Moana sails into cinemas on November 23, 2016.
What do you think of this new synopsis? Are you excited for Disney’s ‘Moana’?
Edited by: Hannah WilkesYour browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
Kotaku East East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
In Malaysia, a member of Parliament named Reezal Merican Bin Naina Merican is asking his government to ban Grand Theft Auto V due to violence. His rationale is that the United States and the United Kingdom have already banned the game. They have? Oh really?
Um, no. They have not. Courtesy of tipster Mohamad, below you can see the Malaysian TV news clip in which he apparently mentions the GTA V ban. He starts his rambly speech with Devil May Cry 3, a game that was released a million years ago, calling it anti-Islam. Yeah.
On YouTube, the politician is being criticized for being totally wrong. And a dummy.
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According to Kotaku reader Mohamad, gamers are often portrayed in a negative light in Malaysia. Politicians prefer to blame video games for the country's rising crime rate, instead of a lacking educational system and an uneven distribution of wealth.
(Buletin Utama) Permainan Video Hina Islam [Amanz@YouTube Thanks, Mohamad!]
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.
Advertisement##Introduction
Hey fellow badasses! My name is Twixled, and I am part of the professional Battleborn team Salt Command! I’ve played a lot of Battleborn, and a vast majority of it was spent playing Thorn. I have had tremendous success with her in game, running into very few issues with her gameplay and potential counter play. Unfortunately, I have not run into many Thorns on my ventures that have left a favorable impression on me. My goal here is to provide my readers with a deeper understanding of Thorn by explaining her strengths, weaknesses, and her basic inner workings. In other words, I’m not going to be demanding you play her a certain way (though I might be telling you how I play her), but I will explain her options for you.
Warning. This is kind of a wall - feel free to skip about, or stick around for the whole thing.
Thorn is your sort of obligatory archer in this MOBA-esque fps. That being said, you have to play her like she has a bow in her hands. She does not have a sniper rifle, nor does she possess a machine gun. Though, she does have sniping capabilities, I do believe they are best used when enemies are attempting to get away, or if you can easily predict their movement. Thorn wields a bow, which means she can achieve max damage at a close-ish to medium, or even a semi-long range.
Pros
High Burst Damage.
Unparalled overall mobility.
Good wave clear.
Can be incredibly hard to kill if you couple her mobility with her health regen.
Good matchup spread.
Little Counter Play
Cons
High Skill Cap (Though some might consider this a pro).
If you do get CC’d it really hurts.
Can be reliant on cool downs.
Some enemies are just really, really annoying to hit.
Thorns Abilities
Her talent is Eldrid Vitality. Like all Eldrid, Thorn caries no shield, but she does have high passive health regeneration. After playing Thorn for a while, I hate playing non-eldrid characters. The high health regen is much more favorable than a shield and little or no health regen. Shields only recharge when you don’t take damage for a while, and even though they recharge faster than thorn heals, it’s very unlikely you will get it to recharge during combat unless you have abilities that let it. A shield and low health regen will basically give you a set amount of damage you can take in a span of dying or visiting a health station, and although that can protect you from some burst, what do you do when you’re low health? You still can’t fight, because at that point, you only have your shield, which can be popped. You either have to back, or go sit at the healing station – both of which are a waste of time. With higher health regen, you can stay in fights longer, because even when you are taking damage, you are still regenerating health! It’s basically a form of damage mitigation against constant damage, however it does make you susceptible to burst because of your lower health pool. Luckily, Thorn has kickass mobility to dodge enemy abilities with, and minimize damage taken – making her health regen especially effective. Her health regen also allows her to stay in the game for extended periods of time without having to ever visit base to get full health again. Instead of backing, you can go grab shards, or do something else productive outside of battle while your health regenerates.
Thorns first ability is Volley. Volley fires 5 arrows in a horizontal line that each deal 61 (305 total damage) damage that also ricochet off of world terrain. This move is Thorns basic burst, and is very strong, especially when upgraded through the helix. When used optimally, you’ll be disgusted at how fast you can murder an enemy. No doubt, if you hit somebody point blank with these, you’ve just dealt a ton of damage. Volley has a relatively low cool down, and can be shortened further in Thorns helix. I like to focus on volley with my helix, but you should look at your team comp to decide what’s best for that game.
Blight is Thorns second ability. She summons a field of corruption for 6 seconds, which deals 60 damage to enemies in the field every.5 seconds (Really love the half second ticking). Blight is a very strong spell for controlling the map, and locking off areas. It can become extremely versatile through Thorns helix if you like, and perform all kinds of functions. It’s obviously not a burst move like volley, but it has pretty high sustained damage if you can keep your enemy in it. Does 720 total damage if your enemy sits in it for the whole 6 seconds.
Thorn’s ultimate is Wrath of the Wild. After a brief charging period, she throws an energy bomb (Insert DBZ reference here), that explodes, dealing 500 damage and knocking enemies back. Oh boy. This ultimate is probably one of the most bursty ultimates in the game, only rivaled by Benedict’s and Orendi’s. Not only does this baby do heaps of damage, but it’s a real surprise to someone when they’re at half health and they get destroyed by this thing. It’s amazing, and beautiful, and everything I could ever want in a move. Hit someone with this baby, and they’ll know because they will either be dead, or about to be dead. Use this move when it’s convenient for you. It has roughly a 60 second cooldown, so try not to get caught in situations where you need it when you don’t have it, but don’t let it just sit there unused either.
Thorns passive is Natures Curse. Enemies hit with a charged arrow are cursed for 8 seconds. Skills and charged arrows deal 25% additional damage to cursed targets. A lot of people seem really iffy about this one. Some people prefer rapid firing arrows, because if you do fully charge an arrow to curse and miss, you missed out on 2-3 rapid fire arrows that could have hit. However, if you do hit your curse and fire off your spells, you’re going to far surpass the dps of rapid firing and non-cursed abilities. The damage buff is VERY noticeable. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s quite worth it to keep fully charging arrows on a cursed target unless you want to refresh the curse. I haven’t done extensive testing, but I think the damage of spamming arrows on a cursed target, and shooting a cursed target for the 25% damage buff is about the same. Use Curse if you can get it without much trouble, but if it’s too tough to hit, feel free to say f**k it.
Mobility in Battleborn
I want to set aside a section talking about mobility, and why I think it’s the most key thing in the game. You don’t have to agree, but I want to make a case for it because I highly prefer mobility in my helix, where others prefer utility. It’s all playstyle, so do what you feel fits you, but still hear me out.
As I stated at the beginning of the guide, Battleborn is a MOBA-esque fps. All damage comes from aiming your primary weapon and abilities – no matter who you’re playing. Battleborn is also on a 3 Dimensional plane, meaning you can do more than just strafe to avoid things. You can jump, hide behind walls, come at your enemy from above where they might not see you, and even hide behind minions/allied heroes. So in this game of skill shots, survival means avoiding things. Thorn isn’t a tank, and if you’re sitting still, you’re going to die. Yes, you can skip out on Thorn’s mobility if you feel like you don’t need it, but if you’re going against a team that actually has thumbs, you’re going to want it. I’m not saying that if you don’t take her mobility, you’re doomed to sit still and die, because you can still of course jump and run around trying to kite. I’m just saying your kiting will be much less effective, but if you’re having a game where you don’t need to kite, then feel free to go for whatever else. Just keep in mind positioning is important for survival.
A lot of characters have some kind of mobility augment or ability to either initiate or make a hasty retreat – as they should. Thorn’s mobility is different though. She’s not really an initiator, so her engaging mobility is sub-par. Her retreat potential is pretty high, but that’s not what I’m getting at. She has something that only a few other character have - passive mobility. Mobility that can be taken advantage of anywhere on the map and at any time you please for whatever purpose, and it has no real cooldown. Characters like Mellka and Caldarius have their lunges that can be used as an initiate or retreat, but those also take up a skill slot. You could argue that those dashes still are passive mobility, but the difference is most of Thorn’s mobility through her helix is innate – no action skill required. You can dodge all kinds of abilities and take a bunch of shortcuts on the map without always using an ability, which to me sounds tremendously valuable.
Mobility is really, really good – I promise you. It often lets you take fights that you don’t even want, and turn them to your advantage. Even if you don’t take her mobility skills, just please don’t stand still. It’s not required, and it’s not necessary every game, but neither are her utility skills. Keep in mind every time you die, you probably could have survived if you had the mobility to reposition yourself.
Blight Vs. Volley
Before we get into Thorn’s helix, I think we should talk about which ability you might want to focus on for your helix and why. Blight is a ground AoE abilitly with a stationary dot, where enemies are only affected by it when they stand in it. Volley is an AoE burst ability, that can also do DoT damage if you pair it with Kreshek’s Revenge and Hexsanguination. It’s no secret that Blight has a higher dps potential, but neither is it a secret that Blight can easily be avoided with simple movement, and yes, enemies can still get out of it when slowed. Volley only requires the person using it to land hits, which can be easy at times and not so at other times.
When playing on a map with a lot of choke points, Blight certainly can be invaluable. It’ll damage enemies, and also prevent enemy heroes from going whatever way because they don’t want to step foot in it. It doesn’t matter how much you build Blight, enemies can’t tell the difference. They’re going to be scared of it no matter what Helix you’ve built, and they’ll avoid it. If you’re playing against enemies that are being pretty dumb, and will stand in your Blight, then by all means, focus heavily on Blight, and you can watch your enemies burn alive. The only sure way to catch an enemy in your Blight for a high duration is to pressure them into a retreat, and put it in their path.
A lot of people really favor upgrading Blight because of wave clear. I’m here to argue that Blight is already great on its own for wave clearing, and by upgrading Blight for wave clear, you’re losing potential kill power from Volley. Minions will already sit in your Blight, as if they enjoy the burning sensation.
With Blight, you’re relying on your enemy’s stupidity to sit in it and take damage. The sad part is, this works roughly 90% of the time – people will sit in Blight or follow you around in it without realizing that they’re taking damage. Smart enemies will take the shortest route possible out, even if it means retreating. Volley gives you more control over your damage, putting all of it on your ability to hit a skill shot.
Thorns Helix
Level 1
Swampfoot Vs. Piercing Volley
Swampfoot slows enemies damaged by blight, and is Thorn’s only slow. I think it’s best used when on a team where your friends can follow up. It’s still good solo, but it’s all up to you to take advantage of it. It really shines when there are choke points like there are on Echelon – like most Blight builds. This helix option is also good at stopping minions that have nothing else to stop them.
Piercing Volley makes your Volley arrows go through enemies. Keep in mind that your volley arrows also ricochet, meaning if lined up correctly, *you can hit a target multiple times with your volley arrows. I have a clip of this I might provide later where I hit an Orendi with Volley and the ricochet came back to get the kill. Piercing Volley also helps Thorns wave clear. With Volley, you can aim at the smaller minions feet to get a double hit as the arrows ricochet inside of them, and the arrows will bounce up to hit the big minion. This will clear most of the wave without you having to use Blight.
Piercing Volley really does add to waveclear and reduce your dependence on Blight, so if Blight is on cooldown, you can still do something about minions charging your objective. Keep in mind, an enemy can get out of Blight, but only you can miss a Volley. Piercing Volley will pair really well with whatever you choose at level 4. Both Kreshek’s Judgement and Nockout go really well with Piercing Volley and wave clear. While Focused Volley will pair with Piercing Volley for different reasons like collaterals and more deadly double hits. Swampfoot will be really nice later when paired with Distant Blight. I think both of these options are fun to use, but for competitive purposes, Swampfoot outclasses Piercing Volley.
Level 2
Cursed Earth Vs. Fell Wind… and Blight Brawler
This one is definitely a playstyle choice.
Cursed Earth makes Thorns arrows apply curse if Thorn is standing in her blight. I feel like this option is pretty poor, because the only viable time I can think to use this is when enemies are out of range of blight. But at that point, you’d be charging shots anyways. I think relying on skills to apply curse are a waste because you’re missing out on so,e damage. The whole point of cursing an enemy is to destroy them with your abilities afterwards. You can still use this ability if you play at a closer range in the scenario if your opponent is running away and you want to curse them for the DoT for the kill. I don’t like being confined to my Blight as Thorn, and I never actually do take this option.
Fell Wind gives Thorn a 30% move speed buff for a short time (3 seconds?) whenever she touches blight. This is the start of Thorns crazy mobility, and could even be her best mobility choice - and you get it super early at level 2. Thorn already has what might be the fastest base move speed, and 30% is a lot. With this baby, you’ll zoom around the map to wherever you want, in combat, out of combat, whatever. Thorn is really hard to catch with this helix.
Blight Brawler lets your melee attacks apply curse to enemies when you’re standing in Blight. This choice is pretty bad and sort of unviable. Even if you play devil’s advocate here, you’ll be sad. Why would you want to knock enemies out of your blight to Curse them, where they no longer take damage from your blight? Maybe if it made your melee attacks for the next few seconds apply Curse, it could work.
I always take Fell Wind here because I tend to play super aggressive. It also makes shard collecting less of a chore when you’re going sonic speed.
Level 3
Draw Strength Vs. Burst Propulsion
Draw Strength is a very interesting helix option, letting you shoot through enemies. It’s alright, and no it does not affect volley. On the other hand, we have Burst Propulsion. This augments your melee, pushing you away from whatever direction you melee, including up and down. Why would you want to melee yourself down? I’ll get to that later. Point is, this is basically a second jump. Meaning on maps like Paradise with lots of terrain that you would normally have to go around, you can now just jump on top of. At this point, you can basically access anywhere a Benedict can. This is a really solid option if you want some extra mobility or if you’re getting close in a lot by enemy melee, you can knock them away while also putting more distance between you by moving yourself. If the enemy has knock ups, you can escape by using Burst Propulsion.
Draw Strength really has the same strong points as Piercing Volley. You can shoot through body blockers, and even hit two enemies at once, but there is no ricochet – so no crazy double hit burst. I feel like you can be more aggressive with Burst Propulsion because you have a whole other plane of mobility to work with, getting you out of sticky situations you might not have been able to get out of before. You can still be aggressive with Draw Strength, but you just can’t get yourself in as tight of a spot. Though, you might not even have to. Burst Propulsion can also give you some mad, badass jukes because you can change direction at any point, even in the air. You can always reach new heights (literally) by jumping onto/over ledges that you couldn’t before. The choice really should depend on the enemy team and how much CC they have - and how much mobility you feel like you want. I typically default to Burst Propulsion unless I see a good time to take Draw Strength, like against an enemy Toby.
Level 4
Kreshek’s Judgement Vs. Nockout Vs. Focused Volley
Kreshek’s Judgement makes your volley arrows apply curse. I’m not going to say this is one is bad, because if you want to curse multiple targets, it can certainly by viable. But like I said earlier about Cursed Earth, I feel like using an ability to curse an enemy is a waste. Especially if that ability is your burst. However, if you pair this with Hexsanguination at level 5, you can get some solid kills with the bleed.
Nockout increases your arrow volley from 5 arrows to 7. Increasing your damage by 122 if you hit all arrows when they each deal 61 damage. However, it’s also harder to hit all of your arrows on a single target because they are fired in a wider arc. Still a dps increase, and overall a good choice if you also want some waveclear. It’s not too hard to go point blank on big targets like Isic, Montana, Boldur, Toby… Miko’s head.
Focused Volley gives you 3 arrows that each deal +66% increased damage. Meaning each arrow does 101.26 damage, putting your volley damage at 304 (303.78 if you don’t like to round)– just 1 damage point under the 5 arrow volley. However, these arrows are shot in really no arc and just go straight. Even though it’s not a number increase, you can still do some big damage because it’s easy to hit all of them. To do this kind of damage with a 5 or 7 volley, you have to hit 5 arrows. The 7 arrow volley is only a dps increase if you hit 6 or more of the arrows. Meaning, theoretically – Focused Volley will give you the most damage in most situations. However, you do have to be precise with it, as it’s not as easy to hit as the 5 and 7 arc volleys.
I really like all of these choices, but it turns out that Kreshek’s Judgement’paired with Hexsanguination will end up doing the most damage a majority of the time. Have a look at the table in the next section if you want to see the numbers.
Level 5
Hextension Vs. Hexsanguination Vs. Fiendish Curse
Read on or skip to the very end for the TLDR answer.
Hextension increases Curse bonus damage by 10%, and Curse’s duration by 4 seconds, making abilities and charge attacks have a 35% increase in damage, and Curse will last for 12 seconds instead of 8.
Hexsanguination gives Curse a 12 damage per second DoT effect, doing 96 damage total.
Fiendish Curse gives you 100% shield penetration on cursed targets. The only way I can see this helix option working is if you use something like Cursed Earth to apply curse. Most of the time, if you fully charge an arrow to curse an enemy, you’ll alr take out their shield with the arrow. Making the shield penetration useless. This one isn’t good on its own, but can be good when paired with another Helix.
Uh Oh. Math.
Let’s do some math really quick with the bleeding volley combo and other ideas. So again, volley does 305 damage if each arrow is 61 damage and you hit 5 arrows. A 7 arrow volley does 427, and a 3 arrow volley does 304. If you apply a regular curse, a 5 arrow volley will do roughly 381 damage, a 7 arrow volley 534, and a 3 arrow volley 380. So now let’s look at a Hextension curse. 5 arrow volley will do 412, 7 arrow 576, and 3 arrow 411. Not bad.
Let’s take the idea of Kreshek’s Judgement with Hexsanguination. Your regular volley with hitting all 5 arrows is going to do 401 damage without curse and 477 with a curse. But let’s say you’re a mortal human being who doesn’t always hit all of your volley arrows. Hexsanguination will basically add an arrow and about a half to your Kreshek’s Judgement volley to whatever number of arrows you actually hit. So baseline, it is a dps increase over Nockout, unless all 7 arrows are hit. If you landed 3 arrows with Nockout, you would only need to hit 2 bleeding arrows to do more damage. I’m going to assume any situation where you can hit 6 or less Nockout arrows, you can hit that same number (except 6) in bleeding arrows and do more damage. Instead of a bleeding arrow being worth 1 and a half more than a Nockout arrow, it’s worth about.4 less than a Focused Volley arrow.
If you can hit all 3 Focused Volley arrows more reliably than 3 bleeding arrows, then you will have a small dps increase. If you can hit all 7 Nockout arrows reliably, you have a decent dps increase over bleeding arrows and Focused Volley arrows.
Bleeding arrows out damage Focused Volley arrows at 4 arrows hit, and out damage Nockout unless 7 arrows are hit.
Now, let’s bring in Hextension.
We said earlier that a bleeding volley does 401 max damage. With a curse, that goes to 477 damage. The other 2 volley options, with the Hextenstion curse buff do 567 damage for Nockout and 410 for Focused Volley. A full bleeding volley with regular curse will do more than a Focused Volley that has a buffed curse. While a full Nockout volley will do more damage than all other options with a buffed curse. Where does bleeding volley out damage Nockout with buffed curse? At 5 arrows. A 5 arrow Nockout with buffed curse will do 412 damage, and a 6 arrow Nockout with buffed curse will do 494 damage. So with Hextension/Nockout, you have to hit 6 or more arrows to out damage a cursed bleeding volley.
Edit: The only math I didn’t really do here is potential Blight damage you might miss out on.
Here’s the info in non-paragraph form.
Base Volley Bleeding Focused Nockout(6 hit) Nockout(7 hit) No Curse 305 401 304 366 427 Base Curse 381 477 380 458 533 Hextension 412 (X) 411 494 576
Now let’s talk about Blight damage while taking Hexsanguination. I’m not going to do the math here because damage done with Blight is all theoretical, and I think I can rationalize things a bit. So most of your blight usage will probably be used on minions, where your curse likely won’t apply except for maybe on the Shepard. Well, with Kreshek’s Judgement, you’ll get more out of your blight on those pesky minions because you’ll curse multiple of them in a shorter time than manually cursing any one of them. But let’s talk about |
. Three civilians were wounded by shelling near Al-Mariamiyah church in Bab Touma district. One civilian was wounded by the shelling of Al-Khader district. Rebels also reportedly shelled Al-Urwar neighborhood and Jaramana, causing only material damage.
Free Syrian Army’s Jaysh Tahrir al-Sham released a video statement today about several brigades and subgroups of Quwwat al-Shahid Ahmad al-Abdo (Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo), Jaysh Usud al-Sharqiya (Lions of the East Army), and Saraya Ahl al-Sham (Company of the People of the Levant) joining their ranks in Eastern Qalamoun. It is important to note that the aforementioned groups did not fully join Jaysh Tahrir al-Sham, only parts of the groups joined.
Last night, Israel Defense Forces fired several surface-to-surface missiles on a military base built by Iran in the vicinity of Al-Kaswah, and on the 91st Brigade (Al-Liwa 91) near Kanaker. Syrian Arab News Agency reported that the Syrian Air Defense destroyed two missiles fired by the Israel.
Rebels from the Jabal al-Sheikh operations room reportedly recaptured three points on Tell al-Baradiyah from the Syrian Arab Army. The recapture was reported by the member of the media office in the operations room, Abu al-Yaman. According to Abu al-Yaman, a dozens of SAA ‘s elements were killed and wounded, while the rebels lost only one fighter. However, several sources reported that the SAA still has full control of Tell al-Baradiyah, so the hill should be considered as disputed, until either side provides evidence of the control.
Approximate situation in Beit Jinn pocket (The disputed Tell al-Baradiyah is north of Mughr al-Meer). Source: Global Event Map
Daraa:
Unknown individuals planted an improvised explosive device at the outskirts of Ibta, which exploded as a group of civilians was passing by. One civilian was killed and three wounded by the explosion. The wounded individuals were transported to a hospital in Dael.
Quneitra:
Improvised explosive device targeted several leaders of the Free Syrian Army’s National Front for the Liberation of Syria at Ayn Zewan bridge, near the village of Suissa. According to the general coordinator of the front, Abu Mohammed al-Akhtabuta, no one was injured in the explosion, which occurred about 150 meters (164 yards) from the meeting place of the 25 leaders in the front from Daraa, Damascus and Quneitra governorates.
Iraq
Kirkuk:
Islamic State’s improvised explosive device reportedly killed four Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) fighters and injured another one, in the village of Al-Shajara.
Baghdad:
Iraqi Security Forces conducted operations in Al-Khadra area, south of Baghdad. Security forces seized eight improvised explosive devices, four mortar shells, and an assault rifle.
Iraqi Security Forces also conducted operations in Al-Sawr and Al-Janabiyin areas, south of Baghdad. Security forces found two improvised explosive devices, three RPG launchers, and a Strela missile.
Afghanistan
Faryab Province:
Afghan National Security Forces killed six fighters of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban) in Pashtun Kot district.
Lagham Province:
Afghan National Security Forces arrested three fighters of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, including two fighters from Pakistan, in Alishing district.
Nangarhar Province:
Afghan National Security Forces conducted operations against the Islamic State in Khogyani district, killing nine and wounding 12 IS’ fighters.
Ghazni Province:
Afghan National Security Forces conducted large operations against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Giro and Gelan districts. Security forces reportedly killed 26 and wounded 36 IEA fighters, as well as destroyed a vehicle and several weapons deports.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan reported death of four and injury of six ANP ‘s elements due to a confrontation in Giro district, possibly related to the ANSF ‘s operations in the district. IEA also stated that two of its fighters were wounded.
Paktia Province:
Afghan National Security Forces’ operations in Dand Aw Patan district, killed five IEA fighters and destroyed a vehicle.
Khost Province:
Afghan National Security Forces killed one and wounded one IEA fighter in Sabari district.
Farah Province:
Afghan National Army and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan clashed in Bala Buluk district for a few days. According to the ANA ‘s sources, 12 IEA fighters were killed and 21 wounded in clashes, as well as six improvised explosive devices defused. IEA ‘s sources reported death of four ANA ‘s elements, injury of additional 11 and destruction of two tanks. IEA ‘s casualty numbers for their own fighters during the clashes are three wounded and one killed.
Urozgan Province:
Afghan National Security Forces conducted operations against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the province, killing four fighters and destroying a weapons cache.
Helmand Province:
Afghan National Security Forces’ operations in Musa Qala district killed five fighters of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and destroyed a vehicle.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s improvised explosive device killed Afghan National Police’s element in Nawzad district.
Kandahar Province:
Afghan National Army’s soldier surrendered himself to the fighters of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Shorabak district.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan attacked Afghan National Army’s foot patrol in Shorabak district, reportedly killing two ANA ‘s elements.
CJTF-OIR :
CJTF-OIR announced a change in their publishing policy. Now two strikes reports will be published each week, on Mondays and Fridays.
Amaq Agency:
Other:
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AdvertisementsWASHINGTON (AP) — Florida’s attorney general personally solicited a political contribution from Donald Trump around the same time her office deliberated joining an investigation of alleged fraud at Trump University and its affiliates
The new disclosure from Attorney General Pam Bondi’s spokesman to The Associated Press on Monday provides additional details around the unusual circumstances of Trump’s $25,000 donation to Bondi. After the money came in, Bondi’s office nixed suing Trump.
The money came from a Trump family foundation in apparent violation of rules surrounding political activities by charities. A political group backing Bondi’s re-election, called And Justice for All, reported receiving the check Sept. 17, 2013 — four days after Bondi publicly announced she was considering joining a New York state probe of Trump University’s activities.
Marc Reichelderfer, a political consultant who worked for Bondi’s re-election effort and fielded questions on the donation at her request, told AP that Bondi spoke with Trump “several weeks” before her office publicly announced it was deliberating whether to join a multi-state lawsuit proposed by New York’s Democratic attorney general. Reichelfelder said Bondi was unaware of dozens of consumer complaints received by her office about Trump University filed before she requested the donation.
“The process took at least several weeks, from the time they spoke to the time they received the contribution,” Reichelderfer told AP.
The timing of the donation by Trump is notable because the now presumptive Republican presidential nominee has said he expected and received favors from politicians to whom he gave money.
“When I want something I get it,” the presumptive Republican nominee said at an Iowa rally in January. “When I call, they kiss my ass. It’s true.”
In addition to the money given by his foundation, Donald Trump himself has donated $253,500 since 2002 in Florida, most of it going to Republican candidates, the state party or political committees affiliated with GOP officials. His daughter, Ivanka Trump, also gave a $500 check to Bondi a week before her father’s money was reported as being received, as well as another $25,000 to the Republican Party of Florida the following year.
The AP reviewed thousands of pages of records related to consumer complaints about Trump University and its affiliates filed with Bondi’s office. The documents — previously obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, which first reported Trump’s donation to Bondi — reveal a new reservoir of unhappy Trump University customers, despite recent claims from the presumptive GOP presidential nominee that the students of his real estate seminar company were overwhelmingly satisfied.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and a federal class action civil lawsuit in California allege that Trump University — which was largely owned by Trump himself — defrauded consumers by as much as $35,000 each with promises of a real estate investing education that they either did not receive or found to be worthless.
All told, more than 60 people requested help from the Florida attorney general in obtaining refunds from Trump University and affiliates. Many alleged that they paid money for training materials and personalized instruction which were never delivered.
“I was laid off work for the first time in my life and really need this money to support my family,” wrote one of the many people seeking help, adding that he had been promised a refund but never received it. “$1,400 is so much money for my family.”
The documents complicate claims by Bondi’s office that she received only one consumer complaint about Trump University at the time that she decided not to join the New York investigation.
Bondi’s office said that its statement about receiving only a single complaint was accurate at the time because most of the complaints dealt with the Trump Institute, a separate corporate entity from Trump University. The Trump Institute was licensed by Trump to run his seminars, however, with Trump keeping a share of the profits. In internal emails, Bondi’s own staff appeared to lump Trump University and the Trump Institute together — as New York’s lawsuit has done.
By choosing not to pursue Trump in court, Bondi left the unhappy students on their own to try to get refunds from the celebrity businessman.A few weeks ago we dealt with the question if it's possible to mix client-side Angular 2 components with static content rendered on the server-side.
The idea was to have different interactive Angular components like for example a chat or a search widget mixed together with static content rendered by the server. Therefore we came up with two different approaches. In this blog post we want to summarize our insights which we got from our rough proof-of-concept, so that people that are already a bit familiar with Angular can benefit from it. The problem is that Angular is template-based and you cannot mix it with server-side rendered html for example coming from a CMS like Wordpress. So we needed to find a solution to break out of the restrictions of the template to mix it with the static html content.
Different approaches
So our requirements for the proof-of-concept are:
We have static html content which is delivered by the server. We have Angular components that should be able to communicate with each other, but be placed in different locations floating around the static content on the page.
First approach: Multiple Angular apps
Our first idea was to use multiple Angular apps on one page, which of course leads to the question, if it’s even possible to bootstrap them. Therefore we built a prototype based on the Angular Quickstart setup with SystemJS, a module loader tool. The code and a detailed guide (step-by-step) can be found on github. For the communication between those apps we built a shared service that can be injected in both apps. Theoretically this sounds like a good approach: With multiple apps you could nicely separate their development. In this case even different teams can provide their own apps. But in practice there are huge pitfalls – and that is the reason why we dismissed the idea and came up with a second different approach. The downsides were:
The two apps don’t share the same Angular context, this means for example you cannot use (inject) services/pipes from each other. So to establish a communication you have to create a shared service in the global namespace between these two apps.
in the global namespace between these two apps. Another downside is that Angular apps use many unique resources in the browser like cookies, title and location. This is also stated in the Angular code. Consequently this possibly results in conflicts if both apps manipulate the same resource.
in the browser like cookies, title and location. This is also stated in the Angular code. Consequently this possibly results in conflicts if both apps manipulate the same resource. The Angular version and versions of the dependencies used by the apps have to be identical. Because the dependencies are loaded in the same browser window context, different versions of the same dependency could cause conflicts. This limits an independent development.
Second approach: One Angular app
Because we wanted to address these major downsides, we moved over to just bootstrapping multiple components managed by one Angular app. Because these components stay together in the same app context it’s possible to use the standard capabilities of Angular like dependency injection or modularization. So the components neither require a shared communication service, nor do they have to share the unique resources of the Angular framework with other apps. Moreover the modules of this one app could be developed almost independently.
The html delivered by a server then only needs to contain specific tags that should be replaced by Angular components, as in the standard bootstrapping process of Angular – just with multiple components.
In order to bootstrap the Angular components we can use the regular NgModule bootstrap property, but we want to bootstrap only the components that really exist on the page. Considering that, we use the lifecycle-hook ngDoBootstrap to overwrite the default bootstrap behavior. With the selector of the component we query the DOM to check if the component should be displayed on the page (see line 4). If the selector matches we bootstrap the corresponding component (see line 5).
Conditional bootstrapping the components that exist on a page ngDoBootstrap(appRef: ApplicationRef) { [AppComponent, AppTwoComponent].forEach((componentDef: Type<{}>) => { const factory = this.resolver.resolveComponentFactory(componentDef); if (document.querySelector(factory.selector)) { appRef.bootstrap(factory); } }); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ngDoBootstrap ( appRef : ApplicationRef ) { [ AppComponent, AppTwoComponent ]. forEach ( ( componentDef : Type < { } > ) = > { const factory = this. resolver. resolveComponentFactory ( componentDef ) ; if ( document. querySelector ( factory. selector ) ) { appRef. bootstrap ( factory ) ; } } ) ; }
A drawback is that it’s currently not possible to pass input values to the top-level components that should be boostraped, so external data needs either be provided by the window object or by using ElementRef. Like shown in the following snippet:
External data as input for the top-level component <app-lazy-widget data-initial-value="Initial value!"...>...</app-lazy-widget>... constructor(private messageService: LazyService, public elementRef: ElementRef) { this.message = this.elementRef.nativeElement.getAttribute("data-initial-value"); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 < app - lazy - widget data - initial - value = "Initial value!"... >... < / app - lazy - widget >... constructor ( private messageService : LazyService, public elementRef : ElementRef ) { this. message = this. elementRef. nativeElement. getAttribute ( "data-initial-value" ) ; }
This approach should be sufficient for the most use cases, but we wanted to try if it’s possible to lazy load some of the components to decrease the bundle size.
Lazy loading
With the code above we deliver all components in one bundle. For smaller or fewer components the load times should be fine. But in case we want to deliver complex nested components, lazy loading of these parts becomes more and more relevant. Therefore we can improve this by delivering just the components that are really used on the page, so the initial load times are shorter.
We are using Angular CLI which uses Webpack under the hood. Webpack supports lazy loading of different modules. But for now Angular CLI does not provide an add-on functionality to customize the Webpack configuration. Therefore we use the Routes definition as a workaround to let Webpack generate the lazily loaded chunks (see line 1). This is just a pragmatic way for our proof-of-concept and could be easily done in an adequately configured Webpack build. As the bundling shifts common modules to a separate file (vendor.ts) which can be cached by the browser, only the first page load uses a little more bandwidth. The lazy components can then be fetched with a relatively small overhead.
Routes definition for lazy loaded modules const routes: Routes = [{ loadChildren: "./lazy/lazy.module" }, { loadChildren: "./lazy-two/lazy-two.module" }] @NgModule({ imports: [... RouterModule.forChild(routes) ] }) export class AppModule {} 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 const routes : Routes = [ { loadChildren : "./lazy/lazy.module" }, { loadChildren : "./lazy-two/lazy-two.module" } ] @ NgModule ( { imports : [... RouterModule. forChild ( routes ) ] } ) export class AppModule { }
In Angular the Router allows us to implement a lazy loading mechanism. But instead of only loading one module, we want to be able to load multiple modules at a time. Therefore we utilized the SystemJsNgModuleLoader which is used by the Router under the hood. We use the load method of this module in the ngDoBootstrap function of AppModule to load the modules on demand (see line 12). The SystemJsNgModuleLoader uses System.import (which can be handled by Webpack) to load and compile modules.
Lazy load respective module and bootstrap for each the specified component constructor(private injector: Injector, private moduleLoader: SystemJsNgModuleLoader) { } ngDoBootstrap(appRef: ApplicationRef) { // search for widgets on the page const widgets = document.querySelectorAll('[data-module-path]'); // for all found widgets get the data-module-path for (const i in widgets) { if (widgets.hasOwnProperty(i)) { const modulePath = widgets[i].getAttribute('data-module-path'); // if the data-module-path exists, lazy load it with the SystemJsNgModuleLoader if (modulePath) { this.moduleLoader.load(modulePath).then((moduleFactory: NgModuleFactory<any>) => { // when the module is successfully loaded, create the module factory and get all the components specified by this module const ngModuleRef = moduleFactory.create(this.injector); ngModuleRef.injector.get('components').forEach((components: Type<{}>[]) => { // for each specified component a component factory is created components.forEach((component: Type<{}>) => { const compFactory = ngModuleRef.componentFactoryResolver.resolveComponentFactory(component); // if the components selector is found on the page it is bootstrapped at this point if (document.querySelector(compFactory.selector)) { appRef.bootstrap(compFactory); } }); }); }); } } } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 constructor ( private injector : Injector, private moduleLoader : SystemJsNgModuleLoader ) { } ngDoBootstrap ( appRef : ApplicationRef ) { // search for widgets on the page const widgets = document. querySelectorAll ( '[data-module-path]' ) ; // for all found widgets get the data-module-path for ( const i in widgets ) { if ( widgets. hasOwnProperty ( i ) ) { const modulePath = widgets [ i ]. getAttribute ( 'data-module-path' ) ; // if the data-module-path exists, lazy load it with the SystemJsNgModuleLoader if ( modulePath ) { this. moduleLoader. load ( modulePath ). then ( ( moduleFactory : NgModuleFactory < any > ) = > { // when the module is successfully loaded, create the module factory and get all the components specified by this module const ngModuleRef = moduleFactory. create ( this. injector ) ; ngModuleRef. injector. get ( 'components' ). forEach ( ( components : Type < { } > [ ] ) = > { // for each specified component a component factory is created components. forEach ( ( component : Type < { } > ) = > { const compFactory = ngModuleRef. componentFactoryResolver. resolveComponentFactory ( component ) ; // if the components selector is found on the page it is bootstrapped at this point if ( document. querySelector ( compFactory. selector ) ) { appRef. bootstrap ( compFactory ) ; } } ) ; } ) ; } ) ; } } } }
The ngDoBootstrap method in the code above first queries tags on the page (see lines 5-9) which hold a data-module-path attribute (like: <app-lazy-widget data-module-path="./lazy/lazy.module#LazyModule"></app-lazy-widget>). Each specified module will then be lazily loaded and bootstrapped in parallel (see line 12). Important is that all components that should be bootstrapped are listed in the entryComponents of each lazy loaded module. Only then will Angular create a ComponentFactory and store it in the ComponentFactoryResolver, as shown in the code above (see lines 16-19). Finally the selector of the component is used to bootstrap it in the right place on the page (see lines 21-22).
One drawback of using lazy modules is that the providers of a lazy module are module-scoped and so are only visible in that module. That means for communication between lazy loaded modules we need services defined in the root module. This behaviour is also described in more detail in the FAQ: Lazy loaded module provider visibility
Conclusion
This proof-of-concept shows that it is possible to enrich server-side content with Angular components and if necessary even with lazy loaded modules. In this example we decided to focus on an Angular based way to achieve a solution to break out of the restrictions of its template to mix it with the static html content rendered on the server. It should be noted, however, that there might be other frameworks which can also do this.
Github repository
https://github.com/cg-frontend-development/ng2-in-multi-page-appsBill O’Reilly Backs the Public Option
Bill O’Reilly and I have a love-hate relationship. Well, it’s mostly not love, but after learning of his recent proclamation about healthcare reform, we’re friends again.
As reported by the Huffington Post, linking to the Daily Kos, O’Reilly came out in support of the public option, saying, “I want that... I want that, I want, not personally for me, but for working Americans to have a option, that if they don't like their health insurance, if it's too expensive, they can't afford it, if the government can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, I see that as a plus for the folks.” With video.
O’Reilly is a veritable see-saw of opinions. One minute, he’s defending then-candidate Obama and criticizing the smears that came from John McCain’s campaign, the next he’s slamming President Obama’s “lack of religion”. One minute he and Glenn Beck are on a mission against ACORN, (an organization that works to help the impoverished), and the next he’s criticizing the conservatives in a column supporting President Obama’s hotly-debated (go figure) speech to schoolchildren.
Heavens – Bill O’Reilly’s going rogue!?!This article is about the Dutch day of remembrance of war-dead. For other uses, see Death customs
Dodenherdenking in Amsterdam 1962, Dutch newsreel in Amsterdam 1962, Dutch newsreel
Remembrance of the Dead (Dutch: Dodenherdenking) is held annually on May 4 in the Netherlands.[1] It commemorates all civilians and members of the armed forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the beginning of the Second World War.
Definition [ edit ]
Since 2011 the official text of the Memorandum for Remembrance Day on 4 May is as follows:
During the national commemoration of Remembrance Day we remember all Dutch victims – civilians and soldiers – who have been killed or murdered in the Kingdom of the Netherlands or anywhere else in the world in war situations or during peace-keeping operations since the outbreak of the Second World War. Memorandum 2011[2]
It is organized nationally by Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei, but local committees still apply their own interpretation to the commemorations and also bear responsibility for that interpretation.
Description [ edit ]
Until 1961 the commemoration only related to the Dutch victims of World War II. Since 1961, the victims of other military conflicts (such as the Indonesian National Revolution in Indonesia) and peacekeeping missions (such as in Lebanon or Bosnia) are remembered on May 4 as well.
Traditionally, the main ceremonies are observed in Amsterdam at the National Monument on Dam Square. This ceremony is usually attended by members of the cabinet and the royal family, military leaders, representatives of the resistance movement and other social groups. At 20:00 two minutes of silence is observed throughout the Netherlands. Public transport is stopped as well as all other traffic. Radio and TV only broadcast the ceremonies from 19:00 until 20:30. Since 4 May 1994 flags, having hung at half-mast from 18:00, are then hoisted to the music of the Wilhelmus, the Dutch national anthem. Since 2001 the new protocol says it is allowed to let the flag hang at half-mast.
The main commemorations in Amsterdam are broadcast by the public broadcasting company NOS and there are ceremonies in other cities and places as well. Especially notable are those at the Waalsdorpervlakte near The Hague where many Dutch resistance fighters were executed during the war, and at the war cemetery Grebbeberg, which are broadcast by the commercial broadcasting companies. In many towns, before or after the two minutes of silence, people gather around a monument, listen to speeches, and lay down flowers to remember the dead.
