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you, Madam…Please smile once…Don’t salt her wounds…Gaddar…,’ there has been an avalanche of taunts, jibes, commiserations and provocations for her on twitter. But, all quiet on the Shazia front. Indians have a robust fascination for people who switch sides at the last minute in a decisive battle. Mir Jafar, who betrayed Siraj-ud-Daulah at Plassey, Jaichand of Kannauj, the man who allied with Mohammad Ghori against Prithviraj Chauhan, Ravana’s rebellious brother Vibhishan and the only Kaurava to join the Pandavas, Yuyutsu, are all important footnotes of history and mythology. So, when the history of Delhi’s elections is written, Shazia may also find herself the subject of a footnote. But, you’ve got to feel sorry for her. Just a few years ago, Shazia was meant to be a metaphor for a change in Indian politics. She appeared destined for a bright future as a symbol of Indian secular and liberal values when she almost pulled off a victory from RK Puram, where the number of Muslim voters is insignificant. But she lost by just a few hundred votes, primarily because her own brother campaigned and contested against her. Soon after she was sent to Ghaziabad, perhaps against her wish of fighting with Sonia Gandhi, to contest against former Anna sipahi General VK Singh. She lost again by a huge margin. But she tried her luck yet again. Since joining the BJP, she railed against her former colleagues, called the media biased, questioned the integrity of top journalists, indicated that one of them had almost ‘accepted an offer from the AAP to contest from Mumbai’, and carried out a spirited fight on TV and twitter. shazia ilmi ‏@shaziailmi Feb 7 @Hindu_hai_hum Rajdeep cant deny that he almost accepted aap LS Ticket fm mumbai. And ashutosh used Ibn 7 to promote aap to get a LS ticket View conversation0 replies1,219 retweets402 favorites From the suave, urban woman whose victory would have been an ode to the cosmopolitan, secular, liberal Delhi, Shazia also underwent an image makeover, becoming instead the typical token Muslim in the BJP. But, like other famous dal badlus of this election—Krishna Tirath, Vinod Kumar Binny, MS Dheer who are all likely to lose according to an ABP-Nielsen exit poll—she is likely to end up on the wrong side once again. When Narendra Modi popularized the word ‘badnaseeb’ he may not have had Shazia Ilmi on his mind. But, Shazia is likely to become an embodiment of Modi’s contribution to the political lexicon; as the ill-fated woman who has remarkable expertise in always choosing the wrong side of the bread to butter. Shazia will now be banking on the other famous Modi jumla. Her only hope, as the Indian Express said in its Sunday headline, would be that all exit polls are bazaaru. Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.Spaniards Take To Streets To Block Home Evictions toggle caption Juan Medina/Reuters/Landov For months, demonstrations have been popping up on otherwise quiet residential streets across Spain. The protesters form human chains, forcibly blocking bailiffs from evicting residents who've fallen behind on their mortgages. Sometimes the protests turn violent. The demonstrations are another sign of just how pinched people are feeling as Spain's economic crisis continues to roil. With Spanish unemployment above 25 percent, hundreds of people have been losing their homes each day. Protesters recently jostled with police outside the Madrid home of Olga Veloso, who stopped making payments on her apartment when she lost her job as a janitor two years ago. She's been served eviction papers twice. "A judge came with the police to demand the keys to my home," Veloso said. "But thanks to protesters and my neighbors, we all blocked the door and prevented them from entering. We stopped them twice, and I'm preparing for the third time." But she hopes there won't be a third time. Things are looking up for homeowners here because Spain's Cabinet is expected to vote Thursday on historic changes to the country's mortgage laws, designed to keep defaulters in their homes longer. Banks themselves have already declared a two-year freeze on evictions of Spaniards who are in "extreme" conditions. The move came after 53-year-old Amaia Egaña of the northern city of Bilbao threw herself from her fourth-floor window Friday and died as bailiffs were climbing the stairs to evict her. The moratorium is limited to "cases of illness — serious ones — cases in which people are dependent on others, cases in which people are elderly, or have young children," explained Miguel Martin, president of the Association of Spanish Banks. Even After Eviction, Debt Continues For weeks, protesters have gathered outside the Madrid headquarters of Bankia, Spain's largest property lender, which went bust last spring. Bankia and other lenders are getting up to $125 billion in bailout funds from Europe. Meanwhile, longtime Bankia customer Melchorita Garcia is asking for just a little leeway on her $500-a-month mortgage payment. All she's gotten is an eviction notice. "I'm really scared," Garcia says. "I'm so worried about what will happen and where I'll go if they take away my house and leave me in the street." Garcia hopes for relief under the new moratorium on evictions. She also lost her job, and her 14-year-old son, Miguel, has autism. She breaks down as she reads a letter from the boy, begging her loan officer to allow them to stay in their home. "I don't like to see my mother so sad, suffering without work, with all the people lined up outside the bank," the letter says. "It's very cold there. I hope you grant my wish. God will not abandon us. Sincerely, Miguel." Eviction is a devastating thing for a family anywhere. In Spain, it's compounded by the fact that borrowers can't walk away from a mortgage and declare bankruptcy, says economist Gayle Allard, at Madrid's IE Business School. "You walk away and you still owe money," Allard said. "You lose your house, but you still owe money to the bank — which Americans, you know, we would find that outrageous." Spanish lawmakers are reviewing that rule and others this week, in hopes of granting some relief to borrowers.Hi! It looks like you’re creating a music video. Would you like some assistance today? If you activate the maze screensaver, you never know what you might find. Buried deep at the end is Clippy, the Microsoft Office assistant of the '90s, and he’s not happy. He’s stuck on a boring planet with the old Start button, Netscape Navigator, and AOL. A new personal digital assistant, SHANiA (Siri), is all the rage now, but he’s not going to let her take over the world. Clippy is on a mission, an adventure that takes him through the pipes screensaver, Solitaire, horrific internet cat memes, and a whole lot of nostalgia. Clippy is ready to take on Siri with the help of the poop emoji and a whole lot of cursors. The trippy music video is the work of British duo Delta Heavy, and it’s set to the regular EDM beats that the pair use on equally crazy videos. Sit back and watch this Clippy acid trip in all its wacky glory.Australia’s financial intelligence and regulatory agency, AUSTRAC, today initiated civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) for serious and systemic non-compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act). AUSTRAC acting CEO Peter Clark said that this action follows an investigation by AUSTRAC into CBA’s compliance, particularly regarding its use of intelligent deposit machines (IDMs). AUSTRAC’s action alleges over 53,700 contraventions of the AML/CTF Act. In summary: CBA did not comply with its own AML/CTF program, because it did not carry out any assessment of the money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) risk of IDMs before their rollout in 2012. CBA took no steps to assess the ML/TF risk until mid-2015 - three years after they were introduced. For a period of three years, CBA did not comply with the requirements of its AML/CTF program relating to monitoring transactions on 778,370 accounts. CBA failed to give 53,506 threshold transaction reports (TTRs) to AUSTRAC on time for cash transactions of $10,000 or more through IDMs from November 2012 to September 2015. These late TTRs represent approximately 95 per cent of the threshold transactions that occurred through the bank’s IDMs from November 2012 to September 2015 and had a total value of around $624.7 million. AUSTRAC alleges that the bank failed to report suspicious matters either on time or at all involving transactions totalling over $77 million. Even after CBA became aware of suspected money laundering or structuring on CBA accounts, it did not monitor its customers to mitigate and manage ML/TF risk, including the ongoing ML/TF risks of doing business with those customers. Mr Clark said that today’s action should send a clear message to all reporting entities about the importance of meeting their AML/CTF obligations. "By failing to have sound AML/CTF systems and controls in place, businesses are at risk of being misused for criminal purposes," Mr Clark said. "AUSTRAC's goal is to have a financial sector that is vigilant and capable of responding, including through innovation, to threats of criminal exploitation." "We believe this can be achieved by working collaboratively with and supporting industry. We will continue to work in this way with our industry partners who also share this aim and demonstrate a strong commitment to it." Download Concise statement (PDF, 2.5MB) Media contact AUSTRAC Media and Communications:A mega-mansion compound in the Hollywood Hills that rents out to a slew of nocturnal celebrities (Justin Bieber, The Weeknd), foreign royalty and a Playboy reality show is incurring the attention of TMZ — and the wrath of a once-quiet neighborhood. But owner Danny Fitzgerald calls nearby residents "assholes" and won't back down. This story first appeared in the Nov. 13 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. Mega-spec House developer Danny Fitzgerald is aggrieved. Notorious for renting four glass-and-steel mansions in the hills just below the Hollywood Reservoir to party-hard celebrities, reality show casts and Middle Eastern royalty, he has incurred the wrath of neighbors — as well as Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, who last summer sent Fitzgerald a nuisance letter notifying him that he'd be held criminally liable if one more tenant racked up a citation. The residents responsible for the 90-plus calls to law enforcement — eliciting complaints including public urination, an unpermitted lion and a suspect with a gun — likely would consider the word "Affliction" emblazoned on the T-shirt he's wearing on a recent afternoon to be truth in advertising. "They don't want anyone building, they don't want anyone having fun, they don't want anyone filming," says Fitzgerald, 56, his voice rising in the sprawling fourth-floor kitchen of his largest home on Weidlake Drive (which leases for $40,000 a month). "I call them a vigilante group. Tell them to buy my houses!" The collective 46,000-square-foot compound, which includes all four homes, with 32 bedrooms and 51 bathrooms, is on the market for $50 million. He turns to address his opposition beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows in their far smaller cantilevered homes. "Go ahead, all you f—ing assholes out there that complain every day: You can have them. They make money. They're a good return. Buy my homes, and I will leave." If he doesn't cut his price — realtors suggest he needs to do so by tens of millions — the epic fight, which began in 2006, will persist. "It's like a cancer," says Hollywood Dell Civic Association head Patti Negri, describing the compound. "There's drunken people throwing bottles, going to the bathroom on people's lawns." But conflict doesn't ruffle the developer, who may be the Hollywood Hills' biggest pariah for his strikingly indulgent landlord relationships with everyone from Justin Bieber, Sean Kingston, Ne-Yo and Trey Songz to Nelly, T.I. and, currently, The Weeknd. Nor does he mind the repeated and breathless TMZ coverage of famous new tenants, out-of-control parties and public sex at the compound. (Neighbors were agog to see castmembers of Playboy's Swing reality show doing the deed in plain view on the countertops and the patio. Castmembers told TMZ that the hot tub was a "no-bone zone.") Fitzgerald will just remind you that he's a defender of a certain American dream: lifestyle, libertarianism and the pursuit of happiness as defined by an in-home nightclub and a Jacuzzi with 70 jets that "will blow your mind." The son of a beer salesman and a BBQ pit waitress in unglamorous Granada Hills, 20 miles away at the north end of the San Fernando Valley, Fitzgerald grew up eager to escape his working-class roots: "I didn't want to ever have a shitty car, a shitty house." (He ticks off how far he's come: "I have a turbo Porsche convertible, a Mercedes GL 63 AMG and a faithful Honda for work. I used to have even nicer cars — Ferraris, Bentleys, Rolls — but they kept breaking.") He got his contractor's license straight out of high school and has been developing and flipping dwellings ever since — first tract homes in the flats and later hillside mansions, which he designs in a brazen style he proudly characterizes as "bold" (think lights installed on each floor that rotate colors, a la Hollywood Squares) and others believe could be considered tasteful only by confirmed members of the doucheoisie."Once I got smarter, I started building in Encino and Sherman Oaks," says Fitzgerald. "When I got really smart, I began building in Marina del Rey, Malibu, Beverly Hills and the Hollywood Hills." Decades later, in 2006, just before the recession hit, he began to pursue what would turn out to be his coup de grace: The Weidlake complex, which features expansive neon lighting, club-style banks of urinals and "Hollywood" spelled out in tile above the pools. ("The Danny design philosophy is this: Every single home I do has to have a theater with surround sound.") One of his current tenants — a German cosmetics entre­preneur named Bastian Yotta with a penchant for Instagramming pictures of himself, his blonde bombshell wife, Maria, and their exclusively buxom guests frolicking at home (on one occasion with that unpermitted lion) — believes Weidlake "is perfect, a paradise. We needed a property with 10 bedrooms and a nightclub and a gym. The only problem is the tour buses that have started coming up here just recently." Indeed, from the start the properties' flash has stood out from their prominent perch atop the otherwise quiet, cozy Dell neighborhood — one ridgeline west of higher-profile Beachwood Canyon, which sits directly beneath the Hollywood sign — a mostly under-the-radar haven long popular with below-the-line industry types who still can snag a modest three-bedroom cottage there for a mere $1 million (a relative steal in the hills' current market). But since completion, Fitzgerald has been renting his places out with only rare vacancies. His clients have included Bieber, whom Fitzgerald calls "so mellow — he loved the gym and worked out every day." (By contrast, a friend of Bieber's told Radar that the purpose of the Weidlake house was to "throw parties" because the singer didn't want "random people" causing trouble where he actually lived.) Others have ranged from Zendaya ("She had her sweet 16 here") to Mark Zuckerberg. ("He had a birthday here. That was a party we couldn't turn down because it wasn't going to be out of control.") While Fitzgerald, who interfaces with clients directly, claims he makes his tenants sign leases explicitly prohibiting large parties and regularly rebuffs lucrative one-off event requests — "I mean, every weekend we could have a party for $50,000" — massive after-midnight bashes sometimes "just end up happening," often intimate get-togethers that blow up thanks to social media. This brings no comfort to neighbors like Cynthia Martinez, a greens coordinator for films (Hitchcock) who lives around the corner. "When the cars start coming up at 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning, it's really a drag," she says. "I wake up at 4 to be on set at 6, so if people are partying through the night, I don't get to sleep. And I don't want to'move to Palmdale' " — a high-desert exurb 60 miles to the north — "as Danny likes to tell us." When pressed, the unmarried Fitzgerald — who for years was co-owner of Century City's massive Century Club, which closed in 2007 (in its heyday it played host to Dr. Dre, Jamie Foxx, Ice Cube and Brandy) — freely admits these mansions were built to be bacchanalian, a by-product of his years throwing high-head-count lingerie parties attended by the likes of Wilt Chamberlain. His biggest Weidlake house boasts "a club-style bathroom with a makeup area," he says. "The disco itself holds 200 or 300 people." (Materials were selected with high traffic in mind, from Venetian plaster — "You can patch it after people mess it up" — to the same "indestructible" industrial-grade porcelain-and-ceramic floor tiles used at Hyatt Hotels.) "His idea of living is parties, so he creates living spaces that are party spaces," says his old Century Club partner Mark Fleischman (previously an owner of Studio 54), founder of local fitness studio The Bar Method. "Those lingerie parties were a way of attracting rich men to come to his houses to look at buying them." Fitzgerald muses that the tenants who often cause the most damage are productions. Now he conducts video walkthroughs before anyone arrives. Weidlake alums range from Fox's American Idol to various porn shoots. Fitzgerald — who has been a frequent presence in L.A.'s civil court both as plaintiff and defendant, netting at least 77 filings in the past three decades — is in the midst of a lawsuit with MTV's House of Food because, among other alleged damages, "They blew up the stove and refused to pay." (Show creator T Group Productions' attorney responds: "The lawsuit has absolutely no merit. The house was left in vastly better condition than it was in when T Group arrived.") Fitzgerald sees himself not as a nuisance neighbor but a persecuted one. He acknowledges the more than 90 calls made regarding his homes — THR independently reviewed call data amassed by the LAPD — but notes that they've led to only a few actual citations (and even those he disputes). "Sean Kingston, a sweetheart, lived there two years," he says. "He had one complaint, for amplified music. That ticket's bullshit. I was at the party two years ago. Seven o'clock at night, OK? Sean was singing on the f—ing speakers outside!" Jeff Dowden, a retired owner of a post­production facility who lives on a ridge facing Weidlake, counters that "the reason so few citations have been given out is that police are so slow to respond," with sirens and lights often giving offenders plenty of warning to scram. (Even when they do arrive in time, say neighbors, law enforcement's M.O. is to provide warnings to individual guests.) Feuer spokesman Frank Mateljan notes that the City Attorney's Office and LAPD "continue to monitor the situation and are in constant contact with the neighbors and with Daniel Fitzgerald's lawyer." For his part, Fitzgerald says of the standoff: "My lawyers laughed at them. They said, 'They have nothing.' " Indeed, civic authorities often find themselves playing catchup with Fitzgerald in other ways, such as his ruthless maximization of every square inch of each lot, a practice which predates L.A.'s new anti-mansionization limits passed by the City Council this year to curb steroidal developments like his own. "I just build as big as I can," he shrugs. The Weidlake complex towers 60 feet high; now, he could build less than half that height. Says Fitzgerald: "[Neighbors] call them 'the Kmart homes.' " (Actually, clarifies Hollywood United Neighborhood Council rep­resentative George Skarpelos, who lives nearby, "We call them 'the abortion on the hill' — they are that wildly out of character.") "It's unfair to landowners," argues Fitzgerald, musing that residential home values have been straitjacketed by these new requirements. He believes that huge structures should be encouraged, even if only for public interest: "I pay crazy property taxes. Most people here, it's probably $3,000. Mine's about $50,000 — per home." (According to tax data published by Redfin, Fitzgerald paid between $23,391 and $46,039 per house in 2014.) He goes on, with a sigh: "[The city's] not letting anyone build these monsters anymore. The lots are worthless." It's for this reason that Fitzgerald says he's now looking to get out of the game. Well, this and what the vociferously anti-union builder fulminates is the constant hassle of dealing with city employees — and the sustained assault by what he perceives to be his NIMBY neighbors, "where they just nonstop f—ing pester you." Fitzgerald notes that "my whole life, I've lived in what I was building, lived in the dirt" and that, on the Weidlake effort alone, "I almost lost everything four or five times." (Indeed, he was so "broke" for stretches that he lived with his adult son in the in-progress edifices without power, at times operating the backhoe, tractors and jackhammers he'd bought to push his project forward.) At this point, he insists he'd rather be riding waves on his 8-footer just steps from his $5 million home near Venice Beach or at Malibu's Point Dume. "I quit. I'm tired," he says. "How much longer can I surf well and have all these young girlfriends?" Real estate agent Ivan Estrada of Keller Williams thinks he needs to drop his price if he wants to retire soon: "Someone who's going to pay $50 million isn't going to live in that part of town. They're going to buy in Bel Air near other large estates. I would put it in the 20s." Concurs JB Fung of John Aaroe Group: "It's going to take a special kind of buyer." These days, Fitzgerald ruefully sees his kind as an endangered species in L.A., observing that fellow swashbuckling, big-ticket spec builder Mohamed Hadid — ex-husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Foster, father of supermodel Gigi Hadid — also has gotten an unfair rap from the city over unpermitted work on a Bel Air mansion project. "Again, it's because of the neighbors — every single neighbor says, 'Everyone else, get out.' " Fitzgerald shakes his head. "He's done so many great things. Amazing homes. Gorgeous daughter." Soon, though, his mood brightens. Fitzgerald is confident that history will redeem him and his exuberance, just as it has so many other first-condemned-then-celebrated L.A. landmarks. "This thing will be 50 years old, and it'll still be cool," he says of his Weidlake acropolis. "It'll be a statement. It'll be like, 'Wow, how'd they ever get to build that? How'd they ever get 45 feet of solid glass walls?' " He grins, taking in his accomplishment and his impending legend. "It's because it was done and then those assholes made a scene and then the city changed the building codes and now no one can ever do it!" And why shouldn't he be sanguine? He built it, and those with fame came, just as he knew they would. His neighbors may think he and those he attracts are gratingly gauche, but Fitzgerald believes in L.A.'s green light, in which something as killjoy as taste is never sacrosanct, and his orgastic future will not recede — tomorrow he will simply party harder, stretch out his arms farther and embrace another young girlfriend. "This wasn't cookie-cutter," he concludes. "It wasn't Pleasantville. It was Hollywood."Image copyright Reuters/Simon Albert Image caption Images show the remains of six partially eroded islands in the Solomon Islands Five tiny Pacific islands have disappeared amid rising seas and erosion, Australian researchers say. The missing islands, part of the Solomon Archipelago, were not inhabited by human beings. But six other islands were found to have seen swathes of land turn into sea, destroying entire villages. The researchers say it is the first scientific confirmation of the impact of climate change on Pacific coastlines. The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, looked at 33 islands using aerial and satellite imagery from 1947 to 2014, combined with historical insight and local knowledge. It found that the archipelago had seen sea levels rise as much as as 10mm (0.4in) every year for the past two decades. Image copyright IOP Publishing Ltd Image caption The research shows eroding coastlines of the Solomon Islands over nearly 70 years The five that have vanished were all vegetated reef islands of up to five hectares (12 acres) in size that were occasionally used by fishermen but not populated. "They were not just little sand islands", leader author Simon Albert said. One of the six islands that have been heavily eroded is Nuatambu Island, home to 25 families. The research says it has lost 11 houses and half its inhabitable area since 2011. The researchers say their study is the first that scientifically "confirms the numerous anecdotal accounts from across the Pacific of the dramatic impacts of climate change on coastlines and people". Image copyright AP Image caption The Solomons are considered a hotspot because sea-level rises there are much higher than rises globally However, the report stresses that the inundation does not result from rising sea levels alone. It found that shoreline recession was substantially worse in areas exposed to high wave energy, and that extreme events and inappropriate development were also factors contributing to the erosion. The Solomon Islands, a nation made up of hundreds of islands and with a population of about 640,000, lies about 1,000 miles north-east of Australia. Some communities are already adapting to the changed conditions. Several Nuatambu islanders have moved to a higher neighbouring volcanic island, the study said. Other people were forced to move on the island of Nararo. One of them, 94-year-old Sirilo Sutaroti, told researchers: "The sea has started to come inland, it forced us to move up to the hilltop and rebuild our village there away from the sea." Taro, the capital of Choiseul Province, is set to become the first provincial capital to relocate residents and services.Copyright by WKRN - All rights reserved (Photo: WKRN) WKRN web staff - NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) - Stopping word-wide hunger is a huge goal, but it's one that Stop Hunger is now taking on and plans to conquer. The non-profit group ships meals to developing countries around the world. Copyright by WKRN - All rights reserved (Photo: WKRN) On Saturday, around 500 volunteers got to work at Nashville's first location at Calvary United Methodist Church. They packed 100,000 meals to be shipped around the world. Also there was country music star Vince Gill, who talked to News 2 about the importance of helping people in need. "You see a lot of these people around here trying to help their fellow man and doing what a lot of us should be doing to help our fellow man," Gill said. "Our goal is to package 1.1 million meals this year in the community, and already the support in the community has been tremendous," said President and CEO of Stop Hunger Now, Rod Brooks. Since 2006, the organization has packed and shipped more than 50 million meals from 19 locations around the country.City Council Bill 160016 is, to say the least, problematic. Last Thursday, Jan. 21, City Council introduced a bill sponsored by 1st District Councilman Mark Squilla that’s generated an outcry from the Philly music community. Rest assured, the legislation has several more steps before it becomes law and it will almost certainly be amended (read: gutted) before it becomes City of Philadelphia law. Squilla’s bill would amend section 9-703 of Philadelphia Code under “Special Assembly Occupancies,” altering “the application procedures and increasing the fee for a Special Assembly Occupancy license and for Promoter registration, clarifying the role of the Philadelphia Police Department in approvals of licenses…” according to City Council’s bill summary. Facebook went nuts with a BillyPenn story yesterday, written by Dustin Slaughter, that broke the news. It included a few gems from R5 Productions head honcho, Sean Agnew. Slaughter did his best to break down the unwieldy and, ultimately, misguided language of the 12-page bill: Special Assembly Occupancy licenses would become more expensive ($100 per year to $500 every two years); the Philadelphia Police Department would be involved in the granting of these licenses (read: the police will tell L&I if the venue’s a dump, violent, loud late, etc.); and, perhaps most mystifyingly, venues and promoters could be tasked with collecting the phone numbers and addresses of performers to improve public safety. Suffice it to say, there’s been an incredible amount of backlash against and press on the bill. The phrase “registry” really has folks riled up – would the City really create a registry of performers and artists gigging regularly or only occasionally? Including giant, national touring artists? The short answer to that is “not really,” and Squilla’s been backpedaling since BillyPenn’s report. In a Philly.com report today, the Councilman said he the language of the bill “could be easily amended” in regards to the collection of names and addresses. “If that’s a major concern – it has nothing to do with the intent of the bill,” he said, which “was to have all venues that can generate big crowds regulated by the same licenses.” Yesterday and today, the Councilman’s Facebook page became a hotbed for disparaging remarks and a space where Squilla could respond directly to constituents. In one post, Squilla wrote “the primary goal of this bill is to close a loophole in the current legislation that has allowed venues to operate without a special assembly license (SAOL). SAOLs are required for certain venues that have live musical and other entertainment. We learned that some operators were able to avoid obtaining an SAOL because there was no live music or a DJ but music was streaming or playing from an iPod or iPad,” he wrote. Why this is suddenly a legislation-worthy issue is at the top of the list of questions lots of promoters and artists are compiling. “The bill now contains a provision that venues should obtain performers’ contact information to share with city officials should the need arise, but there is no City approval required for any events, nor is a registry of performers being created,” the South Philly native went on in his response to a concerned citizen. “This provision is NOT intended to restrict artistic expression or any kind of entertainment but rather is aimed at addressing public safety and quality of life issues.” SHOULD THE NEED ARISE is a pretty clear, key phrase here. That need, it is widely rumored, may have presented itself in early September when Lil Durk and Gunplay were headlining the Theater of Living Arts on South Street and 25-year-old John Green was shot and killed outside of the venue. Larissa Sapko iniated a Change.org petition – it currently has a little under 11,000 e-signatures (the goal is 15,000). “I saw folks starting say things like ‘Oh, let’s go troll the Councilman’s Facebook page,’ which in my opinion is pretty counterproductive,” Sapko told The Key. It’s a good point. Squilla and his team have been reportedly been deleting Facebook feedback and, naturally, a few off-color threats. But Sapko’s petition exploded as Gawker, Brooklyn Vegan and Impose magazine picked up the story. “I honestly thought it would only get a few hundred signatures and die out. This got way bigger than I expected it to,” she said. She also offered some insight that has been, in some ways, the elephant in the room – is this NOT targeted towards the hip-hop and African-American community? “The idea of having to hand my personal information to a venue, who would then hand it over to the police, sounded really Orwellian,” writes the young, white musician. “But after reading more about the bill and having some time to chew on it a little, I think it’s pretty clear that the police aren’t going to be requesting my information anytime soon. “But I think there are a lot of much more vulnerable people both living in this city and touring through this city who are at a much higher risk of being targeted by police,” she continues. “They’re the ones the bill would really affect.” To be clear, the Philadelphia Police have stated that they have no intention of either approving specific acts or keeping a list of phone numbers. Commissioner Richard Ross’s legal advisor, Cpt. Francis Healy, says the “department was only interested in getting advance notice so police can be properly prepared for shows or other events.” Wait, what’s wrong with looking at venue websites? Don’t they do that already? Doesn’t the Sports Complex Special Services District communicate to the police about Justin Bieber’s visit to Wells Fargo May 7th and 8th? Local emcee extraordinaire Sharif Lacey, AKA Reef the Lost Cauze, didn’t mince words when asked for comment. “This is typical Philadelphia philosophy – two steps forward, two steps back. We have all these beautiful brand new music venues, and are finally being recognized as a great city to play and enjoy and here they come with the bullshit. Who does this serve? Who is this for?” he rightfully asks. Then, more to the point, he writes “as a hip-hop artist, I feel this is definitely a direct reflection of a long-standing notion that this music and culture still somehow brings out violence… it’s not gonna work. This is the true embodiment of shooting yourself in the foot.” Johnny Brenda’s booker and former Pattern is Movement drummer, Chris Ward, was more succinct: “This proposed bill is, on its face, an overreach of power. The last year has seen article upon article talking of how Philly’s music scene has grown and had a positive impact. If this bill is put into law, we’ll see that progress take ten steps back.” We checked in with Sean Agnew, too, to see what the next steps would be and to figure out his involvement. “Nothing has been changed, deleted or amended yet,” he wrote. “It is encouraging to hear that Councilman Squilla could potentially remove the troubling ‘Artist Registration’ item, where artists’ personal information would be share with police.” His excellent observation, that he shared with BillyPenn’s Slaughter, is that the idea turning over every member of Arcade Fire’s phone number and address to the police is straight-up absurd. “I’m still having trouble drawing a parallel or understand why there will be additional costs and scrutiny placed on established music venues if the bill is intended to close a loophole for bars playing music with an iPad,” Agnew says. Hear, hear – why is City Council concerning itself with how bars pump music through their sound systems? Luckily, Agnew says the venue and promoter community is on the case. “20+ venue operators and owners are planning to meet on Tuesday to discuss our concerns,” he wrote. “We’ll take those concerns to a meeting with Councilman Squilla next Thursday. He has been in touch through this whole process since Tuesday and has expressed interest in working with the venue owners to create a fair bill.” A couple things seem obvious: as it’s currently written, this bill has enraged a lot of creatives in the community; and IF and when it passes, it will look nothing like it does now. Speaking to the language that Squilla used in the BillyPenn piece – indicating that there wasn’t a lot of voiced concerns from the entertainment community – WXPN’s DJ Robert Drake was puzzled. “My biggest concern is the Councilman’s comment that he’s had no pushback from the entertainment community,” said Drake. “Now’s the time for all folks that work in the nightlife industry to stop, focus, and get a better understanding of just what the Councilman is proposing and how it will affect their daily business activity.” Dynamic and constant Philly promoter Yusuf Muhammad is shaking his head over all this. He just held an event that encouraged newbie promoters to create programming – now he’s not so sure those young, eager enthusiasts will motivate. “I just held a workshop that was to inspire other young creatives in whatever their medium that they’re creating in to become curators, to start doing events, and to start taking things they love and start making them into experiences for others,” he told The Key. In short, Muhammad says, “this is insane.” DJ Apt One AKA Michael the Lion AKA Michael Fichman has been DJing in Philly and all over the world for years now. He’s equally mystified. “[Squilla’s] district has benefited more than any other in Philadelphia from the influx of arts and entertainment dollars and young people – and he’s proposing to cut off his nose to spite his face,” said Fichman. “There are myriad problems with this bill. It’s impractical. I’ve played all over the country and world and I’ve never been instructed to provide my info to the police.” Fichman echoes what a lot of folks are saying, which is that there are way bigger fish to fry in Philadelphia. Schools, gun violence, poverty,
the marketing methods which “they said” are more effective and efficient. Regardless of the third parties websites, I would like to invite you to look further into the insight of the matter based on several different points of view. Regarding to the market condition, to answer the first question, the answer is still a YES. It is because the market is not saturated. Alright, the niche might be saturated. We can see that 2014 version of Boston Red Socks tees will be outdated since there are 2015 version ones. That is what saturating the niche but not about the models, right? There are still massive opportunities that can be brainstormed to grab some enormous profits with Teespring. Now the answer lies in the current trend and mainstream. So, what kind of trend that you need to follow, or adopt? This is actually the marvelous question. The trends are very vibrant and broad. You can think the most imaginative spectrum as possible from your mind. Thanks to the technology these days now you can make the use of some sophisticated tools available to the users nowadays. You can look for the current trend data at a time from the free tools like Google Trends, Reddit, Trends Hunter, and many more. Now you can easily find the best trends which are currently on the stream. The key here is to find the specific niches and target your audience. That is the first step of launching the campaign on Teespring. Let’s say you stick to the plan and want to make some more for Boston Red Socks. You will be looking at the trend data this year. You will see that there are a lot of possibilities in social media looking from the thousands of shares and engagement on some funny images or posts, interesting news, feeds, and so on. You will see a great deal of big fans of the team and average sports lovers that will love to buy the T-Shirt from you. It does not take so long time to narrow down your targeted audiences. There are a lot of places in which you can find your passionate buyers. So you can simply made a great logo design through the outsourcing. And yes, you don’t have to be a professional designer to design your own T-shirt. The great thing about it is that you can outsource the design. Once you get the design, you can just upload the image to a shirt on the Teespring and launch your campaign. Of course you should calculate your ROI when using the Facebook ads to push selling your Teespring campaign. There is also in and out campaign that you can try. There are a lot of niches and interests that you can be involved with. Some of them are saturated and you need to struggle a little bit to win over the competitors. However, the usage of the tools can be the best consideration when it comes to following the niches and trends. And if you make the use of it really well, you are good to go. So, to answer the question, it is a YES.Have you ever wondered what the most popular cannabis strains are? The best of the best. What the cannabis connoisseurs are smoking. Well, wonder no more! Feast your eyes on 15 of the most legendary, most potent, most aromatic and delicious cannabis strains on the planet: 1. Blue Dream Blue Dream has been named the most popular strain in the U.S., for a variety of reasons — it’s easy to find, easy to grow, yields an abundant crop, etc. But the biggest reason why it’s so well loved, is that it is a pure delight to smoke. This sativa-dominant strain is a cross between the popular Blueberry and Haze strains. The result is an extremely balanced, berry-scented bud, which offers the best of both worlds: the body high and symptom relief of an indica, and the uplifting and euphoric effects characteristic of a strong sativa. 2. OG Kush OG Kush is the common ancestor of many, if not most, of the most popular West Coast strains — including several on this list. It’s been around for more than 20 years, and yet it continues to be a favorite. It’s lineage is uncertain, but most believe it to be a cross between the Chemdawg and Hindu Kush strains. The result is an intoxicating hybrid with a strong earthy and piney scent, that delivers an intense, euphoric and relaxing high. 3. Girl Scout Cookies This cross between Durban Poison (one of the few remaining strains of pure sativa) and OG Kush is not for lightweights. It has a sweet, earthy, often minty aroma, and some of the highest THC levels around. One hit will have soaring on an intense, cerebral high, that can result in anxiety — even paranoia — if you’re not careful or experienced. But manage your dosage, your set and setting, and you should enjoy the ride. 4. Banana Kush This is an indica-dominant hybrid, born from the combination of Ghost OG and Skunk Haze. Easily recognized by it’s fruity, banana scent and flavor, it also delivers maximum euphoria and relaxation. A great choice for those dealing with stress and/or depression, this strain is sure to mellow you out and put a smile on your face. 5. AK-47 This award winning creation from Serious Seeds is a sativa-dominant mix of several different cannabis strains from around the world. The result is pungent, earthy and slightly sweet, while packing an uplifting and long lasting head high that will have you alert, creative and energized. But don’t let the scary-sounding name fool you; this bud is known for having pleasant, happy and relaxing effects. 6. “Green Crack” Originally known as Cush (with a “C”), this strain was dubbed Green Crack by none other than Snoop Dogg. Descended from Skunk #1, this sativa-dominant hybrid has a hoppy, citrus taste and aroma. And as the name suggests, it delivers a powerful, energizing mental high that makes you intensely alert and focused. 7. Strawberry Cough As you might have guessed, Strawberry Cough is most famous for the powerful taste and aroma of fresh strawberries. And while it is both a smooth and delicious smoke, it’s also known for an expanding sensation that tickles the lungs, that can wring a cough out of even the most seasoned smoker. This sativa-dominant hybrid delivers an uplifting and euphoric high, that is sure to leave you satisfied. 8. Flo One of the most popular strains in the Colorado markets, Flo is a cross between Purple Thai (a potent sativa) and Afghani Indica — and offers the perfect blend of the two. Known for it’s purple coloration and sweet, piney scent, and loved for it’s light, pleasant and bubbly high. This is a true “feel good” bud, not at all heavy. Just pure relaxation, and gentle, uplifting euphoria… you can’t help but love it. 9. MK Ultra Named after the covert mind control project of the CIA, this potent indica-dominant hybrid has been called hypnotic and mind bending. Bred from OG Kush and G-13, this is one of the strongest cannabis strains in the world, period. These dank, sticky buds will leave you laid out on the couch, super relaxed yet flying on an intense, cerebral high. Best not make plans to go out anytime soon. 10. Grand Daddy Purp A West Cost classic, Granddaddy Purple (or GDP) is a heavy, indica hybrid that’s a cross between the famous Purple Urkle and Big Bud. It has distinctive color, and grape and berry scent characteristic of it’s parent. It also delivers one of the most powerful, relaxing body highs of any indica out there, combined with an intense cerebral high as well. 11. Trainwreck This popular strain from northern California is one of the hardest hitting sativa hybrids on the market. It has a spicy pine and lemon scent, and is famous for it’s extreme, high energy head high, characterized by intense euphoria, creativity, time distortion, and overall blissed-out happiness. 12. Sour Diesel Another classic hybrid, Sour Diesel has been around since the 90s. This strong and skunky sativa dominant strain gets it’s name from it’s aroma: the dank and pungent smell of diesel fuel. It also packs an intense, cerebral high that comes on fast and strong. Uplifting, energizing, and mind-expanding… it’s no wonder this strain has such enduring popularity and legendary status. 13. Golden Goat This popular was created by accident, the story goes, by the unintended crossing of a Hawaiian sativa with Sweet Island Skunk. The result is complex, in scent, flavor and effects. Simultaneously sweet, sour and spicy, with a tropical citrus taste, and a full body high that is both uplifting and relaxing, happy and euphoric and altogether pleasant and enjoyable. 14. Skywalker OG This cross between Skywalker and OG Kush is an indica-dominant hybrid, with the pungent, earthy, spicy scent characteristic of most kush strains. The effects are extremely relaxing, with a powerful body high and pleasant numbing, tingling sensation from head to toe. But there is also a good head buzz, that hits you right away. The perfect bud for when you just want chill, relax, and drift off while listening to some good music. 15. Bruce Banner Named after the incredible Hulk, this cross between OG Kush and Strawberry Diesel can be found in at least 3 different varieties. It’s known for a sweet and pungent aroma, skunky diesel with berry undertones. It also gives an instant, energizing, cerebral high that is pleasant and euphoric — if a bit short on duration. But that can be a good thing, sometimes. Well, there you have it! Have you tried any of these strains? What did you think? Did we miss any of your favorites? Tell us all about it in the comments below. SaveThe Houthi insurgency in Yemen,[53][54] also known as the Houthi rebellion, Sa'dah War, or Sa'dah conflict, was a military rebellion pitting Zaidi Shia Houthis (though the movement also includes Sunnis[55]) against the Yemeni military that began in Northern Yemen and has since escalated into a full-scale civil war. The conflict was sparked in 2004 by the government's attempt to arrest Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a Zaidi religious leader of the Houthis and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty.[56] Initially, most of the fighting took place in Sa'dah Governorate in northwestern Yemen, but some of the fighting spread to neighbouring governorates Hajjah, 'Amran, al-Jawf and the Saudi province of Jizan. Since 2014 the nature of the insurgency has changed with the Houthi takeover in Yemen and then into the ongoing Yemeni civil war (2015–present) with a major Saudi-led intervention in Yemen beginning in 2015.[57] General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar commanded the Yemeni security forces during the conflict and led all the government offensives from 2004 until 2011, when he resigned his post to defend protesters during the Yemeni Revolution.[58] A Houthi power grab in Sana'a escalated on 20 January 2015, when the rebels attacked the president's residence and swept into the presidential palace. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was inside the residence as it came under "heavy shelling" for half an hour, but he was unharmed and protected by guards, according to Information Minister Nadia Al-Sakkaf. Presidential guards surrendered the residence after being assured that Hadi could safely evacuate. The U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting about the unfolding events. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon expressed concern over the "deteriorating situation" in Yemen and urged all sides to cease hostilities.[59][60] On 22 January, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah tendered their resignations to parliament, which reportedly refused to accept them.[61] Background [ edit ] In 1962, a revolution in North Yemen ended over 1,000 years of rule by Zaidi Imams, who claimed descent from the Hashemites. Sa'dah, in the north, was their main stronghold and since their fall from power the region was largely ignored economically and remains underdeveloped. The Yemeni government has little authority in Sa'dah.[56] During Yemen's 1994 civil war, the Wahhabis, an Islamic group adhering to a strict version of Sunni Islam found in neighboring Saudi Arabia, helped the government in its fight against the secessionist south. Zaidis complain the government has subsequently allowed the Wahhabis too strong a voice in Yemen. Saudi Arabia, for its part, worries that strife instigated by the Zaidi sect so close to Yemen's border with Saudi Arabia could stir up groups in Saudi Arabia itself.[56] The conflict was sparked in 2004 by the government's attempt to arrest Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a Zaidi religious leader of the Houthis and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty.[56] Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi movement accused Ali Abdullah Saleh of massive financial corruption and criticized him for being backed by Saudi Arabia and United States[62] at the expense of the Yemeni people[63] and Yemen's sovereignty.[64] Motives and objectives [ edit ] When armed conflict for the first time erupted in 2004 between the Yemeni government and Houthis, the then Yemeni president accused Houthis and other Islamic opposition parties of trying to overthrow the government and the republican system. The Yemeni government alleged that the Houthis were seeking to overthrow it and to implement Zaidi religious law. Houthi leaders for their part rejected the accusation by saying that they had never rejected the president or the republican system but were only defending themselves against government attacks on their community.[65] The Houthis said that they were "defending their community against discrimination" and government aggression.[66] The Yemeni government has accused Iran of directing and financing the insurgency.[67] According to a February 2015 Newsweek report, Houthis are fighting "for things that all Yemenis crave: government accountability, the end to corruption, regular utilities, fair fuel prices, job opportunities for ordinary Yemenis and the end of Western influence."[68] In an interview with the Yemen Times, Hussein Al-Bukhari, a Houthi insider, said that the Houthis' preferred political system is a republic with elections where women can also hold political positions, and that they do not seek to form a cleric-led government after the model of the Islamic Republic of Iran for "we cannot apply this system in Yemen because the followers of the Shafi doctrine are bigger in number than the Zaydis."[69] Timeline [ edit ] Phase 1: June–September 2004 [ edit ] From June to August 2004, government troops battled supporters of al-Houthi in the north.[70] Estimates of the dead range from 500 to 1,000.[42] On 10 September, Yemeni forces killed al-Houthi.[71] Since then, the rebellion has been led by one of his brothers, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi,[65] while his father, Badr Eddin al-Houthi, became the group's spiritual leader.[72] Phase 2: March–June 2005 [ edit ] Between March and April 2005, some 1,500 people were killed in a resurgence of fighting between government forces and supporters of the slain cleric, now calling themselves Houthis.[42] In May 2005, the rebels rejected an offer of a presidential pardon by President Ali Abdullah Saleh after their conditions for surrender were refused by the government and minor clashes continued. On May 21, the government released estimates of the impact of the insurgency, announcing that it was responsible for 552 deaths, 2,708 injures, and over US$ 270 million in economic damages.[65] On 23 June 2005, the Houthis' military commander Abdullah al-Ruzami surrendered to Yemeni authorities after tribal mediators worked out a deal with the government.[72] Phase 3: November 2005 – 2006 [ edit ] Fighting broke out in November 2005 and continued until early 2006. The pro-government Hamdan tribe, led by Sheikh Abdullah al-Awjari, battled with pro-Houthi tribes and Houthis tried to assassinate a Ministry of Justice official in Dhamar[citation needed]. The fighting ended before the Presidential elections that year[73] and in March 2006, the Yemeni government freed more than 600 captured Shī'a fighters.[74] There was no data with regards to casualties in 2006, but they were said to be significantly lower than those of the previous year.[42] Phase 4: January–June 2007 [ edit ] Fighting broke out on 28 January 2007, when militants attacked a number of government installations, killing six soldiers and injuring 20 more.[75][76] Further attacks on 31 January left six more soldiers dead and 10 wounded.[77] A further ten soldiers died and 20 were wounded in an attack on an army roadblock near the Saudi Arabian border on 1 February.[78] Though there was no official confirmation of militant casualties in the attacks, government sources claim three rebel fighters were killed in a security operation following the 31 January attacks.[79] In February, the government launched a major offensive against the rebels involving 30,000 troops.[31] By 19 February, almost 200 members of the security forces and over 100 rebels had died in the fighting.[80] A further 160 rebels were killed in the subsequent two weeks.[81] A French student was also killed.[82] A ceasefire agreement was reached on 16 June 2007. The rebel leaders agreed to lay down arms and go into exile in Qatar (by whom the agreement had been mediated), while the government agreed to release rebel prisoners, help pay for reconstruction and assist with IDPs returning home.[83] In total some 1,500 people were killed by the conflict in 2007, including 800 government troops, 600 rebels and 100 civilians.[42] Phase 5: March–July 2008 [ edit ] Armed incidents resumed in April 2008, when seven Yemeni soldiers died in a rebel ambush on 29 April.[84] On 2 May, 15 worshippers were killed and 55 wounded in a bombing at the Bin Salman Mosque in Sa'dah as crowds of people left Friday prayers. The government blamed the rebels for the bombing, but the Houthis denied responsibility.[66][85] Shortly after the attack, three soldiers and four rebels died in overnight skirmishes.[86] On 12 May, clashes between Yemeni soldiers and rebels near the border with Saudi Arabia killed 13 soldiers and 26 rebels.[87] During fighting in May 2008, a total of 1,000 government forces were killed and 3,000 injured. Some 70,000 people were displaced by the fighting.[42] President Saleh declared an end to fighting in the northern Sa'dah governorate on 17 July 2008.[88] Phase 6: Operation Scorched Earth, August 2009 – February 2010 [ edit ] On 11 August 2009, the government promised to use an "iron fist" against the rebels. The Yemeni troops, backed by tanks and fighter aircraft, launched a fresh offensive, code-named Operation Scorched Earth,[89] against the Houthis in the northern Sa'ada province. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced by the fighting. On 17 September, more than 80 people were killed in an air raid on a camp for displaced people in northern Yemen.[90] The conflict took on an international dimension late in the month. Clashes were reported between the Houthis and Saudi security forces near the border.[91] Also, Yemeni officials captured a boat in the Red Sea that was transporting anti-tank shells and, according to some reports, five Iranian "instructors" sent to help the Houthis.[92] Various official Iranian sources responded, calling this claim a politically motivated fabrication, and stating that the ship was traveling for business activities carrying no consignment.[93] In early November the rebels stated that Saudi Arabia was permitting Yemeni army units to launch attacks from across the border at a base in Jabal al-Dukhan, charges which were denied by the Yemeni government.[94] In late October, heavy clashes in the area of Razih led to the Houthis capturing two military headquarters and killing Yemeni General Amr Ali Mousa Al-Uuzali.[28] In early November, General Ali Salem al-Ameri and regional security chief Ahmed Bawazeir were killed in a Houthi ambush as they were returning from Saudi Arabia.[29] Attacking Saudi Arabian Borders, 4 November 2009 [ edit ] The conflict took on an international dimension on 4 November 2009 when the Houthis attacked the Saudi border, killed one of the Saudi border guards, seized Al Khubah Village and other villages.[95] The Houthis accuse Saudi Arabia of supporting the Yemeni government in attacks against them. It was not clear what type of support they meant. The Saudi government denied this.[95] The rebels shot dead a Saudi security officer in a cross-border attack. The rebels took control of a mountainous section inside Saudi Arabia, in the border region of Jabal al-Dukhan[91] and occupied two villages inside Saudi territory.[96][97] The houthis had entered Saudi territory and attacked patrols, and that a second soldier later died from wounds sustained in the same clash.[98][99] On 5 November, Saudi Arabia responded by launching heavy air strikes on rebels in northern Yemen, and moved troops nearer the border. Saudi government officials said only that the air force had bombed Yemeni rebels who had seized a border area inside the kingdom, which they said had now been recaptured. The officials said at least 40 rebels had been killed in the fighting. The Saudi government adviser said no decision had yet been taken to send troops across the border, but made clear Riyadh was no longer prepared to tolerate the Yemeni rebels.[98] The Saudi assault continued the following day, as Saudi residents near the southern border of Jizan Province were evacuated.[100] At the same time, a Houthi spokesman reported to the media that they had captured Saudi troops.[101] On 16 November, Yemen forces killed two Houthi commanders, Abbas Aaida and Abu Haider. On 19 November, Yemeni forces took control of al-Malaheez, killing the local commander Ali al-Qatwani.[102] Houthi leaders claim that United States involvement in the war started on 14 December 2009 when the US launched 28 air raids.[8] At least 120 people were killed and 44 injured by the alleged US air raids on the regions of Amran, Hajjah and Sa'dah in northern Yemen. Houthis claimed air raids on 18 December killed 63 civilians, including 28 children and injured at least 90 people.[103] U.S. President Barack Obama claimed he had authorised the strikes against al-Qaeda.[104] On 20 December, Saudi air strike killed some civilians. According to a spokesman for the Houthis, a Saudi attack killed 54 people in the town of Al Nadheer in the northern province of Sa'dah. The group also claimed that Saudi forces were advancing on the nearby town of Zawa, also in Sa'dah, and had fired more than 200 shells.[105] On 22 December, the Houthis stated that they managed to repulse Saudi Arabian forces trying to infiltrate into the province of Sa'dah, killing an unspecified number of Saudi soldiers in a battle in the border region.[106] The fighting between Yemeni and Saudi forces and Houthis killed at least 119 Yemeni government forces, 263 Houthis, 277 civilians and 7 foreign civilians.[42] Saudi casualties were confirmed at 82 at the time.[107] With more soldiers killed in subsequent clashes and missing soldiers being found dead, however, the casualties rose to 133 killed by 22 January 2010. The number of missing was put at six.[46] In early January 2010, the Houthis chose the Iraqi cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to mediate in their political standoff with the Yemeni government and to find a solution to the conflict. This choice was criticized by Saudi cleric Mohammad al-Arifi, a preacher at Riyadh's central mosque, who dismissed al-Sistani as "an infidel and debauched." The remarks by the Saudi cleric were considered extremely insulting by Shi'as around the world, causing major outrage in some Shi'a dominant countries like Iraq, Iran and Lebanon.[108][109] On 13 January 2010, Operation Blow to the Head was launched in an attempt by the government to capture the city of Sa'adah. Security forces claimed they killed 34 and arrested at least 25 Houthis, as well as killing al-Qaeda in Yemen leader Abdullah al-Mehdar in the next two weeks of fighting.[110] On 25 January 2010, the Houthis offered a truce.[111] Houthi leader Abdul Malek al-Houthi said they would stop fighting to prevent further civilian casualties and the withdrawal was a gesture for peace,[112] but warned that if the Saudis were to continue fighting the Houthis would go over into open warfare. A Saudi general announced that the Houthis had stopped fighting and were not on Saudi land anymore and that in response the Saudis also stopped fighting saying, "The battle has ended by God's will." But the Saudi king denied the Houthis had withdrawn saying they were forced out, and declared military victory for the end of their conflict with the Houthis.[113] There have however been allegations that the Saudis launched new air raids on 29 January, thus breaking the truce.[114] On 1 January the Yemeni government offered a conditional cease-fire. The cease-fire had five conditions which were the re-establishment of safe passage on roads, the surrender of mountain strongholds, a full withdrawal from all local authority property, the return of all military and public equipment seized during hostilities and the release of all the detained civilians and soldiers. On 30 January, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi released a video wherein he blamed the government for the recent round of fighting but said that: "Nevertheless, and for the fourth time, I announce our acceptance of the [government's] five conditions [for an end to the conflict] after the aggression stops... the ball is now in the other party's court."[115] After the truce was accepted on 30 January, however, there were still some clashes between the Houthis and both Saudi and Yemeni forces.[116] Therefore, on 31 January the Yemeni government rejected the truce and launched a new round of attacks, killing 24 people.[117] 2010 conflict with pro-government tribes [ edit ] In April, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam declared that rebels had captured the Manaba district in Sa'dah, with little government resistance. Government troops declared they had killed 30 Houthis who had tried to penetrate into Harf Sufyan District. On July 17, 2010, the Houthis warned on their website that the government was preparing for another offensive against the Houthis. They said the government had been digging trenches from the Sana'a to Sa'ada. They claimed the army was trying to amass servicemen in villages and that soldiers in Amshia Bsfian region were creating an army stronghold on Mount Guide. The report came as the Yemeni government blamed Houthi fighters for recent ethnic clashes which had killed 11 people, including two soldiers, and for the kidnapping of two people in a market. The Houthis have denied these allegations and have claimed that it was the work of the government.[118] On July 20, 2010, clashes broke out between Houthis and members of an army-backed tribe, led by Sheikh Sagheer Aziz, in the region of Souffian. A Houthi commander declared that the clashes had broken out because of Yemeni Army attacks on Houthis and local pro-Houthi tribes. Forty-nine people were reported killed in the clashes, including 20 tribal and 10 Houthi fighters. The Houthis also managed to surround the Yemeni military bases in the region.[119] Over the following days the Yemeni army and pro-government Bin Aziz tribes continued to clash with the Houthis. The government claimed that in the following two days, 20 fighters were killed on each side. A Houthi spokesman denied these claims, stating only three Houthi fighters had been killed in the clashes. Both sides have blamed each other for starting the clashes.[120] The UN expressed great concern about the situation in North Yemen.[121] On July 23, Houthi spokesman Vayf-Allah al-Shami said calm had returned to the region and that a government committee was trying to mediate a cease-fire between the Houthis and the Bin Aziz tribes in the Souffian region.[122] On July 27, Houthis seized a military post at al-Zaala in Harf Sufyan, capturing 200 soldiers of the army's Republican Guard. Tribal sources claimed they had inflicted 200 fatalities on the Houthis in al-Amsheya while suffering only 30 dead themselves. Houthi spokesman Abdul Salam denied the high number of killed and said the claims were highly exaggerated. Houthis said they recovered the bodies of 17 of their fighters, including that of rebel commander Abu Haidar, near the house of Sheikh Saghir Aziz in Al-Maqam, near Al-Zaala.[123] On July 29, the Houthis released the 200 soldiers they had captured as a goodwill gesture. In total some 70 people had died since the clashes started.[124] On November 22, one soldier was killed and two wounded in a roadside bombing. The next day 23 Houthi fighters and supporters were killed and 30 injured by a car bomb targeting a Shi'a religious procession in al-Jawf province.[125][126] On November 26, two Shi'a mourners were killed and eight injured by a bomb while on their way to Sa'adah city to attend Badreddin al-Houthi's funeral.[126] In total, between 195 and 281 people were killed during this round violence, with the majority of the casualties on the Houthi side.[127] 2011 Yemeni Revolution [ edit ] A major demonstration by over 16,000 protestors took place in Sana'a on 27 January.[128] On 2 February, President Saleh announced he would not run for reelection in 2013 and that he would not pass power to his son. On 3 February, 20,000 people protested against the government in Sana'a,[129][130] and others in Aden,[131] in a "Day of Rage" called for by Tawakel Karman.[132] On the same day, soldiers, armed members of the General People's Congress and many others held a pro-government counter-demonstration in Sana'a.[133] On February 27, Abdul Malik al-Houthi announced support for the pro-democracy protests and the effort to effect regime change, as had happened in Tunisia and Egypt. Following these statements, large crowds of Houthis joined in protests across Northern Yemen.[134] Houthi fighters entered Sa'ada on March 19,[135] engaging in a drawn out battle with the pro-government forces of Sheikh Uthman Mujalli.[136] They seized control of the city on March 24,[19] after destroying Sheikh Mujalli's house[136] and forcing the local governor to flee.[20] The Houthis established military checkpoints at the entrances to the city[136] after police deserted their posts and were relocated to army camps elsewhere.[21] On March 26, Houthi rebels declared the creation of their own administration in Saada Governorate, independent from Yemeni authorities. A former arms dealer was appointed governor by the Houthis, the previous governor having fled to Sanaa.[20][21] On July 8, 23 people were killed in fighting between the Houthis and the opposition Islah party in al-Jawf governorate. The fighting erupted after the governor of al-Jawf fled, opposition tribes took control of the governorate, and the Houthis refused to hand over a Yemeni military base which they had seized several months earlier.[137] Fighting continued until July 11, with more than 30 people killed.[138] The Houthis claimed that some elements of the pro-Islah militias had links to al-Qaeda.[139] On July 28, over 120 people were killed as the Houthis launched an offensive to take over government buildings in al-Jawf.[140] Fighting in Jawf lasted for four months, in which time Sunni tribes claimed to have killed 470 Houthis, while acknowledging 85 casualties of their own.[141] The Houthis eventually took control of al-Jawf governorate.[142] In August a car-bombing killed 14 Houthis in al-Jawf. [143] Although the Houthis initially blamed the US and Israel for the bombing, al-Qaeda eventually claimed responsibility,[144] the organization having declared a holy war against the Houthis earlier that year.[145] In early November clashes erupted between Houthis and a Salafi group in Sa'dah, leaving one Salafist dead.[146] On November 9, after several days of heavy fighting, the Houthis managed to break through defense lines of the pro-government Kashir and Aahm tribes in Hajjah Governorate, seizing control of the Kuhlan Ash Sharaf District and advancing towards the port of Midi, thereby gaining access to the sea. Through Hajjah, the Houthis would be able to launch an assault on the Yemeni capital Sana'a.[147] By taking Kuhlan Ash Sharaf, the Houthis managed to gain control over a highway linking San'a to the sea.[142] On November 15, clashes between Houthis and Islah party militia restarted in al-Jawf, after an Islah party member tried to blow himself up during the al-Ghadeer festival, in Al Maton District but was captured and killed by the Houthis. A total of 10 people died in the ensuing fighting.[148] On December 19, Houthis stormed a Sunni Islamist school in the Shaharah District of 'Amran governorate, injuring one teacher and expelling all teachers and students from the school. Houthis then took up positions inside the school.[149] On 23 November, Saleh signed a power-transfer agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh, under which he would transfer his power to his Vice-President within 30 days and leave his post as president by February 2012, in exchange for immunity from prosecution.[150][151] Although the GCC deal was accepted by the JMP, it was rejected by many of the protesters and the Houthis.[152][153] A presidential election was held in Yemen on 21 February 2012. With a reported 65 percent turnout, Abdrabbuh Mansur al-Hadi won 99.8% of the vote, and took the oath of office in Yemen's parliament on 25 February 2012. Saleh returned home the same day to attend Hadi's presidential inauguration.[154] After months of protests, Saleh had resigned from the presidency and formally transferred power to his successor, marking the end of his 33-year rule.[155] Throughout the year, some 200 people were killed in clashes between Houthis and Salafi militias in Sa'dah province.[156] On February 26, 2012, heavy fighting occurred in Hajjah governorate as Houthis fought Sunni tribesmen loyal to the Al-Islah party. At least seven fighters from the Hojjor tribe were killed and nine others injured, while in the Ahem area nine bodies were found, belonging to Houthi fighters. Houthis launched an assault backed by artillery on al-Jarabi area, al-Hazan village, al-Moshaba mountain, and Ahem police station to take control of the al-Moshaba mountain. Parts of the Kushar District were put under siege[157] since clashes erupted in that province between Houthis and the al-Zakari tribe in November.[158] In early February, over 55 people had been killed during sectarian violence in Kushar.[159] During February and March some 27 people were killed and 36 injured due to mines in Hajjah. A total of 600 were killed in clashes in Hajjah between November 2011 and April 2012, mainly in Kushar and Mustaba Districts.[160] On March 8, a high-ranking military commander and six of his bodyguards were killed by Houthi gunmen in the northern province of Amran.[161] On March 23, a suicide bomber targeted a Houthi march in Sa'dah, no casualties were reported.[162] On March 25, some 14 people were killed and three injured in a car bombing in al-Hazm of al-Jawf province, targeting a Shi'a gathering near a school.[163] Another 8 Houthis were killed in an attack by Salafis on April 21.[164] From June 2 to June 4, Houthis clashed with Salafi militias in Kataf district leaving several dead.[165] Houthis claim to have taken over three Salafi positions and confiscated Saudi weapons during the clash.[166] On August 21, clashes broke out between Houthis and tribes in Ash Shahil District of Hajjah after Houthis allegedly shot two women in the district. As the fighting broke out, Houthis retreated from al-Amroor area and retreated to the mountains between Janeb al-Sham and Janeb al-Yemen. Houthis were said to control several mountains in the region including mount Azzan and the governorate center that overlooks al-Mahabishah, Qafl Shamer and Ku'aydinah Districts. A truce was signed between the two sides on August 30.[167] Clashes reignited on September 6 and Houthis managed to seize control of five schools, a medical center and a police station. Some 30 people were killed in the battles.[168] Afterwards Houthis claimed civilian areas were being shelled by al-Islah, while MP Ali al-Ma'amari accused Houthis of killing a worker from Taiz.[169] In September and October, Houthis led many protests in Sana'a as part of the 2012 Anti-US protests caused by the release of Innocence of Muslims. Houthi slogans were hung all across the old city of Sana'a and Shi'a majority areas during the protests.[170] This has led to Houthis expanding their control in
novels of his generation, to a young Jewish boy who was destined to film the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. I was meeting men and women whom I should know for decades to come, who were to form the first sustained relationships in my life. I sat in a corner and listened while they discussed their magazine, Left Front. Were they treating me courteously because I was a Negro? I must let cold reason guide me with these people, I told myself. I was asked to contribute something to the magazine, and I said vaguely that I would consider it. After the meeting I met an Irish girl who worked for an adverting agency, a girl who did social work, a schoolteacher, and the wife of a prominent university professor. I had once worked as a servant for people like these and I was skeptical. I tried to fathom their motives, but I could detect no condescension in them. 2 I went home full of reflection, probing the sincerity of the strange white people, I had met, wondering how they really regarded Negroes. I lay on my bed and read the magazines and was amazed to find that there did exist in this world an organized search for the truth of the lives of the oppressed and the isolated. When I had begged bread from the officials, I had wondered dimly if the outcasts could become united in action, thought, and feeling. Now I knew. It was being done in one sixth of the earth already. The revolutionary words leaped from the printed page and struck me with tremendous force. It was not the economics of Communism, nor the great power of trade unions, nor the excitement of underground politics that claimed me; my attention was caught by the similarity of the experiences of workers in other lands, by the possibility of uniting scattered but kindred peoples into a whole. It seemed to me that here at last, in the realm of revolutionary expression, Negro experience could find a home, a functioning value and role. Out of the magazines I read came a passionate call for the experiences of the disinherited, and there were none of the lame lispings of the missionary in it. It did not say: “Be like us and we like you, maybe.” It said: “If you possess enough courage to speak out what you are, you will find that you are not alone.” It urged life to believe in life. I read into the night; then, toward dawn, I swung from bed and inserted paper into the typewriter. Feeling for the first time that I could speak to listening ears, I wrote a wild, crude poem in free verse, coining images of black hands playing, working, holding bayonets, stiffening finally in death. I felt that in a clumsy way it linked white life with black, merged two streams of common experience. I heard someone poking about the kitchen. “Richard, are you ill?” my mother called. “No. I’m reading.” My mother opened the door and stared curiously at the pile of magazines that lay upon my pillow. “You’re not throwing away money buying those magazines, are you?” she asked. “No. They were given to me.” She hobbled to the bed on her crippled legs and picked up a copy of the Masses that carried a lurid May Day cartoon. She adjusted her glasses and peered at it for a long time. “My God in heaven,” she breathed in horror. “What’s the matter, Mama?” “What is this?” she asked, extending the magazine to me, pointing to the cover. “What’s wrong with that man?” With my mother standing at my side, lending me her eyes, I stared at a cartoon drawn by a Communist artist; it was the figure of a worker clad in ragged overalls and holding aloft a red banner. The man’s eyes bulged; his mouth gaped as wide as his face; his teeth showed; the muscles of his neck were like ropes. Following the man was a horde of nondescript men, women, and children, waving clubs, stones, and pitchforks. “What are those people going to do?” my mother asked. “I don’t know,” I hedged. “Are these Communist magazines?” “Yes.” “And do they want people to act like this?” “Well —“ I hesitated. My mother’s face showed disgust and moral loathing. She was a gentle woman. Her ideal was Christ upon the cross. How could I tell her that the Communist Party wanted her to march in the streets, chanting, singing? “What do Communists think people are?” she asked. “They don’t quite mean what you see there,” I said, fumbling with my words. “Then what do they mean?” “This is symbolic,” I said. “Then why don’t they speak out what they mean?” “Maybe they don’t know how.” “Then why do they print this stuff?” “They don’t quite know how to appeal to people yet,” I admitted, wondering whom I could convince of this if I could not convince my mother. “That picture’s enough to drive a body crazy,” she said, dropping the magazine, turning to leave, then pausing at the door. “You’re not getting mixed up with those people?” “I’m just reading, Mama,” I dodged. My mother left and I brooded upon the fact that I had not been able to meet her simple challenge. I looked again at the cover of the Masses and I knew that the wild cartoon did not reflect the passions of the common people. I reread the magazine and was convinced that much of the expression embodied what the artists thought would appeal to others, what they thought would gain recruits. They had a program, an ideal, but they had not yet found a language. Here, then, was something that I could do, reveal, say. The Communists, I felt, had oversimplified the experience of those whom they sought to lead. In their efforts to recruit masses, they had missed the meaning of the lives of the masses, had conceived of people in too abstract a manner. I would try to put some of that meaning back. I would tell Communists how common people felt, and I would tell common people of the self-sacrifice of Communists who strove for unity among them. The editor of Left Front accepted two of my crude poems for publication, sent two of them to Jack Conroy’s Anvil, and sent another to the New Masses, the successor of the Masses. Doubts still lingered in my mind. “Don’t send them if you think they aren’t good enough,” I said to him. “They’re good enough,” he said. “Are you doing this to get me to join up?” I asked. “No,” he said. “Your poems are crude, but good for us. You see, we’re all new in this. We write articles about Negroes, but we never see any Negroes. We need your stuff.” I sat through several meetings of the club and was impressed by the scope and seriousness of its activities. The club was demanding that the government create jobs for unemployed artists; it planned and organized art exhibits; it raised funds for the publication of Left Front; and it sent scores of speakers to trade-union meetings. The members were fervent, democratic, restless, eager, self-sacrificing. I was convinced, and my response was to set myself the task of making Negroes know what Communists were. I got the notion of writing a series of biographical sketches of Negro Communists. I told no one of my intentions, and I did not know how fantastically naïve my ambition was. 3 I had attended but a few meetings before I realized that a bitter factional fight was in progress between two groups of members of the club. Sharp arguments rose at every meeting. I noticed that a small group of painters actually led the club and dominated its policies. The group of writers that centered in Left Front resented the leadership of the painters. Being primarily interested in Left Front, I sided in simple loyalty with the writers. Then came a strange development. The Left Front group declared that the incumbent leadership did not reflect the wishes of the club. A special meeting was called and a motion was made to reelect an executive secretary. When nominations were made for the office, my name was included. I declined the nomination, telling the members that I was too ignorant of their aims to be seriously considered. The debate lasted all night. A vote was taken in the early hours of morning by a show of hands, and I was elected. Later I learned what had happened: the writers of the club had decided to use me to oust the painters, who were party members, from the leadership of the club. Without my knowledge and consent, they confronted the members of the party with a Negro, knowing that it would be difficult for Communists to refuse to vote for a man representing the largest single racial minority in the nation, inasmuch as Negro equality was one of the main tenets of Communism. As the club’s leader, I soon learned the nature of the fight. The Communists had secretly organized a “fraction” in the club; that is, a small portion of the club’s members were secret members of the Communist Party. They would meet outside of the club meetings the sheer strength of their arguments usually persuaded non-party members to vote with them. The crux of the fight was the nonparty members resented the excessive demands made upon the club by the local party authorities through the fraction. The demands of the local party authorities for money, speakers, and poster painters were so great that the publication of Left Front was in danger. Many young writers had joined the club because of their hope of publishing in Left Front, and when the Communist Party sent word through the fraction that the magazine should be dissolved, the writers rejected the decision, an act which was interpreted as hostility toward party authority. I pleaded with the party members for a more liberal program for the club. Feelings waxed violent and bitter. Then the showdown came. I was informed that if I wanted to continue as secretary of the club I should have to join the Communist Party. I stated that I favored a policy that allowed for the development of writers and artists. My policy was accepted. I signed the membership card. One night a Jewish chap appeared at one of our meetings and introduced himself as Comrade Young of Detroit. He told us that he was a member of the Communist Party, a member of the Detroit John Reed Club, that he planned to make his home in Chicago. He was a short, friendly, black-haired, well-read fellow with hanging lips and bulging eyes. Shy of forces to execute the demands of the Communist Party, we welcomed him. But I could not make out Young’s personality; whenever I asked him a simple question, he looked off and stammered a confused answer. I decided to send his references to the Communist Party for checking and forthwith named him for membership in the club. He’s O.K., I thought. Just a queer artist. After the meeting Comrade Young confronted me with a problem. He had no money, he said, and asked if he could sleep temporarily on the club’s premises. Believing him loyal, I gave him permission. Straightway Young became one of the most ardent members of the organization, admired by all. His paintings — which I did not understand —impressed our best artists. No report about Young had come from the Communist Party, but since Young seemed a conscientious worker, I did not think the omission serious in any case. At a meeting one night Young asked that his name be placed upon the agenda; when his time came to speak, he rose and launched into one of the most violent and bitter political attacks in the club’s history upon Swann, one of the best young artists. We were aghast. Young accused Swann of being a traitor to the worker, an opportunist, a collaborator with the police, and an adherent of Trotsky. Naturally most of the club’s members assumed that Young, a member of the party, was voicing the ideas of the party. Surprised and baffled, I moved that Young’s statement be referred to the executive committee for decision. Swann rightfully protested; he declared that he had been attacked in public and would answer in public. It was voted that Swann should have the floor. He refuted Young’s wild charges, but the majority of the club’s members were bewildered, did not know whether to believe him or not. We all liked Swann, did not believe him guilty of any misconduct; but we did not want to offend the party. A verbal battle ensued. Finally the members who had been silent in deference to the party rose and demanded of me that the foolish charges against Swann be withdrawn. Again I moved that the matter be referred to the executive committee, and again my proposal was voted down. The membership had now begun to distrust the party’s motives. They were afraid to let an executive committee, the majority of whom were party members, pass upon the charges made by party member Young. A delegation of members asked me later if I had anything to do with Young’s charges. I was so hurt and humiliated that I disavowed all relations with Young. Determined to end the farce, I cornered Young and demanded to know who had given him authority to castigate Swann. “I’ve been asked to rid the club of traitors.” “But Swann isn’t a traitor,” I said. “We must have a purge,” he said, his eyes bulging, his face quivering with passion. I admitted his great revolutionary fervor, but I felt that his zeal was a trifle excessive. The situation became worse. A delegation of members informed me that if the charges against Swann were not withdrawn, they would resign in a body. I was frantic. I wrote to the Communist Party to ask why orders had been issued to punish Swann, and a reply came back that no such orders had been issued. Then what was Young up to? Who was prompting him? I finally begged the club to let me place the matter before the leaders of the Communist Party. After a violent debate, my proposal was accepted. One night ten of us met in an office of a leader of the party to hear Young restate his charges against Swann. The party leader, aloof and amused, gave Young the signal to begin. Young unrolled a sheaf of papers and declaimed a list of political charges that excelled in viciousness his previous charges. I starred at Young, feeling that he was making a dreadful mistake, but fearing him because he had, by his own account, the sanction of high political authority. When Young finished, the party leader asked, “Will you allow me to read these charges?” “Of course,” said Young, surrendering a copy of his indictment. “You may keep that copy. I have ten carbons.” “Why did you make so many carbons?” the leader asked. “I didn’t want anyone to steal them,” Young said. “If this man’s charges against me are taken seriously,” Swann said, “I’ll resign an publicly denounce the club.” “You see!” Young yelled. “He’s with the police!” I was sick. The meeting ended with a promise from the party leader to read the charges carefully and render a verdict as to whether Swann should be placed on trial or not. I was convinced that something was wrong, but I could not figure it out. One afternoon I went to the club to have a long talk with Young; but when I arrived, he was not there. Nor was he there the next day. For a week I sought Young in vain. Meanwhile the club’s members asked his whereabouts and they would not believe me when I told them I did not know. Was he ill? Had he been picked up by the police? One afternoon Comrade Grimm and I sneaked into the club’s headquarters and opened Young’s luggage. What we saw amazed and puzzled us. First of all, there was a scroll of paper twenty yards long — one page pasted to another — which had drawings depicting the history of the human race from a Marxist point of view. The first page read: A Pictorial Record of Man’s Economic Progress. “This is terribly ambitious,” I said. “He’s very studious,” Grimm said. There were long dissertations written in longhand: some were political and others dealt with the history of art. Finally we found a letter with a Detroit return address and I promptly wrote asking news of our esteemed member. A few days later a letter came which said in part: — Dear Sir: In reply to your letter, we beg to inform you that Mr. Young, who was a patient in our institution and who escaped from our custody a few months ago, had been apprehended and returned to this institution for mental treatment. I was thunderstruck. Was this true? Undoubtedly it was. Then what kind of club did we run that a lunatic could step into it and help run it? Were we all so mad that we could not detect a madman when we saw one? I made a motion that all charges against Swann be dropped, which was done. I offered Swann an apology, but as the leader of the Chicago John Reed Club I was a sobered and chastened Communist. 4 The Communist Party fraction in the John Reed Club instructed me to ask my party cell — or “unit,” as it was called — to assign me to fully duty in the work of the club. I was instructed to give my unit a report of my activities, writing, organizing, speaking. I agreed and wrote the report. A unit, membership in which is obligatory for all Communists, is the party’s basic form of organization. Unit meetings are held on certain nights which are kept secret for fear of police raids. Nothing treasonable occurs at these meetings; but once one is a Communist, one does not have to be guilty of wrongdoing to attract the attention of the police. I went to my first unit meeting — which was held in the Black Belt of the South Side —and introduced myself to the Negro organizer. “Welcome, comrade,” he said, grinning. “We’re glad to have a writer with us.” “I’m not much of a writer,” I said. The meeting started. About twenty Negroes were gathered. The time came for me to make my report and I took out my notes and told them how I had come to join the party, what few stray items I had published, what my duties were in the John Reed Club. I finished and waited for comment. There were silence. I looked about. Most of the comrades sat with bowed heads. Then I was surprised to catch a twitching smile on the lips of a Negro woman. Minutes passed. The Negro woman lifted her head and looked at the organizer. The organizer smothered a smile. Then the woman broke into unrestrained laughter, bending forward and burying her face in her hands. I stared. Had I said something funny? “What’s the matter?” I asked. The giggling became general. The unit organizer, who had been dallying with his pencil, looked up. “It’s all right, comrade,” he said. “We’re glad to have a writer in the party.” There was more smothered laughter. What kind of people were these? I had made a serious report and now I heard giggles. “I did the best I could,” I said uneasily. “I realize that writing is not basic or important. But, give time, I think I can make a contribution.” “We know you can, comrade,” the black organizer said. His tone was more patronizing than that of a Southern white man. I grew angry. I thought I knew these people, but evidently I did not. I wanted to take issue with their attitude, but caution urged me to talk it over with others first. During the following days I learned through discreet questioning that I had seemed a fantastic element to the black Communists. I was shocked to hear that I, who had been only to grammar school, had been classified as an intellectual. What was an intellectual? I had never heard the word used in the sense in which it was applied to me. I had thought that they might refuse me on the ground that I was not politically advanced; I had thought they might say I would have to be investigated. But they had simply laughed. I learned, to my dismay, that the black Communists in my unit had commented upon my shined shoes, my clean shirt, and the tie I had worn. Above all, my manner of speech had seemed an alien thing to them. “He talks like a book,” one of the Negro comrades had said. And that was enough to condemn me forever as bourgeois. 5 In my party work I met a Negro Communist, Ross, who was under indictment for “inciting to riot.” Ross typified the effective street agitator. Southern-born, he had migrated north and his life reflected the crude hopes and frustrations of the peasant in the city. Distrustful but aggressive, he was a bundle of the weaknesses and virtues of a man struggling blindly between two societies, of a man living on the margin of a culture. I felt that if I could get his story I could make known some of the difficulties inherent in the adjustment of a folk people to an urban environment; I should make his life more intelligible to others than it was to himself. I approached Ross and explained my plan. He was agreeable. He invited me to his home, introduced me to his Jewish wife, his young son, his friends. I talked to Ross for hours, explaining what I was about, cautioning him not to relate anything that he did not want to divulge. “I’m after the things that made you a Communist. I said. Word spread in the Communist Party that I was taking notes on the life of Ross, and strange things began to happen. A quiet black Communist came to my home one night and called me out to the street to speak to me in private. He made a prediction about my future that frightened me. “Intellectuals don’t fit well into the party, Wright,” he said solemnly. “But I’m not an intellectual,” I protested. “I sweep the streets for a living.” I had just been assigned by the relief system to sweep the streets for thirteen dollars a week. “That doesn’t make any difference,” he said. “We’ve kept records of the trouble we’ve had with intellectuals in the past. It’s estimated that only 13 per cent of them remain in the party.” “Why do they leave, since you insist upon calling me an intellectual?” I asked. “Most of them drop out of their own accord.” “Well, I’m not dropping out,” I said. “Some are expelled,” he hinted gravely. “For what?” “General opposition to the party’s policies,” he said. “But I’m not opposing anything in the party.” “You’ll have to prove your revolutionary loyalty.” “How?” “The party has a way of testing people.” “Well, talk. What is this?” “How do you react to police?” “I don’t react to them,” I said. “I’ve never been bothered by them.” “Do you know Evans?” he asked, referring to a local militant, Negro Communist. “Yes. I’ve seen him; I’ve met him.” “Did you notice that he was injured?” “Yes. His head was bandaged.” “He got that wound from the police in a demonstration,” he explained. “That’s proof of revolutionary loyalty.” “Do you mean that I must get whacked over the head by cops to prove that I’m sincere?” I asked. “I’m not suggesting anything,” he said. “I’m explaining.” “Look. Suppose a cop whacks me over the head and I suffer a brain concussion. Suppose I’m nuts after that. Can I write then? What shall I have proved?” He shook his head. “The Soviet Union has had to shoot a lot of intellectuals,” he said. “Good God!” I exclaimed. “Do you know what you’re saying? You’re not in Russia. You’re standing on a sidewalk in Chicago. You talk like a man lost in a fantasy.” “You’ve heard of Trotsky, haven’t you?” he asked. “Yes.” “Do you know what happened to him?” “He was banished from the Soviet Union,” I said. “Do you know why?” “Well,” I stammered, trying not to reveal my ignorance of politics, for I had not followed the details of Trotsky’s fight against the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, “it seems that after a decision had been made, he broke that decision by organizing against the party.” “It was for counter-revolutionary activity,” he snapped impatiently; I learned afterwards that my answer had not been satisfactory, had not been couched in the acceptable phrases of bitter, anti-Trotsky denunciation. “I understand,” I said. “But I’ve never read Trotsky. What his stand on minorities?” “Why ask me?” he asked. “I don’t read Trotsky.” “Look,” I said. “If you found me reading Trotsky, what would that mean to you?” “Comrade, you don’t understand,” he said in an annoyed tone. That ended the conversation. But that was not the last was not the last time I was to hear the phrase: “Comrade, you don’t understand.” I had not been aware of holding wrong ideas. I had not read any of Trotsky’s works; indeed, the very opposite had been true. It had been Stalin’s National and Colonial Question that had captured my interest. Of all the developments in the Soviet Union, the way scores of backward peoples had been led to unity on a national scale was what had enthralled me. I had read with awe how the Communists had sent phonetic experts into the vast regions of Russia to listen to the stammering dialects of people oppressed for centuries by the tsars. I had made the first total emotional commitment of my life when I read how the phonetic experts had given these tongueless people a language, newspapers, institutions. I had read how these forgotten folk had been encouraged to keep their old cultures, to see in their ancient customs meaning and satisfactions as deep as those contained in supposedly superior ways of living. And I had exclaimed to myself how different this was from the way in which Negroes were sneered at in America. Then what was the meaning of the warning I had received from the black Communist? Why was I a suspected man because I wanted to reveal the vast physical and spiritual ravages of Negro life, the profundity latent in these rejected people, the dramas as old as man and the sun and the mountains and the seas that were taking place in the poverty of black America? What was the danger in showing the kinship between the sufferings of the Negro and the sufferings of other people? 6 I sat one morning in Ross’s home with his wife and child. I was scribbling furiously upon my yellow sheets of paper. The doorbell rang and Ross’s wife admitted a black Communist, one Ed Green. He was tall, taciturn, soldierly, square-shouldered. I was introduced to him and he nodded stiffly. “What’s happening here?” he asked stiffly. Ross explained my project to him, and as Ross talked I could see Ed Green’s face darken. He had not sat down and when Ross’s wife offered him a chair he did not hear her. “What’re you going to do with these notes?” he asked me. “I hope to weave them into stories,” I said. “What’re you asking the party members?” “About their lives in general.” “Who suggested this to you?” he asked. “Nobody. I thought of it myself.” “Were you ever a member of any other political group?” “I worked with the Republicans once,” I said. “I mean, revolutionary organizations?” he asked. “No. Why do you ask?” “What kind of work do you do?” “I sweep the streets for a living.” “How far did you go in school?” “Through the grammar grades.” “You talk like a man who went further than that,” he said. “I’ve read books. I taught myself.” “I don’t know,” he said, looking off. “What do you mean?” I asked. “What’s wrong?” “To whom have you shown this material?” “I’ve shown it to no one yet.” What was the meaning of his questions? Naively I thought that he himself would make a good model for a biographical sketch. “I’d like to interview you next,” I said. “I’m not interested,” he snapped. His manner was so rough that I did not urge him. He called Ross into a rear room. I sat feeling that I was guilty of something. In a few minutes Ed Green returned, stared at me wordlessly, then marched out. “Who does he think he is?” I asked Ross. “He’s a member of the Central Committee,” Ross said. “But why does he act like that?” “Oh, he always like that,” Ross said uneasily. There was a long silence. “He’s wondering what you’re doing with this material,” Ross said finally. I looked at him. He, too, had been captured by suspicion. He was trying to hide the fear in his face. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” I said. That seemed to soothe him for a moment. But the seed of doubt had already been planted. I felt dizzy. Was I mad? Or were these people mad? “You see, Dick,” Ross’s wife said, “Ross is under an indictment. Ed Green is the representative of the International Labor Defense for the South Side. It’s his duty to keep track of the people he’s trying to defend. He wanted to know if Ross has given you anything that could be used against him in court.” I was speechless. “What does he think I am?” I demanded. There was no answer. “You lost people!” I cried, and banged my fist on the table. Ross was shaken and ashamed. “Aw, Ed Green’s just supercautious,” he mumbled. “Ross,” I asked, “do you trust me?” “Oh yes,” he said uneasily. We two black men sat in the same room looking at each other in fear. Both of us were hungry. Both of us depended upon public charity to eat and for a place to sleep. Yet we had more doubt in our hearts of each other than of the men who had cast the mold of our lives. I continued to take notes on Ross’s life, but each successive morning found him more reticent. I pitied him and did not argue with him, for I knew that persuasion would not nullify his fears. Instead I sat and listened to him and his friends tell tales of Southern Negro experience, noting them down in my mind, not daring to ask questions for fear they would become alarmed. In spite of their fears, I became drenched in the details of their lives. I gave up the idea of the biographical sketches and settled finally upon writing a series of short stories, using the material I had got from Ross and his friends, building upon it, inventing. I wove a tale of a group of black boys trespassing upon the property of a white man and the lynching that followed. The story was published in an anthology under the title of “Big Boy Leaves Home,” but its appearance came too late to influence the Communists who were questioning the use to which I was putting their lives. My fitful work assignments from the relief officials ceased and I looked for work that did not exist. I borrowed money to ride to and fro on the club’s business. I found a cramped attic for my mother and aunt and brother behind some railroad tracks. At last the relief authorities placed me in the South Side Boys’ Club and my wages were just enough to provide a bare living for my family. Then political problems rose to plague me. Ross, whose life I had tried to write, was charged by the Communist Party with “anti-leadership tendencies,” “class collaborationist attitudes,” and “ideological factionalism” — phrases so fanciful that I gaped when I heard them. And it was rumored that I, too, would face similar charges. It was believed that I had been politically influenced by him. One night a group of black comrades came to my house and ordered me to stay away from Ross. “But why?” I demanded. “He’s an unhealthy element,” they said. “Can’t you accept a decision?” “Is this a decision of the Communist Party?” “Yes,” they said. “If I were guilty of something, I’d feel bound to keep your decision,” I said. “But I’ve done nothing.” “Comrade, you don’t understand,” they said. “Members of the party do not violate the party’s decisions.” “But your decision does not apply to me,” I said. “I’ve be damned if I’ll act as if it does.” “Your attitude does not merit our trust,” they said. I was angry. “Look,” I exploded, rising and sweeping my arms at the bleak attic in which I lived. “What is it here that frightens you? You know where I work. You know what I earn. You know my friends. Now, what in God’s name is wrong?” They left with mirthless smiles which implied that I would soon know what was wrong. But there was relief from these shadowy political bouts. I found my work in the South Side Boys’ Club deeply engrossing. Each day black boys between the ages of eight and twenty-five came to swim, draw, and read. They were a wild and homeless lot, culturally lost, spiritually disinherited, candidates for the clinics, morgues, prisons, reformatories, and the electric chair of the state’s death house. For hours I listened to their talk of planes, women, guns, politics, and crime. Their figures of speech were as forceful and colorful as any ever use by English-speaking people. I kept pencil and paper in my pocket to jot down their word-rhythms and reactions. These boys did not fear people to the extent that every man looked like a spy. The Communists who doubted my motives did not know these boys, their twisted dreams, their all to clear destines; and I doubted if I should ever be able to convey to them the tragedy I saw here. 7 Party duties broke into my efforts at expression. The club decided upon a conference of all the left-wing writers in the Middle West. I supported the idea and argued that the conference should deal with craft problems. My arguments were rejected. The conference, the club decided, would deal with political questions. I asked for a definition of what expected from the writers — books or political activity. Both, was the answer. Write a few hours a day and march on the picket line the other hours. The conference convened with a leading Communist attending as adviser. The question debated was: What does the Communist Party expect from the club? The answer of the Communist leader ran from organizing to writing novels. I argued that either a man organized or he wrote novels. The party leader said that both must be done. The attitude of the party leader prevailed and Left Front, for which I had worked so long, was voted out of existence. I knew now that the club was nearing its end, and I rose and stated my gloomy conclusions, recommending that the club dissolve. My “defeatism” as it was called brought upon my head the sharpest disapproval of the party leader. The conference ended with the passing of a multitude of resolutions dealing with China, India, Germany, Japan, and conditions afflicting various parts of the earth. But not one idea regarding writing had emerged. The ideas I had expounded at the conference were linked with the suspicions I had roused among the Negro Communists on the South Side, and the Communist Party was now certain that it had a dangerous enemy in its midst. It was whispered that I was trying to lead a secret group in opposition to the party. I had learned that denial of accusations was useless. It was painful to meet a Communist, for I did not know what his attitude would be. Following the conference, a national John Reed Club congress was called. It convened in the summer of 1934 with left-wing writers attending from all states. But as the sessions got under way there was a sense of looseness, bewilderment, and dissatisfaction among the writers, most of whom were young, eager, and on the verge of doing their best work. No one knew what was expected of him, and out of the congress came no unifying idea. As the congress drew to a close, I attended a caucus to plan the future of the clubs. Ten of us met in a Loop hotel room, and to my amazement the leaders of the clubs’ national board confirmed my criticisms of the manner in which the clubs had been conducted. I was excited. Now, I thought, the clubs will be given a new lease on life. Then I was stunned when I heard a nationally known Communist announce a decision to dissolve the clubs. Why? I asked. Because the clubs do not serve the new People’s Front policy, I was told. That can be remedied; the clubs can be made healthy and broad, I said. No; a bigger and better organization must be launched, one in which the leading writers of the nation could be included, they said. I was informed that the People’s Front policy was now the correct vision of life and that the clubs could no longer exist. I asked what was to become of the young writers whom the Communist Party had implored to join the clubs and who were ineligible for the new group, and there was no answer. “This thing is cold!” I exclaimed to myself. To effect a swift change in policy, the Communist Party was dumping one organization, then organizing a new scheme with entirely new people! I found myself arguing alone against the majority opinion and then I made still another amazing discovery. I saw that even those who agreed with me would not support me. At the meeting I learned that when a man was informed of the wish of the party he submitted, even though he knew with all the strength of his brain that the wish was not a wise one, was one that would ultimately harm the party’s interests. It was not courage that made me oppose the party. I simply did not know any better. It was inconceivable to me, though bred in the lap of Southern hate, that a man could not have his say. I had spent a third of my life traveling from the place of my birth to the North just to talk freely, to escape the pressure of fear. And now I was facing fear again. Before the congress adjourned, it was decided that another congress of American writers would be called in New York the following summer, 1935. I was lukewarm to the proposal and tried to make up my mind to stand alone, write alone. I was already afraid that the stories I had written would not fit into the new, official mood. Must I discard my plot-ideas and seek new ones? No. I could not. My writing was my way of seeing, my way of living, my way of feeling; and who could change his sight, his sense of direction, his senses? 8 The spring of 1935 came and the plans for the writers’ congress went on apace. For some obscure reason — it might have been to “save” me — I was urged by the local Communists to attend and I was named as a delegate. I got time off from my job at the South Side Boys’ Club and, along with several other delegates,
environment of incentives, distributed solar is nearing a cost-effectiveness threshold, when it will suddenly become an economic opportunity for millions of Americans. To read more about democratizing the electricity system, click through: ReferencesAfter weeks of speculation about players potentially being signed by the Los Angeles Lakers, the team has decided to make the signing of undrafted rookie forward Elias Harris official. The Lakers’ front office has been weighing their options in free agency over the past few weeks. Quite a few names have surfaced as potential targets for the storied NBA franchise, but Harris has seemingly stuck out amongst the rest. Harris made an impression on the Lakers’ coaching staff with his performance during the Summer League. The rookie forward averaged 14.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game with Gonzaga last season. During the Summer League, Harris averaged 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds convincing the coaching staff the 24-year-old would be a good addition to the team. The Lakers announced the signing in the following press release. [showhide type=”pressrelease”]EL SEGUNDO – The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward Elias Harris to a multi-year contract, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released. Harris, a two-time All-West Coast Conference Team selection out of Gonzaga University, helped the Bulldogs to a 32-3 record in 2012-13 and the school’s first No. 1 national ranking, averaging 14.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 27.8 minutes in 34 games. Harris’ 1,857 career points ranks fourth on the Gonzaga all-time scoring list and his 979 career rebounds are the second most in school history. In four seasons at Gonzaga, the 6-8 forward averaged 13.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 28.0 minutes in 135 games. A German native, Harris played for Team Germany in the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey and in the 2009 European Championships held in Poland. Most recently, Harris started all five games for the Lakers’ 2013 Summer League team in Las Vegas, averaging 10.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 27.0 minutes.[/showhide]I think you will agree that keeping costs down when developing online courses is a key to eLearning business stability and lasting ROI. Over the years of the JoomlaLMS company existence we have assisted many clients – small eLearning business owners and startup founders, who couldn’t afford hiring experienced instructional designers and content creators and looked for any possible means to cut the eLearning project costs. To help them we published a bunch of the JoomlaLMS workarounds to unlock the hidden functionality of the LMS system, shared partner coupons to save on authoring tools and recommended free eLearning resources for eLearning professionals. But of course, the JoomlaLMS blog is not the only source of freebies for eLearning course designers and developers. We know dozens of eLearning and EdTech websites where people share resources to create amazing online courses and, what is important, they are completely free! In this article we will share with you an amazing collection of a variety of places where you can find free eLearning images, free eLearning characters, e-learning website templates, fonts, audio and video files to cut the eLearning development costs. Enjoy! When you are about to start with eLearning course design you get overwhelmed with all the design principles, approaches and disciplines out there. To get to know all the basics you will spend years, not weeks. Fortunately for you, there is an amazing design school that helps non-designers to learn the basics without charge and shares amazing design resources such as color combinations, schemes and palettes, fonts, icons and eLearning images to download and much more. We highly recommend checking it out! https://designschool.canva.com/blog/100-color-combinations/ https://designschool.canva.com/blog/free-stock-photos/ https://designschool.canva.com/blog/free-icons-download/ https://designschool.canva.com/blog/futuristic-fonts/ Tim Slade is an award-winning eLearning designer and the owner of a popular blog where he not only constantly shares eLearning design strategies and approaches but showcases stunning resources to design and develop online courses. Here you will find everything you need to design your next project including icons, high-resolution eLearning images, e-learning website templates and fonts. https://timslade.com/blog/stock-photos-for-elearning/ https://timslade.com/blog/hero-images-for-elearning/ https://timslade.com/blog/office-images-for-elearning/ https://timslade.com/blog/computer-images-for-elearning/ https://timslade.com/blog/team-photos-for-elearning/ The 60 Totally Free Design Resources for Non-Designers, compiled by Vismeo, is another go-to collection for visual content. The blog post features 60 websites with free eLearning images, photos, icons, fonts, free photo and video editing tools. http://blog.visme.co/free-design-resources/ The collection of design tools and assets by an instructional technologist Bianca Woods is a great source of e-learning freebies to design media-rich course content and polish your design skills. http://biancawoods.weebly.com/design-tools-and-assets.html If you are looking for game design resources to produce high-quality and interactive eLearning courses, then have a look at the freebies, collected by Julie Dirksen - an independent consultant and instructional designer with more than 15 years of eLearning design experience. http://usablelearning.com/resources/game-design-for-learning/ The Teacher Toolkit is a wonderland of free resources for teachers and schools. Here you will find a bunch of resources to use in the classroom, including lesson plans, various assessment types, feedback examples and homework templates. If you are a teacher, you will be definitely spoilt for choice! http://www.teachertoolkit.me/resources/ ELearningArt is a leading provider of free eLearning images and website templates for the eLearning industry. The website is aimed at instructional designers and learning developers working on creating interactive and engaging eLearning content. In the eLearning art blog you will find not only over 40 000 eLearning assets but a bunch of interesting articles and interviews with top eLearning and edtech experts. http://elearningart.com/product-category/elearning/elearning-stock-photos/ https://elearningart.com/blog/category/adobe-captivate/ https://elearningart.com/blog/category/articulate-storyline/ https://elearningart.com/blog/free-medical-images-for-elearning/ https://elearningart.com/product-category/other-cool-stuff/tools/ The name of Connie Malamed is familiar to almost everyone in the eLearning field. Connie’s blog is a godsend for learning specialists and designers. Besides actionable strategies, expert interviews and practical pieces of advice on designing smarter learning experiences there are a lot of eLearning freebies and resources to bring your eLearning project to the next level. http://theelearningcoach.com/resources/ http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning2-0/100-elearning-freebies/ http://theelearningcoach.com/resources/icon-collection/ If you are looking for lots of Articulate freebies in one place then the E-Learning Heroes Community is what you need. Every day instructional designers from all over the world submit free resources to help each other build outstanding eLearning courses and get the most from Articulate software. Here you will find e-learning website templates, free eLearning characters, demos, quizzes, eLearning examples and assessments to create a seamless eLearning experience. You can contribute here as well. https://community.articulate.com/search?tags%5B%5D=Freebies http://blogs.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/hundreds-free-resources-build-e-learning-courses/ http://blogs.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/a-dozen-free-stock-video-sites/ https://community.articulate.com/articles/free-stock-photo-sites-for-e-learning http://blogs.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/get-free-templates-e-learning/ It is hard to come by a person who has never visited the eLearning industry website or has never heard of its owner – Christopher Pappas. The website contains articles on the eLearning topics of all sorts, including the collections of free eLearning resources for instructional designers and course creators. https://elearningindustry.com/13-icon-resources-for-elearning-designers https://elearningindustry.com/over-1000-free-elearning-resources https://elearningindustry.com/321-free-tools-for-teachers-free-educational-technology https://elearningindustry.com/free-elearning-books-the-ultimate-list The Shiftlearning blog authors post a number of articles each week aimed at people working within the eLearning industry. A great place to explore interesting eLearning ideas and find lots of free eLearning resources to produce more results on a budget. http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/296752/30-incredibly-useful-tools-resources-for-elearning-professionals http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/elearning-design-toolkit-freebies http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/free-images-for-your-elearning-courses http://info.shiftelearning.com/download-free-elearning-icon-collection ELearning Brothers don't only produce the largest collection of eLearning website templates and assets for a rapid eLearning development but also give away lots of free stuff for eLearning developers and presenters alike. The fact that the startup was named the Top 20 Learning Library by Training Industry is the most compelling evidence that the website is worth visiting. http://elearningbrothers.com/category/tips-tricks/freebies/free-storyline-templates/ http://elearningbrothers.com/free-articulate-storyline-2-templates/ http://elearningbrothers.com/free-elearning-assets-improve-elearning/ We have recommended the LearningSolutionsMag as a great eLearning resource more than once. It is worth subscribing to the blog for receiving informative eLearning articles, recent news and experts’ opinions. Another reason to join the subscribers’ list is recommendations of resources for eLearning developers, project managers and instructional designers that will be delivered straight to your inbox. https://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1826/five-resources-for-elearning-developers-little-tricks https://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1838/five-awesome-resources-for-elearning-designers-developers-and-project-managers-and-a-raffle Jackie Van Nice is an experienced instructional designer who runs her own business on creating custom eLearning. In her blogs she provides a lot of useful advice to help others to succeed in the eLearning field as well as shares free Storyline and PowerPoint templates, free eLearning images in high resolution and resources to help you speed up the eLearning development process. http://www.jackievannice.com/?page_id=175069460 There are so many websites with free resources that sometimes it gets very difficult to find valuable content your competitors don’t use. Eric Berget, a creative director at Dashe & Thomson, compiled an article featuring free “un-stocky” eLearning resources he uses personally. http://www.dashe.com/blog/free-training-resources http://www.dashe.com/blog/learning/free-e-learning-design-resources/ Another website where you can find free eLearning resources is the blog owned by Joanna Kurpiewska, an out of the box eLearning designer with 7 years of learning design experience. The freebies she shares are free to download and use in your eLearning projects. http://www.elearningdesigner.co.uk/freebies Jennifer Valley, an instructional designer whom we even interviewed for the JoomlaLMS blog also has a list of free tools and resources for eLearning she has been collecting over the years. A broad range of animation, audio, biography, collaboration, color, course authoring, documents, eLearning images, icons, infographics and meeting tools to choose from when building your next eLearning project. http://jennifervalley.blogspot.com/2015/02/free-or-cheaper-tool-and-resources-for.html The eLearning Locker website says that they help to put the Wow! back in eLearning by designing outstanding eLearning website templates, layouts, designs and graphics. The website offers a variety of media resources to amaze your learners and is worth to be bookmarked. https://elearninglocker.com/elearning-freebies/ eLearning.net is one more website where in addition to paid custom eLearning development resources there is a bunch of free stuff to download and get your eLearning development work done within a few clicks. https://elearning.net/shop/ If you are looking for a collection of websites where you can download free eLearning templates, we recommend checking out the blog post by Scott Winstead, an eLearning designer and technology expert. Here you will find a list of 10 go-to places to find great ready-made templates to make your life as an instructional designer easier. https://myelearningworld.com/e-learning-templates-sources/ We sincerely hope that the gathered collection of websites and blogs with free eLearning resources will help you design outstanding eLearning courses and engage your learners. Do you have your own personal favorites? Please tell us about them in the comments section below. And don’t forget to share the post before you get back to course creation! What to read next? 25 Blogs for Someone Who Wants To Become an ELearning Professional 15 Podcast Episodes to Help you Launch a Successful Online Courses Business How to Create an ELearning Course on a Tight Budget? 14 Lessons from Top Learning DesignersHas anyone else noticed that the split in the progressive blogosphere between those who are saying "it's a good bill in spite of everything" (Kevin Drum, Matt Yglesias, Ezra Klein, Josh Marshall, to name a few) and those who just can't bring themselves to support Liebercare (Markos and Digby come to mind, among bloggers who have been at it since 2003*) is eerily similar to the split between those who grudgingly backed the invasion of Iraq and those who fought against the war seven years ago? To a large degree, it's the same cast of characters, with the same tone to the arguments. It's the policy wonks versus the activists. On the wonky side, there is (and was, in 2003) a resigned sense that this isn't an ideal action, but that we don't live in an ideal world, and that consequently we should suck it up and support an imperfect initiative. On the other, there is (and was, in 2003) a resistance born of an awareness that Congressional Democrats will more often than not -- and often unintentionally -- screw themselves and the country, out of a misguided belief that powerful forces with agendas very different from that of the Democratic Party can be managed and trusted. It's been long enough since the invasion of Iraq that the two camps - the credulous wonks and dirty fucking hippies - have reconciled (and even interbred), but the dynamic that separated us in 2003 is the same. The fundamental difference in approach is still there. When all is said and done, the wonks trust Democratic politicians to protect our interests. The activists don't. That doesn't mean that we don't like certain Democratic politicians, or that we don't cherish our wonky brethren. It just means that we're not willing to get fooled again. ______________________ *I imagine that Jane Hamsher and most of the other bloggers calling for opposition to Liebercare also opposed the Iraq invasion, but Jane et al weren't blogging way back then, at least as far as I know.President Obama’s refusal to sign a bill defunding or delaying his health care law and Republicans’ insistence that such measures be a part of any bill to continue funding government are what precipitated the ongoing government shutdown. Both sides are staking out firm positions because they are operating on the same assumption – that once Obamacare starts to roll out subsidies on Jan. 1., it will be impossible to undo, no matter how much of a disaster it is. Based on the experience across the pond, this may be exactly right. As the Washington Examiner's Philip Klein detailed in an Oct. 3 special report from London, Britain's 65-year-old National Health Service is extraordinarily resistant to change. Throughout the decades, governments have tried to put their own stamp on the NHS, but both liberals and conservatives have balked at fundamentally changing it. This was even true of the “Iron Lady,” Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In fact, it was her Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, who famously said, "The NHS is the closest thing the English have to a religion.” The NHS doesn’t maintain its exalted status in Britain based on superior performance. As Klein reported, “Britain typically ranks poorly among developed nations when it comes to cancer outcomes. The U.S. is well ahead of the U.K. in the five-year survival rates for 22 out of 23 different types of cancers, according to data from the American Cancer Society.” Klein also detailed the recent scandal at Stafford Hospital in Britain, where as many as 1,200 unnecessary deaths were blamed in a government report on the appalling state of care. Nurses put trays of food out of the reach of immobile patients and left people to relieve themselves in their own beds instead of helping them go to the bathroom. In some cases, patients even drank out of dirty flower vases in the hallways because they couldn’t get water anywhere else. Under the Liverpool Care Pathway – first developed in the late 1990s – thousands of families were uninformed when their loved ones were removed from life support, and in extreme cases relatives were scolded by nurses for trying to give water to their dying loved ones. Yet, because the NHS is free at the point of care and available to all, there’s significant resistance within Britain to serious reforms. To be sure, there are important differences between the NHS (a system in which government runs the hospitals and pays doctors) and Obamacare (a system of compulsory, highly regulated and subsidized insurance). But the NHS certainly provides a lesson in the resilience of government health programs. Starting on Jan. 1 Obamacare will add millions of beneficiaries to Medicaid and hand out subsidies for individuals to purchase insurance. Even if the changes Obamacare is making cause severe problems for the nation’s health care system, it will become exceedingly difficult as a political matter for Republicans to strip away benefits from those already receiving them, no matter how shabby the benefits are. That is why Republicans are fighting so hard to prevent the nation from embarking on a program about which little is known except its inevitably high cost.Mr Joko said the declaration was initiated by Indonesia and contained a concrete plan to bring about a solution to the Palestine issue. He said there was an urgency for the OIC to step up support for Palestine including by: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, talks to Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir at the extraordinary Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit on Monday. Credit:AP * Strengthening political support to revive the peace process * Boycotting Israeli products produced in the Occupied Territories * Increasing pressure on the UN Security council to provide international protection for Palestine and establish a deadline for the termination of Israeli occupation * Firm rejection over the restriction of access to al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam. Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir leaves after a bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Jakarta. Credit:AP "The struggle of the Palestinian people is our struggle," Mr Joko said in his closing statement. "God willing, we may witness the independence of Palestine in our lives." Last year the European Union said exports from areas occupied by Israel must specify "settlement" on the label, rather than "Made in Israel". The global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, which calls for the end of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land, has grown in popularity after peace talks collapsed in 2014. This year US president Barack Obama signed a bill opposing boycotts targeting the state of Israel, but said he would not extend those protections to businesses in Israeli-controlled territories. However the UK is moving to ban publicly funded institutions, such as councils, from boycotting "unethical" businesses, including those operating in illegal Israeli settlements. And France's anti-discrimination laws mean that BDS activists can be convicted for inciting hatred. The fifth extraordinary Islamic summit on Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalem) was requested by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas following violence in the Occupied Territories after access was restricted to al-Aqsa mosque. Mr Joko - who made support for Palestine one of his foreign policy priorities during his election campaign - said Indonesia had agreed to host the event to express its full support for Palestine. The summit was attended by delegates from 49 countries, members of the Middle East Quartet and permanent members of the UN Security Council. Fahmi Salsabila, Secretary General of the Indonesian Society for Middle East Studies, said a boycott of products from the Occupied Territories would be effective if implemented. "Even if, at the minimum, only OIC countries did that, it would have a serious impact on Israel's economy because OIC states have at least one billion people," he said. "And Israel's exports are one of its revenue sources. So I think it is such an extraordinary effort made by the OIC summit. But it will only be effective if it is implemented." However Zuhairi Misrawi, from Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, said it would be difficult to implement because some OIC countries had diplomatic ties with Israel. "Secondly, Israel usually sells its products through third countries that it has diplomatic ties with. Indonesia, for instance, buys Israeli products through Singapore and Thailand. So my opinion is that OIC countries would be better to use diplomatic channels to solve the Israel-Palestine issue." With Karuni RompiesManchester police were searching for a man who robbed a bank on Elm Street on Wednesday morning.Click to view photos of the robber.Police were called to the People's United Bank shortly after 9 a.m.Officers said a man entered the bank and handed the teller a note demanding cash. He kept his hand in his pocket indicating that he might have a weapon, but no weapon was shown. No one was hurt."The teller reported that he really didn't speak at all," said Lt. Maureen Tessier. "He walked into the bank, retrieved a deposit slip on which he wrote the note, and then when he met with her, he handed her the note, which indicated he wanted cash."The man was described as a white man, 35 to 45 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall and 120 pounds. He has black hair and was clean-shaven.The man was last seen wearing an olive jacket, dark running pants with stripes and dark shoes. There were reports he might have headed toward the river and railroad tracks."Our K-9 team responded, as well as a number of patrol officers," Tessier said. "We actually had a pretty quick response and we checked the area very thoroughly, but unfortunately, we were not able to locate him."Police said anyone with information should call them at 603-668-8711. Anonymous tips for cash rewards can be made through Manchester Crimeline at 603-624-4040 or online at manchestercrimeline.org. Manchester police were searching for a man who robbed a bank on Elm Street on Wednesday morning. Click to view photos of the robber. Police were called to the People's United Bank shortly after 9 a.m. Officers said a man entered the bank and handed the teller a note demanding cash. He kept his hand in his pocket indicating that he might have a weapon, but no weapon was shown. No one was hurt. "The teller reported that he really didn't speak at all," said Lt. Maureen Tessier. "He walked into the bank, retrieved a deposit slip on which he wrote the note, and then when he met with her, he handed her the note, which indicated he wanted cash." The man was described as a white man, 35 to 45 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall and 120 pounds. He has black hair and was clean-shaven. The man was last seen wearing an olive jacket, dark running pants with stripes and dark shoes. There were reports he might have headed toward the river and railroad tracks. "Our K-9 team responded, as well as a number of patrol officers," Tessier said. "We actually had a pretty quick response and we checked the area very thoroughly, but unfortunately, we were not able to locate him." Police said anyone with information should call them at 603-668-8711. Anonymous tips for cash rewards can be made through Manchester Crimeline at 603-624-4040 or online at manchestercrimeline.org. AlertMeThere are those who are still coming to terms with the fact that Deadpool 2 won't include director Tim Miller at the helm, a bombshell that no one seemed to expect after the first project went so swimmingly. Now that there's a sudden vacancy, the studio is casting a wide net for the job, and there are several emerging names up for the position. Those names include David Leitch in the lead position (via Deadline), but Drew Goddard and Magnus Martens have also popped up in discussions. Leitch is most known for his work with Chad Stahelski on the original John Wick starring Keanu Reeves. The film became a surprise hit for Lionsgate and will be getting a sequel next year. As for Goddard, his most recent work includes writing and executive producing the Oscar Nominated The Martian starring Matt Damon, which he also scored a nomination for best-adapted screenplay. He also executive produced 10 Cloverfield Lane, Daredevil, Lost, and the upcoming The Defenders for Netflix. Magnus Martens has worked mostly in television, but his directorial credits include Agents of SHIELD, Power, 12 Monkeys, and the excellently reviewed Luke Cage. All three are worthy candidates, but it would seem to wholly depend on which directors vision best incorporates with star Ryan Reynolds, as that seems to be the biggest source of friction between Reynolds and Miller. According to sources close to the project, Miller wanted to use the original film's success to increase the scope of not only the storyline but the film's budget overall. Reynolds and fellow writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick instead wanted to follow the outline paved by the first film, eschewing a bigger budget for a focus on the grittier tone and humor. That rift eventually led to Miller exiting the project, and if FOX is going to bring someone else in, they will likely need to find a director with a similar vision for the franchise. Deadpool 2 is tentatively scheduled for March 2, 2018.Romania's minister for Communication and Information Society, Valerian Vreme, said at a conference in Bucharest that the country's public authorities should "use free and open source systems, such as Linux, when a mature evaluation shows it is the proper solution". According to a report at OSOR.EU, Vreme said he would not support a law which required institutions to use open source, as the job of the ministry was to present the pros and cons of a product and its alternatives. Vreme called on Romanian IT providers who use free and open source software to make projects relevant and accessible to the public administration by making them available at the national Applications Library – a software repository run by the government's Institute of Informatics. The conference was organised by Romanian IT news publisher Agora and drew around eighty attendees who heard Vreme's plans, including a pledge of support to organisers of conferences on Linux and other free and open source software. (djwm)Media Impartiality and Integrity. Rest in Peace Written by: The Ref The BBC, the Scottish mainstream written media, and BT Sport. All guilty of doing nothing to promote equality and impartiality in the media; indeed, all guilty of killing off impartiality and integrity in Scotland. The BBC. From taking any, and every opportunity to attack our club and us: its supporters, to creating television programmes using unlawfully obtained information, in order to cast our club as some kind of social pariah. If you have happened to have had the misfortune to tune into BBC Radio Scotland, you may be forgiven for thinking you had tuned into Radio Dublin. Scottish accents have been replaced by southern Irish, and I do wonder whether this is due to the BBC Bias against Rangers in Scotland. If it's not Pat Bonner, it's Tom English. Both barely conceal their hatred of our club, and gush over a club that concealed the fact that a paedophile was operating in that very same club. Are there no Scottish presenters able to fill the positions currently held by Bonner and English? Well yes, there probably are; however the BBC in Scotland are not interested in impartial reporting anymore. Even the people who run the BBC sports website have given up on any pretence that they offer impartiality in their reporting, with complaints being made almost weekly about inaccuracies in their reporting, and blatant subliminal messages - attacking Rangers - being broadcast on their sports pages. Next, we have the Scottish mainstream written media. I have lost count how many times the mainstream Scottish written media have had to issue apologies in recent times over inaccurate, totally untrue and misleading articles, published about our club. A headline banner on one day, will be followed the next day, by a tiny written 'apology' in a corner of a page, hidden within the rag. Too little, too late, because the damage has already been done. They know exactly what they are doing. Then we have BT Sport, and in particular former Celtic player Chris Sutton. BT Sport have had to deal with thousands of complaints about Chris Sutton, due to his open hatred of Rangers and his completely biased comments, made while appearing as a paid pundit on their televised matches. Sutton was a competent football player, who made a career based partly on being one part of the Sutton and Shearer strike partnership at Blackburn Rovers. Since retiring from the game, he seems to be desperately trying to create a new career as some kind of controversial TV pundit. Controversy is probably forgivable if there is impartiality and all teams/players/clubs are spoken about in the same way, but Sutton does not deal in impartiality. He hates Rangers, and he uses his hatred to appeal to the very worst among the bigoted supporters of Celtic. I cancelled my BT Sport subscription a while ago, citing that the reason I was cancelling my contract was due to BT Sport's continuing employment of Sutton. Yesterday, January 2nd, an article appeared in the Daily Record, supposedly penned by Sutton. Yesterday was the 46th anniversary of the Ibrox disaster, which saw 66 Rangers supporters, many of them children, killed while attending a match between Rangers and Celtic. In the article, Sutton is credited with using a phrase which stated: 'This is the time to tread on Rangers. You don't let them get back up again.' In using that phrase, Sutton has shown himself to be nothing more than scum who belongs in the gutter. No doubt the most despicable of Celtic supporters would have been delighted at this, and will have been elevating him to some kind of God-like status, but to any decent human being, Sutton's comments are abhorrent. Would Sutton have used this term to describe Liverpool, on the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster where 96 Liverpool supporters were killed? No, he would not. I will not accept that this was an unfortunate turn of phrase either, because Sutton knows fine well, the depth of feeling Rangers supporters have over the loss of so many of our own in 1971. Sutton should be removed from his position at BT Sport, and he should also be removed from his position as a guest columnist at the Daily Record. He has shown that he is morally bankrupt, and cannot put impartiality, decency, and integrity before his hatred of our club. Do I think that anything will be done about Sutton, the BBC, or any of the Scottish mainstream written media outlets who continually attack our club? No, I don't. Media impartiality and Integrity died a long time ago in Scotland. R.I.P.You could soon own a personal flamethrower that is surprisingly legal in majority of the states in America. In the event you saw someone strolling down the street with a flamethrower in hand, you would surely want to take off in the opposite direction. Though a flamethrower might easily be considered a dangerous weapon, worryingly enough the XM42 handheld flamethrower by Ion Productions is considered to be perfectly legal in 49 states, save for California. The Flamethrower Is Surprisingly Legal In 49 American States Apart from being considered legal, the XM42 handheld flamethrower could soon be yours for as little as $700. The company behind the insane gadget will launch its Indiegogo campaign on the 23rd of March. As per the company, XM42 is the world’s first commercially available handheld flamethrower and it could easily be in your hands, if – or shall we say once – the funding campaign successfully culminates. Now putting aside the obvious pitfalls and dangers that owing a flamethrower poses, this thing has got some serious notoriety associated with it. Moreover, the operability of the XM42, affirms the company, is ridiculously simple, “The XM42 is the world’s first fully handheld, grab and go flamethrower on the market. No heavy pressurized tanks, no silly car-wash sprayers.” The company even has the tongue-in-cheek audacity to describe the device as being “easy and fun.” Interestingly, the company has a lot of “fun” activities lined-up for the XM42 handheld flamethrower. A Legal Flamethrower Is A Scary Concept According to Ion Productions, some possible uses for the device include clearing off snow/ice, killing off weeds, starting bonfires, insect control. The company concludes that the flamethrower is “a fun device to enjoy with friends.” There’s little doubt that, despite the obvious dangers, the XM42 is every pyromaniac’s dream come true. As if the mere mention of a legal flamethrower isn’t appealing enough, the XM42 will be available in three finishes: brushed aluminum for $699, and either a polished aluminum or colored powder coat for $799. The XM42 Uses Gasoline As Fuel, Not Some Fancy Gas The company assures that the flamethrower won’t break your back. The flamethrower relies on gasoline. This means, you can easily “tank-up” at your nearest gas station, although it might be a wise idea if you refrain from taking your flamethrower there. With A 25 Ft. 'Throw', The XM42 Is Very Powerful As for the capabilities of the XM42 handheld flamethrower, it can shoot out a flame up to 25ft which needless to say, is a whole lot further than your typical weed-killing flamethrower. [Image Credit | Ion Productions]It's a worm a millimetre long made up of only 1,000 cells and I am watching it curling, uncurling and grazing on its bacterial food with a string of its cells brightly illuminated in green. These are stem cells and what the researchers want to know is just how those cells know what they are doing – whether they should divide more or turn into another cell type. Amazingly, the molecules involved are the same as those involved in human cancer. If we can understand and then control the molecules in this tiny worm, we will breaking through to learning more about the causes – and cures – of cancer. Two days touring the laboratories of the science fellows at Oxford's Hertford College (I am three weeks into a new job as the college's principal) is a mind-blowing experience for an enthusiast keen to overcome his scientific illiteracy. No half-questions here. These are men and women seeking to explain the origins of matter and the molecular structure of life. It is what a university should do. Just as it should be housing historians who can chronicle the Crusades, linguists unpacking the structure of Japanese grammar or lawyers challenging the philosophical foundations of employment law. It is knowledge for knowledge's sake and more. And whether it is obviously and immediately useful or not, it is informed by the same quest – the Enlightenment need to know and, equally importantly, by the obligation on teachers to disseminate what is known. A university reproduces the Olympics but in the realm of the mind; excellence across the entire span of intellectual inquiry just as the Olympics spans all sport. Nobody asks a runner or swimmer why they want to be the fastest; it is what they have to attempt. Time and again, talking to the scientists, I kept thinking it does not matter whether what they are doing is going to have immediate usefulness; what they are researching needs to be done. They are taking steps on a path that humanity is condemned to make, with jumps to other disciplines and areas of inquiry that nobody can predict. One company I saw – about to market ultra-fast DNA sequencing to create the most powerful health diagnostic tool ever invented – grew out of one scientist's abstract theorising 30 years ago. He could not have known it would lead to this, but only a university could have permitted the inquiry. In fact, Britain has absent-mindedly acquired – relative to its size – more great universities than anywhere else, with 14 of the world's top 100 universities. It is a national asset that we need to protect and cultivate. But to do that we have to understand and celebrate it. Instead, the university world feels beleaguered and undervalued, even a university such as Oxford, a global leader. The popular view of our universities is poisonous: peopled by idle, ivory tower academics who are careless of their students and who only with the greatest of prodding can be induced both to teach and furnish the ideas that industry can commercialise and so drive the economy forward. The coalition's answer is that universities should compete more with each other. The complex relationship between a teacher showing a student how to think and reason must be recast as one between buyer and seller. Cash for research must be justified by immediate economic utility. Government grants for teaching are to be slashed by 40% not only because of economic exigency but because the best way to dynamise otherwise endemically lazy academics is to create a market between them, their students and their research funders. Students should buy courses as a matter of ideological principle, which as everyone knows will cost almost all of them £9,000 per year each from 2012. That will promote competition and responsiveness. In fact, the £9,000 fees, for all the headlines and anger they induce, are only a subplot in a more destructive story. Despite the terrifying headlines about encumbering graduates with mountains of debt
test and change in partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness from pretest to posttest. Across analyses, partners’ goals did not moderate this association, compassionate goals: −.07 < pr <.02, all ns; self-image goals: all prs <.02, all ns. Actors’ and partners’ agreement about actors’ responsiveness to partners does not depend on partners’ compassionate or self-image goals. Next, we tested several alternative explanations for and moderators of the associations tested in. We tested whether disclosure, available support, anxiety or depression explained associations between actors’ responsiveness to partners and partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness by adding the appropriate variables to the interpersonal path models tested above. Details of these analyses are provided below. Note that, as in tests of covariates in the intrapersonal models, the critical test was whether covariates altered the results of our path models, and not whether the covariates were related to each outcome. Because of this, we do not report the association between each covariate and outcome variable. We also tested whether associations between actors’ responsiveness and partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness were moderated by partners’ own goals, and whether associations unique to the interpersonal models were moderated by anxiety, depression or gender using the strategy described above. Again, because of space considerations, we do not report individual statistics for each covariate test, but instead report a summary of results for each covariate; tables of results can be obtained from the first author. Results support our interpersonal model (see bottom of ). Actors’ chronic compassionate goals predict increased and chronic self-image goals predict decreased responsiveness to partners. Change in actors’ responsiveness to partners positively predicted change in partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness from pretest to posttest, which positively predicted change in partners’ responsiveness to actors and compassionate goals and marginally negatively predicted change in partners’ self-image goals across the semester. To test whether and how actors’ chronic compassionate and self-image goals contribute to long-term changes in their own responsiveness, and partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness, responsiveness to actors, and goals, we examined a path model in which actors’ chronic goals predicted change in actors’ responsiveness to partners across the semester, which predicted change in partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness, which in turn predicted changes in partners’ goals and responsiveness to actors from pretest to posttest. These results do not support the plausibility of causal effects of change in actors’ responsiveness to partners on change in partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness. However, changes in partners’ perceptions of actor’s responsiveness led to their increased responsiveness to actors and compassionate goals the following week. Lagged-week analyses did not support our interpersonal hypotheses (see middle of ). Actors’ Week 1 compassionate goals predicted increased responsiveness and Week 1 self-image goals predicted decreased responsiveness to partners from Weeks 1 to 2, but change in actors’ responsiveness to partners from Weeks 1 to 2 did not predict simultaneous change in partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness from Weeks 1 to 2. Change in partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness from Weeks 1 to 2 positively predicted change in partners’ responsiveness to actors and compassionate goals from Weeks 1 to 3, but did not predict change in partners’ self-image goals from Weeks 1 to 3. Again, because lagged analyses provide information about the plausibility of causal pathways, we tested whether actors’ compassionate and self-image goals at Week 1 predicted change in their responsiveness from Weeks 1 to 2, which predicted simultaneous change in partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness from Weeks 1 to 2, which then predicted change in partners’ interpersonal goals and responsiveness to actors from Weeks 1 to 3. We predicted that change in actors’ responsiveness to roommates from Weeks 1 to 2 predicted simultaneous change in partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness from Weeks 1 to 2 because responsiveness transactions between roommates should occur simultaneously (i.e., partners should perceive change in actors’ responsiveness as actors report change in their own responsiveness). Within-week analyses support our hypotheses (see the top of ). On weeks when actors had higher compassionate goals they reported being more responsive to partners, and on weeks when actors had higher self-image goals they reported being less responsive to partners. Actors’ responsiveness to partners predicted partners’ higher perceptions of actors’ responsiveness, which predicts partners’ higher responsiveness to actors and partners’ compassionate goals. Partners’ weekly perceptions of actors’ responsiveness did not predict their own self-image goals that same week. The goal of Phase 2 analyses was to test our interpersonal model whereby actors’ compassionate goals predict their increased and self-image goals predict their decreased responsiveness to partners (Path A; ). Actors’ responsiveness to partners then predicts partners’ increased perceptions of actors’ responsiveness (Path F), which then predicts partners’ increased responsiveness to actors (Path I) and increased compassionate and decreased self-image goals (Path J). Again, note that, because the data are structured so that actors and partners are interchangeable, these analyses simultaneously the process by which partners’ goals predict actors’ responsiveness and goals (i.e., Paths G, L, C, and D). We examined this general model within weeks, from week to week using lagged analyses, and the across the semester using the same analytic strategies described to test our projection (i.e., intrapersonal) hypotheses. Results were mixed with respect to our hypothesis that the relation between goals and projection is self-perpetuating. Lagged-week analyses supported our hypothesis - increased perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness from Weeks 1 to 2 predicted changes in interpersonal goals from Weeks 1 to 3. However, analyses of change from pretest to posttest did not support this hypothesis – changes in perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness from pretest to posttest did not predict changes in goals from pretest to posttest. These data support our hypothesis that interpersonal goals predict change in responsiveness, which leads to projection of responsiveness: compassionate goals predict increased and self-image goals predict decreased responsiveness to roommates, which predicts increased perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness. This process operates within weeks, from week to week, and across 10 weeks, supporting our hypothesis about the dynamic associations between goals and projection of responsiveness. 5. Covariates did not consistently account for any of these associations, nor were associations moderated by negative mood or gender. 6 Because the intrapersonal process from goals to perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness and change in goals might differ for men and women, we tested whether gender moderated each individual path (i.e., not controlling for other variables in the models) in all models in. In all analyses, gender was treated as a fixed effect (i.e., no random effects were specified in weekly and lagged-week models) and coded such that 1 = men and 2 = women. Gender moderated just 2 of the 13 associations tested (all other prs < |.07|, ns). First, in the lagged model (the middle of ), gender moderated the association between change in responsiveness to roommates and change in perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness, pr =.25, p <.001, such that the relation was stronger for women, pr =.75, p <.001, than men, pr =.48, p <.001. Second, in tests of pretest to posttest change (the bottom of ), gender moderated the association between change in perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness and change in self-image goals, pr = −.16, p <.05, such that perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness predicted decreased self-image goals for women, pr = −.20, p <.01, but not men, pr =.04, ns. Because links in the intrapersonal model might depend on negative mood, we tested whether anxiety or depression moderated the simple associations in (i.e., not controlling for other variables in the model), testing 26 separate product terms. Only one was significant: in the weekly model (top of ) anxiety moderated the relation between weekly compassionate goals and weekly responsiveness to roommates, pr =.07, p <.05, such that this association was stronger for those who reported higher anxiety, pr =.33, p <.001, compared to those reporting lower anxiety, pr =.20, p <.001. Results suggested that compassionate goals are beneficial for responsiveness, particularly when anxiety is higher. No other links in the intrapersonal models were moderated by anxiety or depression (all other prs < |.13|, ns). Thus, results strongly suggest that the processes described by the intrapersonal model do not operate differently depending on negative mood. We also tested whether the associations in were explained by feeling anxious or depressed. We reanalyzed all paths in weekly, lagged-week, and change from pretest to posttest analyses, controlling for anxiety and depression in separate analyses, using the strategy for testing covariates described above. Results did not change when we controlled for anxiety and depression in 18 of 20 analyses. In the pretest and posttest model, the link between chronic self-image goals and change in responsiveness to roommates became nonsignificant when we controlled for chronic anxiety, pr = −.13, ns, and marginal when we controlled for chronic depression, pr = −.14, p =.07. Thus, anxiety and depression appear to explain why self-image goals lead to longer-term decreases in responsiveness, but they cannot explain why self-image goals lead to decreased responsiveness in weekly and lagged-week analyses, or why compassionate goals lead to higher and increased responsiveness. Anxiety and depression also cannot explain projection of responsiveness or why it leads to increased compassionate goals in the lagged model. Results remained unchanged when we retested individual paths controlling for the appropriate support variables in 8 of 10 analyses (we did not retest nonsignificant links between perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness and goals). In the weekly model, the association between self-image goals and responsiveness to roommates became nonsignificant when we controlled for perceived available support, pr = −.05, ns, and in the pretest to posttest model, the association between chronic self-image goals and change in responsiveness to roommates became nonsignificant when we controlled for chronic perceived available support, pr = −.09, ns. Thus, self-image goals do not predict change in responsiveness beyond available support: that is, self-image goals may contribute to change in responsiveness because of available support. However, available support cannot explain associations between compassionate goals and change in responsiveness, and support made available to roommates cannot explain the association between students’ responsiveness and their perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness, nor can it explain why students’ perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness predict change in their compassionate goals in the lagged analyses. These paths might be explained by perceived available support from roommates and support made available to roommates. We reanalyzed all paths, controlling for the appropriate support variable (i.e., when responsiveness to roommates was the criterion, we controlled for support made available to roommates; when perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness or goals were the criterion, we controlled for perceived available support from roommates), using the strategy described above (e.g., in lagged-week analyses we controlled for change in support on the weeks responsiveness variables were included in analyses). Interpersonal goals predicted responsiveness and responsiveness predicted perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness, independent of disclosure. In 9 of 10 analyses, results remained unchanged when we retested these paths controlling for the appropriate disclosure variables; in the weekly model, the association between weekly self-image goals and responsiveness to roommates became marginally significant when we controlled for perceptions of roommates’ disclosure that week, pr = −.07, p <.06. Thus, people’s interpersonal goals offer an alternative to disclosure in creating responsive close relationships. Because others’ disclosure elicits responsiveness and perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness may be a function of people’s own disclosure ( Reis & Shaver, 1988 ), we examined the possibility that associations between responsiveness to roommates and perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness could be explained by perceptions of roommates’ disclosure or disclosure to roommates. We reanalyzed paths in the weekly, lagged-week, and change from pretest to posttest analyses, controlling for the appropriate disclosure variable (i.e., we regressed responsiveness to roommates on goals controlling for perceptions of roommates’ disclosure and we regressed perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness on responsiveness to roommates controlling for disclosure to roommates). In lagged-week analyses we controlled for Week 1 disclosure, or Weeks 1 and 2 disclosure, depending on the specific path we tested. In testing change from pretest to posttest, we controlled for the appropriate chronic or pretest and posttest disclosure variables, again depending on the specific path we tested. On the other hand, 2 of the 3 analyses suggested that associations between students’ self-image goals and lower or decreased responsiveness to roommates could be explained by perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness. Weekly self-image goals no longer predicted weekly responsiveness to roommates, pr = −.03, ns, and chronic self-image goals no longer predicted change in responsiveness from pretest to posttest, pr = −.09, ns. In lagged analyses, Week 1 self-image goals still predicted decreased responsiveness to roommates from Weeks 1 to 2, pr = −.25, p <.001. Thus, students’ self-image goals led to their decreased responsiveness to the extent that they perceived their roommates as less responsive. Associations between students’ interpersonal goals and changes in their responsiveness to roommates might be attributed to perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness: students’ goals may lead them to be more or less responsiveness to roommates because goals are also associated with perceiving roommates as more or less responsive. We retested the links between compassionate and self-image goals and responsiveness to roommates in all models in, controlling for weekly perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness in weekly analyses, Week 1 perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness in lagged analyses, and chronic perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness in the pretest and posttest analyses. Across all three sets of analyses, all associations between compassionate goals and higher or increased responsiveness remained significant,.17 < prs <.46, all ps <.001, although perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness predicted higher or increased responsiveness to roommates,.37 < prs <.40, all ps <.001, across analyses. Thus, students’ perceptions of roommates as more or less responsive do not explain the association between compassionate goals and increased responsiveness to roommates. Next, we tested several alternative explanations for and moderators of the associations tested in. We tested whether perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness, disclosure, support, anxiety and depression explained associations in our models by adding the appropriate variables to the path models tested above. Specific analyses for each covariate are described below. Note that our main concern was not whether these covariates were related to each outcome, but whether they could explain or offer an alternative explanation for our findings. Thus we do not report the association between each covariate and outcome variable. Instead, we report associations between our main predictors and outcome variables, controlling for covariates. We also test whether associations in are moderated by anxiety, depression or gender by adding the appropriate main effect and product terms, as described below. Simple slopes for interactions were computed at 1 standard deviation above and below the means of the moderators ( Aiken & West, 1991 ). Because of space considerations, we do not report individual statistics for each covariate test. Instead, we report a summary of results for each covariate; tables of results can be obtained from the first author. Results partially support our path model (see bottom of ). Chronic compassionate goals predicted increased and chronic self-image goals predicted decreased responsiveness to roommates from pretest to posttest, which predicted change in perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness from pretest to posttest, but perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness did not predict changes in students’ own compassionate and self-image goals from pretest to posttest. Coefficients for testing change from pretest to posttest were derived from fixed-effects models using restricted maximum-likelihood estimation. We grand mean centered predictors in tests of pretest and posttest hypotheses because we were interested in chronic goals and responsiveness as individual differences. We used a residual change strategy, similar to that used in lagged-week analyses, to test changes from pretest to posttest. To test whether and how students’ chronic compassionate and self-image goals contribute to long-term changes in their responsiveness, perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness and goals, we examined a path model in which chronic goals averaged across 10 weeks predicted change in responsiveness to roommates across the semester, which then predicted change in perceptions of the roommates’ responsiveness, which in turn predicted changes in goals from pretest to posttest. For each path, we regressed the criterion on the predictor(s), controlling for all variables preceding that path in the model. We tested this path model (i.e., actors’ Week N compassionate and self-image goals predict change in actors’ responsiveness to roommates from Weeks N to N + 1, which predicts change in actors’ perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness from Weeks N to N + 1, which predicts change in actors compassionate and self-image goals from weeks N to N + 2; see the middle of ) in 4 regression equations (except when goals were entered as predictors: because we tested them simultaneously, we were able to test two paths in one equation). Lagged analyses were conducted on all 10 weeks. For simplicity, we refer to Week N as “Week 1,” Week N+1 as “Week 2,” and Week N+2 as “Week 3.” In the lagged-week data, we tested a path model in which goals at Week 1 predict change in responsiveness to roommates from Weeks 1 to 2, which predict simultaneous change in perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness from Weeks 1 to 2, which in turn predict change in compassionate and self-image goals from Weeks 1 to 3. We expected that, in the case of projection, associations between changes in responsiveness to roommates and changes in perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness would be relatively immediate because they occur as a function of perceptions – we expect that when actors become more responsive to roommates, they simultaneously increase their perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness. Accordingly, we hypothesized that change in responsiveness to roommates from Weeks 1 to 2 predicted simultaneous change in perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness. We grand mean centered predictors in tests of lagged-week hypotheses because our prediction concerned change in the outcome from week to week. Lagged analyses examine whether change in the outcome from one week to the next is related to levels of the goal (or other predictor), regardless of the source – individual differences or weekly fluctuations around those individual differences. For example, we hypothesize that As’ goals one week predict their responsiveness the following week, controlling for that week’s responsiveness. Person centering predictors tests whether fluctuations in As’ goals from As’ own average goals predict outcomes. Consequently, in our example person-centering predictors in lagged analyses tests whether within-person departures from As’ average goals one week predict As’ responsiveness the following week, controlling for within-person departures from As’ average responsiveness that week. This does not test our lagged hypothesis. Thus, centering on the grand mean for that week is justified and appropriate in these analyses (e.g., Enders & Tofighi, 2007 ). 4 Coefficients for lagged-week analyses were derived from random-coefficients models using restricted maximum-likelihood estimation, with models including fixed and random effects for the intercept and each predictor. We used a residual change strategy to test changes from week to week, regressing the Week N + 1 dependent variable on relevant Week N predictors, controlling for the Week N dependent variable. When change in a variable was a predictor, we entered the Week N and Week N + 1 predictors into the model and interpreted the week N + 1 variable. Next, we tested the lagged-week associations between interpersonal goals, responsiveness to roommates, and perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness. Examination of the temporal sequence of effects across weeks does not demonstrate causality but can shed light on the plausibility or implausibility of causal pathways ( Kenny, 1975 ; Leary, 1995 ; Rogosa, 1980 ; West, Biesanz, & Pitts, 2000 ). For example, evidence that compassionate goals on Week 1 predict responsiveness in Week 2, controlling for responsiveness on Weeks 1 (i.e., testing whether goals one week predict residual change in responsiveness the following week) would be consistent with the hypothesis that compassionate goals cause responsiveness. No association would rule out a causal effect over this time period. Thus, unlike within-week analyses, lagged analyses test the plausibility of causal associations for each hypothesized pathway in our intrapersonal model. First, we examined our hypothesized model within weeks, testing whether weekly interpersonal goals predicted responsiveness to roommates that same week, which then predicted perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness that week. Coefficients for weekly analyses were derived from random-coefficients models using restricted maximum-likelihood estimation, and models included fixed and random effects for the intercept and each predictor. In weekly analyses we person-centered all predictors so that scores represent differences from each individual’s own average across 10 weeks (e.g., Enders & Tofighi, 2007 ; Kreft & de Leeuw, 1998 ; Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002 ). Phase 1 analyses test an intrapersonal model in which students’ compassionate and self-image goals predict change in their responsiveness to roommates (Path A; ), which predicts change in their perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness (Path B), which in turn predicts change in students’ subsequent compassionate and self-image goals (Path D). Thus, all Phase 1 analyses use only actor variables as predictors and outcomes. Note that, because the data are structured so that actors and partners are interchangeable, these analyses simultaneously test the process by which partners’ goals lead to partners’ own responsiveness and goals (i.e., Paths G, H, and J). shows the means, standard deviations, and intrapersonal (i.e., within-person) intraclass correlations ( Griffin & Gonzalez, 1995 ), for all primary pretest, posttest, and chronic weekly variables. We created measures of chronic compassionate and self-image goals by averaging each measure across the 10 weeks. In general, compassionate goals, responsiveness, and perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness were strongly correlated at pretest and posttest, and across weeks. Self-image goals were less strongly associated with responsiveness and perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness. Because compassionate and self-image goals were significantly correlated, we regressed all outcome variables on compassionate and self-image goals simultaneously. shows the interpersonal (i.e. actor-partner) intraclass correlations for all primary variables. Roommates’ compassionate goals, responsiveness and perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness were moderately correlated across time-points; self-image goals predicted fewer partner variables. In these data, individuals were nested within dyads and dyads were crossed with weeks ( Kashy, Donnellan, Burt, & McGue, 2008 ). Thus, we controlled for the nonindependence of individuals within dyads in all analyses using the MIXED command in SPSS ( Campbell & Kashy, 2002 ; Campbell, Simpson, Boldry, & Kashy, 2005 ; Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006 ), and because individuals within dyads were indistinguishable, we specified compound symmetry so that intercept variances between dyad members were equal. For all analyses, we structured the data so that each dyad was represented by two lines of data, allowing each participant within a dyad to represent both an actor and a partner (see Campbell & Kashy, 2002, for a sample arrangement of data). Path models were tested sequentially, with a separate regression equation for each path. For each path, we regressed the criterion on the predictor(s), controlling for all variables preceding that path in the model. All Study 1 path analyses are illustrated in and. Estimates outside of brackets indicate the partial correlation for that association, controlling for previous paths in the model; estimates inside brackets indicate tests of the individual path, not controlling for previous paths in the model. Partial correlations for all analyses were calculated using the method described by Rosenthal and Rosnow (1991). Importantly, all intra- and interpersonal analyses assess change. For example, in weekly analyses we test whether fluctuations in goals (i.e., the difference between goals that week and that person’s average goals across 10 weeks) predict responsiveness that week; in lagged analyses, we test whether Week 1 goals predict change in responsiveness from Weeks 1 to 2; and in pretest and posttest analyses, we test whether chronic goals predict change in responsiveness from pretest to posttest. Thus, these analyses test the dynamic intra- and interpersonal associations between goals, responsiveness, and perceptions of others’ responsiveness. We conducted data analyses in two phases. In Phase 1 we focused on the intrapersonal associations between goals and responsiveness. We hypothesized that students’ goals would predict change in their responsiveness to roommates (Path A; ), which would predict change in their perceptions of their roommates’ responsiveness (Path B), which would in turn, predict change in their compassionate and self-image goals (Path D). In Phase 2 we focused on the interpersonal associations among these variables to examine how actors’ goals predict change in their responsiveness to partners (Path A), which predicts change in partners’ perceptions of actors’ responsiveness (Path F), which predicts change in partners’ subsequent responsiveness to actors (Path I) and goals (Path J). We tested both the intra- and interpersonal associations 1) within weeks, 2) from week to week using lagged analyses, and 3) across the semester from pretest to posttest. Compassionate goals and perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness, though correlated, are also empirically distinct. EFAs on the pretest items suggested that 2 factors accounted for 51% of the variance: all responsiveness items loaded on the first factor, with loadings ranging between.74 and.93; all compassionate goal items loaded on the second factor, with loadings ranging between.39 and.63. Importantly, no secondary loading exceeded |.23|. We conducted CFAs on items at posttest and each of the 10 weeks (again, yielding 11 separate sets of CFAs), testing two-factor, 110.55 < χ 2 (76, 218 < N < 230) < 247.82, Mχ 2 (76, 218 < N < 230) = 166.94, and single-factor solutions, 448.56 < χ 2 (76, 218 < N < 230) < 948.77, Mχ 2 (76, 218 < N < 230) = 753.14. For all analyses, two-factor solutions provided significantly better fit, 338.01 < Δχ 2 (1, 218 < N < 230) < 747.22, MΔχ 2 (1, 218 < N < 230) = 586.20. Compassionate goals and responsiveness to roommates, though correlated, are empirically distinct. EFAs on the pretest items suggested that 2 factors accounted for 48% of the variance: all responsiveness items loaded on the first factor, with loadings ranging between.64 and.99; all compassionate goal items loaded on the second factor, with loadings ranging between.38 and.66. Importantly, no secondary loading exceeded |.28|. We conducted CFAs on items at posttest and each of the 10 weeks (yielding 11 separate sets of CFAs), testing two-factor, 136.84 < χ 2 (76, 218 < N < 230) < 232.48, Mχ 2 (76, 218 < N < 230) = 183.77, and single-factor solutions, 336.77 < χ 2 (77, 218 <N < 230) < 726.72, Mχ 2 (77, 218 < N < 230) = 586.71. For all analyses, two-factor solutions provided significantly better fit, 194.33 < Δχ 2 (1, 218 < N < 230) < 554.95, MΔχ 2 (1, 218 < N < 230) = 402.94. shows the means, standard deviations, and intrapersonal (i.e., within-person) intraclass correlations, which adjust for the degree of nonindependence between dyad members ( Griffin & Gonzalez, 1995 ) for all primary variables in Study 1. Because correlations between compassionate goals and responsiveness to roommates and perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness were high, we conducted exploratory factor analyses (EFA) on these items at pretest and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) on items at posttest and each week, comparing the fit of a model specifying 2 factors with a model specifying 1 factor. Depression was assessed at pretest, posttest, and weekly using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Inventory (CES-D; Radloff, 1997). The CES-D was developed to measure depressive symptoms in community samples and consists of 20 depression-related symptom items rated on a 4 point scale (0–3) based on the amount of time during the past week the respondent has experienced each symptom. Scores can range from 0 to 60. The CES-D had high internal consistency at pretest (α =.86), posttest (α =.89) and each of the weekly surveys (.90 < α <.92, Mα =.91). Anxiety was assessed with the Speilberger State Anxiety Scale ( Spielberger, Vagg, Barker, Donham, & Westberry, 1980 ). At pretest and posttest, participants rated their anxiety in general on a scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always); in the weekly surveys, they rated their anxiety over the past week on the same scale. Anxiety had high internal consistency at pretest (α =.91), posttest (α =.94), and in each of the weekly surveys (.94 < α <.95, Mα =.94). Social support made available to roommates was also measured at pretest, posttest and weekly using a parallel set of items. Sample items included “I really tried to help my roommate” and “my roommate can count on me when things go wrong.” Social support made available to roommates was reliable at pretest (α =.92), posttest (α =.95), and in weekly surveys (.86 < α <.96, M α =.94). Perceived social support availability from roommates and support made available to roommates were measured with the Multidimensional Survey of Perceived Social Support ( Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988 ). Perceived availability pretest and posttest items were preceded with the stem “In general, I feel that.” Weekly items were preceded with the stem “This past week, I felt that.” Sample items included “My roommate really tried to help me” and “I could count on my roommate if things went wrong.” Perceived social support availability was reliable at pretest (α =.93), posttest (α =.96) and from week to week (.93 < α <.97, M α =.96). A parallel set of items assessed the extent to which participants believed their roommates self-disclosed. Pretest and posttest items began with the phrase, “In general, my roommate discusses:." Sample items included “his/her deepest feelings;” “his/her worst fears;” and “what he/she likes and dislikes about him/herself.” We measured weekly roommate disclosure with the same items, referring to the extent to which roommates self-disclosed that week. Roommate disclosure was reliable at pretest (α =.89), posttest (α =.94), and in weekly surveys (.89 < α <.95, M α =.93). Disclosure to the roommate and perceptions of roommates’ disclosure were measured with a 5-item modified version of a disclosure measure used by Gore and colleagues (Gore et al., 2006a; Miller, Berg, & Archer, 1983 ). Participants were instructed to indicate the extent to which they discussed each topic with their roommates; pretest and posttest items began with the phrase, “In general, I discuss:." All items were rated on a scale from 1 (discussed not at all) to 5 (discussed fully and completely) and included “my deepest feelings;” “my worst fears;” “what I like and dislike about myself;” “my close relationships with other people;” and “things I have done which I am proud of.” We measured weekly disclosure using the same instructions and items, beginning with the phrase “This week, I discussed:.” Disclosure to roommates was reliable at pretest (α =.85), posttest (α =.94) and from week to week (.85 < α <.95, M α =.92). A parallel set of items assessed the extent to which participants believed their roommates responded to them. Pretest and posttest items asked about roommates’ general responsiveness. Sample items included “my roommate tries to make me feel comfortable about myself and how I feel;” and "my roommate tries to make me feel valued as a person." We measured weekly roommate responsiveness with the same items, referring to how roommates acted toward participants that week. Perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness was reliable at pretest (α =.95), posttest (α =.98), and in the weekly surveys (.94 < α <.98, M α =.97). Responsiveness to roommates and perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness were measured with a 6-item modified version of a responsiveness measure used in previous research ( Cutrona, Hessling, & Suhr, 1997 ; Gore, Cross, & Morris, 2006 ). Participants indicated how they acted toward their roommate in general at pretest and posttest. All items were rated on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). Items included “I try to make my roommate feel comfortable about him/herself and how he/she feels;” "I try to make my roommate feel valued as a person;" "I try to be sensitive to my roommate’s feelings;" “I really try to understand my roommate’s concerns;" “I really listen to my roommate when he/she talks;” and “I behave warmly toward my roommate.” We measured weekly responsiveness using the same items, asking how participants acted toward their roommate that week. Responsiveness was reliable at pretest (α =.93), posttest (α =.97) and in each weekly survey (.94 < α <.98, M α =.97). Self-image and compassionate goals for participants’ relationships with their roommates were measured using a modified measure from Crocker & Canevello (2008). Pretest and posttest items began with the phrase, “In my relationship with my roommate, I want/try to." Weekly items began with “This week, in my relationship with my roommate, I wanted/tried to.” All items were rated on a scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely). Eight items assessed compassionate goals: “be supportive of my roommate;” "have compassion for my roommate's mistakes and weaknesses;" "be aware of the impact my behavior might have on my roommate's feelings;" “make a positive difference in my roommate’s life;” "avoid neglecting my relationship with my roommate;" "avoid being selfish or self-centered;" "be constructive in my comments to my roommate;" and "avoid doing things that aren’t helpful to me or my roommate." Six items reflected self-image goals, including "avoid showing my weaknesses;" “avoid revealing my shortcomings or vulnerabilities;” "avoid the possibility of being wrong;" "convince my roommate that I am right;" "get my roommate to do things my way;" and "avoid being blamed or criticized." Both scales had high internal consistency at pretest (self-image α =.79; compassionate α =.75), posttest (self-image α =.87; compassionate α =.94), and across participants and weeks (self-image goals:.83 < α <.91, M α =.88; compassionate goals:.85 < α <.94, M α =.91). Participants completed measures of compassionate and self-image goals, responsiveness to roommates, perceptions of roommates’ responsiveness, disclosure to and from roommates, support made available to roommates, available support from roommates, anxiety, and depression at pretest, posttest, and weekly. At pretest, participants completed questions about demographics (gender, race/ethnicity, age, parental income). Additional measures not germane to the goals of the present investigation were also included. In groups of 1 to 8, roommate pairs attended a 1.5 hour session to learn about the study, give their consent, complete the pretest survey, and receive instructions for completing the remaining 11 surveys. All surveys were administered using UM Lessons software. After completing the pretest survey, participants were instructed to complete the 10 weekly online surveys in privacy and not to discuss their responses with each other. The weekly surveys took about 30 minutes to complete and roommates were required to complete weekly surveys within no less than 48 hours of each other. To retain as many participants as possible in the study, participants were given up to 11 weeks to complete the 10 weekly surveys. 3 Once roommates had completed 10 weekly surveys, they completed the posttest survey and were paid for their participation. One hundred fifteen first-semester same-sex freshmen roommate dyads at a large Midwestern university who did not know each other prior to college volunteered for a study of goals and roommate relationships during the fall semester. Via advertisements in the campus newspaper and flyers, we offered each roommate $60 for completing 12 surveys over 10 weeks ($10 for each the pretest and posttest and $4 for each weekly survey) plus a $40 bonus for completing all 12 surveys. One hundred nine pairs (95%) completed the pretest, posttest, and at least 8 weekly surveys. Although 6 pairs completed fewer parts of the study, we retained all data for analyses where possible. 2 Eighty-six pairs (75%) were female. Seventy-five percent of participants reported their race as White or European-American, 2% as Black or African-American, 15% as Asian or Asian-American, and 8% selected other. The racial composition of the sample closely approximated the racial composition of the incoming freshman class. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 21 years (M = 18.1 years, SD =.36). We controlled for students’ self-disclosure to their roommates and their perceptions of their roommates’ disclosure, social support made available to and perceived available support from roommates, and anxiety and depression to rule them out as alternative explanations. Third, we examined whether negative mood accounts for or moderates the hypothesized associations. For example, the association between interpersonal goals and responsiveness to others might be spurious, if both are associated with anxious or depressed feelings. Feeling anxious or depressed might also
, I’m all for letting children experience independence from a young age. I certainly don’t think it’s unreasonable to leave an 11 year old by himself in a hotel with a porter who knows he is there. At the age of 11 children are starting secondary school, they are maybe getting the bus by themselves, and starting to feel more independent. Of course, it has to be what the child wants. If they are feeling anxious about it, then it wouldn’t be the right thing to do. But a lot of 11-year-olds would think: “Hooray! I’ve got a bit of freedom and I can do what I like.” It’s all about knowing your child, what they feel comfortable with and being able to trust them. No - says Siobhan Freegard, founder of video parenting site ChannelMum.com The idea of leaving a child alone for any length of time in a hotel room would terrify most parents. The loss of Madeleine McCann, who was snatched from a Portuguese holiday apartment while her parents had dinner, means mums and dads are generally incredibly careful about hotel security. The NSPCC advises never to leave a child of 11 or younger for any long period of time, and I’d agree. This isn’t a case of leaving a child at home while you nip next door for two minutes. It's leaving a child in an unfamiliar setting with strangers. Some people may argue 11-year-olds can be quite mature, but even the most mature would struggle if there was a serious problem, fire, a break-in or intruder in the room. In this case it seems the parents went out for the evening. At best, I’d expect to come back to a huge room service and pay TV bill. At worst, well it doesn’t bear thinking about. It’s worth remembering choosing to have a child is a huge responsibility which means you can’t go out and party as much as you used to. And if you do, you must arrange proper childcare.The Heat made a big impression on Gordon Hayward during his free agent visit on Saturday, according to a source close to the player. Hayward thought the meeting went well and was impressed, the source said. That said, the source said there remains no front-runner and that this will be a tough decision. Here are some details from Hayward’s Heat meeting. He’s meeting with the Celtics in Boston on Sunday, and ESPN Celtics report Chris Forsberg says here’s what Boston has lined up: “Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who coached Hayward for two seasons at Butler University, is expected to lead a film session in which he'll spotlight the ways Boston can utilize Hayward's talents. Boston brass are expecting key members of their core, including All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas, to be in attendance for the pitch as well. Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald “The Celtics will lean on technology, including iPads loaded with game film that will show Hayward how he fits into the team's style of play. Stevens often engages in film sessions with potential draftees as they visit, and he will try to show Hayward how he can maximize the All-Star's skill set in Boston.” Boston’s visit included a stop at Fenway Park. “Celtics-themed video emphasizing what it's like to play in Boston airing on Jumbotron at Fenway,” Forsberg tweeted on Sunday. ESPN’s Amin Elhassan said on Saturday night that coach Erik Spoelstra was very impressive in Saturday’s meeting with Hayward, explaining how he would be used. Hayward, who has spent his first seven NBA seasons with the Utah Jazz, will meet with Utah on Monday and then choose among the Heat, Celtics and Jazz. SHARE COPY LINK Miami Heat president Pat Riley talks about the team's plans for Chris Bosh during his season-ending press conference on Wed., April 19, 2017. • Indiana, Philadelphia, Houston and the Heat have expressed interest in Miami free agent center Willie Reed, hoophype’s Alex Kennedy reported Saturday. Since that time, the Rockets used their exception money on P.J. Tucker. The Heat hasn’t been optimistic about being able to retain him. Miami could dangle its $4.3 million exception, but the Heat might need that money for other needs (depending on Hayward’s decision) and that might not be enough anyway. • Tyler Johnson, one of five players to greet Hayward at AmericanAirlines Arena on Saturday, told me Friday he’s not thinking about the possibility that the Heat could move his contract (which pays him $5.9 million, $18.9 million and $19.1 million the next three seasons) because “I can only control what I can control. You are not going to get too many players better than me for what I do in my role. I'm not too worried about it.” Johnson, who is close friends with James Johnson, said “I know I want my big brother back here (James Johnson), no matter what. Obviously, I want to add as many pieces as we can to be able to make a deep run in the East. I'm hoping for the best. If we get J back and do what we can to get Dion [Waiters] back, I would consider that a successful offseason.” As cap expert Albert Nahmad reported on Twitter, Johnson cannot be traded without his consent, or to the Nets at all, until July 10. He has a 15 percent trade bonus, which would pay him $3.8 million. The Heat would pay that, but his cap hits would increase to $7.8 million, $21.1 million and $19.2 million, as Albert noted. • James Johnson and Dion Waiters aren’t the only Heat players on hold while Hayward makes his decision. Miami might need to renounce Luke Babbitt, thus eliminating his Bird rights, to clear out cap space if Hayward signs. If he isn’t renounced, he could re-sign with Miami for any amount with a cap hit of just $1.4 million. Also, Wayne Ellington’s $6.3 million salary would be good value if Hayward passes on the Heat and Miami has cap space to fill. But if Hayward joins the Heat, it seems unlikely the Heat could afford Ellington unless James Johnson and Waiters sign elsewhere. The Heat must make a decision on guaranteeing Ellington’s $6.3 million by Friday, the day after the signing moratorium ends. Here’s my Sunday morning post with news on the Heat flying to Los Angeles to meet with Dion Waiters on Sunday.... Twitter: @flasportsbuzzMELBOURNE coach Paul Roos cannot guarantee Jack Watts will be at the club next year as the Demons begin the task of improving their list. Roos gave no assurances about any player including Watts, the No.1 pick in the 2008 draft, and out-of-contract high-flyer Jeremy Howe. Roos said the Demons “clearly had to improve” after just seven wins this season. “We’ve got to make our list better and that’s not designed to scare Jack Watts or anyone on the list,” Roos told AFL360 on Monday night. “That’s just the way things sit. I haven’t had any specific conversations with Jack.” Asked if he had made up his mind on Watts for next year, Roos replied: “No, not at all.” “I can’t guarantee any Melbourne player (will be at the club next year).” Watts was dropped ahead of Melbourne’s 26-point win over Greater Western Sydney in the final round, but Roos said at the time not to read too much into the forward’s omission. Meanwhile, Howe is weighing up a lot more than money in his decision on his playing future, according to his manager. Ben Niall, who looks after Howe’s interests, says “it has always been our hope that he will stay”, but says happiness and success are playing a factor in his decision. “We’re in good conversation with Melbourne,” he said on SEN on Tuesday morning. “We’re hoping that we can work it through and we’re still in the middle of that process. If we can come to an arrangement, absolutely It’s always been our hope that he will stay. “It’s not (about) money. I think it’s being in an environment that he can flourish and playing a role that gets the best out of him and being in an environment that’s successful in the longer term. You’re a lot happier when you’re winning. Melbourne are taking some steps in that direction... the chess pieces are very slowly starting to come together. media_camera Jeremy Howe is another Demon whose future in unclear. Picture: Wayne Ludbey “We’re waiting for Melbourne to get back to us at the moment. I provided them with a bit of information about the market and what it says he might be worth.” Niall admits there has been genuine interest from other clubs, but no formal offers have been made. “We’ve got indications of what they might look like but they’re not formal. We don’t want Melbourne negotiating against themselves,” he said. “We haven’t really gone too far down the track with other clubs.” Howe, 25, last night said “it’s not about shopping around”. “It’s going to have to be sooner rather than later. I think it’s heading in the right direction,” he said on Channel 7. - with Lauren WoodBuy Photo Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder talks about the Flint water crisis and the emails which will soon be released during seesion with The Detroit News Editorial Board and reporters on Monday. (Photo: John T. Greilick / The Detroit News)Buy Photo Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday his office will release thousands of pages of emails his staff sent or received related to Flint’s water supply switch and subsequent contamination dating back to 2011. Snyder said the release of his office’s Flint records would come “relatively soon” after state lawyers remove any documents that would normally be exempt under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, which doesn’t apply to the governor’s office. “You’re talking thousands and thousands of emails, so I want to make sure they do it carefully and thoughtfully,” Snyder told The Detroit News Editorial Board. The Republican governor stopped short of endorsing an expansion of Freedom of Information Act to make his office and the Legislature subject to the same public records law imposed on all other levels of government in the state. Michigan is one of two states that don’t release emails from these branches of government open to public inspection. “I’m starting with that in terms of this release,” Snyder said. “So I’m not going to get into the broader question at this point in time. … To be blunt, I’m working on making sure we get the information out on the executive office.” The Snyder administration has posted online several thousand pages of records related to Flint’s 2014 switch to the Flint River water and the state Department of Environmental Quality’s failure to require anti-corrosive chemicals to be added to the water. The records included documents detailing how state environmental and health officials were aware of a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area during the time period the city was drawing river water that was not publicly disclosed until January. Flint switched back to Detroit’s water supply in mid-October after state officials confirmed independent studies showing high levels of lead in Flint’s water and the bloodstreams of some residents. Corrosion of Flint’s aging lead water pipes is blamed for causing the toxic metal to leach into the city’s water supply. CLOSE Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday his office will release thousands of pages of emails his staff sent or received related to Flint’s water supply switch and subsequent contamination dating back to 2011. John T. Greilick, The Detroit News Last month, Snyder released 274 pages of his emails related to Flint’s water switch from 2014 and 2015. Snyder said the new release will include all Flint-related emails dating back to 2011 when he took office. Snyder has faced calls from Democrats and government watchdog groups to release his earlier emails related to Flint’s water switch because the governor’s emergency managers were making decisions in 2013 related to the decision to temporarily use Flint River water while a new pipeline to Lake Huron was being built. Melanie McElroy, executive director of Common Cause Michigan, said “unfortunately it took a crisis” to spur the governor’s office to release records that have been previously kept secret. “I think that he’s hearing the outcry for more accountability and transparency,” McElroy said Monday. “Most importantly what we need is support for reform of FOIA to remove the exemption from the executive’s office so we don’t have to play these games.” [email protected] (517) 371-3660 Twitter.com/ChadLivengood Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/1XIZ5ABConservationists studying bats in Arizona were recently confronted by a group of armed militia members who confused them for border crossers or smugglers, a local sheriff told television station KOLD. The TV station reported on Tuesday that Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada said the militia members were wearing camouflage and were heavily armed when they arrived on ATVs and confronted the scientists on the night of Aug. 23. “Obviously they mistook them for smugglers or illegal entrants,” said Estrada. “They were armed. They put a spotlight on them.” The scientists reported the incident to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s office and were unreceptive to the militia’s apology. Estrada said the confrontation luckily didn’t turn violent but noted that the volunteer militia isn’t welcome in Santa Cruz County. “They really don’t accomplish anything,” Estrada said. “They really don’t. With about a 1,000 border patrol agents here in Santa Cruz County, a little group of militia men are not gonna make any difference at all. As a matter of fact, they’re going to get in the way and they could get hurt. Or they could hurt somebody else.”If there’s a Manly player who gives Brett Stewart a run for his money in terms of longevity, visibility and team spirit, then it has to be Steve Matai, especially now that Jason King and Brett Kite are out of the picture. Of course, Matai is a very different kind of player from Stewart, and hasn’t had the opportunity to prove his mettle at Origin, even if he would have been more than up to the task of an Origin centre, given the eligibility. At the same time, he’s probably had a more luminous career on the international stage, representing New Zealand between 2006 and 2010 in the Tri-Nations, the Four Nations and the Rugby League World Cup. That makes him about the most decorated international player on the team at the moment, and yet in many ways he feels more homegrown, low key and “local” than Stewart, even if he hailed from New Zealand and the Stewart brothers were born in Wollongong. At one level, that says something about the way an Origin pedigree manages to eclipse about any other Rugby League achievement – even the World Cup – but it’s also got a lot to do with the kind of personality and presence that Matai has managed to carve out at Manly. Put simply, Matai is Manly’s resident hard man. Nobody at Brookvale knows how to dish out big hits like Matai. In fact, nobody in the NRL knows how to dish out big hits like Matai, who has faced the judiciary a record 14 times over the course of his ten year career. While some Manly players – most recently DCE, but also Anthony Watmough – have suggested that the judiciary may be targeting Matai, I’ve never found that a convincing possibility. On the one hand, nobody who’s seen Matai play can doubt that he’s one of the most aggressive players – certainly the most aggressive centre – in the game today. At the same time, insofar as the judiciary does tend to target players, it’s usually those who have some record of off-field indiscretion, or who bring the game into disrepute through their behaviour on the field. And while Matai may have been pretty grubby over the first half of his career – for a while, he and Billy Slater were head to head as the dirtiest players in the game – he’s reformed somewhat in recent years, as he’s become both a senior player at Manly, but also one of the last few members of the great Sea Eagles generation that emerged under the House of the Stewarts. At the same time, what makes Matai so incredible as a player is that this increased discretion has actually made him even more of a formidable presence on the field. Put simply, Matai hasn’t become any less brutal, but has managed to be more judicious in his brutality, which has also seemed to make him even more charismatic as a hard man in the process. One of the paradoxes of NRL is that it’s the players who seem most anxious to put on some kind of macho front – I’m looking at you, JWH – who often have the least charisma on the field, just because you’re always aware that they’re putting on a show. At the same time, Matai’s theatricality is part of his entertainment value as well, but whenever he dishes out a big hit you sense that he’s doing it for the fans and the team, rather than to cement his own self-image as a hard man. For that reason, Matai is a bit of a special case in the NRL: a hyper-aggressive player who doesn’t really have a hyper-aggressive manner, and who doesn’t exude the brute macho aggression that so many other footy players seem to find it necessary to cultivate. If anything, Matai always has a bit of a playful, comical, quizzical manner on the field, with the result that his big hits always come as a bit of a surprise, even if part of the reason you’re watching the game is to see him do his thing. In fact, his big hits often seem to take his teammates by surprise as well, with Watmough, DCE and Stewart all having commented in interviews on the sheer unpredictability of Matai at his best. Watching something surprising go down in NRL is always fun, but watching a whole team register their surprise and channel it into their play is something else entirely. In that sense, Matai is perhaps one of the best poster boys for the NRL at the moment: a one-team player who’s managed to keep a low profile while dishing out some of the most brutal moments in the last decade of the game. One of the weird things about NRL is that it is defined by its excess, which is perhaps why the shoulder charge has become so controversial. For my money, most of the greatest NRL players have got to where they are by finding some way to be flexible with the rules, and part of what distinguishes a good NRL player from a great NRL player is how well they manage to strike a balance between flexibility and respect, knowing when to cross the line but also when to toe the line as well. To some extent, that’s a matter of maturity and restraint, and Matai seems to have nailed the balance about as well as anyone could, somehow managing to come off as both emotional and restrained during his biggest and brassiest moments. To put it another way, Matai’s not really a player who seems to hold grudges, or at least personal grudges, since part of the fun of NRL is the way in which players form professional grudges with other players and teams over the course of their career. Of course, the distinction between a personal and professional grudge is a bit arbitrary, and hard to fully define. However, I think that sledging can sometimes make it a bit more personal – and it’s noticeable that Matai rarely ever engages in sledging, instead letting his body do the talking. In some ways, that’s part of what distinguishes Matai from Slater. While there was a time when the two players seemed like the grubbiest players in the NRL, there was always an extra level of grubbiness to Slater’s game which – to my mind – was associated with his vicious sledges, culminating with his dig at Cory Paterson’s clinical depression in 2010. Sure, Matai may have sledged Mitch Allgood pretty hard, but part of the reason that got so much media coverage was because it was a bit of an anomaly. At the same time, it took a lot of restraint on Matai’s part not to launch back when Allgood hit him in the face during that iconic 2013 game. Watching Matai and Allgood in action was a bit like watching Matai facing his younger and more impulsive self, although even a younger and greener Matai would have been unlikely to lose it as messily as Allgood did that night. To his credit, too, the sledges made against Allgood were more in jest than in aggression, designed to show Manly players and fans that he was prepared to channel his frustration back into good gamesmanship rather than let it fester as the ongoing personal feud it could easily have been. Two years down the track, everyone remembers the Matai-Allgood standoff, but nobody really thinks of them as enemies, which probably has a bit to do with Allgood moving to Hull, but also comes down to the way in which Matai handled the whole situation as well. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find anybody in the NRL who really considers Matai an enemy. If anything, most players see him as a bracing challenge to their own gamesmanship, while even his victims have a kind of admiration and respect for his play – not the kind of respect that comes from fear, but the kind of respect that comes from knowing that even the biggest hit you might cop isn’t going to be personal. One of the biggest NRL spectacles this year was seeing Dave Tyrrell floored during Manly’s clash with the Rabbitohs in Round 16, and yet even in the context of the current Souths dynasty there was a bit of a tacit assumption that copping one from Matai is for the good of the game and is to be expected, really, if you show up to play Manly. That ability to be good-natured, unaffected and yet brutal at the same time is all the more remarkable in that Matai cut his teeth with Sonny Bill Williams and Willie Mason in Auckland, both of whom are players who often seem keen to cultivate just the kind of hard man persona that Matai doesn’t seem to need. Of course, SBW has pulled it off more than Mason, fusing it with a high culture Rugby Union profile even as Mason has come to feel like the dregs of the NRL, shipped around from one outfit for another, and a constant pain to players, coaches and fanbases alike. Yet what SBW and Mason share is a “tough” persona Matai hasn’t ever really seemed to need to depend on, just because he’s got a natural toughness and vitality that’s lasted all these years. For that reason, Matai often feels like a younger player than SBW and Mason – as well as virtually all the other Sea Eagles – despite the fact that he’s been with the same outfit for a decade and is nearing the end of his rep footy career. Since the professional lifespan of a footy player is so short, the development of their professional personalities tends to be more condensed as well, with most players hardening, consolidating or maturing at a remarkable rate, or else devolving into indiscipline more visibly than might occur over a longer time period. While Matai certainly has become less grubby over the last couple of years, his persona has never really changed – or felt the need to change – from his first appearance at Brookvale in 2005, just because it finally feels as if there is no persona, attitude or theatricality here, just a brilliant player who loves his footy and gives everything to it. That’s not just rhetoric either, since there’s no player in the NRL who’s injured as frequently as Matai in his efforts to muscle up the defense for his team. If his judiciary appearances are unprecedented, then so are his injuries, especially his shoulder injuries, and while they’ve become a bit of an in-joke in NRL circles and Manly forums, it’s also generally understood that these are actually real injuries, and that the reason Matai keeps on sustaining them – or never fully recovers from them – is because he gives 110% to every game in which he plays. In my previous post on Brett Stewart, I wrote that one of Stewart’s gifts is his ability – like Hayne in the NFL – to play every match as if Origin is at stake, and that gift is perhaps even more pronounced with Matai, if only because he’s never had the chance to play for Origin in the first place. While there’s been a lot of recent debate about whether New Zealanders should be allowed into Origin, the elephant in the room is that there are a great number of Kiwis – led by Matai, but also including SBW and RTS – who are already giving an Origin-like performance in their rep footy careers, or in other codes and on the international market, begging the question of why Origin itself lags so far behind. And I reckon that if Origin were opened up to New Zealanders tomorrow, Matai would be one of the first contenders for the Blues (assuming he chose to play for the Blues, since the opposite is too confronting to contemplate for a New South Wales supporter). On the one hand, it’s bizarre to think that players like Jennings are being offered as the crème de la crème of NSW centres when we have footy legends like Matai in our midst. At the same time, the fact that Matai has done so little – or needed to do so little – to solidify his hard man persona means that there’s something perenially youthful about his presence on the field. Blessed with the energy and vitality of a young player, but the maturity and discretion of a seasoned player, he feels timeless as a player and timeless as a Manly fixture as well. One of the interesting things about seeing Marty Taupau at Manly next year will be how these two hard men relate to each other, since there’s something a bit more cultivated about Kapow’s hardness that makes for a bit of a contrast to Matai. Sure, he can deadlift better than anyone else in the NRL, but Matai is the kind of player who doesn’t even need that statistic to command the field. Add to that the fact that Matai excels at taking on some of the duties – and certainly the defensive intensity – of both lock and prop, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how these two giants of the game negotiate each other over the next year. For my money, Matai will be something of a mentor figure to Taupau, as well as for Dylan Walker, since he’s effectively the unofficial captain of the centre and midfield, just as Stewart is the unofficial captain of the back and Jamie Lyon is in charge of the lot. At the same time, there’s something about Matai that lends itself to mentoring, since, at this end of the day, this is one of the NRL’s premium gentleman players, which doesn’t mean that he holds back in his game but that he knows how to make the biggest and baddest hits without ever sinking into poor sportsmanship, or creating personal enmities, which is about the biggest ethical achievement you can have in a game like Rugby League. Of course, Matai has sometimes crossed the line, but he’s given as much as he’s taken. After all, he’s about the only proponent of the shoulder charge who’s committed to it with enough conviction to pretty much permanently damage his own shoulder in the process. While I’m not sold on the shoulder charge – I personally think it has no place in the game – there is something to be said for a player like Matai who advocates the right to cop a shoulder charge as much as the right to dish one out. And, at the end of the day, it may be the way in which Matai opens himself up to big hits that makes him such a democratic player as well. Certainly, it’s what makes him such a dynamic player, stepping out of the normal mode of play to thrust himself into high-risk situations that might just as easily fall flat as deliver, which of course makes them all the more breathtaking and surprising – both to his teammates and his fans – when they do deliver, as they do most of the time. Watching Matai in action, then, is close to watching the spirit of Rugby League, which perhaps explains why he has one of the most enduring and solid reputations. While a huge number of footy fans hate Manly, it’s hard to find many who hate Matai, even if they wince every time he turns up against their team. In an era where self-styled hard-men players have turned the shoulder charge into a bit of a boutique item – a man-bun for the footy field, a part of their macho brand – there’s something about the matter-of-fact, workmanlike way in which Matai uses it that also makes it feel like he doesn’t need it as well, since he’s got the resourcefulness that would allow him to dish out or cop a big hit out of about anything. In fact, at his best, Matai’s game almost seems to suggest that the great secret about NRL is that it doesn’t need the shoulder charge – and the ridiculous, unjustifiable risks that it brings – to continue to be the hardest and most ingenious of football codes, since there’s something about the spirit of the game, when embodied in the right way, that can produce the same amount of brutal ingenuity and physical power without the attendant risk. In that sense, Matai feels both somewhat old-fashioned and ahead of his time, as befits a one-team player in an era where that kind of commitment has come full circle and started to feel radical, rather than antiquated. Even if Matai has sought release at various times from his Manly contract, he’s always come back to Brookvale, and that’s more than enough – or almost enough – to compensate the Sea Eagles for the mass exodus of players over the last year or so. Genius players come and go, but there’s something about a Matai that seems like a once-in-generation opportunity, making him feel more precious with every Manly year that passes.Families tell German president they feel abandoned and express dismay that official memorial service has not been planned Relatives of the 12 people killed in December when a truck ploughed into a Christmas market in Berlin have expressed their dismay at the negligent way they say they have been treated by German authorities. About 50 people who lost loved ones in the Islamic State-claimed terrorist attack reportedly told a private meeting called by Germany’s outgoing president, Joachim Gauck, and the interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, they felt abandoned at a deeply upsetting time. Relatives said the first official communication they had with authorities was a bill sent to them by the coroner’s office. The letter reportedly included a warning that if the bill was not paid within a certain timeframe, the recipients would face legal action. One relative told Der Tagesspiegel and Die Welt newspapers that when she received the letter she had thought at the very least it would be a letter of condolence from Berlin’s mayor. Police who killed Berlin attacker made pro-fascist statements online Read more A spokeswoman from Berlin’s town hall, Claudia Sünder, said the mayor’s office had immediately taken responsibility for the coroner’s demand bill when it was brought to its attention. But spontaneous letters of condolence had not been possible, she said, because the list of names of the victims and their relatives was not immediately released. “The fact our hands were tied was terrible,” Sünder told Der Tagesspiegel. Other family members told Gauck and De Maizière they were disappointed an official memorial service had yet to be planned two months after the attack. Relatives also reported how they had had to scour Berlin’s hospitals for missing loved ones as there was no central place they could visit to deal with their inquiries. Many said the lack of access to information contributed to their already considerable distress. Merkel says Germany is'stronger than terrorism' in new year message Read more Those who were certain that their family members were among the dead said they were prevented by security personnel from entering the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church on Breitscheidplatz for a religious service held the day after the attack on 19 December. The reason they were given was that high-ranking German politicians – including Gauck – were among the guests. According to the papers, which reported on the four-hour meeting at Gauck’s Bellevue Palace, the president told the relatives he was distressed to hear they had been unable to enter the church and that he had not known about it at the time. De Maizière reportedly told the meeting’s participants that he would ensure that, should such an incident happen again, the government would improve communication. He said the reason why relatives had not been given information over the phone was because it would have been impossible to distinguish them from fraudsters or journalists posing as family members. Some relatives had previously spoken to German media to express their anguish that the perpetrator was the focus of attention instead of the victims of the attack. Man wrongly arrested over Berlin attack says he fears for his life Read more Petra K told a German newspaper “The Bundestag was not even prepared to interrupt its Christmas break to hold a minute’s silence. The politicians explained we must return to normality as soon as possible. But this will never be possible for the relatives.” The Bundestag held a minute’s silence four weeks after the attack. The victims included seven Germans, an Italian, an Israeli, a Czech and a Ukrainian, as well as Lukasz Urban, the Polish driver of the truck whose vehicle was hijacked by Anis Amri. Fifty-six people were injured. Amri was killed on 23 December in a shootout with police on the outskirts of Milan.CINCINNATI -- Shots fired after a soccer game at Elder High School's field raised fears and security for school events while an Elder official nursed a gunshot wound and police searched for a shooter who wounded three people. Police swarmed the Panther Athletic Complex and surrounding areas Wednesday looking for clues. They found two bullets near the concession stand where about 20 students and parents had gathered to celebrate a 2-1 victory over Moeller on Tuesday night. The shooting prompted Seton, Elder's sister school, to announce it would not play soccer games or practice there until police close their investigation. The Elder complex had been Seton's home field. Seton moved its Wednesday game with Ursuline to the Blue Ash Sports Complex. RELATED: Wounded Elder official, officer who came to his aid give first-person accounts of shooting Police said they suspect it was a random shooting on the remote hillside above Quebec Road, about a mile north of the school. They said there were reports of up to 25 shots fired in the area. "This is somebody that went out and probably fired a large number of rounds, and not caring where they landed," said Lt. Don Luck. "It could be as simple as that. Or somebody that’s got a lot more evil in their hearts. "I’ve been on this job 30-plus years and to think that somebody would just fire into the crowd at a soccer game here, especially at this beautiful complex, that would strike me as unbelievable." But police are taking no chances and will beef up protection for the Elder-St. Xavier football game at The Pit Friday night. "I can tell you now we'll be adding several more officers," Capt. Aaron Jones said. "Not that I believe that there is a potential threat or that there was a targeted offense here, but at the same time the community expects it and I want to give that additional security and that feeling that this is a safe event to come to." Luck described what happened at the soccer field about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. "The game was over. It was Senior Night. Some people were still hanging around in front of the concession stand when shots were fired," Luck said. Assistant Athletic Director Kevin Espelage initially thought a child had run into him when he felt an impact on his leg, but when he reached down to the spot where he'd been struck, his fingers came away bloody. He had been shot. Espelage was taken to the hospital and did not return to school Wednesday, but said he would be back soon. "It just feels like a charley horse, so nothing extraordinary. Nothing stitched up. Bandaged. It’s just a matter of keeping the bandage up," Espelage said. A retired police officer and his 20-year-old son were also struck by fragments. Neither went to the hospital. Elder Athletic Director Dave Dabbelt called it "a bizarre happening." "This community has always been really responsive, really embraces Elder. We’ve never had an incident up here before," Dabbelt said. From different accounts, police believe the gunfire came from beyond a fence and a tree line around the complex -- about 100 yards away. "What we believe is that these shots were fired from a pretty good distance away," Jones said. Why it happened is even less clear. "Either they were specifically targeted or it was just somebody shooting into a crowd or somebody was firing a gun off at some distance and a couple of bullets happened to find their way here," Luck said. A random shooting seemed more likely, Jones said. "Some of the evidence does not fit that somebody was specifically targeting the individuals here... the huge distance that we're dealing with... the point that somebody would be that far away makes it more difficult," Joness said. "We're not ruling it out though." Police Sgt. Daniel Hils was at the game to watch his son, Alex, play. He said he immediately jumped into action, called 911 and applied pressure to Espelage's wound. "I don't even know what I would begin to say," Hils said. "I can't even understand why folks having a peaceful night would be shot at. It's unimaginable. This whole thing is unimaginable." Jones described the plan for extra security at Friday night's football game. "We have usually about eight Cincinnati policemen patrolling inside the facility. Usually District 3 has been having a presence in the neighborhood, so they'll have policemen in cars, they'll have policemen on bikes, they'll have policemen on motorcycles sort of riding in the neighborhood," he said. Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,500 reward for any information leading to an arrest in this case. Elder High School issued a statement via Facebook Wednesday morning. "We are grateful for God’s many blessings upon our community of faith as well as for your love and support," the post said, in addition to thanking police and asking for witness cooperation. "We ask for your continued prayers for all those involved in last night’s incident and for the future success of Elder High School." Seton released this statement about the shooting: We are praying for the Elder community and for peace in our world. We are grateful for the quick response of the Detail Officer, Cincinnati Police Department and those in attendance, and we’re thankful for the thorough investigation being conducted by the CPD. The safety and security of our students is always our priority at Seton High School and we will continue to work diligently with our security officer, the
night of him missing sleep. GEOFF THOMSON: CASA's special audit found that Pel-Air failed to comply with approved fatigue management systems. It concludes that: (Reads audit report): "Pel-Air have not managed fatigue risk to a standard considered appropriate, particularly for an operator conducting ad hoc 24 hour medivac operations" MARTIN DOLAN: There was an indication there fatigue may have had a role to play. But the evidence available to us wasn't such that we'd come to the definitive view that there was a major fatigue related element. JOHN MCCORMICK: In the end it's only the pilot who can decide whether he is fatigued or he or she is fatigued and unable to conduct a flight. GEOFF THOMSON: Before leaving Samoa, Dominic James tried to submit a flight plan for the return journey. But he couldn't get an internet connection. DOMINIC JAMES: The internet on the whole island was down,I wasn't going to be able to get online. (Reconstruction): Yeah, good afternoon it's Dom James... GEOFF THOMSON: He rang Pel-Air, but the operations manager was unavailable. DOMINIC JAMES (Reconstruction):... to Norfolk Island.. (On Four Corners): I then had to make a phone call to Air Services Australia and try and manage a phone briefing, which considering the normal briefings are fairly lengthy was a difficult procedure. JOHN MCCORMICK: The pilot shows an appalling lack of knowledge of what he thinks that flight plan is going to do. He did not know the route on which he was going to fly, he did not know what times he was going to leave one, what's called flight information region, and enter another. He was unsure of the flight times, he guessed three-and-a-half hours, and that's actually on the transcript. Well you can't guess these things. BRYAN AHERNE: His flight planning was basically on the run. There was no support structure. There was no software to assist him. GEOFF THOMSON: CASA's audit also found that Pel-Air failed to support Westwind pilots making complicated fuel and flight planning calculations. It said: (Reads audit report): "There is no standardised method of flight planning. Many crew purchased their own software for planning and loaded their own fuel figures." JOHN MCCORMICK: Software is only a thing of today. You know, you can do this manually. When I started flying 40 years ago of course software didn't exist. Examinations tested theoretical knowledge of how you conduct those calculations or you make those calculations. And they can be done by longhand as well as by computerised software. GEOFF THOMSON: Flight planning over the phone, Dominic James was given a weather forecast for Norfolk Island. It said there was unlimited visibility with scattered cloud at 2,000 feet. This meant conditions were good for landing a plane. What the pilot didn't know was that this weather report was atypical for that day. MIKE QUINN: From a timing point of view, he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to get this forecast that was radically out of kilter with everything that had been issued prior and after this forecast that he got. GEOFF THOMSON: Crucially, the good forecast meant he was not legally required to carry fuel to reach an alternate destination. DOMINIC JAMES: The type of category that we were in, which is air work, which all aero-medical aircraft operate under, did not require us to carry an alternate for Norfolk Island. GEOFF THOMSON: With no alternate destinations required Dominic James simply reversed his flight plan from the night before. This would take him from Samoa to Melbourne via another fuel stop at Norfolk Island. He chose not to island hop between closer refuelling stops in places like Fiji or Noumea. DOMINIC JAMES: As a general rule the more remote the location the more expensive the fuel was. So being mindful of that you tried to get the fuel as close to Australia as you possibly could. BRYAN AHERNE: The operators had always done direct from Samoa to Norfolk Island. So the pilot was just doing what he was told to do. GEOFF THOMSON: CASA's Special Audit concluded that Pel-Air had breached the Civil Aviation Act. It says: (Reads audit report): "The significant deficiencies identified during the audit indicate that there exists an imbalance between commercial objectives and safety outcomes. This was most prevalent in the Westwind Aeromedical Operations." GEOFF THOMPSON: Why are Pel-Air's breaches missing from the ATSB's report? MARTIN DOLAN: Our report isn't about compliance with regulatory systems and so on. That is the role of CASA. That's why they undertook their investigation. Our role is to try and find out the overall system within which they're applying their rules and their oversight. GEOFF THOMSON: With good weather forecast, Dominic James headed to Norfolk Island with his fuel tanks 83 per cent full. The first weather update for Norfolk comes from Air Traffic Control in Fiji. It says there's some cloud over Norfolk island at 6,000 feet. This is wrong. MICK QUINN: In review when you look at the actual weather report that was issued, the actual cloud base was not at 6,000 feet. It was at 600 feet. That indicates to Dominic, it reinforces his mental picture, that the forecast still is as it was, it's even better than what it was when he got the original forecast when he departed. MARTIN DOLAN: That's not one that I am familiar with at the level of detail in the report so... GEOFF THOMPSON: So it might be a mistake. MARTIN DOLAN: It, it may well be a mistake. I'll have to take a look at that. GEOFF THOMSON: And he did. Last Friday the ATSB acknowledged Dominic James received incorrect weather report from Fiji and changed its report. DOMINIC JAMES: If I'd been told that there was cloud at 600 feet, even given the fact that I suspected the automatic system was overstating the weather at Norfolk, I would've gone to Fiji. GEOFF THOMSON: But moments later another weather report comes from Fiji which is acknowledged by the flight crew as the latest weather available. It contradicts what they've just heard and says weather conditions on Norfolk Island are in fact deteriorating. DOMINIC JAMES: I maintain that that weather report, exactly as it appears in that transcript, is not what we had on the flight deck. That's not what I copied down, it's not what I comprehended. GEOFF THOMPSON: And how do you explain that? DOMINIC JAMES: To be honest with you, I can't. MICK QUINN: It's possible that there was an over-transmission and that maybe the flight crew only got part of that weather information. It's possible that they didn't assimilate that because the flight crew were fatigued. GEOFF THOMPSON: The flight crew was criticised by the ATSB for not asking for the latest Norfolk Island forecast. On this issue the ATSB report found that pilots needed more guidance from regulators, and identified as a minor safety issue. But a 2010 letter from the ATSB to CASA about the ditching shows that the organisations had earlier agreed that it was an issue of critical safety importance. This means it presented a level of intolerable risk. MARTIN DOLAN: We were, if you like, being cautious and prudent. We were saying at that time, on what was available to us, a partial picture, it looked to be that sort of issue. GEOFF THOMPSON: So it's gone all the way from being a critical safety issue, it skipped significant safety issue and went all the way down to minor safety issue. That's a pretty big jump. MARTIN DOLAN: That's... I wouldn't have said it was a jump, it was something that hanged over time GEOFF THOMSON: On the ground at Norfolk, Unicom operator Larry Quintal had certainly noticed that the weather was getting worse. And he was technically capable of telling Dominic James this himself via HF radio. LARRY QUINTAL: We weren't being given permission to do that, use that HF frequency. We did enquire over a period of times whether you know whether there's a possibility that we can use it and it was refused, They say 'no we will stick to our VHF system and that would be used for Auckland'. GEOFF THOMPSON: Do you wish you were allowed to use it on that night? LARRY QUINTAL: Absolutely, absolutely. GEOFF THOMSON: Larry Quintal did report bad weather to air traffic control in New Zealand. MICK QUINN: He's sitting there looking out the window. He knows what it's like. (Sound of radio communication with Auckland) GEOFF THOMSON: He told Auckland there was cloud just 300 feet above the runway. (To Larry Quintal): Were you under the impression, and have you believed until now, that that would have been passed on to Dominic James? LARRY QUINTAL: Absolutely, yep. After all that sort of information's very important and it would have helped Dominic make a better decision. MICK QUINN: The information is out there, several people know about it, but for some reason, it doesn't get back to the flight crew. And this is very critical information that, had that happened, possibly would have been the trigger to stop the accident sequence. DOMINIC JAMES: When those weather reports came through, I had the fuel to make Fiji without difficulty. By the time nine o'clock rolled round, I was compelled to go to Norfolk and I had no other options. GEOFF THOMSON: This is disputed by CASA and the ATSB. They argue that at this point the jet still had enough fuel to divert to Noumea. Such calculations are complex and time-consuming. JOHN MCCORMICK: We calculate he would've landed with 400 pounds or 20 minutes of fuel remaining in the aeroplane. So even as late as the point of top of descent where he's about to commence his descent into Norfolk Island, or shortly before that, he still could've gone to Noumea. DOMINIC JAMES: The calculations that were run by the specialists that were assisting me found that the amount of fuel I would've arrived at Noumea with was about eight minutes, which is way short of what was required to do it safely. GEOFF THOMSON: Dominic James approached Norfolk Island still convinced it was his safest bet. DOMINIC JAMES: It was only once I'd commenced my descent to Norfolk and had spoken to Larry on the short-range, better quality VHF radio, that I became concerned that the conditions were actually a lot different to what I'd expected. GEOFF THOMSON: The ATSB report does acknowledge that Pel-Air could have done more to minimise the risks associated with aeromedical flights to remote islands. But inexplicably the report concludes that Pel-Air did operate within the regulations. MARTIN DOLAN: One of the fundamental assumptions of the role of the independent no blame investigator is that we're not in the business of saying this is who is to blame and a range of other things. It's what is the system that's in place and what needs to be done to improve it. GEOFF THOMSON: Tellingly, after its audit of Pel-Air, CASA demanded a root and branch overhaul of its operations. JOHN MCCORMICK: Pel-Air have addressed every one of the issues that we found in that special audit report. As I said, we put them as conditions on their air operators certificate, their licence to operate, until they cleared each and every one of those issues. DOMINIC JAMES: One of the major things that's changed is all the remote islands that surround Australia are now no longer able to be used as refuelling stops. And the aircraft are now required to go the long way around and use air-airports that are surrounded by alternates nearby. GEOFF THOMSON: The company's leaders have declined to be interviewed by Four Corners. Pel-Air has moved on. (Footage of Bernie and Gary Currell at home) BERNIE CURRALL: (Packing) You'd think I was going for two years wouldn't you? GEOFF THOMSON: The same can't be said of those who survived the ditching of Pel-Air flight VH-NGA. BERNIE CURRALL (To her dog): Trixie I'm going to miss you, yes I am. (On Four Corners): My kids find it really hard because this is just not who I was. GEOFF THOMSON: Bernie Currall is packing. She's booked into a mental health clinic for the ninth time since she crashed into the ocean strapped to a stretcher. BERNIE CURRALL: Just one day it all just came crashing down. Everything just hit me. I was just this crying wreck in the car who had lost complete control of her bowels and my urine. I was just this mess. (Footage of Bernie and Gary Currall in the car on the way to the clinic plays) GARY CURRALL (to Bernie): Are you nervous? BERNIE CURRALL: Yep. They're very nice I just don't want to go. GEOFF THOMSON: Bernie's been diagnosed with chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. GARY CURRALL (to Bernie): It'll do you good in the long run. GEOFF THOMSON: She can't work. She can't even read a book. GARY CURRALL (to Bernie): It'll get you well BERNIE CURRALL: Yeah, hopefully (On Four Corners): All the medication that I have to take to get me to get through the day every day is just, it's enormous amounts. (Footage of Bernie arriving at the mental health clinic plays) (At clinic): OK so this is my room for the next couple of weeks. GEOFF THOMSON: Bernie's treatments are expensive. Gary teaches during the day and washes dishes at a hospital at night, just to keep up. BERNIE CURRALL (to Gary Currall): Love you and I'm going to miss you. GEOFF THOMSON: Like all those in the jet's cabin that night, Bernie and Gary are pursuing Pel-Air for compensation. GARY CURRALL: There's been no contact whatsoever with Pel-Air in the two-and-a-half years since the accident. No contact whatsoever. GEOFF THOMPSON: Is that shocking for you? GARY CURRALL: It's just appalling. It's yeah, it's beyond words. (Footage of Karen Casey being treated) DR SUNDARAJ (to Karen Casey): What happens there? That's tender? (Karen Casey cries)' What about here? (Karen Casey, crying, shakes her head) Squeeze my fingers both hands. That's so much stronger, this is really weak'. GEOFF THOMSON: Neither can words describe the pain Karen Casey now endures. DR SUNDARAJ (to Karen Casey): I can see you've wasted. These muscles here are so much smaller compared to this side. This is due to the nerve injury. GEOFF THOMSON: The impact of the ditch effectively wrenched the roots of Karen's nerves away from her spine. DR SUNDARAJ: Is that hurting you a lot? GEOFF THOMSON: Her right arm is practically useless. DR SUNDARAJ: That's hurting you? KAREN CASEY (to Dr Sundaraj): It's the loss (sobs) I've reached a limit. DR SUNDARAJ: I'm afraid it's going to be with you for a long time. (Footage of Karen Casey working plays) GEOFF THOMSON: Karen grieves for the busy life she's lost as working mum caring for her three children. Like Bernie, she hasn't worked since the ditch. KAREN CASEY: That's what really gets me down. I do OK, I do OK with everything else that's happened, with loss, I don't know where my future is going to take me. I don't know whether to study, but the pain is the one that drives me insane. GEOFF THOMSON: Dominic James now flies charters and trains other pilots on the outskirts of Sydney. CASA has reinstated most of his licences. He still keeps a tiny torch within easy reach. DOMINIC JAMES: I didn't operate in a vacuum. I operated as a pilot that belonged to a company that was overseen by a regulator. You can't isolate one thing from all the others and say that's a fair appreciation of what took place. GEOFF THOMSON: Almost three years on, perhaps the only certainty is that six people miraculously survived thanks to the vigilance of Norfolk Islanders and a whole lot of luck. KERRY O'BRIEN: You might say the lessons of that near tragedy are now clear. But have they really been learned? All the documents referred to in the story, including CASA's special audit are on our website if you're looking for more detail. Next week on Four Corners, the shocking impact of youth suicide. Is it time to be more open about its prevalence and its consequences? Until then, good night. END Background Information PROGRAM UPDATES Pel-Air and CASA damned by safety audit documents | Crikey.com | 4 Sep 2012 - The only tenable conclusion that can be made from the Pel-Air disclosures on 4 Corners last night is that the performances of CASA and the ATSB are so bad that they constitute a threat to public safety in Australia. By Ben Sandilands. CASA caught playing the man not the company in ABC TV exposon Pel-Air ditching | Crikey.com | 3 Sep 2012 - The ABC TV 4 Corners report into the Norfolk Island Pel-Air ditching has this evening shown CASA's director of safety, John McCormick, making an attack on the flight's captain, Dominic James and excusing every single deficiency the regulator uncovered in the company during a safety audit as not being a cause of the accident. Pel-Air Media Release | 3 Sep 2012 - The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released its Final Report on the investigation of the ditching of the Westwind aircraft off Norfolk Island in November 2009 and Pel-Air accepts all the findings of the report. Read more... [PDF 67Kb] RESPONSE FROM PEL-AIR TO FOUR CORNERS' QUESTIONS Response from Pel-Air to 4 Corners - Read the response from Pel-Air to questions sent by Four Corners in relation to the findings of the investigation into the ditching of a Pel-Air jet in the sea off Norfolk Island, in 2009. [PDF 405Kb] KEY REPORTS AND DOCUMENTATION CASA Special Audit | 2009 - The CASA Special Audit into Pel-Air after the ditching off Norfolk Island in 2009. [PDF 3.35Mb] ATSB Letter to CASA | 2010 - The letter between ATSB and CASA agreeing that lack of regulatory guidance for pilots re weather reports is a 'critical safety issue'. [PDF 432Kb] Ditching - Israel Aircraft Industries Westwind 1124A, Norfolk Island | Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) | 18 Nov 2009 - On 18 November 2009, an Israel Aircraft Industries Westwind 1124A aircraft, registered VH-NGA, ditched in the ocean 3 NM (6 km) to the west of Norfolk Island. The six occupants evacuated the sinking aircraft and were later recovered by a rescue vessel from Norfolk Island... Following the event, the aircraft operator initiated a program of checking and revalidation for the company's commercial Westwind pilots. The investigation has now concluded. Visit the investigation page. ATSB Final Report | Aug 2012 - Download the final report. [PDF 2.28Mb] ATSB Preliminary Report | Jan 2010 - Download the preliminary report. [PDF 1Mb] Download the video showing footage of the ditched Pel-Air Westwind jet on the sea bed, off the coast of Norfolk Island. [MP4] NEWS AND COMMENTARY Hard lessons learnt from Pel-Air ditching | The Australian | 31 Aug 2012 - A seres of mistakes by the crew operating a Pel-Air medical evacuation flight, which led to the plane ditching off Norfolk Island almost three years ago, has prompted the development of new regulations on fuel planning, inflight management and alternate airports. Pel-Air ditching report hurts more as it sinks in | Crikey.com | 30 Aug 2012 - The most damning thing about the ATSB final report into the ditching and sinking of a Pel-Air operated air ambulance flight near Norfolk Island in November 2009 is that CASA, the air safety regulator, almost three years later, hasn't enforced the same flight safety standards on such operations as it requires from normal passenger jet services. By Ben Sandilands. Pel-Air slammed in Norfolk Island ditching report | Crikey.com | 30 Aug 2012 - The ATSB's report into the 2009 ditching of an air ambulance flight by Pel-Air in the sea in the middle of the night just before its tanks were going to run empty on a flight where it was inadequately fueled for its mission has been released. The PR summary for media below is, as usual, comparatively restrained considering the enormity of the situation. Pel-Air air ambulance ditching report due Thursday | Crikey.com | 27 Aug 2012 - The long awaited final report into the 18 November 2009 ditching of a Pel-Air air ambulance flight into the sea at night near Norfolk Island will be released this Thursday. The crash that goes on forever | SMH | 31 Mar 2012 - There is still no resolution for those aboard the Pel-Air jet ditched at sea, writes Damien Murphy. Air ambulance crash pilot suspended despite heroic landing | The Australian | 24 Feb 2010 - The air safety watchdog has suspended the licence of the pilot hailed as a hero after last year's ditching of an air ambulance off Norfolk Island. ATSB report makes Pel-Air, its pilot and CASA look like fools | Crikey.com | 13 Jan 2010 - It is made graphically clear by the ATSB interim report into the November 18 ditching of a Pel-Air Westwind jet off Norfolk Island that the six people on board variously rushed or struggled for their lives. CASA changes fuel rules as Pel-Air crash report draws nearer | Crikey.com | 15 Jul 2010 - The air safety regulator, CASA, has proposed fuel rule changes which would have outlawed the conduct of the Pel-Air aerial ambulance flight that ditched into the sea near Norfolk Island last November 18. Norfolk pilot 'flew without enough fuel' | ninemsn | 21 Nov 2009 - The pilot hailed a hero for ditching his plane safely off Norfolk Island this week may have been dangerously negligent after reportedly making the journey without enough fuel. Miracle landing on Norfolk Island | Radio National | 20 Nov 2009 - On Wednesday night, a heavy cloud stopped Captain Dominic James from landing his Air Ambulance on Norfolk Island, en route from Samoa to Melbourne. Not only did Captain James manage to land his plane in the rough seas in darkness, but he also got all five passengers, including a seriously ill Australian woman, out of the aircraft moments before it sank. They then waited in shark-infested waters for a fishing boat to rescue them. LINKS Australian Transport Safety Bureau - www.atsb.gov.au/ Aviation Safety Network (ASN) - An online resource for aircraft accidents and civil aviation safety issues. aviation-safety.net/ Civil Aviation Safety Authority - www.casa.gov.au/ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) - Promotes understanding and security through cooperative aviation regulation. www.icao.int/ Pel-Air Aviation - www.pelair.com.au/ Blog: PlaneTalking - Ben Sandilands provides the latest aviation and travel news on Crikey.com. blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/ The PPRuNe Forums (The Professional Pilots Rumour Network) - Discussion board for pilots. www.pprune.org/ WATCH RELATED FOUR CORNERS PROGRAMS QF32 | 28 Mar 2011 - Sarah Ferguson's gripping account of how a single engine part almost brought down the pride of the Qantas fleet. Flash Video PresentationOne terrifically huge haul of cow shit assembled! Town officials have gathered this last Tuesday to announce to a more-than-jubilant populace that our town of Towneston has officially amassed the largest collection in a single setting of fecal matter to be used for argiculture purposes. “If that ain’t the gosh darn biggest stack of poop that I ever saw,” remarked one impressed miner, “Then sure as the day is long I ain’t never seen a heap of fertilizer.” The overly-fertile stock pile has been mostly the effort of Dick Doorman’s brown bovine affectionately named “Daisy”. “I mean, I love that cow like I love my dead wife, but she ain’t deserving of all the reward, Thompson’s stag mule added plenty of its own dung to the pile,” Doorman was quoted as saying during the evening’s jubilant celebrations in response to the declaration. And in these parts word travels fast; Chicago has already wired in the hopes of brokering a deal with Towneston in the hope that they can acquire the night soil load for their upcoming World’s Exposition. To this and other Eastern demands the citizens have been acutely resolute in their almost-unanimous rejection. “This is our crap deposit,” the Mayor John Johnson told this reporter, “and as such it stands as something of a symbol of this communities future growth and prosperity.” “Those Eastern hoopleheads can go find their own damn stool stock,” town drunk Bogerty screamed as he uncorked his sixth bottle of whisky, most likely a gesture of celebration warranted by the occasion. “I think it’s safe to say,” Johnson added, “That this prolific shit mass is going to bring quite a bit of fame to this former small town throughout the territory. At the time of this article’s printing word had filtered in through the telegraph that rival Citiesburg was attempting its own award-winning excrement gob. [a reprinting from The Townston Gazette, Aug. 20th, 1888]A few weeks ago, I bought a new CD. Weird, right? It certainly wasn’t something I’d planned on doing: For one thing, when you consider the steadily eroding sales of compact discs (which are so bad, New York City can barely keep its record stores alive), the fact that I was even able to find one of those stabby-cornered, shink-wrapped eco-terrors was kind of a surprise. But there I was, stuck on a road trip with an ancient stereo system, in dire need of a Drake break (his songs had started from the bottom of the FM dial and continued, non-stop, all the way up). And so I dropped $12 for Tribulation’s The Children of the Night, an excellent Swedish black metal album—think Riverbottom Nightmare Band, if its members had spent a year opening for Queens of the Stone Age—which I then kept on repeat for days. So, like millions of other music fans with limited IRL storage space, I put complete faith in the cloud, despite the fact that it had been named for an aerosol that has a tendency to suddenly disappear. It felt like an odd step backward. Not so long ago, I’d sold my decades-old CD collection, sending them off to New Jersey—an undignified death if there ever was one—without so much as a hug or a handshake goodbye, confident I’d never miss them. At the time, the decision made perfect sense: My family was growing, my apartment was not, and I needed both space and money. Besides, I'd been assured that everything was going to be in the cloud. And so, like millions of other music fans with limited IRL storage space, I put complete faith in this abstract entity, despite the fact that it had been named for an aerosol that has a tendency to suddenly disappear. Sonic Separation Anxiety Now, just a few years later, my music collection is a lawless (but not lossless) mess—a digital diaspora of streaming tracks; ripped MP3s; Bush/Cheney-era eMusic files; Bandcamp purchases; SoundCloud likes; and iTunes downloads in ancient file formats that now read like dating-site acronyms (everyone was briefly.m4p in college, right?). And while such a collection might accurately reflect the innate messiness of my music-loving brain, it's become increasingly difficult to navigate, with entire hours lost attempting to track down certain albums and songs. Look, will the widows weep for me in the hills because of such problems? No. They shall not weep. But in the last few months, it's become clear that the grand promises of streaming music—the notion that all of our collections would be replicated, preserved, and protected digitally; the idea that we’d be able to access new music with ease; the assurance that, yes, this would be a blessing for artists—all came with unexpected stipulations. First, there’s the recent phenomenon of songs, albums, sometimes entire discographies being seemingly kidnapped overnight, without warning. Then there’s escalating battle between streaming services to land weeks- or month-long exclusives of big albums, shutting out some listeners altogether. And, perhaps most troubling of all, there’s the fact that, while streaming now comprises about a third of music sales, many artists still feel they’re getting stiffed. Maybe it’s all that Swedish death metal making me sentimental, but I’m kind of starting to miss those CDs. Perhaps this is all just collateral damage—a series of ugly, possibly fixable trade-offs that we must endure so music can (theoretically) live anywhere. Either way, they’re certainly not looming enough to get me to give up streaming (I use Spotify daily, often for hours on end, including right now, and signed up for Tidal once it landed the Prince back catalog). But, five years after the streaming model broke big in the US, I look at that $12 disc with a kind of confused appreciation: Here’s a sturdy, tangible object—packed with art and lyrics and various liner-note niceties—that sounds fantastic, won’t disappear overnight, and, after being purchased, presumably will send a few bucks to the musicians who created it. At some point, I had thousands of these things, all part of a clunky museum-slash-library that served as a searchable overview of nearly four decades of music listening. Now, I have thousands of songs scattered across a series of all-digital archipelagos, where tunes can easily get lost, or worse, vanish altogether. Maybe it’s all that Swedish death metal making me sentimental, but I’m kind of starting to miss those CDs. A Quick Note on Animal Behavior To understand the mind of a music fan, picture a weird, easily aggrieved squirrel that lives in a house made of torn pages from Trouser Press and Spin album guides, and wears a faded Delicious Vinyl T-shirt (sometimes with pants; sometimes not). Being a squirrel, it wants to collect and store everything it finds—but only by using an inscrutable, scattershot, semi-logical system that will never be understood by its friends or relatives (who, it should be said, are only barely tolerating this squirrel’s shit at this point). This is me. Even though a good 60-70 percent of my music exists digitally, there’s a sizable physical collection, which has been splintered into a variety of fiefdoms and phylum that would barely make a lick of sense to a sane person. Example: I have a bunch of '70s and '00s punk and hardcore albums on cassette, because I like the hiss and crackle that serve as a warm-up for whatever sweet guitar-scuzz might follow. But '90s hardcore or punk or pop-punk albums? Those are (relatively) slicker recordings, so I try to collect them on vinyl. As far as rap goes, that’s just as stupidly complicated: I grew up listening to ’80s and ’90s hip-hop on cassettes, which often came with lengthy thank-yous and liner-notes, so I try to track those down on tape when I can... except for albums that are thick with samples, like Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet or De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising, as those tend to sound better on vinyl—except some of the original pressings were a little tinny, so... I will stop now, before I get too deep on my system for new releases (I buy some of them on vinyl, some on Bandcamp, and even got a few on CD this week—and all for reasons so arbitrary and contradictory, they would just annoy/bore you even further). But the point is this: Pretty much every music fan I know is an insane squirrel, born with a voracious appetite for the new, a deep nostalgia for the old, and not enough space nor organizational acumen to keep it all from becoming a mess. Streaming was not only supposed to open our worlds to new sounds and discoveries, it was supposed to make things easier—it would make our clutter less haphazard, more elegant. It was going to help us put our pants on. Instead, it has only made our nests more crowded, our collections more rando, our behavior more squirrelly. Catalogorrhea To be fair, we all knew from the beginning that we wouldn’t be able to hear everything we wanted via streaming, even in a best-case scenario. There were so many labels, artists, and rights-holders to be satisfied—and so many arcane releases to track down—that it would be impossible for services like Spotify or Apple Music to entirely replicate our collections. In a best-case scenario, we could achieve Nirvana, but never nirvana. That's largely because, in the music industry—where many of the biggest labels have been around for longer than half a century—extensive back catalogs have always served as a bragging right and a bargaining chip, with executives (and artists) fiercely protective of the rights to their works. And while long-time digital holdouts like Led Zeppelin and the Beatles have in recent years succumbed to Spotify, the list of artists whose work is underrepresented on streaming services—or not represented at all—is formidable, ranging from multi-platinum artists (Garth Brooks, Def Leppard) to lesser-selling yet still crucial acts (De La Soul, Slade) to tiny hardcore bands that I listened to while driving around the suburbs in the mid-'90s (where ya at, Falling Forward, literally and figuratively?). If you're looking for every album ever made, you're not going to find them streaming, and you probably never will, unless Garth Brooks wakes up one day and decides "Friends in Low Places" needs to be in all places. Still, all of those big-named absences are mostly forgivable: When I signed up for Spotify five years ago, I knew there'd be gaps in its offerings, but I figured it was a decent-enough sacrifice for being able to instantly listen to, say, 94 percent of the music I was enthusiastic or curious about. (Though, man—how can you not have Slade? This is soft-power prowess at its most affecting!). What I didn't count on, however, was the way Spotify's competition—and a few unpredictable artists—would later build an unpredictable bazaar of digital-music destinations, where no site has the exact same offerings, and no album is guaranteed to stick around forever. These are not real real problems, especially not in 2016, aka Our Year of Perpetual Suck. But they point to the fact there's no guarantee of permanence or stability in the streaming atmosphere, something I should have been thinking about back I was when selling off my Prince CDs and Radiohead EPs. This became especially clear in the last few months, thanks in large part to Prince and Radiohead, two of the most listened-to and culturally seismic acts of the year, and artists with complicated, occasionally uncomfortable relationships with technology in general. When Prince died in April, a huge number of fans turned to Spotify or Apple Music to listen to records like Dirty Mind and Sign o' the Times and even Graffiti Bridge, only to learn he'd relocated the bulk of his catalog to Tidal, the streaming service championed by millionaires, and presumably named after an off-brand laundry detergent. That's only slightly less annoying than Radiohead's more hodgepodgey streaming-service configuration. For the first few months of the year, most of the band's albums were readily available on Spotify, Tidal, or Apple Music—but not its seminal 2007 record In Rainbows, nor the group's killer b-sides, some of which were temporarily removed from the services as the result of a label switcheroo (In Rainbows and those odds-and-sods eventually returned to Spotify circulation). As for the band’s most recent album, the great if hyphen-deprived A Moon Shaped Pool was on Apple Music and Tidal upon its release, but withheld from Spotify for more than a month. Again: These are not real real problems, especially not in 2016, aka Our Year of Perpetual Suck. But they point to the fact there's no guarantee of permanence or stability in the streaming atmosphere, something I should have been thinking about back I was when selling off my Prince CDs and Radiohead EPs (luckily, I still have most of Prince's primo records on vinyl—not so much because I'm an audiophile, but because they come with cool artwork and mostly complete lyrics, not to mention posters like this). Around that time, I also unloaded my Taylor Swift CDs—meaning that, when the artist pulled her records from Spotify a year and a half ago, I was sent searching through a bunch of old hard drives, trying to find my MP3 rips of her waaay too earnest (but still pretty great) first album. Granted, all of these raptured tracks are available elsewhere on the web—either legally for purchase or iffily free-of-charge, and all with very little hunting or pecking involved. But it’s a far cry from the ease-of-use Eden for which I traded in my physical-disc collection—especially this year, when there's a new, even more relatively elusive musical
goals and a solid strategy. It already has done much to reduce its own carbon footprint. But Europe cannot solve the problem alone. Since its share of global carbon emissions is only about 14 percent, Europe could stop emitting CO2 tomorrow and global warming would still be catastrophic. Said Mr. Röttgen, “On this issue those who emit the most have the greatest power.” So one of the unfortunate lessons from Copenhagen is that even an Obama-led United States cannot be counted on as a reliable partner. Europe is trying to step into the leadership vacuum, but without the world’s largest national economy and per capita polluter making greater efforts, success is in jeopardy.How Different Is Obama from Bush on Terrorism? After five years of waiting, Omar Khadr was finally slated to go on trial in Guantánamo Bay this summer — and then suddenly, the gears ground to a halt. The problem was not that Khadr was just 15 years old when, according to the charges, he threw a grenade in a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan and killed a U.S. soldier. Nor was Barack Obama’s administration having second thoughts about restarting the military tribunals that had been stopped when he took office. Instead, the problem lay in the criminal charge against Khadr: fighting without a uniform. According to news reports, Harold Koh, the legal advisor to the State Department, pointed out that CIA agents and private contractors who fire missiles from U.S. drones are civilians too. By charging Khadr with a war crime, the United States might be opening its own operators to the same charge. This week, a judge set a new and theoretically final date for Khadr’s trial, Oct. 18. But the defendant’s long journey to the courtroom perfectly encapsulates the difficulties facing the Obama administration when it comes to the legal war on terror. First there are holdover problems from the previous administration: Guantánamo itself, the detainees held there, and some aggressive but not always well-thought-out legal theories. These are troubling to advocates of international law — some of whom, like Koh, a longtime human rights champion, now work for the government and cannot possibly be happy about, for example, life imprisonment for a crime committed by a 15-year-old child soldier. Then there are new legal challenges associated with the administration’s own national defense strategies — especially the use of drones, which has increased substantially in recent years. Between the invasion of Iraq, Guantánamo, and the horrors of Abu Ghraib, the United States during the Bush years found itself repeatedly accused of acting unlawfully. The cost of the criticism came in two forms: First, the United States had a harder time finding desperately needed allies in two wars and a worldwide struggle against al Qaeda. Second, being perceived as a lawbreaker hurt America at a time when winning hearts and minds was a security issue, not just a project of soft power. Obama ran in part on the promise to restore American credibility by complying with domestic and international law — a highly unusual campaign tactic that captured how serious the problems caused by Bush’s policies seemed to be. In the last two years, his administration has tried to change both the reality and the perception of how the U.S. government complies with the law when acting in the interests of national security. Closing Guantánamo, as Obama promised, would have been the best symbol of change. But Congress has made it impossible to transfer the Guantánamo detainees to facilities stateside, so Obama has not been able to fulfill this pledge. It’s not that the former law professor hasn’t made any progress at all. The first and most successful step in the legal strategy adopted by the Obama team was to back away from its predecessor’s aggressive reliance on the theory of executive power: the idea that the president, as commander in chief, possesses the inherent authority to do anything he deems necessary to protect the country. Instead, in legal memoranda and court filings, Obama has relied primarily on congressional authorization for all national security actions and programs. U.S. courts have for the most part accepted these rationales, and the Obama administration has rarely been held to have violated the Constitution. Today, the question of executive power, so central to the national security law battles of the Bush years, is mostly off the agenda. Although at first it might appear that this shift is of purely domestic significance — after all, whether the president has complied with the U.S. Constitution is not a question of international law — the impact actually extends much further. By overreaching in its claims of executive power, the Bush administration found itself repeatedly rebuffed by the Supreme Court. Each of these reversals had foreign-policy consequences because each made the Bush administration look like a habitual rule-breaker in both the domestic and foreign spheres. Ending the confrontation between the executive branch and the Supreme Court over executive power at least removed a recurring, public set of embarrassments, even if it had little other purpose internationally. At the same time, however, Obama’s team has preserved, whether by necessity or choice, many of the controversial programs that brought criticism to Bush. Obama ordered so-called "black sites" closed, but it is difficult for anyone without access to highly classified information to know how much has actually changed about how the intelligence services capture and detain suspected terrorists. The Guantánamo military commissions are beginning again. Some large number of the nearly 200 remaining detainees will not be tried. They will continue to be held as, essentially, prisoners of war, until hostilities between the United States and al Qaeda end — an uncertain, open-ended time frame that many critics consider inadequate. Secret surveillance has not ended, though it is now expressly authorized by Congress. In each case, the legal basis is substantially firmer than it was under the previous administration. But because the programs are the same, global perceptions of U.S. national security probably have not changed in any significant way, even if what the president is doing is now technically more legal. Then there is the growing international criticism of unmanned drone strikes, especially those in Pakistan, Yemen, and potentially other locations in sovereign states that are not at war with the United States. The use of drones to target individual figures associated with the Taliban, al Qaeda, or related groups comes out of U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine as it has developed over the last several years. In Iraq after the surge, many close observers, especially those in the military, attributed the relative success of U.S. forces as much to the covert targeting, tagging, and killing of insurgent leaders as to the "clear and hold" operations aimed at making the civilian population feel safer. In Afghanistan, clear and hold has not proved especially successful. In Pakistan, of course, the United States has no clear-and-hold option at all. That leaves targeted strikes as the remaining component of counterinsurgency, and drones offer a highly attractive option. In March, Koh gave a speech for the American Society of International Law in which he responded to the critique that drone strikes amount to assassination. The choice of Koh to give the speech was significant. Koh (who is a mentor of mine) has a major interest in defending his distinguished record by showing that his employer complies with international law. In his speech, he explained that members of armed groups are belligerents and therefore lawful targets for a country acting in the course of war or in self-defense. But Koh avoided some of the hardest questions. He did not address the issue of exactly how drone strikes could be justified in places where the United States is not at war — not surprising, as the government has not acknowledged its attacks in Pakistan and Yemen. Traditionally, such attacks could be justified either by the consent of the country attacked or by its unwillingness or inability to pursue the belligerent targets on its own. But the governments involved aren’t likely to want to acknowledge any of these possibilities. Beyond the difficulty o f where the attacks occur are the questions of who is targeted — and by whom. Obama’s lawyers have stated publicly that, unlike their predecessors, they consider the United States to be at war only with those who "materially support" the Taliban or al Qaeda and its associates, not those who offer indirect support. But the U.S. definition of material support is broader than what many international lawyers would consider to be the accepted norm — including such figures as the U.S. citizen and al Qaeda advocate Anwar al-Awlaki, who is reportedly on the American "shoot to kill" list of drone targets. Other reports suggest that drug lords who give money to the Taliban have been considered legitimate targets, again a remarkably aggressive definition of "support." By spreading the net widely, the United States runs the risk of seeming to slight international law. What’s more, the fact that drone strikes are carried out by CIA civilians raises the possibility that they could be war crimes (if the original theory of the charge against Khadr were right). At the very least, civilian operators are not subject to immunity from prosecution for their battlefield conduct and could in theory be charged with domestic crimes of murder in the country where the attacks occurred or in Virginia. Finally, as special rapporteur Philip Alston pointed out in his May report to the U.N. Human Rights Council on targeted killings, the CIA does not subject itself to any sort of public review or accountability when things go awry, a practice now fairly common for the regular military. According to Alston, the CIA’s unwillingness even to acknowledge its drone strikes render the targeting doubtful as a matter of international law. On Aug. 10, Omar Khadr’s trial got under way without the war crime charge, on the theory that he killed a U.S. serviceman in violation of a federal statute. Almost immediately his lawyer fell ill, causing further delay. Khadr must be used to it — and his tribunal will not end matters, in any case: The statute under which he was charged was passed after the 2002 firefight, and the courts have yet to review the question of whether the military commission has legitimate jurisdiction to try such a crime. The road to the Supreme Court will be long — but Khadr’s case is headed there, as is the Obama administration itself.Yesterday the Museum of the Moving Image announced that they would house a huge Mad Men exhibit, along with various related events, leading up to and during the show's final season. But this is just one stop in Matthew Weiner's victory lap tour—along with exhibits and events in other cities, Weiner will hit up a few spots in NYC. AMC's president Charlie Collier said in a statement, “A television series unlike any other deserves a send-off unlike any other. Mad Men and its incomparable influence across art, design, literature and popular culture in general, calls for a broad and unprecedented salute. We’re thrilled to partner with some of the world’s most renowned and revered institutions to help us bid a fond farewell to this iconic series.” So, in addition to the Museum of the Moving Image, here's where you'll be able to celebrate the show... the first one includes a cameo from Don Draper. Film Society of Lincoln Center The Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) will host Mad Men: The End of An Era, a celebration that looks back with the cast at their favorite scenes throughout the last 7 seasons. The evening will include a conversation with creator Matthew Weiner, and stars Jon Hamm, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery and Vincent Kartheiser, at Alice Tully Hall on Saturday, March 21 at 7:30pm. Tickets will go on sale on February 26. Aspiring fans can also prep for the final season with “The Essential Mad Men”—a FREE marathon of must-see episodes curated by Matthew Weiner from Friday, March 20 through Saturday, March 21 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. For more information, sign up for Mad Men updates at filmlinc.com. The New York Public Library Also in March, The New York Public Library (NYPL) will bring to life its Mad Men Reading List, a collection of 25 titles read by main characters during the course of the series. Three of the largest branches will have displays of the books, select branches will offer copies of the books to borrow, and all NYPL patrons can access ebook versions. Museum of Jewish Heritage The Museum of Jewish Heritage will celebrate Mad Men with a public program featuring Matthew Weiner. On Sunday, March 29 at 4pm Mr. Weiner will speak at the museum about the evolution of Jewish identity on Mad Men, in support of their new exhibition, Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism, which opens March 31. BAM BAMcinématek, the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s repertory film program, presents Mad Men at the Movies, a two-day film festival on Wednesday, April 22 and Thursday, April 23. On each night, the series will include a discussion with a cast member or Matthew Weiner about the films and their significance to Mad Men. For more information and tickets, please visit www.BAM.org/BAMcinematek. The 92nd Street Y The celebration of Mad Men in New York will continue through April. Matthew Weiner will be part of a public program at 92Y on April 28. Details forthcoming. Live from the NYPL The culmination of Mad Men’s New York celebrations will take place several days after the series finale, with a special installment of LIVE from the NYPL, The New York Public Library's flagship ticketed event series.As a Motorola saleswoman from 2004 to 2006, Laura Phillips coached local officials on how to secure state and federal grant money to pay for new public safety radio equipment. Later, Phillips used her knowledge in a much different way. When she was put at the helm of a government agency overseeing funding for emergency communication projects in the San Francisco Bay Area, her office shepherded an unusual federal grant that handed her former employer a $50 million deal to build the nation’s first regional high-speed broadband network for emergency responders. The episode shines light on what might be called a reverse revolving door: Instead of leaving government for private industry or lobbying jobs, numerous employees of Motorola and its rivals have quit their private-sector jobs for government positions in which they’ve taken actions benefiting their ex-employers. In Phillips’ case, critics charged that her office pursued the grant without the knowledge of some of the six affected major cities and counties and that Motorola competitors got little shot at the deal. Phillips denied favoring Motorola, but her maneuverings sowed so much distrust that she wound up in the crosshairs of a federal investigation. Investigators for the Commerce Department’s inspector general’s office ultimately concluded that Phillips’ office rammed through a grant application that was rife with “significant misrepresentations,” including that a joint authority for 10 Bay Area counties existed a year before its first meeting. Phillips wasn’t found to have engaged in misconduct, but the project is now dead. In Anchorage, Tryg Erickson said he spent more than a quarter-century working as a Motorola salesman before leaving in 2005 to take a job as director of communications and electronics for Alaska’s biggest city. Two years later, the city bought a $25 million radio system from Motorola without soliciting proposals from other vendors. Instead, it adopted terms from a competitively bid contract that the state had awarded to the company in 1999, Erickson recalled. The citywide public safety system was a project, he said, that “everyone knew would go to Motorola.” “My previous customer was my predecessor” in the city job, he said, “and that’s not as uncommon as it would seem. There’s pretty much Motorola and anybody else.” John Powell, chair of a National Public Safety Telecommunications Council panel on emergency radios, said that the problem is significant enough that restrictions are needed to bar employees of government vendors from taking local and state jobs in which they influence grant or contract awards. Such rules, he said, could be modeled after Pentagon restrictions covering personnel who migrate to the private sector. “I think there’s a natural tendency, whether you could ever prove it or not, for such employees to support the technology from the company for which they worked, particularly if they still have stock in those companies,” Powell said in a phone interview. Phillips initially left Motorola to serve as chief of San Francisco’s Emergency Communications Department under then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, although her main qualifying experience was as a radio dispatch manager in Sunnyvale, Calif. In 2007, after her office struggled to respond when a container ship rammed the base of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, she was shifted to a job heading a new agency managing the flow of state and federal grants. At the Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative, Phillips often operated in secrecy. She hired two other former Motorola employees and set about pursuing funding to build the nation’s first high-speed public safety data and video network, to be known as BayWEB. It would serve the cities of San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, as well as their surrounding counties. However, a broader joint powers authority that would govern the process had yet to form. Without advising the three cities or Santa Clara County, Phillips’ office moved ahead on their behalf, seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission to use a slice of the wireless spectrum for BayWEB, federal investigators found. Her office drew interest in building such a project from eight firms, include AT&T, Northrop Grumman and Motorola. After learning in early 2010 that the Commerce Department was about to dispense public safety broadband grants, Phillips’ office asked the eight firms to summarize their approaches, this time eliciting four responses. Months later, leaders of the three large cities learned that Phillips’ office had forged a highly unusual “public-private partnership” to win a $50.6 million grant for Motorola and Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern. Motorola agreed to put up matching funds to cover the rest of the $72 million project. Stunned officials of San Jose and other jurisdictions balked at joining the new system, fearing its cost could balloon to $600 million, much of it falling on participating cities and counties. They also questioned several assertions in the grant application, including that Motorola had nearly 200 “shovel ready” antenna sites, later shown to be an exaggeration. The grant application contained “absolutely clear... and knowing misrepresentations,” said Emily Harrison, deputy chief executive of Santa Clara County. The Commerce Department investigators concluded that the misleading information was “not attributable” to Motorola and found no “overt favoritism” toward the company. Phillips and Clement Ng, who sent out the notice later referred to as a formal request for bids, soon left their jobs. Reached at her current position with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Phillips said via email that state and federal investigators had found “no improprieties” and referred other questions to agencies in California. Barry Fraser, general manager for the Bay Area joint powers authority overseeing BayWEB, had shared ambitions of extending the network as far as 50 miles east, even to Sacramento, which he said had expressed interest. To move forward, however, BayWEB still needed to lease space on the federal wireless spectrum. Motorola could not agree to terms with FirstNet, a new Commerce Department unit tasked by Congress to create a nationwide emergency broadband system. In December, with the work on BayWEB underway, FirstNet’s board halted funding for the project.Raul A. Reyes is an attorney and member of the USA Today board of contributors. Follow him on Twitter @RaulAReyes. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. (CNN) On his visit to Brentwood, New York, on Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump showed how little he understands the nuances of immigration, the signature issue of his campaign. Railing against the MS-13 gang, he suggested that the Long Island suburbs are so out of control they are akin to Cambodia or Iraq. He continually veered off-message, riffing on his campaign, Obamacare, his popularity and a host of other subjects. Not content with praising the efforts of law enforcement, he encouraged them to commit acts of brutality against suspected criminals. Trump said, "When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough. I said, 'Please, don't be too nice.' " It was bad enough that the Suffolk County Police Department released a statement Friday afternoon to emphasize its "strict rules and procedures" relating to the handling of prisoners and saying that "we do not and will not tolerate 'rough(ing)' up prisoners." All this at a speech that was supposed to draw attention to the serious threat of gang violence on Long island and around the country. If that was really what the President wanted to achieve, then this was a speech that deserves to be termed Mission: Not Accomplished. Trump came to Long Island because the MS-13 gang, which is known to target immigrants to the United States from countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, has been linked to gruesome killings there, and he wanted to highlight his administration's immigration enforcement policies. "We've started nipping it in the bud," he declared, referencing crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. He proudly referred to his comments made on the day he announced his presidential run, when he called immigrants from Mexico drug dealers and rapists -- in a sense, doubling down on the bigoted remarks that offended many Latinos. Then again, that was Trump's real message. He wasn't on Long Island solely to take aim at MS-13, let alone announce any specific plans (beyond deportation) for eliminating them. Trump was on Long Island to conflate undocumented immigrants with crime once again and to use demonization to try to justify his administration's harsh and inhumane deportation policies. JUST WATCHED Undocumented immigrant loses protection Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Undocumented immigrant loses protection 03:19 No doubt, MS-13 is a vicious gang that deserves to be pursued by law enforcement. The gang typically targets Central American immigrant communities, and several of their Long Island victims have been Latino. Yet the Trump administration is potentially making the gang stronger. A new CNN report, featuring interviews with MS-13 members, describes how the gang feels emboldened under Trump. Because they know undocumented immigrants will not turn to the police, for fear of detention and deportation, MS-13 is increasingly able to recruit and threaten immigrants with impunity. In his speech, Trump seemed to revel in pointing out that MS-13 kidnaps people, stabs their victims with knives and machetes, and (allegedly) stuffs people into barrels. Several times, he said his administration had started "liberating" towns on Long Island, as though they were no longer under control of our government. Trump stated that the MS-13 gang problem developed because "we let them in here over a relatively short period of time." This statement is contradicted by a fact sheet from his own Justice Department, which traces the origins of MS-13 back several decades. "The MS-13 has been functioning since at least the 1980s," the report notes. The President also linked the inflow of unaccompanied minors at our southern border to the rise of gangs such as MS-13 without offering any data to support such a claim. In reality, many of these unaccompanied minors are fleeing the threat of gangs at home. The reason that Trump paints such a grim -- and false -- picture of Long Island is that he wants Americans to believe that we, as a country, are under attack from bloodthirsty undocumented immigrants. Call it the Guillermo (Spanish for William) Willie Horton strategy. Meanwhile, immigration agents are detaining and deporting moms and dads of American kids, pastors and DREAMers. In fact, according to the government's statistics, immigration arrests are up by about 40%. This increase, however, has been driven by arrests of folks without criminal records; arrests of undocumented immigrants without criminal records has spiked by more than 150% since January. This is the reality of immigration enforcement that the Trump administration does not want to call attention to, just as it would probably like to pretend that those undocumented people who are in college, serving as valedictorians and becoming productive members of society do not exist either. What's particularly sad is that communities where MS-13 is active are being terrorized twice over. First, by the gang and its horrific activities. And second, by the Trump administration's immigration crackdowns. Follow CNN Opinion Join us on Twitter and Facebook Perhaps the only good news here is that the public seems to see through the Trump administration's efforts to paint all undocumented people as violent criminals. A March CNN/ORC poll found that most Americans back a path to citizenship or legalization for the undocumented. Thirteen percent of Americans want the undocumented to be deported, compared with 60% who favor allowing them a means to stay here. Trump's Long Island speech was a disjointed, overblown mess. His comments were nothing more than a cynical ploy to exploit and play on some people's fear of immigrants. Dismantling criminal gangs will take much more than ugly rhetoric and deportations targeting all undocumented immigrants -- and so far, that's all this administration is offering.PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A Matt Harvey Day is coming soon! Harvey Mets officials tentatively have scheduled Harvey to face the Detroit Tigers in the first home Grapefruit League game on March 6, a source told ESPNNewYork.com. The event would mark Harvey's first game action since Aug. 24, 2013. He underwent Tommy John surgery two months later. Harvey technically is due to face batters on Friday for the first time since undergoing the elbow procedure. However, batters mostly will just be tracking the pitches and not swinging, so Harvey downplayed the significance. He regularly has been throwing off a mound. "How these things usually go is guys will stand in and kind of watch, monitor and track pitches -- which guys did last year," Harvey said, referring to late in the 2014 regular season as he was rehabbing. "I think once they start really getting the counts and have somebody behind there, I think that's when [the significance] will start." The March 6 game, which begins at 1:10 p.m., happens to be the first spring-training game SNY is televising.Shiichan Anonymous BBS An actually working alternative: Kareha Or, if you really must, you can download Shiichan v.3960 (security update, 2009) What's "2ch-type"? This type of board is based off of 2channel, pronounced "Ni-channeru", the largest Internet forum in the world (20 times larger than the biggest American forum). Shiichan is somewhat different from the 2ch look, but they still use the same system. Kareha is very closely modelled on 2ch. Why is this better than regular forum software? On the other hand, you're interested in starting a forum on some topic of your interest, and allowing anyone to post, then 2ch-type is infinitely better than PhpBB, Invision, or vBulletin. I'm going to refer to these as "old-type forum software"; I'm not pretending to be unbiased. Here's why: Registration keeps out good posters. Imagine someone with an involving job related to your forum comes across it. This person is an expert in her field, and therefore would be a great source of knowledge for your forum; but if a registration, complete with e-mail and password, is necessary before posting, she might just give up on posting and do something more important. People with lives will tend to ignore forums with a registration process. Imagine someone with an involving job related to your forum comes across it. This person is an expert in her field, and therefore would be a great source of knowledge for your forum; but if a registration, complete with e-mail and password, is necessary before posting, she might just give up on posting and do something more important. People with will tend to ignore forums with a registration process. Registration lets in bad posters. On the other hand, people with no lives will thrive on your forum. Children and Internet addicts tend to have free time to go register an account and check their e-mail for the confirmation message. They will generally make your forum a waste of bandwidth. On the other hand, people with will thrive on your forum. Children and Internet addicts tend to have free time to go register an account and check their e-mail for the confirmation message. They will generally make your forum a waste of bandwidth. Registration attracts trolls. If someone is interested in destroying a forum, a registration process only adds to the excitement of a challenge. One might argue that a lack of registration will just let "anyone" post, but in reality anyone can post on old-type forum software ; registration is merely a useless hassle. Quoting a 4channeler: Trolls are not out to protect their own reputation. They seek to destroy other peoples' "reputation"... Fora with only registered accounts are like a garden full of flowers of vanity a troll would just love to pick. If someone is interested in destroying a forum, a registration process only adds to the excitement of a challenge. One might argue that a lack of registration will just let "anyone" post, but in reality ; registration is merely a useless hassle. Quoting a 4channeler: Anonymity counters vanity. On a forum where registration is required, or even where people give themselves names, a clique is developed of the elite users, and posts deal as much with who you are as what you are posting. On an anonymous forum, if you can't tell who posts what, logic will overrule vanity. As Hiroyuki, the administrator of 2ch, writes: If there is a user ID attached to a user, a discussion tends to become a criticizing game. On the other hand, under the anonymous system, even though your opinion/information is criticized, you don't know with whom to be upset. Also with a user ID, those who participate in the site for a long time tend to have authority, and it becomes difficult for a user to disagree with them. Under a perfectly anonymous system, you can say, "it's boring," if it is actually boring. All information is treated equally; only an accurate argument will work. This is hard to believe. (2006) Problems with 2ch-type forums often come along the lines of "people will be more likely to insult, flame, and troll if they're anonymous". This may be true... but people are already pseudonymous on most forums. The drama and hatred you see on pseudonymous forums is as bad as it gets; with anonymity, you'll probably be better off because of the convenience. Either way you will need a dedicated team of moderators to police the board for trolling and nonsense. A preliminary study done by... me in March 2005 found that there was no noticeable difference between 2channel and forums.gentoo.org in terms of useful posts, off-topic posts, and nonsense in a long thread about technical issues. On the American forum 4-ch.net where posts can be either anonymous or pseudonymous, most of the actual helpful contributions to technical discussions came from anonymous users, whereas pseudonymous users tended to offer their personal experiences. But this was totally unscientific. Do a blind study yourself. Spam is another issue. Since 2004 when this essay was written, message board spam has become increasingly prevalent on all anonymous forums. However, on old-style forums spammers often register fake accounts and happily suck in users to their profile websites without posting. If you are experiencing spam that gets around your local filters, I have found that extremely simple tests, such as a drop-down box asking whether you are a human (Yes? No? Maybe?) often cut it off entirely. If you can't or don't want to force people to pay or use their real names, at least give a swing at bucking the establishment and trying out a totally anonymous forum.This is a short 10 day project. It was funded on the first day. All Stretch Goals have already been unlocked. Check out the full play through video below! Soulfall is a barren land brought back from the edge of destruction by a mysterious group of entities known as the Lords. Preventing the destruction of the land, the Lords gained the devotion of the remaining survivors of Soulfall. Now, various Nomad tribes begin to expand across the land, eking out a new life in the ruins of an old world, establishing outposts and living in the shadow of the powerful - and often unpredictable - Lords of Soulfall. This is a short, 10 day project with a modest goal and obtainable stretch rewards. Whether you're a veteran Small Box Games fan, or you've never heard of us before, I'd love to have Soulfall become a part of your game collection. I don't think you've ever played a game quite like Soulfall, and I'm fairly confident you've never seen a game with similar art direction. The rewards for this project are as straight forward as the project itself: a copy of Soulfall, at less than the projected MSRP, shipped right to your door (projected MSRP will be $30.00USD). Just pick where you live and back at that level! While this project doesn't bear the "EU Friendly" title, international backers pledging for a single copy of the game shouldn't be required to pay any customs. There are some great stretch goals and KS Exclusives I'd like to see added to this game - most have already been unlocked! You can read about those below! Please note that each copy of Soulfall obtained through this project will come with all stretch goals and exclusives. Check out the backer badges located at the bottom of this page to show your support of Soulfall! Soulfall is a board game for 2-4 players designed by John Clowdus and illustrated by Sandro Rybak. Game time is roughly 10 minutes per player. Each player is the leader of a Nomad tribe, leading his Nomads across the barren landscape of Soulfall. Along the way, each player will expand his tribe, build Outposts, try to gain the favor of the Lords, and collect Shards, all while preventing the other players from doing the same. The player with the highest score at the end of the game wins. You'll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content. Play Replay with sound Play with sound 00:00 00:00 The four tribes of Soulfall. You can view the full rules here (please note that these are not the final, final rules). You'll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content. Play Replay with sound Play with sound 00:00 00:00 In Soulfall, each player begins the game with 1 of his Nomad Markers on the board, 9 additional Nomad Markers, a Nomad card, 4 Lord cards, and a single Shard. The game is played over a series of turns. Each turn, the active player takes the 3 Actions cards and performs 3 different actions. Players continue taking turns until one of the game ending requirements has been reached and the Tower card has been awarded (please note that the graphic below isn't a game component, it's just a visual reference for this project): The Lord cards, when played, grant the player additional abilities. Each card has two abilities: one that always happens and one that is situational, allowing players to plan their actions to get the most out of their played Lord cards. Each Lord has 3 Unique cards. The top card of the discard pile determines the Current Lord. Check update number 2 for a full Lord Card Gallery! Each Lord also has a unique Devotion card. If a player has a Lord's Devotion card, he is Devoted to that Lord and gains a passive ability. I designed Soulfall to be mechanically light and strategically rich, with multiple paths to victory and variable scoring to cater to different play styles and situations. Soulfall offers a lot of game in a very small box. Sandro did an amazing job with the illustrations in this game, and as such, I've used a very minimalistic graphic approach to present as much of the art as possible on each gaming component while presenting the needed in-game information. All stretch goals for this project will be backer number based, and all of them, aside from the final stretch goal, add actual game content to Soulfall. Alternate Kickstarter Exclusive Game Board (UNLOCKED!!!) Kickstarter Exclusive! All Kickstarter copies of Soulfall will come with an alternate art, alternate layout, double-sided game board - The Island, in addition to the game board included in the game. Unlocked early because you guys got this thing funded in just over 12 hours. 500 Backers - Sixth Lord Added to All Copies of Soulfall (UNLOCKED!!!) The sixth Lord, Zsrizer, The Edge has been added to all copies of Soulfall. This will include 6 Zsrizer, The Edge Lord cards and 1 Devotion card. Srizer, new board Image, Myop, Maast, and Minos. 750 Backers - First of the Three Tyrants Added to All Copies of Soulfall (UNLOCKED!!!) The Tyrants are the beings responsible for Soulfall's near destruction. These Tyrants are shuffled into the Lord deck and offer new, interesting abilities. Myop, The Visionary will be added to all copies of Soulfall. This will include 2 copies of Myop, The Visionary's card. 1,000 Backers - Second of the Three Tyrants Added to All Copies of Soulfall (UNLOCKED!!!) Maast, The Forgotten will be added to all copies of Soulfall. This will include 2 copies of Maast, The Forgotten's card. 1,250 Backers - Third of the Three Tyrants Added to All Copies of Soulfall (UNLOCKED!!!) Minos, The Tyrant will be added to all copies of Soulfall. This will include 2 copies of Minos, The Tyrant's card. 1,500 Backers - Art Booklet (UNLOCKED!!!) Kickstarter Exclusive! Each Kickstarter copy of Soulfall will come with an art booklet featuring Sandro's Soulfall illustrations. Like all Small Box Games' games, Soulfall will be domestically manufactured with the highest quality components. There aren't any component related stretch goal items because this game is already being produced using the highest caliber of components available to Small Box Games domestically, including black core and linen finish for the included cards and the thickest, non-layered chip board for the board and markers. Show your support for Small Box Games and Soulfall. Use these backer badges here and on BGG! Thanks again for checking out this project! Hopefully I'll see your name when I send out the backer reports next month!Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) raised its travel alert for Beijing and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China Sunday after two human infections of H7N9 avian flu were reported there. The MAC upgraded its epidemic travel advisory for Beijing and Xinjiang from a level-1 "watch" to a level-2 "alert," which advises travelers to maintain a high degree of caution and take strong protective measures. It raised the travel alert on the
to work. Last Tuesday, Pearlie Golden's nephew called the police after his nonagenarian aunt pulled a gun on him when he wouldn't give her her car keys because she just failed a driving test. The nephew, Roy Jones, told KBTX that Golden had a.38 revolver (it belonged to her deceased husband, who was also a Hearne police officer). Stem arrived and ordered her to put it down, but she refused. Stem shot at her four times, hitting her twice. Jones said Golden fired her weapon twice, but into the ground. The district attorney has not yet confirmed who fired first -- or that Golden fired at all. Stem, for one, told his lawyer that Golden did not shoot.Early in November 2015, when the 2016 election was still an over-populated free-for-all, I had lunch with a friend who is a member of an endangered species: the conservative, "Scoop Jackson" Democrats. They are very thin on the ground these days, and are vanishingly rare in public life. But once upon a time these patriotic, unashamedly pro-American Democrats provided a life-giving current of realism and sanity to their party. They were strong on defense, pro-labor but also pro-prosperity, and they tended to regard their Republican counterparts not as enemies but as colleagues with whom they had differences of opinion or strategy. As I say, such Democrats are all but extinct today, especially in the corridors of power. My well-connected friend is almost as aghast as I am at the Democrats' lurch to the hard, identity-politics Left. He could not muster any enthusiasm for my candidate — Ted Cruz — but he was not flattering about the two Democratic contenders, either. Bernie Sanders he regarded as insane and Hillary Clinton — whom he knows well — he regarded with that visceral distaste that only close personal acquaintance can impart. At the time, Ted Cruz seemed to be doing well — my how appearances can be deceiving! — and already there were troubling stories about Hillary Clinton's health. I said that I doubted she would be up to the rigors of the campaign, but he replied: she won't need to campaign. She will win the primary and then the election by acclamation. "Er, ah," I said, or words to that effect. I didn't believe a word of it. Now I am not so sure. A year ago, I thought that a growing, cross-party impatience with the self-serving Washington establishment would usher in a candidate of change. I favored Ted Cruz, but I understood those making the case for Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, and even, on the other side, those making the case for Bernie Sanders. Yes, he was insane and his policies were (in my view) preposterous, but he was the understandable mouthpiece for a certain species of populist revulsion. Why, just to take one issue, should the presidency of the United States be a prize that rotated among the Bushes and the Clintons? That said, I wasn't surprised that Hillary won the nomination. The Clinton machine is a formidable thing, and of course she commanded a bottomless supply of money. Still, I have been surprised at the evolution of this campaign. I made my peace with Donald Trump at the Republican convention. Trump's continuing erratic behavior (the business about Ted Cruz's father and Lee Harvey Oswald was especially bizarre) caused me intermittent pangs of regret. But as the weeks passed I found my position on Trump changing. At first, I supported him chiefly because he was not Hillary Clinton, whom I regard as a thoroughly corrupt candidate. But as Trump's campaign evolved, I found myself supporting more and more of his announced policies — not everything: that silly wall, for example, or his plan to make me pay for other people's child care. But I like his list of candidates for the Supreme Court. I like his tax plan. I like his energy policy. I like his pro-growth orientation. I like his plans to rebuild the U.S. military. I like his plans to reduce onerous regulation. I like his recognition that the inner cities are petri dishes of civic pathology. I like his determination to enforce our immigration laws. I like his realism about the threat of Islamic terrorism. I've laid out my thoughts about all this a few times, here, for example, and here. At the end of the day, however, I like Trump not just because I support many of his of his announced policies. No, its something more general that undergirds my support. It's his unvarnished pro-American stance. "Make America Great Again" may sound corny. But we have had nearly eight years of a president who hates this country and has done everything in his power to make us poorer, less secure, and to expose us everywhere to the contempt of the international community. It is a breath of fresh air to behold a candidate who is unapologetically pro-American, who wants this country to be richer, freer, more secure. I like that. But back to the idea that Hillary's coronation will essentially be a matter of acclamation by the powers that be. I scoffed, silently, at that idea when my Democratic friend laid it before me a year ago. Now I am not so sure. Here we are just a few weeks away from election day. What is everyone talking about? Two things: A secretly recorded video of Donald Trump saying louche things about women a decade ago and unsubstantiated allegations by a few women that Donald Trump made unwanted sexual advances towards them years ago. That seems to be the provender on offer by the media. There wasn't any "locker-room talk" in the locker room of my local gym yesterday. As I was getting ready for my workout, the commentary on the always-on television was devoted entirely to the Trump "scandals." Clip of Trump. Female talking head tut-tutting to male talking head, who also tutted. The entire eight or ten minutes it took me to change into the running shorts and gym shoes were given over to rehearsing Trump's alleged torts and their likely effect on women voters. As I left the locker room, the talking heads were shaking their heads and retailing Trump's poll numbers, which looked bad, bad. Forty-five minutes later, I returned to the locker room sweaty and aglow, and guess what? They were still at it. Different talking heads — two females and a male — but the same show: Donald Trump said lewd things about women a decade ago! And not only that, a couple of women had come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment at some point in the dim and distant past. That took us through my shower and three-quarters of the way through my changing back into my street clothes. The talking heads then devoted twenty or thirty seconds to the latest WikiLeaks email dump before getting back to Donald and the dames. What was that WikiLeaks thing about? Oh, right, that was the cache of emails that revealed Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta emailing Clinton confidante Cheryl Mills about secret emails exchanged over Clinton's homebrew server with President Obama when she was secretary of State. Think about that. The president, using an alias, communicated over a private, non-secure server with his secretary of State. But wait! Didn't Obama say he first learned about Hillary's private server from the news? So he lied to the American people and to Congress. Get over it. But what about that big FBI investigation into Clinton's use of a private, non-secure email server while she was secretary of State? Remember that? And do you remember Bill Clinton's cozy tête-à-tête with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on her plane in Arizona this summer? You weren't supposed to hear about that at all. The FBI tried to keep the crowds way. No photos. No cell phones. But an enterprising local reporter got the story and broke it. Fortunately, Bill and Loretta spent their time together talking about his grandchildren, not about the ongoing FBI investigation of Bill's wife. Whew! That's a relief. Because it really would not have been right for the spouse of someone under investigation by the DOJ to meet privately with the attorney general and discuss the case. Back in July when tarmac-gate broke, I wondered in this space whether that might, just possibly, be the scandal that finally broke the camel's back and brought the Clintons' entire corrupt enterprise down. Everywhere, I noted, the saga of the Clinton Crime Family was in the news. There was the film of Clinton Cash, which detailed the Clintons' international shakedown schemes in which political favors were exchanged for hefty cash payments in the form of ludicrously large speaking fees and/or donations to the Clinton Foundation, a tax-exempt money-laundering operation devoted to benefitting the Clintons. There were the Benghazi hearings. There was the email scandal. Could even the Clintons survive this growing mountain of scandal? I wondered. But Rush Limbaugh was right. It turns out the Clintons were merely playing us. There was an enormous flurry of activity, a cathartic purging of punditry, and then... nothing. Andy McCarthy made a similar point in July. Noting how various tactics can be deployed to delay or derail criminal investigations, he outlined how tarmac-gate might well have been a deliberate strategy to "create appearance of thorough investigation, but assure no-charges outcome." And so it was. Loretta Lynch said she would accept the recommendation of the FBI. Remember how people sat up at that? But then, surprise, surprise, James Comey, despite a mountain of evidence (which he acknowledged) of felonious behavior on Clinton's part, recommended that nothing be done ("No reasonable prosecutor," etc. etc.). And that is just what Loretta Lynch did, nothing. So Rush was right. Once again, the public was played by the Clintons. And the ongoing WikiLeaks dumps show that it was always a foregone conclusion that we would be played by the Clintons. The whole FBI investigation was a travesty, an expensive fraud on the public. Hillary was never going to be charged, for the very good reason that the president of the United States was complicit in her flouting of security protocols and mishandling of classified materials. As Andy McCarthy noted yesterday, the principal reason why Mrs. Clinton was not prosecuted, despite a mountain of evidence that she committed felony mishandling of classified information, is the fact that Obama engaged in the same kind of misconduct... [T]he fact that the president was e-mailing Clinton means he not only participated in her misconduct but also that the Obama-Clinton e-mails would have been admissible evidence in any criminal trial of Clinton. For the parties to prove such culpable conduct on the president’s part in a high-profile criminal trial would have been profoundly embarrassing to him, to say the least. Therefore, it was never going to happen. But don't you go trying that with national secrets. All animals are equal, Comrade, but some are more equal than others. There's one law (or, to be more accurate, there's no law) for folks like Barack Obama and the Clintons, another for proles like you and me. So the entire investigation was just for show. How does the public feel about that? It's hard to say, for they don't know about it, not really. Sure, the whole sordid, cynical operation has been detailed by independent journalists like McCarthy. But the phalanx of the MSM has been unbroken in downplaying the story. Twenty seconds to WikiLeaks — during which time the Clinton campaign is quoted dismissing the allegations as a plot by Trump — an hour to Trump's alleged sexual peccadillos. Ever since her collapse on September 11, Hillary has barely campaigned. She has gone to a few fundraisers, a rally or two, and has shown up with a brightly polished smile for the two debates. Last week, it was announced that she would be making no appearances until the next and last debate this coming Wednesday, October 19. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is criss-crossing the country, holding multiple rallies a day. Will it make any difference? I don't know. Some months ago, I wrote that "there is no reason to believe that the supreme oddity that has characterized this primary season has run its course." I continue to believe that. Who knows what twists and turns await us in these final weeks. Will there be further October surprises? Will Donald Trump be revealed to have once driven with Hillary Clinton in a cage on the roof of his car? Will it be revealed that he was once mean to a fellow student in high school? Who can say? Donald Trump has recovered somewhat in the polls but he faces an implacable and united front in the allied forces of the Clinton machine, GOP defectors, and Clinton's compliant media enablers (just how compliant, and how complicit, WikiLeaks has begun to show us). I would not be at all surprised to see Hillary Clinton win by acclamation. Like the late Roman Republic, America has more and more come to be an aristocratic oligarchy that is a republic in name only. We plebs exist only to be milked and to provide affirmation for decisions taken by the elites who govern us. But as I say, there is no reason to think that the oddities of this election are over. Donald Trump is riding a powerful, broad-based, and nationwide current of revulsion with the status quo. The media and hostile precincts of the punditocracy assure each other and us sheep that Hillary is a shoo-in. Just look at the polls. Just consider Trump's boorish sexism. Contemplate the magnificence of having our first woman president! And yet, and yet. Perhaps the odds favor Hillary. The fancy money certainly thinks so. But were I a betting man I would recommend a strategic hedge. There are plenty of things that distinguish this election from the Brexit referendum in June. But there is at least one glaring similarity: Here, as in Britain, the smug, inbred uniformity of elite opinion obscures the depth and determination of competing forces. It was enough to shock all establishment opinion when the vote came through for Brexit. Whether it will be enough to propel Donald Trump over the victory line is yet to be determined. It would be a rash man, however, who declared it to be impossible.Japan celebrated Wednesday after a sumo wrestler became the first homegrown grand champion in nearly two decades. Kisenosato was promoted to “yokozona” status, the highest possible ranking in Japan’s national sport, during a ceremony in Tokyo after winning a grand tournament at the weekend. A steady stream of foreign-born sumo wrestlers, many hailing from Mongolia or Hawaii, has dominated the ancient sport’s highly respected number one rank for nearly two decades. The success of 30-year-old Kisenosato marks the first occasion that a native sumo wrestler has achieved yokozuna status since the success of fellow Japanese Wakanohana in 1998. Kisenosato’s rise to the top will come as a welcome relief to the sumo world, which has been hit hard in recent years by a string of scandals, ranging from match fixing investigations and gambling ties to incidents of physical abuse among young trainees.CLOSE HHS Secretary Tom Price has resigned after a series of reports claimed he spent over $1 million of taxpayer money on private flights. Video provided by Newsy Newslook Don Wright. (Photo11: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services) WASHINGTON – With Tom Price’s resignation Friday as Health and Human Services secretary, the job of running the department falls to Don Wright, whom President Trump has named acting secretary. So who is Don Wright? Wright is a family medicine physician who embarked on a career in the federal government 14 years ago under then-President George W. Bush and has held a number of senior executive roles. Wright, whose appointment became effective at 11:59 p.m. Friday, has worked at Health and Human Services for 10 years. Since February, he has been the department’s acting assistant secretary. Wright’s public service career has focused broadly on public health, occupational health and health policy, as well as health care quality, disease prevention and health promotion, according to his LinkedIn biography. Before he became acting assistant secretary, Wright worked as the deputy assistant secretary for health and director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. His career highlights, according to his LinkedIn biography, include developing and implementing a national plan to reduce health care associated infections; creating a system “of measurable performance measures” for 13 program offices and 10 regional health offices; and providing research misconduct oversight for a $30 billion research portfolio funded by the federal government. Bush chose him to represent the United States as the alternate delegate at the World Health Organization’s Executive Board. He also served on the National Cancer Institute Advisory Board. From 2003 to 2007, Wright worked in the Labor Department as director of the Office of Occupational Medicine for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. More: HHS Secretary Tom Price resigns in wake of travel spending scandal More: HHS Secretary Tom Price apologizes for chartered flights, says he'll pay for them More: New stock questions plague HHS nominee Tom Price as confirmation vote nears Before he entered the federal workforce, Wright worked for 17 years as a clinician in Texas in the areas of family medicine and occupational health. He earned an undergraduate degree in zoology and animal biology at the Texas Tech University, a medical degree in family medicine at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and a master’s degree in public health at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He completed his family medicine residency training at Baylor College of Medicine. He is board certified in the areas of family medicine and preventive medicine. Price resigned as Health and Human Services secretary Friday after days of criticism from Trump over Price's use of private airplanes. In his resignation letter, Price told Trump that he regrets how "recent events have created a distraction" from the president's agenda, including unsuccessful efforts to repeal and replace President Obama's health care law. Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2yzke9mESPN has found a new sponsor for the St. Petersburg Bowl, jettisoning Beef O'Brady's in favor of...wait for it...Bitcoin. Yes, there is going to be a college bowl game next year that will be sponsored by the made-up crypto-currency that your annoying libertarian cousin won't shut up about. Here's the scoop, from Gigaom: ESPN Events is expected to announce today that the cryptocurrency will star in the new Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, thanks to a three-year sponsorship from payment services provider BitPay. Bitcoin holders can use the currency to purchase tickets and concessions at the game. Some retired Floridian is going to be at this game, and he's going to be asked if he would like to pay in Bitcoin when he tries to buy a beer at the concession stand, and his brain is going to melt. What's really interesting about this news, though, is who exactly is paying ESPN for the sponsorship rights. The money is coming from BitPay, a Bitcoin brokerage startup that's recently gotten millions of dollars in venture capital funding. The CEO of BitPay is a man named Tony Gallippi, and he used to own a website, Soopermodels.com, that was known for posting sexy modeling pictures of underage girls. From our pals at Valleywag: Although the Soopermodels site is no longer functional, archived versions of the site as far back as 2002 feature a glamour model called "Bobbi Jo," whose year of birth is listed as 1989. That would have made her 13 years old. Although neither Bobbi Jo nor any of the other underage Soopermodels appeared nude, almost every shot is unsubtly sexualized, dressed and styled to look older, with clearly cited measurements to go along with the pictures. Advertisement ESPN has just struck a lucrative sponsorship deal with a guy whose first internet venture was based on taking creepy pictures of young girls and then posting them on the internet, all in service of a product that as far as we can tell is mainly useful for international con artists, arms dealers, and human traffickers. Good work. [Gigaom | Valleywag]NEW YORK -- Facebook friends. Transcripts of BlackBerry instant messages. Records of texts. Major League Baseball investigators used an arsenal of high-tech tools to collect the evidence that persuaded a dozen players to accept 50-game suspensions this week for their ties to the Biogenesis clinic. When it came time to meet with the players' association, the investigators flashed some of their documentary proof. While there was not enough time for the union to thoroughly examine what MLB had collected, there was little doubt there was an electronic trail, one of the people familiar with the meetings said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no public statements were authorized. "It both complicates things and adds a layer of proof that certainly wasn't available many years ago," union general counsel David Prouty said Tuesday. Alex Rodriguez, the lone holdout against a suspension, faces an arbitration hearing in the coming months that likely will include such evidence. The New York Yankees third baseman was suspended for 211 games from Thursday through the 2014 season, though he is allowed to play until a decision is issued by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, which is not expected until at least November. Until now, nearly all suspensions under MLB's drug program resulted from positive drug tests. The Biogenesis probe revealed players were using performance-enhancing drugs without detection. "To catch the most sophisticated intentional fraudsters, you have to use non-analytical means, which is another reason why baseball's effort here is such a pivotal moment for the anti-doping fight," said Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. MLB officials would not speak for attribution about the investigation. The league used about 30 people full time in its fact-gathering, another person familiar with the process said Tuesday, also on condition of anonymity. The probe was sparked in January when the Miami New Times published documents linking players to the clinic and accused it of distributing banned PEDs. Technology has evolved since 2003, when federal agents raided the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in Burlingame, Calif., sparking an investigation that eventually led to criminal convictions of Barry Bonds, track star Marion Jones, cyclist Tammy Thomas and NFL lineman Dana Stubblefield. When former Sen. George Mitchell issued his report on drugs in baseball four years later, he recommended baseball start an investigations department. Dan Mullin, a former New York City police officer, was hired as the unit's head in 2008. Former U.S. Secret Service director Mark Sullivan was brought in to assist in the Biogenesis probe. After the Miami New Times report, baseball investigators examined the Facebook pages of Biogenesis founder Anthony Bosch and Porter Fischer, the former Biogenesis associate who gave documents to the newspaper. They began to sketch out which people they were friends with and which of those friends posted photos of athletes or mentioned athletes. Each link led to new loops that provided leads. MLB filed a lawsuit in March against Biogenesis of America, Bosch and others, complaining they interfered with the contracts between MLB and the union. The suit was unusual and may never reach trial, but it did give MLB the ability to file civil subpoenas. Records from Florida's Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County that were examined by The Associated Press showed subpoenas were issued to Federal Express, AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA, UPS and MetroPCS. At least some of those companies complied and turned over data to the probe, one of the people said. By June, Bosch agreed to cooperate with the investigation. The person said MLB hired a data recovery company to obtain records from his mobile telephone. When baseball officials met with the union, evidence included the BlackBerry instant message transcripts and records of text messages. Lawyers for players believed some emails also had been recovered. "It's like traditional law enforcement methods," Tygart said. "Even without the powers of law enforcement -- wiretaps, search warrants -- you can still have success in obtaining these documents."So you’ve probably seen that viral video showing cats having the bejeezus scared out of them by a particularly snake-like vegetable: the lowly cucumber. Hilarious, right? Sure—if you’re a human. As a veterinary technician points out, this trending activity could cause lasting psychological problems for your feline companion. The video, posted to YouTube on November 10, has already amassed nearly 1.5 million hits. For you cat owners out there, I’m sure the temptation to try this at home is a very powerful one. But as Lara Chan of the Calgary Cat Clinic told CBC News, some cats are quite delicate, and this sudden shock could cause long-term problems: Chan said the long, skinny shape of the vegetable scares the cats because they instinctively think it’s a snake — even if they’ve never seen a snake before. “It’s that self-preservation,” she said. “We get quite fixated on cats being predators. But cats are also prey animals, they’re quite small. So they could fall victim to a snake.” If you’ve already played this prank on your cat, Chan said, you may have inadvertently made them afraid of cucumbers — forever. “You’re terrifying them. They’re reacting like this because they’re worried that something is going to hurt them. And you’re doing this in their house where you want them to be safe and secure.” Advertisement This trick, says Chan, may instill a long-standing, irrational fear of cucumbers in cats, which means owners would have to keep them away from the lowly vegetable for the rest of their lives. Sounds silly and trite, but it’s important that your cat feels safe in its own home environment, and that you don’t abuse your cat with this brain-hack. Email the author at [email protected] and follow him at @dvorsky. Top image by Youtube/MrFunnyMalsNew qualifications in Scotland have led to an “unintended and unsustainable level of work for learners and teachers”, the government group set up to review the exams has admitted in a report. The yet-to-be-published document, the contents of which TESS is able to reveal today, stresses “the need to take action to address the very real pressures on teachers”. The report has been produced by a review group set up by education secretary Angela Constance in January to look at concerns over excessive workload associated with the new qualifications. The document spells out the problems around suspending mandatory unit assessments, which are carried out internally by teachers. Review of assessment requirements A review of the assessment requirements in every subject under the new qualifications is now being carried out by the Scottish Qualifications Authority, the report says. More than 40 schools will be visited and findings will be reported at the end of the month. The report adds: “At present, aspects of the introduction of new National Qualifications have involved an unintended and unsustainable level of work for learners and teachers. The Scottish government, Education Scotland, the SQA, teachers, schools, colleges and local authorities all have an important role to play in reducing this workload.” This is an edited version of an article in the 13 May edition of TESS. Subscribers can view the full article here. This week's TESS magazine is available at all good newsagents. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow TES on Twitter and like TES on FacebookThanks for signing up! The University of New South Wales has issued a general security alert, after being made aware of an alleged threat to the safety and security of students and staff on the Kensington campus. UNSW states it has been liaising with NSW Police through its Anti-Terrorism arm, the security group, and Local Area Command. The threat is non-specific, and comes from a disturbing post made by an anonymous user on 4chan. General security threat – Kensington campusUNSW has been made aware of a threat to the safety of staff and students on… Posted by UNSW (The University of New South Wales) on Sunday, 11 October 2015 UNSW earlier made a post to social media encouraging students to download their StaySafe security app, which provides minute-by-minute updates on campus security alerts. The University has reportedly sent an email to students alerting them to the threat, but did not suggest students avoid the area or miss classes. More on this story as it develops. Photo: Oliver Strewe via Getty Images.El Corte Inglés has continued to stock three books despite more than a year of protests by LGBT groups in Spain Spain's largest department store chain is facing calls for a boycott over the stocking of several books that promote the idea of "curing" homosexuality. Despite more than year of protests by LGBT groups in Spain, El Corte Inglés has continued to carry the titles I Want to Stop Being Gay, How to Prevent Homosexuality and Gender Confusion in Childhood. After several failed attempts to talk to the retailer, the political party Izquierda Unida (United Left) is calling on Spaniards to boycott the chain's stores, said Mariano Vilar, who coordinates LGBT issues for the party in Parla, a town in Madrid's metropolitan area. "I wouldn't even call it a book. I would call it libel. It's something dirty and denigrating," he said. "This type of publication does a lot of harm, more than you can imagine." He brushed aside any arguments over the right of expression, saying firmly: "They're speaking about homosexuality as if it were a disease." He likened the books to web pages that applaud and encourage terrorism or anorexia. "They shut down web pages like those. Freedom of expression has its limits." All three books are written by Joseph Nicolosi, an American psychologist and co-founder of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. On his website, Nicolosi describes his specialty as the "treatment of men who wish to diminish their same-sex attractions and develop their heterosexual potential". On Tuesday many Spaniards took to Twitter to express their indignation over the sale of the books. "We don't have to prevent homosexuality, but rather the stupidity of homophobes," wrote one user. "My plan this afternoon is to go to El Corte Inglés and move all the books on preventing homosexuality to the science fiction section," wrote another. Others pointed out that the book was also available at other booksellers across the country, including the Casa del Libro and Amazon in Spain. When contacted by the Guardian, El Corte Inglés said nobody was available to comment.WASHINGTON - JUNE 20: Governor of Florida Rick Scott listens during the 2011 Governors Summit of U.S. Chamber of Commerce June 20, 2011 in Washington, DC. The summit was to focus on policies that help states to attract businesses and to improve the economy. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) A Florida bill limiting police use of camera drones has unanimously passed in both the House and Senate. If Governor Rick Scott signs it into law as expected, Miami-Dade Police, the only Florida agency to own unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), will be restricted to using drones only with a search warrant or when they can prove “imminent danger.” If passed, Florida would be the first state to regulate drone use, according the Orlando Sentinel. The bill, known as the Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act, passed with 117-0 votes in the House on Wednesday and 39-0 votes in the Senate a week before. After it passed in the Senate, Gov. Scott released a statement of his support: “I believe that privacy should be protected and I look forward to signing Senator Negron’s drone bill. This law will ensure that the rights of Florida families are protected from the unwarranted use of drones and other unmanned aircraft.” Miami-Dade Police were reportedly the first in the country to have a Federal Aviation Administration permit to use camera drones, which are only used for surveillance and are unarmed. See a fact feet below. Those backing the Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act say they want to make sure police don't "game the system." “Do not tell me you’re putting a drone up for a forest fire but you’re really going to fly it over a neighborhood where you think there might be drug activity going on,” Rep. Ritch Workman, (R-Melbourne) told the Orlando Sentinel.On Tuesday, the Indian Navy took its first tentative steps towards a contest that will stretch its dexterity, nerve and patience in a space thus far uncharted. It’s not like the navy hasn’t tried — it has, several times, but failed to bring proceedings to a concluded contract. Girding its loins and with a deep breath yesterday, the service has announced a fully re-wired acquisition effort for 123 medium naval multirole helicopters (NMRH). Unlike earlier attempts, troublesome in their own right, the fresh effort will play out under India’s spanking new Strategic Partnership policy. More on that later. First, let’s examine what the navy wants. First off, and tellingly, the navy has split its requirement into two variants: a standard multirole version and one kitted out specifically for special operations. The standard version will replace the navy’s in-service Sea Kings (both Mk.42B and UH-3H) and be deployed on missions that include anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, electronic intelligence, SAR, external cargo carriage and limited casualty evacuation. The Special Operations variant will be specifically kitted out for its Marine Commandos (MARCOS) in maritime interdiction during anti-piracy operations, combat search and rescue (CSAR) and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The navy has drawn up a list of kit that it wants on the Special Ops version of the helicopter it chooses, including two pintle-mounted guns in the cabin, data-link, weather radar, automatic identification system (AIS), tactical air navigation system (TACAN), IFF, EOD, FDR, CVR, ELT, SATCOM, software defined radio (two V/UHF & one HF set), rescue hoist, deck lock system, integrated self protection suite for continuous monitoring, warning and countermeasures dispensing against infrared, radar and laser guided and standard fittings for day and night flying manned by crew of four persons. The Indian Navy will decide on how many of each it wants in the 123 when it formally floats an RfP by next year. The 123 NMRH helicopters will operate off aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, the two upcoming indigenous aircraft carriers (Vikrant and Vishal), the three Shivalik-class stealth frigates, the follow-on P-17A frigates as well as current and future destroyer types (Delhi-class, Kolkata-class and Visakhapatnam-class). Likely contenders include the Lockheed-Martin Sikorsky MH-60R, NHIndustries NH90 and Airbus Helicopters H225M (earlier EC 725). The Indian Navy has had a rough time trying to phase out its legacy Sea King fleet, alongside an attempt to upgrade some of them. Its fleet of Mk.42Bs that came in 1987 on board INS Viraat desperately need replacement. An earlier fleet of Mk.42 and 42As that operated off the INS Vikrant aircraft carrier were progressively phased out in the nineties. Other than Viraat, the Sea King Mk.42Bs operated off India’s Nilgiri and Godavari-class frigates. It was in 2000 that the navy first flipped the switch on replacing its older Sea Kings, announcing interest in what it designated the Multirole Helicopter (MRH) contest for 16 airframes. Nearly two decades later, the contest hasn’t borne fruit, though landing platform dock INS Jalashwa that was sold to India by the U.S. in 2007 arrived with a mini fleet of six Sikorsky UH-3H Sea Kings. Importantly, the 16 MRH hasn’t been merged with with 123 NMRH requirement. The two have consciously been kept separate. Calling the MRH contest turbulent would be an understatement. The Naval HQ nearly pulled the plug on an ill-tempered contest to buy the 16 MRH helicopters a couple of years ago on issues of price and the fact that things were severely muddied by a variety of factors. The contest drifted endlessly until the bids from Sikorsky/Lockheed-Martin and NH Industries expired. Earlier believed to be dead, Livefist can now confirm that the MRH effort for those 16 helicopter is still officially on track and being actively re-assessed and revived by the navy. The acquisition will be a difficult one, even in the readily complicated and long-winded business of military contracting in India. For one thing, it will be the Indian Navy’s entry into the unknown world of India’s new Strategic Partnership policy. As things stand, the switch stands flipped. The wake of helicopter acquisition in the navy raises several difficult questions of how easy the new ride will be. At any rate, it begins on the first Friday of October when vendors reply to the navy’s call.Sony on Monday unveiled a new combination of TV-like content and video-game features that may give its PlayStation 3 console a stronger foothold among the many devices competing to provide digital entertainment for TV screens. Starting Thursday, Sony’s online PlayStation Network will sell monthly episodes of a new high-definition show called “Qore,” a combination of traditionally viewed programming and game-related options. Consumers who use the PS3’s broadband connection to download “Qore” will be able to go back and forth between watching original material, such as interviews with game developers, or using game demos and other features that are interactive in some way, such as zooming in visually on examples of concept art. “Qore” is based on appealing to the natural PS3 audience of gamers. But it also could represent another step toward delivering a much wider range of video and Web-linked entertainment that would allow Sony to compete with cable, satellite and Internet companies for the time families spend in front of one screen or another. “The idea is to have another magnet to keep eyes glued,” said Richard Doherty, director of the Envisioneering Group, a consumer electronics consulting firm. Doherty said research shows slightly more high-definition screens connected to PS3s than Microsoft’s Xbox 360s, opening the door for Sony to court a market of videophiles. A spokeswoman for the Xbox Live online network had no immediate comment on Sony’s “Qore” announcement. The monthly “Qore” episodes, which include some short commercials, will sell for $2.99 apiece or $24.99 for a 13-episode subscription plus the PlayStation Network game “Calling All Cars.”CLOSE Shaylyn Ammerman, the 1-year-old girl who was brutally raped and smothered to death last week, was laid to rest Wednesday, March 30, 2016, at the Christian Life Center in Spencer, Ind. Michael Anthony Adams/IndyStar Shaylyn Michelle Kay Ammerman, 15 months old (Photo: Photo provided by Indiana State Police) The Owen County man arrested last spring in connection with the rape and murder of 1-year-old Shaylyn Ammerman has pleaded guilty to the crimes.