The next day, on May 5, people celebrate the liberation of the nation from the German occupation of 1940 to 1945.
See also [ edit ]Washington (CNN) -- Noisy protests at military funerals, immigration reform and violent video games were among the issues on the Supreme Court's docket as the high court began its new term Monday.
The term also marks the debut of Justice Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court and the first time three women are serving on the nine-justice panel.
Roughly 52 appeals are currently on the high court's schedule. About another two dozen are expected to be added in coming months.
But Kagan, 50, will recuse herself from at least 24 cases already on the docket. That means she will not sit in oral arguments or vote on the outcomes.
As the former Solicitor General in the Justice Department, it was Kagan's job to supervise all pending appeals at the high court, and she has withdrawn from those cases in which she was involved or which might present a conflict of interest.
The caseload for the term is usually settled by February.
Other controversial appeals that might get added to the high court's docket cover issues related to same-sex marriage, terrorism and health care reform, among other things.
Here are some key cases the Supreme Court is scheduled to tackle in its 2010-2011 term:
MILITARY FUNERALS - Snyder v. Phelps (arguments on Wednesday, October 6)
AT ISSUE: A balancing test between the privacy rights of grieving families and the free speech/assembly rights of demonstrators, however disturbing and provocative their message.
THE CASE: A small Kansas church has gained national attention for protesting loudly at funerals of U.S. service members, promoting their anti-homosexual message.
Albert Snyder, the father of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq sued after members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church conducted an angry demonstration at his son's burial service. The family of the Marine won a $5 million judgment from the protesters. The ruling, however, was later overturned by a federal appeals court, which said the protest did not directly refer to the lance corporal, and therefore was protected speech on an issue of national debate.
THE ARGUMENTS: The church, led by pastor Fred Phelps, believes God is punishing the United States for "the sin of homosexuality" through events including soldiers' deaths. The marchers say they obey local rules over where they can gather to protest. The Snyder family says their son was not gay, and the emotional wounds from the protest have yet to heal. They have the support of a number of members of Congress, 48 states and the District of Columbia.
THE IMPACT: The court's ruling could set new guidelines on a broad range of speech-related events, including protests. Several states have attempted to impose specific limits on when and where the church can protest. The justices may be asked to address how far states and private entities like cemeteries and churches can go to justify policies meant to silence or restrict demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights in a funeral setting.
DEATH PENALTY- Skinner v. Switzer (09-9000) (arguments Wednesday, October 13)
AT ISSUE: A Texas death row inmate claiming innocence is demanding authorities conduct more thorough DNA testing of evidence gathered at the crime scene.
THE CASE: Henry "Hank" Skinner, 47, was convicted of the New Year's Eve 1993 killings of his live-in girlfriend and her two adult sons. The justices issued a stay less than 30 minutes before his scheduled March 24 execution.
THE ARGUMENTS: In a recent death row interview, Skinner told CNN that if he loses this appeal, an innocent man will be put to death. He claims that new analysis of certain untested DNA samples would clear him and determine the real killer. The state says he is not entitled to testing of evidence that was not analyzed before his 1995 trial. It also claims the wealth of forensic evidence available -- evidence reviewed repeatedly by various state and federal courts -- points to his undeniable guilt.
IMPACT: What if an executed prisoner is later found to be innocent? Other inmates have recently pushed "actual innocence claims," prompted by growing use of DNA testing on old evidence. A court ruling could make such claims easier or harder to pursue in the future.
VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES - Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants (08-1448) (arguments on Tuesday, November 2)
AT ISSUE: A free speech dispute over a California law banning the sale of violent video games to children.
THE CASE: A 2005 state law -- designed to strengthen the current industry-controlled rating system -- would have placed an outright ban on the sale or rental of games deemed excessively "violent" to those under 18.
As defined by California, such interactive games are those in which the player is given the choice of "killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image of a human being" in offensive ways. Retailers could be fined up to $1,000 for any violation. The law is in limbo pending the high court's ruling.
THE ARGUMENTS: Video game makers said the ban goes too far against their free speech rights, and the existing industry-imposed, nationwide voluntary ratings system is an adequate screen for parents to judge the appropriateness of computer games. The state says it has a legal obligation to protect children when the industry has failed to do so.
THE IMPACT: The motion picture industry has its own self-monitoring ratings system, imposed decades ago after complaints that some films were too explicit for the general audience in what was seen and heard. A high court ruling allowing greater government control over the evaluation of expressive content could be applied to other media.
The Supreme Court in recent years has thwarted repeated congressional attempts to protect children from pornography, saying such legislation went too far in limiting adult access to lawful but explicit sexual content on the internet. The court has also said in various contexts that minors enjoy a variety of free-expression rights.
SCHOOLS-RELIGION- Arizona Christian School Tuition Org. v. Winn (09-987); Garriott v. Winn (09-991) (arguments Wednesday, November 3)
AT ISSUE: A lawsuit challenging Arizona's tax breaks for donations to private school scholarships.
THE CASE: The 13-year-old program provides dollar-for-dollar income tax writeoffs for donations to organizations providing aid covering school tuition. Some Arizona taxpayers have challenged the program as unconstitutional, because religious organizations award most of the scholarships and require children to enroll in religious schools.
THE ARGUMENTS: The suit says the program amounts to an unconstitutional state endorsement of religion. But in 2002, the Supreme Court upheld school voucher programs, and supporters of the Arizona measure say it is no different from a Cleveland, Ohio, program permitted eight years ago. In both cases, the government does not direct any money to religious schools.
THE IMPACT: Taken separately, disputes over education and religion are among the most contentious issues the high court faces. This case has become a hotly contested political and legal fight. The program's supporters call it "private charity," saying it has been a boon to school choice; contributions have risen to the tens of millions of dollars. Opponents call it a government spending program, and claim that private schools serve as willing state surrogates.
IMMIGRATION REFORM - Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting (09-115) (arguments Wednesday, December 8)
AT ISSUE: Do federal immigration laws trump state efforts to crack down on businesses that hire illegal aliens?
THE CASE: In 2007, Arizona passed the Legal Arizona Workers Act, allowing the state to suspend the licenses of businesses that "intentionally or knowingly" violate work-eligibility verification requirements. Companies would be required under that law to use E-Verify, a federal database to check the documentation of current and prospective employees.
THE ARGUMENTS: In its lawsuit, the Chamber of Commerce argues federal law prohibits Arizona and other states from making E-Verify use mandatory. The state argues its broad licensing authority gives it the right to monitor businesses within its jurisdiction. The Obama administration recommended review.
IMPACT: This case could serve as a bellwether to a larger, more controversial state immigration law from Arizona. That statute was tossed out by a federal judge in August and is currently pending at a federal appeals court. It would, among other things, give police authority to check a person's immigration status if officers have a "reasonable suspicion" that individual is in the country illegally.
Kagan has withdrawn from the E-Verify case after her earlier involvement in the appeal process while serving as the solicitor general in the Obama administration.
Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) proposed legislation that would allow a retired Supreme Court justice to sit on the high court if an existing justice recuses himself or herself from a case.
"Under the proposed bill, the active justices of the Supreme Court would be permitted to vote to designate a retired Supreme Court justice," a statement on Leahy's website says.
"The proposed legislation would also allow the Court to preempt potential 4-4 split decisions, in which the decision of a lower court stands."
CNN's Kate Bolduan contributed to this report.Remember the Gyroscope feature demo which Steve Jobs demonstrated on iPhone 4 at WWDC 2010? While I have tried different gyroscope based apps from the App Store, but what I was always looking for was this app which was shown off by Steve. Well guess what? there is now a app available in the App Store by the name of “Gyroblox 4” which looks and works a hell a lot like the demo app shown at WWDC 10.
What you do is basically take out the pieces of blocks from the onscreen structure and the structure in turn utilizes the physics engine to react to the blocks being taken out. The built-in gyroscope makes it possible to turn around the blocks when you move in real. The point of the app is to show off the capabilities of the iPhone 4’s gyroscope, the OpenGL ES 1 engine, Retina Display and Physics.
For a price of $2.99 its kind of expensive but it’s the perfect way to see what your iPhone 4 is capable of doing. Gyroblox 4 can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store here. Of course, you will need to have an iPhone 4 running iOS 4 to run this app.
Make sure you check out our iPhone Apps Gallery and iPad Apps Gallery to explore more apps for your iPhone and iPad. [Thanks to Matthew Chinn for sending this is in]
You can follow us on twitter or join our facebook fanpage to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google and Apple.
Related StoriesWhen Hillary Loses, Sanders Wins Big
Honest Hillary Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 13, 2016
Bernie Sanders did the impossible: He defeated the Clinton Machine. He also defeated the shadowy oligarchs behind that Machine. They just don’t know it.
Yes, by being propped up in every way imaginable by the media, the Obama Administration, her billionaire investors, the Democratic Party and her fellow corrupt politicians she “won” the primary. But when your campaign is a built on the sand of election fraud and voter suppression, a massive propaganda campaign, a legion of legislators willing to baldly lie for you, and assists from the entire executive branch including immunity to the law you are not entering the general election on a firm foundation.
Especially when over 50% of the nation despises you.
Therein lies the genius of Bernie Sanders. It doesn’t matter if he truly believes Clinton’s so-called “concessions” will survive her inevitable rightward, pro-corporate pivot the day after the Democratic Convention or not. It’s a role he must play to win the long game.
But what is that long game? He gave a preview last night in a leaked call to delegates where he spoke of building a 50-state progressive infrastructure composed of multiple organizations to carry on the “Political Revolution.” He is looking to winning back the governorships, state houses and both houses of Congress that were lost under Obama/Debbie Wasserman Schultz’ watch. This is where he wins.
Bernie is no fool. He knows Hillary is a liar who only answers to the rich and powerful. He knows the Democratic Party is full of opportunists and corporate whores. Our political process is the literal incarnation of the Augean Stables; shit-full of unbroken decades of neoliberalism.
Can this Herculean task succeed?
If Hillary is defeated its success will be all but assured.
If Hillary wins, the movements Bernie builds will be assailed from all sides, perhaps ultimately dispersed and destroyed as Obama did to Occupy Wall Street. Crony neoliberalism cannot abide social democracy.
But aren’t we supposed to fear the media creation of the Trump Monster? Hillary’s campaign is |
explainers of how cars work and the excitement of just watching someone trying to flip a car for a profit, Wheeler Dealers is built on an extremely sturdy base.
A key component of the show that builds on that base, of course, is the always animated Mike Brewer, who starts every episode driving through some countryside drooling over how great of a deal he’s going to get from some poor soon-to-be-ripped-off sucker.
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I think, deep down, we all start out each show with a bit of disdain for Mike. In this latest episode, he says during his test drive that he’d be willing to take the 1995 Ford Escort RS Cosworth for $35,000, but then when he gets back to the owner, Mike offers $30,000 and refuses to pay more. After snagging the car for such a cheap price, he tells the seller “You can cry like a baby now, it’s mine” and then he says to the camera “Call the police, somebody, I think a robbery just took place.”
Yeah, Mike comes across as a bit of a greedy bastard, and I think that’s that’s one of the reasons why people loved Edd so much. Edd’s genial attitude provided contrast to Mike’s harsh and sometimes off-putting personality. But now Edd is gone.
Ant Anstead Is Actually Good
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Despite being built on a solid foundation, the show definitely would have lost some steam if Edd China had been replaced by a Total Car Bro who just wanted to show you how pretty the sparks were coming off his angle grinder (OK, to be fair, there is this image).
So it’s a good thing that the new mechanic in the show, Ant Anstead, is also very capable of making us feel warm and fuzzy inside. No, he doesn’t wear T-shirts over long-sleeves, he doesn’t have ridiculously wavy gray hair, and his dimensions don’t dwarf those of even the most orangutan-ian of TV hosts. But he’s relatable, knowledgeable, fun to watch, and seems to genuinely love cars.
Ant, who’s been a host in a number of other car-related TV series, comes across in the first episode of Season 14 as a real enthusiast. He not only talks with authority about automotive history and technology, but his emotions seem raw and genuine. Unlike a Total Car Bro, Ant lets out his inner car-dork at all the right times (see the screenshot above, where Ant freaks out after seeing the Ford Escort RS Cosworth for the first time), and it only rarely seems forced.
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Is he quite as lovable as his predecessor? Do I want to fall asleep to his voice reciting the words from a Chevrolet Vega Haynes repair manual like I do with Edd? Maybe not. Still, Ant seems like a solid host, which is saying a lot for someone who’s only done a single episode. Plus, for a show with a foundation as strong as Wheeler Dealers, a “solid” host is more than enough.
This First Episode Pulled Out All The Stops
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It also helped that series 14 started off extremely strong, with Mike buying up a supremely rare 1995 Ford Escort RS Cosworth from a gentleman in California. After an interesting short history lesson, a fun test drive, and some classic Mike Brewer low-balling, we got our first glimpse of Ant in the workshop.
When he’s done freaking out about his childhood dream-car, Ant gets to work on a pesky oil leak, showing us how to remove the engine and transmission from the Escort by lifting the body off the front subframe.
Ant separates the engine from the trans, shows viewers the clutch, and identifies the source of the oil leak. Then he cleans the oil pan, and explains a fascinating detail on why the Ford Escort RS Cosworth’s sump requires a special liquid gasket instead of a conventional one: because the oil pan houses a shaft to drive the car’s front wheels, a standard gasket would allow for too much deflection, which would cause issues in the driveline.
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It’s a random anecdote, but it’s the start of intricate repair work in the episode that makes you wonder about Edd China’s reason for leaving the show (Edd said Velocity allegedly wanted to pull back on “detailed and in depth coverage of [his] fixes in the workshop.”).
Not only does Ant walk viewers through the engine removal process and the oil sump gasket replacement, but he also does an entire turbo rebuild, describing some of the parts, and explaining why a bit of play in the turbo shaft can have significant effects on engine power.
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Seriously, look at these sexy turbo parts on his workbench:
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Heck, Ant even draws a diagram explaining—admittedly, in extremely basic terms—the fundamentals of how a turbocharger works:
From there, the episode only gets better, with Ant inviting his friend and legendary automobile designer Frank Stephenson into the shop to have a look at the project. Stephenson, who helped design the Escort RS Cosworth decades ago, reveals that the initial concept for the vehicle—before the bean-counters got involved—included a third wing in the center, below the “whale tail.”
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When Ant asks Stephenson what he thinks of the Wheeler Dealers’ blue Ford Escort rally-mobile, the designer responds: “Perhaps if I had my druthers, I’d put a third wing on it, as intended...I think that would complete the design.”
That’s when Stephenson actually sketches what the original three-wing design looked like, and Ant goes to work, fabricating a prototype out of wood and fiberglass:
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His wing actually ends up looking pretty decent, but both he and Mike wanted to know if it actually adds any downforce, so they take the car—complete with taped-on prototype fiberglass third wing—to a wind tunnel:
And the results, as you can see by Ant and Mike’s reactions below, are positive: with the third wing, the car gains 25 pounds of downforce at 100 mph.
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With the wing proving functional, Mike tells Ant to paint and mount the wing, after which the final product looks fantastic:
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We all feared that, despite Wheeler Dealers’ highly entertaining concept, Edd China’s departure could water down the show and make us lose interest. But after watching the first episode of season 14, I don’t think that has happened.
This latest episode still features a gorgeous and interesting car, it still has the ruthless and slimy Mike Brewer we’re all used to, it still introduces us to interesting shops (in this case, it takes us to a powder-coating operation, describing and showing us how the process works), it still includes great little nuggets of automotive history, and it still has plenty of wrenching shots and technical explainers.
From Ant’s mention of the car’s “later T25 turbo,” to his tips about using a magnetic tray to keep the oil pan bolts in order, to his other tip about the nut on the turbocharger shaft being left-hand threaded, to yet another tip about marking the turbocharger housing during disassembly to keep track of orientation, to his anecdote about why the car uses a liquid pan gasket instead of a rubber or cork one, there was definitely plenty of random technical nerdiness involved.
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So yes, the show is still great. It removes a funny, friendly and knowledgable host, and replaces him with another funny, friendly and knowledgeable one. Then it wows us with a beautiful Escort RS Cosworth, keeps us interested by demonstrating how to remove the engine and rebuild the turbo, fascinates us by showing one of the car’s designers draw up what the rear three-wing setup originally looked like, captivates us with Ant’s fabrication of that third wing, and then tops it all off with aerodynamic tests in the wind tunnel and some fun shots of the two guys driving the final product. How could anyone with a pulse not enjoy that?
I’m glad Wheeler Dealers seems to have made it through the tough transition—car culture deserves it. Of course, car culture also deserves Edd China, which is why I’ll still be keeping an eye out for future projects of his. Here’s to hoping one of them involves reciting Chevy Vega repair manuals.You may want to look into trying out the latest version of chrome safari or firefox Sorry it looks like your browser does not support Entropy :(
Entropy
Entropy is a programming language about giving up control. All data decays as the program runs: each value alters slightly every time it's used, becoming less precise. An Entropy programmer needs to abandon the pursuit of precision which most programming demands—often working against years of habit—in order to program effectively. Any output from an Entropy program will be approximate, and the more the data is accessed, the more random it will become. The programmer has, at best, a short window to get his/her idea across before the program corrodes. From the Esolang wiki entry for Entropy.
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[Entropy] was inspired by the glitch aesthetic... and by esolangs in the tradition of brainfuck, which twist logic into delicious nonsense. From the Esolang wiki entry for Entropy.
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Entropy addresses the compulsive thinking reinforced by programming, the rigidity of logic, and the way we must compromise with the computer in order to get it to understand us. It is something that has become more familiar to non-programmers as people manage more of their social interactions and other messy human stuff through computers. From the Esolang wiki entry for Entropy.
A little explanation
All of the above demos are written using a partial JavaScript implementation of the Entropy programming language. It is by no means complete, as JavaScript does not allow you to easily override primitives to return different values.
Quick example usage:
var myObj = Entropy.watch({ x: 100, y: 50, });
So now every time x or y on myObj are used their values will shift slightly:
> console.log(myObj.x, myObj.y); 99.99081870880879 50.022617200930924 > console.log(myObj.x, myObj.y); 99.96514272731977 50.00067855522405 > console.log(myObj.x, myObj.y); 99.9494216624665 49.95761874290215
Again because of the limitations of JavaScript, this implementation will only allow entropification of explicitly watched objects.
Mad props to Daniel Temkin for dreaming up such a brilliant idea.
LinksSome relief is coming.
(Photo © M.Andersen/BikePortland)
(Jonathan Maus contributed reporting to this story.)
After more than a year of focused activism that included guerrilla installations, a month-long celebration and numerous rush-hour rides, one of Portland’s highest-traffic neighborhood greenways has been chosen as the site of a traffic calming pilot project.
The announcement is a significant victory for BikeLoudPDX, an upstart group that has focused much of its activism around its perception that Clinton Street has become too thick with fast-moving motor traffic.
In an email to BikePortland last week, city spokesman Dylan Rivera said the city has chosen Clinton Street as the site for a project that “may involve some diverters, speed bumps and signage.”
The announcement comes after an internal city study found that inner Clinton has some of the higher auto traffic volumes and speeds in the neighborhood greenway system. In June, after a series of dramatic bike-related collisions led to an emergency summit with safety groups, a new program to install temporary, experimental diverters was the single most substantive promise announced by Mayor Charlie Hales.
The changes to Clinton would take effect just before the Tilikum Crossing bridge opens on September 12. The new bridge will further boost the importance of inner Clinton as a bike route.
Diverters are already used on many neighborhood greenways to allow foot and bike traffic while blocking car traffic at certain intersections, preventing it from being useful to non-local car traffic.
Some people argue that diverters tend to reduce car speeds as well as traffic volumes, though there’s no established evidence about their effect on speed.
This diverter on N Rodney restricts driving but allows bicycling.
(Photo © M.Andersen/BikePortland)
Rivera said in his Thursday email that the city has tasked Rich Newlands to be the Clinton Street project manager, “but the internal project team needs to do more work before we have a proposed design. We intend to involve the public in finalizing the plan before implementing a pilot project on Clinton Street this summer.”
The announcement is a significant victory for BikeLoudPDX, an upstart group that has focused much of its activism around its perception that Clinton Street has become too thick with fast-moving motor traffic in the last few years. Some people say this is preventing the street from serving as the all-ages bikeway it’s supposed to be.
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to help maintain and expand this vital community resource.
Even before BikeLoudPDX began to focus on the issue, locals starting a monthly social ride that aimed to, “raise awareness that Clinton is a Bike Blvd [sic] and not a cut through for rush hour traffic.”
It’s not yet clear whether the city is considering diverters at more than one intersection.
“Personally I think we need two: I would look at putting a diverter at SE 21st, or possibly 20th, to help protect the inner-most part of Clinton from cut-through traffic from Powell trying to avoid the traffic/train issues closer in,” wrote Christopher Eykamp a board member of the Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood District Association. “A second one should be put at either 26th, or possibly a bit higher up, to make the section from 39th to 26th less attractive for driving.”
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance joined BikeLoud in calling for diverters. So did the adjoining Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood District Association, specifying that they should be part of an experiment to divert traffic onto Division rather than other neighborhood streets. Last month, Richmond neighborhood residents turned out in unusually high numbers and elected at least two new pro-diverter candidates to their neighborhood assocation, too.
“After the results of the neighborhood greenways report become public in August, that could lead us to look at some other pilot projects involving diverters or other engineering tools.”
— Dylan Rivera, PBOT
Calls like these found receptive ears within city government, prompting Active Transportation Division Manager Margi Bradway to order a major study of the city’s neighborhood greenway system. Hales cited that study in his announcement of the forthcoming diverter program.
So did Rivera, in last week’s email.
“After the results of the neighborhood greenways report become public in August, that could lead us to look at some other pilot projects involving diverters or other engineering tools,” Rivera said.
A year ago, in an interview about the future of neighborhood greenways, PBOT staffer Greg Raisman told us that the city must weigh improvements to Clinton against biking improvements elsewhere in the city, and said that in the absence of political will and widespread consensus over diverters on Clinton, there wasn’t enough money to prioritize improvements there.
Now, thanks in large part to the concerted advocacy efforts, the will — and the money — appears to have been found.
CORRECTION, 3:54pm: The original headline of this story said the City “confirmed” diverters would be coming to Clinton. To be clear, the City said the project “may involve some diverters.” The ultimate outcome is still up in the air pending a planning process. Sorry for any confusion — Jonathan
Front Page
Bike Loud PDX, diverters, neighborhood greenways, se clinton street, traffic diversionWe are pleased to share that international expert in the design and implementation of currency systems, Bernard Lietaer, joins the ModulTrade team as one of our advisors.
Author of “The Future of Money: Beyond Greed and Scarcity”, Bernard co-designed and implemented the convergence mechanism to the single European currency system (the Euro) and served as President of the Electronic Payment System.
With more than 30 years working in the field of money, Bernard has challenged conventional methods and applied a forward-thinking approach to the world currency systems, resulting in his rise in popularity within the industry and amongst his peers.
Bernard has held positions as a fund manager, university professor and consulted multinational corporations and governments in numerous countries. He co-founded one of the largest and most successful currency management firms GaiaCorp, and managed offshore currency fund Gaia Hedge II, which was the world’s top performing managed currency fund during the 1987–91 period he ran it. Recently, he joined the Bancor Protocol Foundation in Zug, Switzerland in which he has accepted to become President.
The Belgian national brings his knowledge in world currency and consults the ModulTrade team providing in-depth advice on the ModulTrade eco-system and processes.
Would you like to know more about our project? Visit https://modultrade.com.How is it that one being can become a leader, while another cannot? Is this the rule of God, to have varying levels of power for all His children?
Of course not, for such a thought is complete illusion, brought upon by those who wish to enslave. All of God’s children are created equal, and all shall be the rulers of their own domains, without the interference of others.
Being a leader means remaining humble and empathetic, understanding that all beings face the same challenges, and that there is truly no separation between one being and another.
To be a rightful leader, one must possess a stout heart and a clear mind, devoid of fear and ignorance, governed by the sanctions of Universal Law. Once Man grasps this perception, He is free to rule all that He creates, without the bonds of limitation.If you’re really serious about your application you have to collect and analyze its statistics. You can use Google Analytics or any other tool to track visits and basic events, or you can send specific events on demand. There’s also a way to automatically track ActiveRecord model creations and in this post I’ll show you how easy it is.
The solution
Let’s dig into the most important source code:
# config/initializers/creation_listener.rb module CreationListener def inherited ( subclass ) super class_name = subclass. name subclass. after_commit :on => :create do Rails. logger. info "[ #{ Time. now. to_s } ] Model created:'#{ class_name } '" end end end ActiveRecord :: Base. extend ( CreationListener )
I think you already know what it does - it binds to ActiveRecord::Base’s callback and puts appropriate message with time of creation and class name of created model. Then log messages are parsed with the following rake task:
# lib/tasks/creations.rake task creations: :environment do creation_entry_regexp = /\[([\w\W]+)\] Model created: '([\w\W]+)'/ log_path = File. join ( Rails. root, "log", "development.log" ) date_to_calculate = Date. today result = Hash. new { | hash, key | hash [ key ] = 0 } File. open ( log_path, "r" ) do | f | f. each_line do | line | if line =~ creation_entry_regexp creation_time = Date. parse ( $1 ) model_name = $2. strip if creation_time == date_to_calculate result [ model_name ] += 1 end end end end puts "Statistics for: #{ date_to_calculate } " result. each_pair do | key, value | puts " #{ key } : #{ value } " end end
I just define how to look for and parse creation messages, which log file I want to check and for which date. Then both parsing and calculating result happens - if line matches to regexp and given date is one we are looking for it increments result for given model. So as a result you get the list of all model classes which instances were created on given day.
You can check how it works using this sample project.
Logger? Seriously?!
In this example I assume, that the only method to persist information about created model is to use log messages. Of course it’s just a simplification. In real world you don’t want to gather all statistics in log: it can be time consuming to calculate the results, logs can be really big or rotated.
For alternative persistence method you have to be aware of 2 things:
It shouldn’t slow down response time too much. It should be threadsafe.Intellectual Property : Intellectual Property Without the State
Enforcement Mechanisms Outside the State
There are a variety of ways one might protect or enforce intangible property in the absence of a state, including alternatives which have yet to be discovered. Not all of the enforcement mechanisms listed below will work for all types of intangible property, nor are they perfect, however the responsibility of intangible ownership protection is the sole responsibility of owners.
Respect The strongest and most effective means of intangible ownership "enforcement" is voluntarily respecting the ownership of intangibles, and treating them the same as one would treat any other product or service. Voluntarily paying for intangible products and services one uses, or voluntarily not-using products/services one doesn't wish ti pay for. Further, engaging in informative discourse about the destructive nature of poaching intangible property, and treating it as a socially-undesirable activity can further reduce the negative effects and availability.
The strongest and most effective means of intangible ownership "enforcement" is voluntarily respecting the ownership of intangibles, and treating them the same as one would treat any other product or service. Voluntarily paying for intangible products and services one uses, or voluntarily not-using products/services one doesn't wish ti pay for. Further, engaging in informative discourse about the destructive nature of poaching intangible property, and treating it as a socially-undesirable activity can further reduce the negative effects and availability. DRM and Encryption: Second to individuals voluntarily not'stealing' is having a good lock. Depending on the nature of the intangible wealth, one might use server-side data, encryption, DRM. or somilar methods for obscuring or making replication difficult.
Second to individuals voluntarily not'stealing' is having a good lock. Depending on the nature of the intangible wealth, one might use server-side data, encryption, DRM. or somilar methods for obscuring or making replication difficult. Convenience: A person may make it more convenient to simply purchase the product or data, perhaps by bundling the intangible with other incentives, such as easy access, customer service, frequent updates, new content, and reputation.
A person may make it more convenient to simply purchase the product or data, perhaps by bundling the intangible with other incentives, such as easy access, customer service, frequent updates, new content, and reputation. Contractual Agreements: Another means of enforcing I.P. is a network of contractual agreements, where businesses and individuals agree to respect intangible ownership, in exchange for their intangible ownership being respected, and the ability to access a large quantity of intangible wealth. Those that opt-out may find themselves only able to access *"black market"* intangible wealth, or blacklisted from certain activities or transactions.
Another means of enforcing I.P. is a network of contractual agreements, where businesses and individuals agree to respect intangible ownership, in exchange for their intangible ownership being respected, and the ability to access a large quantity of intangible wealth. Those that opt-out may find themselves only able to access *"black market"* intangible wealth, or blacklisted from certain activities or transactions. Voluntary Removal: Due to the vital nature of intangible property, reputable online distributors may voluntarily remove or block content that infringes on ownership. For example, an app store may remove infringing content as to protect the developers it wishes to incentivize to create and distribute more content through their service. App stores which do not remove infringing content may find themselves unsupported by developers, and generally treated as a black-market business.
Due to the vital nature of intangible property, reputable online distributors may voluntarily remove or block content that infringes on ownership. For example, an app store may remove infringing content as to protect the developers it wishes to incentivize to create and distribute more content through their service. App stores which do not remove infringing content may find themselves unsupported by developers, and generally treated as a black-market business. Arbitration and Enforcement A person may be sued (i.e. Tort Law) for various I.P. violations, in the same way a person might be sued for fraud, theft, trespass, violence, careless harm *(i.e. traffic accidents)*, or a variety of other harmful behaviors. In 'worse' cases where cooperation is refused, more direct measures might be taken such as viruses or physically shutting down the activity.
Of the above enforcement measures, typically only the last one is heavily disputed by those who seek to abolish I.P. is the Arbitration and Enforcement section, which treats IP-violations the same as one might treat theft or traffic accidents.
Intellectual Property under the State
With the exception of promoting the concept that IP-violations are "illegal," the state does very little to help most I.P. authors. An average I.P. owner may at best be able to shut down an infringing activity after significant cost, or sue someone over a signed contract. Otherwise, IP under the state is relatively useless.
Where I.P. does rear it's ugly head the most is on a corporate level; where many of the entities involved are politically connected, and use that influence to distort or abuse I.P. law to their advantage, and at the disadvantage of others. Invasions of privacy, SOPA, DCMA, insane RIAA lawsuits, patent monopolies/trolling… many of these questionably related to IP and of little use to an average IP owner, and instead are little more than disguised favoritism and power-grabs.
Overall, it is highly questionable that the state does a good job managing intellectual property ownership.
Cost of Enforcement
It is important to note that in a polycentric legal system, or non-governmental society… the costs of enforcing I.P. are the sole burden of those who wish to protect or enforce IP. An anti-statist who supports intangible ownership is not appealing for a state-like entity to enforce I.P. and impose taxes, but instead is advocating for intangible property to be treated similarly to any other type of property.
Also of note, Libertarian Minarchists and Objectivists view the state as their "rights enforcement agency," and as such, the protection of I.P. by the state is ethically similar to their desire to have the state to protect against fraud, murder, and theft.
Does I.P. Require the State?
Fallacy: "By definition, the only way to enforce IP laws is through the creation of a state."
Fallacy: "The state is the cause of intellectual property. IP can not exist without it's apparatus."
This is an identical argument, and error as the claims:
"The state is the cause of physical property, and physical property cannot exist without government's enforcement apparatus"
"By definition, the only way to enforce Property laws is through the creation of a state."
It would be far more accurate to say you are *"unaware of any means to enforce IP without the creation of a state"* There are variety of ways for content creators to protect intangible ownership (as this article describes) in the absence of a state. While these protections may be imperfect, the exact same can be said of any other property.
Further, the existence of theft, violence, or piracy merely implies it's existence, but fails to provide a justification for why piracy is permissible.Scholar also calls for sabbatical year from travel every seven years to allow Earth a rest – ‘no big conferences, no academic flying’
A Northwestern University bioethicist who has called climate change the “core moral issue of our time” said she believes ignoring the phenomenon is akin to sin.
Professor Laurie Zoloth, who directs the Center for Bioethics, Science and Society at Northwestern’s School of Medicine, told The College Fix that she agrees with the suggestion recently made by the head of the Episcopal Church that ignoring climate change is “sinful.”
Zoloth, who specializes in Jewish studies, said that sin is the language of Christianity, but that “chet” – the Jewish concept of sin – means “missing the mark,” and matches with the claims made by the Episcopal leader.
“If you understand the science and its implications, and yet, you continue to live in such a way that your (Greenhouse Gas) emissions are destroying the capacity of the planet to be a safe place, I would say that your actions ‘miss the mark’ if your goal is to live a decent and just life,” Zoloth said.
The other peg of Zoloth’s argument is that of a sabbatical year, which she says is rooted in her studies of Jewish scriptures.
“I use the source texts of Jewish thought to make my arguments. For example, I use the practice of having a sabbatical year to argue that we, too, should take a year off every seven to let the earth rest. In concrete terms, for academics, that would mean no big conferences, and no academic flying,” she said.
Zoloth, the former president of the American Academy of Religion, made news last December when she used her keynote address at the group’s major conference to call for a sabbatical from the yearly conference in effort to combat climate change.
“We could choose to not meet at a huge annual meeting in which we take over a city. Every year, each participant going to the meeting uses a quantum of carbon that is more than considerable. Air travel, staying in hotels, all of this creates a way of living on the earth that is carbon intensive,” she told the conference’s 9,900 attendees.
The role of religion in the climate change debate has increased over the past few years, largely the result of Pope Francis, who in his own writings has stressed the role of human activity regarding climate change.
When asked how her beliefs were similar to those of Pope Francis, Zoloth told The Fix that “Pope Francis discusses the moral imperative of climate change as a problem inherent in a wasteful, careless, and overwrought capitalism.”
“I agree with him about his analysis of the issue, and about the debt to the poor that is created by the driven, competitive and wasteful society in which we live,” she said.
But some are skeptical of the increasing role of religious leaders in the climate change debate.
Earlier this year, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum remarked the Catholic Church should “leave science to the scientists” and instead focus on morality and theology.
When asked how she would respond to these skeptics, Zoloth highlighted her believe that climate change is a moral challenge, and that religious scholars can help contribute to the policy discussions around the issue.
“[Scholars] who study worth, value, justice and compassion have to help to create good policies to protect the world. Science can tell us why, but only policy can tell us how,” Zoloth told The Fix. “And thinking about how one ought to live, how societies can be good societies and how we can face the future nobly– that is the work of scholars and religious leadership.”
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IMAGE: ShutterstockTHE Australian Federal Police has come under pressure to reveal whether a covert operative was planted in a group of five Melbourne men charged with terrorism offences.
The charges relate to an alleged plot to attack the Holsworthy Army Base in NSW.
It was revealed yesterday that one of the men, Saney Aweys, had been recorded on telephone intercepts expressing his hatred for Australia and people who were not followers of Islam. Lawyers for the men described the prosecution case as weak.
Under questioning from Aweys' lawyer, Rob Stary, on the second day of a bail application at Melbourne Magistrates Court, federal agent David Kinton said no civilian witnesses had made statements ''at this stage''.
But when Mr Stary asked if a covert operative had been planted, Mr Kinton hesitated, before replying: ''Can I seek legal advice?''MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - For Iraqi police officer Jassem and his brothers, the battle against Islamic State is personal. The militants captured and beheaded their father, a Shi’ite militiaman, in 2014; before that, the family lost another son fighting the jihadists.
Iraqi Federal Police members chat during a break in combats between Iraqi forces and Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares
“We were able to identify my dad’s body by the tattoo on his arm. The head wasn’t found. They had also drilled holes in his hands and cut fingers off,” 31-year-old Jassem told Reuters on the front line in Mosul as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State in the city.
After the murder, Jassem’s youngest brother signed up with the army and another joined a Shi’ite paramilitary group. With a further brother already with the Counter-Terrorism Service, that meant their mother had all four of her surviving sons at war.
“Mum wasn’t happy,” said Jassem, not giving his full name because he works in intelligence. But his brothers still answered the call to arms. “They said Iraq was falling apart, and they wanted to protect it,” he said.
The family from southern Iraq - far from Mosul which lies near the country’s northern border - is just one of many where entire sets of brothers have taken up arms against Islamic State out of revenge, duty or just to earn money.
The U.S.-backed Iraqi forces are now set to drive the group from its stronghold of Mosul, taken in 2014 when the jihadists seized large areas of Iraq and Syria, proclaiming a caliphate.
But the fight has further militarised Iraqi society, pushing young men into the armed forces and, increasingly, sectarian and tribal militias. This has raised fears of new outbreaks of violence once the caliphate has crumbled.
Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric issued a fatwa in 2014, calling on all men able to carry arms to fight Islamic State, which is known in Arabic by its opponents as Daesh.
On another Mosul front line, Counter-Terrorism Service commando Hamza Kadhem said that before Islamic State arrived, he was the only one of five brothers to have picked up a gun. “The others all joined after the fatwa,” he said.
They joined the Hashid Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces, a state-run umbrella that includes Shi’ite militias. Two are deployed west of Mosul, and another two near the Syrian border, where Shi’ite fighters have played a crucial role in cutting off Islamic State supply lines.
Before the call-up, they had worked as farmers in the southern Kut region, more than 500 km (300 miles) away.
As well as Shi’ites from the south, young men from around Mosul - where Sunni Muslims are in the majority - are also keen to fight.
They are now flooding to join Sunni tribal militias also under the Hashid, security officials and militia leaders say. Many residents told Reuters in recent weeks they want to join, or know relatives and friends who are trying to do so.
“Many men are volunteering in the Hashid groups. They either want to fight terrorism or to get wages,” one security officer in the area said, declining to be named because he was not authorised to speak publicly. “It’s easier than joining state armed forces. You just put your name down.”
He said the number of those seeking to join could be in the thousands, on top of the several thousand that local community leaders estimate are already in the Sunni tribal militias.
This would not pose security problems because the Hashid ultimately answer to the government and have limited powers, the officer added.
MILITIAS SPREAD
Provincial government officials, however, say the rising number of recruits to paramilitary forces and the formation of new militias is dangerous because it raises the risk of factional clashes.
“These Hashid groups are subservient to the people who lead them, not to the state,” said Abdul Rahman al-Wagga, a council member for Nineveh, of which Mosul is the capital.
“So if a Hashid leader wants to impose himself in a certain region, and another sheikh or clan doesn’t like it, they might attack,” he told Reuters by phone. “I think after Daesh, these groups will not be reined in... Their agendas are party, political or regional, and won’t serve Nineveh, or Iraq.”
Ramzy Mardini, a fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, said turning to armed forces, particularly militias, was inevitable in an atmosphere where local communities fear for their own safety.
“Not only has the war further militarised Iraqi society, but there appears to be no pressure from the top or willingness from below to disarm, demobilise, and reintegrate the militias that now occupy the diverse and former insurgent landscape,” he said.
As Iraqi government forces have moved deeper into Mosul city, the areas around it have increasingly come under the control of the expanding Hashid, who fly their flags at checkpoints and have set up offices in nearby towns.
Hashid officials say they are there to ensure Islamic State does not return, and that their local knowledge can make them more effective than federal police.
“Iraq’s security is our responsibility,” read a slogan painted on a building outside Mosul that is occupied by the new office of a Hashid group, and was formerly used by an Islamic State fighter and his family.
Most ordinary Iraqis, like the families of Jassem and Kadhem, do not want their sons to have to fight. But the young men see little choice after suffering at the hands of militants, and with few other ways to earn a living.
Slideshow (4 Images)
Former policeman Yassin Saleh, 47, sat in his wheelchair on a roadside outside Mosul last month after fleeing violence. “Two of my boys, who are 20 and 21, want to volunteer for the Hashid,” he said. “But I need them around to help me.”
Saleh lost both his legs to a car bomb planted by al Qaeda militants in 2008. Two months later, the fighters kidnapped and killed his eldest son.
“There will always be revenge. If people have killed someone’s dad or brother, they won’t just let it go,” he said. “But I can’t lose another son.”GE is starting a new lab at its global research headquarters in Niskayuna, New York, that’s devoted to turning three-dimensional printing technology into a viable means of manufacturing functional parts for a range of its businesses, including those involving health care and aerospace. The company aims to take advantage of the technology’s potential to make parts that are lighter, perform better, and cost less than parts made with conventional manufacturing techniques.
Lighter load: A conventional hinge for the cover of a jet engine (top) could be replaced by the more intricate one at bottom, which is just as strong but weighs half as much. The new design, created by EADS, is made practical by three-dimensional printing technology.