we do have a coherent diplomatic approach toward China, China will continue to gain leverage over us. NORRIS: It's the holiday season and many Americans are heading to the stores, and many of the products that they're going to find on the shelves have a "Made in China" label. We've talked to Iowans about China, and there's one listener in particular, whose name is Don Frommelt(ph), he said that consumers and politicians both have a somewhat schizophrenic relationship when it comes to China. Let's listen to what he had to say. MR. DON FROMMELT: (From tape.) You can't have it both ways. And I think we need candidates who are willing to bite the bullet. And if you're going to say our balance of trade is upside down with China, there's one way to fix it; put on some kind of a tariff and prevent the American people from buying $300 TVs instead of $600 TVs. NORRIS: Senator Biden, how would — would you actually restrict trade with China? And given the WTO guidelines, could you actually do that? SEN. BIDEN: With the WTO guidelines, we could stop these products coming in now. This president doesn't act. We have much more leverage on China than they have on us. Let's get something straight here. We're making them into 10 feet tall. It took them 30 years to get 20 percent of their population out of poverty. They've got 800 million people in poverty. They're in real distress. The idea that a country with 800 million people in poverty has greater leverage over us is preposterous. What it is: We've yielded to corporate America. We've yielded to this president's notion of what constitutes trade, and we've refused to enforce the laws that exist. As president, I would end — flat, bang, no importation of those toys. Why? Under WTO, you're allowed to do it until you send inspectors to guarantee. Why aren't they doing it? Corporate America doesn't want — NORRIS: Now, this listener called for tariffs. Are you willing to go there? SEN. BIDEN: I'm not. No, I'm not willing to go there. You don't need to start a tariff war. All you have to do is enforce the law. Enforce the law. NORRIS: Thank you. Senator Dodd. SEN. DODD: Well, I want to go back to the characterization of the relationship. Obviously it's a strategic one, but this is not a competition. If we're a competition, competition implies that people are playing by the same rules. We're not playing by the same rules here. This is an adversarial relationship today. That needs to change. But when you manipulate your currency as they do, in violation of the World Trade Organization here, to the tune of 40 percent, you've immediately created a huge disadvantage for our country. When you employ slave labor in the production of your manufactured goods, when you deny access on your shelves to the products and services we produce, it is not a competition. It's adversarial. Now, I'm not interested in being bellicose about this. But you need to understand exactly what the relationship is today, before we decide what steps you take. We ought to be far, not raising our voice in a loud necessarily way. But we ought to be able to talk about that we need to stand up and say, this is a market you want to be in. If you want to be here, then you're going to have to play like an adult here. If you're going to continue following policies that allow you to manipulate your currency, produce goods that you sell in our marketplace that do damage to our consumers — when we got word that they were sending toys over here with lead paint in them, cat food and toothpaste here, the president had the authority immediately to suspend importation. He wouldn't do it. Had that been a U.S. corporation doing that, their doors would have been shut in 20 minutes. NORRIS: My colleague Steve has a question. But first, before we get there, I just want to follow up on something that Mr. Frommelt also said. He said he wants a president who's going to level the playing field. Senator Obama, what would you do in order to give the U.S. more leverage, to be able to deal with China at least as an equal partner? And are you willing to do that despite the consequences, even if it means that consumers have to kiss those $300 televisions goodbye? SEN. OBAMA: Well, look, I mean, I think Chris and Joe made a good point, which is, we have laws on the books now that aren't being enforced. This is what I mean in terms of us negotiating more effectively with them. Part of the problem is, is that the relationship has shifted over time. Joe's absolutely right that they were much impoverished 10, 20 years ago, and so our general attitude was, you know what, whatever they send in, it doesn't really impact us that much, and they're a poor country. NORRIS: But what would you do to level the playing field? SEN. OBAMA: Things have now shifted. So, well, I'll just give you an example. I would say toys cannot come in. Food — we will have our own safety inspectors on the ground. Japan does this right now. They set up their own inspection standards in China, and they say, "Unless you meet our inspection standards, you cannot ship in here." If we don't have labor agreements and environmental agreements that are enforceable, then there are consequences in terms of them being able to import into this country. The point is, is that we have a set of tools available to us that have not been used, and part of the reason is because when we talk about Chinese exports, oftentimes we are talking about U.S. companies that have moved to China, are manufacturing there and are trying to ship back here, and they still have influence, and those special interests have to be diminished in their voice in Washington. NORRIS: Thank you, Senator. Senator Edwards? MR. EDWARDS: I want to expand on a point that Joe made and he mentioned, it was important, which is, what's happened is big corporate America is driving American policy with respect to China. They get their way, and the American people lose. This is only one place that that happens, by the way. NORRIS: So what would you do to stand up to U.S. manufacturers? MR. EDWARDS: There are a bunch of things we need to do. We have country-of-origin labeling laws. They've been in place for years, but we don't enforce them. NORRIS: But we also know that China can easily get around that. They can sometimes use the "Made in Hong Kong" label instead of the "Made in China" label. SEN. EDWARDS: But the starting place is to actually enforce the laws that exist here in the United States and their obligation to the WTO, neither of which are being done. They're not being done because corporate America drives so much of what happens in Washington, whether it's trade policy that costs Americans millions of jobs — NAFTA, CAFTA, et cetera; whether it is these dangerous Chinese toys coming into the United States of America; whether it is country-of-origin labeling. Why is the president of the United States not saying to the American people, to local communities, "Buy local"? It is good for the local economy. It is good for farmers. It is good on the issue of global warming. Because everything that comes from China carries an enormous carbon footprint with it. NORRIS: Steve, just indulge me for just a minute. Your patience, please. INSKEEP: Please go right ahead. NORRIS: I'm just curious. You mentioned these Chinese toys. Senator Edwards, you have two small children. Will you be buying toys that are made in China to place under the Christmas tree this year? MR. EDWARDS: No, ma'am, I will not. INSKEEP: Got to give Chris Dodd equal time on that question. NORRIS: You know, it's difficult to do that, because, you know, 70 percent of the goods and most of the toys that you find at the local Wal-Mart are made in China. MR. EDWARDS: My kids will not have toys coming from China. SEN. DODD: Barack and I would like to comment on this. (Laughter.) My toys are coming from Iowa. (Laughter continues.) I'm buying Iowa toys. They're going to eat Iowa food. Iowa toys. (Laughter.) NORRIS: Senator Obama, and then Senator Gravel. Senator Obama first on this issue of Chinese toys. SEN. OBAMA: As I said before, the problem is that we are not using the power that we have. And we just have — I can't amplify this point enough. Right now, laws with respect to China are being made in part with the interests of Wall Street in mind and special interests who are manufacturing in China — used to manufacture here in Iowa, now are manufacturing in China, are shipping the goods back here and taking advantage of low — cheap labor and lower environmental standards. We have to have a president — and this is part of the reason I'm running for president, is to give a voice to American workers. I believe in trade, and I think trade can strengthen America. And I want, by the way, Chinese workers and consumers to benefit. That's good for our long-term security. But I don't want every single trade decision to be looked at through the lens of does this increase corporate profits as opposed to is it good for U.S. consumers and U.S. workers. NORRIS: Senator Gravel, and then Steve has a question. MR. GRAVEL: Yeah, Michele, I want to take you to task right at your first rhetoric, and that was this great, tremendous -- NORRIS: I believe it was a question. MR. GRAVEL: Right. The tremendous increase in their defense. They're only 10 percent of American defense. They haven't had a tremendous increase. Ten percent of our defense. And I want to take all of them to task. Clearly, none of them are running for China — president of China — because this amount of demagoguery is shameful. Here, the Chinese people have a problem. And when we continue this rhetoric of beggar thy neighbor, where our interests always come first, there should be the interests of human beings, the interests of human beings. NORRIS: Senator Gravel, thank you. MR. GRAVEL: Because when you have a foreign policy that's beggar thy neighbor, we all become beggars. And so when they talk about the currency of China, what about the — what manipulations we do? What about the American companies that dump things abroad? NORRIS: Senator Gravel, thank you. MR. GRAVEL: What about the tariffs — you want to have a -- NORRIS: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. MR. GRAVEL: Thank you. NORRIS: In the interest of time. Steve has a question. INSKEEP: Just want to wrap up Dan Frommelt's tradeoff that he discussed, the $300 TVs versus the $600 TVs. Is any of you willing to state frankly that, if you do what you're talking about — getting tough on the currency, cracking down on what Senator Dodd called slave labor, taking other steps — that Americans are going to pay more for consumer goods at Wal-Mart, and you believe it's worth it? Is anyone willing to state frankly that that is the tradeoff? Congressman Kucinich. REP. KUCINICH: Either buy America or bye-bye America. We have to recognize that, and a Kucinich administration will rebuild American industry. And while I'm listening to this debate right here, I'm the only one up here who voted against China trade. My good friend John Edwards, who is a friend of mine, you know, he voted for it and is now decrying what's come over. I'm saying that it is critical that we rebuild America's industry, that we not get in an arms race with China, that we have new trade laws based on workers' rights, human rights, environmental quality, that we take a new direction with respect to environmental policy, getting China away from nuclear, coal and oil. I mean, we should be able to have solid relations with China, but we got to get our own house in order, stop the speculation on Wall Street and stop Wall Street from moving our jobs out of this country. And that's what the China trade vote was all about. INSKEEP: But Senator Obama, is that the trade-off, that people will have to pay higher prices if we do what you propose; and that's worth it, in your view? SEN. OBAMA: I actually believe that China will modify its behavior if we actually are tough in our negotiations. Look, we are the biggest market for China. They can't afford to just say, "See ya later." They're going to have to sell here. And if we tell them you have to meet certain safety standards, that you have to enforce certain labor and environmental agreements, they will meet them. Now, could there potentially be some higher costs in the front end? Probably. But I guarantee you I don't meet a single worker in Iowa who's been laid off who says, "I wouldn't rather pay a little bit more for sneakers at Wal-Mart but still have a job." NORRIS: Now listen, just quickly, I want to bring another listener into this, because we did get some questions from the listeners. And I want to hear from Karen Zuch (ph). She is a listener. She is also a mother. So let's take a quick listen. MS. KAREN ZUCH (Santa Cruz, California): (From tape.) As the mom of a 1-year-old son, I am very concerned about the toxic chemicals that lace many toys and other products sold in America. These chemical agents cause cancer, birth defects and genetic damage. Unlike the European Union, the U.S. does nothing to limit the use of these agents and does not require that the toxic ingredients are listed. If you are elected president, what changes will you make to ensure that my son will grow up free from these frightening dangers? NORRIS: Karen Zuch there. She's from Santa Cruz, California. She's pointing out that the European Union has stricter standards. But if you look at the Chinese recalls in this country, they still represent fewer than 1/100th of all of the toys and products that come into this country. Is it possible that the U.S. could overreact to this? I'm posing this to Senator Clinton. What's the danger of that? SEN. CLINTON: Well, first, I really sympathize with the young mother, because we don't do anywhere near enough to try to prevent dangerous materials and products from coming into our country. We don't even do enough of it within our own country. We have totally turned our back on the information that is available to try to better track the impact on children and others of these kinds of exposures to toxic materials. So, number one, we need tougher standards across the board, something I've been advocating for years. Number two, it should be especially applied to any kind of imports, and that requires going and making sure that we have inspectors on the ground and we have tough standards and we exercise recalls. You know, the reason we have such few recalls, even though they have been increasing because the evidence has been so overwhelming, is because this administration has basically defanged the Consumer Product Safety Commission. They do not have any real appetite for going after these companies and countries that are flooding our markets with dangerous products, and that has to stop. NORRIS: We only have just a few — very short time, Senator Dodd. But I just want to ask you, because you've served in the Senate for some time, given the concerns about currency manipulation, product recalls, is there any vote that you would look back at and think, "You know, I really wish I could reconsider that"? SEN. DODD: No, no, I wish the Senate would have reconsidered when I offered legislation on lead paint, for instance, here to try and reduce the kind of problems that Karen has talked about. I have a child that has serious food allergies. I know what it's like every day to read a label — every single day — because my child could die if she consumed the wrong products here. Eighty percent of the food we consume in this country is imported and only 1 percent of it is inspected. And there's no country of labeling on the products here, and you'll have about 10 different descriptions of an egg here. And that's very difficult, if not impossible, for women like Karen and parents who have children who have to be careful about the products they consume. NORRIS: OK. We're going to have to leave this part of our discussion right there. We'll take a break for just a few minutes, then we will continue with the second hour of our Democratic presidential debate from Des Moines. This is special coverage from NPR News. (Announcements) INSKEEP: From NPR News and Iowa Public Radio, this is the second hour of our Democratic presidential candidates' debate from Des Moines. I'm Steve Inskeep. SIEGEL: I'm Robert Siegel. NORRIS: And I'm Michele Norris. INSKEEP: We are at the Iowa State Historical Museum, near the State Capitol Building. And with us are seven of the Democratic candidates. From left to right on your radio dial, they are Senator Hillary Clinton, former Senator Mike Gravel, Senator Barack Obama, Senator Christopher Dodd, Senator Joseph Biden, former Senator John Edwards and Congressman Dennis Kucinich. By the way, we also invited the Republicans to debate this week in a separate forum. They were unable to come for scheduling reasons and they are working with us to find a new date. SIEGEL: This is an unusual debate. We've selected just three topics, subjects we think deserve close examination. And because we're limiting the topics, the candidates will have more time to explain their positions, and we will have the time to follow up on some of those answers. We've already heard the candidates on Iran and the lessons of Iraq. And coming up, we'll talk immigration. Right now, it's China, and that's where my colleague Michele Norris is going to pick up. NORRIS: Thank you, Robert. Every modern president has faced a delicate balancing act with China. And this is how one listener, Panpan Wang of Venice, California, put it. Let's listen. MR. PANPAN WANG (Los Angeles, California): Many presidential candidates have talked tough about China and its human rights record in the past but, in the end, favor securing our economic interest rather than risk upsetting China by substantively talking about the human rights issue. China is given a free path to go at her own pace. How would you balance human rights and trade with China? NORRIS: Senator Biden, I'd like to begin with you. What kind of human rights commitment should the U.S. try to exact from China, particularly in advance of the 2008 Olympics? And how do you ensure that the country would actually live up to those commitments? SEN. BIDEN: You can't ensure it but look, this is all about playing by the rules. I've been pushing, as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee for the last seven years, or the ranking member during that period, that we hold China accountable at the United Nations. We won't even, at the United Nations, we won't even designate China as a violator of human rights. Now, what's the deal there? We're talking about competition. That's the — in terms of trade. It's capitulation, not competition. Name me another country in the world that we would allow to conduct themselves the way this country has — China — and not called them on the carpet at the U.N. Name me another country in the world who would use the trade practices they use with us, that we would not call them on the carpet. NORRIS: So, Senator Biden, are you saying that you would call them on the carpet, that you would -- SEN. BIDEN: Absolutely. Why -- NORRIS: — that you would appoint a U.N. ambassador who would press for this? SEN. BIDEN: And the reason I would is that, well, it's the one way to get China to reform. You can't close your eyes. You can't pretend. It is self-defeating. It's a Hobson's choice we're giving people here. NORRIS: A Hobson's choice is how Senator Biden characterized this. Senator Clinton, what kind of commitment should we try to exact from China? SEN. CLINTON: Well, I agree with Joe very much. You know, 12 years ago, I went to China, and the Chinese didn't want me to come. And they didn't want me to make a speech, and when I made the speech, they blocked it out from being heard within China, where I stood up for human rights and in particular women's rights, because women had been so brutally abused in many settings in China. And I think you do have to call them on it. I mean, the Chinese respect us if we actually call them on their misbehavior and their breaches of human rights, economic activities and other kinds of problems that we have with them. That's what I object to about this administration. We've gotten the worst of both worlds. We've gotten neither the kind of smart enforcement nor the kind of cooperation that might lead to changes in behavior. Instead we have this erratic, incoherent policy. So I think it's important that, as the next president, I would make it very clear what we expect from China and use every tool at our disposal to try to change behavior. NORRIS: Just a quick follow. When you traveled to China and then when you returned to the White House, did you advise your husband on Chinese foreign policy or on foreign policy in regard to any other countries that you traveled to? And conversely, if you were elected president, would he advise you? SEN. CLINTON: I certainly did. I not only advised; I often met with he and his advisers, both in preparation for, during and after. I traveled with representatives from the Security Council, the State Department, occasionally the Defense Department, and even the CIA. So I was deeply involved in being part of the Clinton team in the first Clinton administration. And I am someone who want the best possible advice from as many different sources as possible, and that would certainly include my husband. NORRIS: Senator Dodd. SEN. DODD: Well, I think there's an ongoing situation. I want to commend at this point here people like Nancy Pelosi and others, who just recently, when the Dalai Lama was here, presented him with a gold medal. We've raised the issue — not often enough — on Tibet and what's happened with the almost genocidal behavior, when dealing with this remarkable culture that's been under assault. And the idea that we'd recognize him and welcome him here as a religious leader in the world is exactly the kind of symbols we need to send. We're talking here about a lot of things we would do to be tougher on China. It's also important to understand a balance is necessary here. China is acquiring massive natural resources, you raised earlier, around the world. They have huge energy issues. Twenty-five million people a year move from rural China to urban China. We ought to be working with them in various areas on energy policy, environmental policy as well. So I don't want this to be seen, as we discuss this today here, always just about the acrimonious or the difficult or the tough positions we're going to take -- NORRIS: But if you're -- SEN. DODD: — but to make them recognize that the Dalai Lama is an — is an international religious leader who's worthy of recognition. And if they, as they apparently did, threaten to deny some ships to able to move in waters off China over that, they need to understand this isn't going to change in a Democratic administration. NORRIS: Senator Edwards, with all this tough talk about China, how do you actually hold them accountable? MR. EDWARDS: You hold them accountable in the WTO. America uses its diplomatic and economic leverage. We have enormous leverage with the Chinese. And I want to add on to one thing that Chris just said. This whole issue of balance — if you look at what's happened — and this didn't just happen under George Bush; this has been going on for a decade and a half now — in my hometown, the mill that my father worked in, and the people that I grew up with — that mill's closed now. The jobs are gone. The same thing has happened in Newton, Iowa, and all across this state. I met a man named Doug Bishop a couple — few years ago, who talked about having to look his child in the eye and explain why his — her daddy, who had worked in that mill his entire life, that factory, had lost his job and hadn't done anything wrong, because his child did not understand. American trade policy is catering to the interests of big corporate America. It has been for a decade and a half. And we desperately need a president of the United States who, instead of asking, is this going to help corporate profits — is this actually going to stand up for American workers and American jobs. NORRIS: Robert has a question, but just for clarity, just — I just heard you say that America has enormous leverage. To my first question when we began this discussion on China, you said that America did not have enough leverage -- MR. EDWARDS: Oh, no, I didn't. No, I said we have more leverage than they do. We do. I think everybody actually agrees with that. But our leverage is economic, our leverage is diplomatic, and we have leverage within the WTO, which Senator Biden and others have spoken about. But we have not held China accountable, and the result is the loss of American jobs, the struggling of American families, the struggles of the middle class. Those jobs help support the middle class and build the middle class in this country. And as we've already talked about, dangerous Chinese products coming into the United States. NORRIS: So diminished, but significant. Robert, you have a question. SIEGEL: Senator, there's an implication in what you just said. The text — that the United States can become once again a major power in textile production, an industry we associate with low-wage emerging economies. Isn't it fair to think that no matter what our relationship with China, obviously poorer countries are going to be producing a lot of textiles in mills around the world, it's just not what our economy should be specializing in at this time? MR. EDWARDS: What is fair to think is that we have had a trade policy that has cost America — my father, who worked in a mill for 37 years so that I could be — and my brother and sister could have a better life than he had, that mill that he worked in is gone. Jobs all across Iowa are gone. And the reason is because America has catered to the interests of corporate profits, not the interests of the American middle class, not the interests of American workers, and not the interests of these manufacturing jobs. Are there other things we need to do? Of course there are. America, to be competitive over the long term, needs a trade policy that works, that looks out for the interests of the middle class, but it also needs — America needs to be the most creative, best educated, most innovative workforce on the planet. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. They can both be done at the same time. NORRIS: Thank you very much. Senator Obama, I just want to return to the question of currency manipulation. You had said that if China is actually manipulating their currency, this country needs to "take them to the mat." What exactly did you mean by that? SEN. OBAMA: We have legislation that says that if, in fact, they are manipulating their currency — and I think there's no dispute that they are — that we need to take strong action. It's in the Banking Committee. Chris is presiding over that. And — now, here's the problem. I will say that it's actually a blunt tool. I'd prefer not doing this legislatively. The problem is we've had a president that has shown no leadership on it. So if — and when I am in the White House, I will meet directly with the Chinese leadership and indicate we have to restore balance. And, by the way, we have to mobilize our allies, such as the European Union, to have that conversation with us. This is an imbalance that is not good for any economy over time. It's not sustainable, the trade imbalances that we have. But just to go to a point that was made earlier, so often we see these issues as contradictory. Mike Gravel, I am interested, as I said, in making sure that the Chinese population is fed and clothed and advancing. I think that is important. It is not, I think, in the long-term interests of China to expand solely on the backs of low-wage worker — work that is undermining U.S. work. If we are saying to China, raise your labor standards that will over time improve the lot of Chinese workers as well as U.S. workers. And that's what we should be looking at, is how can we improve the working conditions, the safety conditions, the consumer protections that are available for all people, and that's not what's happening right now. NORRIS: Senator Obama, thank you. Senator Biden, very quickly. SEN. BIDEN: Look, first of all, I don't buy this being, "Why are you being so tough on China?" Would we do any of these things with regard to France or Germany or England, our friends, our allies? The answer is we would. NORRIS: Do you think it's an analogous situation? SEN. BIDEN: No, I think it is — look, if France was acting like China's acting, we'd be tough with them. If England was doing what China's doing, we'd be tough with them. This is about being fair. And by the way, to deal with the currency — back in '88 we had the same deal, and what happened, we had a thing called the Plaza Accords. We brought in all of the major currencies in the world to sit down and say we've got to rationalize the currency here. Us doing it by ourselves is the ultimate blunt instrument. We may be able to do that, but were I president, I'd be calling a similar conference, bringing in the rest of the world to rationalize our currencies here. NORRIS: Time is tight. I just want to return to something that Senator Clinton said. You said that China reacts if they are pressed. So would we believe that — should we believe that the relationship — the U.S. relationship with China under a Hillary Clinton administration would be less one of cooperation and engagement and one more akin to confrontation? SEN. CLINTON: No. No, absolutely not. It would be a position where we would operate from strength with a coherent policy about what our interests were and what we hope to achieve. I'll give you a quick example. I have a company in my state that has exported into China for many years. All of a sudden, out of the blue, they were told that they were going to start having tariffs slapped on their product that would have made it absolutely uncompetitive for them to compete. Their alternative was to go into business with some Chinese company, more than likely some kind of front group for the People's Army, and therefore lose their intellectual property. And so I helped them stand up to that, and they respected it and backed down. NORRIS: Thank you. That's where we're going to have to end our discussion of China. We could have gone on, but thanks to all the candidates. We'll continue in just a minute with our Democratic presidential debate. (Announcements) SIEGEL: From NPR News and Iowa Public Radio, this is special live coverage of our Democratic presidential debate from Des Moines. I'm Robert Siegel. INSKEEP: I'm Steve Inskeep. NORRIS: And I'm Michele Norris. The other day, an Iowa voter advised us of a big campaign issue. He called it the M-word, M-igration. The so-called M-word is our next topic, and Steve Inskeep will lead our questioning. INSKEEP: Thanks, Michele. Candidates, we've just been doing some reporting in the last few days from Marshalltown, Iowa, a city that I know many of you have visited. This is a city with a lot of immigrants, a number of illegal immigrants. There have been immigration raids there. And that raises questions about citizens in places like that all over America. Some citizens in Marshalltown turn in illegal immigrants, some take them in. There's actually a person who's been indicted for sheltering immigrants, which raises a question that I'd like to put to you: What obligations do American citizens have when it comes to illegal immigrants? And let's start with Senator Obama. Would you expect Americans, if you're president — January 2009, immigration reform, whatever you want hasn't happened yet. Would you expect Americans to turn in illegal immigrants when they come across them? SEN. OBAMA: We do not deputize the American people to do the job that the federal government is supposed to do. So as president of the United States, I will make sure that the federal government does what it's supposed to do, which is to do a better job of closing our borders and preventing hundreds of thousands of people to pour in, have much tougher enforcement standards when it comes to employers, and create a pathway of citizenship for the 12 million people who are already here. INSKEEP: So does that mean that Americans should not turn in illegal immigrants? SEN. OBAMA: The point is that we are not going to have — we're not going to deputize a whole bunch of American citizens to start grabbing people or turning them in, the — in part because the ordinary American citizen may not know whether or not this person is illegal or not. Now, we do — we should be holding employers accountable, because they have a mechanism whereby they can actually enforce. But you know, the notion that we're going to criminalize priests, for example, or doctors who are providing services to individuals and throw them in jail for doing what their calling asks them to do, which is to provide help and service to people in need, I think that is a mistake. I think that's out of America's character. INSKEEP: I'm going to get to several candidates on this. Senator Dodd, let's say that you're hiring a nanny. Perhaps you've have this experience. A number of — SEN. DODD: No, I haven't had that experience, and I — INSKEEP: Well, let's say that you had. SEN. DODD: Nice try. (Laughter.) INSKEEP: — for your kids. Let's say that a citizen is hiring a nanny. SEN. DODD: (Inaudible) — be checking out, very thoroughly -- INSKEEP: Working parent — well that's the question. SEN. DODD: Yeah. INSKEEP: You interview a number of applicants. They all seem very nice. They seem like they would take care of the kids, but it would appear that their documents may not be in order. What would you want an American to do? SEN. DODD: Well, I think you've got an obligation here to go beyond that if you have any doubts or questions here. People who knowingly hire undocumented workers, I think, need to be held accountable to a far higher degree of penalty, civil and possibly criminal, if in fact it's widespread, because these are the things that are going to slow down the 4 to 500,000 people who come here each year. You know, I understand — look, I think this debate has to begin someplace. I'm very worried about the fear- and hatemongers out there who are going to divide this country very terribly on this subject matter. We've been a welcoming people for the entire history of our nation. I hear there were exceptions in the 19th century with the "Know-Nothings" and at the end of World War I, which were dangerous periods here. But obviously, any self-respecting country has to control its borders. It has to impose penalties that would otherwise attract people to come here — understanding why they want to be here but also understanding our capacity and ability to handle this. That's why I've taken the strong position here of doing whatever we can on both sides of the border, and I've worked this for a long time. For 20 years, I've chaired the interparliamentary meeting with Mexico. I speak the language fluently. We have a large percentage of people coming from Latin America. We passed the CAFTA trade agreement here. You want to go right to the heart of these things here, we allowed every single country under CAFTA to be able to set its own labor standard. Exactly what happens is businesses locate there and race to the bottom. Instead of improving the quality of working conditions that would give people in these countries a chance to stay in their own nations, which most of them would prefer to do, we're encouraging people to come here by not having trading agreements that don't insist upon -- INSKEEP: We're going to talk more about that, those issues, as we go along here. But sticking with real people, Congressman Kucinich, the real person in that situation, what should they do? REP. KUCINICH: Rely on the Constitution. You know, we don't encourage vigilantism in this country. We have a Constitution, we have due process, we have equal protection, we have habeas corpus. This administration, as — like — you know, would like to shred the Constitution and deny people all those rights. But when we get into that, what we do, we take the path of denying constitutional rights, and we're back to Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and all those other violations of rights that we're ashamed of now. And I'm saying that we have to realize that these are economic refugees from NAFTA. You know, I've said it over and over. Cancel NAFTA. Negotiate a new trade agreement with Mexico based on workers rights, human rights, environmental quality principles. Give a path to legalization for the people who have been here. You can't send them home willy-nilly
wounded in the attack, has been carrying her. Expand Fatima Ibrahim al-Marzuqi is being carried by her brother because she is not able to walk due to her injuries sustained during a cluster munition attack on Malus village on June 7. © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch Muhammad Swaid al-Marzuqi, about 70, said: I was sleeping a few meters from my son’s grocery shop when I heard the explosions. I got up and saw the shop was burning, and then I saw burning fires and smoke in many locations in the village and understood that the whole village had been attacked. The villagers said that at least two submunitions failed to explode; one was found on a road and another hanging from a tree branch. One villager provided photographs that he said he had taken in and near the village. The photographs show an unexploded M77 DPICM submunition hanging from a tree and the remnants of several M26 rockets. At an ad hoc camp for displaced people in Beni Hassan, a Malus resident showed Human Rights Watch a piece of a white ribbon from an M77 DPICM submunition that he had found in the village after the attack. Dughayj Village, Hayran District Cluster munition rockets were used in an attack on the village of Dughayj in the Hayran district, 20 kilometers from Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia, in late June or early July, local residents told Human Rights Watch. Adel Hassan, 15, a Dughayj resident, told Human Rights Watch researchers who visited the village on July 27 that the attack took place at about 1 p.m. “less than a month” earlier. He said the attack killed about 10 people, all civilians, and wounded 30 others. He named five of the dead, including three women, but said he could not identify other victims, most of whom had come to Dughayj after being displaced from other areas by the conflict. Expand An unexploded M77 DPICM submunition found in Dughayj village, northern Yemen, after a cluster munition attack in June or July 2015. © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch Hassan said that he saw 10 unexploded submunitions after the attack and that his cousin had destroyed others. Local residents said that Houthi forces had removed unexploded submunitions from the village. Nevertheless, during a visit to the village on July 27, Human Rights Watch found an unexploded M77 DPICM submunition. Other local residents confirmed the attack and a resident of the neighboring Haradh District said that a villager from Dughayj had brought him an unexploded submunition after the attack. Al-Hazan Village, Haradh District Cluster munition rockets hit agricultural land near the village of al-Hazan in the Hayran district, 20 kilometers from the Saudi-Yemeni border, in late May or early June. Expand An unexploded M77 DPICM submunition found in July 2015 in a field near al-Hazan village, northern Yemen. © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch One villager said that on the night of the attack he saw flashes from rockets that appeared to have come from the direction of Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia. Shortly thereafter, he saw multiple flashes in the air above the village, followed by dozens of explosions, “like the sound when you dump a load of rocks from a truck.” The submunitions fell in farming land belonging to three villages, which have a combined population of about 3,000. The attack injured one man, who had been displaced from another village by the war, in his chest and back, the villagers said. Unexploded submunitions in the fields subsequently detonated after being disturbed and injured three farmers in separate incidents: a 17-year-old was injured in his abdomen, a 70-year-old man in his legs and hand, and a 31-year-old man in his leg. A farmer showed Human Rights Watch the fields where the submunitions landed, where dozens of small craters remained visible in the soft soil. Human Rights Watch found three unexploded M77 DPICM submunitions, as well as pieces of the white stabilization ribbons from submunitions that had exploded. One submunition was almost completely buried in the sand with only part of the ribbon visible. Another was on a path between two fields with a rope tied to the white ribbon, apparently by someone trying detonate it by yanking on the ribbon. The presence of unexploded submunitions in the fields is having a negative effect on farmers’ livelihoods, locals said. “We can’t work the fields anymore because of the submunitions,” said Ali Muhammad Gahshor, 52. Some villagers said that Houthi forces were using a nearby house at the time of the attack and might have been its target. Bani Kaladah Village, Haradh District Cluster munition rockets were used in attacks near the village of Bani Kaladah in Haradh District, 5 kilometers west of Haradh and 7 kilometers from the Saudi-Yemeni border, in late April or early May. Expand Remnant from an M26 cluster munition rocket found near Bani Kaladah village, northern Yemen, after an attack in April or May 2015. © 2015 Private One villager said that his brother found 12 unexploded submunitions near their family home when he returned to the village on May 13. The submunitions had landed in the fields, affecting at least 10 farms, the villager said. The villager sent Human Rights Watch photographs that he said a friend had taken in fields near his house. The photographs showed remnants of at least one M26 rocket and one unexploded M77 DPICM submunition. On July 27, Human Rights Watch went to see the villager’s house where the 12 submunitions were said to have been found but the house had been reduced to rubble, apparently from one or more bombs, making it unsafe to search for unexploded submunitions. Human Rights Watch found the remnants of an M26 rocket about a kilometer north of the house. One local resident said that Houthi forces had cleared the area of unexploded submunitions after the attack. A resident said that Houthi forces were using local roads, abandoned houses, and farmland to launch attacks against Saudi forces, and had told residents to vacate the area on April 5. The local council had also signed an agreement with the Houthis declaring the area a military zone, he said, although some civilians remained in the village. Haradh Town, Haradh District Cluster munition rockets were used in an attack on the outskirts of Haradh, a town 11 kilometers from the Saudi-Yemeni border, on July 25, Houthi fighters and a local medical worker told Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch found cluster munition remnants at the site two days after the attack. A medical worker at Haradh’s hospital said that cluster munitions were used in an attack on the western part of town on July 25 and showed Human Rights Watch photographs of two unexploded M77 DPICM submunitions that she said were found in the impact area. The medical worker said the submunitions fell over a large area around the road leading to the port town of Midi. Inspecting the site on July 27, Human Rights Watch found that some submunitions appeared to have hit close to a Houthi-run military checkpoint. A Houthi fighter patrolling the road in the area at the time of the attack told Human Rights Watch that the cluster munition attack occurred at about 5 p.m. on July 25: I heard a massive explosion in the air and I saw a red flash followed by a series of explosions on the ground. Many submunitions fell on houses, but they were empty because most Harad residents had already left. The Houthi fighter showed Human Rights Watch a bucket containing five unexploded M77 DPICM submunitions that he said had been collected from around the checkpoint. Al-Fajj Village, Haradh District A local resident said that cluster munition rockets hit his father’s farm in al-Fajj village about a month before Human Rights Watch spoke to him in an area for displaced people in Hayran district on July 25. Al-Fajj is 5 kilometers northeast of Haradh and 10 kilometers south of Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia. Expand Unexploded M77 DPICM submunition found near al-Fajj village, northern Yemen, after a cluster munition attack in June or July 2015. © 2015 Private The cluster munition rocket attack killed at least one woman and wounded her husband, he said. The resident said that he saw unexploded submunitions at his father’s farm as well as at other farms and in the mountains nearby. He said that the submunitions had white ribbons attached to them and that their bottom was hollow with a reddish color, a description consistent with M77 DPICM submunitions. He said that he destroyed one submunition by throwing it against a wall, causing it to explode. An acquaintance shared two photographs that he said were taken in al-Fajj that Human Rights Watch identified as unexploded M77 DPICM submunitions.MALAPPURAM: Malappuram municipality will turn Wi-Fi enabled on Friday as industries minister P K Kunhalikkutty will inaugurate the ambitious Wi-Fi project.The municipality, which is going to be the first in the country which provides free Wi-Fi to its residents, is planning to provide free internet facility to its 68,000 residents through Wi-Fi connectivity.High speed internet connectivity with an average speed of 200 mbps would be available in uphill and down hill regions of the town in the initial phase and later the facility would be extended to all parts of municipality.The registration for the users, for accessing free Wi-Fi has already started and the username and password would be distributed to first 5,000 applicants on Friday. College students who are non-residents of Malappuram municipality can also access the connectivity and their applications are also under the consideration of municipality.The municipality is also launching an electronic medical record (EMR) system and e-tutor programme as part of the project.EMR is a centralized online medical record of each resident of the municipality that can be accessible from anywhere. Urban affairs minister Manjalamkuzhi Ali will inaugurate the EMR system, at the same function.Through its free Wi-Fi cover, the municipality is also planning to provide free education services including video lessons and unlimited practice questions to students. The round the clock e-tutor service would be launched by E Ahammed MP at the function.Rs 1.45 crore is the total cost of the Wi-Fi project and it was implemented with the financial support of state IT department and technical support of Railtel Corporation of India.The Sweden Democrats, a populist anti-immigrant party, has had its image transformed in a couple of days – from well-coiffed gentlemen in suits to hooligans wielding scaffolding poles. This week, the evening tabloid Expressen, which has kept a close watch on the Sweden Democrats since the party entered parliament two years ago, published a video that was taken on a street in central Stockholm two years ago after a long evening's celebration. It shows the party's spokesman for economic policy, and an MP, Erik Almqvist, having a full and frank exchange of views with a Swedish stand-up comic of Kurdish extraction. Almqvist abuses him racially, says: "No, this isn't your country – it's my country," "Don't fuck with Swedes," and "You're arguing like a little cunt." He's with another of the Sweden Democrats' most prominent public figures: the video was filmed by the party's justice spokesman, Kent Ekeroth. Both men loom threateningly in front of a drunk man who comes by. When a young woman objects to this, Almqvist abuses her by referring to her as "a little whore". Kent Ekeroth also pushes another young woman against a car. Later the video shows how both MPs arm themselves with scaffolding poles from a building site, but before they can set out to find the drunk again they hear police sirens. They put the poles away, straighten their suits and tell the police that the man was after them and they had better arrest him. Then they turn away, giggling, and Almqvist says: "It always pays to act respectful." The party has nearly doubled its support since it entered the Swedish parliament two years ago. In the most recent polls the Sweden Democrats are the country's third-biggest party, which is shocking in a country that managed – unlike much of the rest of Europe – to exclude anti-immigrant parties for many years. The party leader, Jimmy Akesson, has largely succeeded in cleaning up the party's reputation as far-right extremists, not least by making short shrift of party members who have expressed openly racist views. Recently he announced a policy of zero tolerance towards racists in the party. This was an easy policy to maintain so long as it was only relatively unknown members on the fringes of the party who disgraced themselves. But now the party has been hit by its worst crisis ever – and all because of a film that one of its own leaders took with his mobile camera. The facade so carefully erected of a respectable party has suddenly collapsed. The leadership has taken drastic steps to deal with the crisis quickly. Erik Almqvist has been relieved of all his responsibilities, and Kent Ekeroth, who made the film, has been told to take "time out". But this may not be enough. Anonymous sources have told two of Sweden's biggest newspapers that the party leader knew of the video himself. A version had been published on the Sweden Democrats' own YouTube channel two years ago, though with all the embarrassing bits edited out. The question now is whether the leader knew about the uncut version. The racism, sexism, and propensity to violence that two of his closest colleagues display will be difficult for him to distance himself from. The process of normalising the party has had its gravest setback to date. All talk about how the party is merely "critical of immigration" rather than xenophobic collapses when you see the video, which half a million Swedes have done so far. The irony is that the video was made to be used as evidence in case the two MPs were attacked. Instead, it ended up, uncut, in the hands of a newspaper – after everyone involved had denied that they said or did the things they are shown saying and doing. They now stand exposed as the clumsiest politicians in Swedish history. If the film weren't so nasty, the whole country would be laughing them into oblivion.ACHILLES IN THE TRENCH Patrick Shaw-Stewart I saw a man this morning Who did not wish to die; I ask, and cannot answer, if otherwise wish I. Fair broke the day this morning Upon the Dardanelles: The breeze blew soft, the morn's cheeks Were cold as cold sea-shells. But other shells are waitind Across the Aegean Sea; Shrapnel and high explosives, Shells and hells for me. Oh Hell of ships and cities, Hell of men like me, Fatal second Helen, Why must I follow thee? Achilles came to Troyland And I to Chersonese; He turned from wrath to battle, And I from three days' peace. Was it so hard, Achilles, So very hard to die? Thou knowest, and I know not; So much the happier am I. I will go back this morning From Imbros o'er the sea. Stand in the trench, Achilles, Flame-capped, and shout for me. BACKBHOPAL: Retired IAS officer Bhagirath Prasad, who was fielded from Bhind constituency in Madhya Pradesh (MP) for the general election 2014 by the Congress party in the list announced on Saturday, jolted the party on Sunday by deciding to join BJP Bhagirath Prasad had contested from Bhind in 2009 elections from Congress ticket and lost the fray.Congress has decided to rely on its sitting MPs rather than trying new faces as it is reflected in the first list of 22 candidates from the state announced on Saturday.All the sitting MPs were repeated from their respective seats in the list. Some candidates, who had put up a reasonably tough fight against BJP rivals and lost, were also been maintained.Sitting MLAs Heena Kaware and Sunderlal Tiwari have also been given Lok Sabha ticket from Balaghat and Rewa respectively.Additional solicitor general Vivek Tankha, who off late has been close to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, is the congress candidate from Jabalpur.PC Sharma got party’s sanction to contest an election from Bhopal after a decade. Union ministers Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia will contest from their traditional constituencies Chhindwara and Guna respectively.State Congress chief Arun Yadav will again contest from Khandwa, where Aam Admi Party (AAP) has fielded Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Alok Agrawal.Other names cleared from MP in the list of 194 candidates include Ashok Singh from Gwalior, Govind Singh Rajput from Sagar, Dr Kamleshwar Verma from Tikamgarh, Mahendra Pratap from Damoh, Rajesh Nandini Singh from Shahdol, Indrajeet Patel from Sidhi, Sajjan Verma from Dewas, Prem Chand Guddu from Ujjain, Meenakshi Natarajan from Mandsaur, Kantilal Bhuriya from Ratlam, Satyanarayan Patel from Indore, Ramesh Patel from Khargone, Raja Pateria from Khujuraho and Rahul Chaudhary from Betul. Meenakshi Natrajan and Satyanarayan Patel were elected candidates by party workers through primaries organized at behest of party vice president Rahul Gandhi in 15 constituencies across the country.WASHINGTON (ABC7) - On Election Day 2016, we look back at one of the most memorable candidates of the bunch. An independent from Iowa by the name of Deez Nuts shocked us all in August 2015 with (relatively) high poll numbers. A public policy poll in North Carolina from August 2015 had Deez Nuts polling at 9 percent compared to Clinton with 38 percent and Trump with 40 percent. Not bad for a high school kid, eh? Brady Olson, 15, registered under the pseudonym “Deez Nuts” and filed to run for President with the Federal Elections Commission on July 26, 2015. Olson told Time Magazine he wanted to run because he is frustrated with the two-party system. A simple Twitter search reveals many people wonder what happened to the candidate, and some are writing him in. Deez Nuts may not be on the ballot Tuesday, but he certainly made a lasting impression.Frank Martin and the South Carolina Gamecocks basketball staff got some good news on Monday night as they picked up a top-100 name from the 2016 class. Sedee Keita, a 6'10" center/power forward who preps at 22 Feet Academy in Greenville, chose the Gamecocks over a host of high and mid-major offers. Baylor, Georgetown, Syracuse, Tennessee, and Villanova were among the top programs that extended offers, while Indiana and Missouri were among those showing interest. He is a four-star recruit that is ranked 82nd in the country by Rivals.com. Keita is the first member of the class of 2016 to commit to the Gamecocks, but Martin and the staff are high on the list of other players in this class and beyond. Miami (Fla.) Norland forward Dewan Huell, ranked #23 among seniors, took a visit on October 16 as Martin has worked his South Florida contacts for top athletes, while Bam Adebayo (a five-star PF from High Point) was offered back in May and counts Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina and St. John's as other schools on his list. Highly-touted prospect Seventh Woods, the 35th-ranked player in the land, will announce next Wednesday and will choose between Georgetown, North Carolina and South Carolina. And big-time 2017 Oak Hill Academy guard Devontae Shuler, #38 among all juniors, has been offered by South Carolina, among others, and is expected to blow up even more. The Gamecocks now have two scholarships to give for next year's class.IX: It's the little-known Roman numeral that has completely changed students' lives on college campuses with respect to free speech, due process, and even sex. Thanks to the federal government's increasingly broad interpretation of its power to regulate expression under anti-harassment law, college students and faculty members face new challenges to their rights each and every day. But in a recent column for The Daily Beast, I note that students are resisting the Title IX Inquisition by filing lawsuits against their universities. And in four recent cases, the students scored important victories: A male student scored a major victory in his lawsuit against the University of Southern California, which kicked him off campus for a remarkable non-crime: failing to de-escalate an orgy. This was a crazy case, and the decision in his favor impugns not just USC, but the federal government’s entire strategy to combat rape by making colleges deal with it. Over the past five years, the Obama administration’s Education Department has instructed universities to take sexual harassment and violence more seriously as part of their obligation to obey Title IX, a little-known gender equality law. While that all may sound like a good thing, the policies universities have been forced to put in place are shockingly illiberal, leading to routine violations of students’ due process rights, their right to free expression, and even their right to sleep together. As I've mentioned on this blog, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is now seeking a student who would be willing to sue the Office for Civil Rights—the Title IX compliance agency—for exceeding its authority: Justin Dillon, a partner with the law firm Kaiser, LeGrand & Dillon and an expert on campus legal issues, is deeply concerned about OCR’s guidance. “Title IX is being used as an excuse to regulate everything from how college students talk about having sex to how they actually have sex,” wrote Dillon in an email to The Daily Beast. “Title IX is being turned into a speech code, which is something it was never intended to be.” The situation has become so dire that Dillon’s firm, in partnership with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, is now seeking a client to sue OCR. Their hope is that a court might eventually rein in the rogue agency and correct its reckless interpretation of Title IX. In the meantime, the lines separating protected speech from illegal harassment and messy sexual encounters from sexual assault have become a whole lot blurrier—to the great detriment of the quality of life for many college students. Read the full thing here.The FBI has announced that it believes it has identified the Isis (now known as the Islamic State) executioner known as "Jihadi John". FBI Director James Comey confirmed the American bureau has pinpointed the foreign jihadist after weeks of transatlantic intelligence efforts but would not be releasing his identity. The masked executioner is thought to have beheaded US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid worker David Haines in the hostage videos released by the terror group. He is believed to be one of four British jihadists who joined the group in Syria and are known as "The Beatles". They are tasked with looking after IS hostage's in the group's de-facto capital of Raqqa in north-eastern Syria. In all three hostage videos, believed to have been filmed in the hills of Raqqa, the militant can be heard speaking in a southern English accent with only his eyes visible to the camera. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond had earlier said attempts to locate the killer of the American and British hostages were "narrowing down the field". "We are getting warm, we are working on all the leads," he told CNN while in New York for the United Nations summit. "There's a big investigation and we are getting warm. We're narrowing down the field, but I don't want to say any more at this stage." The British Ambassador to the US, Peter Westmacott, recently revealed the UK was using sophisticated technology, including voice recognition software, in the hunt for the executioner's identity. Earlier this month, a group of US senators passed legislation to authorise a $10m (£6.2m) reward for information that would aid the arrest and conviction of the masked militant. British intelligence officials are also waiting to arrest associates of "Jihadi John" in order to gather more information by monitoring their communications. The security services have decided against raiding the house of the executioner's family and his friends in order to retrieve as much intelligence as possible. Security sources have said their priority is to locate the remaining hostages in the terror group's possession and making arrests this soon could jeopardise their safety.As the students scribbled in notebooks and clicked on laptops, Ms. Pittis recounted some of the biggest developments in the industry so far in 2011. The proliferation of e-readers and the growing digital market share of Barnes & Noble. Amanda Hocking, a formerly self-published author, making a book deal with a traditional publisher. J. K. Rowling’s selling her own “Harry Potter” e-books online. Even the surprise success of “Go the — to Sleep,” a hilariously vulgar children’s book parody that rose to the top of best-seller lists after being widely pirated via e-mail for months. In the past year, e-books have skyrocketed in popularity, especially in genre fiction like romance and thrillers. For some new releases, the first week has brought more sales of electronic copies than of print copies. All of which were ripe topics for discussion for students in the course this year, even as they deciphered messages that could be simultaneously weary and optimistic. “A lot of what we hear is, ‘Is the Internet going to eat book publishing?’ ” said Selby McRae, a petite 22-year-old from Jackson, Miss., who entered the course after graduating from Hamilton College and completing an internship at the University Press of Mississippi. “And then they say, ‘But everything’s better than ever!’ ” After appearing on a panel with other literary agents, Douglas Stewart of Sterling Lord Literistic said he had simply tried to explain the unfamiliar aspects of his job. “It is a really scary time to go into the business, and I’m sure they’re hearing that,” he said. “We’re all thinking that as we look out at the sea of eager faces — I wonder if they should be doing this right now?” Photo The course, which begins every year in June, bills itself as the “shortest graduate school in the country,” where students can learn in six weeks what it would take them a year to learn in the real world. (The second half of the course is devoted to magazine publishing.) Legions of high-placed publishing executives have been through the course, like Morgan Entrekin (Radcliffe Publishing Course ’77), the publisher and president of Grove/Atlantic; Arthur Levine (R.P.C. ’84), who has his own children’s imprint at Scholastic; and Molly Stern (R.P.C. ’94), the senior vice president and publisher of Crown Publishers and Broadway Books. Advertisement Continue reading the main story This year’s 101 students were chosen from more than 475 applicants, the highest number in years, showing that they were not deterred by the $6,990 fee for tuition and room and board on the Columbia campus — or by the limitations of entry-level positions that pay around $30,000 a year. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. The chosen candidates tend to emerge from college with impressive résumés: some have journalism degrees, successful climbs of Mount Kilimanjaro or stints working in independent bookstores or for literary magazines. “It was pretty magical for me,” said Scott Moyers, the publisher of the Penguin Press, who attended in the summer of 1991. “I went to a small public liberal arts school in Virginia; I didn’t know anybody in New York. I didn’t know anybody in publishing. I’d actually never been north of the Mason-Dixon line. For me, it was quite heady. It was a very cosmopolitan mix of kids.” The course was established in 1947 at Radcliffe College and was held for more than 50 years in Cambridge, Mass. In 2001, after Radcliffe and Harvard University merged, there wasn’t much room for a publishing course at the newly renamed Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, so with the blessing of Drew G. Faust, the dean of the institute, the course was moved to Columbia, where it was housed in the School of Journalism building. Since it moved to Manhattan, students have been able to plug directly into the industry and mingle with editors at book parties in the evening, a far cry from the cozy isolation of Cambridge. It is not unheard of for a student to get a job in publishing and drop out of the course before it is over. Lindy Hess, the director of the course for 24 years, said she designed it to evolve with the business. “The industry has changed,” Ms. Hess said. “My philosophy is for the course to reflect the industry as it is, so students graduate and they know exactly what’s happening. Students have to learn all the old stuff and get a grasp on the digital world.” After two weeks of lectures and panels explaining the basics of book publishing, students are divided into groups to form their own fictional publishing houses, designing covers, developing marketing plans and selling the finished products only days later to industry professionals like Sessalee Hensley, the fiction buyer for Barnes & Noble. First they must appraise their own work. During one staff meeting, the group that called itself Wensel & Roe fine-tuned its catalog offerings, which included a cookbook with recipes inspired by romance novels, a nonfiction book examining how parenthood changes the brain and a biography of the fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Last Wednesday, the real-life publishing executives took their turn. Sarah Crichton, the publisher of her own imprint at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, sat at the head of a conference table with a copy of the group’s professionally bound booklet of catalog copy, publicity materials and sales projections as the students nervously awaited her comments. “This is extremely impressive,” Ms. Crichton said, peering around the table. “You’re grappling with a lot of the same things we’re grappling with, which is the impact of e-books. You’re taking it into account and thinking about it, and that’s very impressive and difficult. It’s something that we wrestle with on an hourly basis.”small Glad you liked it! And Face, of course, I remember you!I started posting this this on my birthday- July 30th- took me a while to get around to everyone. I've been pretty busy! It has been literally been sent around the world! Putting it together has taken me a couple of years! I'm not even going to guess at the number of hours! But we needed it and no one else was doing it!I would like abirthday present from each of you in return for all my work. I would like each of you to pick one page and print it up with the URL of my post here, or at IC, or Cannabis.com. Pick either a page at random, or one that has special significance for you. I would like you to send it (anonymously, if need be) to your doctor, relative, friend, clergyperson, politician or just leave it in a public place like a laundromat, student lounge, slipped in a book on cannabis at the library, etc. That would make my old heart happy! Education is the road to legalization! - Grannyp11, through unknown mechanisms, is required for behavioral and cellular responses to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). We show that SMARCA3, a chromatin-remodeling factor, is a target for the p11/annexin A2 heterotetrameric complex. Determination of the crystal structure indicates that SMARCA3 peptide binds to a hydrophobic pocket in the heterotetramer. Formation of this complex increases the DNA-binding affinity of SMARCA3 and its localization to the nuclear matrix fraction. In the dentate gyrus, both p11 and SMARCA3 are highly enriched in hilar mossy cells and basket cells. The SSRI fluoxetine induces expression of p11 in both cell types and increases the amount of the ternary complex of p11/annexin A2/SMARCA3. SSRI-induced neurogenesis and behavioral responses are abolished by constitutive knockout of SMARCA3. Our studies indicate a central role for a chromatin-remodeling factor in the SSRI/p11 signaling pathway and suggest an approach to the development of improved antidepressant therapies. PaperClipby Earlier this year, gamers were able to experience a unique indie title on PSN/XBLA called Puddle, developed by Neko Entertainment. A few months later, Puddle then made its way to the PS Vita and was very well received (read our review), in which I highly recommended those looking for a fresh experience to look into it. Today, Neko Entertainment has announced that they will be releasing Puddle for the Wii U and that the experience has been polished even further. Puddle will run at full 1080p and 60fps on the Wii U, thanks to “very good performances” that the developer has gotten out of the console. They also took advantage of the TV/Gamepad feature so if you need to stop playing your game on the TV, you can continue seamlessly through the Wii U Gamepad’s screen and still retain a 60fps on there. Controls will be handled in three ways: Accelerometer, ZL-ZR trigger buttons, and Left Stick. Basically, these are the same control setups as the PS Vita edition but it’s great to see them capitalize on the “accelerometer” as that provides for a very natural and intuitive experience. Lastly, Neko Entertainment has examined which particular levels many people used the “Whine and Skip” feature on and made adjustments to ensure no frustration in simply completing those levels. They want to make the player feel that they always have the chance of completing a level but if you aim for the Gold Medals, it’s still going to be a solid and rewarding challenge. Neko Entertainment has been hard at work in preparing their latest edition of Puddle for the launch of the Wii U and based on the enhancements, it’s certainly sounding like the most polished version yet. Puddle will be downloadable via the Wii U eShop at launch. Are you interested in Puddle? Did you play Puddle before? If so, which version? Sound off in the comments below and check out out Puddle (PS Vita) Review if you haven’t already!In a first-of-its-kind activation, using Google Assistant on Google Home, fans can now vote for their favorite artist to win Most Powerful Female Voice by simply saying, "Ok Google, start iHeartRadio Awards voting." The winner of this category will be exclusively determined by votes placed with Google Assistant on Google Home. Talk about girl power -- iHeartRadio is announcing a brand new category this year for the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards: Most Powerful Female Voice. The nominees in this category include some of the most talented, powerhouse females in music today, and they are Rihanna, Adele, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Florence Welch and Carrie Underwood. Fans can vote for the winner thanks to a new partnership between iHeartRadio and Google. Google Assistant voting is available starting today and will remain open through the show on Sunday, March 5th. And guess what? Ryan Seacrest, who is hosting the annual awards show this year, will be there to help! The voice of Ryan Seacrest will walk users through the simple steps to vote for Most Powerful Female Voice. The iHeartRadio Music Awards returns to the historic Forum in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 5th. The superstar affair will be televised live on TBS, TNT and truTV at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and simulcast on iHeartMedia stations nationwide, as well as on iHeartRadio, the all-in-one digital music and live streaming radio service. Keep celebrating all of this awesome girl power: Music fans can listen to all of their favorite songs whenever they’d like to, on demand, with iHeartRadio Plus and iHeartRadio All Access Powered by Napster. Fans have the unique ability to instantly replay and save music from live and custom Artist Radio stations to their playlists, unlimited skips in custom Artist Radio stations, search and play their favorite songs, and create personalized playlists. Check out this playlist featuring the amazing music from the Most Power Female Voice nominees below!A theory that explains a lot with a clear and simple set of ideas is much beloved by scientists and social scientists alike. In this book, about 150 renowned thinkers were asked what theory they thought explained the most with the least. Every year, Edge.org (the online face of an Algonquin Round Table-like group called “The Reality Club”) produces a question to direct toward members, and this book resulted from the 2012 question. The editor, John Brockman, had his work cut out for him given limited space and the fact that a few theories (e.g. Darwinian Evolution) would be rehashed ad nauseam without coordination. (Many authors sited Darwin, even if they weren’t discussing evolution because they knew it’d already been addressed from many angles.) The contributors are a veritable who’s who of science, and include: Matt Ridley, Richard Dawkins, Leonard Susskind, Frank Wilczek, Steven Pinker, Martin J. Rees, Max Tegmark, Freeman Dyson, V.S. Ramachandran, David Eagleman, Robert Sapolsky, Richard Thaler, Daniel Dennett, Howard Gardener, Lisa Randall, Eric R. Kandel, Alison Gopnik, Lee Smolin, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Jared Diamond, and Michael Shermer. One
be final. Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said at a news briefing in Washington earlier this week that Pakistan had initially requested for 18 F-16s, but because of financing problems it was purchasing just eight. He said the F-16s were a critical tool in the war against terrorism.Hi, We're pleased to announce the release of our latest update for KZM, delivering 2 new maps for multi-player games:- "Tharsis Depot" and "Blood Gracht" A brief word on each.. Tharsis Depot After incurring damage during the ISA invasion of Helghan, this subterranean mining platform has been converted to process nuclear Petrusite. Now that it’s back in full-scale production, the ISA will again battle Helghast and mercenary forces between the structures of Tharsis Depot. This time they intend to finish the job they started. Under the cavern’s artificial light this is a great map to play Guerrilla Warfare or Warzone on. A Mercenary version of the Killzone 2 classic. Blood Gracht Months after the nuclear blast that ruined most of the city, Pyrrhus is slowly recovering. But now with ISA, Helghast and mercenary troops clashing in the suburb's buildings and winding alleyways, the canals once again run red with blood. This fan-favourite multiplayer map from Killzone 2 is ideal for all game modes. Both maps may be familiar to some of you; but each has been given a fresh lick of paint for its Vita debut. The update will be available for download from Weds 19th February at 12pm (midday) GMT. (Please note: the update will be mandatory for anyone wishing to play multiplayer. You'll need 167MB free on your memory card to download it - 526MB if you've not downloaded our previous updates.) We hope you enjoy playing it as much as we have making it. Happy fragging! Matt TD Guerrilla CambridgeThe move will be seen by many as a trailblazing event as Hopkins is believed to be the first full-time female scout hired by a Major League team since the 1950s, according to Baseball America. But Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara wants one thing to be clear: Hopkins was hired because she's an excellent scout, not because she's female. NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Former Central Washington University softball standout Amanda Hopkins, the daughter of Pirates assistant to the general manager Ron Hopkins, has been hired by the Mariners as an area scout. NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Former Central Washington University softball standout Amanda Hopkins, the daughter of Pirates assistant to the general manager Ron Hopkins, has been hired by the Mariners as an area scout. The move will be seen by many as a trailblazing event as Hopkins is believed to be the first full-time female scout hired by a Major League team since the 1950s, according to Baseball America. But Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara wants one thing to be clear: Hopkins was hired because she's an excellent scout, not because she's female. Hopkins, 22, was officially hired several weeks ago, but the news is just getting out as she begins her career as the Mariners' area scout in the "four corners" area of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. "We didn't make a big deal out of it, and the reason we didn't was because she fits right in," McNamara said Tuesday at the Winter Meetings. "I look at her as a scout. Everybody here is excited. We're excited because we feel we've hired a good scout." Hopkins has been working as an intern in the Mariners' scouting department the past three summers while attending Central Washington. She graduated from Mount Rainier High School in the Seattle area in 2011 and played four years of softball at Central, where she was team captain as a junior and senior before graduating this year with a psychology degree. The Mariners sent her to the Major League scouting developmental program, an intensive two-week training session in Phoenix, and hired her after she drew top ratings and rave reviews. "She's been helping us as an intern, in the office, at workouts, at Safeco, anything on the amateur side," McNamara said. "I've actually been to a couple games with her where we started talking about players. And I was sitting there thinking, 'Man, she has a really good feel and breaks down a player like a veteran scout.' The more I spent time with her, the more I kept saying, 'Maybe pushing her into the office isn't a good idea. She really wants to scout.' "We sent her to scout school and she ranked pretty high in the class. When I called to tell her we'd nominated her for scout school, she was in tears on the phone, literally in tears. It was kind of chilling. It meant a lot to her." Hopkins' father was the scouting director for the Rangers and A's before being hired by the Pirates. He began his career as an area scout with the Mariners and still lives in Seattle. McNamara said it's evident Amanda Hopkins grew up in the baseball world. "Whenever she had free time, she was always doing something baseball-related," McNamara said. "She had that passion. This is something she really wants to do. It's in her blood." Hopkins will take the place of Chris Pelekoudas, who has been promoted to West Coast supervisor. Greg Johns is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregJohnsMLB, read his Mariners Musings blog, and listen to his podcast.A New York-based freelance journalist, backed by the ACLU of Michigan, took the Michigan Department of Corrections to court Monday over the department's refusal to release prison video footage of a September incident in which a 24-year-old prisoner at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility near Ionia died after he was Tasered. Spencer Woodman, who writes frequently for The Nation and The Intercept, says department claims that releasing the video footage would compromise prison security make no sense. "I was so unsatisfied with their explanation that I decided I wanted to find legal representation to sue for the records," Woodman told the Free Press. Earlier: Muskegon family blames excessive force for inmate death Szot brothers Fred and Zack talking about their sibling, Dustin Szot, in September 2016. According to a complaint filed Monday in the Michigan Court of Claims, inmate Dustin Szot died at Bellamy Creek on Sept. 27, following a confrontation with another prisoner and after being shocked by Tasers fired by corrections officers. Szot's autopsy listed his death as a homicide and said blunt force trauma was the cause, according to the complaint. On Friday, Ionia County Prosecutor Kyle Butler issued a news release that said Szot died from "a freak and unusual result of... rather unremarkable punches" thrown in self-defense by another prisoner, after Szot attacked him. "The actions of each corrections officer involved in the altercation were also investigated," Butler said. "It is my conclusion that in no way did the corrections officers' use of force, or use of (Tasers), violate any criminal law." Corrections Department spokeswoman Holly Kramer declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday. "We are not able to comment on pending litigation," she said. Woodman said he was curious when he read about the incident in Michigan media reports, but had no specific story in mind when he filed a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request for video and audio recordings of the incident, on Sept. 28. The Corrections Department denied the request, saying the video, if disclosed, could threaten security by "revealing fixed camera placement as well as the scope and clarity of the facility's fixed camera and handheld recordings." The refusal also cited concerns about revealing "policies and procedures used by staff for disturbance control and the management of disruptive prisoners." Woodman said that's absurd because inmates know they are under constant surveillance and since cameras are typically not hidden, know where the cameras are placed. Also, "footage of inmate altercations with prison guards has been routinely released across the country, and such means of control are already and rightly widely known," Woodman said in his Oct. 10 appeal of the FOIA denial. "Perhaps more importantly, as part of its commitment to ensuring the civil rights of everyone working and living within prisons, correctional facilities must be able to publicly disclose the means by which they restrain, pacify and use force against prisoners." The department denied his appeal on Oct. 25, this time citing an additional FOIA exemption for records of a public body's security measures. Daniel Korobkin, deputy legal director for the ACLU of Michigan, said he's not familiar with case law related to the release of internal Michigan Department of Corrections video under FOIA, but he finds the department's reasons for refusing to release the video "a clear violation of our state's FOIA law." "The video would not, if disclosed, prejudice MDOC's ability to maintain the physical security of its prisons," Korobkin wrote in the complaint. Robert Riley of the Honigman law firm is serving as co-counsel. Szot was serving three to 20 years for a 2015 home invasion. Some of his family members, who could not immediately be reached for comment, also called for release of the videos in a September interview with WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids. © Detroit Free Press- Advertisement - Last week, former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson announced his candidacy for President of the United States. This was a historic event, because 1) Gary Johnson wants to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and 2) Gary Johnson is a Republican. He also wants to slash the military budget. Gary Johnson is also opposed to the "war on drugs," which he has called "an expensive bust". Indeed, as The Hill noted: Last year, he teamed up with singer Melissa Etheridge and actor Danny Glover for a Hollywood rally in favor of Proposition 19 -- an initiative that would have legalized marijuana in California. This suggests that Gary Johnson can play well with others around issues of common concern. - Advertisement - It is tremendously important that there be at least one Republican candidate for President who is against the war in Afghanistan. Polls show that Republican voters have turned against the war. But the majority of Republican voters who want US troops out of Afghanistan are so far almost totally unrepresented by Republican officials in Washington. Gary Johnson's campaign could break through the national Republican wall, because as a candidate for president, Gary Johnson will be able to get into the media, and the national Republican party leadership - "the party's ruling class," as The Hill put it - won't be able to silence him. Even if he doesn't get a dime from Lockheed or Raytheon, they won't be able to keep him off the stage in the early Republican debates, and that will change the discussion. A Washington Post/ABC News poll in March found that 56% of Republicans think the United States should "withdraw a substantial number of U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan this summer." That is, the majority of Republican voters are ahead of the Obama Administration, which hasn't yet committed to a substantial withdrawal this summer. - Advertisement - But the high-water mark in the House so far for Republican support on any initiative against the indefinite continuation of the Afghanistan war is nine votes. That's about 5% of the Republicans in the House. 5% versus 56% - that's a pretty big gap. The enforcement of the will of the Republican Party's "ruling class" against the will of the majority of Republican voters is a key pillar sustaining the war. This pillar of the war must be attacked. The candidacy of Gary Johnson is a weapon for doing so. Of course, Gary Johnson's candidacy faces obstacles. He is not a billionaire. He is not backed by the party establishment - no candidate against the war will be. He will not be backed by the establishment media. On the other hand, Gary Johnson's candidacy has a potential X weapon: Americans who typically don't vote in Republican primaries and caucuses who want to end the war. After all, we all want to support democracy in Cairo and Madison. Why not support democracy in the Republican Party on the question of the war? Now, some may be thinking, what does this have to do with me? I am not a "Republican." - Advertisement - But whether you are a "Republican" or not, you have to live with the consequences of the fact that the national Republican Party is not representing the majority of Republican voters who want to see US troops come out of Afghanistan, because this is a key buttress of the continuation of the war. Corporations back Republicans and Democrats, as it suits their perceived interests. So do labor unions, environmentalists, women's groups, and gay rights groups. Why should peace advocates be any different? What one does in November in one thing; what one does in the primary season is another. If there is no Democratic primary for President, if there is no anti-war primary for Congress where you live, why waste your anti-war vote in an uncontested primary? Many states have open primaries: any voter can vote in any primary. In other states, you have to register with a given party in order to participate in that party's primary. New Hampshire - a critical, early state, where the Eugene McCarthy campaign showed the Lyndon Johnson Administration the depth of anti-war sentiment - is in-between: if you register as an "undeclared" voter, you can vote in any primary. Next Page 1 | 2Coming from a tiny Canadian company, it was an almost absurdly audacious proposition. In 1998, when many corporations were leery of e-mail, Research in Motion began selling the idea of sending it wirelessly through a device that ran on a single AA battery. But thanks to a tiny, yet effective, keyboard that brought the world thumb-typing and a network that ensured security, BlackBerrys became standard equipment on Wall Street and in Washington. While BlackBerry, as the company is now known, created and dominated what became the smartphone market, competitors, notably Palm, failed. But the company’s co-chief executives missed the real threat: they initially dismissed Apple’s iPhone as little more than a toy. After that, all their efforts were too late. On Friday, BlackBerry reported a $965 million loss, and BlackBerry’s future now appears to rest with a bargain-basement, highly conditional offer from its largest shareholder, Fairfax Financial. Whatever happens to the company, many expect that BlackBerry smartphones are now destined to become relics.Universities in Vancouver and Toronto are struggling to find ways to entice professors to move to cities known for eye-popping house prices and out-of-control bidding wars. In Ontario, schools are looking for changes to provincial laws that would allow them to build affordable long-term housing for faculty. This month, planners and senior administrators from Toronto universities, McMaster in Hamilton, the University of Ottawa and others, met to discuss the challenges of recruiting new faculty in their housing markets. Young professors want to live close to their work, but many are worried their starting salaries make a downtown home unaffordable. "For young faculty, they want to bike or walk to work, they don't even want a 30-minute commute, they are looking for 10," said Ravin Balakrishnan, the chair of U of T's computer science department. Story continues below advertisement The faculty housing crisis is most acute at the University of British Columbia. A new 1,000-square-foot condo on campus sells for about $800,000, much less than the $1.8-million average price for a detached house, but still out of reach for many new professors. Last year, UBC missed out on 18 hires who turned down job offers because of how unaffordable Vancouver has become, according to a survey of the university's deans. For another 70 appointments, the housing issue was a key part of negotiations, the deans reported. "The big question here is 'How good does UBC want to be?'" said Christopher Rea, an associate professor of modern Chinese literature at UBC. Dr. Rea has been involved in years of discussion with the university on how to improve faculty housing options. "If someone is good enough to get a job offer from UBC, they can get a job offer from somewhere else," he said. Currently, UBC offers loan guarantees and a second mortgage program. Critics say the loans have been too small to make a substantial dent in Vancouver prices, and the current program is unfairly open only to faculty whose recruitment and retention is "of critical strategic importance." During the first two years of the mortgage loan program, 105 professors applied and 76 were approved, according to the university. At the University of Toronto, Dr. Balakrishnan has been in a lot of negotiations with new hires over the past year – the department is halfway through hiring for 11 new tenure-track positions. So far, starting salaries in the department and consulting opportunities for those in the field mean that faculty have been able to keep up with this spring's daunting prices. But the issue is increasingly coming up, he said. Within two years, U of T and the other schools involved in the discussions hope to persuade Ontario's provincial government to introduce and pass legislation that would enable postsecondary institutions to offer long-term ownership of homes to professors, while barring faculty from selling the properties to anyone but the school. Currently, the maximum number of years for such agreements is 21 years. The group is looking to extend that to 99 years. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement "If we don't do anything, our position is that it's a risk to remaining competitive," said Christine Burke, the director of campus and facilities planning at the University of Toronto. "We want to make sure that we are competitive with other premiere institutions that have instituted various home ownership programs … and to ensure that affordable housing options remain available to faculty for generations," Ms. Burke said. The model U of T is advocating has been used at Stanford, Princeton and UBC. It's only one among several that universities worldwide are trying out to deal with a global crisis in housing affordability for those earning middle and even upper-middle class salaries. From Sydney to Oxford, it's not just retail workers, bus drivers and teachers who are priced out of living where they work, but also university professors and staff. Jennifer Klenz, a UBC botany professor, says she is uncertain whether she will ever be able to buy in Vancouver. Dr. Klenz became a permanent faculty member a few years ago, after a decade of teaching as a sessional instructor, leaving her with few savings. Now, in addition to rent on the West Point Grey apartment she shares with her five-year-old daughter, she pays almost $1,000 in monthly daycare fees. "I'm in one of best places I could be in terms of my career, but I will end up being a renter, or maybe I will get together with a group of people and buy a vacation home," she said. Story continues below advertisement Recently, she talked to her department about whether she was considered "critical," and therefore eligible for the mortgage loan program. She was happy to discover she met the criteria, although she thinks it could be made clearer. "There is at least a faint glimmer that I could buy into [an] on-campus housing option," she said. What many UBC professors would like to see is the university build and sell homes at-cost, a model that was successfully used at nearby Simon Fraser University for a project in 2007. UBC also completed a similar project a decade ago, but a plan to revive it was shelved last year. Dr. Rea says that when he goes to conferences in Hong Kong or Taipei, he has seen ads for the units on campus that he and his colleagues can't afford marketed to foreign buyers. "Should UBC be leasing its land for a hundred years to the open market and mostly to the global rich?" he asks. UBC plans to roll out a new faculty housing strategy this fall. Story continues below advertisement Making it easier for professors to live on campus is not just about affordability but also long-term urban living, schools say. "We are thinking in an integrated fashion. Where do we go when we retire? Do we go live in a condo someplace, or does what we know about mental resiliency mean maintaining a life on campus or nearby?" said Scott Mabury, vice-president of operations at the University of Toronto, who is involved in the sector-wide discussions in Ontario. "It's a lifelong life of the mind, that's the attraction."Possibly one of the creepiest ghost pictures of all time! This photograph was taken in 1963 by Reverend K. F. Lord at Newby Church in North Yorkshire, England. It has been a controversial photo because it is just too good. The shrouded face and the way it is looking directly into the camera makes it look like it was posed – a clever double exposure. Yet supposedly the photo has been scrutinized by photo experts who say the image is not the result of a double exposure.The Reverend Lord has said of the photo that nothing was visible to the naked eye when he took the snapshot of his altar. Yet when the film was developed, standing there was this strange cowled figure.The Newby Church was built in 1870 and, as far as anyone knows, did not have a history of ghosts, hauntings or other peculiar phenomena. Those why have carefully analyzed the proportions of the objects in the photo calculated that the specter is about nine feet tall! The Idea of the Photo bieng a fake itself came under attack, K.F Lord Felt annoyed by this. Especialy since he was an honest Reverand. The Ghost was also Nine Feet tall And from this arose some trouble in Finding out how Lord would have made his image so large. The Picture was eventualy sent away to be examined, and Scientists revealed that the Photo had not been tampered with whatsoever and was genuine. This made the photo one of the most famous ghost pictures in the world, both because of its ‘Perfection’ And the fact that it is genuine. The Spectre has since not been seen at all, And had not been seen before the photo had been taken either. This arises more mystery as to what the Spectre was and why it has never appeared (Save one photo). Because of its dress, many people believe that this creature was the ghost of a monk.Three former Target employees are suing the retailer, claiming they suffered crude harassment, discrimination and retaliation. The workers say in their complaint that an alleged “multi-cultural tips” document for managers laid out items regarding Hispanic employees like “not everyone eats tacos and burritos.” Courthouse News reports that the former employees claim in Superior court that things like the tip sheet were offensive by even existing. According to the complaint: “Target provided its distribution warehouse managers a document titled, ‘Organization Effectiveness, Employee and Labor Relations Multi-Cultural Tips. This document instructs managers to note differences among Hispanic employees, and states the following: “a. Food: not everyone eats tacos and burritos; “b. Music: not everyone dances to salsa; “c. Dress: not everyone wears a sombrero; “d. Mexicans (lower education level, some may be undocumented); “e. Cubans (Political refugees, legal status, higher education level); and “f. They may say ‘OK, OK’ and pretend to understand, when they do not, just to save face.” Other accusations the plaintiffs bring include the claim that almost all higher up positions were held by whites who allegedly often used racial slurs when speaking to Hispanic employees. One worker says he complained to human resources and was subsequently punished by his supervisors for doing so. He claims that his manager “began using more racial epithets when instructing [the employee] on his work and would purposefully throw boxes on the ground and then order [him] to pick them up in an attempt to humiliate [him] amongst his colleagues.” All of the three plaintiffs allege they were fired with racial animus, which in legal terms basically means the motivation for their termination was allegedly due to a strong dislike of their race. A Target spokeswoman tells Consumerist: “It is never Target’s intent to offend our team members or guests and we apologize. The content of the document referenced is not representative of who Target is. We strive at all times to be a place where our team and guests feel welcome, valued and respected. This document, which was used during conversations at one distribution center, was never part of any formal or company-wide training. We take accountability for its contents and are truly sorry.” Workers Outraged at Target’s ‘Cultural Tips’ [Courthouse News]Abstract: String theory currently is the only viable candidate for a unified description of all known natural forces. This article tries to demonstrate that the fundamental structural and methodological differences that set string theory apart from other physical theories have important philosophical consequences. Focusing on implications for the realism debate in philosophy of science, it is argued that both poles of that debate face new problems in the context of string theory. On the one hand, the claim of underdetermination of scientific theory by the available empirical data, which is a pivotal element of empiricism, loses much of its plausibility. On the other hand, the dissolution of any meaningful notion of an external ontological object destroys the basis for conventional versions of scientific realism. String theory seems to suggest an intermediate position akin to Structural Realism that is based on a newly emerging principle, to be called the principle of theoretical uniqueness.Oiio Architecture Office of New York and Athens has come up with a concept to extend Frank's Lloyd Wright's famous Guggenheim Museum in New York by extending its spiralling form up into the sky. "What if we decided we needed a little more of Guggenheim?" question the architects, whose plans show a structure with almost three times as many floors as the iconic museum that was designed by Wright during the 1940s. The tapered extension would continue the path of the Guggenheim's ramped rotunda gallery through an additional thirteen floors, finishing with a complete circular floor on the uppermost level. The domed glass roof would be removed from its current position and reconstructed over the new roof. Above: proposed floor plans Oiio Architecture Office names the project Guggenheim Extension Story, as a reference to the unlikelihood that any extension to the museum would ever really take place. Above: proposed section "Guggenheim museum has become so iconic, so emblematic and hermetic in our minds that it can no longer be touched by architects!" say the team, before adding: "Even if its own creator were to propose an alternation of its form, New Yorkers would suddenly feel as if they have lost a dear old friend." Above: proposed elevation The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened to the public in 1959 and houses a collection of impressionist, modern and contemporary art. Another Guggenheim by architect Frank Gehry was completed in Bilbao, Spain, in the 1990s. Above: concept diagrams See more stories about museums and galleries on Dezeen, including the recently completed Louvre Lens by SANAA and Imrey Culbert.Spoiler 2013-11-22: v2.0.1 -------------------- - Added missing Jewish religious icons - No longer possible to play as a Jew without the Sons of Abraham DLC - The "Legitimize Bastard" decision now sets the correct dynasty - Cathars now have access to the "Absolute Cognatic" succession law - Jewish priests are now allowed to marry - The kingdom of Jerusalem decisions to vassalize the Knights Templar and Hospitaller now work - Heresies are now also shown on the religion page in the ledger - The Knights of Santiago now have their historical activation date and first Grandmaster - Fixed a bug where an antipope installed as proper Pope in Rome would get an antipope successor - Fixed a bug where the Pope could restore himself in Rome infinitely, for astronomical amounts of Piety - GamersGate users no longer incorrectly get the Steam overlay - Different platforms don't get different checksums anymore - You can no longer get a barony level character when pressing the Random Character button - Added more descriptive text when Ironman is disabled - Removed some ways in which one could cheat in Ironman - Disabled autosave to cloud storage option in settings if no cloud storage is available - Fixed some bugs with the new 'hold_election' effect - AI: Massively reduced the chance that it will create antipopes, for now - Fixed an issue with ridiculously powerful Mongol stacks if there were Jews in the world - Fixed so Shift + I does not act like Shift + Insert anymore - Religion status changes (Mending the Schism, etc) are now properly reset on resign - Fixed a bug where most councillor job action events were men only - Blocked Ultimogeniture for West African pagans - Limited the intrigue gained from certain successful plots - Fixed error in 'Viking Raider' achievement script - Fixed a bug with Zoroastrian Xwedodah marriages not being considered sacred - No longer possible to select Jews in multiplayer if the host does not have Sons of Abraham 2013-11-18: v2.0 ----------------- MAJOR - Ironman mode - Steam Achievements - Religious (non-heretic) rebels - Women can now die in childbirth, and there can be other complications, like illness and sickly infants - Added a bottleneck logic to battles where the defender benefits from the surrounding terrain to make the opponent fight on his terms - Being outflanked is now much more devastating, especially through the center or from two sides - Support for the metaserver dropped GAMEPLAY - Waived the creation conditions (culture, religion) for most kingdoms and empires for human players - Having a marriage alliance now increases opinion by 30 (quite useful vs liege or vassals) - Reduced the overall revolt risk - Fixed a bug where you could not fire the leader of the right flank if the left flank had no leader - You now get and lose the -1 "raised troops" opinion penalty from vassals every 61 days instead of every 73 days - You no longer get any liege levies from vassals with a negative opinion of you - There is now a +50 opinion bonus when a liege is the primary defender in a war against foreigners - Increased the opinion bonus to +75 when a liege is the primary defender in a holy war (and improved the check) - A Holding owner's personal martial skill now affects the levy size (exported as HOLDING_LEVY_SIZE_OWNER_MARTIAL_BASE and HOLDING_LEVY_SIZE_OWNER_MARTIAL_MULT) - Armies on ships are capped at 50% morale - Levy maintenance costs increased by 50% - Mercenary maintenance increased by 20% - Increased the cost of reinforcing retinues by 20% - Levy sizes now depend on the de jure region they are in (the most in the capital county, the least outside the capital empire.) - No longer allowed to retract barony tier vassals from their de jure count - Murderers are now revealed in Observe mode (no "suspicious accidents") - Non-theocracy lieges are now only allowed to create single county or barony temple vassals (bishoprics) - Non-theocracy lieges can no longer create neighboring county tier bishops - You are now only allowed to have a certain percentage of counties under theocracy vassals (MAX_THEOCRACY_COUNTIES_IN_REALM) - You are now only allowed to have a certain percentage of counties under republic vassals (MAX_REPUBLIC_COUNTIES_IN_REALM) - Added major events for the enabling of Christian Crusades (the CB) and Holy Orders - Added major events for the enabling of Muslim Jihads (the CB) and Holy Orders - Added major events for the enabling of Pagan Great Holy Wars (the CB) - Added some more detail to many heresies (Cathars can have female priests, etc) - Added heads of religion for five heresies: d_fraticelli, d_iconoclast, d_yazidi, d_ibadi and d_hurufi - Added major decisions to create the Fraticelli and Iconoclast religious heads - Can now elect females as bishops in versions of Christianity scripted to allow that - Fixed a bug with mercenaries and holy orders not disbanding their special troops - Rebalanced the Volley Harass combat tactic - Pagan festivals now provide the advertised opinion boost to vassals - Heirs denied the chance to join the Varangian Guard no longer get the event where they return home upon inheriting - The Saoyshant Descendant trait is now properly granted to grandchildren when becoming the Saoyshant - The Saoyshant Descendant trait is now granted to all descendants regardless of gender - Removed the checks in certain events for the obsolete Duchy of Oxford - The heretic_friend_timer modifier is now properly hidden in event 100180 - Councillors in Republics now use titles appropriate to their religion and culture - The Pentarchy events will now only trigger for Orthodox Byzantine/Roman rulers - Baron-tier Patricians are now able to fabricate claims - Eunuchs will no longer ask to be given a title - Concubines will no longer have marriage ambitions as they cannot get married - Concubines can now have the ambition to have a daughter - Added non-Christian/non-Muslim option to event 4140 - Characters of a religion where priests are not allowed to marry will now divorce their wives if ordained - Traits blocking inheritance no longer apply for Temple titles - Fixed some bugs with how dead spouses are handled - Most rebel units now disband if they win - Fixed a bug with the 'potential' check of traits after a religion change - Made adventures a bit less common - Corrected some minor errors in various pulse events - Increased the default bishop opinion of the Pope - Increased the opinion of their liege for invested bishops - Lowered the opinion bonus for bishops vs their liege under Free Investiture - Slightly lowered tax rates from bishops to both the Pope and antipopes - New randomly generated bishops and mayors now get the local liege's culture rather than the top liege's - Installing an antipope as Pope now makes him like you a lot more - Added event where rebels kill random characters after taking a holding (TOG.1190) - Cut the Bektashi Shiite heresy - The decisions to create Hungary and Leon can no longer be taken when at war - Norse Pagan Reformed barons now use the correct title - Event 100180 will no longer trigger for heretic characters - Event 39001 will no longer trigger for heretic characters - Fixed a bug where minor baronies could go independent when they should not - Fixed a bug with the war score in revoke vassal title plots - Reduced the amount of non-claimant adventures out of player empires - Female rulers can now always get married, even in religions with polygamy and concubinage - Made prepared invasions by AI vassals in player empires rarer - Fixed a crash bug with real fathers set from event effects sometimes being deleted - The Aztecs, Mongols and Seljuks now spawn with more but smaller regiments - Added more severe opinion penalties to assassination plots being discovered - Fixed a bug where counties could be deprived of _any_ holder through 'gain_settlements_under_title' and related event effects - Fixed a bug with the subjugation CB where the winner could become the vassal of the loser - Fixed a bug with event 3686 where you could fall in love with close relatives - Fixed a rare memory leak in diplomatic actions - Fixed a minor glitch with the Aztec emperor appearing in and leaving your court on arrival - Fixed a bug where the grant minor title message would always say "REGENT" - Fixed a bug preventing the granting of bishoprics to females even if the religion allows it - Fixed a bug where the "cousin" relation would not always be correctly calculated - A character's original birth name is now shown in the tooltip if he or she has a regnal name (e.g. popes) - Tweaked the outcome of the Improve Relations chancellor job. The effect lasts longer, but is less powerful and somewhat harder to get. - Fixed a potential CTD in declare war interaction - Fixed a CTD caused by attacking siege leader dying while siegeview was open - When ransoming a courtier that has money, that character's money will now be used towards paying the ransom, and if they have enough money for the whole ransom their liege will not have to pay anything at all - Opinion boost for releasing a prisoner is now +5 opinion per tier of their primary title (so +5 for a Baron, +10 for a Count etc). - Entering observe mode will now automatically lift FoW - Charinfo console command is now a proper toggle and does not require additional input - Tweaked Teutonic order to be more infantry oriented. - Holy orders and Mercenaries are now split into several sub units which can be put on different flanks or different units. - Now generates courtiers to mercenaries and holy orders so they can be put as leader for the sub-units. - Fixed some bugs with the customization DLC's renaming of landed titles with cultural names. - Fixed a bug where fabricate claims plot wouldn't end when the title was destroyed - Fixed a bug where all constructed settlements were counted as trade posts - Fixed a bug for multiplayer character selection which enabled multiple people to play as the same character - Fixed a bug where invaders of the same kingdom weren't hostile towards eachother - Fixed a bug where removal of certain traits caused the game to stop responding - Fixed a bug where attached units would remain attached even if the leading unit was an enemy - Fixed a bug where AI didn't invite people to the fabricate claim plot - Fixed a bug where you could having a landed title with zero holdings under it's control - Fixed a bug where character attributes for characters were in some cases incorrectly read - Fixed a bug where all baron subvassals were transferred upon title usurpation INTERFACE - Fixed a bug where titular titles would hide certain other titles - Fixed a bug where character editor property values went out of range - Family tree now shows dynasty relation - Fixed a bug where dead popes would have the incorrect character portrait - Fixed a bug for the title loss notification for republics. - Fixed a bug with the ruler consort title being shown for the spouse a day after the ruler dies - Fixed a bug in some messages with duplicate titles ("King King Karlmann") - Fixed a bug with some dynasty names of event spawned characters - Dying a "natural death" below the age of 45 is now called dying of "poor health" instead - Added a missing tooltip for why you cannot nominate a bishop successor if the current bishop is not of your religion - If there has
dimensions into a single measure of prominence using a well-tested method known as principal component analysis. Thanks to Wikipedia’s “Alumni by university or college in the United States” category, we were able to identify alma mater information for over 100,000 of the people in the database. From there, ranking the schools was a simple measure of adding up the natural log of the score for each alumnus. See Something Missing? There are inevitable discrepancies in how alma maters are recorded on Wikipedia. Law schools and business schools are usually listed separately from a university’s undergraduate program, for example, though some graduates of a professional program are also listed under the parent school. Once again, deceased people are not included in this database. For living people, feel free to report missing alma mater data to [email protected], or edit Wikipedia yourself. If you do so, review the editing guidelines and then add a person to a school’s category for alumni, which is found at the end of a profile and looks like this: [[Category:Yale_University_alumni]] TIME will rerun the alma mater counts once a day and check every new edition by hand to prevent any gaming of the rankings. Contact us at [email protected] Eric Luecking Few artists have jarred multiple genres like Miles Davis did during his fusion period. The jazz crowd was confused with his direction, but it helped him gain a new audience: the rock crowd. Miles at the Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 captures Miles Davis and yet another new band on a four-night run at the Fillmore East from June 17 to the 20, 1970, while a handful of bonus tracks fill out some discs with Fillmore West tracks. Across four discs, this set finally realizes Davis’s dream of having “every set, every note made available to the public” of these shows. A number of tracks are included on each disc. With Miles, like Hendrix, each performance is unique. “Directions,” “Bitches Brew,” “The Mask,” “It’s About That Time,” and the very short “The Theme” all vary in track length, sometimes by a full minute. Bandmates Steve Grossman, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, and Airto Moreira help deliver the message. Indeed, it’s about that time. To listen to the shows is as challenging today as it was back then. It can often be dissonant and head-spinning, but it’s also bold and no-holds-barred. When Miles raises his horn vertically to perform, as shown in a number of photos included in the set, it’s like a middle finger to the establishment. One of the best quotes ever stated about Davis and his influence is that Davis didn’t follow jazz. It followed him. Included in the latest bootleg series, which has won acclaim across the board, is an 18 1/2 x 13 3/4 black-and-white poster showing Davis point his regal trumpet skyward. On the back of the poster are various clippings of publications from the day—Rolling Stone, Newsweek, Village Voice—as well as a letter from CBS Records to Bill Graham of the Fillmore West outlining why Davis could be a big draw at Graham’s famed venue. This is all housed in a thick, brick-like package that unfolds into five panels showing the four CDs in vivid color, matching the album cover’s vibrant paint splashes. • • • The contest has ended.Years ago on this blog I talked about Technique of The Coup D’Etat by Giovanni Guareschi and I typed the beginning in here. I shall copy that. (Assume typos are mine.) At ten o’clock on Tuesday evening, the village square was swept with wind and rain, but a crowd had been gathered there for three or four hours to listen to the election news coming out of a radio loudspeaker. Suddenly the lights went out and everything was plunged into darkness. Someone went to the control box but came back saying there was nothing to be done. The trouble must be up the line or at the power plant, miles away. People hung around for half an hour or so, and then, as the rain began to come down even harder than before, they scattered to their homes, leaving the village silent and deserted. Peppone shut himself up in the People’s Palace, along with Lungo, Brusco, Straziami, and Gigio, the same leader of the “Red Wing” squad from Molinetto. They sat around uneasily by the light of a candle stump and cursed the power and light monopoly as an enemy of the people, until Smilzo burst in. He had gone to Rocca Verde on his motorcycle to see if anyone had news and now his eyes were popping out of his head and he was waving a sheet of paper. “The Front has won!” he panted. “Fifty-two seats out of a hundred in the senate and fifty-one in the chamber. The other side is done for. We must get hold of our people and have a celebration. If there’s no light, we can set fire to a couple of haystacks nearby. “Hurrah!” shouted Peppone. But Gigio grabbed hold of Smilzo’s jacket. “Keep quiet and stay where you are!” he said grimly. It’s too early for anyone to be told. Let’s take care of our little list.” “List? What list?” asked Peppone in astonishment. “The list of reactionaries who are to be executed first thing. Let’s see now…” Peppone stammered that he had made no such list, but the other only laughed. “That doesn’t matter. I’ve a very complete one here all ready. Let’s look at it together, and once we’ve decided we can get to work.” Gigio pulled a sheet of paper with some twenty names on it out of his pocket and laid it on the table. “Looks to me as if al the reactionary pigs were here,” he said. “I put down the worst of them, and we can attend to the rest later.” Peppone scanned the names and scratched his head. “Well, what do you say?” Gigio asked him. “Generally speaking, we agree,” said Peppone. “But what’s the hurry? We have plenty of time to do things in the proper style.” Gigio brought his fist down on the table. “We haven’t a minute to lose, that’s what I say,” he shouted harshly. “This is the time to put our hands on them, before they suspect us. If we wait until tomorrow, they may get wind of something and disappear.” At this point Brusco came into the discussion. “You must be crazy,” he said. “You can’t start out to kill people before you think it over.” “I’m not crazy and you’re a very poor Communist, that’s what you are! These are all reactionary pigs; no one can dispute that, and if you don’t take advantage of this golden opportunity then you’re a traitor to the party!” Brusco shook his head. “Don’t you believe it! It’s jackasses that are traitors to the Party! And you’ll be a jackass if you make mistakes and slaughter innocent people.” Gigio raised a threatening finger. “It’s better to eliminate ten innocents than to spare one individual who may be dangerous to the cause. Dead men can do the party no harm. You’re a very poor Communist, as I’ve said before. In fact, you never were a good one. You’re as weak as a snowball in hell, I say. You’re just a bourgeois in disguise!” Brusco grew pale, and Peppone intervened. “That’s enough,” he said. “Comrade Gigio has the right idea and nobody can deny it. It’s part of the groundwork of Communist philosophy. Communism gives us the goal at which to aim and democratic discussion must be confined to the quickest and surest ways to attain it.” Giggio nodded his head in satisfaction, while Peppone continued: “Once it’s been decided that these people are or may be dangerous to the cause and therefore we must eliminate them, the next thing is to work out the best method of elimination. Because if by our carelessness, we were to allow a a single reactionary to escape, then we should indeed be traitors to the Party. Is that clear?” “Absolutely,” the others said in chorus. “You’re dead right.” “There are six of us,” Peppone went on, “And twenty names on that list, among them the Filotti, who has a whole regiment in his house and a cache of arms in the cellar. If we were to attack these people one by one, at the first shot the rest would run away. We must call our forces together and divide them up into twenty squads, each one equipped to deal with a particular objective.” “Very good,” said Gigio. “Good, my foot!” shouted Peppone. “That’s not the half of it! We need a twenty first squad, equipped even better than the rest to hold off the police. And mobile squads to cover the roads and the river. If a fellow rushes into action in the way you proposed, without proper precautions, running the risk of botching it completely, then he’s not a good communist, he’s just a damn fool.” It was Gigio’s turn to pale now, and he bit his lip in anger, while Peppone proceeded to give orders. Smilzo was to transmit word to the cell leaders in the outlying settlements and these were to call their men together. A green rocket would give the signal to meet in appointed places, where Falchetto, Brusco and Straziami would form the squads and assign the targets. A red rocket would bid them go into action. Smilzo went off on his motorcycle while Lungo, Brusco, Straziami and Gigio discussed the composition of the squads. “You must do a faultless job,” Peppone told them. “I shall hold you personally responsible for its success. Meanwhile, I’ll see if the police are suspicious and find some way to put them off. Don Camillo, later waiting in vain for the lights to go on and the radio to resume its mumble, decided to get ready for bed. Suddenly he heard a knock at the door and when he drew it open cautiously, he found Peppone before him. “Get out of here in a hurry!” Peppone panted. “Pack a bag and go! Put on an ordinary suit of clothes, take your boat and row down the river.” Don Camillo stared at him with curiosity. “Comrade Mayor, have you been drinking?” “Hurry,” said Peppone. “The people’s Front has won and the squads are getting ready. There’s a list of people to be executed and your name is the first one!” Spoiler alert, though this is not one of the stories that you read for the denouement: by the end of the story, the entire cell except Gigio is crammed in Don Camillo’s closet, as each successive comrade shows up to try to save him and is shoved into the closet as the next one comes along. Then it is revealed that they didn’t in fact win the election, but more importantly, the entire cell, which had lived in fear of the Stalinist *sshole who pulled book and fervor on them every time and made everyone of them live in terror of being denounced as insufficiently fervent, now knows who the enemy really is. That is, each individual now knows he is not an isolated individual surrounded by good party members who will turn on him, but one in a collection of decent individuals kinda sorta following an ideology but not so far it blunts their humanity and ONE isolated *sshole turning them against each other for the power. At the end of the story, Peppone finds Gigio proudly waiting to send up the red rocket and kicks him all the way to main street. Gigio’s power is gone, because he’s revealed to be ONE individual working for himself and only that, and a hateful, little one at that. It is worth noting that Gigio in Italian means mouse. This was the mouse that roared, until they realized he was amplifying his squeaks through their fears to sound like roars. This is not about the Hugo. Or rather, this is not exclusively about the Hugo. But it is about the Hugo as well. My first encounter with what I’ll call the Gigio effect, was in a mailing list for writers, where I dared question the insanity of a well-respected pro who said that George Bush (personally) had raised the price of stamps to ruin her (personally) in her efforts to sell used books through Amazon. There are levels of insanity I can’t tolerate and couldn’t even while in the political closet. So I pointed out the sheer insanity of this, the inefficiencies of the post office and probable causes for it. The list went silent. I figured tons of people were cussing me behind my back (this was when GB’s name was after all like invoking the devil.) So, I shrugged, figured I’d be kicked out of the list and went for a walk. When I came back my email was full of “Oh, thank you, for saying…” ALL OF IT IN PRIVATE MESSAGES. The senders ranged from raw beginners to established pros, but no one would challenge this lady’s illusions to her face. Only me. So how did the private messages make me feel? They made me roll my eyes. I swear 2/3 of the list pmed me to say they stood with me, but in public, not a peep. They were all so scared, you see, of the imagined disapproval of “all the rest of them.” I didn’t say anything and I didn’t push them. It wasn’t any of my business, and at any rate, I’d grown disillusioned with the list and the comradery (Meh) of my peers. I had gotten to see some people I’d respected prior to that in full silly mode. (We all have one. I try only to show it to the cats, and sometimes to my husband.) I was tired. I don’t know if I answered any of those messages, not now 12 years later. And now, there’s the controversy over … more people voting in the Hugos and voting for a different slate than the entrenched group approves of. There are many accusations flung at us, including that we’re pushing an all white slate (which would surprise some of those people) an all male slate (which transformed my friends Amanda and Cedar into guys and made Cedar’s fiance gay. He’s still in shock) and that we’re pushing inferior taste (It bears reading this post apropos that) and that we’re buying votes for total strangers to vote our slate. (No, we’re not. Mary Robinette Kowal, OTOH IS, but yeah, I know, it’s different, after all leftists are good people) I’m very tired. VERY very tired. Not of opposition. I’m never a happy warrior, but I have had huge arguments (rational, non-attacking arguments) with some of my very best friends, Dave Freer and Kate Paulk included, and emerged from them energized, because we mobilized ideas and facts and our disagreement forged a stronger bond, rather than breaking us apart or making each of us feel small and isolated. But I’m tired of answering the same senseless accusations over and over and over again. It’s like fighting people under an enchantment that prevents them from thinking. And all through this, there are pms on FB and emails to my old email registered with SFWA and not used much now. “I am with you, but I don’t dare say anything.” “I don’t agree with everything you say, but you have some damn good points. But if I say anything, my career is done.” “Your opponents are scary and are eating each other, but I can’t say how evil they are in public, because they’ll eat me.” …”Get out of here in a hurry!” Peppone panted. “Pack a bag and go! Put on an ordinary suit of clothes, take your boat and row down the river.” Don Camillo stared at him with curiosity. “Comrade Mayor, have you been drinking?” “Hurry,” said Peppone. “The people’s Front has won and the squads are getting ready. There’s a list of people to be executed and your name is the first one!”… I’m not going to push ANYONE out of the political, or even the SF-political closet. I lived in it too long and too fearfully to do that to anyone. Your secret is safe with me. But because it matters, I must beseech you, consider, please that you are not alone. Consider that the sound and fury, the threats, the people pushing you to do things against your will and conscience because you’re so scared of them might be less than the full crowd. It might be just a small mouse, full of him/herself, roaring up a storm. Consider that the decent people who disagree with all this bs might actually be in the vast majority but not know it because none of you dares speak. Yes, it is entirely possible that the publishing establishment will turn its back on you for a while at least, even if you are a loyal leftist, because you dissented from the lynch mob. OTOH considering — eyes emails — maybe they too are in that closet with you, trembling for fear of the mouse. But even if you were “blacklisted” — you do realize I know indie writers making six figures a year, right? And that I myself made as much from Witchfinder as from my Baen books, right? DO consider that being blacklisted by the establishment might mean less fear and fewer ulcers. And being yourself. Do consider how it would feel to come out of the closet and kick the mouse up and down main street, making him eat his Stalinist “guilt by association” cries. I’m not going to force you. I’m not going to out you. But this Stalinist “I know everything you do and it’s all analyzed for deviationism” always leads to purges. In SF/F those purges might mean not publishing traditional. Or they might mean not winning awards. Or getting kicked out of an organization. But this type of mind-set is a cancer in the culture and sooner or later leads to gulags and graves. I can’t push you and I won’t. If you want to keep your opinions — left, right, moderate, libertarian, anarchist — hidden, it’s your job. I am not the keeper of your soul. However, I want you to think of the dark and dank place that fear and that suspicion and the constant spying lead. And then I want you to think of how good it would feel to get off your knees, stand on two, look your tormentors in the face and say “No more. I’m free. My thoughts and my opinions, my beliefs, my tastes, my friends are my own. You have no power over me. Not now, and not ever again.” That’s all. I just want you to think. UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers and thank you to Glenn Reynolds for the link!Christian love: The Union Gospel Mission refused to feed a homeless transgender woman because she was wearing a dress. In yet another example of the mean-spirited bigotry many transgender individuals face from conservative Christians, Isabella Red Cloud, a homeless transgender woman from Sioux Falls (South Dakota), was denied service at the Union Gospel Mission because she was wearing a dress. Red Cloud, a Native American, identifies as Two Spirit, “a modern umbrella term used by some indigenous North Americans to describe certain spiritual people – gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender-variant individuals – in their communities.” Currently Red Cloud is homeless, and is staying with friends after being released from prison for auto theft in February. When asked, staff at the Union Gospel Mission openly admitted to KDLT that it is their policy not to provide services to transgender people. In an attempt to justify the anti-trans policy, Fran Stenberg, executive director of Union Gospel Mission, told KDLT: We need to, first of all, make sure that it is a safe place because we have women and children here. Sometimes certain situations bring about animosity and so we have to eliminate that and sometimes that causes us to have to make the decision to deny a service. Commenting on the particular episode with Red Cloud, Stenberg told LGBTQ Nation: I don’t know a thing about a woman being turned away. It was a man that was turned away. Adding insult to injury, Stenberg told LGBTQ Nation that he understood what the term “transgender” means when informed Red Cloud identifies as a transgender woman, indicating that misgendering Red Cloud was not a mistake made out of ignorance, but a malicious slur meant to insult and demean. In addition, Stenberg admitted to LGBTQ Nation that Red Cloud’s gender expression was the only reason she was denied service: We try to keep a safe place and if there’s any disruptive action of anybody, no matter what it is about, we ask them to leave and come back at some other time. [Being out as a trans woman] creates an animosity and we try to keep a safe place for others. Speaking with the Argus Leader, Stenberg confirmed that mission staff had asked transgender women to leave for wearing dresses on multiple occasions in the past. At one point an obviously confused Stenberg declared: It’s not about transgender, it’s about what’s in the heart and soul of a man. God created you as a man… Commenting on the story, Lawrence Novotny, chair of Equality South Dakota, said: Unfortunately, the protections do not exist for transgender people. This is what the community is trying to change. Kendra Heathscott, of TransAction South Dakota, said she hopes to start a dialogue with the mission to address the issue of transgender access to the soup kitchen. Currently South Dakota has no state-level protections against discrimination for LGBT people.The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com. Southern Methodist University’s recent decision to relocate a memorial to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks over concerns students might be “triggered” caused outrage across the fruited plain. But the university announced late Wednesday they are reversing that decision and will allow Young Americans For Freedom to post nearly 3,000 American flags on the Dallas Hall Lawn to honor those killed by the Muslim terrorists. “I thank the students from across campus who came together in the spirit of mutual respect and civil discourse to achieve this outcome,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner in a prepared statement. “Throughout these discussions, students have expressed their commitment to freedom of expression – a value the University shares.” The university had initially banished all lawn displays, citing a revised policy aimed at protecting students from “harmful or triggering” messages. Click here to read the original story. “While the University respects the rights of students to free speech, the University respects the right of members of the community to avoid messages that are triggering, harmful, or harassing,” the policy read. SMU stressed that its policy covered all lawn displays, not just the 9/11 memorial. However, the decision was roundly denounced and condemned by students, alumni, donors and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. SMU said they reached an agreement with student leaders to return displays to the prominent lawn space. “This agreement provides dedicated spaces for lawn displays while also preserving open spaces for studying, classes, events and recreation,” a university statement read. “The goal is to balance the needs of all campus community members in use of this historic space.” Young Americans For Freedom should be commended for taking a noble stand. They recognized that free speech was under assault and they did something about it. And I suspect many readers of this column called, emailed and petitioned Southern Methodist University to reverse its policy. College students do not have a constitutional right not to be offended. What happened at Southern Methodist University is an example of how a wrong can be righted when freedom lovers stand together. Well done, patriots!LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers are not better without Kobe Bryant. Stop it. Yes, the ball moved freely and better than it has in a while with Bryant in the training room, getting treatment on his severely sprained ankle, during the Lakers' 113-102 win over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night. "We're just not making any excuses," said Antawn Jamison, whose adversity-challenged Lakers team adjusted to its latest setbacks Sunday, when Kobe Bryant sat for the win against the Kings and Pau Gasol suffered more foot woes. AP Photo/Reed Saxon Yes, the Steve Nash who scored 19 points and had 12 assists looked like the Steve Nash you saw all those years in Phoenix. And, yes, you saw Sunday why Antawn Jamison is closing in on 20,000 career points. "The ball moves and there are some good guys out there on the floor," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Antawn has had back-to-back 50-point games in this league. Steve Blake is starting with a good team and has played really well in this league. Steve Nash is a two-time MVP. And Dwight Howard is really good. So we don't have to be one player dominant. "That ball needs to move and, if it does, then we are really good." But no, the Lakers are not a better team without Bryant. They are a better team now because they've learned how to cope with adversity throughout this star-crossed season. They are a better team now because that adversity seems to have brought them closer together, instead of ripping them apart. They are a better team now because it finally got so embarrassing and humbling, they flat out had to change. "We're just not making any excuses," said Jamison, who finished with a game-high 27 points Sunday. "I think once we finally had our back up against the wall and people were counting us out, that's when we kind of went, 'OK, we've got to start playing better.' There's no excuse for us not to turn this thing around and make it one of the best stories in sports.'" They also looked around the room and realized that even without Bryant and Pau Gasol, they had more talent still standing and playing than most of the NBA. "I was talking to Metta [World Peace] and he was like, 'Now it's our time to finally play our style, posting up and things like that,'" Jamison said.A new study has revealed you are 14 percent more likely to die on your birthday. The Swiss study, published in the Annals of Epidemiology, analyzed 2.4 million deaths over a 40-year period and showed that the "birthday blues" can be lethal, The Independent reported Sunday. Results extracted from a vast amount of data concluded that there were 13.8 percent more deaths on birthdays when compared with any other day of the year. The risk increased with age, with the figure rising to 18 percent in people aged over 60. Birthday fatality figures for individual diseases show that there was an 18.6 percent increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, and a higher risk of up to 21.5 percent for strokes on birthdays. There was also a 10.8 percent rise in deaths among people with cancer. A 34.9 percent rise in suicides amongst men was noted and a 28.5 percent increase in accidental deaths. There was also a 44 percent rise in fatal falls on birthdays. Researchers are divided when it comes to explaining why people are more likely to die on their birthdays. One possible explanation -- the postponement theory -- suggests that gravely ill people wait until their birthday in an attempt to reach another milestone. But some researchers say the postponement theory is not entirely supported by their findings. Alternatively, the anniversary theory argues the birthday event itself is responsible for the increased likelihood of death. Authors of the study said stress played a significant part in birthday deaths, attributing fatalities to an "anniversary reaction" more commonly understood as the "birthday blues." Click for more from The Independent.MEETING OF THE MINDS 9 A full weekend music & camping festival, featuring over 30 musical acts on 4 stages, workshops, food & craft vendors, a kids area with activities, late-night indoor jams, light shows, fire performances, parades, yoga, and so much more! Jibberjazz will showcase a variety of musical styles including Jam, Funk, Bluegrass, Folk, Blues, Rock & Roll, Reggae, Americana, World, Jazz, Progressive, etc. Artists drawn from all over the USA! The venue is a beautiful 60-acre rustic fairground, featuring outdoor & indoor stages, plenty of camping space, permanent restrooms & showers, nature trails, trout-fishing waters, and electricity access. This event is B.Y.O.B. for those with valid I.D. Presale tickets are available through our website and include a full weekend of camping & music. Patrons can access the grounds as early as 4:00PM, Thursday, September 29 for an early arrival party - with an additional fee of $10 per person. Since 2005, Jibberjazz festivals have drummed up a buzz in the underground by showcasing a truly diverse musical-lineup that blends heavy-hitting out of market bands, national acts, and up-and-coming regional talent. Our festivals have developed a dedicated fan base in the region and continue to grow in intensity and attendance, season after season. The trend continues through 2016, as we continue to produce 3 music & camping festivals per season in our quest to find "Tomorrow's Headliners Today." Creative line-ups, killer music, and good people are what Jibberjazz is all about. Now let's get to wild dancing! More 2016 JIBBERJAZZ Festivals Schuylkill Haven, PA: "Some Kind Of Jam 11" April 22-24 "Madsummer Meltdown 7" June 24-26 TICKETS All festival passes include camping. The options for buying tickets are: 1. EARLYBIRD (MAIL ORDER) AND PRE-SALE (ONLINE): The mail order and online pre-sale deadlines have passed. Thank you to all who made purchases in advance. Day-of-show tickets WILL be available at the gate. See below for more information. ​ For any questions concerning online ticket purchases, please contact Vendini at: https://www.vendini.com/contact. 2. DAY OF SHOW (GATE): The weekend pass price of admission is $100 per person. Cash is the only accepted method of payment at the gate, which will continue to operate non-stop from 9:00AM Friday until Sunday morning. Beginning at 8:00AM on Saturday, overnight passes will be made available at the gate for $65 each. See below for Thursday early-arrival details. There are no day passes. THURSDAY (EARLY ARRIVAL): For an additional $10 per person (payable in cash, at the gate only), patrons may arrive after 4:00PM Thursday. There is live music taking place Thursday evening. SATURDAY: Beginning at 8:00AM on the Saturday of the festival, overnight passes will be available at the gate for $65 each. PARKING: $5 per regular-sized vehicle. $10 per larger vehicle or ones pulling trailers. ADDITIONAL: All passes are non-refundable. This event will NOT sell out. Reentry is permitted only with original ticket stub AND wristband intact. All tickets include overnight camping. Children 12 and under are free-of-charge accompanied by legal guardian. BANDS & SOLO ARTISTS MAX CREEK Hartford, Connecticut Max Creek are true pioneers of the electric rock jam, with four decades of experience launching musical adventures with a rich repertoire of originals and uniquely interpreted gems. Each set is a journey for audience and band alike, chasing muses without a net and bringing it all back home to the roots again. WEBSITE NEW ORLEANS SUSPECTS The Big Easy New Orleans Suspects began playing together in 2009 as a pick-up band at the Maple Leaf in New Orleans. Comprised of some of the most seasoned, highly respected players in NOLA, the group called themselves The Unusual Suspects. Their chemistry was undeniable and by the summer of 2011 they decided to tour full-time, renaming the band New Orleans Suspects. They quickly began attracting large crowds from San Francisco to New York. In four short years they released three CDs and established themselves as one of New Orleans’ best supergroups. WEBSITE THE MANTRAS Greensboro, North Carolina The Mantras, a five piece jam machine, have been conquering crowds and melting minds all over the country progressively for over a decade. The band’s music can be described with all types of varying rock and roll terminology, but is absolutely best defined by each listener’s ear and, equally important, their experience. Performing an entirely different set of music each night is an integral part of the band’s direction and mission as well as the ability to truly improvise in between orchestrated pieces. With eclectic influences of sounds from around the globe, The Mantras create a musical escapade during each performance, giving every ounce of emotion to their craft of expression and communication through music. The Mantras are a family of rock; their closely-knit bonds can truly be felt by the crowd while the band performs. WEBSITE NAUGHTY PROFESSOR New Orleans, Louisiana Naughty Professor is a forward thinking music endeavor pioneered by six young musicians from around the country, now anchored in New Orleans, Louisiana. Formed in 2011, the band's mission was to embody the jazz-influenced party culture of the Big Easy in a constantly evolving, high energy funk/soul outfit. Naughty Professors' live performances, which weave together complex compositions and loose individual improvisation, quickly commanded the attention of many notable musicians in town, including George Porter Jr., Galactic, and The Revivalists. With fresh recorded material in the works and a rigorous tour schedule planned for 2016 and beyond, Naughty Professor is poised to soon become the next household name associated with the echelon of New Orleans music. WEBSITE LESPECIAL Boston, Massachusetts Born in the woods of Connecticut and raised in the wilds of Boston, lespecial has established themselves as innovators and tastemakers on their own unique trajectory. The aggressive death-funk dance trio explodes with energetic live sets, tapping into a primitive past distorted through the lense of contemporary technology. They ignore convention, instead amalgamating the familiar styles of Afro-Latin rhythmic traditions, Hip Hop, Funk and Metal into a singular sound that dexterously transforms during their live sets and over the course of their studio albums. WEBSITE BLIND OWL BAND Saranac Lake, New York Hailing from the heart of the Adirondack mountains, The Blind Owl Band has been creating what they call Freight Train String Music since 2010. And a freight train it truly is. Although the quartet's sound is rooted in traditional stringed instruments (guitar, basses, banjo and mandolin), their music surges forward with the strength and power of a hundred-ton diesel locomotive. Songs barrel down the tracks with momentum and intensity normally found in much heavier, heavily amplified music. The Blind Owl Band builds on what they regard as a basic approach to traditional songwriting and arranging and push the envelope, stretching the limits of raw, acoustic instrumentation. This freight train has no one conductor but four shovel boys pushing the limits of their engine night after night, so climb aboard and get ready for a one-of-a-kind ride. WEBSITE SCOTT PEMBERTON Portland, Oregon Scott’s path is simple and clear. Make the best music he can. Share it with others. That is all. Scott Pemberton’s sound is much like the vibe of his native Portland: freaky, fun and just the right amount of weird. The best way to categorize his music is with the moniker “Timber Rock”. Scott naturally applies his own lens/stamp to the sounds of the Pacific North West, the region he has always called home. The deep jazz, NW rock/grunge, blues roots and the west coast funk. It’s all there, and often all in the same song. Listeners are finding this honest, original and to-the-point music refreshing and fun. WEBSITE EGI Chicago, Illinois Progressive and fresh, EGi pushes the boundaries of genre specifics to create a soundscape reflecting the freedom that gives purpose to the acronym’s definition: Ethereal Groove, Incorporated. With a sound that has been described as, “what it would feel like to live in The Never Ending Story”, the band’s versatility and appreciation for many genres of music can be heard in their fusion of rock, funk, instrumental post-rock and hard, progressive rock. Starting from tightly arranged structures, EGi builds improvisational passages and high energy jams that seek to lift the band and audience to a higher plane. WEBSITE MARBIN Chicago, Illinois Marbin is a progressive jazz-rock band with a unique story that stands out in today's music world. With a do-it-yourself approach, Marbin started touring in 2011 and has played over a thousand shows since, bringing their original instrumental music everywhere in the States that they could book a show. After well over a thousand shows and more than 20,000 albums sold, Marbin has gained thousands of devoted fans all over the worldwide. Marbin has released five albums with Moonjune Records: Marbin (2009), Breaking the Cycle (2011), Last Chapter of Dreaming (2013), The Third Set (2014), and Aggressive Hippies (2015). WEBSITE VIRAL SOUND Providence, Rhode Island Viral Sound is a widely diverse, five-piece project. Using jam fusion, Viral Sound combines live electronica, funk, rock and roll, reggae and jazz. Uniting a distinct attentiveness to sound and a feverish desire to explore every facet of musical territory, each live performance becomes an intoxicating auditory thrill that spreads like a virus. Each member’s musical approach is unique and eclectic, drawing from varied musical backgrounds and interests. During Viral Sound’s live performances the members display a telepathic way of communicating with each other and the crowd to generate an explosively mind-bending musical experience. This is one virus that can’t be contained. WEBSITE SASSAFRAZ Columbus, Ohio SassafraZ is a super collection of six great guys who live their lives with the emphasis on the offbeat. They like to hang out and make big, loud sounds. All six really enjoy holding a groove, grooving out, grooving in, and just plain moving and grooving. Some of the band’s favorite things include rimshots, dominant seventh chords, and some hearty Southern cooking. Hang out with them, but when you hear the funk be prepared to bounce up and down with them. WEBSITE DR. S
, confrontational vocal delivery, and criticism of the media, record label expectations, and Eminem's mother. "Stan" The album's third single has been referred to as the album's centerpiece and features a sample of Dido's " Thank You ". During the verses, Eminem portrays both himself and an obsessive fan, with pen-scratching sounds in the background to indicate communication via letters. Problems playing these files? See media help. The first track, "Kill You", discusses the controversy that surrounded the rapper's first album, nightmares of "ladies' screams", and being raised by a single mother.[24] In the song, Eminem also talks of raping his mother, and "notes the irony of magazines trumpeting his mother-raping self on their covers'. "[24] The six-and-a-half minute long "Stan" samples Dido's "Thank You" and tells the story of an exchange between the rapper and an obsessive fan, where the titular character berates Eminem for not responding to his letters.[25] On "Who Knew", the rapper addresses criticism regarding glorification of violence in his lyrics, pointing out perceived hypocrisy in American society. According to Gabriel Alvarez of Complex, Eminem's response ranges oscillates from "smart-ass ('Oh, you want me to watch my mouth, how?/Take my fuckin' eyeballs out and turn 'em around?') to smart ('Ain't they got the same moms and dads who got mad when I asked if they liked violence?/And told me that my tape taught 'em to swear/What about the makeup you allow your 12-year-old daughter to wear?')."[26] "Who Knew" is followed by the "Steve Berman" skit, where the president of sales at Interscope Records angrily confronts the rapper about his lyrical content. He notes that Dr. Dre was successful because he rapped about "big-screen TVs, blunts, 40's, and bitches", while Eminem raps about "homosexuals and Vicodin", and believes that the album will be a commercial disaster.[27] "The Way I Am" is a meditation on the pressure to maintain his fame, and his fear of being "pigeon-holed into some poppy sensation/to cop me rotation at rock 'n' roll stations".[28] He also laments the negative media attention received by controversial public figures such as himself and Marilyn Manson in the wake of disasters such as the Columbine High School massacre. The rapper criticizes the media for focusing on tragedies such as school shootings while ignoring inner-city violence that occurs on a daily basis.[28] "The Real Slim Shady" pokes fun at pop culture icons such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Will Smith.[29] "Remember Me?" follows and features rappers RBX and Sticky Fingaz, who "kick seriously Stygian darkness on the ominous track".[20] In the song, he states "I'm tryna clean up my fuckin' image / So I promised the fuckin' critics / I wouldn't say 'fuckin' for six minutes/(Six minutes, Slim Shady, you're on)". Despite saying the word "fuck" one more time in "Remember Me", and three times at the beginning of "I'm Back", he does not say the word "fuckin" for seven minutes and 29 seconds after delivering the original promise, saying it again in the song "Marshall Mathers".[27] "I'm Back" features Eminem's observations regarding his rise to fame, explaining that he "became a commodity/'Cause I'm W-H-I-T-E".[24] The next song, "Marshall Mathers", mocks the chorus of LFO's "Summer Girls", while criticizing the lack of artistic merit of pop stars such as Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and Ricky Martin. The song also takes aim at rap duo called ICP (Insane Clown Posse), where Eminem raps about Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope being flaming homosexuals. [29][30] "Drug Ballad" features Dina Rae[31] and describes the rapper's struggles with his drug addiction, and writes about some of his experiences under the influence, including ecstasy which makes him "sentimental as fuck, spilling guts to you/we just met, but I think I'm in love with you".[32] "Amityville" is a bass-heavy ode to living in Detroit, where the rapper discusses the city's crowning as murder capital of the United States.[14] "Bitch Please II" features Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and Xzibit, and contains elements of g-funk, as well as R&B crooning from Nate Dogg on the chorus.[20] "Kim", the prequel to "97 Bonnie and Clyde" from The Slim Shady LP, features Eminem "screaming at his ex in an insane stream-of-consciousness hate spew".[14] The song begins with Eminem talking softly to his daughter, but as the beat starts, the rapper takes on portraying two characters, utilizing his own enraged, threatening voice, and the terrified shrieks of his wife Kim.[33] As the song ends, Eminem kills her while taunting, "Bleed, bitch, bleed!"[33] "Kim" is followed by "Under the Influence", which sees Eminem speaking in gibberish for the chorus, and later rap group D12 "runs rampant" on the track.[20] "Criminal" features production from F.B.T., which consists of "piano licks, swerving synth, and a deceptively simplistic bass rumble over which Em snakes and snarls and warns that 'you can't stop me from topping these charts...'".[20] He pokes fun at critics who take his lyrical content seriously, explaining that "half the shit I say, I just make it up to make you mad".[34] Censorship [ edit ] In his book Edited Clean Version: Technology and the Culture of Control, author Raiford Guins writes that the clean version of The Marshall Mathers LP "resembles a cross between a cell phone chat with terrible reception...and a noted hip-hop lyricist suffering from an incurable case of hiccups."[35] This version of the album often either omits words completely or obscures them with added sound effects.[35] The clean version of the album did not censor all profanity. Words like "ass", "bitch", "goddamn", and "shit" were uncensored. However, on the track "The Real Slim Shady", the words "bitch" and "shit" were censored out, as they used the clean version released for radio. References to violence and weapons were also significantly altered, and the songs "Kill You", "Drug Ballad" and "Bitch Please II" are written as "**** You", "Ballad" and "***** Please II" on the back cover of the album.[35] The song "Kim" is removed completely and replaced by the South Park-themed "The Kids".[36] Significant edits were made to aggressive and violent lyrics that were aimed at police, prostitutes, women, homosexuals, bullies and schools. In response to the attack that had occurred at Columbine High School in April 1999, names of guns and sounds of them firing were censored. Interscope Records insisted on censoring the words "kids" and "Columbine" from the line, "I take seven [kids] from [Columbine], stand them all in line" from "I'm Back", even on the explicit version of the album.[34] Mike Rubin of Spin called the censorship a "curious decision, given that lyrics like 'Take drugs / Rape sluts' are apparently permissible".[34] Eminem commented on his lyrics regarding the shooting, "That Columbine shit is so fucking touchy. As much sympathy as we give the Columbine shootings, nobody ever looked at it from the fuckin' point of view of the kids who were bullied—I mean, they took their own fucking life! And it was because they were pushed so far to the fucking edge that they were fucking so mad. I've been that mad."[34] The full line appears uncensored in Eminem's song "Rap God" from The Marshall Mathers LP 2.[37] The line "It doesn't matter [your attorney Fred Gibson's a] faggot" was also censored from "Marshall Mathers", which refers to his mother Debbie Nelson's lawyer, who assisted her in filing a lawsuit against the rapper for defamation regarding lyrics from The Slim Shady LP.[38] Release and commercial performance [ edit ] Eminem considered naming the album Amsterdam after a trip to the city shortly after the release of The Slim Shady LP, in which he and his friends engaged in heavy drug use.[39] The "free" use of drugs Eminem observed during his time in Amsterdam greatly influenced his desire to openly discuss drug use in his music and inspired some of the content on the album.[39][40] The Marshall Mathers LP was released on May 23, 2000, by Aftermath Entertainment, Interscope Records, in the United States,[41] and on 11 September, 2000, by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom.[42] The Marshall Mathers LP was released with two different album covers. The original features Eminem sitting on the porch of the house he lived in during his teenage years.[12] He reflected on the photo shoot by saying, "I had mixed feelings because I had a lot of good and bad memories in that house. But to go back to where I grew up and finally say, 'I've made it', is the greatest feeling in the world to me."[12] The other cover features the rapper seated in a fetal position beneath a loading dock with alcohol and prescription pill bottles at his feet.[24] Will Hermes of Entertainment Weekly likened Eminem's appearance on the cover to a "dysfunctional Little Rascal", viewing the image as indicative of the rapper's musical evolution: "Easy to read, right? The debut: a violent fantasy, the acting-out of a persona. The follow-up: the vulnerable artist unmasked."[24] The Marshall Mathers LP sold 1.76 million copies in its first week, which made it the fastest-selling rap album in history and also was fastest selling album by a solo artist until Adele surpassed the record with 25 in November 2015, selling over 3 million copies first week. It sold twice as much as the previous record holder, Snoop Dogg's 1993 album Doggystyle, and also topped Britney Spears' record for highest 1-week sales by any solo artist.[43] The album sold over 800,000 in its 2nd week, 600,000 in its 3rd week, and 520,000 copies in its 4th week for a 4-week total of 3.65 million. It also became one of the few albums to sell over half a million copies for 4 consecutive weeks. In total, the album spent 8 weeks at #1 on the US Billboard 200 music chart, good enough for 4th on the current all-time list of weeks spent at #1 by a Hip-Hop album.[44] By the end of 2000, The Marshall Mathers LP had become the second highest-selling album of the year with over 8 million sold.[45] The album's 1st single, "The Real Slim Shady", became Eminem's biggest hit up to that point and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart and topping the UK Singles Charts.[46][47] "The Way I Am", which was released as the album's second single, peaked at #8 on the UK Singles Chart[46] and #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart. "Stan", the 3rd single released from the album, became a #1 hit in both the United Kingdom[46] and Australia.[48] In 2010, the Nielsen Company reported that up until November 2009, The Marshall Mathers LP had sold 10,216,000 copies in the US, making it the 4th-best selling album of the decade.[49] By February 2014, The Marshall Mathers LP had sold 10,818,000 copies in the United States, being Eminem's best selling album in his home country.[50] The Marshall Mathers LP sold at least 11 million copies in the United States.[51] Worldwide, The Marshall Mathers LP has sold over 35 million copies.[52] A sequel to the album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, was released on November 5, 2013.[53] Reception and legacy [ edit ] Contemporary reception [ edit ] The Marshall Mathers LP received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 78, based on 21 reviews.[54] Rolling Stone magazine's Touré complimented Dr. Dre's production and Eminem's varied lyrical style on what is a "car-crash record: loud, wild, dangerous, out of control, grotesque, unsettling", but ultimately captivating.[14] Melody Maker said that Eminem's startlingly intense vision of "rap's self-consciousness" is truly unique,[56] while Steve Sutherland of NME praised the album as a misanthropic and "gruelling assault course of lyrical genius" that critiques malevolent aspects of contemporary society.[57] Chuck Eddy from The Village Voice said that Eminem is backed by attractive music and displays an emotionally complex and witting quality unlike his previous work.[62] In the newspaper's consumer guide column, Robert Christgau called him "exceptionally witty and musical, discernibly thoughtful and good-hearted, indubitably dangerous and full of shit", while declaring the album "a work of art whose immense entertainment value in no way compromises its intimations of a pathology that's both personal and political".[61] Will Hermes of Entertainment Weekly wrote that as the first significant popular music album of the 2000s, The Marshall Mathers LP is "indefensible and critic-proof, hypocritical and heartbreaking, unlistenable and undeniable".[24] On the other hand, music journalist Greg Kot said the reaction to The Marshall Mathers LP was "mixed", or reluctantly positive, among critics who praised Eminem's "verbal skills and transgressive humor" but decried some of the subject matter.[63] In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Robert Hilburn reserved his praise because of homophobic lyrics on what he felt is an otherwise conceptual and personal work, "docked a half star because of the recurring homophobia—something that may be de rigueur in commercial rap, but which still is unacceptable."[17] Steve Jones of USA Today opined that Eminem's "vicious and patently personal lyrical assaults" would "almost grow tedious if he weren't as inventive as he is tasteless."[60] Q magazine felt that the subject matter does not make for an enjoyable listen, even though Eminem's disaffected and nihilistic lyrics can be provocative.[58] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani was more critical in a one-and-a-half star review and found his raps extremely distasteful: "The only thing worse than Eminem's homophobia is the immaturity with which he displays it".[64] On the other hand, Spin felt that the rapping is excellent, but plagued more so by unremarkable music and lackluster tracks.[65] In 2000, The Marshall Mathers LP won in the Best Album category at the MTV Europe Music Awards.[66] It also won in the Best Rap Album category at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2001.[67] The Marshall Mathers LP was nominated for Album of the Year, but lost to jazz-rock duo Steely Dan's Two Against Nature.[68] Retrospective acclaim [ edit ] In 2003, The Marshall Mathers LP was ranked number 302 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time;[73] it was moved up to number 244 in the magazine's revised 2012 edition of the list.[74] IGN named it the twenty-fourth greatest rap album of all time in a 2004 list.[75] According to Sputnikmusic's Nick Butler, The Marshall Mathers LP stands as a culturally significant record in American popular music, but also "remains a truly special album, unique in rap's canon, owing its spirit to rock and its heritage to rap, in a way I've rarely heard".[76] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Christian Hoard said that the album "delved much deeper into personal pain [than The Slim Shady LP], and the result was a minor masterpiece that merged iller-than-ill flows with a brilliant sense of the macabre."[71] In 2006, The Marshall Mathers LP was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 greatest albums of all time.[77] That same year, Q ranked it number 85 on a list of the greatest albums of all time, the highest position held by any rap album on the list.[78] The Marshall Mathers LP was also the highest ranked rap album on the National Association of Recording Merchandisers & the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the 200 greatest albums of all time, where it was placed at number 28.[79] It has been named one of the greatest albums of the 2000s decade by Rolling Stone Magazine, who ranked it seventh,[80] Complex Magazine, who ranked it fourth,[81] and Pitchfork, who ranked it 119th.[82] The Marshall Mathers LP has been ranked as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine,[83] Time Magazine,[84] and XXL Magazine.[85][86] In 2010, Rhapsody ranked it at number 1 on their list of "The 10 Best Albums by White Rappers".[87] In 2015, the album was ranked number 81 by About.com on their list of "100 Best Hip-hop Albums of All Time".[88] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[89] Controversy [ edit ] Reactions from politicians [ edit ] "Nobody is excluded from my poking at. Nobody. I don't discriminate, I don't exclude nobody. If you do something fucked up, you're bound to be made fun of. If I do something fucked up, I'll make fun of myself—I'm not excluded from this." —Eminem, on the album's controversy.[90] At a United States Senate hearing, Lynne Cheney criticized Eminem and sponsor Seagram for "promot[ing] violence of the most degrading kind against women", labeling him as "a rap singer who advocates murder and rape".[91] She specifically cited lyrics from "Kill You", explaining, "He talks about murdering and raping his mother. He talks about choking women slowly so he can hear their screams for a long time. He talks about using O.J.'s machete on women, and this is a man who is honored by the recording industry".[91] Cheney drew a link between the Columbine massacre and violent music, mentioning artists Eminem and Marilyn Manson as musicians who contribute to the United States' culture of violence. Although she stated that she has "long been a vocal supporter of free speech", Cheney called for the music industry to impose age-restrictions on those who can purchase music with violent content.[91] On October 26, 2000, Eminem was to perform at a concert in Toronto's SkyDome.[92] However, Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty argued that Canada should stop Eminem at the border. "I personally don't want anyone coming to Canada who will come here and advocate violence against women", he said.[92] Flaherty claims to have been "disgusted" when reading transcriptions of Eminem's song "Kill You", which includes lines like "Slut, you think I won't choke no whore/till the vocal cords don't work in her throat no more?"[92] Eminem's fans argued that this was a matter of free speech and that he was unfairly singled out.[92] Michael Bryant suggested that the government let Eminem perform and then prosecute him for violating Canada's hate crime laws, despite the fact that Canada's hate-crime legislation does not include violence against women.[93] In an editorial in The Globe and Mail, author Robert Everett-Green wrote, "Being offensive is Eminem's job description."[94] Eminem was granted entry into Canada.[95] A 2001 and 2004 study by Edward Armstrong found that of the 14 songs on The Marshall Mathers LP eleven contain violent and misogynistic lyrics and nine depict killing women through choking, stabbing, drowning, shooting, head and throat splitting. According to the study, Eminem scores 78% for violent misogyny while gangsta rap music in general reaches 22%.[96][97] Armstrong argues that violent misogyny characterizes most of Eminem's music and that the rapper "authenticates his self-presentations by outdoing other gangsta rappers in terms of his violent misogyny."[97] A fifteen-year-old boy in Fresno, California was arrested in September 2015 for making terrorist threats, after sharing the Columbine-related lyrics to "I'm Back" on Instagram.[98] Reactions from other artists [ edit ] Elton John performed "Stan" with Eminem at the Grammys despite negative reactions from the LGBT community. Protests against the album's content reached a climax when it was nominated for four Grammy Awards in 2001 including Album of the Year.[86] At the ceremony, Eminem performed "Stan" in a duet with openly gay artist Elton John playing piano and singing the chorus. This performance was a direct response to claims by GLAAD and others who claimed his lyrics were homophobic, with Eminem stating, "Of course I'd heard of Elton John, but I didn't know he was gay. I didn't know anything about his personal life. I didn't really care, but being that he was gay and he had my back, I think it made a statement in itself saying that he understood where I was coming from."[99] GLAAD did not change its position, however, and spoke out against Elton John's decision.[100] Despite significant protests and debate, The Marshall Mathers LP went on to win Best Rap Album. Singer Christina Aguilera was upset about the lyric, "Christina Aguilera better switch me chairs so I can sit next to Carson Daly and Fred Durst / and hear 'em argue over who she gave head to first" from "The Real Slim Shady", calling the rapper's claim "disgusting, offensive and, above all, not true".[101] Eminem included this line after becoming angry with the singer for informing the public during an MTV special without his consent about the rapper's secret marriage to Kim Mathers.[101] However, the two later settled their differences after hugging backstage at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, with the singer appearing at the premiere of 8 Mile months later.[101] In 2002, French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier filed a $10 million lawsuit against Eminem, claiming the beat for "Kill You" was stolen from his song "Pulsion".[102] Track listing [ edit ] Limited Edition Bonus Disc[103] No. Title Producer(s) Length 1. "The Real Slim Shady" (instrumental) Dr. Dre Mel-Man 4:46 2. "The Way I Am" (instrumental) Eminem 4:52 3. "Stan" (instrumental) The 45 King Eminem 6:45 4. "The Kids" (explicit version) 05:06 5. "The Way I Am" Danny Lohner remix, featuring Marilyn Manson 04:58 6. "The Real Slim Shady" (Video – Directors Cut) 7. "The Way I Am" (Video – LP Version) 8. "Stan" (Video – Directors Version) Notes ^[a] signifies a co-producer. Personnel [ edit ] Credits for The Marshall Mathers LP adapted from AllMusic.[104] Charts [ edit ] Certifications [ edit ] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] Works citedThis weeks episode of The Milo Yiannopoulos Show featured conservative author and commentator Ann Coulter, for her second appearance on the show. The pair discussed everything from Hilary Clinton and the support she receives amongst black communities, saying that “Obama’s been a disaster for race relations but Hillary doesn’t strike me as someone that would do remarkably better.” They also discussed the inevitable subject of Trump, with Coulter saying that should Trump lose the election, it could mean the end for the GOP. She added that as well as a Hilary presidency being “the end of the GOP,” it would also bring about “the end of the country” as we now know it. Another subject was analysing how the media manipulated Trump’s star of David tweet, which led to some left-wing commentators describing it as “anti-semitic. Coulter concluded that she thought “it would be better if he did not send out loutish low-brow tweets,” something Milo firmly disagreed with. Milo also gave Coulter a “fag pass,” saying that he would give her “a lifetime fag pass, so if you ever get in trouble for calling someone gay, you come to me and I’ll set them right.” Watch the latest episode of the Milo Yiannopoulos Show in full below. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Podcast One. You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at [email protected] have moved from Batman to delving into 'the darkest stuff we could get.' Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham have ben researching some of the most unsettling stuff ever for their new horror comic "Nameless." (Photo11: Chris Burnham/Image Comics) Story Highlights Grant Morrison and Chris Burnam are working together on 'Nameless' The creators completed a run on 'Batman Incorporated' last year 'Nameless' explores horror that Western culture is obsessed with Grant Morrison has been giving himself the heebie-jeebies lately, and soon he's passing those scares off to the rest of us. The Scottish comic-book writer is reteaming with Batman Incorporated artist Chris Burnham for the six-issue horror miniseries Nameless, launching later this year from Image Comics. The comic was announced Thursday at the Image Expo convention in San Francisco. "We're taking all the dark stuff that Western culture's kind of obsessed with — the zombies and everything — beyond the limit and doing hopefully for now what H.P. Lovecraft did for the wartime generation," Morrison says. The book centers on a man named the Nameless, a protagonist who's a hero only in the post-modern 21st-century sense of the word, according to Morrison. He's a screw-up but he's also super-smart and, much like Benedict Cumberbatch's modern take on the literary detective in Sherlock, "super high functioning in how he makes connections between things," says the writer. "I got that idea from Batman, him being this high-level thinker and everything for him is important and meaningful." The writer's staying mum on the details of the series, but he teases that Nameless' thoughts will be revealed through first-person narration captions that Morrison hasn't used a lot in his work thus far. "I wanted to take it beyond that Frank Miller hard-boiled thing into a quite weird stream-of-consciousness, Lovecraftian kind of thing," Morrison says. And while Nameless could return for more stories, "really this one is about the big test of the human experience against a nightmare." When it comes to horror, Burnham feels that the creators as well as the audience all have similar reference points, so with Nameless he wants to dig a little deeper and weirder instead of mashing up two things folks already like. "Everyone's read the exact same books, seen the same movies and TV shows, so everything's starting to feel a little comfortably same to me," the artist says. "I don't want the readers of a horror book to feel comfortable at all." What Burnham does feel at home with — and in a good way — is working with Morrison. They wanted to continue to work together after their run on Batman Incorporated ended last year, but also experiment with storytelling techniques in the way panels work on the page. So far, Burnham has been playing with the contrast between very straightforward layouts and "the weirder, chopped-up, trippy time-warp stuff," he says. Burnham teases that the visuals "will run the gamut from 'quietly eerie' all the way up through 'cut out my brain so I don't have to remember seeing this!' " They also yearned to have a much darker story than they ever could doing Batman, so they're tackling a variety of fears and terrors — maybe even some that folks are experiencing and not even know it. One of the things that scares Morrison the most that he's exploring is the basic nature of being human. Mankind projects a lot of things onto zombies and their horror-movie ilk, but "this notion of disease or decay as being outside us, it's what we live," Morrison explains. "I've been studying nihilistic philosophy, which is basically the most depressing stuff on Earth. These guys are saying we basically live in a condition of extinction. No matter how well humans do, no matter how we strive, no matter how much effort we put into our families, that one day the fan will burn out and the universe itself will have a heat death and every atom will shut down and freeze to an absolute stillness. "It's the bleakest world view, so Chris and I want to take this right on board and do a comic about it. It's that kind of existential horror. The stuff that when you wake up at 4 a.m. in the morning and think, 'Wow, I'm getting older…' — it's like that but taken to the max." He's also been doing a lot of "strange" research, too, reading up on weird occult practices, Satanism and "the darkest stuff we could get," Morrison says. Thankfully, he has an escape if he gets too creeped out — the writer's currently penning an all-ages sci-fi animated film as well. "I can go right over there and back to the screenplay, and suddenly I'm in the world of dancing prairie dogs," Morrison says with a laugh. "A really good piece of art captures a mood, and (Nameless is) capturing the darkest possible mood but also making it entertaining and exciting." He's also made sure to spread the weirdness before it reaches his fan base. "Grant is definitely leading me down a crazy labyrinth of rabbit holes. There is some really unsettling stuff out there. And I'm always looking for the most horrific stuff the internet has to offer," Burnham says. "I think we've successfully deranged our minds enough that we'll be able to freak you out." Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1hA6osxI used to be afraid all the time. Whether it was going outside or meeting new people, I felt like I would never escape the paralysis of fear. Eventually, I had enough. I took control of my life and did something I should have done a long time ago: I consolidated all of my other fears into one towering fear of being sucked into a treadmill. After years of letting fear dictate my life, I finally took action. In place of the countless fears that overwhelmed me, now it’s just treadmills. I still experience all the same terror I always did about long-term relationships, enclosed spaces and crowded social situations, but now it’s all about treadmills. Advertisement I’ll give you an example. A year ago, I missed a friend’s wedding because I couldn’t work up the courage to get on an airplane. Even driving by the airport would make my heart race and my hands feel clammy. I would actually start hyperventilating and would have to pull over to the side of the road to calm down. Now all that only happens when I’m near a place with a treadmill and I envision it mangling me in its horrible, whirring belt. After years of letting fear dictate my life, I finally took action. In place of the countless fears that overwhelmed me, now it’s just treadmills. I’d also been afraid of rejection ever since middle school, but now that’s a treadmill fear instead. My fears of heights, spiders and public speaking have all disappeared, and I’ve been able to feed all that wasted energy into a series of vivid treadmill-related nightmare scenarios. Advertisement Except in situations involving treadmills, this simple change has given me my life back. I used to stay up all night, crippled by my anxieties. Now I kick off my evening with one horrific vision of a treadmill peeling the skin off my thighs while my skeleton continues to whip around, and then I sleep soundly through to dawn. After years of living in fear, I’m finally ready to do the things I want to do. As long as it doesn’t involve being near a machine that could suck me up, grind every bit of my body into an unrecognizable pulp, spraying my remains in its wake, I can do anything. And that feels pretty great.Matt Slocum/Associated Press In the summer heat on a sprawling campus built into the side of a mountain about halfway between Philadelphia and New York, quarterback Vince Young, wearing a green visor and a red practice jersey, walks into a press conference tent to be introduced as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. He takes a seat and handles tough questions about getting cut by the Tennessee Titans and his new role as a backup to Michael Vick. After about five minutes, Eagles public relations director Derek Boyko calls for the last question. NFL Network reporter Scott Hanson tosses up an innocuous one. "What about the pieces this team has added in just the last few days?" Young, the former third overall pick in the 2006 draft and a two-time Pro Bowler, does not pause to think. "Aww, Dream Team, heh, heh, heh, heh. From Nnamdi [Asomugha] to [Dominique Rodgers-]Cromartie, to Jason [Babin] to myself, you know they are going to do some more things. It's just beautiful to see where we're trying to go." Dream Team. Two words uttered that day in the summer of 2011 made us forget the other 922 words Young spoke into the microphone. Young and everyone else associated with the team would be dancing around those two words for the rest of the season. What Young should have realized is there are all kinds of dreams, and many are best left in the recesses of our minds. Young could be blamed for boldness, but not for enthusiasm. The truth is many of his teammates expressed similar optimism, lacking only enduring catchphrases. Babin took to Twitter to declare: The Dream Team concept had not worked as planned for the 2010-11 Miami Heat, as they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals nearly two months before the Eagles borrowed their formula. In theory, it should have been much easier for a basketball team than a football team to apply the concept. In reality, it was. "If you know Vince, you know he's a fun-loving guy, a carefree guy. He didn't mean to make a headline. But before he even finished the answer, I'm like, 'Thank you, I have the sound bite I need for my piece.' A couple of the writers there were saying it wasn't that big a deal. I'm like, ‘You have no idea how big this is going to be. This is not going to be a one-day sound bite; it's going to be a 365-day-a-year sound bite.' Now it's been a five-year sound bite." — Scott Hanson The Eagles were coming off three straight playoff seasons. They won the NFC East the year before with the No. 2 offense in the league. Now, with the veteran additions of cornerback Asomugha, defensive end Babin, running back Ronnie Brown, cornerback Rodgers-Cromartie, defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, tight end Donald Lee, guard Evan Mathis, wide receiver Steve Smith and Young, they were loaded. Their roster featured 10 players who had made 25 Pro Bowl appearances between them. They were given 15-2 odds to win the Super Bowl, according to Covers.com. The dream picked up steam with a 31-13 road win over the then-St. Louis Rams in their season opener. But then the Eagles dropped four straight games the oddsmakers said they were supposed to win. New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz had his coming-out party against Asomugha and company during the streak with three catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns. By October, "Dream Team" had become a taunt. When the Eagles failed, sometimes it was spectacular. They were 13-point favorites over the Cardinals in November, but Arizona backup quarterback John Skelton passed for 315 yards and three touchdowns in a 21-17 upset in Philly. Young was picked off four times in another upset on a Thursday night in Seattle. Heading into the final quarter of the season, the Eagles were 4-8. Then they won their last four games, which only made what happened previously in the season that much more frustrating. "It was the most disappointing team I have been on," Jenkins said. "We had such high expectations. It was a team that was used to winning, going to the playoffs year after year. To underachieve to the level we did was pretty bad." The 2011 Eagles ranked fourth in yards gained and eighth in yards allowed—not bad. But it did not equate to success. "Vince was saying we have a team that is full of talent and we could do some great things with it. He was right. We were talented from the starting lineup to third string. We had starting-caliber players as backups. You have to expect big things when you have that much talent." — Trent Cole The Dream Team was not assembled illogically or haphazardly. In fact, a rough blueprint was drawn up years earlier. In 2008 and 2009, the Eagles designed contracts so that salary-cap hits would be lowest in 2011. In 2010, the Eagles chose to be conservative in free agency because that year, six years of service were required for freedom, and the pool of free agents in their prime subsequently was smaller than usual. In 2011, the
of international sanctions placed on individuals and businesses with ties to the regime have not yet managed to topple, or even weaken it to any discernible extent. Soldiers are still constructing dozens of high concrete walls around military and security facilities. Millions of Syrian lira, the local currency, are being spent on reinforcing the state television building and other important sites in the capital. The economic sanctions introduced to squeeze the Syrian regime have so far only hurt ordinary citizens, not those they intended to hurt. Since the unrest fist took hold in Syria last March, the value of the Syrian lira has depreciated by almost 50 percent against the dollar. Imported foodstuffs such as cereals and chocolate have increased by more than 100 percent since December. For hundreds of import-export businessmen, their trade has collapsed. More from GlobalPost: Homs attack is a game-changer "We are just waiting for the regime to fall," said one man who imported generators from Turkey before the uprising. Still, the Sham City Center mall in the upscale neighborhood of Kafr Souseh in Damascus was teeming with people on a recent Thursday evening. Families clambered for seating in the mall's underground food court. "People come here in the evening to escape the news on television, which is depressing, and in any case, they have no electricity at home," said one shopper. "But I think very few are spending money on more than sandwiches."When Rick Neal saw the Ebola crisis unfolding in Liberia in late 2014, he knew what he had to do. After several difficult conversations with family and friends, Neal got on a flight to Africa. He spent a month volunteering with his former employer, the International Rescue Committee, to set up a 100-bed clinic in the capital city of Monrovia. As Neal explains it, “When a crisis strikes, you ask yourself ‘what can I do?'” The same thought process has now led Neal – a married father of 2 girls from Columbus – to run for Congress. Neal is running to unseat U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers in Ohio’s 15th Congressional district, a gerrymandered 12-county sprawl that connects affluent Columbus suburbs to conservative Clinton County in the west, reaches south to the Chillicothe line and extends southeast as far as Vinton and Athens County. We recently caught up with Rick at an event in Columbus. Neal is focused on three main issues, which he says are common throughout the district, regardless of its economic diversity: Good paying jobs, access to healthcare, and solutions to the opioid crisis. The issues, as he sees them, are interrelated. Incomes everywhere aren’t keeping up with inflation, the opioid crisis depends on affordable healthcare, and he’s even met local employers who can’t find workers who can pass a drug test. Steve Stivers is less focused on the district than he could be, Neal says, as a result of his choice to head up the NRCC, the GOP’s congressional fundraising arm, something that keeps him out of the district raising millions of dollars from big donors. When Neal got in the race, he knew he faced an uphill challenge. The Cook political report rated the district as “R+7” (Meaning a Republican has a 7-point advantage in a normal election year). Trump captured 55 percent of the vote in 2016, but the margin isn’t always that large. In 2012, the district went to Romney over Obama 52-46. Two trends offer encouragement. The Cook Political Report announced this week that Stivers was potentially vulnerable, and moved the race from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican.” The move is sure to put the district onto the radar of national funders looking to support Democrats in swing districts. Neal has already lined up top talent to run his campaign. Having a professional campaign organization is key, says Neal, to have a shot at winning, and he’s working to build one. Having already brought on an experienced campaign manager, finance manager and top consultants, Neal is now looking to hire a full-time Finance Director. The team estimates they need to raise $1.5 to $2 million to be competitive. Neal sees another encouraging sign: The people in his district, particularly women, “have had it” with what’s going on in Washington. They are stepping up, getting organized, and running for office. He points to two young progressives who surprised nearly everyone in November, when they took two seats on Wilmington City Council, throwing control of the chamber into Democratic hands. They were part of a local Clinton County group of progressive activists that formed after the election, and it’s just part of a trend he’s seeing all over the district. In Hilliard, a GOP stronghold in the Franklin County suburbs, a Democrat came within 100 votes of stealing a City Council seat. Volunteers from Fairfield County were recently honored for their work organizing resistance activities by Progress Ohio. To learn more about Rick Neal for Congress, visit his website or follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Is a member of the Resistance doing interesting work or running for office in your community? Let us know!This story is part of "Iowa biking: Welcome or not," a series exploring Iowa's bike culture and the state's attitude toward cyclists. Buy Photo Cedar Rapids police officer Jeff Faircloth uses a protected bike lane downtown on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave, The Register)Buy Photo CEDAR RAPIDS, Ia. — Jeff Faircloth pedaled through downtown Tuesday, cutting through the muggy afternoon air in a bright orange cycling jersey. Faircloth, a Cedar Rapids police officer, started commuting by bike to work last spring, riding 8.5 miles each way four days a week. But what sets his ride apart is a three-quarters-of-a-mile stretch up Third Avenue, where a row of parked cars guards the bike lane from the vehicle traffic speeding past on the street. Cedar Rapids officials say the stretch, installed earlier this month, is the first urban protected bike lane in the state and represents a significant step forward in the city’s efforts to be more bike-friendly. “It’s huge, because these kind of projects really act to encourage more cycling," said Brandon Whyte, multi-modal transportation coordinator for the Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization. "They’re protected. They’re more comfortable. The data shows they’re more appealing” to people who have reservations about cycling alongside cars. Such lanes are crucial, bike advocates say, as Iowa cities such as Des Moines and Cedar Rapids try to shift into the next gear, from viewing cycling as a recreational sport relegated to the state's vast trail network to making bikes a viable option to ride on city streets and commute safely to work. The League of American Bicyclists recently stuck Des Moines with bronze status for the fifth straight year — its lowest honor for bike-friendly communities. The city was dinged for its lack of bike lanes and a vacuum of leadership in City Hall needed to marshal Des Moines' cycling efforts. Related: While Cedar Rapids hasn't yet reached the league's coveted gold standard for bike-friendly cities, it offers clear lessons on how to make safe urban biking a priority. Iowa’s second-biggest city has developed a strategy for funding bike infrastructure, given a voice to bike advocates within local government and adopted street policies that emphasize bike lanes and sidewalks. NEWSLETTERS Get the Breaking News Alert newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Alerts on breaking news delivered straight to your inbox. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-877-424-0225. Delivery: Varies Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Breaking News Alert Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters “I think specifically what we have modeled is … how to support bicycle facilities from a funding standpoint,” Whyte said. Cedar Rapids has been laying the groundwork for years. Much of the effort has come amid cleanup from the 2008 flood that inundated the city. Now, the work is beginning to bear fruit. Since 2012, Cedar Rapids has installed 4.3 miles of on-street bike lanes. The city plans to add about 10 miles of bike lanes in the next year, including another half-mile of protected bike lane. Several new trail connections that advocates say will be useful for bike commuters are also in the works. “I think there is a sense of excitement that, ‘Wow, this is new. This is different. This is forward-thinking,’” Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz said of the new protected bike lane. “And as we rebuild, I think this is a symbol, a symbol and a reality of the new Cedar Rapids.” (Johnston recently installed a 1,000-foot protected bike lane to connect two trails, but Cedar Rapids officials say theirs is the first in an urban area, where the infrastructure is built to serve commuters.) Buy Photo A cyclist navigates downtown Cedar Rapids in the designated bicycle lanes. (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave, The Register) What can cities such as Des Moines learn from Cedar Rapids? Here’s a look at what the city has done: Arranging funding The Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization, an agency that administers transportation funding for greater Cedar Rapids, voted in 2012 to allocate 80 percent of its money over five years to recreational trails. The agency started spending that money, about $4 million a year, in 2015. It wasn’t an easy sell. The suburb of Hiawatha opposed the earmark, and other suburbs wanted a smaller amount dedicated to trails. But elected officials in Cedar Rapids saw bike infrastructure as an important amenity for attracting high-skilled workers to the city, Pomeranz said. By comparison, the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization dedicated about 10 percent of its funding to trail projects in the past fiscal year, roughly $1.1 million. Adopting street policies Cedar Rapids in 2014 adopted a so-called complete streets policy that encourages consideration of all types of transportation, including buses, walking and cycling, when building or reconstructing streets. Des Moines adopted a complete streets policy in 2008, but it's not as favorable for bikes. Mike Armstrong, an associate transportation planner for the Des Moines Metropolitan Planning Organization, said Cedar Rapids’ policy is more explicit in mandating bike lanes where feasible, rather than making them optional. Buy Photo A cyclist navigates downtown Cedar Rapids in the designated bicycle lanes. (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave, The Register) Heeding expert's advice In 2012, Cedar Rapids brought in Jeff Speck, an urban planner and author who specializes in making cities more walkable. Speck advocates for road diets, in which vehicle lanes are narrowed or eliminated to make way for on-street parking, bike lanes and sidewalks. The idea is to slow traffic so streets are calmer and more pedestrian-friendly. Cedar Rapids has begun implementing some of Speck’s recommendations, such as converting one-way streets to two-way and replacing some travel lanes with on-street parking and bike lanes. Speck made similar recommendations in Des Moines earlier this year. The city has followed one of his suggestions and began allowing more on-street parking downtown during rush hour. Des Moines city leaders are considering hiring a consultant to map out how to implement more of Speck’s recommendations. “It just depends on the level of commitment you have in the city,” said Larry James, co-chair of Urban Land Institute Iowa, the think tank that brought Speck to Des Moines. “In Cedar Rapids’ case, they have been very out front in implementing these ideas.” Hiring bike coordinator Bike advocates in Des Moines have said there is no one person in local government focused specifically on bike issues. In fact, in its report on how the city can be more bike-friendly, the League of American Bicyclists recommended hiring a bike and pedestrian coordinator. “If we’re going to expand bike and pedestrian access throughout the city, it would be helpful to have someone who, frankly, is an advocate for that kind of transportation,” James said. Cedar Rapids has two people focused on bike infrastructure. Whyte, who is employed by the MPO but works closely with the city, said he spends about 80 percent of his time on bike-related issues. Ron Griffith, a city traffic engineer, serves as the city’s bike coordinator. He advises the Public Works department on how to make roads more bike-friendly and oversees the city’s bike committee. Pomeranz said having bike coordinators has been instrumental. “We have someone who is eating, breathing and living this stuff every day,” he said. Buy Photo A car parks into a bike lane along 3rd Street in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015. Some riders feel safe by the protected bike lane along the street downtown, but others feel the slanted parking can cause hazards. (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave/The Register) Not one size fits all Not everything Cedar Rapids has done can be easily replicated. Cedar Rapids approved a 1-cent sales tax for road maintenance in 2013. The new funding allows the city to rebuild its streets, which in turn provides opportunities to add bike lanes. Passing a similar local option sales tax has proved challenging in metro Des Moines. State law requires municipalities that share a border to vote together when considering a sales tax increase. So if Des Moines wanted to pass a local option sales tax to pay for roads or any other expense, all of the suburbs it touches would also have to agree to the increase. Several bills in the Legislature in recent years to change the sales tax rule have failed. Challenges remain There have been kinks, no doubt, to work out with Cedar Rapids’ new bike lanes. A few years ago, the city started using green paint to mark bike lanes near intersections, only to cut back on the length of the painted sections to trim costs. “I think we went a little overboard on the green paint at first,” Whyte said. Buy Photo A cyclist rides past a decoration promoting bike lanes on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave/The Register) At the new protected bike lane, some cars have been parking too close to the curb, obstructing bikes. Faircloth, the police officer and new bike commuter, said he would like to see some kind of curb or barrier to keep parked cars out of the lane. “I appreciate that they put it in, but I don’t think it’s the best design,” he said. Tim Sippy, 52, commutes to work on his bike about 60 days a year and rode through the protected lane Tuesday. He said a protected bike lane would make his wife more comfortable riding on the street. He's happy with the city's investment. “There are still holes to fill in,” he said, “but it’s improving.” Room for improvement Despite its successes, Cedar Rapids can’t claim to be the state's most bike-friendly city. Iowa City takes the top spot in Iowa with a silver rating from the League of American Bicyclists. In Iowa City, 4.3 percent of residents commute by bike, compared with only 0.6 percent in Cedar Rapids and 0.2 percent in Des Moines. The league has named five Iowa cities as bike-friendly communities. The four others — Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls and University Heights — each received a bronze rating. While Cedar Rapids has developed a funding model for building bike lanes and trails, the city could take some lessons from Des Moines. The capital city has implemented a bike-share program and added new rental racks in the past several years. The metro boasts hundreds of miles of trails and an active local advocacy and education group in the Des Moines Bike Collective. The league said Cedar Rapids should add bike parking and better signage, launch a bike-sharing program and continue to build bike lanes, particularly on busier arterial streets. Brandon Whyte, the Metropolitan Planning Organization coordinator in Cedar Rapids, said he believes the city can earn silver status in coming years as the metro area invests more in bike lanes and adds other infrastructure. Comparing the ratings The League of American Bicyclists rates cities based on a number of criteria including bike lanes, bike-friendly laws and the portion of people who commute by bike. Here is a look at how Iowa’s two largest cities and Iowa City (the highest-rated city in the state) compare with three cities around the country that have received the group's top rating. Des Moines Rating: Bronze Percentage of daily bicyclists: 0.2 percent Arterial streets with bike lanes: 15 percent Bike program staff: 0 High marks for: Bike-friendly laws, strong encouragement of cycling Cedar Rapids Rating: Bronze Percentage of daily bicyclists: 0.6 percent Arterial streets with bike lanes: 7 percent Bike program staff: 1 per 40,203 residents High marks for: Bike-friendly laws, bike-to-work events, public education Iowa City Rating: Silver Percentage of daily bicyclists: 4.3 percent Arterial streets with bike lanes: More than 25 percent Bike program staff: 1 per roughly 9,000 High marks for: Strong bike culture, bike trail system, community events Seattle Rating: Gold Percentage of daily bicyclists: 4.1 percent Arterial streets with bike lanes: 17 percent Bike program staff: 1 per 144,880 residents High marks for: Public education, bike-friendly laws Bloomington, Ind. Rating: Gold Percentage of daily bicyclists: 4.1 percent Arterial streets with bike lanes: 75 percent Bike program staff: 1 per 29,104 residents High marks for: Public education, active bicycle advisory committee Urbana, Ill. Rating: Gold Percentage of daily bicyclists: 5.8 percent Arterial streets with bike lanes: 25 percent Bike program staff: 1 per 41,752 residents High marks for: Bike-to-work month events, public education, bike-friendly laws Source: League of American Bicyclists Read or Share this story: http://dmreg.co/1KzNjD1Build your own high quality pedal Genuine JHS circuits and components Easy StewMac instructions and support All-American: Explosively versatile pedal! Based on the sought-after ProCo Rat distortion pedal from the 1970s, and favored by greats like Joe Perry, Nels Cline, and David Gilmour. An unbelievable range of tones, from clean/grit all the way to compressed sustaining fuzz. Makes a 1x12 combo sound like you have a stack of cabs backstage. JHS Pedals improved on the original by adding a sweep knob to control the feel of the gain, and a 3-way toggle switch for extra options: LED crunch More subtle silicon grit Raw open clipping This is the genuine JHS All-American in kit form Original quality components used by JHS Genuine JHS circuit board Sturdy cast metal case, predrilled Step-by-step picture instructions from StewMac If you can't buy it, build it! JHS retired their hand-built All-American, and the only way to buy one has been to talk somebody into selling theirs (not likely). These great pedals need to be back in the hands of players, so StewMac partnered with JHS to create this classic reissue kit. True bypass: when the All-American is switched off, it does not affect your signal chain. This DIY pedal kit includes: Metal pedal enclosure (4-13/16" x 2-5/8" x 1-3/8") Circuit board Control knobs Potentiometers Toggle switch Stomp switch Output jacks Capacitors Resistors Diodes Transistors Rectifiers Op-amp and socket LED + LED mounting bezel DC power connector Ribbon cable and wire This pedal requires a standard 9V DC center-negative power supply (not included) and consumes less than 100mA. There's no battery option.Pope Francis closes the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Sunday to mark the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. (Pool photo by L’Osservatore Romano via AP) Any Catholic priest can grant forgiveness to a woman who has had an abortion, Pope Francis announced Sunday. A year ago, Francis said that priests could forgive the sin of having an abortion during a special Year of Mercy. In his lengthy letter marking the end of that year Sunday, he said he would extend that option in perpetuity, beyond the special year. “I wish to restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life,” he wrote. “In the same way, however, I can and must state that there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with the Father.” [Past coverage: Pope Francis emphasizes forgiveness for women who have abortions] The Rev. James Bretzke, a Jesuit professor at Boston College, said Pope Francis likely planned the extraordinary jubilee year — which he declared outside the normal cycle that calls for a jubilee every 25 to 50 years — as a test run for a permanent change on abortion. Before the Year of Mercy, abortion was in a class of sins considered “crimes,” which required a higher authority than a priest to absolve. A woman might have to confess her sin to a bishop, for example, rather than her parish priest. Pope Francis has extended to all Roman Catholic priests the power to forgive abortion, a right previously reserved for bishops or special confessors, saying, "There is no sin that God's mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart." (Reuters) These crimes are mostly very uncommon sins — violating the communion wafer, revealing what was said in confession and physically attacking the pope are all on the list, Bretzke said. Abortion has been the outlier since the list of crimes was first standardized in canon law in 1917. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had long said that any U.S. priest could hear confessions of abortions, but other countries did not make an exception for abortion. Bretzke said that when he taught in the Philippines, he learned that bishops authorized each priest to forgive only so many abortions and then stop. Even in countries where absolution was available, Pope Francis’s declaration a year ago helped publicize to Catholic women that they could confess. Bretzke said he heard a confession this year from one woman whose priest told her in the 1980s that she could never be forgiven for her abortion. “This woman lived for decades with this unforgiven sin,” he said. When the woman heard about Pope Francis’s Year of Mercy, she went to Bretzke to seek absolution at last. In his letter Sunday, Francis also extended another controversial idea that he tested during the one-year jubilee. He had allowed priests from the breakaway sect Society of St. Pius X to hear confessions during that one year, despite the fact that they differ from the church by rejecting the modern revisions from 1965’s Second Vatican Council. On Sunday, Francis said that Catholics can still receive absolution from these priests, and he trusts that the priests will work toward being in “full communion” with the church eventually. The 7,230-word letter, laid out as a teaching on biblical passages in which God shows mercy to sinners, contained many other suggestions, such as devoting one Sunday a year entirely to biblical readings in church to remind parishioners of the importance of Scripture, and creating a World Day of the Poor to remember the need for greater charity. Bretzke noted the phrase “culture of mercy” that Francis used in the letter, saying it struck him as a response to Pope John Paul II’s description in 1995 of a “culture of life” and “culture of death.” “People would tend to put their opponents in the ‘culture of death’ camp,” Bretzke said. “When you see ‘culture of mercy,’ it doesn’t have a companion term. Culture of legalism? Culture of hardheartedness?” There’s no direct opposite to mercy, and that’s on purpose, Bretzke surmised — a subtle way to slow down the polarization of those with differing beliefs. Want more stories about faith? Follow Acts of Faith on Twitter or sign up for our newsletter. Catholics are obligated to care for the planet, just like care for the sick, Pope Francis says Could Francis be a feminist pope? He said he wouldn’t preach politics. Then Trump won, and he gave his sermon in tears.Lehigh County woman paralyzed after flu shot wins $11.6 million for treatment That's for Sarah Behie's medical care. She'll also get $1 million for lost wages, pain. As the pain and weakness grew worse, the 20-year-old was admitted to the hospital and later diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological condition that would leave her partially paralyzed and living in hospitals and nursing homes for nearly four years. The nurse's aide at Lehigh Valley Hospital noticed that her knees and arms hurt and that her limbs felt weak. Sarah Behie's symptoms started nearly three weeks after she got a flu shot. The cause of Behie's illness, her lawyers alleged, was the flu vaccine that she received at work in October 2010. On Tuesday, attorneys Lawrence Cohan and David Carney of Philadelphia announced they had negotiated a settlement that will provide up to $11.6 million over Behie's lifetime to pay for her ongoing medical care. The settlement, to be paid by the tax-funded National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, will also provide Behie more than $1 million for her lost wages, pain and suffering and other medical expenses. Carney said the money will allow Behie to continue her treatment at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation. Behie, who lived in Lower Macungie Township before her illness, has no use of her legs and lacks the strength in her upper body to feed or clothe herself. She's 24. "It's hopeful that she will be able to return home at some point, but it's not in the plan for the immediate future," Carney said. Behie's case — though rare — is an example of the risks associated with vaccines. Studies in the United States and Canada show a small but significant risk of contracting Guillain-Barre syndrome after receiving a flu vaccine. The benefits of immunization, however, likely outweigh the risks, says a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Another study put the rate of Guillain-Barre syndrome cases at one or two per million doses of flu vaccine. "Vaccines are not bad," said Carney, who specializes in representing people who suffer vaccine injuries. "I would recommend listening to your doctor's advice." Although Lehigh Valley Hospital now requires each of its employees to be vaccinated for influenza, it was not a requirement in 2010 when Behie became ill. The hospital was not named as a defendant in her suit. Behie's settlement is the result of a safety net created by Congress a quarter century ago to spread the cost of those risks and ensure that vaccine manufacturers can keep doing business.Spiders who show off smile-like markings are much more than Internet memes and they’re not here to make you laugh, either. Just the opposite: these spiders’ bold faces serve to scare and confuse potential predators. Happy now? Cat-Faced Spider (images via: CSU CoopExt and BugGuide) The Cat-Faced Spider (Araneus gemmoides) is an orb weaver spider found in the American west and Pacific northwest. Often found around houses in areas lit by artificial lighting at night, cat-faced spiders may look somewhat creepy but they’re not poisonous. (image via: Tocayo750) Cat-Faced Spiders are rather small; only about 1/5 of an inch wide, and the females are much larger than the males. They may display light or dark forms though the “face” stands out more on the lighter, straw-colored variants. I can haz fliez? Spinybacked Orbweaver Spider (images via: BugGuide, What’s That Bug?, Islandmom and Dan Poore) The Spinybacked Orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis) can’t seem to decide if it wants to be Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th slasher films or Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Let’s hope it makes up its mind soon – this transitional form is way freaky. (images via: Roberta Davidson and Gojeffrey) Spinybacked Orbweaver Spiders come in several different contrasting color combinations which allows them to play goalie for a number of IHL (Insect Hockey League) teams. Cerbalus Aravensis (images via: Wired Science and RainbowWarrior2005) Cerbalus Aravensis is a frighteningly large spider with a 5.5 inches legspan that lives in and around the sand dunes on the Israel-Jordan border. From certain angles, Cerbalus Aravensis’ head and body resemble the face of an elderly tribesman who might live in that area of the middle east. Like, in a cave or something. (image via: National Geographic) Biologist Uri Shanas of the University of Haifa-Oranim in Israel discovered the arachnid, hopefully not in a dark room while reaching for his towel. Said Shanas, “It is rare to find a new species of spider – at least around this part of the world – which is so big.” You’re next, Osama. Bold Jumping Spider (images via: Stephen Cresswell, Ardradevir and Hartman Prehistoric Garden) The Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax) isn’t so much bold as it is, well, distinctive. Aha, but that’s just what they WANT you to think… while you’re smirking with amusement at the cartoonish white-on-black clownface decorating Phidippus’s posterior, a massive set of metallic blue-green fang-tipped chelicerae close in for the killing blow. Well, don’t worry too much, Phidippus audax is large for a Jumping Spider but its legspan is less than the diameter of a penny. (image via: Salamandrella) Be nice to any Bold Jumping Spiders you may see in and around your home – they’re harmless to humans but are hell on other bugs. Plus, they’ve been known to ward off the occasional bill collector, even with just seven legs. Venusta Orchard Spider (image via: Spiderzrule) The Orchard Spider (Leucauge venusta) is commonly found along the American east coast, and not just in orchards. This is a large and varied group of spiders and they sport a wide variety of different abdominal markings. The Venusta Orchard Spiders pictured display eye & mouth spots that range in hue from vivid red through orange and yellow to light green. (image via: Webanswers) Often mistaken for Black Widow spiders or the similar (and also dangerous) Brown Widow, Venusta Orchard Spiders are not harmful and if left alone, will remain as happy as they appear. Golden Silk Spider (images via: Nick’s Spiders, Edupic and Frank Starmer/IT Lab) What spins a web a yard wide and looks like an eight-legged human skull? Your worst nightmare, yes, but also the Golden Silk Spider (Nephila clavipes). Forget about goofy happy faces, this guy means business. Also known as Calico Spiders, these bad boys don’t bother with using their bloated abdomens to show threatening patterns, their skull-like heads are quite fearsome enough in their own right, thank you very much. (image via: Shady Grove Training Center) A native of Florida and the American southeast, the golden silk spider is one of the country’s largest orb-weaver spiders. Females can be up to 1.5 inches (40mm) long, which doesn’t seem so big until you factor in the legspan – about the width of a small dinner plate. Goldenrod Crab Spider (image via: Nature Canada Blog) The Goldenrod Crab Spider may be small but like other members of its family, it makes up for what it lacks in size with stealth, speed, camouflage and the odd freaky face – speaking of which, check out the set of images above. Somewhat reminiscent of the climactic scene from the original 1958 film version of The Fly, these shots of a Goldenrod Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) giving a wayward bee the kiss of death are even creepier, if that’s possible. (images via: Arizonensis, Duke U and Magickcanoe) The snowy white Goldenrod Crab Spider above unintentionally uses its ghostly “face” and a pair of its legs to approximate the famous Edvard Munch painting, The Scream… appropriate, no? Hawaiian Happy Face Spider (images via: The Nature Conservancy and Corral.net Forums) Spiders don’t make most people feel all warm & fuzzy.. maybe because they’re just too warm & fuzzy, but not in a good way. Not so the Happy Face Spider (Theridion grallator), found in the Hawaiian islands. When asked to comment on this tiny arachnid, Dr Geoff Oxford (a spider expert from the UK’s University of York) said: “I must admit when I turned over the first leaf and saw one it certainly brought a smile to my face.” Not the reaction the Happy Face Spider was seeking, perhaps, but at least Oxford didn’t eat it. (image via: Impact Lab) Theridion grallator can display a wide range of contrasting abdominal markings that vary from one individual to another, indicating that contrast is the point and not the “smile” we humans find so captivating. (image via: Daily Mail UK) The Happy Face Spider is considered to be endangered as it’s only found in Hawaii and like so many other wild creatures, is threatened by encroachment by humans and the resulting loss of its preferred habitat. It would be sad indeed if the Happy Face Spider (and its charismatic cousins) should smile no more.By Sumana Nandi Early 2015, when I came back to India, after finishing my Masters from University of London, I was met with starkly similar yet interesting expectations from my family, friends and near and dear ones. Now, I am supposed to narrow my brows and wrinkle my nose every time I see a cow choosing to pee in the middle of the street, halting the traffic, making irritated drivers honk continuously. I am supposed to be full of repugnance when the aunty in my neighbourhood after mopping her room on the second floor clean empties the dirty bucket of water on the street. It is now my duty to lecture the grey-haired uncle in the corner selling chaat and golgappas how he needs to maintain hygiene and cleanliness. I must now have a plush job: a job which will ensure I have a big car (preferably a BMW or Mercedes), picking and dropping me for office everyday so that the neighbours can plan and save money by fasting once a day, so that they are also able to send their children abroad (note abroad here strictly means the United States, Canada, Australia and United Kingdom). Within a few days of getting this dream-job, as a convent-educated obedient daughter who has travelled the world should now settle down (like the mud dissolved in water left aside in a glass after a good stir) to another convent-educated son who should have spent at least double the time abroad and earn double (if not triple); the cherry on the cake would be if he is an NRI and also speaks English with an accent. After such a settling down, the (Feminist) me should continue my job but only after the permission from my Pati Parmeshwar and his family lest I become a financial burden to my new family. At kitty parties with mostly the friends of my mother-in-law, I should talk about the wonderfulness of the concerts I watched at South Bank Centre, sipping orange juice (carefully replaced wine with orange juice since a pure and pious daughter-in-law cannot have a history of drinking) by the beautiful wandering Thames at sunset. Or, explain the magnificent architectural elegance of million castles and the English lush green meadows carefully omitting the men I travelled (sometimes overnight) to these places with, built with the sweat and blood of many peoples of Asia, Afrika, Australia and the Americas. Despite all this, I am still expected to stand in attention while Jana-Gana-Mana, fondly reminiscing those days of going to the market holding my father’s index finger, choose a fish I want for lunch amongst the shoal of fish swimming in the little aluminium tank and get it cut in front of us, with my eyes gleaming with happiness. I only need to wipe a tear or two of the nostalgia of how I spent my life during those (uncivilised) days in the villages and jungles of India. I light a cigarette and ponder: Why do my friends and family expect of me like they do? Is it only my friends and family who have such expectations or the society at large? Why do we believe that London is any better than Delhi/Kolkata/Mumbai/Chennai? Thoughts of how I saw London is blurred my speculating reflections momentarily. While in London, I have nursed the wound of my friend who got mugged at knife-point near Baker Street. I met men in the streets of Paddington who ogle, whistle and comment (just like men here) at any girl even if she is covered from head to toe on a rainy November evening. I poured phenyl on the walls of my house where those getting drunk at the neighbourhood pubs of where I lived came to pee. I have seen slums in London, with people huddling up amongst all thing in a one-room flat (rather pigeon hole). I have listened to soulful music on the pavements by the homeless trying to make enough money for their daily doses of drug and alcohol. I have been denied a job at a bar because I was “not white enough” and an Asian immigrant (even though I was legal immigrant with the right to work in the UK). At my University, I was told to admire and be wonder struck with awe and amazement at the statues of ‘great’ scientists, philosophers and theorists who were mostly racist and those who made us, from the colonies in Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas look inferior to the boost up the ego of the Whites and initiate White supremacist colonialism. I was told, my University is a leading institution for the study of Asia, Africa and Middle east while I was not told it was this same institution which fuelled colonialism in not only these continents of the world but also beyond by benevolently training colonial administrators to create havoc by imperialism and colonialism even till today as we feel the pangs of separations from our dear sisters and brothers in Pakistan and Bangladesh. I have visited public libraries with so much audio-visual documents, half of
a layer over the XMLHttpRequest functionality which makes the communication between Javascript and the server easier for developers. It makes the interface more logical and consistent with what developers expect. It supports multiple simultaneous requests which will not collide with each other without any additional work from the developer. ATLAS is free framework for quickly creating a new generation of more efficient and interactive Web experiences that work across all the most popular browsers. With ASP.NET AJAX you can create next-generation interfaces with reusable AJAX components, enhance existing pages using powerful AJAX controls with support for all modern browsers. Continue using Visual Studio 2005 to take your ASP.NET 2.0 sites to the next level. Access remote services and data from the browser without tons of complicated script. Bajax is a very small and simple javascript library to use Ajax on your pages. It is independent of programming language. You can put dynamic content using simple commands. MochiKit is a highly documented and well tested, suite of JavaScript libraries. It provides the best ideas from Python, Objective-C, etc. experience. Code Snippets is a public source code repository. It allows to easily build up your personal collection of code snippets, categorize them with tags / keywords, and share them with the world. DHTML API, Drag & Drop for Images and Layers A Cross-browser JavaScript DHTML Library which adds Drag Drop functionality and extended DHTML capabilities to layers and to any desired image, even those integrated into the text flow. DHTMLgoodies.com offers a library of DHTML and AJAX scripts. Dynamic Drive is a place on the net to obtain free, original DHTML & Javascripts to enhance your web site. The site is regularly updated. DynAPI is an open-source project initiated by Dan Steinman, created to make cross-browser Dynamic HTML a reality. The DynAPI library uses an object-oriented approach to solve problems associated with scripting for both Netscape and Internet Explorer qooxdoo is a comprehensive and innovative Open Source multipurpose AJAX framework, dual-licensed under LGPL/EPL. It includes support for professional JavaScript development, a state-of-the-art GUI toolkit and high-level client-server communication. Engine for Web Applications is an application framework for client-side development and Web applications. It provides an environment in which to develop and run JavaScript components and applications. Each Engine can be pre-built to user specifications, and components can be built into the engine itself, deployed as separate script packages, or deployed as application components. JavaScript Libraries are created by Mark Wilton-Jones. Here you can find images, variable retention, forms, generic DHTML, movable content, menu controls, rewritable content, document and mouse effects, and games. Javascript Toolbox is a repository of code and reusable libraries which address common needs that many web developers encounter. The code found here is based on standards but also tries to be backwards-compatible for browsers which don’t support the standards. All code on the site is written by one person, in a consistent fashion, tested thoroughly, and used in practice by thousands of web sites around the world. Taconite is a framework that simplifies the creation of Ajax enabled Web applications. It’s a very lightweight framework that automates the tedious tasks related to Ajax development, such as the creation and management of the XMLHttpRequest object and the creation of dynamic content. Taconite can be used with all modern Web browsers (Firefox, Safari, IE, Opera, and Konqueror, to name a few) and can be used with any server-side technology including Java EE,.Net, PHP, or any language that lets you return XHTML. JonDesign’s Smooth SlideShow Library is a javascript slideshow system that allows you to have a simple and smooth (cross-fading…) image slideshows and/or showcases on you website. jQuery – New Wave Javascript is a fast, concise, JavaScript Library that simplifies how you traverse HTML documents, handle events, perform animations, and add Ajax interactions to your web pages. JSL: JavaScript Standard Library is a single and small file ( IE4 compatible packed version: 7.77 Kb ) with some JavaScript 1.6 standard methods or functions that are not present on some browsers. You could just add JSL even before your scripts to add portability or more compatibility, then you don’t need to rewrite anything. JSL is compatible with every browser that supports at least JavaScript 1.2. Kabuki (a.k.a Zimbra) AJAX Toolkit is a client developer library, similar in style to traditional object-oriented widget libraries like Eclipse’s SWT, albeit for JavaScript. DHTML Kitchen is a resource for ready-made or custom-built DHTML scripts. The X Library is a collection of loosely-bound, cross-browser, Javascript functions and objects. It is intended to be a resource from which you pick and choose – you do not have to include the entire library in your application. It contains core DOM/Style functions, unobtrusive enhancements, utility functions, objects such as menus and tab panels, and also has some experimental stuff. I’ve been developing this library since 2001 (I started its predecessor around 1999). Thanks to thousands of people like yourself X has been extensively tested on a wide range of operating systems and browsers. Thanks to your contributions X continues to improve, grow and evolve. liberty is a JavaScript Basic library to make web development with JavaScript comfortable. moo.fx is a superlightweight, ultratiny, megasmall javascript effects library, to be used with prototype.js or the mootools framework. It’s very easy to use, cross-browser, standards compliant, provides controls to modify any CSS property of any HTML element, including colors, with builtin checks that won’t let a user break the effect with multiple, crazy clicks. Optimized to make you write the lesser code possible, the new moo.fx is so modular you can create any kind of effect with it. overLIB is a JavaScript library created to enhance websites with small popup information boxes (like tooltips) to help visitors around your website. It can be used to provide the user with information about what will happen when they click on a link as well as navigational help (see the examples below). TurboWidgets are JavaScript client-side controls that provide a rich user-interface experience for AJAX-style web applications. Built on top of the popular Dojo Toolkit, TurboWidgets are designed for ease-of-use and flexibility. overlibmws DHTML Popup Library Download and Test Directory for the overlibmws DHTML Popup Library PlotKit – Javascript Chart Plotting is a Chart and Graph Plotting Library for Javascript. It has support for HTML Canvas and also SVG via Adobe SVG Viewer and native browser support. PlotKit is fully documented and there is a quick tutorial to get you started. PlotKit is a complete rewrite of CanvasGraph. It is better structured and supported. qForms JavaScript API is one of the most complete JavaScript API for interfacing forms. The qForms API has been designed to make forms easy to work with. It simplifies tasks HTML developers normally find tricky to handle. Zapatec AJAX Suite includes mature, feature-rich widgets to cover all your development needs. Modular architecture gives you the flexibility to use a few widgets today and migrate to using the full suite on an as-needed basis. No need to learn a proprietary XML dialect or a complicated new platform — use the same tools you currently do, like HTML, CSS, JSON and more. Rico provides responsive animation for smooth effects and transitions that that can communicate change in richer ways than traditional web applications have explored before. Ruby on Rails is a full-stack framework for developing database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Control pattern. Sajax is an open source tool to make programming websites using the Ajax framework — also known as XMLHTTPRequest or remote scripting — as easy as possible. Sajax makes it easy to call PHP, Perl or Python functions from your webpages via JavaScript without performing a browser refresh. The toolkit does 99% of the work for you. sardalya is a cross-browser compatible system which is designed to work in all DOM-supporting browsers. s@rdalya has been tested with Internet explorer 6, Netscape navigator 6-7-8beta, Mozilla 1.5-FireFox 1.0.3, Opera 7.0-7.2-8Beta and more. The Solvent is a cross-browser AJAX application toolkit written in JavaScript. The Solvent is provided as modules or as an entire toolkit. The projects focus is to promote robust web applications and enable rapid web development. script.aculo.us provides you with easy-to-use, cross-browser user interface JavaScript libraries to make your web sites and web applications fly. Spry Framework for Ajax is a JavaScript library that provides easy-to-use yet powerful Ajax functionality that allows designers to build pages that provide a richer experience for their users. It is designed to take the complexity out of Ajax and allow designers to easily create Web 2.0 pages. Tabtastic is a simple way to implement tabs on your page using CSS, a little JS, and semantic markup which degrades gracefully on browsers with CSS unavailable or disabled. Not only is it easy to use and accessible for screen-readers, but it supports multiple (nested, even) tabsets on the same page and allows users to bookmark the page loading to a specific tab. Tacos library project provides components and ajax behaviour for the Tapestry java web application framework. Most of the functionality is based on the exceptional dojo javascript library. ThyApi is an api to allow the developement of better user interfaces for web applicaticions, Using javascript and Ajax, it allows a complete visual interface definition using CSS and encapsulates all objects data manipulateion. Build over DynApi. TwinHelix offers DHTML and JavaScript, XHTML, CSS and CGI projects. Yahoo! User Interface Library is a set of utilities and controls, written in JavaScript, for building richly interactive web applications using techniques such as DOM scripting, DHTML and AJAX. The YUI Library also includes several core CSS resources. All components in the YUI Library have been released as open source under a BSD license and are free for all uses. Zebda is a general purpose javascript library built on Prototype 1.4.0. Zephyr is an ajax based framework for php5 developers. ZK is an open-source Ajax Web framework that enables rich user interface for Web applications with no JavaScript and little programming.NEW DELHI: In the first case where Pakistan government’s involvement in printing of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) has been nailed by forensic evidence, an NIA special court in Mumbai has sentenced to life imprisonment all six accused held in a fake currency racket in Maharashtra in 2009. It was the first FICN case to be registered under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) making such printing and distribution a terror activity.NIA had produced evidence through RBI experts and forensic tests by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) to show that FICN features, paper quality and printing quality matched that of Pakistani currency and thus could only have been printed by Pakistan government press.On the basis of reports submitted by SPMCIL and RBI, the court examined the chairman of the committee of experts in detail, sources said. The committee had said, “During examination of the samples of FICN as well as the legal tender of neighbouring country, most of the pivotal parameters of the paper like gram per square metre (GSM) of the paper, wax pick quotient, poly vinyl alcohol, PH value etc were found matching with the legal tender of that country. GSM is an important indicator about the density of paper. Various currency papers have different GSMs. The surface sizing is almost similar.“The similarity in the furnish used (100% rag content), PH of the paper and surface sizing (presence of poly vinyl alcohol) clearly indicates that similar manufacturing process has been adopted in case of FICN and legal tender of that country. The aforesaid facts clubbed with presence of see through registration features, quality of the printing of the FICN, presence of security thread which appears to be inserted at the time of manufacturing of the paper, use of numbering box in printing the numbering panel of the FICN etc points towards the neighbouring country as a source of FICN."This is the first time Pakistan’s hand in FICN printing has been nailed by forensic evidence. “Until now, such opinions were merely based on intelligence reports," said an NIA officer.Sources in the security establishment said the development would go a long way in putting Pakistan on the defensive through global forums such as Financial Action Task Force (FATF) — an inter-governmental body developing and promoting policies to combat money laundering and terror financing — and build international pressure on the neighbouring country to stop the menace.The six accused -- Ravi Dhiren Ghosh, Nuruddin Islam, Mohd Samad, Mohd Aijul Shaikh, Mohd Asruddin Shaikh and Azraul Tamez Shaikh -- were arrested by Maharashtra ATS in 2009 with Rs 3.45 lakh in FICN in Mumbai. The investigation was later transferred to NIA which slapped sections of UAPA dealing with terror activity and terror funding apart from IPC sections dealing with FICN.During the investigation by NIA, it was revealed that FICN of denomination of Rs 1000 of 2AQ series seized in this case were also recovered at the Kochi currency chest of the RBI. To cast the investigation net wide, NIA then took samples of FICN seizures made across the nation. Samples were taken from seizures in Chandigarh, Chitradurga (Karnataka), Kashmir, Thane (Maharashtra), Badwani (Madhya Pradesh), Vasco (Goa) and Bhopal.These samples were sent for RBI’s opinion which said many covert features of genuine Indian currency were successfully imitated, and could have been achieved only through highly sophisticated machinery available with sovereign governments. Similar opinion was given by experts of Bank Note Press (BNP), Mysore.To get more clarity, samples were sent to SPMCIL which prints currency and stamps in the country to match them with currencies of other countries to find out where they were coming from. The SPMCIL found the currencies matching those printed in Pakistan.Comparing FICN with Pakistani currency, the SPMCIL report said, “The PH value of the paper used in legal tender of that country and one used in FICN samples is same i.e. 5-5.5. The gram per square metre (GSM) of the paper used in FICN samples and that in legal tender of that country was found to be similar. The caliper value measured in both the papers (FICN and legal tender) has similar range."An earlier report on the same notes by SPMICL had said, “After thoroughly examining the FICN it can be concluded that the notes have been printed on highly sophisticated machines which a common man cannot acquire since such machines involve huge capital investment. The pulp found to be 100% rag in the FICN which is normally used in making currency papers. The perfection of window and watermarks formation indicates the manufacture of FICN paper on regular currency making machines which can only be owned by a country/state."So there might be some interesting drama ingame, when you combine villagers now protecting their fields, and grazing animals now liking to nibble on farm crops and shop stockpiles.There is, for instance, the ongoing Great Reindeer War of Naimakolkko.I pass through Naimalkko every few weeks as it is not too far from my home settlement. I had noticed with great interest a large herd of unusually fat reindeer congregating in the mire outside of town, but mostly just marked it in my mind as a future fencetrap project.Then odd things started happening on my visits. A village maiden cried out in anger and there were sounds of a battle -- apparently one of the feistier reindeer had either attacked her unprovoked, or she had slapped him for nibbling her turnips; next I knew no one in town had time to speak to me as they were all running in circles agitated about the incident. Many weeks later, I passed through to discover the drama had not apparently died down even though more than a month had passed. The grain shop for instance, had been completely abandoned. I had gotten impatient waiting for the shopkeeper to reappear from whatever errand had distracted him, and picked up a bag of grain to see if it would summon him back. Nothing happened, and nothing continued to happen as I picked up every bag in the shop. No one called out to me as a thief, everyone passed by as normal smiling and nodding. But the shopkeeper... something had happened to him. Something that was maybe attracted to all those bags of barley...My next trip through, I was startled to see about 5 reindeer brazenly sleeping in the very center of the town. Were they now openly taking over? I had left my heavy javelins at home as I was in a bit of a rush to dash into town for some quick supplies, so I was not well equipped to take advantage though I did try to sneak up on them in hopes of whacking one with my handaxe. But they all spooked and fled, and moments later it sounded like one of them had maybe dashed into a craftsman's shop in confusion:If this is an "unintended bug," there is a large part of me that hopes it never gets "fixed" as the ongoing conflicts between the good peoples of Naimalkolkka and the local barley shoplifting gang, is starting to get rather amusing... I might even forgo the fencetrap in hopes of extending the village theatrics as long as possible.Ad now.. a large elk has also migrated into the area. I suspect having not one but TWO grain shops, may be at the heart of Naimakolkka's woes...all those bags of grain sitting out might be attracting wildlife. If that is possible, it might be interesting if villages with meat shops start to get the attention of wolf packs and bears... will be interesting to see as winter nears and the wildlife gets hungrier.1. Pepsi Blue Pepsi Blue was a "Berry Cola Infusion" released in 2002. It's seen as one of Pepsi's biggest commercial failures because of the massive marketing push put into the product. The biggest problem with Pepsi Blue was that I personally expected it to taste kind of like Pepsi with berry, which it obviously didn't. It tasted like some kind of cleaning product instead. 2. Pepsi Twist This was one of my personal favorites. It was first introduced in 2000. According to Wikipedia: The product appears to be no longer actively marketed and does not appear on the list of brands on Pepsi's official website. Pepsi Twist production was ended in the U.S. during the summer of 2006 however the drink is still available in Malaysia and some other nations. 3. Surge Surge was first released in the US in 1996. It was discontinued in the USA, Denmark and Sweden in 2001 and Coke stopped making the syrup for fountains in 2002. Norway is the only country where you can still buy it. 4. Coke Blak While I think this was a horrible idea, I'm really bummed I never got to try it. Coke Blak was introduced to the US as a coke/coffee combo in 2006. An eight-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola Blak contained 46 milligrams of caffeine. The drink was discontinued in 2008. 5. Dr. Pepper Red Fusion According to Wikipedia: First introduced in 2002, it was available only in the US. The fruity, red-colored Red Fusion was the first new flavor added to the Dr Pepper family of beverages in the company's 122-year history. Its production was essentially canceled less than a year later, although in certain areas it was available until late 2004. 6. Mountain Dew Code Red This stuff is GOOD. While it hasn't been completely discontinued, it's nearly impossible to find a 2-liter bottle in stores since Walmart and other stores stopped carrying it. The only place to find Code Red seems to be in vending machines. Read more about the shortage here: Why is Mountain Dew Code Red Disappearing from Store Shelves?All code changes needed for N Preview have been rolled into the BETA releases starting v2.71 BETA. This thread is now closed. If a new N Preview release comes out, or N Final is released, this thread may be re-opened. For now, proceed to the BETA thread! If you have tried other methods of rooting, you need to at least flash back your stock boot.img before flashing SuperSU. If you came from SuperSU v2.69, you need to reflash via TWRP or CFAR. Installing just the APK and updating binaries will not fix all the issues! This thread is dedicated to SuperSU on N Preview. With the first few releases I'm not merging it directly with the BETA branch, as there have been some invasive changes under the hood regarding SELinux handling, and there should be a little bit more testing done before going there. Still, I expect this to be done within the next week or two.I've only had the chance to test on the 5X so far, so there is some risk involved. If you're not comfortable reflashing everything due to bootloops, crashes, etc, wait for others to play the guinea pig.As this hasn't been merged with the BETA branch yet, I'm not updating the main CF-Auto-Root distribution either. But as TWRP isn't working yet on all N Preview devices either, attached are test CFAR versions.Note that you are also welcome to flash this SuperSU version on pre-N firmwares, and report back if everything still works as expected.Depending on how much you have played around, reflashing /system may also be a wise move.While trying to palliate these misdeeds, the defendant's Attorney turned suddenly to the Judge, saying: It is often attempted to palliate slavery by comparing the state of slaves with our poorer countrymen: if the misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin; but how this bears on slavery, I cannot see; as well might the use of the thumb-screw be defended in one land, by showing that men in another land suffered from some dreadful disease. Being subjects either of an absolute or limited monarchy, they have endeavored to heighten the advantages, or palliate the evils of those forms, by placing in comparison the vices and defects of the republican, and by citing as specimens of the latter the turbulent democracies of ancient Greece and modern Italy. For no other purpose but to see Alan would he have entered a billiard-room; but he had desired to palliate the fact of his disobedience, and now it appeared that he frequented these disreputable haunts upon his own account. These apparent errors in the doctrine of Thwackum served greatly to palliate the contrary errors in that of Square, which our good man no less saw and condemned. Cora remained silent, for she knew not how to palliate this imprudent severity on the part of her father in a manner to suit the comprehension of an Indian. I will not say that their foes are the aggressors, nor will I endeavour to palliate their conduct. We may palliate them or excuse them for this reason or that, but that is the truth, and I do not see why they should not be dropped from literature, as they were long ago dropped from the talk of decent people. The young clergyman, after a few hours of privacy, was sensible that the disorder of his nerves had hurried him into an unseemly outbreak of temper, which there had been nothing in the physician's words to excuse or palliate. His companions suggested only what could palliate imprudence, or smooth objections; and by the time they had talked it all over together, and he had talked it all over again with Emma, in their walk back to Hartfield, he was become perfectly reconciled, and not far from thinking it the very best thing that Frank could possibly have done. To her and her like, birth itself was an ordeal of degrading personal compulsion, whose gratuitousness nothing in the result seemed to justify, and at best could only palliate.On May 21, 1975, Tom Taylor rose in court to demand that Washington County Judge Maupin Cummings allow him to fire his male court-appointed lawyer in favor of a female attorney. Taylor, who earned a meager wage at a paper bag factory and lived with relatives, had already spent 10 days in the county jail and was grasping for a way to avoid a 30 years-to-life term in the state penitentiary for rape. Taylor, 41, figured a jury would be less hostile to a rape defendant represented by a woman, according to one of his friends. Cummings agreed to the request, scanned the list of available female attorneys (there were only a half dozen in the county at the time) and assigned Rodham, who had virtually no experience in criminal litigation. Hillary told me she didn’t want to take that case, she made that very clear,” recalls prosecutor Gibson, who phoned her with the judge’s order. Rodham immersed herself in Taylor’s defense as the law school’s spring semester came to an end. “She worked a lot of nights on it,” said Van Gearhart, her teaching assistant at the law clinic in 1975. “I remember her doing that because she wanted to show that she was willing to take court appointments, hoping that the bar would help us in getting established as a clinic.” Gibson said that it is “ridiculous” for people to question how Clinton became Taylor’s representation. “She got appointed to represent this guy,” he told CNN when asked about the controversy. According to Gibson, Maupin Cummings, the judge in the case, kept a list of attorneys who would represent poor clients. Clinton was on that list and helped run a legal aid clinic at the time. Taylor was assigned a public defender in the case but Gibson said he quickly “started screaming for a woman attorney” to represent him. Gibson said Clinton called him shortly after the judge assigned her to the case and said, “I don't want to represent this guy. I just can't stand this. I don't want to get involved. Can you get me off?” “I told her, ‘Well contact the judge and see what he says about it,’ but I also said don't jump on him and make him mad,” Gibson said. “She contacted the judge and the judge didn't remove her and she stayed on the case.”Major League Soccer aims to be one of the best leagues in the world, but MLS commissioner Don Garber admitted he and his fellow executives still have work to do in order to surpass their neighbors down south in Mexico's Liga MX. While MLS may boast star players like David Villa, Kaka, and Sebastian Giovinco, the overall quality is not quite comparable, according to players like Andre-Pierre Gignac, who claimed Liga MX is of a higher standard. Garber didn't deny that fact, either: "I think it starts with the Mexican league is better than our league now, and we have to acknowledge that and that's OK," Garber told ESPN in Mexico. "You always have to have someone within your sights in business and life and sport as your target to say they are the ones that we want to get. "There are lot of things in Liga MX that we admire: they spend more money, better training, they have been at it a longer period of time, better development." Related - Garber: MLS eyes 28 teams, including Sacramento, St. Louis The disparity between Liga MX and MLS is seen directly and frequently during the knockout stages of the CONCACAF Champions League - no MLS team has won the international club competition, after all. But Garber says it's not for a lack of effort from MLS sides, who go into the contest during preseason while Mexico's elite outfits are in mid-season form. "Excuses are terrible in the sports business but when we are playing in February before our teams are together against a Club America when they are at their peak that is not good for the competition," Garber said. "I am a big proponent of changing that and then if when we are at a level playing ground and they still beat us then we need to take a step back and say, 'what do we need to do to get even better?'"My journey into the world of quadcopters started in December when my friends participated in a quadcopter build weekend at TheLab.ms makerspace. I watched, and I helped them build 450mm drones, but I didn’t build my own quadcopter—I felt like I had too many other unfinished projects going on at the time. My friend Brian must have gotten sick of me not participating, because he gave me a Spektrum DX6 transmitter for Christmas. I immediately ordered a Blade Nano QX micro drone to practice with, and I had it for less than a week before I started upgrading it. I was crashing a lot, and as soon as the frame started getting roughed up, I started designing a parametric brushed motor quadcopter frame. I knew I didn’t want something as large as a 450mm drone, and being able to fly around inside the house has been a great way to practice. I wanted to build something small, fast, and nimble. Something I could fly around the house, but still take out to the park to fly with my friends. Something that could survive a crash. The first drone I found in my research was the RS90 quadcopter at Thingiverse. It seems to fit all criteria: It is small, nimble, and durable. Then I discovered the DJ105 drone. It’s only a little bigger, uses bigger motors and propellers, and generates a lot more thrust than the RS90. It is also a simpler design—flat parts are easy to 3D-print! The DJ105 requires low-profile motors and fancy, more costly 2.5” propellers from RotorX. This drives up the cost of the drone and limits your choice of parts. Scaling the quadcopter up to allow for taller motors and 3” props brings the cost down a little, and it opens up a wider selection of suitable motors and propellers. tl;dr How did I do? I managed to design a parametric quadcopter model. It can be easily scaled from 2.5” propellers and a 105mm wingspan all the way up to at least 5” propellers and a 230mm wingspan. I’m not sure how practical the sandwich-style design is at larger sizes, but I’d definitely like to try printing a frame that can accommodate 4” propellers! The PH145 drone weighs in at 234 grams with the camera, and its all-up-weight is 411 grams with my 1500mAh 4S LiPo battery. I don’t have the equipment to measure top speed and acceleration. All I can say is that it is fast! I enjoy punching the throttle for a couple seconds and watching it quickly ascend into the sky—it sounds like an angry swarm of bees! My friend Alex has a rather fancy-looking FPV racing drone—a Blade Vortex 250 with 5” props, and he runs a 1300mAh 4S LiPo. His racing drone is much faster than the PH145. My 3” props are probably my biggest limiting factor. I have an 850mAh 4S LiPo en route, and that will give me a 20% weight reduction. I can hardly wait to see what that feels like with the smaller battery! My Venom 850mAh 4S LiPo battery is amazing. It can keep my little drone in the air for nearly six minutes of spirited flying, and the weight reduction compared to the 1300mAh or 1500mAh 4S batteries makes the drone feel so much more nimble and quick! The 850mAh 4S is by far my favorite. As soon as I finished running the battery down for the first time, I ran inside and immediately ordered a four pack! The PH145 frame is durable. I’ve managed to crack two of the prop guards on the original prototype frame. One crack is at the exact point of a design flaw in the model—I’ve since repaired it in OpenSCAD. The other break is near the center of a prop guard. I changed the model and made all the guards 50% thicker. It took high speed-crashes into asphalt to break the prototype frame. I won’t be surprised if the new nylon frame is effectively indestructible—only time will tell! UPDATE: I finally crashed hard enough to break the nylon frame! It snapped right at two adjacent zip tie slots on the top frame. I knew these would be weak points, but I thought they were far enough inside the frame that it wouldn’t matter. I was wrong. The bottom also broke in the same area. It cracked at one of the thickest points right next to a screw. I assume this area was under more stress due to the two broken points directly above. It still flies fine, so I’m not in a hurry to print a new frame. I’ve eliminated the zip tie slots, and I have made several other minor improvements to the model. I’m sure I’ll be printing a new frame in a few weeks. I’ve only been flying the newer, stronger frame for a couple of days. I don’t crash as often as I did even a week ago, but I’ve hit the ground pretty hard a couple of times. The new frame shows no signs of breaking yet, but I am popping the heads off nylon screws much more easily now, since there is less flex in the frame. I completely missed one of my goals. I won’t be flying the PH145 indoors. It is heavy enough to do real damage to furniture, televisions, and our cats. It also generates way too much wind and noise! Other than that, I’m elated with how this design and build turned out! The full parts list is near the bottom of this blog post. UPDATE: I’ve learned how to read the blackbox flight recorder data. I need to do more science, but I’ve been scanning the logs. The PH145 manages 3.1g to 3.2g of acceleration on the Z-axis with the Gemfan 4-blade props. I need to order another set of RotorX RX3040 props to test! Motors and props I’m going to start by saying that I have no idea what I’m doing. This is the first drone I’ve ever built, so some of my assumptions may end up being wildly inaccurate. That said, the parts I chose are working well together. Since I’m using 3” props, I need a motor that can spin fast. That means I need to use a motor with a high KV rating. I was hoping to use 2205 or 2206 brushless motors, but they’re only available at around 2300KV. I decided to use the DYS BX1306 4000KV motors. They’re available everywhere and reasonably priced. My only complaint is the bullet shaped prop nuts. They’re long enough to extend past my frame. I’ve ordered a simple set of prop nuts, but they haven’t arrived yet. I’m still landing and taking off bullet-shaped motor nuts! There are other 1306 4000KV motors available at Amazon, like the Crazepony EMAX RS1306 motors, and they ship with shorter nuts. I bet they’d work just as well. So far, I’ve tried two-blade and four-blade 3030 bullnose props. The two-blade props have been a disappointment. They make the PH145 feel completely gutless when paired with either my 1500mAh or 1300mAh 4S batteries, and they didn’t even provide an increase in flight time. I plan to try some three-blade props. I’ve read some amazing things about the RotorX RX3030T props—I have a set on the way right now! My set of RotorX RX3030T propellers have arrived, and they are amazing! I went outside to test them, and I was in the air for 9:45 with my 1500mAh 4S LiPo. That’s more time than I’ve ever been in the air on a single charge! While I was out there, I also tried one of my 1300mAh 3S LiPo batteries. It was in the air more than a full minute longer than I’ve ever seen from one of these 3S batteries. The RX3030T props don’t just keep the PH145 in the air a little longer. They feel like they have at least as much thrust as the cheap 4-blade bullnose props, and they sound a lot quieter, too! As soon as I came back in the house, I ordered two more sets. Forget all the other propellers. Just get the RotorX RX3040T props. They may cost twice as much, but they’re definitely worth it! UPDATE: The RotorX RX3040T props perform better than any other prop I’ve tried, but I’ve broken a lot of them. I’ve been running a set of Gemfan 4-blade 3035 props for a couple of weeks. I like them nearly as much as the RotorX props, but the Gemfan props are much less fragile. I managed to break nearly two full sets of RotorX props in a week, but it has taken me two or three weeks to break my first Gemfan. I doubt they’re as sturdy as DAL props, but they’re also not as heavy! Should I use a 4-in-1 ESC? You can most definitely save a few dollars if you use four separate ESCs, but I like how easy it was to fit the 4-in-1 ESC unit into my design. It is the same size and uses the same mounting holes as the Naze32, and I didn’t have to figure out where to fit four separate boards. This alone is worth the extra cost of a 4-in-1 unit. The 4-in-1 ESC board I’m using claims to have four 30-amp units on a single board, but I’m dubious of this claim. It is working just fine so far, though, so I can’t complain! The biggest potential downside will be having to spend $60 to replace four ESCs if I ever fry one. It would be easier and cheaper to replace a single ESC. If I ever blow out an ESC, I will revisit this situation. Naze32 and Cleanflight vs Betaflight The Naze32 flight controller seemed like the way to go. They’re inexpensive, and they work quite well. I had no idea what I was doing, and ended up ordering an older revision 5 board. The revision 6 boards are available for about the same price, and it looks like they have a more convenient pin layout. The revision 5 board is working just fine, but don’t make my mistake—just buy a revision 6 board! I ran the Cleanflight firmware for my first week of flying. Cleanflight had me up and running with a stable
turn over any information. Joiner and his attorney have six months to decide if they will proceed and sue the FBI. Send news tips to [email protected] this April 23, 2015, photo, the United Fellowship Center, formerly called The Social Club, is seen in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Six nights a week, The Social Club in downtown Nashville holds parties for couples and singles to dance, flirt and mingle. Sometimes they take the festivities upstairs — to the private beds, the love swings, the group play areas, the “Sybian” room or the dungeon. Yes, people have sex there. “Remember, we are all strangers until we meet!” is a motto at this private swingers group founded in 1980 for consenting adults to explore their sexual fantasies with and around each other. The swingers recently decided they were ready to move to the suburbs. The suburbs do not appear ready for the swingers. When the club purchased a building next to a Christian school, residents protested and threw zoning problems in its way. So the swingers have come up with a new plan to short-circuit the zoning static around their relocation: Their new club, they say, is a church — a church for swingers to meet, to mingle and to engage in the regular practice of their faith. If the city accuses them of running a sham church, the club’s longtime lawyer Larry Roberts says that the Constitution is on their side. Is it? And what defines a “religion,” anyway? The answer to that question is complicated — so complicated, it’s occupied U.S. courts for roughly two centuries now. “They can sue us and say they want an injunction to stop us from operating, and we can say we have some tenets of the church sort of like the Ten Commandments,” Roberts said over the phone. He listed a few. “Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not cheat. Do not commit any act that will be harmful to others. Do not commit adultery without the knowledge and consent of your spouse.” “That one’s a little bit different,” Roberts admitted. How the swingers sex club became a church For years, the swingers have been meeting at a nondescript brick building less than a mile south of Music City Center, in an area that once teemed with adult bookstores and gentleman’s clubs hidden in plain sight. Now the neighborhood is gentrifying quickly. Last fall, the group sold their complex for $1.3 million, more than double what they purchased it for in 1998. They bought an abandoned medical office in a quiet neighborhood north of Nashville called Madison. The 22,000-square-foot space, with private exam rooms that could easily become play rooms, was near perfect — except that it happened to sit between two churches and a posh private Christian academy. (Google Earth imagery from 4/25/2014) “It’s the biggest bunch of bigots that I would into run into except maybe at a Klu Klux Klan meeting,” Roberts said. “When my clients first began considering this, I said, ‘With this location, you’re going to create a firestorm of controversy.’ ” They did. Karen Bennett, who represents this neighborhood on the legislative council for Nashville and Davidson County, said that hundreds of parents — more than 400 by her count — came to each of the public hearings a few months ago. “Madison is a really good, solid, suburban community in Nashville, very family-based,” Bennett said. ”Most people feel like this would be a black eye to have this adult club. It’s not what they want for their community.” Bennett herself graduated from Goodpasture Christian School, which is across the street from the new club building. She’s concerned about having a club so close to a school. Think of the children, she says. “[The swingers] seem to think that they would be quiet neighbors, and I don’t think that’s really the case,” she said. “Kids ask questions and they want to know what is going on.” [This reality show about married swingers is crazy, but not for the reason you think] The neighbors demanded that something be done. “We’re going to pursue that at the highest level legally,” Goodpasture’s president told a local news broadcast in January. “We’re going to pursue it politically. Our goal is for them to never open their doors at 520 Lentz.” That meant that the townspeople were going to change the rules. When the swingers bought the old medical office, they had made sure that it was legal to hold events there. But Bennett soon introduced a new ordinance amending the zoning laws in Nashville and Davidson County. The swingers’ new property would no longer be able to host private clubs of any kind. The Metro Council passed that measure in late March. Soon after, Tennessee’s state legislature also unanimously approved a new law prohibiting private clubs where people can watch or have sex from operating within 1,000 feet of a school. It goes without saying that religious values animate a good deal of the public discourse in Tennessee, where cities are not allowed to have laws protecting gay people from discrimination, and where lawmakers this year sought to make the Bible the state book. Religious institutions are so powerful and protected in America, reasoned the swingers’ lawyer, that if the club couldn’t beat them — well, perhaps it would join them. “What is religion to you may not be to someone else; and what is religion to someone else may not be to you,” Roberts said. According to the club’s new renovation plans, the game room will become the fellowship hall. The north dungeon will be the choir room. The south dungeon will be the handbell room. (Metro Nashville and Davidson County Codes Administration) There won’t be any sex at this church, Roberts said, but people could gather here, and take the party off-premises. “It may not be what they call a ‘full service’ club, but I think it will fulfill the function,” he said. Once the operation is up and running, the city might send inspectors to verify that it is acting as a church. It might issue a warrant asking the courts to adjudicate. (In practice, Nashville zoning administrator Bill Herbert said he’s never heard of a case involving “un-traditional types of churches.”) Roberts said he was the one who counseled the swingers to become a church. He believed that they needed the strong protections and freedoms that the government affords to religious groups. “It’s something that the government can’t control,” he said. “After all, isn’t that the reason America was established, or one of them?” A judge can’t divine which gods are real or false … The First Amendment says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” But the Constitution is completely silent on the more fundamental question of what religion actually is. And centuries of legal debate haven’t resolved matters much. “Courts struggle with this,” said Alan Brownstein, a law professor at UC Davis. “We do not have an accepted working definition of religion in American legal jurisprudence.” It’s paradoxical, almost. How can a nation so concerned with religious freedom not agree on what constitutes a religion? How can we attach so many protections and privileges to something so legally amorphous? But religious liberty also implies religious diversity, and religious tolerance. The nation, indeed, was founded in part by refugees of a minority sect. In that spirit, the courts have been incredibly reluctant to rule on whether someone’s religion or religious beliefs are the real deal. “We’re worried that if we define religion too narrowly, we’ll end up excluding some belief systems that do deserve to be recognized,” Brownstein said. “It’s very hard to come up with a good definition of religion that includes everything we want to be covered and only excludes what we thinks should be excluded.” On occasions when courts have been forced to render judgement, they often defer to what a person says their religious beliefs are, even if those beliefs are out of the mainstream or idiosyncratic. “[R]eligious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger famously wrote in the majority opinion for Thomas v. Review Board in 1981. [Eugene Volokh explains how the Hobby Lobby decision relied on Thomas v. Review Board] Eddie Thomas was a metal worker and a devout Jehovah’s Witness. In a job application for the Blaw-Knox Foundry and Machinery Co., he listed his hobbies as “Bible study” and “Bible reading.” A year after he joined, the company moved him to a position making tank turrets. Thomas felt this was against his religion. He quit and fought the state of Indiana for unemployment benefits. Thomas’s case, which ended up at the Supreme Court, hinged on whether his beliefs about pacifism were truly religious in nature. Thomas had struggled to define some of the moral principles of his religion. He admitted in court that his friend, also a Jehovah’s Witness, disagreed that their religion prohibited his employment in the tank turret department. In light of these contradictions, the lower court argued that Thomas’s views were a “personal philosophical choice,” lacking sufficient religious character. The Supreme Court brushed aside those concerns. “Courts are not arbiters of scriptural interpretation,” Burger wrote, setting a precedent that the legal system would gingerly handle questions of religious validity. So, for instance, the courts have recognized Wiccan covens (there is even one in Memphis); they have ruled in favor of a Santeria group that wanted to sacrifice animals. In the course of its work, the Internal Revenue Service also has to determine whether religions are valid or not. The IRS gives tax exemptions to churches in part because churches tend to serve the public good through education and charity work. To evaluate a church, it considers a range of criteria: whether the church has a creed, religious services, ordained ministers, religious literature and so forth. But these are just guidelines, and religious groups will sue if they think they were unfairly snubbed. The Church of Scientology, for instance, battled the IRS for years to gain tax-exempt status. In one famous lawsuit, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Scientology did not deserve tax breaks because it seemed to be organized like a business funneling profits to its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. This violated an IRS rule that says nonprofits need to have some kind of charitable or public service purpose. That case avoided the much tougher question of whether Scientology was actually a religion — a question that the courts feel ill-equipped to answer. In the end, the matter was not decided in court anyway. As the famous story goes, Scientologists pressured the IRS to the point that it finally changed its mind. … but can the courts peer into your soul? And yet, it is also clearly unreasonable for anyone to be able to create a religion or claim newfound religious beliefs just to get special treatment. While courts tend to avoid rendering judgment on anyone’s religion, they are more comfortable ruling on whether someone holds their religious beliefs sincerely. This is the way that many religion-of-convenience lawsuits are decided, explains James Oleske, a law professor at Lewis and Clark. “In general, courts are very reluctant to question the validity of religious beliefs,” he said. “But they do ask if there really is a good-faith, religious belief that exists — that this isn’t a sham in order for people to get immunity for their secular practices.” [Supreme Court rules in favor of Arkansas Muslim inmate’s request to grow beard] There are several examples of courts denying people religious privileges by calling into question whether they actually believe what they say they believe. For instance, Oleske points to a 2010 New Mexico case involving a couple that created a church around sacrament of marijuana. Citing these religious beliefs, in conjunction with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Danuel and Mary Quaintance attempted to defend against criminal marijuana charges. The Tenth Circuit found theirs to be a flimsy argument. People testified that the Quaintances talked about their marijuana operation as a “business” not as a church. “[T]he record contains additional, overwhelming contrary evidence that the Quaintances were running a commercial marijuana business with a religious front,” judge Neil Gorsuch wrote in the 2010 decision. At this point, marijuana church arguments are known to be long shots. “We get these fraternities that call us up,” said Eric Rassbach, a lawyer at the Beckett Fund, a religious liberty defense organization. “Some group of guys on a college campus call us up and say: ‘We just invented this new church. Its sacrament is marijuana. Will you defend us?’ ” “We tell them no, sorry guys, you’re not the first to come up with this idea and you’re going to lose,” Rassbach said. (Sometimes, though it is rare, such an argument does win. Oleske notes that in 2013, the Minnesota Court of Appeals allowed a Rastafarian to keep his marijuana pipe because it had religious significance to him. The pipe reminded him to “perform what needs to be performed, which is smoking.”) Some of this may seem bizarre. Judges and juries lack telepathy. How can courts presume to evaluate how deeply someone believes? Who is to say what your intimate relationship to your god is? The process is difficult, Rassbach concedes, but the courts delve into people’s minds all the time, he said. “Courts cannot decide whether a religious belief is true, but they can decide whether it is truly held. That’s a state of mind question, and courts do that business day in, day out.” [How religious freedom laws were praised, then hated, then forgotten, then, finally, resurrected] A murder case, for instance, might depend on proving whether someone had intent to kill. A securities fraud case, Rassbach said, asks whether the defendants intentionally deceived investors. Courts look at evidence to gauge someone’s sincerity. How does someone behave? Do they make effort to adhere to the tenets of their faith? Have they practiced their religion in this way for a long time? How do they talk about their spirituality to their friends and family? And most importantly, might they have some ulterior motive for professing these religious beliefs? These questions sometimes get muddy. In the Hobby Lobby case before the Supreme Court, the justices had to look at the beliefs of the companies’ religious owners, who refused to pay for employee health insurance plans that included contraceptive coverage. That would go against their religion, the owners claimed. No one denied that these bosses were devout people — and yet, did they really believe that paying for this kind of insurance violated their religion? After all, they were not directly funding contraceptives — they were several times removed from the behavior that they found unholy. Did they sincerely believe this would be a stain on their conscience? But the Supreme Court did not treat this as an issue of religious sincerity; this question was treated as an issue of doctrinal interpretation, which is territory that the court treads lightly upon. “[I]t is not for us to say that their religious beliefs are mistaken or insubstantial,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority. “Instead, our ‘narrow function … in this context is to determine’ whether the line drawn reflects ‘an honest conviction,’ … and there is no dispute that it does.” What does this mean for the swingers church? Most of the religious scholars agreed that the swingers church would be in trouble if the city came and sued them for not being a real church. It does not look good that the swingers only started their church in response to being banned from opening their sex club at the same property. Ira “Chip” Lupu, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University, offered a different, non-religious defense. Lupu cited what has become known as the “Sister Wives” case. In 2011, the polygamous family featured on the TLC show “Sister Wives” challenged Utah’s anti-polygamy law after facing criminal charges for cohabitating. In 2013, the Federal District Court for Utah ruled that Utah’s anti-polygamy law was unconstitutional. The state could prevent people from holding two marriage licenses, but it can’t regulate what adults chose to do in private, wrote Judge Clark Waddoup. This was reasoning borrowed from Lawrence v. Texas, the landmark Supreme Court case that struck down anti-sodomy laws in 2003. (The case is being appealed.) A similar argument might prevail here, Lupu said. The key is that these activities are happening behind closed doors. “They’re a club. They screen members. They could do this in their house, except their house isn’t big enough or whatever.” Therefore, the swingers could argue that the government violated their right to sexual privacy when it zoned them out of their property. “I think they could make a pretty good case,” Lupu said. On Tuesday night, I called the main line at the The Social Club, which for now is still operating out of its old location downtown. The person who answered the phone called himself Peter, but declined to give his last name (“What we do — what my wife and I do privately, is between us, you know?”). Proving the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity, Peter said that the controversy had brought in scores of new members who either didn’t know the club existed, or thought it was illegal. “The parties have been huge since all this has happened,” he said. “It’s been outstanding, standing-room only.” Hello everyone! I’ll be reading and responding to comments today. To get the discussion started, let me ask you this: Where is the dividing line between secular beliefs and religious beliefs? Should we treat a Catholic with anti-abortion views differently from an atheist with anti-abortion views? Is that an unfair question to ask? And of course, feel free to e-mail me at jeff.guo at washpost.comThe huge Kansas City, Kansas, waterslide on which a 10-year-old boy died was built in a state known for its light regulation of amusement park rides, and the company lobbied legislators to help ensure that it remained responsible for its own inspections. Kansas mandates annual inspections of permanent amusement park rides but allows private inspectors to do the checks, rather than requiring a state inspection. The state does only random audits of operators’ records, and there are no additional local safety regulations for the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City. Before Kansas considered imposing inspection requirements for amusement rides in 2008, a Schlitterbahn lobbyist urged state lawmakers to allow large parks to handle their own inspections. The resulting Kansas law and regulations contain provisions that the author of an older and tougher Florida law called "absurd." States’ regulations of waterslides and other amusement rides are facing scrutiny following the death Sunday of Caleb Thomas Schwab on the 168-foot "Verruckt" at the Schlitterbahn park. He was the son of state Rep. Scott Schwab, an Olathe Republican. "I would assume and hope that the Legislature would spend significant time in looking at the issue, and we will, as an administration," Republican Gov. Sam Brownback told reporters Friday. "I think that all needs to be looked at now in light of this tragedy." Authorities have not said exactly how the accident occurred. Schlitterbahn has said the Verruckt — German for "insane" — will remain closed for the rest of the season. Permanent rides in Kansas must be "self-inspected" annually by a qualified inspector, with the state conducting random audits of the resulting inspection records. A document released this week by the state Department of Labor showed all of Schlitterbahn’s rides passed private inspections June 7. The company’s other parks are in Texas, which also requires annual inspections by insurance company inspectors. Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio declined to comment on questions related to the accident in Kansas City or the regulation of the park. The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission said there have been four fatalities on waterslides since 2010, not including the one in Kansas. David Mandt, a spokesman for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, said the trade group estimates than 85 million people safely visit water parks each year, making an accident like the one in Kansas City "extremely rare." "We go to great lengths to ensure the safety of our guests," Mandt said in an email to The Associated Press. The regulation of permanent amusement park rides is left to the states, and it’s inconsistent. Ken Martin, a Richmond, Va.-based amusement park safety consultant, said New Jersey is the "No. 1" state for ride safety, in part because its program includes enforcement and fines, and Pennsylvania is a "close second." According to the federal commission, New Jersey’s program has as an engineering staff that reviews rides, as well as licensed field inspectors. Pennsylvania requires state-certified inspections when a permanent ride is set up and then "every 30 days thereafter." The state also performs unannounced quality assurance inspections. Among the states with no state oversight are Mississippi, Alabama, Nevada, South Dakota and Utah, according to the amusement park association. Martin said Texas is "barely" better than Kansas about regulating amusement rides. "As far as Kansas having a reputation in the industry, they’re known for having little to no regulations," Martin said. "Been that way for years." Before 2009 — the same year Schlitterbahn opened its Kansas City park — Kansas had no state inspection requirements. The idea faced opposition from rural legislators worried about shutting down rides at county fairs and local festivals, said state Rep. Tom Sloan, a Lawrence Republican who first pushed for new rules in the late 1990s. Kansas legislators approved the inspection law in 2008, after a study committee recommended it. The panel’s official report, drafted after an October 2007 hearing, said a Schlitterbahn lobbyist saw "no problem" with lawmakers considering a requirement but added, "the company would like a ‘Disney exception’ " for large parks, allowing "company inspection, in conjunction with the state." The lobbyist, Mike Hutfles, did not return telephone messages seeking comment, and Prosapio declined comment. Before the Verruckt slide opened in 2014, Schlitterbahn head designer John Schooley told CNN, "Our park in Kansas City doesn’t have a height restriction, so we decided to put it right here." Schlitterbahn hopes to build a new park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but it won’t replicate the Verruckt there, because building heights are restricted at its chosen site. The Kansas law allows local officials to impose safety requirements, but Wyandotte County only checks rides when they’re constructed to see whether building codes have been followed. Local government spokesman Mike Taylor said it wouldn’t be cost-effective to keep a highly trained inspector on staff or retainer because of a single park. "It would make more sense for that to be based at the State level," Taylor said in an email. But Brad Burke, the Kansas Department of Labor’s deputy secretary and chief counsel, said the agency has the authority only to conduct audits of records. Kansas parks are required to keep their records only for a year. Former Florida Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller, a Democrat who wrote his state’s older and tougher law, said such a lax record-keeping requirement is "absurd." The Kansas law calls for annual "non-destructive testing" of rides, with ultrasound, radiography or other technology. Burke said the definition also allows visual inspections, and the general practice is to see that a ride operator does the testing recommended in the manufacturer’s manual. "I’ve seen some manuals where they say the testing we recommend is that park employees ride the ride the morning of operations, prior to allowing the public to operate," Burke said. "Some of them require visual inspection." In a letter Thursday, a department official told the Schlitterbahn park’s general manager that a post-accident records audit confirmed that non-destructive testing "is not required by the manufacturer of each ride." The letter said Schlitterbahn met all regulatory requirements. Geller called relying on visual inspections "ridiculous," saying stresses on metal and even cracks aren’t caught that way, particularly if a ride is painted. In Kansas, a park must shut down a ride if there is a serious injury and have it inspected again. The park also must report the incident to the ride’s manufacturer — but not the state. The Department of Labor has 18 inspectors who do record audits for rides at more than 110 fair, festival, carnival and amusement park sites, but they also have other, larger workplace inspection duties. "We are constrained by the Constitution, as far as search and seizure," Burke said. "We can’t just force our way into places unless we have authority to do it — which is a good thing."American football player Arthur Ernest Schlichter (, born April 25, 1960) is a former college and professional American football quarterback, known for his four-decade compulsive gambling habit and the legal problems that arose from it. He is currently serving ten years in federal prison for stealing thousands of dollars in order to fuel his gambling habit. Early life [ edit ] A native of Bloomingburg, Ohio, Schlichter was a star at Miami Trace High School; he never lost a game as a starter.[1] His gambling habit began in high school with a visit to Scioto Downs, a harness racing track near Columbus. He and several friends pooled their resources to bet on a race at Scioto Downs, and won. He quickly became a regular, and remained his favorite track over the years.[2][1] Schlichter was a four-year starter at Ohio State University. He was the last starting quarterback for legendary Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes. Schlichter threw the interception that led to Hayes' assault on Clemson linebacker Charlie Bauman in the 1978 Gator Bowl, an act that led to the coach's firing the next day.[3][4] Schlichter finished in the top six of Heisman Trophy balloting during his last three years—fourth as a sophomore, sixth as a junior and fifth as a senior. In his sophomore year, 1979, he led the Buckeyes to an undefeated regular season. They had a chance to win at least a share of the national championship in the Rose Bowl, but lost to USC by a single point. In his four years as a Buckeye, 1979 through 1981, Schlichter tallied 7,547 passing yards and 50 touchdown passes, with 46 interceptions. He also rushed for 1,303 yards and 35 touchdowns. At the time, he was Ohio State's all-time leader in total offense. In 1981, sports writer Ritter Collett published a biography of Schlichter, Straight Arrow.[5] During his college career, Schlichter was frequently spotted at Scioto Downs with a big-time Ohio gambler. Although the Columbus and OSU police departments became suspicious, the athletic department felt it lacked enough evidence to go to the NCAA about the matter.[6] By his junior year, he had lost several thousand dollars gambling on college and professional sports.[1] On several occasions he was seen at the track with Hayes' successor as head coach, Earle Bruce, a fact which helped cover up early problems emerging while Schlichter was at Ohio State.[2] Professional career [ edit ] Schlichter was picked fourth in the 1982 NFL Draft (in the same class that included Jim McMahon of Brigham Young University and Marcus Allen of the University of Southern California) by the Baltimore Colts (who moved to Indianapolis two years later). Expected to be the starter, he lost the job to Mike Pagel, the Colts' fourth-round pick in that year. However, he was expected to be the Colts' quarterback of the future. His gambling continued unabated; he blew his entire $350,000 signing bonus by midseason.[7][1] His gambling spiraled out of control during the 1982 NFL strike; he lost $20,000 betting on college football.[8] By the end of the strike, he had at least $700,000 in gambling debts.[9] Years later, he said his massive losses stemmed from desperate efforts to make good his previous losses. After losing $20,000 in the first week of the strike, he doubled up the next week and lost again—starting a cycle that would continue for over a year.[1] In the winter of 1982 and the spring of 1983, Schlichter lost $489,000 betting on basketball games, and his bookies threatened to expose him if he did not pay up (the NFL forbids its players from engaging in any kind of gambling activity, legal or otherwise). Schlichter went to the FBI in March 1983, and his testimony helped get the bookies arrested on federal charges.[10][1] He also sought the help of the NFL because he feared the bookies would force him to throw games in return for not telling the Colts about his activities.[8] The league suspended him indefinitely. Schlichter was the first NFL player to be suspended for gambling since Alex Karras and Paul Hornung were suspended in 1963 for betting on NFL games.[11] He was reinstated for the 1984 season, but later admitted that he'd gambled during his suspension (though not on football). He was released five games into the 1985 season in part because the Colts heard rumors he was gambling again.[8] As it turned out, he lost a significant amount of money over the spring and summer while playing golf, and wrote one of his golfing partners a check for $2,000. The check was to be cashed after the season started. However, when the golfing partner called the Colts to see if the check was good, team and league officials feared Schlichter had relapsed. The league wanted him to take a lie-detector test, but the Colts had already seen enough and released him.[12] It would be Schlichter's last meaningful action in the NFL. He signed as a free agent with the Buffalo Bills in the spring of 1986.[13] However, his tenure in Buffalo effectively ended when the United States Football League collapsed. Jim Kelly, the Bills' 1983 first-round pick, had bolted to the USFL instead, but signed with the Bills when the USFL lost its antitrust lawsuit. The Bills had intended all along for Kelly to be their quarterback of the future; with Kelly now firmly in the Bills fold, Schlichter's services were no longer necessary. He sat out the 1986 season after no other team expressed interest. In January 1987, Schlichter was arrested in New York City for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar sports betting operation.[14] He pleaded guilty to illegal gambling in April, and was sentenced to probation.[7][12] That arrest came back to haunt him that summer. The Cincinnati Bengals saw enough promise in him that they were willing to bring him on as Boomer Esiason's backup. However, Commissioner Pete Rozelle would not approve the deal, citing the January arrest.[12] He let it be known that he would not approve any NFL contract for Schlichter, costing him valuable work when the NFL players' union went on strike that year. He made another bid for reinstatement in 1988, but was turned down. That same year, he filed for bankruptcy to shield himself from creditors.[7] In parts of three seasons, Schlichter played only 13 games, primarily in backup or "mop-up" roles. He made only six starts, losing them all. He threw 202 passes and completed 91 of them. He threw three touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. He amassed a quarterback rating of only 42.6, and is considered one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history. In 2007, Schlichter was listed as the #7 all-time draft bust on the NFL Network's Top 10 Draft Busts episode.[15] In an updated list aired on April 16, 2010, Schlichter was moved to the #4 draft bust of all time,[16] and in a video listing the top 10 quarterback draft busts of all time, Schlichter was listed #3, behind #2 JaMarcus Russell and #1 Ryan Leaf.[17] Years later, Schlichter said that he was distracted for much of his NFL career. He went through a messy breakup with his girlfriend before his rookie season, and the ensuing depression led him to gamble more. He believed that accolades he received after his sophomore year at Ohio State diminished his drive, and the pressure of living up to that praise led him to gamble more.[12] Schlichter briefly signed a contract with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. He was named the starter out of camp, and saw his first meaningful game action in three years. However, he suffered broken ribs after a brutal hit, and was waived midway through the season. He played for the Arena Football League for the Detroit Drive in 1990 and 1991, leading them to a third consecutive league title in 1990[18] as the league's MVP. He was traded to the expansion Cincinnati Rockers before the 1992 season, and helped lead them to the playoffs in their inaugural season.[12] However, he announced he would not return to the team in 1993, intending instead to focus on curing his gambling addiction. Radio career [ edit ] While co-hosting a Rockers-focused radio show on WSAI, he did well enough that he became the station's afternoon drive-time host.[12] During this time, he appeared on The Phil Donahue Show, talking about his addiction.[19] In 1994, he moved to KVEG in Las Vegas, but was fired after a few months for stealing checks from the station's owner in order to get money to gamble.[12] Extent of addiction [ edit ] Over the years, Schlichter has, by his own count, committed more than 20 felonies.[20] He gambled away much of his NFL, Arena League and radio salaries. Whenever he ran low on money to support his gambling, he stole and conned it from friends and strangers. He also passed bad checks; when he first started gambling, casinos still took personal checks. He would write a check to the casino and use the money to gamble, believing he would win enough money to pay the casino back and keep the profit. However, he almost always lost.[12] In a 2007 interview for ESPN's Outside the Lines, he estimated that he'd stolen $1.5 million over the years, if not more. Between 1987 and 1992, Schlichter was arrested three times in Ohio for passing a total of $50,000 in bad checks. In part because he was still remembered for his stardom at OSU, he received probation or suspended sentences each time.[1] He moved to Las Vegas in 1989 soon after marrying longtime girlfriend Mitzi Shinaver–ironically, in hopes of getting treatment for his addiction. However, his gambling continued unabated.[12] He ran up massive gambling debts while playing for the Detroit Drive, though general manager Gary Vitto helped pay some of them off.[12] Soon after arriving in Cincinnati, he was arrested in July for passing a bad check. He admitted suffering a relapse, but the Rockers were willing to stand by him. They worked out a deal with Schlichter in which they put most of his paycheck into an account to pay his gambling debts, except for $300 which they gave to Mitzi.[21] However, by the end of the 1992 season, the Rockers were losing patience with him, and asked him to take a substantial pay cut if he wanted to return for the 1993 season.[12] The habit took a considerable toll on his marriage. Mitzi did her best to protect herself and their two children. For instance, she never allowed Art to have a checkbook.[1] However, soon after they moved back to Las Vegas in 1994, he took a box of old checks from her sister and used them to get money to gamble. He lost it all, and when it was apparent he couldn't pay it back, the bank reported him to the FBI. Mitzi lost patience with him and moved back to Indiana with their two daughters. After losing hundreds of thousands of dollars, along with virtually all he owned, he went back to Indiana as well in hopes of reconciling with Mitzi.[12] Soon afterward, in October, he was charged with fraud for passing $175,000 in bad checks at Las Vegas casinos, many of which he'd stolen from KVEG's owner. He'd passed most of the checks at Treasure Island.[1][12] When he pleaded guilty, federal prosecutors were initially willing to go easy on him and offer a deal that would let him self-report to a federal prison camp for a sentence of 15 months. However, when prosecutors learned that he'd been passing bad checks in Indiana as well, they persuaded a judge to remand him to custody. In January 1995, he was sentenced to two years in prison.[12] Prosecutors later discovered Schlichter had passed $500,000 in bad checks in Indiana, Nevada, and his native Ohio.[1] He was released in April 1996 after serving 16 months, only to be arrested again that fall for stealing checks from his employer and using them to get $8,500 to gamble. This time, he was sentenced to eight years in federal prison. Mitzi formally divorced him soon afterward, in 1998. He was released on probation in 1999 after serving 13 months.[12] He returned home to Bloomingburg, where he told friends that he still had connections to get prime tickets for Buckeye football games. He told others that if they fronted him the money to buy the tickets, he would share the profits. As it turned out, it was a scheme to get more money to gamble. He ultimately stole $500,000 from a dozen individuals—including his own father—before he was arrested, pled guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.[1] All told, between 1995 and 2006, he served the equivalent of 10 years in 44 different county jails and federal prisons. Counting time served while awaiting sentencing, he spent all but 358 days between November 1994 and June 2006 behind bars.[12] Even then, he was so consumed by his habit that he had his public defender smuggle a cell phone into prison so he could place bets. He later said that he hit rock bottom in 2004, after he was caught gambling in prison and placed in solitary confinement. He was originally supposed to spend four months there.[22] However, he was released after 100 days for good behavior.[12] He was released from prison on June 16, 2006,[23] and resided with his mother in Washington Court House, Ohio. By one estimate, he owed half a million dollars in restitution.[1] Schlichter founded a non-profit organization, Gambling Prevention Awareness, to educate others about the perils of compulsive gambling, including college and NFL players. He
Qhubeka was a major missed opportunity for the Giro d’Italia Michele Acquarone Interview Part II: “The judge will decide who is right or wrong, but I am sure that I am right”OLYMPICS Janet Evans churns toward 2012 London Olympics At 40, the swimmer who won gold at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Games is enjoying her longshot bid. 'I am very confident she'll get to the Olympic trials,' her coach says. Then there was the night officials of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency arrived on her Laguna Beach doorstep around 10 o'clock to collect a urine sample for drug testing. Evans, ready for bed after putting her 2-year-old son and nearly 5-year-old daughter to sleep, couldn't immediately comply. The testers waited until she did. "I'd forgotten how cold pools can be at 4:45 in the morning," she said. "I'm always the last person in the water." But soon after the five-time Olympic medalist began training for a return to competitive swimming she was reminded of aspects of athletic life that had — mercifully — slipped her mind. Stroking through the water confidently and surely was as satisfying as Janet Evans remembered. So was the pure joy of getting her body to obey her mind. So much for a quiet family evening. "We live in this little, tiny cottage, so everyone was awake," she said, laughing. "And USADA showed up the day after my birthday as well, at the pool. Happy birthday!" Those indignities aside, she's enjoying her attempt to qualify for the London Olympics in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle events. Making the Olympic team is a longshot, and she first must qualify for the U.S. trials next June. But her attempt is no joke and her effort is worth celebrating, no matter the outcome. "I spent half my life swimming worrying about what people thought and if I was fast enough and if I was good enough and what was wrong and why wasn't I breaking world records. And now it's kind of like I don't care what anyone thinks," said Evans, who grew up in Placentia and won three gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Games between her junior and senior years at El Dorado High. "I'm doing it for myself. And I'm happy and I'm 40 years old and I could never swim another stroke and I could still have my home and my kids and my husband still loves me. It's all good, and I don't think it's ever going to take away from my legacy." She had a comfortable life with her husband, Bill Willson, and kids, Sydney and Jake, in their picturesque, beach-close home. She also had a rewarding and lucrative career as a motivational speaker. But a year ago, the day she turned 39 and her son turned 1, she looked toward 40 and saw a void. She needed a purpose, a goal. She began swimming as a three-month project to become fit, but turned it into a mission, juggling twice-daily pool sessions and weightlifting with family responsibilities. Her parents help with baby-sitting, glad for time with their only grandchildren. "It's madness," Evans said, smiling. "I came home the other day and my daughter said, 'Mommy, you smell of chlorine.' I had forgotten that. Other than that, I forgot how good it feels to be in really good shape. And really fit. And kind of feel like you can do anything, physically at least." Evans won gold in the 400, 800 and 400 individual medley at Seoul and gold in the 800 and silver in the 400 at Barcelona four years later. She finished sixth in the 800 at Atlanta but is best remembered for handing the Olympic torch to Muhammad Ali to light the caldron in the opening ceremony.In an interview with Esquire, The Dark Knight trilogy star Christian Bale puts to rest any rumors that he was sought by Warner Bros. to reprise his role as Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. “No. I’ve never heard of that,” Bale said, in response to a question about him being approached for James Bond before Daniel Craig. “Equally untrue about them coming to me for Batman, before Ben Affleck…I think it’s the right decision. People were talking about this obscene amount of money they were saying was thrown at me. No. I didn’t have a single conversation with anybody about ever playing the role again.” Bale goes on to say that he doesn’t ever see himself putting on the cape and cowl again. “I think, probably with that, it’s never,” he says. “Because I can’t help but feel it would just be a spoof on it. You know what I mean?” Bale also notes that he has no firsthand knowledge of the effect The Dark Knight films have had on superhero movies, since he’s never seen any other films in the genre, though he has heard things. “I confess, I’ve never seen another comic book film,” he says. “But I understand they… set a different tone.”A still from a video released by the NTSB in its investigation of last October’s SpaceShipTwo accident. Taken just before video was lost from the vehicle, it shows the feather deployed even as the engine continues to fire. (credit: NTSB) A failure of foresight and oversight Early in her presentation to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) July 28, Lorenda Ward, the investigator-in-charge of the NTSB’s probe into last October’s SpaceShipTwo accident, offered a warning before showing a video of the accident. “I’d like to take a moment to pause to see if anyone would like to leave the room before the video is shown,” she said. No one in the auditorium at the NTSB’s conference center, tucked away in a labyrinthine office complex in downtown Washington, DC, moved from his or her seat. The video she ran was not graphic in any way—it cut off prior to the vehicle’s breakup—but it was stunning nonetheless. It showed the release of SpaceShipTwo from its carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo; the ignition of its hybrid rocket motor, and the about the first ten seconds of powered flight, all from three different angles. The image from the camera on one of SpaceShipTwo’s twin tail booms is the most compelling: in the final frames, the fuselage appears to sharply tilt up while its rocket engine is firing, something that should never happen. Yet, it did happen, as the vehicle’s feathering system engaged because the co-pilot prematurely unlocked it. That itself was not a surprise: the NTSB reported that premature unlocking in the early days of the investigation, and that remains the triggering event for the vehicle’s breakup that killed the co-pilot and seriously injured the pilot. But how a simple mistake—pulling a lever about 15 seconds early—could lead to catastrophe involved a far more complex set of circumstances, one that involved insufficient foresight by the vehicle’s developer, Scaled Composites, and perhaps insufficient oversight by its regulator, the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation An image from NTSB documents released last week showing debris from the accident arranged in a hangar for investigation. (credit: NTSB) Anatomy of an accident The fourth powered flight of SpaceShipTwo, designated PF04 by Scaled, was to be the most ambitious flight yet of the suborbital spaceplane. Scaled planned to fire the rocket motor on the vehicle for 38 seconds, twice the duration of previous tests. That would accelerate the vehicle to Mach 2 and a peak altitude of about 41,100 meters (135,000 feet). It would also be the first flight test of a new solid motor, using a nylon-based fuel rather than the rubber-based one of previous tests. A town hall meeting, Scaled officials said, was held at the request of Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides, who asked Scaled officials after the loads issue, “What else are we missing?” The test was also months late. “The goals for PF04 morphed a couple of times driven by dependency on the rocket motor,” Scaled stated in a submission to the NTSB, one of dozens of documents about the investigation released by the board the day of its public hearing on the investigation. Planning for the flight began immediately after the previous powered test flight, PF03, in January 2014, on the assumption it would be a longer test of the existing motor. “However, due to continued issues with that path, work was ceased on that effort by June,” the company said. In late May of 2014, Virgin Galactic announced that it was switching to the nylon-based, or polyamide, fuel, requiring other vehicle modifications. (Some of the specific details of those modifications, including the contents of extra tanks installed in the wing of the vehicle, are redacted in the publicly-released documents.) “This modification cycle along with associated rocket motor development and qualification testing paced the program from May through PF04 in October of 2014,” the Scaled document states. Scaled had planned to conduct the PF04 flight on October 23, but postponed that after deciding it needed more time to analyze new data on loads the vehicle would experience. In a November 6 interview with NTSB investigators, Matt Stinemetze, the program manager at Scaled for “Tier 1B” (SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo), said he felt pressure from Virgin Galactic to carry out the flight, who he felt expressed “some frustration” that the loads issue wasn’t previously identified, but delayed it because he felt the vehicle was not ready. “He had 100% support from his management to stop the flight if they were not ready,” the NTSB summary of the interview stated. As PF04 slipped from October 23 to October 31, Scaled and Virgin Galactic used the time to hold a “town hall” meeting. That meeting, Scaled officials said, was held at the request of Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides, who asked Scaled officials after the loads issue, “What else are we missing?” That meeting, which lasted four hours, was considered “productive” by Scaled, but did not result in any issues that would further postpone the PF04 flight. One issue that did come up, recalled Scaled vice president Cory Bird, was the feather locks on SpaceShipTwo. “They talked about the feather locks ‘quite a bit,’” Bird recalled, after Whitesides asked about that system. The locks are a critical part of SpaceShipTwo’s feathering system, which raises the twin tail booms to a 60-degree angle to provide increased drag and stability during reentry. The locks are intended to keep the booms in place when the tails are in the lowered position, since aerodynamic forces, particularly in the transonic region around Mach 1, might raise them. Scaled engineers recognized that a feather deployment during that phase of flight would be “catastrophic.” It was important, then, to keep the feather locked during the early phase of the powered part of the flight, as SpaceShipTwo accelerated past Mach 1. Another aspect of vehicle safety, though, required the feathers to be unlocked while the engine was operating. The failure of the feather to rise when needed during reentry—because, perhaps, the locks failed to disengage—would also be catastrophic to SpaceShipTwo. Thus, the pilots had to unlock the feather once beyond the transonic region, so that if the locks failed to disengage they could abort the mission at a speed low enough to allow a safe landing without the feather. Scaled engineers believed that the speed at which the feather could be unlocked was as low as Mach 1.2, but added some margin to that, instructing the co-pilot to unlock the feather once SpaceShipTwo reached Mach 1.4. At Mach 1.5, a warning would appear if the feather was still locked, and pilots were instructed to shut off the motor and abort the mission if the feather remained locked at Mach 1.8. PF04, with a planned top speed of Mach 2, was the first test flight where the feather had to be unlocked during powered flight: on the previous two test flights, the feather was unlocked at around engine burnout, and was never used at all on the first powered flight. Alsbury’s job during the powered portion of the flight was to call out when the vehicle reached Mach 0.8, read out the angle of the stabilizers, and, at Mach 1.4, unlock the feather. While the feather locks were discussed at the town hall meeting, it did not appear to be an issue for the flight. The loads analysis was completed, and nothing else appeared to prevent the October 31 flight. Those involved with the test flight, including surviving pilot Peter Siebold, didn’t report anything out of the way with the preparations for the flight, or the events leading up to SpaceShipTwo’s release from WhiteKnightTwo at 10:07 am Pacific Daylight Time in the skies north of the Mojave Air and Space Port. It was not trouble-free: takeoff was delayed to allow SpaceShipTwo’s nitrous oxide propellant to reach the right temperature, as well as concern about winds; and a flight computer on SpaceShipTwo spontaneously rebooted while still attached to WhiteKnightTwo. Nothing, though, that seemed out of the ordinary for a test flight. Prior to the flight, co-pilot Michael Alsbury memorized a set of procedures he had to carry out during the powered portion of the flight. Given the fast pace of events, Scaled concluded using a conventional checklist would not be efficient, nor a “challenge-response” system where one pilot verbally called out a command and the other confirmed it. Alsbury’s job during the powered portion of the flight was to call out when the vehicle reached Mach 0.8, as a warning that they were approaching the sound barrier and the “transonic bobble,” a set of oscillations the vehicle experienced as it passed through the sound barrier; read out the angle of the stabilizers; and, at Mach 1.4, unlock the feather. At 10:07:26.91 PDT, Alsbury called out, “Point eight,” a reference to the speed SpaceShipTwo had reached, several seconds after engine ignition. Tests by NTSB in the simulator after the accident indicated it would take about 15 seconds for SpaceShipTwo, pitching up to gain altitude, to reach Mach 1.4, when Alsbury was to unlock the feather. Yet, less than half a second after calling out the vehicle’s speed, the NTSB transcript of the cockpit audio and video recorders shows Alsbury’s left hand had moved to the feather unlock handle. The handle, which looked something like a throttle, was designed so an accidental motion would not unlock the feather: the pilot had to shift the lever to the right to move it out of “detent,” then pull it down. At 10:07:28.39, Alsbury said, “Unlocking.” Six-tenths of a second later, the video showed the handle in the unlocked position. Less than four seconds later, the recording ends. Neither Alsbury nor Siebold made note of the unlocked feather, and the recording heard nothing more from them beyond each of them saying “pitch up” a little more than a second before the recording ends. Images and video, though, captured the fate of SpaceShipTwo, breaking apart under aerodynamic forces created when the feather extended as the vehicle was still accelerating at transonic speeds. The debris scattered across the desert floor, with a couple pieces landing about 50 kilometers to the northeast, near a high school in the town of Ridgecrest and on a golf course at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. Siebold, miraculously, survived the accident, thrown clear of the disintegrating vehicle and parachuting to a landing despite broken bones and other injuries. An image from NTSB documents from a photographer on the ground showing SpaceShipTwo beginning to break apart. (credit: NTSB) Human error, flawed system So why, then, did Alsbury unlock the feather much earlier than planned? A precise explanation for his actions eludes investigators: Alsbury died in the accident, and Siebold told investigators he was unaware that the feather had been unlocked. Both pilots were in good physical and emotional health at the time of the accident, and had trained extensively in simulators for the flight. “I think the question we’re all trying to answer here is, ‘Why did the co-pilot unlock the feather early?’” asked Sumwalt. NTSB investigators, though, think that Alsbury was subject to “stressors” during the flight that could have led to a lapse in judgment. “Stressors were present during the boost phase of flight that likely contributed to the co-pilot unlocking the feather prior to 1.4 Mach,” said Katherine Wilson of the NTSB at the public hearing. That including the memorization of the tasks required to be carried out during the boost phase of the flight. “Because of the importance of unlocking the feather before 1.8 Mach, the co-pilot might have been anxious to unlock the feather to avoid aborting the flight,” she said. Another factor, she added, was the environment of the flight, including the g-loads and vibrations. That environment could not be replicated in the simulator, and Alsbury had last flown SpaceShipTwo on its first powered test flight, 18 months earlier. “The lack of recent experience with powered flight vibration and loads could have increased the co-pilot’s stress and thus his workload during a critical phase of flight,” she said. “I think the question we’re all trying to answer here is, ‘Why did the co-pilot unlock the feather early?’” asked Robert Sumwalt, one of the four current board members of the NTSB (a fifth seat is vacant.) “I think that’s a question that people have been pounding their heads trying to figure out for nine months now.” While investigators could only assume why Alsbury might unlock the feather early, they were much clearer on a more fundamental issue: Scaled Composites, in its development of SpaceShipTwo, never considered the possibility that a pilot might make that mistake, even as it did various analyses of other potential failure modes of the vehicle. “No mitigations were considered to prevent the flight crew from unlocking the feather locks early,” noted NTSB investigator Mike Hauf at the hearing. Current and former Scaled officials, in NTSB interviews after the accident, confirmed they didn’t think a pilot would ever unlock the feather early. “A pilot-induced early unlocking of the feather system was not considered as a ‘what if’ that he was aware of,” the summary of an interview with former Scaled chief aerodynamicist Jim Tighe stated. “They never imagined that the feather system would be unlocked too soon,” Bird recalled in his interview. “Unlocking the feather system too soon was not discussed and the issue of when to unlock was not reiterated in that [town hall] meeting.” Scaled, NTSB concluded, had essentially overlooked the possibility that its pilots might make a mistake, creating a situation where one such error could lead to the loss of the vehicle. “The fact is, if you put all of your eggs into the basket of a human to do it correctly—and I don’t mean this flippantly, because I’ve made plenty of mistakes—but humans will screw up anything if you give them enough opportunity,” Sumwalt said. “A mistake is oftentimes a symptom of a flawed system.” “The assumption was that these highly-trained test pilots would not make mistakes in those areas,” NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart said in an interview after the public hearing. “But, truth be told, humans are humans, and even the best-trained human on their best day can still make mistakes. That’s one of the areas they [Scaled] did not adequately cover and led to this accident.” That was reflected in the statement of probable cause that the NTSB approved at the hearing. Investigators originally proposed a statement that focused on the co-pilot’s premature unlocking of the feather, with Scaled’s failure to consider single-point human failures like that in its planning as a contributing cause. Hart, though, wanted to emphasize Scaled’s “failure to protect against the possibility” of human error. After a half-hour recess where NTSB board members and staff worked on that statement, the board unanimously approved one that mentioned both: The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was Scaled Composites’ failure to consider and protect against the possibility that a single human error could result in a catastrophic hazard to the SpaceShipTwo vehicle. This failure set the stage for the copilot’s premature unlocking of the feather system as a result of time pressure and vibration and loads that he had not recently experienced, which led to uncommanded feather extension and the subsequent aerodynamic overload and in-flight breakup of the vehicle. The feather lock handle in the SpaceShipTwo cockpit, which required a pilot to move it to the right and then down to unlock the feather. (credit: NTSB) Perceived political pressure SpaceShipTwo was operating at the time under an experimental permit issued by the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) in May 2012, and subsequently renewed in 2013 and 2014. That raised another key question: why didn’t AST identify that potential failure mode and request Scaled to correct it? “The assumption was that these highly-trained test pilots would not make mistakes in those areas,” Hart said. “But, truth be told, humans are humans, and even the best-trained human on their best day can still make mistakes.” AST had, in fact, issued a waiver to some aspects of Scaled’s permit in 2013. “Scaled did not meet these [permit] requirements because it did not identify human or software error as causing hazards,” it stated in the waiver, published in the Federal Register in July 2013. “It did not identify these errors as causing hazards on the grounds that the mitigations it had in place would prevent the hazards from occurring.” The waiver didn’t describe any specific hazards Scaled overlooked beyond general human or software error, but concluded that several factors mitigated any risks it caused. Those factors included Scaled’s training program, an incremental approach to flight testing, use of chase planes and having two pilots on the vehicle, and the remoteness of the test area in California’s Mojave Desert. Scaled executives told the NTSB that they were surprised by the waiver, since they has not specifically requested one nor were sure why it was issued. One AST employee interviewed by the NTSB said that FAA’s general counsel considered an application that did not meet requirements “an implicit application for a waiver,” something AST staff members did not agree with. Others at AST, or working for the office, expressed frustration not just with the process of granting the waiver but also getting information from Scaled. Questions they wanted to pose to Scaled as part of the permit review process had to go through AST management. “If a question was not relevant to public safety, it would be redlined,” an employee told NTSB. “A redlined item meant that the item was deleted; that happened frequently.” The emphasis on public safety is an aspect of AST’s current regulatory restrictions: its process for both launch licenses and experimental permits focuses on the safety of the uninvolved public and not those on the vehicles themselves, other than their roles as safety systems for the vehicle. AST had been filtering questions, the NTSB found, to limit the burden on industry those issues directly related to the licensing and regulatory process, after some in industry complained. “Scaled and the FAA had thought that all the mitigations had been included in the fault trees, and he found that not to be true,” Hardy told the NTSB. Terry Hardy, a former AST employee who was working for them as a consultant, told the NTSB he chose to stop working with the office shortly after the accident. “When asked why he stopped after the accident, he said after 3.5 years he did not feel his recommendations or the work he did was improving the safety process,” the NTSB stated in a summary of its January interview with Hardy. “He felt that after offering recommendations to the FAA he was ‘spinning my wheels’ until the FAA made significant changes to the way they approached system safety and their evaluations. He let the FAA AST managers know this.” Hardy said he had concerns with Scaled’s approach to failure analysis, including its use of quantitative analysis on vehicles with little or no flight experience, an approach that allowed the company to skip documentation of how it mitigated the issue if the calculated risk was sufficiently low. “If that quantitative number met those criteria, they were done,” he told the NTSB. “The idea of using quantitative analysis on an early vehicle that had never flown could be used as a tool, but should never be used alone.” Hardy said he talked with AST staff about his concerns that Scaled’s approach failed to account for all possible failures of SpaceShipTwo. “Scaled and the FAA had thought that all the mitigations had been included in the fault trees, and he found that not to be true,” he told the NTSB. He assumed AST staff passed on his concerns to management, but acknowledged he didn’t know what the FAA did with them. One comment that attracted considerable attention was when Sumwalt quoted from the draft, as-yet-unreleased, report, citing “a lot of pressure, political pressure” to issue experimental permits. “When I read that, that worries me,” he said. “What do we mean by pressure, political pressure? What is this?” NTSB investigators didn’t clarify where that political pressure was coming from, nor did Hart in an interview after the hearing. “Our interpretation of those statements we obtained from staff were pressure of two types,” he said. “One is to meet deadlines, because they have very aggressive deadlines that they are proud to say they have never missed, so that’s one. Number two is figuring out where the line is drawn between protecting the public and mission assurance.” Hardy, in his NTSB interview, did mention political pressure, but he was referring to events a decade earlier. “The FAA safety engineers were not allowed to talk directly to the applicants, and this was based on political pressures to reduce the burden on applicants. That was what they felt in 2004,” he recalled, an outcome of a “lessons learned” discussion after SpaceShipOne won the Ansari X PRIZE. “What he felt now was that culture of not wanting to over-burden the applicant still remained,” NTSB stated in its summary of the Hardy interview. “As a result, there was a screening of questions and a limitation on direct communication with the applicant.” Success depends on safety While NTSB has yet to issue the full report on the accident investigation, the board did unanimously approve ten recommendations that stemmed from their investigation. It directed eight of the recommendations at the FAA to improve their reviews of experimental permit applications and safety inspections after those permits had been issued. Some were specific to the contributing causes of the accident. Those included improving application review processes to ensure companies identify all “single flight crew tasks that, if performed incorrectly or at the wrong time, could result in a catastrophic hazard” and develop ways to mitigate those hazards. NTSB also recommended AST develop better communications processes with applicants and “better define the line between the information needed to ensure public safety and the information pertaining more broadly to ensuring mission success.” “When I read that, that worries me,” Sumwalt said. “What do we mean by pressure, political pressure? What is this?” Some, though, were more generic. One recommendation called on AST to work with the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) to develop “human factors guidance” for companies developing crewed spacecraft, a recommendation rooted in the NTSB’s funding that there was little formal human factors expertise at either Scaled or NTSB. Another recommendation called for the development of a “lessons learned database” by AST where companies would voluntarily submit and share information about mishaps. Such a database has been something AST, and some—but not all—in industry have proposed for years. Two of the recommendations were for the CSF. Besides working with the FAA on human factors guidance, it recommended it advise its members to develop emergency response procedures with local authorities in the event of an accident. That stemmed from the fact that while Scaled has such procedures in place for the SpaceShipTwo accident, there were issues that delayed to dispatch of a helicopter to the site where Siebold landed. CSF, in a statement, quickly accepted the NTSB’s recommendations. “CSF welcomes the NTSB’s report, and we pledge our support to promptly carrying out the recommendations given to us by the Board,” CSF president Eric Stallmer said in a statement that also called for increased resources for AST. The FAA, meanwhile, is still studying its recommendations, and plans a formal response within 90 days. The NTSB offered no recommendations to either Scaled Composites or Virgin Galactic. Scaled’s role in the program is now diminished: Virgin’s The Spaceship Company is building the second SpaceShipTwo vehicle, which will presumably fly under a permit or launch license that Virgin Galactic applies for. (Virgin had applied for a launch license for the first SpaceShipOne, but had asked the FAA to “toll,” or suspend, evaluation of that application until Scaled completed its planned tests under its permit, something that Virgin expected prior to the accident to be complete by January 2015.) “Safety has always been a critical component of Scaled’s culture and, as the NTSB noted today, our pilots were experienced and well-trained,” Scaled said in a statement issued after the NTSB hearing. “As part of our constant and continuing efforts to enhance our processes, we have already made changes in the wake of the accident to further enhance safety. We will continue to look for additional ways to do so.” “The success of commercial space travel depends on the safety of commercial space travel, at the level of every operator and every crew,” Hart said. Virgin, in its statement and its submission to the NTSB investigation, emphasized that the accident was not caused by a flaw in the vehicle’s fundamental design, including its propulsion system. The company has already implemented changes to the vehicle and its operations, including a system to prevent a pilot from prematurely unlocking the feather during the boost phase of flight, and a challenge-response communications system between the two pilots—an approach that Scaled previous dismissed as not feasible given the pace of flight operations. “We remain as humbled as ever by the difficulty of our work and the challenges of space,” Virgin Galactic’s Whitesides said in a statement. “We are encouraged by the progress to date with our second spaceship, and we look to the future with hope and determination.” Hart, in his closing comments at the public hearing, also sounded hopeful about the future. “Today, the vision of commercial space travel is close to fulfillment,” he said. “Hundreds of people whose only qualification for space flight is their ability to purchase a ticket await the opportunity to go into space on commercial space launches.” But, he added, safety must not be forgotten in this rush to space. “The success of commercial space travel depends on the safety of commercial space travel, at the level of every operator and every crew,” he said. “Operators can and do compete on many levels, whether in commercial aviation or in commercial space transportation. But when it comes to safety, they must cooperate and collaborate, with each other and with the FAA.” HomeEurope should be the first to deploy connected and automated driving, said Günther Oettinger, EU commissioner for digital economy and society, as he unveiled plans for an EU-wide rollout of the supporting technologies to representatives of the car and telecoms industries at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona this week. Oettinger called on the industry to lay plans for “a cross-border virtual network” supporting the adoption of driverless cars. While admitting the commission has not figured out all the technical, financial and legislative details, Oettinger insisted on moving swiftly. “It needs further underpinning […], but my aim is to go forward and to deploy fast,” he said. It will not be necessary to wait for the installation of next generation 5G wireless networks because certain elements of connected and automated driving systems can be supported by existing 4G standard networks. The industry has agreed to boost efforts in the areas of connectivity, standardisation and security, but wants the EU to support private investments in better fixed and mobile infrastructures, in order to reduce latency and boost data transfer speeds. Car and telecoms companies will work together to determine standardisation priorities and work on addressing security and safety concerns. Oettinger urged the industry to present a concrete action plan before the summer, including a timeline for deployment, and a “concrete allocation of responsibilities.” Embedded technologies Turning Oettinger’s plan into reality requires technology in the shape of higher capacity wireless networks and embedded digital technologies in cars. By the end of this year, the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei plans to roll out 60 commercial 4.5G networks in countries including Spain, Norway and Germany, providing features of 5G networks on existing infrastructures. Huawei will use 4.5G to implement its intelligent transport management system, which can support public transport operations, commercial transport networks and toll systems on roads. Meanwhile, the Spanish car maker SEAT and the computer services company Accenture have reached proof of concept for a system that will enable cars to send notifications to drivers’ smartphones warning them of possible malfunctions and upcoming maintenance. The application evaluates driving patterns and performance, and it will be integrated with road assistance services. In Germany, programmers at Daimler have written roughly 100 million lines of code for the Mercedes-Benz S Class, a car that can drive itself in certain traffic conditions. The German car maker was first in the world to have an autonomous freight vehicle approved on the roads in the US. Mobility services Automated and connected cars will also enable innovative mobility services, suggested Wilko Andreas Stark, vice president for strategy at Daimler. Driverless technologies will force the car company to adapt its business model and allow for more flexibility in terms of ownership and sharing. "If you own a car, and it drops you off, your car could make money for you transporting other people," said Stark. Stark reckons fully autonomous driving will not be possible on all roads, because the digital maps available today are not precise enough. Major highways and city streets will be the safest and more efficient environments for self-driving cars, but it will be difficult to roll out a system that can be safe on small country roads or private driveways, he said. The question of how liability is assigned if an autonomous car is involved in an accident is yet to be resolved. In addition, self-driving cars that are permanently connected to the internet raise major security and privacy concerns. However, from a technology point of view, Europe seems to already be on a fast-track to automated car deployment. But the Commission still needs to come up with a set of rules for the digital infrastructures underpinning smart mobility and the integration of connected cars, and convince all member states to adopt these standards. Earlier this year the Commission launched GEAR 2030, a high level group from the industry, to focus on drafting regulatory standards for automated and connected transportation systems. The EU has also set up Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS), a platform that brings together public and private stakeholders to work on the implications of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. The Netherlands has already adapted its legislation to allow large-scale road tests of self-driving cars. Having unveiled an initiative to fast-track the adoption of driverless cars almost two years ago, the UK this month announced a £20 million programme of related research.Contributors: Charlie Barratt, Heidi Kemps Accepting death can be difficult. When loved ones have passed on, we refuse to let them go, fantasizing that they’re still alive and secretly hoping, wishing and even praying that they’ll walk back through our door at any second. Unfortunately, in the case of videogames, they sometimes do. Thanks to the powers of lazy publishers and lucrative nostalgia value, we’re constantly forced to watch as old, long-buried franchises are exhumed and then paraded around as reboots, relaunches, reinventions and reimaginings. A few of these updates work. These, though, are the ones – the horrifying, unnatural, “Oh God, aim for the head!” zombies – that didn’t. The dead franchise: Alone in the Dark (1992-2001) Four years before a polygonal zombie dog smashed through the window of a Raccoon City mansion in Resident Evil, giant murderous rats and undead pirate slaves were chasing players through the haunted 3D hallways of Alone in the Dark. Seven years before Silent Hill unlocked the psychological fear of its protagonists through foggy exploration and foggier puzzles, Alone in the Dark asked us to solve the suicide of a tortured artist by investigating the mysterious belongings and macabre booby-traps he left behind. In other words, this series was the original. These games were the classy old grandfathers of the genre. If you’ve ever enjoyed a survival horror adventure, you have Alone in the Dark to thank. The failed resurrection: Alone in the Dark (2008) You know your franchise is better off dead when Uwe Boll is no longer the worst thing about it. 2001’s Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare may have suffered from a dumb title and a dumber movie adaptation by the loathed director, but the actual game was a faithful update on the original formula. That reboot didn’t take, though, so a new team of developers tried again in 2008. We really wish they hadn’t. The latest Alone in the Dark has a few highlights – the special effects are cool and the graphics are good – but these are quickly overshadowed by a poorly told story, badly designed controls, half-baked missions and game-breaking glitches. Even if it wasn’t an unplayable mess, however, this version would still be a major betrayal of the brand. The first Alone in the Dark cast you as Edward Carnby, a gentlemanly 1920s detective trapped in a Louisiana mansion, fighting the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired forces of evil through quick reflexes, but more importantly, quick wits. The last Alone in the Dark, meanwhile, casts you as “Edward,” a foul-mouthed smartass stuck in present-day New York City, fighting off generic zombies through a combination of melee combat, fetch quests and driving minigames. If we wanted a derivative action movie, we could’ve stuck with Uwe Boll. The dead franchise: Bionic Commando (1987-1999) You need to know one thing – and one thing only – about the original Bionic Commando games. Grapple arm. Nobody cared if the graphics were fancy (they weren’t), if the story was interesting (it wasn’t) or if the hero was complex (his personality consisted of spiky hair and sunglasses). Nobody even minded that the “damsel”-in-distress was a grizzly old dude named
other forms of inequality, including racism and classism) and the consequence (gender-based violence and abuse) are all around us, day in day out. So it figures that when we go to the shops and see the “boy toys” and “girl toys” stacked separately, we start a campaign, just like we do when we see women being murdered week in week out, but being treated as isolated incidents (Counting Dead Women). If we are on our way on a night out and sexually harassed on the tube (Everyday Sexism). When we see overtly victim blaming news reports in the media (Ending Victimisation & Blame). We do something about it. We start campaigns. We try to change things. The Pistorius case has demonstrated this spectacularly. Feminists had previously turned to twitter to vocalise their concern about how the media were reporting the case. The hashtag #HerNameWasReevaSteenkamp was used in response to media reports that were referring to her only as “his girlfriend”, or “model”. The Sun and the Daily Star, for example, both showed a full-page image of Reeva Steenkamp in a bikini, but referred to her in their headline text only by her position of “lover”. Whether our targets are relatively small things (an advert, a bet, not using a woman’s name, a toy category, a term in a news headline, a “flirtatious” cat call in the street) or the murder, rape or “honour” killing of women, they are linked. If we separate the causes and the consequences by compartmentalising the “serious” from the “everyday”, the “funny” from the “killjoy”, the links are broken and the invisibility of male violence against women is maintained. Online organising is allowing these links to be made more and more. On this International Women’s Day, feminist killjoys: come one, come all – we’re changing the world one campaign at a time.“The Obama administration does not intend to send a witness to testify at a Senate hearing next week on the legality of the U.S. targeted killing program,” McClatchy reports the White House as saying Wednesday. The decision illustrates the limits of President Barack Obama’s pledge in his State of the Union speech on Feb. 12 to provide greater transparency into top-secret drone operations that have killed thousands of suspected terrorists in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. …“We do not currently plan to send a witness to this hearing and have remained in close contact with the committee about how we can best provide them the information they require,” Caitlin Hayden, a National Security Council spokeswoman, wrote in an email to McClatchy. The spokeswoman then declined to say why the President refuses to defend the legality of his drone war in a Senate hearing. The administration’s intransigent refusal here emphasizes yet again that not only is the drone war itself secret, but it’s legal rationale is secret too. As Judge Napolitano put it bluntly, “How could a legal argument be classified?” There isn’t any conceivable reason to believe making the legal rationale for the drone war public would unduly “reveal sources and methods.” Publicizing it could not possibly harm “national security.” Indeed, not even the National Security Council spokeswoman would openly make this argument; she simply refused to explain why the White House won’t testify to the drone war’s legality. As US District Judge Colleen McMahon, who upheld the Obama administration’s ability to throw out legal cases by claiming disclosures would harm national security, said in her ruling, “I can find no way around the thicket of laws and precedents that effectively allow the executive branch of our government to proclaim as perfectly lawful certain actions that seem on their face incompatible with our Constitution and laws while keeping the reasons for their conclusion a secret.” The leaked Justice Department memo that summarized the legal (if you can call it that) justification for the targeted killing program brazenly declared that even when there is no active intelligence indicating targeted individuals are carrying out a specific terrorist attack, the administration can drop a bomb on groups of often unidentified individuals. Standard rules of international law demand that an imminent threat of an immediate attack is required in order to legally initiate the use of force in self-defense. But the Obama administration effectively rejects that stipulation, while refusing to allow any checks, balances, or transparency on the process. Ben Emmerson, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, claimed further in March that drone war in Pakistan is illegal because it violates Pakistani sovereignty. It is the fact that the drone war rests on a questionable legal basis – to put it generously – that Obama refuses to even publicize a legal opinion on it. If he were to make it public, it might face judicial scrutiny. And facing legal and public scrutiny when you’re engaging in criminal acts is the last thing you want.It's going to be an all-Canadian Eastern Conference Championship as the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC advanced on Sunday via away victories against the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC. The pair are the first Canadian clubs to reach this stage of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. Following the international break, the two rivals will battle for a place in MLS Cup with Leg 1 set for Nov. 22 at Olympic Stadium. Toronto and Montreal split the 2016 regular-season season series, with each team winning once on the road before playing to a 2-2 draw on October 16 at Stade Saputo. Their only MLS Cup Playoffs meeting came in the 2015 Knockout Round, a game the Impact won 3-0. Toronto FC vs. Montreal Impact April 23, 2016: Toronto FC 2, Montreal Impact 0 (Stade Saputo) 40' - TOR - Sebastian Giovinco (PK) 81' - TOR - Sebastian Giovinco (Will Johnson) August 27, 2016: Montreal Impact 1, Toronto FC 0 (BMO Field) October 16, 2016: Montreal Impact 2, Toronto FC 2 (Stade Saputo) All-time regular season: Toronto lead 6-4-4 All-time playoff meetings: Montreal lead 1-0-0The pundit consensus seems to be that Republicans lost in the just-concluded budget deal. Overall spending will be a bit higher than the level mandated by the sequester, the straitjacket imposed back in 2011. Meanwhile, Democrats avoided making any concessions on Social Security or Medicare. Call this one for Team D, I guess. But if Republicans arguably lost this round, the unemployed lost even more: Extended benefits weren’t renewed, so 1.3 million workers will be cut off at the end of this month, and many more will see their benefits run out in the months that follow. And if you take a longer perspective — if you look at what has happened since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 2010 — what you see is a triumph of anti-government ideology that has had enormously destructive effects on American workers. First, some facts about government spending. One of the truly remarkable things about American political discourse at the end of 2013 is the fixed conviction among many conservatives that the Obama era has been one of enormous growth in government. Where do they think this surge in government spending has taken place? Well, it’s true that one major new program — the Affordable Care Act — is going into effect. But it’s not nearly as big as people imagine. Once Obamacare is fully implemented, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will add only about 3 percent to overall federal spending. And, if you ask people ranting about runaway government what other programs they’re talking about, you draw a blank. Meanwhile, the actual numbers show that over the past three years we’ve been living through an era of unprecedented government downsizing. Government employment is down sharply; so is total government spending (including state and local governments) adjusted for inflation, which has fallen almost 3 percent since 2010 and around 5 percent per capita.Tim Murray by Naomi Klein claims that White Capitalism harms the environment and that mass immigration of nature-loving Third Worlders into White countries is the solution No matter if the science of global warming is all phony...climate change provides the greatest opportunity to bring about justice and equality in the world. — Christine Stewart, former Canadian Minister of the Environment Forget everything you think you know about global warming. It's not about carbon — it's about capitalism. The good news is that we can seize this existential crisis to transform our failed economic system and build something radically better. — Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything — Capitalism vs. the Climate Commentators have said that Klein only 'turned to environmentalism' in 2009. What took her so long? Were there other weapons in her anti-capitalist arsenal before 2009 and have they now become a little blunt? — Paul Austin Murphy F Avi Lewis hates Islamophobic Whites and claims that the way to environmentalism is mass Muslim immigration into Canada or the Left, climate change is The Convenient Truth, a handy stick to beat down what they identify as "the Right." More than that, it is the saviour of a discredited cause looking for resurrection.When the Berlin Wall was torn down, Leftist ideologues took a beating. Their God had failed. The Soviet bloc was unmasked. It was revealed to be not only an economic failure but an environmental disaster. A toxic waste dump, with dying forests and polluted lakes, and cities shrouded in dark clouds of choking smoke. Industrialism under socialist management was shown to be a virulent form of growthism uninhibited by environmental regulations or indeed, any official concern for nature. The verdict was in. Socialist managers too are committed to the pursuit of economic growth, only that they are not very good at it.But as time passed and memories faded the Left was able to get up off the floor and hitch a ride with the new crusade, the war against climate change. Suddenly the issue was framed as "Capitalism against Nature." Suddenly global corporate capitalism wore the goat horns. Suddenly the profit motive became the root of all evil, despite clear evidence that the command economies of socialism in Eastern Europe, China and North Korea had trashed the environment with more devastating impact than had market economies. Forgotten were those few brave souls who had spoken up against this crime, environmentalists who disappeared behind barbed wire fences or prison walls — if they were lucky.When socialism was re-branded as the "Environmental Justice" or "Climate Justice" movement, the Phoenix rose from the ashes. Canadian author Naomi Klein became the leading voice and superstar of this chameleon Leftism, this ideological hybrid of Red and Green. Or as I would call it, "Kleinism."Klein's Marxist pedigree is impressive. Her paternal grandparents were Communists and her parents "rights activists," while her brother, Seth Klein, is the head of the Vancouver-based left-wing think tank the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Her "partner," race-baiting Islamodupe Avi Lewis, completes the package. Lewis is son of CBC darling and socialist icon Saint Stephen Lewis, and a grandson of former NDP leader, the late David Lewis. This terrible tandem was a royal match made in socialist heaven, and only lends further legitimacy to Klein's status as the Monarch of Marxism. Her acclaimed, is a lethal fusion of Marxism and Warmism, a resilient strain of anti-capitalism that is well-adapted to the current obsession.The fact that "Kleinists" campaign against the unfettered migration of goods across borders while promoting the unfettered movement of people across borders at the same time is testimony to both their schizophrenia and their double-standards. They oppose and support globalism at the same time. Quite a feat. But then it must be remembered that they are heir to a cause that has weathered a century and a half of adversity by virtue of its incomparable versatility and perplexing permutations. Marxism is the ultimate shape-shifter.Is it a case of cognitive dissonance or wilful deceit? Or is their open borders agenda actually a demonstration of their faithful adherence to Marx's dream of a world without borders governed by the universal brotherhood of workers? You know the drill. "Workers of the World Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains! Workers have no country." Only the apostles of the "far right" could oppose such a world. Just ask Naomi.If that is their utopia, they remain oblivious to the fact that this "Marxist" wet dream is fully congruent with the capitalist dream of a borderless world, only governed by capitalists. They are indeed the "useful idiots" of transnational corporate capitalism.They care not for national borders or national culture — unless it is the culture of Tibet!They are at best indifferent to the fate of Western Civilization, poised to succumb to what promises to be wave upon wave of third world migrants in their many tens of millions.They lobby for the preservation of nature, but not for the preservation of European heritage or the people with whom it is vested.They worry about the loss of unique endangered species, but they are unwillingly or unable to understand that Europe and the culture it spawned is unique and endangered.They claim to be advocates for nature, but they demonize those who would shield it from incoming hordes of migrants with a world view that allots little room for it.They are the proverbial watermelons. Green on the outside and red on the inside. Janus-faced Red-Green Globalists. Cultural Marxists in green drag. They must be exposed for the charlatans they are.Related posts:QPR boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink says Jamie Mackie is close to a return to action. Mackie has been out for more than three months with a hamstring injury he suffered during his team’s 4-0 defeat at Fulham. The 30-year-old recently returned to training and wanted to be in the squad for Monday’s game against Huddersfield, but Hasselbaink is keen for him to play for Rangers’ development side before making a first-team comeback. “Jamie Mackie’s coming back,” the Dutchman declared. “He’s training with the group and was very close to being on the bench. “But he hasn’t played a match yet, he’s been out for 10 weeks, and it would have been a big risk for him. Jamie is somebody we have to pull back because he’s so full of life. “I would prefer him to play a few games with the Under-21s first, so that he’s well conditioned, because I can’t afford to lose Jamie again for another 10 weeks.” Meanwhile, James Perch is still recovering from the knee injury he suffered against Brighton two weeks ago. “Perchy had a problem with his knee and is training with the physios at the moment,” said Hasselbaink. “He has not joined the group yet. Hopefully he will be able to join the group ASAP.”Stuckie the Mummified Dog Waycross, Georgia It's not easy being an attraction devoted to trees. Compared to other museum themes, trees are, well, not that exciting, and you can't really jazz them up without being disrespectful. So Southern Forest World caught a huge break with its star exhibit: Stuckie, a dog mummified inside a southern tree. It's a world-class oddity that has drawn many tourists who otherwise would not have visited a tree museum. Stuckie has been at Forest World since it opened in May 1981, and occupies a place of honor within its central rotunda, surrounded by tributes to noteworthy southern woody perennials such as pine, oak, and cypress. A sign explains that Stuckie was discovered in 1980 on a lumber truck after a chestnut oak had been cut into logs. Rather than send the dog to the pulp mill, the loggers donated it to Forest World. Stuckie's remarkable preservation -- mummified for an estimated 20 years when it was discovered -- is described matter-of-factly by an accompanying sign: "A chimney effect occurred in the hollow tree, resulting in an upward draft of air. This caused the scent of the dead animal to be carried away, which otherwise would have attracted insects and other organisms that feed on dead animals. The hollow tree also provided relatively dry conditions, and the tannic acid of the oak helped harden the animal's skin." "People always ask me, 'How did he get in there?'," said Brandy Stevenson, Forest World's manager. "And I always say, 'Well, he was a hound dog. Maybe he was after a coon.' And then they'll say, 'Poor old thing. I feel so sorry for him.'" For decades Stuckie was called simply "Mummified Dog*." In 2002 Forest World ran a name-the-dog contest, and "Stuckey" won (Runners-up included "Dogwood" and "Chipper"). The winning contestant said that she related the dog in its log coffin to the "pecan logs" sold at Stuckey's convenience stores. Forest World changed the name to "Stuckie" to avoid trademark infringement. (*The museum's literature sometimes calls Stuckie a "petrified" dog. Creationists have cited Stuckie as proof that fossilization is both recent and quick, but Stuckie is a mummy, not a fossil.) If Stuckie is the mummy gatekeeper, then Southern Forest World is the pulpy pharaoh's tomb -- an unexpected jackpot of gummy lumber treasures that is more rewarding than you might expect. It works hard to relate modern non-natural life to the world of trees. "From the stumps of southern pines come products that serve the world," announces one display, while an accompanying mini-table of supermarket items suggests that without southern stumps we might have no Band-Aids, Gatorade bottles, or Huggies. An exhibit on turpentine farming contrasts old-fashioned collection buckets, crusted with sap and dirt, with hygienic modern "aprons" for tapping tree resin. There's a miniature replica of a logging camp that you can animate with a push of a button, and a peephole in a huge stump that invites you to view the destructive work of pine beetles. The "Trees in Space" exhibit is not about some fictional Pandora but about the wood derivatives that make fluxes and solvents. "Nitrocellulose from wood is a rocket propellant." A space suit, splayed as if tumbling untethered through an interstellar void, is in fact a "SCAPE" suit (Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble) worn in the 1960s by NASA workers who fueled the Gemini rockets. Its protective plastics, adhesives, and disaster-resistant films all came from you-know-what. On the way out the door is the Talking Tree, a Bicentennial pro-forest-industry exhibit formerly in the Smithsonian -- half McDonaldland, half H.R. Pufnstuf. Push its button and you'll hear a monologue that sounds straight out of 1976, with references to the Space Age and many woodsy puns ("You're in for a real tree-t!"). Outdoor exhibits include a giant hollow cypress stump that can hold as many as 17 people, a 1905 steam engine that hauled logs from the piney woods, and a butterfly garden that encourages picnicking under the trees. "The managed forest part is really what we're all about," said Brandy. "If we don't have trees, we don't have oxygen" (Or many other wonderful things, including mummified dogs). Southern Forest World is hardly a tree-hugger attraction, but it nonetheless leaves you with good feelings for our towering forest friends. And Stuckie is always on guard, waiting faithfully, his teeth bared for eternity in a welcoming grin.The irony is that many of the same people who say that the CHL is an exploitive system will turn around and tell you that NCAA hockey is a better route for young players. Several problems issue from that—three that are practical and another posing a bit of a moral conundrum. The first is a matter of, what else, money. To be NCAA eligible the player at age 16 and 17 has to bide his time while he graduates high school and qualifies academically for college play. The interim seasons are likely spent in a junior league at least one level below the CHL—Tier II in Ontario or the BCHL and AJHL out west as examples. The snag: Junior A teams might help out players with some expenses but other costs, including equipment, fall to the parents. Further, there’s the matter of team fees. According to one agent who has advised several NCAA-bound players, costs in Ontario Tier II run in the range of $5,000 to $7,000 per season. And further yet, with the exception of elite prospects, NCAA hockey programs aren’t interested in “true freshmen,” those who graduated from high school the previous spring. Rather, NCAA coaches are looking to recruit 19-year-olds, thus requiring players to suit up for more than two seasons in Tier II or Junior A. Lastly, on the practical end, while NCAA programs offer four-year rides, nothing is truly guaranteed. If an NCAA program or coach doesn’t take a shine to a player, he can be hung out to dry with no options. If he hopes to transfer, schools aren’t eager to underwrite his redshirt year. That player can end up paying part or all of his tuition for the year he sits on the sidelines. If you’re willing to go down this road simply to bypass the supposedly exploitive CHL system, consider this: Only a few NCAA hockey programs break even or make money. Most are a cost to athletic departments, one that’s underwritten by the blood, sweat and toil of, yes, those same exploited football and basketball players. That’s not exactly the moral high ground that proponents of NCAA hockey might imagine it to be.File this under hashtags to watch: #BernieMadeMeWhite. In case you missed it, the phrase has become a widespread protest slogan among Bernie Sanders supporters who believe the media is glossing over his support from people who aren’t white. The hashtag has been picking up steam for the past 24 hours in the wake of Sanders’s big wins in the Washington, Hawaii and Alaska caucuses, and analyses such as this one from The Post — “Why did Bernie Sanders dominate Saturday? Caucuses in states with smaller black populations” — are fueling the fire. The slogan was coined by “L.,” a.k.a. @tokyovampires, who tweeted this Sunday morning: Thus #BernieMadeMeWhite was born. Here’s how @tokyovampires, who Raw Story identified as Louisiana native Leslie Lee III, explained his thinking: “I think every POC supporter of Bernie Sanders has had this discussion,” he tweeted. (“POC” = people of color.) “The common narrative in this election that Bernie has a ‘minority problem’ or that all his supporters are ‘bros’ is pervasive, and insulting to the POC and women who support [him]. It hit a peak this morning when Hawaii, the least white state in the nation, retroactively became white or ‘not diverse’ due to the fact that Bernie won it. I said yesterday this would happen, but I still couldn’t really believe it. So, I started #BernieMadeMeWhite.” Here’s another way of putting it. To some Sanders supporters, coverage of the Hawaii caucus was the straw that broke the camel’s back. They believe Hawaii — a majority-minority state where Sanders beat Hillary Clinton roughly 70 to 30 percent — challenges the logic that voters who aren’t white pose a problem for Sanders. And they think the media is wrong not to seize on it and give Sanders credit for his support among people of color. That’s the logic behind a growing stream of jokes accusing the media of whitewashing Sanders’s base of support: #BernieMadeMeWhite. Once I got with Bernie, my insurance rate went down, my life expectancy went up, and my felonies are now misdemeanors! — fred johnson (@fredjohnson925) March 28, 2016 Golly, I started to support Sanders and now I am allergic to gluten! #BernieMadeMeWhite #FeelTheBern — MeTheMetro (@MeTheMetro) March 28, 2016 Question. I really want to maximize all of the benefits of being a white male. Is @CNN offering a webinar or something? #BernieMadeMeWhite — ColeRae (@IAmColeRae) March 28, 2016 I'm so thankful that #BernieMadeMeWhite. Can we stop worrying about racial profiling and hate crimes now? pic.twitter.com/NqE1zD5bSz — Simran Jeet Singh (@SikhProf) March 28, 2016 This isn't a picture of two friends, it's actually a before and after voting for Bernie pic. #BernieMadeMeWhite pic.twitter.com/lHH9QJvTfB — Lauren Sandernista (@welknett) March 27, 2016 #BernieMadeMeWhite and now I am looking to move out of this neighborhood, you know, cause of the property values, of course. — Carolyn Hyppolite (@CKHyppolite) March 27, 2016 Ever since I started supporting Bernie I suddenly lost my rhythm. #BernieMadeMeWhite — lyn (@dlynaffor) March 27, 2016 .@tokyovampires ever since I voted for Bernie I traded in my Timbs for Vans. #BernieMadeMeWhite — Benjamin Dixon (@TheBpDShow) March 27, 2016 Of course, the hashtag hasn’t come without conflict. Clinton supporters — including Joan Walsh, a national affairs correspondent for the Nation — are fighting back: @joanwalsh Joan, I started #BernieMadeMeWhite and it trended because thousands upon thousands of people feel erased by people like you. — L. (@tokyovampires) March 28, 2016 Congratulations. I'm sorry they feel erased by the demographic data provided by exit polls. https://t.co/D7JNU8QNGS — Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) March 28, 2016 Here’s another from a Clinton supporter in Texas: As the debate heats up, it’ll be interesting to look at Sanders’s exit polls in the next round of Democratic primaries and see whether he can improve his performance among nonwhite voters. As a reminder, the upcoming contests are Wisconsin on April 5, Wyoming on April 9, New York on April 19 and Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island on April 26.0 Flares Filament.io 0 Flares × Ed. Note: Time Warner Cable cannot put off investing in 21st Century business strategies — such as improving broadband deployment — if they want to remain comeptitive in the Austin market for years to come. Raising the price of internet access for Austin consumers is a band-aid solution to a complex problem — and it is one we cannot and will not support in its current form. However, there are some very plausible alternatives Time Warner Cable and the City of Austin can pursue moving forward that are better aligned with the city's economic, strategic, and cultural purpose. I'm encouraged by the early response from both the Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken campaigns, and hope to continue a smart, responsible conversation on the issue going forward. Austin has the opportunity to lead the way on this issue for all of Texas. In two years the Public Utility Commission will be up for sunset review, and the question of how to invest in broadband deployment will take center stage at the Texas Capitol. Now is the time for a smart and responsible dialogue that can generate big-vision strategies for our future. We cannot wait for two years — Austin can lead today. Over the coming days, I will be facilitating a discussion about better possibilities for broadband deployment in Central Texas. We in the Burnt Orange Report community invite all voices — from Time Warner Cable, consumer advocacy groups, private sector businesses, and University academics — to participate in the conversation, because this is an issue that can significantly change the very purpose of our community — both offline and online — for decades to come. On Tuesday, March 31, Business Week reported that Time Warner Cable is going to expand their internet usage pricing into the Austin and San Antonio areas. From the Business Week article: In a strategy that's likely to rankle consumers but be copied by competitors, Time Warner Cable (TWC) is pressing ahead with a plan to charge Internet customers based on how much Web data they consume. Starting next month, the company will introduce tiered pricing in several markets. […] Time Warner Cable had been testing a plan to meter Internet usage in Beaumont, Tex., since last year. By charging a premium to the heaviest broadband users, much the same way cell-phone providers collect fees from subscribers who exceed their allotted minutes, Time Warner would upend a longstanding pricing strategy among Internet service providers. The Austin-American Statesman followed up with the story today: Under the plan, customers will be charged on a tiered system based on the speed of their connection and how much they download. The tiers would start at 5 gigabytes a month and top out with a “super-tier” of 100 gigabytes per month. Customers will be asked to pay between $29.95 to $54.90 for up to 40 gigabytes, Dudley said. The $29.95 price would be lower than most Central Texas customers currently pay for the service. The company says it has not yet figured out what it will charge for the “super-tier.” Omar Gallaga — my new favorite reporter — had a lot more details up yesterday, based on “conversations he had with Alex Dudley, vice president of public relations for Time Warner Cable.” From his post on Austin 360, TWC/Road Runner tiered Internet pricing coming to Austin/San Antonio: No plans for rollover bandwidth from month to month. Use it or lose it. “86 percent of our customers at least have nothing to worry about,” Dudley said, “That’s the percentage of customers that will be left unaffected by the trial.” I asked if that’s in comparison to Beaumont and whether that’s a very different market. He replied, “Internet usage is a lot like television viewing. It doesn’t vary from geographic area to geographic area.” While this will affect customers in real dollars in San Antonio/Austin, this is still considered a trial in terms of whether it will continue to other TWC markets. The three-month grace period will begin in early summer. A gas-gauge-like Internet usage monitor will be on the TWC Web site. Customers will also get info on their usage in their monthly bills. The 100-Gigagyte “super-tier” will be “significantly more expensive” than the $55/40 GB a month tier mentioned in the BusinessWeek article. However, “We haven’t settled on a price yet,” he said. I’m waiting to hear back about customers under contract and how this will affect their terms. [Ed. note: Gallaga later reported that Time Warner Cable had not yet decided if customers can opt-out of their contracts when this change occurs]. Dudley cited bandwidth-hogging things like HD video and BitTorrent as reasons for the change. “It’s not about trying to limit anyone from doing anything. It’s trying to provide a business model that allows them to do what they want to do for the foreseeable future,” he said. [Emhasis added] Final thoughts from Dudley: “We know we’re going to learn a lot in this trial. We will listen to feedback from our customers. We’ll make decisions based on what we learned.” On the whole, I understand the challenge Dudley is articulating in the second to last bullet — that they are concerned about downloading. But that concern is a fundamental misconception of not only how data is transferred across servers, but of the exponential value of the power of the internet to increase the social network. Jacqui Cheng — writing for the esteemable site, Ars Technica — explains in an article titled, “Shooting yourself in the foot: Time Warner's usage caps”: Instead of developing plans designed to discourage consumers from feeding at the bandwidth trough, cable companies would be better served in the long run by making investments in new technologies like DOCSIS 3.0 and the kind of infrastructure improvements necessary to meet bandwidth demands. Those kinds of expenditures can be unpopular with shareholders unwilling to see earnings suffer in the short term so that a company can better position themselves to compete in the long term. But it's a better alternative to positioning your company as the Dollar Store of broadband providers. We'll have a more specific discussion about the possibilities for broadband deployment in the coming days. In the mean time, we encourage our readers to follow up on the resources below, become informed, and help us sustain a dialogue that helps Austin's business and consumer needs. Resource: “Time Warner: Dominate the bandwidth? It'll cost more” (Statesman) Resource: “TWC/Road Runner tiered Internet pricing coming to Austin/San Antonio (Austin 360) Resource: “Time Warner Cable Expands Internet Usage Pricing” (Business Week) Resource: “Japanese telco institutes upload caps… of 30GB… daily” (ars technica) Resource: “Shooting yourself in the foot: Time Warner's usage caps” (ars technica) Resource: “Why Tiered Broadband Is the Enemy of Innovation” (gigaom) Lee Leffingwell released the following statement earlier today: According to new reports today, Time Warner Cable is introducing a new pricing structure for Austin-area Internet users. Under the new plan, consumers would be placed on a tiered and metered billing system, and charged for the amount of bandwidth they use. This approach, and Time Warner’s specific plan, should be of grave concern to Austin. Right now we need to be encouraging, rather than stifling, economic recovery and growth in Austin. This plan moves us in the wrong direction. It potentially puts Austin at a disadvantage as we compete against other communities to attract, retain, and grow prosperous businesses. I’m obviously concerned about the impact this plan would have on individuals and families, who would have to begin to monitor their Internet use. The new pricing system would have a significant impact on anybody who uses the Internet to watch videos, download music, movies, or television shows. But I’m deeply concerned about the impact of the plan on business owners, especially those working in creative industries that require regular access to broadband Internet service. Introducing an economic disincentive for Austin businesses to use the Internet to communicate, collaborate, innovate, and deliver services is very worrisome at best, and catastrophic at worst. If Time Warner believes that is has no choice but to introduce usage caps, I would call on them to propose caps that are realistic and reasonable. The usage caps proposed in their new plan are neither realistic nor reasonable. For example, if a consumer downloads Season 1 of “Friday Night Lights” in high definition from iTunes, they will have used 30.86 gigabytes of transfer. This one purchase would put that consumer over the limit of all but the most expensive tier that Time Warner is offering under the new plan. It’s easy to see how the costs associated with the ongoing, high volumes of Internet use that many businesses require be could be astronomical. Internet access should be expanded, not constrained. Innovation and creativity should be unleashed by the Internet, not shackled by draconian usage caps. This is vital to Austin’s economic recovery. I hope that Time Warner will work with City officials and the community at large to reconsider this bad plan. UPDATE: Brewster McCracken has issued a statement as well.Greetings Citizens After eight bustling days of ATV Anniversary Specials, we’re back to our regular schedule this week. If you missed any of the episodes highlighting our ship manufacturers from Anvil to Drake, you can check them all out here. The accompanying Anniversary sale ends today, but if you want to treat yourself to an early Christmas present: the Anvil Hawk, Aegis Hammerhead, and UEE land claim licenses are still available until December 11th. Closing up the Anniversary Specials, was Jared Huckaby, hosting an extraordinary episode of Happy Hour where YOU helped determine what will be the next ship from Drake Interplanetary. Watch the entire episode if you haven’t already and then vote for your vessel of choice to add to Drake’s (Interplanetary, not that Canadian) lineup. As we’re into a new month, it’s also time to catch up with what our teams in Austin, LA, UK, and Frankfurt have been working on in November’s monthly report. There’s been a concerted push among our various studios to get the Alpha 3.0 to the community, and we’re currently focusing on stability and performance. With that, let’s see what’s going on this week: We’re kicking off the week with a new episode of Citizens of the Stars, highlighting the incredible contributions made by our community. Our Spotlight guest will be Twitch streamer RedLir, followed by Chris Smith in the Quantum Questions hot seat, trying to make it to the top of the leaderboard. Catch it here. On Tuesday, the Lore Team will publish their weekly lore post, offering an additional look at the background and history that will bring the Star Citizen universe to life. You can find all previously released posts here. On Wednesday, we’ll explore another system in the Star Citizen universe with Loremaker’s Guide to the Galaxy. You’ll also receive the answers to your questions for the Hammerhead and the Hawk in Spectrum’s announcement section. The Land Claim License Q&A also releases this week – specific day TBD. Thursday, we’ll welcome a new episode of ATV, with an update to the Burndown list from Eric Keiron Davis. And Friday, the latest newsletter will hit your inbox, and we’ll publish the updated Schedule Report! On with the week, Citizens and remember the Cant! Ulf Kuerschner Community ManagerMarylandReporter.com The Maryland Senate Thursday unanimously passed Gov. Hogan’s $42 billion budget. That earned praise from the Republican governor mixed with concern about reductions in the Rainy Day fund and highway user revenues, as well as $132 million in funds fenced off for legislative priorities. “Working in a bipartisan fashion to give our great state a sound fiscal foundation is a shared responsibility,” Hogan said in a statement, “and today’s vote shows both leadership and partnership toward a common goal.” “In order to keep moving forward, and to build upon the progress of the past year, we must continue to focus on our long-term finances, live within our means, and strive for the much-needed mandate and tax relief our citizens expect and deserve,” the governor said. “This is the second year in a row” for a unanimous vote, enthused Senate President Mike Miller, urging Republicans to “hold fast.” Last year, the GOP senators voted against the final compromise on the budget at Hogan’s urging. There was no debate on the final vote. Debate on abortion funding The only substantial debate before Wednesday’s preliminary vote in the Senate happened over the annual attempt by
complete with great musical cues when you make contact with the enemy) works wonderfully on an Xbox 360, something that most strategy games have struggled with. There’s also a hilarious anxiety to making your shots – much like the classic Worms series, you can’t help but laugh when you miss what you thought was a sure-shot, or accidentally drop a grenade at your own feet. Between the action-flick-esque single-player and enthralling multiplayer, EU is shaping up to be quite the turn-based strategy game. We can’t wait for its North American release on October 9th, followed by an international release on the 12th.In one of the most incredible matches in World Cup history, this ridiculous scoreline was an entirely fair reflection of Germany’s dominance. Jogi Low named an unchanged side from the XI that had narrowly defeated France in the quarter-final. Luiz Felipe Scolari was without the suspended Thiago Silva, and the injured Neymar. Dante was the obvious replacement at the back, while tricky winger Bernard was a surprise choice to replace Neymar, with Oscar moving inside to become the number ten. Luiz Gustavo returned after suspension, with Paulinho dropping out. Incredibly, this game was finished after half an hour – it was 5-0, and Brazil were simply trying to avoid further embarrassment. Germany attack into Brazil’s left-back zone In such a stunningly convincing victory, it seems strange to highlight one zone where Germany were superior. Everything went right for them, everything went wrong for Brazil – there wasn’t one single aspect where the hosts even competed, let alone were better. Nevertheless, it’s easy to pinpoint Germany’s main area of dominance – down their right, in Brazil’s left-back zone. For the first half hour, the number of times Germany broke in behind Marcelo was extraordinary, and equally ridiculous was the fact Marcelo didn’t the hint, remain in his position for a few minutes, and allow Brazil to get a foothold in the game. Instead, he kept motoring forward, and the German attacks kept on coming. There were so many examples in the first half, that it’s worth going through them one-by-one… At 3:17, Marcelo moves forward into the opposition half to close down Thomas Muller, but falls asleep when Germany win a throw. The left-back is caught badly out of position, and Sami Khedira sees the space, sprints into it, and Muller throws him the ball for a quick counter-attack. Khedira plays in Miroslav Klose, and Germany have their first opportunity to break in behind because Muller has sprinted past Marcelo – who has fallen asleep for a second time in the same move – but Klose’s touch is poor, and the pass doesn’t come. Muller screams at Klose, frustrated he’s been denied a golden opportunity to break the deadlock, but he would have further opportunities. This was Brazil’s first warning sign, and this area of the pitch decided the game. At 6:50, Marcelo is caught obscenely out of position as Brazil lose possession in midfield, and while Luiz Gustavo is attempting to cover, Muller has remained high up the pitch on the right flank, ready to break in behind. Khedira knocks the ball out to Muller, who has space to cross to the far post. He picks out Mesut Ozil, who unselfishly cuts the ball back to Khedira. His goalbound shot hits Toni Kroos. At 9:35, Marcelo receives a short pass from Hulk inside the final third, tries a stepover and pass, but concedes possession and allows Khedira and Muller to break into space. Gustavo again tries to cover but is outmuscled by Khedira, and Marcelo actually recovers very impressively, sprinting back to tackle first Muller, then Khedira, atoning for his own error. Still, he raises his hand to apologise to his teammates, recognising how mistake. As it happens, Germany took the lead from the resulting corner – Muller was unmarked after Germany blocked off his marker, David Luiz. At 13:22, Muller tries to play a one-two with Khedira, but Marcelo blocks him and concedes a free-kick. At 16:40, Marcelo’s attacking play resulted in one of Brazil’s best moments, where he and Hulk combined. Marcelo races in behind Philipp Lahm – but the German captain produces a superb sliding tackle inside the box. At 18:35, Marcelo plays a ball forward into attack, which is intercepted by Jerome Boateng. Marcelo had continued his forward run, so Muller is yet again unmarked on the right. Kroos switches the play to that side, but the ball is overhit and Muller has to scramble to keep it in. At 21:30, Marcelo again darts forward in advance of the ball, but the move breaks down. Yet again, Muller is breaking in behind the half-covering Gustavo, and his near post cross is cut out. At 21:50, Lahm starts becoming involved in an attacking sense, and Hulk’s defensive deficiencies become clear. From a throw-in, he and Muller combine on the right. Then, Lahm moves the ball inside to Kroos, and Muller runs inside Marcelo and tees up Klose for the second goal. At 23:45, Ozil sees all the fun his teammates are having on the right, so drifts to that flank, further overloading Brazil. He combines with the overlapping Lahm, whose cut-back finds a Muller mis-hit, and the ball runs through to Kroos at the far post, who makes it 3-0. By this point, other problems were taking over. The pattern of Germany’s final third passes before the 30min mark, and after that point, are very different – the right-sided bias is less obvious. Pressing As impressive as Germany’s ruthless, selfless counter-attacking was the manner they prevented Brazil playing their midfield passing game. The high line that was so perilous (if ultimately successful) in the 2-1 victory over Algeria was perfect against Fred, a slow striker who doesn’t offer any running in behind the opposition. He always wanted to come short, and Germany were happy pushing up and using a very high line. In turn, this gave the midfield license to press, with Kroos marking Fernandinho and Khedira pushing up on Gustavo. The fourth goal summed up this simple strategy perfectly – Kroos caught Fernandinho in possession, swapped passes with Khedira, who was also pushing forward, and scored the fourth. Khedira netted the fifth after David Luiz had charged out and left Dante isolated. It was simply becoming too easy. Kroos summed up Germany – brilliant technically but combative and powerful too. Germany’s simple (but perfectly implemented) midfield press meant Brazil’s defenders had nowhere to go when they received possession. Gustavo and Fernandinho were being tracked, while Oscar tried to collect possession in very advanced positions, in behind Bastian Schweinsteiger – it took him surprisingly long to realise he needed to drop deep and work the ball forward more gradually. Look at the passing in the first half hour – Brazil simply played the ball across the defence, while Germany worked it forward quickly: By a certain point, of course, Brazil’s players had completely lost confidence, and the midfielders simply stopped looking for the ball. David Luiz David Luiz’s performance has received most criticism, which is natural considering he was the captain, and he completely lost his head after half-time. But in the first half he was the only Brazilian making things happen. Passes into the midfield zone simply weren’t an option, so it was entirely natural that he hit accurate long balls, and attempted to dribble forward. He hit some excellent long diagonals to the left, usually to Hulk, and went on a couple of mazy runs, which worked nicely as Germany were effectively man-marking in midfield, so this forced someone to leave their man and stop David Luiz. Klose, in fairness, worked very hard too, often battling back – and at one stage receiving David Luiz’s elbow in his face when trying to make a tackle. Broken side Towards the end of the first half, the lack of cohesion in Brazil’s side was incredible – six defending, four attacking, and no link between. The six couldn’t get the ball to the four, the four didn’t help the six win the ball. It was the classic broken side, and not something usually witnessed at this level. At half-time Scolari brought on Paulinho and Ramires for Hulk and Fernandinho, simply hoping to inject some energy into a lifeless performance. Brazil switched to more of a 4-3-3, with Gustavo behind Ramires and Paulinho, and in reality this is probably the shape Scolari should have started with. In fairness, Brazil did rally at the start of the second half, forcing Manuel Neuer into some good saves. The crucial change was Germany’s, though. Andre Schurrle replaced Klose, and just like against Algeria, played upfront and offered pace in behind – which was perfect as Brazil piled forward and left space at the back. He scored two goals, including another assisted by Lahm from the right. Scolari’s final change, replacing Fred with Willian and playing without a striker, was another attempt to bring more energy to the side, although in reality Brazil needed so much more. Oscar’s 90th-minute goal wasn’t even a consolation. Conclusion This should be regarded as one of the most historic defeats football as seen: the hosts, pre-tournament favourites and the most successful side in the history of the World Cup humbled 1-7 in their own country, in the semi-final. Everyone is wise after the event, and many will suggest Germany were always likely to win, but in reality, with the bookmakers had Germany and Brazil at exactly the same odds to triumph. This was considered 50:50, and expected to be a tight, tense game – that shouldn’t be overlooked. Instead, it was an absolute thrashing. There were two key reasons Germany won. First, Muller (and Khedira and Lahm) broke in behind Marcelo, who endured a horrendous opening first half hour. Second, the midfield pressing was intense, enabled by the high defensive line, and Germany refused to let Brazil play through midfield. Everything was carried out brilliantly, but it wasn’t actually a particularly complex approach from Germany, and you sense they had another gear if required. By the second half, they were surely saving themselves for the final, with substitute Schurrle attempting to play his way into the XI. Literally everything went wrong for Brazil. Perhaps the selection of Bernard sums it up best – it was a hugely surprising decision, and was it partly because Bernard is a Belo Horizonte boy, and received a tremendous reception from this crowd when he played in this stadium at the Confederations Cup last year? Maybe Scolari was trying to replace Neymar’s popularity, rather than his attacking impact. The effect on the pitch, of course, was that Brazil were horrendously broken into two sections – not that Bernard was, individually, at fault. This was a colossal failure on every level, however. Scolari has taken the blame, and some of his selection decisions must be questioned. But the long-term question is more serious, and must concentrate on why Brazil has stopped producing world-class attacking players – which meant a dependence upon Neymar, underperformers like Hulk and Fred guaranteed of their place, and a cynical, aggressive and sometimes dirty approach which turned many neutrals against Brazil, once the home of beautiful football. Holland v Argentina preview Amazon.co.uk Widgets Related articles on Zonal Marking:While the New York Giants haven’t necessarily invested heavily into their linebacker corps in recent years, the group played well in 2016. One of the reasons was because of Keenan Robinson, who is set to be a free agent when the new league year begins. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan believes that Robinson is “in line for a multiyear deal” due to the fact that he proved he can remain healthy and contribute greatly to the defense. Raanan sees the Giants retaining Robinson, given his strong ability to make plays in coverage. Robinson proved this season he can remain healthy. The Giants want to keep him and barring an exorbitant offer from another team they will likely retain his services on a multiyear (two or three years) deal. That’s a good thing because the Giants pass defense would take a major hit if he walked. The Giants signed Robinson to a one-year deal in March worth $2.6 million and he has likely shown that he deserves and extension with the team. Solid coverage linebackers are not easy to come by in the NFL and Robinson was an underrated piece of the defense. Playing 16 games for the first time in his five-year career, Robinson made plays all over the field. He recorded 83 tackles and seven passes defended while taking over the middle of the Giants defense. Should the Giants offer Robinson a multiyear contract, Raanan believes it will be somewhere in the ballpark of “three years, $9 million, $5 million guaranteed.” To get a player of Robinson’s caliber at that price is something the Giants would love to do, especially since there aren’t many coverage linebackers with the ability of Robinson’s. Related Potential Giants free agent target Andrew Whitworth likely to hit market Robinson proved that he can stay healthy in his one-year contract with the Giants and he played well, especially in coverage. Barring a big offer from another team, the Giants will likely re-sign the 28-year-old linebacker to a multiyear deal.If you're talking about classic issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, it's hard to get more iconic than The Amazing Spider-Man #33. The comic, which is titled "The Final Chapter," isn't actually co-creator Steve Ditko's final pass at Spider-Man—he'd provide art up through issue #38—but it does feel like the end of an era, and it puts Aunt May front and center. As the story opens, Aunt May lies in a hospital bed, dying from a transfusion of Peter Parker's radioactive blood. The only cure is an isotope known as ISO-36, which is contained in an underwater lab controlled by Spider-Man's arch-nemesis, Doctor Octopus. As the laboratory fills with water, Spider-Man is pinned underneath multiple tons of fallen steel, with no hope of escape. The following four pages are arguably Ditko's finest work in any Spider-Man comic—at least, that's what Stan Lee thinks. "The Spider-Man that was one of my all time favorite stories that was illustrated by Steve Ditko was the Spider-Man story called "The Final Chapter," Lee said. "It was such a thrill, even to me and I was the writer of the story. When I saw that I almost shouted in triumph. Steve did a wonderful job." And who does Peter, and by extension Lee, have to thank for the big moment? Well, Ditko, of course, but also Aunt May. As the water rises, Spider-Man thinks about his beloved aunt, and how he's failed her in the past (namely letting the anonymous robber get away, leaving him free to kill Uncle Ben). Using May's strength and resilience as motivation, Peter lifts the steel beams above his head and escapes. He delivers the isotope to the hospital in the nick of time and, with May cured, puts the specter of Uncle Ben's death behind him once and for all (or, at least, until Stan Lee needed to send Peter Parker on another guilt trip).Syrian president Bashar al Assad has accused the West of “crying” over a refugee crisis that it caused by “supporting terrorists”, as he vowed not to step down in the face of international pressure. His comments, broadcast in an interview with Russian television, came on the eve of a UN visit to Damascus to discuss peace “ideas” with the regime's top diplomat. As European governments struggle to manage the humanitarian cost of Syria’s four year long war, Mr Assad said that it was the West’s support for “terrorists” that had caused the conflict to spiral out of control. “When you have terrorism, and you have the destruction of the infrastructure, you won't have the basic needs of living," Mr Assad said in an interview with Russian television. “If you are worried about them, stop supporting terrorists,” he said. Syria's government routinely describes all those involved in the anti-regime uprising and ensuing civil war as "terrorists", including Western-backed rebels. The fighting has forced more than 12 million people from their homes, prompting hundreds of thousands to flee to neighbouring countries and tens of thousands to brave the perilous journey to Europe. Although the spread of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has caused tens of thousands of Syrians to leave their home, human rights groups say that the regime's barrel bombs and coercive practices remain the main reason for the exodus. But Mr Assad used Wednesday's interview to stress that he would not leave his post as a result of foreign pressure. He said that the president "comes to power with the people's assent through elections, and if he leaves, he leaves if the people demand it". The Syrian president was re-elected last year with 88.7 per cent of the vote. Polling was confined to regime-held areas and in some cases, people were coerced to vote. Mr Assad’s comments came amid a renewed diplomatic push to end a war which has cost more than 240,000 lives since 2011. UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, will visit Damascus on Thursday for talks with the country’s foreign minister, Walid Muallem. Photo: Getty Images There are signs that Western nations, including Britain, are softening their stance on the regime. Foreign secretary Philip Hammond said last week that Britain could accept Mr Assad staying in place for a transition period if it helped resolve the country's conflict. Increasingly reliant on the funding and manpower of its foreign allies, Mr Assad’s regime has been forced to retrench operations outside of its eastern strongholds. Iran has provided funds to prop up the country's struggling economy and Iranian military advisers have joined Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters on the ground. Russia has also ramped up military support for the regime in recent months, often under the guise of delivering humanitarian aid. Satellite imagery and eyewitness accounts from Mr Assad’s coastal stronghold of Latakia have revealed an extensive effort to support Syrian troops, including through the building of what appears to be a new Russian air base. On Wednesday, US secretary of state John Kerry said he had told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Moscow’s intervention risked worsening the fighting. “I made clear that Russia's continued support for Assad risks escalating the conflict and undermining our shared goal of fighting extremism if we do not also remain focused on finding the political solution,” Mr Kerry said, describing a call to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov which took place on Tuesday. Later on Wednesday, Mr Kerry said Russia has proposed “military-to-military talks” with the US on Syria, and that he was talking to the White House and the Pentagon about the proposal. Experts say that increased Russian involvement could prove a game-changer in Syria’s war, with major implications for the regime’s fighting strength and rebel morale. “Substantial Russian forces could give the regime a decisive edge on battlefields where they are employed, allowing key positions to be taken or held and increasing attrition on rebel forces,” wrote Jeffrey White, a fellow at The Washington Institute, in analysis published this week. “The rebels would lack the coordination, cohesion, discipline, and firepower to defeat the Russians consistently or win larger-scale actions against them,” he wrote. In comparison, US efforts to influence the fight drew condemnation on Wednesday after a leading Pentagon official said that only “four or five” American-trained rebels are still fighting in Syria. General Lloyd Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the US is looking at better ways to deploy the Syrian forces, but he agreed that the US will not reach its goal of training 5,000 in the near term. Describing the US fight against Isil as a ‘debacle’, Senator John McCain said assessments by Gen. Austin and the Pentagon were "divorced from reality."Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign rallies have become a fixture in the 2016 election season as much for the candidate's rambling speeches as for the frequent interruptions of said speeches. Demonstrators have filed in to Trump rallies across the country, shouting their anti-Trump messages and promptly being ridiculed by rally-goers and led out by law enforcement. On Saturday, Trump began to call for the arrest of protesters as he was repeatedly interrupted, raising questions about the legality of protest and whether Trump can press charges against demonstrators. So what are the answers? Is it legal to protest a Donald Trump rally? In this March 1 photo, a protester is escorted out of a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Louisville, Kentucky. Image: AP Photo/John Bazemore The short answer is, no. In 2012, H.R. 347, a federal law dealing with protest, was amended to make it a crime to "disrupt the orderly conduct of government business or official functions" in areas where the Secret Service is providing protection. The Secret Service began protecting Trump in November (they also provide security for Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders). What happens to protesters, then? Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump describes how he was ready to punch a person who rushed the stage during an election rally earlier in the day, as he speaks to a crowd in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 12. Image: AP Photo/Nati Harnik Law enforcement has simply tossed out protesters at Trump rallies, but H.R. 347 states that they could be imprisoned for up to a year for trespassing. So how do protesters protest? In this March 4 photo, a protester chanting "Black Lives Matter" is escorted away as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in New Orleans. Image: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert Demonstrators are technically relegated to free speech zones much like the ones seen on college campuses. Such zones are often used to keep dissenters away from media attention, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. At a recent Trump event at Valdosta State University, in Georgia, the two designated free speech zones were not in sight of the arena where the rally was held. One was a quarter mile away. Can Trump arrest whomever he wants? Donald Trump speaks at a campaign stop in Bloomington, Illinois, on March 13. Image: Rex Features via AP Images Trump can call for the arrest of whomever he wants, but he can't do the arresting. He has said, however, that he is "going to start pressing charges" against protesters as a way to intimidate them into thinking twice about demonstrating at his rallies. Based on the change to H.R. 347 in 2012, he may have grounds to press for trespassing charges against any protester who walked into the rally knowing it was a restricted area, according to the ACLU. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.Click through the gallery to see which actors passed up the opportunity to play iconic roles, from Neo to Marty McFly to Carrie Bradshaw. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" With brains to match his good looks, dashing archaeologist Indiana Jones burst onto the big screen as a swashbuckling hero fighting off Nazis in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Ford was already a star thanks to his role in another huge George Lucas franchise, but his portrayal of the fedora-wearing, whip-toting professor cemented his leading man status. Yet Indiana Jones would have been much different (and had a lot more facial hair) if Lucas' first choice had accepted the role. Bing: Which actor turned down the role of Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark"? Search: What animal is Indiana Jones famously terrified of? Find: How old is Harrison Ford?Despite saying that Bobby Ryan has no intensity in his game, Brian Burke had Bobby Ryan on his final roster, says Team USA general manager David Poile. In a conference call discussing the Olympic roster, Poile defended Burke, adding more fuel to the Burke/Ryan public feud. Poile says Burke had Bobby Ryan on his final roster. — Sean Gentille (@seangentille) January 3, 2014 Whether that's true or not, we'll never know. The behind the scenes look that granted ESPN's Scott Burnside in-depth coverage of the roster selection started the conversation, which talked about Ryan not being a top-6 forward. Poile, after allowing reporters froom ESPN and USA today to be embedded with Oly team selection process, now says Team USA thought it — Helene Elliott (@helenenothelen) January 3, 2014 had "editorial review" over what would be written. Says as much was said positively about Bobby Ryan as negatively...weak response i think. — Helene Elliott (@helenenothelen) January 3, 2014 Burke's comments intensified the feud, and now Poile and Burke are trying to apologize. Ryan can still fill in on the roster if there is an injury. Poile: "I'm trying right now to apologize to Bobby Ryan. I apologize as much as I can." — Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) January 3, 2014 Team USA GM David Poile apologizes on conf. call for negative depiction of Bobby Ryan in behind-the-scenes look of how team was formed — Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) January 3, 2014 Ryan said the comments were "gutless" and said he wasn't about to reach out to Team USA. Poile gets a chance to apologize in person before the Olympics when the Ottawa Senators visit the Nashville Predators, where Poile is GM, on Jan. 11.One day, Reddit user kwhishe was just casually chatting with friends, shooting the shit. Suddenly, the conversation veered towards dinosaur balls. “The other day, I was in a group of people when someone was making a gesture with their hands saying that someone else had huge balls, using each hand to hold one ball, so my friend exclaimed that those would look more like dinosaur balls (we had just watched Jurassic World). “Then we got curious about the actual size of dinosaur balls, and a quick search showed that scientists can’t be sure if dinosaurs actually had testicles in the sense that we know them now, if [at] all. So, I just wanted more information on why we don’t know positively if dinosaurs had testicles, and if they did have balls, how large would they be?” This question is nuts! But truly, I was elated. Dinosaur peen is a topic that’s come up a lot for whatever reason in drunken conversation (which may say more about the company I keep more than anything), but dinosaur testicles is a subject that’s sorely ignored. I guess most people just assume T. rex had big balls dangling about, which couldn’t be more further from the truth. I contacted Matt Borths, host of the amazing and fascinating Past Time podcast. As an Ohio University paleontologist, the ball was really in his court to investigate this further. Immediately, Matt told me that dinosaurs did have testicles! How big they were was a matter of debate. And, really, that’s the question that’s on everyone’s mind. Borths says that all sexually reproducing animals have testicles, as in, a storage place for sperm. Before you get too excited, you mustn’t confuse this for balls, however. Mammals are unique in that aspect. As I’m sure you’re aware, males, curiously and weirdly, have external testicles hanging in between their legs. This makes no sense evolutionary-wise, considering anyone who has been kicked in the balls knows just how vulnerable and defenseless this mechanism is. But we’ll get to that later. Borths explains: “If you go to the zoo and check between the legs of all the animals you see, you’ll be hard pressed to find a critter with balls that isn’t a mammal. Because there aren’t any. Mammals are the only animals that have taken the apparently idiotic evolutionary step to let half the genetic diversity of future generations hang out in the wind.” Here’s the thing: Nobody knows why mammals possess external balls. There are a bunch of theories dangling about, like temperature regulation (some say sperm production is best a few degrees cooler than your body temperature). In truth, mammal testes are really one of science’s greatest mysteries. Right up there with the origin of the universe. Seriously. On the other hand, reptiles, amphibians, and birds have internal testicles. Some mammals do, too. “Whales, hedgehogs, and rhinos have independently taken the sensible evolutionary step to tuck their testes back inside the abdomen,” explains Borths. So based on this information, we can conclude that dinos possessed internal testes. But how big were they? Who knows? Paleontologists have never actually found fossilized T. rex testes. Since testicles are essentially soft tissue, they don’t fossilize very well. “In fact, for most dinosaurs, we can’t say if we’re dealing with a male or female individual,” he shares. Only a handful of definite female dinosaurs have ever been found. Since we don’t have any fossilized records of dino gonads, we have to look towards their modern-day descendants: birds and their closest living relatives: crocodiles. In birds, there is a lot of variation in testicle size based on the species. And, like crocodiles, their testicles actually change in size during breeding season. “Big dinosaurs probably had pretty big testes because they were big, but there would have been a lot of variation,” Borths says. It’s really hard to say. Body size doesn’t necessarily equate to ball size in mammals all the time. “Even just within apes, things get pretty crazy with some researchers connecting social behavior to ball size,” Borths explains. He went on to say a sentence that, while scientific, just made me laugh at the absurdity of our conversation: “Gorillas have pretty tiny balls compared to their body size.” Scientists think this may be because one gorilla has access to a harem of females. Chimps, which are much smaller, have huge testicles which might be advantageous in their environment where multiple males and females compete for sex with each other. Humans are somewhere in between. “Same with dinosaurs. Depending on the breeding season and the composition of groups, and the strategies used by males and females to get access to each other,” Borths says, “there was probably a lot of variation in testicle size between species and even within an individual depending on the time of year.” There you have it! Nobody really knows about the inner workings of dinosaurs’ delicate bits, but we can make some ballsy guesses regardless.UPDATED: There is a tidbit of news on the progress for the new Star Trek movie. According to the Mayor of Seoul South Korea, the 2016 Star Trek movie will do some location shooting in that city. UPDATE 2: Trek film to primarily shoot in Vancouver In another exclusive follow-up, TrekMovie has details on where most of the upcoming Star Trek film will be shot. UPDATE: Mayor Confirms Agreement To Shoot In Seoul On Sunday, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon made a post on his Facebook page reporting his his Hollywood meetings, which included this (translated by Korea Observer): Today I met with Jeffrey Chernov, producer of Star Trek 3, at the Paramount Pictures Studio and agreed to film a portion of the upcoming movie in Seoul. And today Bob Orci made the following comment here at TrekMovie.com boborci the Mayor was a lovely man :) TrekMovie has already reported that the upcoming Star Trek film will not be Earth focused, so it appears that the Korean location will be standing in for some kind of alien location, or possibly a (non-Earth) Starfleet location. It isn’t clear yet if the production is being drawn to Korea through incentives or something unique about Seoul to match the scene they need to create (or combination of the two). original article Star Trek With Seoul? Park Won-soon, mayor of Seoul, South Korea, has been in Los Angeles to meet with LA mayor Eric Garcetti and mostly to tour the LA’s emergency preparedness systems to see if there is anything to be learned for his city. But according to the LA Times, Won-soon also spent some time courting Hollywood to lure productions to his city, and apparently Star Trek was part of that agenda. From the article: During his trip, Park said he was also meeting with Hollywood producers and directors to court them to film in Seoul, citing the shoot of the movie “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in the city this year. He said the city was in talks with filmmakers behind the next “Star Trek” movie to film there. “We provided every convenience for them, blocking streets or districts in total,” Park said of the “Avengers” shoot. As reported earlier by TrekMovie, director Roberto Orci is now in the early stages of pre-production for his Star Trek movie slated to be released in the summer of 2016. This is the time that the filmmakers would be looking at various locations. It is too early to tell if the talks with the mayor or Seoul will bear fruit, but it is likely that the discussion were related to location shooting and not for the entire feature. "The Bourne Legacy" being shot in Seoul, South Korea – could the next Star Trek shoot there too? Thanks to Ralph for tipOct 24, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro (middle) greets his teammates as he is introduced before game one of the 2012 World Series against the Detroit Tigers at AT One of the Giants’ top priorities entering the offseason was to re-sign Marco Scutaro. They indeed accomplished that during the Winter Meetings by inking the 37-year-old for three more years at $20 million total. Now, here’s the real question: Is it truly possible that Scutaro, 37, can remain productive as he approaches the big “40”? First, let’s count out the possibility of him slashing for.362/.385/.473 again. Not only was that over a fraction of a season (61 games), but sustaining that type of consistent production over a full season leans on the impossible side. The formula for Scutaro’s success with San Francisco was quite simple—-hits, bloopers, line drives, and home runs were falling in his favor during that tremendous streak. Eventually, the hits disparity balances out, though. For Scutaro, the balance came in one big spurt. See, in Colorado, he was probably the unluckiest man on earth. His Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) with the Rockies sat below.300 for the majority 2012 and his OPS checked in south of.700, until he was dealt of course. For reference, the average BABIP is anywhere in between.290 to.310. So from sub-.300 with Colorado to.366 with the Giants, fate obviously turned in Scutaro’s direction. Still, a.366 BABIP is unsustainable. Now, Scutaro doesn’t necessarily have to repeat his 61-stretch Scutaro to live up to his contract. If that was an expectation, they’d be paying him a lot more. However, common sense dictates that Scutaro won’t be productive at the back end of his deal. Let’s set the scene a little. He would be sniffing 40-years-old, his legs would be shot, and his bat speed would likely be dwindling as well. So unless he’s Superman, there are few reasons to believe that he will consistently produce. Heck, one more blow to the hip on a Matt Holliday-esque slide could doom Scutaro. So, a reasonable barometer would have to be based on the first two years of his contract, whether that seems fair to you or not. And you might be asking why the Giants didn’t just sign him for two years, right? Well, they obviously weren’t Scutaro’s only suitors. St.Louis and the Yankees also had conversations with the NLCS MVP, meaning that general manager Brian Sabean had to “wow” him in some shape or form. I’d presume the “wow” was met. A reasonable prediction for Scutaro in the first two years of the deal would be an OPS north of.700 with an above average contact rate. Perhaps a contact percentage of 95 percent (led baseball in 2012) would be too much to expect. Then again, he has posted a contact percentage of at least 90 since 2005, and it’s been on the rise too. This niche fits in well with the usually powerless Giants. If there’s one trap Scutaro must avoid, though, is the infamous Aubrey Huff route from hero to the bench. Huff was undoubtedly one of San Francisco’s key performers during their 2010 championship run, then he got paid (two years, $20 million). And the rest is history, as Huff bounced between bench and disabled list in 2011 and 2012. Scutaro and Huff are like comparing apples and oranges, though. Huff is still known for his trendiness, having one good year and then being practically nonexistent the following season. Scutaro doesn’t follow that trend, instead being average or better. Let’s revisit the question: Will Scutaro live up to his contract? Probably not. It’s like the Giants are rewarding him, and hoping for a few average years so he can be a suitable place-holder for Joe Panik. So, you have your answer.No political columnists, unless they’re left-wingers When I first arrived at Boston College as a rosy-eyed freshman, I was interested in politics and journalism, and I wanted to join both the College Republicans and the school newspaper, The Heights. I am a conservative (economic and social, I always clarify), and have been ever since I first decided not to simply believe what my teachers pontificated but rather to think for myself—a classically liberal virtue, needless to say. I had heard The Heights was (unsurprisingly) left-leaning, and it was. But I was pleasantly surprised when in October 2015 it published a letter to the editor I wrote criticizing the paper for a biased story about Ta-Nehisi Coates. My letter drew ad hominem attacks, vulgar language, and physical threats from my peers, but not from the newspaper staff themselves. In The Heights’ comment section, I was called “ignorant,” “a lost cause in matters of human decency,” “stupid,” “racist,” “bigoted,” “privileged,” “goddam blinded,” “hateful,” “a piece of shit,” and a