Technology for printing three-dimensional objects has existed for decades, but its applications have been largely limited to novelty items and specialized custom fabrication, such as the making of personalized prosthetics. But the technology has now improved to the point that these printers |
by rising price pressures, with input cost and selling price inflation accelerating for the second month in a row.
It pointed out that the rise in business activity and inflationary pressures would fuel expectations the European Central Bank will, as has long been awaited, start to rein in its asset purchase programme.
The ECB is currently buying 60bn euros (£55bn) of bonds a month as part of its quantitative easing programme.
Earlier this month, the ECB raised its eurozone economic growth forecast for this year to 2.2%, the fastest in 10 years and hinted it could start trimming asset purchases next monthEditor’s note: This is food writer Devin Healey’s first column for TAPinto New Brunswick.
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — It turns out you don’t need to cross the Atlantic to get great Mediterranean food.
Two weeks ago, I was invited to a night of hospitality and a smorgasbord of delicious Greek cuisine in my own backyard.
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New Athens Corner has been a staple of the Highland Park culinary community since 1995. But owner Tony Kanterakis announced a potential expansion of the gourmet boutique with a “Taste of Greece”—which will soon bring the food to New Brunswick for one night—coupled with the introduction of a new pastry chef who did not disappoint.
Photo by Devin Healey
Tony and his team welcomed friends, family, local residents and members of the press into their impressive space on Woodbridge Avenue with a spread of savory and sweet Greek delicacies. The night also included wine tastings with notes from Walter Bolivar of Vintage Imports, coffee and espresso and unique homemade ice cream from his business partner Elios Papa’s “Greek Cream.”
The event included Mediterranean classics like grape leaves, spanakopita, tyropita, baklava, ekmek kataifi and galaktobouriko, as well as creative new dishes and a preview of what's to come. Just check out the photos to see what you’re missing.
Interested in learning more about or purchasing some of New Athens Corner’s authentic, imported and homemade goods? Follow the restaurant on Facebook or Instagram, or visit them in person at 28 Woodbridge Ave., Highland Park. If my trip was any indication, you’ll be welcomed with a smile and open arms.
New Athens Corner’s next “Taste of Greece" event is scheduled for 6 p.m. May 26 in the lobby of The George, 285 George St., New Brunswick. Expect the same delectable Greek treats, stellar wine and friendly faces.
Devin Healey knows food and drink. In addition to writing columns for TAPinto New Brunswick, he runs a blog network called CougEats. You can find more of his work on Facebook and Instagram.SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean internet companies Naver and Kakao are planning to release English versions of their map apps in anticipation of the increased influx of foreign tourists for the upcoming 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
According to market analysis by media company Wiseapp, Naver Map leads the field with 8.08 million monthly active users, followed by Google Maps (7.66 million) and Kakao Map (3.09 million).
‘Monthly active users’ refers to the aggregate of all users who have used the service at least once during a one-month period.
Despite Google Maps’ strong presence locally, it faces limitations its South Korean competitors do not. For example, it does not offer navigation and walking direction services.
Google’s inability to offer such services is due to the fact that the South Korean government has barred the storage of topographical data on foreign-based servers. The American internet search giant appealed to the government twice, once in 2010 and once last year, to remove the restrictions but was unsuccessful.
Google’s loss will be Naver and Kakao’s gain. Naver intends to release an English version of its map app at an unspecified date, and will build on user feedback to also release a Chinese version. Kakao will likely release an English version in December, and will also upgrade its Kakao Navi to provide voice navigation in English.
S.B.W. ([email protected])2 of 2 < >
UPDATE TO ABOVE RULES
Anyone is able to post ad advertisement here for free at anytime. Of course there are a few rules and they are as follows:
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VIP members may ask you for a free 1 week trial.You must comply within 24 hrs or your threads will be closed.The box must have:10 gigs space50 gigs transfer1 week durationAt minimum...Up to two trial boxes can be asked PER THREAD. Consider this payment for opening an advertising thread.The member must then review your services and post this review to your thread. If s/he does not then report them to a moderator. They similarly have 24 hrs to comply.If you have paid for a sticky thread this does NOT apply to you. Become a paid sponser to have a sticky thread of your own.Another LGBT onslaught designed to inure the public to homosexuality.
Infowars.com
September 27, 2013
An integral part of the prog political agenda is the demand that heterosexuals accept without question the “gay lifestyle.” The establishment and its corporate media insist the next phase in the struggle for human rights is centered squarely on homosexuality. As the Phil Robertson blow-up reveals, any disagreement with this agenda and refusal to affirm the gay lifestyle will result not only in censor, but economic warfare.
Next up, a photo of the former Disney teenage sweetheart morphed into licentious slut, Miley Cyrus, engaged in a tongue kiss with a super model that has an ancestry firmly rooted in royalty. The photo of Cyrus and Cara Delevingne kissing sports the symbol of gay “rights” – a rainbow.
Many will, of course, chalk this one up to Miley (or more likely her management team) taking her new outrageous public persona to its next level.
However, the timing of the release of the photo coincides with a determined push to propagandize the public and inure it to homosexuality. It is also an effort to condition the herd to accept the LGBT political agenda that prominently features intolerance of religious values or any social or political opposition to the creation of a special group of individuals supposedly deserving preferential treatment by the state.Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mr Gigaba: "Wealth... remains concentrated in the hands of a small part of the population"
South Africa needs to "radically transform" its economy, the country's new finance minister has said.
The treasury has been seen for too long as belonging to "big business, powerful interests and international investors," Malusi Gigaba said.
"This is a people's government," he told his first news conference since President Jacob Zuma fired his respected predecessor, Pravin Gordhan.
Thursday night's sacking shook markets and divided the ruling party.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption South Africa's night of the long knives
Mr Gordhan's sudden dismissal, part of a reshuffle affecting nine ministers, led to a 5% plunge in the value of the currency, the rand.
The ruling African National Congress' deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa, called it "totally, totally unacceptable" and ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe also opposed it.
What does 'radical transformation' mean?
In 2014, the ANC adopted "radical economic transformation" policies to boost the economic position of the black majority in the post-apartheid nation.
But many in the ruling party believe the process has been "too slow and in many instances superficial", said Mr Gigaba, who was previously home affairs minister.
"The ownership of wealth and assets remains concentrated in the hands of a small part of the population," he said.
But he added that he did not "seek to implement a reckless lurch in a particular direction".
"We will stay the course in terms of the fiscal policy stance approved by government," the new minister said.
Why has this caused such a fuss?
Pravin Gordhan was seen by many as a safe pair of hands when it came to managing the economy.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Gordhan remained defiant in the wake of his sacking
He was seen as a bulwark against corruption in an administration that is facing growing criticism.
He resisted calls from the president to increase government expenditure.
Malusi Gigaba, however, is widely seen as an ally of Mr Zuma and does not have a background in finance.
Why was Mr Gordhan sacked?
Opposition parties say it is because he was obstructing President Zuma and his allies - whom they accused of corruption - from gaining access to state funds.
Image copyright EPA Image caption Protesters expressed anger over the sudden sacking of Mr Gordhan
Mr Zuma, who rejects the allegations, said the move was about a "radical socio-economic transformation".
Local media point to an alleged intelligence report accusing Mr Gordhan of working with foreigners to undermine Mr Zuma's administration.
Last October, Mr Gordhan was charged with fraud but the charges were later dropped. He has described the allegations as politically motivated.The American Civil Liberties Union filed a Freedom of Information Act request Thursday seeking any facts or evidence supporting President Trump’s claims that the 2016 presidential election was muddied by widespread voter fraud.
Dale Ho, the director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, called Trump’s establishment of a commission to review alleged voter fraud and suppression a “boondoggle” and part of his plan to “spread his own fake news about election integrity,” The Hill reported.
“The president has alleged that ‘millions of votes’ were ‘illegally’ cast ‘for the other side.’ No concrete evidence has been provided thus far to support the president’s serious indictment against American democracy. Yet the president’s allegations are the basis of an executive order to establish a ‘Commission on Election Integrity,’” the ACLU said in its request. “This FOIA demands that the government release the factual basis and evidence supporting the president’s allegations.”
Trump signed the executive order Thursday to review alleged voter fraud. Vice President Mike Pence will chair the commission, while Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has investigated voter fraud in Kansas, will serve as vice chair. Other members of the commission include: Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson (R), New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner (D), Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap (D), Christie McCormick, commissioner of the election assistance commission, and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R).
The White House said the commission will review practices that affect the integrity of federal elections--spanning improper registrations, improper voting, fraudulent registrations, fraudulent voting and voting suppression.
Voting experts and many lawmakers have said they haven't seen anything to suggest that millions of people voted illegally, including House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz. The Utah Republican said his committee won't be investigating voter fraud.Righthaven says it might have to file for bankruptcy
Related Document (.pdf) Motion for attorney's fees
Related Developments unfold in Righthaven Colorado cases
Righthaven Archives Past stories related to the Righthaven copyright lawsuit campaign
Despite its backing by the billionaire Warren Stephens family, Las Vegas copyright lawsuit filer Righthaven LLC warned today it may have to file for bankruptcy because of a series of setbacks in its litigation campaign.
The warning came in an emergency request by Righthaven to a federal judge in Las Vegas that he stay his order that Righthaven pay $34,045 in legal fees to attorneys who successfully defended Kentucky message board poster Wayne Hoehn against a Righthaven lawsuit.
Righthaven has already appealed U.S. District Judge Philip Pro’s fee award to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Righthaven is also appealing the underlying rulings by Pro finding Righthaven lacked standing to sue Hoehn and – even if it had standing – that Hoehn was protected by fair use in posting an entire Las Vegas Review-Journal column on a sports betting website message board.
Righthaven says its lawsuits are necessary to deter rampant online infringement of newspaper content, but attorneys for Hoehn and other defendants claim Righthaven's suits are frivolous and are based on sham copyright assignments and are merely part of a get-rich-quick scheme.
Righthaven’s bankruptcy warning came a day after MediaNews Group, the owner of the Denver Post and other newspapers, revealed it won’t renew its contract with Righthaven for copyright protection services in the form of its controversial no-warning lawsuits.
While the Righthaven bankruptcy warning may sound ominous, a bankruptcy filing wouldn’t prevent Righthaven creditors from asking the bankruptcy court for permission to seize Righthaven’s assets. Such a filing also would require Righthaven to reveal detailed financial information that so far has been secret as it's a private company.
And Righthaven copyright lawsuit defendants considering countersuing Righthaven over what they call sham copyright claims would likely target not just Righthaven, but its deep-pocketed newspaper partners including the owners of the Review-Journal and the Post.
In today’s court filing in the Hoehn case, Righthaven noted its litigation campaign has stalled this summer while judges in Nevada, Colorado and South Carolina determine whether it has standing to sue over R-J and Post material.
Not only is Righthaven paying attorneys to litigate over the stalled and appealed cases, it has held off on filing new copyright infringement lawsuits until judges definitively rule on whether Righthaven has standing to sue under its amended lawsuit contract with the owner of the Review-Journal.
The R-J’s owner is Stephens Media LLC, controlled by billionaire Little Rock, Ark., investment banker Warren Stephens and his family. The Stephens family also owns half of Righthaven.
Righthaven today said the gridlock over its lawsuits has hurt its finances – and expressed concern that attorneys for prevailing defendants like Hoehn may seize its assets and put it out of business.
Those assets consist largely of scores of copyrights Righthaven claims to own to R-J and Post material that are the basis of its 275 lawsuits filed since March 2010.
"While these circumstances have not exhausted Righthaven’s resources, it certainly brings the value of its intangible intellectual property assets to the forefront of any judgment enforcement efforts. Permitting such judgment enforcement efforts to proceed during pendency of Righthaven’s appeal unquestionably exposes the company to the threat of irreparable harm," Righthaven said in its filing.
"Righthaven faces the very real threat of being forced out of business or being forced to seek protection through bankruptcy if the court does not stay the (attorney’s fee) judgment pending resolution of the company’s appeal to the 9th Circuit," Righthaven’s filing today said.
The company expressed concern that seizure and liquidation of its copyrights would compromise litigation in the future, even if Righthaven were to prevail in its appeals to the 9th Circuit.
"Any new holder of an assigned copyright could compromise potential future infringement actions by granting releases from liability to suspected infringers," Righthaven’s filing said.
Righthaven also claims to own software that detects infringements of newspaper material – though anyone can find such infringements with free searches using Google and other search engines.
"If a stay is not granted pending appeal, this valuable software may be seized and liquidated in an attempt to satisfy the judgment. Liquidation may result in the software being sold to a competing organization or entity. Alternatively, the software could be sold to any one of a host of infringers or other supporting organizations that would attempt to reverse engineer the software in order to devise methods for evading detection," Righthaven warned.
Pro has not yet indicated when he’ll rule on Righthaven’s emergency request that he stay his fee order that required Righthaven to pay Randazza Legal Group by Wednesday.
Separately, another copyright expert is commenting on the Denver Post’s decision to part ways with Righthaven.
Eric Johnson is an associate professor of law at the University of North Dakota and an affiliate scholar at the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society.
Here’s his statement:
***
The law has long had a special affection for newspapers. That's reflected in a long line of Supreme Court cases. Given that history, it has been very dispiriting to see newspapers try to game the law in pursuit of a quick-money scheme, especially one that involves suing readers.
The participation of MediaNews Group was especially troubling to me, given that they operate many of the nation's most important and well-respected newspapers. Thus, it is a great relief to see that MediaNews has parted ways with Righthaven.
A newspaper is sometimes described as a community talking to itself. Can a newspaper uphold that vision while partnering with Righthaven? I don't think so. And that's a point that I think most publishers understood as soon as Righthaven pitched them.
MediaNews Group was the only big news organization that put aside the sense of public trust we expect of newspapers to take part in this misadventure. They have shown integrity and good sense by now walking away.Frankfurt Major Finals are almost sold out: last chance for a ticket
According to ESL staff here at the Messe the Frankfurt Major Finals are almost sold-out. Don’t miss your chance to get a last minute ticket for what’s about to be the most exciting LAN finals since TI5.
Frankfurt Major finals are tomorrow, only tickets left are sold at the venue. Less than a hundred tickets left on site as of writing on Friday night. On Saturday limited number of tickets will be available at the entrance of the Messe. They will be sold at the Information Desk, where the guest passes are also handed. The online ticket sale has ended already: Official Eventbrite Link
QUICKPOLL Are you coming for the finals? Yes
Thank you for voting! No
Thank you for voting!A four-year survey of more than 100,000 newborn babies in north-eastern Brazil has uncovered hitherto unrecognised patterns of microcephaly.
The discovery suggests microcephaly is not necessarily a new phenomenon, and questions whether Zika virus is even the cause.
Zika virus has been occupying the global media for weeks now, prompted by what appears to be a huge spike in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads.
The scramble in Brazil to discover the cause led paediatric cardiologist Dr Sandra Mattos to realise she was sitting on a database which could provide some answers.
Over four years, she and her colleagues surveyed more than 100,000 newborns for congenital heart disease in the Brazilian state of Paraiba.
But importantly, in just over 16,000 of these babies, the nurses also collected other information, such as length, weight, and head circumference — the indictor for microcephaly.
"We tried to establish the pattern of microcephaly over the last four years," Dr Mattos said.
Dr Mattos and her colleagues were surprised by the numbers.
"What we expected was that we would have something like three to four cases a year of microcephaly — that is what has been documented in the official sites.
"But we then noticed that we had much, much higher numbers."
As part of the survey, Dr Mattos' team assessed head size in three ways to ensure it was as accurate as possible.
"Independent of what criteria we used, we had between 2–8 per cent of babies that would fall into the criteria of microcephaly," she said.
This represents between 2,000 and 4,000 babies per year in the state of Paraíba — about 1,000 times more than the team expected.
Microcephaly usually linked to other defects
The survey goes back to 2012 and 2013 and shows a spike each spring and summer, and while the headlines are all recent, the biggest peak in north-eastern Brazil was actually in 2014.
But Dr Mattos said there was something different and potentially very worrying about the 2015 spring–summer spike in microcephaly, relating to how small the babies' heads were.
"In the most severe cases of microcephaly, that group which are the very severe cases, they are definitely increasing from the last part of 2015," she said.
International publicity about microcephaly has focused on babies with small heads, but it is unusual for microcephaly to present by itself.
It is usually part of a syndrome where there are heart defects, limb defects are other congenital defects.
Dr Mattos said these cases of microcephaly were not coupled with a rise in heart defects in the same babies.
"That's what's really unusual about this outbreak," she said.
"Most of the microcephaly cases that are being reported now are primarily very severe microcephaly without anything else."
The survey calls into question whether these microcephaly cases are caused by Zika virus or something else.
If it is Zika virus, it has been in Brazil for a lot longer than people have thought, but that does not explain why after 50 years Zika has only now been linked to microcephaly.Apple Inc. has all but destroyed BlackBerry Ltd.’s business model and now it’s after the Canadian company’s decimated workforce.
[np_storybar title=”In BlackBerry’s hometown, coming layoffs hardly the economy killing tragedy many might have expected” link=”https://business.financialpost.com/2013/09/28/in-blackberrys-hometown-coming-layoffs-hardly-the-economy-killing-tragedy-many-might-have-expected/?__lsa=3679-7651″%5DSince its inception, there has always existed an inextricable link between the legend of Research In Motion and the small Southern Ontario city that plays home to the now struggling Canadian technology company’s global headquarters: Waterloo, Ontario.
Continue reading.
[/np_storybar]
Just days after BlackBerry Ltd. revealed plans to lay off 40% of its global workforce amid disastrous financial results, representatives from smartphone rival Apple Inc. hosted a recruitment drive roughly 20 kilometres away from the embattled technology company’s Waterloo, Ont. home base.
In the Cambridge Hotel and Conference Centre on Sept. 26, located in Cambridge, Ont. on the outskirts of the Kitchener-Waterloo region where BlackBerry was born, the iPhone maker invited local talent with the aim of luring them to their Silicon Valley operations.
“Most positions will be based in Cupertino, CA.,” according to a LinkedIn invite sent to certain BlackBerry employees and obtained by the Financial Post. “Relocation and immigration assistance will be provided for candidates that are hired, as needed.”
Six days earlier, BlackBerry had shown it was teetering on the edge of disaster. On Sept. 20, the smartphone maker said it expected to post a nearly US$1-billion loss and would cut 4,500 jobs from their ranks worldwide (in addition to ongoing layoff rounds that had already been underway).
Apple wasn’t the only one positioning themselves to pick up the pieces. Two days later, on Sept. 28 and 29, Intel Corporation held an “information session” at the Holiday Inn Kitchener-Waterloo Hotel & Conference Centre in Kitchener, Ont., as part of their search for engineers to join its Mobile and Communications Group, according to an email invite also received by BlackBerry employees.
“We would like to invite you to ‘look inside’ Intel and meet some of our amazing employees and potentially interview for an opportunity to join our team,” it read.
Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment on the recruitment drive. But an Intel spokesperson said: “We hold recruiting sessions around the world and are always looking for good people. Based in the technology triangle, this recruitment session was designed to engage with engineers.”
Apple and Intel are the latest in a growing queue of international technology giants zeroing in on the Kitchener-Waterloo region as a recruiting hotbed in the wake of BlackBerry’s decline.
Last month, Twitter Inc. co-founder Jack Dorsey arrived in Waterloo to announce that Square Inc., the San Francisco-based mobile payments company he helped co-found, would be establishing an engineering office in Waterloo to tap into the region’s local talent.
That revelation was followed closely by an announcement from Google Inc. that the search engine giant’s smartphone manufacturer, Motorola Mobility, is in the early stages of setting up an engineering hub in Waterloo, a short drive from BlackBerry’s global headquarters.
Meanwhile, on Monday, BlackBerry handed out more layoff notices and confirmed 300 employees would be laid off at its Waterloo, Ont. headquarters this week as part of the staff reductions.
The company has said it is planning to reduce the company’s total head count to 7,000 full-time employees worldwide. BlackBerry had 12,700 employees as of the end of March, the last time it has reported the size of its workforce.
BlackBerry’s future overall is in flux as well.
After several years of declining sales and shrinking profits, last month BlackBerry agreed to a tentative deal that would see the company sold to Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. — its largest single shareholder — and a consortium of investors in a deal worth US$4.7-billion, or $9 per share. Shares rose slightly on Wednesday on the Nasdaq, to close at $8.11.
While the other investors in Fairfax’s consortium remain anonymous, several major pension funds and private equity groups, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, are mulling a stake in the company.
The letter of intent BlackBerry has signed with Fairfax does not preclude the company from seeking out a better offer before the Nov. 4 deadline. Over the past several weeks, a number of companies — including Google, Cisco and SAP — have been rumoured to be potentially interested in acquiring all, or part, of BlackBerry.
One Canadian pension fund, Alberta Investment Management Corp., believes the company will probably be broken up into pieces. Its chief executive Leo de Bever told Bloomberg this week there were discussions among investors about valuing particular BlackBerry units, and a split of the company may be in the cards.Transborder Crime, Corruption, and Sustaining Illegal Armed Groups in Latin America
Luz E. Nagle
Transborder crime and corruption combine to sustain criminal syndicates, illegal armed groups and terrorist organizations that operate within Latin America or use Latin America as a source of funds, weapons, and other contraband to stage operations elsewhere in the world. Despite efforts undertaken by national, regional, and international authorities to confront corruption and combat transborder crime related to armed conflict and terrorism, the situation in Central and South America is for all intents and purposes uncontained and unchecked. The positive assessments of country conditions we receive from government actors and international organizations are at odds with what members of impacted communities assert is happening on the ground. This article attempts to make some sense of what is occurring in Latin America by addressing the following questions: What are some of the most pressing transborder crime issues facing Latin America with regards to armed conflict; how does corruption sustain domestic and transnational criminal organizations and terrorist groups?
What are some of the most pressing transborder crime issues facing Latin America with regards to armed conflict?
Walk the streets of any major Latin American city and relatively isolated rural enclave and look beyond the bucolic settings depicted in tourism magazines and websites. What one sees hiding in the open are Asian mafias, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda operatives,[i] Russian “wise guys”, Nigerian smugglers, central American street gangs, Israeli organ traffickers, and, yes, unscrupulous American, European and Canadian entrepreneurs engaged in all manner of illicit activities that involve exploiting weaknesses in the civil society and/or pillaging vast natural resources. Even what we think of as benign groups can be deceptive, such as for instance, an assemblage of Mennonites in the Mexican state of Chihuahua that engaged in trafficking marijuana and cocaine to Canadian Mennonite communities, relying on the sect’s strong religious ties in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada to move the drugs across international borders.[ii]
Latin America is very lucrative for organized crime and terrorist groups engaged in some form of illicit activity. We already know ad nauseam the extent and importance of illegal narcotics production and drug trafficking as the primary criminal enterprises that characterize the region. However, the utilization of long-established transborder and transcontinental drug trafficking corridors to sustain armed groups and foment terrorism seems less well recognized.[iii] Contraband and laundered money pass by land, sea, sky, and cyber networks through, over, and around every country south of the United States border, and hopscotch through island chains in the Western and Eastern Caribbean. Drug-laden vessels originating in Colombia ply the high seas hundreds of miles off the Pacific coast of South America bound for Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, where the shipments are then staged into the United States and Canada. In the other direction, illicit drugs move from origin countries through the transit countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay to destinations in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East where the drugs are sold and the proceeds used to engage in other illicit and often violent pursuits. Drug money purchases weapons to sustain low intensity insurgency, internal armed conflict, and terrorism in weak and failing states; it buys women and children to produce income as human chattel in sex slave markets or as child soldiers and irregular combatants. Proceeds of drugs are also laundered and inserted back into formal economies, especially in the construction industry and in high end consumer retail such as electronics, sporting goods, leisure services, and designer label fashion—all preferred venues for illegal armed groups to hide their assets and mask resources.
While Latin American source countries have long been associated with transborder narcotrafficking, we see, with increasing distress, that Latin American states are now contending with widespread domestic use of locally produced illegal drugs. For example, only Brazil lags the United States in illegal drug consumption per capita, and the internal drug market in Colombia alone is estimated at around US$2 billion in 2017.[iv] Consequently, these growing domestic and regional markets are compelling sources of revenue for local gangs and smaller provincial criminal organizations and illegal armed groups. The resulting competition between these entities and the large international drug trafficking syndicates appear to be exasperating social and political violence that governments in the region are ill-prepared to confront.
For instance, I am aware of reports that well-armed urban gangs (known as BACRIMs and combos) that control poor neighborhoods (comunas) in the hills above Medellín, Colombia have been emboldened by their ill-gotten gains to challenge directly government authority in ways not previously encountered. This includes putting police officers on their payroll as enforcers and informers, and threatening to burn down entire neighborhoods if the municipal government does not meet their demands to improve infrastructure and social services. In Brazil, tenacious prison gangs that control drug trafficking within the country are now moving into Bolivia and Paraguay, forming alliances with similar criminal syndicates. Not content to terrorize its own territory, the violent Zetas of Mexico are believed to be thriving in Guatemala, while the equally violent Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and its Marero derivatives continue efforts to expand into North America, Spain, and other EU states. Returning to Colombia, a shaky peace arrangement between the government and FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) guerrillas has caused a split within the FARC’s ranks over members of the high command command benefiting from government largess while most of the combatants and isolated fronts have largely been abandoned to their fate. The result is that these groups remain under arms and are emerging as new criminal organizations, violent, and in full control of many of the criminal enterprises that kept FARC forces in the field for decades.[v]
The growth of human trafficking at the hands of transborder criminal organizations and illegal armed groups throughout the Americas has had a profound impact particularly among indigenous communities where traffickers resort to such means as preying on victims’ superstitious beliefs in witchcraft to control them. Latin American women are particularly susceptible to international criminal organizations engaged in sex trafficking due in part to the aura of Latin women as desirable sex objects in other parts of the world. Recently, I was involved in efforts to gain refugee status in the United States for a Colombian woman who was brutally attacked and had her throat slashed on the sidewalk right in front of her university after she refused multiple attempts by a South Korean gang operating in Bogotá, Colombia to recruit female college-age students to work as models in South Korea (which of course was nothing more than a front for luring young women into sex slavery and forced servitude).[vi]
Let us turn to other transborder crimes that are not getting the same level of attention as drug trafficking and human trafficking. While these crimes are less salacious and less adaptable for mini-dramas and television series, their impact on the Latin American region are proving to be even more devastating and destabilizing for the governments in which these activities are occurring—often right under the noses of government officials who are either unable to do anything about it, or are actively involved as corrupt actors.
Who are the Actors?
There is no one monochromatic entity engaged in transborder crime in Latin America. What we may think of as traditional or conventional mafia organizations certainly have a strong presence throughout the region. We know that Japanese yakuza, Chinese triads, other Asian gangs, Cosa Nostra, and Russian mobsters are all present and accounted for. But there are also groups that are something of a hybrid, namely insurgency groups that through many years of smuggling contraband and weapons through cross-border corridors have slowly morphed into international criminal organizations, particularly as their political ideologies and zeal to overthrow governments waned in favor of just getting rich. A particularly notorious example of this would be the FARC guerrillas of Colombia. This opportunistic pseudo-revolutionary-turned-transborder criminal syndicate can now be found throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean, in Western Africa, and as far away as Scandinavia. Some other illegal armed groups that have chosen or have been forced to demobilize in certain Latin American hotspots have also transformed into criminal organizations, motivated by the need to retain control of the communities they terrorized for years, to gain wealth, and in some cases, to preclude being swept into the dustbin of history. These derivative illegal armed groups take on certain characteristics and assume acronyms such as the Colombian BACRIMs and combos to help them self-identify. From localized bases of operations the reach of these emerging groups increasingly extends across international boundaries to form alliances with larger international criminal organizations. BACRIMs are every bit as lethal and motivated as the “big boys” and must be taken very seriously.
Finally, but not exclusively, we know that radical Islamic terrorist organizations have a significant foothold in several regions of South America as well as in Central America, where reports of a clandestine Hezbollah training camp in Nicaragua, close to the Honduran border, surfaced in 2014.[vii] Islamic terrorist organizations are also well known to be ensconced in Muslim communities in what is known as the tri-border region that comprises the confluence of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. This is an area of territory akin to the Old West of the United States where government authority is all but impotent and/or colluding with terrorist groups.[viii]
Islamic terrorist organizations, including Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah have also long been embedded on the Venezuelan island of Margarita, which is a popular Caribbean tourist destination known for its world-class windsurfing.[ix] It is also known for being one of the money laundering and foreign currency counterfeiting capitals of South America, specializing in cleaning money for drug traffickers and terrorist organizations through the free trade port set up on the island.[x] Moreover, there are many allegations and reports that Venezuelan politicians collude with organized criminal groups and terrorist organizations. The current vice president, Tareck El Aissami, is suspected of being engaged in drug trafficking and has alleged ties to Hezbollah groups in Iran, Syria, and Lebanon.[xi] One investigative report alleges that El Aissami is one of Latin America’s most accomplished corrupt actors, having developed “a sophisticated, multi-layered financial network that functions as a criminal-terrorist pipeline bringing militant Islamists into Venezuela and surrounding countries, and sending illicit funds and drugs from Latin America to the Middle East.”[xii] In written testimony submitted before the United States House Foreign Affairs Committee in 2015,[xiii] Joseph Humire, founder of the Center for a Secure Free Society, noted:
[Aissami’s] financial network consists of close to 40 front companies that own over 20 properties with cash, vehicles, real estate and other assets sitting in 36 bank accounts spread throughout Venezuela, Panama, Curacao, St. Lucia, Southern Florida and Lebanon. This network became integrated with the larger Ayman Joumaa money laundering network that used the Lebanese Canadian Bank to launder hundreds of millions of dollars and move multi-ton shipments of cocaine on behalf of Colombian and Mexican drug cartels as well as Hezbollah. This immigration scheme is suspected to also be in place in Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia, as well as some Caribbean countries.[xiv]
Moreover, additional regional and international security concerns were raised beginning in 2007 when Venezuela and Iran began regular flights between Caracas and Tehran, with a stop in Damascus, Syria on which only authorized government officials could fly. Then-President Hugo Chavez is said to have referred to the air route as “Aeroterror,” and it is believed that the flights were used to transport drugs, cash, and terrorists between the three countries.[xv]
Each criminal and terrorist group operating in Latin America has its own goals and motivations, but together they form a web of transborder crime that takes advantage of decades and even centuries of political and social instability and unrest that characterize much if not all Latin America. These groups also take advantage of the unique geographical features that form the region, namely a continent and subcontinent surrounded by two vast oceans that bridge the Western World with the Orient, warm weather island archipelagoes that allow for limitless smuggling opportunities, vast jungles and mountainous terrain that hide criminal operations, thousands of miles of riverine systems for clandestine transport,[xvi] and vast natural and mineral resources that are easily exploited illegally due to the absence of government authority and incapacity to protect those resources.[xvii]
Illegal Acts:
Illegal Logging
The rain forests of Central America and the Amazonian basin are being denuded to the last leaf by the illegal cutting of highly valuable hardwoods that are then transported through surreptitious means to lumber mills in places like Japan, the United States, and throughout Europe.[xviii] In Peru alone, it is estimated that some 600 mi.² of forest woods are illegally harvested each year (as much as a startling 88 percent of all timber production).[xix] Despite there being an anti-illegal logging law enacted in 2015 that carries an eight year maximum prison sentence, not a single person has yet been convicted.[xx]
In Guatemala, it is believed that upwards of 35 percent of the country’s annual commercial timber production is of illegal origin, which is about the same as the level of illegal harvesting occurring in Colombia’s national parks (around 42 percent).[xxi] Political corruption and lack of law enforcement capacity that allows criminal syndicates to operate in isolated areas with impunity are considered among key contributing factors to such wanton and uncontrolled destruction.
Illegal Mining
The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime has stated that “the intersection of organized crime with illegal mining has taken a terrible toll” on both the environment and the people of Latin America.[xxii] Illegal gold mining constitutes an environmental and human rights catastrophe in Andean states and Brazil that is now of such proportion that remediation of the destroyed territory |
call on you, as the dawn.”(Looking toward dawn [say], “A EE ÊÊÊ IIII OOOOO YYYYYY ÔÔÔÔÔÔÔ.”) “I call on you as the south.” (Looking to the south say, “I OO YYY ÔÔÔÔ AAAAA EEEEEE ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ.”) “I call on you as the west.” (Standing [facing] the west, say, “Ê II OOO YYYY ÔÔÔÔÔ AAAAAA EEEEEEE.”) “I call on you as the north.” (Standing looking toward the north, say “Ô AA EEE ÊÊÊÊ IIIII OOOOOO YYYYYYY.”) “I call on you as the earth,” (Looking toward the earth, say, “E ÊÊ III OOOO YYYYY ÔÔÔÔÔÔ AAAAAAA.”) “I call on you as the sky.” (Looking into the sky say, “Y ÔÔ AAA EEEE ÊÊÊÊÊ IIIIII OOOOOOO.”) “I call on you as the cosmos, O YY ÔÔÔ AAAA EEEEE ÊÊÊÊÊÊ IIIIIII. Accomplish for me NN thing, quickly. I call on your name, the greatest among gods…” – PGM XIII. 855-871
After the first or second attempt at vibrating these vowel formulae, I felt a subconscious urge to capture and focus the implied triangular geometry of the vowel strings. Stretching both hands towards the horizon and forming a triangle between the thumb and index figures, I discovered the ideal gesture for this purpose. While vibrating the vowel “triangles”, I focus on charging the triangular area with light. Once the call to the direction is complete, I spread both arms while keeping the palms facing outward as if parting a veil. I have found that this act literally opens portals while simultaneously encasing me in a protective sphere of light.
Needless to say, this gesture has been amazingly powerful for me! Each practitioner will likely develop their own ritual gestures that works best for them.
Facing East, say:
I call on you as the Dawn!
Extend both hands towards the horizon in the triangle gesture and vibrate:
Facing South, say:
I call on you as the South!
Extend both hands towards the horizon in the triangle gesture and vibrate:
Facing West, say:
I call on you as the West!
Extend both hands towards the horizon in the triangle gesture and vibrate:
Facing North, say:
I call on you as the North!
Extend both hands towards the horizon in the triangle gesture and vibrate:
Look Down, say:
I call on you as the Earth!
Extend both hands down towards the ground in the triangle gesture and vibrate:
Look Up, say:
I call on you as the Sky!
Extend both upwards toward the sky in the triangle gesture and vibrate:
Close Eyes, say:
I call on you as the Cosmos!
Place both hands over your heart in the triangle gesture and vibrate:
Notes
Hans Dieter Betz (ed). The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation: Including the Demotic Spells. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992). Tony Mierzwicki. Graeco-Egyptian Magick: Everyday Empowerment. (Stafford, UK: Megalitica Books, 2006). This ritual is published in full by Mierzwicki as the standard opening rite with some slight variations to what I present here. I highly recommend this book as both an introduction to the astro-magic of the Graeco-Egyptians, and as an example of creating a simple workable magical system from the practices of the PGM. Stephen Edred Flowers (ed). Hermetic Magic: The Postmodern Magical Papyrus of Abaris. (York Beach, ME: Weiser Books, 1995). Flowers presents the beginning of this rite (PGM XIII. 825-835) as the suggested “frame ritual”/opening rite. See Pentagram Ritual,Hexagram Ritual, and Sealing the Six-Dimensions See A-Ω: Greek Vowels and the Chaldean Planets.
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Like this: Like Loading...Corporate taglines are like fast food. When presented with thousands of dollars of high-end lighting and thumping EDM, you almost believe they’re good for you. Consumed in the real world, however, they're all but meaningless. Most taglines can be flipped, twisted, diced, and spliced without losing their artificial essence. Try it yourself: take a real tagline and revise.
Innovation for a better life
A better life, innovated
Your world. Our tools
Like life, but bigger
Think better. Live smarter
The possibilities are infinite
The possibilities. Delivered
Smart delivery, big innovation, infinite lives
It’s not hard to craft an almost meaningful tagline for generic tech companies. But what about you? How can we capture your glorious being within a corporate tagline? I’ve created a flow chart to solve that very problem.
Give it a try:A Salvation Army leader in Melbourne has defended his organisation’s actions after his daughter was given donated Paul McCartney concert tickets that were supposed to be for homeless people.
The seven tickets were initially given to homeless people by the Beatles fan Chris McDonald. But four hours before the 5 December show, two of the ticket holders were unable to attend and returned them, the Salvation Army major Brendan Nottle said.
Paul McCartney review – wondrous night of songs, stories and a marriage proposal Read more
“At the last minute, two tickets were returned and [a manager] made the decision to give them to my daughter [Ash Nottle]. It had absolutely had nothing to do with me,” he told 3AW on Thursday. “The manager did the ring-around of other homeless people and volunteer staff and wasn’t able to move them because it was so late.”
He said his daughter had accepted the tickets under the premise that she would be attending to “look out for” the five homeless people at the concert. Ash Nottle attended the concert with her partner.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Brendan Nottle in front of Parliament House after finishing a walk from Melbourne to Canberra to bring attention to the plight of homeless people. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
The Salvation Army will reimburse the donor for all seven tickets, Nottle said, adding that concert tickets were not an appropriate donation for homeless people.
“When you’re working with homeless people, to be blunt, do homeless people need tickets to Paul McCartney or do they need a roof over their head?” he said.
“We are not Ticketmaster, we are not concert promoters, we don’t do that stuff and we get it wrong sometimes, you know.”
Nottle added that the situation could have been handled better and the organisation would “absolutely learn from this”.
“The tragic thing is the daughter that’s involved is one of the most giving people I know. In this work you don’t do this stuff for the kickbacks.”
McDonald told Fairfax Media he still supported the charity. “They do an awful lot of good for people and for the homeless,” he said. “I have been a recipient of their relief so I know how important the work they do is, but the golden rule is never to dip your hand into the donations – it calls the integrity of the entire organisation into dispute.”Just like naturally forming carbon deposits, the captured CO2 should remain locked away for many millions of years, if not billions. And because the basalt layers you need to house the CO2 are relatively common, it might be relatively easy to set up negative emissions plants in many places around the world.
As always, there are catches. The Hellsheidi plant capture system is still an experiment, and the 50 metric tonnes of CO2 it'll capture per year (49.2 imperial tons) isn't about to offset many decades of fossil fuel abuse. There's also the matter of reducing the cost of capturing CO2. Even if Climeworks improves the efficiency of its system to spend $100 for every metric ton of CO2 it removes, you're still looking at hundreds of billions of dollars (if not over a trillion) spent every year to achieve the scale needed to make a difference. That will require countries to not only respect climate science, but care about it enough to spend significant chunks of their budgets on capture technology.
It could be a long while before you see systems like this implemented on a global scale as a result. With that said, the very fact that CO2 capture prices are falling so sharply (they were estimated to cost several hundred dollars per ton in 2011) is important. It's now realistic enough to use capture technology that it's being used at a real-world power plant, and it's easy to see countries like China adopting this to tackle smog and the other immediate short-term effects of runaway CO2 emissions.Sega released new screenshots and details about the prologue and side elements of Yakuza 6 at Tokyo Game Show 2016, including information on the game’s new Clan Creator, Sports Gym with Rizap tie-in, and Xperia smartphone usage.
Get the information below.
■ Prologue (continued)
A New Life
Laying before Kiryu, who rushed to the hospital, was Haruka, who was resting in the intensive care unit.
She was the victim of a hit-and-run incident on the outskirts of Kamurocho. The culprit has yet to be caught. And it is unknown if Haruka will regain consciousness…
Repeated notices of hopelessness beat down on Kiryu.
And that hopeless Kiryu was informed of even more facts. When Haruka was met by the accident, there was something that she bravely volunteered her own body to protect.
That said, Date showed Kiryu an innocent, smiling little baby. His name is Haruto Sawamura.
The baby was Haruka`s child.
To Hiroshima
Haruka’s disappearance. And then, Haruto, the child who was born during her disappearance… So then, who is Haruto’s father? Even with police investigation that remained unknown.
Meanwhile, it is confirmed that Haruka was in Hiroshima during the time of her disappearance.
Onomichi Jingaicho, an old city in the eastern part of Hiroshima… There, neither the Tojo Clan nor the Omi Alliance—the two great powers of the underworld—have any role. It is controlled by the Himei Association, an organization that carries a self-reliant attitude.
This place, where the Tojo Clan’s hand does not reach, is untrodden territory for Kiryu. Just why was Haruka in Hiroshima?
Preparing for danger, Kiryu sets out to Hiroshima with Haruto with “Onomichi” as his only clue.
Waiting for him there was a city with a peculiar townscape where common sense doesn’t apply, and the residents continue to hide something…
The Mystery’s Abyss
In the middle of tracing Haruka’s footsteps in Onomichi Jingaicho, as well as searching for Haruto’s father, Kiryu takes on a mass of mysteries.
It had seemed that Kiryu’s life was the one being targeted, but Haruto was the one the organization tried to snatch in a frenzy. Another mystery presents itself before Kiryu.
What happened to Haruka during her appearance? Who is Haruto’s father? What is the true motive of the power targeting Haruto? And what is the secret that the people of Onomichi so earnestly hide?
Juggling various mysteries, Kiryu will step even deeper into that impenetrable territory…
(Prologue section translated by Cory Arnold.)
■ Clan Creator
What is the Clan Creator?
The new “Clan Creator” element lets Kiryu assemble his own clan as leader to do giant, team-based battles with the evil organization JUSTIS knocking about in Kamurocho and Onomichi.
Team Battles with a Large Group of People
A series first! Melee battles with one large group of people against another. Give your allies commands and lead your team to victory.
Within your allies are “gangsters” and “bosses.” Gangsters have a low sortie cost, so you can have out a lot of them, but their individual combat capabilities are low.
There are five different types of gangsters, including the balanced “Brawler,” the long-distance attacker “Pistol Soldier,” the extremely fit “Strong Arm,” the extremely high attack powered “Assault Soldier,” and the grenade-tossing “Bomber.” You can put sortie out a number of the same type of gangster.
Bosses have a high sortie cost, but high combat capability. Bosses can only be sortied one at a time, but they can change the course of battle with powerful skills. Simple commands such as triggering skills and moving are also possible.
Raise Kiryu’s Clan to be Massive
In the city, there are many bosses that will join Kiryu’s clan. By befriending them, Kiryu’s clan will continue to grow. Assemble a large amount of bosses to try and counter JUSTIS.
—Point 01.
By incorporating bosses onto your organization chart, your “Overall Influence” will increase. By increasing your Overall Influence, your sortie gauge will also increase, which will benefit you in battle. By completing missions, the Kiryu Clan’s organization level will increase and the organization chart will expand, allowing you to incorporate even more bosses into your setup.
—Point 02.
A maximum of six bosses can be sortied in battle. For each boss that can be used in battle, gangsters will also be chosen. Gangsters’ sortie costs can be lowered by skillfully organizing them with bosses, allowing you to deploy even more gangsters in battle.
—Point 03.
Within the organization chart, you can create a parent-child relationship between bosses and followers. By attaching a follower to a boss, the bosses’s capabilities will enhance by 10 percent, and the more followers a boss has, the more his strength will increase. Whether you attach followers to an attack-type boss, or to a strength-type boss, how you choose to enhance will change your bosses’ strength.
Lots of Characters Set to Appear
Popular wrestlers from New Japan Pro Wrestling will appear! The so-called “Six Lunatics” at the helm of JUSTIS block Kiryu’s path. A heated story will unfold about the Kiryu Clan, which is formed to take down the evil JUSTIS group. In addition to Majima Goro and Taiga Saejima, other familiar characters will also appear. Recruit them by all means!
Be the Strongest Kiryu Clan Online
You can take Clan Creator Online via PlayStation Network to battle against friends and other players. By uploading the defense battle formations you’ve constructed to the server, you can be automatically matched with other players. Additionally, a variety of missions, including missions on certain days of the week and limited time missions, are also being prepared. Missions will be added occasionally. You can also play Ranker Battles against the top 10 strongest users.
■ Sports Gym
Yakuza 6 has a tie-in with Rizap in its new “Sports Gym” play spot, where you can go about training through mini-games. From bench presses to jump squats, there are a total of six different types of training methods to choose from.
After training, you’ll get dietary advice from your trainer. The trainer will comment regarding a specific menu, so you should look for the corresponding menu when you want to eat. To get dietary advice, you can send a picture of a menu to your trainer. When you complete your meal, you’ll get notified from your trainer by e-mail. You can go to Rizap to get your results evaluated.
After completing a series of events with your trainer, you’ll get to evaluate your Rizap results. You’ll gain experience points based on your results, so you should actively train and commit your body to good health.
■ New Model Xperia
In Yakuza 6, Kazuma Kiryu has the new model Xperia smartphone. Everything is managed in the Xperia, including mission progress, to do lists, weapon items, and ability upgrades. Additionally, you’ll receive phone calls and e-mails from important characters, can communicate via social networking, and even take pictures with the smartphone’s camera.
Mail
Through e-mails, you’ll get important hints about progressing through the game. You can also use e-mails for side elements, such as appointments with hostesses. You can reply to senders, so e-mail is one of the game’s communication tools.
Social Networking
When trouble breaks out in the city, you’ll hear about it on social networking sites. Cooperate well with the anonymous clients who post on these websites and protect the public order of the city.
Camera
You can use the smartphone’s camera anywhere and at any time. Not only can you use the camera to capture the state of the city or passersby, but you can also use it to take selfies at famous locations. You can use the PlayStation 4’s Share feature to share your camera photographs with others.There will always be a faction of ceaselessly enraged backpackers wearing faded, oversized tees from their defunct indie rap label of choice. "Real hip-hop" will continue to be their rallying cry and their golden age will forever be the late '90s through the early aughts, a time when the word "underground" still carried some semblance of totemic weight. Los Angeles based, Chicago bred rapper Open Mike Eagle emerged from said underground without the grating delivery or myopic rhetoric. Instead, he remains soft-spoken and side-splitting in the delivery of what he calls "art-rap."
A former special education teacher and a member of both L.A.'s famed Project Blowed collective and Nocando's imprint Hellfyre Club, Eagle has released three critically acclaimed albums (with features from artists such as Danny Brown and Busdriver) since 2010. His music is always sonically challenging and rewarding, and he remains equally self-aware and absurd in relating concerns pertaining to rap, society, fatherhood, and our existence. In other words, few rappers are capable of crooning about wiping their son's ass ("Qualifiers"), or joking about middle-aged rappers plagued by erectile dysfunction ("Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes"), without ruining the punch line. Though his monotone isn't as pronounced, Eagle might be the rap game Steven Wright.
Eagle's predilection for comedy has landed him an appearance on Marc Maron's WTF Podcast and opening gigs for comedians such as Paul F. Thompkins. He also hosted his own rap variety show this past January, which featured comedians Baron Vaughn and D.C. Pierson. And, in case you were wondering, his personal Mount Rushmore includes but is not limited to Kurt Vonnegut, Redd Foxx, Howard the Duck, and Ron Simmons.
Recently, Eagle signed a three-album deal with independent rap label Mello Music Group, who will release his aptly titled fourth album, Dark Comedy. A forward-thinking record still very much grounded in the present, it's arguably his best yet. Noisey is happy to premiere "Dark Comedy Morning Show," the album's latest single. Produced by budding L.A. producer/DJ/singer/multi-instrumentalist Toy Light, it ranks among the most affecting songs on Dark Comedy, poignant and powerful with flashes of incomparable wit throughout.
Toy Light's guitar riffs and soft singing provide a warm backdrop, one he continually layers with minimal yet hard-hitting drums and an engaging blend of glitch, clip, and static. This is the sound of Nirvana's most melodic moments run through the gears of industrial rap and reworked by one of the L.A. beat scene's emerging talents. Eagle straddles the line between cutting critic and cutup. Rap game lamentations are tempered by his tendency to tweet on Sunday morning. Thus, the modern man's hustle may one day be forsaken for the plight of the hologram. The fact that Facebook catalogues Eagle's favorite sandwiches is hilarious and alternatively capable of inducing paranoia. What does Facebook do with the data? You can either laugh and shrug or deactivate your account. By the end of song, Eagle's voice is nearly drowned in a discordant drone. Maybe that's how it feels to rap in 2014 or maybe he just wants you to listen more closely.
For those who enjoy the single, Dark Comedy drops June 10 and is currently available for pre-order on Itunes. The official album listening party is May 1 at The Mint in L.A. There will be rapping, comedy, and possibly an assortment of fair trade cheeses. Additionally, there are rumors that Eagle will deliver a flawless Stone Cold Stunner on stage before signing fans' WWE merchandise. We may be making up that last part, but god almight, we hope it's true.
Max Bell delivers Stunners daily. He's on Twitter — @JM_Bell23A little over seven years ago in March 2010, after delays, NVIDIA launched their first 40nm architecture built for DX11 from the ground up, named after Italian-American Physicist, Enrico Fermi. The ‘Fermi’ Architecture’s first implementation was in the form of the GF100 GPU at the heart of the flagship GeForce GTX 480 and its cut-down sibling, the GeForce GTX 470. At the time, the GTX 480 often beat AMD’s Radeon HD 5870 for the title of the fastest single-GPU graphics card in the world. But it did so with considerably higher power consumption and heat output on a substantially large die, with a higher price tag to go with it.
In 2012 we saw NVIDIA ditch the “big-dies first” practise for consumers. Ever since 28nm Kepler and the GTX 680, Nvidia’s strategy has been to launch a smaller, ‘mid-sized’ die as the flagship, then refresh it later with the ‘big die’ GPU. 2013 even saw the use of the “Ti” moniker for a flagship card – the GTX 780 Ti representing the fullest implementation of the Kepler Architecture, the GK110 chip. Fast Forward to late 2017 and NVIDIA’s 16nm Pascal architecture has been fully realised across an entire stack of GPUs, from the lowest GT 1030 to the second most powerful single-GPU graphics card in the world, the TITAN Xp.
Magnificent Oldie(ish) Mashup
Today I’m putting 2010’s fastest single-GPU graphics card, the venerable GTX 480, up against NVIDIA’s $450 fifth-fastest single GPU graphics card, the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti. I will also bench it against a modern low-power, low-cost card from AMD, the RX 560 2GB which retails for just $99. Tracing the lineage of the mid-sized GP104 chip back to the GeForce 400 series and one actually finds the GTX 460 as the ‘true’ 2010-equivalent of this card. But since the playing field has changed considerably, NVIDIA is able to sell smaller chips for higher price points. The GeForce GTX 1070 Ti retails today for around $450 – fifty dollars less than the GTX 480 was at launch. Just how much more performance does fifty dollars less than the GTX 480 buy you in 2017?
The GPUs
Lets start by taking a closer look at the GPUs powering these three graphics cards.
GeForce GTX 480
Key Facts
529mm² die size
3.2b transistors
40nm manufacturing process
480 CUDA cores
60 TMUs
48 ROPs
384-bit memory interface
768KB L2 cache
1.5GB GDDR5
3.7 Gbps Memory data rate
700 MHz core clock
1400 MHz shader clock
The GeForce GTX 480 is powered by NVIDIA’s first 40nm and DX11-capable GPU based on the ‘Fermi’ architecture – the GF100. The chip is 529mm² and contains approximately 3.2 billion transistors. The full chip features 16 processor clusters termed by Nvidia as ‘Streaming Multiprocessors’. Each SM provides 32 CUDA cores, 4 Texture Mapping units and a PolyMorph engine for work such as Tessellation. This gives the full GPU 512 CUDA cores and 64 TMUs. Its implementation in the GTX 480 isn’t fully featured, however. Likely due to yields on the new at the time 40nm process, the GF100 in the GTX 480 has a SM disabled, leaving only 480 CUDA cores and 60 TMUs active. The GPU has 48 ROP units backing out onto a 384-bit memory interface wired to 1.5 GB of GDDR5 running at 3.7 Gbps – which produces 177GB/s of raw memory bandwidth. The GTX 480 has a TDP of 250W.
Up until Kepler in 2012, NVIDIA GPUs actually operated their processor cores at a separate frequency to the GPU core itself – the Fermi architecture has a ‘double-pumped’ shader clock. This means the GPU processor cores operate at twice the core frequency. GTX 480’s core is maintained at 700 MHz, this means the CUDA cores are running at 1400 MHz. As a result, GF100 in the GTX 480 produces 1.34 TFLOPs of single-precision floating-point performance.
GeForce GTX 1070 Ti
Key Facts
314mm² die size
7.2b transistors
16nm manufacturing process
2432 CUDA cores
152 TMUs
64 ROPs
2MB L2 cache
256-bit memory interface
8GB GDDR5
8 Gbps Memory data rate
1607 MHz core clock
1683 MHz Boost clock
actual clock under load: ~1800 MHz
The GTX 1070 Ti is the latest implementation of the mid-sized 16nm GP104 silicon. The first card based on this chip was 2016’s flagship GTX 1080, followed by the cut-down GTX 1070. With the launch of AMD’s highly competitive RX Vega 56 graphics card, NVIDIA saw the need for a new model to slot in between the slower 1070 and faster 1080 GPUs. The result is a card that performs somewhere between the two, but is usually faster than the RX Vega 56, but also carries a higher price tag.
The Pascal architecture for consumer GeForce cards is very similar to the Maxwell architecture from an top-level view. The full Gp104 chip features 20 SMs, each containing 128 CUDA cores and 8 TMUs and the PolyMorph engine. This results in a total of 2560 CUDA cores and 160 TMUs. The chip’s render back-end can process 64 pixels per clock (64 ROP units) and backs out onto a 256-bit interface. The implementation of the GP104 in the GTX 1070 Ti isn’t fully featured and has a single SM disabled likely to improve yields. Aside from the disabled SM, the biggest difference between this card and the fully featured GTX 1080 is the use of slower, 8Gbps GDDR5 rather than 10Gbps GDDR5X on the more expensive model. As a result, the 8GB framebuffer on the GTX 1070 Ti produces 256GB/s of bandwidth versus 320 GB/s on the 1080. The GTX 1070 Ti operates with a nominal TDP of 180W.
Aside from the relative increase in all major GPU resources, the Pascal Architecture, like the Maxwell architecture before it, increases performance per CUDA core (compared to pre-Maxwell architectures) as well as increasing clock rates to boot. Significant changes were made to the layout of the Streaming Multiprocessor to improve performance by simplifying scheduling and allowing for higher utilisation.
Radeon RX 560 2GB
Key Facts
123mm² die size
3b transistors
14nm manufacturing process
1024 Stream processors
64 TMUs
16 ROPs
1MB L2 cache
128-bit memory interface
2 or 4GB GDDR5
7 Gbps Memory data rate
1175 MHz core clock
1275 MHz Boost clock
AMD’s Radeon RX 560 is based on the Polaris 21 GPU. This chip is essentially a re-badge of the older Polaris 11 chip that powered the RX 460. Improvements in yields have allowed AMD to enable the chip’s full Compute Unit count in the RX 560 and improve clock speeds to boot. Compared to the Radeon RX 460, the RX 560 has 128 more Stream Processors (two CUs of 64 SP each). Other specifications of the chip include a 16-rop render backend, 128-bit memory interface and either 2 or 4GB of GDDR5 running at 7Gbps. Today I will be testing the 2GB model. The Radeon RX 560 has a Typical Board Power of between 60 and 80 W depending on the model. The card I am using features a 6-pin power connector but some models lack this and can be fed by the socket (75W max).The Clothing of Tomorrow
Joshua Hehe Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jun 25, 2017
In the future, clothes will not only monitor and adapt to a person’s vital signs or warn the wearer of the presence of a hazardous material, they will even notify the authorities in the event of an emergency. They will work to continuously contour the material surrounding a person into an aesthetically pleasing form. The fabric of tomorrow will also loosen or stiffen as the situation requires and lengthen or shorten to suit the occasion. This will automatically give flexibility or stability and allow for reactionary alterations of the sleeve and hem. As cybernetic augmentations of the self, the garments will serve as a kind of second skin, linked to our thoughts and the environment, responding as much to the way we appear as the way we want to. Modern athletic wear can already regulate body temperature, reduce wind resistance and control muscle vibration. Just imagine what it will be capable of in the next few decades. Man-machine interface in the clothing industry will undoubtedly take everything to a whole new level in so many ways.
The garments of the future will inevitably replace the devices of the present, not that long from now. In the years ahead, pliable lightweight exoskeletal suits will give people superhuman strength. This will provide much needed endurance to the over-worked and the disabled, among others. Hilfiger’s phone charging jackets will become an obsolete thing of the past. Soon, kinesthetic energy will power anthropometric outfits that can do all sorts of things. E-textiles are going to revolutionize the fashion industry in inconceivable ways. Conductive threads, embedded electronics, and smart cloth will replace modern materials, in no time at all. The clothes of the 22nd century will perform all the technological functions we use our phones for in the 21st, like taking photos and texting. Nearly every piece of high tech clothing and accessories in the future will have internet connectivity built right into it. Everything will serve multiple functions. Nanotech fabrics already consist of stain-resistant, anti-wrinkle, and odor-controlling materials, to name but a few. There is nearly unlimited potential in the fabrication of futuristic textiles.
The change will become more and more widespread, at an ever-increasing rate, as this all gets normalized over time. In the blink of an eye, biocouture and technocouture will become staple products in mainstream fashion. Very soon, the vast majority of fabric will be grown or printed in a shop, not sewn in a factory. As part of this innovation in fabrication, the clothes of tomorrow will be outright magical compared to what people wear today. A shirt will be able to seamlessly transform into a hoodie or even become a cloak of invisibility. The material will automatically change texture and color in response to one’s feelings, in numerous different ways. Some clothes will even turn more and more transparent the more intimate the wearer becomes with others. In the future, the things that people adorn themselves with will be a genuine reflection and extension of who they are, inside and out. Performers like Lady Gaga and designers like Anouk Wipprecht are helping to usher in this kind of innovation through full-blown revolution. So, prepare for the coming fashion trends and the changes they will bring, the clothing of tomorrow will soon be upon you.UnikoinGold + UnikoinSilver new features live…!
Rahul Sood Blocked Unblock Follow Following Nov 13, 2017
The most successful esports and gaming token crowdsale in history was conceived when our investor, Mark Cuban, encouraged us to look into the blockchain and how it could revolutionize our industry, operations and user experience.
The token came to term over four weeks in October — and the years of research and use cases quietly built by our unparalleled team — and labor began. The crowdsale batch raised more than 112,000 ETH, and over 127,000,000 tokens were delivered last week.
But today is the day the future decentralized token of all esports and gaming is really given birth and brought into the world fully-fledged. Today, I’m proud to say Unikrn has officially accomplished something rare: we’ve created a completely new thing in the world, made of pieces from the past and looking toward the future.
Why today? Today is when we are launching the first of many upgrades to our platform, including the Unikrn Wallet, prize system renovations and users’ ability to farm UnikoinGold simply by playing the world’s biggest competitive games.
That’s right, we are harnessing the love of gaming as proof of work, and releasing tokens based on that proof. This is on top of our ongoing partnership with ChallengeMe.GG to offer regular UnikoinGold tournaments, which began even before the first tokens were delivered just days after our token sale concluded.
We’ve been moving fast. Here’s where we are:
Unikrn Wallet
Today we welcome our most exciting new feature, the Unikrn (hot) Wallet. I’ve discussed some of the theory behind this before, but the short version is that Unikrn Wallet will allow use of our token on all partner platforms, beginning with our own, for hyper-fast, unequivocally secure, entropy-free, high-volume transactions.
Unikrn Wallet is a free hot wallet. It is safe. It is fast. And it is the key to everything yet to come. By signing up for Unikrn Wallet today, you’re unlocking your ability to use our new features, including earning UKG by playing games and entering to win major prizes (including skins, Blizzbucks and UKG). Even though Unikrn Wallet is safe, since it’s a hot wallet you should always keep your large storages of UnikoinGold offline on a hardware wallet or other similar mechanics.
Connekt Upgrades for Gold
Our already-existing Unikrn Connekt product has been outfitted as our proof-of-work, allowing anybody in the world to earn UnikoinGold by playing Counter-Strike:Global Offensive, Dota 2, or League of Legends, with more games coming soon. You can sign up in a few clicks and you check back regularly to see your progress; you’ll earn UKG for every ranked win (with a max per-day account to prevent abuse).
Jackpots are Bigger, Better Raffles
We’ve renovated our prize system so with three goals in mind:
Max out value to the users Incorporate UnikoinGold without preventing free-to-play UnikoinSilver (UKS) users from participating Maintain a balanced economy
We’ve done this by retiring raffles and beginning jackpots. With jackpots, there are chances for UKS-only prizes, UKS and UKG mixed prizes (in which UKG users have a transparent advantage and the chance to win additional UKG), and UKG-only prizes.
In order to make sure we have the appropriate cache of prizes, we’re also continuing our skins-for-UKG exchange, so be sure to send us anything you don’t want. It’s the easiest way to get UKG now that the crowdsale is over. Get more from your skins and send them our way.
Baby Steps
Even these steps are groundbreaking for the merger of crypto, esports and gaming, bringing together the arenas like never before. But you know Unikrn: our ambition never sleeps. Just as today’s historic moves are a birth, they are also going to look like baby steps compared to what is yet to come.
We’re committed to bringing complete gamification of our site, giving more ways to earn and more prizes to win. We’re committed to bringing in more titles, live betting, skill-based betting, a PVP platform, live stats and readouts for over 4500 esports matches, continued expansion of our rapidly growing custom content with UKG tie-ins, and a European rollout for which we’ve already secured our license.
And that’s just the stuff we can already tell you about today, just eight days after token delivery.
I’m grateful that you’ve joined us, and I’m happy we can reward you so many awesome and early ways to earn, play and win. It’s just going to get better from here.
Check out our website’s announcement for greater details on today’s offerings, our YouTube page for full tutorials on using our new features, or the links scattered throughout for more on anything specific.
I can’t wait to share what’s next!Israel's partnership with the United States is one of its greatest strategic assets. The United States provides Israel with crucial security and economic aid and invaluable political backing in the international arena. Amid the legitimate rapprochement President Obama has initiated with the Arab and Muslim world, it is important not to underestimate the multifaceted nature of U.S. relations with Israel, the only real Middle Eastern democracy whose founding principles are based on the Western values of liberty and freedom for all.
During the tenure of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and my administration after that, we, together with President George W. Bush, boosted Israeli-U.S. relations at all levels and on most issues. This progress was based on deep and candid understandings, both written and oral.
Throughout the second intifada, America provided unprecedented support for Israel's struggle against Palestinian terrorism and Israel's construction of the security barrier. Together, we envisioned the "two-state solution" as the only way to end the conflict by adopting and implementing the "road map" and its sequencing.
By vast majorities, Congress endorsed President Bush's 2004 letter elaborating Israel's right to defend itself, by itself, against any threat and recognizing new realities on the ground in which the Jewish population centers in the West Bank would be an inseparable part of the state of Israel in any future permanent-status agreement. America acknowledged that the future Palestinian state would represent the solution to the Palestinian refugees, resettling them there and not in Israel.
In November 2007, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the Bush administration convened in Annapolis with the unified goal of solving all outstanding issues. Annapolis provided the framework for direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians toward bringing an end to the conflict and to all claims.
Yet today, instead of a political process, the issue of settlement construction commands the agenda between the United States and Israel. This is a mistake that serves neither the process |
. As such, you can be sure that many great thinkers and deft minds have been hard at work trying to figure out a new model that will produce just as much coin while nixing the release windows entirely. This article is not about one of those models.
No, this article is about a big bucket of crazy coming from Dreamworks' Jeffrey Katzenberg, who claims that the future business model will be to price out what you pay for a movie based on whatever the dimensions of the screen you're planning to watch it on. Seriously.
Those who watched on a "movie screen" would pay the most while those using smartphones would only pay a small fee, Jeffrey Katzenberg said. This pricing model will be common in 10 years' time, he told a US conference. The pricing model he suggested was $15 (£9) per film for a movie-sized screen, $4 (£2.40) for a 75in (190cm) TV and $1.99 (£1.20) for a smartphone.
The Verge thought the idea faced some technical hurdles.
"Given the diversity of video streaming options available today, it's hard to imagine a security system that would reliably recognise the exact size of the screen it's being displayed on," wrote commentator Vlad Slavov.
This won't happen. I don't mean to say it won't be tried. It might. But it won't last. Why? For a myriad of reasons, not the least of which are the technical hurdles.And that, frankly, is theof the reasons why this won't work. Add to that the simple methods for getting around the pricing model (such as hooking up a smart phone to a television screen with a $2 cable), not to mention the simple plain fact that this doesn't make any economic sense. Basing the price of a product upon a physical device that isn't owned by the producer is a bold move. By which I mean it has no basis in established economic theory. Can you imagine iTunes trying to charge you different prices for music based on the size of your speakers? Or video game makers charging more or less based on how much power your computer packs? The product is the product and where it is consumed is the purview of the consumer.That said, it's nice to see that industry folks are at least coming around to the idea that release windows are going away. I just wish they'd come up with replacement business models that didn't make my head hurt.
Filed Under: business models, jeffrey katzenberg, movies, pricing, screen sizeI hate to say I told you so, but…
Foreword by Kevin Barrett / truthjihad
Back in February, I wrote an op-ed entitled “Wisconsin Governor admits to plotting false-flag terror; media averts eyes.” By normally-accepted standards of quality — freshness, communicative effectiveness, importance of content, ability to grab the reader’s attention, and so on — it was at least as good as anything published on any editorial page in Wisconsin this year. Yet (surprise, surprise) no local print outlet would publish it.
In my February op-ed, I explained that: “False-flag terror is the oldest and arguably most powerful trick in the book of governments. By stirring up trouble and spreading fear, rulers trick the people into begging them – the rulers – for security at any price. Whether you are a state governor or the President of the United States or a tinpot dictator like Mubarak, the best way to augment your power is to hire special ops professionals to dress up as ‘terrorists’ and perpetrate violence. You can then blame the violence on your political enemies, destroy those enemies, consolidate power, and rule unopposed.”
As it turns out, this is exactly what Indiana prosecutor and Republican activist Carlos Lam urged Wisconsin governor Scott Walker to do! As Raw Story reported Thursday:
Indiana prosecutor told Wisconsin governor to stage ‘false flag’ operation
An Indiana prosecutor and Republican activist has resigned after emails show he suggested Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker stage a fake attack on himself to discredit unions protesting his budget repair bill. The Republican governor signed a bill on March 11 that eliminates most union rights for public employees. In an email from February 19, Indiana deputy prosecutor Carlos F. Lam told Walker the situation presented “a good opportunity for what’s called a ‘false flag’ operation.” The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism discovered the email among tens of thousands released to the public last week following a lawsuit by the Isthmus and the Associated Press. “If you could employ an associate who pretends to be sympathetic to the unions’ cause to physically attack you (or even use a firearm against you), you could discredit the unions,” Lam said in his email. “Currently, the media is painting the union protest as a democratic uprising and failing to mention the role of the DNC and umbrella union organizations in the protest,” he continued. “Employing a false flag operation would assist in undercutting any support that the media may be creating in favor of the unions.” (full story: Indiana Prosecutor told Wisconsin Governor to stage false flag operation)
When will the media wake up and inform the people that false-flag terror is not only extremely common, but arguably THE most powerful tool of unscrupulous rulers? That the minute a neocon Republican gets in trouble, he thinks about calling in the special ops pros for a false-flag?
I’ll tell you when: They’ll do it when they’re finally forced to admit that, as Geraldo put it, those “obnoxious” 9/11 truthers were right all along.
And when that happens, would it be obnoxious, or only fair, to say “I told you so”? And to add “if you had listened then, millions of murdered people would still be alive”?
by Washington’s Blog / Global Research.ca
Forget the claims and allegations that false flag terror – governments attacking people and then blaming others in order to create animosity towards those blamed – has been used throughout history.
This essay will solely discuss government admissions to the use of false flag terror.
For example:
The CIA admits that it hired Iranians in the 1950’s to pose as Communists and stage bombings in Iran in order to turn the country against its democratically-elected president
that it hired Iranians in the 1950’s to pose as Communists and stage bombings in Iran in order to turn the country against its democratically-elected president Israel admits that an Israeli terrorist cell operating in Egypt planted bombs in several buildings, including U.S. diplomatic facilities, then left behind “evidence” implicating the Arabs as the culprits (one of the bombs detonated prematurely, allowing the Egyptians to identify the bombers, and several of the Israelis later confessed) (and see this and this )
The well-respected former Indonesian president admits that the government probably had a role in the Bali bombings
As admitted by the U.S. government, recently declassified documents show that in the 1960’s, the American Joint Chiefs of Staff signed off on a plan to blow up AMERICAN airplanes (using an elaborate plan involving the switching of airplanes), and also to commit terrorist acts on American soil, and then to blame it on the Cubans in order to justify an invasion of Cuba. See the following ABC news report ; the official documents ; and watch this interview with the former Washington Investigative Producer for ABC’s World News Tonight with Peter Jennings*
There are many other instances of false flag attacks used throughout history proven by the historical evidence. See this, this and this. The above are only some examples of governments admitting to using false flag terror.
You can’t call it a conspiracy theory when the government itself admits it.
And this is not just ancient history:
Jimmy Carter’s former National Security Adviser – Zbigniew Brzezinski – told the Senate that a terrorist act might be carried out in the U.S. and falsely blamed on Iran to justify war against that nation
Note: While the Joint Chiefs of Staff pushed for Operation Northwoods to be carried out, cooler heads prevailed; President Kennedy or his Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara apparently vetoed the plan.
Washington’s Blog is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Washington’s BlogA part of me felt obliged to try and argue why the opening contests on UFC 210 are worth plucking down your hard earned money. Then every argument I thought of in my head didn’t feel strong enough to present. It isn’t that these are bad contests. Every one of them has real potential to be top notch. But do they have any appeal to the casual fan? Nope. Good thing the main and co-main event do.
The main card begins at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT on Saturday.
Cynthia Calvillo (4-0) vs. Pearl Gonzalez (6-1), Women’s Strawweight
I don’t want to rip on Calvillo and Gonzalez as both show the potential to become mainstays in a division that has filled up in a hurry. Maybe even contenders. But at this stage in their careers, they shouldn’t be on the main card of a PPV.
Calvillo’s UFC debut – which was just last month -- came just over six months after her professional debut. No surprise that she is very raw as she doesn’t have a whole lot of experience. Despite that, he has shown noticeable improvements in each contest. A wrestler first and foremost, it is no surprise that she comes from Team Alpha Male with that background. Single and double-leg takedowns are prominent and Calvillo showed fantastic grappling accolades in sweeping Amanda Cooper, eventually securing the win with a RNC.
While Calvillo has progressed on the feet, she is still somewhat limited to a basic jab and side kicks. That may not be enough against Gonzalez, a cerebral technician on the feet. Owning an amateur boxing background, Gonzalez picks apart her opponents with a devastating jab while looking for openings to follow up with her power shots. It may not sound like much of an improvement over what Calvillo offers, but Calvillo has yet to pick up the understanding of angles and distance that Gonzalez possesses. Gonzalez isn’t an expert there by any means, but her advantage is very noticeable. Plus, Gonzalez compliments her punches with efficient kicks.
There is no reason to think Calvillo will dominate Gonzalez on the ground either. Gonzalez has picked up two-thirds of her wins via armbar and came this close to picking up another one of her wins in that manner.
I’m utterly confused how oddsmakers have favored Calvillo so heavily. Yes, she looked good against Cooper and has more natural power in her fists. She’s a superior athlete too. But making her greater than a 2-to-1 favorite is ridiculous when neither has established themselves. While Calvillo’s continued improvements can’t be discounted, I look at Gonzalez’s technical advantage on the feet in addition to her submission prowess on the ground and don’t see Calvillo scoring a victory similar to her UFC debut. In fact, I see Gonzalez pulling off the upset. While these two don’t have the name value to be in the place that they are on the card, they should put on a good show. Gonzalez via submission of RD2
Thiago Alves (21-11) vs. Patrick Cote (23-10), Welterweight
You want to talk about longtime vets? Alves has been in the UFC since 2005. Cote, in his third UFC stint, made his debut in the preeminent MMA organization all the way back in 2004 against Tito Ortiz. Their best years appear to be long gone, but these two are still capable of putting together an entertaining slugfest.
Alves may be the younger of the two – 33 as compared to Cote’s 37 years – but there are more questions about his decline than there are for Cote. That’s due to a series of long layoffs, injuries, and misguided expeditions into the lightweight division. To be fair, Alves looked like he still had something to offer in his loss to Jim Miller and it’s likely he’ll look better returning to 170 as he won’t be depleting himself nearly as much.
Against Miller, Alves had more energy than anyone expected and still packed a punch in his strikes. The problem was that he didn’t have the strength to stop takedowns or explode back to his feet. Perhaps the attempt to drop in weight has improved his conditioning, something that has long been a concern for longtime ATT representative. Hopefully he can regain his typical defensive wrestling while pushing a faster pace than usual.
If this fight were happening a few years ago, no one would be concerned about Cote’s takedowns anyway. The Canadian had established a reputation as a durable brawler whose power seemed to come and go. As a result, Cote wasn’t winning very many contests… at least not until he added the threat of a takedown. Cote still isn’t a great wrestler, but he is huge for welterweight and doesn’t easily give up on his attempts to get the fight to the ground. The takedown attempts have largely dried up again in the last few contests, but opponents know Cote has that in his back pocket which has opened up the door for Cote to land his power strikes.
What is concerning for Cote is his durability. He was KO’d for the first time in his career in his last appearance against Donald Cerrone. Often times when a fighter has their chin cracked for the first time, they become more susceptible to going lights out again. Look at Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson. It’s too early to say that is what is going to happen to Cote, though it is certainly something to pay attention to.
I was initially tempted to go with Cote at first hearing of this contest. He’s only lost to Cerrone and Stephen Thompson in his last eight appearances, two of the best names at welterweight. But upon further inspection, I’m going with Alves. Both Cote and Alves have KO power in their fists with a record of durability, but a few things are pushing me towards Alves. Alves has only fought four times in the last five years, indicating he’s given his body – and perhaps his brain – recovery time Cote’s hasn’t received. I would be worried about rust, but Alves hasn’t taken too long to round into form after long layoffs and it has only been five months since he last fought. Aside from Cerrone finishing Cote, he also took Cote down with ease with a pair of reactive takedowns early and chewed up Cote’s legs with kicks. Alves is perfectly capable of doing those two things just effectively if not more. Alves via TKO of RD2
Will Brooks (18-2) vs. Charles Oliveira (21-7, 1 NC), Lightweight
Brooks and Oliveira are both supremely talented 155ers who are at a crossroads for their career as they come off of high profile losses. While it won’t be impossible for the loser to return to a lofty perch, it seems highly improbable.
Weight issues plagued each of these competitors in their last contest, just not in the same way. While Oliveira fought Ricardo Lamas over nine pounds above his contracted weight, Brooks was bullied by a much larger Alex Oliveira, who had over six pounds on Brooks and contributed heavily to his loss. Charles Oliveira was forced by the brass to return to lightweight as it was his fourth occasion of missing weight while Brooks was made a sympathetic figure for the first time in years following his outspoken attitude towards Bellator before forcing his way out of the UFC’s rival organization. Though there are no guarantees, weight issues are unlikely to play a part in this contest.
Brooks came into the UFC with high expectations after a dominant reign as Bellator’s champion. He’s disappointed thus far as he didn’t appear to be in peak form against Ross Pearson aside from the aforementioned loss. A fantastic athlete with smothering wrestling, Brooks has been unable to showcase those skills thus far as he was unable to keep Alex Oliveira down even when able to get him to the ground. Even if Brooks is able to get his bread and butter going against Charles, it will be a risky proposition as Oliveira is one of the slickest and most creative submission experts in the sport. Though he is best operating off of his opponent’s back Oliveira’s guard isn’t to be taken lightly either.
Don’t overlook the standup aspects of either competitor either. Oliveira has progressed into a more than functional Muay Thai practitioner, winging hard punches and kicks from a distance and slashing knees and elbows in close quarters. His defense leaves quite a bit to be desired and there are certifiable questions about his toughness.
Like Oliveira, Brooks’ standup is better than advertised. He isn’t as flashy as Oliveira, offering a more meat-and-potatoes boxing approach in comparison. It doesn’t mean Brooks is boring. He puts together slick combinations in the pocket, though he is most effective on the counter. Don’t underestimate his clinch game either. Brooks may have struggled against the much larger Oliveira, but it’s hard to see the smaller Charles Oliveira overpowering him in there.
My initial instinct was to favor Oliveira’s slick submission abilities. Then I remembered Brooks’ performance against Marcin Held a 17 months ago and recalled the ease in which Brooks was able to avoid Held’s submission attempts. I acknowledge Oliveira is a different beast than Held, but that combined with Oliveira’s lack of striking defense leads me to believe Brooks can withstand an early storm and wear down his Brazilian opponent… maybe even get a late finish. Brooks via TKO of RD3“The conformity that it’s imposing is to the worst model of porn. It specifically targets and bans acts that are associated with feminist and fetish porn.” Pandora Blake, over welsh rarebit and eggs, was explaining to me the new porn laws. They aren’t new, exactly – it’s just a new way of regulating online pornographers, via ATVOD (the Authority for Television and Video on Demand) so that they have to comply with the rules for pornography on DVD.
The only reason independent porn studios never made DVDs is that regulations governing that kind of broadcast are so stringent, devised by an unaccountable board, who can cope with untold degradations so long as they happen to women. If it’s something you would recognise from the hardcore mainstream, it is acceptable; if it’s something you didn’t know anybody did, it is probably verboten.
I first interviewed Blake a year ago, researching ethical porn, which she makes: you may meet people who have thought as hard, but I do not think you will meet anyone who has thought harder about sexuality and its expression than she has. Then, her filmed work was almost exclusively for her website Dreams of Spanking; recently, she has diversified into hardcore feminist porn with colleague and “kinkster”, Nimue Allen. “When we were booking the shoot, it wasn’t illegal, when we were shooting it, it wasn’t illegal and then when we got back, it was illegal.”
“The thing that shocks me most,” said Itziko Urrutia, a dominatrix, “is that this is legislation at all. The list of sexual activities banned make no sense at all, unless, as it’s the current consensus, you read them as a misogynistic vision of female sexuality, written by school boys who are still scared of the girls. The chaotic, demonic female sexual energy must be suppressed at all costs!”
On the banned list, now: oral sex upon a woman that is seen to block the airways; acts of oral sex upon a man that block the airways are fine; female ejaculate is banned lest anyone mistake it for urine, which is also banned; male ejaculate is fine. “Where you’ve got female sexual desire or agency, that’s disallowed,” Pandora said. “So I think it’s actually in contravention of EU equalities legislation.” I can think of few legal challenges I would enjoy more than a female-domination pornographer taking the British Board of Film Classification to court in Strasbourg. Even the hypothetical look on Nigel Farage’s face delights me.
Bondage in specific amounts – both arms, both legs and a gag – is banned because that apparently makes it impossible to consent. Don’t get me wrong, I do not know a huge amount about BDSM, but I know enough to know that there are ways to signal consent that don’t involve both arms, both legs and an unimpeded mouth.
A blogger and writer of erotica, going by the name of Girl on the Net, met me in a cafe in Shoreditch, east London, and spoke rather patiently of ATVOD. “Whenever you take this principle of ‘some things are safe to do but disgusting to see’ you’re always going to get this disconnect … one of the weird things in there is that you can’t have a particular type of spanking unless it is moderate and consensual. Well, who decides what’s moderate? As a kinky person, I’ve always been taught, the person who decides these things is me. A third party can’t tell me what I consent to.”
I have never read a set of rules, not even the changes to legal aid, that so flagrantly omitted to discuss principles with the people to whom they would apply. Functionally, the regulations kick in only when you are contacted by ATVOD, asking you to apply to be registered with them. If you refuse, they shut you down, and if you accede, you then have to abide by their rules.
Their powers are justified mainly in their notorious Article 11, which refers to material that harms children. It lacks internal consistency; niche porn is the hardest thing for children to access, because you have to pay for it.
“They’ll grab 30 or 40 sites of the same genres, so it’s very interesting that so far the ones that have been targeted have been gay sites and fem-dom. No BDSM sites with female subs have been targeted because that’s apparently fine,” Pandora remarks; her own site has so far gone unnoticed.