you can draw boxes around'sub-steps' Tip: you can add arrows to the end of paths in the Fill and Stroke's Stroke style tab under the Markers: setting. Tip: to place pieces on jumpers: Duplicate the piece three times. Then snap the first and second copy to the left and right (respectively) of where you want the centered piece Group those two You can give them a diffrent color so they stand out Use the alignment tools ( Ctrl + Shift + A ) to align the origional between the grouped copied Delete the two-copies group Figure 23 has all the images we need for the capitol's instructions. Completing the Instructions Now that we have the source images, it is time to put it all together. The main goal is to arrange these images (groups in the.svg file) on to multiple page-shaped.svg files. We will then save these page-shaped file as.pdfs and merge them all. My instructions only have 8 images, but each is fairly wide and complicated. Thus, I will put 4 on each page. My pages are 8.5" x 11". Make an 85px x 110px, borderless rectangle object Use the object tool to move and stretch it to cover one page-worth of instruction images Hold down Ctrl when resizing to keep the 8.5:11 ratio (or whatever your page size is) when resizing to keep the 8.5:11 ratio (or whatever your page size is) When you get close, use the End key to send it behind your images Press Ctrl + Shift + D to bring up the document properties dialog With your rectangle selected on the Page tab, click the Resize page to drawing or selection button Expand Resize page to content... if needed if needed See Figure 24 below Close the dialog Delete the page-size rectangle Do any final arrangements Add numbers using the text tool and align them with each image File -> Save as instructions page 1.svg (or similar) File -> Save a copy as instructions page 2.svg Delete all images not within the page boundary File -> Save a copy as a pdf: instructions page 1.pdf or similar Close Inkscape and open up instructions page 2.svg Remove all images in the page area and move the next set into the page area Save Save a copy as page 3 (if needed) Delete all images that do not fit on the page Save a copy as instructions page 2.pdf Save and quit Repeat these steps until you have a set of.pdf with each image Now that you have a set of.pdf files, each one page large, we need to concatenate them into a single document. The only way I have used is PDFMerge; it is free (up to 15 MB files) and online. Go to http://www.pdfmerge.com/ Choose each file (I have two) Click the Merge! button Watch your download start soon, likely named merged_document_1.pdf or similar I would rename it And that is it. Now you have a professional, print-quality LEGO instructions document. When printing the.pdf, make sure to resize to your printing page's size. See Capitol_Instructions.pdf for my finished product. LEGO, LEGOLAND, DACTA, DUPLO, PRIMO, FABULAND, SCALA, TECHNIC, MINDSTORMS, and ZNAP, etc. are trademarks or registered trademarks of The LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize, or endorse this site.Even if Math is your least-favorite subject, you can still ace the ACT Math test, through a combination of hard work—i.e., lots of practice tests—and the right problem-solving strategies. To help you improve your ACT Math score, I’ve listed a few of these strategies below. To ace the Math test, you need to memorize those important equations and formulas, ditch your calculator and problem-solve step-by-step with pencil and paper, prioritize your time, and—as always—take lots and lots of practice tests before exam day. More details on these Math test strategies below. For even more expert help on the Math test, consider taking an ACT prep course with Prep Expert. Memorize Important Equations & Formulas Have important equations and formulas like the quadratic equation and Pythagorean theorem memorized before exam day. Even though the ACT provides you with some of them on the first page of the Math test, you should have all the important equations and formulas—the equation of a line, the quadratic equation, the equation of a circle, the Pythagorean theorem, SOH CAH TOA, et cetera—memorized. Having these things down pat will leave you feeling more confident in your problem-solving abilities, and also prevent you from wasting time flipping back and forth between the problems and the first page of the test. So, take the time to make up some flashcards, and drill these equations and formulas until you know them by heart—it will put you in a great position to ace the Math test. Write Out Your All Problem-Solving Steps Do your problem-solving with pencil and paper, writing out all the steps as you work toward an answer. If you’re a self-styled math whiz or addicted to your calculator, you might be in the habit of not writing in your exam booklet very much while working your way through the Math test. However, writing out all your problem-solving steps will prevent you from making simple mistakes. Common mistakes include entering the wrong number into your calculator, or giving the answer for x when you’ve been asked for 2x. This pencil and paper approach also leaves work for you to check, should you finish the test with time left and have the opportunity to look your answers over. Use Your Calculator To Check Your Work Don’t be dependent on your calculator for problem-solving—just use it to check your work. As mentioned, with pencil and paper, you’ll solve problems with greater confidence, and thus complete the test with greater speed and accuracy. Your calculator is a great tool for checking your work, but if you use it as a substitute for detail-conscious, step-by-step problem-solving, it can be counterproductive. Free Webinar 10 Secrets To Raise Your Child's SAT/ACT Score With Perfect Scorer Shaan Patel MD/MBA FREE REGISTRATION Not to mention, there’s always the risk your battery dies in the middle of the exam—don’t set yourself up for this nightmare scenario! Be Sure Your Calculator Is Allowed Be sure you check the ACT website before the exam to ensure your calculator is permitted. You won’t be able to use your smartphone as a calculator, nor are you allowed to use a calculator that makes noise. Most of the Texas Instruments (HI) calculators used in high school Math classes are allowed, but some of the more advanced versions might not be—so it’s best to double-check. And, of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a backup battery for exam day—no exam-day surprises or crises needed! Don’t Rush On Easy- and Medium-Level Difficulty Problems All the problems on the Math test are worth the same number of points. Don’t rush on easy- and medium-level difficulty problems just to finish the test on time. Many students think they have to finish the entire Math test before the allotted 60 minutes are up, without guessing on any questions. However, problems on the Math test get more advanced and difficult as you progress—leading these students to rush through the easier questions, so they have more time at the back end to tackle the tougher ones. But there’s a problem with this strategy, particularly for students who aren’t strong in Math. Working too quickly at the beginning of the Math test can cause you to make a lot of simple mistakes—and thus get lots of questions wrong. Then—even though you have more time left at the end of the test—you get even more questions wrong because you’re not able to answer the more advanced problems correctly. The sum total of this approach: lots of points lost. A better approach, particularly if you’re looking for a big test score improvement, is to take your time at the beginning of the test, and make sure you answer as many of the first 40 problems correctly as you can. Remember: all the problems on the test, regardless of their difficulty, are worth the same number of points. You should still have enough time to dig into some of the remaining 20 questions, but the last 10 questions are extremely difficult—and most students get them wrong anyway. So, if you’re gonna guess, you might as well guess on these ones. Wear A Wristwatch To Keep Track Of Time Wear a wristwatch to pace yourself and track your problem-solving progress. If you’re hoping to get a 36 on the Math test, you’ve got to solve all of the problems correctly—which means you need to leave yourself enough time to finish. You should budget about 30 minutes, give or take a few minutes, to answer the first 40 questions, and 30 minutes to answer the last 20 questions. While there will be a clock in the test center, and your proctor will make the occasional time announcements, I’ve found that it’s best to have a wristwatch to keep your own time. This way you can ensure you keep the right pace, and make the progress, you need to finish the test on time. Skip Over Problems You Can’t Solve If you haven’t made any progress on a problem after 10 seconds, circle it and move on. If you’re baffled by a tricky problem and know only one step you can take—say, factoring, or combining like terms—take that step, and see if it opens the problem up for you. If it doesn’t, circle the problem number and move on. Fixating on a vexing problem wastes precious time and can be extremely anxiety-provoking, dragging down your performance on the rest of the test. Try Plugging The Answer Choices Back Into The Problem If you’re stuck, try inserting the answer choices back into the problem and see if one of them works. This trick doesn’t always work, but if it does—there’s your answer! When doing this, make sure to plug in all the answer choices, to be sure you haven’t made a mistake. Remember, this is something you should do as a last resort—because it’s so time-consuming, it’s not a great first problem-solving step. Don’t Be Intimidated By Advanced Math Topics Even if you have trouble with Math in school, you’ve probably already learned the most advanced topics covered in the ACT—with some solid studying, there’s no way you can’t handle ‘em. The most advanced Math on the test is limited to some basic trigonometry problems. So, if you’re in Precalculus or higher-level Math now, you likely already have a good handle on all the Math you’ll need for the ACT. And, if you haven’t learned any trigonometry yet, there’s no need to worry—none of the concepts are too difficult to learn on your own. Complete Lots Of Practice Tests The more practice tests you complete before exam day, the higher you’ll score. Even if you’re not so great at Math, if you take lots and lots of practice tests, you’ll acquire enough familiarity with the topics covered, and the best (and quickest) approaches to solving problems, to put yourself in a position to score a 36 on the test. Of course, if you don’t like Math, the test will still be a slog, and there will always be a question or two here and there that proves particularly tricky. But, there’s truly no ceiling on your Math test score, regardless of how you’re doing right now if you’re willing to work hard. Consider Taking An ACT Prep Course Prep Expert offers an ACT prep course and tutoring that will guarantee you a higher score. Maybe your geometry teacher wasn’t so great, or you slacked off in algebra class, and now you’re struggling. If this is you, and you need to get a handle on Math concepts in short order, then a test prep class might be your best option. Prep Expert’s ACT prep course will review all the Math concepts you need to know for the test, as well as arm you with a variety of strategies and tips to tackle the exam and go for that 36. 200-Point SAT Score Improvement Guarantee Increase Your SAT Score By 200 Points Or Get Your Money Back! See Terms For Details. VIEW SAT CLASSES ONLINE & IN-PERSON Prep Expert’s courses, offered both in-person and online throughout the year, and in locations across the country, have helped thousands of students improve their ACT scores. Prep Expert also offers one-on-one tutoring for those looking for more individualized help. And it has plenty of options to fit your busy schedule—online classes, for example, can be watched On Demand, so if you can’t make a lecture due to soccer practice or an upcoming Physics final, you can find your own time to watch. For more tips and information, be sure to check out and bookmark Prep Expert.(UPDATE) Pinterest drops imgur support amid opening registration UPDATE: Great news, this was all actually a long-lasting (week?) bug. I received an official report from support that they "regret" having blocked imgur. Why would Pinterest suddenly block imgur, one of the largest image hosting sites in the world (with 32 MILLION views in the last month)? It would appear that Pinterest, who hosts copies of digital files on their own server, will be honoring all previous imgur content, but has gotten spooked and doesn't want to take the risk any more. And this seems to be happening rather quietly. How permanent are Pinterest photos anyway? I did a test to confirm that Pinterest content is in fact indexed by Google. What the hell is mygoogleplus.com? I digress. I found it interesting that Pinterest chose to take the step of hosting images themselves (much like Google images), which is a little risky. However, they know that if their users' content started disappearing, they might be annoyed. What this means, however, is that should anyone search pinterest.com for something (like "pile o kittens") and they find something cute, they may not even be able to repin it currently. I contacted imgur and got this reply from Sarah Schaaf: "Pinterest blocked pins from us.They've done this to differentiate themselves from other image sharing communities, as far as I can tell. There has been no correspondence from them or any mention at all to anyone as to why they've done that." So this creates an observable break in the cohesion between these two social tools. How this will impact both services remains to be seen, and although imgur is the backbone of Reddit content, I don't know how much traffic Pinterest gets from Reddit. Regardless, as people begin to personalize their various content collections around the web that use third party content sources, they risk it disappearing entirely or in this case, becoming less useful to themselves and their circles. My recommendation is to consider imgur.com for browsing only, not storage. Download and re-upload pins direclty from your computer (in addition to commenting, etc) as opposed to "finding" remote content to re-host, which is exposed to permanency and usability risks.In the midst of the confrontations currently raging across multiple eras in the primary timeline, there have also been incidents of incursions into entirely alternate realities. One such breach has resulted in many artifacts and technological oddities from another timeline getting pulled into our own. A closer examination of this timeline reveals that it is a divergent reality that split from our own as a result of a confrontation in the 23rd Century, between an unknown Romulan vessel that had been displaced from the time stream, and a Federation starship - the U.S.S. Kelvin. As a result of this temporal incursion, the entire timeline that followed those events has come to be called the "Kelvin Timeline." Examination of the time-lost salvage taken from the Kelvin Timeline reveals that the Federation of that reality had a decidedly higher investment in advanced military technology, likely as a direct result of their overwhelming defeat at the hands of the alien vessel that invaded their space in the 23rd Century. The same has shown to be true of the Klingon and Romulan ships of that time. This emphasis allows their technology - though technically hundreds of years old - to be comparable with our own in the early 25th Century. A small group of industrious scientists have taken it upon themselves to replicate these designs and distribute them throughout the modern era. Kelvin Timeline Heavy Command Cruiser [T6] – Constitution Class Direct from the 23rd century of an alternate timeline, this Constitution-class vessel leads the way into a new frontier. Starfleet puts their best on ships of this class, and their actions can be a source of inspiration to all. Big and durable, the Heavy Command Cruiser is prepared to seek strange new worlds. This starship features a Commander Engineering/Command bridge officer station and a Lieutenant Science/Temporal Operative bridge officer station. Command ships are impressive vessels designed to inspire those around them. When the Command ship or its teammates activate a Bridge Officer ability, all Command Ships on the team will receive a small amount of the Inspiration resource. Command Bridge Officer abilities generate additional Inspiration. Once a Command ship's Inspiration meter is full, they can use one of three powerful abilities that can turn the tide of battle. Bridge This starship comes with its own unique Kelvin Timeline Constitution Bridge. Ship Details Faction: Starfleet Availability: Kelvin Timeline Lockbox Tier: 6 Required Rank: Rear Admiral Hull Strength: 43,500 at level 40, 50,025 at level 50 and 58,000 at level 60 Shield Modifier: 1.1 Fore Weapons: 4 Aft Weapons: 4 Device Slots: 4 Bridge Officer Stations: 1 Lieutenant Commander Tactical, 1 Ensign Engineering, 1 Commander Engineering/Command, 1 Lieutenant Science/Temporal Operative, 1 Lieutenant Commander Universal Console Modifications: 4 Tactical, 4 Engineering, 3 Science Base Turn Rate: 8 Impulse Modifier: 0.15 Inertia: 40 +5 to All Power Levels Console – Universal – Auxiliary Ejector Assembly Inspiration Abilities Turn the Tide Against All Odds Battle Preparation Starship Ability Package (Cruiser) Absorptive Plating (+Kinetic and Physical Damage Resistance) Rapid Repairs (+Regeneration) Enhanced Plating (+Energy and Radiation Damage Resistance) Armored Hull (+Max Hull Hit Points) Down But Not Out (Starship Trait) Cruiser Command Array Command – Strategic Maneuvering Command – Shield Frequency Modulation Command – Weapon System Efficiency Command – Attract Fire Console – Universal – Auxiliary Ejector Assembly Redundancy and backup systems are common on Federation starships, regardless of the timeline. The Federation of the Kelvin Timeline, however, takes this to the extreme by decentralizing portions of their warp core assembly into "auxiliary" warp cores. By installing similar contingencies, these smaller antimatter chambers can be ejected and detonated in case of emergencies, damaging foes and freeing the Federation vessel from effects that impair its maneuverability. Having this console equipped will increase the damage dealt by your Exotic Damage abilities, while also increasing both current and maximum Auxiliary Subsystem Power (NOTE: Sources of max power do not stack - only the strongest applies, per subsystem.) This Console Mod can be equipped on any ship, in any console slot. You may only equip one of these mods on any single ship. NOTE: Romulan and Klingon characters can obtain this console via the Console Pack in the Kelvin Timeline lockbox. Down But Not Out (Starship Trait) After achieving level 5 in your Kelvin Timeline Heavy Command Cruiser T6's Starship Mastery, you will unlock the Down But Not Out starship trait. While this trait is slotted, and as your ship takes damage, you are able to reroute power from damaged systems to increase the maximum power potential of all of your subsystems, allowing a higher cap on your potential performance. (NOTE: No sources of +MaxPower stack; only the highest bonus will apply.) NOTE: Romulan and Klingon characters can obtain this console via the Starship Trait Unlock packs in the Kelvin Timeline Lockbox. Kelvin Timeline D4x Pilot Bird-of-Prey [T6] The Klingons of the Kelvin Timeline were inspired by the tenacious D4 fighter when they designed this Bird-of-Prey. Incredibly nimble and armed for heavy combat, the D4X is a force to be reckoned with across two realities. A battle-cloak adds to the threat of this fearsome vessel. This starship features a Commander Universal/Pilot Bridge Officer seat and a Lieutenant Universal/Temporal Operative Bridge Officer seat. Pilot ships are highly agile craft designed to perform advanced maneuvers that can give them a deadly edge in combat. By double tapping your directional movement keys your starship will perform a maneuver in that direction. Bridge This starship comes with its own unique Kelvin Timeline Klingon Bridge. Ship Details Faction: Klingon Availability: Kelvin Timeline Lockbox Tier: 6 Required Rank: Brigadier General Hull Strength: 26,400 at level 40, 30,360 at level 50 and 35,200 at level 60 Shield Modifier: 0.95 Fore Weapons: 5 Aft Weapons: 1 Device Slots: 2 Bridge Officer Stations: 1 Ensign Universal, 1 Lieutenant Universal, 1 Lieutenant Universal/Temporal Operative, 1 Lieutenant Commander/Universal, 1 Commander Universal/Pilot Console Modifications: 5 Tactical, 3 Engineering, 3 Science Base Turn Rate: 22 Impulse Modifier: 0.24 Inertia: 0.8 +15 to Weapon Power and +5 to Engine Power Console – Universal – Proton Charge Launcher Battle Cloaking Device Can Load Dual Heavy Cannons Tactical Maneuvers Raider Flanking +25% damage when attacking an NPC enemy's rear arc +8.33% damage when attacking a Player enemy's rear arc Starship Mastery Package (Raider) Precise Weapon Systems (+Accuracy) Tactical Maneuvering (+Defense) Enhanced Weapon Systems (+All Damage) Enhanced Weapon Banks (+Crit Severity) Standoff (Starship Trait) Console – Universal – Proton Charge Launcher The Kelvin Timeline D4x Pilot Bird-of-Prey comes equipped with the Proton Charge Launcher Universal Console. Supplementing the cannon weaponry of the ship are banks of proton explosives intended for short-range deployment. These small charges are encased in launcher mechanisms capable of unloading their entire barrage in a short amount of time, dealing incredible damage to nearby foes, but acquiring targets somewhat at random. While half of the charges hit the primary target, the other half cannot be locked on. Although these proton charges pack quite a punch, their damage potential will drop off sharply beyond 5.0km from targets. Having this console equipped will increase your ship's maximum hull, while also increasing both current and maximum Engine Subsystem Power (NOTE: Sources of max power do not stack - only the strongest applies, per subsystem.) This Console Mod can be equipped on any ship, in any console slot. You may only equip one of these mods on any single ship. NOTE: Romulan and Starfleet characters can obtain this console via the Console Pack in the Kelvin Timeline lockbox. Standoff (Starship Trait) After achieving level 5 in your Kelvin Timeline D4x Pilot Bird-of-Prey T6's Starship Mastery, you will unlock the Standoff starship trait. While this starship trait is slotted, firing upon the forward 90-degree arc of an opponent allows your weapons to deal more damage than usual. Additionally, your weapons gain the ability to knock your foes' weapons offline briefly, once every several seconds, so long as you continue firing on their forward arc. NOTE: Romulan and Starfleet characters can obtain this console via the Starship Trait Unlock packs in the Kelvin Timeline Lockbox. Kelvin Timeline T’laru Intel Carrier Warbird [T6] A versatile Warbird designed to serve as a Space Control ship, the T’laru Intel Carrier is not to be taken lightly. Agile for a ship of its size, the vessel carries a compliment of Scorpion fighters and an array of tactical defense systems. A potent ‘mining drill’ beam weapon gives the T’laru a heavy punch in battle. This starship features a Commander Science/Intel bridge officer station and a Lieutenant Engineering/Temporal Operative bridge officer station. It features a Romulan Battle Cloaking Device and Active Sensor Arrays. The former allows the starship to cloak even while in combat, and the latter allows Intel craft to gather information about their target to expose a vulnerability in their defenses. Intel Ships are all capable of passive Warp Signature Masking. This passive ability grants the Intel ship a tiny amount of Stealth, which will render the Intel craft undetectable at long range. This passive stealth bonus is removed when the starship activates its cloaking device. The Kelvin Timeline T'laru Intel Carrier Warbird comes standard with 2 hangar bays of Kelvin Timeline Scorpion Fighters. These fighters are armed with a Plasma Beam Array and a Plasma Torpedo Launcher. They also can use the Reroute Reserves to Weapons I ability. Bridge This starship comes with its own unique Kelvin Timeline Romulan Bridge. Ship Details Tier: 6 Availability: Kelvin Timeline Lockbox Faction: Romulan Rank Requirement: Sub-Admiral Hull Strength: 1.3 (39,000 at level 40, 44,850 at level 50 and 52,000 at level 60) Shield Modifier: 1.25 Fore Weapons: 4 Aft Weapons: 2 Device Slots: 3 Bridge Officer Stations: 1 Lieutenant Tactical, 1 Lieutenant Engineering/Temporal Operative, 1 Commander Science/Intel, 1 Lieutenant Universal, 1 Lieutenant Commander Universal Console Modifications: 4 Tactical, 3 Engineering, 4 Science Base Turn Rate: 8.5 degrees/second Impulse Modifier: 0.18 Inertia: 30 +10 to Shield Power and +10 to Auxiliary Power Can Load Dual Cannons Romulan Battle Cloaking Device Console – Universal – Mining Drill Laser Hangar Bays: 2 Hangar Bays loaded with Kelvin Timeline Scorpion Fighters Active Sensor Arrays Gather Intelligence Expose Vulnerability: Defenses Expose Vulnerability: Weapon Systems Expose Vulnerability: Critical Systems Starship Mastery Package (Science Carrier Warbird) Quick Deployment (+Pet XP, -Hangar Pet Recharge Time) Enhanced Singularity Circuitry (+Singularity Gain, -Singularity Cooldown) Reactive Shield Technology (+Shield Regen/Hardness) Advanced Shield Systems (+Max Shield HP) Highly Specialized (Starship Trait) Singularity Abilities 40 Base Power for All Subsystems Plasma Shockwave Quantum Absorption Warp Shadows Singularity Jump Singularity Overcharge Console - Universal - Mining Drill Laser Emitter The Kelvin Timeline T'laru Intel Carrier Warbird comes equipped with the Mining Drill Laser Emitter Universal Console. This specialized mining drill emitter can be hooked into the weapon systems of any modern starship, in order to weaponize its potential. The drill's laser can be maintained on a target for a very long duration, gradually increasing in both the damage dealt to the foe and the damage done to their armor systems, which in turn increases the damage the targeted foe will take from all sources of damage. The amount of time this emitter takes to recharge is directly related to how long it is active on a single target; taking longer to recharge the longer it is maintained. Having this console equipped will increase your maximum shield capacity, while also increasing both current and maximum Shield Subsystem Power (NOTE: Sources of max power do not stack - only the strongest applies, per subsystem.) This Console Mod can be equipped on any ship, in any console slot. You may only equip one of these mods on any single ship. NOTE: Starfleet and Klingon characters can obtain this console via the Console Pack in the Kelvin Timeline lockbox. Highly Specialized (Starship Trait) After achieving level 5 in your Kelvin Timeline T'laru Intel Carrier Warbird T6's Starship Mastery, you will unlock the Highly Specialized starship trait. While this starship trait is slotted, each time one of their abilities is activated, it will cause all other specialist bridge officer abilities to recharge more quickly, allowing them all to be used more frequently. In addition, you will gain a boost to Starship Hull Repair, Starship Weapon Specialization and Starship Particle Generators skills. This skill buff stacks up to 5 times. NOTE: Starfleet and Klingon characters can obtain this console via the Starship Trait Unlock packs in the Kelvin Timeline Lockbox. Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser [T6] - Vengeance Class This vessel was designed by Khan Noonien Singh to protect the Federation from all threats. The massive Vengeance-class Dreadnought is equipped with an arsenal of cutting-edge weaponry, including Assault Drones. Its defense systems include a cloaking device and an Intel sensor suite. This starship features a Commander Engineering/Intel bridge officer station and a Lieutenant Universal/Temporal Operative bridge officer station. It features a Cloaking Device and Active Sensor Arrays. The former allows the starship to cloak while not in combat, and the latter allows Intel craft to gather information about their target to expose a vulnerability in their defenses. Intel Ships are all capable of passive Warp Signature Masking. This passive ability grants the Intel ship a tiny amount of Stealth, which will render the Intel craft undetectable at long range. This passive stealth bonus is removed when the starship activates its cloaking device. The Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser comes standard with 1 hangar bay of Kelvin Timeline Assault Drones. Assault Drones are armed with Kelvin Timeline Phaser Emitter Arrays and Kelvin Timeline Photon Torpedo Launcher. Bridge This starship comes with its own unique Kelvin Timeline Vengeance Bridge. Ship Details Faction: Starfleet Availability: Lobi Store Tier: 6 Required Rank: Rear Admiral Hull Strength: 1.52 (45,600 at level 40, 52,440 at level 50 and 60,800 at level 60) Shield Modifier: 1.15 Fore Weapons: 5 Aft Weapons: 3 Device Slots: 4 Bridge Officer Stations: 1 Lieutenant Commander Tactical, 1 Commander Engineering/Intel, 1 Ensign Science, 1 Lieutenant Universal/Temporal Operative, 1 Lieutenant Commander Universal Console Modifications: 4 Tactical, 5 Engineering, 2 Science Base Turn Rate: 7 Impulse Modifier: 0.18 Inertia: 40 +15 to Weapon Power and +5 to Shield Power Console – Universal – Broadside Emitter Arrays Can Load Dual Heavy Cannons Hangar Bays: 1 Hangar Bays loaded with Kelvin Assault Drones Active Sensor Arrays Gather Intelligence Expose Vulnerability: Defenses Expose Vulnerability: Weapon Systems Expose Vulnerability: Critical Systems Starship Mastery Package (Dreadnought Cruiser) Rapid Repairs (+Hull Regen) Enhanced Plating (+Energy and Radiation Res) Devastating Weaponry (+Crit Chance) Armored Hull (+Max Hull HP) Target Rich Environment (Starship Trait) Cruiser Command Array Command – Attract Fire Command – Weapon System Efficiency Console - Universal - Broadside Emitter Arrays The Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser comes equipped with the Broadside Emitter Arrays Universal Console. This technology is basically additional banks of emitter arrays, mounted on the exterior 'broad side' arcs of the ship. In order to minimize their power draw and performance impact, these emitters can only be powered up for brief periods of time, and their targeting sensors are set to automatically acquire targets. In an attempt to make up for their limited usage, they have been set to fire at an extremely rapid pace. Having this console equipped will increase the speed at which your Captain Abilities will recharge, while also increasing both current and maximum Weapons Subsystem Power (NOTE: Sources of max power do not stack - only the strongest applies, per subsystem.) This Console Mod can be equipped on any Kelvin Timeline ship, in any console slot. You may only equip one of these mods on any single ship. NOTE: Romulan and Klingon characters can obtain this console via the Cross-Faction Bundle: Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Equipment in the Lobi store. Target Rich Environment (Starship Trait) After achieving level 5 in your Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser T6's Starship Mastery, you will unlock the Target Rich Environment starship trait. While this starship trait is slotted, activating Beam: Fire At Will or Cannon: Scatter Volley will provide a small boost to weapon damage, per weapon activation, for a short time as long as these attack modes are active. This bonus stacks up to 30 times. NOTE: Romulan and Klingon characters can obtain this console via the Cross-Faction Bundle: Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Equipment in the Lobi store. Alternate Timeline Set This four piece set includes the consoles from the Kelvin Timeline Command Cruiser, Kelvin Timeline D4x Pilot Bird-of-Prey, Kelvin Timeline Intel Carrier Warbird and Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser. Below are the four universal consoles in this set: Console – Universal – Auxiliary Ejector Assembly Found on the Kelvin Timeline Heavy Command Cruiser [T6] (Starfleet Only) Found in the Console Pack in the Kelvin Lockbox (Klingon and Romulan Only) Console – Universal – Proton Charge Launcher Found on the Kelvin Timeline Pilot D4x Bird-of-Prey [T6] (Klingons Only) Found in the Console Pack in the Kelvin Lockbox (Starfleet and Romulan Only) Console – Universal – Mining Drill Laser Found on the Kelvin Timeline T’laru Intel Carrier Warbird [T6] (Romulans Only) Found in the Console Pack in the Kelvin Lockbox (Starfleet and Romulan Only) Console – Universal – Broadside Emitter Arrays Found on the Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser [T6] (Starfleet Only) Found in the Cross-Faction Bundle: Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Equipment in the Lobi store. Set Bonuses Standardized Weaponry (2 piece) – Passive +Phaser Directed Energy Damage +Photon Projectile Damage Subatomic Elasticity (3 piece) - Passive +Kinetic and Physical Damage Resistance Rating +Incoming Healing Increases as health decreases Timeline Resonance (4 piece) – Passive Reduces recharge time of all consoles in this set Kelvin Timeline Romulan Hangar Pets Below is an outline of availability, abilities and equipment found on the Kelvin Timeline Romulan Hangar Pets. Kelvin Timeline Scorpion Fighters These fighters are unlocked in their stores listed below as long as you own a Kelvin Timeline T’laru Intel Carrier Warbird. Kelvin Timeline Scorpion Fighters Availability : EC Store, comes equipped on the Kelvin Timeline T’laru Intel Carrier Warbird by default : EC Store, comes equipped on the Kelvin Timeline T’laru Intel Carrier Warbird by default Weapons : 1x Plasma Beam Array (Fore) 1x Plasma Torpedo Launcher (Fore) : Abilities : Reroute Reserves to Weapons I : Advanced Kelvin Timeline Scorpion Fighters Availability : Dilithium Store : Dilithium Store Weapons : 1x Plasma Beam Array (Fore) 1x Plasma Dual Beam Bank (Fore) 1x Plasma Torpedo Launcher (Fore) : Abilities : Reroute Reserves to Weapons I : Elite Kelvin Timeline Scorpion Fighters Availability : Fleet Hangar Pet Store : Fleet Hangar Pet Store Weapons : 1x Plasma Beam Array (Fore) 1x Plasma Dual Beam Bank (Fore) 1x Plasma Torpedo Launcher (Fore) : Abilities : Reroute Reserves to Weapons I Beam: Fire At Will I : Kelvin Timeline Starfleet Hangar Pets Below is an outline of availability, abilities and equipment found on the Kelvin Timeline Starfleet Hangar Pets. Kelvin Timeline Assault Drones These fighters are unlocked in their stores listed below as long as you own a Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser. Kelvin Timeline Assault Drones Availability : EC Store, comes equipped on the Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser by default : EC Store, comes equipped on the Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser by default Weapons : 1x Phaser Emitter Arrays (Fore) 1x Kelvin Photon Torpedo Launcher (Fore) : Abilities : Ram When low on hull strength, ram enemy for heavy Kinetic damage. : Advanced Kelvin Timeline Assault Drones Availability : Dilithium Store : Dilithium Store Weapons : 1x Phaser Emitter Arrays (Fore) 1x Kelvin Photon Torpedo Launcher (Fore) : Abilities : Ram When low on hull strength, ram enemy for heavy Kinetic damage. Torpedo: Spread I : Elite Kelvin Timeline Assault Drones Availability : Fleet Hangar Pet Store : Fleet Hangar Pet Store Weapons : 1x Phaser Emitter Arrays (Fore) 1x Kelvin Photon Torpedo Launcher (Fore) : Abilities : Ram When low on hull strength, ram enemy for heavy Kinetic damage. Torpedo: Spread I Beam: Fire At Will I : NOTE: The above stats for all ships are subject to change. Phil “Gorngonzolla” Zeleski Lead Systems Designer Star Trek OnlineStar Wars creator George Lucas thinks that a new Howard The Duck movie could be a hit—so long as Marvel Studios rendered the titular fowl in computer generated imaging. “Someday, I hope, Marvel will make a new version of Howard the Duck, and you’ll see it could be a good movie,” Lucas told Wired Magazine. “A digital duck will make that thing work.” This comment may prompt an eye-roll or two from those familiar with Lucas' career. Though celebrated as the creator of Star Wars, Lucas has been equally criticized for his over-reliance on CGI effects in the Star Wars prequels, and for stuffing CGI effects into his classic Star Wars trilogy for the “Special Editions” released in 2004. Interestingly, Lucas served as executive producer on Marvel’s 1986 Howard The Duck movie. Though nary a pixel was to be found, the film is still generally regarded as one of Marvel’s worst. But now that Marvel Studios has brought the character (in full CGI) into their cinematic universe through Guardians of the Galaxy, perhaps Lucas will get his wish. What do you think readers? Does Howard The Duck have be in CGI to make a decent film? Share your thoughts below. ----------------A bill that would allow gun owners to carry a concealed weapon without a permit or mandatory training—almost universally known as “constitutional carry”—is gaining steam in Kansas. The bill passed the Kansas Senate, and is moving on to the House. Constitutional carry is part of the expansion of concealed carry rights across the nation in recent years. While there are currently only a handful of states that allow the practice of carrying
an item in the index rises, a lower-priced item is substituted, thus eliminating inflation by substitution. Inflation also is eliminated by redefining a price rise as a quality improvement. By undercounting inflation, the government reports price increases as real economic growth, denies cost-of-living increases to Social Security recipients, and justifies paying savers negative real interest rates. These manipulations provide banks with free money, thus boosting bank profits while encouraging the stock market with “good news.” Americans who search for jobs without success know other Americans in the same situation. As time passes, they learn from experience that the unemployment rate cannot be low and falling when jobs are harder to find. People who shop for food and pay utility bills know inflation is far higher than the government reports. Experience and the passage of time make the government’s numbers less and less believable. Global Financial Markets Manipulated The financial markets also are manipulated. To protect the dollar from declining in value due to its overproduction, the Federal Reserve’s bullion bank agents drive down the price of gold and silver by dumping uncovered shorts in the futures market. Since 2011, we have had the extraordinary situation in which the prices of gold and silver have been driven down despite strong demand and constraints on supply — a result that can be achieved only by manipulation in the futures market. The dollar’s value also is manipulated by foreign central banks in cooperation with Washington. The Japanese and European central banks print yen and euros to protect the dollar’s exchange value. If all major currencies also are being printed, the dollar cannot decline. The government’s Plunge Protection Team can prevent major stock-market corrections by stepping in and purchasing S&P futures, thus preventing the market’s overvaluation from bursting the bubble. These manipulations are apparent to experienced investors. Sooner or later, attentive Americans will realize that the government’s deceit is not limited to the marketplace, but extends into foreign policy. Fooled Over And Over Into War Ever since the Clinton regime’s demonizations of Yugoslavia and Serbia, Americans have been deceived into supporting expensive wars and foreign-policy positions that are not in their interest. Washington’s demonizations of the Taliban, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, Assad, Iran and of Muslims generally have resulted in 14 years of wars in which seven or eight countries have been invaded, bombed and attacked with drones. Increasingly, people at home and abroad understand these wars and bombings are based on lies and deceptions. The destruction of countries and the massive human hurt happened because the US government lied and deceived. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Assad did not use chemical weapons in Syria. Gaddafi did not issue Viagra to his troops to assist in the rape of Libyan women. Iran does not have a nuclear- weapons program. Millions of Muslims have been killed, maimed and dislocated by these wars, and tens of thousands of American soldiers have been killed and physically or psychologically maimed. The destruction of countries and the massive human hurt happened because the US government lied and deceived. The most extraordinary aspect of the Charlie Hebdo event is that the French cartoonists are being championed in the name of free speech. Yet the Anglo-American world does not have free speech. Free speech, if it involves criticism or exposure of the government, is being redefined as “domestic extremism.” Criticism of Washington now implies that the critic is hostile to the public, a possible extremist who must be deterred before he inflicts harm on innocents. As Glenn Greenwald noted, try satirizing Israelis in the manner that Charlie Hebdo satirized Muslims, and you will find out how little free speech there is. http://bit.ly/1xYF93V Free speech is used to demonize Washington’s hand-picked enemies. That’s about as far as it goes. Washington Demonizing Russia As 2014 drew to a close, Washington was at work demonizing Russia and its president. Russia no more invaded Ukraine than Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. But despite years of experience with the government’s foreign-policy lies, polls show that more than 60 percent of the US population has fallen for Washington’s demonization of Russia. We now have two decades of evidence that Washington uses demonization as a prelude to war. Russia and China, recognizing Washington’s intent to destabilize, have formed a strategic alliance. War with Russia and China would not be like war with Iraq and Libya, or drone attacks on Yemen and Pakistan. Unlike Saddam Hussein and Iran, Russia and China do have weapons of mass destruction — plenty of them. Whereas Americans are not subject to any meaningful retaliation from Washington’s wars against Muslims, Washington’s aggressive warlike policy toward Russia and China, ringing both countries with military bases while demonizing both with false charges, threatens the life of every American and every person on earth. A threat of this magnitude could pull Americans out of their insouciance and force them to confront the government over its dangerous manipulations of public opinion. Governments successful with their deceptions end up overreaching. The Charlie Hebdo affair possibly is an overreach. The Paris shootings have many characteristics of a false-flag operation. The attack on the cartoonists’ office was a disciplined professional attack associated with special forces; yet the suspects later corralled and killed seemed bumbling and unprofessional. It is like they were two different sets of people. Is This Really The Official Story? Muslim terrorists are usually prepared to die in the attack; yet the two professionals who hit Charlie Hebdo so hard escaped. Their identities were established by the unprofessional and unlikely act of leaving their identification in the getaway car. This reminds me of the undamaged passport miraculously found among the ruins of the two World Trade Center towers. The incriminating passport was the only undamaged item in the entire ruins and was the basis for identifying the 9/11 alleged hijackers. It is a plausible inference that the ID left in the getaway car was the ID of one of the two brothers later killed by police, from whom we will never hear anything, and not the ID of the professionals who attacked Charlie Hebdo. An important fact that supports this inference is the report that the third suspect in the attack, Hamyd Mourad, the alleged driver of the getaway car, when seeing his name circulating on social media as a suspect, realized the danger he was in and quickly turned himself in to police for protection against being murdered by security forces as a terrorist. Hamyd Mourad says he has an ironclad alibi. If so, this makes him the despoiler of a false-flag attack. If that is the case, he is likely to be coerced or tortured into some sort of confession to support the official story. http://bit.ly/1Aai8pJ Mainstream Media Clueless The American and European media have ignored this important story. I googled Hamyd Mourad and all I found (January 12) was the main US and European media reporting that the third suspect had turned himself in. The news was reported in a fashion that gave credence to the accusation that the suspect who turned himself in was part of the attack. Not a single US mainstream media source reported that the alleged suspect turned himself in because he had an ironclad alibi. The list of sources that reported Mourad’s turning himself in to police report in a way that can be read as confirmation of his guilt. Some merely reported it in a headline with no coverage in the report. The list of those I googled includes: • The Washington Post (January 7, by Griff Witte and Anthony Faiola) • Die Welt (Germany), “One suspect has turned himself in to police in connection with Wednesday’s massacre at the offices of Parisian satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo” • ABC News (January 7), “Youngest suspect in Charlie Hebdo Attack turns himself in” • CNN (January 8), “Citing sources, the Agence France Presse news agency reported that an 18-year- old suspect in the attack had surrendered to police.” High-Ranking Police Official Suddenly Commits Suicide? Another puzzle in the official story that remains unreported, according to my 6 p.m. Google search on January 12, is the alleged suicide of a high-ranking member of the French Judicial Police who had a lead role in the Charlie Hebdo investigation. For unknown reasons, a police official involved in the most important investigation of a lifetime decided to kill himself in his police office in the middle of the night while writing his report on his investigation. The alternative media reports it: http://bit.ly/1xc8W1W So did the UK Telegraph. But no suspicion is seen in the police official’s death, and as far as the US “presstitute” media is concerned, it did not happen. There are no reports, domestic or foreign, at the time of writing, about his death and whether his report has disappeared. Media Cloaks The Lies And Crimes Of Government As Gerald Celente has pointed out for years and as Patrick L. Smith writes in CounterPunch (Vol. 21, No. 10, 2014), the media serve as presstitutes. The media justify withholding information from the public on the basis of patriotism. As you can see this is as explained how online pokie games can be played where those free online pokies games are made using same method to work on the platforms. Patriotism requires the media to support the government, not the truth. Patrick Smith quotes former New York Times editor Jill Abramson, who says in defense of the New York Times misleading the American people: “Journalists are Americans, too. I consider myself to be a patriot.” Of course, journalists lie to us because their careers are controlled by government and corporations dependent on government. Patriotism has little to do with it, but it serves as a cover. Patriotism is like “national security,” a cloak for the lies and crimes of government. Life In The Matrix Here we have it. The media lie to us because they are patriots. We believe the lies because we are patriots. More likely, the fact of the matter might be that both the media and the people are morally and spiritually corrupt. In other words, we willfully live in The Matrix and are our own worst enemy. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is also a contributor to the Trends Journal. To subscribe to Gerald Celente's remarkable Trends Journal CLICK HERE. ***ALSO JUST RELEASED: Events Now In Motion That Will Create Worldwide Chaos And Massive Problems For Mankind CLICK HERE. © 2015 by King World News®. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. However, linking directly to the blog page is permitted and encouraged. The audio interviews with Eric Sprott, Felix Zulauf, Andrew Maguire, John Mauldin, Egon von Greyerz, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, Gerald Celente, Lord Christopher Monckton, Michael Pento, Bill Fleckenstein, David Stockman, Dr. Philippa Malmgren, Stephen Leeb, John Embry, Rick Rule, Rick Santell and Marc Faber are available now. Other recent KWN interviews include Jim Grant — to listen CLICK HERE. Eric King KingWorldNews.comBy Captain Pyke | October 29, 2011 - 11:05 pm Star Trek: The Exhibition has been crisscrossing the country for the last couple of years and this weekend it's beaming down to the St. Louis Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The exhibition includes a full-size replica of the Enterprise-D bridge, the transporter from J.J. Abrams's 2009 film Star Trek, a replica captain's chair from The Original Series, plus tons of props & costumes form the 45 years of Star Trek. Jackie Mollet, senior director of theatre, retail and exhibitions for the Science Center told the St. Louis Beacon; "Once you go through the exhibition and read a lot of the educational materials, you can see that the science fiction of 'Star Trek' really inspired today's scientists for breakthroughs in technology." The exhibit will be at the St. Louis Science Center now through May 28th, 2012 featuring special events on select Friday nights that include a special visit from Star Trek: Voyager's holographic doctor, Robert Picardo on February 3rd. Check out the full details below. Star Trek: The Exhibition St. Louis Science Center 5050 Oakland Avenue St. Louis, MO 63110 314.289.4400 Official Website Appearing for the first time in St. Louis, Star Trek: The Exhibition brings 45 years of authentic Star Trek artifacts to life. Featuring one-of- a-kind costumes, props and filming models from every Star Trek television series and feature film, this exhibition will amaze and inspire Star Trek fans and novices alike. See firsthand the imagination, artistry, technology and meticulous craftsmanship that have made Star Trek the most enduring science fiction franchise in history. Tickets Members Adults: $8.75 Seniors: $7.75 Children (Ages 5 to 12): $6.75 Non-Members Adults: $17.50 Seniors: $15.50 Children (Ages 5 to 12): $13.50 Buy tickets online at MuseumTix or at the Box Office at 314.289.4424 Star Trek Events Star Trek First Fridays Put on your Spock ears and come to the Science Center on the first Friday evening of each month during the run of Star Trek: The Exhibition! In addition to touring the exhibition for a special evening rate, you can participate in a Public Telescope Viewing outside the Planetarium or unique activities throughout the museum and top off your evening with a free showing of a Star Trek movie or episode in the OMNIMAX Theater. Each First Friday will have its own theme so watch the calendar for more information. Friday, November 4 – Star Trek Costume Contest Friday, December 2 – Special Guest: Emmy®-nominated Star Trek make-up artist, Jeff Lewis Friday, January 6 – Star Trek Trivia Contest Friday, February 3 – Special Guest: Star Trek: Voyager actor, Robert Picardo Friday, March 2 – Special Program: Journey to Mars Friday, April 6 – Special Guest: Star Trek writer, David Gerrold (The Trouble with Tribbles) Friday, May 4 – Star Trek Costume Contest Star Trek Lecture Series Join us on the third Thursday of every month for our Star Trek Lecture Series. Each month, a different guest scientist will discuss a different topic related to Star Trek from androids to virtual reality to three-dimensional printing to the search for life on other planets. School Programs Teachers, bring Star Trek into your classroom plans with programs at the Saint Louis Science Center. Use the science fiction of Star Trek to explore real-life science topics. (Source St. Louis Science Center & St. Louis Beacon)Sir Bradley Wiggins nearly quit the 2012 Tour de France – a race that ended with him becoming the first British winner of the event – after believing team mate Chris Froome had “stabbed him in the back,” according to Sean Yates, Team Sky’s sports director on the race. The claim, made in Yates’s autobiography, relates to Stage 11 of the race, which finished on the summit of La Toussuire, when Froome rode off ahead of Wiggins around 4km from the end of the stage, only slowing down after Yates ordered him to do so through his radio earpiece. The incident gave rise to the infamous ‘WAG Wars’ on Twitter in which Wiggins’ wife Cath and Froome’s girlfriend Michelle Cound, now his fiancée, each sought to fight their respective partners’ corner. According to The Times [£], in his book, Yates reveals that following the stage, Wiggins sent a text message saying, “I think it would be better for everyone if I went home.” Going into that stage, Wiggins led the race by 2 minutes 3 seconds from Froome, with Liquigas-Cannondale rider Vincenzo Nibali a further 18 seconds back in third place. They would occupy the same positions on the final podium in Paris. Froome insists that with defending champion Cadel Evans in trouble, and Nibali up the road, he was simply trying to consolidate his second place overall. Wiggins himself has said that the episode left him shaken and that he considered abandoning the race, and Yates’s recollection of events confirms that was no idle boast after the event, but a very real prospect at the time. According to The Times, in his book Yates says that it was only thanks to him and team principal Sir Dave Brailsford that Wiggins was dissuaded from leaving the race, adding that he “felt like Froomey had stabbed him in the back.” Yates, who left Team Sky last October citing health and personal reasons said that before the stage, the team’s tactics envisaged Froome being permitted to attack inside the final half kilometre. He maintained that Froome continued to seek permission to go on the attack prior to that point in the stage, however, and added that Brailsford, whom he says has a “dislike of confrontation” did not take the day’s events up with Froome after the stage. Wiggins, of course, would go on to win the race while Froome, runner-up last year, won the 100th edition of the race in July this year. Less than a fortnight after Wiggins’ victory, he would win the time trial at the London Olympics, with Froome taking bronze. For Wiggins, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year title would follow, as well as a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours List, and he will forever listed in the record books as the first Briton to win the Tour de France. Earlier this year, despite Sky’s insistence that Froome was the designated leader for the 2013 edition, Wiggins said that he would seek to defend his title and try and become the first man to complete a Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double since the late Marco Pantani in 1998. Illness forced him out of the Giro halfway through, however, and with almost four weeks remaining until the Tour started on Corsica, Team Sky confirmed he would not be selected for the Tour, citing his recovery from a knee injury – something many viewed as a convenient expedience. Yates’s departure from Team Sky in October last year coincided with the fallout from the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s publication of its Reasoned Decision in the Lance Armstrong case which saw fellow sports director Stephen De Jongh and race coach Bobby Julich also depart the British WorldTour team. Speaking to The Times, Yates revealed that he is not impressed with Sky’s current management and that the only member of the team set-up he is still close to is sports director Nicolas Portal. “Nicolas rings me for advice because I’ve been there, done that,” he explained. “To be brutally honest, there is no one at Sky who knows much about bike riding. “In general, this year especially, the guys running the team don’t know enough about bike-riding and a lot of the riders went into the Tour overtired. They are made to race too much, too long, too hard.” He added that he had been offered a role with another top team, but turned it down partly because he can see Froome dominating the sport for the next few years. “It was a big team, big money,” he revealed. “But, in my opinion, Chris Froome is too good for anyone to unsettle him. If there were cracks in his armour, that would be more motivating.”Public-private partnership. On Sunday night, Ivanka Trump appeared on 60 Minutes. She was invited on to 60 Minutes because her father is now the president-elect, and she a member of his transition team. Shortly after the program aired, her jewelry company sent the following missive to an email list of fashion journalists. Email sent to journalists by an @IvankaTrump employee, hawking the goods she wore on @60Minutes. pic.twitter.com/aCpNbBBArg — katie rosman (@katierosman) November 15, 2016 As far as attempts to cash in on proximity to power go, this is pretty mundane stuff. But it served as a potent reminder that the Trump family is both willing and able to monetize the presidency in ways both unpredictable and unprecedented. Donald Trump owns a business that has elaborate ties to government agencies, both foreign and domestic. In one of the many heavy-handed symbols the past year of American politics has produced, the president-elect just opened a new hotel blocks from the White House — which operates out of the historic Old Post Office building, which the federal government still owns. Trump will now get to appoint the head of the bureau that manages that building, a bureau that has tens of millions of dollars in contracts with his company. This presents a formidable challenge to a man who won the presidency while campaigning against corruption and the “politics of personal profit.” It’s impossible for Trump to insulate himself against all accusations of self-dealing. After all, as a billionaire business owner, he stands to directly benefit from an array of garden-variety Republican policies — tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, abolition of the estate tax, and a Labor Department more concerned with appeasing management than unions, to name just a few. But Trump has shown no concern whatsoever for maintaining any appearance of propriety. He has decided to shield himself from conflicts of interest by putting his assets into what he refers to as a “blind trust,” but is actually an entity that would allow him perfect knowledge of the assets he holds — and that would be managed by his children, who are also informal advisers to his government, and who may be on the cusp of receiving top-secret security clearances at his request. Which is to say: an entity that is the opposite of a blind trust. On Sunday, likely future secretary of State Rudy Giuliani (breathe in, breathe out) offered two radically different defenses of this arrangement. “You have to have some confidence in the integrity of the president,” Giuliani told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “The man is an enormously wealthy man. I don’t think there’s any real fear or suspicion that he’s seeking to enrich himself by being president. If he wanted to enrich himself, he wouldn’t have run for president.” Tapper then suggested that when the president-elect explains he will be insulated from conflicts by a blind trust — and then sets up an entity that is the opposite of a blind trust — that might raise real fears and suspicions. Rudy Giuliani on Trump's children: "Once he gets into government, they will not be advising him" #CNNSOTU https://t.co/1IB5LktMYz — CNN (@CNN) November 13, 2016 “You realize that those laws don’t apply to the president, right?” Giuliani replied. “The president doesn’t have to have a blind trust. For some reason when the law was written, the president was exempt. I think he’s in a very unusual situation.” So, per Giuliani, we shouldn’t worry about Trump using the presidency to enrich himself because: 1. We should trust in his integrity (because, implicitly, nothing about his presidential campaign suggested an interest in using public power to promote private interests). 2. Even if he did try to enrich himself, it would be totally legal, because, “for some reason,” the president is exempt from conflict-of-interest laws. One of these reassurances is false. The other is true, but, also, the opposite of reassuring. As already mentioned, Trump will have abundant opportunity to enrich himself through policy: Last July, the National Labor Relations Board ruled against the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, which was challenging its employees’ effort to form a union. In November, the NLRB ruled against Trump’s hotel again, for refusing to begin negotiations with that union. Trump will now have the opportunity to appoint all five members of the NLRB. He will also get to appoint the head of the Internal Revenue Service, which is currently auditing Trump’s taxes. Trump can also profit off the presidency more directly — throughout his campaign, the GOP nominee collected money from the Secret Service every time its agents took a ride on one of his jets. While he will ride on Air Force One as president, his children, who will be provided Secret Service detail, will likely, often, travel aboard private planes, thereby directing more taxpayer money into TAG Air Inc., Trump’s aviation company. TAG Air collected $6 million during the campaign. The limits to Trump’s kleptocratic behavior are primarily political. However, the New York Times notes there is one legal restriction that Trump may have to wrestle with: Perhaps most troubling for Mr. Trump, several ethics lawyers said, is a relatively obscure provision of the Constitution, called the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits any government official from taking payments or gifts from a foreign government, or even from sharing in profits in a company that has financial ties to a foreign government. Mr. Trump has had business deals with foreign governments or individuals with apparent ties to foreign governments, including multimillion-dollar real estate arrangements in Azerbaijan and Uruguay. His children have frequently traveled abroad to promote the Trump brand, making trips to Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Scotland. Closer to home, the Bank of China is a tenant in Trump Tower and is a lender for another building in Midtown Manhattan where Mr. Trump has a significant partnership interest. “Doing business with a foreign corporation, be it in Azerbaijan, Turkey or Russia, if is it owned in part or controlled by a foreign government — any benefit that would accrue to Mr. Trump could well be a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution,” said Kenneth A. Gross, a political ethics and compliance lawyer in Washington. Regardless, it will be up to the Democratic Party to make Trump pay a political price for his self-dealing. The possibility that Hillary Clinton had leveraged her family’s political power to extract charitable donations from foreign governments — and speaking fees from Wall Street banks — was viewed as so contemptible, the Democratic nominee routinely trailed her opponent on the question of who was more likely to combat corruption in D.C. Trump and his family are all but certain to pursue schemes far more blatantly kleptocratic than the Clintons ever dreamed of. Democrats must see this fact as a (politically) lucrative opportunity — and milk it for all it’s worth.Microsoft's new Windows 10 flagship phones, the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, are coming next month — and they'll be the only way to experience the mobile version of Windows 10 for a while. In comments on the official Lumia Facebook page, Microsoft says that Windows 10 will begin rolling out to phones in December. How long that process takes is likely to depend on carriers as much as Microsoft. The company says "it is our ambition" that the "majority of Lumia smartphones" get the update; 8GB of internal memory will be required, so owners of devices like the Lumia 530 are going to be out of luck. Only phones running Lumia Denim will be able to upgrade, according to a Microsoft support page, and "not every phone will support all possible Windows 10 features."I told my match I wanted to spend my last day taming a magnificent tiger so that if I were unworthy I would meet my end by being eaten, but if not, the tiger and I would become best friends and watch the apocalypse together. Ohjessie was not able to ship a tiger (probably because they're too difficult to get through customs), but she sent me the next best thing - a tiger beach towel! It would have made me the envy of the beach if the oceans hadn't evaporated when the Earth crashed into the sun. She also sent Fat Mama's "Knock-You-Naked" margarita mix and a mason jar margarita glass. Unfortunately I was not able to make it to the liquor store to grab some tequila before it was incinerated in a fiery wave, but the glass seems to be equally compatible with wine (whew!). The lid has also prevented the wine from spilling during the explosions as the Earth's core collapsed - very handy! Ohjessie reported there would be more to come - I'll update from the apoclyptic wasteland. But holy crap, what a great gift for the end! Thankyou! Update: I found a tiger on my doorstep yesterday morning. Not just any tiger, a handmade Hobbes! I have been a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbes since I was nine, when my family moved to a small town where I didn't know anyone. I spent that entire lonely summer reading the Calvin and Hobbes collection cover to cover, wishing I had a tiger buddy to play Calvinball with. And now I do! When I pulled him out of the package it gave me the warmest fuzziest happy feelings. This is probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me! Ohjessie - thankyou for using your amazing talents to brighten the day of a complete stranger. Nine year old me would have been much less lonely knowing there are people like you out there!Buy Photo A Midwest Express plane on the tarmac at Mitchell International Airport in 2009. (Photo: RIck Wood / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)Buy Photo The "Best Care in the Air" could be returning to the skies over southern Wisconsin. The website www.flymidwestexpress.com, which was registered Feb. 15 but apparently didn't have much content until this week, says two business partners are seeking investors as well as potential employees in an effort to bring back Midwest Express airline. One of the partners is Curt Drumm of Manitowoc. "We weren’t ready to make a public announcement of any kind yet, and we still are not," Drumm said. "But, yes, we are trying to bring Midwest back to Milwaukee. "We are in the process of fundraising and are trying to lock in our key investors," Drumm added. To launch a new airline, even one that is a known brand, would require a minimum of $100 million in investments, airline industry experts said. Drumm said he could not discuss details or the progress of the plans. "We have a number of people we are working with, and because of that we can’t really make any announcement," he said. News that there is an effort to get Milwaukee's hometown airline flying again had the region buzzing Wednesday. "I can’t count how fast the emails are coming in off this website," Drumm said. "It’s crazy." Drumm's business partner is Greg Aretakis, a former Midwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines executive. Aretakis could not be reached for comment. "We have a team of professionals involved," Drumm said. Drumm's LinkedIn page lists him as an aviation consultant at Lakeshore Aviation in Manitowoc. Aretakis is listed as principal at Air Advising Services based in Brookfield. RELATED: Frontier Airlines says goodbye to the cookie RELATED: Republic Airways to buy Midwest Airlines A source within Milwaukee's business community said members of the group have been shopping the concept and seeking investors in recent weeks. When asked about the effort Wednesday, Tim Hoeksema, the former CEO of Midwest Express who has a home in Lake Geneva, replied by email, "It is my understanding that two individuals (including a former Midwest Airlines employee) are attempting to start an airline using the Midwest Express name. I am not involved in this effort." Oak Creek-based Midwest Express and later, Midwest Airlines, stopped flying nearly 10 years ago. At its peak in 2007, Midwest and its feeder airline Midwest Connect controlled just under 55% of the passenger traffic at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, according to statistics from the airport. Essentially, all of Midwest's seats were first class. The flights were roomy, with two-across leather seats and warm chocolate chip cookies for passengers. The airline served some of the most popular business destinations in the country nonstop from Milwaukee. The airline was almost universally loved in Milwaukee and Wisconsin. The company owned the naming rights to Milwaukee's convention center. The firm billed itself as Milwaukee's hometown airline. Its name was everywhere from Miller Park to Summerfest. The airline was a source of civic pride. NEWSLETTERS Get the Business Watch Delivered newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Get todays business headlines delivered to your inbox. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-844-900-7103. Delivery: Mon - Fri Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Business Watch Delivered Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters The company's tagline was "The Best Care in the Air." Eventually, the economics of the airline industry caught up to Midwest. The collapse of Midwest's business model can be traced, in part, to July 3, 2008, when the price of crude oil hit $145 a barrel. Suddenly, airlines could no longer afford to fly planes that were not jammed full of people, and Midwest's luxurious, two-across seating was no longer sustainable. As the jet fuel prices were soaring, the U.S. economy sank into the Great Recession, among the deepest economic downturns in the nation's history. Business travel all but evaporated. The airline industry was ravaged as a result, and the aftermath had four airlines — American, United, Delta and Southwest — controlling more than 80% of the air travel market in the United States. Midwest was taken over by Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings. The Midwest name was eliminated in 2011. The airline began operating as part of Frontier Airlines, which was part of Republic. Frontier was eventually sold to a private equity firm. Tough, but not impossible Getting a startup airline airborne is a fairly difficult task, said Robert Mann, president of R.W. Mann & Co. Inc., a New York based airline industry consulting firm. "It just takes a lot of money," Mann said. "That's not to say it's impossible." For a startup airline to succeed, "You really either have to have a niche that nobody else is going near or you have to have a ton of money and be willing to lose quite a bit of it before you, if ever, latch onto a sustainable network," Mann said. For Midwest, the niche would seem to be there. "It would certainly be a different proposition than what you generally see today," where new airlines tend to sell themselves on cheap fares rather than impeccable service. And, what about the chocolate chip cookies on every flight, something for which Midwest is famous? "We can talk about all the airline stuff in the world, and the very first thing people ask is, ‘So, are you going to have the cookies?’” Drumm said. "Yes, we are going to have the cookies." No timetable for any new Midwest service has been established. There would be room at Mitchell for additional service, according to an emailed statement from Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, who added that the airport is not engaged in any discussions with anyone associated with bringing back Midwest. "We believe there is still plenty of opportunity at the airport and will always consider new partners and development, but aren't in any specific discussions with potential airlines, Abele said in the statement. Milwaukee County owns and operates Mitchell. Joe Taschler covers aviation for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at [email protected]. Steve Jagler and Bill Schulz of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Read or Share this story: https://jsonl.in/2wIk5zHBronze Age civilisation in South Asia Miniature Votive Images or Toy Models from Harappa, ca. 2500. Hand-modeled terra-cotta figurines indicate the yoking of zebu oxen for pulling a cart and the presence of the chicken, a domesticated jungle fowl. The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in mature form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE.[note 1] Along with ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China, it was one of four early civilisations of the Old World,[2][3][4] its sites spanning an area larger than Mesopotamia or Egypt, stretching from northeast Afghanistan, through much of Pakistan, and into western- and northwestern India.[note 2] It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, which flows through the length of Pakistan, and along a system of perennial, mostly monsoon-fed, rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the seasonal Ghaggar-Hakra river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. The civilisation's cities were noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, clusters of large non-residential buildings, and new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products, seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin). The large cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa very likely grew to containing between 30,000 and 60,000 individuals,[note 3] and the civilisation itself during its florescence may have contained between one and five million individuals.[note 4] Gradual drying of the region's soil during the 3rd millennium BCE may have been the initial spur for the urbanisation associated with the civilisation, but eventually also reduced the water supply enough to cause the civilisation's demise, and to scatter its population eastward. The Indus civilisation is also known as the Harappan Civilisation, after its type site, Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated early in the 20th century in what was then the Punjab province of British India and now is Pakistan.[note 5] The discovery of Harappa and soon afterwards Mohenjo-Daro was the culmination of work beginning in 1861 with the founding of the Archaeological Survey of India during the British Raj. There were however earlier and later cultures often called Early Harappan and Late Harappan in the same area; for this reason, the Harappan civilisation is sometimes called the Mature Harappan to distinguish it from these other cultures. By 2002, over 1,000 Mature Harappan cities and settlements had been reported, of which just under a hundred had been excavated,[note 6][note 7] However, there are only five major urban sites:[note 8] Harappa, Mohenjo-daro (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Dholavira, Ganeriwala in Cholistan and Rakhigarhi.[note 9] The early Harappan cultures were preceded by local Neolithic agricultural villages, from which the river plains were populated.[20] The Harappan language is not directly attested, and its affiliation is uncertain since the Indus script is still undeciphered.[22] A relationship with the Dravidian or Elamo-Dravidian language family is favoured by a section of scholars.[23][24] Name [ edit ] The Indus Valley Civilisation is named after the Indus river system in whose alluvial plains the early sites of the civilisation
| FullStream 2nd MrLz 3rd ICE | RK987 4th CakeAssault 5th CHV | Kaos 5th Ralph 7th ICE | AZCards 7th ICE | DolphinBrick 9th ICE | LBO 9th Kenneth 9th ICE | FailWhale 9th The Dunkmaster 13th Ace | Turquoise 13th ICE | Cupz 13th Tandori 13th ICE | Sino Aside from having our singles event and all of the Rivals gameplay, we also made a few special announcements this weekend. Our biggest one is that we’ll be officially coming out of Steam Early Access on March 28th! This includes all of our single player modes like story and abyss, as well as some other features like achievements, leaderboards, and more. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s our Steam launch trailer: We also announced that we’ll be releasing a second plush, this adorable Etalus below that is now available for pre-order. This will come with an exclusive DLC skin similar to the Orcane plush and is made by the same company (we love the quality and size). You can reserve yours now on http://www.symbiotestudios.com/shop. This event wouldn’t have been possible without everyone who registered and came out to play, but we also wanted to thank some specific community members for the extra effort they put in. First, a big shoutout to Solar for organizing doubles and the TAXI discord event server. We’d also like to thank our pool captains Youngblood, FailWhale, Solar (again) and others we asked to step up like Nevereatcars, LBO, and Handbutt. Nuparu and his father (Paparu) also came out on Saturday and took a ton of pictures. We can’t thank them enough for the hard work they did capturing our event. I’ve picked a few of my favorites but Nuparu has also uploaded the entire collection online where you can grab photos of yourselves or friends from the tournament. Photography by Joshua and Marlowe Burgess Full Image Gallery Viewable on Drive > Thanks again to everyone who came out and made this the biggest Rivals event yet. We can’t wait to see how the game grows. Stay tuned as we get closer to launch for more news about season 2 of the RCS.New York financier Lynn Tilton arrives for an appeal hearing at the U.S. District courthouse in New York, September 16, 2015. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York on Wednesday will hear arguments over whether to revive a lawsuit by Lynn Tilton, a private equity chief dubbed the "Diva of Distressed," to block the SEC from pursuing fraud charges in an in-house administrative proceeding instead of federal court. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RTS1EU4 Financier Lynn Tilton is set to go on trial next week before an administrative law judge on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges she defrauded investors by hiding the poor performance of assets underlying three $2.5 billion debt funds. Tilton, the founder of New York-based Patriarch Partners who is known as the “Diva of Distressed” for taking over troubled companies, will face an SEC administrative proceeding in Manhattan on Monday. The SEC is seeking to force Tilton and Patriarch to pay the agency at least $200 million for defrauding investors in three so-called Zohar collateralized loan obligation funds, which raised $2.5 billion to make loans to distressed companies. Tilton, 57, denies wrongdoing. She unsuccessfully sued to block what she called an unconstitutional proceeding before an SEC in-house judge in a fast-tracked venue that the agency has increasingly used that critics call unfair to defendants. Known for her flashy outfits and colorful language, the former Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch banker has portrayed herselfas a hard-charging female executive in a male-dominated field. In 2000, she founded Patriarch Partners, which counts among its portfolio companies MD Helicopters and Dura Automotive. But in 2015, the SEC accused Tilton of directing the valuations of the three debt collateralized loan obligation funds to remain unchanged even though many of the companies in which they invested had performed poorly and failed to make interest payments. Not only were investors misled, but Tilton and Patriarch avoided having their management fees cut by $200 million, the SEC said. Tilton and Patriarch counter that they consistently disclosed their investment strategy from the funds’ inception. They have said the charges stem from a flawed five-year probe pushed by a unit of bond insurer MBIA Inc, which had $1 billion in exposure to the three Zohar funds and has been engaged in litigation related to them. MBIA not only shared information with the SEC that it gleaned during discussions to restructure one fund but was given confidential documents Patriarch provided during the probe against SEC policy, Tilton contends. As a result, rather than go through with the restructuring, MBIA chose to litigate to get control of the fund’s collateral, with the SEC’s approval to use the confidential documents so long as its “fingerprints were never revealed,” Tilton’s lawyers wrote. Randy Mastro, Tilton’s lawyer, at a hearing on Wednesday said the SEC and MBIA entered into “an unholy alliance where rules were broken.” The SEC has said sharing the documents was permitted. MBIA had no comment. The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 27 rejected Tilton’s bid to avoid Monday’s SEC action. Photo: New York financier Lynn Tilton arrives for an appeal hearing at the U.S. District courthouse in New York, September 16, 2015. Reuters/Brendan McDermid Take your pick!Ryan Burnett outclassed Bristol's Lee Haskins to win the IBF title in June Ryan Burnett's first defence of his IBF world bantamweight belt will be against WBA champion Zhanat Zhakiyanov at the SSE Arena in Belfast on 21 October. Details of the unification fight were confirmed by the Belfast boxer's Matchroom management team on Wednesday. Burnett clinched the IBF title at the Belfast venue in June with a landslide points win over Bristol's Lee Haskins. Zhakiyanov survived two first-round knockdowns to become WBA champion by outpointing Rau'shee Warren in Ohio. The Kazakhstan fighter, 30, who defeated the American in February, is trained by Ricky Hatton, who Burnett worked with before moving to Matchroom. The IBF moved quickly to declare 25-year-old Burnett the unanimous winner over Haskins after one judge initially incorrectly awarded the verdict to the Englishman after mixing up the boxers. "I'm very excited. This is the path I've always believed in and asked for - to be not just a world champion but a great world champion and this is exactly the fight that propels me into that position," said Burnett. "I've done a lot of work with him in sparring but back then I was a kid and hardly had any fights and he was fighting for the European title. I know what it's like to share a ring with him but he doesn't know what it's like to share a ring with the current Ryan Burnett. "A lot has changed since we last sparred for me but not with him. It's good to have that bit of knowledge, I know a few things about him. That can only work in my favour." Promoter Eddie Hearn added: "I'm so proud firstly to be part of history in bringing this huge unification to Belfast but also of Ryan Burnett for taking on this huge challenge. "Following his great win against Haskins for the title, it would have been so easy to come back to Belfast with a standard defence but Ryan wants to be great and make history and this fight against Zhakiyanov can do just that." Listen to the latest 5 live Boxing podcast Get all the latest boxing news sent straight to your device with notifications in the BBC Sport app. Find out more here.Get the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss. With Mass Effect: Andromeda due to launch in just a few more weeks, developer BioWare has now confirmed more details about it. According to DualShockers, BioWare's Ian Frazier said on Twitter that a "good portion" of the development team is still at work on the day-one patch. The game went gold on Friday, meaning the studio has completed the initial development on the game. This patch should be up and ready by the time Andromeda launches for EA Access and Origin Access, five days before the game comes out on March 21. Producer Michael Gamble cautioned that nothing is set in stone as of yet, so plans could change. BioWare also confirmed that Andromeda's file size on PS4 and Xbox One is "at least 45, not more than 60" gigabytes. On PC, the file size is apparently 55 GB. You can see the PC requirements here. Andromeda launches on March 21 for all platforms. You may not have to wait that long to play, however, as a multiplayer beta is expected to launch at some point before then. In the meantime, check out our latest preview of Andromeda and chat with BioWare about the size of the game. This story has been updated.Gardaí search the murder scene in forest lands on Ballinascorney Hill, near Brittas County Dublin. Source: Eamonn Farrell GARDAÍ IN DUBLIN have arrested a man as part of a murder investigation following the discovery of a man’s body in a remote, wooded area near Tallaght. The 41-year-old is being detained at Tallaght Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. Investigations are ongoing. The body of the man, aged in his 60s, was discovered next to a forest track at Ballinascorney Hill yesterday, 30 September. He had been first reported missing the previous day. Ballinascorney Hill Source: Google Maps Source: Google Maps A post mortem on the man’s body revealed he had been seriously assaulted to the back of his head. A witness appeal will take place close to the scene at 3pm today. Gardaí have appealed for anyone who may have been in the area of Ballinascorney Hill between 6.30am on the 29 September and 4am on 30 September to contact them at Tallaght Garda Station on 01 6666000 or on the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666111.I'm back boooooooooois. Should have returned to the art world weeks ago but life has been tough (and I mean it; reached new levels of tough this year). My best friend passed away in May and it's just been hell for me and the rest of his loved ones to be honest. I wish I had forced myself to do more art earier though; I forgot how good it is to express your emotions through art. Made this for EQD's Artist Training Grouds; feel free to join the ride: www.equestriadaily.com/2017/07… --------I still feel the grief, but I want to tell this to you all:Enjoy life! Be happy, do whatever makes you happy without hurting others and express yourself freely! Be just as happy as this Vapor and the one I drew before this one. And if you can't be happy, just experience peace for a moment and look at the beauty of the Universe and life; you're so fortunate to be alive! My friend may have lived for just 20 years, but I know of no one else who enjoyed life like he did; which is why I wanted to type this here (I know no one might ever read this, but I don't care). He was so happy because he was authentic to everyone, himself included; he did what he wanted to do, and said everything he wanted to say; and above all, he enjoyed every moment of his free time. For him, to be with his family or with his friends and have a talk with 1+ of us was all he needed to be happy. Maybe no one will ever read this, but just felt like expressing myself. BE GRATEFUL please, be grateful for your loved ones that you can still see and tell them you love them! I miss him A LOT, but I'm just so glad he knew how much his friends loved him, and for the memories we made and the things I learnt from him. It was the honor of my life to be one of his best friends.Thanks for your favs and especially to anyone who is reading this. I love you allBook review of 'This is not the end of the book'. Jean Phillippe de Tonnac, the famous French novelist, facilitates a freewheeling chat between two bibliophiles: Umberto Eco, the late Italian literary maestro and Jean-Claude Carrière, the legendary French writer and academy award honoree. A truly remarkable read. A treat for bibliophiles. ‘This is not the end of the book’ dwells on the past, the present and the future of the book as we know it. Jean Phillippe de Tonnac, the famous French novelist, facilitates a freewheeling chat between two bibliophiles: Umberto Eco, the late Italian literary maestro and Jean-Claude Carrière, the legendary French writer and academy award honoree. I am not sure how many books about the love of books have been written. But, whatever that number, ‘This is not the end of the book’ will feature right up there on that list. Both Eco and Carrière are deft craftsmen of sweeping tours of history and also of intensely personal human narratives. Where does their knowledge stem from? Their huge book-collection, obviously. As of the printing of this book, Eco owned over 50,000 books in his personal library and Carrière had 30,000. Both bibliophiles as reported had particular tastes for human folly. Eco’s collection comprised books on fakery and human error while Carrière boasted of his own dictionary on stupidity. During the course of the book, both Eco and Carrière engage in erudite and memorable conversations. They address important questions every book-lover has. They talk about books and the threats to their existence in the past and in the future. Though the discussions, by no means, remain limited to challenges. I have listed down some of the key topics and salient inputs of authors for everyone’s benefit, you may enjoy them: 1. On threats from digitisation: Both Eco and Carrière acknowledge the impending threat of digitisation to the future of the physical book. They are, however, confident that books will continue to thrive and survive. They have, for centuries. When quizzed about the change in the physiognomy of books, Eco quips, “The book is like the spoon, scissors, the hammer, the wheel. Once invented, it cannot be improved.” 2. On memory. Eco and Carrière arrive at the conclusion that though it’s not possible to retain everything in your brains yet knowing a few things by heart gives you a certain intellectual freedom. Eco emphasizes, “One way to stave off Alzheimer’s or senile dementia of any kind, is to keep learning.” 3. On filtering. Both scholars acknowledge the power of the Internet as a great filter of information. Eco cautions about the inaccuracies and lack of hierarchy concerning information available on the net. Carrière takes a dip into the history and explains that an era’s culture acts as a filter, too. Some art forms get a boost during a particular era whereas others totally vanish. He adds, “France’s most glorious period (the late 17th and 18th centuries) was the one in which she deprived herself of poetry.” 4. On Book Collectors. Anyone who has built their personal library will attest to the labour of love that goes into it. Each personal library is peculiar – a reflection of our tastes. Eco and Carrière unearth a host of probable reasons why a collector gravitates to this or that book. About their own libraries, Eco reveals his weird affection for esoteric and bizarre literature. Carrière, on the other hand, comes across as a bibliophile who would collect books that conflict each other. Here’s Carrière on his bibliophilic romance, “My favourite thing in a library is juxtaposition: different books clashing with and contradicting each other.” 5. On our Knowledge of the past. Not all books written in the middle ages were enlightening and insightful. A good bunch was useless drivel. Throughout the book, Eco and Carrière discuss several such publications. Imagine a book about why Germans used to defecate more than the French making it to a bookshelf in modern times. 6. On censorship. The go-to weapon of the most marauders and the dissenters in the middle ages was arson. God knows how many precious books were lost to the fire and how many cultures or their remnants were obliterated. Carrière argues that Mongols and Spanish were the worst book-destroyers. Fire, however, it appears was not the only option available at their disposal. Umberto Eco mentions another censorship device: a statewide injunction called damnatio memoriae practised in Rome. Poor souls who were slapped with this decree had their names wiped out from virtually every record. We might be safe from the marauders in the modern times, but an accidental fire and theft are always a threat. If you own a huge collection, it’s advisable to have an insurance in place. Moral policing over literature also continues, though they don’t burn the books anymore. Thanks to the internet, you can’t obliterate a good piece of work today. 7. On the books, we haven’t read. Most book-lovers have books in their collection which they haven’t read, but still, talk about them like they have. I remember I ordered Benjamin Graham’s ‘Security Analysis’ in hardcover with full fervour. And for reasons difficult to fathom, I never got around to reading it. But I have discussed the book in many forums without any hesitation. Eco says he owns three editions of Mahabharata but has failed to read a single one of them. Carrière sheds light on an astonishing study commissioned at Bibliotheque Nationale in France. It was discovered that more than two million of the library’s books hadn’t been requested even once since the 1820s. 8. On religion of the book. In a later chapter, both Eco and Carrière describe their first experiences with books. A kind of induction into the religion of the book. Eco, in his own words, started with adventure stories whereas Carrière with sacred books. What really surprised me though was Carrière’s insights into Hinduism and ancient Indian sacred texts. His understanding of the Vedas and the Mahabharata is astonishing. He stresses that the Mahabharata is the first written work. Before the Mahabharata, men or the gods hadn’t yet invented writing. 9. On your bibliophilic legacy. What would happen to my collection of books when I die? This is one question that has crossed every bibliophile’s mind, everywhere. Some will have thought about the answer already and some won’t like to go that way right now. You know, scared of thinking about death and other such axiomatic matters. Anyways, Carrière declares, “In my will, I shall probably leave particular books to particular friends. A kind of posthumous present. So that they don’t forget me entirely.” Eco seems more unhesitating in his answer. He says, “I wouldn’t want my collection to be dispersed. My family would give it to a public library or an auction house so that it reaches a university intact.” I found ‘This is not the end of the book’ to be a remarkable read. It’s a book with the potential of setting your spirits free. It’s loaded with philosophical and factual gems. The facilitator asks all the relevant questions of the two authors. Eco and Carrière’s answers veer off the topics mostly, but, that only strengthens the narrative. They start from point A, hop over to Z, and then, traverse all the way back to A. The narrative is not quite a breeze, but the deep wisdom exhibited by the two erudite scholars is sufficient to captivate any reader. I highly recommend this book to all book-lovers. It’s a sui generis feast for the mind. ©2017 BookJelly. All rights reserved Advertisements Like this: Like Loading...VANCOUVER — Seeking to profit from Canada’s new medical marijuana regulations — which put the production and sale of high-grade weed into the hands of corporations and penny-stock outfits — promoters are turning to former police chiefs and prominent politicians to help sell their products and attract mom and pop investors. “I’ve never smoked pot and I don’t want to,” says John Reynolds, a former MP with the Progressive Conservative, Reform and Canadian Alliance parties. “I have no interest in using the product whatsoever.” But he was just named advisor to Vodis Innovative Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company that hopes to obtain a Health Canada licence to sell high-quality marijuana to medical patients. Joining him on the Vodis advisory board is Senator Larry Campbell, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer and Vancouver mayor. As with all things marijuana, British Columbia is a hotbed of penny-stock pot promotion. The two men may disagree on marijuana reform — Mr. Campbell wholeheartedly endorses legalization, while Mr. Reynolds is more cautious — but they have similar roles as corporate cannabis advisors. They believe they can help Vodis organize its affairs and compete with other marijuana start-ups and established companies. The company’s young executives might know plenty about growing potent bud, but they “don’t know s–t from shinola about business,” says Mr. Campbell. That’s why he signed on, he adds: To help them with corporate regulations, audits and security matters. In exchange for his counsel, he received purchase options on about 250,000 Vodis shares. For his part, Mr. Reynolds thinks he can help Vodis with disclosure requirements and public outreach, such as engaging with the communities where the company hopes to grow its marijuana. But he insists he won’t lobby. “I don’t make calls to government,” he says. “I’m just being an advisor. I do that for a lot of companies. If they are willing to pay what I charge, I’ll do it.” Vodis is just one of many upstarts in the medical marijuana business, which still in its infancy in Canada, but expected to grow by leaps and bounds, thanks to the country’s new Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR), introduced in April. The new regulatory regime is meant to divert medical marijuana production from thousands of independent home grows and black-market operations to secure, inspected facilities run by law-abiding companies. To date, Health Canada has granted MMPR production licences to 22 operations, from Moncton, N.B., to Vancouver Island. For arcane privacy-related reasons that even Health Canada spokesmen cannot decipher, only 13 licencee holders have been publicly identified; of those, just a handful are now producing and selling marijuana to customers. Others are waiting for federal bureaucrats to inspect and approve their products. Dozens more companies are waiting for their MMPR applications to be reviewed. Health Canada has already predicted the number of Canadians authorized to possess marijuana for medical use will increase almost tenfold in the next decade, to about 309,000, as more evidence about the drug’s efficacy emerges and more doctors become willing to prescribe it to patients. It estimates by 2024, the “legal marijuana supply industry” may be worth $1.3-billion. ”It’s going to be like when they found [different uses for] Aspirin,” says Mr. Campbell, from his home on Galiano Island, one of B.C.’s Gulf Islands. “It’s going to be unbelievable.” Mike Harcourt, a former B.C. premier, jumped into the competitive fray this year, becoming chairman of Vernon, B.C.-based True Leaf Medicine Inc., yet another putative marijuana provider. True Leaf hopes to go public and list shares on a stock exchange soon, he says. He explains he was at first reluctant to get involved with the company, but after doing “a lot of reading,” his “thinking kind of evolved.” In May, he agreed to join True Leaf’s board. Despite enduring chronic pain and partial quadriplegia, from which he has suffered since a near-fatal fall off a cottage deck 12 years ago, Mr. Harcourt says he doesn’t consume cannabis at all. Other public figures entering the medicinal weed business include: Kash Heed, a former West Vancouver police chief and B.C. solicitor general, who acts as a consultant for several hopeful marijuana producers; and Barry Daniel, a former Abbotsford police chief. Mr. Daniel describes himself as a law enforcement “traditionalist” who years ago would have scoffed at the idea of working with marijuana growers. “But over time, and watching things unfold … I changed my mind,” he says. “To be frank, I think [marijuana for recreational use] should be decriminalized.” In his new incarnation, he will work as Wildflower’s head of security. Like many other marijuana newcomers, the company is tapping public markets. William MacLean, its chief executive, helped execute a reverse takeover of a moribund resource-based company this year. As a result, Wildflower grabbed a spot on the Canadian Stock Exchange, where penny stocks are bought and sold. Mr. MacLean hopes to attract enough capital to build a 14,000-square-foot marijuana production facility near Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. It’s a very speculative play; at this point, the company does not even own an MMPR licence. Even if it were to receive federal approval to grow and sell pot, there’s no guarantee Wildflower will make money for its investors. Best listen to Mr. Reynolds, the conservative politician turned marijuana advisor. Sinking money into a marijuana company “is gambling,” he says. “Be very careful.” National PostBy Andrew Liszewski At first glance I thought this Roller Buggy concept, which combines all the safety aspects of a baby seat and stroller with the reckless abandon of a scooter, was just a terrible idea. Particularly when used in a busy urban environment like seen in some of the product shots. But according to designer Valentin Vodev, a lot of care and safety concerns were taken into consideration when it was designed. In addition to an extra safety belt on the child seat, the Roller Buggy also features a set of hydraulic disc brakes on the front two wheels allowing the speed to be easily reduced at any time. Though taking it down a hill or riding it off a sweet plywood ramp in your driveway is probably still a terrible idea with a baby on board. The Roller Buggy can also be transformed into a standard push stroller for use in places where scooting is frowned upon, and while I’m sure there will be plenty of uproar over child safety if this somehow ever becomes available for sale, with a little common sense it seems like a faster and generally more entertaining alternative way to get around with your little one. [ Roller Buggy ] VIA [ Babyology ]Chase Anthony Oct 2016 For a long time, I’ve had a fear of writing poetry. A weird fear, I know. But when you’re as self-conscious, anxious, and self-deprecating as me, you’ll find that it’s hard to voice… just about anything. You see, I would never raise my hand in class, because what if I was wrong? I would never sign up for weights, because what if I’m not that strong? That pretty girl in class? Don’t even dream about it. If you ask for her number, she’ll leave you without it. She’ll think you’re weird, creepy, or even ****. That is why I stayed away from poetry. What if what I have to say is not all that important? What if what I write is bad, boring, or people find it abhorrent? So I stayed away from it. I kept everything I wanted to say bottled up inside. Until one day, I sat. And I cried. I wondered to myself What went wrong in my life? Why am I the way I am? How can I fix myself? What is my plan? It all started with typing. And even though I’m still an anxious wreck Aren’t you reading my writing?The cost of setting up a trust can vary from a small amount for an online form to $100 to $2,500 in lawyers’ fees, depending on location and the type of trust. The sale and possession of silencers, fully automatic guns manufactured before 1986 and other firearms and accessories that fall under the 1934 National Firearms Act are legal in many states. But the A.T.F. keeps a registry of the firearms and must approve their sale, a process that can take several months, and the buyer must pay a $200 tax. J. W. Hagan, a computer administrator in Jacksonville, Fla., said he created a trust to buy silencers, which have become popular for target shooting and hunting and can be owned legally in a growing number of states. He said the trust would ensure that if he died, his firearms would remain legal. The trust would also allow his fiancée to use the silencers once the couple married. “If I didn’t have a trust, she wouldn’t even be able to have the password for my safe,” he said. David Goldman, an estate lawyer in Jacksonville who, along with another lawyer in Florida, Bob J. Howell, has helped popularize the use of gun trusts six years ago, said most dealers carried out background checks for restricted firearms. He called the notion that criminals might use the trusts to buy the firearms through a dealer “ridiculous.” “Illegal versions of these items are not only cheaper,” he said, “but you can obtain them six months faster and you don’t have to form a trust, which could be $500 or $1,000 depending on the level, and you don’t have to tell the A.T.F. about it.” Mr. Goldman, who has prepared several thousand gun trusts and teaches courses on their use, said the trusts have many benefits, like ensuring that firearms were passed on responsibly when an owner dies, keeping them from falling into the wrong hands in a difficult divorce or helping to negotiate moves to other states that might have different gun laws. “There was never a proper way of dealing with firearms with estate planning and whether beneficiaries were appropriate to receive them,” Mr. Goldman said.At its highest level, football is about survival. Even in an era of heightened concussion awareness, with new rules designed to promote safety, injuries take their toll on the sport's premier players. J.J. Watt's back injury prevented the Texans star from making a run at an unprecedented fourth Defensive Player of the Year award. The only defensive star to wrest the award away from Watt since 2012 is the Panthers' Luke Kuechly, who has missed the last three games with a concussion. The premier safety of the past half decade, Seattle's Earl Thomas, had his season cut short due to a broken tibia. With three perennial All-Pros out of the picture, this year's race for top defensive honors is close enough that the last three weeks will be decisive. In fact, the winner might not be determined until Von Miller's Broncos host Khalil Mack's Raiders in the regular-season finale. Here's our list of the top candidates for Defensive Player of the Year: 1) Von Miller, Denver Broncos linebacker: Early in the season, Miller sealed victories over the Panthers and Colts with timely sacks late in the fourth quarter. Of late, he pushed tackle Jermey Parnell into Blake Bortles to thwart a Jaguars upset effort and nearly keyed a Broncos comeback at Tennessee, almost single-handedly shutting down one defensive series in the fourth quarter. With Watt on the shelf, Miller has been the league's premier defensive star dating back to last year's postseason, which culminated in the Super Bowl 50 MVP award. 2) Khalil Mack, Oakland Raiders linebackers: Last week's performance against Kansas City was emblematic of Mack's season as the lone superstar on a defense surrendering 6.2 yards per play -- the highest figure in the league. Mack has been a nightmare for opposing offensive lines over the past eight weeks, recording 10 sacks, 13 QB hits, five forced fumbles, an interception and a touchdown. He gets better as the game progresses, leading the NFL with 11 fourth-quarter sacks since the start of the 2015 season. 3) Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle: Thanks to the prominence of analytics and the widespread study of game film over the past half-decade, interior defenders of Donald's ilk are finally receiving a modicum of the credit they're due. Still destined to be overlooked on the national stage thanks to an inept Rams offense, Donald leads all defensive stars with 27 QB hits and 16 tackles for loss. If Tom Brady is the best player in the league, Donald isn't far behind. 4) Landon Collins, New York Giants safety: A liability in coverage as a rookie, Collins has emerged as perhaps the best all-around safety in the league in his second NFL season. The tone-setter of the league's most improved defense is the only player in the NFL with at least 100 tackles, three sacks and five interceptions this season. He leads all safeties in those categories as well as in passes defensed (13). 5) Aqib Talib, Denver Broncos cornerback: Already a Pro Bowl-caliber talent in Tampa Bay and New England early in his career, Talib has become a playmaking machine as the headliner in Denver's star-studded secondary. In addition to notching five pick-sixes over the past three years, he's been the league's stickiest cover corner this season, edging out perennial All-Pros Patrick Peterson and Richard Sherman. 6) Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs safety: The reigning Comeback Player of the Year won the Panthers game with a pick-six and was responsible for a difference-making nine points via an interception returned for a touchdown and another pick returned for two points at Atlanta in Week 13. Berry is the face of Kansas City's playmaking defense and special teams, units that have combined to provide a staggering 49.0 percent of the team's points this season. That's a higher mark than the 1985 Bears (42.1), 2000 Ravens (46.5), 2002 Buccaneers (48.6) and 2015 Broncos (45.9) -- regarded as the greatest defenses of the past four decades. 7) Vic Beasley, Atlanta Falcons linebacker: I thought Beasley had the quickest first step in the league as a rookie, though he posted just four sacks last season. After adding strength and borrowing a few maneuvers from veteran Dwight Freeney, the second-year star has terrorized opposing right tackles such as the Broncos' Ty Sambrailo and the Rams' Rob Havenstein. With three games left to play, he leads the league in forced fumbles (six) and is tied with Miller atop the sack chart (13.5) in a season reminiscent of Robert Mathis' 2013 run at Defensive Player of the Year honors. 8) Brandon Graham, Philadelphia Eagles defensive end: The Eagles' defense has fallen apart of late, though through no fault of Graham's. A natural fit in coordinator Jim Schwartz's Wide-9 scheme, Graham is the league's most unsung defensive star, ranking among the leaders in quarterback pressures as well as run stuffs. I hope you remembered his name when you filled out your Pro Bowl ballot. 9) Bobby Wagner, Seattle Seahawks linebacker: Two years ago, Wagner infamously snaked an MVP vote away from Aaron Rodgers and J.J. Watt as the glue to a historically great Seattle defense. He's been even better this year as the NFL's leading tackler, holding the unit together through injuries to superstar talents such as Michael Bennett, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas. 10) Gerald McCoy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle: Since Week 10, Tampa Bay ranks first in points allowed per game (12.8), takeaways (14) and passer rating allowed (62.5). McCoy has been the most disruptive force on coordinator Mike Smith's playmaking defense, uprooting opposing guards and centers to crash the pocket -- as he did against rookie Germain Ifedi in the Bucs' shocking 14-5 upset over the Seahawks in Week 12. McCoy ranks with Donald as the NFL's preeminent interior pass rushers. Also considered: Janoris Jenkins, CB, New York Giants; Olivier Vernon, DE, New York Giants; Cameron Jordan, DE, New Orleans Saints; Sean Lee, LB, Dallas Cowboys; Michael Bennett, DE, Seattle Seahawks; Cliff Avril, DE, Seattle Seahawks; Kam Chancellor, SS, Seattle Seahawks; Marcus Peters, CB, Kansas City Chiefs; Xavier Rhodes, CB, Minnesota Vikings; Everson Griffen, DE, Minnesota Vikings; Terrell Suggs, OLB, Baltimore Ravens; Eric Weddle, SS, Baltimore Ravens.Spread the love In a blow to the constitutional rights of citizens, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in Heien v. State of North Carolina that police officers are permitted to violate American citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights if the violation results from a “reasonable” mistake about the law on the part of police. The Rutherford Institute Acting contrary to the venerable principle that “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” the Court ruled that evidence obtained by police during a traffic stop that was not legally justified can be used to prosecute the person if police were reasonably mistaken that the person had violated the law. The Rutherford Institute had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hold law enforcement officials accountable to knowing and abiding by the rule of law. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Court’s lone dissenter, warned that the court’s ruling “means further eroding the Fourth Amendment’s protection of civil liberties in a context where that protection has already been worn down.” The Rutherford Institute’s amicus brief in Heien v. North Carolina is available at www.rutherford.org. “By refusing to hold police accountable to knowing and abiding by the rule of law, the Supreme Court has given government officials a green light to routinely violate the law,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of the award-winning book A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State. “This case may have started out with an improper traffic stop, but where it will end—given the turbulence of our age, with its police overreach, military training drills on American soil, domestic surveillance, SWAT team raids, asset forfeiture, wrongful convictions, and corporate corruption—is not hard to predict. This ruling is what I would call a one-way, nonrefundable ticket to the police state.” In April 2009, a Surry County (N.C.) law enforcement officer stopped a car traveling on Interstate 77, allegedly because of a brake light which at first
signing of the law marked the end of an arduous road to pass the legislation and put our society on the path toward effectively combating such heinous abuses. Vice President Joe Biden, then a U.S. Senator, not only authored VAWA, but helped drive it through Congress and deliver it to the President's desk. Today, standing in front of the U.S. Constitution at the National Archives, Vice President Biden reflected on how far we've come in our ability -- and willingness -- to address domestic violence: Even just 20 years ago, few people wanted to talk about violence against women as a national epidemic, let alone something to do something about. No one even back then denied that kicking your wife in the stomach, or smashing her in the face, or pushing her down the stairs in public was repugnant. But our society basically turned a blind eye. And hardly anyone ever intervened, directly intervened -- other than my father and a few other people I knew. And no one -- virtually no one called it a crime. It was a family affair. It was a family affair. Laws -- state laws when we attempted at a state or a federal level to design laws to prevent actions that were said that we now are celebrating, we were told, I was told, many of us were told that it would cause the disintegration of the family. That was the phrase used. It would cause the disintegration of the family. "This was the ugliest form of violence that exists," he said, and though many wanted to see these crimes remain hidden in the shadows, the Vice President was committed to bringing them out into the light. "We had to let the nation know," he said, "because I was absolutely convinced -- and remain absolutely convinced -- in the basic decency of the American people, and that if they knew, they would begin to demand change." "The only way to change this culture was to expose it... the best disinfectant is sunlight." Change could not come soon enough for the victims of domestic violence. Many summoned the courage to share their stories before Congress in order to convey exactly why the nation needed to act: These were stories of survivors from all walks of life, all parts of the country, North, South, East and West, and Midwest. One young woman I remember had her head put in the vice on a workbench by her father, crushing her skull, as punishment and abuse. Another who had both her arms broken with a hammer by her husband because she didn't respond quickly enough. Several others had their heads beaten with pipes by the men who professed their great love for them; a 15-year-old girl stabbed by her ex-boyfriend who had just been released from prison for beating her before. So many other cases, a famous journalist whose daughter who was killed after having a stay-away order in the Mid-Atlantic states, and her husband following her to Massachusetts because there was no computer system to be able to know it was done, they let him loose. And he killed her. More than anything, as we painted this honest picture of what was going on in America, public opinion began to change. As more men -- I might add -- and women, but men spoke out, as well, minds began to change. And the terms of the debate shifted. Four years after it was first introduced, VAWA finally passed Congress and was signed into law on September 13, 1994. Since then, VAWA has been reauthorized three times: In 2000, when we added the definition of dating violence to protect women from violent partners In 2005, when we added a new training program for health-care providers to screen patients for domestic abuse so they could better address their psychological and physical needs In 2013, when -- despite Republican opposition -- we ensured services would be available anywhere to anyone, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. "When violence against women is no longer societally accepted, no longer kept secret; when everyone understands that even one case is too many. That’s when it will change." Though we've come a long way as a society, the Vice President made it clear that much work remains: We have so much more to do, because there’s still sex bias that remains in the American criminal justice system in dealing with rape -- stereotypes like she deserved it, she wore a short skirt still taint prosecutions for rape and domestic violence. We’re not going to succeed until America embraces the notion -- my father’s notion -- that under no circumstance does a man ever have a right to raise a hand to a woman other than in self-defense -- under no circumstance; that no means no, whether it’s in a bedroom, or on the street, on in the back of a car -- no means no. Rape is rape -- no exceptions. Until we reach that point, we are not going to succeed. But I believe that we can get to that point. It’s still imperfect, but the change is real that’s happening. To pursue that progress, the Vice President announced that he will hold a Summit on Civil Rights and Equal Protection for Women in order to expand civil rights remedies in the law -- because, as he said, "You can’t talk about human rights and human dignity without talking about the right of every woman on the planet to be free from violence and free from fear."A Single Shot is a 2013 US American crime thriller film directed by David M. Rosenthal and written by Matthew F. Jones, based on his own novel of the same name. It stars Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Ted Levine, Kelly Reilly and Jason Isaacs. Plot [ edit ] John Moon's wife recently took their son and left. Before John's father died, he was unable to pay the mortgage on the farm, and it was sold. John is depressed and an emotional wreck. He lives in poverty in rural West Virginia, feeding himself by hunting deer. While illegally stalking a deer with a shotgun on Nature Conservancy land, he accidentally shoots and kills a young woman. He then finds a box containing $100,000 in the abandoned van where she was hiding. He hides the woman's body in a shipping container. During the following days, he attempts to reconcile with his wife. He contacts a local attorney to try to negotiate for his wife and son's return home and leaves the attorney several hundred dollars, drawing the attorneys' attention. John visits his son at his wife's apartment and interrupts the babysitter having sex with a recently released convict who has returned home. As he leaves he is threatened by a stranger who resents his glance. Later, while he is in his trailer, someone shoots and kills his dog. In another incident a rock wrapped in a note threatening his family is thrown through the trailer window. John suspects the ex-con is responsible for these events. He enters the ex-con's motel room and is interrupted by the ex-con's return. He hides in the louvered closet. The stranger from outside the diner arrives at the hotel room and asks the ex-con if he's "gotten the money back". The ex-con tells him that the woman who had the money has died and the stranger is furious. John sees him slit the ex-con's throat. The ex-con falls into the closet. He sees John but is unable to talk before he dies. John avoids detection and goes home. He finds someone has trashed his trailer, apparently looking for the money. The dead girl's body is on his bed with a note. His wife shows up and wants to come inside and get her clothing, but John refuses. John visits the attorney and threatens him with a pistol, trying to force him to reveal what he knows. All he learns is that his wife was concerned about where John got the money and wants to talk to him. John returns to his trailer. A friendly local girl brings him something to eat, and while they are eating outside, the radio in the trailer starts playing loudly. John goes inside to investigate, carrying a pistol. He hears the girl scream outside, and returns to find her held captive by the stranger. John is forced to discard his pistol and knife. The stranger asks John where the money is. John says he buried it nearby. The stranger tells him to go get it, but first cuts off John's right index finger and thumb, to be sure he can't use a weapon. John goes to his truck and gets a scoped rifle. Despite his wounds, he successfully kills the stranger. He takes the girl to town and returns to the trailer and a shed outside, which contains a freezer in which he has hidden the dead woman's body. He drags her body up the hill and digs a hole to bury her. Weakened by loss of blood, he's unable to get out of the hole. He pulls the girl′s body into the hole with him and looks up to see a deer looking down at him from the edge of the hole. Cast [ edit ] Production [ edit ] Filming began in February 2012 in Vancouver, British Columbia.[3] The film was released on September 20, 2013, and distributed in the United States by Tribeca Film.[4] Reception [ edit ] A Single Shot received mixed reviews and has a rating of 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7 out of 10. The consensus states "It has a bleak sense of atmosphere and a terrific performance by Sam Rockwell, but A Single Shot is undercut by its predictable story and slow pace."[5] The film also has a score of 53 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 16 reviews.[6] Soundtrack [ edit ] The music for A Single Shot was written by Icelandic-born composer Atli Örvarsson whose music is strongly rooted in 20th century modernism. The score was recorded with the London Metropolitan Orchestra. The soundtrack has been released digitally and on CD by MovieScore Media / Kronos Records. One of the special things about the soundtrack is that the shorter cues have been organized into movements, thus creating a program that sounds very much like a concert piece. All music composed by Atli Örvarsson. A Single Shot: Original Soundtrack No. Title Length 1. "A Single Shot" 1:06 2. "Opening" 3:20 3. "Remembering" 4:20 4. "The John Moon Variations: Movement 1 – The Shot" 7:00 5. "The John Moon Variations: Movement 2 – Late Night Call" 8:30 6. "The John Moon Variations: Movement 3 – Showdown" 9:45 7. "Finale" 8:26 Total length: 42:27Damian Green says agreement will set out post-Brexit powers for Holyrood but rejects claim that repeal bill should be rewritten The UK government expects to sign a formal deal with Scotland setting out its new powers before Brexit, to head off a confrontation over the repeal bill. Damian Green, the first secretary of state, said an agreement between the two governments would be published before the EU repeal bill came into force, outlining new powers for Holyrood and the policies set at UK level. Scottish ministers press Damian Green for return of powers from EU Read more But Green ruled out any substantive changes to the repeal bill, rejecting a key demand put to him by Scotland’s Brexit minister, Mike Russell, during their talks in Edinburgh on Wednesday, when he said the bill should be rewritten. “It’s hugely in the interests of people in Scotland that we do reach a successful conclusion,” Green said on Thursday morning. “When we reach an agreement on where powers lie, then we will clearly have that agreement and that agreement will be public. I don’t see that as a problem at all.” With Russell challenging him to agree to devolve significant powers over areas such as fisheries and farming, Green said he was keen on reaching a comprehensive deal to ensure the quick distribution of powers after Brexit. Until now, the UK government’s formal position – endorsed by Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader – was that detailed talks on new Scottish powers would start after the UK quits the EU. “In practice, it’s all happening in parallel,” Green said. His reassurances were immediately dismissed as inadequate by the Scottish government, suggesting Green may be a long way from solving the impasse between the two governments. A spokesman for Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, said the Scottish government was adamant that clause 11 of the European Union (withdrawal) bill, which has the effect of automatically repatriating EU powers to Whitehall and Westminster, had to be substantially rewritten. “We’re quite clear that the bill as it stands must be changed for us to be in a position where we can give legislative consent,” he said. The Scottish government wants all EU policy areas currently devolved to Edinburgh – such as fisheries, farming and environmental legislation – automatically given to Scotland at Brexit. At that point, the devolved and UK governments would negotiate UK-level frameworks. In a joint letter published last month, Sturgeon and the Welsh first minister, Carwyn Jones, accused the UK government of planning to grab powers from the three devolved governments by initially centralising existing EU powers in London. Sturgeon again threatened to withhold Holyrood’s legislative consent for the bill, a step which would plunge the Brexit process into a major political crisis. If Holyrood refused to consent, that would force the UK government to impose the bill’s measures on the Scottish parliament. Green said he had told Russell and John Swinney, Scotland’s deputy first minister, on Thursday that retaining most powers in London at first would be temporary. “We want these [powers] to pass through as fast as possible when we’ve got agreement,” he said. “When you say there’s a fundamental disagreement, there isn’t: we want the same thing, and the purpose of these talks is to ensure that in detail we can get to that point.” Green implied that Sturgeon’s team was guilty of brinksmanship and posturing because a delay in implementing the Scottish elements of the repeal bill could have serious legal and industrial consequences. Because Holyrood has significant devolved powers over many areas controlled at EU level and because Scotland has a separate legal and judicial system, hundreds of pieces of secondary legislation must be in place at the point Brexit takes place to guarantee legal continuity. It is expected MSPs and ministers will have to sit late into the night at Holyrood, setting up new committees, in order to agree and pass the often complex updates and redrafting of existing and new legislation. Holyrood is hiring extra legal experts, consultants and officials to help with the added workload. Green said it would be hugely undesirable to have gaps in Scottish law on the day of Brexit. “One of the reasons for having this bill is absolutely we want to avoid anywhere in the UK being on a cliff edge on Brexit day where there are gaps in the statute book. “The last thing anyone wants is to suddenly discover we haven’t got regulations covering food safety, to take an example. That’s why this bill is so important.” The Scottish government has shifted ground by accepting the case for UK-wide frameworks in areas such as food safety and labelling as well as fisheries and agriculture – a position it rejected before the general election in June. Green said devolving all power at Brexit and then negotiating a UK-level deal on joint competencies or UK control of some policies afterwards would be impractical, because all three devolved governments had different powers and different legal systems.The last thing you’d probably expect to see while strolling through Manhattan’s fashion boutique–heavy Lower East Side is a store selling firearms. However, some Gotham residents walking through the neighborhood recently discovered a small shop promising to help first-time gun buyers pick the perfect weapon. When those safety-seeking folks went inside to learn which gun would be the best for them, they found out a little more than they’d bargained for. That’s because the gun store featured in the above PSA isn’t real. It was been set up by States United to Prevent Gun Violence, a national nonprofit that works to make communities safer, as part of its “Guns With History” campaign. Hidden cameras roll as the store’s pretend salesperson tells shoppers about the caliber or popularity of a particular firearm and relays the sad histories of the weapons on display. The shoppers are shocked and horrified to learn the violent past—including accidental shootings and the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre—of guns of the same make and model as the one they were considering buying. Each gun’s tag includes where the model of gun was used, the date, the name of the shooter, the number of people who died, and the number of individuals who were wounded, debunking the myth that having a gun keeps owners and their families safe. “It made me think twice, and I will not buy one,” said one person who’d originally planned to buy a gun. Indeed, after being educated about what can happen when you own a gun, “none of the participants expressed interest in buying from the store,” wrote Julia Wyman, executive director of SUPGV, in an email. “Almost all commented that their minds were changed and that they would not want to own a gun,” she added. Dozens of gun-rights advocates have been heading to the organization’s Facebook page to voice their displeasure with the PSA. “Whether you’re a 28-year-old man or an 82-year-old grandmother, a gun when properly used evens the playing field. As a man who keeps guns at home for protection and who conceal carries in public to protect myself and my family, this stunt you all pulled is despicable,” commented Jarvis Cardwell. “You’re essentially grouping myself and every other responsible, law-abiding, gun-owning citizens with murderers and irresponsible gun-owners.” “What next, a fake motorcycle store? Those are pretty darned dangerous too. How about a car dealership ridiculing people who buy small cars, because they’re less safe, or would you liberals ridicule them for buying big cars, due to global cooling, or warming, or climate change, whatever it is today?” commented Facebook user Michael Craig. Wyman isn’t cowed by the criticism. “Of course gun enthusiasts are going to object to anything that debunks their propaganda,” she wrote. “They set forth claims about ‘guns keeping you safe’ all the time. Why don’t we have the right to put out a PSA that gives a different view?” To that end, she believes it’s critical that the public knows that although most people believe owning a gun makes you safer, most studies show the opposite is true. Wyman says the one thing she’d like people to do is to “think twice before they [consider] owning a gun.” But if you're still unsure about whether owning a gun is right for you, the “Guns With History” website has a quiz to help you decide.“Cortana in Office” Vine videos are below in the post. I heard some new features are coming to Office 16. One of them will supposedly be some assistant similar to Clippy. I suggest, let’s not bother Clippy any more, just say – “Cortana, will you assist Office users on Windows 9”. She gladly will. After all, Cortana is a Personal Digital Assistant. Following are some scenarios I envisioned with MS Office: “Cortana, create a table with 5 rows and 10 columns”. “Cortana, in cell A5, find the average of values in cells A1 to A4. “Cortana, find a 200 word excerpt from Shakespeare’s Macbeth and insert in the document.” So I virtually (yes) put Cortana in Office 16 in these Vine videos (feels real with sound, so enable sound): And here is Cortana helping with Formula. (enable sound, disable the first one :D) How about Cortana reminding on a smartwatch!? (And if you are interested this is my smart timekeeping app for your Windows Phone, free and no adverts I like Cortana. If you do too, you might like my other futuristic Cortana integration fact-ions. Cortana, find me the nearest top-rated coffee shop? Advertisements"Find It, Fix It" is a smartphone app offering mobile users one more way to report selected issues to the City of Seattle. With Find It, Fix It, reporting an issue is as easy as snapping a photo with your smartphone, adding detailed information, and hitting submit.The map's "drag and drop" feature or the phone's own technology can be used to pinpoint the location. Android users can download the app from the Google Play Store and iPhone users can download it from the App Store. The app offers the following service request categories: Abandoned Vehicle: Report vehicles parked in a public right of way more than three days. Clogged Storm Drain: Report a clogged storm drain. Graffiti Report: Report graffiti, including what it is on — parking meter, utility pole or building — so it gets automatically routed to the appropriate department for response. Illegal Dumping: Report illegal dumping — junk, garbage or debris — on public property, including roadsides, open streets and paved alleys. Parking Enforcement: Make an inquiry regarding a parking concern. Pothole: Report a pothole. Sign and Signal Maintenance: Report damaged street signs and malfunctioning traffic signals. Streetlight Report: Report a streetlight outage or damaged streetlight. Other Inquiry: This miscellaneous category is for making an inquiry or request not listed above, which will be processed by the City's Customer Service Bureau. Mobile users should choose this category to provide feedback. Once you download and use Find It, Fix It, feel free to submit feedback using the app's "other inquiry" category, found under the "New Request" icon. Windows Phone users: At this time, there are no plans for a Windows Phone version of this app. You can submit requests on a Windows Phone via the City's website. Scroll to the "Here to Help" section and click on "Report a Problem."A few weeks ago, Google's Life Sciences division (which falls under Alphabet) announced plans to work with Dexcom on a miniature glucose tracker. The division that handles Mountain View's health-minded efforts is also teaming up with Sanofi, a pharmaceutical company that makes diabetes medication. The collaboration aims to find new ways to monitor and treat the medical condition that affects nearly 30 million people in the US alone. The partnership includes the development of a small device that continuously gathers stats and software that uses the collected info to find new courses of treatment. Life Sciences head Andrew Conrad says Sanofi's experience with insulin could help Google build a connected device that could provide dosage recommendation or automatically adjust medication levels based on a patient's blood sugar readings. "With Sanofi we can complete the picture of how diabetes unfolds and try to interrupt that development through a proactive and preventive approach," Conrad explained. This is the latest in the Life Sciences division's ongoing medical projects, and now that there's a renewed focus, we're likely to see more partnerships in the near future. [Image credit: Chris Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images]This article is about the upcoming film. For other uses, see 100 Years (disambiguation) 100 Years is an upcoming science fiction film written by John Malkovich and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Advertised in 2015 with the tagline "The Movie You Will Never See", it is due to be released on November 18, 2115, matching the 100 years it takes for a bottle of Louis XIII Cognac to be released to consumers. The film stars an international ensemble, with American actor John Malkovich, Taiwanese actress Shuya Chang, and Chilean actor Marko Zaror. 100 Years will apparently be a short film, Rodriguez having stated in a 2019 interview with French YouTuber InThePanda : "I was making several short films for them, and I finished that one first, we shot that one first, I thought that was gonna be a commercial or something. And then I showed them the movie and they said 'Yeah, that's great, that's great. That's the one we lock away.' And I said 'What? That's the one you lock away? What about the other one with the future--' 'No, that's the commercial.' [...] The one that I was most attached to was the one they locked away."[1] Plot [ edit ] The plot is a closely held secret, which is not expected to be revealed until the film itself is released in November 2115.[2] However, teasers suggest it will be sci-fi themed and will involve a hero, a heroine, and a male villain. Cast [ edit ] While the details of the film have been kept highly secret, the names and roles of three actors have been released:[3][4] John Malkovich as Hero Shuya Chang as Hero Girl Marko Zaror as Bad Guy Production [ edit ] Malkovich and Rodriguez announced in November 2015 that they had teamed with Louis XIII Cognac, owned by Rémy Martin, to create a film inspired by the hundred years it takes to make a bottle of Louis XIII.[5] Although the film's plot remains a complete secret, on 18 November 2015, Malkovich and Rodriguez released three teaser trailers: Retro,[4] Nature,[6] and Future.[7] Release [ edit ] Pending release, the film is being kept in a high-tech safe behind bulletproof glass that will open automatically on 18 November 2115, the day of the film's premiere. One thousand guests from around the world, including Malkovich and Rodriguez, have received a pair of invitation tickets made of metal for the premiere, which they can hand down to their descendants.[5][8] The safe in which 100 Years is kept was showcased at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and various other cities before being returned to Cognac, France and the Louis XIII cellars.[9] Related [ edit ] A song "100 Years", composed by Pharrell Williams in collaboration with Louis XIII, will be released in November 2117.[10][11]"Perception" stars Eric McCormack as a neuroscientist working with the Feds on cases. TNT has renewed critical darling Southland for a fourth season and picked up the Eric McCormack drama pilot Perception to series. Both Southland and Perception received 10-episode orders, TNT announced Tuesday. Starring Michael Cudlitz, Ben McKenzie, Regina King and Shawn Hatosy as part of an ensemble cast, Southland has been averaging 2.9 million viewers during its recently wrapped third season, which featured the death of a major character. Southland, from John Wells Productions, was rescued by TNT between Seasons 1 and 2, when NBC dropped the drama as it shuffled its primetime schedule to make room for its Jay Leno Show at 10 p.m. "Southland has been acknowledged by many critics as one of the sharpest, most entertaining and most authentic dramas on television today," said Michael Wright, executive vp, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. At NBC, Seasons 1 and 2 featured seven and six episodes, respectively, while TNT more fully committed to the drama with a 10-episode third season. Southland hit a season high this month, collecting 2.3 million for its Season 3 finale. Perception stars McCormack as a neuroscientist who helps the federal government track cases. Rachael Leigh Cook co-stars in the series, which was co-created by executive producer Kenneth Biller (Star Trek: Voyager, Legend of the Seeker) and co-exec producer Mike Sussman (Star Trek: Voyager). It will premiere next year. "When we saw the pilot for Perception, it confirmed what we thought from the first pitch: It's a perfect fit for TNT's original series lineup," Wright said in a statement.What do QR codes have to do with sushi? QR codes and sushi are not usually referenced in the same sentence, but they could be the next tool to promoting sustainable sushi in our high tech society. Moshi Moshi, a British based sushi chain that prides itself on sustainable practices, unveiled a test line of sushi with squid ink and rice paper edible QR codes last October at the Frieze Art Fair. When scanned, the diner is able to see info on just how sustainable their choice is. It was so successful that now QR codes are firmly on the menu, says the official website of the MSC. Moshi Moshi is a sushi chain which offers sushi on a conveyor belt to diners, and as one can imagine they serve up a lot of sushi. The QR code initiative was a celebration of their 10,000th piece of MSC (Marine Stewardess Council) certified sustainable sushi. Moshi Moshi followed up on their QR code stunt with a competition which with the grand prize of a 2 person trip to the MSC and Moshi Moshi event which took place on February 13th which offered sushi making classes and featured an all sustainable MSC menu. In February as well they placed QR code sushi firmly on the menu. The info on the QR code features a different fish montly, and takes the sushi lover to the MSC website for info about the fish, including how it is caught. And while there is not a QR code for each piece of sushi, it is still an interesting initiative which touches on sushi as an art form. It is definitely a cool concept and tool for sushi lovers who want to make sustainable choices. For me, however, I prefer to do my research on my own and keep my sushi simple. And while the idea of QR codes on my sushi is not too appealing, I have only respect for Moshi Moshi and MSC for finding a way to capture public interest and showcase sustainable sushi alternatives.Over the weekend we reported some shocking gun crime statistics in Chicago: according to a CNN report, gun violence in the windy city is on track to post its worst year in the 21st century, the result of an unprecedented surge in gun deaths in the first three months of the year. By March 31, 141 people had been killed. Last Thursday, eight were shot and two of them died in one hour alone, Chicago Police said. The 141 deaths in the first three months of the year mark a 71.9% jump from the same period in 2015, when 82 people were killed. It's the worst start to a year since 1999, when 136 people died in the first three months the year, according to the Chicago Tribune. At that pace - an average of three killings every two days - Chicago would have 564 homicides by the end of the year. That would eclipse the 468 killings recorded in 2015 and 416 in 2014. However, nothing prepared us for this jarring example of just how bad gun violence in Chicago truly is. The following graphic footage shows a Chicago resident gunned down Thursday while live-streaming the entire event on Facebook, as he stood on a street corner. The man falls to the ground as the suspect stands over him continuing to fire shots. Viewer discretion strongly advised. This was one of nine shootings across the city on Thursday that left at least two people dead. Cited by BuzzFeed, Chicago Police Officer Thomas Sweeny said that the shooting occurred just before 5:00 p.m. in the 5800 block of South Hoyne Avenue. A suspect approached the 31-year-old man, shot him multiple times, then fled in a vehicle, Sweeney said. After the shooting stops, another man can be heard talking about taking the individual to a hospital as a woman wails in the background. The New York Daily News reported the victim was in critical condition Thursday night and had sustained multiple gun shot wounds.The plan to build to build the next generation of space taxis to take astronauts to the International Space Station has hit a big bump in the road. After rewarding Boeing and SpaceX with the contracts to build the spacecrafts NASA is now asking the companies to stop their work on the project. The move comes after aerospace company Sierra Nevada filed a protest of the decision after losing out on the bid. Sierra Nevada was competing against Boeing and SpaceX for a share of the $6.8 billion CCP contracts. The contracts will cover all phases of development as well as testing and operational flights. Each contract will cover a minimum of two flights and a maximum of four, with each agency required to have one test flight with a NASA representative on board. On Sept. 16, NASA announced who the winners were of the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCAP) contracts. Sierra Nevada then filed a protest with the GAO on Sept. 26, and issued a statement saying the protest was asking for: “a further detailed review and evaluation of the submitted proposals and capabilities.” According to NASA’s Public Affairs Office, this legal protest stops all work currently being done under these contracts. However, officials have not commented on whether-or-not the companies can continue working if they are using private funds. The GAO officially has until Jan. 5 to rule on the protest, but could issue their response in as little as a few weeks. If the GAO decides in favor of Sierra Nevada, NASA could either re-compete the contracts or change its decision. As part of their challenge, Sierra Nevada stated the following: “there were serious questions and inconsistencies in the source selection process.” In a press release, Sierra Nevada said: “SNC believes the result of further evaluation of the proposals submitted will be that America ends up with a more capable vehicle, at a much lower cost, with a robust and sustainable future.” NASA has yet to release any contract specifics and has not revealed why Boeing and SpaceX were chosen over Sierra Nevada, who’s Dream Chaser spacecraft possesses the ability to conducted a controlled landing on a runway as opposed to Boeing’s CST-1oo or SpaceX’s Dragon V.2 – which splash down in the ocean. Dream Chaser, a lifting wing bodied design, is a mini shuttle which bears some resemblance to NASA’s retired fleet of orbiters. Currently, both Boeing and SpaceX are on track to begin launching crews by the year 2017, but any delays as a result of this protest, may push that date back further. Agencies/CanadajournalOf all the positions that people are interested in the Leafs improving, goaltending seems to be the highest priority of the bunch. After all, Jonathan Bernier is coming off of the worst season of his career, and while Garret Sparks had a highly memorable first game with the team, he wasn’t exactly an all-star as the year progressed. There’s isn’t a ton in the pipeline either, with Antoine Bibeau riding the AHL average all year, Kasimir Kaskisuo being a question mark, and the remainder of the prospect pool consisting of, well, nothing. But speaking purely about next year, I don’t see any reason for the Leafs to sprint to get a goaltender. The Expansion Bluff The Expansion Draft is supposed to save goaltending in the NHL forever, or so they say. With Las Vegas reportedly about a year from pillaging the league’s leftovers, teams are in a panic to get assets for players that they are scared to lose. In theory, this means that a few teams with great goaltending duos are at risk. Fleury and Murray, Vasilevskiy and Bishop, Howard and Mrazek, so on and so forth. Lots of teams have great pairs that could be broken up by a single pick. Here’s the key thought, though: Each team will lose only one player, and the Vegas team is going to have to play around the Salary Cap. Roles come into play too; you’re not making a legitimate NHL starter with a solid paycheque sit in the press box. Assuming that 10-12 teams have two goalies they’d like to keep but can only protect one, we might be talking about 20-25% of them being at risk of losing their guy. Is that enough to start a reverse bidding war where a Frederik Andersen or even a Philipp Grubauer goes for peanuts? Probably not. Not to mention, there’s a whole season before this draft. Competing teams likely see a year of the other half of their duo as more valuable than the asset they’ll get back for the. In most cases, it makes more sense for those teams to hold on to the player until the end of the end of their season and take a lesser value for them. Surely, teams have this in mind. It would be a shock to see a goaltender desperately on the market in the next few months; teams that will shop their guys will be doing so expecting full value, which negates the whole idea of opportunity. Potential Bouncebacks Another thing to consider in this situation is that, frankly, running with the present duo of Jonathan Bernier and Garret Sparks might not be the end of the world. The Leafs were an awful team last year, but a lot of that had to do with some shocking percentages from players they expected to perform better. Bernier has always been a peaks-and-valleys goaltender, but always found a way to spend the bulk of his time in and around the league average, if not above it. That went away this season. Now, why that happened is still up for debate. Did technique shifts mess with his game? Was he especially mentally fragile and quite simply lost his marbles? After years of playing in different forms of dump-and-chase with the Kings and Carlyle Leafs, was he simply not prepared for the shots he’d face in Mike Babcock’s system? It’s hard to say for sure, but from January on he was a 0.920 goaltender, which is where we generally saw him before the start of the year. It’s not unrealistic to think that Bernier could be a decent if unspectacular goaltender in the league next year, which is all the Leafs would need to get themselves going in the right direction. The same goes for Garret Sparks. In his case, I wonder how much he was affected by injury. Sparks was a 0.938 in his first 11 games with the Marlies, and 0.921 in his first five games with the Leafs. He pulled his groin against the Sharks on December 17th, played through it, had an unspectacular game, and was gone for a month. His next tour of duty with the Marlies saw him struggle in the first few weeks but bounce back eventually, giving him an above average but below him 0.910. The Leafs were gutted by the time Sparks came back up, and it’s possible that he reaggravated something in that time. In those 12 games, he was only above 0.900 four times, which many took as a potential death sentence to his long-term NHL hopes. He looked to regain form with the Marlies, but ultimately only played in six of their final 16 games (twice as relief), putting up a 0.928 in that time despite his last appearance coming at the halfway mark of a massive blowout. There are no guarantees that either of these two will return to form, but no goaltender comes with a guarantee. In fact, that’s more the case than ever this year with new equipment rules coming in; what happens if the Leafs happen to get the one guy who really needed larger pants? Both of these players come at no asset cost to keep in between the pipes, and neither has performed as poorat any point in their pro career as
or two experiences with groping or other forms of sexual harassment before she decides to never ride transit again. A man who is beaten and robbed of his coat because the coat happened to match a particular gang’s colors is also going to avoid transit. Some transit systems have designated women-only cars to protect women from harassment, but results have been mixed. Short of putting a guard on every bus and railcar, the issue of transit security cannot be easily solved.You might not have expected the crowd at a rally outside the Republican National Convention to cheer an out-and-proud gay man who bragged about his good looks and sex life. But in the age of Donald Trump, anything is possible: even a conservative Christian audience going gaga over Milo Yiannopoulos. "The left does not own homosexuals anymore," Yiannopoulos, an editor for Breitbart and provocative campus speaker, told the crowd. "We're your gays." "You're our gays!" someone in the crowd echoed. Others cheered. Yiannopoulos, who affectionately refers to Trump as "daddy," argued that religious conservatives and gays should set aside their differences in order to focus on the common enemy: radical Islam, identity politics, leftism, and of course, Lena Dunham. "Donald Trump is best placed to end the tyranny of political correctness in this country," said Yiannopoulos. "Many Trump supporters and Republicans have their challenges with the gay thing. But there's a world of difference between refusing to bake a cake and opening fire [on a gay nightclub]." Despite Yiannopoulos's offer of friendship between gays and conservatives, the 2016 Republican presidential platform remains stunningly anti-gay—even for the GOP. It includes language in support of gay conversion therapy and asserts that a "traditional two-parent household" is best for children. It also calls for the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage to be overturned. In an interview with Reason earlier today, long-time Trump friend and supporter Roger Stone pointed out that once the convention is over, Trump will be free to disregard aspects of the platform with which he disagrees. Stone suggested that LGBT issues were one such aspect. Still, it's shaky ground on which to begin a gay-conservative alliance. Yiannopoulos wrapped up his remarks by calling on Americans not to cower before radical Islam. "Die on your feet or live on your knees," he said, before adding, "well, I do live on my knees. That's alright. As long as I'm not facing Mecca, I'm alright with you guys. I mean, I might have been by accident. I don't think God would mind, I was calling his name the whole time. I'm sorry, that was too far. Don't encourage me." Watch a video of Yiannopoulos's speech below.The U.S. military is setting up a base near northeastern Syrian town of Qamishli off Turkish border — an area controlled by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Times UK reported Saturday. This comes a day after a Britain-based monitor suggested that Russia may want to rebuild an airport at Qamishli as a Russian base after Moscow sent several engineers to strengthen the runway and increase the capacity of the airport. Local activists told the Times that U.S. forces were creating the base at a former agricultural airfield, about 31 miles from Qamishli and a few miles from the Iraqi and Turkish borders. Syrian Kurdish rebels control the area, according the Times report cited by the Australian. Syrian activist Abu Jad Haskawi from nearby town Hasakah told the publication that American forces were reconstructing the airfield and using one airstrip for its helicopters and a command center. On Wednesday, U.S. officials confirmed that a small number of special forces soldiers were deployed, but did not disclose details about the activity in the region. “Because of the special nature of these forces, it’s very important that we do not discuss specifically where they’re located,” Col. Steve Warren, an army spokesman in Baghdad, said. U.S. intelligence sources told the Times that Russia appeared to be exploring the area for possible future fortification. The sources added that Russians seemed to have chosen the location to increase defenses against any possible action along the Syrian border by the Turkish military, which could include a move against the Kurds. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Friday that Russian experts had “arrived to explore” the Qamishli airport’s “readiness and to check what is needed to develop and use it” near the Turkish border. The report added that Russian warplanes were expected to use the airport in the “coming days and weeks.” Qamishli is located south of the Turkish border town of Nusaybin. The monitor’s report prompted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to express concern over Russian activity in the area. "We have said this from the beginning: we won't tolerate such formations [in northern Syria] along the area stretching from the Iraqi border up to the Mediterranean," Erdoğan said Friday, according to Agence France-Presse. Russia, a supporter of Assad, launched airstrikes against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, in September 2015. But, Western governments have accused Russia of targeting Syrian rebels instead of the extremist group. On the other hand, Turkey is the key supporter of the Syrian opposition leading to tensions between Moscow and Ankara. The two country’s relations have further strained after Turkish forces shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in late November. Turkey said it downed the plane because Russia violated Ankara’s airspace — an allegation Moscow has consistently denied. The Kremlin has accused Turkey of deliberately shooting down the Sukhoi Su-24M Fencer Jet on Nov. 24, 2015, and demanded an apology. However, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that his country would not apologize to Russia and cautioned that such incidents would remain a risk if Russia and NATO continue their air campaigns separately against ISIS in Syria.A design for the layout of PAX has been revealed! Learn more about PAX here! PAX visitors are joining the expedition to the world of Ashes of PAX by passing through the Divine Gateway! (The blue portal). We can see at the bottom right of the image the booth where visitors can meet and greet the Intrepid team! Just above that booth we can see the 8 monitors where visitors can participate in the 4v4 arenas which can be previewed in the latest stream! In the middle monitors are present (most likely showing the live stream of the events taking place and gameplay visitors are partaking in! We can’t clarify what the booths at the top are as of yet- We know there will be a PvE experience in which an Intrepid Studio staff member will walk you through and special PAX items and various merchandise will be for sale! Sign up to Ashes of Creation!Brussels: Bangladesh blocked the European Union’s trade package for Pakistan at the World Trade Organization, a local television channel reported on Tuesday. The channel said that Bangladesh had promised to Pakistan that it would not oppose the package. India, which recently promised to support the package for Pakistan in response to Pakistan’s assurance for giving it the status of most favoured nation, voted in favour. India had earlier voted against the package. If the package had been passed, it would have boosted Pakistan’s exports to the EU by 100 million euros. The EU last year offered to allow import of 75 Pakistani items on a lower duty to help Pakistan cope with the floods of July-August 2010. The package must get a WTO nod to come into effect.About STRETCH GOALS $25,000 - MOD SUPPORT! Story Editor + Tutorial (released within 3 months of launch) $30,000 - (Will be announced if we reach 25k) Play the Alpha Demo Got feedback? Send to [email protected] Update #1: UCSC Dev Talk and Gam3rCon! Update #2: Alpha News, New Screenshots, and More! Update #3: Playable Alpha Demo Released! Update #4: We're on Steam Greenlight! Update #5: Alpha Update v 0.11 and Kingsport Around the Web Update #6: Alpha Update v 0.12 and New Download Host! Update #7: New Logo and Cthulhu's Call to Arms Update #8: Lovecraft, New Digital Tiers, and Babies! The Kingsport Cases is a fully procedurally generated survival horror game set in late 19th century Lovecraftian lore. When the quiet, foggy port town loses its only detective to a tragic accident, the local police department calls you, a fledgling detective of little renown from Essex county. “It’s an easy job,” they said, but you shouldn't count on it. Players will be able to explore randomly generated maps within the town of Kingsport as they investigate the area for clues and knowledge to help uncover the truth behind the several mysteries at hand. A plethora of randomly generated yet charmingly dynamic characters will either assist or hinder you throughout your investigations as they carry out their own goals and ambitions as part of a procedurally generated storyline. The Kingsport Cases’ estimated release date is February 2014 and will be available for PC, Mac, and Linux. Want to hear the music? Main Theme Sample: Features Procedurally Generated Maps -- Explore randomized maps meant to be different every playthrough as you discover new clues, puzzles, and knowledge to help you solve the case. Four Interesting, Visually Compelling Locations -- Conduct your investigation in the Kingsport Manor, the Haunted Shipyard, and the University. The fourth location is a secret; you’ll just have to wait and see... Character Creation -- You are the detective. Build your character with traits which will not only affect your character’s versatility in the field, but also the minutia of dialogue with NPCs. Randomized NPCs -- Interrogate, befriend, or belittle new characters every playthrough. They each have their own personalities, quirks, backstories, and role within the story. NPC Goals -- People have ambitions in life. So should NPCs. Discover NPC intentions and help or stop them from attaining their desires. Player intervention or lack thereof directly affects the outcome of the case and overall story. Procedurally Generated Story -- Stories are crafted by people and their actions; such is the case in Kingsport. Plot lines are crafted by NPC Goals and player interactivity, and change dynamically based on the player’s choices. Adaptive Characters and Story -- Characters will react to everything they know you’ve done, whether it be an interrogation gone wrong, an important case left unsolved, or anything else in between. Your choices will morph and craft your story. Gossip Network -- People don’t just randomly know that you’ve done something; they have to find out about it. Cover your tracks to keep secrets or share knowledge openly with other people. Either or could hurt or maybe even save you. Choose wisely who you decide to trust... Multitude of Endings -- If you want a “choose from one of three endings” type game, you might want to look into something else. Kingsport crafts your ending based on every action you’ve taken. You don’t get to be an awful person the entire game and then choose the goody-two-shoes ending. Trust us, your ending will reflect what you’ve done, and what you’ve become... Recurring Characters -- Throughout your playthrough you will investigate several cases, and each case will have its own cast of interesting characters. It is possible for the characters you’ve already met and established relationships with to reappear in later cases, with all the knowledge they attained in the last case. Will they be ready to help or slow your progress? Be Afraid -- Something dire is brewing in Kingsport. And that something wants you out of the picture. There is no defense against the darkness that hunts you, and you must be vigilant to escape it. It will come for you... Purposeful Content -- The Kingsport Cases has a huge amount of content, enough to make every playthrough unique. A system in place prioritizes content you’ve never seen before so you can be sure to experience something new every time. In game, players will arrive at a location with hints at the mystery needed to be solved. The rest is up to you. Do you interrogate witnesses first, or explore the area? Search every room possible or delve right into what you think is the heart of the problem? As you explore, you will quickly realize you are in grave danger. Hide and escape from ravenous enemies--both creature and man alike. Just remember, it’s all up to you to stop the calamities sure to come, and you get to do it your way. The year is 1895 in the foggy port town of Kingsport, Massachusetts. City population has dwindled over the recent years; some say it was the closing of the shipyard or the more recent closure of Kingsport University. Others simply don’t notice, and take pleasure in the way the town quiets at night as the fog rolls in, like a blanket slowly pulled over a child to soothe it into a deep sleep. When the town unexpectedly lost its local and beloved detective, the police had to call in a replacement. It was an easy job, they claimed. Nothing too bothersome ever happened in Kingsport. But as you’ll see, they were very, very wrong. The Kingsport Cases takes place across four unique locations, three of which we’ll mention (the fourth is a secret!): The Manor -- Owned by a wealthy family whose ancestry traces back to one of the original founders of Kingsport in 1639, the oldest manor in the port town is used once a year for the town's anniversary party. Decorated ravishingly with no expense spared to show off the family wealth, the manor is coveted as one of the more beautiful sights to behold in the town. The Shipyard -- The Kingsport Shipyard was once the largest manufacturer of sea-faring ships on the East Coast, but ever since the blockade during the American Revolutionary War, business sunk. Kingsport's economy is now mainly fueled by fisheries, and as such the Shipyard has been closed for years. Many claim it is haunted, and few would argue if they saw the half-built ships, wave-broken docks, and utterly deserted buildings in the far-off, desolate cove by the sea... The University -- Kingsport University had always been a misguided venture, claimed a weary founder years after its construction. "It never could compete with Miskatonic. Never has it and never it shall!" Most scholars in the North Eastern region would most certainly go to the more renowned Miskatonic University in Essex County, and as such Kingsport U. never got off the ground. Due to this, the town council recently shut down the building and are in the process of re-purposing it to be a museum. How Does the Procedurally Generated Plot Work? The biggest fear people have when they learn our game has a procedural plot is that the story might be jumbled, nonsensical, and hardly be a plot at all. Luckily, we’ve laid a solid foundation for the plot to be built upon, giving a basic blueprint to the story generator in a similar way a developer would give pieces to an engine to build a procedural map with. If you want to learn more about how the plot works, check out this podcast (a text version is also available) created by our lead writer, and if you have any more questions feel free to leave a comment! Procedural Plot in Detail [Text Version] "Will [Kingsport] start to feel the same? Is the game truly infinite? At some point, yes, you will dry up the storylines, locations, and overarching plots. The only things truly infinite are the characters and random maps. But with four planned locations, a minimum of 20 story blueprints in each one, dynamic goals and several divergent paths based off adaptive story-telling, you'd probably have to play through the entire game at least 20 times to see identical content again. With an estimated 2-3 hours of gameplay per case, meaning 8-12 hours in one playthrough, that's 160 hours to 240 hours of gameplay before you start to see things playing out exactly the same...That is 8 scripted games worth of average playtime in one product, if the average game's playtime is roughly 30 hours." -- The Procedural Plot in Detail The Kingsport Cases has been called many things, but ambitious is the term we hear the most. And those who call it such aren’t wrong. We’re three people (plus two awesome contractors) creating a huge amount of 3D art assets, code, and writing. We’re very sure we can finish this game ourselves, and the ask you see is what we feel is the bare minimum required for sustaining us through this project. 20k will get us the absolute necessary software, the rewards you’re purchasing with your pledges, current contractor pay, Kickstarter and Amazon fees, and just enough top ramen and coffee to get us through the next nine months of development. However, if the community deems it worthy enough to march us higher, we will use the extra money to bring this game to an even greater potential. Stretch goals you see will allow us to hire on extra artists, more writers, and maybe even a few coders. More money will also mean better software, more software, and most importantly, a better game overall. So why are we asking for your money? Because we believe in this game, and we know we can bring it to fruition; we’ve already come this far. The survival horror genre is starving for more innovation, and enough gamers out there are begging for more. We want to innovate, and we want to provide a survival horror worth mentioning. But we can’t do it without your help. And why would we continue to hope for more than our ask? Because we don’t just want to give you our bare minimum; we want to give you the absolute best experience possible. We’ve worked hard to make sure that our stretch goals, if met, will majorly improve the overall experience of the game. The extra funds will pay for the people, time, and resources necessary to make those goals happen. (Stretch goals will be announced if we hit $15,000 in pledges). What is an "Alpha"? In our case, an alpha is a decently stable build of a game that has key features--but not all features--on display. Content is limited as to show off the important or "risky" tech, not the full experience of the game, and the art (particularly the character and enemy models) are not complete. Our alpha demo will be released for free May 7th. Follow Our Progress Machines in Motion is a small group of developers working to create great games. Our first release, Borealis, was an experiment in slow paced, zen-inducing gameplay with a procedurally generated musical track and visuals. We're taking our experience and passion for procedural generation and the replay value it provides to The Kingsport Cases. The Core Team Tabitha Chirrick - Designer / Writer Conrad Nelson - Programmer / 3D Artist Andrew Stanek - Producer / Programmer Contractors Matthew Cowdery - Concept Artist Johnathon Paape - Audio ArtistA huge crowd of friends, relatives and supporters gathered Wednesday to honour Addison Hall, the six-year-old girl who died after a car crashed into a London big-box store last Friday, also badly injuring the girl’s sister and pregnant mother. Dan Brown explored what drew people to the park. “I’m here because I’ve known the Bozek family all my life. I knew Addison. They need arms around them.” — Maureen Spencer-Golovchenko, a family friend “I have a six-year-old daughter of my own. The thought of not having her is heart-wrenching. We’re here to support (Addison’s) life.” — London mother Madison Meiller “We know (Addison’s) grandfather. I know the son, too. I was feeling terrible the last few days.” — Ralph Luciani, one of more than 35 bikers who showed up to support Addison’s family. “When the tragic accident happened, I wanted to do something for the family. I think the whole community was shook up.” — Tracy Vanderwerf, vigil, co-organizer “Just to support the family. It’s so touching when you have your own children.” — London mother Marta Viglianti “We are related to the grandfather of the children. Not only that, but as a community we need to rally around. It’s just hard to put yourself in the family’s shoes.” —​ Claudette Primeau, who helped hand out candles ABOUT THE VIGIL Where: Greenway Park, London Who: About 2,000 attended How: Organized with help from London travel company Robert Q. TO HELP THE FAMILY Donate at gofundme.com/c6mlcs Donations also accepted at both London Costco stores FAMILY UPDATEMeet Kev! Wearer of perhaps the most hats at TBS, Kevin is a programmer and a dab hand at crafting Mirage lore, replying to general inquiries, miscellaneous HR, office groceries… the list goes on. Who are you and what do you do? Kevin Jay, Programmer Where are you from? Whitby, Ontario What’s your favourite Mirage class + why? Alchemancer because I love being ranged classes. I like balancing the difficulty of hitting enemies from afar with the characters fragility. You’re stranded in the desert, and can choose one game to play forever, what would you pick? Multiplayer game: Fistful of Frags. Single Player game: Faster than Light. If you could cast any Mirage spell in real life, what would you pick? Iron Dome, because how cool would it be to be in a force field!? If you had to have one appendage severed, what one? Ring finger on one hand…that would cause the least harm in my life.Story highlights Two civilians are killed A U.S. soldier and two local guards are injured A Taliban spokesman claims responsibility Four suicide attackers targeted a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Saturday morning, killing two civilians and leaving three people injured, a provincial police chief said. A U.S. soldier and two local guards were injured, said Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh, police chief of Panjshir province. "Attackers were prepared with suicide vests, light and heavy weapons," said Ata Mohammad Amiri, head of the provincial council. When the attackers got close to the gate, he said, three fired weapons and rocket-propelled grenades to the tower of the base where guards were watching. The fourth attacker, who was driving a Toyota, detonated his explosive device near the gate, allowing the others to get in, according to the official. Two suicide attackers detonated their vests and two were fatally shot by police before their devices went off, he said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack. This is the first major attack by the Taliban in the province since the U.S. led invasion in 2001. Panjshir province is about 120 miles north of Kabul.Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union and other legal organizations are slapping President Trump with a lawsuit after he signed an executive order Friday that temporarily bars refugees and immigrants from entering the U.S. — a move which already is placing some people in a tough position. On Saturday, ACLU and other groups put in motion an effort to secure the release of two Iraqi refugees were detained at John F. Kennedy Airport late Friday by filing a writ of habeas corpus Saturday morning in the Eastern District of New York. The lawyers also filed a motion for class certification to represent all those stuck at U.S. ports of entry following Trump's executive orders. "President Trump's war on equality is already taking a terrible human toll. This ban cannot be allowed to continue," said Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, in a statement. The lawyers identified their clients as Hameed Khalid Darweesh, who has worked on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq for the past decade; and Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, who had made the trip to the U.S. to unite with wife, who worked as a U.S. contractor, and child. Both arrived in the U.S. on separate flights. Darweesh, who began working as an interpreter for the U.S. Army following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, had twice been the targeted for helping the U.S. military, according to the filing. New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, who paid a visit Saturday to JFK Airport, met with Customs and Border Protection officials and reported on Twitter that Darweesh had been released. He did not say whether Alshawi was also released. The New York Times was the first to report the story. It is unclear how many other refugees and immigrants have been detained at other airports and ports of entry since the executive order was signed. The president signed two executive orders Friday, one which suspended issuing visas to seven Muslim-majority countries and barred refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days in order to give the Trump administration time to evaluate its vetting process; it's all a part of an effort to install what Trump called "extreme vetting" of immigrants. A senior administration said the executive order includes an "undue hardship" exemption that will include certain people in transit, according to Reuters. The State Department is reportedly further fleshing out the details. ACLU executive director Anthony Romero condemned Trump's "extreme vetting" actions, saying it unfairly targets Muslims. "'Extreme vetting' is just a euphemism for discriminating against Muslims," said Romero Friday. "Identifying specific countries with Muslim majorities and carving out exceptions for minority religions flies in the face of the constitutional principle that bans the government from either favoring or discriminating against particular religions. Any effort to discriminate against Muslims and favor other religions runs afoul of the First Amendment." At least one report says migrants are already being stopped from coming to the U.S. Daily Mail reported that seven migrants, six from Iraq and one from Yemen, were barred from boarding a flight from Egypt to the U.S., according to Cairo airport officials. The move to halt refugee entry, even from war-torn countries like Syria, has been criticized by rights groups as being cruel and discriminatory. It was also reported Saturday that green card holders are also subject to the ban on immigration.Long before Orson Welles (as Harry Lime) was chased thru Vienna’s subterranean sewers in The Third Man, the city’s labyrinth of tunnels, waterways and culverts offered a secret refuge to many of the homeless poor. The story of those who lived amid the squalor and effluence may have been long lost had it not been for the work of journalist Emil Kläger and amateur photographer Hermann Drawe, who in 1904 started documenting this secret world. With a local criminal as their guide, Kläger and Drawe descended into the city’s lower depths. In case of attack, they carried knuckledusters and guns—police could offer no protection here. Drawe photographed these men huddled together under staircases, piled like stones in culverts, or wandering across the dark waters of the River Wien—lost men who lived, slept, smoked, ate, fought each other and shared dreams of a better future. Sometimes with their help Drawe would reconstruct certain scenes—a robbery, a fight—based on testimonies collected by Kläger. They also visited and documented the lives of the homeless men, women and children who lived in the Christian hostels above ground. Between 1905 and 1908, Kläger and Drawe presented their work in a series of lectures—the photographs shown as slides to Kläger’s commentary. The authorities tried to stop them. This was not how the they wanted Vienna to be seen—this jewel of the Hapsburg Empire, the city of Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, of waltzes, Art Nouveau, Kings, Queens, and Sachertorte. The public disagreed. The men gave over 300 lectures. It led to the publication of a book of their work, Durch die Wiener Quartiere des Elends und Verbrechens (Journey through the Viennese quarters of crime and despair) in 1908. Residents of ‘The Fortress.’ Men sleep on piles of rubble. Sleeping under a spiral staircase. One of the street entrances to the sewerage system under Vienna’s streets. Under the Stephanie Bridge. Manhole access. Hostel rooms for the homeless. The hostels were run by churches.. Inside the hostel on Erdberg Straße. Children sleep watched by their mothers. Two homeless men walk through the sewers across the River Wien. Man sleeps in culvert. Life in the sewers. Living in one of the locations later used in ‘The Third Man.’ Sharing a smoke. Sleeping. Hoping for a better life. A recreation of a knife fight. Via Der Standard and Achtung Photography.Far from the tumult of Paris-Roubaix's Arenberg Forest, the pressures of the Tour de France or the pain of the time trial world championships, Fabian Cancellara’s 2013 season starts on a nondescript stretch of motorway along the Franco-Swiss border. Related Articles Cancellara puts an end to 2012 season Cancellara to fulfil contract and stay with RadioShack in 2013 Cancellara may skip Tour de France 2013 RadioShack-Nissan choose Guercilena to replace Bruyneel Cancellara: Cycling will never die Fränk Schleck at RadioShack-Nissan team gathering Before him are ten months of training, racing and traveling, time away from his family, cramped hotel rooms, overcooked pasta, airport layovers and post-stage traffic jams and prying microphones. Put like that, Cancellara might well have thought twice before getting into his car for the four and a half hour drive from his home near Bern, Switzerland to RadioShack-Nissan’s first team meeting in the Luxembourg Ardennes. Instead the Swiss rider is upbeat about the trip when he speaks exclusively to Cyclingnews about the season ahead. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and Cancellara has a metaphorical spring in his step in spite of – or perhaps even because of – the blighted season he and his RadioShack-Nissan squad endured in 2012. Cancellara’s personal woes were not of his own making. After powerful showings at Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, he was, he says, in the best condition of his career as the cobbled classics approached only for his streak to be halted abruptly by a crash at the Tour of Flanders that left him with a broken collarbone. Cruelly, the situation would repeat itself at the Olympic Games, when he crashed out of the winning break with no broken bones but a myriad regrets. “The gold medal was there on a plate for me, I’m certain of that,” he tells Cyclingnews wistfully. In contrast to Cancellara's crashes, the most glaring of RadioShack-Nissan’s litany of wider problems was self-inflicted. Already heavily implicated in the ongoing Lance Armstrong investigation before he took over as team manager last winter, Johan Bruyneel’s status haunted the team throughout the year before the release of USADA’s reasoned decision in October finally forced his departure. For the new season, in a bid to restore order to the team and apparently rehabilitate a severely damaged reputation, team owner Flavio Becca has installed Luca Guercilena as team manager. A product of the late Aldo Sassi’s school at the Mapei Centre, Guercilena went on to work with Paolo Bettini at QuickStep and has been lauded as one of Italian cycling’s most talented coaches and managers of the past decade. “I know him from our days at Mapei and I’ve always had a good relationship with him,” says Cancellara. Guercilena received the ultimate vote of confidence from his star man when he was asked to manage the Switzerland cycling team at the London 2012 Olympics. If Cancellara has any reservations about Guercilena’s new role, it’s simply that it might detract from their one-to-one work. “For the team, for Flavio Becca and for the sponsors, he’s the manager, but for me, above all, he’s the sporting manager who plans my training and follows in the team car,” Cancellara says. “If he’s able to continue doing the main job that he’s been doing up to now, I don’t think there will be any problems. The only way that there might be issues would be if he constantly gets pulled left, right and centre to go to various meetings. It might be a problem to balance all of that, but I believe in him and I am very happy that he has made this step.” But does Guercilena, who never raced as a professional, have the necessary charisma and authority to make the transition from trusted aide-de-camp to the man charged with managing the egos and aspirations of 30 riders? “We’ll see how that goes. We’ve got the first training camp coming up now, and from my point of view, it will be interesting to clarify the questions I have now about his role. But he has a great personality, great credibility and a lot of experience. So we have nothing to lose, that’s how I’d see it.” Credibility, of course, is the currency which erstwhile manager Johan Bruyneel was so sorely lacking. His creditors finally lost patience with the release of USADA’s reasoned decision. In reality, the Belgian’s position in the sport should have been untenable from the moment Floyd Landis’ emails landed over two years previously, but he lingered on, even succeeding in welding his RadioShack team unsteadily to Leopard Trek at the end of 2011 and becoming manager to Cancellara, Andy Schleck et al. “Honestly, I don’t want to talk too much about the past, but we certainly didn’t have an easy year, between my crashes and all the general problems around the team,” Cancellara says of an annus horribilus for RadioShack that also saw Fränk Schleck test positive for Xipamide at the Tour de France. “Then we had the problems at the end of the year with the Lance Armstrong story and for cycling in general, it wasn’t a nice period. But times have changed and now we’re going to turn the page. 2013 is about to start and we’re all very motivated for that.” In defence of Riis While Bruyneel exits stage left, another of Cancellara’s former managers, Bjarne Riis, remains in charge of Saxo-Tinkoff but is fending off accusations made in Tyler Hamilton’s autobiography that he facilitated blood doping under the supervision of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes during his time at CSC. While Riis confessed to doping as a rider, the claims of a conversion towards the end of his racing days and his supposed desire to manage a clean team ring hollow following the publication of Hamilton’s book. “I knew Tyler and he wasn’t a bad guy but I don’t know the motives for doing what’s being done now,” Cancellara says. “He comes and talks all over the world and says, ‘this guy brought me here, this guy sent me there’ but at the end of the day, you have to decide for yourself whether you’re going to smoke a cigarette or not. If you’re not capable of saying no, then I’m sorry, but it’s your own fault.” On the most striking facets of the Riis enigma is the curiously enduring loyalty he commands from riders past and present. For different reasons, Bobby Julich and Brad McGee have penned open letters on cycling’s blood doping era in recent weeks, but each man was careful to defend the reputation of Riis and his work with the CSC team, even if Julich acknowledged that Riis’s handling of the Ivan Basso doping case left much to be desired. For his part, Cancellara credits Riis with teaching him the tenets of leading a team and he has praise too for the work of Dr. Luigi Cecchini, his trainer during his time at Fassa Bortolo and his early years at CSC, a close friend of Riis and a man who has aroused more than his share of suspicion over the past twenty years. “I worked with Cecchini and they were great years with him. I had a great training experience and it’s something that I’ve kept with me,” Cancellara says. Cancellara also defends Riis despite the gravity of the accusations against him, believing the Dane should be allowed to stay in professional cycling. “Certainly, because in the end, he was one of the few people who went before the people and confessed and said ‘ok, take away my Tour de France’ and we can’t forget that he went on to do a lot of good things after that,” Cancellara says. “Let’s be honest here – if Bjarne has to leave cycling, I don’t know how many other people who manage teams would have to do the same. We can’t forget how many people there are in cycling today who were riders during the worst years for cycling.” The idea of an amnesty or a truth and reconciliation commission for cycling is given short shrift by Cancellara, perhaps believing that such measures would ultimately prove unworkable. The example of Julich, one of only two men (thus far) to confess to doping as part of Sky’s new internal policy, is, Cancellara feels, a case in point. “Bobby Julich could have stayed silent until the day he died, but he was honest and confessed and now he’s gone from Sky,” Cancellara says. “Personally, I don’t think that policy is correct. Now, everybody is trying to make himself out to be a saint, but I say let’s close the page. The past is the past; these people have a lot of experience and can still play a role in this new, modern cycling.” Reflections on the Classics The premise that cycling should simply wade across the Lethe of a supposed Year Zero and forget the sins of its recent past seems a dubious one given the litany of undesirable old ghosts who continue to play active roles in the sport. Cancellara will probably enjoy greater success in his own personal endeavour to exorcise the ill fortune that has plagued his 2012 season. Cancellara opted to bring the curtain down on his season after the London Olympics and admits that the extended break was badly needed from a mental standpoint. Though his performances often have an other-worldly hue about them, he feels that his Olympic crash was proof that in cycling, nobody is immune to normal human stresses. “Of course the error on the corner was all mine, but I think that in the end, it was an accumulation of things over the course of the year – the fall in Flanders, the situation in the team and also my private situation, as my wife was pregnant, so of