But one person got the letter and did refuse – Urrutia appealed to Ofcom and won. “Smaller studios who didn’t challenge it were shut down. I am single, I don’t have children, I don’t care if my name is attached to this. My family is in another country. But women like me, we have families. Many decided to pay the fee, and they find themselves under this law. It’s going to be known as the female ejaculation law from now on.”One of the Indian gaming industry's key figures, Vishal Gondal, is set to make a return. Albeit not in game development. Rather, the founder of Indiagames, which was acquired by Disney in 2012 for $100 million, is set to launch an early stage fund for the gaming ecosystem.
While most funds are focused on just mobile studios and publishers, Gondal says he plans to take a more holistic approach to gaming in the country providing mentorship, publishing, finance, marketing, design and management support.
(Also see: Game Development in India: In a State of Constant Flux)
"We're not just looking at mobile game studios alone. VR, AR, even game technology like engines and even e-sports, are what we will be looking at as well,"Gondal said to Gadgets 360. "The idea is to capture and capitalise on every touchpoint in the games business ecosystem in India and provide them with not just capital but business expertise given gaming is going to grow exponentially in the Indian market."
He will be joined by other founders and executives in the fields of media, technology, gaming, and startups.
(Also see: The State of E-Sports in India: Untapped Potential but It Doesn't Have to Be)
It will be interesting to see how this pans out. At the moment, Gondal's track record appears solid what with a successful exit to Disney on the back of several profitable cricket games as well as his health startup Goqii grabbing a large chunk of the wearables space - being only second to Xiaomi in India, according to IDC.
For many fledgling gaming studios and companies in the space, a fund run by someone with previous experience in gaming, as opposed to other funds being run by those from a non-gaming background, this should come as a welcome change. More so when you consider that most game developers are overrun by the demands of distribution, marketing, and the sheer fight for visibility that comes with making a game in a crowded marketplace.(Last Updated On: February 2, 2016)
Let me be controversial: Machu Picchu is not the most impressive place to visit in Peru. I spent four days hiking the Inca Trail hike to the lost city of the Incas, and I can absolutely recommend the experience. But in the end, some of the most remarkable sights in the area were on the streets and the surrounding city that is the gateway to Machu Picchu. Cusco (or as the it was known to the ancient Incas, Qosqo) was the former center of the Inca civilization, and has its own magic, legends and traditions that many people miss as they trip over themselves to make it to Machu Picchu. That’s a mistake.
You can imagine what the Spanish Conquistadors first thought when arrived in the new world and found the indigenous people and their palaces adorned in the gold and silver. Well, it doesn’t take long to figure out what was on their minds, since they returned a few years later and took the glittering metal back to Spain for themselves. Some of the buildings in Cusco were removed by the Spanish and replaced by the colonial structures which are admittedly quite impressive. But as you travel around Cusco you can still find examples of buildings constructed by the Incas. Those superior structures are made of hand-carved stones that fit together so well no mortar was necessary to bind them together. Peruvians are quite proud of that fact and of their heritage. In fact, many traditions and customs from Inca times live on today. Many people continue to worship mother earth and to consider themselves the children of the sun. Around one corner you can find a family cooking potatoes in a dirt oven like they have for hundreds of years. Around another there are modern restaurants preparing dishes that are making Peru known as one of the world top foodie destination. Being able to witness both ancient and modern thriving in the same place is part of what gives Cusco its charm.
San Pedro Market
San Pedro Market is the perfect place to find examples of where ancient traditions and modern life intermingle. It’s also the place to find bargain prices just outside of the tourist shops in the city center. In the public market, there are traditional medicine stalls where you can get a mixture of herbs to treat whatever ails you, just like the Indigenous (Quechua) people have been doing for centuries.
There are traditional breads in the market that have been baked the same way for generations.
Sun dried potatoes reportedly retain their nutritional value and edibility for 10 plus years. I can’t vouch for the flavor, but the porters we hiked with on the Inca Trail ate soup made of these potatoes every day and ran circles around me.
The famous Peruvian chocolate is sold here at about 5 soles a bar for the 60% cacao (pure cocoa) version – about $1.5 US.
Knit hats go for 10 soles (about $3 US) for the cotton version instead of 30 soles in the tourist shops. It was well worth the short walk outside of the center of Cusco for both the bargains and the ability to interact with the locals. (Hint – we toured the market with a local guide from Cusco Urban Adventures who helped us find the bargains, communicate with locals and purchase some wonderful fruits and tamales for later in the day).
Sacsayhuaman
Beyond the beauty of colonial Cusco, with its narrow cobbled streets, ornate churches and vibrant market, is one of the most astonishing sights in Cusco, the ancient ruins of Sacsayhuaman. Having trouble pronouncing it? Locals suggested we just say “sexy woman” in English.
A short cab ride up the mountain at the foot of Cusco’s own redeemer statue, you’ll find ruins that are some of the best examples of the ingenuity of the ancient “Inca” civilization.
Here you will find a small cave system complete with altars. It is hypothesized that the caves were used to preserve and mummify bodies. Moving the dead from the heat outside to the cool caves in the evening perfectly preserved the bodies, for reasons still unknown. It is thought that some preserved bodies of children, sometimes found high in the mountains, were precocious children who were ritually starved in order to achieve god status in the next life. Since there were is not written documentation, the goals and beliefs of the people remain unknown.
Moving closer to the center of the ruins you can find a series of areas and possibly natural slides that could have served as pools and natural playgrounds for the population that worked feverishly to make the stone buildings by hand.
Some of the impressive stones used to make the foundation are over 2000 pounds. They were moved by teams using round stones or tree trunks and carved smooth to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle using tools made of dense black stones. There are some who continue to believe that the work is so astonishing that the only way it could have been accomplished is by the work of extraterrestrial intervention. But this notion is insulting to others who believe in the power of their ancestors, whose work remains standing while structures built long after have been destroyed by earthquakes.
The building at Machu picchu is also impressive, but lacks the sheer size and smoothness of the stones in Sacsayhuaman. Current theories are that Cusco, which translates to bellybutton, or center, was the true center of the Inca Empire. Machu Picchu may have been a religious mountain retreat. But in the end, all of this remains a mystery. In either case, a visit to the area is a treat for the imagination and an inspiring experience, pondering how much can be accomplished given the knowledge, will and spirit. Children of the sun – sounds about right.
A special thank you to Cusco Urban Adventures for taking us on this amazing tour of Cusco. I have only scratched the surface compared to all of the information they offered during this tour, which really brought Cusco to life for us. Our opinions remain our own.
Relates articles about Peru:
Up Down and Around Lima Peru
How to Party Like A Local in Lima Peru
Peruvian Fish Ceviche Recipe
Inspired? Pin it for later:most-loathed company stakes! Yes, Goldman is still plumbing depths rarely seen in the modern era. But BP, even after putting aside $20 billion and grovelling to the president, continues to implode: it's now hit a level of -47.6 in the latest BrandIndex poll. That's not far from Toyota's low point, which was -52.7 at the end of March, but it's going to be a much harder fight back for BP than it was for Toyota.
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There will be rejoicing in the corridors of Goldman Sachs tonight: BP has finally overtaken it in the most-loathed company stakes! Yes, Goldman is still plumbing depths rarely seen in the modern era. But BP, even after putting aside $20 billion and grovelling to the president, continues to implode: it’s now hit a level of -47.6 in the latest BrandIndex poll. That’s not far from Toyota’s low point, which was -52.7 at the end of March, but it’s going to be a much harder fight back for BP than it was for Toyota.
It’s amusing to remember that earlier this year BrandZ put out a piece of glossy research saying that the BP brand was the 34th most valuable brand in the world, worth $17.283 billion. (Love the specificity there.) Is it possible for a brand to have negative value? If so, BP has probably achieved that distinction at this point.
Meanwhile, for those of you keeping count, BrandZ put the value of the Toyota brand at $21.769 billion, post-recall, while the Goldman Sachs brand was worth $9.283 billion, up a whopping 25% from 2009. How quickly these things can change.Crisis Diminishes Brazil's Authority in Global Summit
07/07/2017 - 09h54
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DIOGO BERCITO
SPECIAL ENVOY TO HAMBURG
Brazilian president Michel Temer, who canceled his trip to the G20 summit and then uncanceled, arrives in Germany on Friday (the 7th) and runs the risk of attending without being noticed.
Temer only made the decision to go on Monday (the 3rd), and the back and forth has led to a complete absence of bilateral meetings with other international leaders. The president most likely will not get together with German chancellor Angela Merkel, despite having originally made plans to do so.
The official program handed out to the press still features finance minister Henrique Meirelles as chief of the Brazil delegation, and not Mr. Temer.
Before the final travel arrangements were made, it had been decided that Mr. Meirelles would replace the president. The online program was updated.
The administration's hesitance is tied to the political crisis in Brazil. Mr. Temer's arrival in Hamburg will coincide with negotiations to try to bar investigations into the corruption charges the president is facing.
Despite having been maintained, the visit will most likely be shorter than originally planned. Temer will board his plane to Brasília on Saturday (the 8th), early afternoon, meaning he won't be able to attend the final G20 events later that day.
Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON
Read the article in the original languagePortraits Of Lord Byron, In Order Of Lord Byron-ness
This Classic Toast post originally ran on April 22, 2015.
Ver-r-r-y Byron. At first glance, you might be tempted to think, “Not very Byron,” because there are other people in the picture, and his alabaster brow isn’t the focal point. This is an error. “You there, boy, fetch into this dinghy and sail into yon exhilarating storm, while I stand here and clench my fist over this rock. If you drown in the background, it will make for a very exciting painting.” He’s wearing like eighteen ascots and they’re all flowing in a tempest, plenty of Byron here.
SOLID POUTY BYRON. He’s got some secret freaky brocade vest on under his cloak, which is probably full of dildos, his brow situation is ferociously organized, his out-of-frame hand is probably jerking off the devil, because there’s some sort of flame situation going on in the lower right-hand corner.
Eight out of ten Byrons. Look at his SEXUAL SNEERING.
What is this woman doing in my portrait
is her hair more luxurious than mine
I hope she falls down this hill and dies so I can be alone with my dog
what is she LOOKING at even
why isn’t it me
Just enough Byron. “I will not make eye contact during this portrait sitting,” his contract reads. “You may only color in my mouth, so that people can make out with this painting of me.” End of contract.
Medium Byron, which is perhaps the least amount of Byron you can get. It’s better to be almost no Byron than just regular Byron, so this is actually zero Byrons. He’s almost smiling?? And like, reading letters, like someone with a job would do? Why don’t you just paint KEATS and DIE.
ALL POSSIBLE BYRONS. ONE BILLION PERCENT would Lord Byron grow a mustache and demand that everyone notice it. He would never come out and say “What do you think of my mustache?” but he would make it clear in a thousand small ways that you were expected to notice and compliment it, and if you withheld that pleasure from him, you would never be invited to dinner again. Lord Byron was the thirstiest man alive, but he always pretended he didn’t want anything to drink.
SEMI-Byron?? Obviously the lute and the laurel wreath and the funereal sheet draped like a Roman toga are mightily sick touches and whatnot, but you can’t even see his death erection, which I feel like would have been really important to him, that even in death people were thinking about and looking at his dick.
MOST BYRON. “Hello, are you Greece, I am here to run your army? Don’t worry, I’m a poet. Thank you for the gifts I assume are on their way.”
JUST MAKE IT LOOK LIKE I’M THINKING REAL FIERCELY
LIKE MY BRAIN IS TRYING TO FUCK THE SHIT OUT OF SOME THOUGHTS, OKAY
[Images via]Syrian opposition figures said Israeli warplanes struck targets belonging to the Shiite terror group Hezbollah in the Qalamoun Mountains along the Syria-Lebanon border, on Wednesday, according to Hebrew news sites citing Arab media.
The reports gave few details, saying only that the targets had been hit from the sky three times.
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday night it “will not comment” on the reports of a strike in Syria.
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A Twitter account linked to Hezbollah denied that there had been any attack on its headquarters in Qalamoun.
The Qalamoun range is considered a key stronghold for Hezbollah, linking Damascus to eastern Lebanon, and is suspected to be used as a supply route for arms transfers between the regime and Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Earlier this month, Lebanese media reported Israel struck a weapons convoy of four trucks belonging to Hezbollah near Maarba, north of Damascus.
No one was killed in the August 4 air strike, according to the Mulhak news website.
An IDF spokesperson at the time declined to comment on the report.
Since the start of the Syrian civil war five years ago, a number of airstrikes in Syria have been attributed to Israel.
Hezbollah has thousands of fighters in Syria, providing military might to help Assad’s regime put down the insurgency.
In May, Hezbollah said its top commander in Syria, Mustafa Badreddine, was killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike.
In April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel had carried out dozens of strikes against Hezbollah to prevent the group from obtaining advanced weapons — a rare Israeli admission of involvement in air attacks in Syria.
Israel has vowed to prevent Hezbollah from obtaining “game-changing” arms — in particular, advanced anti-aircraft systems of chemical weapons.World War Kaiju is the story of an alternate history, one in which the atom bomb was never created and the ultimate weapon of mass destruction is the Kaiju—fifty foot tall radioactive beasts spawned from the mysterious KAI-235 isotope. Follow the journey of one journalist as he teams up with a retired CIA operative to uncover the truth about the conspiracy behind the monsters...
...who are the architects of the inevitable Kaiju War?
...what is the shocking |
he took revenge for a personal insult by assassinating six local officials of Isil.
The stories are hard to corroborate as Isil is blocking people from leaving the towns. But they conform with tales told by refugees from Isil control in neighbouring Syria, who say Isil’s interference in the every day lives of its subjects, combined with its growing need to recruit fighters locally, is causing increasing discontent.
“They are violating families and harassing women,” said Hikmet al-Gaoud, a tribal sheikh from Heet whose men have been fighting alongside American and government forces near the city. “Every woman they like they want to take and marry.”
He said a member of the tribe still living in Heet finally “flipped”. “He killed six local Isil leaders – all foreign, non-Iraqi Arabs,” he said. “He managed to get away and contact us. He’s still on the run.”
The Gaoud family lead the Albu Nimr tribe, one of the best-known Sunni tribes that have fought and in some cases been subject to massacres at the hands of Isil.
Fallujah is a different case. It has been notorious for its support of jihad ever since it rose up against the American and British occupation in 2004, and it was the first city to welcome Isil back in early 2014.
Photo: AFP
But even Fallujah is now turning on Isil, according to its mayor Issa al-Essawi, now in “exile” in Baghdad. “Now Isil men go around the city with guns,” he said. “Before, they were comfortable enough to go without.”
The city is surrounded on all sides, following the fightback by the Iraqi army at the end of last year that led finally to the recapture of Ramadi to the west.
That is a military reversal which has gratified western military chiefs, who say their efforts to retrain the Iraqi army are starting to bear fruit.
Food supplies are scarce in the town, Mr Essawi, said, with some deaths as a result of starvation beginning to be reported. Isil are not allowing any of the remaining 60-70,000 residents out of the city.
It was when two local men who tried to leave to go to Baghdad for treatment for diabetes were refused permission and then died that tempers frayed, according to another local tribal leader, Sheikh Imad al-Juraisi.
A man queuing for bread in the al-Jolan neighbourhood got into an argument with two Isil fighters controlling the bakery, and ended up stabbing them with a knife. They then shot him dead in public.
The Juraisi tribe run many of the local shops, and according to another source familiar with the town were already disgruntled at being charged tax by the jihadists.
Shortly after the incident other men took to the streets with guns that had been kept hidden and began attacking Isil fighters.
Estimates differ for the number of casualties – Mr Juraisi said 25 Isil fighters were killed and several local men, while others said the casualties were limited to injuries. But several accounts say that the fighting spread to two neighbouring districts before Isil swamped them with men and brought the situation under control.
Mr Essawi said around 100 men were subsequently arrested, and eight executed, including two known to him.
Exact details of these stories are hard to verify and they may be exaggerated by local figures with historic grudges against Isil. However, the declining reach of Isil, especially in northern Syria, where they have been pushed back from Kurdish areas, and in western Iraq is clear to see.
The group has not had a major advance since May last year, when it took Ramadi and Palmyra in Syria. Since then it has suffered losses to territory, its financing and its manpower due largely to air strikes.
Brett McGurk, the United States envoy to the anti-Isil coalition, estimated last week that the total number of Isil fighters had declined for the first time, to between 19-25,000 in both Syria and Iraq.
That matches accounts from refugees from its territories in both countries that Isil has been trying to pressgang local men into service.
Anbar’s pro-government leaders met the prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, on Saturday to urge him to launch an early attack on Fallujah. Previously, it was seen as a “tough nut” that would be left till later – perhaps even after an attack on Mosul, the biggest city under Isil control in either Iraq or Syria.
Western military officials say a more likely strategy is longer term – to clear Isil areas like Heet and to continue to try to cut off Mosul from both Anbar and Syria to the west.
Despite talk of an imminent assault on Mosul, few expect a serious attempt to retake the city until the end of the year at the earliest.
Ahmed al-Asadi, an MP and spokesman for the Hashed al-Shaabi, the so-called Popular Mobilisation Commission that represents largely Iranian-backed Shia militias, said Fallujah could be taken easily and quickly – if there were a political decision to do so.
His forces have swept west from the Baghdad to Mosul road in recent weeks, taking large areas of desert in just three days last week.
But he confirmed that they had been held back from Fallujah because the Americans put pressure on the government only to use regular army and local Sunni tribes to attack, which they were not yet strong enough to do. “We are ready to liberate Fallujah now,” he said.
The Western coalition are still determined that Sunni Anbar – and hopefully Mosul – will be liberated by official government forces and local fighters, not the Shia militias, accused of abusing local civilians.
That may mean more suicide bombings, and more clashes between locals and Isil.
It also leaves the citizens of Fallujah hungry. "The city is under siege and we have no food, no electricity and no water," said one resident still there by telephone. "We are being bombed every day, my house has been hit by shelling. We have no control over anything."A jealous husband has been convicted of murdering his wife by stabbing and bludgeoning her to death in a car after suspecting she was having an affair.
Norbert Chikerema struck Nyasha Kahari, a mother of four, at least 40 times with numerous weapons, including an axe, before driving her body to a Lidl car park in Marston Green.
The care home boss was found guilty of the charge by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court.
Judge Michael Chambers adjourned sentence until tomorrow morning saying: 'You have clearly been convicted of a very serious offence of which the sentence is life imprisonment.'
Norbert Chikerema (left) struck his wife and mother-of-four Nyasha Kahari (right) at least 40 times with numerous weapons, including an axe, before driving her body to a Lidl car park in Marston Green, Birmingham
The Lidl park where Norbert Chikerema drove his wife's body to after bludgeoning her to death and strapping her into a car seat
He said he would hear submissions before deciding on the minimum term he would serve before being considered for release by the parole board.
The judge said: 'Aggravating features being premeditation and planning and also the physical suffering caused to the deceased.'
The killer had previously employed a private detective to follow his wife around because he believed she was cheating on him
The mitigating factors, he said, was that the defendant had been suffering from mild depression and had no previous convictions.
The court heard previously that Chikerema and his wife, also known as Gillian, ran a nursing home business and that he believed she was seeing another man.
On January 29 this year they visited a number of addresses, leaving the last one at 11pm and shortly afterwards the defendant attacked his wife.
She had been sitting in the front seat of their Nissan and he used an axe to strike his wife over and over again aiming principally at the head and neck.
She was strapped in her seat and was 'effectively defenceless,' said Kevin Hegarty QC, prosecuting.
Chikerema had initially driven to the family home, covered his wife a blanket and had changed his blood stained clothes.
He had previously employed a private detective to follow his wife and during the course of that morning had sent a video to a number of family friends of her meeting another man who he knew.
He attacked cars of two men he believed had been seeing his wife with the axe before eventually driving to a Lidl supermarket in Mackadown Lane and phoned police at around 4am.
Chikerema, 43, of Overdale Road, Quinton, had denied murder and it was claimed he was suffering from an abnormality of mind function at the time.EASY AS 1, 2, 3
If you're designing a new site or redesigning an existing site, the following holds true:
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Here at Global Presentations we offer a tremendous amount of different website combinations to build from, with expertise to provide the visual and power of dynamic web development is to achieve what used to be the impossible.SYDNEY Swans coach John Longmire's future has been locked away, with another long-term contract extension keeping him at the club until the end of the 2020 season.
Longmire's deal was due to expire at the end of next season, but the Swans have moved early to show their support for the coach with a new three-year contract.
After a long apprenticeship under former coach Paul Roos, Longmire took over the senior role for the 2011 season, and guided the Swans to a thrilling 10-point win over Hawthorn to capture the premiership the following season.
The Swans have a history of sustained success under Longmire, having won 16-plus games in each of the last four seasons, and he's never missed the finals in his time at the club.
The new contract will make Longmire the longest-serving coach in the Swans' history, overtaking former mentor Roos, who had 202 games in the role.
"I'm really fortunate to be part of a terrific football club, from the board, to the executive, to the staff and the playing group," Longmire said on Tuesday.
"It's a tough job being a coach but having good people around me at all levels makes it a little bit easier and a lot more enjoyable.
"Strong footy clubs off the field really helps, and stability in the club allows you to focus on the football side, that's critical."
With his future committed to the Swans, Longmire said his goals as a senior coach in the AFL had not changed.
"We've got plenty left to achieve, we're all chasing Hawthorn," he said.
"What they've been able to achieve and the standard they've been able to set over the last few years has been extremely high, so we're all striving to get better.
"The challenge is we know (Hawthorn coach) Alastair (Clarkson) and the Hawthorn football club are doing the same thing so it doesn't get any easier, but we look forward to it.
"It's always an evolving planning system when you're coaching.
"You're looking week to week, but you're also looking a month out (from now), a year out, and years out, at your playing group and what that looks like.
"To maintain your competitive spot on the ladder that you try and achieve every year, you need to be looking at every week in front of you and also beyond."
Longmire's next chance to take on good friend Clarkson and the Hawks comes on Thursday night when the competition's top two teams clash at the SCG, and it's a challenge he's looking forward to.
"There's not a weakness in their side and it's no coincidence they've won the past three flags and they're on top of the ladder by a game, they're a gun team," Longmire said.
"They just love to compete and that's why you love playing them because you know you're going to get tested in that area.
"That's what our blokes know will be in front of them on Thursday night.
"They'll be tested every minute of the game and that's what's exciting about playing them, particularly in front of a huge crowd at the SCG."Restricting the number of innings young Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers throw does not prevent injuries, according to new research from the University of Waterloo.
The study, published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, also found that gradually increasing the total number of innings pitched per season has no effect on young MLB pitchers’ risk of future injury.
“Conventional wisdom among coaches and managers is that restricting innings for young starting pitchers, and slowly increasing the number of innings pitched over several years, gives pitchers’ tissues sufficient time to adapt to the workload of a major league season,” said Thomas Karakolis, lead investigator on the study. “But all our data shows that these strategies really make no difference in preventing injury.”
The study looked at injury rates based on the number of innings pitched and five levels of yearly increases ranging from 10 to 50 innings. A year-over-year increase of 30 innings pitched is often used as the limit for the number of innings a young starting pitcher is allowed to pitch in any given season. The researchers found no consistent correlation between injuries and the number of innings pitched or rate of yearly increase.
“Injury is the result of workload exceeding the capacity of the body’s tissues, so while counting innings is a tempting way to measure workload, it’s actually a very flawed method,” said Karakolis. “If coaches are looking for ways to prevent injury, simply limiting the number of innings is not the answer. They have to look at how hard a pitcher’s body is working during each inning, each pitch.”
The study suggests that teams need to invest in biomechanical assessments for each pitcher to more effectively prevent injuries. Alternatively, coaches and trainers can develop strength and conditioning programs that build soft tissue capacity during the offseason and promote recovery during the season. Young pitchers have greater ability for tissue adaption than their older counterparts.
Injuries have plagued the MLB in recent years, with more than 25 per cent of pitchers on the disabled list.
“The injury rate for MLB pitchers is nothing short of unacceptable,” said Karakolis. “Clearly current methods for preventing injury aren’t working. We need a new strategy that will keep pitchers off the disabled list for good.”
The study looked at 761 independent pitcher-seasons between 2002 and 2007. All pitchers were under the age of 25 and had pitched at least one third of an inning in major league baseball.
About the University of Waterloo
In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's technology hub, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. A globally focused institution, celebrated as Canada’s most innovative university for 23 consecutive years, Waterloo is home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit uwaterloo.ca.
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Attention broadcasters: Waterloo has facilities to provide broadcast quality audio and video feeds with a double-ender studio. Please contact us to book.EDUCATION MINISTER JAN O’Sullivan has said she doesn’t want to talk about disciplining teachers who refuse to implement junior cycle reforms.
She said she would be pressing ahead with implementation of the contentious reforms, after representatives of unions the TUI and ASTI said they didn’t accept all compromise measures being put forward by Dr Pauric Travers, who has been chairing talks between the two sides.
“I’m not talking about discipline. What I’m talking about now is implementing a policy that is needed for the students,” O’Sullivan told reporters at the Labour party conference this morning
“I’m not talking about discipline but I am encouraging the teachers to engage with this process.”
She insisted that the revised measures put forward by Travers after the latest round of talks were proposed as a basis for agreement, not for further negotiation.
“In effect what the unions have said – that they see it as a basis for further negotiations, that isn’t acceptable. It is not what Dr Travers put forward.”
Unions
The unions said, in a joint statement, that the Travers document “while not representing a comprehensive resolution, represents a basis for further intensive negotiations”.
They called for further engagement to take place on key issues “without delay”.Last week, Pserendipity Daniels left a comment on comparing Viewer performances which got me thnking. As I said in my reply, coming up with an objective means of comparing the performance of various Viewers is a little difficult, as so much as client-side dependent (hardware) while some is also down to your network connection.
However, I decided to take those Viewers I’ve actively used over the last 12 months (as opposed to reviewed and put to one side), and see what I could come up with by way of a very basic and simple means of comparing Viewer performance that might address Pep’s question without me getting bogged down in anything complex (which would probably go right over my head anyway…).
So, the two tables below represent my findings based on Viewer frame rates – which I appreciate aren’t the only measure of a Viewer’s performance (but they are the one most looked at). There are further notes below the tables on how I set-up and ran my “tests”.
Jan 6th: Tables updated to reflect the fact that Niran’s Viewer has been using the 3.2.6 code base since release 1.01. Also, Nalates Urriah has carried out further analysis on these figures.
Average ping rate for sim: 167ms (averaged across all eight Viewers)
Average ping rate for sim: 174ms (averaged across all eight Viewers)
Key
“High” = graphics set to the SL “High” setting (Ultra in the case of Phoenix), shaders ON, all Deferred Rendering options for lighting & shadows and ambient occulsion (or equivs) OFF
Deferred = deferred render ON, but ambient occulsion / shadows OFF
Ambient = deferred render ON, ambient occulsion ON, shadows OFF
Shadows = deferred render ON, ambient occulsion OFF shadows ON
Ambient + Shadows = deferred render on, but ambient occulsion / shadows ON
Numbers in brackets refer to the official Viewer release I believe each TPV is based upon.
Test Environment
To try and give as level a playing field as possible for the tests, I attempted to create a “test environment”, namely:
Tests were run after a completely clean reinstall of the listed Viewers (original installation and all associated files / folders uninstalled / deleted)
All Viewers were configured alongside my nVidia Control Panel in accordance with this tutorial from the Shopping Cart Disco blog (with thanks to Innula Zenovka for pointing it out)
All other major graphics and network settings within the Viewers were set to the same criteria (e.g. Draw Distance set to 300m; network bandwidth set to 1500kbps, etc.)
Where possible (and with the exception of Firestorm and Phoenix) the UI was set-up the same: same buttons, same locations, and not other floaters / panels were open, and any group chat sessions active on logging-in were terminated
The same avatar with the same attachments was used with each test (with a Draw Weight of 112,986), with the same camera defaults
I used the same regions for all Viewers tested, each with 4 other avatars in the regions during the tests. One region was a skymall shopping area, the other a residential sim at ground level (which actually had the same 4 other avatars present in it for all tests!)
The same test was used for each case: Teleport to an arrival point; allow rez time, then walk a set route for around 3 minutes, monitoring fps rates
Recorded frame rates are based on a roughly-calculated average, rounded up or down to the nearest whole number, as appropriate.
Hardware and network connection
The hardware used for the tests comprise my usual PC and nework connection:
Windows 7 32-bit with SP1; Intel Q6600 CPU 2.4Ghz; 3Gb RAM; ASUS motherboard (no idea of the model); nVidia Ge9800GT with 1Gb on-board RAM (driver: 8.17.12.8562 15-10-2011); Viewers running on 320Gb SATA drive @ 7200rpm
Netgear DGN2200 (wireless between PC and router)
Internet connection averaging a ping of 43ms to the preferred test server, with a download speed of 9.55Mbps and 1.02Mbps upload (speedtest verified).
Notes
I don’t pretend that either the methodology or the results are particularly scientific, and underline that they are at best indicative – and even that’s strongly caveated
Frame rates varied somewhat from those recorded in my reviews (obtained using a basic alt avatar & on a variety of sims)
On my home sim, when alone, SL 3.2.6, Exodus and Milkshake all exceed 60fps in “High” mode at altitudes above 300m; on the ground all achieve rates in the high 40s
Niran’s Viewer has achieved higher rates in Beta then with release 1.03, which Niran notes as being a “test” release. Unfortunately, the 1.02 release will not run on my PC at all, so I’ve been unable to test it
SL 3.2.6, Exodus, Milkshake and Niran’s all demonstrate considerably faster sculptie rendering than the other Viewers on my PC (sculpties rarely initially rez as a sphere or disk, but simply “pop-out” fully formed a few seconds after other prims).
Obviously, there are other factors that weigh-in on Viewer choice, and it is actually possible to have a worthwhile in-world experience with what might be regarded as low frame rates (I’ve been running Firestorm with shadows enabled since before Christmas, with an average frame rate probably around 12fps (allowing for averages between locations) for example). In the case of Niran’s Viewer and Exodus, the graphics enhancements may well provide more of an incentive for use than straightforward frame rates. Certainly, the quality of rendering on Niran’s Viewer is signifcantly better when optimised than the majority of other Viewers (although it really hits my GPU hard!).
So, in conclusion, you’re free to interpret these results as you see fit; how much value they represent is questionable. As always, individual experences may vary wildly from my own (particularly those of you fortunate enough to run a higher-specfication CPU / GPU combination). However, as a finger-in-the-air reference point for my own reviews, the tables may have value, and I may maintain them…
Again, to be clear: I’m not claiming the test is designed to be either empirical or scientific – please do not take it as such.
AdvertisementsAs does the fiscal experiment.
Figure 1: Kansas nonfarm payroll employment (blue), civilian employment (red), in 000’s, seasonally adjusted, Log scale. Dashed line denotes last period establishment series is QCEW benchmarked. Source: BLS.
Figure 2: Kansas labor force (teal), civilian employment (red), in 000’s, seasonally adjusted. Log scale. Source: BLS.
Figure 3: Kansas minus US unemployment rate, in percentage points (blue), and linear trend in this differential over the Brownback terms (red). Average over 1976-2010 (chartreuse) Green shaded area Brownback terms. Source: BLS, and author’s calculations.
Update, 9/19 9:45am Pacific: Kansas City Fed documentation of various Kansas indicators relative to Nation’s, here. The precarious state of the budget is discussed here.
Update, 9/21: As noted here, the Kansas Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors’ reports are no longer being posted online.
The postings stopped during last year’s statewide elections, with the council’s director saying it was “the subject of careless scrutiny.” A representative of the Kansas Department of Commerce said the IKE reports were dropped because they were viewed as a comprehensive overview of the state economy, rather than a snapshot of indicators. The public can request a copy of the report, he said.
Julian Silk conjectures that the collapse is partly driven by the drop in mining and logging activity. This might be true qualitatively but does not seem quantitatively important. See the Figure below.
Figure 4: Change in employment in Kansas mining and logging (orange) and in rest-of-nonfarm payroll (blue). Source: BLS and author’s calculations.
Update 9/22: See also this assessment by KC Fed economist Jason Brown.B McKean/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
We once thought that, in the future, we'd all be filming each other.
That future is now. And sometimes we're doing it to prove that what happened to us really happened.
In the latest cell phone footage of an encounter between a police officer and a citizen, both parties decide to pull out their phones and record for posterity. What will the future make of it?
The footage shows a police officer in Pontiac, Mich., stopping a man for apparently suspicious behavior. What was the man doing? Walking with his hands in his pockets.
The man instantly pulls out his phone and starts recording the encounter.
Uploaded originally to the Facebook page of Brandon McKean on Thanksgiving Day, it's yet another bracing reminder of what sometimes goes on between authority figures and those they deem suspicious. African-American men, for example.
There is no evidence that McKean did anything wrong. However, the officer explains: "You're making people nervous."
When McKean wonders what he's done, the officer replies: "Yeah, they said you had your hands in your pockets."
As he's saying this, the officer pulls out his own iPhone and begins to film McKean. A bystander must have looked at this scene and wondered. Two men pointing cell phones at each other in the middle of a cold street, as they talk.
As McKean expresses outrage that walking with your hands in your pockets on a cold day is cause for people to call the police, the officer insists: "Well, we do have a lot of robberies around here."
McKean explains that he's making sure to get this on camera. "Me too," replies the officer.
Once it's established there is no cause for McKean to be stopped, the officer and he high-five, with the hands that aren't holding their phones. McKean says he's mad less at the officer than at whoever called the police.
The action happened on Thanksgiving Day and since it was posted, it has enjoyed more than 2.7 million views on Facebook -- plus more than 200,000 on YouTube.
Would the encounter have proceeded any differently if McKean hadn't begun to film? Perhaps not.
Recently, an Iowa police officer stopped a driver and tried to accuse him of being a pot smoker because he played frisbee golf. Even though he knew he was being filmed, the officer continued his questionable line of questioning.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told me that McKean's video was an edited version of what actually occurred. He said:
The 911 call received by the Oakland County Dispatch Center originated from a nearby business that had been a victim, as well as its employees, of seven robberies. The caller and his employees were concerned about the individual who had walked by the front window of the business five or six times, while looking inside with his hands in his pockets. Fearing for their safety, the business dialed 911 and the Deputy responded. In the unedited version of the event, the individual stated that if he had called the police on a suspicious person, he would expect the police to respond, check the area, and talk to the suspicious person being called about. The Deputy did not detain or pat down the individual and considering the nature of the call responded in a very restrained and professional manner.
Bouchard added that the deputy had fully explained why 911 had been called with reference to him.
Clearly, the videos that gain more attention are the ones in which one party or another is acting unusually.
However, it seems that it's becoming the norm to film every encounter with the police, just as some police departments are considering whether to equip all their officers with bodycams.
Is this progress? Or does it show how little trust there is left in society today?
(Via Raw Story)
Update, 1:06 p.m. PT: Adds comment from the Oakland County Sheriff.The bog body known as the Cashel Man, now being researched at the National Museum of Ireland, is likely that of a king who met his end in a violent sacrifice.
Found in a bog in County Laois in 2011, the Cashel Man is the oldest found bog body. From the early Bronze Age, about 4,000 years ago, he is believed to be the oldest bog body anywhere in the world. He was found between territories and within sight of a hill where he may have been crowned king.
Cashel Man suffered violent injuries to his back and a sword or axe wound on his arm, but this level of violence is not unusual for bog bodies. Keeper of Irish Antiquities, Eamonn Kelly, who has worked on all the major bog body finds, theorizes that the bog bodies died violent deaths as a form of sacrifice.
He explained to the BBC, “When an Irish king is inaugurated, he is inaugurated in a wedding to the goddess of the land. It is his role to ensure through his marriage to the goddess that the cattle will be protected from plague and the people will be protected from disease.”
He continues, “If these calamities should occur, the king will be held personally responsible. He will be replaced, he will pay the price, he will be sacrificed.”
It is uncertain whether Cashel Man was one of these unfortunate kings. A milling machine destroyed his chest when he was found and researchers cannot examine his nipples.
In two other bog bodies, Kelly says the nipples were deliberately destroyed because kings with mutilated bodies could not serve.
He elaborates, “We’re looking at the bodies of kings who have been decommissioned, who have been sacrificed. As part of that decommissioning, their nipples are mutilated.”
“In the Irish tradition they could no longer serve as king if their bodies were mutilated in this way. This is a decommissioning of the king in this life and the next.”
Due to the damage done by the milling machine, the exact cause of death is unknown. Typically the head, neck and chest are targeted in a sacrifice.
Cashel Man will likely go on display with similar bog bodies at the National Museum in Dublin. Kelly said, “I see these bodies as ambassadors who have come down to us from a former time with a story to tell. I think if we can tell that story in some small measure we can give a little added meaning to those lives that were cut short.”One year, several years ago, I asked my mom if I could bring my then-boyfriend home for Thanksgiving. He didn't have local family to celebrate with and I thought it'd be nice to spend the day together.
"I think that would make me and your stepfather very uncomfortable," she said.
It's not that she didn't like my boyfriend. It's just that I'm happily married to someone else, and having my boyfriend and my husband both there for the holidays seemed like a bit much to her.
I decided not to push it. I went home for a family dinner with my husband and kids, and met up with my boyfriend at my place afterwards. We had dessert together, and it was lovely.
Did I do the right thing? It was the right thing for my relationship with my mom, certainly.
It would have been a different story if my boyfriend and I had a different relationship. As it was we were close, deeply in love even, but not cohabiting or working towards building a partnership. The mechanics of our lives were separate. Our families were separate. If we'd been cohabiting or otherwise building a family together, spending the holidays together would have been a package deal: We'd all go to Mom's or no one would.
As it was, I was willing to compromise. It wasn't the most politically radical move of my life, but on balance, it was the right decision for me at the time.
Going home for the holidays once you're an adult can be a tricky business under any circumstances. It can be hard to make your grown-up life fit in with your family-of-origin.
When you have more than one partner, there can be a whole new layer of challenges. Ultimately of course, bringing your husband and your sweetie home for the holidays shouldn't be a big deal. We all go out and form new relationships as adults, and our parents have to deal with them. They might not like our choice of partners, but they don't get to pick.
And if what they don't like about your date is that she's bossy or he's a bore, most family members won't feel like it's their position to say anything. They certainly won't bar you from Thanksgiving for your personality faults.
If their objection to your choice in partners is that you've chosen more than one, though, be prepared for some pushback.
Like any unusual choice, this one sometimes meets with discomfort and resistance from our loved ones. And because it's an unusual choice, without a lot of social support (to put it mildly), people feel more entitled to express their objections. It's as if you're doing something wrong by having more than partner, being a square peg in their round hole of expectations.
If you do want to take more than one partner home for the holidays, here are some suggestions for how to make it easier on everyone:
If you can help it, don't pick this moment to come out to Mom and Dad. The holidays are a stressful time already, and they'll be more receptive and welcoming to your partners if they already know about the relationships and are making a separate decision about whether or not to include them in the family rituals.
If you do need to come out to your parents now, there's lots of good advice about how to do it. My two cents: Stay calm, and be ready to be mature enough for both of you. Remember that this is a surprise to them, but not to you. Everyone's first reaction to big surprises is immature and reactive. Don't expect their first response to be their last or only response.
If they already know about the relationship, you're just discussing logistics for a family get-together.
You might offer to make those logistics easier by offering to bring food, or to come early to help with set-up or stay late to clean-up. If we're talking about Christmas and your family tends to do expensive gifts, suggest alternatives like doing a service project together.
It's perfectly reasonable to point out that their prejudice is showing if they simply object to your sweetie being there because they see the relationship as less legit than the one you share with your spouse.
Finally, though, you're going to your parents' home. They get to choose who they're comfortable having in their home and under what circumstances. You can't, and shouldn't, bludgeon or guilt-trip them into having your whole poly family to dinner if the scene is just going to be uncomfortable for everyone.
Instead you can decline their invitation, politely and simply explain why, and offer to get together another time on neutral ground or at your home.
Or you can do what I did, and let your relationship with your partners take a back seat to keeping the peace with your family of origin. I can't recommend this course of action, though I've confessed to taking it. All I can say about this is that in some situations it will feel like the right move and you shouldn't beat yourself up about it. Yes, it would be great to live in a world where social bias against poly relationships wasn't a factor. But we don't live in that world. We live in a world where many, many parents will react like mine did to the notion of having multiple partners around the holiday table, and that has to be dealt with in a way that treats everyone with as much love and gentleness as possible. Change comes in slow, small, brave steps.