the aid that it desperately needs,” NPR reported on Sept. 22. “Well before this year’s series of historically powerful hurricanes, Puerto Rico already had a notoriously fickle power supply and crushing debt.” The media’s narrative shifted early last week to placing a lion’s share of the blame on the Trump administration’s response, rather than the failures of Puerto Rican government officials in fortifying their crumbling infrastructure before the storm. “You ask ‘how do I help # PuertoRico?’ Avoid government-Give to faith-based organizations-They’re closest to people-less corrupt & incompetent” tweeted Geraldo. Follow Will Ricciardella on Twitter and Facebook Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected] white-tailed eagle who was just about to lay several eggs died of poisoning at her nest site in Connemara, according to toxicology test results. The body of the six year-old female was found on April 1st on her nest in the Roundstone area by National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) conservation ranger Dermot Breen, who said it was “very disheartening” and a “very sad and sickening sight”. Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys described it as a “major blow” and a “very serious incident” which effectively puts an end to any breeding attempt by the species in west Galway for at least five years. It is the 13th such poisoning case since the re-introduction project, which is managed by the Golden Eagle Trust and the NPWS, began in 2007. The female, named “Semi-Circle” after a symbol on her wing tag, had paired up with the male known as “Star” after she arrived in Connemara in 2012. They were one of two pairs of white-tailed eagles in Connemara, with the second pair known to be frequenting the Maam Cross-Screebe area until several months ago, when tracking batteries ran out. “Semi-circle”, who was born in 2009, was one of some 100 young eagles collected from nests in Norway and released in Killarney National Park, Co Kerry. She had laid eggs last year which failed to hatch, but it was anticipated that she would be successful this season. A postmortem on her body conducted in the State’s regional veterinary laboratory in Athlone, Co Westmeath found confirmed that there were two eggs in her reproductive tract. Toxicology analysis conducted at the State laboratory in Celbridge, Co Kildare confirmed late this week that she had been poisoned. Her mate, “Star”, left the area about a week after her death and was tracked as far east as Westmeath and Laois. “It is a pattern that where one mate dies, the other deserts the territory- so we fear that he may move on. It could take him another five years to mate again, if he stays here. Mr Breen said he had e encountered no negative feedback from any local farmers with regard to the presence of the eagles over the last three years. “Many landowners would ask how the eagles were doing and would tell me if they had been lucky enough to see them in the locality. The loss of this female is also a great loss to tourism in the area,” he added. Golden Eagle Trust project manager Dr Allan Mee said the loss of a female was “very difficult to take”. He said her mate “Star” had “travelled the length and breadth of Ireland several times before settling in Connemara” and it was “tragic to see him lose his mate just on the point of nesting”. Dr Mee said that in spite of the losses, some 14 pairs were still in the wild in 2014, with most birds now mature enough to breed. The first wild-bred chicks fledged successfully from a nest in Co Clare in 2013, with a further chick born last year. Up to 14 pairs of the white-tailed eagled were known to have bred in the Connemara region up to 1838, but the population declined rapidly with the introduction of poisoning. Poisons to control foxes and crows have been banned since 2010, the NPWS says, but the illegal use of such substances remains an enormous threat to wildlife, it says. Birds of prey which consume carrion are very vulnerable, and the extensive range covered by the birds means that contaminated material could have been picked up anywhere.In a pre-recorded interview with President Barack Obama aired on Sunday's Face the Nation, CBS anchor John Dickerson started to press the President modestly on Hillary Clinton's mishandling of her work email as Secretary of State and whether her behavior was consistent with Obama's 2008 promises of "transparency." But, after the President twice gave a flimsy defense of Clinton's behavior, suggesting that it was just a typical "mistake" like those many Presidents have made, the CBS host instead of more aggressively pressing the issue, ended up backing off and wondering if "honesty" was even an important issue: "FDR and Lincoln were both talented at letting both sides of an issue think that they agreed with both of them. Is honesty overrated as a presidential quality?" Dickerson managed to avoid noting that Clinton's behavior was in violation of the law as he first brought up the issue: You built a team at the beginning, and you were rally clear about transparency. You were going to change the White House and be transparent to send a message to the country that felt let down people. She set up an email server that was neither in the spirit or the letter of that transparency. That's no small thing based on what you told everybody about transparency at the beginning. After President Obama dismissed Clinton's behavior as just a "mistake" similar to those of other Presidents, Dickerson still avoided recalling the law-breaking aspect as he followed up: But if you make mistakes, you've got to admit them quick and come clean. You said that about the Reverend Wright. You said afterwards, you said, "You know what, we learned. You got to get this done." After the President engaged in more excuse-making, the CBS host backed off and posed: FDR and Lincoln were both talented at letting both sides of an issue think that they agreed with both of them. Is honesty overrated as a presidential quality? Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, July 24, Face the Nation on CBS:Filmmaker and actor Jon Favreau, who directed Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Chef, The Jungle Book, and currently at work on the live-action The Lion King has been chosen to become the next recipient of the Visual Effects Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his valuable contributions to filmed entertainment. This comes after his Jungle Book earned him five awards at last year’s VES Awards, included the top honor for Best Photoreal Feature. His new lifetime achievement award will be presented at the 16th Annual VES Awards on Feb. 13, 2018 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The VES Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an outstanding body of work that has significantly contributed to the art and/or science of the visual effects industry. Previous winners of the VES Lifetime Achievement Award have included James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Ray Harryhausen, George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis, John Dykstra, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, Sir Ridley Scott and Ken Ralston. Favreau is being singled out for his boundary-breaking use of visual effects “to create a seamless and invisible background.” Favreau’s creative vision and inventive techniques have previously garnered him the Harold Lloyd Award for filmmaking from the Advanced Imaging Society and Virtual Reality Society, the Filmmaker Award from the Cinema Audio Society. “Jon Favreau has introduced the reinvention of a new style of film that demands visual effects artists to push beyond the boundaries of what can and has been done before,” said Mike Chambers, VES Board Chair. “He has created exceptionally humanistic stories through his vision, unique approach to storytelling and full embrace of emerging technology to enhance the moviegoing experience. With this journeyman at the helm, having acted, written, directed and produced across many break-through projects, we expect to witness new kinds of entertainment from Jon that utilize VFX at its core and help redefine entertainment on a global level. For this, and more, we are honored to award him with the prestigious Visual Effects Society Lifetime Achievement Award.” Before taking on the Disney live-action films, Favreau wrote, directed and starred in Open Road’s Chef; he also created the Gnomes & Goblins VR experience with Wevr and Reality One. He is slated to direct The Second Jungle Book and will produce Avengers: Infinity War and its untitled sequel. Favreau also directed the Dreamworks/Universal feature Cowboys & Aliens and the holiday film Elf which starred Will Ferrell at New Line Cinema. Another credit includes Zathura, a children’s adventure film at Sony. He made his feature film directorial debut with Artisan Entertainment’s Made, which he also wrote, and originally established himself as a writer with the comedy Swingers. Favreau also serves as third Vice President of the Directors Guild of America, and is a board member for the American Cinematheque.All smugness aside, the photo is completely disingenuous. Planted between these two chairs, the suggestion in this NYT image is that Lieberman is straddling between the two parties -- with the jury out in terms of where he might park. ...Yeah, right. And that's probably the Olbermann show on the telly, too! In spite of the headline "Lieberman Finds Middle a Tricky Path," there is only one chair when it comes to Lieberman, and it's not the left one, in spite of any nominal justification to be made. Even the article bears this out with Lieberman only partially caucusing with the Dems, at least on the day describe, with he and his Democratic colleagues barely able to remain civil. If you read Greg Sargent's piece at TPM, however, you'll see what the Times left out. Given Lieberman's promise in '06 to support the Democratic nominee, we get another read on the chairs. Whereas between the two candidates, no question should have existed as to where he stood, Joe instead makes a wedge. For more of the visual, visit BAGnewsNotes.com -- and, if you're attending Netroots Nation this week, come see my visual tour of ObamaPhobia at the Don't Think of Violence panel on Saturday afternoon.So universal has this rule turned out to be that parties and leaders who know better – whose economic literacy is beyond question – are now afraid even to hint at the fact which must eventually be faced. The promises that governments are making to their electorates are not just misleading: they are unforgivably dishonest. It will not be possible to go on as we are, or to return to the expectations that we once had. The immediate emergency created by the crash of 2008 was not some temporary blip in the infinitely expanding growth of the beneficent state. It was, in fact, almost irrelevant to the larger truth which it happened, by coincidence, to bring into view. Government on the scale established in most modern western countries is simply unaffordable. In Britain, the disagreement between Labour and the Conservatives over how to reduce the deficit (cut spending or increase borrowing?) is ridiculously insignificant and out of touch with the actual proportions of the problem. In the UK, the US, and (above all) the countries of the EU, democratic politics is being conducted on false premises. Just remember that class warfare, and not patriotism, is now the last refuge of the political scoundrel: How do you propose to go on providing the entitlements that you have sworn never to end, without any money? The victorious political parties of the Left have a ready answer to that one. They will raise taxes on the “rich”. In France and the United States, this is the formula that is being presented not only as an economic solution but also as a just social settlement, since the “rich” are inherently wicked and must have acquired their wealth by confiscating it from the poor. Of course, the moral logic of this principle is absurd. The amount of wealth in an economy is not fixed so that one person having more means that somebody else must have less. But, for the purposes of our problem, it is the fault in the economic logic that is more important. The amount of money that is required to fund government entitlement programmes is now so enormous that it could not be procured by even very large increases in taxation on the “rich”. Assuming that you could get all of the rich members of your population to stand still and be fleeced (rather than leaving the country, as Gérard Depardieu and a vast army of his French brethren are doing), there are simply not enough of them to provide the revenue that a universal, comprehensive benefits system requires. And if all the French rich did stay put, and submit to President Hollande’s quixotic 75 per cent income tax, they would soon be too impoverished to invest in the supply side of the economy, which would undermine any possibility of growth. We have clucked our tongues at Greece for the last couple of years, but how bad is it here? Dale Franks lays it out at QandO: Right now, mandatory entitlement spending alone is 62% of the Federal budget, and it will rise continuously under present law. At the same time, federal revenues don’t even cover the cost of those entitlements, plus interest payment on the national debt. Think about that. We could eliminate the entire Federal Government except for entitlement spending and interest on the national debt, and we would still have to borrow money to pay for it. The president’s proposal for increasing taxes on “the rich” would bring in an extra $40 billion dollars next year. So, instead of borrowing $1.1 Trillion next year, we’ll only have to borrow $1.06 Trillion. Somehow, we are told, this will be massively helpful. … But, really, anyone who isn’t as dumb as a bag of hammers already knows that the amount of government we have is unaffordable, simply by noting that we’ve increased the national debt from $1 trillion to $16.3 trillion since 1980. It took us 190 years to accumulate $1 trillion in debt. And 32 years to multiply it more than 15 times. We don’t have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem, but that’s not the worst of the problems we face now. We have a delusion that this situation will go on forever without needing a solution that brings spending into balance and working off our debt. Greece should have taught all of the Western nations the folly of that delusion.Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has called a Monday meeting of just the Liberal party room to discuss the thorny issue of marriage equality, BuzzFeed News has learnt. Parliament returns next week from a long winter break, with tensions running high among government MPs about the future of its controversial plebiscite on marriage equality. BuzzFeed News can reveal chief government whip David Bushby emailed MPs and their staff on Thursday afternoon, telling them all Liberal MPs would need to be in Canberra to meet on Monday at 4pm next week. Three Liberal Party sources confirmed the special Monday meeting to deal with the issue of marriage equality. News of the meeting raised eyebrows among Coalition MPs and staffers because the Coalition joint party room, which includes both Liberal and National MPs, is due to meet on Tuesday morning. Monday's meeting is only scheduled to run for two hours, with the full ministry due to meet at 6:30pm and cabinet at 7:30pm. But Liberals sources have told BuzzFeed News they are preparing for a lengthy debate and ballot. Foreign minister Julie Bishop's office confirmed to BuzzFeed News the minister won't be returning from the Philippines until Monday night, which means she'll likely miss the meeting. The foreign minister's office said previous reports that she was rushing back to the country for a vote were incorrect. The plebiscite policy came out of a six-hour emergency joint party room meeting called by then prime minister Tony Abbott in August of 2015. Although Turnbull, the current PM, argued against the plebiscite at the time — instead advocating a free vote on the vexed issue — he was forced to adopt the policy when he became prime minister in September that year. The government took the plebiscite to the 2016 election and attempted to pass it through the parliament, but it was defeated in the Senate in November 2016 by a coalition of Labor, Greens and crossbench senators. The reasons for voting it down included the $160 million price tag, the fact the vote would not be binding on the parliament, the negative effects of an ugly debate on LGBTI people, and the question of why Australia would have a national vote on same-sex marriage, but no other contentious piece of policy. Since the bill failed in the Senate, same-sex marriage has plagued the government, with several moderate Liberal MPs pushing for the doomed plebiscite to be dropped from the platform and a free vote be held. The stalemate looks increasingly untenable, but there are a few potential outcomes to Monday night's meeting: a reiteration of the current plebiscite policy; the switch to a free vote on the issue; or the adoption of a a non-compulsory plebiscite, potentially held via post, that does not require legislation to be held.Share. Learn about the newest indies coming to Switch, direct from Nintendo. Learn about the newest indies coming to Switch, direct from Nintendo. Nintendo is hosting a brand new Switch Showcase on Wednesday, August 30. And while no exact games have been announced as part of the showcase video, Nintendo did reveal the focus will be on Nindies — Nintendo indie titles, many of which have a console-exclusive hook to them. (Think an early launch window or Switch-specific functionality.) But even without knowing a single game confirmed to appear, there is still plenty we can gleam about what might be shown. Exit Theatre Mode Wait, When Was the Last Nindies Showcase? Nintendo hosted the first Nindies Switch Showcase back in February ahead of the Switch’s release. Nintendo announced 17 games for the Switch, teasing many to come throughout the following months. The lineup included games already released on other platforms, like Yooka-Laylee and Stardew Valley, as well as newly revealed games like SteamWorld Dig 2. Nintendo also revealed artwork featuring dozens of other indie titles set to be released in 2017: Since then, Nintendo Showcases and Spotlights have been focused primarily on major retail releases for the Switch. Those have included an Arms Direct, a Splatoon spotlight, a Pokemon-themed Direct, and of course the E3 Spotlight, which featured a mix of major and indie releases like Super Mario Odyssey and Rocket League, respectively. What Will Nintendo Spotlight? Like the previous Nindies Showcase, the Nintendo spotlight video will likely highlight a host of games both exclusive to the Switch and making their console debuts on the platform. Practically every game highlighted in the last Nindies Showcase was either a Switch exclusive, slated to come to Switch first among all consoles, or included features tied specifically to the system. Whereas the last Showcase geared its announcements toward releases from the Switch's launch through the summer, this spotlight will probably focus on the remainder of the year, and possibly even dip into 2018. Exit Theatre Mode Given the precedent set by the last Nindies Showcase, expect at least a dozen reveals, and plenty of games launching first or exclusively on consoles for the Switch. There's also a chance most, if not all, of what is shown will be available to play as part of Nintendo’s PAX West offerings. Nintendo will both have a Nindies@Night showcase on August 31 at at 8:30 p.m. PT, while the Nindies Arcade will run throughout the convention this coming weekend. Will Anything From the Last Nindies Showcase Make an Appearance? It’s likely! Of the 17 games announced for the Switch at the last Showcase, only six have been released for the system so far, with many missing originally promised release windows. That leaves plenty of room for those other 11 games to be shown off yet again. Though because they’ve gotten the spotlight already, Nintendo may not feature all or even most of them this time around. We already got an update about Stardew Valley from the game’s developer earlier this year, while The Escapists 2 has been released on PC with the Switch version expected to come next. And with Yooka-Laylee already out on other platforms, giving time to the game would rob other completely unreleased titles of a chance to shine. That still leaves an opportunity for number of games, like Shakedown: Hawaii, Runner3, SteamWorld Dig 2, and Dandara, to be showcased tomorrow. But, barring any firm release dates for those already revealed games, expect the Showcase to focus on new titles. What About Other Upcoming Switch Games? Looking for an update on Super Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, or even what FIFA 18 looks like on Switch? Good news! IGN has updated previews from Gamescom 2017, including four minutes of FIFA 18 gameplay and a preview of Xenoblade. You can also get a rundown of everything Nintendo from Gamescom in the latest episode of Nintendo Voice Chat. Exit Theatre Mode The bad news? Those titles are not Nindies, and so don’t expect to find out more about them during tomorrow’s showcase. There is still plenty of time left this fall, though, for Nintendo to air another spotlight highlighting the rest of the fall and early 2018’s big releases. When Can I Watch Again? The Nindies Showcase will air on Nintendo's YouTube channel at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET/6 p.m. BST tomorrow, August 30 and 3 a.m. AEST on August 31. Stay tuned to IGN for all of the biggest news from the showcase. Jonathon Dornbush is an Associate Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush.A rocky planet discovered in the “habitable” zone of the star nearest our Sun may be covered with oceans, researchers at France’s CNRS research institute said on Thursday. A rocky planet discovered in the “habitable” zone of the star nearest our Sun may be covered with oceans, researchers at France’s CNRS research institute said on Thursday. A team, including CNRS astrophysicists, have calculated the size and surface properties of the planet dubbed Proxima b, and concluded it may be an “ocean planet” similar to Earth. Scientists announced Proxima b’s discovery in August, and said it may be the first exoplanet — planet outside our Solar System — to one day be visited by robots from Earth. The planet orbits within a “temperate” zone from its host star Proxima Centauri, some four light years from us. It is estimated to have a mass about 1.3 times that of Earth, and orbits about 7.5 million kilometres (4.6 million miles) from its star — about a tenth the distance of innermost planet Mercury from the Sun. “Contrary to what one might expect, such proximity does not necessarily mean that Proxima b’s surface is too hot” for water to exist in liquid form, said a CNRS statement. Proxima Centauri is smaller and 1,000 times weaker than our Sun, which means Proxima b is at exactly the right distance for conditions to be potentially habitable. “The planet may very well host liquid water on its surface, and therefore also some forms of life,” the statement said. The size of exoplanets are generally calculated by measuring how much light they block out, from Earth’s perspective, when they pass in front of their host star. But no such transit of Proxima b has yet been observed, so the team had to rely on simulations to estimate the planet’s composition and radius.A British woman has revealed she was sold as a sex slave in Greece and forced to work as a prostitute for six years after going on holiday to the country with her mother at the age of 14. Megan Stephens (not her real name), 25, was regularly made to sleep with up to 50 men a day - and was once forced to have sex with 110 men in just 22 hours - after the man she thought was her boyfriend sold her to a sex trafficker called Leon. Megan, who is keeping her location a secret as she lives in fear of the sex traffickers finding her and hurting her family, has written a memoir of her experiences called Bought & Sold with a ghostwriter. Scroll down for video The 25-year-old, who uses the pseudonym Megan Stephens, was sold as a sex slave in Greece at the age of 14. She spent six years working in brothels and as an escort and was once forced to have sex with 120 men in one day (file photo) She was bought and sold by several traffickers, being forced to work on the street and in brothels, before she eventually made her escape six-and-a-half years ago in 2009. Megan, who said she has found the strength to speak out now she is expecting a baby with her partner, told FEMAIL: 'I used to put myself down about how stupid I'd been. If I could go back now and tell myself what to do, I'd say to myself to get up and run and do something more to stop what was happening. 'But through therapy I've realised I felt so weak inside and mentally broken down that it was impossible. 'So I don't really know what I'd say to myself. I don't think I could have done things differently. 'When I look back on that time I feel angry with myself and incredibly sad. When you truly believe that you're nothing, you don't even consider the possibility that you have a choice about anything. 'Because you've got so used to being a puppet you've forgotten that you were ever able to think and act for yourself. 'I believe that if I'd been more mentally strong and I had people around me I could turn to I could have got out easier. But I didn't, it was just me.' Megan, says that she now realises that her troubles began long before she made the fateful trip to Greece with her mother. Megan is now happily settled and looking forward to giving birth in March. She says impending motherhood has made her feel 'normal' but she dare not reveal her identity as she still fears the traffickers will hunt her down and hurt her family (file photo) Her parents split up when she was four years old, and both struggled with drinking problems - although she maintains that her mother was a wonderful parent when she wasn't drinking. When Megan was 14, she went on holiday to a seaside town in Greece and met an Albanian man called Jak in a bar. She admits she was 'desperate to be loved' and felt bowled over by his attention. Her mother wasn't overly keen on 22-year-old Jak, whose eyes she said were 'cold and hard'. However she allowed her daughter to spend all her time with him as she enjoyed a romance with a bar owner called Nikos. Struggling with her own past, Megan believes that her mother wasn't in a fit state to be a proper parent at the time. I truly did believe that what had happened must have been my fault. I was becoming dependent on him, practically and emotionally. At the end of their stay, Megan managed to persuade her mother not to return home so they could both spend time with their new love interests. Within days, Jak started telling Megan that he loved her. He also confided that his mother had thyroid cancer and that he couldn't afford to pay her medical bills. Soon after, he took her to live in an apartment in Athens. There he persuaded Megan to take a job dancing in a topless bar, promising she would only have to do it for long enough to raise the money to pay for his mother's surgery. 'I hated every minute of every night I danced at the bar and I could never look at the faces of the men who were looking at me,' Megan recalled. But she admits she felt 'like a hero' for helping to save his mother's life. When Megan's mother finally left for home, Megan convinced her to let her stay with Jak. After two weeks, he took her to a burger bar where he introduced her to a man called Leon, telling her: 'This is your new boss.' Megan contracted syphilis after being forced to have sex without a condom for extra money. She was sold into the sex industry by an Albanian man called Jak, who she believed was her boyfriend (file photo) They spoke in Greek before Leon passed Jak a wad of folded bank notes. It wasn't until much later that Megan realised Leon had 'bought a stake' in her. Leon spoke to her in English, saying: 'So you know what you're going to be doing, don't you? And you're happy with it?' She glanced at Jak, who said: 'I love you. It's alright.' Jak then took her to an office building and told her to go to the top floor. She went upstairs to find herself at a lawyer's office. Inside, he locked the door and pushed her into a small windowless room. 'There was a single bed and at the foot of it a video camera on a tripod,' she said. 'I was so frightened and convinced that he was going to murder me that I just stood there making little whimpering noises like a defeated and submissive animal. STATISTICS ON SEX TRAFFICKING The UN estimates that there are 2.4 million victims of human trafficking around the world at any one time. Around 80 per cent of these are exploited as sex slaves. However, other research indicates that the true figure is much higher, at around nine million. Criminals who buy and sell human beings are said to earn up to $150 billion a year (£99 billion). Around two thirds of this or $99 billion (£63 billion) comes from sexual exploitation. According to Crimestoppers, 90 people from the UK were victims of human trafficking in 2013. 'I was so shocked my mind went completely blank and I think I barely struggled as he flipped me over on my back, pulled up my skirt, ripped off my pants and forced himself on me. The pain was excruciating, but I was too traumatised to even cry.' The lawyer had sex with her again before thrusting a wad of €50 notes at her. She expected Jak to be shocked by what happened. Instead, he told her he was sorry but promised her it wouldn't be for long and that soon they would have enough money to start a family, save for a car and buy a house. Megan recalls her confusion that the man she believed was in love with her would make her do something like that. But as he started talking about the money she could make, it suddenly hit her that he'd set it all up and that he expected her to do it again. 'Suddenly I understood it and all the air that should have been flowing into my lungs seemed to have fathered in a solid lump at the back of the throat so that I couldn't breathe,' she said. She cried hysterically and desperately wanted to speak to her mother, but Jak wouldn't allow it. He took her out on his motorbike and drove up into the hills on the other side of the city. Megan told him she couldn't do what he was asking, and demanded to speak to her family. He grabbed her by the hair, threw her to the ground and started kicking her before throwing a rock at her. Then he drove off and left her on her own in the dark for hours. By the time he returned, she admits she was so relieved not to be alone anymore that she forgave him for assaulting her. I don't think I could have done things any differently. I believe that if I'd been more mentally strong and if I'd had people around me I could have turned to I could have got out easier. But I didn't, it was just me 'I truly did believe that what had happened must have been my fault,' she said. From then on she noticed a marked changed in Jak's attitude. He criticsed everything about her and she lived in constant fear of him being assaulted again. But she was also terrified that if she did something wrong he would leave her. 'I was becoming dependent on him, practically and emotionally,' she said. Two days after she had been offered up to the lawyer, Megan started working as an escort. She moved from one hotel to another and was having sex with eight to ten men every day. It was only then that she started having sex with Jak. He didn't force her, but she says she didn't enjoy it even though she still believed she loved him. Jak's moods were unpredictable and he would fly into a rage and hit her for no reason. One day he poured a jug of water over her head and spat at her in a restaurant, and he tormented her by talking about her mother and what he would like to do to her sexually. Then Megan started feeling sick and discovered she was ten weeks pregnant. She told how Jak kicked her in the stomach, causing her to miscarry at the age of 14. The physical violence continued and rarely a day passed without him slapping or punching her or dragging her around the room by the hair. After she had spent six months in Athens and a brief stint in Italy, working the streets as a prostitute, Jak told Megan he was going home to his family. He left her with an Albanian man Elek, who she had to give half her money to. The other half she wired to Jak at the end of the week. Elek set her to work in a brothel where men paid €20 for five minutes with her. By the end of her first night she'd had sex with more than 50 clients. Megan has written a memoir of her experiences called Bought & Sold As weeks turned into months, she was moved from brothel to brothel, having sex with an average of 50 men a night. On one occasion, she had sex with 110 men in a single 22-hour shift before being violently sick. The brothel owner closed up early when he saw the state she was in. 'I thought that was decent of him, which shows just how distorted my sense of normality had become,' Megan said. Elek eventually sold Megan on to another pimp called Cristoph and she continued to work in brothels as well as doing escort work. All the time she was working as a prostitute, she spoke to her mother on the phone pretending that everything was okay. The pimps forced her to send happy, smiling photos of herself pretending to work in a café to her mother to keep up the pretence. In reality, she suffered physical violence on a daily basis and contracted syphilis after being forced to have sex without a condom for extra money. Megan only managed to escape the sex traffickers after hitting rock bottom and attempting suicide when she was 20. She was sectioned and spent three months in hospital, where the staff won her trust. They contacted her mother and the pair were reunited. Now, although Megan has said she doesn't blame her for what happened, the pair are no longer in close contact. 'To be honest, I don't see my mum really at all. We talk now and again, but we're not close. It's sort of at arms length. I don't have much to do with her,' she explained. 'I think it's just the fact that I've got to a point where I'm happy in the bubble that I'm in now. In a way, she is sort of in the past.' After returning to the UK, Megan struggled with alcohol issues and it's only in the past year and a half that she's been able to confront what happened and stop blaming herself. She is now happily settled with her partner and they are looking forward to the birth of their child in March. 'I've tended to pick the wrong kind of people and I've had trust issues and it didn't work from both sides,' she explained. 'But I moved away from home and went into rehab and I met this guy from my church. We started as friends and he wasn't someone I'd ever thought I would go for. 'It's the first time I've actually fallen for someone's personality. It's amazing and it has helped me so much. 'Being pregnant has played a big part. It's made me feel normal and capable because I'm taking on that responsibility.' She also hopes to set up a charity to help other sex trafficking victims in the future. 'It's something that's in my heart that I'm passionate about,' she explained. 'It is something I would like to do.' However, Megan admits that she is still scared that such a thing could happen to her again. She said: 'I do think most of the time that it could never happen again. But there are still parts of me that are quite vulnerable to believing everything that someone says. I still have to be very careful. 'Jak has tried to contact me and my family through social media, trying to ask people where I am. 'He still frightens me. He's very powerful in my opinion, and he's not just one person there's a lot of them and they're capable of hurting my family. 'I thought about pursuing legal action but I was just too afraid to ever mention names. I would still be too scared to go down that route.'The Sacramento Kings are fielding offers from three teams for the No. 8 pick in Thursday's NBA draft, sources with direct knowledge told ESPN on Monday. Sources said the Kings have two deals that could be done prior to Thursday's 2 p.m. ET trade deadline to change the draft order and one would be a draft night deal, depending on which players are available when the Kings select. The three deals would return multiple draft picks and a veteran player to the Kings for the No. 8 pick. Sources wouldn't reveal the three teams involved in the negotiations yet, but a source said the discussions are more than talk now and the Kings are weighing the offers against the potential four players the Kings think will be available at No. 8, depending on what occurs in front of them in the lottery. The Kings have had multiple offers for the No. 8 pick but have settled on these three possible deals.CLOSE Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump welcomes the family of Sarah Root, who was killed by immigrant in the United States illegally, onto the stage at Joni Ernst’s Roast and Ride Aug. 27, 2016. The Register Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016, during Sen. Joni Ernst's Roast and Ride at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. (Photo11: Brian Powers/The Register) DES MOINES, Iowa — Donald Trump delivered a hard-edged speech on immigration Saturday in Des Moines, capping a week
bringing back the greeting. “We’re getting near that beautiful Christmas season that people don’t talk about anymore. They don’t use the word 'Christmas' because it’s not politically correct," Trump told a crowd attending the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., in October. “You go to department stores and they’ll say 'Happy New Year,' or they’ll say other things and it’ll be red, they’ll have it painted. But they don’t say — well guess what? We’re saying merry Christmas again,” he told supporters at the event. Trump frequently touted the claim on the 2016 campaign trail when he slammed the idea of being politically correct and wishing "happy holidays" over "merry Christmas." He has also previously taken shots at former President Obama for not saying "merry Christmas." Obama did regularly wish U.S. households a merry Christmas and "happy holidays" when he served in office.United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May issued a message to her followers on December 31, New Year’s Eve, in hopes of uniting the country as 2017 approaches. May said the country was going in a new direction and “if 2016 was the year you voted for that change, this is the year we start to make it happen.” She called the Brexit referendum “divisive” and said she hopes shared ambitions and aspirations bring unite United Kingdom citizens. “We all want to see a Britain that is stronger than it is today. We all want a country that is fairer so that everyone has a chance to succeed. We all want a nation that is safe and secure for our children and grandchildren,” May said. “These ambitions unite us. So that we are no longer the 52 percent who voted leave and the 48 percent who voted stay but one great union of people and nations with a proud history and a bright future.” Credit: Twitter/Theresa May via Storyful A LEAKED email from the UK ambassador to the European Union outlining the reasons for his resignation has lifted a lid on the chaotic dealings behind the scenes in government less than three months before negotiations are due to begin. The UK’s top diplomat in Brussels Sir Ivan Rogers resigned on Tuesday in a shock move that caught the government off guard and disappointed many who knew of his decades of experience. His 1400-word email to staff outlining the reasons for quitting says the government does not yet know what it’s negotiating for and urges them to challenge “muddled” thinking at the highest levels. “I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power,” he wrote in the email published in full by the BBC. “I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them.” Sir Ivan is widely seen as one of the UK’s most experienced diplomats in Europe and had previously warned the process could take a decade of negotiations. He has criticised the “control freak” Home Office for their attitude to the negotiations, The Times reports. His resignation email also reveals what many outside government had feared in terms of priorities — that there are none. “We do not yet know what the government will set as negotiating objectives for the UK’s relationship with the EU after exit.” He added that the swath of elections in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy also mean the UK does not know who it will be negotiating with. “There is much we will not know until later this year about the political shape of the EU itself, and who the political protagonists in any negotiation with the UK will be,” he wrote. UK Prime Minister Theresa May said the government will trigger Article 50 which begins the two-year Brexit negotiations by the end of March 2017, meaning the UK will leave the EU by March 2019 which is ahead of the next general election. However she has refused to lay out any details of the plan, only saying that she will work towards a “red white and blue Brexit” for the UK. Major questions around whether the UK will remain part of the single market remain unanswered. Critics of Sir Ivan say his “pessimistic” attitude will provide a chance for the Prime Minister to appoint someone who “believes in Brexit”. The email also issued a final rallying call to staff saying their expertise will be needed to forge new deals that continue to provide great opportunity if done correctly. “Serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall, and that is not the case in the Commission or in the Council.” “Contrary to the beliefs of some, free trade does not just happen when it is not thwarted by authorities: increasing market access to other markets and consumer choice in our own, depends on the deals, multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral that we strike, and the terms that we agree,” he said. He urged them to “stick with it” and said the “combination of immense creativity with realism ground in negotiating experience is needed more than ever right now.”To the Editor: Rick Marin's Sept. 12 column on the partygiver Liz Cohen, ''The Hostess With the Most (Best Friends),'' contained a word-combo that Walter Winchell, Mr. Marin's decades-removed predecessor as chronicler of the Manhattan social and underworld scene, would have been proud to appropriate. As my old friend Agnes DeMille would have said, ''celebutante'' is ''delicious.'' But Rick, you've got to brush up on your spelling. It's not ''mega-superflak,'' it's ''mega-superflack.'' ''Flak'' is short for the German antiaircraft gun of World War II that brought down so many American planes. G.I.'s adapted flak as the term for the shells fired at their planes. ''Flack'' originated in the 1930's when Variety started using it as a sort of homage to Gene Flack, an energetic movie publicist. ''To flack'' means to promote. It's generic now, and its use often raises the hackles of some public relations practitioners who consider it demeaning. I've never felt insulted when the term has been applied to me. Indeed, I've taken it as a compliment. Gene Flack was very good at what he did. WES PEDERSEN Washington The writer is the communications director of the Public Affairs Council, a professional organization.On most weeks, TABC releases Label and Brewery approvals that have been approved for sale in Texas. Every beer that is sold in Texas has to go through this process before you can see it on store shelves. This is a way to see what beer will be coming into the Texas market before it shows up at your local bottle shop or craft beer bar. The time frame between showing up on the label approval list and hitting the shelves could be anywhere from a day to a couple of months out. The same can be said for breweries. The brewery approvals tend to be even further out. Every brewery sold in Texas has to go through the same process to get approved by the TABC. Once they do this, they can then get labels approved. I only include craft beer labels that have been approved. After each label, I have indicated what they have been approved to sell in. They are as follows: K = Keg B = Large format bottle bb = 16oz format bottle b = Small format bottle c = Small format (12oz) can C = Larger format cans This week’s TABC Label releases: 8th Wonder – Cutiv8 (K) 8th Wonder – Fourza (K) 8th Wonder – Free Kick (K) 8th Wonder – Funky Monkey (K) 8th Wonder – Spring Balk (K) 8th Wonder – Spruce Goose (K) Bluebonnet – OBH Pale Ale (K) Boulevard – Ginger Lemon Radler (c) Boulevard – Heavy Lifting IPA (c) Boulevard – Pop-up Session IPA (c) Boulevard – Unfiltered Wheat Beer (c) Branchline – Old Three Hundred Flanders (bb, K) Branchline – The Visitor West Coast IPA (K) Buffalo Bayou – Bananas Foster Ale (B, K) Bull Creek – Champs Au Sud Saison Ale (K) Bull Creek – Faded Extra Pale Ale (K) Bull Creek – Hop Whacked Imperial IPA (K) Bull Creek – Iron Balls Imperial Stout (K) Bull Creek – Longhorn Blonde Ale (K) Bull Creek – Otzi’s Twenty Nine Copper Ale (K) Bull Creek – Tommy Raj IPA (K) Delirium – Noel Belgian Ale (b, K) Destohl – Bela Imperial Pilsner (bb, K) Epic – Sour Brainless on Peaches (b, K) Four Corners – Home Brew Texas Steam (K) Goose Island – Goose Experimental Autumn Ale (b) Green Flash – Flanders Drive Sour Red Ale (K) Humperdink’s (Arlington) – Big Horn Hefeweizen (K) Humperdink’s (Arlington) – Big Red IPA (K) Humperdink’s (Arlington) – Bock (K) Humperdink’s (Arlington) – Buttface Amber (K) Humperdink’s (Arlington) – Juan Moore Light Beer (K) Humperdink’s (Arlington) – Texas Blonde Beer (K) Humperdink’s (Arlington) – Total Disorder Porter Ale (K) Konig Ludwig – Oktoberfest Spezial (K) Konig Ludwig – Weissbier Hell Ale (K) Live Oak – Gold (K) Mercury – Clown Shoes Mango American Kolsch (K) Nine Band – Axis Ale (K) NXNW South – Flip Flop Pale Rye (K) NXNW South – One Eyed Willy’s Tripel (K) NXNW South – Man Mountain (K) NXNW South – Porch Time (K) NXNW South – Raptors Delight Belgian Pale Ale (K) NXNW South – Splintercat (K) NXNW South – Star View Blonde Ale (K) NXNW South – Summer Fleece Schwarzbier (K) NXNW South – Sunbreak IPA (K) NXNW South – Upgrayedd IPL (K) NXNW South – Red Zepplin (K) O’Neil and Sons – Chingo’s of Hops IPA (K) Rahr & Sons – Drahthaar Doube IPA (B, K) Real Ale – Black Quad Quadrupel Ale (B, K) Real Ale – Three Lions Imperial IPA (B, K) Save The World – Peach Proctum Bonum Saison (K) Sierra Nevada – Trip in the Woods Barrel Aged Lime Ale (b) Southern Tier – Choklat Oranu Stout with Chocolate (B, K) St. Ambroise – Apricot Wheat Ale (bb, K) St. Ambroise – Great Pumpkin (b, K) St. Ambroise – Oatmeal (bb, K) Stone – Double Dry-Hopped Stone Ruination w/ American Oak (K) Stone – Farking Wheaton Woot Stout (B, K) Stone – Ruination Double IPA 2.0 w/ American Oak (K) Texian – Crockett Imperial Stout (K) Texian – FM 359 Brett Saison (B, K) Texian – Salado Gose Salted Sour Wheat (K) Texian – Texianer Weisse Sour Wheat Ale (K) Texian – The Invincible Brett IPA (B, K) Texian – Travis Pale Lager (K) Tupps – Black Ale (K) Twin Peaks – Dropdead Redhead IPA (bb) Uncle Billy’s – Schizopetal (K) TABC Brewery Approvals: Pinthouse Pizza Lamar – Austin Long Wooden Spoon – Amarillo Barley & Board – Denton Labels Approved: Texian – It sounds like we should start seeing more from Texian in the near future. I recently had one of their Brett IPAs at the Big Texas Beer Festival and it was great. It sounds like they may be doing more things in that area, so I am looking forward to seeing them at bars again. Pinthouse Pizza South – One step closer to opening. Granted, they are still a bit away from opening, it is good to see that they have this one obstacle taken care of. Bull Creek – Located north of Austin, they have been quiet as of late about their opening. It is good to see that they are getting labels approved again. Hopefully, that means they will officially open their doors in the near future. Texas Labels Approved:God and the Ivory Tower The era of world struggle between the great secular ideological –isms that began with the French Revolution and lasted through the Cold War (republicanism, anarchism, socialism, fascism, communism, liberalism) is passing on to a religious stage. Across the Middle East and North Africa, religious movements are gaining social and political ground, with election victories by avowedly Islamic parties in Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. As Israel’s National Security Council chief, Gen. Yaakov Amidror (a religious man himself), told me on the eve of Tunisia’s elections last October, "We expect Islamist parties to soon dominate all governments in the region, from Afghanistan to Morocco, except for Israel." On a global scale, Protestant evangelical churches (together with Pentacostalists) continue to proliferate, especially in Latin America, but also keep pace with the expansion of fundamentalist Islam in southern Africa and eastern and southern Asia. In Russia, a clear majority of the population remains religious despite decades of forcibly imposed atheism. Even in China, where the government’s commission on atheism has the Sisyphean job of making that country religion-free, religious agitation is on the rise. And in the United States, a majority says it wants less religion in politics, but an equal majority still will not vote for an atheist as president. But if reams of social scientific analysis have been produced on religion’s less celestial cousins — from the nature of perception and speech to how we rationalize and shop — faith is not a matter that rigorous science has taken seriously. To be sure, social scientists have long studied how religious practices correlate with a wide range of economic, social, and political issues. Yet, for nearly a century after Harvard University psychologist William James’s 1902 masterwork, The Varieties of Religious Experience, there was little serious investigation of the psychological structure or neurological and biological underpinnings of religious belief that determine how religion actually causes behavior. And that’s a problem if science aims to produce knowledge that improves the human condition, including a lessening of cultural conflict and war. Religion molds a nation in which it thrives, sometimes producing solidarity and sacred causes so powerful that citizens are willing to kill or die for a common good (as when Judea’s Jews around the time of Christ persisted in rebellion unto political annihilation in the face of the Roman Empire’s overwhelmingly military might). But religion can also hinder a society’s ability to work out differences with others, especially if those others don’t understand what religion is all about. That’s the mess we find ourselves in today, not only among different groups of Americans in the so-called culture wars, but between secular and Judeo-Christian America and many Muslim countries. Time and again, countries go to war without understanding the transcendent drives and dreams of adversaries who see a very different world. Yet we needn’t fly blindly into the storm. Science can help us understand religion and the sacred just as it can help us understand the genome or the structure of the universe. This, in turn, can make policy better informed. Fortunately, the last few years show progress in scientific studies of religion and the sacred, though headwinds remain strong. Across history and cultures, religion has often knit communities together under the rule of sentient, but immaterial deities — that is, spiritual beings whose description is logically contradictory and empirically unfalsifiable. Cross-cultural studies pioneered by anthropologist Pascal Boyer show that these miraculous features — talking bushes, horses that leap into the sky — make lasting impressions on people and thereby increase the likelihood that they will be passed down to the next generation. Implausibility also facilitates cultural transmission in a more subtle manner — fostering adaptability of religious beliefs by opening the door to multiple interpretations (as with metaphors or weekly sermons). And the greater the investment in outlandishness, the better. This is because adherence to apparently absurd beliefs means incurring costs — surviving without electricity, for example, if you are Amish — which help identify members who are committed to the survival of a group and cannot be lured away. The ease of identifying true believers, in turn, builds trust and galvanizes group solidarity for common defense. To test this hypothesis, anthropologist Richard Sosis and his colleagues studied 200 communes founded in the United States in the 19th century. If shared religious beliefs really did foster loyalty, they reasoned, then communes formed out of religious conviction should survive longer than those motivated by secular ideologies such as socialism. Their findings were striking: Just 6 percent of the secular communes were still functioning 20 years after their founding, compared with 39 percent of the religious communes. It is not difficult to see why groups formed for purely rational reasons can be more vulnerable to collapse: Background conditions change, and it might make sense to abandon one group in favor of another. Interestingly, recent research echoes the findings of 14th-century historian Ibn Khaldun, who argued that long-term differences among North African Muslim dynasties with comparable military might "have their origin in religion … [and] group feeling [wherein] mutual cooperation and support flourish." The more religious societies, he argued, endured the longest. For this reason, even ostensibly secular countries and transnational movements usually contain important quasi-religious rituals and beliefs. Think of sacred songs and ceremonies, or postulations that "providence" or "nature" bestows equality and inalienable rights (though, for about 99.9 percent of our species’ existence, slavery, and oppression of minorities were more standard fare). These sacred values act as moral imperatives that inspire nonrational sacrifices in cooperative endeavors such as war. Insurgents, revolutionaries, and terrorists all make use of this logic, generating outsized commitment that allows them to resist and often prevail against materially stronger foes. Consider the American revolutionaries who defied the greatest empire of their age by pledging "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" for the cause of "liberty or death." Surely they were aware of how unlikely they were to succeed, given the vast disparities in material resources, manpower, and training. As Osama Hamdan, the ranking Hamas politburo member for external affairs, put it to me in Damascus, Syria, "George Washington was fighting the strongest military in the world, beyond all reason. That’s what we’re doing. Exactly." But the same logic that makes religious and sacred beliefs more likely to endure can make them impervious to compromise. Based on interviews, experiments, and surveys with Palestinians, Israelis, Indonesians, Indians, Afghans, and Iranians, my research with psychologists Jeremy Ginges, Douglas Medin, and others demonstrates that offering people material incentives (large amounts of money, guarantees for a life free of political violence) to compromise sacred values can backfire, increasing stated willingness to use violence. Such backfire effects occur both for convictions with clear religious investment (Jerusalem, sharia law) and for those that are at least initially nonreligious (Iran’s right to a nuclear capability, Palestinian refugees’ right of return). According to a 2010 study, for example, most Iranians think there is nothing sacred about their government’s nuclear program. But for a sizable minority — 13 percent of the population — the quest for a nuclear capability (more focused on energy than weapons) had, through religious rhetoric, become a sacred subject. This group, which tends to be close to the regime, now believes a nuclear program is bound up with national identity and with Islam itself. As a result, offering material rewards or punishments to abandon the program only increases anger and support for it. Although this sacralization of initially secular issues confounds standard "business-like" negotiation tactics, my work with political scientist Robert Axelrod interviewing political leaders in the Middle East and elsewhere indicates that strong symbolic gestures (sincere apologies, demonstrating respect for the other’s values) generate surprising flexibility, even among militants, and may enable subsequent material negotiations. Thus, we find that Palestinian leaders and their supporting populations are generally willing to accept Israeli offers of economic improvement only after issues of recognition are addressed. Even purely symbolic statements accompanied by no material action, such as "we recognize your suffering" or "we respect your rights in Jerusalem," diminish support for violence, including suicide terrorism. This is particularly promising because symbolic gestures tied to religious notions that are open to interpretation might potentially be reframed without compromising their absolute "truth." For example, Jerusalem might be reconceived less as a place than portal to heaven, where earthly access to the portal suffices. If these things are worth knowing, why do scientists still shun religion? Part of the reason is that most scientists are staunchly nonreligious. If you look at the prestigious U.S. National Academy of Sciences or Britain’s Royal Society, well over 90 percent of members are non-religious. That may help explain why some of the bestselling books by scientists about religion aren’t about the science of religion as much as the reasons that it’s no longer necessary to believe. "New Atheists" have aggressively sought to discredit religion as the chief cause of much human misery, militating for its demise. They contend that science has now answered questions about humans’ origins and place in the world that only religion sought to answer in the days before evolutionary science, and that humankind no longer needs the broken crutch of faith. But the idea that we can simply argue away religion has little factual support. Although a recent study by psychologists Will Gervais and Ara Norenzayan indicates that people are less prone to think religiously when they think analytically, other studies suggest that seemingly contrary evidence rarely undermines religious belief, especially among groups welded by ritualized sacrifice in the face of outside threats. Norenzayan and others also find that belief in gods and miracles intensifies when people are primed with awareness of death or when facing danger, as in wartime. Moreover, the chief complaint against religion — that it is history’s prime instigator of intergroup conflict — does not withstand scrutiny. Religious issues motivate only a small minority of recorded wars. The Encyclopedia of Wars surveyed 1,763 violent conflicts across history; only 123 (7 percent) were religious. A BBC-sponsored "God and War" audit, which evaluated major conflicts over 3,500 years and rated them on a 0-to-5 scale for religious motivation (Punic Wars = 0, Crusades = 5), found that more than 60 percent had no religious motivation. Less than 7 percent earned a rating greater than 3. There was little religious motivation for the internecine Russian and Chinese conflicts or the world wars responsible for history’s most lethal century of international bloodshed. Indeed, inclusive concepts such as "humanity" arguably emerged with the rise of universal religions. Sociologist Rodney Stark reveals that early Christianity became the Roman Empire’s majority religion not through conquest, but through a social process grounded in trust. Repeated acts of altruism, such as caring for non-Christians during epidemics, facilitated the expansion of social networks that were invested in the religion. Likewise, studies by behavioral economist Joseph Henrich and colleagues on contemporary foragers, farmers, and herders show that professing a world religion is correlated with greater fairness toward passing strangers. This research helps explain what’s going on in sub-Saharan Africa, where Islam is spreading rapidly. In Rwanda, for example, people began converting to Islam in droves after Muslims systematically risked their lives to protect Christians and animists from genocide when few others cared. Although surprisingly few wars are started by religions, once they start, religion — and the values it imposes — can play a critical role. When competing interests are framed in terms of religious and sacred values, conflict may persist for decades, even centuries. Disputes over otherwise mundane phenomena then become existential struggles, as when land becomes "Holy Land." Secular issues become sacralized and nonnegotiable, regardless of material rewards or punishments. In a multiyear study, our research group found that Palestinian adolescents who perceived strong threats to their communities and were highly involved in religious ritual were most likely to see political issues, like the right of refugees to return to homes in Israel, as absolute moral imperatives. These individuals were thus opposed to compromise, regardless of the costs. It turns out there may be a neurological component to such behavior: Our work with Gregory Berns and his neuroeconomics team suggests that such values are processed in the brain as duties rather than utilitarian calculations; neuroimaging reveals that violations of sacred values trigger emotional responses consistent with sentiments of moral outrage. Historical and experimental studies suggest that the more antagonistic a group’s neighborhood, the more tightly that group will cling to its sacred values and rituals. The result is enhanced solidarity, but also increased potential for conflict toward other groups. Investigation of 60 small-scale societies reveals that groups that experience the highest rates of conflict (warfare) endure the costliest rites (genital mutilation, scarification, etc.). Likewise, research in India, Mexico, Britain, Russia, and Indonesia indicates that greater participation in religious ritual in large-scale societies is associated with greater parochial altruism — that is, willingness to sacrifice for one’s own group, such as Muslims or Christians, but not for outsiders — and, in relevant contexts, support for suicide attacks. This dynamic is behind the paradoxical reality that the world finds itself in today: Modern global multiculturalism is increasingly challenged by fundamentalist movements aimed at reviving group loyalty through greater ritual commitments to ideological purity. So why does it matter that we have moved past the -isms and into an era of greater religiosity? In an age where religious and sacred causes are resurgent, there is urgent need for scientific effort to understand them. Now that humankind has acquired through science the power to destroy itself with nuclear weapons, we cannot afford to let science ignore religion and the sacred, or let scientists simply try to reason them away. Policymakers should leverage scientific understanding of what makes religion so potent a force for both cooperation and conflict, to help increase the one and lessen the other.Sex educator extraordinaire Tristan Taormino has given more than 75 lectures at universities and colleges around the country. Next month, she was scheduled to give the keynote at Oregon State University's Modern Sex conference. Then she was uninvited. Why, you ask? Apparently because of her "resume and website"—or, for those who have trouble reading between the lines, her involvement with the adult industry. From the press release we received: On October 28, 2010, organizers of the OSU Modern Sex conference booked Taormino to give the keynote talk; they confirmed the date and agreed to fees, and Tristan's management received a first draft of the contract on November 1. That contract was incomplete and sent back to OSU for revisions. As with many negotiations, the contract was pending as all the paperwork got done, but in late December, OSU again confirmed Tristan's appearance and conference organizers told her manager to purchase airline tickets, for which OSU would be reimburse her. On Tuesday, January 18, 2011, Steven Leider, Director of the Office of LGBT Outreach and Services contacted Colten Tognazzini, Tristan Taormino's manager, to say that the conference had come up short on funding. Tognazzini told him that since the travel was booked and the time reserved, they could work with whatever budget they did have. Leider said that would not be possible: "We have to cancel Ms. Taormino's appearance due to a lack of funding. It has been decided that OSU cannot pay Ms. Taormino with general fee dollars, because of the content of her resume and website." At OSU, ‘general fee dollars' include taxpayer dollars given to the University by the Oregon State Legislature to defray various costs. They differ from ‘student activity dollars,' which are part of every student's tuition and help fund student groups and activities. Taormino's resume includes her seven books on sex and relationships, the 18 anthologies she has edited, numerous television appearances from CNN to The Discovery Channel, and her award-winning adult films. She was a columnist for The Village Voice for nearly ten years and has given more than 75 lectures at top colleges and universities including Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Brown, NYU and Columbia. Her website, http://www.puckerup.com, includes sex education information, advice, and information about the films she directs for Vivid Entertainment, one of the largest adult companies in the country. "In my ten years of booking Tristan at colleges and universities, of course there has been some controversy. But I have never had a university cancel like this last minute," says Colten Tognazzini, Taormino's manager. "It's not unusual for contract negotiations to drag on. Once they confirmed we should book her travel, I felt comfortable the event was a done deal. I continued to work with them in good faith that a signed contract would be forthcoming. I believe that the conference organizers' hands are tied, and this decision came from much higher up. They have cancelled with less than a month's notice during Tristan's busiest season. She gave up other opportunities to go to Oregon. Without a signed contract, we may have no recourse, and were told we will not be reimbursed for her travel." Tognazzini spoke to a source at OSU who speculated that the University feared that when it went before the legislature in regards to future funding, legislators would use OSU's funding of a "pornographer" on campus as ammunition to further cut budgets. This source, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Tognazzini, "I think they're uninviting Tristan because they don't want to have to defend her appearance to conservative legislators." "I'm extremely disappointed that OSU has decided to cancel my appearance. I've been protested before, but never uninvited. I have never misrepresented who I am or what I do. I am proud of all the work I do, including the sex education films and feminist pornography I make," says Taormino. "The talk I planned to give at this conference, titled "Claiming Your Sexual Power" has nothing to do with porn, but the porn is such an easy target for anti-sex conservatives and censors. I find it ironic that one of the missions of the conference is to understand diverse perspectives of sexuality. Apparently, my perspective-one of educating and empowering people around their sexuality-isn't welcome at OSU." If OSU students and others still want to hear Taormino speak, she will be teaching two workshops at She Bop (sheboptheshop.com) in Portland on February 13 and 14. "She Bop supports a healthy perspective on sex and sexuality and we are proud to have Tristan Taormino present two years in a row at our shop in Portland. Tristan is a leading educator paving the way for others to help break down the stigma around sex in this country. It is part of our mission as a female friendly adult shop to support sexual empowerment and growth," say co-owners Jeneen Doumitt and Evy Cowan.When American doctor Stephen Yoon thinks of North Korea, he does not think of ballistic missile tests or the threat of nuclear war. He remembers instead a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, who suffered from spastic quadriplegia that made her unable to stand or sit. Five years ago, she went to Yoon’s developmental-disability program at Pyongyang Medical University Hospital, where she received treatments from Yoon and his team of local doctors. After almost a year of exercise therapy and some surgeries, she walked out of the hospital on her own. The event was heralded in North Korean state media as a national victory, but it received no notice in the U.S., where few people even know about the roughly 200 Americans like Yoon who work and live under the rule of Kim Jong Un. Carefully monitored by the regime, they have come and gone for years, doing educational, medical or infrastructural work, and sometimes raising families in a nation that has been officially at war with the U.S. since 1950. Yoon, 45, moved to North Korea 10 years ago. “We were able to convince and convey to the North Korean government that the kids with disabilities have value and they can be part of society,” says Yoon. “I really believe in our presence.” Heidi Linton, a mother of three from Asheville, N.C., who leads the organization Christian Friends of Korea, has helped to deliver millions in aid to North Korea since 1995 and spends as much as three months a year in the country to support hepatitis and tuberculosis care centers. About 50 other Americans work in North Korea’s Rason Special Economic Zone, near the Russian border, on social entrepreneurship and humanitarian projects. There’s also a predominately American-run school, the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, that has brought nearly 70 American professors and staff members each semester. The Americans in North Korea are controversial because they provide services that indirectly help the North Korean regime. But career diplomats say they create a thin but important connection to the Hermit Kingdom. “They are very dedicated aid workers, they care deeply about the North Korean people,” former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson says of the expatriate community. “We have no diplomatic contact, we have no commercial contact, so some kind of humanitarian contact as a potential bridge to improve the relationship would be helpful.” But that is set to change. Amid escalating military tensions and after the recent death of Otto Warmbier–the U.S. student who died after he was detained in North Korea–the Trump Administration announced in July that U.S. passports will become invalid for travel in, to or through the country starting on Sept. 1. The official reason for the travel ban is the “mounting risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. citizens” by the Kim regime, but the move could signal that Washington is preparing for relations to further deteriorate. North Korea continues to hold three U.S. citizens, including two former staff members of the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, in its political-detention system. The news has prompted concern from the small community of Americans who have been working in the country, many of whom are evangelical Christians, a key part of Trump’s base. The very nature of their work is so sensitive and carefully negotiated that they are often reluctant to draw attention to their projects, though the new travel ban has prompted many to break that rule. They say they respect the State Department’s national-security concerns but that the cost of withdrawing aid is severe. “The President has to make a strong stand,” says Franklin Graham, whose global aid organization has done work in North Korea for 20 years. But, he adds, “we’ve got to continue to try to work.” Many of the Americans who call North Korea home are pushing the Trump Administration for new permission to return. The State Department may allow limited exceptions, but the scope is not yet clear. “It’s an abhorrent moral algebra that has overtaken us, that if moral evil is visited on great numbers, then the plight of individuals–and thus [the] work to relieve the suffering of individuals–somehow doesn’t matter,” says Robert Carlin, a former U.S. official and behind-the-scenes diplomat during the Clinton, Bush and Obama years. “Have we lost our moral compass?” The U.S.–North Korea relationship has long wavered between delicate and dangerous. Although the Korean War ended in 1953, leaving more than 1 million North Koreans and 36,000 Americans dead, a peace treaty was never signed, and enmity remains. Attempts to restart relations in the decades since have been short-lived, poisoned by distrust. Time and again, nuclear-nonproliferation negotiations have fallen apart or deals have been broken, with tensions spiking, though they have recently receded since North Korea stopped testing missiles in mid-August. As recently as early August, North Korean state media threatened torching the mainland U.S. with “an unimaginable sea of fire.” President Trump, meanwhile, counterthreatened with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” The quiet U.S. humanitarian effort in North Korea began as a response to a famine there in the mid-1990s, which killed hundreds of thousands of people. Groups like UNICEF, Mercy Corps and World Vision delivered food aid. When the world’s focus shifted away, Christian charities stuck around and deepened their ties. The Eugene Bell Foundation, which was founded by a Southern Presbyterian minister, began supporting tuberculosis treatment efforts in North Korea around that time, starting the first program for multidrug-resistant TB. “These efforts are really outliers, in part because they are completely going against the grain of the body language that both governments are sending to their people,” says Scott Snyder, a senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. The new relationships were fragile at the start. A century ago, Christianity thrived in the region, and American evangelist Billy Graham’s late wife Ruth even attended school in Pyongyang. Today North Korea’s constitution allows for freedom of religion, but the country forbids proselytizing. Such subtle distinctions may be lost on an outside world preoccupied with North Korea’s outlaw status: in 2014, the U.N. condemned its leaders for alleged crimes against humanity, including persecution for political crimes with torture, starvation and forced labor. But the U.S. groups are careful to respect the rules, and their focus is service projects. Christian Friends of Korea grew out of Graham’s visit to North Korea in the early 1990s. Linton, the group’s executive director, traveled to North Korea in August for a routine visit with a team of eight other Americans, three Norwegians and an Australian, all volunteers, to install clean-water systems and continue their hepatitis B treatment program. Linton often visits the two Protestant churches and the one Catholic-heritage church in Pyongyang, but she does not proselytize or preach. Her team of volunteers works alongside Korean officials during every trip. Medical treatment decisions are jointly made, and Americans and Koreans install water-distribution lines together. Similarly, Franklin Graham–Billy and Ruth’s eldest son and the president of the aid organization Samaritan’s Purse–has sent 30 teams to North Korea over the past 20 years. One team was there in July at the request of the Korea-America Private Exchange Society, an official North Korean organization. It delivered five ambulances, purchased by Samaritan’s Purse, to pediatric hospitals. Both governments allow the presence of humanitarian workers “to the extent that it serves their own purposes,” says ambassador Robert King, the special envoy for North Korean human-rights issues during both of President Obama’s terms. “For the United States, there is a benefit politically. It sort of softens the image of the United States, it provides information
safety reasons, since roads can’t be closed down for the race. The new route, mapped out at www.wilkesbarretriathlon.com, is also designed to be challenging but scenic. One of the local businesses that benefits from the triathlon is the bike shops. “It helped ours a lot,” Chris Jacobs of Main Bike World said. “We did a lot of tune-ups this week on road bikes for people who are doing the triathlon.” The shop at Kingston Corners sells BMX, mountain and road bikes. This time of year, it also sells a lot of bike-related accessories as well, Jacobs said. David Kaplan, owner of Sickler’s Bike & Sport Shop, said the local triathlon group always comes in, and “Sometimes we get a few out-of-towners.” “We tune their bikes and fix things,” he said. “We also sponsor Kelly Ciravolo. She’s a Sichler’s rider.” Ciravolo, of Shavertown, is a seasoned triathlete who has competed around the country and took part in the ITU Grand Final Triathlon Beijing in China. Sickler’s, which has been around since 1933, has a store in Clarks Summit and Kaplan said he’s in the process of moving the other store from Exeter to a temporary home in the West Side Mall in Edwardsville until Kingston Village at the former Thomas’ Market complex on Wyoming Avenue is complete. Besides being good for business, Kaplan considers the triathlon a well-organized event that is good for the area. Jones said the triathlon has created a year-round demand at Around Town Bicycles. “They’re a good piece of our business,” he said of triathletes. Today the training is regimented and calculated; there is a lot more science behind it, and it has become far more technical in terms of the equipment the athletes use, Jones said. “In every way imaginable, technology plays a role,” he said. In the early 1980s, just before the running shoe revolution really exploded, runners usually wore canvas or padded nylon sneakers with rubber soles. Today, running shoes come in a mind-boggling array of colors, styles and materials. Racing swimsuits have evolved into Lycra Spandex wetsuits. Athletes sport gadgets like heart-rate monitors, GPS watches and tracking apps. But it’s the bicycling component of the triathlon where the technology has really taken off, according to Jones. Take something as simple as the biking shoes, which in the 1980s were commonly made of leather and wore out after a season or two, Jones said. Now cyclists can get far more lightweight shoes with carbon fiber soles and — goodbye, Velcro — quick-adjusting snap dial closures. The bikes themselves have come a long way from, say, a 38-pound Schwinn Varsity, which Jones describes as a “very classic, popular bike.” Instead of steel rims with tires that hold 75 pounds of pressure, wheels are now ultra-lightweight carbon fiber with tires that can hold 120 to 130 pounds of pressure. “So there’s far less rolling resistance with these,” Jones said. “They’re completely different.” The more lightweight 22-gear bike, with 11 gears in back and two in front, has outrun the old 10-speed bike, with five gears in back times two gears in front. And the GPS has replaced the cyclometer attached to the front wheel that Jones said “would just click away and turn the miles.” Some bikes even have electronic components, and Jones said his shop does software updates. Hydration systems that mean cyclists don’t have to take their hands off the handlebars and a better understanding of nutrition that has spawned the creation of energy bars, gels and powders, are also new developments. But there’s nothing like getting your carb fix with a good old-fashioned pizza, and since the swimming course of the triathlon still takes place at Harveys Lake, as it has since the beginning, Grotto Pizza is a favorite. “It’s a busy weekend for us every year, no question,” Grotto’s General Manager Armand Mascioli said. He said each year the Harveys Lake restaurant sees a big increase in customers, both triathlon participants and spectators. This year, the triathlon will coincide with another tradition at the lake: The Northeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society’s 24th annual boat show at Grotto Marina. The show, which is free to spectators and participants, usually attracts a good crowd. “So there’s a lot of activity at the lake and a lot of activity at Grotto,” Mascioli said. “It’s going to be a good combination of events for the lake.” Gensel said local businesses and organizations including service clubs and schools are very supportive of the triathlon. Businesses donate items and many of those along the route to Harveys Lake feature messages of encouragement on their signs. “It’s great. It makes the athletes feel welcomed, you know?” Gensel said. The triathlon is all volunteer — “Nobody gets paid,” she said — and each year from 900 to 1,000 people come out to do so. “The community really supports and backs it, which is great,” Gensel said. [email protected] 570-821-2072President Donald Trump vowed to "totally destroy the Johnson Amendment" at the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday. (Evan Vucci/AP) President Donald Trump vowed to remove the limits barring churches from making political endorsements, telling a gathering of religious leaders in Washington, D.C., on Thursday he would overturn the law that mandates that faith-based organizations restrict their political speech or risk losing their tax-exempt status. "Among those freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs," he said at the National Prayer Breakfast. "That is why I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and let our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution." "Freedom of religion is a sacred right, but it's also a right under threat all around us. And the world is under serious, serious threat in so many different ways," he added. The president's comments recalled a pledge he made on the campaign trail when trying to win the support of a skeptical evangelical community. In order to overturn the Johnson Amendment, the 1954 rule that prohibits nonprofit organizations from political campaigning, Trump would have to rely on Congress to pass a law changing the tax code. Tax reform is already at the top of congressional Republicans' list of priorities and, given that many are simultaneously in favor of granting more influence to religious organizations and lowering taxes, a proposal for the repeal of the Johnson Amendment would likely be welcomed. Trump's remarks to religious leaders also touched on the overnight dust-up after his calls to the president of Mexico and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia. The Washington Post reported that the latter call was ended abruptly by Trump, who tweeted that a deal between Turnbull and former President Barack Obama for the U.S. to accept some refugees from Australia was "dumb.". On Thursday morning, Trump said such tough talk was long overdue. "When you hear about the tough phone calls, don't worry," he said. "We're being taken advantage of by countries around the world. It's time for us to be a little tough. It's not going to happen anymore." And he again tweaked his "Apprentice" successor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, over the television ratings for the show. "We had tremendous success on 'The Apprentice.' When I ran for president, I had to leave the show. That's when I knew for sure I was doing it," he said. "They hired a big movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger to take my place, and we know how that turned out," he added. "The ratings went right down the tubes. It's been a total disaster." Schwarzenegger hit back, suggesting Trump might like his old gig back if he thought he could do it better. "Hey, Donald, I have a great idea," the "Celebrity Apprentice" host – and former California governor – said in a video posted to Twitter. "How about we switch jobs?" "You take over TV because you're such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job," he said. "Then people can finally sleep comfortably again."Rennie Scaysbrook | July 29, 2016 The Vitpilen 701 has long been anticipated, now we are starting to see what the bike will actually look like. The Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 and 401 has been spotted in testing in Europe, in what appears to be near-production format. The Vitpilen 701 caused a sensation when it was unveiled at the 2015 EICMA Show in Milan and uses the previous generation, 73hp KTM 690 Duke single-cylinder engine, main chassis and suspension and wheels, although the styling has been dramatically altered to create a futuristic café racer look. Compared the 690 Duke, the Vitpilen’s bars have been lowered, there’s a new, sharper seat section, and the slim-line tank help to alter the ergonomics substantially. There’s also a different headlight. The Vitpilen was unveiled alongside the Svartpilen, a scrambler-style motorcycle using the same componentry as the Vitpilen but with knobby tires, which should be debuting in production guise very soon. The smaller capacity Vitpilen 401 (above) has also been spied in testing and uses the KTM 390 Duke motor, main chassis, suspension and wheels, and you can expect to this in finished production form at the Intermot Show in Cologne, Germany, this October. Photography by BMH ImagesText Size: A- A+ The AAP MLA tweeted ‘results of a pre-poll survey’ that ABP said it had never done. ThePrint Reporter Alka Lamba, AAP MLA from Chandni Chowk, tweeted Thursday an image of what she said was an opinion poll ahead of the bypoll in the Delhi constituency of Bawana. The image claimed that the AAP candidate had a clear lead before the election. She deleted the tweet later. Here’s what the AAP MLA had tweeted. There was no such pre-poll survey conducted by ABP that is either on its website or on the channel’s social media platforms. This was confirmed by the channel’s managing editor on Twitter. In fact, the image Lamba tweeted seems to be a modified version of a survey conducted before the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year. ThePrint tried to speak to the AAP MLA for her version of events but was unable to get through to her. This report was done in partnership with SM Hoaxslayer Want to hear experts engage over the big issues of the day? We bring you Talk Point. Show Full ArticleIf you’re a message board guy/girl, you probably heard rumblings of this about a month ago. While there were no details then, they’re starting to trickle out. According to the Wall Street Journal, Syracuse’s former Media Director (he was fired last month) Roger Springfield has been arraigned on four charges of “unlawful surveillance”. From the WSJ: “Prosecutors say the charges stem from at least four secret videos the 57-year-old Springfield made between the spring of 2010 and last November. Authorities say the videos were made in the locker rooms of the football team and the men’s lacrosse and soccer teams.” SI’s Pete Thamel reported this morning that as of now, there is “no evidence of any sexual misbehavior”. Latest Syracuse scandal? Media coordinator making locker room “secret videos.” Lawyer says “no evidence of any sexual misbehavior.” — Pete Thamel(@SIPeteThamel) January 15, 2013 Update: On the contrary, apparently the DA is claiming the below, per WTVH’s Michael Benny: Disturbia. #Syracuse area DA says 100+ male @cuse athletes from soccer, lax & football teams recorded in showers – cameras at waist-level. — Michael Benny (@MichaelBenny) January 15, 2013 More as we learn it.Donald Trump said that he’d “love” to debate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, however, it won’t be free for the Vermont senator. The presumptive GOP nominee said it might take at least $10 million for the debate to occur. “I’d love to debate Bernie, actually, the problem with debating Bernie is he’s going to lose,” Trump said at press conference in Bismark, N.D. The prospect of debating Sanders originates with Hillary Clinton refusing to debate Sanders at a Fox News debate before the California primary. Sanders agreed to the debate, and Clinton had previously agreed to do another debate. Wednesday night on Jimmy Fallon, Trump said, “If [Bernie] paid a sum toward charity I would love to [debate].” Sanders than tweeted out, “Game On. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7th primary.” Trump on Thursday continued to say that Sanders would have to agree to donate money to charity to debate, he said this is because he is in “first place.” “I’d say something over $10 million,” Trump replied when asked how much Sanders would have to pay. “I love debating,” Trump added.Emmanuel Macron's ex-teacher wife Brigitte is anticipated to play a key role in the centrist's new government. Mirroring a Michelle Obama approach to her first lady role, Brigitte Trogneux, 64, who is more than 24 years older than her husband, is reportedly keen to become involved in issues such as education. With two decades more life experience than her husband and as the ex-teacher who has shaped his character since the age of 15, the grandmother of eight is expected to play an active role in the new government. Pictured: French President elect Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Trogneux celebrate on the stage at his victory rally putside the Louvre in Paris Pictured: Emmanuel Macron supporters celebrate outside the Louvre Museum in Paris as he is set to become France's youngest ever president 'Brigitte's main interest is education reform and she will concentrate on work for autistic and disadvantaged kids, out of the political firing line,' Candice Nedelec, co-author of a biography of the couple, told The Sunday Times. When Mr Macron, 39, worked as finance minister under Francois Hollande, Mrs Trogneux was the person who oversaw her husband's diary and this role continued once he created En Marche!. She is also said to correct his speeches and act as an intermediary. But once the Macrons move into the Elysee Palace, Mrs Trogneux who once said she would have preferred that her husband had gone on to become an author rather than work in politics, will reportedly have more on her plate including tasks, staff and a budget – but no salary. By not paying his wife, Mr Macron could be trying to distance himself from the 'Penelopegate' scandal which heavily contributed to republican candidate Francois Fillon being wiped out of the election race. Mr Fillon sensationally fell from grace when a French newspaper reported that he had paid his British wife Penelope hundreds of thousands for a job she never carried out. The Macrons yesterday voted at the Le Touquet town hall, the place they had married 10 years before. Mrs Trogneux is said to be interested in playing a role in education reform in her husband's new government. Left, blowing a kiss to supporters and right, on a walk with Mr Macron Emmanuel Macron's ex-teacher wife Brigitte is anticipated to play a key role in the centrist's new government (both pictured) The unconventional romance started after the pair met when Mr Macron starred in one of Mrs Trogneux's plays at Jesuit school Lycee La Providence in Amiens, northern France. Mr Macron shared a classroom at a Catholic school with one of Mrs Trogneux's two daughters Laurence – who is also 39. Journalist Anne Fulda, who interviewed Macron, his wife and both of his parents for a book about the politician, said they had been shocked to discover their teenage son, rather than pursuing her daughter, was pursuing Trogneux herself. The pair also went on to re-write a play together, which they later admitted was the period when they fell in love. At the time, Mr Macron was just 16. In an interview with Fulda, Mr Macron said: 'You know, the day we wrote that piece together, I had the impression I was working with Mozart.' Speaking to French magazine Paris Match, she said: 'I could feel I was falling, he was too...', before adding: 'At 17, Emmanuel told me: 'Whatever you do, I will marry you!' Love took everything in its passage and lead me to divorce. It was impossible to resist him.' Pictured: The Macrons vote at the Le Touquet town hall, the place they had married 10 years before The Macrons' unconventional romance started after the pair met when Mr Macron starred in one of Mrs Trogneux's plays at Jesuit school Lycee La Providence in Amiens, northern France. Pictured, the pair together when Mr Macron was 15 years old in 1993 Ms Trogneux a mother-of-three, from a renowned bourgeois family in the town of Amiens, later left her banker husband Andre-Louis Auziere for her pupil - who had been in the same class as her daughter Laurence. Two decades on, she is a crucial calming influence behind the former investment banker. 'Every night we debrief together and we repeat what we have heard about each other,' she told Paris Match. 'I have to pay attention to everything, do the maximum to protect him.' Ms Trogneux ensures he has 'downtime' slots in his schedule, and also encourages Mr Macron to network with France's society crowd. Mrs Trogneux is said to be a crucial calming influence behind her politician husband According to radio network France Info, on Ms Trogneux's initiative, the couple have dined with French artists and comedians in a bid to gain popularity amongst the 'luvvie' set. After the first round of the elections last month, Mr Macron was accused of acting as though he had 'already won' after he held a 'bling bling' dinner at Brasserie La Rotonde near his headquarters. The event was attended by comedians, actors and singers. Last night, Mr Macron's former teacher Christian Monjou, 67, said the former economy minister should be mindful of not looking like a'mummy's boy'. Describing one picture of the couple, which showed Ms Trogneux standing behind her husband, Mr Monjou, who taught the politician for three years, said: 'I think that picture was a little detrimental to his campaign because it tended to suggest that he was under the influence of somebody else. Mrs Trogneux has shaped her husband's character since he was 15 and encourages him to network with France's society crowd 'In particular, of a mother-like figure and for a president of the republic, this was a little bit dangerous in terms of suggesting that he was not entirely autonomous. There is undoubtedly influence there but it is probably also a stabilising and comforting influence and that's very positive.' Mr Monjou said of the fact that Mr Macron brought his wife on stage during his speech after winning the first round: 'When he asked her to come on stage some people were annoyed with that… A friend of mine wrote to me and said: 'We are not electing the first lady, we are electing the president'. Mr Monjou, who is in regular contact with his former pupil, said he had warned him of appearing too under his wife's influence. He said: 'For me, I have told him, we are not electing the first lady, we are electing the president. He must not appear to be a'mummy's boy', there's a slight danger there...He never replies on that subject.' The retired teacher added that he did not think Mr Macron would allow his wife to play too central a role in the government. He said: 'I think he is possibly conscious of the danger there, I think he would understand there would be a risk, I think he would be conscious not to give into that vulnerability. Some people might pounce on that.' How Macron's parents warned his teacher, 39, to end affair with their then 16-year-old son - but the married mother of three refused By Andrew Malone and Emily Kent Smith for Daily Mail On the first night of a play at an exclusive French Catholic school in Amiens, there was one obvious star. He was Emmanuel Macron, the son of two respected local doctors, and the 16-year-old was adored by staff for his work and intelligence. One teacher beaming with admiration that night was a glamorous 39-year-old called Brigitte Auziere. Married with three children, she taught at Lycee La Providence, 90 miles north of Paris, where pupils can expect the finest pastoral care. The teacher and her pupil had collaborated on the play — the Art Of Comedy, by the Italian writer Eduardo De Filippo — every Friday night for months at the school, adapting it for all the students who wanted parts. They would work on the script late into the night. Neither had far to go home — the teacher to a house she shared nearby with her banker husband and children, while the pupil walked the short distance to his parents' home in an affluent part of Amiens. Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte (pictured) addressed his adoring supporters outside the Louvre in central Paris last night just hours after he was elected the youngest French president Mr Macron shared a classroom at a Catholic school with one of Mrs Trogneux's two daughters Laurence Auziere-Jourdan – who is also 39. Laurence is pictured leaving the campaign headquarters of Mr Macron last night It was only when the play was finally staged, in front of proud parents and family, that a glimpse emerged of what was the start of a love affair between Emmanuel and Brigitte. For, as the audience clapped before the curtain came down, Emmanuel took a bow and kissed the watching Madame Auziere on each cheek as she smiled with obvious delight. 'Every Friday I went to write a play with her for several hours,' the schoolboy later revealed. 'We spoke about everything. And I discovered we had always known one another.' As for Brigitte, whose eldest daughter Laurence — incredibly — was in the same class as Emmanuel, she was captivated by his 'exceptional intelligence'. She felt he was so gifted that it was as though 'I was working with Mozart'. She even quizzed her daughter about her classmate, who told her he was bookish but engaging and charming, a man who 'knows everything' and seemed much older than his years. The first sign other pupils had that the relationship was more than academic came during the play's closing party at a local restaurant, with one contemporary watching as the pair shared what he described, cryptically, as a 'tender moment'. Almost 24 years later, this unlikely romance has made global headlines when pupil and teacher, now husband and wife, celebrated victory in the French presidential elections. French president-elect Emmanuel Macron (left) celebrates with his wife Brigitte Trogneux (third from right), her granddaughter (four from right), Brigitte's daughter Tiphaine Auziere (scecond from right) and Tiphaine's husband Antoine Choteau (right) on stage at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris last night After Macron's first round victory in April, he and Brigitte headed for the historic La Rotonde restaurant, where they celebrated until the early hours. There, the oddity of his family was evident as the 39-year-old and his wife, now 64, hosted a party for close supporters, with champagne and oysters served on ice. With them under the Art Deco chandeliers were Brigitte's three children, one of whom, son Sebastien, is two years older than his stepfather. Intriguingly, also present at the party was Macron's mother, Francoise, 67, who is only three years older than her daughter-in-law, and who was, understandably, bitterly opposed to her son's relationship with his teacher at the start. Indeed, the prospect of such a close gathering seemed unlikely when the schoolboy and his teacher began their unconventional romance. Local gossip about the 'close friendship' between Emmanuel and the teacher had spread after they were spotted walking home from school together after working on the play. Brigitte was always quick to praise Emmanuel. 'She was captivated by his writing talents,' one friend said. 'He wrote poems and she read them out in front of everyone.' Macron's parents — a neurologist and a paediatrician — were not happy on hearing these rumours. Hoping it was just a passing teenage obsession, they decided to bide their time. But their suspicions intensified when Emmanuel told them he was going to see a friend in Amiens — only for them to discover he had spent time with Mme Auziere again. They hoped he would start a relationship with a girl of their acquaintance who was his own age, whose parents were also doctors and friends with the Macrons, and even invited her over to the family home, where Emmanuel lived with his younger brother and sister. 'I told myself it would pass,' his father Jean-Michel Macron told the respected journalist Anne Fulda, who has just published an explosive new French book about the affair — Emmanuel Macron: Such A Perfect Young Man. 'Emmanuel did, after all, have studies to finish — to not ruin everything.' But he showed no interest in the girl to whom they had introduced him, or in any of his teenage contemporaries. Brigitte Trogneux, alongside her daughter Tiphaine Auziere, listens to her husband Emmanuel Macron during a campaign speech in January Soon afterwards, Emannuel's mother raised with her son the delicate issue of his relationship, concerned that he would never be able to have children due to the age gap. 'We couldn't believe it,' she told one interviewer. 'What is clear is that when Emmanuel met Brigitte we couldn't just say: "That's great." ' According to the new book, Macron's parents decided to confront Brigitte and tell her to end the affair — or at least wait until their son was 18. At this uncomfortable meeting in Amiens, Francoise told Brigitte: 'You already have your life, [but] he won't have children.' In tears, the teacher — the youngest daughter of a wealthy, respected family of chocolatiers and confectioners — sobbed that she 'could not promise anything'. At their wits' end, and concerned that the relationship would ruin his schooling, Emmanuel's parents took drastic action — and effectively sent their son away to keep he and Brigitte apart. The boy's father telephoned the headmistress of a prestigious school in Paris called the Henry IV, and explained that he had a matter of great sensitivity to discuss, which would require absolute discretion. According to sources at the school, the headmistress agreed that Emmanuel could finish his schooling there and prepare for university in Paris, where he was to live in a flat owned by his family. At the same time, Mr and Mrs Macron decided not to complain to the police about the teacher's relationship with their son. The age of consent is 15, but 18 for those involved with teachers or carers. In making this decision they were perhaps mindful of the story of an infamous affair between a teacher and her pupil. Surprisingly, Macron is on good terms with his'step-children', including Laurence Auziere-Jourdan (left next to her mother), the girl with whom he shared a class. Brigitte's other daughter Tiphaine (right), 30, now works as a campaign manager for Macron Gabrielle Russier, 32, a professor of literature, was jailed in December 1968 for one year after she began an affair with a 16-year-old pupil called Christian Rossi, and Mr Rossi's parents went to the police when they found out about the relationship. In 1969, out of jail and awaiting further legal proceedings, Mrs Russier gassed herself. 'We loved each other,' a tearful Mr Rossi said. 'They put her in prison, she killed herself. Passion isn't lucid.' Yet the schemes of Emmanuel Macron's parents were to end in failure — and the romance continued after the teenager moved to Paris. He would take the 90-minute train home to Amiens each weekend, and tried to arrange secretly to meet Brigitte when she wasn't looking after her three young children. Andre-Louis Auziere, Brigitte's husband, worked long hours for an international French bank. Brigitte and Emmanuel would meet at one of her wealthy family's homes, and the two were once discovered chatting round a swimming pool by Brigitte's brother. Emmanuel's new friends soon heard that he had been involved in a'scandal'. Cecile Falcon, 39, studied with him in Paris. 'I knew [about the affair] from when he moved to Paris,' she told the Mail. 'We knew he was with his teacher but we didn't know where [the school was], her age, her name. He was very discreet.' Emmanuel's troubles were nothing compared to those of Brigitte. The indulged youngest of six, she was born in 1953 into the Trogneux family, who for six generations had run their confectionery business in northern France. They made their fortune selling macaroons; sweet treats made from almonds, honey and egg whites. Her father was a pillar of respectability, a regular churchgoer and a member of the local rotary club. Young Brigitte was a fun-loving, artistic child, who privately dreaded the thought of working in the family firm and spending her life selling macaroons. Instead, she loved literature and the arts. The president-elect celebrated with his wife Brigitte (third from right) and her granddaughter (pictured receiving a kiss from Macron) on stage after he convincingly defeated far-right Marine Le Pen in the tense election During a trip to the seaside town of Le Touquet, where her family had a holiday home, she met an exotic man called Andre-Louis Auziere, who was born in Cameroon, the French colony in west Africa, where his father worked as a diplomat. He had returned to France to study and had started what would prove a successful career in banking, which would later see him hold senior executive positions. At 23, he was two years older than Brigitte, who was still a student. Brigitte, 21, and Andre married in the local town hall in 1974, the same year that Emmanuel's parents were married, and by the time she was 26 she had three young children. She wanted for nothing financially. By all accounts, family life was pleasant enough. In 1984, the couple moved with their children from Amiens to Strasbourg, when Andre got a promotion. They returned to Amiens in 1991, when, with the children now at school, Brigitte began teaching at La Providence. By the time Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron had become emotionally entangled, and he had been dispatched to Paris, attempts to keep the news of the friendship quiet had proven impossible. According to one account, Brigitte's elder brother, who had taken over the family business after their father died, furiously warned her off. What her husband made of this is not clear: to this day, he has never spoken about the events that tore his family apart. All that is known is that Brigitte and Andre were formally divorced in 2006. Sylvie Bommel, a French journalist who has carried out investigations into the Macrons, says that Brigitte's former husband was so scarred by the break-up that he did not even attend his mother's funeral in case his ex-wife came. 'He's a man who no longer wants to be found after what happened,' she told me. 'It must have been a real shock to see your wife leave for someone very young.' Brigitte moved to Paris before the divorce was finalised, where she took up a teaching position at another Catholic school, meaning she could be closer to Macron. 'I think Brigitte left to escape the gossip,' said one former colleague. 'Both Macron and Brigitte leaving was the best solution. There were jubilant scenes in Paris last night as it emerged that Emmanuel Macron had won a resounding victory over Le Pen By the time their son was 18, Emmanuel's mother and father had given up trying to persuade him to find someone his age. Indeed, less than 21 months after her divorce was granted, Brigitte wore a short white dress to wed for a second time at the same town hall in Le Touquet where she married her first husband. She was 54; her groom, 29. After their wedding in 2007, the couple — who call each other by the pet names 'Manu' and 'Bibi' — now live in Paris. After a career as a banker and an economic minister, Macron announced his intention only last year to stand as a candidate in the elections. Surprisingly, Macron is on good terms with his'step-children', including Laurence, the girl with whom he shared a class. Even more galling for ex-husband Andre-Louis Auziere, his younger daughter Tiphaine, 30, now works as a campaign manager for Macron. She says 'they get on so beautifully their age difference has never caused me a problem'. So will any of this peculiarly French affair damage the man described as the country's equivalent of Tony Blair? There has always been a laissez-faire approach here to the sexual antics of politicians. Francois Hollande was separated from his partner, Valerie Trierweiler, after being caught having an affair with an actress 18 years his junior, while his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy famously ditched his wife to marry model-turned-singer Carla Bruni. Emmanuel Macron's English teacher from his school in Paris, Christian Monjou, who remains a mentor, believes his decision to continue the relationship with Brigitte made him the man he is today. 'He wanted to prove to his parents that he had made the right choices,' he told the Mail. 'And he's now proving to his wife that she made the correct decision to leave her husband.' But M. Monjou warned that Emmanuel must not appear to voters as a'mummy's boy'; after his victory speech he invited Brigitte on stage, only for someone to say: 'You would have never seen [Charles] de Gaulle do that.' Certainly, Macron has no regrets about his teenaged coup de foudre. In a social media exchange with voters this week, he was asked by a student for his advice after 'falling for my criminal law teacher'. With a smug smile, Macron responded: 'You need to know if it is mutual. If that is the case, go for it! No taboos!' Time will soon tell if the people of France agree.As expected, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has submitted his resignation, concluding 50 years of government service. CNN reports that Clapper sent his resignation letter on Wednesday evening, and then told the House Select Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning that it “felt pretty good” to do so. “I have 64 days left and I’d have a pretty hard time with my wife going past that,” Clapper added. Analysts popped up all over mediaspace to claim Clapper was “sending a signal to the Trump administration that they must now speed up the transition” (as the BBC put it), even though he is a 75-year-old man who explicitly stated he has been working in government for 50 years and his wife wants him to wrap up the extremely stressful job he has held for six years, none of his four predecessors lasted longer than a year, he has been talking about resigning at the end of the Obama presidency for the past year, and such resignations are a standard feature of presidential transitions. Politico notes that Clapper told the House Intelligence Committee about his resignation on Thursday morning because the ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, joked about hearing rumors that Clapper planned to stay on through the end of President Trump’s first term. Coincidentally, Wired just published a lengthy interview with Clapper that covered his thoughts on the morality of espionage in general, and Internet surveillance post-Snowden in particular. A key excerpt: Clapper says he has never doubted the morality of his profession. The job of the intelligence community is, in his view, honorably straightforward: to provide policy­makers with objective analysis derived from intelligence gathered through legally authorized methods. It’s the battlefield that’s confusing and dystopian. From Clapper’s standpoint, the country is locked in a seemingly constant state of war against a protean and often faceless set of enemies, at a time when a single employee can walk out with a thumb drive containing decades’ worth of secrets. It’s enough to make him nostalgic for the comparatively uncomplicated era of nuclear détente. “Sometimes I long for the halcyon days of the cold war,” he tells me. “We had a single adversary and we understood it.” In a recent roundup of possible Trump Administration appointments, CNN listed former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, retired Lt. General Joseph Kellogg, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Rep. Mike Rogers as likely candidates to succeed Clapper.Special Report: Rifles and rights After recent mass shootings gun control advocates have been pushing for a ban on assault weapons. Share Shares Copy Link Copy Hide Transcript Show Transcript WEBVTT ROSS ADAMS TAKES A LOOKAT RIFLES AND GUN RIGHTS.[GUNSHOTS]ROSS: THREE DIFFERENT GUNS.[GUNSHOTS]THAT PACK A LOT OF FIRE POWER.THE AR-15, THE SIG SAUER, ANDTHE WINCHESTER SHOTGUN.>> JUST THE WAY IT IS DESIGNED,IT WILL BE MORE ACCURATE THAN ATTHE AR-15.ROSS: WE WENT TO FIND OUT HOWLONG TAKES TO FIRE 30 ROUNDSFROM AN AR-15.GUN EXPERT CLYDE MORGAN FIREDOFF 30 SHOTS, IN 14 SECONDS.BUT MORGAN SAYS THE AR-15 ISSTILL NOT AS LETHAL AS ATRADITIONAL SHOTGUN.>> YOU JUST SAW WHAT AN AR-15WOULD DO.NOW LET'S SEE WHAT A119-YEAR-OLD SHOTGUN WOULD DO.[GUNSHOTS]ROSS: IT TOOK ABOUT EIGHTSECONDS TO SHOOT SIX SHELLS FROMHIS WINCHESTER SHOTGUN.MORGAN SAYS THAT SHOTGUN COULDDO MUCH MORE DAMAGE THAN THEAR-15.>> I THOUGHT -- I SHOT SIXROUNDS
. CIXIN LIU: As a longtime scifi fan—I’m probably among China’s first generation of scifi enthusiasts—I’ve always believed in the existence of a large number of intelligent species and civilizations in the universe. If some of these civilizations discovered each other and could communicate with each other, they would form a cosmic society of civilizations. I’ve always wondered about the form of such a cosmic society and the kinds of relationships between its members. In Chinese science fiction, extraterrestrial civilizations were usually imagined as benevolent and wonderful. This set off the contrarian in me, and I decided to imagine a worst-case scenario. The only reference point we have in the study of cosmic society is human society. There are many different civilizations on Earth itself, each with its own internal complexities and relating to each other in complicated ways. Politics, economics, culture … feed into each other in an intractable knot. It’s very difficult to come to any clear conclusions about cosmic society based on this example. But a soccer match inspired me. It was the first big-stadium match I’d ever been to: a game between the Chinese national team and UC Sampdoria of Italy at the Beijing Workers Stadium. I had just started my job back then, and all I could afford was one of the cheap nosebleed seats all the way in the last row. From that distance, the complicated technical moves the players made on the pitch were filtered away, leaving behind only a shifting matrix of 23 dots—one of the flitting dots being the soccer ball. Even the brightest star of the match, Ruud Gullit, was just another roving spot in my eyes. I regretted not bringing binoculars with me, but I also realized that the elimination of details revealed the clear mathematical structure of the game. This is just like the stars, I realized. Interstellar distances hid and made inaccessible the internal complexities of each civilization. In the eyes of observers like us, extraterrestrial civilizations appear as only points of light. The complicated internal structures and forces within each civilization are reduced to a limited set of variables and parameters associated with each dot. This also revealed a clear mathematical structure for cosmic society. I came up with a set of axioms as the foundation of this approach to cosmic sociology: Survival is the primary need of civilization. Civilization continuously grows and expands, but the total matter in the universe remains constant. Axiom number one should be self-evident, but the second half of axiom number two has not yet been proven by cosmologists. However, as a premise for a science fiction novel, I thought it was logically sound. I also came up with three conjectures based on the facts as we know them: First: barriers to communication. It is very difficult for civilizations to communicate with each other and to understand each other across the universe. This is due to 1) the insurmountable time delay imposed on all communications across interstellar distances (at least based on known physical laws); and 2) the vast biological differences between the two sides in any attempt at communications. On Earth, biological organisms are classified into domains, kingdoms, phyla, classes, orders, families, genera, species—the higher you go in the hierarchy, the larger the differences between taxa in the same rank. Humans cannot communicate effectively even with animals in another genus. At the cosmic level, if one takes into account the possibility of non-carbon-based life forms, the differences between them and humans may be greater even than the differences between domains on Earth. Second: technological explosion. It took humans about a hundred thousand years to advance from stone tools to the age of agriculture, but only two hundred years to go from the steam age to the information age. Explosive advances in technology could occur at any moment in any civilization in the universe. Thus, even a primitive civilization that appears as harmless as a baby or a sprout is full of potential danger. Third: detection reversibility. This concept is based on the Principle of Reversibility in optics. If one civilization can detect the existence of another in the universe, sooner or later, the second civilization can also detect the existence of the first. Based on these axioms and conjectures, one can deduce a possible shape for cosmic society, and it is indeed a worst-case scenario, which sits at the foundation of my Three-Body series. The details of the deduction process is set out in the second book in the series, The Dark Forest, and as the title hints, the universe is a dark place where only one kind of relationship is possible between different worlds: as soon as one civilization has detected another, it must do all it can to destroy it. This has nothing to do with the moral conditions of the civilizations involved—as long as one accepts the two axioms, all civilizations must behave in this manner. Chinese readers dubbed this conclusion “The Dark Forest Hypothesis.” This is also an answer for the Fermi Paradox, a very dark answer. If any civilization exposed itself in the universe, it would soon be destroyed. This is why the universe is so silent. Of course, this is just a possibility explored in fiction. Faced with the eerie silence of the universe, right now we have no way to prove or disprove this hypothesis. There is something to the old saw about science fiction being the literature of possibilities. It presents various possibilities for the reader, and sometimes the possibilities that exert the most attraction are also the least likely. But in this wondrous universe, anything that seems impossible also has the potential to be reality. As G.R. Burbidge once said, “If stars did not exist, it would be easy to prove that this is what we expect.” At the very least, it would be irresponsible to not consider the worst of all possible worlds as one possibility for the reality of our universe. —- The Three-Body Problem: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s Read an excerpt. Visit Tor.com’s collection of material on the book, including commentary and further excerpts. Translator Ken Liu’s Twitter feed is here.The kit lens. Usually known as the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. Practically everyone uses one, or used to. It’s the lens many of us got our start with, and it’s kind of hard not to own one when they’re bundled with entry-level DSLRs practically for free. For me, the 18-105mm kit lens Nikon bundled with the D90 was where it all started. It wasn’t until late my first semester of college that I picked up a used and beaten-up (but still astonishingly potent, to me) Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 on eBay. Anyways, back to kit lenses. There’s a reason that specific lens, the 18-55mm, is the one that Nikon, Canon and everyone else bundles with their cameras: it can do a ton of stuff at a rock-bottom price. Sweeping landscapes stopped-down at 18mm. Pleasant portraits wide-open at 55mm. And everything else in between. Unfortunately, the tradeoff that comes with this flexibility is not being particularly stellar at anything. And low-light photography is one of the biggest weaknesses of a kit lens, if not its very kryptonite. That’s mainly down to its tiny aperture: A larger aperture lets in more light, leading to better overall low-light performance, but f/3.5-5.6 is practically the smallest aperture range you can find in a modern lens. Fortunately, if you know how to make good use of it, you can still get a lot out of a kit lens in low light conditions. Since plenty of photo enthusiasts own just a DSLR + kit lens, and no tripod, here’s our tips for shooting at night handheld with a kit lens, plus the secret weapon your kit lens already has for the task! 1. Keep the Aperture Wide Open To start, you’ll want to use Aperture Priority (labeled A or Av) or Manual (labeled M) mode on your DSLR. Never used those modes before? Now’s as good a time as any. I’ll have more info on how exactly to use those modes later on down the page. Zoom your lens to 18mm, or whatever its widest setting is. Then set your aperture to f/3.5, or however large it’ll go (a smaller number corresponds to a larger aperture). With your aperture set as large as possible, you’re taking in as much light as your lens can. For night photography with a kit lens, there’s no reason to not be at max aperture. Three typical reasons to reduce your aperture are (1) to be able to use a slower shutter speed, (2) to get a longer depth-of-field, or (3) for improved sharpness. But in low light you’ll be struggling to maintain a fast-enough shutter speed even at large apertures, and with the small max apertures that kit lenses have, you’re unlikely to need greater depth-of-field and any additional sharpness you’d gain is minimal. Just leave it at f/3.5. 2. Avoid Zooming: Zoom With Your Feet Yes, this advice defeats the purpose of owning a zoom lens. But there’s a time and place for everything, and low light is not the time for zooming. Zooming a kit lens in low light hurts you in two ways at once: you’ll be forced to both (1) use a smaller aperture, and (2) use a faster shutter speed. Kit lens are variable aperture. That means the size of the aperture decreases as you zoom in: f/3.5 at 18mm, but only f/5.6 at 55mm. In other words, the lens can take in less than half as much light when zoomed to 55mm, as it can at 18mm. Something you definitely don’t want when available light is already low. As an example, Imaging Resource’s review of the Nikon kit lens includes a table illustrating how its aperture gradually decreases as you zoom in. Manufacturers make variable aperture zoom lenses because they’re easier to design and cheaper to manufacture than constant aperture ones. Not only are you unwittingly lowering your max aperture when you zoom, but you’re also forcing yourself into using faster shutter speeds to reduce blur. The relationship between focal length and shutter speed is commonly described as the 1/Focal Length Rule. Basically, it says that the fastest shutter speed you can use at a given focal length is the reciprocal of it. So at 20mm, you can do 1/20”. But at 40mm, you can only do 1/40”—taking in half as much light. The rule isn’t as relevant anymore with the introduction of digital photography, but the general principle—that there’s a direct link between slowest shutter speed and focal length—remains intact. Keep your focal length low, and you’ll be able to use the slow shutter speeds you need to take in enough light. Overall, zooming your kit lens is practically self-sabotage. Zoom with your feet instead. 3. Slow Shutter, Several Shots Possibly the single biggest benefit of digital over film is that you can take practically unlimited photos: a decent memory card holds thousands, while a roll of 35mm film holds just 24-27. How do you use that to your advantage in low light? Set a slower shutter speed than you normally would’ve been able to, yet still get a blur-free image, by shooting multiple copies of each photo and picking out the best one. Blur is random—it’s caused by tiny movements that you can’t control or even notice—so if you take the same photo several times, one’s bound to be sharp just out of pure luck. Set your camera to shoot bursts and you can take as many photos as you want with one long shutter press, which makes using this method very convenient. Personally, I know that I can take a steady photo at 1/30” at 24mm; that’s the lowest I’ll go if I can only take the photo once. But if I can take multiple shots, I know that with a shutter speed of 1/8”, usually one out of five of my shots will be sharp. This will be different for everyone depending on how naturally steady they are, so it’d be wise to experiment at home and find out what your personal shutter speed thresholds are. Additionally, by improving how you hold your camera you can get better results. Speaking of steadiness, this is the secret weapon built into most kit lenses that was alluded to earlier—they practically all have optical image stabilization systems. These systems are a godsend in low light because they let you use shutter speeds ~4-10 times slower than you would’ve been able to otherwise. While they’re becoming more and more common, a lot of older zoom lenses and most prime lenses don’t have them, which means that an 18-55mm kit lens is actually a better lens to use in low light (assuming you’re not shooting moving subjects) than an old 28-70mm f/2.8 “fast zoom” lens, or say, a 35mm f/2 prime lens, even though both of those would traditionally be considered low light lenses due to their large, “fast” aperture (fast because a large aperture lets you use faster shutter speeds). Anyways, forget the old 1/focal length rule and let the stabilizer work its magic by using extra-slow shutter speeds; you can go a lot slower than 1/focal length with a stabilized lens. And as mentioned earlier, do some experimentation at home to find out exactly how low you can go. 4. Be Stingy with the ISO The last few tips were all about getting the largest aperture and slowest shutter speed you could, both to take in as much light as possible. Well, all that optimizing of shutter speed and aperture leads to this: ISO. ISO is like a volume dial for the image sensor, and just as microphones pick up more noise when you turn up the volume, an image sensor gets noisier when you turn up the ISO. You should aim for your ISO to be as low as possible to prevent noise from tarnishing your night photos. Fortunately, modern image sensors are incredibly good with noise control, so this task has never been easier. With recent entry-level and midrange DSLR sensors, you can go up to the low-thousands and still maintain acceptable levels of noise, although less noise is always better: even if the resulting image looks good as-is, lower noise will give you more leeway to edit your image without it turning into a grainy mess later. The following illustration is heavily exaggerated, as noise reduction was completely turned off and the images were deliberately underexposed (underexposing brings out noise, because shadow noise is the most noticeable). But it should make it pretty clear that noise is to be avoided. In general, you should set your ISO to the lowest level that lets you maintain a sufficiently high shutter speed. For example, if my camera’s at ISO 100 and the autoexposure system (the exposure meter) says my shutter speed should be 2”, I’d bump the ISO up to 1600 to get a 1/8” shutter speed, which as mentioned earlier is the slowest I’m comfortable doing a multi-shot burst with. Then, when I move to a brighter or darker scene, I’d lower or raise my ISO accordingly to do 1/8” again. However, if a scene is bright enough that I could set the ISO under 1000 and still do 1/8”, I’d consider raising my shutter speed instead to raise the certainty of a sharp image—there’s not much noise below 1000 so it’s a worthwhile tradeoff. This ISO/shutter speed balancing act can be tedious, having to precisely readjust for every new photo, but can make a big difference in the end result. Fortunately, Nikon and Canon DSLRs have useful Auto ISO settings, where you can set your own minimum shutter speed and the camera will adjust ISO to hit that shutter speed. This is a good route to go if you’re not shooting in Manual. 5. Autofocus on Easy Targets Now that you’re an expert at optimizing exposure settings for night photography, here’s a tip about autofocus. Autofocus sensors can have a hard time locking focus at night, which makes sense because if there isn’t any light hitting a focus point, it can’t see anything to focus on. So focus on areas of light for the most accurate autofocus. Here’s an example scene: In this shot, if your camera initially fails at focusing, your best option would be to have it focus on the edge of a streetlamp (1). It’s almost certain to lock focus there. But if there aren’t streetlamps in your shot, the next thing you could try is indirect lighting, like a lit window (2). Finally, if there isn’t any lighting at all, find an area of sharp contrast to focus on, like the edge of a street sign or building (3). To hit a desirable focusing object, you may need to focus and recompose. In other words, point your camera so that the object you want to focus on is over a focus point, press the shutter release halfway to get your camera to focus, then point your camera back to your picture and release the shutter (this process might be slightly different depending on how you’ve set up your camera). Of course, the desirable focusing object needs to be a similar distance away from you as the area you actually want to be in focus. 6. Don’t Hesitate To Go Manual To wrap things up, nighttime is a challenging environment for cameras, and even though they’re trying their hardest, they might not always get it right. Sometimes they’ll just flat-out fail to lock focus in a dark scene, or sometimes harsh, direct lighting will leave the exposure meter hopelessly off. So don’t be afraid to go manual! Spending time in manual mode can be frustrating at first, but getting the hang of it will change how you approach photography. Having to think about things that you normally don’t consider, like the intricacies of precision focus and depth-of-field, causes you to understand them more completely. Hope this helps! If you take a cool picture with a kit lens using something you learned here, share it with us! (Note: The cover photo for this article was taken with a Panasonic GX8 and Panasonic 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 lens set at 12mm, f/3.5, 1/8sec, ISO 800 (so following all the rules set out in this article 🙂 ) during the same outing all the sample photos within the article are from.)Alexei Ramirez is having one of his best seasons for the Chicago White Sox at age thirty-two. His offensive production and defensive reliability are about to earn him his first trip to the All-Star game this month. He is beloved by the city of Chicago and respected by his peers. Despite all of that, “The Missile” may find himself wearing a new uniform in July or August. With the White Sox currently sitting more than a hope and a prayer away from sniffing the last wild card spot, there are very few commodities that the organization is willing to label as “untouchable.” This assertion is backed by a recent article on Deadspin.com, by Barry Petchesky, that details the wikileaks-style dump of organizational information gleaned from the Houston Astros’ online interface known as “Ground Control.” According to the leaked information, White Sox GM, Rick Hahn, made it clear back in October, 2013, that the only players Chicago would not consider including in trade discussions were Jose Abreu, Chris Sale, Avisail Garcia, and Jose Quintana. Given the current state of affairs, that premise likely has not changed. For a contender already in the playoff mix, having control of Ramirez for 2015 and 2016, with the option of a buyout, could prove attractive. The lack of untouchable assets in the White Sox organization, coupled with Hahn’s desire to continue rebuilding the team with talented young prospects, should make it no surprise to many fans when the Sox announce a trade for the Cuban shortstop. As sad as I would be to see Alexei go, I would not be sad to see the Sox free up his 2015 salary, as he is set to collect ten million dollars in the last year of his contract according to Baseball-Reference.com. After 2015, his employer would have a club option for 2016, either paying Alexei another ten million dollars or buying him out for a cool million. For the rebuilding Sox, that extra money will come in handy when holes need to be filled in 2015 or 2016. For a contender already in the playoff mix, having control of Ramirez for 2015 and 2016, with the option of a buyout, could prove attractive. If I was a betting man, the team I feel would be most attracted to Ramirez is the Pittsburgh Pirates. So far this season, the Bucs have been relying on second year shortstop, Jordy Mercer, but have not benefited from the offensive capabilities he displayed last year. Mercer had a nice rookie season in 2013, hitting.285 with a.771 OPS, according to SI.com. However, he is currently mired in a sophomore slump. His 2014 average has dropped to.221 with an OPS hovering just above.600. Alexei’s thirty-nine RBI and.756 OPS would be a major upgrade to Pittsburgh’s lineup. The Pirates may also be looking for more than just a solid bat in Ramirez. Mercer has essentially been a non-factor on the base paths, stealing a total of four bases in the last two seasons in seven attempts. Conversely, Ramirez is having one of his better seasons in that department. “The Missile” has quietly amassed thirteen stolen bases this season, being caught only three times. Add in the fact that he stole thirty bases in 2013, and it’s clear to see that the elder Ramirez gives the Bucs an edge on the base paths compared to Mercer. The Pirates currently have a variety of good outfield prospects in their farm system, some with speed and some with power. After abysmal first-half performances by some members of the White Sox bullpen and back half of the starting rotation, however, I would not be opposed to Mr. Hahn trying to pry away a pitching prospect such as Nick Kingham, currently pitching for Triple-A Indianapolis. MLB.com pegs him as a middle of the rotation starter with an above average fastball, change up, and curveball. My guess is that Kingham, if he continues his upward trajectory, will get get an opportunity as a September call-up at the end of this season and be a welcomed addition to spring training next season. Here’s a look at the 6’5″ hurler tossing a nasty curveball. Alexei Ramirez has had a fine career in Chicago. He, more than likely, still has a few good years left in the tank. Whether or not Alexei fits into Hahn’s short-term vision and what value the team is able to acquire in return for his services will determine where Alexei plays out those last few years. One thing we know for sure is that only a few select players will be off the table when Rick Hahn picks up the phone to discuss the club’s options as the trade deadline approaches.PUEBLO, Colo. (CBS4) – At least eight people have been fired due to alleged abuse at a center for the disabled in Pueblo where staff told investigators that “paranormal activity” was to blame. A federal investigation found numerous cases of abuse at the Pueblo Regional Center for people with severe intellectual disabilities. A federal report indicates that several residents had words like “die” and “kill” scratched into their skin. Staffers claim the words appeared by “paranormal activity.” Another patient was allegedly burned with a hairdryer to raise her body temperature. The alleged abuse occurred before November 2015 and as recently as April. The Arc of Pueblo serves as legal guardians for nine of the people who live at the center. “It was just unbelievable that in this day and age people would treat other human beings in this way,” said Arc of Pueblo Executive Director Stephanie Garcia. The Department of Human Services oversees the Pueblo Regional Center. It released a statement reading that it will “continue to improve staff training in a number of areas.”I had the great opportunity to have a conversation with Rowan “DRTsorak” of the group Viva La Dirt League (VLDL). Rowan is the lead singer for Viva La Dirt League, a New Zealand based Starcraft 2 themed boyband that creates epic music / music videos and other entertaining and often hilarious gaming related content. DRTsorak also has a solo project titled “Rhythmic Gamer” where he currently creates Minecraft themed music / music videos. From L to R: James aka @DRTkoopzilla, Alan aka @DRTfootman, Barnaby aka @DRTpain, Stephen aka @nOOber, Rowen aka @DRTsorak @Nikeagogo: Thanks for chatting with us today Rowan! Let’s start by learning about you. Can you tell the Anook community a little about yourself as a musician and a gamer? @DRTsorak: Fo show Okay well first and foremost I'm an actor. I've done a total of four years studying performing arts.1 year at the Hagley theatre company and 3 years at Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School. I've always sung and performed since I was at high school, and in recent years I started singing a lot of parody songs just for fun. Gaming is part of my DNA. I have always been FASCINATED by games since I was about 10, and now 19 years later it's pretty much my main pleasure in life. @Nikeagogo: Excellent! What are your all time favorite games? @DRTsorak: Okay this is a tough question. I'll list a few that stand out: * Starcraft obviously. I used to play Starcraft 1 with DRTnOOber (@nOOber) when I was in high school (we've been friends since we were 7). And Starcraft 2 is simply the most elegant RTS that has ever been made. It's so well balanced yet so diverse. * Star Wars Jedi Academy. That game used to thrill me to the core. Not sure why, just did. * Star Wars Republic Commando. A really new mechanic where you worked as a team with 3 other AI. You could be the last one left standing with enemies pouring in and then JUST manage to revive a teammate before you then fell. And then he would revive you and...it was living life on the edge. * Prototype. Just amazing. Flying round being a bauss. * Crysis. that games graphics still stand up. * Oh yeah and DEAD SPACE! That would be some highlights @Nikeagogo: Tell us about Viva La Dirt League. How did you get started, who is involved, and how much fun is it (because you guys make it look like it is super fun)? @DRTsorak: Viva La Dirt League originally started as a facebook group that @DRTkoopzilla started (I think). It was basically just a page where us mates could get together to talk about Starcraft and organize games, etc. I had been making a lot of parody songs about lots of random shit with Byron. I wrote and recorded 'Eight Pool' just for shits and giggles. And the guys really liked it, so we discussed actually making a music video. It was really only for fun at that stage. So I organized some locations at my girlfriend's father's sound studio and storage shed. Alan and Hamish flew up to Auckland. Alan brought his Film Camera (Alan aka @DRTfootman studied at film school and is a director in real life) so it was perfect. Shot it,uploaded it and it proved to be really successful. The rest is kind of history I guess. Originally it was Alan, Stephen, Hamish, Barnaby, James and myself. We had Byron as part of the team for a while. To be completely honest it used to be more fun before we got partnered and money entered the equation. Money makes things complicated. It's still a lot of fun, but there are a lot more serious discussions these days. I guess we all realized that it could potentially become something we could make a living off. Dividing by 7 people makes that kind of impossible. At one stage we had 7 members. We have a much smaller number now, and we seem to be a bit more cohesive. @Nikeagogo: In the Viva La Dirt League music videos, you are also responsible for creating the game footage. What goes into creating the game footage, and how long does it take? @DRTsorak: Getting game footage used to be fairly easy. If you look at out first few videos it is literally just playing the game so you get the action sequence you want, and then recording the replay accordingly. You can see the interface and everything. The next stage of the game footage evolution was realizing that you could get rid of most of the interface in the replay. Finally Barnaby learned some basic skills in the Map editor and taught me. The map editor is not very user friendly. But that's basically how we get 90% of the game footage now. You can create some really interesting stuff with the map editor. The best thing is that you can make it look really cinematic with smooth camera movements that pan around and zoom in and out etc. But also fiddling with the game mechanics like getting marines to spew out barracks etc. It's very time consuming though. You have to make sure everything is perfect and then play the map and manually control the camera to pre-sets while recording it with fraps. @Nikeagogo: How about the game footage dance sequences...was that complicated to do? @DRTsorak: Dance was originally done by typing in /dance in game and then watching the replay but now I can get it in the map editor. In the map editor you have to select a group and put them on a recurring dance command. The problem is that each unit dances one of it's set moves randomly and independently so it's a process of waiting for the perfect moment when all 5 units are dancing in unison while camera is moving how you want it to. @Nikeagogo: What is your favorite music video you have done so far for VLDL and why? @DRTsorak: Um I think my favourite music video would be Eight Pool. Both to shoot and to watch. The shoot was all about just having fun. And that shows in the video. We're just clowning around. I also really like how simple and effective the lyrics are. It's really clear EXACTLY what that song is about lol. (It's about doing an 8 pool) 8 Pool music video on YouTube @Nikeagogo: Heh....My favorite is care about bronze :) @DRTsorak: Yeah CAB was the one that got us noticed. Care about Bronze music video on YouTube That's when Husky messaged us. @Nikeagogo: What did the majestic Husky have to say to you guys? @DRTsorak: To be honest when he contacted us it BLEW OUR MINDS. He basically said that he really liked our videos and that he would like to join us up with TGS. I think he's a part owner/founder of TGS. @Nikeagogo: So you joined up I assume? :) @DRTsorak: But of course! @Nikeagogo: Your YouTube channel for Viva La Dirt League now features multiple shows, included “Dirty Starcraft” that was formerly featured on your other channel, “VivaLaDERPLeague.” How would you describe “Dirty Starcraft” to new viewers? @DRTsorak: Dirty Starcraft is dedicated to experimenting on Bronze League Lab Rats. So it's a series about trying A: Cheese tactics and B: Crazy weird tactics. We've decided to start releasing a lot more of that kind of content on DIRT. Just because we were getting a little bit precious about ONLY having really high quality content on DIRT. And we were suffering on a lack of content. There's bound to be some people who ONLY want us to release music videos, but I hope that the majority of people enjoy more content. Dirty Starcraft video on YouTube @Nikeagogo: You mentioned that you are releasing more content. What other shows are on the Viva La Dirt channel, or are soon to be that you are excited about? @DRTsorak: So we have: * Fern Terms (Fun Times) * Dirty Starcraft We're hoping to start doing: * Some HoTS playt-hroughs * Alan may be doing quest to Diamond league * Plus we're gonna release more Bloopers and Behind the Scenes Fern Terms video on YouTube @Nikeagogo: Let’s talk about your YouTube channel, “RhythmicGamer.” You make these clever cover songs about Minecraft. Tell us about it! @DRTsorak: Rhythmicgamer is my personal channel about Minecraft. It's basically a place where I can have full creative control over my own content and channel, etc. I'm pretty happy with how it's going. I should actually start writing another song. I'm so busy recording songs for 3 other Minecraft channels that my own channel has fallen to the wayside. @Nikeagogo: 3 other Minecraft channels? You are busy! Will you make an announcement video on RhythmicGamer so your fans can get linked to them? @DRTsorak: Yeah Fo SHOW @Nikeagogo: Do you see “RhythmicGamer” expanding to other games? @DRTsorak: Originally that was the purpose. A place where I could make all sorts of music videos. But I realized that it might be advisable to build up a fan-base on one particular game first. So I think I'l probably just stick with Minecraft. Use Some Bread Now music video on YouTube @Nikeagogo: Let’s learn a few fun facts about you to close it off. @DRTsorak: Sounds good @Nikeagogo: Favorite TeamLiquid reads? @DRTsorak: I actually don't visit TL that much. I do remember one about someone bitching about how awesome Brood War was compared to SC2. They had some interesting points but they were still just bitching. @Nikeagogo: Team EvilGeniuses or Team Liquid? @DRTsorak: Evil @Nikeagogo: Favorite subreddit? @DRTsorak: R/aww @Nikeagogo: Is Day[9] a sexy beast? @DRTsorak: I actually feel like a genuinely love him a little bit. @Nikeagogo: We all do....we all do :) @DRTsorak: Like I feel like he's the Delhi Lama of gaming. @Nikeagogo: What slang word would you like to bring back into popular culture (or invent and see used)? @DRTsorak: Kawabunga @Nikeagogo: Are you a zealot (heh) for any particular SC2 streamer? @DRTsorak: I used to be for Day[9]. But these days I'm actually a bit out of touch with streams. Got any favs? @Nikeagogo: I actually love watching LeiYa (formerly ROOT Puck). Her Colossus/Warp Prism micro is un.real. Besides that I watch EGIdra and Destiny the most! @DRTsorak: Okay I'll have a gander @Nikeagogo: Lastly, and most importantly, if you were on a deserted island with VLDL who would you: (1) conspire with, (2) conspire against, (3) be afraid of? @DRTsorak: Woah I would conspire with DRTkoopzilla against DRTfootman BECAUSE I'm afraid of him. @Nikeagogo: HAHA Beautiful....what would Barnaby (aka @DRTpain) be doing? @DRTsorak: Trying to catch fish @Nikeagogo: Shoutouts? @DRTsorak: BIIIIG shoutout to the other Viva boys! All our fans! Barcraft NZ! Chris from Razer and PJ from Blizzard! Thanks to DRTsorak for the interview! See the links below to check out all the VLDL and RhythmicGamer content!! VIVA LA DIRT LEAGUE YouTube Channel: VIVA LA DIRT LEAGUE YouTube Channel RhythmicGamer YouTube Channel: RhythmicGamer YouTube Channel VIVA LA DIRT LEAGUE Bandcamp (DOWNLOAD SONGS!): BandCamp for VLDL Facebook: Facebook Group Anook: Anook nook For more interview goodness with some of the Viva La Dirt crew: Viva La Dirt League interview with Bestof7 (Nikeary)React Native has quickly become our preferred way to write mobile apps. The ability to write code once and have it run well on both Android and iOS really helps development. But what about when we need to write platform specific, low level code? React Native lets us do that too! Via its Java bridge and JNI, we can run C code on Android (iOS will be covered in a later article) and get the results back in JavaScript. Motivation Before doing this, make sure it's actually something you need to do. We chose to do this early on in the planning phase for BallisticsARC. The app relies on the JBM Ballistics Library, all of which is written in C. If you're into competitive shooting or just interested in bullet trajectories and ballistics, you've likely heard of JBM. For the many who haven't, it's a library that takes a bunch of parameters about current atmosphere, rifle, and bullet characteristics and calculates how much a target shooter must compensate for bullet drop and deviation from wind. We had two options in integrating this into our React Native app, rewrite all of it in JavaScript, or dispatch the already written C code from JavaScript. We chose the latter. If you're trying to work with a big C library, using JNI on Android is probably your best bet. If you just want to run some C code for performance or because you're more comfortable writing C, we would heavily advise against doing so. Getting to C from JavaScript is not computationally cheap. So unless you're doing enormous computations in C (why are you doing this on a phone?), you're going to lose any C performance boost with the time it takes to pass data around. However, you may have some tasks that just have to be done in C, in which case your only choice is to run C code. So now that you've figured out why you're executing C, let's get started. Setup This article assumes that you are at least familiar with React Native, Java,
cases (like United States v. Leon), the mistake at issue was made by a law enforcement official–thus, the Court had to address the question of whether a negligent mistake made by a law enforcement officer who was not the arresting officer would still trigger the exclusionary rule. The Court held that the exclusionary rule should not apply–essentially, it was not worth the cost of applying the exclusionary rule in a case where the arresting officer acted in good faith, even if originally it was a police error that lead to the Fourth Amendment violation. The Court noted in dicta that if the original error was “deliberate misconduct, recklessness, or gross negligence,” or if there were “systemic negligence” on the part of the mistaken officer, then the good faith exception should not apply. Herring decision left a lot of questions unanswered: how much attenuation is necessary between the original police error and the illegal arrest before the good faith doctrine can apply? What exactly constitutes “gross negligence” or “systemic negligence”? And more broadly: does this case signal the beginning of the end of the exclusionary rule, since the Court is now refusing to apply the rule even in the case of a police mistake that leads to a Fourth Amendment violation? Probably these questions were intentionally left unanswered: the Supreme Court wanted to wait and see how the decision played out in lower courts before deciding what its next move should be with regard to the application of the exclusionary rule. Elsewhere I have been very critical of this “wait-and-see” strategy by the Supreme Court, arguing that the Court takes so few cases in Fourth Amendment law that it needs to be bolder when it addresses unsettled areas of law–otherwise (as in Herring) it ends up creating more questions than it resolves. But when the Court chooses to move incrementally, it is undoubtedly useful to actually take a look a few years later and see exactly what the lower courts are doing. This is exactly what this latest law review article does. The article, Evidence Laundering: How Herring Made Ignorance the Best Detergent, is co-written by Professor Kay Levine of Emory, Professor Jenia Turner of Southern Methodist, and Professor Ronald Wright of Wake Forest. The article conducts an analysis of the twenty-one lower court decisions that have applied Herring in cases where one police officer acting in good faith relied on tainted information and thus violated a defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights. In those twenty-one cases, seventeen courts allowed the evidence to be admitted, while four determined that there was “deliberate misconduct, recklessness or gross negligence” which required exclusion of the evidence. The authors worry that police officers may launder evidence intentionally, reviving the “silver platter” doctrine from the pre-Mapp era in which state police would violate the law to obtain evidence and then hand over the tainted evidence to federal authorities, who could then legally use it in federal court. Although most of the post-Herring cases involved fact patterns very similar to Herring (i.e., a mistake in an arrest warrant database), the authors still found cause for concern: we identify courts that have permitted boldly problematic hand-offs of the sort contemplated by the hypothetical. But even in the less obviously problematic cases, acquiescent reasoning or insufficient fact-finding by courts suggests a tolerance for evidence laundering that not only is troubling on its face but might also inspire evasive tactics by law enforcement in the future. The article goes on to make two important points. First, the Herring decision is based on an individualistic, “atomistic” view of how police departments operate, which leads it to focus on the (innocent) actions of the arresting officer rather than the (negligent) actions of some other member of law enforcement. As the article points out, this is increasingly an inaccurate way of viewing how police departments operate, since in the age of computer databases and cross-jurisdictional crimes, police officers often work closely (or at least rely upon) officers in other divisions or other departments in the course of investigating criminal activities. Second, the article compares our current exclusionary rule to the rules followed by other countries, and finds–somewhat surprisingly–that the current state of the exclusionary rule is now very similar to the rule for other countries. Other civil and criminal law countries do apply an exclusionary rule, although less often than in the United States, and in doing so they apply a broad balancing test rather than applying a stricter rule-based analysis. That is, these countries “weigh the effect of factors such as the seriousness of the misconduct, the gravity of the offense, and the importance of the rights violated.” This is increasingly how the United States courts are applying the exclusionary rule post-Herring. The article points out some good and some bad effects of this shift from a traditionally American “rules-based” standard to an international “balancing test” analysis: One of the chief weaknesses of the balancing approach is that its flexibility carries the risk of inconsistent and unpredictable decisions. To the extent it relies on a subjective evaluation of officers’ state of mind, a balancing approach also raises practical difficulties for defendants in proving this element. And finally, because balancing expands in some respects the range of cases in which unlawfully obtained evidence is admitted, this likely reduces the disciplinary effect of exclusion. Yet balancing also offers some potential advantages. In certain circumstances, its openness allows judges to exclude evidence to ensure systemic integrity where our deterrence-oriented approach would call for admission. The flexibility of the balancing approach also permits courts to consider alternative remedies, such as sentence reduction or jury cautions, in some cases where our zero-sum approach would lead to admissibility because of concerns about the costs of exclusion. While empirical evidence on the practical effects of the balancing approach is very limited, existing data suggest that it need not severely undermine the exclusionary rule. This is probably a very accurate prediction of the future of the exclusionary rule–the doctrine will ultimately complete its evolution from a rigid rule-based analysis into a flexible balancing test that will result in more illegally obtained evidence being admitted. Whether this is a positive development depends on how much a person accepted the original premise of the exclusionary rule as an effective deterrent that was worth the cost of setting some guilty people free. In his seminal article Fourth Amendment First Principles, Professor Akhil Amar predicted that we would eventually get to the point where courts reject the exclusionary rule in favor of a more balanced reasonableness analysis. Professor Amar believed this would be a positive development. As he pointed out: The exclusionary rule renders the Fourth Amendment contemptible in the eyes of judges and citizens. Judges do not like excluding bloody knives, so they distort doctrine, claiming the Fourth Amendment was not really violated. In the popular mind, the Amendment has lost its luster and become associated with grinning criminals getting off on crummy technicalities. When rapists are freed, the people are less secure in their houses and persons–and they lose respect for the Fourth Amendment. If exclusion is the remedy, all too often ordinary people will want to say that the right was not really violated. At first they will say it with a wink; later, with a frown; and one day, they will come to believe it. Here, too, unjustified expansion predictably leads to unjustified contraction elsewhere. Professor Amar (and some others) have argued for adopting a number of alternate remedies for addressing Fourth Amendment violations, such as civil liability of police departments (which would require weakening or abolishing some of the qualified immunity doctrine), punitive damages, class actions, and injunctive relief. Of course, courts will not start developing these alternate remedies in any meaningful way until the Supreme Court completes this shift once and for all and abolishes the exclusionary rule as we know it in favor of the broader balancing test that some post-Herring lower courts already seem to be applying. Surely it is now time for the Court to take this final step and allow a more robust development of other Fourth Amendment remedies.Phil Schiller didn't spend very much time discussing the iPad mini 3 on stage today; he focused mostly on the flagship iPad Air 2. And there's a reason for that. The iPad mini 3 doesn't carry the same hardware specs as its larger counterpart. Not even close. In fact, it's still using last year's A7 chipset and M7 coprocessor. That's a hugely disappointing departure from what we saw in 2013, when Apple brought both iPad models to parity. Apple's new smaller tablet also lacks the impressive camera optics of the larger model; instead it's got a 5MP iSight camera. There's a reason apple didn't spend much time talking about this thing Last year, Apple put the iPad mini on equal footing with the iPad Air in terms of what went inside the device. Both included the company's A7 chipset and offered largely the same performance. Unlike the first iPad mini — which debuted in 2012 and shipped without a high-resolution display — the second-gen model was truly a miniature version of the full-size iPad. That's sadly no longer the case. The iPad mini 3 has been held back while the iPad Air 2 has received the advancements you'd expect from a new hardware revision. That creates a clear distinction in Apple's tablet lineup. But it also leaves us scratching our heads as to why you wouldn't just buy the iPad mini 2. Touch ID isn't that big of a selling point. There's another factor in play this year, too. For 2014, consumers have a new alternative to the iPad mini — and it's another Apple product: the iPhone 6 Plus. The 5.5-inch smartphone has a good chance of cannibalizing at least some iPad mini sales, but Apple has always maintained that it would rather have people choose between its own products instead of going with a competitor. There are certainly worse problems to have than iPhone sales eating into the iPad mini's performance at retail. And since the iPhone 6 Plus is significantly more powerful than the "new" iPad mini, that could become a major trend.By Melissa Dykes Holiday sales for many traditional stores were pretty abysmal this year … Amazon far and away captured the majority of online sales. Stores like Macy’s, on the other hand, actually saw a sales decrease during one of the most crucial shopping times of the year. Now The New York Times reports the store chain will be closing 100 stores and cutting over 10,000 jobs. The company, which now has 730 stores, announced in August that it would close 100 of them. On Wednesday, it identified 68 stores to be closed. … Some employees may be offered positions at nearby stores, but Macy’s estimated that 3,900 workers would be affected by the closings. It also said it planned to restructure parts of its business, leading to a reduction of an additional 6,200 jobs. Over all, the job cuts represent about 7 percent of its work force. Meanwhile, Sears Holdings Co. also announced this week it will close 78 Kmart Stores and another 26 Sears locations this spring. The company’s statement read in part: Many of these stores have struggled with their financial performance for years and we have kept them open to maintain local jobs and in the hopes that they would turn around. But in order to meet our objective of returning to profitability, we have to make tough decisions and will continue to do so, which will give our better performing stores a chance at success. They admitted it: the stores were kept open mainly just to maintain local jobs. That’s probably true of many major employers the nation over. As automation continues, jobs will continue to be lost. It’s a well-known fact that the majority of low-paying jobs that employ the most adult workers in this country such as cashiers and waiters/waitresses will inevitably be replaced. The only question is what does the system plan to do with tens of millions of unemployed workers? Delivered by The Daily Sheeple We encourage you to share and republish our reports, analyses, breaking news and videos (Click for details). Contributed by Melissa Dykes of The Daily Sheeple. Melissa Dykes is a writer, researcher, and analyst for The Daily Sheeple and a co-creator of Truthstream Media with Aaron Dykes, a site that offers teleprompter-free, unscripted analysis of The Matrix we find ourselves living in. Melissa and Aaron also recently launched Revolution of the Method and Informed Dissent. Wake the flock up!There seems to be a trend lately in building tiny, micro houses. It’s basically all about finding a way to include as many things and functions into as little space as possible. There are some very inspiring designs out there and we made it our mission to find them. Here’s what we came up with. 14 sqm tiny cottage. This tiny cottage is located in Lauttasaari, Finland and it has a total surface of 14 square meters. It was designed by Verstas Architects and it’s a nice and ingenious way of getting to enjoy nature in the middle of a busy city. The 4-person cottage was built for a family just 2 kilometers from their residence. As the owners declare, the cottage is just a place that’s easy to go to in case of urgent matters or simply to take a shower or to take a break.{found on archdaily}. Rustic backyard micro house. Most micro houses are built in the back yard of an already existing residence. They’re a sort of extension and they serve all sorts of purposes such as office space or art studio. This particular structure was built in the backyard after the owner has spent years creating the beautiful garden and realized there’s some spare space there. As a result, this sustainable tiny cottage was built there. It has a wood stove and it’s a cozy hangout space for the family and friends. Ufogel. Sometimes tiny, compact structures are built for other purposes than personal use. For example, this is Ufogel, a vacation house located in Austria. The space can be rented and it sits in a very beautiful region with wonderful views. It has a very unusual geometric shape and this makes it stand out. The irregular lines make it resemble all sorts of things depending on the angle you’re seeing it from. The structure is made of larch wood and it has a sculptural form and this makes it quite unique. Minim house. This is the Minim House, a 235 square foot cottage designed by Foundry Architects and Minim Homes. The tiny house is efficient in every sens of the word. It has a tiny floor plan which makes great use of space and has an organized and space-saving design. The exterior of the house is modern and simple, very sleek and with no overhangs. The hidden rain gutters are integrated into the roof. The interior is modern, simple and inviting.{found on minimhomes} Vina’s house. Because of their reduced dimensions, tiny houses such as the ones presented here could very well be mobile. This allows the owner to take the house wherever he goes and makes vacations very simple. Such a design can be seen on this structure. This is a tiny house on wheels. It has a very small interior but it has the basic elements. It has a kitchen area, a cozy bedroom, a bathroom and even a workspace.{found on tinyhousegiantjourney}. The $200 Microhouse. The Gypsy Junker is a tiny 24 sq ft house made mainly of shipping pallets and things other people discarded. I guess it’s true what they say… one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. This tiny house was built by Derek Diedricksen and it’s not the only one of its kind. He also built the Hickshaw on a rolling cedar lounge chair and the Boxy Lady, the smallest one which is 4 ft tall.{found on nytimes}. Innermost House – 12 feet square. What’s wonderful about these tiny houses is that they appear to be small and unforgiving but, when you step inside, they’re surprisingly spacious and they often include all the necessities. This is the Innermost House, a 12 sq ft structure in Northern California. It has an open porch and five separate rooms: a kitchen, a study, a bathroom and a the sleeping areas above, accessible via a ladder stored against the wall.{found on tinyhouseblog}. Melissa perfect retreat – 170 square feet. Located in Snohomish, WA, this house occupies an area of 170 square feet so it’s not as tiny as most of the other structures presented here. Still, it’s considerably smaller than any home we would normally consider comfortable. Nevertheless, smaller often means cozier. The house is occupies by its two owners and their two cats and it’s very comfortable, inviting and cozy and it was built to meet their needs.{found on apartmenttherapy}. Sandy beach tiny house. The Whangapoua Sled House is located near the shores of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zeeland. It was built by Ken Crosson of Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects. The house has large glass doors, a retractable folding door which exposes the second floor and lots of shelving on the walls. On the first floor there’s a small dining area and a kitchen and a separate room features three bunk beds. Holiday prefabricate house. This tiny house was designed to serve as a holiday home. It’s practically the equivalent of a hotel room but without the neighbors and the whole huge building. This one is just for you. It has a minimalist design with clean lines and a harmonious interior. It was designed without a kitchen so the users can fully enjoy their vacation without having to lift a finger. The windows are placed at the perfect angle to let natural light infuse the interior.{found on site}. Mighty micro house. This micro house is a mobile home and it has a very welcoming interior. Although it’s very small, it has a kitchen with a tiny dining area, a window bench/ reading corner and a cozy sleeping area which you can access via a ladder. It’s a great use of space and it could serve as a wonderful mobile home for trips and vacations.{found on tinyhouseswoon}. Student tiny house. This tiny house is a student unit designed by Tengbom Architects. It was designed specifically for students and it’s eco-friendly, smart and functional. The unit measures only 10 square meters so it’s very compact but it doesn’t look crowded with furniture. The interior design is minimalist and the unit offers the basic things such as a kitchen, a bathroom and a sleeping area. It even has a patio. If you’re not convinced of its great design, you can go see it at the Virserum Art Museum in Sweden. Finnish woods- 96 sq.ft. In the Finnish woods there’s a small but very interesting micro cabin. Because it’s so small, the cabin doesn’t exist on papers as building regulations say you only need a permit if you build something larger than 96-128 square feet. The cabin has exactly 96 square feet. It has a small ground floor with a living area, kitchen and bathroom and the upper floor features a sleeping area and a storage space. The cabin also has a deck. Vacation home. This is a transportable home designed by Abaton Architects. It’s basically a house you can take with you on vacations and trips and it offers you everything you need. It’s like taking a smaller version of your home with you. Inside, the house is bright and airy. It has a glass wall so that you can admire the views and the landscape and also so that the light can get inside. What’s also nice is that the structure is actually shaped like a house. Tiny tack house -13 square meter. The Tiny Tack house is a versatile living space and the perfect micro home for its owners. It includes a cozy living area, a raised loft bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom. It has 11 windows which flood the house with natural light. The house was built almost entirely by its owners with some help from a few friends. Together, they created this lovely wooden home which is also sustainable and quite good-looking.{found on gizmag}. Japanese Forest House. This Japanese Forest House was designed by Brian Schultz and it’s a soothing and beautiful escape where you can relax and meditate. Moreover, the house is also sustainable. It was built on a budget of $11,000 and using locally found and salvaged materials. It features a beautiful oriental theme and it sits on a 200 square meter concrete pad. It was crafted using salvaged wooden logs and the windows and door come from the local dump.{found on decoist}. Leaf house. Built by Leaf House, this tiny house is located in Yukon, Canada. It’s the second structure of this kind that the architects build so they named it Version.2. It has a total of about 215 square feet of living space and it’s a wheels house. Inside you can find a full kitchen, a full bathroom, a dining area and a sleeping area. The house is insulated and was built with cedar siding, a composting toilet, tankless water heating and triple-pane windows.{found on jetsongreen}. Mini mod house – 27 square meters. This black compact building is a micro house with a modern and very sleek design. Its black exterior makes it seem even smaller. The interior is bright and airy and surprisingly spacious. The glass walls offer magnificent views, especially if you take this tiny house in the middle of nature. The minimalist design suits it well. One of most beautiful things about it is the green roof.{found on behance}. Eco-Friendly. This micro home can be found in France and it was built using renewable materials. It was designed by Paris-based firm Studio 1984 and the whole structure is organized around a rectangular inner volume with walls made of farm straw. A wood-plank frame keeps the straw in place and wooden boards give the house a cohesive look on the inside. The interior is clean, simple and airy, typical to modern homes. Duck Chalet. This is the Duck Chalet, a tiny house with a green design. It was built by its owners in 4 months although the design process took a year and a half.They built it using a trailer as a starting point. The trailer was modified and every little inch of space was smartly used, after all, these wasn’t much to spare. Inside there’s custom-made cabinetry and a warm décor with wood accents.{found on tinyhouseblog}.FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2015, file photo, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy speaks in the East Room at the White House in Washington. Take a walk: That's the U.S. surgeon general's prescription for sedentary Americans _ but communities will have to step up, too, and make neighborhoods easier and safer for foot traffic. Only half of adults and just over a quarter of high school students get the amount of physical activity recommended for good health, Murthy said in a "call to action" being issued Sept. 9. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) The Associated Press By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Take a walk: That's the U.S. surgeon general's prescription for sedentary Americans — but communities will have to step up, too, and make neighborhoods easier and safer for foot traffic. Only half of adults and just over a quarter of high school students get the amount of physical activity recommended for good health, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in a "call to action" being issued Wednesday. No worries if you can't join a gym or run a 10K. Walking is a simple, affordable way to get the needed exercise, Murthy said — if people have a place to do it. "I firmly believe that everybody in America needs a safe place to walk or to wheelchair roll," Murthy said in an interview, urging a range of groups to work together to create walkable communities. "For too many of our communities, that is not the reality right now." Some things to know about the surgeon general's walking campaign: WALKING REALLY COUNTS Regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and a list of other health problems — and can ease symptoms and improve quality of life for people already living with chronic diseases. Guidelines issued in 2008 recommend that adults get at least 2½ hours a week of moderately intense physical activity. Children should be active at least 60 minutes every day. To get your heart rate up, Murthy says walking should be brisk enough that you can still talk but not sing. THE BARRIERS People often say there's no time in their busy days to exercise, and their environment can make it harder to fit activity into everyday routine. In many places, schools, restaurants and shops are located too far from home for people to walk. Busy streets may lack sidewalks, or there may not be adequate time to cross multiple lanes of traffic. Parents who live near schools still often cite traffic danger. Neighborhood crime may be a factor in deterring walks. Older adults may fear falls. THE GOALS The surgeon general wants communities to make it easier and safer for people of all ages and abilities to walk where they live, learn, work and play — and to encourage them to get moving. That will require efforts from transportation officials and city planners, parks and schools, businesses and health officials, and the public, his report makes clear. Options range from zoning decisions and building sidewalks, to promoting worksite activity. Murthy, for example, likes to hold some meetings while taking a walk. Wednesday's report comes after Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx last year began a "safer people, safer streets" initiative to help communities create safer walking and bicycling networks. THE REACTION Millenials in particular are pushing for walkable communities, and Murthy's call may help them work with local and regional officials to overcome policy barriers, like zoning laws, said Scott Bricker, executive director of America Walks, a nonprofit network of health and other organizations that pushed for the move. "This is an official recognition from our nation's doctor that this is a critical health issue that needs to be addressed," Bricker said.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption People turned out in big numbers despite rainy conditions Thousands of people have taken part in an anti-racism march in Belfast. Organisers said it was designed to "reassure ethnic and religious minorities in Northern Ireland". Representatives of the Muslim community and trade unions were among those who spoke at a rally ahead of a march from Writers' Square to Belfast City Hall. It was organised in response to an upsurge in hate crime and controversial remarks about Islam by a pastor and First Minister Peter Robinson. Pastor James McConnell made a public apology on Friday for calling Islam "heathen" and "satanic". Image caption The march passed through Belfast city centre on Saturday afternoon Image caption Organisers said there was a big turnout despite the rainy weather Saturday's march was led by Belfast's Lord Mayor, Nichola Mallon, Dr Donald Watts, president of the Irish Council of Churches and Dr Mazhar M Khan, a member of Northern Ireland's Muslim community. Amnesty International, the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (NIC-ICTU) and the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM) organised the event. Patrick Yu of the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities said: "The message today is quite simple - say no to racism." Image caption Kasia Garbal said she found it moving that so many people had supported the rally Amnesty International's Patrick Corrigan said the event was "an opportunity for people to stand with their neighbours of all ethnic origins and religious faith groups". "It's also a chance to send a message to politicians that the lack of political action on this issue is no longer acceptable," he added. Kasia Garbal, an ICTU migrant workers' project officer who is originally from Poland, said recent hate crimes had "made me wonder why I'm here". "I've been here for 10 years and this is my home, but the last few weeks have been really difficult," she said. "It's moving for me that so many people of all nationalities, races and different beliefs came out here today." Image caption People carrying banners and banging drums marched through the city Earlier this week, Pastor McConnell apologised for his comments about Islam. On Friday, he was questioned for almost two hours about his remarks by police. Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson was heavily criticised when he backed Mr McConnell, although he said his remarks had been misinterpreted. On Tuesday, Mr Robinson visited the Belfast Islamic Centre and made a public apology for his comments. Last Saturday, around 4,000 people attended anti-racism rallies in Belfast and Londonderry.International Yoga Day: 35,000-strong New Delhi crowd sets world record for largest yoga session Updated Residents in India's capital New Delhi have set a world record for the largest number of people taking part in a single yoga session during International Yoga Day celebrations. More than 35,000 people showed up for the event hosted by prime minister Narendra Modi, who last year convinced the United Nations to dedicate a day to the ancient practice. Sorry, this video has expired Video: New Delhi crowd sets world record for largest yoga session (ABC News) "I feel very joyful," student and participant Sakshi told the ABC. "It is very good for India... and I am proud that India is the first country which invented yoga and this day, it is very big thing for us." Tens of thousands of colourful yoga mats lined Delhi's ceremonial Rajpath boulevard on Sunday as participants from various faiths - Hindus, Christians and Muslims – gathered before sunrise. The devotees had been practicing for weeks for the highly orchestrated event which was the brain child of Mr Modi, who was elected to office last year. The 35-minute routine was specially devised by Mr Modi's personal yogi. DVDs of the routine were sent out to Indian missions around the world weeks ago so they could prepare to hold their own events on Sunday. Yoga day commemorates 'peace, harmony' In December the UN unanimously approved Mr Modi's suggestion that day be set aside to mark the importance of the ancient Indian practice of yoga. "I think that today — 21 June, the international day of yoga — is not just the beginning of an event, it is a day to commemorate peace, harmony, to train the human mind to scale heights, it's the start of a new era," Mr Modi told the crowd. Before the event, the media had been specifically told that Mr Modi, a self-confessed yoga fanatic, would not be doing any poses himself. But in a surprise move, he left the stage to take up a position on a mat among the crowd, creating chaos among the media desperate to get close to the highly popular, and often aloof, leader. The day was about more than just health and wellbeing – it was a public relations exercise for India on a grand scale. The country's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said that the UN declaration of International Yoga Day, at the request of Mr Modi, showed the world that "in only 12 months, India has reached the height where India speaks and the whole world listens." Ram Madhav, the national general secretary of Mr Modi's political party (the Bharatiya Janata Party), said yoga was India's greatest contribution to mankind. Topics: health, exercise-and-fitness, government-and-politics, india, asia First postedRefresh for latest…: After a long, and at times rocky, day of negotations, Hollywood breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the WGA and AMPTP announced a last minute deal. At nearly 1 AM PT, the two sides reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year film and TV contract, bringing the prospect of another crippling writer’s strike (the last WGA strike in 2007 went on for 100 days) to an end. The agreement is expected to save the WGA’s health plan and provide more money and protections for writers of short-order TV shows, according to Deadline’s David Robb and Dominic Patten. Writers were quick to take to Twitter to share their thoughts, many using the hashtag #wgaunity. House of Cards creator Beau Willimon, who served on the WGA negotiating committee, said chairs and staff were “exemplary” in talks: Honored to have served on the WGA negotiating comm. The Chairs & Staff were exemplary. TY membership for the solidarity. #WGAunity works. pic.twitter.com/sbUA9MWtUz — Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) May 2, 2017 The Hunger Games and Captain Phillips writer Billy Ray said: Happy to report – we have a deal! Not everything we deserve, but big gains that will help many writers. unity made it happen. — Billy Ray (@BillyRay5229) May 2, 2017 Meanwhile, Timeless creator Shawn Ryan said: See you at work tomorrow. Thanks for the 96.3%. Couldn't have done it without you. #WGAunity pic.twitter.com/0q2IiQzHoE — Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyanTV) May 2, 2017 Community creator Dan Harmon joked: By the way: The Apprentice? Unscripted. This apocalypse was brought to you by everyone but union writers #wgaunity — Dan Harmon (@danharmon) May 2, 2017 Hannibal and Hawaii Five-O writer Helen Shang pointed to tension in the negotiation room this evening: Supergirl writer Paula Yoo said: Grateful thanks to our #WGA union for their hard work to ensure a fair deal for our writers. I Stand With The WGA. #WGAUnity 👊👏🤗❤️✏️📝💻📺📽🎞 pic.twitter.com/96k0haPeJA — Paula Yoo (@PaulaYoo) May 2, 2017 Black List creator Franklin Leonard congratulated the negotiating committee: Congrats to the WGA and its negotiating committee! Far from what you deserve as a community but progress nonetheless. — Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) May 2, 2017 So did Empire and Private Practice‘s Eric Haywood: Thanks to the @WGAWest @WGAPerspective Negotiating Committee. I'm grateful for all your hard work. #WGAUnity — Eric Haywood (@EricHaywood) May 2, 2017 TV writer Becky Kirsch (Dracula, Mind Games) added: DEAL! There's a deal!!! Thank you #WGA Negotiating Committee! Thank you to everyone out there for your support! You did this!#WGAUnity pic.twitter.com/OQcOAKnbet — Becky Kirsch (@BeckyKirsch) May 2, 2017 Ellen Stutzman, WGA Director of Research and Public Policy, congratulated her team: Westworld producer Dominic Mitchell thanked the WGA for fighting on behalf of all writers: Excellent to hear a deal was made. Immense gratitude to @WGAWest, the tireless negotiation committee and staff. Thank you! #wgaunity pic.twitter.com/OkntJFvYnK — Dominic Mitchell (@DomMitchell) May 2, 2017 Actor Brad James, whose credits include The Fallen and For Better Or Worse, said: Ok good… ✊ Apparently, reality tv resulting from the last one… created easily manipulated voters…🤔#WGA #WritersStrike https://t.co/rns5ThIzcI — Brad James (@MrBradJames) May 2, 2017 Meanwhile, Max Landis quipped:Animal believed to be shot by marksmen 'had time to take flight', putting in doubt claims of humane, instant killing Warning: this story contains graphic images that may distress readers The first photographs have emerged of what appears to be a badger killed in the controversial culls taking place in England. A single high velocity bullet killed the animal, passing right through it, the vet who examined the carcass told the Guardian. Most badgers she had seen shot before the cull had been peppered with gunshot, Dr Elizabeth Mullineaux said. Secret World Wildlife Rescue, the Somerset-based animal charity that released the photographs of the badger, said it had been delivered to them by people on an overnight 'badger patrol' who reported seeing marksmen searching for the badger's body in the early hours of Saturday morning. "It had been shot in the way that Defra [the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] recommends," said Pauline Kidner, the charity's founder. "This is the third badger we've had in from the cull zone. The other two were road traffic accidents, but this one had obviously been shot." Defra told the Guardian it was "confident" that the animal had not been killed as part of the cull because all the badgers killed so far had died "instantly." "All badgers killed as part of the pilot culls have been shot cleanly and killed instantly," a tweet by the department said. Mullineaux, who is a consultant to the charity and has been a clinical vet for 17 years, said: "A single shot has entered left-hand side of the chest, slightly behind the Defra target area. Rather than going through perpendicular therefore to the heart and lungs, it went diagonally and out the side." X-rays of the animal showed fragments of the bullet, and what appeared to be "one track" between one entry and one exit point. She was of the opinion just one bullet had been used, leaving the stomach and liver lobe coming out of the "sizeable" exit hole. The animal's body was brought in by a group on night vigil in the cull zone. Photograph: Pauline Kidner/Secret World Wildlife Rescue She said it was hard to say how long the animal was alive for after being shot, apart from the fact it had time to take flight. One of the key tests of the humaneness of the pilot culls, which are designed to see if badgers can be killed in a way that is safe, humane and effective to combat the spread of bovine TB to cattle, is 'time to death', Freedom of Information requests have revealed. Kidner said she would have the badger's body post-mortemed and then DNA-checked to see if it matched DNA records of badgers within the zone, which were taken by Defra before the cull began. She said she was taking the steps as she was certain it had been killed as part of the cull.This research is courtesy of Sander Duivestein, professional speaker and trendwatcher at VINT, the International Research Institute of Sogeti, and Patrick Savalle, founder and technical director at Mobbr crowd payments. Bitcoin is big news again. The digital cryptocurrency is on the frontpage of every major newspaper. This week its price collapsed because the largest exchange on the network did not handle a known design flaw in bitcoin properly, which caused widespread disruption and possibly some loss of bitcoin. As a precaution, several exchanges had to close their virtual doors till further notice. Economists have warned of the above scenario several times. No central authority backs this virtual currency. Investing in bitcoin is equivalent to pure speculation.
's most damning — if not the most hilarious — indictment actually came last year, when New York wrote about the actor-director's newly gut-renovated downtown Manhattan loft. "I had this daydream of a cozy barn in upstate New York, but floating above the city," Braff told the magazine. "Manhattan is so crazy and mayhem-y, and I wanted something peaceful." The eleventh-floor, 2,600-square-foot spread features a 360-degree view spanning the East River to New Jersey, a $6,800 cast iron tub, a $2,895 "Papa Bear" chair, snapshots of his British model girlfriend taken with a $2,300 portrait camera, and "a piano and other instruments on hand for guests to tinker with." As Marvel Comics: The Untold Story author Sean Howe so succinctly put it on Facebook: "Somebody should give this guy money." Brett Easton Ellis isn't exactly hurting, either. According to another, just-as-absurd New York piece, the bestselling author and literature's decades-reigning enfant terrible lives in a Los Angeles condo that's "like being in a bubble suspended above the city," drives a black BMW 528i, dines regularly at the Chateau Marmont, and "drinks prodigiously, usually a top-shelf and very clean tequila..." And yet Ellis's announcement of turning to Kickstarter for a musical version of his 1991 novel American Psycho should be as hailed as Braff's crowd-funding was derided. Here, the descriptions for both projects as appearing on their Kickstarter pages: The story of Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor, father and husband, who at 35 is still trying to find his identity; a purpose for his life. [T]he shocking, funny and unsettling portrait of Patrick Bateman, a 26-year-old Manhattan investment banker with a designer lifestyle and a twisted mind. Don't compare the quality of the plots. That'd be unfair. American Psycho is, after all, one of the great novels — one of the great works of art — of the late 20th century. "The first novel to come along in years that takes on deep and Dostoyevskian themes," Norman Mailer wrote of the book in a review for Vanity Fair. "[Ellis] is showing older authors where the hands have come to on the clock." Pit Braff's storyline against, say, the Kickstarter description for The Canyons, the Linsday Lohan debacle for which Ellis wrote the screenplay — [F]ive twenty-something's quest for power, love, sex and success in 2012 Hollywood. — and it sounds pretty damn compelling. Instead, look at the two descriptions, and then at their fundraising goals. A modest-sounding coming-of-age film, and a full-blown musical premiering in London and running for more than a month. Which would you guess costs $2 million, and which $150,000? You'd guess wrong. Most of the criticism leveled at Braff has been of the "He's filthy rich and stealing away Kickstarter money from aspiring filmmakers who really need it" variety. But his greater sin, and one that's been little acknowledged, is requiring the same amount of money allocated to disaster relief for April's Texas fertilizer plant explosion to make what sounds like a pretty simple movie. One of the most visually astounding films of the last decade, Shane Carruth's 2004 time-travel mind-scrambler Primer, cost just $7,000. This year's Independent Spirit Award Winner for Best First Feature, Safety Not Guaranteed, was made for $750,000. That film starred Mark Duplass, who along with his brother Jay has made a career out of doing movies on the cheap. Seemingly to blame for Braff's exorbitant budget is his desire to shoot on film. As he writes in his Kickstarter pitch: We were able to shoot Super 35 millimeter film on GS [Garden State]. In today's digital age, it's become harder and harder, and more expensive, to shoot film. If the budget permitted, I would shoot "Wish I Was Here" on film as well. There are several amazing digital systems we'd use if we couldn't afford film, but as a camera geek who went to film school, I'm sad film is going away. Only the biggest directors these days get a chance to shoot it. Sure, shooting on Super 35 is pricey — around $600 for a scant 11 minutes of film. But there are plenty of small directors who, through ingenuity, have found a way to stick with celluloid. Academy Award nominee Beasts of the Southern Wild — the first feature from Benh Zeitlin — was shot on 16 millimeter, for a total cost of $1.8 million. Presumably much of that budget went toward the rigors of shooting in such an inhospitable location as bayou Louisiana. Braff's drama takes place largely at San Diego's Comic-Con. While Braff may be reluctant to evolve and adapt, Duncan Sheik is not. The '90s one-hit wonder has reinvented himself as a Tony-winning Broadway composer. (Coincidentally, Braff introduced the Tony Award telecast performance of Sheik's Spring Awakening.) He's handling the score for the American Psycho musical. "All electronic," he told Gothamist, with "20 to 30 percent" cover songs. The rest of the creative team's credentials are just as impressive. Book writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has served as a writer and producer for the TV shows Big Love and Glee, while director Rupert Goold is the associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Which nullifies any argument one might make about Braff needing all that loot to secure his undeniably talented collaborators, cinematographer Larry Sher (The Hangover), production designer Judy Becker (Brokeback Mountain), and star Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) — all of whom were involved with Garden State. But if anything makes the American Psycho Kickstarter more redeemable than Braff's, it's that the musical's initial run would take place at London's Almeida Theatre, a non-profit institution with an educational outreach to some 10,000 kids a year. Donating to Wish I Was Here? Helping the rich get richer. Donating to see an axe-wielding chorus? It's not bloodlust, it's philanthropy! Follow The Culture Blog on RSS and on Twitter at @ESQCulture.BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Monday that most of the oil produced in Islamic State-held territory in Iraq and Syria was being smuggled through Turkey. Iraqi security forces stand guard in a Baiji oil refinery, north of Baghdad, October 16, 2015. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani Turkey has repeatedly strongly denied any state involvement in smuggling oil from Islamic State-controlled parts of Syria or Iraq and says it has made progress in combating fuel smuggling networks that have operated on its borders for decades. In a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday, Abadi “stressed the importance of stopping oil smuggling by the terrorist gangs of Daesh, most of which is smuggled through Turkey”, according to a statement posted on his website. Daesh is another name for Islamic State. The Iraqi accusation comes at a time of heightened tension between Baghdad and Ankara, which deployed a heavily armed contingent of forces to a camp near the front line in northern Iraq last week. Iraq says the deployment is a violation of its sovereignty and has threatened to refer the case to the United Nations Security Council unless Turkey withdraws its forces. Abadi’s remark also echoes recent accusations made by Russia that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family were personally benefiting from smuggling oil from Islamic State-held territory. Erdogan denies the charges and has said he would stand down if such allegations were proven true. The accusations about Turkey’s role in smuggling oil came to the fore after Turkish jets downed a Russian bomber on the Syrian border, in the most serious incident between Russia and a NATO state in half a century. Related Coverage Canada to withdraw jets fighting Islamic State within weeks -minister A senior U.S. State Department official played down the Russian allegations and said the amount of oil being smuggled into Turkey from Syria was not enough for anyone to profit from it significantly. U.S. officials say coalition air strikes have destroyed hundreds of IS oil trucks, depriving the insurgents of a key source of income. British, French and U.S. jets recently targeted Islamic State-controlled oil fields in eastern Syria as part of a campaign to cut the financial lifeline of the militant group.Our book Discover Meteor teaches you how to build real-time web apps from scratch using the Meteor JavaScript framework. Let’s suppose you need to insert a piece of data (let’s say, a post) in your database. Pretty common operation. You could do something like this: Template. newPost. events ({ 'click.button' : function ( event ) { event. preventDefault (); var postContent = $ ( '.postContent' ). val (); Posts. insert ({ postContent : postContent }); } }); Thanks to Meteor’s whole “database everywhere” thing, calling Posts.insert() on the client will work just as well as calling it on the server. There’s one caveat though: once you remove the insecure package (more about this in our article about Meteor security), database modifications from the client are not allowed (and they shouldn’t!). So if you want your update to go through, you’ll need to set the proper permissions using an allow callback: Template. newPost. events ({ 'click.button' : function ( event ) { event. preventDefault (); var postContent = $ ( '.postContent' ). val (); Posts. insert ({ postContent : postContent }); } }); Posts. allow ({ insert : function ( userId, doc ) { return true ; } }) Using Methods So far so good. But if you’re familiar with Meteor, you know there’s another way to accomplish exactly the same thing, by using a Meteor Method. Template. newPost. events ({ 'click.button' : function ( event ) { event. preventDefault (); var postContent = $ ( '.postContent' ). val (); Meteor. call ( 'newPost', { postContent : postContent }); } }); Meteor. methods ({ newPost : function ( post ) { Posts. insert ( post ); } }) Not only do both techniques do the same thing (insert a post in the database), they even do it in the same amount of lines of code. So why are there two ways, and more importantly which one should you use? Don’t Trust The Client First, let’s look at the pros and cons of doing our insert() on the client. I’m sure most of your users are wonderful people who wouldn’t harm a fly and would never even dream of hacking your app. Still, it’s not all unicorns and rainbows out there, and as a general principle you probably shouldn’t trust data coming from the client. So the problem with allowing Posts.insert() on the client is that you’re opening the door to people entering not just posts, but any kind of data in your database. All they’ll have to do is open up their browser console and type: Posts. insert ({ foo : 'bar' }); Or even worse, what if they decide to sow mayhem by inserting a well-formatted post, but assign it to another user? Posts. insert ({ author : 'Sacha', postContent : 'Meteor sucks!' }); Allow & Deny So instead of simply allowing all inserts wholesale, we can do a few simple security checks first. For example, we can make sure no extra properties besides postContent are included in the operation by getting a list of the document’s property keys, removing postContent, and then verifying that the resulting array is indeed empty: Posts. allow ({ insert : function ( userId, doc ) { return _. without ( _. keys ( doc ), 'postContent' ). length === 0 ; } }) Collection Hooks The only problem is that Allow/Deny are all or nothing operations. You can allow or deny the insert, but you can’t do something like, say, adding a timestamp. You could do this on the client, but then we’re back to square one: we have no way of controlling the validity of that timestamp. After all, we don’t want people to be inserting posts dated January 27, 2067 (Note: if you do happen to be reading this post from the year 2067, please substitute an appropriately far away date. Also, is Meteor 1.0 out yet?). So instead, we can use an insert hook that will modify the document on the server before the insert takes place. Meteor doesn’t provide that feature natively, but the great collection-hooks package does: if ( Meteor. isClient ) { Template. newPost. events ({ 'click.button' : function ( event ) { event. preventDefault (); var postContent = $ ( '.postContent' ). val (); Posts. insert ({ postContent : postContent }); } }); } if ( Meteor. isServer ) {} Posts. before. insert ( function ( userId, doc ) { doc. createdAt = new Date (); }); There’s something very elegant about having only a single Post.insert() in your code, with all the boring validation and sanitization logic happening behind the scenes, even though this pattern does also present a few drawbacks. UPDATE: If you’d like to learn more about collection hooks, you can check out this article. Denial Not Allowed The Allow/Deny pattern is also very easy to get wrong, exposing security holes in the process. Allow/Deny lets you do any kind of update from the client. So you can simply $set a field, but you can also $push to it, $unset it, $addToSet it, and so on. Yet this added flexibility has a cost: it can become a challenge to maintain a schema or rules about what is allowed in which fields. Let’s consider a practical example: upvoting posts. Introducing MeteorPad You can see the full code for this example and play around with the console commands over at MeteorPad, the awesome Meteor playground built by our friends from MadEye. Every time a user upvotes a post, we’ll add their _id to a upvoterIds array on the post document. Template. post. events ({ 'click.upvote' : function ( event ) { event. preventDefault (); Posts. update ({ _id : Session. get ( "currentPostId" )}, { $addToSet : { upvoterIds : Meteor. userId ()} }); } }); Of course, we don’t want to let users add other people’s _id s to that array and game the system. So our allow callback might end up looking something like this: Posts. allow ({ update : function ( userId, doc, fieldNames, modifier ) { return modifier. $addToSet. upvoterIds === userId ; } }); If the user is trying to add their own user _id to the array, things will proceed just fine. In any other case, the allow callback will fail and the write won’t go through. You can see for yourself by typing this in your browser console: Posts. update ({ _id : Session. get ( "currentPostId" )}, { $addToSet : { upvoterIds : "1337" }}) // > update failed: Access denied But wait, don’t give yourself that pat on the back just yet. Can you guess what will happen if someone opens up their browser console and types the following code? Posts. update ({ _id : Session. get ( "currentPostId" )}, { $addToSet : { upvoterIds : Meteor. userId ()}, { $set : { title : "Hello World!" }} }) That’s right! By only checking the $addToSet modifier, we’ve opened the door to people inserting whatever they want in our database, including overwriting other fields! Of course, it’s always possible to write tighter, better allow/deny code. In fact, we’re hoping this post helps you do just that! But hopefully, this example helps illustrate that client-side operations can sometimes be tricky to get right, and that small mistakes can have big consequences. Conclusion Client-side operations are nice in theory, but they can also be really hard to get right. What’s more, splitting your code between the client, allow/deny callbacks, and hooks often ends up making it harder to keep track of all the moving parts. Even when using something like the excellent Collection2 package to help enforce a schema and reject invalid writes, there’s just too much that can go wrong when trusting the client. So there’s your answer: client-side operations are fine during the initial prototyping phase, but for a real-world production app, Meteor methods will usually prove a safer approach! P.S. Part two of our sync/async in Meteor & JavaScript series is coming soon! Sign up for our newsletter below to be sure not to miss it :)Digital security should be of utmost importance to any individual or business. From customer profiles to websites and sensitive company information, hackers have many targets to choose from. Worse, they can do this in varied ways. Here are three common yet potent hacking techniques to be aware of. Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) Attack As its name implies, this method works by sending a ton of traffic data to flood your server or website. Hackers use so-called botnets — a group of devices connected to the internet — to relentlessly send traffic. Not all software has the resources to handle a sudden surge in visitors and user activity. This hacking technique does not necessarily mean data will get stolen. However, this can be disastrous for online stores, forums, and banking services. Businesses can lose customers if they can’t access their accounts and transactions. Phishing This is arguably one of the most popular techniques out there, yet so many people are still falling for it. Their first step is to create websites or email addresses that replicate the look and name of another. They can make a website that purports itself as the official one for a banking institution. An email address similar to that of a company executive will do well too. Hackers then target people through email or social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Some people fall for it — thinking that the link is indeed the new website or that it’s really their boss emailing them. Upon clicking the link, the victim simply has to get logged in or input their personal information on the website. A Trojan virus then steals these sensitive data. MITM Attack Short for the man-in-the-middle attack, this hacking method takes advantage of unsecured network connections to steal or modify data. If you’re accessing the internet through a public Wi-Fi network, you’re more at risk. Similar to phishing, hackers create a Wi-Fi network with an official-sounding name. People who connect to this dubious network are putting their browsing activities in harm’s way. To protect yourself from this hacking technique, you should practice data encryption. Apart from being wary of the networks you connect your device to, get a VPN connection. This service creates private and secure networks that bar hackers from easily accessing data. If you’re wondering how to get VPN on iPhone, the service can be installed on laptops and smartphones alike with ease. When it comes to hacking, one of the best solutions is to simply be informed about how it’s committed. Practice caution in accessing networks and browsing unsecured software.In this 2015 photo, looters escape with goods during xenophobic attacks, which resurfaced after the infamous 2008 violence. Picture: Leon Sadiki Captains of commerce and industry have warned of dire consequences for the continent as Africa’s two biggest economies intermittently fall out over violent attacks on foreigners in South Africa, especially on Nigerians. The xenophobic violence in Gauteng sparked a diplomatic fracas between the two countries. The strain was visible in the past week as the South Africa-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce (SA-NCC) held its board meeting where concerns were raised for business bearing the brunt of the xenophobic attacks. This not only affects the small businesses that have been looted or destroyed in Gauteng, but also South African multinationals in Nigeria and beyond. “Every time there are attacks on foreigners in South Africa – and unfortunately it has not been a one-off problem – the most exposed group in terms of either potential retaliatory attacks or hardening attitudes to South Africa in general is South African businesses,” said Dianna Games, SA-NCC executive director. She pointed out that multinationals were the most visible face of the country elsewhere on the continent, particularly companies with consumer-facing businesses. Therefore, the hostilities had the potential to affect the business relationships and possibly even deals with other African markets long after the media had lost interest in the topic. “South Africans are generally made to feel welcome in Nigeria. Their companies are popular employers. "The two countries are not just important trading partners, people in both countries employ nationals of other African countries. Creating hostility just undermines all the potential benefits of these relationships.” Launched in 2005 in Sandton, Johannesburg, the chamber has been facilitating business and networks between the two countries. Although there was only one large Nigerian investor in South Africa – the Dangote Group through its investment in local company Sephaku Cement – there were many smaller Nigerian-owned businesses, some of which employ South Africans. “Nigeria is also one of the biggest suppliers of crude oil to South Africa, which puts the trade balance with South Africa in Nigeria’s favour,” she said. In the midst of the diplomatic row, SA-NCC has been in contact with the diplomatic missions in both countries to express concerns on behalf of its members. It further expressed disquiet at South Africa’s response, saying the country did not respond “quickly or decisively enough” to convince Africans elsewhere that it was really concerned about the attacks on foreigners, or determined to stop it at all costs. Meanwhile, a development economics expert at the Lagos Business School, Adi Bongo, warned that while Nigerians had previously turned the other cheek, alleged complicity by law enforcers in South Africa had incited reprisals against South African firms lately. “Barbaric as this may sound in a purportedly modern economy such as that of South Africa, we see this as a manifestation of the failure of leadership characteristic of the current political elite in South Africa today. “It is obvious President Jacob Zuma’s leadership has failed to produce dividends for the larger majority of black South Africans who are now inclined to take out their frustration on hapless foreigners.” Bongo spoke as Nigerian students threatened South African businesses operating in Nigeria, while that country’s Senate dispatched a delegation to South Africa. “It is important that things are brought under control in South Africa. Otherwise, reprisal attacks and a boycott of South African businesses in Nigeria might be the consequence,” he warned. Acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, who presented South Africa’s crime statistics on Friday, told City Press that no amount of anger or emotions in society should encourage lawlessness and people taking the law into their own hands. “We cannot condone an attack on anyone, whether he is a foreign national or not. We consider the happenings of Rosettenville, Pretoria West and Atteridgeville unfortunate and regrettable.” Phahlane said where there are instances of police colluding with criminals, such officers should be reported. “We cannot dispute there is an element of collusion and we will appreciate if factual information is presented to us to enable us to take action against our own,” he said. – CAJ NewsFrom Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Acknowledgment: The authors thank all CHS participants, CHS investigators, and institutions (see www.chs-nhlbi.org); Donna Spiegelman, ScD, for invaluable guidance on the analyses of life-years lost and measurement error correction; and Fumiaki Imamura, PhD, for assistance with performing regression dilution bias and measurement error correction analyses. Grant Support: This investigation was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the Office of Dietary Supplements of the National Institutes of Health (R01-HL-085710). The CHS was supported by NHLBI contracts HHSN268201200036C, N01-HC-85239, N01-HC-85079 through N01-HC-85086, N01-HC-35129, N01 HC-15103, N01 HC-55222, N01-HC-75150, and N01-HC-45133 and NHLBI grant HL080295, with additional contribution from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Additional support was provided through AG-023629, AG-15928, AG-20098, and AG-027058 from the National Institute on Aging. See www.chs-nhlbi.org/pi.htm. Potential Conflicts of Interest: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M12-1795. Reproducible Research Statement: Study protocol: Available from Dr. Mozaffarian (e-mail, [email protected]). Statistical code: Not available. Data set: Not available from the authors. Interested readers can review the CHS procedures for outside investigators to obtain and analyze data (www.chs-nhlbi.org/CHS_DistribPolicy.htm). Requests for Single Reprints: Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Building 2-319, Boston, MA 02115; e-mail, [email protected]. Current Author Addresses: Dr. Mozaffarian: Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Building 2-319, Boston, MA 02115. Drs. Lemaitre and Siscovick: Cardiovascular Health Research Unit, 1730 Minor Avenue, Suite 1360, Seattle, WA 98101. Dr. King: University of New Mexico, 2703 Frontier Avenue NE, Suite 190, Albuquerque, NM 87131. Dr. Song: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, M5-A864, 1100 Fairview Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98109. Drs. Huang, Sacks, Rimm, and Wang: Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. Author Contributions: Conception and design: D. Mozaffarian, I.B. King, D.S. Siscovick. Analysis and interpretation of the data: D. Mozaffarian, X. Song, H. Huang, F.M. Sacks, M. Wang, D.S. Siscovick. Drafting of the article: D. Mozaffarian. Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: D. Mozaffarian, R.N. Lemaitre, H. Huang, F.M. Sacks, E.B. Rimm, D.S. Siscovick. Final approval of the article: D. Mozaffarian, R.N. Lemaitre, I.B. King, X. Song, H. Huang, F.M. Sacks, M. Wang, D.S. Siscovick. Statistical expertise: D. Mozaffarian, H. Huang, M. Wang. Obtaining of funding: D. Mozaffarian, R.N. Lemaitre, I.B. King, D.S. Siscovick. Administrative, technical, or logistic support: X. Song. Collection and assembly of data: D. Mozaffarian, X. Song, D.S. Siscovick.International rugby continues to lay its roots in Chicago in hopes of growing the game nationwide. Soldier Field will host an exhibition of some of the world's top rugby players for the third straight year, with the defending World Cup champion New Zealand All Blacks taking on the national rugby team of Ireland at the lakefront stadium on Nov. 5. It will be the All Blacks' second game in Chicago in three years. The squad took on the U.S. national rugby team in November 2014 in what was the debut of professional rugby at Soldier Field and sold out the stadium's more than 61,000 seats, shattering the previous attendance record of about 23,000 fans for an international rugby game in North America. The U.S. national rugby team followed that this year with an exhibition game against the Australia Wallabies (the country's national team), though the turnout for the game was far lower at just more than 23,000 fans. Now USA Rugby officials are doubling down on the sport in Chicago. On Nov. 4, the U.S. national team will take on the Maori All Blacks, a separate New Zealand national team, at Toyota Park in Bridgeview. It will be the fourth time the two sides have played each other, with the last game taking place in front of more than 22,000 fans at Philadelhia's PPL Park in Sept. 2013. Organizers are billing the two games as "The Rugby Weekend" and will hold a news conference at Soldier Field on Feb. 16 to officially announce the games. Tickets for the 2014 All Blacks game didn't go on sale until five months before the game and ranged from $30 to $250.Last July, T-Mobile launched Advanced Messaging, which offers improved text messaging with features like delivery and read receipts and support for sending larger attachments. Fast-forward to today and we’ve now got an idea of how much Advanced Messaging is actually being used. T-Mobile today said that more than 5.5 million customers are using its Rich Communication Services (RCS)-backed Advanced Messaging and Video Calling services. Those subscribers are sending around 40 million messages every day. There are 10 devices on T-Mo’s roster that support Advanced Messaging, eight of which also support Video Calling. When Advanced Messaging originally launched, it was only available on the Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime. T-Mo has added the functionality to other devices through software updates, though, including the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, and LG G4. There are still quite a few phones on T-Mobile’s roster that don’t support Advanced Messaging, but the number that do is certainly growing. That’s good to see because the RCS-based service offers several benefits over the old SMS/MMS standard, and because it’s built in to the phone, folks that own a device that supports it don’t need to hunt down and install a special app to actually use those benefits. So far, T-Mobile has the biggest supporter of RCS-based messaging among the four major US carriers. AT&T launched support last year and currently has it enabled on a couple of phones, while Sprint (and several other international carriers) recently teamed up with Google to boost the adoption of RCS. Meanwhile, Verizon said last year that it doesn’t have any timeframe for supporting RCS and pointed users toward its own Verizon Messages app. Have you used T-Mobile’s Advanced Messaging service yet? Source: FierceWirelessImage caption The pigs were inside as trailer which fell over onto its side A number of pigs have been killed after a trailer carrying the animals crashed into an electricity pole in Cullybackey, County Antrim. The incident happened at Main Street in the village at about 08:30 GMT on Friday morning. It is understood the trailer was carrying up to 100 pigs. Philip Simpson, who works in a nearby shop, said it was fortunate children who would normally have been walking to school were on half-term holiday. "The tractor with the trailer came up round the corner at the back of our shop on the Main Street," he said. "The trailer snapped off the tractor and tipped onto its side onto the footpath, then it hit the pole and took some of the wall out as well. "The pigs then got trapped in it because it was on its side and could not go anywhere up against the wall."With the single exception of Star Trek fans, there's perhaps nothing considered more quintessentially geeky by non-geeks than the comic book enthusiast. And it's clear to see just how the categorical characterisation is perpetuated when we look at how they're portrayed on some popular TV shows. Now, we're not necessarily talking popular among geeks, so be prepared to be offended on some fronts and amused on others... Heroes - Season 3 Episode 19 Shades Of Grey March 2009 Masses of Heroes worshippers were put off by the very recent portrayal of graphic novel shoppers as cowering, leering guys who evidently had never seen a real live girl in their RL realm. But equally appalling was Claire's apparent lack of any prior knowledge of Wednesdays. Even-handed slights were dealt to comic fans and cheerleaders alike. Rocko's Modern Life - Season 1 Episode 8 Canned October 1993 The self-assured and socially adept wallaby of the title has a turtle friend, who is by contrast a neurotic, obsessive-compulsive paranoid hypochondriac. We first met Filbert in the comics megastore, suffering for his fanaticism, along with a couple other 'typical' customers. Malcolm In The Middle - Season 2 Episode 21 Malcolm Vs. Reese April 2001 Co-worker and friend of the family (with a crush on Malcolm's mom), Craig Feldspar is a comic collector attending a convention while Malcolm's dad and brother Dewey look after his cat. The costume says it all. 30 Rock - Season 1 Episode 10 The Rural Juror January 2007 With those few examples under your ultility belt, and a trend stoutly established, see if you can spot the comic book fan before he or she announces it in this short clip from one of our favourite US comedies. As rough as those stereotypes are, comic book shop owners and counter jockeys come off far worse than all the afficionados and collectors put together. Simpsons - Season 2 Episode 21 Three Men And A Comic Book May 1991 Inky hands down, the most famous of all snotty comic clerks is Jeff Albertson, the Comic Book Guy. Though not nearly as maniacal as Elijah Price (Unbreakable) he comes close for a cartoon character. Worst. Proprietor. Ever! Everybody Loves Raymond - Season 4 Episode 17 Hackidu February 2000 This particular comic shop owner (played by Paul Reubens) obviously has personal problems beyond the haughty hawker attitude that's an occupational hazard. Malcolm In The Middle - Season 4 Episode 5 Forwards Backwards December 2002 Craig Feldspar's back, this time in the role of a sortahero (sans suit) as he comes to the aid of Hal, who's at the mercy of a supercilious salesman. Spaced - Season 2 Episode 2 Change March 2001 We end our brief peek with our absolute favourite portrayal and forgive it any offence, accidental or intended, as Tim Bisley (Simon Pegg) ventures to his dark side behind the comics counter. (Harsh language alert) Have your say. Declare or deny any similarities to what we see here. Have other examples? Add them to the comments too.Alright so I made an earlier post about Rengar, it was super ranty, badly structured and I feel like i repeated myself a bit but it got my point across. Link: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/YAa8YWa2-revert-rengar-please I want to make a correction to it: The biggest problem with new Rengar is the free crit on his ult and his Q. His Q is clunky, nerfed to the ground, AoE for some stupid reason and just plain not fun to use. His current kit completely killed crit Rengar which was super fun to play. AD Bruiser is not so fun. Here is a _concept_: Lower the AD his passive gives to 12-15% on 5 kills Revert the stacks to as before, it's genuinely no fun in its current state. Revert his Q to exactly as before, **[EDIT]** But give it a 5-10% AD Ratio bonus to compensate for massive W power reduction Have W heal lowered and only cleanse slows. Keep E as is. Remove Free Crit on ult. **[EDIT]** Return the stacks it gave, but not 5 Stacks, more like 3-5 on ult levels 1-3 Because his passive gives free AD, building straight AD seems better, but with lower bonus AD, and no free crit means crit build comes back. The new stack system is 0 fun to use, lets be honest. Old stacks was similar but the feeling of preparing before a hunt was so cool to me. Current Q is ass, lets face it, Old Q is superior in every way, and a core part of the kit. W is way too strong, a free massive heal and a cleanse? Hello? Rito? Besides, with the passive revert, AP Rengar players have a home again. E is fine, live love rengar E R: Remove crit, thats all. Without the crit, crit rengar comes back, which means a much stronger late game but none of the old mid game bullshit jump an enemy for 2k crit before they even see you. On top of the crit removal, with the new camoflauge mechanic, your positioning before a fight has to be a lot better so old glass cannon, wait until all summs are blown before jumping in will be remedied. The original return of 5 stacks right after ulting was pretty busted, 3/4 would be a lot more fair to play against **[EDIT]** Moving a lot of the power in his kit would mean his balance would be in question, so i chose to make the kit overall weaker to preserve the feeling of old Rengar, with plenty of room for Riot to buff/nerf as needed. (Ex: W heal values, E slow) I hope this appeals, because this would make my favorite champion playable again. Please Riot I love this game but my favorite champion is gone and League just isnt the same without Angry Knife Kitty :( **[EDIT]** Sorry for all the edits :p just adding some points or changing something i feel didn't make as much sense, like the W ap bonus. Title Body Cancel SavePlease enable Javascript to watch this video CYPRESS HILLS, Brooklyn — A bulletproof vest likely saved the life of an NYPD officer who was shot multiple times in the chest and arm by a gunman in Brooklyn late Thursday afternoon, police say. After a standoff with police, the gunman was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police responded to a home on Ridgewood Avenue around 4:35 p.m. to the report of an emotionally disturbed person. The mother of the 29-year-old suspect reported him to be non-violent and unarmed. One of the officers entered the rear of the building after being told by the mother her
debug proc debug * ( args : varargs [ string, ` $ ` ] ) = if logLevel <= Level. debug : echo "[ $# $# ]: $# " % [ getDateStr (), getClockStr (), join args ] proc expensiveDebuggingInfo * : string = sleep ( milsecs = 1000 ) result = "Everything looking good!" debug expensiveDebuggingInfo () [2016-06-05 22:00:50]: Everything looking good! We have to call expensiveDebuggingInfo to get the debugging info, which is fine right now since our logLevel is set to Level.debug. But it stops being fine when we instead set logLevel to anything higher than debug. Then it still takes a full second to evaluate the expensiveDebuggingInfo parameter for debug, but inside of debug nothing is done with that information. This is of course a consequence of call-by-value argument evaluation, which Nim uses, just as most other languages do. A notable exception would be lazy evaluation in Haskell, where this kind of logger would work perfectly fine, only calling expensiveDebuggingInfo when its value is actually needed. But let’s stay in Nim-land and use a template instead of a proc to magically fix this: template debug * ( args : varargs [ string, ` $ ` ] ) = if logLevel <= Level. debug : const module = instantiationInfo (). filename [ 0.. ^ 5 ] echo "[ $# $# ][ $# ]: $# " % [ getDateStr (), getClockStr (), module, join args ] [2016-06-05 22:01:30][logger]: Everything looking good! Note that we also conveniently use instantiationInfo() to find out at what location in the program our template was instantiated, something we could not do using a procedure. We can still call the template in the exact same way as the proc. But now we have the advantage that the template is inlined at compiletime, so expensiveDebuggingInfo is only called if the runtime logLevel actually requires it. Perfect. Safe locking Another problem that can be solved with a template is automatically acquiring and releasing a system lock: import locks template withLock ( lock : Lock, body : stmt ) = acquire lock try : body finally : release lock Compile with --threads:on for platform independent lock support. This looks pretty simple, we just acquire the lock, execute the passed statements and finally release the lock, even if exceptions have been thrown. We can pass any set of statements as the body. The usage is as easy as using a built-in if statement: var lock : Lock initLock lock withLock lock : echo "Do something that requires locking" echo "This might throw an exception" When our template accepts a value of type stmt we can use the colon to pass an entire indented block of code. When we have multiple parameters of type stmt the do notation can be used. This gets transformed into: var lock : Lock initLock lock acquire lock try : echo "Do something that requires locking" echo "This might throw an exception" finally : release lock Now we will never forget to call release lock. You could use this to make a higher level locking library that only exposes withLock instead of the lower-level acquire and release primitives. Macros Just like templates, macros are executed at compiletime. But with templates you can only do constant substitutions in the AST. With macros you can analyze the passed arguments and create a new AST at the current position in any way you want. A nice property of Nim is that these compiletime macros are also written in the regular Nim language, so there is no need to learn another language. A simple way to create an AST is to use parseStmt and parseExpr to parse the regular textual representation into a NimNode. For example parseStmt("result = 10") returns this AST: StmtList Asgn Ident!"result" IntLit 10 A very useful way to find the AST of a piece of code is dumpTree : import macros dumpTree : result = 10 This is the same output as you get with treeRepr : import macros static : echo treeRepr ( parseStmt ( "result = 10" )) Alternatively you can use lispRepr to get a lisp-like representation: StmtList(Asgn(Ident(!"result"), IntLit(10))) Finally there is also the repr proc, which turns a NimNode AST back into its textual representation. Many beginners start by piecing strings together and finally calling parseStmt on them. While this works it is inefficient and prone to bugs. Instead you can use the macros module to create NimNodes of all kinds yourself. dumpTree gives you a hint if you’re not sure how a specific piece of code will look in its AST representation. JSON Parsing JSON is pretty popular, so let’s improve the support for it in Nim. What we want is to have a magical %* so that we can write JSON directly in Nim source code and have it checked at compile time, like this: var j1 = %* [ { "name" : "John", "age" : 30 }, { "name" : "Susan", "age" : 31 } ] So far if you want to use JSON in Nim, you have to use the JSON constructor % a lot: import json var j2 = %[ % { "name" : % "John", "age" : % 30 }, % { "name" : % "Susan", "age" : % 31 } ] Looks annoying. How can we implement %*? As a macro of course!: macro ` %* ` * ( x : expr ): expr = toJson ( x ) Ok, that doesn’t do anything interesting yet. We just call the still unspecified compile time proc toJson and return the result. We want toJson to traverse the passed AST x and create a new AST, which inserts a % call at just the right places, exactly as it would happen if we added the % calls manually. For this purpose we print the AST of j2 by putting it into dumpTree from the macros module: import json, macros dumpTree : %[ % { "name" : % "John", "age" : % 30 }, % { "name" : % "Susan", "age" : % 31 } ] We get the following AST printed when compiling this program: Prefix Ident!"%" Bracket Prefix Ident!"%" TableConstr ExprColonExpr StrLit name Prefix Ident!"%" StrLit John ExprColonExpr StrLit age Prefix Ident!"%" IntLit 30 Prefix Ident!"%" TableConstr ExprColonExpr StrLit name Prefix Ident!"%" StrLit Susan ExprColonExpr StrLit age Prefix Ident!"%" IntLit 31 This turned out quite big, but from here we can see how the AST we want to construct looks like. We do the same for j1 to see what we’re working with: StmtList Bracket TableConstr ExprColonExpr StrLit name StrLit John ExprColonExpr StrLit age IntLit 30 TableConstr ExprColonExpr StrLit name StrLit Susan ExprColonExpr StrLit age IntLit 31 The idea now is to insert a % at each level, except in front of the "name" and "age" in our case, the first elements in colon expressions. proc toJson ( x : PNimrodNode ): PNimrodNode {. compiletime.} = case x. kind of nnkBracket : # Corresponds to Bracket in dumpTree result = newNimNode ( nnkBracket ) for i in 0.. < x. len : result. add ( toJson ( x [ i ] )) # Recurse to add % of nnkTableConstr : # nnk stands for Nim node kind result = newNimNode ( nnkTableConstr ) for i in 0.. < x. len : assert x [ i ]. kind == nnkExprColonExpr result. add ( newNimNode ( nnkExprColonExpr ). add ( x [ i ][ 0 ] ) # First element: no %. add ( toJson ( x [ i ][ 1 ] ))): # Second element: Recurse to add % else : result = x # End of recursion result = result. prefix ( "%" ) # Surround this level with % And that’s it! Now our %* works just as we want it to. If we did anything wrong, we can modify the macro to check the actual code it produces: macro ` %* ` * ( x : expr ): expr = result = toJson ( x ) echo result. repr # Print code representation of AST This prints: % [% {"name": % "John", "age": % 30}, % {"name": % "Susan", "age": % 31}] Perfect! This macro we just developed landed in Nim’s json module already. Enum Parsing optimization With enums we can create new types that contain ordered values, just like this: type Fruit = enum Apple, Banana, Cherry Strings can be parsed to an enum using parseEnum from strutils: let fruit = parseEnum [ Fruit ] ( "cherry" ) If we do this a lot, we notice that it’s kind of slow though: for i in 1.. 10_000_000 : var select = parseEnum [ Fruit ] ( "cherry" ) doAssert select == Cherry This takes 2.2 seconds on my machine. Let’s look at the definition of parseEnum to find out why: proc parseEnum *[ T : enum ] ( s : string ): T = ## Parses an enum ``T``. ## ## Raises ``ValueError`` for an invalid value in `s`. The ## comparison is done in a style insensitive way. for e in low ( T ).. high ( T ): if cmpIgnoreStyle ( s, $ e ) == 0 : return e raise newException ( ValueError, "invalid enum value: " & s ) We can see the problem already. We iterate through all the values inside the enum type, from low(T) to high(T). Then $e creates a string of each enum value, which is quite expensive. Since we already know the type of the enum at compile time, we could create the strings at compile time as well. Again, let’s think about what we want the result to look like before writing the macro. Basically what we want to do is unroll the for loop at compile time: if cmpIgnoreStyle ( s, "Apple" ) == 0 : return Apple if cmpIgnoreStyle ( s, "Banana" ) == 0 : return Banana if cmpIgnoreStyle ( s, "Cherry" ) == 0 : return Cherry raise newException ( ValueError, "invalid enum value: " & s ) Now we can create the proc. Other than in the last example we won’t create the AST manually this time. Instead we use parseStmt to create a statement AST from a string containing Nim code. An equivalent parseExpr for expressions exists as well. Here’s how the final proc with a macro inside looks: proc parseEnum *[ T : enum ] ( s : string ): T = macro m : stmt = result = newStmtList () for e in T : result. add parseStmt ( "if cmpIgnoreStyle(s, \" $1 \" ) == 0: return $1 ". format ( e )) result. add parseStmt ( "raise newException(ValueError, \" invalid enum value: \" &s)" ) #echo result.repr # To make sure we get what we want m () # Actually invoke the macro to insert the statements here Running the same code with our new implementation of parseEnum takes 0.5 seconds now, about 4 times faster than before. Great! HTML DSL We can use Nim’s templates and macros to create domain specific languages (DSL) that are translated into Nim code at compiletime. Nim’s syntax is quite flexible, so this is a powerful tool. As an example we build a simple HTML DSL. The goal is to be able to write this: proc page ( title, content : string ) {. htmlTemplate.} = html : head : title : title body : h1 : title p : "Default Content" p : content echo page ( "My own website", "My extra content" ) And thus print the following HTML: <html> <head> <title> My own website </title> </head> <body> <h1> My own website </h1> <p> Default Content </p> <p> My extra content </p> </body> </html> For convenience we want to use the htmlTemplate macro as a pragma, annotated as {.htmlTemplate.}. Instead we could also write it in this way: htmlTemplate : proc page ( title, content : string ) = html : head : title : title body : h1 : title p : "Default Content" p : content The htmlTemplate macro shall transform the page proc, adding a string return type and creating a new body out of the DSL definition, into this: proc page ( title, content : string ): string = result = "" result. add "<html> "... result. add "</html> " Looks simple enough, here’s how the macro works: macro htmlTemplate ( procDef : expr ): stmt = procDef. expectKind nnkProcDef # Same name as specified let name = procDef [ 0 ] # Return type: string var params = @[ newIdentNode ( "string" ) ] # Same parameters as specified for i in 1.. < procDef [ 3 ]. len : params. add procDef [ 3 ][ i ] var body = newStmtList () # result = "" body. add newAssignment ( newIdentNode ( "result" ), newStrLitNode ( "" )) # Recurse over DSL definition body. add htmlInner ( procDef [ 6 ] ) # Return a new proc result = newStmtList ( newProc ( name, params, body )) The real magic of recursively handling the HTML tags happens in htmlInner of course, a compiletime proc that calls itself recursively to iterate over the body definition: template write ( arg : expr ) = result. add newCall ( "add", newIdentNode ( "result" ), arg ) template writeLit ( args : varargs [ string, ` $ ` ] ) = write newStrLitNode ( args. join ) proc htmlInner ( x : NimNode, indent = 0 ): NimNode {. compiletime.} = x. expectKind nnkStmtList result = newStmtList () let spaces = repeat ('', indent ) for y in x : case y. kind of nnkCall : y. expectLen 2 let tag = y [ 0 ] tag. expectKind nnkIdent writeLit spaces, "<", tag, "> " # Recurse over child result. add htmlInner ( y [ 1 ], indent + 2 ) writeLit spaces, "</", tag, "> " else : writeLit spaces write y writeLit " " We can check that we get the expected output by adding a simple echo result.repr at the end of htmlTemplate : proc page ( title, content : string ): string = result = "" add ( result, "<html> \x0A " ) add ( result, " <head> \x0A " )... add ( result, "</html> \x0A " ) Where \x0A is just the newline character. Looks good and the output works! emerald is a much more complete HTML DSL that works in a similar manner. A simpler HTML generator is included in the standard library in the htmlgen module. Conclusion I hope you enjoyed this trip through Nim’s metaprogramming capabilities. Always remember: With great power comes great responsibility, so use the least powerful construct that does the job. This reduces complexity and makes it easier to understand the code and keep it maintainable. For further information and reference see: Discuss on Hacker News and r/programming.Sennheiser 3.5mm / 6.3mm Connector Around-Ear Headphones Street-smart styling and comfort are only part of what this portable headphone offers. The powerful, noise-blocking ear cups deliver incredible bass and two interchangeable single-sided cables provide flexibility. For a combination of street style and prowess, the HD 439 closed-back stereo headphones are the choice. 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Features Powerful neodymium magnets for an enhanced bass experience Closed circumaural headphone design isolate against ambient noise Ergonomic design provides a comfortable fit Choice of two single-sided cables for flexible length and convenience Optimized for portable audio including MP3, CD players, iPad, iPod, iPhone and mobile phones (iPad, iPhone and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.) 2-Year warranty Specifications Specifications Color Black Impedance 32Ω Frequency response 17 – 22500Hz Sound pressure level (SPL) 112dB THD, total harmonic distortion < 0,1 % Jack plug 1/8" (3.5mm) gold / 1/4" (6.3mm) gold adapter Cable length 4.5-Foot (1.4m) and 10-foot (3m) single-sided detachable OFC cables Transducer principle Dynamic, closed What's in the BoxIn this second and final part of the Unity tower defense tutorial, you’ll add some shooting monsters into the the mix. Update note: This tutorial has been updated to Unity 2017.1 by Jeff Fisher. The original tutorial was written by Barbara Reichart. Welcome to part two of How to Create a Tower Defense Game in Unity. You’re making a tower defense game in Unity, and at the end of part one, you could place and upgrade monsters. You also had one enemy attack the cookie. However, the enemy had no idea which way to face! Also, it was a poor excuse for an attack. In this part, you’ll add enemy waves and arm your monsters so they can defend your precious cookie. Getting Started In Unity, open your completed project from the first part of this tutorial series, or if you’re just joining in now, download the starter project and open TowerDefense-Part2-Starter. Open GameScene from the Scenes folder. Rotate the Enemies At the end of the last tutorial, the enemy followed the road, but appeared to have no idea which way to face. Open MoveEnemy.cs in your IDE, and add the following method to fix this. private void RotateIntoMoveDirection() { //1 Vector3 newStartPosition = waypoints [currentWaypoint].transform.position; Vector3 newEndPosition = waypoints [currentWaypoint + 1].transform.position; Vector3 newDirection = (newEndPosition - newStartPosition); //2 float x = newDirection.x; float y = newDirection.y; float rotationAngle = Mathf.Atan2 (y, x) * 180 / Mathf.PI; //3 GameObject sprite = gameObject.transform.Find("Sprite").gameObject; sprite.transform.rotation = Quaternion.AngleAxis(rotationAngle, Vector3.forward); } RotateIntoMoveDirection rotates the enemy so that it always looks forward, like so: It calculates the bug’s current movement direction by subtracting the current waypoint’s position from that of the next waypoint. It uses Mathf.Atan2 to determine the angle toward which newDirection points, in radians, assuming zero points to the right. Multiplying the result by 180 / Mathf.PI converts the angle to degrees. Finally, it retrieves the child named Sprite and rotates it rotationAngle degrees along the z-axis. Note that you rotate the child instead of the parent so the health bar — you’ll add it soon — remains horizontal. In Update(), replace the comment // TODO: Rotate into move direction with the following call to RotateIntoMoveDirection : RotateIntoMoveDirection(); Save the file and switch to Unity. Run the scene; now your monster knows where he’s going. One single enemy? Hardly impressive. Let the hordes come. And like in every tower defense game, hordes will come in waves! Inform the Player Before you set the hordes into motion, you need to let the player know about the coming onslaught. Also, why not display the current wave’s number at the top of the screen? Several GameObjects need wave information, so you’ll add it to the GameManagerBehavior component on GameManager. Open GameManagerBehavior.cs in your IDE and add these two variables: public Text waveLabel; public GameObject[] nextWaveLabels; The waveLabel stores a reference to the wave readout at the top right corner of the screen. nextWaveLabels stores the two GameObjects that when combined, create an animation you’ll show at the start of a new wave, as shown below: Save the file and switch to Unity. Select GameManager in the Hierarchy. Click on the small circle to the right of Wave Label, and in the Select Text dialog, select WaveLabel in the Scene tab. Now set the Size of Next Wave Labels to 2. Then assign Element 0 to NextWaveBottomLabel and Element 1 to NextWaveTopLabel the same way as you set Wave Label. If the player has lost the game, he shouldn’t see the next wave message. To handle this, switch back to GameManagerBehavior.cs in your IDE and add another variable: public bool gameOver = false; In gameOver you’ll store whether the player has lost the game. Once again, you’ll use a property to keep the game’s elements in sync with the current wave. Add the following code to GameManagerBehavior : private int wave; public int Wave { get { return wave; } set { wave = value; if (!gameOver) { for (int i = 0; i < nextWaveLabels.Length; i++) { nextWaveLabels[i].GetComponent<Animator>().SetTrigger("nextWave"); } } waveLabel.text = "WAVE: " + (wave + 1); } } Creating the private variable, property and getter should be second nature by now. But again, the setter is a bit trickier. You update wave with the new value. Then you check that the game is not over. If so, you iterate over all labels in nextWaveLabels — those labels have an Animator component. To trigger the animation on the Animator you set the trigger nextWave. Lastly, you set waveLabel ‘s text to the value of wave + 1. Why the +1? – Normal human beings do not start counting at zero. Weird, I know :] In Start(), set the value of this property: Wave = 0; You start counting at Wave number 0. Save the file, then run the scene in Unity. The Wave readout properly starts at 1. Waves: Spawn, Spawn, Spawn It sounds obvious, but you need to be able to create more enemies to unleash the hordes — right now you can’t do that. Furthermore, you shouldn’t spawn the next wave once the current wave is obliterated — at least for now. So, the games must be able to recognize whether there are enemies in the scene, and Tags are a good way to identify game objects. Set Enemy Tags Select the Enemy prefab in the Project Browser. At the top of the Inspector, click on the Tag dropdown and select Add Tag. Create a Tag named Enemy. Select the Enemy prefab. In the Inspector, set its Tag to Enemy. Define Enemy Waves Now you need to define a wave of enemies. Open SpawnEnemy.cs in your IDE, and add the following class implementation before SpawnEnemy : [System.Serializable] public class Wave { public GameObject enemyPrefab; public float spawnInterval = 2; public int maxEnemies = 20; } Wave holds an enemyPrefab, the basis for instantiating all enemies in that wave, a spawnInterval, the time between enemies in the wave in seconds and the maxEnemies, which is the quantity of enemies spawning in that wave. This class is Serializable, which means you can change the values in the Inspector. Add the following variables to the SpawnEnemy class: public Wave[] waves; public int timeBetweenWaves = 5; private GameManagerBehavior gameManager; private float lastSpawnTime; private int enemiesSpawned = 0; This sets up some variables for spawning that are quite similar to how you moved the enemies along waypoints. You’ll define the game’s various waves in waves, and track the number of enemies spawned and when you spawned them in enemiesSpawned and lastSpawnTime, respectively. Players need breaks after all that killing, so set timeBetweenWaves to 5 seconds Replace the contents of Start() with the following code. lastSpawnTime = Time.time; gameManager = GameObject.Find("GameManager").GetComponent<GameManagerBehavior>(); Here you set lastSpawnTime to the current time, which will be when the script starts as soon as the scene loads. Then you retrieve the GameManagerBehavior in the familiar way. Add this to Update() : // 1 int currentWave = gameManager.Wave; if (currentWave < waves.Length) { // 2 float timeInterval = Time.time - lastSpawnTime; float spawnInterval = waves[currentWave].spawnInterval; if (((enemiesSpawned == 0 && timeInterval > timeBetweenWaves) || timeInterval > spawnInterval) && enemiesSpawned < waves[currentWave].maxEnemies) { // 3 lastSpawnTime = Time.time; GameObject newEnemy = (GameObject) Instantiate(waves[currentWave].enemyPrefab); newEnemy.GetComponent<MoveEnemy>().waypoints = waypoints; enemiesSpawned++; } // 4 if (enemiesSpawned == waves[currentWave].maxEnemies && GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Enemy") == null) { gameManager.Wave++; gameManager.Gold = Mathf.RoundToInt(gameManager.Gold * 1.1f); enemiesSpawned = 0; lastSpawnTime = Time.time; } // 5 } else { gameManager.gameOver = true; GameObject gameOverText = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag ("GameWon"); gameOverText.GetComponent<Animator>().SetBool("gameOver", true); } Go through this code step by step: Get the index of the current wave, and check if it’s the last one. If so, calculate how much time passed since the last enemy spawn and whether it’s time to spawn an enemy. Here you consider two cases. If it’s the first enemy in the wave, you check whether timeInterval is bigger than timeBetweenWaves. Otherwise, you check whether timeInterval is bigger than this wave’s spawnInterval. In either case, you make sure you haven’t spawned all the enemies for this wave. If necessary, spawn an enemy by instantiating a copy of enemyPrefab. You also increase the enemiesSpawned count. You check the number of enemies on screen. If there are none and it was the last enemy in the wave you spawn the next wave. You also give the player 10 percent of all gold left at the end of the wave. Upon beating the last wave this runs the game won animation. Set Spawn Intervals Save the file and switch to Unity. Select Road in the Hierarchy. In the Inspector, set the Size of Waves to 4. For now, set Enemy Prefab to Enemy for all four elements. Set the Spawn Interval and Max Enemies fields as follows: Element 0: Spawn Interval: 2.5, Max Enemies: 5 Element 1: Spawn Interval: 2, Max Enemies: 10 Element 2: Spawn Interval: 2, Max Enemies: 15 Element 3: Spawn Interval: 1, Max Enemies: 5 The final setup should look like the screenshot below. Of course, you can play around with those settings to increase or decrease the carnage. Run the game. Ah-ha! The bugs are marching toward your cookie! Optional: Add Different Types of Enemies No tower defense game is complete with only one type of enemy. Luckily, the Prefabs folder contains another option, Enemy2. Select Prefabs\Enemy2 in Inspector and add the MoveEnemy script to it. Set its Speed to 3 and its Tag to Enemy. You can now use this speedy bug to keep the player on his toes! Update Player Health – Killing Me Softly Even though hordes of bugs storm towards the cookie, the player takes no damage. But no more. The player should take a hit when he lets the enemy encroach. Open GameManagerBehavior.cs in your IDE, and add the following two variables: public Text healthLabel; public GameObject[] healthIndicator; You’ll use healthLabel to access the player’s health readout, and healthIndicator to access the five little green cookie-crunching monsters — they simply represent player health in a more fun way than a standard health label. Manage Health Next, add a property to maintain the player’s health in GameManagerBehavior : private int health; public int Health { get { return health; } set { // 1 if (value < health) { Camera.main.GetComponent<CameraShake>().Shake(); } // 2 health = value; healthLabel.text = "HEALTH: " + health; // 3 if (health <= 0 &&!gameOver) { gameOver = true; GameObject gameOverText = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("GameOver"); gameOverText.GetComponent<Animator>().SetBool("gameOver", true); } // 4 for (int i = 0; i < healthIndicator.Length; i++) { if (i < Health) { healthIndicator[i].SetActive(true); } else { healthIndicator[i].SetActive(false); } } } } This manages the player's health. Once again, the bulk of the code is in the setter: If you're reducing the player's health, use the CameraShake component to create a nice shake effect. This script is included with the project and not covered here. Update the private variable and the health label in the top left corner of the screen. If health drops to 0 and it's not yet game over, set gameOver to true and trigger the GameOver animation. Remove one of the monsters from the cookie. If it just disabled them, this bit could be written more simply, but it also supports re-enabling them when you add health. Initialize Health in Start() : Health = 5; You set Health to 5 when the scene starts playing. With this property in place, you can now update the player's health whenever a bug reaches the cookie. Save this file and then switch to MoveEnemy.cs, still in your IDE. Update Health To update the player's health, find the comment in Update() that reads // TODO: deduct health and replace it with this code: GameManagerBehavior gameManager = GameObject.Find("GameManager").GetComponent<GameManagerBehavior>(); gameManager.Health -= 1; This gets the GameManagerBehavior and subtracts one from its Health. Save the file and switch to Unity. Select GameManager in the Hierarchy and set its Health Label to HealthLabel. Expand Cookie in the Hierarchy and drag and drop its five HealthIndicator children into GameManager's Health Indicator array -- the health indicators are the tiny green monsters happily eating their cookie. Play the scene and wait for the bugs to reach the cookie. Do nothing until you lose. Monster Wars: The Revenge of the Monsters Monsters in place? Check. Enemies advancing? Check — and they look mean! Time to mow those suckers down! This requires several things: A health bar, so the player knows which enemies are strong and weak Detection of enemies within the range of a monster Decision points -- which enemy to fire upon Lots of bullets Enemy Health Bar You'll use two images to implement the health bar, one for a dark background and a slightly smaller green bar you'll scale to match the enemy's health. Drag Prefabs\Enemy into the scene from the Project Browser. Then drag Images\Objects\HealthBarBackground onto Enemy in the Hierarchy to add it as a child. In the Inspector, set the Position for HealthBarBackground to (0, 1, -4). Next, select Images\Objects\HealthBar in the Project Browser and ensure its Pivot is set to Left. Then, add it as a child of Enemy in the Hierarchy and set its Position to (-0.63, 1, -5). Set its X Scale to 125. Add a new C# script named HealthBar to the HealthBar game object. Later, you'll edit it to adjust length of the health bar. With Enemy selected in the Hierarchy, make sure it's position is (20, 0, 0). Click on Apply at the top of the Inspector to save all your changes as part of the prefab. Finally, delete Enemy from the Hierarchy. Now, repeat those steps to add the health bar to Prefabs\Enemy2. Adjust Health Bar Length Open HealthBar.cs in your IDE, and add the following variables: public float maxHealth = 100; public float currentHealth = 100; private float originalScale; maxHealth stores the enemy's maximal health points, and currentHealth tracks how much health remains. Lastly, originalScale remembers the health bar's original size. Store the object's originalScale in Start() : originalScale = gameObject.transform.localScale.x; You save the localScale's x value. Set the health bar's scale by adding the following to Update() : Vector3 tmpScale = gameObject.transform.localScale; tmpScale.x = currentHealth / maxHealth * originalScale; gameObject.transform.localScale = tmpScale; You copy localScale to a temporary variable because you cannot adjust only its x value. Then, calculate a new x scale based on the bug's current health, and set the temporary variable back on localScale. Save the file and run the game in Unity. You'll see health bars above the enemies. While the game runs, expand one of the Enemy(Clone) objects in the Hierarchy and select its HealthBar child. Change its Current Health value and check for that health bar to change. Track Enemies in Range Now the monsters need to know which enemies to target. You have a bit of prework to do on the Monster and the Enemy before you implement. Select Prefabs\Monster in the Project Browser and add a Circle Collider 2D component to it in the Inspector. Set the collider's Radius to 2.5 -- this sets the monsters' firing range. Check Is Trigger so that objects pass through the area rather than bump into it. Finally, at the top of the Inspector, set Monster's Layer to Ignore Raycast. Click Yes, change children in the dialog. If you don't ignore raycasts, the collider reacts to click events. That is a problem because the Monsters block events meant for the Openspots below them. To allow detection of an enemy in the trigger area, you need to add a collider and rigid body to it, because Unity only sends trigger events if one of the colliders has a rigid body attached. In the Project Browser, select Prefabs\Enemy. Add a Rigidbody 2D component with Body Type set to Kinematic. This means the body shouldn't be affected by physics. Add a Circle Collider 2D with a Radius of 1. Repeat those steps for Prefabs\Enemy 2 The triggers are now set up, so monsters detect when an enemy is in range. You need to prepare one more thing: A script that notifies monsters when an enemy is destroyed so they don't cause an exception by continuing to fire. Create a new C# script named EnemyDestructionDelegate and add it to both the Enemy and Enemy2 prefabs. Open EnemyDestructionDelegate.cs in your IDE, and add the following delegate declaration: public delegate void EnemyDelegate (GameObject enemy); public EnemyDelegate enemyDelegate; Here you create a delegate, which is a container for a function that can be passed around like a variable. Note: Use delegates when you want one game object to actively notify other game objects of changes. Learn more about delegates from the Unity documentation. Add the following method: void OnDestroy() { if (enemyDelegate!= null) { enemyDelegate(gameObject); } } Upon destruction of a game object, Unity calls this method automatically, and it checks whether the delegate is not null. In that case, you call it with the gameObject as a parameter. This lets all listeners that are registered as delegates know the enemy was destroyed. Save the file and go back to Unity. Give Monsters a License to Kill And now the monsters can detect enemies in range. Add a new C# script to the Monster prefab and name it ShootEnemies. Open ShootEnemies.cs in your IDE, and add the following using statement to get access to Generics. using System.Collections.Generic; Add a variable to keep track of all enemies within range: public List<GameObject> enemiesInRange; In enemiesInRange, you'll store all enemies that are in range. Initialize the field in Start(). enemiesInRange = new List<GameObject>(); In the beginning, there are no enemies in range, so you create an empty list. Fill the enemiesInRange list! Add this code to the script: // 1 void OnEnemyDestroy(GameObject enemy) { enemiesInRange.Remove (enemy); } void OnTriggerEnter2D (Collider2D other) { // 2 if (other.gameObject.tag.Equals("Enemy")) { enemiesInRange.Add(other.gameObject); EnemyDestructionDelegate del = other.gameObject.GetComponent<EnemyDestructionDelegate>(); del.enemyDelegate += OnEnemyDestroy; } } // 3 void OnTriggerExit2D (Collider2D other) { if (other.gameObject.tag.Equals("Enemy")) { enemiesInRange.Remove(other.gameObject); EnemyDestructionDelegate del = other.gameObject.GetComponent<EnemyDestructionDelegate>(); del.enemyDelegate -= OnEnemyDestroy; } } In OnEnemyDestroy, you remove the enemy from enemiesInRange. When an enemy walks on the trigger around your monster OnTriggerEnter2D is called. You then add the enemy to the list of enemiesInRange and add OnEnemyDestroy to the EnemyDestructionDelegate. This makes sure that OnEnemyDestroy is called when the enemy is destroyed. You don't want monsters to waste ammo on dead enemies now -- do you? In OnTriggerExit2D you remove the enemy from the list and unregister your delegate. Now you know which enemies are in range. Save the file and then run the game in Unity. To test whether it works, place a monster, select it and watch the changes to the enemiesInRange list in the Inspector. Select a Target Now monsters know which enemy is in range. But what do they do when there are multiple in-range enemies? They attack the one closest to the cookie, of course! Open MoveEnemy.cs in your IDE, and add this new method to calculates this: public float DistanceToGoal() { float distance = 0; distance += Vector2.Distance( gameObject.transform.position, waypoints [currentWaypoint + 1].transform.position); for (int i = currentWaypoint + 1; i < waypoints.Length - 1; i++) { Vector3 startPosition = waypoints [i].transform.position; Vector3 endPosition = waypoints [i + 1].transform.position; distance += Vector2.Distance(startPosition, endPosition); } return distance; } This code calculates the length of road not yet traveled by the enemy. It does so using Distance, which calculates the difference between two Vector3 instances. You'll use this method later to figure out which target to attack
they discovered they were both carrying twin boys and were both due on the very same day. This “one in a million” coincidence is attributed mainly to the fact that not only do Ashlee and Andrea have an obvious history of twins in their family, but both their husbands’ families also have a history of twins. 4 World’s Heaviest Twins: over 723 lb each Billy Leon McCrary (1946 – 1979) and Benny Loyd McCrary (1946 – 2001), known together as the McGuire twins, were listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “World’s Heaviest Twins”, with 328 kg (723 lb) and 338 kg (745 lb), correspondingly). Born in Hendersonville, North Carolina, the twins began using the stage name McGuire and gained popularity as tag-team wrestlers and in carnival stunt shows. Billy McCrary died on July 14, 1979 at the age of 32, following a motorcycle accident during a stunt at Niagara Falls. Benny lived for 21 more years, until his death at age 54 on March 26, 2001 of heart failure. 5 World’s Oldest Twins: over 100 years old Kinsan Ginsan was the affectionate name give to twin sisters from Japan who were record-setting in terms of their longevity. Gin and Kin, whose names mean silver and gold in Japanese, were born on 1 August 1892 in Nagoya, 270km (170 miles) west of Tokyo. Kin was the elder daughter and Gin was the younger daughter. Tests proved that they were identical twins, although for some reason they had different blood types. In 1991, they celebrated being about to reach 100 years of age, and were featured in a newspaper article in which the mayor of Nagoya met both of them and congratulated them. Their health and vitality, despite being over 100 years old, was said to be “an ideal form of living in your sunset years”, and they became national celebrities in Japan. Kin died in 2000 and Gin in the next year, at the age of 108. 6 Twins with the greatest height difference between each other Hussain Bisad of London, England who is 7ft9, and his 5ft5 twin sister, Khardra, who lives in their homeland of Somalia, have a 28 inch difference in the height between them, holding the world record for the greatest height difference between twins.Hussain also holds the record for having the biggest hand span of any living man. 7 Twins separated at birth in Mexico, meet each other by chance in US Twins separated at birth 20 years ago in Mexico had an unexpected reunion after one of the girls enrolled at a university in Long Island. Tamara Rabi had no idea Adriana Scott existed until students began confusing her with the other girl. The girls were adopted by different sets of parents in the US. Tamara grew up with Jewish parents on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Adriana was raised a Catholic in a Long Island suburb of the city. But each girl had no idea she had a twin until Tamara moved to Long Island last autumn. People she had never met claimed to know her. Confusion gave way to astonishment when a friend told her that he knew someone so similar they had to be sisters. Her name was Adriana and she went to another university not far away on Long Island. They first contacted each other through internet. It turned out they were both adopted and were exactly the same height, just over 5ft 3in. Finally, one e-mailed the other a picture. Their looks were so similar there was no longer any doubt. Since then, the girls have become close friends. 8 Twins born in different years Catalin and Valentin from Romania are twins with different years of birth. Catalin was born in December (2 months premature). The doctors were able to wait and deliver her second son Valentin two months later in February. Romanian doctors attributed the time lag in the births to a rare congenital condition that gave the twins mother two uteruses due to a congenital malformation that occurred when she was herself an embryo in her mother’s womb. Approximately one in every 50,000 women has a double uterus but the hospital believes this was the first case where a woman had become pregnant at the same time in both wombs and given birth nearly two months apart. The two brothers were both healthy when they were released from the hospital on the same day. 9 Identical twins, suspects of the same crime for sharing DNA $6.8 million worth of jewelry were snatched from the cases of Kaufhaus des Westens, a luxurious seven-story department store. Three masked, gloved thieves were caught on surveillance cameras sliding down ropes from the store’s skylights, outsmarting its sophisticated security system. That night they got away, but they did leave evidence: DNA, found in a drop of sweat on a latex glove discarded next to a rope ladder used to reach the ground floor. Police ran the material through the German crime database. And they got a hit — two in fact. The computer identified 27-year-old Lebanese identical twins Hassan and Abbas O. Police arrested the brothers and charged both with burglary, an offense that carries a potential 10-year prison sentence. But later on, before the case went to trial, they were released. Here’s the thing: the authorities had no choice, as the court ruling made clear: “From the evidence we have, we can deduce that at least one of the brothers took part in the crime, but it has not been possible to determine which one.” The German law doesn’t allow to detain someone indefinitely just because he is suspected of a crime. Police will continue to keep an eye on them, hoping to be led to the loot. But with the brothers’ arrest warrants suspended, they are free to travel, and the authorities cannot tap their phone lines or keep tabs on their bank accounts. 10 Twins brothers, different parents after test tube mix-up Wilma and Willem Stuart were a Dutch couple who had been unsuccessfully trying to conceive for years and decided to try IVF. They soon learned they would be parents of twins. When the two boys were born, Koen had blue eyes, dark hair and pink skin, Tuen had dark eyes dark hair and brown skin. A DNA test revealed that Koen was the Stuarts child but Tuen was not Willem’s. The report of the investigation has not been made public, but speculation is that a piece of lab equipment called a pipette, like a large eyedropper, had been used twice, causing another man’s sperm to be mixed with Willem’s. The hospital called it a “deeply regrettable mistake”. The Stuarts remembered there was a black couple in the waiting room the same day during the IVF process. The hospital located the man and confirmed he was Tuen’s biological father. Although he was under no obligation to meet his son he never knew he had, he did when Koen was 18 months old. The biological father only looked at him from a distance and didn’t try to claim him and was comfortable that the Stuarts loved the child, and let them continue raising him.Josh Miller/CNET Samsung's chief executive predicted last month that sales of the Galaxy S3 would hit 10 million by the end of July and the smartphone appears to have passed that milestone a little early. Shin Jong-kyun, the president of Samsung's information technology and mobile communication division, told reporters that the Android-powered smartphone surpassed the 10 million sales mark but did not reveal specific sales figures, according to the Yonhap news agency. That translates to about 190,000 Galaxy S3 devices sold every day for the past two months. Samsung's flagship handset, which is available through AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon, is one of the most sought-after smartphones on the market. Last month, Sprint announced that "overwhelming demand" had forced the carrier to delay the handset's June 21 launch. However, keeping it on retailers' shelves has been a bit of a battle. The phone has been swept up in a patent battle between Apple and Samsung, with the iPhone maker attempting to secure an injunction against U.S. sales of the device. However, that effort was tabled due to court docket overload. The Galaxy S3, which offers a dual-core processor, a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a 1,280x720-pixel resolution, has also been the target of an Apple injunction attempt, but that effort was tabled last month when Koh ruled there were already too many issues to consider. CNET awarded the Galaxy S3 an Editors' Choice rating, earning four stars out of five. Reviewer Jessica Dolcourt said that the handset is "an excellent, top-end phone," and includes "high-performing hardware and creative software features." Now playing: Watch this: Samsung's Galaxy S III has all the right movesFarming in Wales contributes £1.5bn to the Welsh economy, while also providing the cornerstone for two multibillion pound industries vital to the country’s prosperity, a new report has revealed. NFU Cymru’s ‘Farming – Bringing Wales Together’ report highlights the economic, societal and environmental contribution of the sector in the wake of the Welsh government’s Well-being of Future Generations Act. It says agriculture underpins the food supply chain, which is worth £6bn and is also Wales’ biggest employer, creating some 223,000 jobs, of which 58,300 are directly in farming. Farmers also care for more than 80% of the land area in Wales – more than 1.84m hectares – which provides the backdrop for a tourism industry worth £2.8bn. “Enhancing a healthy, natural, biodiverse environment is a key driver for many Welsh farmers. As custodians of much of the land within Wales, farmers want to leave the land and environment in a better condition for the next generation,” the report says. Some 14 farmer-led case studies demonstrate how the agricultural industry meets each of the well-being goals in the Welsh Government’s Well-being of Future Generations Act. But they will only be able to continue doing so with the right policy and budgetary framework. Launching the report at the Senedd on Tuesday (23 May), NFU Cymru deputy president John Davies said: “There can be no doubt that this very significant contribution will only continue to be delivered if we have viable and profitable farming enterprises and a strong, competitive agricultural industry in Wales.”Ctrl-Alt-Del ® IT Consultancy goes beyond just simple Systems Integration of Thin Client Technology. In the need to further extend the possiblility of Virtual Office Technology, Ctrl-Alt-Del ® IT Consultancy has written many applications and utilities to assist systems administrators and technical experts in maintaining a Citrix or Terminal Services environment. The number of applications provided by Ctrl-Alt-Del ® IT Consultancy has grown so large, we have created an application suite called the CAD Util Pack. The following freeware utilities have all been written by the dedicated Staff at Ctrl-Alt-Del ® IT Consultancy. If you have an idea for any utility that may assist you in your IT tasks please email us here. These utilities would not have been possible without the support of the Citrix /TS community and these brilliant people - DOUGLAS A. BROWN, JIM KENZIG, MICHEL ROTH, STEFAN VERMEULEN, BRIAN MADDEN, WILCO VANBRAGT, VERA NOEST, JASON CONGER and the entire Citrix Technology Professional (CTP) Community. Please visit their websites below. Ctrl-Alt-Del ® IT Consultancy would like to recommend the following Blog sites for community news and views in the thin client world. Also a special mention goes to Nicolaj Rasmussen of Denmark who suggests a lot of the special features included in these applications. The Virtual World is really a great place to be! All applications have been thoroughly tested under Windows XP Professional, Vista Business Edition, Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows 2008 and Windows 7 Professional and are fully functional, except where stated. WINDOWS 2008 SERVER USERS, please follow this link - CAD Utils Troubleshooting Guide to resolve this error: "*** Could not locate domain as specified. Search failed ***". CAD Freeware Util Pack - Info - Download - UPDATED! December '18 - The CAD Util Pack is a collection of freeware utilities designed by Ctrl-Alt-Del ® IT Consultancy, Australia. These utilities can also be individually downloaded below. - Bombprof - Envtscip - Getpubapp - Gettscip - ICSweep - DefSet - - CTXComMap - CTXCliOS - RemProf - DefSet_Flex - - Qryclientip - Qrydeptapp - Qrypubapp - Qrytscip - TestCred - - TSLogoff - TSPasschg - TSReboot - TSWhereis - TSMsg - TSLogins - - TSBackdrop - TSLoadStats - TSKaapow - TSKaapop - TSKaasplat - - TSLoadBal - TSTaskman - TSWhatDom - TSAppInject - TSAppBoost - - TSSrvType - TSSelfServReset - TSHide - TSSessionNFO - TSRunLogoff - - TSBADAPP - TSTbarSet - TSSnapSend - TSProKil - PCBackdrop - XLaunch - - PassChg - PrtSrvChg - PingWiz - LSWinEnv - LOGONMsg - XAFacePunch - - XALocLaunch - XAMobileLogoff - XAQCodeScan If any of the CADITC Utils do not function as described in your environment, please follow this link - CAD Utils Troubleshooting Guide. WINDOWS 2008 SERVER USERS, please follow this link - CAD Utils Troubleshooting Guide to resolve this error: "*** Could not locate domain as specified. Search failed ***". BOMBProf - Info - Download - BombProf is a standalone Windows GUI tool designed to manage multiple local or roaming profiles that are stored on a server or workstation. Profiles can be copied or deleted to assist in the maintenance of an operating system. BOMBProf allows for multiple profile deletion or copying in one process. This utility was written for the purpose of allowing administrators to delete or copy multiple profiles residing on a server or workstation. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp Citrix Password Manager Helpdesk Utility - Info - Download - This application is designed for use with Citrix Password Manager V4.x. It is intended to be used as a help desk console for one task only - reset an Active Directory User's information in the central store. This results in the selected user being returned to an initial state. In Active Directory central stores, the user data (credentials, security questions and answers, and so on) is deleted and the user is flagged as having had their data reset. Microsoft.NET 2.0 required. Citrix Compatible - Password Manager 4.1 and above CTXCOMMAP - Info - Download - CTXCOMMAP is a command-line tool to enable a user to map serial ports beyond COM9: in a Citrix Server Session. This utility was written to respond to public requests to address the limitations of the NET USE command found in the MS Windows Operating System. NET USE is limited in being able to map COM ports beyond COM9:. In a Citrix Server environment, it is sometimes required to map ports greater than COM9:. This Utility was written to function in Citrix environments ONLY. Windows Compatible - Must have Citrix Product installed. Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp CTXCliOS - Info - Download - UPDATED! September '12 - CTXCliOS is a command-line tool for Citrix Servers to check the type of Operating System that is being run from the Client Machine that is running the Citrix Receiver or Plugin. This utility was written to assist administrators to determine the type of Operating System being run on a Client Machine during a Citrix Session and from this, allow a login script or similar to be customised to run specific commands based on the Client Side Operating System. Windows Compatible - Must have Citrix Product installed. Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp\XenDesktop DEFSET - Info - Download - DEFSET is a standalone Windows GUI tool designed to manage default printer selections on a per user basis. This tool is suited to users accessing a Terminal Server/ Citrix session and is designed to retain a user's default printer choice. DEFSET allows the user to change their default printer during program execution, and writes this information to an ini file located in the users individual windows directory or location as set by the administrator via a HKLM registry key. This information is then used to remember the selected the default printer for later sessions. DEFSET also has command line options to set the location of the ini file. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp DEFSET_Flex - Info - Download - DEFSET_FLEX a standalone Windows GUI tool designed to manage default printer selections on a per user basis. This tool is identical to the original DEFSET however the registry key that stores the location of the defset.ini file is located in HKCU. This has been written for user flexibility, however the registry key can only be changed via the registry editor. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp ENVTSCIP - Info - Download - EnvTSCIP is a command-line tool for Terminal Servers to obtain the current session's client ip address and assign is to an environment variable for use in a client session. This utility was written for Terminal Servers to query the current session's client ip address, display it in the command line, and assign it to an environment variable called CLIENTIP. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp GETTSCIP - Info - Download - GetTSCIP is a command-line tool for Terminal Servers/ Citrix Servers to obtain the current session's client ip address. This utility was written for Terminal Servers/ Citrix Servers to query the current session's client ip address and display it in the command line. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp GETPUBAPP - Info - Download NT\2k\2k3 edition - Download w2k8 edition - GetPubApp is a command-line tool for Citrix Servers to query what specific Published Application is running in the current session. This utility was written for Citrix Servers to query the name of the current session's Published Application (if any) and display it in the command line. Windows Compatible - Must have Citrix Product installed. Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp XENAPP 6 ADMINS - Citrix Hotfix XA600W2K8R2X64051 MUST be installed for this utility to work. See CTX128849 for more. ICSWEEP - Info - Download - ICSweep is a command-line utility to clear the Temporary Internet Files Cache and/or the TEMP files folder of ALL user profiles that are NOT in use when this command is executed. This utility was written for the purpose of allowing a SINGLE command to identify and clear Temporary Internet Files Cache and/ or TEMP files of ALL user profiles currently NOT in use. This program is no longer language specific and will work for all regions. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp LOGONMsg - Info - Download - UPDATED! June '18 - LOGONMSG is a Message of the Day (MOTD)/ system Disclaimer application that displays a "message of the day" that can appear when users log on to their windows based system. This utility was written for the purpose of allowing an administrator to display the provided message of the day/ system disclaimer, which can be customised or modified when required. The application will display the message in an 'Always on top' dialog box that fills the entire client's screen, no matter what size, and cannot be moved, minimised or closed through conventional ways. It also provides two buttons that user can select to allow them to continue working in the system or log them off should they not accept the message. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp LSWinEnv - Info - Download - NEW! July '18 - a standalone Windows GUI tool for Windows desktops and servers to allow the end user to view and export user and system environment variables as defined by the operating system. It is not designed to change any environment variables. Windows Compatible - 2008\2012\2016\7\8\10 Citrix Compatible - XenApp PASSCHG - Info - Download - PassChg is a command-line utility to to allow the end user to change their domain password. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp PINGWIZ - Info - Download - UPDATED! June '15 - PingWiz is a command-line tool to ping devices with an IPv4 address. This utility was written to replace the command PING.EXE currently found in the MS Windows Operating System. This utility offers an extra output feature that will be of benefit to anyone who has used PING before and needed to know the time and date associated with each ping reply. PINGWIZ displays the time and date on each line of a ping request to show the end user the exact time and date the ping responded and whether it was successful or not. This is perfect for tracing exactly when dropouts occur on a network when a continual ping trace is activated. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp PRTSRVCHG - Info - Download - PrtSrvChg is a command-line utility to assist the ease of remapping network printer paths for individual clients after a print server has been migrated to a new server, with a new name. When an administrator uses the PRINTMIG utility to move printer shares from one server to another server with a new name, and printer shares are retained, the hardest task is to search the individual users list of connected printers, and remap all printers to the new server. PRTSRVCHG makes this process easier by automatically replacing the old server name with the new one when the utility is run within a user session. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp QRYDEPTAPP - Info - Download - QryDeptApp is a command-line tool for Citrix Servers to check whether the current session is running a specified Published Application based on Department code. This utility was written for the purpose of allowing one login script to process specific commands for department coded published applications. Windows Compatible - Must have Citrix Product installed. Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp QRYCLIENTIP - Info - Download - QryClientIP is a command-line tool for Citrix Servers to query the current session's client ip address. Citrix Required. This utility was written for the purpose of allowing one login script to process specific commands for specific IP addresses or IP segments. Windows Compatible - Must have Citrix Product installed. Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp QRYPUBAPP - Info - Download NT\2k\2k3 edition - Download w2k8 edition - QryPubApp is a command-line tool for Citrix Servers to check whether the current session is running a specified Published Application. This utility was written for the purpose of allowing one login script to process specific commands for individual published applications. Windows Compatible - Must have Citrix Product installed. Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp XENAPP 6 ADMINS - Citrix Hotfix XA600W2K8R2X64051 MUST be installed for this utility to work. See CTX128849 for more. QRYTSCIP - Info - Download - QryTSCIP is a command-line tool for Terminal Servers to query the current session's client ip address. No Citrix Required. This utility was written for the purpose of allowing one login script to process specific commands for specific IP addresses or IP segments. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp REMProf - Info - Download NT\2k\2k3 edition - Download w2k8/win7 edition - RemProf is a command-line utility to delete local user profiles that are NOT in use when this command is executed. This utility was written to replace the command DELPROF.EXE currently found in the MS Windows Resource Kit. This utility offers extra features that will be of benefit to all admins. REMPROF has the ability to delete user profiles on the local machine based on age, username, or SID association. REMPROF does not currently function on Microsoft Vista due to Vista's new permission structure on profiles. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TESTCRED - Info - Download - TestCred is a standalone Windows GUI tool for IT Professionals to allow for the validation of user credentials on a given domain without the need to completely log on to a computer or session. This utility was written for the purpose of allowing IT Administrators or Helpdesk Staff to test or validate another users credentials, given the username, password and domain. This utility can also be used, without a knowing the password of auser, to test if their domain account has expired or is disabled. The program can validate a user's credentials and display either the success of the credentials or indicate in short detail, the error associated with an unsuccessful attempt to logon. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSAPPBOOST - Info - Download - TSAppBoost is a standalone Windows GUI tool designed to allow administrators to manage the CPU priority of applications currently running in individual user sessions within a Terminal Server/ Citrix environment. Applications running in user sessions can be given a temporary CPU priority from highest to lowest based on a setting as chosen by the administrator. Once a user process is selected from the GUI, an administrator can prioritise the CPU utilisation of that process, allowing an application to be allocated more or less CPU capacity until the application is closed or the administrator reverts the setting to normal (default). Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSAPPINJECT - Info - Download - TSAppInject is a command-line utility to launch an application with an assigned CPU priority during the running of that program. Using TSAppInject, an application can be executed with a designated CPU priority, meaning that the desired application can be run in a Microsoft Windows environment with a higher or lower level of CPU prioritisation. This allows it to be processed more quickly or alternatively, more slowly than applications launched in a regular fashion. The status of the CPU priority setting remains until the application is closed. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSBADAPP - Info - Download - TSBADAPP is a standalone Windows GUI tool designed to manage Application Compatibility Flags on Win2K/Win2k3/Win2k8 Terminal Server and Citrix Servers. This is a remake of a tool called CMPTMAN which was released in the late 90's, which failed to work correctly in Win2k3 environments and above. This utility was written for the purpose of allowing administrators to tune 'bad' applications that run on Win2K/Win2k3/Win2k8 Terminal Server and Citrix Servers. By applying specific registry entries to application executables, an application may be configured to function correctly in a Terminal Server or Citrix environment. TSBADAPP has been written as a GUI interface to assist administrators in setting the compatibility flags which can help tune and control an application's performance. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSBACKDROP - Info - Download NT\2k\2k3 edition - Download w2k8 edition - TSBackdrop is a command-line tool to automatically display relevant information about a Terminal Server or Citrix Session on the user's desktop background. Items such as the Client Computer Name, Client IP address, Username and the Server which the Client is logged on to, are all displayed in a neat little bitmap that is positioned in the middle of the user's desktop. This is particularly useful for helpdesk calls where the user can quickly provide the details of their session to the helpdesk operator. TSBackdrop can now integrate with existing BMP files such as company logos and BGINFO information backgrounds. See Jeremy Saunders' article on Displaying useful connection information on the desktop wallpaper. Looking for a PC version of this program? Get PCBackDrop here. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSHIDE - Info - Download - TSHide is a command-line utility to run any named program as a hidden window.Programs launched with TSHide should not require any user interaction. Should the hidden program require any user interaction to continue, or pauses due to an error, the program will remain in memory until the user logs out of the computer or the computer is rebooted. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSKAAPOP - Info - Download - TSKaapop is a command-line utility to run multiple applications from one command with the further ability to close those applications simultaneously with one action. This utility was written to allow a single call to launch multiple applications in their own process, ensuring that a user has access to only the applications they require in a single seamless or desktop session. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSKAAPOW - Info - Download - TSKaapow is a command-line utility to run multiple applications from one command. This utility was written to allow a single call to launch multiple applications in their own process, ensuring that a user has access to only the applications they require in a single seamless or desktop session. TSKaapow with its parameters can exist as a shortcut on the desktop, can be run in a script, or published as a single application that runs multiple applications, each with its own process. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSKAASPLAT - Info - Download - TSKaasplat is a command-line utility to run a single application from one command with the further ability to close other given processes on exiting the initial application. This utility was written to allow a single call to launch an application in its own process, and on closing that application, other processes within the same sessions, as specified in the command line, can be terminated simutaneously. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSLOADBAL - Client Edition - Info - Download - TSLoadBal is a Terminal Server Client extension that allows load balacing of Terminal Servers in a single Domain. The process balances sessions across a farm of terminal servers within a domain, applying a user load criteria to distribute the sessions evenly. This program also reconnects a client to a disconnected session based on computer name only. TSLoadBal now has an AUTO-CONNECT Feature. This addon is currently only designed for clients running Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP (All Versions) and Windows Vista. The current client version calculates load balancing from the client end. Click here to read more or to register your interest.... Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ TSLOADSTATS - Info - Download - TSLoadStats is a command-line tool to gather performance information from selected or all Citrix and Terminal Servers within a Domain. This utility was written to get a quick snapshot on the performance of a server or servers with specific reference to Total Number of Sessions on a server, Total Percent of CPU usage, Total Memory Available to the server, and percentage of Total PageFile in use. This command can also operate with timed iterations to get a larger snapshot of server performance. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSLOGOFF - Info - Download - TSLogoff is a command-line tool to logoff Citrix or Terminal Server Sessions from a particular server within a Domain. This is now in Version 3. This utility was written to replace the command LOGOFF.EXE currently found in the MS Windows Operating System. This utility offers some extra features that will be of benefit to all admins - the * (ALL), /DISC and /SERVER:* switch. Using these switches, an admin can logoff all users on a Citrix/TS server with one command. This command can also be used in a script. Many thanks to Nicolaj Rasmussen for suggesting the additional features. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSLOGINS - Info - Download - TSLOGINS is a command-line tool to set the status of remote logins on Citrix or Terminal Server servers. This utility was written to replace the command CHANGE LOGON currently found in the MS Windows Operating System. This utility offers the ability to enable or disable remote sessions to a single server or host of servers located in a domain, with one command. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSMSG - Info - Download - UPDATED! July '18 - TSMsg is a command-line tool to message Citrix or Terminal Server Sessions on any server within a Domain. This utility was written to replace the command MSG.EXE currently found in the MS Windows Operating System. This utility offers an extra feature that will be of benefit to all admins - the /SERVER:* switch. Using this switch, an administrator can message all users on all Citrix/TS servers with one command or multiple servers with a common structure e.g. /Server:MySer*. This command can also be used in a script. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSPASSCHG - Single Domain - Info - Download - UPDATED! October '16 - TSPassChg is a standalone Windows GUI tool for Terminal Servers and Citrix Servers to allow the end user to change their domain password in the authenicated domain. This utility was written for the purpose of allowing administrators to PUBLISH TSPassChg as a separate application within Citrix Program Neighborhood/ Web Interface or within a Desktop environment. The ability of a users to change their password at will, simply becomes a matter of launching the TSPassChg published application. Please Note! After the application of Windows Update KB3167679 earlier versions of TSPassChg will no longer work. MS broke core code with this update. We have now modified this utility to operate as expected and added a newly designed skin. Windows Compatible - 2000\XP\2003\Vista\2008\2012\2016\2019\7\8\10\ Citrix Compatible - Metaframe\Presentation Server\XenApp TSPASSCHG - Single Domain - German - Info - Download - UPDATED! December '16 - TSPassChg is a standalone Windows GUI tool for Terminal Servers and Citrix Servers to allow the end user to change their domain password in the authenicated domain
tests to show that newborns who develop food allergies may be different from newborns who don’t,” says allergist and clinical immunologist Marshall Plaut of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. He cautions, however, that researchers still need to confirm that monocytes in the body release the same chemical signals as those released by monocytes in the lab. Because the chemical signals released by the hyperactive monocytes promote inflammation, the study implies that quelling inflammation could curb allergies. The scientists suggest that we need further research on measures, such as changing the mother’s diet, which might tone down inflammation.Out of the London tech scene comes a 28-year-old journalist/entrepreneur surrounded by controversy whereever he goes. Whether it was the publishing of his private dispute between himself and the tech editor of The Guardian or numerous public arguments on Twitter with start ups founders, editors and the self-proclaimed technorati -- this is one man who isn't afraid to say what he thinks. Milo Yiannopoulos however is doing one thing that most media have become afraid to do. Speak up and out about hypocrisy and well, the white-washed news that colors the UK and European tech start up scene. In 2011 and 2012, Yiannopoulos was named one of the 100 most influential people in the UK's digital economy by Wired UK. He hosted the Young Rewired State competition in 2010 to showcase the tech talents of 15–18 year olds. He's also an outspoken gay Catholic who writes for the Catholic Herald. In 2011 his raison d'etre, the Kernel, was born. Today, December 19, The Kernel celebrates its first year in existence and proves it's possible to bring back old school journalism, with some serious edge in the digital age. The Kernel is a mash-up of Gawker meets Vanity Fair topped with technology, politics and media news and commentary the way you wish media would write about such things. Today, the Kernel has about 140,000 unique readers a month; 40% from the UK, 40% from the US and 20% from the rest of the world. In honor of The Kernel's first anniversary, Forbes caught up with bold Yiannopoulos to find out what makes him tick. (Answers in British English) Forbes: Let's start with something dark, what's your addiction? Milo Yiannopoulos: Seeing the wicked suffer. That sounds a bit psychologically disturbed, I know, but it's the reason I went into journalism and I think it's the reason most people do. I'm probably a bit more forthright about my opinions and prejudices than most journalists, but then I'm a columnist by nature, not a reporter. At the Kernel we very much see ourselves as crusaders for truth and justice, as daft as that sounds. Some people might find that sinister, but a strong editorial line has been a crucial part of our proposition from day one. Forbes: Truth and justice - admirable, but where does journalism fall between those pillars? MY: The only publications that will make money are focused, high-quality publications with a ruthless attention to detail, publishing comment and analysis you can't get anywhere else. Everyday news will just have to be subsidised by other things, because it will never make money. Forbes: That's a tall order, so why did you decide to take on the daunting task of digital publishing? MY: I was, shall we say, invited to take a break from the national newspaper at which I cut my teeth - about four times. Mostly, it wasn't my fault. But after the last incident I realised I was probably unemployable and that I should go freelance. I started looking around for a magazine or newspaper to approach for a column and realised there was really no one out there I wanted to write for. So, for the past year, I've been trying to create the magazine I always wanted to read: a blend of gossip, news, authoritative comment and analysis, with a healthy dose of mischief. Forbes: You're the harbinger of controversy. How do you reconcile your personal opinions with your knowledge of the facts versus the gossip you hear in the industry? MY: I'm in a slightly odd position in that, as a journalist, I don't have that many friends in the media. My friends are the entrepreneurs. It's ironic, really, because it's the entrepreneurs I give a hard time. As a result, I know the people and businesses in the technology industry intimately, and a lot better than my colleagues, but it can be difficult knowing so much more than you can ever publish. If I ever felt like burning all my bridges, I could have three months of riotous daily exclusives. It would probably bring down the industry.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The blast targeted the convoy close to the coastal city of Sidon, as the BBC's Jim Muir explains from Beirut A bomb has hit a UN convoy near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, wounding six Italian peacemakers, officials say. Italian military spokesman Massimo Fogari said two soldiers were in a serious condition. Earlier reports said one peacekeeper had died. A spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) told Reuters the bomb had been aimed at a logistics convoy. Unifil is tasked with keeping peace in the tense border region with Israel. Images from the scene show a large hole blasted through a concrete safety barrier on the side of the road. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini expressed "sorrow" for the victims. He praised the Unifil mission, saying it made a "decisive contribution to the stability of one of the most sensitive Middle Eastern areas". Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati condemned the blast in a phone call to the UN special co-ordinator for Lebanon, Michael Williams. So far no group has said it carried out the attack. The last such attack on Unifil was in January 2008 when a roadside bomb hit a UN vehicle south of Beirut, wounding two peacekeepers. In June 2007, six Spanish peacekeepers died when a bomb hit their armoured personnel carrier near the Israeli border. Unifil has about 13,000 troops stationed in the south of Lebanon, with Italy providing the largest contingent. It was formed in 1978 after Israeli troops entered southern Lebanon and began a 22-year occupation. The force was expanded after the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.This episode has given us a lot of things we could talk about. We could talk about Twilight Sparkle being a famous celebrity, but only when it's important to the plot. We could talk about Pipsqueak making his triumphal return, but suffering from amnesia that causes him to forget he already knows Twilight and hangs out with princesses. We could talk about Diamond Tiara being a suckup. But we will speak of none of these things. Instead, we will talk about what is undoubtedly the greatest moment in Friendship Is Magic, and possibly the entire My Little Pony franchise: I mean the moment in which Twilight Sparkle wipes the remains of a burger from her face—with another burger. Stay classy, Twilight. "Making out with Flash Sentry always makes me hungry!" It's easy to understand how Twilight could have gotten so excited that she ordered one of everything on the Hayburger menu and stuck three penniless schoolchildren with the bill. No doubt she fondly remembers the burgers she ate back at Canterlot High—those mysterious burgers with the juicy, delectable vegetables in the middle, which tingled her palette like nothing she had ever tasted before. And let's not forget that, on her first date, her anthropoid boyfriend took her out for burgers. ... Er, wait, was that actually in the movie, or did I just fantasize that? Sometimes, when I'm alone, I like to imagine that I'm Twilight Sparkle, and that Flash Sentry is taking me out for burgers. Now that I think about it, this scene might actually explain why the pony version of Flash Sentry hasn't made any headway with Twilight. She simply can't find room in her heart for him, because there's only room in her heart for one love, one passion, one desire. I mean the burger. I ship it. Um... anyway, this scene demonstrates something I have long suspected: being an alicorn burns a lot of calories. I believe this is the third time we have observed a royal princess forgetting the royal manners as she feeds the royal face. No doubt everyone remembers the scandal that rocked Equestria's government to its very foundations when the Foal Free Press revealed the incident subsequently labeled "Cakegate": "Making out with whichever royal guard has caught my eye this week always makes me hungry!" And then there's the Summer Wrap-Up, when Princess Luna visited Ponyville, on which occasion she stuffed her face with cherry pie, bested all the ponies in the games they play, and stole a kiss from Big Macintosh—so it seems she was letting all the royal passions run wild on that particular occasion. "The making of out with the citizen called Macintosh always causeth me to hunger!" This might explain a few things about Princess Cadance, too. We now know why, when Cadance became an alicorn, Princess Celestia adopted her as a "niece": it's because, had Cadance stayed with the kindly but impoverished earth ponies who reared her, she would have eaten them out of house and home. We also know why, even though she lived in the palace and enjoyed the patronage of Celestia, she needed to take up babysitting: it's because her generous allowance couldn't cover the daily fast food binges. This also explains why, when Cadance sang "This Day Aria" about her ideal wedding day, she fixated on the cake. "I love Shining Armor... and cake... and pretty dresses... and cake... and solemn vows... and cake..." Yes, ponies expect a lot from their princesses, but deep down inside, all a pretty alicorn princess really wants to do is chow down. So it's a good thing for Twilight that her comments from her "Hot Minute" are confirmed as canon: Spike can make some nachos that are hoof-lickin' good. Don't worry, Spike. Twilight will eat all of them. So there you have it, Brony. Now, if your fond daydreams ever come true and you find yourself face-to-face with the pony princess of your dreams, who tells you that she finds your pale, flabby, unexercised, basement-dwelling body inexplicably attractive, you know exactly what you have to do. You have to take her out for burgers.But there also has been a concerted effort to pull a curtain across the food production system. You see that twice in "Food, Inc." Once, when a farmer who raises chickens for Tyson agrees to allow cameras onto his farm, only to have Tyson quickly call and persuade him to rescind his offer. And again, when Monsanto refuses to comment on, well, anything. It's one thing to be kept out of Dick Cheney's underground lair(s?). But we're eating this stuff. In yesterday'sEzra Klein, commenting on the recently released film, writes that " something is wrong with our food production system... Food, Inc. joinsand dozens of other polemical books and films in the necessary effort to convince us that checking out at the supermarket is, on some level, a political act, with consequences for ourselves, our families and our world."I dropped out long ago. I was lucky that a girlfriend when I was in college was a health-conscious vegetarian and a great cook. I never made a decision to become a vegetarian... but it's been almost 40 years (not counting, in the old days, here and there, some chicken-- which my doctor says is worse than beef-- and fish). I do remember, much more recently, becoming a raw foodist. The aforementioned doctor gave me a choice: go raw (or, really, rawish) or die from the cancer that had recently been discovered. I learned-- with little fuss and no hesitation-- toraw food.When I started, there were no restaurants serving raw cuisine anywhere near my home. The closest was an hour away. Learning to prepare my own meals was a joy all over again. It's so healthy! Now there are several in L.A. I could walk to in a pinch. ActuallyI'm in Bali and there are almost as many restaurants serving raw cuisine here as there are in L.A. In fact, the house I rented just outside Ubud is a paradise for a raw foodist with a Vitamix, a dehydrator and a wonderful chef who just made me some raw yogurt from coconut milk!If I go to a "straight" American grocery store, it might be to get toilet paper, a light bulb or a battery. And that includes Whole Foods, which is maybe 10-20% more health conscious and more organic and less deadly than supermarkets with far less pretension. Ezra isn't talking about me when he points out that Americans "know rather less about our food than our grandparents did. In part, that's because the process of creating food in a lab is less familiar than the process of growing it in a garden. Food producers might have to print ingredient lists, but no one ever passed a law saying we had to understand them. (How do you hydrogenate an oil, anyway?)"I know I'm not going to live forever, but my cancer is gone, I lost over 40 backbreaking pounds, I feel better than I can remember in decades, I don't get sick, I have more energy and my feet never itch. I don't eat food created in labs and I feel sorry for folks who eat hydrogenated oils.Ezra interviews the director ofwho points to the Inside the Beltway power structure: "Industry, committees on the Hill, the USDA, and very little input from us." He forgot the FDA. I'm sure Ezra will get around to it in his new twice monthly column on the politics of food, but no one mentioned the fount of death-by-eating, Congress' most corrupt enclave, the Blue Dog-dominated House Agriculture Committee. Forget the Medical-Industrial Complex and the banksters when it comes to running wild over their slices of our lives. Compared to AgriBusiness they are each thriving in an oasis of enlightenment, instead of the den of iniquity run by America's chief poisoner, Collin Peterson. Labels: Ezra Klein, Food Inc, food supply, House Agriculture Committee, raw foodBy Trevor Jang for Discourse Media. Opponents of a massive liquefied natural gas project proposed for the north coast of B.C. have dug up a scientific report that band members were never shown. In January of this year the Lax Kw’alaams Band signed an impact benefit agreement worth approximately $1 billion over 40 years in exchange for support for the $36 billion Pacific Northwest LNG project. But documents filed in federal court last month show the band council suppressed scientific research it had commissioned when the research report did not support the band’s position on the project. Members of the Gitwilgyoots Tribe, who filed the documents, are also arguing the band has no authority to approve the project. “I don’t believe that they’re very ethical with the way that they’re doing things,” Murray Smith, a spokesperson for the Gitwilgyoots, tells me. “Why won’t [they] show us [the report]? Because it would work against them.” The Gitwilgyoots launched their court challenge last October to have the federal government’s approval of the LNG facility overturned. Then in March, the Lax Kw’alaams Band filed a response to have the tribe’s challenge overturned. Pacific Northwest LNG has been controversial because of its proposed location on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert. The island sits next to a sandbar called Flora Bank, which contains tall eelgrass that protects juvenile salmon as they adjust from the fresh water of the Skeena River to the salt water of the Pacific Ocean. Opponents of the project fear it will cause devastating impacts to the nursing grounds of millions of salmon and other species. The report suppressed by the Lax Kw’alaams Band says the location of the project is a key concern. It was written by Asit Mazumder, a professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Victoria. According to court documents, Mazumder was contracted by the band in the spring of last year to conduct an independent review of the project’s risk to fish and fish habitat in the Skeena River estuary. Mazumder has not responded to requests for comment. But his report concluded that the research paid for by Pacific Northwest LNG, which informed the federal government leading up to Ottawa’s approval of the project, was “inconsistent.” It said the company’s modelling assumptions and lack of baseline data “make it difficult to conclude the project is at a low risk of significantly impacting Flora Bank.” Mazumder wrote that the purpose of his report was to help Lax Kw’alaams band members “come to an informed judgement as to the likely safety of the project.” Lax Kw’alaams Mayor John Helin did not respond to requests for comment, but on April 21st he testified in a cross-examination that he didn’t share Mazumder’s report with the community. “I felt the road that he was going down was not an objective or independent review of all the necessary information that was out there,” Helin testified. "An Extremely Sad Experience for the Scientists" Professor Mazumder’s was not the only science to be suppressed in the months leading up to the approval of the project. Geologist Patrick McLaren is President of SedTrend, an independent consulting firm specializing in sediment trend analysis. McLaren was hired by the Lax Kw’alaams Band in 2015 to evaluate the environmental effects of terminal development over Flora Bank. His research concluded plans for development would have a disruptive effect on Flora Bank, and that the sediments there are ancient and irreplaceable. Then last September, just weeks before the federal government approved Pacific Northwest LNG, McLaren was served a cease and desist letter from the band warning him to stop “making references to any research, information, or other matters relating to our about your work with the Lax Kw’alaams Band. “All of a sudden Dr. McLaren’s analysis disappeared. They never showed it again,” Smith recalls. The letter came after McLaren wrote a memo to band members last July summarizing his concerns. This memo was read out at a community meeting in which members accused the band of spreading misinformation. McLaren says he was asked by concerned band members to write the memo, and that he was not allowed to attend the community meeting himself. “It was an extremely sad experience for the scientists. I think we were all very distressed,” McLaren tells me in a recent interview. The band’s letter called McLaren’s memo to band members “egregious” because it “appears to be clearly aimed at swaying the membership’s opinion.” The letter also accused McLaren of breaching his confidentiality provision in his contract with the band by writing the memo. McLaren argues he could speak out because his research was made public when it was submitted to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. “All the science that had been done had been published in international literature with people that have got nothing to do with Lax Kw’alaams, nothing to do with Flora Bank, only to do with assessing whether the scientific method and the results were reasonable. And if they weren’t, there wouldn’t have been [any] hope of having that published,” says McLaren. The letter warned McLaren not to share or refer to any of his previous work done for the band publicly, adding that if he did, the band would take steps against him. Battle over Lelu Island continues Mazumder’s report and the letter to McLaren were submitted as evidence in the ongoing legal battle to stop Pacific Northwest LNG. The submissions on behalf of the hereditary leaders of the Gitwilgyoots Tribe accuse the Lax Kwa’laams Band of “producing decision-based evidence rather than evidence-based decisions.” The Gitwilgyoots are attempting to have the federal government’s approval of the project overturned, on the claim that the tribe and its hereditary leaders were not adequately consulted. The tribe claims Lelu Island and the surrounding area as its traditional territory. But the Lax Kw’alaams Band also claims jurisdiction over Lelu Island and is attempting to have the tribe’s court challenge dismissed. The band is arguing that the tribe, which represents the hereditary governance system of the Lax Kw’alaams and broader Coast Tsimshian people, is not a legal entity and therefore did not need to be consulted. The outcome of the case could have broad implications for the question of who can speak for First Nations: hereditary chiefs or the elected council of federally administered Indian Act bands. The two sides return to federal court June 7 and 8 in Vancouver. Image: Juvenile salmon in the Skeena estuary. Photo: Tavish CampbellWe take a look at Derby County’s impressive league record in light of Steve McClaren’s 46th league game in charge of the East Midland’s outfit. Steve McClaren’s meteoric rise with Derby County in the past year has been nothing short of outstanding. The former England boss guided the Rams from 14th position in the league table to third last season and saw them, convincingly, to the Championship play-off final. However, as often the case in football, their big day was ruined as Bobby Zamora scored against the run of play to send Queens Park Rangers into Premier League. Nevertheless, the Derby manager was able to look back at the positives the club had in the season and with a fresh message to both fans and players he reiterated that they must go back to square one and start again. The Rams, now ten games into the new season, are sat in fourth position and look a good bet to put up a strong fight for the Championship league title this time round. "It’s been a good 12 months. There’s been some really, really good highs and, as normal in football, some lows, and big lows," McClaren told dcfc.co.uk "As normal with myself, it has been a rollercoaster ride, but I’m pleased with what we have achieved in the year in terms of how the club has developed – both on and off the field – and the future looks very bright. "Football evolves so quick, we forgot about that [the play-off final], we dealt with it and we moved on and we have to start again." Now, after effectively completing a full season in charge of the Rams, we take a look at Steve McClaren’s impact at the iPro Stadium and see what indication it gives supporters for the future. The stats: League games played: 46 League points: 92 Points per game ratio: 2 points per game League goals scored: 85 League goals conceded: 45 Goal difference: +40 The numbers behind McClaren’s reign, when written out, are astonishing and deserve a great amount of credit. Although the 92 point haul wouldn’t have seen the Rams automatically promoted last season – Leicester finished on 102 and Burnley 93 – it would have seen the Rams crowned Champions the season before. A fantastic achievement considering before his arrival they were considered a mid-table Championship side. The number of goals the Rams have scored has been well documented and doesn’t need any more publicity. However, the number of goals they’ve conceded – 35 – which is less than a goal a game, is often overlooked and also deserves a lot of credit. McClaren’s Derby County side will be hoping to go one better this season and achieve automatic promotion, maybe even a league title, and judging by their form over the past 12-months few people can disagree they will be there or thereabouts.Toronto police are looking for three men after a taxi driver was assaulted and robbed near the University of Toronto’s downtown campus. The cab driver picked up the men near Russell and Robert Sts. at around 3 a.m. Sunday, and drove them a short distance before he was asked to stop, police said in a news release. Police have released a photo of the first suspect. He is described as a man in his early 20s, with a slim build and small beard. ( Toronto Police handout ) The second suspect is described as a man in his early 20s with a heavy build. Police are also seeking a third man in his early 20s involved in the investigation. ( Toronto Police handout ) The men then allegedly robbed and assaulted the driver, who got out of the vehicle, where the attack continued. The men then fled on foot. The first suspect is described as a man in his early 20s, five-foot-eight to five-foot-nine, with a slim build and a small beard. He was wearing a black coat with fur around the hood. The second suspect is described as a man in his early 20s, five-foot-ten, with a heavy build. Article Continued Below The third suspect is described as a man in his early 20s, wearing a grey coat.COX‘S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Dispatches) -- Aid officials said relief camps were reaching full capacity as thousands of Rohingya refugees continued to pour into Bangladesh on Sunday fleeing violence in western Myanmar.Some 73,000 people have crossed the border since violence erupted Aug. 25 in Myanmar's Rakhine state, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesperson Vivian Tan.The violence and the exodus began after Rohingya insurgents attacked Myanmar police and paramilitary posts in what they said was an effort to protect their ethnic minority from persecution by security forces in the majority Buddhist country. In response, the military unleashed what it called "clearance operations" to root out the insurgents.Another aid official said Saturday that more than 50 refugees had arrived with bullet injuries and were moved to hospitals in Cox's Bazar, on the border with Myanmar. Refugees reaching the Bangladeshi fishing village of Shah Porir Dwip described bombs exploding near their homes and Rohingya being burned alive.Aid workers said that large numbers of refugees required immediate medical attention as they were suffering from respiratory diseases, infection and malnutrition. The existing medical facilities in the border area were insufficient to cope with the influx and more aid and paramedics were needed, aid workers said."We fled to Bangladesh to save our lives," said a man who only gave his first name, Karim. "The military and extremist Rakhine are burning us, burning us, killing us, setting our village on fire."He said Saturday he paid 12,000 Bangladeshi taka, or about 184 Canadian dollars, for each of his family members to be smuggled on a wooden boat to Bangladesh after soldiers killed 110 Rohingya in their village of Kunnapara, near the coastal town of Maungdaw."The military destroyed everything. After killing some Rohingya, the military burned their houses and shops," he said. "We have a baby who is eight days only, and an old woman who is 105."Satellite imagery analyzed by Human Rights Watch shows hundreds of buildings had been destroyed in at least 17 sites across Rakhine state since Aug. 25, including some 700 structures that appeared to have been burned down in just the village of Chein Khar Li, the rights watchdog said.Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012, forcing more than 100,000 Rohingya into displacement camps, where many still live.Bangladeshi police said Thursday that three boats carrying refugees had capsized in the Naf River, killing at least 26, including women and children.Indonesia's president has called for an end to the violence and sent his foreign minister to discuss the Rohingya's plight with Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi.Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation.At a news conference, President Joko (Jokowi) Widodo said he deplores the violence in Rakhine and promised humanitarian assistance."Real action is needed, not just statements and condemnations," he said. "This violence and humanitarian crisis must end."Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi flew to Myanmar on Sunday afternoon and plans to meet with several government figures including Suu Kyi.Marsudi will also travel to Bangladesh to inspect Indonesia's efforts to provide aid to the refugees.Thanks Pat! Ya, that pic is crazy, eh?I have some very old photos of my SC4 play to show you from my archive. Many of them are of lower quality (something you are not used to from me). Most of these take place when I first installed some mods, including the NAM. This happened sometime back in 2005.Firstly, lets begin with this. Still to this day, is my favorite photo taken in SC4 EVER!As you can see here, I had a little too much fun installing the NAM for the first time than others:This was a typical view of my cityscape way back when. The Stack interchange was brand new!I have always hated the road/ave NAM interchange. However, it actually looks good in this particular environment. Note the steepness of the road though:Fun with traffic control:One of my first intra-highway transfers:My first custom airport. I still haven't gotten the hang of custom airports...I don't even know what I was doing here:Going overboard with the NAM again...My first wide road:An old coastline of mine. Note the total lack of erosion protection:One of my first RHWs. This stretch would eventually expand to my first Multi-RHW. I learned the entire Multi-RHW concept right here!One of my old lane shifts:An insane interchange I built back in the day that was considered top grade.. Now I hate it!Fun with traffic generators!An interesting use of the RHW.One of my first roundabouts. It took me forever to figure out how to get this to work! (Should have read the readme!)A useful highway transfer. Also a dangerous weaving area. I have totally demolished this area since.Here is my first large highway junction. It was also incomplete, and I have since demolished nearly 100% of the area for redevelopment (including the airport)Anyways, that does it for now. I hope you had some fun looking into the past through my archives!Best,-HaljackeyA server in a Houston restaurant says that he feels angry and humiliated after his employers apologized to customers who called him a “faggot” and complained that his flamboyance ruined their meal. Houston’s ABC Channel 13 reported Tuesday about an ugly incident at the restaurant Kelley’s Country Cookin’ last Wednesday in which a customer complained about 19-year-old waiter Blake Butler. “Don’t want to listen to a f*ggot through my whole meal,” the angry customer wrote on their receipt. Butler said he found the sentiment on the receipt “disgusting,” but what followed was even worse. His manager apologized to the customer. “Instead of having my back and be like, you know, ‘That’s my employee. I can’t have you talking about my employees like that.’ She was, like, ‘Oh. It’s OK. I’m sorry,'” said Butler to Channel 13. The restaurant owner told ABC13 that the incident placed his manager in a difficult position, but had he been there, he would have had words with the customer. Butler said that he has brushed off negative comments in the past, but that this instance stuck with him, to the point that he felt it was necessary to come out to his parents before going public. “I recently came out to my parents today because I didn’t want them to find out on the news. I just finally said it,” he said. Butler says the restaurant fired him in the wake of the incident, but Kelley’s claims that he quit. He said that in the future, he hopes to work in a more tolerant environment. Watch video about this story, embedded below via Houston’s ABC Channel 13: [Hat-tip to Towleroad]Three Cheers for Three Years! Time truly does fly when you’re having fun. And when you’re enjoying excellent beer. These past three years really have been a blur of hard work, growing, and excitement. Next Tuesday, October 22nd, marks our 3 year anniversary here at Untappd. It’s really hard to believe it’s been that long. I know that’s the same thing we said at two years, but every year it seems to ring true. What started as a random idea, has become one of, if not the most active, mobile beer communities out there. Of course Greg and I (Tim) put a lot of blood, sweat and sleepless nights into building, expanding and maintaining the service, but it’s truly the community that keeps Untappd what it is. Be it through simply checking in, recommending the app to friends, or even purchasing a supporter account, everything helps us grow and continues to prove to us why it is we keep working at it. For this, we thank you! Starting on October 22nd, we’ll be introducing our Untappd 3rd Anniversary badge, which you can unlock with a simple check in between Tuesday the 22nd and Sunday the 27th. Show your love for Untappd by raising a toast to three years of drinking socially and you’ll unlock this great badge! Additionally, if you haven’t heard, co-founder Greg will be hosting a 3rd anniversary party at The Pony Bar in NYC on October 22nd at 7PM. There will be a custom tap list, free stickers and a chance to win 1 of 10, $20 gift cards to The Pony Bar! You can find more details at http://unatappd3rdnyc.eventbrite.com. For those of you in the LA area, we’re working on getting a party together and will provide you more info as soon as we figure it out. Again, we truly want to thank the community, the breweries, and all the great beer in the world for helping make Untappd what it is today!While at my favorite restaurant in Philly (that shall remain nameless for this post), I schmoozed with the waitress in hopes of sweet-talking the warm Tuscan white bean spread recipe out of her. A couple of years ago, in a moment of desperation after leaving Philadelphia cuisine, I called up that same restaurant. With my most persuasive voice, I told them a story of a starving girl 3,000 miles away who dreamed about the bean spread night after night. The guy on the other end took pity and told me they used “gigante beans.” From that day forward, I searched high and low for this bean, popping in and out of random markets just in case. Nothing. I snatched up various cans of similar looking beans, but none of them lived up. All of my attempts to recreate the dish failed. On my most recent trip, a coy smile and a few compliments later, the waitress caved. She quietly slipped me a business card with the recipe hand-written out with the words “shh…it’s a secret??” scrolled across the top. The entire trip home, I guarded that note with my life – it was the key to a mouthful of pure bliss. I’m breaking my promise of silence, but not to tell the world their recipe. Mostly because the one scratched down for me called for Costco-sized portions of each ingredient that when translated down to single servings meant adding only a microscopic amount of each. The waitress’ crucial clue was that the man on the phone was just trying to sound cultured when, in fact, the label on their bulk can of beans simply reads “Giant white beans.” Sure, everyone knows gigante means giant, but my failed recreation attempts had me convinced that there was some Spanish influence that made gigante beans a unique and unattainable variety. It was that part of me that used to be too scared to stray one grain of salt from a recipe. No longer! Once I knew all the elements, I fudged the rest until I got the consistency I desired. To be clear, the ratios I came up with are not their top-secret recipe. Nonetheless, the result was marvelous. Tasty enough to eat by the spoonful. Fancy enough to spread on paprika toasted baguette slices. And you know how I feel about topped toasts. This spread is a perfect snack for a wine and cheese party (or just a night at home on the couch). The gigantic white beans turn a normal tortilla chip bean dip into an upscale spread that’s sure to impress your guests…even though you most definitely won’t want to share. PrintFARGO - Former U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., has been told that he's one of several hundred people included on a "hit list" that has been circulating online in a video sent to terrorist operatives by the Islamic State militant group known as ISIS. Conrad learned his name was included in a video posted Sunday to the Internet for followers of the "Army of the Caliphate." A woman who monitors terrorist sites on the Internet saw the video soon after it appeared Sunday and promptly contacted Conrad's daughter, a friend. "She's somebody that monitors these sites and works with the FBI to monitor these sites," Conrad said Monday. Conrad's name was on the list, which included the names of FBI agents, CIA agents, Air Force officers and other officials. The name of Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state, U.S. senator and current Democratic presidential candidate, was next to Conrad's on the list, Conrad said. The list apparently was sent out in response to the killing of a man who was a cyber expert for ISIS, a terrorist organization in the Middle East and Africa. "The people who worked with him are trying to get revenge," Conrad said. "This is retribution." The woman immediately notified the FBI, and presumably other agencies have been contacted, Conrad said. "I did contact the White House and they told me they'd turn it over to our cybersecurity people," he said. Conrad suspects he might have been targeted as a former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Also, as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he once offered an amendment allocating $500 million to target Osama bin Laden, the former Al Qaeda leader who was later killed by U.S. forces. This isn't the first time Conrad, who served in the Senate from 1987 to 2013, has been the target death threats. He received threats on his life three times as a U.S. senator and once when he was North Dakota state tax commissioner, he said. Since retiring from the Senate, Conrad has served on the bipartisan Commission on Retirement Security and Personal Savings. He also serves on several company boards of directors.New City Hall, designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell, was the first modern, concrete, civic building in Toronto. When it opened in 1965, it stood out very prominently in the traditional Victorian fabric of the city. The striking concrete design was carried throughout the building and was even incorporated into the office furniture. Desks, coffee tables
many rereads: He is mine! a feminine voice said. I claim him. I’ve read this entire book twice, and sections of it about ten times, and I still choke up. Too weak to stand, he stands anyway. Too weak to hold his knife, it falls from his hand. “I will protect even those I hate,” Kaladin whispered through bloody lips. “So long as it is right.” And then, reaching out his trembling hand with his last iota of strength, Sylphrena herself becomes his Shardblade, returning his powers, and he explodes with Stormlight. Oh, the glory! At last, he can fly to the rescue, because he can let go of his anger and his grudges and be about the work of protecting people. It doesn’t end there, of course. But we’ll talk about the rest of it in a few minutes. Bridge Four I think we all expected Bridge Four to stay together as a unit; I’m not sure we quite expected the role they would play in bringing the rest of the bridge crews up to speed. We didn’t see a lot of this after the first couple of parts, but enough to know that those thousand men are in training and may become a significant asset. For now, I’m just going to look more closely at a few key players. Moash A magnet for wrong decisions if ever there was one, this man had so much potential and he continually channeled it in the wrong directions. He finally got his Shards, which was permitted indirectly by the king himself, and he still couldn’t let go of his misdirected desire for revenge. I think I’m glad Kaladin didn’t kill him, but now he’s connected to Taravangian—and I don’t trust that one, either. There was always a bitter edge to Moash, and now that we know where it came from we can understand… but that doesn’t mean he’s right. Teft Well, we had hoped to find out what his backstory was, and the deal with the Envisagers. I guess we found out. This makes me very sad, and also a little bewildered. How long had those people been trying unsuccessfully to trigger Surgebinding? How many had died in vain? I guess the second answer depends on the first, but it doesn’t seem like so many should die before they realize that not a single one has manifested any signs of power, and maybe they’re wasting lives that could have been better spent in more productive pursuits—or at least less destructive methods. The punishment for their “crime” was a bit weird, though. “These people keep killing themselves! This cannot be allowed! Off with their heads!” Say what? Once again I’m grateful for my lack of a handy desk. Shen I don’t recall seeing much by way of expectations regarding Shen, but he sure took a step up in this book. For one thing, we get his actual name: Rlain. For another, he proves that he’s smarter than they thought, when he points out that his singular treatment as the only member of Bridge Four without a spear means that he really is still a slave. This leads to a couple of very cool moments, including his getting that spear and his return to the Alethi. Perhaps we should have realized early on that Shen was more than he seemed. In the very early Eshonai chapters, we were told that dullform was very similar in appearance to the sprenless slaveform, a.k.a. parshmen, and that they used it now to spy on the humans. Maybe some of you clever folks figured that out right away; I don’t recall thinking about it at that point, but when Rlain disappeared, it became obvious enough even for me. The affirmation of Kaladin’s (and Dalinar’s) decision to treat him with respect was gorgeous, when he returned to the Alethi with news of the Parshendi changes. Poor Rlain. He went in good faith to spy on the humans, but when he returned to report back to his people, they had abandoned their four-and-a-half-millennia avoidance, and had returned to the old gods. I didn’t have many specific expectations of Shen coming into Words of Radiance, but I sure have some for Book Three! Lopen Ah, the Lopen. Throughout the book, he continued to bring humor, optimism, and encouragement to Kaladin and Bridge Four, and we’ve all loved him for that since he first walked in. He’s been trustworthy and resourceful, and his endless supply of cousins is hilarious. (“There’s a cousin for that.” Heh.) I’ll admit to being a bit suspicious of them at first, because they kept showing up for no apparent reason, but the scene in Little Herdaz explained so much about the Herdazian attitude toward family that I was completely reassured. What an incredibly clever place to hide the king! I adore the Lopen. And I want to be his mother. Whatever we might have expected of Lopen in this book, he expected to glow—and he did! One of my favorite lines from the entire book: “Oh, storms yes! Everybody, give the Lopen your spheres! I have glowing that needs to be done.” The Kholin clan Although they aren’t quite the main characters (I give that to Kaladin and Shallan, at least for now), this family stands at the center. Dalinar’s visions, Jasnah’s scholarship and Surgebinding, and of course Elhokar as the Alethi king, ensure that they’re central to the plot. I’m still not sure what to expect from them at any given moment, though. Jasnah First off, I have to note the cleverness of the prologue scheme, wherein we saw that night six years ago, the night of Gavilar’s assassination. Through Jasnah’s eyes, we see many of the same people and events, with some very informative additions. The fact that Jasnah is a repeat customer of more than a dozen assassins is a bit mind-boggling. (Good grief! Who does she have them assassinating? How is anyone in Alethkar still alive, with her around?) Even more interesting is her introduction to Shadesmar, which is both creepy and astonishing. At the end of the previous book, with Jasnah and Shallan heading for the Shattered Plains, I think we all expected Jasnah to lead the scholarship that would find Urithiru and figure out what the Parshendi deal was. I, for one, did not expect her to die in Part One! Once she was dead, I wasn’t quite sure whether to expect her to return or not. She came back, all right—but what a return! Was she in Shadesmar the whole time? Was she off-world altogether? She was able to make alterations to her clothing, wherever she was—and now I expect to learn some very interesting things from her in the next book! Adolin At the end of The Way of Kings, Adolin seemed like a nice boy, but not a lot else. What expectations did we have for him? There was always the possibility he’d become a Knight Radiant, though it wasn’t all that sure. In fact, I don’t recall seeing much discussion of what readers expected of Adolin, other than the general hope that he’d stand strong with his father and be useful. With the early release chapters we discovered that he would be betrothed to Shallan, which sent the shipping mechanisms into high gear. (Oh, that was fun to watch. Mwahaha.) What we didn’t expect, I think, was Adolin-the-elegant-duelist performing an absolutely brutal beatdown on another Shardbearer in his first bout. We (or at least I) didn’t expect to see him behaving so badly to Kaladin—that sneering “bridgeboy” thing made me want to beat him severely about the head and shoulders. On the other hand, who expected him to do such a complete about-face halfway through? That scene set aside the last things I didn’t like about Adolin, because when he decides he’s wrong, there’s no grudging admission stuff—he flat out joins forces with Kaladin, and accords him respect and friendship. Aww. And expectations aside, that overmatched “duel” of one to four was amazing amazing amazing. Last but not least, I don’t think anyone predicted that he would finish the book by getting into a fistfight with Sadeas, and end up shoving a knife into his eye. (Ewww. Brandon. Did you have to?) I’m pretty sure we all cheered to know Sadeas was dead, but I’m really not sure what this says about where Adolin is headed. Was it murder? Was it a fair fight? Discuss. (I certainly hope that Sadeas is all the way dead, though. If he comes back to life as foul as ever, I’m going to climb into the book and kill him myself.) While we’re on the subject of our fair-haired boy… I’m going to insert my loony theory section. I have a theory about Adolin: that he will be a Knight Radiant of the order associated with Kalak (Ironstance!), and that this order is most likely the Willshapers; further, that he will somehow be able to revivify the spren that was his Blade. That last may be wishful thinking, but he has consistently refused to name the Blade because it obviously has a name of its own, and he talks to it before he goes into a duel. I’ve got no proof, but I sure like the idea. Renarin Renarin is a Radiant! Renarin is a Truthwatcher! Happy dance! Happy dance! This, I did not expect. Hoped, maybe, a little, but certainly didn’t expect. Fascinating revelations with this boy. The thing that blew my mind (which you likely don’t catch the first time through—at least, I didn’t) was that the very first time he touched that Blade, minutes after Adolin won it in the Chapter 14 duel, he grimaced. Didja notice that? Eventually we find out why: He already had a developing spren connection and he was hearing that horrible screaming from the dead spren. And he did his perceived duty anyway. He bonded the Blade, he tried to practice with it, he tried to use it in battle, he used it to help Shallan figure out the Oathgate, and all with that screaming in his head every storming time! With nothing more than a grimace when he summoned it, and a sigh of relief when he dismissed it, I say the man has incredible mental strength. He deserves to be a Radiant, unless that turns out to be an ancient Chinese curse, like “interesting times”…. Elhokar Here’s another character for whom we had little to no expectation, except the hint that perhaps he could see Cryptics and might therefore become a Lightweaver. That would explain the cracked gems in his Shardplate very neatly, too. Well… no. We aren’t any closer to knowing whether or not he’ll become a Radiant, or why those gems fractured. What we found, instead, was a deeply insecure man who didn’t get nearly enough training for the job he’s been saddled with. A man who wanted to do the right thing, who wanted to be a good leader and a good king—and simply doesn’t know how. His scene with Kaladin was poignant, revealing a man who’d never been taught self-discipline, who had to learn the hard way who not to follow, but smart enough to know a genuine leader when he saw one. Also? A king learning humility at the hands of a Herdazian matriarch… Heh. Dalinar “ ‘As I fear not a child with a weapon he cannot lift, I will never fear the mind of a man who does not think.’ ” Dalinar met and exceeded expectation. Not only did he become Highprince of War, he found ways to turn disparagement to his advantage. He continued to receive visions, to piece things together, and to act boldly on what he learned. He found ways to be both statesman and warrior, though not without a certain amount of frustration and setbacks. His continuing relationship with Navani is fun to watch, because not only do they love each other, they respect each other and draw on one another’s strengths. And he bonded the Stormfather as his spren. Yeah, look at that again. Dalinar is spren-bonded to the Stormfather himself. And so he has become a Bondsmith, an Order with very few members, but with great power and, presumably, insight. I wonder if this means that the Stormfather will no longer block the honorspren from returning and bonding more Windrunners. Incidentally, I’d like to hear some theories here: What is that Blade Dalinar bonded when he was “ill” for a week, and then unbonded when he became a Bondsmith? I originally thought it was Taln’s Honorblade, which seemed a bit weird, but… okay. However, it’s described thus: “Wider than most, it was almost cleaverlike in appearance.” That really doesn’t sound much like Taln’s in The Way of Kings epilogue, which was “long, narrow, and straight, shaped like an enormous spike.” But clearly it’s not a known Blade, so… where did it come from? And it screams when Dalinar summons it after forming his bond with the Stormfather (!!!), so it can’t be an Honorblade, because they aren’t dead-spren-Blades. (Szeth’s/Jezrien’s doesn’t scream when Kaladin holds it.) So what is it? Where did it come from? I want to know. Shallan Well, we knew this was Shallan’s book, and so we had plenty of expectations. First, that she’d make it to the Shattered Plains with Jasnah, that she’d end up in some kind of romantic entanglement, that she’d develop her Lightweaver skills, that she’d use her Shardblade… and of course that we’d find out where she got that Blade in the first place. As I said before, “I can almost guarantee that no one will look at her the same way, whether you loved her, hated her, or anywhere between. I won’t promise that you’ll love her. I won’t promise that you’ll even like her. But I promise you won’t see her the same way you did before.” Main plot She made it to the Shattered Plains, all right, but not with Jasnah. In retrospect, it’s kind of amazing to realize just how much Jasnah taught her in those first few chapters, and how much those lessons enabled Shallan to survive and make her way not only to the Shattered Plains, but through the political minefield of the warcamps and across the Plains to the center. There was a general expectation that she would figure out how to get to Urithiru (albeit we expected Jasnah to be more involved in that…), and she did, but in just about the least expected way possible. She certainly ended up with a romantic entanglement, and it was really quite delightful to find the “too-obvious!” match-up turning out to be so much fun. And, really, so good for both of them. Her straightforward curiosity and complete failure to flirt properly are so exactly what Adolin needs. I have to confess that as soon as it became clear that they were both smitten, my first thought was, “Which one is going to die?” So far, happily, neither one, although there are no guarantees for Book Three. Adolin has become quite the loose cannon on deck, so… I don’t know. I hope things work out for them, but I’m not sure I expect it! I think they’re a great pair, and if she’s a bit quicker with words than he is, it’s not a problem. It’s not like he’s stupid, he has just oriented his intelligence toward warcraft rather than wordplay so far. One thing most of us weren’t expecting was the revelation of Shallan’s ability to simply not remember the things she dared not think about. There were a few small hints in The Way of Kings, perhaps, but only recognizable in hindsight. At first I wondered about her lack of grieving for Jasnah, but then I put it down to a need for survival. As the hints built up, though… it’s one of the least of many, many things this poor child learned to simply not think about, to the point of being unable to acknowledge their existence. Not that she blocked Jasnah’s death that thoroughly, but she nearly blocked all the grief. That Shardblade we expected to see certainly turned up again—in multiple forms. How soon did y’all twig to the fact that it was Pattern all along? That she really didn’t need ten heartbeats, and that she’s been bonded to this Cryptic since she was about ten years old? That yes, indeed, that Blade was her very own, original, living spren? That was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. In fact, I’ve decided to forgive Tyn for existing, because she gave Shallan the necessary reason to summon her Blade again. Lightweaver. I hope you looked at the Ars Arcanum and saw the list of Surges there. It explains a lot. In this case, it explains why Lightweaving includes both visual and auditory effects. What really stunned me was the realization that Shallan must have spoken at least the first Ideal about seven years ago. Kaladin had to speak his third Ideal before he got his Blade, but there’s no guarantee that it works the same way for every Order. Or within an Order, for that matter; it might be mostly based on the need of the moment, as long as you’ve spoken the first Ideal. The development and exploration of Shallan’s newfound abilities was cool stuff, though. It will be fascinating to see what else a Lightweaver can do. Flashback Sequence The second major thing about Shallan, of course, is the development of her backstory. And here’s where I know I’m going to make some people angry. I do not, and cannot, and will not hate Brightlord Davar. I feel sorry for him. Deeply, excruciatingly sorry for him. (Yes, I feel equally sorry for his children; I’ll get there in a minute.) When I look at his story, though, it hurts deep down in my heart. Here’s a man who had a relatively happy life—pretty wife, four sons, one beloved little daughter, and a comfortable home. I’m sure he had his moments of frustration (what father doesn’t?), but they were happy together. Shallan could remember a time when she’d rarely, if ever, seen him angry. Those days were long, long dead. (Chapter 45) What happened? His daughter, the precious little girl he adored, started doing… strange things. Things she shouldn’t be able to do. Things like the Knights Radiant, the betrayers of mankind. She wove illusions that could move and speak. Her drawings became reality. As a parent, that would be amazing and a little scary. But then his wife—her mother—apparently connected with one of the (how many?) societies of people who wanted to destroy any incipient Surgebinder as quickly as possible. I suspect that the arguments with his wife began then, though I don’t have hard evidence for that. In any case, he argued with his wife and her friend, defending his little girl. And they tried to kill her. He tried to defend her, to stop them. He fought with the other man, and managed to hurt him, but in the end he was pinned on the floor, watching his wife—her mother—approaching their eleven-year-old daughter with a knife. To kill her. His little girl defended herself, with her own Shardblade that no one had ever seen before, and his wife died instead of his daughter. His tenderness toward Shallan, at the end of that first flashback, was heart-rending. How his heart must have been aching, and in the midst of it his first action was to comfort and soothe and shelter his little girl. And he never told anyone who really killed his wife. He loved his girl, and he never told anyone—but can you imagine living with the lies he allowed to be believed? It destroyed him. There was no proof, so he was never prosecuted, but everyone, including his sons, believed that he had murdered his wife. For that matter, they believed that his wife had taken a lover, which… is perhaps a minor point, but it also was a lie. And so he descended into anger and madness. At the same time, that precious little girl can pull out a Shardblade to defend herself. How terrifying is that for a parent? For six years, this man lived with accusations of murder, hiding the identity of the real killer for her own safety. At the same time, he also lived with the knowledge that however angry he got, he dared not give her cause to fear harm at his hands, or he could end up with a Shardblade through his spine, too. This picture, of a man who both adored and feared his little girl, who sheltered her at great cost and who crumbled under the pressure of that cost… this picture tears me apart. I ache for this man. As for his children, I ache for them too. The sons, allowed to think their father murdered their mother, and in front of their beloved little sister, could do nothing but hate him. As their father fell into depression and anger, he took it out on them, twisting them further. As always, when imperfect people interact negatively in such close confines, all the worst traits are brought out in each one until the entire family is broken. And Shallan… poor Shallan. It wasn’t her fault, but she couldn’t help believing that it was, because her abilities were at the core of it all. I’m no psychologist, but I’m told that this kind of voluntary amnesia is a well-documented means of dealing with stresses too great to be borne. The shock of having her parents fighting over her abilities, of her mother trying to kill her because of those abilities, and of her own frightened reaction resulting in her mother’s death, all combined with her heretofore calm and sheltered life, would certainly qualify as “stresses too great to be borne,” in my opinion. Add to that her father’s fits of anger, her brothers’ various forms of escape, and finally the night of first her stepmother’s and then her father’s murders, and it may be no wonder her mind simply refused to acknowledge any of it. On a personal note, having read all this, I have had a great deal of difficulty being patient with people who repeatedly comment on what an awful person Shallan is and what losers her brothers are. It’s so easy to simply look at the surface presentation and judge them as a waste of breath; when you see what has happened to them, what put them where they are… maybe the judgmental attitudes are a little misguided, eh? Then again, that’s true in real life. So there’s that. In terms of literary appreciation, Sanderson did a superb job of gradually revealing a grim and terrifying youth, as well as Shallan’s means of coping with it. The increasing awareness of her ability to simply block out anything she didn’t want to hear or remember, and the way that ability reconciled the hints of her past with her present (apparent) superficiality, was brilliantly done. And I’m a little shocked that he made me feel sorry for her father in spite of things like this: Father stood outside. Shallan could make out a crumpled form beyond him, lying on the floor of the hallway. Minara, the serving maid. Her body didn’t lie right, one arm bent at the wrong angle. Father entered Shallan’s room and shut the door behind him. “You know I would never hurt you, Shallan,” he said softly. She nodded, tears leaking from her eyes. … “I would not want to have to punish anyone else because of you, Shallan,” Father said. (Chapter 48) That makes me angry, because it’s such a terrible way to manipulate a child—but at the same time, it reveals the depth of his fear of her, and that brings me back around to pity mixed with the anger. It’s a broken, dysfunctional family, and I feel deeply, painfully sorry for all of them. Sigh. Moving on. Everyone Else Szeth We certainly had expectations for this one—primarily, that he would attempt to kill Dalinar, that Kaladin would fight him, and that Szeth would lose somehow. (Because he couldn’t possibly be allowed to kill Kaladin!) Show of hands, folks: who actually expected Szeth to show up and have that big confrontation with Kaladin less than halfway through the book? Once again, things happened earlier than anticipated, and not at all as expected. Kaladin was so clearly not ready yet, and frankly the only reason he survived is that Szeth was completely blown away by the fact that Kaladin could use Stormlight and heal his Blade-severed hand. At last the tormented man learns the truth, and hides from it in comforting lies from Taravangian. Too bad for him that Kaladin has also learned the truth, and has a Shardblade that is also a spear, a hammer, a shield, a halberd… Is there anyone here who didn’t make at least a little bit of noise when Syl said, Oh. That’s right. You probably want me to be a spear, don’t you? Szeth finally had to face the truth—that he was, in fact, not Truthless, and all the murder had been based on a lie instead. And he just let Kaladin kill him. Turns out he’s only mostly dead. This Darkness guy is creepy, and perhaps even creepier with the proof that he is indeed Nalan, the Herald associated with Justice, who has been going around digging up whatever “crimes” he can find in the past of any incipient Surgebinder, and executing them on the pretext of “justice.” Speaking of expectations… what do you expect of Szeth now that he has Nightblood to mess with his head? That’s just painful to contemplate. Will he actually be bonded to a spren and be a real Skybreaker? Book Three just can’t come soon enough… Gaz We expected to see Gaz again, and perhaps learn what was behind his disappearance. To some extent, we did; he owed more money than he could possibly repay, and so he deserted. We still don’t know how he ran up such a debt, or whether it will still come back to haunt him. For now, he’s Shallan’s, which was a development no one foresaw. He’s actually a rather likeable guy now, and I was pretty impressed with him finding Shallan a copy of Words of Radiance. What think you: is his change of heart a result of loyalty to the one who freed him from his impossible debt, or to Shallan’s Lightweaving on him? Or both? There remains some mystery to this one. Taravangian I can’t wait to hear what y’all think of Taravangian now. Even the early revelation of his “gift” from the Nightwatcher didn’t prepare me for the fullness of what was revealed in his Interlude. I’m assuming (for the moment) that his Diagram has to do with Cultivation and her ability to see into the future, but I find it hard to believe anyone following that closely to something they themselves came up with when they were off-the-scale brilliant. He has made a god out of what he was on that one day, and… I don’t trust it. Zahel Well, I sure hope y’all read Warbreaker recently. Now we know why Brandon wouldn’t post his initial version of The Way of Kings, even though he’s never been reluctant to share his unpolished work and let us see the process. He didn’t want to spoil that surprise. (For anyone like me who didn’t catch this, I’ll let others tell you in the comments, just in case you want to go back and try to figure it out for yourself.) Plot Elements Finding Urithiru Plenty of theories have been floated about the location and access to Urithiru; some placed it on the Shattered Plains, some in Shinovar, some in or near the Purelake, some even on another planet in the Roshar system. As of the end of The Way of Kings, I’m not sure I saw any speculation connecting the Oathgates with Urithiru. It was exciting to see the way it really works, and then to realize that we’ve seen other Oathgates and just didn’t recognize them. We still don’t know exactly where Urithiru is, or whether it contains the kind of information Jasnah was hoping for, but at least it’s found. As a side exercise, it’s very interesting to go back to the previous book and look at all the limited information on Urithiru; it all makes perfect sense when you know what it really is. Now we can expect to learn more in the next book or two. The Parshendi Also now known as the Listeners, we learn about the Parshendi just in time to develop sympathy for them and then watch them all turn into Voidbringers. Or something related to Voidbringers, anyway. In looking back through the epigraphs in The Way of Kings, the hints really are all there, so the reader who expected to find the Parshendi/Voidbringer connection was rewarded. Maybe not quite the way you’d have expected, though… The reader who expected the Parshendi to be the good guys and the Alethi the bad guys wasn’t that far off, either—not during The Way of Kings. Had the Alethi sought peace earlier, they might have found allies rather than enemies. Instead, we find them pushed to the edge of survival, and therefore the edge of desperation. While the sprenless slaveform Parshmen are still out there, it’s not really the same thing as the voluntary choices made by the Listeners. At great personal cost, they have searched to find forms that would help their people survive while still refusing admittance to “the old gods”—Odium, and the apparently god-like spren associated with him. (Combining information from Eshonai and Taravangian, am I the only one who thinks the Unmade are Odium-spren, something on the order of the Stormfather and the Nightwatcher? I’ll bet I’m not…) It was especially sad to see the whole thing through Eshonai’s eyes, as we learned about Narak and the various forms, as we met her mother and sister, as we began to understand the Rhythms. To see her preparing to meet Dalinar and ask for peace, knowing that he was hoping for the same thing—and then to have it all snatched away by her decision to take Venli’s place and bond the stormspren. Her own mind, screaming deep down inside, as her consciousness is overcome by Odium. Her avoidance of Peace, even when she was willing to attune the old Rhythms, because that’s where the screaming was the strongest… that just hurt. It also makes one wonder: was warform actually of Honor rather than of Odium? Is the screaming of her mind similar to the screaming of the dead spren in the Shardblades? Is there still a “good” spren bonded to her, but overwhelmed by the stormspren? It seems that there ought to be a connection. On a loosely related note, I wonder if we’ll ever find out what happened to the Listeners who chose not to accept the stormspren bonding. Did they escape only to be killed by the Highstorm/Everstorm confluence? Or did they really escape? And did anyone else think it an interesting happenstance that they escaped from the Oathgate plateau, just like the Alethi armies would later? The Everstorm There was a lot of speculation over whether or not we’d see the Everstorm in this book. For that matter, there was a fair amount of speculation over what the Everstorm actually would be. The reality was mind-numbing. What we haven’t seen is the full effect, as it rounds the world and hits the continent backwards. The destruction to come is frightening to contemplate all by itself. What will happen next time the Everstorm collides with a Highstorm? My final questions, to which I may never know the answers, are these: Would the Everstorm have come anyway? Was Odium returning inevitably, or did the actions of the Listeners bring about his return? Or, perhaps, were those actions inevitable? Discuss! Enjoy! See you in the comments! [Note: please be aware that the spoilers in the comments are not limited to Words of Radiance, and include discussion of other Sanderson works. Wherever possible, we would appreciate it if you could white out any major spoilers for other books or series as a courtesy to other readers, but we cannot guarantee that every commenter will do so, so please tread carefully if you are trying to avoid information about Sanderson’s other novels/series.] Alice Arneson is a stay-at-home mom who enjoys reading, writing, and throwing snowballs. She owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Brandon Sanderson and Peter Ahlstrom (and probably a greater one to their wives). The most amazing thing she’s ever heard was the Tudor Choir and Seattle Baroque Orchestra performance of Messiah.A 19-year-old Roanoke College student was accused of rape in March 2015 by a college freshman. He was charged by the district attorney, but it took a jury just 25 minutes to find him not guilty at the end of a trial that lasted one day. A campus sexual misconduct hearing also found him not responsible. Case closed, right? Wrong, of course. When the student, who is from Zimbabwe, re-enrolled in Roanoke, campus activists started an online petition in an effort to bar him from campus, citing safety concerns. This just goes to show that students who are accused of sexual assault on college campuses are often considered guilty-until-proven-innocent, and even then are still considered guilty. Under cross-examination at the trial, the accuser made multiple contradictory statements about the night in question. The woman claimed she had been drinking for hours and invited a male friend over. He said no, so she invited another male student, whom she later accused of sexual assault. The two began talking in the dark while in her bed and eventually engaged in sex. She says he initiated while she objected. He says she initially consented but told him to stop, so he did and left her room. The accuser then called the first male friend over and told him she had been assaulted. Her conflicting statements related to her level of intoxication and her statements about the first male friend. Despite the accused student being found not guilty in a court of law and a campus hearing, campus activists started a petition to keep him off campus, saying "a mahority [sic] of the student body will be put at risk." The petition also said "no female student will be able to feel safe" if the accused student (who was, again, found not guilty) is allowed to return. The petition had garnered only 291 of the needed 1,000 signatures before it was closed. In a twist, the accused student is now suing his accuser for $500,000 in damages, alleging the accuser knowingly published false statements on her social media account. She had also circulated the online petition, although she did not create it. A Jan. 12 injunction ordered the accuser to remove all references to the allegations from her social media accounts to and to refrain from making additional comments about the accused. Neither the accuser, her attorney nor the attorney for the accused student returned a Washington Examiner inquiry. The Examiner will refrain from naming either student. Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.With Season Five of “Orange Is The New Black” released earlier this month, Laverne Cox has a lot to say about her groundbreaking role in the Netflix hit, which earned her an Emmy nomination in 2014. Always opinionated and wonderfully energetic, Cox, in an interview with me on SiriusXM Progress, opened up about so much else, too ― including trans actors like herself playing non-trans roles, and cisgender male actors playing transgender women. “Prisons are working exactly the way they’re supposed to,” she first explained bluntly, in discussing how her character, Sophia Bursett, a transgender prison inmate, spent much of Season 4 in solitary confinement, a reality faced by so many transgender women of color in prison. “Prisons have existed, really, as this new Jim Crow. As a way to enslave black people. And that brutality is working exactly as it’s supposed to.” Though someone like her could be a success today, Cox said, our institutions, including our electoral system ― as reflected by the 2016 presidential race ― are haunted by the history of slavery in America. “I think when we look at America, a country we love, a country where ― I mean, my story is not possible, I think, anywhere else in the world, that a black trans woman from Mobile, Alabama, can be living this dream out loud on an international level,” she reflected. “It’s pretty remarkable. I love this country. But the truth of this country is that it was built on the backs of slaves. And even something like the Electoral College was designed to keep southern states from letting northern states get too much power, so they could keep slaves. The Electoral College is this antiquated thing that we need to let go of.” And on the topic of what roles transgender actors should play and whether or not cisgender men ― like Matt Bomer, currently embroiled in controversy regarding his role in the new film “Anything” ― should play transgender women, Cox expounded a great deal. “My experience as a trans woman playing a trans character is that I have found that audiences not only have empathy for the character that I play but they find themselves having empathy for the actor who plays that character,” she said. “And I think there’s a lot of evidence that this moment happening with me and ‘Orange’ has created an enormous amount of social change. Right? I mean, like just look at the resume! The proof is there.” She then pointed to a recent essay by Emmy-nominated transgender writer, actress and producer Jen Richards, “Why Straight Men Kill The Trans Women They Love.” “Jen Richards said that she believes that when cisgender men or non-transgender men play trans women it sends a message to people who don’t know trans folks that trans women are really men,” Cox explained. “And then, as brilliant as Jefffrey Tambor is, as brilliant as Jared Leto is, and all these actors who play trans women, when people who