Let's say your parents do welcome you and your sweeties into their home for the holidays. How best to make that go off smoothly for everyone?
Look, I'm not Miss Manners. I can't tell you exactly how to finesse the situation so that your parents will think your relationships are awesome and can't wait to invite you back. I can tell you to be polite, to be gentle with your hosts.
I don't have a ton of experience with being poly at the holiday table, since my efforts at that haven't really gotten far off the ground. What I do have is a lot of long experience being vegetarian at Thanksgiving. Some lessons from that: Bring your own main dish, so as not to burden the host with preparing a second one just for you. Don't make a fuss about the meat at the center of the table; let everyone else enjoy their meal.
Similarly, I'd be aware of the way that your family structure is potentially creating more work for your folks and be prepared to pitch in to mitigate that work. Offer to wash dishes. Bring dessert. Offer to host the whole shebang next year if that makes sense for your family.
Above all, remember that you're going to a lot of effort to spend time with these people -- all these people, your parents and your partners -- because you love them. You want them to connect with each other. Look for the comfort zone between your |
energy-saving policy dictates that these drafts be reduced as much as possible so as not to lose heat. However, air flow also provided valuable ventilation, which has not been replaced. As a result, you end up with stuffy buildings full of stale air.
JT: What methods did you use in order to measure levels of air tightness and CO2?
PF: For our experiment we took a passive house, a very low energy property, and reverse engineered it by installing an air blower door fan in the bedroom. We also placed a tarpaulin with holes in it across the open windows to let a draft in until the air tightness levels met 2010 building standards, which stipulated that homes without a planned ventilation strategy – in other words, trickle vents in the windows and natural ventilation – must have an air tightness value of between five and ten.
"CO2 is a good measure because humans produce it, therefore we know when the room is occupied."
We then had the family live there for a couple of days, and measured the subsequent changes in temperature, humidity and CO2 levels in living rooms and bedrooms – and discovered it was high. CO2 is a good measure because humans produce it, therefore we know when the room is occupied.
JT: How is CO2 generated and why are excessive amounts of it harmful in a small space?
PF: Outside, CO2 is present at roughly 400 parts per million (PPM) and environmentalists are worried that that backdrop level is rising, one of the key issues that is being discussed in Paris [at the 2015 Climate Change Confernece].
Internally, as soon as a person enters a room, the level of CO2 increases sharply and until recently it was considered that 1,000 PPM was a decent safety level. The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that safe levels of CO2 in the workplace should be around 5,000 PPM for an average of eight hours a day, while in a school, that figure currently stands at roughly 1,500 PPM.
However, in October a study at Harvard University exposed 22 people in an office to CO2 and the results suggest that cognitive ability was drastically reduced. At 550 PPM, similar to outside, people performed extremely well, but at around 945 PPM, cognitive ability dropped by around 15%.
If the CO2 is increased to 1,400 PPM, that figure drops to 50%, which in a workplace has a profoundimpact. If your staff are only working at 50% capacity – or much less at 5,000, since the figure goes up around 21% for every 400 PPM – are you really getting the best results out of your staff?
As an architect, I’m interested in whether or not these large variances occur at home. People spend two thirds of their lives in their houses – a third of that in the living room and a third in the bedroom – and prolonged exposure throughout a lifetime may potentially have serious health repercussions.
JT: What specific symptoms can result from prolonged exposure to poor indoor air quality?
PF: A Norwegian study in 1996 measured the impacts of exposure to CO2 in schools. Up to 1,500 PPM, there were reports of headaches, dizziness, fatigue and difficulty concentrating. From 1,500 to 4,000, you are starting to look at nose and throat irritations, coughing and respiratory problems.
If you are an asthmatic, then the air quality in your house will impact your breathing, predominantly because of house dust mites. Modern houses are warm and damp, and when the relative humidity is above 60%, house dust mites become active and feed on human skin, reproducing exponentially. An asthmatic breathing in dust mite faeces is more likely to eventually suffer a related asthma attack.
Excessive moisture is another symptom of poor ventilation. People produce moisture as do showers, baths, kettles and stoves. Modern dwellings don’t tend to let moisture pass through them; in short, we are building warm, damp houses, and risk exposure to health problems from moulds and fungi.
JT: How did your research for the Scottish Government lead to a change in the building standards?
PF: ASSIST and its partners began a second study in collaboration with the Scottish Government’s building directorate in which it placed CO2 monitors in over 70 new-build houses constructed after 2010. The usable data from 40 or more homes confirmed our initial findings but on a larger scale.
"We would have liked to see the Scottish Government do more than simply fitting alarms."
As a result, the Building Directorate, which is responsible for setting the formal building standards in Scotland, decided to change the regulations to incorporate CO2 alarms in the bedrooms of new homes from October 2015. We are still waiting for feedback to see how this impacts the behaviour of residents.
We would have liked to see the Scottish Government do more than simply fitting alarms, because as architects it’s difficult to convince residents that they should spend more on better ventilation when they are not forced to. The government hopes the monitors will act as a deterrent and that builders will be motivated to construct properties that have better air quality in order to remain competitive.
JT: What is your healthy house methodology and how has it informed the design of two ‘healthy sustainable homes’ that demonstrate natural and mechanical methods of improving air quality?
PF: ASSIST hopes to build two prototype houses in 2016 that demonstrate how we can balance energy efficiency with adequate ventilation.
One will incorporate natural ventilation and the other mechanical, and we plan to monitor their energy and air quality performance for at least a year as a demonstration for industry.
The ultimate aim is to highlight how ventilation technology can be made affordable through supply chain solutions or government subsidies. Housing Associations have limited budgets for affordable housing and in theory they would have to build low-energy, healthy homes for less than £100K.
Unless efficient and affordable ventilation strategies can be found, striking a balance between energy efficiency and indoor air quality may potentially mean giving up the idea that every building can be zero carbon in order to deliver healthy homes for everybody.The Planning and Land Use Management committee of the Los Angeles City Council held a marathon hearing for the Hollywood Community Plan yesterday. The HCP is the first of many city community plans that will update and standardize zoning codes and planning priorities for their neighborhoods--this one looks to increase density around transit nodes while preserving single family areas. The hearing yesterday was probably the first of many hearings for the HCP--in fact, the only action PLUM took yesterday was to continue the item until April 17. In the interim, the committee members will review all of the public comments, which have been added to the record. There were few surprises yesterday--the groups you would expect to oppose or support did their best to oppose or support (opposed: neighbors, especially in the Hills, who fear traffic and view-blocking towers; support: fans of transit-oriented development and density in general). Aside from traffic congestion, population figures were the most frequent target of the opposition--the US Census says Hollywood's numbers are declining, while the plan counts on numbers rising. Opponents don't think that a "build it and they will come" mantra is a good enough reason to add density and increase building heights in the neighborhood. In a reply at the end of the hearing, planner Kevin Keller explained that "[The plan] is a policy decision in terms of providing capacity for growth. The plan itself does not generate growth. It guides the growth." The Planning Department did make 16 changes to the plan before the hearing, helpfully listed today by the Hollywood Patch.
The number public comments clocked in at well over two hours, with the number of speakers totaling somewhere between umpteen and infinity. In a hearing as controversial as this (the debate around the plan has already produced some of history's greatest malapropisms--note that it encourages the creation of a Hollywood Freeway cap park, not a cat park), we couldn't resist listing some of the highlights and lowlights from the hearing:
-- According to planner Kevin Keller, the current Hollywood Community Plan, approved in 1988, is sorely lacking the tools a community plan needs in Los Angeles, including slope density requirements, urban design guidelines, and mansionization controls.
--As shown in the image above, the most intense development is targeted for the area around Sunset and Vine.
--Many commercial property owners said they supported the plan and encourage the neighborhood's transformation from a place where no one would want to live or work to a 24/7 environment.
-- John Walsh from HollywoodHighlands.org managed to discuss his concerns about Hollywood turning into Tokyo during public comment for all the other items appearing before the committee.
--A resident speaking for herself punctuated her opposition with the following gem: "We're known for palm trees, not skyscrapers."
--An unidentified poet opposed new density for market reasons: "New density is hitched to a CRA honey pot that no longer exists." (On a related note, the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles had to be written out of the plan in the eleventh hour because, well, it doesn't exist anymore.)
-- LA notoriously relies on case-by-case planning approvals (the HCP would cut back on that by providing new, denser standards, meaning developers wouldn't have to apply for exceptions so frequently)--one representative for the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council said he supports the old way of doing things: "If you remove case by case planning, you remove the voice of residents."
-- A Hollywood resident who's been in the neighborhood since 1952 urged the council to approve the plan using the following creative simile: "What we have gone through in the last eight years is like being nibbled to death by ducks."
--Will Wright, of the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles chapter: "The community plan is one of 35. If we can't make this one work, how are we going to plan the future of our city?"
HCP presentation
· City Planners Revise Proposed Hollywood Community Plan [Hollywood Patch]
· Hollywood Community Plan Makes Its Debut [Curbed LA]"This deal was about one thing: how can we change the ecosystem?" said Stephenson, adding that it wasn't about preserving the status quo. "I don't think you can characterize it as defensive."
"We've done video on-demand at HBO," said Bewkes. "We knew people wanted it for every channel [...] You should be able to get any network you want on demand." He goes on to say that every TV channel should be as on-demand as HBO Now. Indeed, AT&T even wants Time Warner to break up channel bundles into a la carte offerings, which is relatively unheard of with most cable companies.
As for whether the merger will actually go through regulators, Stephenson was quite confident. He said that unlike their failed deal with T-Mobile, this isn't nearly as high-risk. This is despite the backlash it's received from both politicians and Wall Street, with everyone from Senator Al Franken to presidential candidate Donald Trump expressing their displeasure about the buyout.
Of course, Stephenson said that the deal is actually beneficial to consumers, saying that it's now able to offer lower prices, such as the $35 streaming service. Plus he said that the market won't really change. "When we wake up after this deal is approved, the wireless market will look exactly the same as it does today, and the media market will look exactly the same as it does today." Time Warner, he said, will be run as a separate wholly owned subsidiary.
As for net neutrality concerns, Stephenson said that it's no longer an issue. "You guys from Google, you won. It's done. You don't have to worry about net neutrality anymore." He also said that there's no real need to protect OTT competition, adding that "Netflix is probably going to be OK."
Stephenson also said that 1-gigabit 5G wireless service will be deployed in 2018. He said it'll significantly accelerate media consumption on mobile, and will turn AT&T into a nationwide platform of video delivery.
In the end, the deal was about creating a nationwide competitor to cable. "I border on the evangelical about it," said Stephenson. "This is the most exciting thing I've been a part of in a long time."George Washington University — which got in trouble last year for misreporting admissions data to bolster its college ranking — is making yet another confession.
The university has been misrepresenting its admissions and financial-aid policy for years, touting a “need-blind” admissions policy while in fact giving preference to wealthier students in the final stages of the admissions process, according to the student newspaper, the GW Hatchet, which first reported on the practice. Meanwhile, hundreds of academically comparable but needier students were put on the waitlist for admission because they lacked the financial resources.
Many colleges and universities like to tout “need-blind” admissions processes, or the practice of judging their applicants’ academic qualifications strictly on their merits and making decisions without factoring in applicants’ wealth. In recent years, some colleges that have traditionally been need-blind have weighed whether to become more need-aware.
Until a few days ago, the undergraduate admissions page for George Washington University stated, “Requests for financial aid do not affect admissions decisions.” That language was removed over the weekend. (Here’s the archived version.)
The updated page now explains that the admissions committee “evaluates” candidates initially without factoring in their financial need, but then considers applicants’ financial resources “at the point of finalizing admissions decisions.”
“I believe using the phrase ‘need aware’ better represents the totality of our practices than using the phrase ‘need blind,’” Laurie Koehler, senior associate provost for enrollment management, said in a statement to ProPublica.
“What we are trying to do is increase the transparency of the admissions process,” said Koehler.
Top GW administrators have repeatedly stated over the years that the university is need-blind. When the student newspaper in 2011 did a story about how some colleges are moving away from need-blind admissions, one administrator told the paper, “We’re still need-blind.”
It’s worth noting that the “need-blind” label can be as much about marketing as it is about giving all applicants a fair shot.
Many schools are “need-blind” but don’t actually give out much need-based aid. We recently detailed how universities, looking to boost their bottom lines, are increasingly using financial-aid dollars to attract wealthier students.
“It sounds better to people to say, ‘We're need-blind.’ People think that's a badge of courage,” said Matt Malatesta, vice president for admissions, financial aid, and enrollment at Union College, a small liberal arts college in New York that practices need-aware admissions.
Unless schools pony up the aid dollars to meet students’ financial needs, touting the need-blind label isn’t particularly meaningful for students, who may simply get the offer of admission along with an offer to take on unsustainable debt.
“There are pluses and minuses on both sides of the debate,” Malatesta said in an earlier interview. “I’m not a believer that one is better than another.”
But in contrast to GW, many of the schools that have weighed the pluses and minuses of need-blind versus need-aware have done so quite publicly.
Grinnell College, for instance, announced earlier this year that after considering whether to become need-aware, it would remain need-blind for the time being -- but would still look to wealthier students in the recruitment process and use merit aid to help attract them.
Wesleyan University last year took the other route, announcing it would give up the “need-blind” label and start to consider students’ financial need once its aid dollars were given out.
Both institutions are part of a handful of colleges across the country that promise to meet the full needs of all admitted students. George Washington University has not offered any such guarantee.
Earlier this year, George Washington University was featured in the Washington Post as trying to buck its “rich-kid reputation.” “I’m not going to deny we have a lot of students that come from wealthy families,” GW President Steven Knapp told the Post in April. “But we are increasingly trying to diversify, and I think we have been diversifying compared to where we were 10 years ago.”
About 13 percent of undergraduates at George Washington University receive the federal Pell grant for low-income students. That’s low, according to a recent report by the New America Foundation that also noted that the university charges its few low-income students, on average, a high net price even after grants and scholarships.
Tuition alone is more than $47,000 a year, and room and board costs another $11,000. The majority of students at the university pay less than the full sticker price, due to the university’s strategy of offering grants as discounts.
But even after grants are applied, low-income students at GW still pay a heavy price. Federal data for the 2011-2012 school year show that students at the university coming from families making $30,000 or less paid, on average, $21,000 to attend the university.PA Nigel Farage in the European Parliament
The Ukip leader addressed MEPs for the first time since last week’s historic Leave vote in the EU referendum. The leading Brexit campaigner warned European politicians if they failed to cut a decent trade deal with the UK outside the EU the “consequences would be far worse for you than it would be for us”. Mr Farage also predicted how Britain would not be “will not be the last member state to leave the EU” as he accused top Brussels chiefs of being “in denial” about the state of the crisis-riddled bloc.
Recalling how he began his efforts to lead Britain out the EU by taking a seat in the European Parliament, Mr Farage said: “Isn’t it funny, when I came here 17-years-ago and said I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain to leave the EU you all laughed at me. “Well, you’re not laughing now. “You as a political project are in denial. You are in denial that your currency is failing, you are in denial that Mrs Merkel’s call last year for as many people as possible to cross the Mediterranean has led to massive decisions within countries. “But the main reason the UK voted out was that you have by stealth and by deception without ever telling the truth to the people of Europe continue to impose on them a political union.”
Mr Farage blasted the EU for disregarding the Dutch people after they voted against the proposed Constitution of Europe in 2005. He highlighted how EU leaders had “ignored them and brought the Lisbon Treaty through the back door.” Mr Farage said Britain’s vote to quit the EU now offered a “beacon of hope”. He said: "What happened last Thursday was a remarkable result. It was a seismic result, not just for British politics, but for European politics but perhaps even for global politics too, because what the little people did, what the ordinary people did, what the people who have been oppressed over the last few years and who have seen their living standards go down [did], they rejected the multinationals, they rejected the merchant banks, they rejected big politics. "And they said, actually, we want our country back. We want our fishing waters back. We want our borders back. And we want to be an independent, self-governing, normal nation and that is what we have done and that is what must happen. And in doing so we offer a beacon of hope to democrats across the rest of the European continent. I will make one prediction this morning; the United Kingdom will not be the last member state to leave the European Union."
PA The Ukip leader told EU bosses they are 'in denial'
Let us go off and fulfil our global ambitions and future Nigel Farage
Differing from other leading Brexit campaigners - such as ex-London mayor Boris Johnson and Justice Secretary Michael Gove - Mr Farage said Britain should not “spend too long” before invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal process by which the UK will quit the bloc. British politicians and EU bosses are currently at loggerheads, with Brussels refusing to begin any informal talks over a new deal until the UK officially triggers Article 50. But David Cameron has said he will leave the decision of when to formally serve notice of Britain’s exit to the new prime minister, due to be elected by September 2.
EU referendum Thu, June 23, 2016 As the Brexit debate continues, we take a look at the Leave and Remain campaigns so far. Play slideshow 1 of 34
Mr Farage called for a “grown up and sensible” future relationship between Britain and the EU as he warned European politicians from acting in anger by trying to punish the UK for quitting. In a dig at the packed chamber of European politicians, he said: “I know that virtually none of you have done a proper job in your lives.” But he said there must be a “pragmatic” approach to agreeing a trade deal. He said: “If you were to cut off your noses to spite your face the consequences would be far worse for you than it would be for us”. Mr Farage warned “German car workers risk losing their jobs” if the EU fails to negotiate a deal with Britain. He said: “Let’s create between us a sensible tariff free deal.” “The UK will be your friend… we will be your best friends in the world”. But he urged the EU to “let us go off and fulfil our global ambitions and future” now that Britain has left the bloc.The 16-day multicultural celebration in Hamilton during the Pan Am Games is starting to come into focus, and it is going to go out with a bang.
Tourism Hamilton announced Wednesday a host of off-the-field events that will happen throughout the games, which is set to begin July 10. It starts with It's Your Festival in Gage Park and builds to a grand finish at Pier 4 that will feature a 1,000-seat beer garden, big screens for the Gold-medal game, and a fireworks performance set to a live orchestra.
There's something there for everybody. - Shelly Merlo, Pan Am cultural coordinator
"We wanted to show Hamilton in the best light possible," said Shelly Merlo, Pan Am cultural coordinator for the city. "And Hamilton goes out with a bang."
Collectively called "Hamilton Kicks it Up!", the multicultural festivities start with It's Your Festival, normally held on Canada Day but shifted this year to coincide with the start of the games.
"The park will be buzzing... Hamilton's going to kick it up and we are going to keep it up," said program director Lloyd Turner, keeping with the soccer-themed day.
World Music Festival
Gage Park park will host It's Your Festival on the opening weekend on July 9 to 12, while the following weekend will see World Music Festival take over the park grounds. That celebration will include three days of free music and arts, with a focus on music from Latin and Central America with groups from Cuba, Peru and Columbia, among others.
In the final weekend, when the Gold and Bronze medal games will be played at CIBC Hamilton Pan Am Soccer Stadium, Supercrawl Productions will put on a "Waterfront Pan Am Cultural Showcase." The two-day event will be a gathering spot to watch the end of the games on large video screens and see entertainment. The musical entertainment includes Canadian electronic group, A Tribe Called Red, who will perform on the Saturday, and Hamilton's Terra Lightfoot performing with Boris Brott and the National Academy Orchestra on Sunday.
With the games over, the orchestra will stick around to perform a live soundtrack to the fireworks display, one you can watch from what Supercrawl festival director Tim Potocic said would be a "massive 1,000 capacity beer garden."
Business areas involved
Individual BIAs are also getting into the action. The International Village will turn Ferguson Station into an International House viewing station with food and entertainment daily between July 14 and 24. The Ottawa Street BIA is rotating a host of food trucks from Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area for an "International Food Court" throughout the games with at least six different trucks selling food each day.
Barton Street BIA, meanwhile, will have pop-up shop installation art, taking over empty store fronts along the street.
And the Downtown BIA is aiming to be the main focal point of the games.
"We are going to be celebration square in Gore Park," said Kathy Drewitt, executive director of the Downtown BIA, describing how Gore will have screens and a beer garden to watch the action.
Many of the fine details have yet to be released, with things such as a full vendor list of food trucks planned to be announced in two weeks. Whatever the details are, there is one thing that is already known: there's no entrance fee to any of the events, making it all free of charge.
"It's important so we can invite everybody to come out, we wanted to be as inclusive as possible," said Merlo. "There's something there for everybody."The potential pairing of Mr. Trump and union members could be helped along by a sense that Mr. Trump, unlike more conventional Republicans, has historically enjoyed a cordial relationship with labor on many of his real estate projects.
“He has put his fair share into hiring union people,” said Richard Sabato, the president of a building and construction trades council in northern New Jersey. “He’s done that in Manhattan, in New Jersey.”
But that is not always the case. The owners of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas filed objections to a recent vote by roughly 500 of its workers to unionize, and the National Labor Relations Board has found merit to the claims that the hotel violated workers’ labor rights. (The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.)
Mr. Sabato said that his members, who lean Republican but in many cases voted for Mr. Obama, would “march behind” Mr. Trump on the issue of illegal immigration.
Even more important for many union members has been the issue of economic globalization. Mr. Trump has railed against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-country trade deal the administration finished negotiating last year. And he has bemoaned the administration’s failure to stand up to what he and many union members see as China’s mercantilist policies.
He has also fulminated against plans by the company that owns Nabisco to shift some production to Mexico — “I love Oreos,” he said, “I will never eat them again” — and vowed to impose a punishing tariff on imports of Ford cars unless the company canceled a $2.5 billion investment in plants in that country.
“We like that he does not support TPP, that he has taken the position that there should be trade tariffs for a company that moves jobs overseas,” said Ryan Leenders, 30, a member of the International Association of Machinists in Washington State. Mr. Leenders, who estimated that one-quarter to one-third of his factory’s union workers were Trump supporters, said he voted for Mr. Obama in 2008 and wrote in Ron Paul in 2012.Welcome to the HoloNet Uplink, citizen. This series focuses on Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars Roleplaying Game, with content aimed mostly at the Gamemaster. Threats, adventure seeds, rules supplements, and more are all to come for those who access The HoloNet Uplink.
Third in what I’d say now qualifies as a sub-series, this edition of Old School Chart Cool provides an option to quickly generate adventure seeds suitable for Rebel cells in your Age of Rebellion games. Longer time readers will probably remember my other two forays into the old school world of random charts: the Imperial Base generator and the Cantina Patron generator.
The usual caveats apply. This is just a tool in the toolbox, you should feel free to take or leave these charts in whole or in part. Don’t like what you rolled? Roll again, just pick, make something up, it’s all up to you. The idea is to throw a few rolls, check the charts, and get some inspiration. If you’ve already got an awesome idea, by no means is this supposed to replace the normal creative process. But if you’re like me, sometimes having something to riff off of can really help get the ideas flowing.
Mission Generator Charts
Roll 1d10 and consult the Mission chart.
d10 The Mission 1 Recruitment (Individuals) 2 Sabotage / Raid 3 Rescue 4 Capture Supplies / Equipment 5 Capture Personnel 6 Destroy Military Target 7 Counter-Espionage 8 Establish Base 9 Gather Intelligence 10 Recruitment (Group) / Diplomacy
Roll 1d10 and consult the Location chart. Should you roll 1 or 10, generate an Imperial Base using the linked charts.
d10 The Location 1 An Imperial Base 2 Hutt Space 3 Backwater Outer Rim world 4 An Imperial Core World 5 A Penal Colony 6 A Primitive World 7 Factory 8 Shipyard 9 Ancient Ruins 10 An Imperial Base
Roll 1d10 to determine the Opposition.
d10 The Opposition 1 Imperial Army 2 Imperial Navy 3 Imperial Security Bureau 4 Local Security Forces 5 Hutt Cartels 6 Black Sun 7 Separatist Holdouts 8 Pro-Imperial Nobles 9 Outer Rim Mercenaries 10 Inquisitors and Retinue
As an extra option, roll on the following chart to generate a Twist.
d10 The Twist 1 Its a Trap! 2 Bad Intelligence 3 Logistical Failure 4 A Third Side Appears 5 Betrayal 6 Comms Failure 7 Extraction Complication 8 Unexpected Enemies 9 Reinforcements Arrive 10 Everything is Proceeding According to the Emperor’s Design…
Example Missions
To provide an example, and to fulfill my love of some old school chart rollin’, I took the liberty of generating two missions. I’ll flesh those out below in what I hope is some doubly useful content. I hope this not only illustrates the concept of these charts, but also serve as adventure seeds to keep in your back pocket.
Chaos on Corulag
2 – Sabotage/Raid, 4 – An Imperial Core World, 1 – Imperial Army, 4 – A Third Side Appears.
Home to not only a prestigious military academy, but also a series of research and development labs, Corulag is a centre of Imperial military thought. While the Imperial military as a whole is rightly described as monolithic and traditional in outlook, an organization with as vast a jurisdiction as the galaxy will inevitable attract creative designers and military mavericks. The Center for Alternative Battlefield Applications and Lessons Learned (CABALL)on Corulag is made up of those mavericks. The brainchild of Moff Tanniel, CABALL conducts experiments to test and produce unconventional tactics and technology in support of military objectives.
The PCs are sent on a mission to infiltrate the main CABALL facility on Corulag. Once inside, they are to sabotage the research and development process by any means available. Security is exceptionally tight on the outside, provided by elite Imperial Army troops. While not as fanatical as stormtroopers, these veteran Army troops more than make up for that with creative tactics learned through hard fought battles. Compared to the slavish dedication to standard procedure shown by most stormtroopers, these troops are thinking soldiers who are aware of the usual tricks – sneaking in should be a major challenge. Once in the facility, however, security is a bit lax. Members of this exclusive think tank are trusted to move about the facility with few security checks; unusual for an Imperial base but not unexpected given CABALL prizes creativity.
Unbeknownst to the PCs, a group of CABALL researchers plan on going rogue. They have predicted the downfall of the Empire and are planning to flee into the Outer Rim with a cache of secrets and tech. Just as the PCs’ operation is underway, this group begins to make their move. Whether this throws a wrench into the PCs’ plan, provides a much needed distraction, or even presents a recruiting opportunity, is up to the creativity of the players.
Prisoners of Fate
9 – Gather Intelligence, 5 – Penal Colony, 4 – Local Security Forces, 2 – Bad Intelligence.
Tasked with extracting information from an incarcerated felon, the PCs must infiltrate the maximum security prison world of Oovo IV. Rebel Intelligence has learned that the former crime lord Karla Hax, sentenced to life imprisonment for a series of heinous crimes, knows the identity of several deep cover ISB agents. The PCs are sent by Alliance Intelligence to extract that information. Despite the rise of the Empire, Oovo IV operates with as much independence as during the Republic. Prisoners are sent to Oovo IV to be forgotten and so long as security is not breached the Empire is unconcerned with what methods the local enforcers use. Infiltrating the facility will be a dangerous affair.
When the PCs finally meet up with Hax, it is revealed that she has no such knowledge of the ISB. At this time the enforcers of Oovo IV spring their trap. Phony intel was fed to the Alliance in order to lure the PCs to Oovo IV. The enforcers, seeking a rich reward from the Zann Consortium for Rebel agents, aim to capture the PCs alive. Tyber Zann is willing to pay top credit for bargaining chips after the Alliance broke up several slave rings on the Consortium take. The enforcers will try to trap the PCs in the prison until a team of Zann’s elite “Defiler” operatives can arrive to take custody.
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Latest Posts Christopher Hunt Staff Writer at d20 Radio Ready to pull the ears off a Gundark, Chris is new to writing in the gaming industry. Up in the mystical Canadian land of Manitoba, he can be seen running Star Wars for his home group and at PrairieCon events. Chris has a passion for gaming he hopes to unite with academic and corporate writing experience. Latest posts by Christopher Hunt see all) HoloNet Uplink – Walker Ace - February 21, 2019
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commentsThe Flying Knee Strike – Advanced Muay Thai Technique
H ow And When to Throw A Flying Knee
Gonna fly now? If you’re hardcore, you’ll recognize those 3 words as being a cornerstone of Rocky montages.
But today we’re going to take that from Rocky and make it part of Muay Thai. If you throw a flying knee with reckless abandon, then you’ll be getting knocked out, and your very own training montages will mean nothing. However, if you do know when to throw it, then you’ll have added a few seconds to your highlight reel.
When you’re going to throw such a dynamic and risky technique, you need to know how and when. Timing is half the battle. The right move thrown at the wrong time is the wrong move at the wrong time. Let’s get it right.
The Flying Knee Strike | Advanced Muay Thai Technique
The foundation of the flying knee is…you guessed it, the knee. As the flying knee has its place to be done and time to do it, the knee has as well. The clinch is the home of the knee. Both macro and micro positioning play a role in landing a successful strike. Macro positioning will be like your positioning within any given setting, be it a ring, street, or octagon. Micro positioning is your positioning relative to the opponent and your own body mechanics.
Both macro and micro positioning play a role in landing a successful strike. Macro positioning will be like your positioning within any given setting, be it a ring, street, or octagon. Micro positioning is your positioning relative to the opponent and your own body mechanics. Know your positions, and you’ll get the knockout.
3 LETHAL Muay Thai Clinch Techniques, Elbows and Sweeps | Petchboonchu Clinch Seminar
How does Mr. Daniels land such a dynamic, flush strike? By backing his opponent towards the ropes. If you want to get even trickier with your tricky technique, well, this is about as wild as it gets. I present to you, the Knockout of the Century as dissected by Lawrence Kenshin Striking Breakdowns:
Epic Glory Moments: “Knockout of the Century” ‒ Raymond Daniels | Lawrence Kenshin
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Like this: Like Loading...Keith Olbermann, the anchor of “Countdown,” will remain at MSNBC through the next presidential election season, the cable news channel announced Monday afternoon.
The announcement came less than two years into Mr. Olbermann’s current four-year deal. MSNBC essentially tore up his February 2007 contract (reported to be worth up to $4 million a year) and wrote a new one, according to two employees with knowledge of the agreement. The new contract is valued at about $7.5 million a year, one of the people said.
Mr. Olbermann will continue to anchor “Countdown” and co-host NBC’s “Football Night in America.” Reinforcing Mr. Olbermann’s value to MSNBC, the network said he would “play a prominent role” in “all major news events.”
Mr. Olbermann has anchored “Countdown,” the most popular program on MSNBC, since 2003. The program now draws more viewers than CNN in the 8 p.m. time slot. “I’m delighted that we can continue to lock ‘Countdown’ into the nation’s political dialogue through at least the next election,” Mr. Olbermann said in a statement. “Personally, I noticed that as of about six weeks ago, I’d been doing this show longer than I did ‘SportsCenter,’ so it’s delightful to have a true home.”
In September, The New York Times reported that NBC Universal, the parent company of MSNBC, was in talks to extend Mr. Olbermann’s contract through 2013.
Appearing on “The View” Monday morning, Mr. Olbermann addressed a question on the minds of many: After years of critiquing the Bush administration, what will “Countdown” consist of now that a Democrat is about to enter the White House?
“We’re switching to all Mariah Carey as of tonight,” Mr. Olbermann joked.
He dismissed a suggestion that he’d be soft on Democrats by saying that Hillary Rodham Clinton is still mad about his criticisms of her last spring.
In the heat of the general election campaign, “Countdown” drew up to 2.5 million viewers a night. Undoubtedly, some viewers won’t be tuning in as frequently now that Barack Obama is the president-elect.
“But a lot of them will,” MSNBC’s president, Phil Griffin, told the Associated Press. “And they’ve found the voices they want to hear.”
The next four years on cable news are shaping up to look a lot like the last four: last month the |
state. Perceptions of media bias did not differ significantly between the two days.
Americans' perception of media bias is stronger in this election than during the 2004 presidential campaign, the only other time Gallup has asked the question. In October of that election year, 45% of registered voters believed there was no media bias, seven percentage points higher than today. Further, there was a bit more parity in perceptions of which party benefited from media favoritism, with 35% saying it was biased in favor of Democrat John Kerry and 16% in favor of Republican George W. Bush.
Perception of Media Bias in Favor of John Kerry or George W. Bush Thinking about the media coverage of the election so far this year, do you think it has been biased in favor of John Kerry, not biased in favor of either candidate, or biased in favor of George W. Bush? Biased in favor of Kerry No bias toward either candidate Biased in favor of Bush No opinion % % % % Registered voters 35 45 16 4 Gallup, Oct 22-24, 2004
Among registered voters who perceived media bias, 69% thought that the bias favored Kerry in 2004, 18 points lower than the perceived bias favoring Clinton in 2016.
Opinions About Candidates Strongly Linked to Perceptions of Media Bias
Voters' perceptions of media bias in 2016 are closely related to their underlying opinions of Clinton and Trump. Among voters who have a favorable opinion of Trump, 90% say that the media is biased in favor of Clinton. By contrast, nearly two-thirds (63%) of those who view Clinton favorably say the media is not biased toward either candidate. Notably, more of these Clinton supporters believe the media is biased toward her over Trump, 23% vs. 13%, respectively.
Perception of Media Bias in Favor of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump Among Registered Voters by Candidate Favorability Biased in favor of Clinton No bias toward either candidate Biased in favor of Trump No opinion % % % % Favorable view of Clinton 23 63 13 2 Favorable view of Trump 90 7 3 1 Gallup, Oct 27-28, 2016
Party Affiliation Also Linked to Perceptions of Media Bias
Voters' perceptions of media bias in 2016 are also related to political party affiliation. Majorities of Democrats (63%) and independents (52%) do not believe that the media is biased toward either candidate. By contrast, the vast majority of Republicans (86%) perceive media bias, and nearly all of them (80%) believe the bias favors Clinton. Among independents and Democrats who perceive bias, large majorities also believe the bias favors Clinton.
Perception of Media Bias in Favor of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump Among Registered Voters by Party Affiliation Biased in favor of Clinton No bias toward either candidate Biased in favor of Trump No opinion % % % % Republican/Lean 80 12 6 2 Independent 41 52 2 5 Democrat/Lean 25 63 10 2 Gallup, Oct 27-28, 2016
Similar to today, a majority of Democrats (51%) and independents (72%) did not perceive media bias in 2004. But the perception of bias has grown substantially among Republicans, increasing by 26 points from 60% in 2004 to 86% today.
Bottom Line
In the U.S., perceptions of a liberal media bias have been prevalent throughout this century. However, the perceived tilt in bias toward the Democratic candidate among registered voters was less pronounced in the 2004 election than it is today.
The overall percentage believing the media is biased toward either candidate is nine points higher today than in 2004, 60% vs. 51%, respectively. But among those who perceive bias, almost all in 2016 (87%) see Clinton as the beneficiary versus 69% saying Kerry benefited in 2004. The increased perception of media bias among voters is largely driven by Republicans. While they were more likely than independents and Democrats to perceive bias in 2004 and are again more likely to do so in 2016, that gap has widened substantially.
This shift could be related to how often Trump publicly laments media bias in favor of Clinton and has perhaps elevated the issue to a higher profile in this campaign than in past elections.
Despite evidence of the partisanship in patterns of media-bias perception, Americans who perceive bias -- regardless of their favorability of Clinton or Trump or their party affiliation -- generally agree that media coverage favors Clinton.
Survey Methods
Results regarding media bias in the 2016 campaign are based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 27-28, 2016, on the Gallup U.S. Daily survey, with a random sample of 1,017 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Of this group, 940 respondents identified as registered voters. For results based on registered voters, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Margins of error within subpopulations of both groups are higher and vary depending on sample size. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.
Each sample of national adults in the 2016 data includes a minimum quota of 60% cellphone respondents and 40% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.
View survey methodology, complete question responses and trends.
Learn more about how the Gallup U.S. Daily works.For my fellow vegan and vegetarian readers, as well as anyone who might be gluten free, paleo, or on any other restricted diet, how do people react when you disclose your eating habits?
For me, things have changed quite a bit in the twenty years (holy cow!) since I’ve cut meat out of my diet. I’ve gone from at one time being consistently met with strange looks and inappropriate jokes, to nowadays being received with curiosity, interest, and often remarks like, “Oh, my sister/brother/aunt/neighbor/coworker is one of those too!” And although I still get an inappropriate comment from time to time (“You didn’t tell us you were one of those when we interviewed you for this job…”), things are certainly easier these days.
I still get a bunch of questions based on genuine curiosity, which I don’t mind so much.
MY LATEST VIDEOS! “Where do you get your protein?” “Do you eat like this for ethical or health reasons?”
“Don’t you miss cheeseburgers?”
Of course, during this time of year, most of us plant eaters can anticipate that one, very special question:
“What do you eat for Thanksgiving?”
This one has always been particularly interesting to me. I think a more appropriate question would be “What don’t you eat for Thanksgiving?”
Answer: “Turkey.”
What I do eat is the dozen or so other items that are or can very easily be adapted to suit my dietary needs.
Stuffing? Cook it with vegetable broth and not inside of a turkey.
Sweet potatoes? Make a vegan version without the marshmallows. I always thought those were gross anyway.
Veggies? Um, yeah, obviously not much of a problem. Skip the butter. Try these
Dessert? Totally veganizable. Recipe forthcoming.
Bread/biscuits/muffins? Also highly veganizable. Try this
Mashed potatoes? Well, that would bring me to this post.
Welcome to part two of my November vegan Thanksgiving series, in which I’ve decided to cover everyone’s favorite (well, mine at least), good old mashed potaters.
While there are plenty of vegan gravy options out there, I wanted to take a shot at some mashed potatoes that were so loaded up with flavorful goodness you’d never miss the gravy. These were seriously tasty spuds. Gravy definitely not needed, and the creamy “cheddar” goodness could fool any omnivore. I might just try these out on my dad this year, assuming he hasn’t read this post and caught on to my game.Japan’s space agency, JAXA, has confirmed the failure of a mission intended to test technology for clearing up debris in space. The Kounotori 6 cargo transporter returned to Earth and burned up in the atmosphere on Monday, officials said. Though the experimental segment of the mission was a failure, Kounotori did successfully deliver supplies to the International Space Station after launching in December.
Kounotori 6 carried a 700-meter (2,296-foot) metal tether that was designed to slow down space junk and bring it back to Earth with electromagnetic force. JAXA says there was an issue with the mechanism to release the tether, however, and technicians were unable to fix it. It’s the second notable setback to hit JAXA in recent weeks after the agency failed to put its SS-520-4 rocket into orbit last month.
NASA estimates that there are about 500,000 pieces of debris larger than half an inch across in low orbit, posing a potential danger to the 780-odd satellites operating in the area. The ISS, for example, is shielded for objects over half an inch across, but can only track pieces of debris larger than two inches.It looks like whether we like it or not the story is Russia, has been Russia since November 8th, and will continue to be Russia until President Trump no longer inhabits the White House. That will be eight exciting, (though exhausting, thanks to the media), years hence, God willing.
It would be nice to know a little bit about this crazy place, other than what the MSM lies to us about. Do these professional ‘media’ Trump-haters even know where Russia is, except within visual distance of Sarah Palin’s house? Do these corrupt individuals understand why the Russians so hate us, as they claim the Russians do? Do they know anything about the extraordinary nation of Russia, of the remarkable Russian people and their equally remarkable history?
Of course they don’t. And they don’t care.
The inestimable Winston Churchill once called Russia “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” and that about says it all. This stunningly perplex nation, immense and inexplicable, a unique mixture of East and West in its geography, in its historical progression, in its byzantine politics, in its mélange of nationalities and cultures, and in its continued development, makes it impossible to figure out what it’s doing and where it’s going, even studying it’s complicated, and in many ways, heartbreaking, history.
The historical event that changed Russia forever, that remains truly heartbreaking 99 years ago, was the brutal and bloody murder of the family of Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra and their five beautiful children. If there is anything that demonstrates more clearly the complete soullessness of the Bolsheviks who captured the nation of Russia in 1917 and held this tragic nation captive until, basically, 1989, it is this one vicious and devastating act.
Nicholay Alexandrovich Romanov, born in St. Petersburg in 1868, was the son of Tsar Alexander III of Russia and Maria Feodorovna, formerly Dagmar of Denmark, who ruled Russia from 1881 to 1894. Their first-born son, Nicholas, was primarily of German and Danish descent, with his last ethnically Russian ancestor being the Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna who was the daughter of Peter the Great and who lived in the very beginning of the 18th Century.
It was said during Nicholas’ adulthood that he was a near twin of his cousin, King George V of England, and photographs of the two together in the early part of the 20th Century attest to this almost eerie resemblance. Needless to say, Nicholas was related to numerous monarchs in Europe, including the King and Queen of Denmark, the King of Greece, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and the King and Queen of Norway, among others. The Tsar was close to many of his cousins; in fact, it was at a wedding of one of his cousins, a granddaughter of England’s Queen Victoria, in 1884, when the future Tsar was 16, that he met a charming 12 year old, Princess Alix, who was sister to the bride, and with whom he eventually fell in love and married in 1890. The marriage went forward despite the initial objections of Alix’s grandmother, England’s Queen Victoria, who expressed these objections not because she did not like her granddaughter’s suitor, but because she personally disliked Russia.
It was said that Her Majesty withdrew her objections only when she saw that Tsar Alexander’s health was deteriorating.
Nicholas was a handsome and charming young man, and while a young Tsarevich, behaved as a young royal of his age should: he took a Grand Tour, (which came to an end when he was the victim of an assassination attempt), he had affairs with well-known ballerinas, and he attended international functions to represent the family of the Russian Tsar.
The one thing that was tragically not done re: the future of the next Tsar was to prepare him for his future role as the ruler of all the Russias. It was thought that this was due to his father being only in his 40’s during Nicholas’ youth, and everyone thought that many years would pass before Nicholas needed to take the throne, therefore there was time to pass on to him things he needed to know to rule Russia. Alexander’s “assumptions about living a long life and having years to prepare Nicholas for becoming Tsar would be proven wrong, (as) Alexander III was suffering from ill health, and died at the age of 49 in 1894.” His 26 year old son was consecrated as Tsar Nicholas II on the day after his father’s death, and the following statement by the Tsar soon after taking the reins of power demonstrates how the young monarch planned to rule all the Russias:
“It has come to my knowledge that during the last months there have been heard in some assemblies of the zemstvos (elected councils) the voices of those who have indulged in a senseless dream that the zemstvos be called upon to participate in the government of the country. I want everyone to know that I will devote all my strength to maintain, for the good of the whole nation, the principle of absolute autocracy, as firmly and as strongly as did my late lamented father.”
While Nicholas continued in the tradition of the autocratic rule of his father domestically, internationally Nicholas began his reign by strengthening the all-important Franco Russian Alliance, and “pursuing a policy of general European pacification, which eventually resulted in the Tsar’s being nominated for the 1901 Nobel Peace Prize, in the company of the famous Russian diplomat, Friedrich Martens.”
A later development in Russia’s international involvements was the result of Russian expansion into the Far East, which “conflicted with Japan’s territorial ambitions,” and thus war broke out between the two nations in 1904. This did not go well for Russia, as the Japanese ended up in nearly annihilating the Russian Baltic Fleet. Though the Japanese proved dominant throughout the entirety of this conflict, Nicholas continued to believe in, and expected “a final victory (for the Russians), maintaining an image of the racial inferiority and military weakness of the Japanese.” Nicholas was finally forced to sue for peace in 1905, and with American mediation, the war was ended, not to Russian satisfaction, by “the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth.”
Domestically, things also started out badly for Nicholas II in Russia, and went from bad to worse; his reign seemed fraught the first day he was Russia’s ruler. The day after his coronation was the day of celebration for the beginning of his rule, and tragically the day started with 2000 being killed in a stampede to get to the tables of food and drink that had been set out for the celebrants. It was not seen as an auspicious beginning for the new Tsar.
Then, early in 1905, a group of Russian workers who had organized a peaceful march to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to present to the Tsar a workers’ petition demanding certain aspects of much needed political change, were, as they were singing the imperial anthem, God Save the Tsar, fired upon by soldiers of the Russian army. Several hundred people were killed and/or wounded in the shocking melee. Though not having given personal orders to fire on the crowd, Nicholas was blamed and condemned worldwide as a “blood stained creature and a common murderer.”
Revolution was in the air, and to try and stave it off, the Tsar acceded to certain reforms in government, among them the calling of the State Duma, a Parliament-like structure “initially thought to be an advisory organ” to the Tsar. Conflict between the Tsar and the newly formed legislative body started immediately, with the Duma calling for “universal suffrage, radical land reform, the release of all political prisoners and the dismissal of ministers appointed by the Tsar in favour of ministers acceptable to the Duma.” The radical ideas expressed by the Duma took hold so quickly, and became so radical, that by 1906 “many wished to push through legislation that would abolish private property ownership.”
Ironically, one of the major complaints Nicholas had about this period in his Tsarship was that often whatever was done or said in the legislative body came “out in the next day’s papers (inaccurately) which are avidly read by everyone.”
While other difficulties were rearing their ugly heads in this vast and seemingly ungovernable land, (among them the outbreak of World War I), it was truly devastating that at this same time, the tragic and terrible problems of the Tsar’s family were beginning to impact his rule. Nicholas and Alexandra, theirs being a true love match, had had five beautiful children together, 4 daughters and a son. It was found that the Tsarevich had inherited what was known as “the Royal disease,” hemophilia, which had no cure and all too often caused the royal victim to bleed to death.
A way to help the young princeling was found, however, and it was, apropos to the consistently tragic history of Russia, through the sinister magic of an illiterate Siberian peasant monk by the name of Grigori Rasputin. With all the chaos in the nation, the Russian people were beginning to lose faith in their Tsar, to whom they had always been devoted, and had referred to as “Papa,” and the destructive, (to everyone involved except the Tsarevich), interference of the mad monk Rasputin in the lives of Russia’s royal family was one step too far. Soon, the populace was turning on the government, “declaring that the Empress should be shut up in a convent, the Tsar deposed and Rasputin hanged.” The dynasty at this point was truly tottering, though the Tsar and his family and closest advisors were too removed from the Russian people to see it. As so often happens in these kinds of situation, it was when there was no longer any food for the people of Russia that the collapse of the 3-century old Romanov dynasty finally arrived.
The accompanying, strange, demise of the mad monk was uniquely Russian, and is another story altogether.
Enter the Soviets, who had been laying in wait for such chaos to be unleashed. With their cooperation, the Duma formed a provisional government, and the demand was made for Nicholas to abdicate. “Faced with this demand, which was echoed by his generals, deprived of loyal troops, with his family firmly in the hands of the Provisional Government and fearful of unleashing civil war and opening the way for German conquest, Nicholas had little choice but to submit.”
It is to our eternal shame that the United States of America was the “first foreign government to recognize the Provisional government.” Remember who was President at that time – the truly evil Woodrow Wilson.
From then on in Russia, it was just a matter of time until the Bolsheviks decided that the continued existence of the Romanov family was too threatening to be allowed to continue, and they were eventually imprisoned in a small house in the town of Yekaterinburg, in the spring of 1918, which was called by the Soviets “the house of special purpose.” Unbeknownst to the family, a firing squad of seven Communist soldiers and three local Bolsheviks had been assembled, and this unlovely group executed the last of the ruling family of the Romanov dynasty on the morning of July 17, 1918. Those of the family who survived the initial volley of bullets, were later clubbed and bayoneted, and then each member of this group, the majority of whom were children, were shot at close range in their heads.
The Communists then did what they always do, and lied about the assassinations, claiming that outside forces had murdered the Tsar and his family. It was not until 1979, when the bodies of certain members of the royal family were discovered by an amateur archaeologist, that the tragic end of the Romanov family became known worldwide.
Unlike what the left in America would have us believe, the history of Russia is an endlessly fascinating one, and seemingly an endlessly tragic one. What is clear right now is that while the left is in charge, whether of our government, our culture, or our media, the President and the people of the United States of America will be prevented from having any positive relationship with 21st century Russia, despite the desire of our two national leaders to develop one.
Susan Smith brings an international perspective to her writing by having lived primarily in western Europe, mainly in Paris, France, and the U.S., primarily in Washington, D.C. She authored a weekly column for Human Events on politics with historical aspects. She also served as the Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Children, Family, Drugs and Alcoholism, and Special Assistant to the first Ambassador of Afghanistan following the initial fall of the Taliban. Ms. Smith is a graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University and Georgetown University, as well as the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, France, where she obtained her French language certification. Ms. Smith now makes her home in McLean, Va.European mobile-first bank N26 has announced that it is expanding into insurance in its latest move to reinvent banking.
Founded out of Germany in 2013, N26 offers bank accounts similar to those offered by BankMobile or Simple in the U.S., with a focus on speed and efficiency — an account can be opened within eight minutes of applying. Originally only available in Germany and Austria, the service has slowly been expanding across the Eurozone and now claims 300,000 customers in 17 countries. N26 has raised more than $50 million since its inception, with participation from notable backers such as Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, which led its Series A round back in 2015 and joined again for the $40 million Series B follow-up a year later.
Formerly known as Number26 — before a rebrand last summer— N26 has a long-stated mission to create a modern, mobile-first bank built from the various fintech technologies and services that have emerged from the internet age. Last February, for example, N26 partnered with peer-to–peer money-transfer firm TransferWise, giving Number26 customers in-app access to a cheaper money-transfer service.
“Our goal is to leverage the best banking products from around the world and make them accessible to customers with one tap, creating a fintech hub inside the Number26 app,” N26 cofounder and CEO Valentin Stalf explained at the time.
The TransferWise collaboration was followed by a new investment product in conjunction with Vaamo and a savings account in partnership with Raisin. And now the company is adding insurance to the mix thanks to a tie-up with German Insurance platform Clark. N26 calls this the “next step” in its strategy to become the one-stop app for its users’ every financial need.
“Digitalization in the insurance market is lagging behind,” said Tayenthal. “Customers are still facing offline structures and a lot of paperwork. It is therefore a huge opportunity for N26 to address these customer issues by leveraging digital innovation to make Insurance more user-friendly.”
Operating in a piecemeal way makes sense for a startup looking to expand in the finance realm. Given the regulatory, operational, and financial hurdles of expanding into multiple verticals, it’s much easier to tap existing players in their respective industries and package their services together in a single app.
Through N26, customers will be able to view all their insurance policies and initiate claims with a few taps. In the future, N26 said that it will also enable its users to “make smarter decisions” by helping them optimize their insurance plans, powered by Clark’s algorithmic robo-advisers.
A beta program for N26 insurance will be kicking off in July, with the first offering landing only in Germany initially.
“This partnership is the next step in our plan to partner with financial institutions and make our robo-adviser available to their customers,” added Clark CEO Dr. Christopher Oster. “Our API-based integration will deliver a fully digital insurance experience and ensure that customers have the right insurance at the best price available.”3rd episode of the second season of Community
"The Psychology of Letting Go" is the third episode of the second season of Community. It was originally broadcast on October 7, 2010 on NBC.
In the episode, Pierce's mom dies and the group is concerned about the way he's handling it. His deep faith in his cult causes him to believe that his mother is only temporarily gone and will return after a while. Meanwhile, Jeff becomes upset when told that his cholesterol levels are a little high, and tries to take out his frustration by mocking Pierce's beliefs and attempting to prove to Pierce that his mom is dead. The episode's subplot covered the tension between Annie and Britta that began in "Anthropology 101".
The episode was written by Hilary Winston and directed by Anthony Russo. It received positive critical reviews.
Plot [ edit ]
Troy (Donald Glover) is traumatized after finding Pierce's (Chevy Chase) mom dead. Pierce seems to be unaffected, saying that according to his "Reformed Neo-Buddhist church", his mother isn't dead, but is vaporized and stored in an "energon pod" (a lava lamp), and will return in a few years. The study group becomes concerned, and want to help Pierce accept his mom's death, but Jeff (Joel McHale) insists they leave Pierce and his beliefs alone.
At anthropology class, Ian Duncan (John Oliver) is revealed as the new teacher after the previous teacher, June Bauer (Betty White), was suspended for assaulting Jeff. Duncan clearly is not up for the job. When Chang (Ken Jeong) shows up, Duncan abuses the restraining order placed on Chang as revenge for Chang assaulting him in the previous year. As a result of Duncan using his "force field" to keep Chang away, Chang gets injured and obtains a restraining order against Duncan himself. Duncan calls it "mutually assured destruction" and reconciles with Chang.
Jeff's blood test reveals he has high cholesterol level. He becomes extremely upset and questions the extreme lifestyle he adopts to stay in perfect health. He takes out his frustration at Pierce's belief in his cult. He drives Pierce and Troy to the morgue in order to prove to Pierce that his unvaporized mom is dead. While driving, Pierce finds a CD made by his mom and plays it. The recording is his mom's farewell message to him before she died. In it, she insists she is dead, not vaporized, and asks him to accept it. She goes on to explain that life is short, and he should make the best of it. Pierce dismisses the message, but Jeff is so touched by it that he decides to abort his cruel plan. While having (unhealthy) ice cream at the end, Jeff accepts that "nobody lives forever".
Meanwhile, Annie (Alison Brie) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) are having a fundraising campaign for the oil spill. Throughout the episode, Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), jealous about not being invited to participate, makes snide remarks at Annie and Britta. Annie, without realizing, flirtatiously solicits donations from guys, making Britta jealous. She then takes on Annie at her own game, and they end up arguing while trying to raise funds in the cafeteria.
They argue again outside, accidentally ruining the diorama they made, splashing oil over each other. Their oil-drenched wrestling scene attracts the attention of all the men passing by, including Ian remarking "Now this, is why I came to America". They reconcile in the end, with Britta admitting being jealous and Annie admitting that Britta was right to call her out. They also resolve their tension over the love triangle with Jeff, and console themselves with the fact that "men are even grosser".
Hidden storyline [ edit ]
Through the course of the show, entirely in the background of unrelated scenes, Abed can be glimpsed interacting with a pregnant woman and her partner, until he delivers the baby who was conceived shortly after "The Politics of Human Sexuality".[1] He makes no mention of his adventure when he rejoins the rest of the cast at the end of the episode. He then later makes a reference to the hidden storyline in Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts.[2]
Production [ edit ]
The episode was written by Hilary Winston, her fifth writing credit of the show. It was directed by executive producer Anthony Russo, his eighth directing credit of the series.
Patton Oswalt guest starred as Nurse Jackie.[3] Betty White appeared briefly as June Bauer.[4]
When asked about the strangeness of the oil-drenched fight scene with Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs said: "This scene ranks. I mean, I've been asked to do some strange things in my career. But we've topped ourselves from last year's kiddie pool wrestling scene. This is about a 9, I would have to say. Definitely."[5]
Themes [ edit ]
The episode played heavily on the themes of meaning of life, mortality and death, in particular Jeff's realization that death is inevitable despite his efforts to stay in perfect health and Pierce's reaction to his mother's death.[4][6] Pierce's fierce belief in his cult's explanation of "death" alluded to how people of all faiths (and non-faiths) cope with loss and teach the appreciation of life.[4][6] During the montage when Pierce's mom's last message to him was voiced over, Abed delivers a baby at the back of a car in the Greendale parking lot. The birth was a reference to the cycle of life and death.[6]
“ Life is only worth a damn because it's short. It's designed to be used, consumed, spent, lived, felt. We're supposed to fill it with every mistake and miracle we can manage. And then, we're supposed to let go. ” — Pierce's mom
Cultural references [ edit ]
The episode mocked the AOL website for providing trivial and unimportant news, in particular, irrelevant animal stories.[7] Pierce's adherence to his cult, which rips him off by selling him the lava lamp and telling him his mother was vaporized in it, is a reference to Scientology.[7] Professor Duncan taking over the anthropology class despite knowing nothing about the subject matter was a knock on the American education system.[7] Annie and Britta made a diorama of the BP oil spill to raise funds. Annie also mentioned the earthquake in Haiti.[3]
The recording of the message left by Pierce's mom for him after her death mirrors the plot device from Taxi.[4] The last segment of the episode features the real anthropology professor, June Bauer, explaining the film Inception to African tribesmen.[7]
Reception [ edit ]
Ratings [ edit ]
In its original American broadcast, "The Psychology of Letting Go" was viewed by an estimated 4.20 million people, with a Nielsen rating of 1.8 in the 18–49 demographic.[8]
Reception [ edit ]
The episode received generally positive reviews from critics.
Cory Barker of TV Overmind gave the episode a B+, saying the episode showed the writers "can tell slightly varied versions of their typical stories without sacrificing the humor. And that’s pretty damn great, if you ask me."[9] Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club called the episode "enormously funny", giving it an A-.[4] Kelsea Stahler of Hollywood.com said the episode "had it all – politics, jealousy, AOL News, and even death!"[7] HitFix critic Alan Sepinwall, who played one of the men staring at Annie and Britta fighting, said "'The Psychology of Letting Go' wisely picked up on and wove into a funny and sweet story about mortality, grudges and other things we have to let go of."[6] Matt Richenthal of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.1/5 rating.[3]Zion National Park's Canyon Overlook takes in the whole park from above. The third BASE jumper this year has died in the park attempting to parachute from state cliffs. (Photo11: DAVE STAMBOULIS)
MOAB, Utah (AP) — A BASE jumper has died in Utah's Zion National Park, officials said Monday, marking the third death by adventurers attempting to parachute from state cliffs this year.
Authorities haven't identified the victim, and the body hasn't yet been recovered from the remote location where it was spotted by helicopter Sunday.
BASE jumpers leap with parachutes from great heights, including skyscrapers, bridges and rock formations — BASE being an acronym of the different platforms, "building, antenna, span and earth."
The activity is illegal in national parks across the U.S., spokesman Jeff Olson said.
Zion National Park, in the southwest corner of Utah, is the state's most popular national park. BASE jumping is banned, but park officials weren't immediately available to answer questions about how they attempt to prevent such leaps.
Last month, Amber Bellows was killed there after she jumped from Mount Kinesava and her parachute failed to open. Bellows fell about 2,000 feet.
Another jumper was killed Friday near Moab. Kevin A. Morroun fell about 400 feet Friday while leaping from an area known as "The Sweet Spot" above Mineral Canyon in southeast Utah.
___
Associated Press writer Annie Knox contributed to this report.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1nV9ElZOn Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India sent out a stern warning against trade in Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, stating that the currencies were not approved by the central bank and more ominously that "the traders of VCs on such platforms are exposed to legal as well as financial risks." It was an ambiguous message, seen by many as a restatement of the fundamental risks of virtual currency, but just a few days later, one exchange found out about those legal risks the hard way.
On Thursday, officers from India's federal Enforcement Directorate raided the offices of buysellbit.co.in, a prominent exchange in the Indian city of Ahmedabad. "We have found that through the website 400 persons have recorded 1,000 transactions," one official told DNA India after the raid. "At present, we believe that this is a violation of foreign exchange regulations of the country. If we are able to establish money laundering aspect then he can be arrested."
Following the raid, Buysellbitco.in has suspended trading, offering the following message on its homepage: "Post the RBI [Reserve Bank of India] circular, we are suspending buy and sell operations until we can outline a clearer framework with which to work." In the wake of the raids, other exchanges like Inrbtc have followed suit, suspending trades and posting similar warnings. The move is similar in some respects to statements from China and Norway, in which central banks cautioned against the dangers of the virtual currency -- but this latest move goes further, with bringing police raids and criminal allegations into the mix. But unlike earlier warnings, the Indian raid seems to have done little to dent demand for the currency. As of press time, Bitcoin were trading for an average of $800, significantly higher than its post-China nadir.There are so many reasons why people do not donate blood.
Perhaps they are ineligible. Maybe they believe they don’t have the time. Some are afraid and skeptical, while even more are unaware of the need for blood or the way to get involved and give. Guest blogger Emily Gordon, a 20-year-old student from Wollongong shares her story on how she got involved and reminds us that if at first you don’t succeed, don’t be disheartened. Try again- your willingness to make a difference is wonderful in itself.
As I am studying a health degree, I am well aware of the importance of donating blood and how it can be literally lifesaving to person in need. I have always seen all the different ads on T.V. about donating blood and have always perceived it as such a worthwhile and real thing to do for the many people in need.
The real challenge for myself, when it comes to donating blood, is that I actually have a massive phobia of needles. Nonetheless, I was encouraged by my boyfriend to try and face my fear- we shouldn’t be afraid of saving lives! He came up with the idea that we would go and both donate together as he is a regular blood donor himself. At first I was hesitant, but then the idea grew on me and I psyched myself up to go, face my fear and do a good deed.
Upon arrival at the Blood Bank, I instantly felt at ease as the lady at the reception desk was so helpful with filling out all the forms and guiding me through the process. She went out of her way to ensure I was settled and was adequately hydrated. Unfortunately, however, anxiety got the better of me and the staff member that conducted my interview advised me that I should not go through with the donation. It was so reassuring to know that, although I went with every intention of giving blood, I was not pressured into it and all the staff went out of their way to ensure my wellbeing was the highest priority.
“It was so reassuring to know that, although I went with every intention of giving blood, I was not pressured into it and my wellbeing was the highest priority.”
I still hope in the near future I’ll be able to donate blood and I do believe I have gotten one step closer to conquering my fear and helping others in this way.
I believe this campaign is fantastic in that it’s encouraging younger people to step up at take the initiative to give blood and I urge you all to try and give it a go! Donating money to a charity is all well and good, but donating something so real, straight from yourself, such as blood in my mind seems so much more useful – especially as you know it is going directly to the person in need, not getting caught up in the system and paying someones wage. I guess, in a way, blood could be described as liquid gold, it’s so valuable |
dad. He might mean somehow going after Walt’s ego and meth recipe (not sure how), maybe trying to get Walt cooking again so he can get caught. He might mean going after the money, the “empire” Walt has built in some way. Or going public somehow with Walt’s crimes. Or who knows, maybe it’s just a threat and doesn’t relate to the plan.
Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Jesse somehow pretended he was Heisenberg and that’s how the “I’m the only one near as good as him” comes into play? That would certainly go after Walt’s ego and legacy, where he lives, and it would drive Walt insane, worse than when Hank thought Gale was the genius mastermind. I don’t think Walt could take it! It’s probably so unlikely, but what the fuck? I’m calling it. You heard it here. And if Jess goes that route, he might also try to use the Todd crew. Wouldn’t that be funny?
Like I said, not many real specific predictions, more overall shape. And a few things that I would bet some fat stacks won’t happen.
“Do not float that idea again.”
~Emilia J
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AdvertisementsA 1946 missing person case was largely responsible for the formation of the Vermont State Police, and the department of public safety is statutorily responsible for investigating missing person cases throughout Vermont.
The Vermont Intelligence Center posts timely notices of missing persons on the Vermont Missings Persons Facebook page. This website contains information on people missing for more than 60 days.
Whenever possible, an image of the person has been included in the information listed for each case. However, there are instances where investigators do not possess an image of the individual, or it is of poor quality. If you are aware of an image for any of the cases listed here that would help investigators and the public, please contact detectives through the links provided. Individuals are listed here at the direction of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Commander.
Look up by name:It’s the latest in patient transfer and movement technology and now EMSA has it. It’s called the hover mat and hover jack, inflatable forms that work on jets of air. “This is going to be a whole lot easier to get them not only out of their house but up off the ground” EMSA paramedic Michael Ginn told KRMG news at a demonstration Monday.
EMSA’s Chris Stevens told us these mats work exactly like a hovercraft “It shoves a bunch or air through tiny little pinholes and makes basically a cushion of air to move on.” Stevens told us the mats will make a lot of things easier and safer for both EMSA paramedics and patients. “A patient that normally would take six or eight people to move, this thing makes it easy for two to four so it cuts your workload in half” Stevens noted.
Another huge advantage for the medics is the ability to maneuver the mats. Something their large gurneys can’t do. “One thing they are not is flexible” Stevens said about the old cots. But the new mats will adapt “the nice thing about these is even when they are inflated, they’re pliable” he said. Stevens went on “you can push the side of one of them in to make it go around a corner or a coffee table or a couch for instance.”
Click here to listen to the entire interview with Chris.
It looks like a camp mattress, does that mean they are flimsy? Not even a little bit. “The hover mat will hold up to 1,200 pounds” he beamed as he told KRMG. Check out the video below to see how easy it was to pull a person up thin stairs at the EMSA headquarters.
http://bcove.me/sqd5d716
Once a patient is on the mat, they can easily be moved around the room and Ginn said, even up stairs. “That was one of the major problems was going up and down stairs with elderly and larger patients to make them feel at ease.” With this, they won’t even feel it.”
The medics wanted to show how easy it would be to move a larger patient around so they looked around the room and, you guessed it, they picked me. I lay in the hover jack and the guys inflated the bed and then with one hand, moved me around the room. The technology is neat, and effective.
Ginn also thinks the new mats will cut down on injuries to medics. “The main injuries we sustain here in the EMS profession is lower back injuries from lifting patients improperly, this is going to cut down on this drastically.”
The extended interview with Ginn and Michael Espinosa as they talk about the mats.
Once as patient is on the hover mat they can be transferred to the hover jack and when all the air chambers are filled, the patient will be four feet off the ground.
The mats don’t replace the old, large gurneys. In order to transport a patient in an ambulance the patient will still need to be transferred to a gurney which will then be locked into the vehicle.
EMSA currently has one set of the new mats for Oklahoma City and one for Tulsa but expect to add more of the $7,000 mats to be added if they work as well as they believe they will.Passenger numbers at Cork Airport rose by 9.6% in May, compared with the same month last year.
Over the first five months of the year, the airport has welcomed 65,000 more passengers than during the same period in 2015, representing growth of 8.4%.
The airport, which is the busiest airport outside of Dublin, projects the steady growth to continue through the summer months into the autumn, through the addition of new summer services to cities such as Duesseldorf, Madrid, Leeds and Southampton.
Passenger numbers are up across all markets, with a 15.5% increase on routes to and from Southern Europe, while London routes are up 10.2%, UK Provincial routes are up 5% and Northern European routes have experienced growth of 2.2%.
Managing Director at Cork Airport Niall MacCarthy said: “Based on anticipated bookings and capacity looking ahead, we are forecasting total passenger numbers of 2.25m people travelling through Cork Airport this year.”
The latest figures come after CityJet announced it is to discontinue its service from Cork to London City Airport with effect from 26 June. The scheduled service started last October.
The airline's chairman Pat Byrne said that CityJet was faced with the reality that demand for the route had not taken hold in terms of sustainable commercial viability.A counter-campaign in support of Morsi calls for the president to complete the rest of his term.
An Egyptian activist covers her face with a petition calling for the ouster of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi during a protest in Tahrir Square in Cairo. (Photo: Hassan Ammar AP) Story Highlights Rebel movement aims to gather 15 million signatures by end of June
Protesters plan to host mass demonstration June 30
46% of Egyptians approved of Morsi after his first 10 months in office
CAIRO — Instead of heading to Tahrir Square, Egyptians irate with their nation's troubled state are embracing a different form of political dissent: signing petitions.
A growing movement in Egypt called the Tamarod — or rebel — campaign is collecting millions of signatures to show widespread distaste for President Mohamed Morsi and calling for early presidential elections.
"Morsi doesn't understand anything," said Shady Mohamed, a real estate agent in Cairo who signed the petition. "He doesn't understand the people or the country.... And he just focuses on the Muslim Brotherhood, not the Egyptian people."
The petitions have no legal implications, and the campaign doesn't offer leadership alternatives.
Still, the movement could pose more challenges for the deeply distressed state as it vows to drive more unrest in Egypt.
"The campaign is probably the largest grass-roots effort that we've seen since the start of the Jan. 25, (2011) revolution," said Tarek Radwan, associate director for the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center in Washington.
"That in and of itself is significant, and to have a quantitative measure of those citizens who are against the Morsi government... and against the Muslim Brotherhood, that directly counters the government rhetoric," he said.
In support of Morsi, Egyptian Islamists have launched a counter-campaign, the Tagarod – or "impartiality" – movement. It calls for Morsi to complete the rest of his term, and organizers claim it has more than 2 million signatures.
The political wing of former militant group Gamaa Islamiya, which established a political party after Egypt's revolution, launched the counter initiative in May. The movement's petition states that Morsi should remain in his position "as long as we do not see from him outright blasphemy" and "we have in him a sign from God," local press said.
Organizers of the rebel movement are aiming for 15 million signatures by the end of June. That's more than the 13.2 million votes Morsi received in last year's presidential election.
Signatures are gathered on the streets, in workplaces, public meeting spaces and everywhere in between, and websites are available in Arabic, English, German and French, so people can join the effort online. In early June, the group claimed it had more than 7 million signed requests for an early presidential vote.
Protesters plan to host a mass demonstration in the capital June 30, marking one year since Morsi's inauguration.
"Similarly to how you would have, in a liberal democracy, a pledge for campaign donations or actually putting your names to something as a promise to participate in a certain way, what the campaign is trying to accomplish is to have a guarantee, or numbers and obligation, from those agreeing to participate in a massive movement," said James Sunday, an academic coordinator and adjunct professor of political science at the American University in Cairo.
Small protests and strikes are rife daily across the country, often with various professionals and working-class groups voicing their unique demands or displaying frustration with Morsi. Over the past year, opposition political parties have called for large protests.
But the protest date, set weeks in advance, shows there is planning involved in this rebel campaign.
"We see a lot more forward thinking in terms of how to try to mobilize the mass numbers that they're actually calling for," Sunday said.
Petitions give voice to those who don't go to places such as Tahrir Square — the heart of the uprising in 2011 — where gatherings are divided along party lines and there is risk of violence and clashes.
Forty-six percent of Egyptians approved of Morsi after his first 10 months in office, down from 78% after his first 100 days, according to the Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research (Baseera). Costs for food and fuel have increased significantly in recent months and unemployment is high. Foreign investment is still down, and tourism continues to struggle. The nation is fraught with political disarray and many fear increased use of repressive tactics.
"Since the arrival of Mohamed Mursi to power, the average citizen still has the feeling that nothing has been achieved so far from the revolution goals," the rebel petitions states. "(Mursi) gave clear proof that he is not fit for the governance of such a country as Egypt."
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/14FFSSVFigure 1: Polycomb-group proteins bind to DNA and repress expression of developmental genes. Credit: koto_feja/iStock/Thinkstock Molecular modification of DNA and the histone proteins it is bound to is one of the key mechanisms responsible for regulating gene expression. Polycomb-group proteins play an important role in some of these modification processes, but the molecular mechanisms by which they bind to DNA and exert their effects have been poorly understood.
Takashi Kondo and colleagues from the Laboratory of Developmental Genetics at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, have now shown that modifications involving Polycomb proteins occur in a manner that contradicts existing models.
Polycomb-group proteins are found in two complexes, known as PRC1 and PRC2, and there are two forms of PRC1—the canonical and variant forms. Molecular modifications involving these complexes play crucial roles in gene regulation, cellular differentiation and development. "Polycomb-group proteins repress gene transcription by binding to DNA," says Kondo. "This is the main system that regulates transcription of developmental genes, and Polycomb systems are also related to some cancers. Understanding their mechanism of action is therefore biologically very significant."
PRC1 and PRC2 complexes always work together, but exactly how has remained unclear. For some time, it has been thought that PRC2 must first bind to the DNA, which then allows binding or'recruitment' of PRC1. However, as recent evidence suggests that this might not be the case, Kondo and his colleagues developed a new approach to investigate.
The researchers inserted human DNA into mouse embryonic stem cells to cause the PRC1 complex to bind at specific sites. They found that the variant form of PRC1, but not the canonical form, was able to recruit PRC2 to the DNA—the reverse of the long-accepted mechanism of PRC2 binding prior to recruiting PRC1.
This process is dependent on a component of the PRC1 complex called KDM2B, and deleting part of this protein prevented PRC1 from binding to DNA in cells. In live mice, genetically disrupting the function of KDM2B, thereby preventing PRC1 binding and PRC2 recruitment, had serious consequences: complete loss of KDM2B function was lethal before birth, while partial loss caused abnormalities in the skeleton due to incorrect development.
"Our findings indicate that the Polycomb regulatory mechanisms possibly rely on the activity of variant PRC1 rather than PRC2 or canonical PRC1," explains Kondo. "This means that studies on variant PRC1 may be more fruitful for investigating the mechanisms of developmental regulation and cancer development."
Explore further: Genetic molecular mechanisms of neural development identified
More information: Blackledge, N. P., Farcas, A. M., Kondo, T., King, H. W., McGouran, J. F., Hanssen, L. L. P., Ito, S., Cooper, S., Kondo, K., Koseki, Y. et al. "Variant PRC1 complex-dependent H2A ubiquitylation drives PRC2 recruitment and polycomb domain formation." Cell 157, 1445–1459 (2014). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.05.004It is a truth universally acknowledged that the available, sociable, and genuinely attractive man is a character highly in demand in social settings. Dinner hosts are always looking for the man who fits all the criteria. When they don’t find him (often), they throw up their hands and settle for the sociable but unattractive, the attractive but unsociable, and, as a last resort, for the merely available.
The shortage of appealing men is a century-plus-old commonplace of the society melodrama. The shortage—or—more exactly, the perception of a shortage—becomes evident as you hit your late 20s and more acute as you wander into the 30s. Some men explain their social fortune by believing they’ve become more attractive with age; many women prefer the far likelier explanation that male faults have become easier to overlook.
The problem of the eligible bachelor is one of the great riddles of social life. Shouldn’t there be about as many highly eligible and appealing men as there are attractive, eligible women?
Actually, no—and here’s why. Consider the classic version of the marriage proposal: A woman makes it known that she is open to a proposal, the man proposes, and the woman chooses to say yes or no. The structure of the proposal is not, “I choose you.” It is, “Will you choose me?” A woman chooses to receive the question and chooses again once the question is asked.
The idea of the woman choosing expressed in the proposal is a resilient one. The woman picking among suitors is a rarely reversed archetype of romantic love that you’ll find everywhere from Jane Austen to Desperate Housewives. Or take any comic wedding scene: Invariably, it’ll have the man standing dazed at the altar, wondering just how it is he got there.
Obviously, this is simplified—in contemporary life, both sides get plenty of chances to be selective. But as a rough-and-ready model, it’s not bad, and it contains a solution to the Eligible-Bachelor Paradox.
You can think of this traditional concept of the search for marriage partners as a kind of an auction. In this auction, some women will be more confident of their prospects, others less so. In game-theory terms, you would call the first group “strong bidders” and the second “weak bidders.” Your first thought might be that the “strong bidders”—women who (whether because of looks, social ability, or any other reason) are conventionally deemed more of a catch—would consistently win this kind of auction.
But this is not true. In fact, game theory predicts, and empirical studies of auctions bear out, that auctions will often be won by “weak” bidders, who know that they can be outbid and so bid more aggressively, while the “strong” bidders will hold out for a really great deal. You can find a technical discussion of this here. (Be warned: “Bidding Behavior in Asymmetric Auctions” is not for everyone, and I certainly won’t claim to have a handle on all the math.) But you can also see how this works intuitively if you just consider that with a lot at stake in getting it right in one shot, it’s the women who are confident that they are holding a strong hand who are likely to hold out and wait for the perfect prospect.
This is how you come to the Eligible-Bachelor Paradox, which is no longer so paradoxical. The pool of appealing men shrinks as many are married off and taken out of the game, leaving a disproportionate number of men who are notably imperfect (perhaps they are short, socially awkward, underemployed). And at the same time, you get a pool of women weighted toward the attractive, desirable “strong bidders.”
Where have all the most appealing men gone? Married young, most of them—and sometimes to women whose most salient characteristic was not their beauty, or passion, or intellect, but their decisiveness.
Evolutionary psychologists will remind us that there’s a long line of writing about “female choosiness” going back to Darwin and the male peacocks competing to get noticed by “choosy” mates with their splendid plumage. But you don’t have to buy that kind of reductive biological explanation (I don’t) to see the force of the “women choose” model. You only have to accept that for whatever socially constructed reason, the choice of getting married is one in which the woman is usually the key player. It might be the man who’s supposed to ask the official, down-on-the-knee question, but it usually comes after a woman has made the central decision. Of course, in this, as in all matters of love, your experience may vary.
There may be those who look at this and try to derive some sort of prescription, about when to “bid,” when to hold out, and when (as this Atlantic story urges) to “settle.” If you’re inclined to do that, approach with care. Game theory deals with how best to win the prize, but it works only when you can decide what’s worth winning.George's letter -- asserting facts gathered over a thorough, months-long investigation -- "angered Democrats" because it debunked their latest dishonest strategy to wish away the scandal. Also, they've known all along that Mr. George worked for some Republicans decades ago, but only now has that detail become "relevant." Because of his very inconvenient findings, Democrats now intend to make George himself the subject of the investigation. This is childish, bush league,'shoot-the-messenger' loserism. I discussed their gambit with Eric Bolling on Fox News yesterday evening, recapitulating Rep. Cummings' ever-shifting tactics throughout the IRS imbroglio:
Democrats insist that the Inspector General "withheld information," and complain that the investigation was "one-sided." Yes, that's because only one side was inappropriately targeted by the IRS. That was the core finding of the independent investigation. That's the scandal. Cummings' false equivalency between the routine screening of both sides and the improper abuse and delays inflicted on conservative groups is intentionally misleading. To review: Zero Tea Party conservative groups were approved for tax-exempt status over a period of 27 months, while dozens of lefty groups received the green light. Conservative organizations were deliberately buried in burdensome paperwork, fraught with wildly inappropriate questions and outrageous demands. This emanated from, and was sometimes micromanaged by, DC. The IRS' former commissioner testified under oath that only conservative-leaning groups were mistreated this way. When the House Oversight Committee held hearings featuring the IRS' victims, committee Democrats couldn't produce a single liberal witness. Oh, and the IRS admitted and publicly apologized for their wrongful targeting of conservatives following their own internal investigation, and before the IG report was published. If the truth was "we did it to both sides!" they would have presented that evidence early and often. They didn't.
Democrats will undoubtedly use their portion of tomorrow's hearings to badger George, impugn is reputation, and smear the integrity of the investigation he oversaw. He'd better be prepared for the onslaught. Chairman Issa said yesterday that George is prepared to refute the allegations "in no uncertain terms." We'll see. By the way, if we're now to believe the IG is really a conniving right-wing agent, why have Republicans felt compelled to raise questions about some of his determinations and actions? For example, why does he continue to claim that anti-conservative IRS abuse wasn't politically motivated when that conclusion is an obvious tautology? Almost no one believes that contention, but he sticks to it anyway. And why were the results of his investigation overdue, pushing the bombshell past the November election? The IG was aware of the damning conclusions of the IRS' internal probe last year, and chose not to read Congress into the brewing scandal at that time. Wouldn't a Republican partisan masquerading as an investigator have leaked such highly combustible intel to Team Romney (perhaps using Issa as a conduit) at an opportune moment?
I'll leave you with two additional notes on the IRS scandal: (1) As Carol noted yesterday, Treasury has now admitted that government agents illegally accessed at least four political candidates' and/or donors' private tax records dating back to 2006. At least one of the breaches was done "willfully." Shockingly, the DOJ has declined to prosecute; they're too busy with this sort of disgusting pandering. (2) Sarah Hall Ingram -- the IRS supervisor who was transferred from overseeing the tax-exempt division to running the agency's Obamacare enforcement efforts -- has pulled out of participating in a Congressional hearing "at the request of the IRS." Because transparency.[/caption]
Two small “separation cameras” were ejected from JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) IKAROS solar sail, which successfully took some amazing full images of the fully deployed sail. The cameras are quite small, cylindrical in shape about 6 cm in diameter and height. They were ejected from the sail using a spring, and then they looked back at IKAROS, and relayed the images wirelessly. The cameras are now floating off into space, having done their job of taking these images. Below, an animation, or movie made by combining several images.
From the JAXA press release:
We will measure and observe the power generation status of the thin film solar cells, accelerate the satellite by photon pressure, and verify the orbit control through that acceleration. Through these activities, we will ultimately aim at acquiring navigation technology through the solar sail.
So, now that we know the sail is fully deployed, next comes the big test of whether solar sailing will actually work. This is huge, to finally have the opportunity to test a solar sail in space.
From the IKAROS blog, speaking as the cameras:
Unfortunately I only have the battery, and…working time is very short for about 15 minutes after I do my best work is a planets around the Sun, the world’s smallest man-made flying with IKAROS continue.
Translation: these tiny cameras only had about 15 minutes to do their job of taking pictures before becoming dead little satellites orbiting around the sun.
IKAROS was launched on May 21, 2010 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.
We’ll keep you posted as JAXA begins testing the solar sail.The July 15 deadline for the Jets and defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson to come to terms on a long-term contract is a little more than a week away. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the two sides are still not talking.
That person, who spoke to NJ Advance Media on condition of anonymity, was asked Thursday morning if there had been any talks or any progress with the deadline looming.
"Nothing," the person replied.
This is not a surprise, given that the two sides haven't been close on their respective contract positions for some time. Wilkerson is one of the top defensive ends in the league, but the Jets also have a pair of quality defensive ends still on their rookie contracts in Sheldon Richardson and Leonard Williams.
Quarterbacks Jets will face in 2016, ranked Tom Brady. Ben Roethlisberger. Russell Wilson. RGIII. From worst to first, a look at all 13 quarterbacks on the Jets' 2016 schedule.
Though Wilkerson is entering his sixth season in a league in which the average career is less than three years, he has still had no opportunity to bargain for what he's worth. He's also had to watch as a number of other defensive linemen and players from his 2011 draft class have received lucrative contracts.
The Jets have placed the franchise tag on Wilkerson.
Wilkerson skipped organized team activities and minicamp, though he's also still nursing a broken leg. Last month, Wilkerson declined to say whether he planned to report for training camp, which begins July 27. But someone with knowledge of his thinking had told NJ Advance Media's Darryl Slater that skipping at least the start of camp was a "strong possibility."
Watch the video above for a quick explanation of what Wilkerson's and the Jets' options are after that July 15 negotiating deadline comes and goes.
Dom Cosentino may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @domcosentino. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.Hey friends! You probably know me from my acting work on various Rooster Teeth animated and live action shows, video games, improv, what have you. I'm glad you're here. This page, like much of my life is a work in progress, so bear with me.Why am I here on Patreon? Well, long story short, I recently lost my full-time day job. Boo. But, rather than dive right back into that world of employment that eats into my time for creating stories and working on creative projects, I felt like it was time to give this Patreon thing a whirl. I've been meaning to do it for a while, and well, here we are.So what will I be working on, and what's in it for you? This is a great question.I have a number of projects getting off the ground, with two leading the charge. Instead of creating a new page for each different project, I've decided to keep everything here under one roof, as many more projects will be getting added to the list.But, as for the first two, we have a a new creative stream coming together on Twitch, called the Virtual Improv Players. That's right, an improv show, streamed directly into your house from afar, with the opportunity to participate via the Twitch chat channels.And second, a new web comic in development that I am writing-- Escape From Teddy Bear Prison Patrons will get early access and behind the scenes look at both of these projects. And like I said, there's more on the way.The Syrian government has constructed and is using a crematorium at its notorious Sednaya military prison near Damascus to clandestinely dispose of the bodies of prisoners it continues to execute inside the facility, the State Department said Monday.
Thousands of executed detainees have been dumped in mass graves in recent years, said acting assistant secretary of state Stuart Jones. “What we’re assessing is that if you have that level of production of mass murder, then using the crematorium would... allow the regime to manage that number of corpses... without evidence.”
“We believe that the building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of mass murders taking place in Sednaya prison,” he said in a briefing for reporters.
The Syrian regime, Jones said, “has treated opposition forces and unarmed civilians as one and the same,” continuing to “systematically abduct and torture civilian detainees, often beating, electrocuting and raping these victims,” and authorizing “the extrajudicial killings of thousands.”
The State Department distributed satellite photographs it said documented the gradual construction of the facility outside the main prison complex and its apparent use this year. Jones said that “newly declassified” information on this and other atrocities by the government of President Bashar al-Assad came from “intelligence community assessments,” as well as from nongovernmental organizations such as Amnesty International and the media.
“These atrocities have been carried out seemingly with the unconditional support from Russia and Iran,” Assad’s main backers, Jones said. Neither government commented on the new U.S. allegation.
[How a woman in England tracks civilian deaths in Syria, one bomb at a time]
Accusations of mass murder and incinerated bodies, evoking the Holocaust, contrasted with last week’s Washington visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. They were pictured shaking hands and broadly smiling with President Trump before an Oval Office meeting in which discussions centered on Syria.
The Russians also met with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Jones said the release of new intelligence comes at “an opportune time to remind people about the atrocities that are being carried out inside of Syria all the time.”
The newly released information included a satellite photo of the snow-covered Sednaya complex with an L-shaped building labeled “probable crematorium.” Assessment of the facility, Jones said, included the presence of “the discharge stack, the probable firewall, the probable air intake — this is in the construction phase — this would be consistent if they were building a crematorium.” In a photo taken Jan. 15, he said, “we’re look[ing] at snowmelt on the roof that would be consistent with a crematorium.”
Jones said the information had not been shared with the Russians. He also said he was not suggesting that either Russia or Iran was involved with the facility.
But Tillerson, he said, “was firm and clear with Minister Lavrov. Russia holds tremendous influence over Bashar al-Assad. A key point that took place in that bilateral meeting was telling Russia to use its power to rein in the regime.”
(Reuters)
“The regime must stop all attacks on civilians and opposition forces, and Russia must bear responsibility to ensure regime compliance,” Jones said.
Jones called Tillerson’s meeting with Lavrov “productive.” But “I would not say that they mapped out a specific way forward on how to address the issue of Syrian atrocities, or even how to move forward on the Geneva process” on the eve of the next round of years-long United Nations efforts to bring representatives of Assad and the rebels to the negotiating table, due to begin Tuesday.
One of Lavrov’s principal goals in last week’s meetings was to solicit Trump administration support for a cease-fire and the establishment of safe zones within Syria as part of a May 4 pact signed by Russia, Iran and Turkey. The Turkish government has backed anti-Assad rebels in Syria along with the United States, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to meet with Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
[U.S.-Turkish relations deeply strained ahead of Erdogan’s visit to White House]
Although Trump has also called for safe zones within Syria and said he discussed them early this month in a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the administration more recently has been publicly lukewarm about the Russia-led plan.
“In light of the failures of the past cease-fire agreements, we have reason to be skeptical,” Jones said. Earlier truces negotiated under the Obama administration were violated by both Syria and Russia.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump said the United States should concentrate on the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and cease involvement in Syria’s civil war. But he changed course last month, approving a cruise missile strike on a Syrian government air base after concluding it was used by Assad to launch a chemical weapons attack against civilians.
Jones described “the continued brutality of Assad” as a threat to the region, “as well as to the national security interests of the United States and our allies.” Asked if there is consideration of military action to destroy the crematorium, he said, “We’re not going to signal what we are going to do and what we’re not going to do.”
“At this point, we are talking about this evidence and bringing it forward to the international community, which we hope will put pressure on the regime to change its behavior,” Jones said.
Cease-fires under the Russia-Iran-Turkey agreement, in designated parts of northwestern, central and southern Syria, have largely held in recent weeks. But violence continues on other fronts not included in the plan, and suggests that Assad’s forces are positioning themselves to launch an all-out assault on the largest of the safe zones, Idlib province, when the deal breaks down. If that happens, almost a million displaced civilians could find themselves caught in the crossfire between pro-government forces and an al-Qaeda-linked coalition that appears willing to fight until the end.
More than 400,000 people have died in the Syrian civil war, according to the United Nations, with at least half the entire prewar population of about 22 million now living as refugees or displaced from their homes. Many of the dead are civilians killed by government action, including, Jones said, “well-documented airstrikes and artillery strikes, chemical weapons attacks, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, starvation, sexual violence, and denial of essential services such as food, water and medical care.”
According to “numerous” nongovernmental organizations, Jones said, “the regime has abducted and detained between 65,000 and 117,000 people between 2011 and 2015,” a period in which Amnesty International has said that nearly 18,000 detainees died. The Syrian Network for Human Rights estimated in March that at least 106,727 people were still arrested or had been forcibly disappeared.
Prisoners are held in a network of prisons across Syria. The Sednaya detention complex, run by Syria’s powerful military police about 20 miles outside Damascus, is the most notorious. A recent Amnesty International report described it as a “human slaughterhouse.”
Jones cited “multiple sources” in saying that “the regime is responsible for killing as many as 50 detainees per day at Sednaya,” where he said up to 70 people were packed in cells designed for five. Former prisoners have described mass hangings.
[A journey into Syria’s secret torture wards]
In interviews with The Washington Post, former detainees described conditions so atrocious that many prisoners died from torture, medical neglect or starvation.
Most political prisoners said they had been held in the “Red Building,” a facility the regime largely emptied of mostly Islamist and jihadist prisoners in the early months of the anti-Assad uprising that began in early 2011. Among those taken from the cells and hanged, former prisoners said, were students, engineers, activists and human rights lawyers.
Louisa Loveluck in Beirut contributed to this report.
Read more:
How a woman in England tracks civilian deaths in Syria, one bomb at a time
He says he went to Syria to rescue his wife from ISIS. Now he sits in prison.Block B’s Zico, who recently came back with his second mini album, “Television,” and released music videos for his two title tracks, “ARTIST” and “ANTI,” is getting more love calls than he can handle.
On July 14, Zico appeared as a guest on KBS 2TV’s “Entertainment Weekly” and talked about his work as a rapper and producer. Zico not only clarified rumors about his income from his work as a music producer but also talked about his immense popularity as a feature artist for other artists’ tracks.
When asked if he had been getting any love calls from other singers to feature in their music, Zico responded, “Last year, there was a month where I got around 30 requests,” proving that he’s a hit not just amongst fans, but within the music community as well.
Zico also responded in a humble manner when the reporter said, “You write and produce all of Block B’s music. I hear that you’re a genius.” The artist said in return, “I don’t think I’m a genius. I actually made a song called ‘Genius’ that contradicts that notion.”
Source (1)It’s the end of an era as Full Sail Brewing’s employees and founders voted on Friday to sell to Oregon Craft Brewers Co., which is a local investment group formed by Encore Consumer Capital a San Francisco based private equity firm.“The votes were returned confidentially to our ESOP attorney. It passed nearly unanimously,” said Full Sail founder and CEO Irene Firmat.
While this news is sure to not make as big a splash as the recent sales of 10 Barrel Brewing and Elysian, it is in many ways more important, as Full Sail has been one of the pioneers of the industry and produced more beer (115,000 bbl) in 2014 than 10 Barrel (40,ooo bbl) and Elysian (50,000 bbl) combined making, it the 25th largest craft brewer in the country.
Both 10 Barrel and Elysian are also examples of quick growth in a very short period of time–one of the reasons why 10 Barrel may have been in a difficult financial position and willing to sell. Full Sail has experienced its ups and downs, but has largely avoided pitfalls and continued on a steady stream of growth by going its own direction. Ignoring trends like barrel-aging, fresh hops, double IPAs, and sour beers (for the most part, though the brewery certainly has dabbled), Full Sail instead focused energy on re-creating the craft lager and session beers in a movement in which it was way ahead of the times. Full Sail’s location in Hood River, Oregon, is also undoubtedly responsible for the explosion in the number of breweries in the town and the |
like he pitched the same speed the whole month."
After that Dodgers loss, Righetti talked to Bumgarner about using both sides of the plate and trusting his curveball. The curve became a strikeout pitch for him this month, and Righetti says, "That wasn’t always the case. He was willing to [throw] that in the toughest of circumstances."
Every start brought more confidence; every calmly executed pitch was followed by another calmly executed pitch. By the time the World Series started, there were two kinds of games: The ones when Bumgarner pitched, and the others.
For 10 days, it was like the Giants and Royals were roped together — wherever one went, the other one followed. The Giants won the opener, 7-1, and the Royals won the next game, 7-2. The Giants won two of three in San Francisco and the Royals whipped them, 10-0, in Kansas City.
They were interchangeable, evenly matched and equally great, and the difference was Bumgarner. He was the reason the Giants celebrated on the field while a solemn man in a blue sport coat quietly walked down a Kauffman Stadium staircase. In that moment, it didn’t matter one bit that the man was George Brett. He was just another man in Kansas City who had his heart stepped on by Madison Bumgarner.
Bumgarner allowed a single run the whole Series; that came in Game 1, with the Giants leading 7-0. That run seemed meaningless at the time, and it basically was, except for how it happened: Salvador Perez hit a home run.
And now here was Bumgarner on Wednesday, in the ninth inning of Game 7, with a man on third base, clinging to a 3-2 lead, needing one more out to win the World Series, and who was at the plate? Salvador Perez.
Bumgarner should not have been in this situation. It was Blanco’s fault, really. The normally steady center fielder had turned a single into an error and a trip to third base because he has these things called veins and blood and emotions, and sometimes they interfere with his head. With two outs in the ninth, Kansas City’s Alex Gordon hit a line drive toward center field, Blanco realized he could make the catch that could end the World Series and he went after a ball he would have left alone in July.
"As soon as I started going, I think to myself, 'You’re doing the wrong thing! You gotta stay back,'" Blanco said. But it was too late. The ball scooted past him, and Gordon ended up on third. The Kauffman Stadium crowd erupted like the Royals had won, the Chiefs had won and everybody was getting an enormous tax refund.
Bumgarner had thrown 62 pitches, more than anybody imagined he would throw, but from the bench, Righetti and Bochy saw he still had his velocity and control. Mostly, he still had his calm, his poise, the quality that kept him from making the kind of mistake that Blanco made. He forced Perez into a popout to third base. Pablo Sandoval caught it and fell to his back, a World Series champion yet again.
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This World Series title sealed Bochy’s Hall of Fame induction, though that should have been ensured anyway. It may bring Sandoval back; he is due to hit free agency in a few days. It solidifies the Giants as the best team of this era, not just in championships won, but also in the old-fashioned sense of that word.
In the clubhouse afterward, starter Jake Peavy celebrated bigger and louder than anybody, even though he was arguably the worst performer in the whole World Series. And why not? He’s on the team, right? Posey said he wasn’t worried about Sandoval’s free agency right now, though he obviously wants him back because the best teams don’t let business interfere with pleasure.
Affeldt talked about how much it meant to have his wife Larisa by his side as he won a World Series in Kansas City. A decade ago, as a Royal, he was so beaten-down by injuries and failure that he sat at the kitchen counter of the home he owned here and cried.
• VERDUCCI: Bumgarner's flawless and historic World Series
That was it, he told Larisa. He was quitting the game. She told him he had to keep going, that he would make it. She says now that he was just frustrated, and she doesn’t think he was really going to quit. But at the time, he sure felt like quitting. Now here he was, the winning pitcher in Game 7 en route to capturing his third World Series on the same mound that almost destroyed him.
These are the kinds of stories that pour out of a winning clubhouse along with the Budweiser and champagne. Bumgarner provided all the happy endings.
Belt: "He’s just a bad-ass, I guess." Posey: "I’m still amazed at how he just sits on the bench and just seems so calm. I guess when you’re as good as he is, it’s easy." Hunter Pence: "He is so calm that it leaks into you, so confident that it leaks into us." Blanco: "He’s not human. We gotta do something about this guy. We gotta take him to the doctor, I guess. I don’t know. It seems like he is a robot."
If anybody is thankful for Madison Bumgarner’s existence, his toughness, and his greatness, it is Blanco. Consider: If Bumgarner had thrown a wild pitch or given up a single to Perez, Blanco would have been an all-time World Series goat. That botched play in center field would have followed him around forever. Instead, nobody cares. Bumgarner made sure of it.
So when that last popup landed in Sandoval’s glove, Blanco was both excited and relieved. Confused, too. He thought, "OK, what do I do now? Should I run? Should I jump? Should I scream?"
He can’t help it. He is human. We can’t all be Madison Bumgarner.WASHINGTON DC — As president Donald Trump observes the White House Thanksgiving tradition of pardoning a turkey, investigators have revealed that the poultry will also be pardoned for helping the Trump Campaign to collude with Russian operatives in 2016.
The pardoned turkey, dubbed “Gobbler” (full name, Gobbler Siminovitch Matviyenko) is reported to have come aboard the Trump Campaign in April 2016. During the now-infamous “Mayflower Meeting” Gobbler brokered access to hacked Clinton e-mails from Russia to the Trump Campaign, in exchange for repeals of sanctions and criminalization of turkey stuffing.
Gobbler refused to answer questions relating to his connections with Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov, or whether his skin would brown if roasted at an even 325 degrees F. The pardoned bird offered questioning reporters a terse “Gobble gobble, comrades,” before leaving the White House for Dulles International Airport.
The Trump Administration has denied any and all criminal wrongdoing by Gobbler, insisting that he was “a low-level volunteer campaign poultry who only got coffee.” This, in spite of a blanket pardon covering charges of conspiracy against the United States, money laundering, and failing to register as a foreign butterball.
The president immediately took to Twitter to announce the pardon:
Sources indicate the pardon comes as a huge blow to Mueller investigation, which had intended to indict Gobbler’s numerous contacts with Wikileaks’ Julian Assange. “We were going to turn up the heat on that bird before flipping him,” revealed one FBI insider. “Gobbler even helped (former Trump National Security Advisor) Flynn to conspire with Turkey – that’s how brazen his crimes were!”
At press time, Gobbler has been declared a Hero of the Russian Federation by president Vladimir Putin.TENSION is building between Port Adelaide and Fremantle ahead of their Round 1 clash after an angry Power coach Ken Hinkley had stern words with what is believed to have been a Dockers spy.
Yesterday morning Hinkley effectively evicted the onlooker from Port Adelaide’s training session as it was winding up.
Both Hinkley and coaching director Shaun Hart approached the man, who denied he was associated with Fremantle.
But the senior staff at the Power were confident the man, who was suspected of recording the session, was a spy and had been at the club on two previous occasions.
Hinkley walked away angry from the discussion with the man, who had positioned himself in the forward pocket at the right hand side of the Allan Scott headquarters.
Hinkley questioned the integrity of his answers after a heated conversation.
He spoke tersely about the incident while walking past staff members near the entrance of the training facility.
Hinkley was fuming and swearing after a debate that left both him and the supposed Fremantle spy storm off from their unscheduled appointment. Hart seemed more pragmatic, allowing himself to crack a wry smile to inquiring staff members.
Spying in football is not a new thing, but there’s history of tension between Port Adelaide and Fremantle.
``I know that Freo are taking a really keen interest in our program because we kicked one of their club people out the other day,” Hinkley said at Port’s annual general meeting last month.
``He wasn’t from here and our investigator over here (Garry Hocking) got his numberplate and checked him out and finds out where he’s from.’’
The man who was understood to be a Fremantle scout left in the opposite direction to the Power coach after his conversation with Hinkley.
There are two etiquette issues at play in the episode: the suggestion that an opposition coach is recording what another is doing at training, and the suggestion that he failed to properly identify himself.
It came as the senior players who will be rested for this weekend’s practice match against Richmond were worked over in a heavy session.
Among them were Travis Boak, Brad Ebert, Alipate Carlile, Justin Westhoff and Hamish Hartlett (who is recovering from a groin injury).
Power assistant coach Josh Carr had earlier spoken about the excitement within the club at welcoming back ruckman Jarrad Redden from injury and introducing rookie Johann Wagner in the game at Albury on the weekend.
Redden is expected to start in the centre square but be managed throughout the game.The Worcester Sharks, currently in Texas for the weekend, will have an old face giving them a new look when they return to New England.
The Sharks are expected to be joined by 43-year-old Claude Lemieux, a Stanley Cup playoff legend who will play for Worcester on an AHL contract after being gone from the NHL since the end of the 2002-03 season. Lemieux played in Europe after that and has played for San Jose�s affiliated team, the China Sharks, in the Asia League this season.
Lemieux won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs while skating for the New Jersey Devils. That year, Lemieux had six goals in 45 games in the regular season and 13 goals in 20 Stanley Cup games.
He is one of just eight players to win Stanley Cups for three franchises. Lemieux won those cups with the Canadiens, Devils and Avalanche. As part of an ESPN program on the most hated players of all-time in the NHL, Lemieux was ranked first.
He played his first NHL game for Montreal as a junior callup during the 1983-84 season, before 14 of his soon-to-be teammates with Worcester were even born. Lemieux played two playoff games for the Nova Scotia Voyageurs that season. In 1984-85, he played 52 of his 53 games in juniors, the other with Montreal. He spent most of 1985-86 with Montreal�s AHL affiliate in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
In 1,197 NHL regular-season games, Lemieux�s totals were 379-406-785. He had 1,756 PIM.
Lemieux�s first game for Worcester is probably going to be Wednesday night in Portland. His first home game is projected to be Saturday, Nov. 29, versus Bridgeport.
In other Sharks developments, Norfolk�s Steve Downie was suspended for three games for his boarding major on Kyle McLaren at the DCU Center on Wednesday night. During the game, Downie was called for the major by referee Chris Brown, and also for a fighting major when Sharks defenseman Jason Demers came to McLaren�s defense, but was allowed to return to the game when his penalties were up.Guest post by Aleister
The incident captured in the videos below took place at a Donald Trump event in Wisconsin. It’s amazing that some people in media still treat Black Lives Matter as if it was some sort of civil rights group.
The Daily Caller reports:
‘F**k This Flag. F**k This Country’ — BLM Protesters Spit And Stomp On American Flag [VIDEO]
A “peaceful protest” at Donald Trump’s Sunday rally in West Allis, Wisconsin featured several Black Lives Matter supporters standing on the American flag.
In the videos — obtained by InfoWars — protesters stated that the “red, white and blue — this shit is the new swastika.”
“Fuck this flag. Fuck this country,” one man explained. “It’s hypocritical.”
The protesters — who claimed to support the Black Lives Matter movement despite not being officially affiliated with the organization — were drawing attention to the 2012 death of West Allis teenager Corey Stingley.Alabama's tourism industry continues to race ahead, leaving the 2010 BP oil spill disaster and the Great Recession in the rear-view mirror.
For the sixth year in a row, Alabama set a new record in annual tourism expenditures for 2016, and for the number of visitors coming to the state.
More than 25.8 million people visited last year, up 2.5 percent over the 25.2 million people who came in 2015.
And travelers spent more than $13.3 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent over the 2015 figures.
For the past 14 years, from 2003 to 2016, tourism expenditures in Alabama have increased a whopping 96 percent, according to data from the Alabama Tourism Department.
The numbers are compiled annually by Keivan Deravi, an economist in the School of Business at Auburn University Montgomery.
Lee Sentell
"The great news is that all areas of the state experienced growth for a variety of reasons," said Lee Sentell, the state's tourism director. "The fact that the economy was stronger last year in the Midwest and Southeast contributed to the increase. People just seem to have been more relaxed and wanted to reward the family with a vacation to the South."
Baldwin's boom
Much of the growth is linked to five counties - Baldwin, Jefferson, Madison, Mobile and Montgomery. They account for 68 percent of the total number of visitors.
Baldwin County, home to Alabama's sugar-white sand beaches, leads in the way - by far - in tourism activity. The 6.3 million visitors to Baldwin County represented a 3.3 percent bounce from 2015, and is nearly one-fourth of all the tourists who visit Alabama each year.
"People love the beach when its blue skies and sunshine," said Herb Malone, president/CEO of Gulf Shores & Orange Beach, the tourism arm of coastal Alabama. "But besides the growth over the summer, we have grown in our shoulder seasons, particularly our fall and early winter.... It's a lot of dynamics at work coming together."
In booming Baldwin, which is also Alabama's fastest-growing county in population since the 2010 U.S. Census, Malone and others anticipate further spikes in tourism with an influx in sporting-related events in Foley, Gulf Shores and Fairhope as well as the summer opening of the OWA amusement park in Foley.
Said Sentell: "OWA is going to be a game changer for the Gulf Coast."
Added Malone: "It will add greatly to the offerings we have for traveling guests. It will introduce a new element we haven't had in the past."
Baldwin and neighboring Mobile County combined represented more than 40 percent of the visitors to Alabama in 2016.
Mobile County saw a 5.5 percent increase in visitors in 2016.
"Those numbers don't surprise me," said David Clark, president/CEO of Visit Mobile, who has been involved in the coastal Alabama hospitality sector for 30 years. "It comes back to great leadership among coastal Alabama and the city of Mobile. It comes down to stakeholder investments over the last 10 to 15 years. It truly takes a village to attract that many visitors and continue to win."
Jefferson's dip
Of the five largest tourism counties, only Jefferson County reported a dip in visitors in 2016 compared to 2015. In fact, Jefferson County - which came in at No. 2 in the number of visitors in 2015 - fell behind Mobile County in 2016.
But there were some anomalies in the data. Jefferson -- Alabama's most populous county and home to the city of Birmingham -- saw a 2.9 bump in travel-related spending and recorded $262,323 more in state lodging tax receipts, representing an increase of 2.9 percent from 2015.
Jefferson County's decline was reported in hotel occupancy rates. According to the data, the county's average occupancy rate was 62.6 percent in 2016, down from 63.6 percent in 2015.
Baldwin, Mobile, Madison and Montgomery counties reported hotel occupancy rate increases in 2016.
John Oros, president & CEO with the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the statistical dips can be attributed to a last year's slowdown in weekday corporate travel. He said that can also be linked to the uncertainties surrounding the 2016 presidential election.
"Last year was an unusual election year and no one knew what would happen on the impact of the economy," said Oros. "It can typically cause corporations to slightly reduce their travel until things become more clear politically."
Oros said that despite the small dips, 2016 was a "positive for the tourism industry and travel in general throughout the United States."
And 2017 has started off on a positive note for Jefferson County, Oros said.
"The hotel occupancy numbers are up about 1 percent and we may be back to the 2015 numbers in Birmingham and Jefferson County," he said. "It's been a good first quarter with sporting events and tournaments taking place. We think demand for hotels... will be extremely strong."
Beaches soar
Other Southern states and locales that promote their beaches also enjoyed a lucrative tourism year.
Hilton Head Island, S.C., near Charleston, saw a 6.1 percent increase in its hotel and resort occupancy rate, to 64 percent.
In Mississippi, that state's three Gulf Coast counties attracted 6.2 million visitors last year, up 8 percent over 2015. The Mississippi Gulf Coast, punctuated with the casino industry, recorded an 8 percent increase in non-casino revenues in 2016, according to Visit Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The three Mississippi counties - Hancock, Harrison and Jackson - employed 30,000 people in the leisure and hospitality sector, representing an increase by more than 2,400 jobs since 2012.
Baldwin County, according the Alabama Tourism Department's analysis, employs more than 49,600 people in director and indirect travel-related industries.
Baldwin County accounts for 27.7 percent of Alabama's overall travel-related employment. Jefferson County is second at 15.3 percent, and Mobile is third at 9.2 percent.
Why Baldwin County is Alabama's undisputed king of growth Baldwin County added 3,000 residents last year and it's growth continues to elate and worry local leaders.
Why record-setting beach tourism is elating and frustrating coastal Alabama Alabama's tourism continues to surge each year driven largely because of Baldwin County's beach cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. With the growth comes challenges and coastal Alabama leaders want Montgomery to bring more money back to the area for road and infrastructure improvements.
All of Alabama cashes in on beach boom as tourism records shatter For the fifth consecutive year, coastal Alabama saw record-setting tourism fueled by beach-bound visitors.A cup of Espresso is made at The Conservatory Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa, a family owned roasting coffeehouse on September 8, 2010 in Culver City, California. On Wednesday, the price of coffee hit a 13-year high. The price has risen 43 percent since June. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) – State police say a woman blames her coffee-drinking pet parrot for distracting her moments before she crashed her car into a guardrail in Pennsylvania.
Troopers from Uniontown say the 35-year-old woman was driving on a South Union Township road just before 5 p.m. Tuesday when she noticed the bird pecking at the lid of her coffee cup. The woman says she struck the guardrail when she glanced down to see what the bird was doing.
The woman told police that the bird likes to drink coffee – and they also found bird seed in a cup holder next to the coffee and a few feathers nearby.
Police say the woman broke her arm and had facial cuts because her air bag deployed.
The bird was safely removed from the vehicle.
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(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)de Jesus and the second or paternal family name is Marto. This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name isand the second or paternal family name is
Saint Francisco de Jesus Marto (11 June 1908 – 4 April 1919), his sister Saint Jacinta de Jesus Marto (5 March 1910 – 20 February 1920)[1] and their cousin Lúcia dos Santos (1907–2005) were children from Aljustrel, a small hamlet near Fátima, Portugal, who witnessed three apparitions of the Angel of Peace in 1916 and several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Cova da Iria in 1917. The title Our Lady of Fátima was given to the Virgin Mary as a result, and the Sanctuary of Fátima became a major centre of world Christian pilgrimage. The two were solemnly canonized by Pope Francis at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, in Portugal on 13 May 2017, the first centennial of the first Apparition of Our Lady of Fátima.
Life [ edit ]
Francisco Marto
The youngest children of Manuel and Olimpia Marto, Francisco and Jacinta were typical of Portuguese village children of that time. They were illiterate[2]
According to the memoirs of their cousin Sister Lúcia, Francisco had a placid disposition, was somewhat musically inclined, and liked to be by himself to think. Jacinta was affectionate with a sweet singing voice and a gift for dancing. Following their experiences, their fundamental personalities remained the same. Francisco preferred to pray alone, saying that this would "console Jesus for the sins of the world". Jacinta said she was deeply affected by a terrifying vision of Hell shown to the children at the third apparition, and deeply convinced of the need to save sinners through penance and sacrifice as the Virgin had told the children to do. All three children, but particularly Francisco and Jacinta, practised stringent self-mortifications to this end.[3] The Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in the report that confirmed Jacinta as beatified, observed that she seemed to have "an insatiable hunger for immolation."[4]
Apparitions [ edit ]
The brother and sister, who tended to their families’ sheep with their cousin Lúcia in the fields of Fátima, Portugal, are said to have witnessed several apparitions of an angel in 1916. Lúcia later recorded the words of several prayers she said they learned from this angel.[2]
Sister Lúcia wrote in her memoirs that she and her cousins saw the first apparition of Mary on 13 May 1917. At the time of the apparition, Francisco was 8 years old, and Jacinta was 7.[5]
During the first apparition, Mary is said to have asked the three children to say the Rosary and to make sacrifices, offering them for the conversion of sinners.[6] She also asked them to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months.[7]
Illness and death [ edit ]
The siblings were victims of the great 1918 influenza epidemic that swept through Europe that year. In October 1918, Jacinta told Lucia that Mary had appeared to her and promised to take them to heaven soon.[6] Both lingered for many months, insisting on walking to church to make Eucharistic devotions and prostrating themselves to pray for hours, kneeling with their heads on the ground as they said the angel had instructed them to do.[5]
Francisco declined hospital treatment on 3 April 1919, and died at home the next day. Jacinta was moved from one hospital to another in an attempt to save her life, which she insisted was futile. She developed purulent pleurisy and endured an operation in which two of her ribs were removed. Because of the condition of her heart, she could not be fully anesthetized, and suffered terrible pain, which she said would help to convert many sinners. On 19 February 1920, Jacinta asked the hospital chaplain who heard her confession to bring her Holy Communion and administer Extreme Unction because she was going to die "the next night". He told her that her condition was not that serious and that he would return the next day. The next day Jacinta was dead; she had died, as she had often said she would, alone.[8]
In 1920, shortly before her death at age nine, Jacinta Marto reportedly discussed the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary with a then 12-year-old Lúcia dos Santos and said:
When you are to say this, don't go and hide. Tell everybody that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; that people are to ask her for them; and that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be venerated at his side. Tell them also to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace, since God entrusted it to her.[9]
Jacinta and Francisco are both buried at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima.[10]
Beatification and canonization [ edit ]
The cause for the siblings' canonization began in 1946.[5] Exhumed in 1935, Jacinta's face was found incorrupt;[11][12] Francisco's had decomposed. By 1951, when she was again exhumed for her reburial in the Basilica, Jacinta had begun to decompose also.[13]
In 1937 Pope Pius XI decided that causes for minors should not be accepted as they could not fully understand heroic virtue or practice it repeatedly, both of which are essential for canonization. For the next four decades, no sainthood processes for children were pursued. In 1979 the bishop of Leiria-Fátima asked all the world's bishops to write to the Pope, petitioning him to make an exception for Francisco, who had died at age 10, and Jacinta, who had died at age 9. More than 300 bishops sent letters to the Pope, writing that “the children were known, admired and attracted people to the way of sanctity. Favors were received through their intercession.” The bishops also said that the children's canonization was a pastoral necessity for the children and teenagers of the day.[14]
In 1979 the Congregation for the Causes of Saints convened a general assembly. Cardinals, bishops, theologians and other experts debated whether it was possible for children to display heroic virtue. Eventually, they decided that, like the very few children who have a genius for music or mathematics, "in some supernatural way, some children could be spiritual prodigies." They were declared venerable by Pope John Paul II in 1989.[14]
On 13 May 2000, they were declared "blessed" in a decree from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Jacinta is the youngest non-martyred child ever to be beatified.[6]
In her biography of Jacinta Marto, Sister Lúcia said that Jacinta had told her of having had many personal visions outside of the Marian visitations; one involved a pope who prayed alone in a room while people outside shouted ugly things and threw rocks through the window. At another time, Jacinta said she saw a pope who had gathered a huge number of people together to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[citation needed]
When Pope John Paul II arrived in Fátima for the first time, in 1982, he said that he had come "because, on this exact date last year in St. Peter's Square, in Rome, there was an attempt on the life of your Pope, which mysteriously coincided with the anniversary of the first vision at Fátima, that of 13 May 1917. The coincidence of these dates was so great that it seemed to be a special invitation for me to come here."[14]
Sister Lúcia, when questioned about the Third Secret, said that the three of them had been very sad about the suffering of the Pope, and that Jacinta kept saying: Coitadinho do Santo Padre, tenho muita pena dos pecadores! ("Poor Holy Father, I feel a lot of pity for the sinners!")[citation needed]
Another miracle was found to have been attributed to their intercession and the process that investigated the presumed miracle was validated on 8 February 2013. On 23 March 2017, it was announced that Pope Francis would canonize them while visiting Portugal on 12 and 13 May.[15] The pope solemnly canonized the children on 13 May 2017 during the centennial of the first apparition.[16] They are the Catholic Church's youngest saints who did not die as martyrs, with Jacinta the youngest.[17][18][19]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]30 years of 'Empire Strikes Back'
Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Yoda on the swamp planet Dagobah. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Yoda on the swamp planet Dagobah. Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close 30 years of 'Empire Strikes Back' 1 / 3 Back to Gallery
It was a task that would make even the most powerful Jedi shake in his robes: Follow the most beloved science fiction film of its time with a sequel just as good if not better.
That still-beloved film was “Star Wars,” aka “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.” And while hardly a Jedi Master, the Force was certainly strong with director Irvin Kershner when he met the challenge with “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.”
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the original release of “Empire” — a sequel to this day many fans and fanboys alike consider the best “Star Wars” film ever made. To celebrate, here are 30 things you might not have known about this beloved follow-up.
• “Star Wars” creator George Lucas insisted on moving the credits to the end of the film as he did in “A New Hope.” The Writers Guild and Directors Guild didn’t approve and tried, but failed, to pull “Empire” from release. They fined Lucas and tried to fine Kershner, but Lucas paid all the fines, totaling nearly $250,000. Lucas subsequently dropped his membership in the Writers Guild, Directors Guild and the Motion Picture Association of America.
• Kershner initially turned down the chance to direct “Empire,” but his agent persuaded him to give it a go.
• Producer Gary Kurtz came up with the title for the film.
• Meet Cliff Clavin, Rebel fighter. Before his role as the annoying mailman on “Cheers,” John Ratzenberger played Major Derlin, a Rebel good guy on the ice planet Hoth.
• Boba Fett, the memorable bounty hunter in “Empire,” actually debuted in an animated short on “The Star Wars Holiday Special” in 1978.
• Another pre-emptive hit from 1978: The first depicted lightsaber duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker didn’t happen in “Empire,” but instead in the 1978 “Star Wars” novel “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye.” Vader lost his arm in that battle.
• “Empire” won an Oscar for best sound, plus a special award for visual effects. It was nominated for best art direction-set direction and best original score.
• Lucas spent thousands on an advertising campaign to get Frank Oz an Oscar nod for best supporting actor for his performance/puppet work with Yoda, the gnome-like Jedi Master. The campaign failed.
• The set for the swamp planet Dagobah was elevated to give Oz and other puppeteers room to control the Yoda puppet from below.
• Han Solo was frozen in carbonite in “Empire” partly because it was uncertain Harrison Ford would be back for a third “Star Wars” film. Unlike Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Ford refused to be signed for a three-picture deal and even asked Lucas to kill off Han. Lucas refused. Ford returned for 1983’s “Return of the Jedi.”
• In the original “Star Wars” trilogy, the only time Darth Vader and C-3PO share the screen is during the carbon freezing scene. The 1999 prequel, “The Phantom Menace” revealed a young Anakin Skywalker, who would become Vader, actually built C-3PO.
• An early version of Lando Calrissian, the role made famous by Billy Dee Williams, had Lando not as head of Cloud City but instead the clone leader of a clan left over from the Clone Wars, which take place well before “Empire.”
• To maintain the austere interiors of Cloud City, crew constantly mopped and polished the set between takes and everyone wore cushioned shoes.
• Lobot, Lando’s silent aide on Cloud City, gets his name from “lobotomy.” Lobot was supposed to have dialogue but the filmmakers decided he was lobotomized to accommodate the cyborg implant around the back of his head.
• The evil Emperor who made his film debut in “Empire” was actually played by a woman with prosthetic makeup and chimpanzee eyes superimposed in post-production. Clive Revill did the voice in the original release. Ian McDiarmid played the Emperor in “Return of the Jedi” and subsequent films.
• Kershner provided the voice of Darth Vader in the temporary mix of the film before James Earl Jones recorded the final version.
• In the story treatment for “Empire,” Yoda’s full name was Minch Yoda. In the first draft he was known only as Minch. Changed for the better, that did.
• Boba Fett and the rest of the bounty hunters featured in “Empire” are never referred to by their proper names in the film. Boba Fett is only referenced as “bounty hunter.”
• After an extra got sick, Boba Fett actor Jeremy Bulloch was called in to replace the Imperial Guard who escorts Leia and pulls her into the Cloud City elevator when she screams at Luke that he’s entering a trap.
• Actor Michael Sheard played Admiral Ozzel, one of two Imperial officers Darth Vader kills by telekinetic strangulation in “Empire.” Sheard later played Hitler in a small scene in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”
• Hamill sustained facial scars in a car accident before “Empire” started shooting. It’s long been rumored the scars were explained in the “Star Wars” universe courtesy Luke’s nasty encounter with a wampa ice creature early in the film. Actually, that scene was already in early “Empire” drafts before Hamill’s accident.
• That’s no moon... or asteroid. In “Empire’s” dizzying asteroid scene, one of the asteroids is a potato and another is a shoe.
• The entire Millennium Falcon was built life-size for “Empire.” The 23-ton Falcon was 65 feet in diameter and 16 feet high with a mandible giving it an overall length of 80 feet.
• “Empire” used eight R2-D2s. Actor Kenny Baker used two, three were remote controlled and three were dummy versions that could be damaged.
• Hamill had to bang his head on the ceiling of Yoda’s hut 16 times before Kershner was satisfied.
• “Empire” was the first film to have a 5.1 surround sound mix.
• Luke’s home planet Tatooine appears in five of the six “Star Wars” films. Tatooine doesn’t appear in “Empire,” though Luke mentions it at the end of the film.
• “Empire’s” most famous line is often misquoted. Darth Vader does NOT say, “Luke, I am your father.” He actually says, “No, I am your father.”
• Lucas was so intent on keeping that shocking ending a secret he had Vader actor David Prowse say “Obi-Wan killed your father,” only to later dub it with Vader’s bombshell that he was Luke’s father. Only six people knew the true ending: Lucas, Kershner, writers Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, Hamill and Jones.
• Hamill’s wife gave birth to their first son Nathan during the “Empire” shoot. Hamill went straight from the hospital to shooting. That day’s shots had Luke hanging by a weather vane below Cloud City.
Sources: The Internet Movie Database and StarWars.com.Glenn Greenwald, one of the reporters who chronicled the document dump by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden via the U.K. press, now said he’s set to publish his most dramatic piece yet: The names of those in the United States targeted by the NSA.
“One of the big questions when is comes to domestic spying is, ‘Who have been the NSA’s specific targets?’ Are they political critics and dissidents and activists? Are they genuinely people we’d regard as terrorists? What are the metrics and calculations that go into choosing those targets and what is done with the surveillance that is conducted? Those are the kinds of questions that I want to still answer,” Mr. Greenwald told The Sunday Times of London.
Mr. Greenwald also pointed to the failures of the NSA |
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