"picture in picture" video footage. Learn More Tom D Garageband Free with new iPads or $4.99 Learn a Language iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium The Garage Band app has great audio recording, editing, and sharing features. Students can record multiple tracks to create a dialog and also include music or other sounds. Sharing options now include sending to iMovie to incorporate with a larger project, Google Drive, Evernote, and a number of apps through "Open In." Students could use the jam session feature to collaborate on a single project, a great option for dialogs. It is also possible to import audio from iTunes, so pre-recorded tracks can be incorporated for listening comprehension. Learn More Tom D Garageband Free Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium Garage Band on Mac has great audio recording, editing, and sharing features. Students can record multiple tracks to create a dialog and also include music or other sounds. Sharing options include sending to iMovie to incorporate with a larger project, SoundCloud, and a number of apps through "Open In." It is also possible to import audio from iTunes, so pre-recorded tracks can be incorporated for listening comprehension. Learn More Tom D Google Keep Free or $3.99 Learn a Language iPad 5-8, 9-12 Easy With Google Keep, students can stay organized with notes, to-do lists, and reminders. Language students can use the audio reconding option in the Keep iPad app to create audio notes. Learn More Tom D Google Translate Free Learn a Language Android 5-8, 9-12 Easy Through Google Translate, students could receive both text as well as audio translations, helping with both listening comprehension as well as vocabulary. To work on pronunciation, students could speak into the app to see if it recognizes and can translate their speech. The app also recognizes handwriting, type, and even text within pictures. Students can also “star” translations that they use regularly or found helpful for future reference. For the app to work, it does have to be online. Learn More Tom D Google Translate Free Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Easy From the Google Translate web site, students could receive both text as well as audio translations, helping with both listening comprehension as well as vocabulary. Students can also “star” translations that they use regularly or found helpful for future reference. It is also possible to translate complete documents or web pages. The Google Translate Chrome Extension (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-translate/aapbdbdomjkkjkaonfhkkikfgjllcleb?hl=en) lets students click on words for instant translation. Learn More Tom D iMendi Free Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Easy Imendi is free web-based application that lets you practice flashcards of foreign languages. Learn More Tom D Lingit Free or Paid Subscription Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium Lingit is a platform to create speaking assignments for students. Teachers can assess student work and provide feedback. Lingit also offers IB and AP Learn More Tom D Memrise Free or Paid Subscription Learn a Language iPad 5-8, 9-12 Easy Memrise offers beginner or advanced language courses and learning exercises and is accessible on multiple devices. Learn More Tom D Memrise Free or Paid Subscription Learn a Language Android 5-8, 9-12 Easy Memrise offers beginner or advanced language courses and learning exercises and is accessible on multiple devices. Learn More Tom D Memrise Free or Paid Subscription Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Easy Memrise offers beginner or advanced language courses and learning exercises and is accessible on multiple devices. Learn More Tom D Microsoft Translate Free Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium Speak or type in your language to communicate with other participants in a conversation. Other participants will see your messages in their own language. Learn More Tom D Microsoft Translate Free Learn a Language Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Medium Speak or type in your language to communicate with other participants in a conversation. Other participants will see your messages in their own language. Learn More Tom D Microsoft Translate Free Learn a Language iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium Speak or type in your language to communicate with other participants in a conversation. Other participants will see your messages in their own language. Learn More Tom D Microsoft Translate Free Learn a Language Android 5-8, 9-12 Medium Speak or type in your language to communicate with other participants in a conversation. Other participants will see your messages in their own language. Learn More Tom D Online Voice Recorder Free Learn a Language Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Easy With this Chrome app, students can record up to 7 minutes of audio, trim the length as needed, and then save their recordings to Google Drive as an mp3 file. Learn More Tom D Shawn Online Voice Recorder Free Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Easy With this online tool, students can record up to 7 minutes of audio, trim the length as needed, and then save their recordings to their computer as an mp3 file. Learn More Tom D Shawn Pictolang Free Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Easy Pictolang has web-based visual language exercises and games: Visual Word Trainer, Word Match Game, Picture Match Game and Analyst Game Learn More Tom D PowToon Free Learn a Language Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Medium PowToon lets students and teachers create animated videos using their Google accounts. Each PowToon video can include text, animated images, as well as voice-over narration. Either upload your own content from Drive or even search for images from the PowToon library. There are also ideas in their 4Edu section. (http://www.powtoon.com/edu-home/) Learn More Tom D Shawn PowToon Free Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium PowToon lets students and teachers create animated videos. Each PowToon video can include text, animated images, as well as voice-over narration. Either upload your own content or even search for images from the PowToon library. There are also ideas in their 4Edu section. (http://www.powtoon.com/edu-home/) Learn More Tom D Shawn SpeakIt! Free Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Easy Speakit! is a free extension for the Chrome browser. Select text you want to read and listen to it at the speed you want. Listen to text in English, Spanish, French, Italian and other languages. Learn More Tom D SpeakIt! Free Learn a Language Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Easy Speakit! is a free extension for the Chrome browser. Select text you want to read and listen to it at the speed you want. Listen to text in English, Spanish, French, Italian and other languages. Learn More Tom D Talk and Comment Free Learn a Language Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Medium Talk and Comment is a free extension for the Chrome browser that allows students and teachers to leave audio comments on web pages and online documents, such as Google Docs. Learn More Tom D Talk and Comment Free Learn a Language Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium Talk and Comment is a free extension for the Chrome browser that allows students and teachers to leave audio comments on web pages and online documents, such as Google Docs. Learn More Tom D Doceri Learn Math iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium A combination of a screencasting app and a computer control tool, Doceri allows the math teacher to be mobile in their classroom while still projecting content to the front of the room. Doceri supports AirPlay mirroring through AppleTV, Reflector or AirServer. In addition, PowerPoint and Keynote files can be imported into Doceri, allowing the teacher to annotate directly over their presentations on iPad. Both teachers and students can also use the screencasting tool to created problem solving screencasts on an iPad. Learn More Avra Rosey Doceri Learn Math Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium A combination of a screencasting app and a computer control tool, Doceri allows the math teacher to be mobile in their classroom while still projecting content to the front of the room. Doceri supports AirPlay mirroring through AppleTV, Reflector or AirServer. In addition, PowerPoint and Keynote files can be imported into Doceri, allowing the teacher to annotate directly over their presentations on iPad. Both teachers and students can also use the screencasting tool to created problem solving screencasts on an iPad. Learn More Rosey Avra MathGraph Free Learn Math iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium Learn about and manipulate common geometric shapes with Math Graph. Choose a circle, ellipse, parabola or hyperbola by adjusting the equation with the slider tool. When the equation is manipulated, the graph will update in real time, allowing students to understand the relationships. There are also built in quizzes to allow students to self assess their understanding. Learn More Rosey Avra WebFluidMath $14.99 per year Learn Math Android 5-8, 9-12 Medium Web Fluid Math accurately recognizes hand written math and will instantly graph any equation written on the screen as well as create formulas where the variables can be manipulated. Though not an app, it will work through the Chrome browser. With this tool, teachers can make math come alive as they create graphs, tables, and even simulations. Teachers can create math experiences for students to manipulate and then share via a link. Students can then access the content without needing an account and take screencaptures of their work. Learn More Rosey Avra WebFluidMath $14.99 per year Learn Math iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium Web Fluid Math accurately recognizes hand written math and will instantly graph any equation written on the screen as well as create formulas where the variables can be manipulated. Though not an app, it will work through ether the Safari or Chrome apps. With this tool, teachers can make math come alive as they create graphs, tables, and even simulations. Teachers can create math experiences for students to manipulate and then share via a link. Students can then access the content without needing an account and take screencaptures of their work. Learn More Rosey Avra WebFluidMath $14.99 per year Learn Math Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Medium Web Fluid Math accurately recognizes hand written math and will instantly graph any equation written with a track pad as well as create formulas where the variables can be manipulated. Through this tool, teachers can make math come alive as they create graphs, tables, and even simulations. Teachers can create math experiences for students to manipulate and then share via a link. Students can then access the content without needing an account and take screencaptures of their work. Learn More Rosey Avra WebFluidMath $14.99 per year Learn Math iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium Web Fluid Math accurately recognizes hand written math and will instantly graph any equation written with a track pad as well as create formulas where the variables can be manipulated. Through this tool, teachers can make math come alive as they create graphs, tables, and even simulations. Teachers can create math experiences for students to manipulate and then share via a link. Students can then access the content without needing an account and take screencaptures of their work. While there is an app version, the web one allows for the sharing with students. Learn More Rosey Avra Code Academy Freemium Learn to Code Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Hard Codeacademy offers online coding tutorials with easy-to-follow instructions, immediate feedback, and a tested curriculum take anyone from non-technical to “I can code.” Learn More Anissa Nova Elements Learning Science Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium iOS app with interactive features, engaging videos and much information on foundations of matter. The interactive Table of Elements is especially impressive Learn More Tom Daccord Audible 14.95 month Read and Consume Content iPad 5-8, 9-12 Easy Download books and easily listen to them on the go. Either purchase one book or get a subscription - great for school libraries. Audible has one of the best selections of audio books. Learn More Rosey Avra Audible 14.95 month Read and Consume Content Android 5-8, 9-12 Easy Download books and easily listen to them on the go. Either purchase one book or get a subscription - great for school libraries. Audible has one of the best selections of audio books. Learn More Rosey Avra AudioBooks Free Read and Consume Content iPad 5-8, 9-12 Easy Over 5,000 public domain works are available for students to listen to through the app or your Apple watch. Audio books are streamed directly within the app and can be downloaded to an in app library as well. Since, the audio book will play when running in the background, students can take notes in another app while listening. Additional titles are available for purchase. Learn More Rosey Avra Audio Books $1.99 Read and Consume Content iPad 5-8, 9-12 Easy With a $1.99 cent purchase, gain access to over 5,200 classic audio books. It includes the ability to play in the background, so students could read text versions simultaneously in iBooks. This is a real voice, and not a computer generated one, that can be played, paused, and rewound to support comprehension. Learn More Rosey Avra OverDrive Free Read and Consume Content Android 5-8, 9-12 Medium With a valid library card, students and teachers can download eBooks and audio books from the library for a limited time. Much like physical library books, these titles are borrowed and then returned. At the end of the lending period, they simply disappear from the app. Both eBooks and audio books are “read” through the Overdrive app and cannot be transferred to another app for annotation purposes. Learn More Rosey Avra OverDrive Free Read and Consume Content iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium With a valid library card, students and teachers can download eBooks and audio books from the library for a limited time. Much like physical library books, these titles are borrowed and then returned. At the end of the lending period, they simply disappear from the app. Both eBooks and audio books are “read” through the Overdrive app and cannot be transferred to iBooks for annotation purposes. Learn More Rosey Avra OverDrive Free Read and Consume Content Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium With a valid library card, students and teachers can download eBooks and audio books from the library for a limited time. Much like physical library books, these titles are borrowed and then returned. At the end of the lending period, they simply disappear from the app. Both eBooks and audio books are “read” through the Overdrive app and cannot be transferred to another app for annotation purposes. From the web site, there are Overdrive apps available for Mac, Windows, and mobile devices. Learn More Rosey Avra OverDrive Free Read and Consume Content Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Medium With a valid library card, students and teachers can download eBooks and audio books from the library for a limited time. Much like physical library books, these titles are borrowed and then returned. At the end of the lending period, they simply disappear from the Chrome app. Both eBooks and audio books are “read” through the Overdrive app and cannot be transferred to another app for annotation purposes. Learn More Rosey Avra Amazon KIndle Free Read and Consume Content Android 5-8, 9-12 Easy With the Kindle app, students can actively read PDF, ePub, and mobi files directly on their Android tablet. With ePub or mobi files, students can highlight and take notes as they read. It is also possible to read Kindlebooks purchased directly from Amazon or distributed through Whispercast (https://whispercast.amazon.com/). Learn More Anissa Avra Amazon Kindle Free Read and Consume Content iPad 5-8, 9-12 Easy Carry all of your eBooks with the Amazon Kindle app for iPad. Ebooks purchased on Amazon will automatically be downloaded to your app. Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime members can select and download eBooks directly in the app. Learn More Anissa Avra KIndle Cloud Reader Free Read and Consume Content Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Easy With the Kindle Cloud Reader Chrome app, students can actively read PDF, ePub, and mobi files directly on their laptop through the Chrome Browser. With ePub or mobi files, students can highlight and take notes as they read. It is also possible to read Kindlebooks purchased directly from Amazon or distributed through Whispercast (https://whispercast.amazon.com/). Students can also install the Send to Kindle (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/send-to-kindle-for-google/cgdjpilhipecahhcilnafpblkieebhea?hl=en) Chrome extension to send web content directly to their Kindle Cloud Reader. Learn More Anissa Avra KIndle Cloud Reader Free Read and Consume Content Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Easy With the Kindle Cloud Reader Chrome app, students can actively read PDF, ePub, and mobi files directly on their Chromebook. With ePub or mobi files, students can highlight and take notes as they read. It is also possible to read Kindlebooks purchased directly from Amazon or distributed through Whispercast (https://whispercast.amazon.com/). Students can also install the Send to Kindle (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/send-to-kindle-for-google/cgdjpilhipecahhcilnafpblkieebhea?hl=en) Chrome extension to send web content directly to their Kindle Cloud Reader. Learn More Anissa Avra Garageband Free Record and Edit Audio iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium In addition to being able to record and edit audio, Garageband for iPad comes with a host of musical tools. The editing options are robust, and students can easily share projects either via email, sending them to SoundCloud, YouTube, Drive, or Evernote, or adding them to iMovie. Tip: Be sure to turn off the metronome & make the length unlimited when creating podcasts. Learn More Greg Shawn Opinion Free Record and Edit Audio iPad 5-8, 9-12 Easy Opinion is a quick and easy audio capture and editing tool for iPad. Built for speed and simplicity, Opinion embraces easy of use over complex audio editing. With one vertical audio track that displays in the app along with a record button, the process is extremely straight forward. Once recorded, audio segments can be named, trimmed and rearragned. Once a project is complete, an audio file can be exported to another application. Note, only one project can exist in Opinion at a time. Learn More Greg Shawn GoSynth Free Record and Edit Audio iPad 5-8, 9-12 Easy From the creators of Swivl, Synth is a micro podcasting tool for the classroom that takes a unique approach to audio capture and creation. Built for the classroom, teachers can create podcasts that students can contribute to with the podcast's access code. Older students can create their own podcasts, younger students can only contribute to a teacher podcast. Once created, podcasts can be shared with a link or even embedded in another website. Along with a podcast, individual audio clips or "synths" can be created and shared individually. Learn More Greg Shawn GoSynth Free Record and Edit Audio Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Easy From the creators of Swivl, Synth is a micro podcasting tool for the classroom that takes a unique approach to audio capture and creation. Built for the classroom, teachers can create podcasts that students can contribute to with the podcast's access code. Older students can create their own podcasts, younger students can only contribute to a teacher podcast. Once created, podcasts can be shared with a link or even embedded in another website. Along with a podcast, individual audio clips or "synths" can be created and shared individually. Learn More Greg Shawn GoSynth Free Record and Edit Audio Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Easy From the creators of Swivl, Synth is a micro podcasting tool for the classroom that takes a unique approach to audio capture and creation. Built for the classroom, teachers can create podcasts that students can contribute to with the podcast's access code. Older students can create their own podcasts, younger students can only contribute to a teacher podcast. Once created, podcasts can be shared with a link or even embedded in another website. Along with a podcast, individual audio clips or "synths" can be created and shared individually. Learn More Greg Shawn Hyperlapse Free Record and Edit Video iPad 5-8, 9-12 Easy Hyperlapse allows video to be captured in real time through the app and it is instantly processed and the video can be sped up by 2, 4, 6, 8, etc...The final product is exported to the camera roll for future use. This tool is helpful when creating time lapse video or RSA Animate style films. Learn More Greg Shawn iMovie Free Record and Edit Video iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium Similar to the full iMovie on a Mac, the app lets you combine and edit videos as well as photos. It includes both the option to create trailers with pre-created templates as well as full projects. Editing features include splitting/trimming clips, adding voice-overs, and picture-in-picture video. Completed projects export to YouTube, Vimeo or can be saved to the camera roll. Learn More Greg Shawn PowToon Free Record and Edit Video Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Medium PowToon lets students and teachers create animated videos using their Google accounts. Either start from scratch or choose from a pre-made template. Each PowToon video can include text, animated images, as well as voice-over narration. Either upload your own content from Drive or even search for images from the PowToon library. There are also ideas in their 4Edu section. (http://www.powtoon.com/edu-home/) Learn More Greg Shawn PowToon Free Record and Edit Video Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium PowToon lets students and teachers create animated videos. Either start from scratch or choose from a pre-made template. Each PowToon video can include text, animated images, as well as voice-over narration. Either upload your own content or even search for images from the PowToon library. There are also ideas in their 4Edu section. (http://www.powtoon.com/edu-home/) Learn More Greg Shawn WeVideo School License Record and Edit Video Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Medium WeVideo is a Chrome App that allows students to create and edit videos. They can import image and video content from Drive and then trim clips, add captions, and record voice overs. Students can collaboratively edit within WeVideo, and projects can save to Drive as well as publish to either YouTube or Vimeo. Note that the cost for WeVideo is dependent on the number of seats licenses purchased. There is a free version available for trail in the WeVideo education portal. Learn More Greg Shawn WeVideo School License Record and Edit Video Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium WeVideo allows students to create and edit videos. They can import image and video content from their computers or Google Drive and then trim clips, add captions, and record voice overs. Students can collaboratively edit within WeVideo, and projects can save to Drive as well as publish to either YouTube or Vimeo. Note that the cost for WeVideo is dependent on the number of seats licenses purchased. There is a free version available for trail in the WeVideo education portal. Learn More Greg Shawn WeVideo Free Record and Edit Video Android 5-8, 9-12 Medium WeVideo allows students to shoot, create, and edit videos. They can import image and video content from devices and then trim clips, add captions, and record voice overs. Students can save their work to the Gallery or publish to YouTube. The mobile version of WeVideo includes features like a royalty free music library, filters and blurring tools. Learn More Greg Shawn WeVideo Free Record and Edit Video iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium WeVideo allows students to shoot, create, and edit videos. They can import image and video content from devices and then trim clips, add captions, and record voice overs. Students can save their work to the Gallery or publish to YouTube. The mobile version of WeVideo includes features like a royalty free music library, filters and blurring tools. Learn More ExplainEverything Whiteboard Screencast iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium The most robust screencasting app for iPad, Explain Everything includes advanced features that make the price worth the investment. Along with pens, typing, and the ability to insert images, Explain Everything lets students and teachers annotate over live video as well as do minor editing of video or audio directly in the app. Because it integrates with Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, Evernote, and even AirDrop, students can collaborate on projects and merge them together. Explain Everything opens a number of different file types and exports as project, PDF, image, and video files that can be uploaded to cloud storage, saved to the Camera, or published to YouTube or Vimeo. Learn More Anissa Rosey Quicktime Player Free Screencast Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Hard Quicktime Player on a Mac is built in and allows for Movie recording, Audio Recording, and Screen Capturing. (Go to File > New Recording.) However, these are all separate functions and to bring them all together. Students must use start them all simultaneously then merge them in iMovie. Learn More Anissa Rosey Screencastify Freemium Screencast Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Medium The Screencastify Chrome Extension allows teachers and students to create videos of everything occuring on their screens. These screencasts can occur on top of Google Docs, web pages, or any other app being displayed. A great feature of Screencastify is the ability to also embed a web cam recording like a video in video recording. Completed screencasts save directly to Drive or can be posted to YouTube. Learn More Anissa Rosey Google Forms Free Student and Teacher Feedback Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium Teachers can create Google Forms from within Google Drive and then share them via a link, by embedding them on a class web site, through Google Classroom, or through email. Forms can include multiple choice, open response, and a number of other question types, as well as images and video. Students can take these either synchronously or asynchronously. Learn More Avra Gail Google Forms Free Student and Teacher Feedback Android 5-8, 9-12 Medium Teachers can create Google Forms from within Google Drive and then share them via a link, by embedding them on a class web site, through Google Classroom, or through email. Forms can include multiple choice, open response, and a number of other question types, as well as images and video. Students can take these either synchronously or asynchronously. Learn More Avra Gail Google Forms Free Student and Teacher Feedback Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Medium Teachers can create Google Forms from within Google Drive and then share them via a link, by embedding them on a class web site, through Google Classroom, or through email. Forms can include multiple choice, open response, and a number of other question types, as well as images and video. Students can take these either synchronously or asynchronously. Learn More Avra Gail Google Forms Free Student and Teacher Feedback iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium Google Forms work great on iPad through a browser. Teachers can create these forms either from a computer or by logging into the desktop version of Google Drive through the Safari or Chrome apps. Forms can include multiple choice, open response, and a number of other questions as well as images and video. Students can take these either synchronously or asynchronously. Learn More Avra Gail Poll Everywhere Free Student and Teacher Feedback Chrome 5-8, 9-12 Medium Polleverywhere is a great web tool that allows students to vote synchronously or asynchronously on classroom polls by going to poll4.com or a teacher specific Polleverywhere URL. Teachers can create multiple choice and open response polls as well as "heat maps" where students click on images and a new brainstorm option. Once the data has been collected, teachers can share it with a link, create a presentation slide, or even generate a word cloud from text responses. Learn More Anissa Rosey Poll Everywhere Free Student and Teacher Feedback iPad 5-8, 9-12 Medium Polleverywhere works through the Safari browser on iPads as well as the mobile app. Students can vote synchronously or asynchronously on classroom polls by going to poll4.com or a teacher specific Polleverywhere URL. Teachers can create multiple choice, open response polls, and brainstorm polls as well as "heat maps" where students click on images. With the Polleverywhere mobile presenter, polls can now be accessed, created and “pushed” to student devices directly from iPad through pollev.com/present. Learn More Anissa Rosey Poll Everywhere Free Student and Teacher Feedback Laptop 5-8, 9-12 Medium Polleverywhere is a great web tool that allows students to vote synchronously or asynchronously on classroom polls by going to poll4.com or a teacher specific Polleverywhere URL. Teachers can create multiple choice, open response, and brainstorm polls as well as "heat maps" where students click on images. Once the data has been collected, teachers can share it with a link, create a presentation slide, or even generate a word cloud from text responses. Learn More Anissa Rosey Poll Everywhere Free Student and Teacher Feedback Android 5-8, 9-12 Medium Polleverywhere works through the Chrome browser as well as the mobile app. Students can vote synchronously or asynchronously on classrooIn this special issue devoted to the study of pigmentation, it is only fitting that we reflect on how this trait has been utilized to promote specific political and social agendas in both the United States and Europe. It was Francis Galton, a cousin of Darwin, who coined the term “eugenics” in 1883 while advocating that society should promote the marriage of what he felt were the fittest individuals by providing monetary incentives.1 Shortly thereafter, many intellectuals and political leaders (e.g., Alexander Graham Bell, Winston Churchill, John Maynard Keynes, and Woodrow Wilson) accepted the notion that modern societies, as a matter of policy, should promote the improvement of the human race through various forms of governmental intervention. While initially this desire was manifested as the promotion of selective breeding, it ultimately contributed to the intellectual underpinnings of state-sponsored discrimination, forced sterilization, and genocide. From the perspective of an academic in 2008, it can be hard to fathom how pioneering studies of chromosomal segregation would be juxtaposed to studies of “Pedigrees of Pauper Stocks” in England, “Individual and Racial Inheritance of Musical Traits” or “Heritable Factors in Human Fitness and Their Social Control.” These examples come from the 1923 report of the Second International Congress of Eugenics, titled Eugenics, Genetics, and the Family.2 In the opening address, Henry F. Osborn, then president of the American Museum of Natural History in New York (the site of the meeting), stated, In the US we are slowly waking to the consciousness that education and environment do not fundamentally alter racial values. We are engaged in a serious struggle to maintain our historic republican institutions through barring the entrance of those unfit to share in the duties and responsibilities of our well-founded government. … In the matter of racial virtues, my opinion is that from biological principles there is little promise in the melting-pot theory. Put three races together (Caucasian, Mongolian, and the Negroid) you are likely to unite the vices of all three as the virtues. … For the worlds work give me a pure-blooded … ascertain through observation and experiment what each race is best fitted to accomplish. … If the Negro fails in government, he may become a fine agriculturist or a fine mechanic. … The right of the state to safeguard the character and integrity of the race or races on which its future depends is, to my mind, as incontestable as the right of the state to safeguard the health and morals of its peoples. It is important to appreciate that within the U.S. and European scientific communities these ideas were not fringe but widely held and taught in universities. The report of the Eugenics meeting was the lead story in the journal Science on October 7, 1921, and this opening address was published, in its entirety, beginning on the first page of the issue.3 To understand why eugenics became a serious scientific movement in the 1920s, it is useful to look back 20 years earlier. In 1902, Charles B. Davenport, then a Professor of Zoology at the University of Chicago, approached the Carnegie Institution with a request for $45,000 to create a “Biological Experiment Station for the study of evolution” on the Cold Spring Harbor Campus.4 His aim would be the “analytic and experimental study of the causes of specific differentiation—of race change.” He proposed to accomplish this “by the cross breeding of animals and plants to find the laws of commingling of qualities … the study of the laws and limits of inheritance.”4 Within this brief two-page proposal, Davenport commingles the scientific genetic approach that dated back to Mendel with his personal fascination with the perceived human racial differences of his day. Within 5 years the Experimental Evolution Department had established over 100 animal stocks that included 20 mammals and dozens of insects (including crickets and Drosophila), and over 400 flowering plants.5 It took until 1910 for Davenport to begin studies on human inheritance with the creation of the Eugenics Record Office. Financial support came from Mrs. E.H. Harriman (a wealthy philanthropist), John Harvey Kellogg (the breakfast cereal magnate), and the American Breeders' Association. This association was the first membership-based group whose mission included the promotion of eugenics research in the United States through a subcommittee chaired by ichthyologist and Stanford University President David Starr Jordan.6,7 By 1918, H.H. Laughlin was hired as the superintendent of the Eugenics Records Office, which transitioned from a freestanding, self-supporting endeavor to a sub-department of the Experimental Evolution Department under the control of the Carnegie Institution.8 Davenport conceived of this office to mainly “serve eugenical interests in the capacity of repository and clearing house” and to “provide data adequate to making eugenical studies.”8 Their method was to collect family histories from “better families” and “subnormal families” based upon methods previously described by Galton. By the 1920s, three major efforts pushed the eugenic agenda in the United States and subsequently throughout Europe: (1) The Eugenics Research Association with Laughlin and Davenport as leaders and in affiliation with the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS). (2) The American Eugenics Society founded by Laughlin, Harry Crampton, Madison Grant, and Henry Fairfield Osborn with the purpose of promoting the eugenical movement at both the scientific and popular level. (3) The Eugenics Records Office, directed by Davenport and run by Laughlin with the express purpose of providing the scientific data to support the eugenics movement. A concerted effort of this magnitude with the expressed support of the mainstream scientific establishment (e.g., AAAS as operator of the journal Science; the American Breeders' Association, which later became the American Genetics Association; and the Carnegie Institution) had an effect throughout both the scientific and governmental establishments worldwide. Specifically, by 1936 when both England and the U.S. genetic scientific communities finally condemned eugenical sterilization, over 60,000 forced sterilizations were already performed in the United States on mostly poor (and often African-American) people confined to mental hospitals.9,10 The practice of forced sterilizations for the “unfit” was almost unanimously supported by eugenicists. The American Eugenics Society had hoped, in time, to sterilize one-tenth of the U.S. population, or millions of Americans.11 Laughlin's publication of Eugenical Sterilization in the United States in 1922 included the drafting of a “model law” for compulsory sterilization that was the bedrock of forced sterilization programs throughout the country. According to Davenport, Laughlin's “book on sterilization is recognized as the standard.”12 In 1930, Laughlin comments about the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a Virginia sterilization statute as, “the establishment of the eugenical authority of the state … [enabling] the prevention of hereditary degeneration by a method sound from the legal, eugenical and humanitarian points of view. … It is now possible for any state, if it desires to do so, to enact a sterilization statute.”12 A typical study prepared by Laughlin and used to justify these laws is excerpted below: The Problem of the Feeble-Minded in Connecticut … the 11,962 feeble-minded persons—the total number who came under the purview of the Survey—have been studied individually in reference to nine subject as follows: (1) sex, (2) age, (3) recidivism, (4) diagnostic class, (5) intelligence quotient, (6) race descent, (7) nativity, (8) citizenship, (9) kin in institutions. … At the present rate every inhabitant of Connecticut is expending … 5 and 1/3 as many dollars on the socially inadequate and the individually handicapped as the average inhabitant was spending for the same purpose 20 years ago.13 Davenport's eugenical research is very typical of countless studies purporting to link perceived human differences to the burgeoning field of Genetics. This work is best appreciated by quoting the author directly: Successful naval officers are of various types. … The three commonist traits are: (1) love of sea; (2) capacity for fighting; (3) capacity for commanding or administering. … The performance of a man depends in large degree upon his inherent, inheritable traits. … The sea makes to different people varied appeal. … The love of the sea, sea-lust or thalasssophilia is apparently a specific trait to be differentiated from wanderlust or love of adventure. … One of the most striking characteristics of sea–lust is that it is wholly a male character
-player game. He projects a still from World of Warcraft, with a character called "Justicar Andersnordic", suggesting a clear parallel between his character in the game, and Breivik's belief that he is a member of the Knights Justiciar, a secret anti-Islamic movement. As if to underline Breivik's sad withdrawn life before his attacks, Mr Holden is showing a photo of Breivik's bedroom, where, he says Breivik spent a year playing World of Warcraft "full-time", living off his savings. 10.08 Breivik played extensively on World of Warcraft, with one period where he played full time for about a year, the court hears. <noframe>Twitter: Robin Wigglesworth - <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank">#Breivik</a> pampered himself with a year of playing World of Warcraft fulltime in 06-07, as a reward for impending "martyrdom".</noframe> <noframe>Twitter: Trygve Sorvaag - <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank">#Breivik</a> smiles when prosecutor describes his gaming habits playing World of warcraft.</noframe> <noframe>Twitter: Diana Magnay - Pros. Shows screen grab from <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=breivik" target="_blank">#breivik</a> computer of B's WOW avatar name 'justicar andersnordic'</noframe> 10.07 Richard Orange comments: Breivik appears more focused now, staring at Svein Holden as he details his early history of business failure, minor tax fraud, and money laundering. He's now moving onto Breivik's involvement in the freemason movement. 10.04 Richard Orange says: Prosecutor Svein Holden appears to be starting by seeking to undermine Breivik’s grandiose idea of himself, detailing his lowly initial career in telephone sales, and the failures of the three companies he set up in the early 2000s, followed by his founding of a more successful business selling fake diplomas. David Blair adds: It turns out that Breivik is an ex-telephone salesman and "customer service" adviser. He also sold fake diplomas over the internet. The profits allowed him finally to stop living with his mum. 9.57 Richard Orange reports: The prosecutor is starting the Breivik's most fantastical claim, that he is part of a secret organisation dedicated to combatting Islam. "There is one subject, in particular that stands out," Svein Holden said. "Namely that Breivik claims he became a member of the Knights Templar in London at a meeting in April 2002." "In our opinion, no such network exists as the one Breivik has described," he added. 9.55 The prosecutor has said the opening statement will last up to four hours. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch) 9.54 Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen has warned that some of the film footage to be shown on video is too shocking to be broadcast outside the courtoom, and instructed the prosectutors to warn TV cameras in advance. "The time has come for me to give you an insight into what happened on the 22 July," says prosecutor Svein Holden. Breivik will be answering on "Incidents that are quite far back in time", so will ask about five different periods in his life. 9.50 Court has resumed. 9.38 People in the court room go over to Breivik as the court breaks to shake his hand; David Blair has explained they are his defence lawyers and psychiatrists. Richard Oliver confirms it is a Norwegian convention. Olav Ronneberg, a reporter for Norway's state television station, told him: They always shake hands in a Norwegian courtroom.Whether you're a murderer, a robber, or a rapist, they always shake hands. <noframe>Twitter: Fay Guest - The footage of so many shaking hands with <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank">#Breivik</a> in the Norweigan courtroom is making me feel somewhat sick. <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Norway" target="_blank">#Norway</a></noframe> 9.35 Here is a video of Breivik speaking at the beginning of the trial: 9.33 <noframe>Twitter: Fredrik Walløe - Survivors sat together in courtroom: holding around each other, some breaking down in tears, others with closed eyes. <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Utoya" target="_blank">#Utoya</a></noframe> 9.31 David Blair says: We have now heard Breivik's defence: he "acknowledges" the "acts", but says that he carried them out in "self defence". He apparently shot a 17-year-old girl six times as she sat in a cafe in "self defence". Silje Merete Fjellbu was his 12th victim. 9.27 Richard Orange explains: The prosecutors are still beginning the trial calling for Breivik to be transferred to compulsory mental health treatment, not prison, despite a new psychiatrists report last week ruling him sane enough to be criminally responsible. But they reserve the right to make a submission to have this changed to a call for a prison sentence, based on information that comes up in the trial. 9.26 The court is now taking a short, 20-minute break 9.21 Breivik has pleaded not guilty and says he did it in "self-defence". "I acknowledge the acts but I do not plead guilty," he says. 9.20 The long list of victims concludes, after nearly an hour of reading. David Blair, in court for the Telegraph, reports: After a solid 51 minutes, the list of Breivik's victims has been read out in full. I didn't know there were so many ways in which to injure or kill a human being. Through it all, Breivik remained impassive, apparently following the list of the dead and wounded, just like everyone else in court. He has now looked up, apparently bored. 9.19 Breivik shuts his eyes as the list of victims continues. <noframe>Twitter: Matthew Price - I took <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank">#Breivik</a> an hour and a quarter to kill and injure so many. It's almost taken as long to read out the details of his victims.</noframe> 9.18 <noframe>Twitter: Robert Nisbet - <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=breivik" target="_blank">#breivik</a> Youngest victim on Utoya was just 14, the oldest was 51 year old Trond Berntsen a security officer who challenged killer on island</noframe> 9.17 <noframe>Twitter: Telegraph World News - Is <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank">#Breivik</a> asleep or is he reading the list of victims? He doesn't appear to have moved in last five minutes <a href="http://t.co/fmD3bVIg" target="_blank">http://t.co/fmD3bVIg</a></noframe> 9.13 Richard Orange says: The four forensic psychiatrists who have submitted reports on Breivik's sanity are positioned between Breivik and the prosecution, to scrutinise his reactions throughout the ten-week trial. The two psychiatrists who judged in November that Breivik was insane and could not be held responsible, Torgeir Husby and Synne Soerheim, appear to be studying Breivik's face somewhat more intently than Agnar Aspaas and Terje Toerrisen, who judged him sane last week. Their evidence will be crucial in determining whether Breivik faces his future in a jail or a mental institution. 9.07 David Blair adds: An appalling litany of horror is being detailed as the prosecutor goes through the list of Breivik's victims. But there is something unreal about this. The prosecutor just reads it all out in a flat, impassive voice while people in the court shuffle their papers, play with their blackberries and fiddle with their hair. In other words, they behave as if they're listening to an airport announcement. As one particularly horrifying killing was detailed, the two lawyers behind the prosecutor thought that was the right moment for a quick chat. If I was related to any of these victims, I would be furious. 9.03 The long list of victims is understandably proving difficult for many to hear: <noframe>Twitter: Trygve Sorvaag - Graphic details so horrific that many Norwegian media "bleep" the sound when prosecutor reads the details of how they were killed. <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank">#Breivik</a></noframe> <noframe>Twitter: Lando Calrissian - It's sad the mundane way in which the courtroom roll call of the savage peasant anders breivik's victims sounds like the football results ð&Yuml;˜&rdquo;</noframe> 8.54 Richard Orange notes: The court has spent £1.6m for court security, which has been contracted out to Britain's G4S. Police with assault rifles, a rare sight in normally peaceful Oslo, were also positioned outside the courtroom. 8.50 8.47 David Blair continues to report on Breivik's bizarre behaviour: The list of Breivik's victims is being read out. The killer is slouched in his chair, apparently indifferent. But I've just realised that he's following the same list of the dead that I'm looking at on the indictment. Occasionally, he nods as if remembering how he shot a particular person. He looks like he's running a finger down a shopping list and checking off the items he bought. One of the most brazen displays of callousness I've ever seen. 8.46 In a similar vein, Norway's leading tabloid "Dagbladet" has included a special button on its website today, so that users weary of the trial, can read an alternative site with no coverage. 8.40 The hashtag #Breivik has already become a top trending topic on Twitter, with commentators divided in their opinion of the trial. Some argue he should not be given the opportunity to publicise with views, while other believe it is a triumph for open Norwegian justice. <noframe>Twitter: Dan Rebellato - It will be a great sign of Norway's civilised maturity if Breivik has his platform, is heard, disagreed with &amp; justice proceeds.</noframe> <noframe>Twitter: Nicola Peripatetica - Hm.Half twitter saying don't give <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank">#Breivik</a> publicity, other half tweeting links where you can watch trial... (have no intention of watching)</noframe> 8.36 <noframe>Twitter: Alan Strange - Graphic list of fatal wounds read out live <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=breivik" target="_blank">#breivik</a> trial. This is traumatic/cathartic for Norway according to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/SkyNews" target="_blank">@SkyNews</a> Norwegian analyst</noframe> <noframe>Twitter: Matthew Price - Now a horrendous moment for <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Norway" target="_blank">#Norway</a> - a full list of the dead. The first shot 5 times. <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank">#Breivik</a></noframe> 8.34 The court is still hearing details of the young victims with details of their injuries. Richard Orange comments: The list of 69 victims from the island of Utoya and their injuries is building up into a horrifying medical litany, most ending with the shot to the head that was Breivik's final blow. Of those who died on Utoya, 56 died from kill-shots to the head. Breivik remains almost stationary, occasionally scratching his face, his eyes averted from the journalists and bereaved in front of him. 8.31 <noframe>Twitter: Diana Magnay - <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=breivik" target="_blank">#breivik</a>'s every move seems deliberate. No reaction as horrific injuries on <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=utoya" target="_blank">#utoya</a> listed. Just reading closely, fists clenched on knees</noframe> 8.28 David Blair says: The list of Breivik's victims is now being read out. As Breivik looks on nonchalantly, the horrifying toll of injuries he inflicted is detailed. One 51-year-old woman who happened to be on the 10th floor of H block was mutilated by a "30cm long thick wooden splinter" which "penetrated her left ear". Breivik indifferently pours himself a glass of water. 8.25 Reports are now coming in from victims of the attack, who spoke to the Telegraph team before entering the courtroom earlier this morning. Bjorn Ihler, 20, who survived Breivik on Utoya by swimming out into the sea, said he felt the need to follow the case and hoped it would help him to move on. He told Richard Orange: It’s going to be difficult, no question about that. I don’t think it’s possible to emotionally prepare for this case in any way, except for expecting the fact that there are going to things that I’m not prepared for. I think he [Breivik] should be treated in the same way as any other prisoner in Norway would. I think it’s important to preserve the values we had before this happened. I don’t want to give him the powers to change my views on the way the legal system should work. That’s very important to me." Christian Bjelland, whose 15-year-old son was on Utoya but survived, said she hoped the court would not allow Breivik a podium. Nobody wants to give him a microphone for his political views. Most of us expect him to try, but we are quite sure that the judge will stop him." 8.24 Richard Orange said five survivors and 113 journalists are placed in the central courtroom, which Norway has spent £10.5m building specially for the case. The first day will be taken up with prosecutor Svein Holden outlining his case against Breivik. He is expected to illustrate the severity of the crimes with videos, photos and recordings from victims on Utoya caught when people on the island dialled the emergency services. 8.20 The prosecutor continues to read out a list of Breivik's 77 victims. David Blair reports: All this is taking place a stone's throw from where his car bomb went off on 22 July. The court is right next to "H" block, housing the prime minister's office, where Brevik detonated 950 kg of explosives packed inside a volkswagen. Nine months later, the building is still sealed off and abandoned. 8.17 Richard Orange says: Breivik looks completely impassive, as the list of the victims who died in the bombing of Oslo government quarters, what their injuries and direct causes of death were, just looking down at his notes. Photographers have now been asked to leave the building. 8.16 Breivik is charged with "having committed a terrorist act...bringing out an explosion where loss of human life or damage to property of others could be caused." Aggravating circumstances include "destabilising society" and "seriously intimidating a population," the court hears. The court has also heard the beginning of a harrowing list of the 77 victims. 8.14 <noframe>Twitter: BBC News (World) - Anders Behring <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Breivik" target="_blank">#Breivik</a> gives Nazi salute after having handcuffs taken off in court in <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Norway" target="_blank">#Norway</a>. Watch trial live: <a href="http://t.co/pTl6bqVz" target="_blank">http://t.co/pTl6bqVz</a></noframe> 8.13 The Telegraph's David Blair reports: A remarkable display of insolence from Breivik. "I do not recognise the Norwegian courts," he said within minutes of the opening of his trial. Calmly addressing the judge, he added: "You have your mandate from political parties who support multiculturalism." He added that "furthermore, it is well known" that the judge is a personal friend of the sister of a former Norwegian prime minister. Minutes later, Breivik stood up again to confirm his date of birth and that he was currently in prison. The judge said: "And you are unemployed?" Breivik fired back: "That is not correct. I am a writer and I work from prison." Strutting, arrogant, self-important and enjoying every minute. 8.12 The judge has asked Breivik to stand and requested his name and age. "Are you unemployed?" she asks. "That's not correct," said Breivik. "I am a writer and I work from prison". 8.10 Richard Orange reports: "I do not accept your authority in this case," said Breivik. "You've gotten your political mandate from forces that support multiculturalism." He said she was friends with the sister of Gro Harlem Brundtland; a former labour leader. "We are not raising any formal objection, its just information. I am just notifying you that I don't recognise the court," he went on. 8.05 Breivik speaks to say he does not recognise the authority of the Norwegian court. "We will make a note of that general objection", says the judge 8.03 The Telegraph's Richard Orange reports: Breivik entered courtroom, and shook hands calmly with others on the bench, perhaps the psychiatrists, perhaps his defence team, impossible to see. He looked pasty, his face slightly bloated and sporting an under-chin beard. Judge Wenche Behring has started with introduction... 8.01 According to Sky News, Breivik made a far-right salute as he arrived at the court room <noframe>Twitter: Diana Magnay - <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=breivik" target="_blank">#breivik</a> AB appears nervous, doesn't stand when judges walk in. Is he harnessed to chair? Can't tell but has some strange belt on.</noframe> 8.00 The judges have taken their position and the trial can begin. "The court is now in session", it is announced. 7.57 Breivik is now sitting in court, smartly dressed in a black suit and light metallic brown tie. 7.45 Here is what to expect over the next 10 weeks. Breivik's fate will be decided by a panel of five judges, comprising of two professionals and three lay judges. Breivik's defence lawyer is Geir Lippestad. More than 770 survivors and families of the victims are to be represented by 162 lawyers. Around 150 people are expected ot testify. Breivik himself is expected to testify over the course of the next few days. Key will be whether the judges find Breivik sane or not. Two psychiatric reports have been submitted, one which found him insane, and the other sane. It is up to the judges' discretion to decide. A verdict is expected in mid-July with a majority vote by three of the five judges needed. 7.30 Breivik has admitted the killings, but according to leaked reports, he plans to argue he should be acquitted as he committed the act in self defence. He has reportedly been banned from reading a "new manifesto" when he stands to give testimony. One of the more remarkable aspects of Breivik's actions in July was the 1,500-page manifesto he posted online which revealed plans for the norway massacre under the pseudonym Andrew Berwick. It can be read in full. 7.26 Our picture desk has put together a slideshow of the terrorist attacks and the aftermath. Arguably the most chilling photos are of Breivik walking police through his massacre. Shackled Breivik relives the moment he opened fire on Utoya island 7.22 For those of you who want a refresher, we've done a summary of what happened on July 22, the worst terrorist atrocity in peacetime Europe. The massacre started with an explosion in Oslo and finished with the slaughter of dozens of teenagers at a youth camp on the isolated island of Utoya. The final death toll was 77. There were 68 people shot dead in Utoya and eight killed in the blast in Oslo... As Norwegians feared secondary blasts in the aftermath of the Oslo bombing, teenagers at a Labour Party youth camp were being indiscriminately gunned down on the isolated island of Utoya, a short car ride from the Norwegian capital. Dressed as a policeman, Breivik beckoned teenagers towards him with cries of “you’re safe” before mowing them down in a shower of bullets. To others he laughed as he said "you all must die". In his killing manifesto, which he says took him three years to write, Breivik said he would be listening to the song Lux Aeterna by Clint Mansell on his iPod while carrying out the killing spree. He said the song would help him suppress his fear. Teenagers who survived the initial attack threw themselves into the sub-zero waters of the lake in an attempt to flee. Others hid under corpses and barricaded themselves inside their rooms. One 15-year-old girl managed to survive by crouching under the same rock the killer was standing on. Others played dead. At least one person was killed by the powerful explosion which ripped through government and media buildings on Oslo, Norway In this photo taken by Vergard M. Aas, a Norwegian crime reporter who responded to the scene of the mass shooting on Utoya Island, Norway, victims lie near the shoreline approximately one hour after police now say Anders Behring Breivik dressed as a police officer gunned down the youths Aerial photo shows what police believe is gunman Anders Behring Breivik walking among bodies with gun in hand on Utoeya island 7.20 As well as our news team in London covering the trial, we have two reporters in Oslo - David Blair, the Daily Telegraph's Chief Foreign Correspondent, and Richard Orange. You can follow Richard on Twitter here, @Richard_Orange. They will be bringing us out updates from the ground. 7.15am Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the first day of the trial of Anders Behring Breivik, the far-Right extremist who confessed to killing 77 people in Norway on July 22. The trial is due to start at 7am GMT (8am BST, 9am Norway). For a reminder of those horrific events, and the aftermath the following week, our live coverage from July is below. Norway shootings: July 29 as it happened Norway shootings: July 28 as it happened Norway shootings: July 27 as it happened Norway shootings: July 26 as it happened Norway shootings: July 25 as it happened Norway shootings: July 24 as it happened Norway terrorist attacks: July 23 as it happened Oslo explosion: July 22 as it happenedSocial Justice Warriors once again took it upon themselves to attack a company that isn’t aligned with their values after a Reddit AMA with Imgur’s creator flared up some old grievances. A rival image hosting service to Imgur, called Slimgur, was taken offline after it was inundated with uploads of pornographic images of children following the AMA with Alan Schaaf on October 21st. The Slimgur image-hosting service was set up in the aftermath of Imgur repeatedly removing images from the r/fatpeoplehate subreddit. In retaliation, the moderators of that subreddit posted photographs, taken from the Imgur About page, in their sidebar pointing out that many of the company’s staff were overweight themselves. This, along with then Reddit CEO Ellen Pao making a pledge to commit to “safe spaces” on the site, saw the subreddit banned and the moderators shadowbanned. Any attempt to revive the subreddit was shut down instantly. When it was shut down, the subreddit was in the top ten active subreddits on the site. At the time, Schaaf had reached out to the subreddit in a bid to try and quell hostilities. In a private message sent to the moderators. he claimed that the subreddit was not being singled out and cited their terms of service as forbidding the images from the subreddit being submitted to the community. As long as the images being submitted weren’t published to the Imgur community it was claimed the site would still host them without incident. Many pointed out the financial ties between Imgur and Reddit, with Reddit having made a monetary contribution to the site’s funding in April 2014. The service was originally conceived as a “gift to the Reddit community” when it was launched in February of 2009. It is also worth noting that Slimgur links were set to be auto-filtered if posted to Reddit, meaning they had to be manually approved by moderators. This was never publicly communicated. During the AMA many people brought up the banning of r/fatpeoplehate and Imgur’s role in it. Multiple comments were deleted by Reddit moderators, however one of the few that remained was addressed by Schaaf. He responded by saying, “[I] don’t know too much about it specifically,” adding, “aside from the fact that our employees were being harassed and that was a huge bummer. I only found out about it after the fact, and then before I knew it the subreddit was banned.” When asked to clarify what constituted harassment, Schaaf responded, “Our employees were receiving hate email addressed personally to them with photoshopped pictures of hateful things. They also posted our employees pictures in their sidebar.” No evidence of individual harassment has ever been publicly provided by Imgur to substantiate these claims. Equally, Reddit didn’t ever publicly acknowledge that the images posted on the sidebar contributed towards the banning of the subreddit, but based on the comments from Schaaf and his assertion that hosting already public images is “harassment,” it’s hard to believe the pictures didn’t play a part. In the thread several users turned up to speak out against the banning of the subreddit and once again raise concerns about Reddit’s commitment to free speech. A Reddit user called BigBonesDontJiggle, who based on their name was most likely a frequenter of that subreddit, posted the following in response: The only thing that FPH did was post this photo of Imgur being fat. This was in response to Imgur actively censoring their FPH content while leaving far more vile stuff up like hardcore white supremacy stuff, but obviously when you’re nearly all fat and white the FPH stuff seems worse if you’re only interested in yourself. No doxxing, no organised harassment, just a photo of them from their own about page. Any other harassment that occurred would have been individual efforts and certainly wasn’t organised through FPH and any attempts to do so would have been instantly deleted. The mods followed the anti-doxxing/anti-brigading rules far more strictly than a lot subreddits do. If you’re ashamed of how fat you all are and don’t want a photo of you all being fat in the public domain, maybe don’t put that photo in the about page of your own website in future. Just a thought. In the resulting arguments about whether or not the banning of the subreddit was fair, several people attacked those who championed FPH for “body shaming,” among many other newly invented SJW crimes. Those speaking out against the ban were downvoted and subject to abuse of their own. However, it didn’t end there. With talk of the Slimgur service being brought up and argued about between advocates of free speech and social justice warriors on Reddit, coincidentally indecent images of children were uploaded en masse to the service. After links were posted in the AMA, the service received a massive influx of traffic that the servers couldn’t cope with. When the site didn’t return, the creator of Slimgur contacted his hosting service. He was told on Friday 23rd October that the site was offline due to multiple reports of child pornography being uploaded. Breitbart reached out to the creator, who calls himself Technician90, who explained the situation to us: Around 3PM on Friday I received an email from the Arvixe hosting company that my site had illicit images of children on it and my account would be terminated and that I would not be given any access to the site whatsoever and no backups would be provided. My site has always been very closely affiliated with the “fat people hate” community. In fact it was created as a direct result of the censorship of FPH content on imgur. This obviously makes me a target because the FPH community is very polarizing and people either fall into one of two camps “free speech” or “safe-space.” The site was back up and running within a few days of the attack, however they had to move to a new domain, sli.mg. “Arvixe has locked our slimgur.com domain and slimgr.com domain,” he continued. “They are not making the transfer easy. When they terminated the account they have stopped forwarding emails from the registrant email to my personal inbox and I cannot confirm a transfer to a new domain registrar. I really just want to stop doing business with them but for some reason they’re making it incredibly difficult to sever ties.” The Slimgur community is now mostly based over on Reddit rival voat.co, which has reiterated its commitment to free speech on multiple occasions. Voat can also have sympathy with the plight of Slimgur after they too were taken down for being falsely reported for hosting child pornography by SJWs. “I’m fortunate that my community is very supportive and that I can easily reach them through the voat forum,” concluded Technician90. “Without that avenue of communication this would almost certainly have been a death-blow to my operation.” The defiant relaunch announcement of Slimgur can be read over on Voat. Follow Richard Lewis on Twitter @RLewisReports.Florida coach Will Muschamp was back in Jacksonville on Monday, this time visiting UF commit and Army All-American David Sharpe. Another offensive tackle, Derrick Kelly of Havana East Gadsden, received an in-home visit from Muschamp. Kelly took an official to Florida in December and named the Gators in his Top 3, but they are currently trailing FSU and LSU by a wide margin. He is also considering USF. Defensive tackle Jeremy Patterson and receiver Krenwrick Sanders, Jesup (Ga.) Wayne County teammates and Wisconsin commits, were also seen by Muschamp and four of his assistants — defensive line coach Brad Lawing, receivers coach Joker Phillips, offensive line coach Mike Summers and running backs coach Brian White. They plan to officially visit UF together this weekend. Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin and secondary coach Travaris Robinson had an in-home visit with cornerback commit Quincy Wilson, who will also head to Gainesville this Friday for his official. <a UF commit Quincy Wilson (@dc_wilson954) with @UFCoach_TROB on his in-home visit. Gators pic.twitter.com/j7KhHb3nWt — Zach Abolverdi (@ZachAbolverdi) January 21, 2014 In 2015 news, the Gators offered Orlando Olympia dual-threat quarterback Deondre Francois, who trains with former UF and NFL cornerback Keiwan Ratliff and plays on his 7-on-7 team team.Although I have been around for almost 8 years at HWBOT, I am still surprised by some of the overclocking results the folks show. Of course, the overclocking achievements with liquid nitrogen are impressive. But you can find real gems of overclocking in every corner of the bot. Take for instance Ludek111. He isn't the biggest name in overclocking, and focuses on different types of hardware than the top dogs. Four days ago, he submitted a new top score for frequency validation with EDO RAM. Back in the day, this memory type shipped at frequencies ranging from 40 MHz to 60 MHz, but Ludek pushed it to 140 MHz. Yup, doubling the frequency! It amazes me that technology this old can still be pushed to new heights. When EDO RAM was still hot and fresh, there was no such thing like HWBOT or CPU-Z. So it is rather difficult to say if this is a real record frequency for EDO RAM. But it is the highest frequency here at HWBOT ánd Ludek managed to beat memory overclocking guru Christian Ney. So it is impressive either way. Awesome!Art competitions were held as part of the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. Medals were awarded in five categories (architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture), for works inspired by sport-related themes. Art competitions were part of the Olympic program from 1912 to 1948, but were discontinued due to concerns about amateurism and professionalism. Since 1952, a non-competitive art and cultural festival has been associated with each Games. Architecture [ edit ] Literature [ edit ] Category Gold Silver Bronze Literature Paul Bauer ( GER ) "Am Kangehenzonga" Josef Petersen ( DEN ) "The Argonauts" none awarded Music [ edit ] Category Gold Silver Bronze Music none awarded Josef Suk ( TCH ) "Into a New Life" symphonic march none awarded Painting [ edit ] Sculpture [ edit ] Medal table [ edit ] At the time, medals were awarded to these artists, but art competitions are no longer regarded as official Olympic events by the International Olympic Committee. These events do not appear in the IOC medal database,[1] and these totals are not included in the IOC's medal table for the 1932 Games.[2] Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 United States (USA) 3 4 0 7 2 Poland (POL) 1 1 0 2 3 Germany (GER) 1 0 2 3 4 France (FRA) 1 0 0 1 Great Britain (GBR) 1 0 0 1 Sweden (SWE) 1 0 0 1 7 Denmark (DEN) 0 2 0 2 8 Czechoslovakia (TCH) 0 1 1 2 9 Hungary (HUN) 0 1 0 1 10 Belgium (BEL) 0 0 1 1 Canada (CAN) 0 0 1 1 Netherlands (NED) 0 0 1 1 Totals (12 nations) 8 9 6 23Science writer and journalist Joseph Stromberg believes that bicycle commuters should follow a different set of rules from motorists. That's the kind of position that usually attracts spirited debate—and sometimes naked vitriol—from commenters online, many of whom worry that cyclists aren't obeying the law when they cross streets at red lights and blow through stop signs.That kind of behavior—treating stop signs like yield signs and red lights like stop signs—has long been a source of contention between riders and drivers, and in a Vox article posted today, Stromberg gives it a name: the Idaho Stop.Idaho began permitting the so-called Idaho Stop in 1982. That's when cyclist and Administrative Director of the Courts of Idaho Carl Bianchi attached the rolling stop rule to an overhaul of the state's traffic code. According to Stromberg, the Idaho Stop may be safer than a full stop for cyclists because they make bikers' actions on the road more predictable."Currently, when a bike and a car both pull up to a four-way stop, an awkward dance often ensues. Even when cars get there first, drivers often try to give bikers the right-of-way, perhaps because they think the cyclist is going to ride through anyway," Stromberg wrote.According to public health researcher Jason Meggs, the law may be partly responsible for the fact that Boise has fewer bicycle-vs.-car accidents than other cities of comparable size and topography, with 30.5 percent fewer accidents per bike commuter than Sacramento, Calif., and 150 percent fewer than Bakersfield, Calif., where Idaho Stops are illegal.John Maclean 1914 The War and Its Outcome Source: John Maclean, “The War and Its Outcome,” (letter) Justice, 17th September 1914, p.4. This is a reply to the article “German and Prussian Domination” by Belfort Bax the previous weekand was republished in a much shortened form in The Rapids of Revolution, entitled “The War and Robbery,” pp.76-77, Allison and Busby, 1978, edited by Nan Milton (Maclean's daughter); Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. Dear Comrade, — In last week’s “Justice” E. Belfort Bax exhorts us to “hate the present Prussian military and bureaucratic State-system.” Our first business is to hate the British capitalist system that, with “business as usual,” means the continued robbery of the workers. After that I, for one, will transfer the larger portion of my hate to Russian soil against the devilish autocracy that prevents the peaceful development of the workers’ organisations by organised murder, torture, and scientific cruelty with a regularity and on a scale that would make the Kaiser with all his evils intensified a thousand-fold blush with shame. So far as I can see, it will be impossible to tell whether Russia or Germany is immediately responsible for the war. Some attribute the death of the Austrian Archduke to the usual underground, dirty work of the minions of the Tsar playing upon Servians embittered by the Austrian attempt to seize land right down to Salonica during the Balkan Butchery. This Austrian attempt at grab somewhat upset the Russian purpose of adding to its territory in the Balkans at the same time. We can well imagine, then, that the Russians would foster Servian hatred of Austria and do all in their power to paralyse the imperial desires of Austria. I think the assassination over-reached itself
Bengals this season, while the effect of Williams' absence is tougher to predict, as we don't know what to expect from projected replacements Jordan Todman and Fitzgerald Toussaint. Second, since the model was created using data from previous years, the PAT rule change (longer extra-point kicks) might add an unexpected wrinkle that was not quantified. The model also does not put more weight on recent performance, meaning the Seahawks' 6-2 finish, the Chiefs' 10-game win streak, the Steelers' unexpected loss to the Ravens in Week 16 or the Bengals' 4-4 second half are not necessarily reflected. However, between 2012 and 2014, just one of 10 teams that won their last four regular-season games made the Super Bowl. This is not a definitive conclusion, given the small sample size, but that data suggests late-season streaks and momentum might not be as important as some think. Interestingly, punt return stats ended up having some predictive value. This aspect of the game often gets overshadowed, but it suggests a dynamic return man like Seahawks rookie Tyler Lockett could provide a significant boost. It's important to remember something about football: a few key plays can drastically change the outcome of a game. Consider, for example, the 2014 NFC title game, in which the Seahawks completed a late comeback thanks to a number of seemingly improbable plays, including a botched onside kick recovery. This model can predict who's more likely to win, but it can't, obviously, account for this unpredictable element of football. A play such as a redzone pick-6 could, potentially, cause a 14-point swing. This makes modeling football challenging -- but it also makes it fun. So while this model is far from perfect, it does offer an objective prediction based on team performance over the entire season. This was sufficient to predict the last two Super Bowl matchups. If the same holds for this year, then we can plan on watching Cincinnati and Arizona battle on football's biggest stage a few weeks from now. For more than a decade, Nasir Bhanpuri, PhD, has been applying analytics and modeling techniques to address challenges in a wide range of fields, including sports, healthcare, fitness, education, neuroscience, robotics, wearables and music. He is currently a member of the Clinical Analytics team at NorthShore University HealthSystem, a Chicago-area hospital network.He knows that European greens can help further his dreams of conquest. Vladimir Putin, the ruler of Russia, wants to ban fracking in other countries. He is very concerned about their environments. If you frack, Putin told a global economic conference last year, “black stuff comes out of the tap.” Alexey Miller — a longtime Putin crony going back to the early 1990s, when they stole the money that was supposed to buy food for the starving city of Leningrad, who now oversees the Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom — strongly supports his friend on this issue. He would like to see an EU-wide ban on fracking, and the Gazprom board is with him 100 percent. “The production of shale gas is associated with significant environmental risks, in particular the hazard of surface and underground water contamination with chemicals applied in the production process,” they warned the world in 2011. “This fact has already caused the prohibition of the shale gas development and production in France.” Advertisement Advertisement #ad#Alexandr Medvedev, the general director of Gazprom Export, is also very supportive of efforts to ban fracking in Europe. “I would like to quote the president of France, who said that as long as he’s president, he will not allow the production of shale gas in France,” Medvedev said in a television interview last August. “The cost of production of shale gas in Europe is incomparably higher than in the U.S. and also the situation with the environment is different, because in the U.S. its main production is in unpopulated areas, which are quite available in the U.S., but in Europe we can’t find such big unpopulated areas with reach to the water.” The fact that Kremlin opposition to European fracking has nothing to do with environmental concerns should be clear even to the dullest among us, because Russia has massive fracking projects of its own underway in Siberia. The real goal is to keep Europe dependent upon Russia for its fuel supply. Natural-gas prices in Europe are quadruple those prevailing in the United States, and by maintaining a near-monopoly on overpriced European natural-gas imports, the Putin regime assures itself of a vast source of revenue. This allows it to rule and rearm Russia without permitting the freedom necessary to develop the country’s human potential. Furthermore, so long as Europe is kept critically dependent upon Russia for fuel, Moscow can paralyze and render ineffective any Western response to its plans for conquest, whose initial steps are currently being demonstrated in Ukraine. More, and much worse, is certain to follow so long as Europe remains helpless. Advertisement In a recent four-hour television appearance in Moscow, Putin explicitly embraced Kremlin fascist ideologue Alexander Dugin’s grand design of creating a united totalitarian Eurasia, “from Lisbon to Vladivostok.” If he can maintain control of Europe’s critical fuel supplies, he just might be able to pull it off. Advertisement Advertisement So it should come as no surprise that the Putin regime is pulling out all the stops in fomenting the global anti-fracking movement, with Europe as its central target. Leading the propaganda campaign has been RT News, Russia’s state-owned television network, which broadcasts around the world in English and other languages. Here is a small sample of RT’s incessant anti-fracking drumbeat: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Voice of Russia has been equally ardent in propagandizing for a halt to Western fracking, with one recent article going so far as to advance the claim that riots in Venezuela are being caused by American fracking. Here are some selections from another, which argues that the U.S. is “demonizing Putin” in order to stampede the EU into accepting fracking: “It all falls into place,” says Peter Koenig, a former World Bank economist and the author of Implosion — An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed, in an interview with the Voice of Russia. “If Washington and its media outlets are successful in portraying Vladimir Putin as a demon of war, then American energy companies will have the green light to frack in Europe in order to reduce the dependency on Russia. They will be seen as a lesser evil or even as benefactors saving Europe from the ‘evil Putin.’ ” The VoR then breathlessly asks: “Does Europe really want to risk its citizens’ health in order to obtain some shale gas?” Koenig continues: The spineless European politicians will bend over backwards to satisfy the American energy companies. The Obama Administration is proposing a trade agreement between the US and the EU, involving the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia’s energy resources.... The US is leading the EU into a trap, making European countries give up on their environmental standards for the sake of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.... Following America and serving the interests of its corporate and banking elites is not a good idea. But all is not lost. So far, sanctions are nothing more than bluff and fracking has not begun yet. For Europe there is still time to come to its senses. Advertisement The Kremlin’s all-out effort to stop fracking in Western nations is not limited to openly broadcasting lies, hysteria, and propaganda through its official media organizations. It also engages in covert operations, behind-the-scenes lobbying and payoffs, and political manipulations using its agents of influence. Many of these are documented by former U.S. ambassador to Lithuania Keith C. Smith in a recent paper published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In this paper, titled “Unconventional Gas and European Security: Politics and Foreign Policy of Fracking in Europe,” Smith details Kremlin/Gazprom behind-the-scenes operations that were instrumental in obtaining fracking bans in Germany and Bulgaria. Similar dirty work appears to have been involved in ramming through fracking bans in France, Italy, and other European countries. Commenting on the Gazprom board’s public statement hailing the French fracking ban, Ambassador Smith writes: This begs the question of whether Gazprom interests in France had a hand in that country’s ban on shale operations, particularly since it was passed with little public debate. At least one major international consultancy operating under contract from Gazprom has been active in France.... The Putin Government’s policy is to delay shale development from hydraulic fracturing in Europe as long as possible. As Gazeta Polska reported on June 1, 2011, General Jiri Sedivy, former Chief of the Czech General Staff, stated that Russia is “influencing the public opinion {in Europe} through environmentalist and pacifist organizations, methods used by the Russians for quite a long time.”... Gazprom is believed by some to have supported the distribution of the film Gasland, a highly flawed and incendiary account of alleged environmental damage caused by shale gas activities in the U.S. It should be noted that there are several high-powered consultancies located in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Rome and Washington that quietly represent Gazprom interests in Europe and the U.S. For example, Ketchum, a public relations branch of the larger firm, Omnicom is, according to the U.S. Justice Department, a registered lobbyist for Gazprom interests in the U.S.... #page# A company affiliated with Omnicom that is reportedly active in promoting Gazprom interests is GPlus Europe, cited by the Financial Times (January 29, 2009) as “one of Europe’s most influential lobbying firms.” The British co-founder of GPlus was previously the EU Commission’s spokesman for trade and EU foreign policy. Several other high-level GPlus officers once held key positions in the EU Commission and the Council of Ministers.... The term “Schroederization” of European politics is increasingly being used to refer to the willingness of high-level European political leaders to lend their contact lists and prestige to Russia’s business and political interests. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder worked with Gazprom (using a former Stasi officer as intermediary) while still in office, arranging for a German Government loan guarantee for Gazprom, and a lucrative job for himself after leaving office. Since then Schroeder has occupied key positions in Gazprom, Nord Stream and more recently, TNK/BP. Former Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen assisted Schroeder in overcoming Finnish and Swedish opposition to Russia’s Nord Stream Pipeline. In addition, former Austrian and Finnish government officials have helped direct efforts to win European support for the very expensive Russian proposed South Stream Pipeline. Many Western companies are willing to support Moscow’s energy policies in order to gain stronger positions in the Russian market. As the UralSib Bank’s Chris Weaver remarked, “Gazprom does not have to knock on the door of the European Parliament, Total {French} and Basf {German} do it on its behalf”... West European intelligence services report that there has been little or no reduction in the number of Russian agents operating in their countries since the end of the Cold War. The Kremlin’s goals have shifted from military targets to developing “agents of influence” within European governments and in the three major EU institutions. With President Putin playing a direct role in Russia’s energy relations with Europe, one should assume that his KGB-honed skills and those of his major advisors are being applied to maintain Russia’s leading position in Europe’s gas import market. Advertisement Advertisement If Europe’s fuel supplies remain under Russian control, the continent is doomed to fall under Russian domination. America could help supply gas, but its exports are being bottled up by the Obama administration, which refuses to approve the necessary permits for constructing liquid-natural-gas export terminals. France and Germany have plenty of shale suitable for producing gas, but on the instigation of Russian political agents of influence, they have not only banned fracking but are moving to shrink or shut down their own nuclear-power industries as well. The UK also has large shale resources that could be fracked to provide the necessary gas, which is why an all-out Moscow-backed campaign has been launched to stop fracking there as well. If that succeeds, the only remaining hope for Europe will lie in its east. Ukraine has the third-largest shale resources in Europe. But, as a result of the Western paralysis caused by Europe’s Russian-gas dependency, Ukraine is being conquered, and in fact, its eastern reserves have already been overrun. The Baltic states also have plenty of gas-rich shale, so they will be targeted next. Based on the pathetic Western response to his Ukrainian land grab, Putin has every reason to believe that he can take them at will, and, unfortunately, he is probably right. That leaves Poland, which has the largest shale-gas reserves of any country in Europe and a fiercely independent government intent on their development. Polish shale-gas reserves are estimated at 790 trillion cubic feet (TCF), more than 150 times the 5 TCF per year that Europe imports from Russia. If the Poles can develop those resources, Putin’s power to create an Eurasianist empire stretching from Lisbon to Vladivostok will be severely compromised. But they will do Europe no good at all if Putin can seize them first. Poland is a country that knows the value of freedom. When their turn comes, the Poles will fight. But if Putin’s anti-fracking campaign prevails, the Poles will fight alone. — Robert Zubrin is president of Pioneer Energy and the author of Energy Victory. The paperback edition of his latest book, Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism, was recently published by Encounter Books.As the Cubs walked off Progressive Field Wednesday night, World Series victors for the first time since Al Capone was nine years old, the thousands of fans who had traveled to Cleveland to see them hailed their heroes with “Go, Cubs, Go” — a tune that anyone could carry and whose lyrics everyone knew by heart. As a musical composition, the kindest thing that can be said about “Go, Cubs, Go” is that it’s simple and catchy. Even the smallest child or most inebriated fan can join in on the chorus. For the opposing team and its supporters, it’s probably annoying enough to border on psychological warfare. The spirit of folksinger Steve Goodman, who wrote “Go, Cubs, Go,” was no doubt electrified by the spectacle of the Cubs winning the World Series—their first since since 1908. But as it happens, Goodman’s anthem is more than a song. It’s the penance Goodman, who also composed the iconic song “City of New Orleans,” paid for one of his earlier Cubs compositions. Goodman, a prolific singer and songwriter, and one of the most devoted Cubs fans of all time. died of leukemia in 1984 at the age of 36. It was just 11 days before he was scheduled to sing the national anthem at the Cubs’ first-ever appearance in the National League play-offs. It’s also a testament to Goodman’s particular sense of humor. But back in 1981, Goodman wrote and recorded a very different Cubs song: “A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request.” In the tradition of Louis Armstrong’s “St. James Infirmary,” it’s about a Cubs fan who envisions his own Wrigley Field funeral. The chorus begins, “Do they still play the blues in Chicago/When baseball season rolls around/Do the Cubbies still play in their ivy-covered burial ground” At that point, the Cubs’ last World Series championship was only 72 years earlier. “‘Dying Cub Fan’ made [Cubs general manager] Dallas Green nuts,” recalled Dan Fabian, the program director and head of promotions at WGN-TV, the local Chicago superstation at the time, in a 2007 interview with Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn. “He said we didn’t need that kind of negativity anymore. He hated the line about ‘doormat of the National League.’ He said that Steve Goodman is no fan of the Cubs.” Green forbade Goodman from singing the song inside Wrigley Field. But early in 1984, when Fabian was looking for a song to replace Mitch Miller’s “It’s a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame” as the opening song to the Cubs’ radio broadcasts, he happened to hear Goodman on Roy Leonard’s WGN talk show and realized he’d found the perfect person to write the new song. For one thing, Green was wrong: Goodman had been a devoted Cubs fan all his life, starting from his childhood in the then-heavily Jewish Albany Park neighborhood on the northwest side and his adolescence in Park Ridge (where he was a high school classmate of fellow Cubs fan Hillary Rodham). The stoic resignation of “A Dying Cub Fan” is common to Cubs lovers: “But what do you expect,/When you raise up a young boy’s hopes/And then just crush ’em like so many paper beer cups/Year after year after year/After year, after year, after year, after year, after year” (Goodman’s biographer Clay Eals says that in concert, Goodman would introduce “Dying Cub Fan” by telling the audience, “If you grew up in Chicago, you knew everything there was to know about pain by the time you were 10 years old.”) In addition to understanding the psychology of Cub-dom, Goodman happened to be a great songwriter. During his career, he wrote and recorded 13 albums. His songs ranged from goofy numbers like “You Never Even Call Me By My Name,” which attempted to cram every country music cliché into four short minutes, to anthems such as “City of New Orleans,” folk songs like “Somebody Else’s Troubles,” and such sad and sincere ballads as “My Old Man.” Goodman developed a passionate cult following during his years playing folk clubs in Chicago and later opening for Steve Martin. “There are two kinds of people,” said Eals. “People who say, ‘Steve who?’ and people who say ‘Steve Goodman!’” A week after Fabian invited Goodman to write an intro song for the Cubs, Goodman called him up and sang “Go, Cubs, Go.” Fabian loved it and played it before every Cubs broadcast in the 1984 season. “For all its exuberance, the song was merely the alter ego of ‘Dying Cub Fan,’” Eals wrote in “Steve Goodman: Facing the Music,” his 2007 biography. “In its fatalism it was as devoted and affectionate as ‘Go, Cubs, Go’ was in its blind faith.” In an irony that Goodman might have appreciated, the single of “Go, Cubs, Go” has outsold everything else in his discography. Goodman’s early death is part of Cubs lore. He always insisted that “Dying Cub Fan” wasn’t autobiographical, but when he was writing it in 1981, he’d already been living for a dozen years with the leukemia that would kill him three years later, just months after he completed “Go, Cubs, Go.” Four years after his death, Goodman’s brother David and his friend Harry Waller snuck into Wrigley Field — Eals says they bribed a groundskeeper with a copy of Playboy into which they’d tucked a $20 bill — and scattered some of Goodman’s ashes in left field, just as he’d written in the song: “Let my ashes blow in a beautiful snow/From the prevailing 30 mile an hour southwest wind…/And I will come to my final resting place, out on Waveland Avenue.” Goodman’s wife, Nancy, and their three daughters scattered the rest of his ashes in Doubleday Field outside the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Eals isn’t sure who made the decision to cremate Goodman instead of burying him according to Jewish law, but he notes that although Goodman performed at bar mitzvahs during his years as a boy soprano in Albany Park, he was more of a cultural than observant Jew. “I will defend with my life the right to be Jewish,” Goodman’s friend Paula Ballan remembers him telling her, “but I like my pork chops well-done, thank you.” The Cubs didn’t make it to the World Series while Goodman was alive, but Eals says the musician never lost faith that something good might happen. He ended his “Dying Cub Fan” introduction by telling the audience, “The Cubs are liable to screw it up and win so I can’t sing this song anymore.” This story "Go Cubs Go Singer Steve Goodman Celebrates Chicago Cubs’ World Series Win in Wrigley Field" was written by Aimee Levitt.NAZARETH, Israel - Thousands of Arab schools in Israel went on strike on Monday, their 450,000 pupils remaining at home, as the Israeli government geared up for a major showdown with its large Palestinian minority. The trigger for the strike is the Israeli government’s decision to starve 47 independent schools, set up originally by the international churches, of the state funding they have received for decades. The schools, among the best in the country, have effectively been forced to shut indefinitely, their 33,000 pupils unsure when or even whether they will return to their classrooms. On Sunday, thousands of families came from across Israel, from cities like Nazareth, Haifa, Jaffa, Ramle and occupied East Jerusalem, where the schools are located, to protest noisily outside the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The schools have run up huge debts since educational officials began cutting their budgets seven years ago, from 75 percent of the funding received by state schools to just 29 percent today. To open this academic year, they need about $50mn; the government is offering $5mn. Talks over the past 18 months with the education ministry have gone nowhere. As Monday’s solidarity strike shows, Netanyahu’s government is taking on not only the church schools and the small Christian population of about 150,000, but all of the country’s 1.5 million Palestinian citizens, who make up a fifth of the population. Israel is also risking a diplomatic confrontation with the Vatican and other international churches. Last week Pope Francis raised the matter during a visit by Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, to the Holy See. Rivlin promised to find a solution, though the government itself shows no signs of budging. Christian leaders in Israel have hinted that they may try to shut important holy sites, such as the Basilica of the Annunciation Church in Nazareth and the Mount of Beatitudes next to the Sea of Galilee, in retaliation. This, they hope, will bring the issue to the attention of pilgrims and tourists, adding to the pressure on Israel. Sinister motives Education officials, however, are hoping they can limit support for the schools by advancing a seemingly reasonable argument: if the church schools want government money, they should join the state education system. In truth, however, the move is not being advanced on economic grounds. There are far more sinister motives for the crackdown on the church schools, observers note. Nadeem Nashif, director of Baladna, an organisation in Haifa promoting the rights of Palestinian youth, warns that the Netanyahu government’s main goal is to end the educational autonomy of these schools. “They want to tighten control,” he told Middle East Eye. “Even if the government eventually eases the cuts, the battle will have sent a very clear message to the head teachers. Behave like ‘good Arabs’ or we will shut you down.” The move is related to long-term measures designed to weaken Israel’s Christian minority and make the fledgling Palestinian middle class in Israel more dependent on the state, a state that has shown itself consistently and systematically hostile to its non-Jewish population. The arguments in favour of the government’s position on funding cuts can be easily dismissed. If this is simply an issue of who foots the bill for church schools, as the education ministry implies, then why is the government insisting that the schools cannot make up the budget shortfall by charging parents more? By tying the schools’ hands, the education ministry’s terms are, in the words of the church schools, a “death blow,” intended to make their survival as independent schools impossible. Different treatment Similarly, if this is about the unfairness of state subsidies for religious education, as is also suggested, then why is the government massively funding private religious schools for the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community? In contrast to the treatment of the church schools, the ultra-Orthodox schools are getting 100-percent funding. There are other striking contrasts: unlike the church schools, which teach the national curriculum, the Jewish ultra-Orthodox schools break the law by failing to teach core subjects like English and maths. Unlike the impressive record of the church schools, the ultra-Orthodox schools are almost all failing academically. Also, unlike the ultra-Orthodox schools, which teach only religiously observant Jews, the church schools are open to all segments of the Palestinian minority. Nearly half the pupils are Muslim. That is why support for them has come from unlikely quarters. Masoud Ghanaim, a leader of the southern Islamic Movement, described the church schools as “among the best in Arab society, and therefore their struggle is our struggle”. The government’s argument also fails to acknowledge that education in Israel is based on strict segregation. There is separation between Jewish and Arab pupils, and between religious and secular Jews. In the famous 1954 civil rights case, Brown vs the Board of Education of Topeka, the US Supreme Court ruled that separate schools for blacks and whites were “inherently unequal”. But since its founding, Israel has insisted on segregation. And as the US justices warned, the outcome has been gross discrimination in education at all levels between the Jewish majority and the Palestinian minority. Shortage of 6,000 classrooms Studies show on average Jewish pupils receive more than five times the funding of Arab pupils – $1,100 each compared to $192. The Arab system has a shortage of more than 6,000 classrooms and 4,000 teachers. Jewish schools have twice as many computers relative to their student bodies. More damagingly still, as Nashif points out, Arab state schools have no control over their curriculum, which is set by Jewish officials, while Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet, vet teaching appointments and monitor the schools, creating an oppressive atmosphere. The independent church schools provide the only viable escape route, at least for Palestinian families in Israel who can afford them. The schools’ matriculation rates show how successful they have been. Many in the Palestinian leadership, as well as a third of the minority’s university graduates and most of its hi-tech engineers, have been educated in the church schools. Ayman Odeh, the head of the minority’s Joint List party in the Israeli parliament and himself a graduate of a church school, observed at the weekend: “It’s impossible to talk about development and equal opportunity on one hand, but on the other hand harm the very schools that are succeeding in breaking the glass ceiling.” In effect, the church schools and the parents who send their children to them have been subsidising the education budget. At a cut-price to the state, the church schools have been producing some of the best-educated pupils in the country. But this may be exactly part of the problem, from Israel’s point of view. Fearful of the middle class During the 1948 war that led to the creation of the Israeli state, Jewish militias cleared Palestinian cities of most of their Palestinian residents, except in the sensitive holy city of Nazareth, which was left relatively untouched. Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, appreciated that the Palestinian cities were home to the Palestinian middle classes and centres of intellectual life and political activism. If Israel were to face organised Palestinian resistance, it would emerge from these cities – which is why Ben Gurion made sure they were erased. Strict systems of control and massive discrimination kept the minority weak and divided. Over many decades Palestinian society has slowly rebuilt itself. In recent years a middle class has begun to re-emerge in these cities, especially in Nazareth, very much aided by the church schools. As Ben Gurion feared, the most educated have proven often the most sophisticated critics of Israel, the most organised in demanding their rights, the most articulate and successful in reaching foreign audiences, including Christian solidarity groups and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. It may be no coincidence that the politician currently most reviled by the Israeli Jewish public for her nationalist positions is the MK Haneen Zoabi, a Muslim woman who graduated from a church school in Nazareth. Pressure to leave By forcing the church schools to close or come under state control, Israel would remove the keystone of the support structure for the fledgling Palestinian middle class, and especially the urban Christian population. The next generation of Palestinian elites, including Christians, would be far more dependent on the state than their predecessors and likely to be far more cautious about their political activism, notes Nashif of Baladna. Observers like Nashif believe this move should be viewed in relation to another recent government initiative, one clearly intended to create divisions in the Palestinian minority: Christian but not Muslim youth in Israel are being pressured to serve in the army. The fear is that Palestinian Christians are slowly being shown the future, one where they will live as a cornered and vulnerable minority, set against their Muslim neighbours, and reliant on a state that demands their obedience even as it provides privileges for Jews. The Christian middle classes are being forced into a deeply uncomfortable choice: either prove your loyalty as Zionists, or know that life will become much harder for you here. Last week, at a demonstration in Nazareth, a senior Roman Catholic bishop, Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, warned: “If Christian schools are threatened, in the long run, it is the very Christian presence in Israel that is threatened.” The church schools have been an anchor for the Christian population, upholding their religious traditions in education, providing them with an identity separate from the alienating one promoted by the state, and offering them opportunities to flourish economically. All that is now in jeopardy. Strikes like Monday’s and pressure from the Vatican may eventually force the government to partially relent. But many Christians in Israel are starting to suspect that the government is declaring a low-level war on them. Their co-religionists in neighbouring states are fleeing the region as they face civil wars and threats of persecution. In Israel the mistreatment of Christians may be more bureaucratic than physical, but, as Marcuzzo warns, its effects are likely in the long run to prove just as tangible.Nearly a week ago, Loreal San Miguel said she had an alarming encounter in traffic. "I was coming home pretty late," she said Tuesday. "I want to say it was past 11 p.m." She said someone had pulled up next to her at a light in the area of Westheimer and Voss. "They were kind of revving their engine a lot and when the light turned green they were motioning for me to roll my window down," she said. San Miguel said she thought that was odd, so she just cracked it. "They were telling me something is wrong with my tire and that I should pull over for them because he could fix it for me," she said. "Meanwhile I was panicking, I was obviously really scared--like what's wrong with my tire?" She said she had had issues before with her tires--three blowouts recently--so she knew exactly what to look for. "When I was driving, I couldn't feel anything wrong with my car and none of my alarms were going off," San Miguel said. "I thought it was maybe a joke or they were just messing with me but then when it happened the second time I was like okay this is very real and I definitely wanted to get a picture of it at least." Sign-up for the #HTown Rush Newsletter Thank You Something went wrong. This email will be delivered to your inbox once a day in the morning. Thank you for signing up for the #HTownRush Newsletter Please try again later. Submit Days later, when she said it happened again, she tweeted a picture of the car she said is behind the scheme. That tweet has since been shared thousands of times. Meantime, Kayla Cantu of Katy said a similar ruse happened to her recently when a man shined a flashlight at her on her way home from the Woodlands. "He was like, 'Hey there's something wrong with your car and there are like sparks coming out from underneath it, there could be something wrong,'" Cantu said. "'You should probably pull over and let me look at it.' Don't do it: You could risk your life if you stop.'" Cantu said she was followed for nearly 40 minutes on her way home to Katy. Houston Police offer some tips for those who encounter this kind of scheme.Fremont Police said this woman posed as an animal control officer looking for snakes. She is believed to be part of a group of thieves engaging in what police call "distraction burglaries." (CBS) Fremont Police said this woman posed as an animal control officer looking for snakes. She is believed to be part of a group of thieves engaging in what police call "distraction burglaries." (CBS) FREMONT (KPIX 5) – Law enforcement agencies across the Bay Area said the elderly are increasingly becoming victims of so-called “distraction burglaries.” Victims are lured out of their homes so thieves can get in, according to authorities. Investigators with the Fremont Police Department released new surveillance photos of a woman believed to be part of a group of burglars hitting in the Cherry Guardino neighborhood. Police said the woman posed as an animal control officer in Fremont and Union City on August 24th, pretending to look for poisonous snakes. The woman told one victim that she was investigating the case of a little girl who was bit by a snake in the neighborhood. When the elderly woman answered the door, the suspect lets herself in, and then told everyone to get in the backyard and help her look for the snake. Meanwhile, the thief’s accomplices went in the front door and stole cash and jewelry. According to Fremont Police, the suspect is traveling with one or two adult men who also are posing as animal services employees. The scam is not limited to the East Bay. In Burlingame, police warn of another case of distraction involving drivers. Police said two men in a white van drove up behind a woman and told her to pull over on Tuesday. The men told the woman that her car was making an unusual noise and convinced her she had a flat tire. One of the suspects then distracted the woman by pretending to fix her tire, even though it wasn’t damaged in the first place. The suspect’s accomplice reached in the front passenger window and stole her wallet out of a purse, police said. Also on Tuesday, scammers approached an elderly man at his home on Elm Street in San Carlos, saying his roof needed work. While he was up on a ladder to inspect his roof for damage, two accomplices went through the front door and burglarized his home, according to police. Police are urging the public to watch for these scams and to check on their elderly family members. (Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)Because I busied myself with revamping the site last night, I went to sleep blissfully unaware of the election results, and then woke up, refreshed, to deal with what went down. Here are some early thoughts. * It’s not Blue America or Red America, it’s Orange America! Yes, my representative, John Boehner, America’s Tallest Oompa-Loompa, is now the presumptive Speaker of the House. As I’ve noted before, I don’t think the circumstances that allow for his speakership are such a good thing, but that said, it’s certainly not bad for my district. I think prior to last night there was some discussion as to whether or not Boehner was actually the slam-dunk favorite for the Speaker position, but I imagine that winning the largest House swing in, what? 62 years? means that the guy in charge of the GOP in the House will see some benefit from that. Boehner also quite obviously won my district, and by the usual amount, about 66% to 30%. Sorry, Justin Coussoule. You know I voted for you, man. Elsewhere in Ohio, it was a GOP night as well, with GOPers taking the big state positions as well as our Senate seat that was up for election this year. It’s a mirror image of the result in 2006, and the GOPers elected here by and large qualify as mostly moderate (as did the Democrats four years ago), so I think this is less about Ohio being hugely blue or red and mostly about it being the bruised purple it’s been since I’ve been here. * As for the GOP tsunami in the House, well. It’s not what I wanted. You might recall that in 2006, when the Democrats took the House, I said that I felt the US had taken a sanity pill; right now I think the US might have gone off its meds. The GOP, its practices and its brain trust haven’t really changed between now and then; it’s the same intellectually dim bunch who led the economy and country into a wall during the 00’s. Insanity is often defined as doing the same thing and expecting different results, so congratulations, folks, we’ve gone a little nuts here. Inasmuch as the GOP political strategy of mendacious loudness paid off in spades last night, I don’t really expect anything else out of them except more of the same for the next two years at least. We will see how well that strategy works in the long term, but obviously at this point there’s no reason for them not to keep doing it. * But as I’ve noted before, the GOP may have put a gun to the head of the Democratic majority in the house, but it’s the Democrats who said, “dude, you’re holding it wrong,” jammed the gun into their own temple, and then pulled the trigger. The most accurate word I have for my feelings about the Democrats right now is disgust; disgust that they could get elected on a platform of substantial change, execute on many of the changes they campaigned on, and then allow the GOP and its allies to turn those actions in liabilities — well, again, disgust is not too strong a word. Dear Democrats: You managed to lose the House in historic proportions to a party whose strategy was to harness the inchoate anger of old white people so stupid that they don’t sense the inherent contradiction of screaming about a smaller government whilst cashing their federal checks. You are morons. Please find someone who can play this game and put them in charge of your electoral strategy, because what you’re doing now isn’t working. Also, henceforth, every time you whine about Fox News and shadowy financiers of the Tea Party, we get to beat you with a hammer. This is the political landscape now. Deal with it. * Ironically, the Democrats might have lost the Senate
Dean rooted his campaign in his opposition to the Iraq War, running as a dovish alternative to John Kerry. But those substantive positions were often subordinate to a process critique; before anything else, they seemed to argue, we had to reform campaign finance and “get money out of politics,” to borrow a now-common phrase. They weren’t “men of the left” per se—Brown, in particular, had a testy relationship with the left—but in the context of the Democratic Party, that’s the space they held. And within that space, they appealed to a narrow slice of the Democratic electorate. Predominantly white and disproportionately college-educated, these voters formed (and still form) the core of ideological liberalism within mainstream politics. Take the Dean campaign. In a 2005 survey, the Pew Research Center compared the demographics of Dean’s effort with those of the Democratic Party at large. The results don’t surprise. Just 25 percent of Democrats nationwide held college or postgraduate degrees, compared with 79 percent of Dean activists. And 92 percent were white, compared with 68 percent of all Democrats. Thanks in part to the fact that 2016 is a two-person race, the Sanders coalition isn’t this starkly white and college-educated. But it’s still disproportionate, a fact illustrated by the primary results. The single easiest way to predict a Sanders win in the Democratic contest is to look at the state’s demographics. Where blacks make up a large share of the Democratic electorate—industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, Southern states like North and South Carolina—Hillary Clinton wins. Where whites are the largest share, Bernie Sanders prevails. Which is to say that, like Dean or Bradley before for him, Sanders is a factional candidate of ideological liberal Democrats, who are largely white Democrats. The difference between now and then, however, is that, with the collapse of conservative white Democrats in the South and elsewhere, those liberal whites make up a larger share of the party. They provide more fuel for an insurgency. But they’re still not enough to overcome the influence of moderates and stalwart black voters, who form a majority of the party. That, in fact, was the fate of previous insurgencies, which crashed on the rocks of math. Ideological liberals are among the loudest Democrats, but they are a minority within the entire party. And while that minority is larger and stronger than it’s been in a generation, it’s still not strong enough to steer the party alone. It still has to play coalition politics. Advertisement * * * The simple fact is that there aren’t enough liberals to elect politicians outside of bastions in California and in the Northeast, and there never have been. It’s part of why, in the middle of the 20th century, Democratic liberals from the North were sharing space with segregationists in the South—the only way any Democrat could win the presidency is through alliance with groups that shared different, often opposing goals. The divides aren’t as stark as they were in the ’50s and ’60s—even the most conservative Democrat today is far from a segregationist—but the dynamic remains. To have any hope of White House influence, liberals need votes from progressive Massachusetts as well as moderate Colorado and conservative Florida. But coalitions are tricky things. Working with other groups doesn’t guarantee you will achieve your goals, or even come close. Like its predecessors, the Sanders insurgency is an attempt to force the question, to declare “we deserve a louder say” to the moderate stalwarts, corporate interests, unions, and activist groups that constitute the Democratic Party. But they have a say, too, with backers and voters who support their positions. And they may not be swayed by arguments over policies and ideology. Groups and voters come to political parties with a variety of different interests that reflect their identities and livelihoods as much as their beliefs and values. Some of this is tribalism or “identity politics,” but those are real forces that have to be negotiated. It is possible. The one upset in the 2016 contest was in Michigan, where Sanders beat expectations by enlarging the electorate—bringing more young people into the process—and improving with black voters. And he did this by reaching out, early and often. Not just with talk of a “political revolution,” but by connecting to voters with a common message rooted in trade and labor, an effective move in a state with a long history of unionism. The broad point is that a “political revolution” can’t rest on a call for clean government and ideological rigor—the crux of Sanders’ general argument. The Democratic Party isn’t yet an ideological party, and many of its voters don’t put ideology or good-government reform at the top of their lists. You see this in how insurgent candidates, Sanders included, tend to flail when faced with black voters, one of the largest constituencies in the Democratic Party. Beginning with the South Carolina primary—and continuing in every Southern contest—Sanders has flopped in his efforts to win over black voters, losing them by huge margins. He’s responded by discounting the significance of Southern primaries, describing the region—and by extension, the voters—as “conservative.” Advertisement Sanders is wrong. The people voting in Southern primaries aren’t “conservatives” in any meaningful sense. They aren’t electing conservative or Republican lawmakers, and they aren’t driving the conservative politics in those states. They are moderate to liberal Democrats who back moderate to liberal politicians. And they’re black, which is significant. Black voters aren’t just palette-swapped white ones; they have interests and concerns that are specific to themselves and their communities. They are experienced and sophisticated voters. Some support Sanders’ ideological pitch, but others don’t and are looking for something else—from ties to the black community to experience to support for Barack Obama—that they don’t see in Sanders. Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Photos by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images, Tom Woodward/Flickr CC. What’s key is that this isn’t a failure of will from Bernie Sanders, who worked to reach out to these groups. But it reflects the degree to which presidential campaigns are not the right place to change the overall dynamics of a political party. To win over black voters, Sanders and his supporters needed to spend time in black communities, becoming a part of their politics—a trusted partner. It’s how Jesse Jackson won black voters in the 1988 campaign, and it’s partly how Barack Obama persuaded them to join his campaign, an unprecedented effort that merged ideological liberals with black voters and other Democratic stalwarts to win. Obama is a unique case. Whereas Jackson had a whole career of civil rights activism behind him before he entered politics, the then–Illinois senator was still fresh-faced, a relative newcomer. But he connected with black audiences on a symbolic level—the first black American with a strong chance at the nomination and the White House—and with a message centered on the economy and other material concerns as much as anything else. He knew where and how to speak to black voters—in churches, on black radio—and it paid off. But then, Obama was a mainstream Democratic politician. He was accustomed to this kind of coalition-building. For most of his congressional career, Sanders has been a gadfly—an ideologue pressing his colleagues from the left, with a base in one of the least diverse states in the union. The same qualities that make him exciting to so many Americans—his passion, his bluntness, his uncompromising views—make him ill-suited for the transactional politicking that you need to pull off a coup against an establishment figure like Hillary Clinton. And the absence of rigid racial politics in Vermont meant he didn’t have to learn those politics, at least not to the same degree as other left-leaning politicians. (On the one issue of real disagreement in Vermont, guns, Sanders was an eager compromiser.) * * * There are signs, however, that the future holds promise for candidates who want to take up Sanders’ mantle. If there is a major difference between Sanders and previous insurgent candidacies, it’s that his supporters are young. Madison, Wisconsin, is a college town, but at an event there before the state’s primary, I was surprised to talk to several kids—not college students, but high schoolers—who at 16 or 17 couldn’t vote but were thrilled to see Sanders and participate in the process. “This is my fourth time seeing Bernie Sanders at one of his rallies,” said Jason, a high school student in Madison. “I’m here just because I really like the energy. I’m not here to hear anything new—I already like what he has to say—but I like the energy.” In New Hampshire, Sanders won 83 percent of voters under 29 and 66 percent of voters between 30 and 44, as well as 56 percent of college graduates—who formed most of the electorate in the state. In Ohio, he did the same, winning 81 percent of voters under 29, 54 percent of voters between 30 and 44, and earning greater support from white Democrats than from black ones. In Wisconsin, Sanders won an even larger share of the 18-to-44 vote (73 percent), a large majority of college graduates, and a large majority of white voters. The percentages will vary, but we should expect something similar in the upcoming New York primary. Whether he wins or loses, he’ll take his greatest support from those younger voters. The sheer youth of the Sanders coalition is novel. And it has much to do with the ways Sanders is different from past insurgent candidates. He doesn't end with a reformist message against a “rigged system”—an argument for liberals that falls flat with other groups. He moves to a larger narrative tied to class, explaining how this rigged system is the enemy of working- and middle-class people, how ending it is the necessary step to unleashing the power of government to improve people’s lives. When meshed with proposals like free public college, it speaks deeply to young voters whose political coming of age was the Great Recession and its aftermath. Still, we should be careful not to overplay Sanders’ youth support. For starters, while Sanders wins a huge share of the youth vote, young voters (18 to 29) are still a modest share of the primary electorate. In the 2008 New Hampshire primary, they were 18 percent of all voters. This year, they were 19 percent. In South Carolina in 2008, young people were 14 percent of all voters. This year, they were 15 percent. And in Ohio in 2008, they were 16 percent of all voters. This year, they were just 15 percent. If the Sanders revolution is supposed to drive greater turnout, it hasn’t happened—Democratic turnout overall is far below its 2008 high, and on par with turnout in the 2004 nomination race. The same goes for fundraising. There’s no denying that Sanders has done something unprecedented in raising huge sums—upward of $140 million—almost exclusively through small donations. It’s a sign that presidential candidates can be competitive without recourse to Wall Street or other centers of financial power and privilege. At the same time, we can’t divorce this from its context. In building this remarkable fundraising apparatus, Sanders has drawn on the lessons of Obama and Dean, utilizing the rapid growth and reach of smartphones and social media to enhance the approach, without fundamentally changing it. To win a lasting victory, the people inspired by Sanders need to do more than beat the establishment; they need to become it. The truth is, Sanders is less an innovator than a beneficiary of favorable political and technological trends. And for as much as he has pressured Hillary Clinton and the Democratic establishment—forcing both to account for past policies, pulling their positions to the left, and denying them a chance to move to the center for a general election—there’s no indication that his influence will last beyond the campaign. History suggests it won’t: The energy generated by the most remarkable election-year movement in recent memory—the 2008 Obama campaign—dissipated in the aftermath of his victory. That wasn’t completely inevitable—and Obama supporters tried to turn his campaign into something that could last—but it was close. In the broad scheme of politics, electing a president is a narrow goal that involves well-defined steps. All things considered, it is easy to get people invested in tackling that goal. It’s much harder to find people excited about the hard, difficult work of party building. But for people who want to make fundamental change to American politics, it’s vital. Conservative Republicans, for example, didn’t quit in the aftermath of Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater’s defeat in the 1964 presidential election. They used their experience—the connections they made, the networks they built—to establish a conservative beachhead in the Republican Party. The next GOP presidential nominee might not be Goldwater, the thinking went, but he’ll sound like him. Over the next generation, these conservatives—and those who followed—worked from the ground up. They took over local and state Republican Party organizations; they challenged moderate Republicans in congressional and state races; and they made their presence known in presidential primaries, pushing back against the “establishment” choice whenever possible. They tilled and seeded the ground so that, when a viable conservative candidate finally came in the form of Ronald Reagan, he had a coalition flowering behind him. And once in the White House, Reagan entrenched their brand of conservatism in the Republican Party, making it the dominant faction among many. You can’t draw a direct analogy between the GOP of the 1960s and 1970s and the Democratic Party of today. Conservatives had institutions and forces on their side—powerful businesses, influential religious groups, wealthy elites—that aided their drive to dominate the GOP. Leftists will likely be in opposition to the traditional interest groups of the Democratic Party, including its high-dollar donors. Still, there are lessons liberals and leftists can draw from the conservative experience—lessons that Sanders supporters can use. All the enthusiasm is there; it just needs to be cultivated and channeled into something durable. But that requires a sacrifice, of sorts. For as much as Sanders and his most vocal supporters identify themselves as outside the party system, the only way a real Sanders movement can make change is to take an active role within that system. Voting is too imprecise to send a message or make a statement, and withholding a vote does nothing to persuade or build influence. (Who in the Democratic Party solicits Ralph Nader for advice and aid?) Sanders supporters who want to move the Democratic Party to the ideological left need to become Sanders Democrats, political actors who participate in the system as it exists. To win a lasting victory—to define the ideological terms of Democratic Party politics—the people inspired by Sanders need to do more than beat the establishment; they need to become it. Liberals and leftists will have to work with an eye toward the long-term, operating from the ground up to make ideological liberals a key power-broker in the party. If the Bernie Sanders effort shows anything, it’s that the odds are in their favor. The youngest, most active Democrats are more liberal than their older counterparts, and technology has advanced to the point where they can organize and raise money without relying on established power centers. Even if Bernie Sanders is just the inheritor of friendly demographic and technological trends, his success suggests a real opportunity for the liberals and leftists who back his campaign. They have the chance, if they want it, to channel their energy into a move to make the Democratic Party theirs, in the same way that conservatives—until the rise of Donald Trump, at least—took hold of the Republican Party. The energy of the Sanders campaign will almost certainly fade away. But if the voters inspired by Sanders can gather their energy and become a part of the Democratic Party, they can win the influence they need to shift its direction in the long-term. And with their youth, they can play the long game, if they choose to. The same goes for the now. In the context of coalition politics—where different groups negotiate for their interests—withdrawal is a poor strategy. For any chance at victory, you have to play the game. But within that, you can build leverage. It’s why, for instance, Bernie Sanders is right to begin to fundraise for other candidates, using his valuable list to raise cash for like-minded politicians around the country. It’s not just a way to further his beliefs—if those candidates win, it’s a signal to other politicians from other corners of the party that the Sanders message has wings. That it’s something to imitate. And he should do more. Not only should the Sanders campaign look for as many local and congressional candidates to support as it can, but it should encourage its supporters to engage politics at that level, perhaps even to run for office. Likewise, Sanders should devote real time to raising money for the Democratic National Committee and affiliated groups. Yes, this is the establishment. But if the goal is pulling that establishment to the left, fundraising is one way to win a seat at the table. This isn’t fun. It’s routine. It’s boring. It requires Sanders and supporters to play a game they’ve decried for the past year. But in the American system—where everyone gets a vote, and the most votes win—you have to pick one party or the other as a vehicle for your views. For liberals, historically, that’s been the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders isn’t leading a new movement, and he doesn’t represent the dawning of liberal ideology. To the extent that there is a movement at all, it is simply a movement to get Sanders elected president. Nothing more and nothing less. This is a classic insurgency, updated for 2016. But that doesn’t mean it’s insignificant. This year, the insurgency is larger than it’s ever been, and that in itself is an opportunity. A chance for the insurgents to play the long game, to co-opt the institutions that have held them back and to emerge as the leaders of a new Democratic Party. Sanders may not be the Democratic nominee, or the president of the United States, but if his supporters take the opportunity, they’ll accomplish what past insurgent candidacies couldn’t, and he’ll stand as a key figure in the origin story of a new, new left.Species are now disappearing at a rate of up to 1,000 times faster than they did before humans started walking the earth, a new study says. “The Biodiversity of Species and their Rates of Extinction, Distribution, and Protection” was published Thursday in the journal Science, and it warned that the world is on the brink of its sixth great extinction. Mass extinctions have wiped out the majority of life on Earth at least five times. About 66 million years ago, a mass extinction killed off the dinosaurs and three out of four species on Earth, the report said. Though such extinctions are often associated with asteroids, the worst mass die-off around 252 million years ago, which wiped out 90 percent of life on Earth, was caused by methane spewing microbes, according to a new theory. The microbes produced much the same effect as climate change — a sudden rise in temperatures and acidification of the oceans. Both phenomena can be observed today due to global warming, and man-made climate change was cited by the report as one factor making traditional habitats unlivable for many species. Though scientists have been aware that mass extinctions are occurring, this study calculates the actual rate of extinction — not just the number of species disappearing — before and after humans appeared on the scene. In 1995, Duke University’s Stuart Pimm of Duke University, the study’s lead author, calculated that before humans were on the scene, one out of 1 million species went extinct every year. Today, the rate is between 100 to 1,000, according to Pimm, who also heads a conservation nonprofit called Saving Species. That trend can be reversed if biologists can pinpoint where vulnerable species are, according to the study. Once they have that information, they can try to save the species by preserving their habitats. Habitat loss is the number one factor in the accelerating rates of global extinction, the study said. Humans have developed and taken over too much land, and many species no longer have a place to live. Pimm and co-author Clinton Jenkins of the Institute of Ecological Research in Brazil suggested that the increasing availability of smartphones and conservation apps could allow the public to help researchers find endangered animals This online crowdsourcing of species distribution could expand online databases and could help scientists better identify and protect vulnerable species. That data can then be combined with information already available on changing land and ocean use to better identify and protect vulnerable species. With wire servicesThis script tells YouTube that your browser only supports 30FPS or less, which means that you will see regular 30FPS versions of all HD videos. WHY DO THIS?: For my six year old laptop, switching from 1080p60 to 1080p30 reduces the CPU usage by 2-4x, and removes all CPU overloads that used to make my browser and video playback freeze! This means longer battery life, and a much happier video watching experience! (Furthermore, most older graphics cards only support hardware acceleration of 1080p30 or lower, which means that using this script may allow your graphics card to perform the video decoding for great battery savings!) INSTALLATION: Install the Tampermonkey (https://tampermonkey.net) extension for your specific browser, and then install this script into Tampermonkey. This script has been tested and confirmed working in Tampermonkey for Safari 9/10/11+ for Mac and Google Chrome for Mac. But it should work in all browsers and OS's that support the Tampermonkey extension - on Windows, Mac and Linux! However, I only officially guarantee that it works in Chrome and Safari via Tampermonkey! (This script does NOT work via Chrome's or any similar browser's own basic built-in script support!) Note about Other Web Browsers: This script absolutely requires a good web browser and a good userscript manager (Tampermonkey!), which is capable of injecting and running this script very early during the YouTube webpage's loading process, so that your browser is able to run my code early enough to block the high-FPS formats before YouTube has already enabled high-FPS playback! I cannot guarantee that all browsers are good enough to run this script! A red warning bar will be displayed at the bottom of the page if your browser fails to disable high-FPS playback in a YouTube tab. There's nothing I can do to fix a bad web browser that is bad at running the code early enough! However, I have personally seen success with Tampermonkey in Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera. Note about Greasemonkey & Violentmonkey: I can only guarantee that Tampermonkey (the best userscript manager) works properly. Some users have had serious problems caused by Greasemonkey (bad) and Violentmonkey (worst), because those are both extremely bad at injecting/running userscripts early enough (see research here for proof of how bad they are). So if you insist on running this script in an "officially unsupported" browser, at least do yourself a favor and install the Tampermonkey extension to maximize your chances of success. ;-) IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL USERS: We DO NOT affect embedded YouTube videos, because embedded players only check for high-FPS support, so blocking those queries would mean completely losing all HD resolutions for embedded videos! I suggest clicking the "Watch on YouTube" button to play embedded high-FPS videos directly on YouTube in 30FPS instead! DO YOU WANT TO DONATE A BEER AS THANKS FOR MY WORK?: Totally optional. ;-) Paypal: Donate Paypal: Donate Bitcoin: 18XF1EmrkpYi4fqkR2XcHkcJxuTMYG4bcv SCRIPT VERSION 1.3 NEWS: Now limits the maximum amount of injection (high-FPS blocking) retries to just two page reloads, and then displays a message bar which lets the user decide what to do if they've all failed. This is just for severely bugged web browsers, since most browsers always succeed on their first attempt! SCRIPT VERSION 1.4 NEWS: Minor change to the address bar history handling. SCRIPT VERSION 1.5 NEWS: Rewrote the "injection success?" detection method. Previously, we checked for the existence of YouTube's "window.ytplayer" object as a sign of too-late injection. But in Sept of 2017, they rewrote their site so that the object almost always exists by the time our userscript runs. Therefore, the method has instead been changed to now wait for a fraction of a second and then check if our code has actually blocked any formats. If so, we're sure that we've successfully injected the format blocker and disabled high-FPS! SCRIPT VERSION 1.6 NEWS: As I've said above, I only officially support Chrome and Safari (because it's a lot of work to test different browsers). However, this new release improves the script's behavior in other browsers, at least for now. The script has been improved and verified to now also work in Firefox with Tampermonkey. But please be aware that Chrome and Safari remain the only officially supported browsers that I will test each release in. Feel free to report any problems you may discover in non-supported browsers, but please don't leave negative reviews regarding those other browsers since I only guarantee Chrome and Safari to work! SCRIPT VERSION 1.7 NEWS: After some careful research, I've come up with an even more reliable and faster method for detecting injection success. It now uses a hybrid method, which first does a brand new, instant check that sees if YouTube's video player code has been loaded. If their player has already been loaded, then we treat that as an instant failure and perform a retry. But if there is no player yet, then we can be almost certain that we've successfully been injected into the page early enough. Then, we simply wait a while and perform a final verification (same as in v1.5+ but with a much longer delay) to confirm that we've actually blocked all high-FPS formats. This new method greatly enhances the chances of early success in all browsers. Enjoy! SCRIPT VERSION 1.8 NEWS: Enhanced processing speed for the injection-counter in your browser's address bar. SCRIPT VERSION 1.9 NEWS: Just a little bit of autumn cleaning (after all these recent changes), to improve the source code readability.If your copy of Google Chrome has taken on a sudden and inexplicable hatred for Shockwave Flash, we’re here to help. Read on as we show you how to tame Chrome and get it to play nice with Flash. RELATED: How to Troubleshoot Google Chrome Crashes More so than other browsers, Google Chrome is particularly susceptible to a specific but not uncommon situation in which it simply will not coexist peacefully with Adobe Flash—frequent slow downs and annoying crashes are common as a result. The following tutorial will help you get Chrome back to its speedy self. What Causes The Issue? The reason we’re talking about Chrome and not, say, Firefox, is because of the way Chrome handles Flash content. While other browsers call upon the Flash installation of the host system, Chrome includes an internal Flash installation. When everything goes smoothly, this isn’t a problem—the internal Flash installation is updated with every new Chrome release. Unfortunately, things can fall apart pretty easily if Chrome gets confused and attempts to utilize both the OS installation of Flash and the internal Chrome installation of Flash. The result is serious browser lag, temporary lockup, and then a browser-wide crash of all active Flash instances. You don’t realize how many web sites use Flash until every single tab locks up with a crash warning—”The following plug-in has crashed: Shockwave Flash” How Do I Know A Conflicting Flash Installation Is Causing The Crashes? First of all, despite the warning about Shockwave, the actual warning has nothing to do with Adobe Shockwave, which is a separate program/multimedia system from Adobe Flash. Second, while not every instance of Flash flaking out in Chrome can be attributed to a Flash install conflict, we’ve found it to be the most common reason users are experiencing Flash-related problems. How can you tell if a Flash conflict is the source of your trouble? Run Chrome. In the address bar, type about:plugins in the address bar. After you press enter, you’ll be greeted with a list of all the plug-ins installed in Chrome (this is different from user-installed Extensions). Look down the list of plug-ins for the Flash entry. If the entry looks like Flash (2 Files) there is a very good chance the source of your Flash-related crashes is a conflict between the two. In the upper right hand corner of the browser window, there is a small toggle labeled [+] Details. Click on that toggle to expand the entries for all the plug-ins. Return to the entry for Flash. You should see something like the screenshot above: two entries for Flash, one for the internal Chrome installation (highlighted in red here) and one for the host OS’s installation (seen below the highlighted entry). You need to click on the Disable link for Chrome’s internal installation of Flash (make sure you disable the one located in Chrome’s AppData folder and not the separate stand-alone Flash installation). Once you do so the entry for the internal installation should look like so: Go ahead and close the tab and then close Google Chrome. Restart Chrome and resume normal browsing—visit Adobe’s test page to ensure everything looks good: Remember, you’ll no longer be getting automatic updates with each Chrome upgrade. Make sure to check for updates at Adobe’s Flash download page and/or turn on the update check in your local installation of Adobe Flash. Check For Conflicting Software Some software on your computer can conflict with Google Chrome and cause it to crash. This includes malware and network-related software that interferes with Google Chrome. Google Chrome has a hidden page that will tell you if any software on your system is known to conflict with Google Chrome. To access it, type chrome://conflicts into Chrome’s address bar and press Enter. You can also check the Software that crashes Google Chrome page on Google’s website for a list of software that causes Chrome to crash. The page includes instructions for solving conflicts with some conflicting software. If you have conflicting software on your system, you should update it to the latest version, disable it, or uninstall it. If you are not sure which software a module is related to, try Googling the name of the library. Run the Google Software Removal Tool Google just launched a new tool that will help you clean up your Chrome browser from anything that is interfering with normal operation. All you need to do is navigate to www.google.com/chrome/srt/ and click the Download now button. When it restarts it’ll ask you to reset your browser, which can be really helpful in preventing crashes and other problems. Scan for Malware and Spyware Unlike your antivirus software, which will usually happily allow spyware to take over your computer, an anti-malware solution will actually find, remove, and block spyware that invades your browser. How does this apply to a Flash problem? Because a lot of the spyware causes instability in your browser, which then causes other problems. We recommend scanning with Malwarebytes and using that to remove all of the problems. It’s completely free to use, although they do have a paid version with more features like real-time blocking of spyware. Using it couldn’t be more easy — download, install, scan, and then click the Apply Actions button to remove all of the malware. Just like vacuuming inside of your couch cushions, you’ll be shocked at how much nonsense you’ll find. Other Fixes RELATED: How to Troubleshoot Google Chrome Crashes If for whatever reason disabling the built-in Flash doesn’t help, we suggest playing around with different combinations. Try turning off the OS Flash installation instead of the built-in Flash installation for example. Also, try visiting a flash-based web site while Incognito Mode (when you enter Incognito Mode it turns off all your Extensions which may or may not be causing issues with Flash). Finally, as a last ditch effort, you can reinstall Chrome (if Flash works in every other browser but Chrome, this is likely the only option you have left). You can create a new profile for the browser, or go through a number of other steps as well. Be sure to read our guide to Troubleshooting Google Chrome crashes for more tips. Have a tip or trick for dealing with tricky Flash installations or other browser quirks? Sound off in the comments.Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Scum and Villainy Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Game Update 2.0: Scum and Villainy Rise of the Hutt Cartel The Hutt Cartel has emerged from the shadows to challenge the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire for control, unleashing never-before-seen Droids and monstrous battle stations to serve as powerful weapons of destruction. Join your faction and explore story-driven missions with explosive combat to save the future of the galaxy! For more information about how to access the Rise of the Hutt Cartel features and content, please visit www.swtor.com/rothc. All Classes can now reach Level 55! New Planet: Makeb! The Republic has won victories on Corellia and elsewhere, but the Empire hasn't given up their campaign for dominance and battles are still being fought across the galaxy. With no end to the war in sight, new forces are rising up to seize the opportunity to profit from the chaos on the idyllic world of Makeb, the Hutt Cartel have been quietly laboring away on something big, making both the Empire and the Republic wary of a third organization entering the war. Members of both the Empire and the Republic who are level 50 or above should expect a holoterminal transmission aboard their personal star ships with further information on Makeb and the Hutt Cartel. The Republic has won victories on Corellia and elsewhere, but the Empire hasn't given up their campaign for dominance and battles are still being fought across the galaxy. With no end to the war in sight, new forces are rising up to seize the opportunity to profit from the chaos on the idyllic world of Makeb, the Hutt Cartel have been quietly laboring away on something big, making both the Empire and the Republic wary of a third organization entering the war. Members of both the Empire and the Republic who are level 50 or above should expect a holoterminal transmission aboard their personal star ships with further information on Makeb and the Hutt Cartel. New Feature: Macrobinoculars! Both the Empire and the Republic have cleared a new piece of equipment for use in the field. Explore Makeb to uncover exciting new technology that unlocks valuable objects and additional story-driven missions. Imperial players, level 52 and above, can acquire their Macrobinoculars from T4-M7 in the Sith Sanctum on Dromund Kaas. Republic players, level 52 and above, can receive their Macrobinoculars from M3-8Z, located in the Senate Plaza on Coruscant. Both the Empire and the Republic have cleared a new piece of equipment for use in the field. Explore Makeb to uncover exciting new technology that unlocks valuable objects and additional story-driven missions. Imperial players, level 52 and above, can acquire their Macrobinoculars from T4-M7 in the Sith Sanctum on Dromund Kaas. Republic players, level 52 and above, can receive their Macrobinoculars from M3-8Z, located in the Senate Plaza on Coruscant. New Feature: Seeker Droid! A new piece of technology has both Republic and Imperial treasure hunters flocking to unlikely sites on planets across the galaxy. By using these Seeker Droids, players can uncover highly desirable hidden items, treasures, and unique artifacts! Seeker Droids are available to all characters who are level 52 and above. Imperial players can retrieve their Seeker Droid from Z1-3C in the Sith Sanctum on Dromund Kaas. Republic players can pick up their Seeker Droid from BB-6G to at the Senate Plaza on Coruscant. Game Update 2.0 Highlights New Operation: Scum and Villainy! Scum and Villainy is a new Operation which takes place on the seedy Outer Rim world of Darvannis, where mysterious forces are gathering an army of warlords and mercenaries. This Operation is available at level 55 in four difficulty modes, and it contains seven bosses with lockouts. It can be accessed from the Ziost Shadow or the Gav Daragon on the Imperial and Republic Fleets. Scum and Villainy is a new Operation which takes place on the seedy Outer Rim world of Darvannis, where mysterious forces are gathering an army of warlords and mercenaries. This Operation is available at level 55 in four difficulty modes, and it contains seven bosses with lockouts. It can be accessed from the Ziost Shadow or the Gav Daragon on the Imperial and Republic Fleets. New Feature: Achievements! The Legacy System has expanded to include Legacy Achievements, which recognize important accomplishments and milestones across all characters in your Legacy. The Legacy System has expanded to include Legacy Achievements, which recognize important accomplishments and milestones across all characters in your Legacy. New Hard Mode Flashpoints! Hard Mode is now available for the following Flashpoints at level 55: Hard Mode is now available for the following Flashpoints at level 55: Athiss Cademimu Hammer Station Mandalorian Raiders New Feature: Priority Mission Terminal! The Daily Mission Terminal on the Fleet has been replaced by the Priority Mission Terminal. The Priority Mission Terminal provides daily, weekly, and introductory missions for high-priority activities such as Flashpoints, Group Finder, Warzones, and other repeatable content. The Daily Mission Terminal on the Fleet has been replaced by the Priority Mission Terminal. The Priority Mission Terminal provides daily, weekly, and introductory missions for high-priority activities such as Flashpoints, Group Finder, Warzones, and other repeatable content. New Tier of Gear! New, more powerful gear is available from Flashpoints, Operations, and Warzones at level 55! Additionally, many commendation types have been consolidated and simplified. See the Items section for more details. New, more powerful gear is available from Flashpoints, Operations, and Warzones at level 55! Additionally, many commendation types have been consolidated and simplified. See the Items section for more details. Players who are in a guild will now receive a 5% bonus to all experience gained! Cartel Market New Items A new Armor set is available on the Cartel Market. The Eradicator's Warsuit is a collection of adaptive gear with no modifications. This armor set is available to any class. Cost: 900 Cartel Coins A new Bundle is available on the Cartel Market. The Going Places Basic Bundle offers a selection of items and unlocks to help increase player mobility. The bundle allows players to improve their movement throughout the universe. Cost: 375 Cartel Coins (Discounted by 40% for a limited time!) A new Bundle is available on the Cartel Market. The Going Places Bundle contains a huge selection of items, character perks, and unlocks to increase all forms of travel. The items contained within will increase travel speeds, decrease travel times, and allow for easier access to frequently visited areas. Cost
use that line, it would sound so cheesy, but Skiba has the successful career to back it up and make it work flawlessly. “Wait” – Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room My favorite parts of Andriano’s music are his soulful voice and the expansive melodies that are a nice departure from the four-chord pop punk people are used to hearing. When he sings something, you want to pay attention. When he plays something, you want to pick up a guitar and play along. The ear candy on this entire album is amazing with organs and cool bass lines thrown around tastefully. This track is the best song to showcase that. It’s a similar style, but a bit more modern and actualized version of the Derek Grant songs. “I Just Killed To Say I Love You” – Matt Skiba and the Sekrets Leave it to Skiba to compose what should be the music of a love song that instead slaps you in the face with lyrics about hoping someone dies and meets you in Hell. When read out of context, the lyrics could be used in a death-metal song (I’d love to hear that version), but the oddly beautiful melody backs off the gas and lets his anger sink in an entirely different way. It sounds like it could be a really good b-side from Alkaline Trio’s Crimson, hitting that perfect spot between pop punk and gothy new wave—as he often does. “My Human Being” – Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room The slide guitar lead in the chorus of this song (although incredibly brief) is my favorite moment of the whole album. It just screams good taste and songwriting experience, aw well as a nod to Weezer. (I would be lying if I said that wasn’t the sole reason I’m including it on this list.) Obviously, the rest of the song is already great with the choppy clean guitar intro and fun verses. Party Adjacent as a whole, is great driving music so when I’m cruising around town, this is the song that gets me bobbing my head the most. “Waiting For The End Of The World” – Derek Grant The Replacements and Bruce Springsteen come to mind when jamming to this track. It’s definitely the feel-good hit of the album, the something played at the end of your favorite ‘80s movie where they explain what each character is up to these days. Really, imagine it that way and it makes perfect sense: fade to black and the credits roll. The hammering piano, guitar tone and reverb-y sound effects just seal the deal for its rock anthem status. “Krazy” – Matt Skiba and the Sekrets This song has all of the best components of the perfect ‘90s pop song. Thanks to the bouncy, hi-hat-driven beat and simple guitar work, Skiba’s melody is able to flow seamlessly throughout the song from the storytelling verses to every hook. If you imagine the Goo Goo Dolls covering this song it would make perfect sense. It’s apparent that Skiba’s sound, even when he shifts around between sub-genres, is always the closest to Alkaline Trio.One of the most ardent conservatives in the House wants the chamber to go on record denouncing the Supreme Court’s recent decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. Rep. Steve King Steven (Steve) Arnold KingWords have consequences: Lessons for political leaders on both sides De Blasio visits Iowa as he mulls 2020 bid Former Iowa Gov. Vilsack won't challenge Ernst for Senate in 2020 MORE (R-Iowa) introduced a resolution on Friday that would make it the sense of the House that the Supreme Court’s decision “perverts the definition of marriage.” “The traditional definition of marriage is a union between one man and one woman,” King said in a statement. “It is time for Congress to speak out against this Constitutionally baseless decision.” ADVERTISEMENT King’s resolution further argues that states should be allowed to reject the Supreme Court’s ruling. “Five unelected judges imposed their personal will on the States and the American people by overturning at least thirty states whose constitutions define marriage as a union between one man and one woman,” the Iowa Republican said. The measure additionally states that individuals, businesses and churches that oppose same-sex marriage should be able to “exercise their faith without fear of legal or government interference.” Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are pushing the GOP leadership to schedule a vote this month on Rep. Raúl Labrador’s (R-Idaho) bill to prohibit discrimination through the tax code against people or groups that are against same-sex marriage due to religious beliefs. To date, though, House Republican leaders have not indicated any desire to move legislation related to same-sex marriage.​A damning inquiry has exposed the "traumatising" use of seclusion and restraint in NSW mental health units and emergency department'safe rooms', describing entrenched discrimination, stigma and prison-like punishment many patients are subject to. The independent review into restrictive practices in NSW mental health settings was released on Monday after months of public forums, submissions and inspections of psychiatric units and EDs. The report was dedicated to Miriam Merten, whose distressing treatment at Lismore Base Hospital's mental health unit was the catalyst for the report. Patients and their families described services "that traumatise and show a lack of compassion and humanity" including a culture that promoted strip-searching and other punitive methods, according to the report. The review led by NSW chief psychiatrist Dr Murray Wright detailed instances of patients being "trapped, claustrophobic and agitated" in seclusion rooms "built like prisons" with no access to bathrooms or fresh air.THE GLOBE’S story about Tor Software says it can be used to guard online privacy, but also to hide illegal activities ( “Privacy software, criminal use; Unintended consequence of Walpole firm’s technology,’’ Page A1, March 8). Doors on our houses, shades on our windows, and the anonymity that comes from being in a crowd can also hide illegal activity. Our privacy and personal freedom is what distinguishes our country from just about all others. Tor gives citizens that privacy online - and, more importantly, gives people in other countries a taste of that personal freedom, too. Rick Roth Cambridge Advertisement I WAS active with Anonymous during last year’s Arab Spring. I watched as dozens of people combined their knowledge and resources to crack through the walls that the governments of Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt had thrown up around their Internet. Get Today in Opinion in your inbox: Globe Opinion's must-reads, delivered to you every Sunday-Friday. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here One of the projects Anonymous undertook was to create a packet of useful information and computer programs to help people in those countries evade censorship. A key part of that packet was Tor. The extreme security of Tor provides a vital channel of communication between the open and free Internet and the isolated, closed Internet of oppressive regimes. People in China, Iran, Syria, Burma, and other places have used Tor to get news and information, when any other means would have put them at enormous risk. For the Globe’s story to focus instead on how Tor is “inadvertently providing child pornographers, drug dealers, and other criminals’’ with anonymity is an insult to people who risked their lives. While news corporations were ignoring the first weeks of the Arab Spring, Tor was a vital source of information. Tor helped disseminate the news that ultimately led corporate media to take interest in the Arab Spring. Frank Mahoney MinneapolisWASHINGTON ― Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is calling on Republicans to delay a vote on their tax reform legislation until after newly elected Alabama Sen. Doug Jones is officially seated. “It would be wrong for Senate Republicans to jam through this tax bill without giving the duly elected senator from Alabama a chance to cast his vote,” Schumer said Wednesday at a press conference. Jones, a Democrat, accomplished a stunning victory in Tuesday night’s special election in Alabama by defeating Roy Moore, who had been accused of sexual misconduct by several women. With Jones in the Senate, Republicans will only have a 51-member majority. Republican lawmakers in the House and the Senate are hashing out the differences between their two tax bills behind closed doors this week, and final vote is expected sometime next week. “Our hope is that [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell will do the right thing,” Schumer said. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also called on McConnell (R-Ky.) to seat Jones “without any delay.” I call on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to listen to the people of Alabama and seat @GDouglasJones without any delay. — Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) December 13, 2017 Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, dismissed a delay on the tax vote as “laughable.” Schumer cited the special Senate election in Massachusetts in 2010 as a precedent for delaying the vote on the GOP tax bill until Jones is seated. In that case, Republican Scott Brown was sworn in 16 days after the election, and no major votes occurred during that period. After Brown won, a number of Republicans senators urged Democrats to postpone their vote on the Affordable Care Act. “The American people have spoken,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said at the time. “The people of Massachusetts have spoken for the rest of America: Stop this process, sit down in open and transparent negotiations, and let’s begin from the beginning.” That race was widely seen as a referendum on health care, as Massachusetts was the first state to experiment with a marketplace system to provide affordable coverage to consumers with a system similar to Obamacare. The subject of taxes, however, hardly came up in the Alabama Senate race. In his press conference, Schumer conceded that the controversy over Moore’s accusers played a role in Jones’ victory, but he insisted that it “wasn’t the whole story” because of rare Democratic gains in suburban areas of Alabama.Last month, our local craft brewery Steel & Oak turned one year old. It’s hard to believe it was only a year ago that three people inside of one week gushed to me about this amazing new spot on Third Street. “You absolutely have to try the Red Pilsner!” I remember thinking “wait… by Kirmac?” So, after much coaxing (ok, not that much), I stopped by to buy a Growler, chatting the staff up about the offerings. From the famous Red Pilsner to the Smoked Hefeweizen, to my personal favorite, the ESB, every fill brought a new adventure and, lucky me, it was just down the street for a refill. In an interview given to VanCity Buzz in August of last year, Founders James Garbutt and Jorden Foss talked about why they started the brewery in New Westminster. Both were raised here and were “choked there was no local brewery,” particularly since there has always been a brewing history in New West (Labatt had a factory for years in Sapperton on the site now known as “The Brewery District.”) The idea turned into a much anticipated project in the Lower Mainland, with beer aficionados eagerly anticipating the opening date. To raise additional start-up capital, the brewery turned to crowdsourcing through a “Founder’s Club” with a $500 buy-in. The initial 40 Founder’s Club memberships sold out within three hours. “People were calling me and they were upset because they missed it, because they didn’t sign up within those three hours,” Foss said. The founders quickly decided to open up registration to 80 members. They sold out again within days, and added an additional four spots to accommodate a few stragglers who begged to be allowed in. “It’s crazy to think that we were literally fighting people not to give us money,” Foss said. “It was super overwhelming and humbling. We were really taken aback by how cool it was that so many people were betting on us. It also added a lot more pressure too!” The Founder’s Club experience was a good indicator of the pent-up demand for local craft beer. The brewery hasn’t had to spend any money on advertising so far – they sell everything they make to repeat customers and beer fans drawn by word-of-mouth buzz. Like most local breweries, S&O focuses on fresh, high quality ingredients, rotating tap experiments, flights to get your flavor on, and a personality all its own. The tasting room features a rich wood interior, plenty of bar seating, and snacks on site. Since the tasting room doesn’t sport a full kitchen, S&O started working with local food trucks to offer a rotating menu along with the rotating taps. A family-friendly spot for a pint, lemonade is always on tap for the kids. There’s even an occasional Babies & Beer meetup there organized by a local moms’ group. S&O launched with a splash, but Foss says that in their second year they plan to focus on refining their recipes and expanding their bottle distribution. “This year from Steel & Oak you’ll see an added focus on bottles (we are now distributing BC wide) and instead of having a bunch of different beers that are only available for a month or so you’ll see a more focused group of beers that will be made more often and made available to more restaurants, pubs and liquor stores.” S&O also plans to brew more sour beers and barrel aged projects, aiming to double production volumes by 2017. Steel & Oak is located at 1319 Third Ave., under the overpass to Quayside Drive, near Pacific Breeze Winery. The tasting room is open daily. Brewery tours are available on Saturdays at 2pm & 4pm. Share this: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email More Print LinkedIn Reddit Pocket Tumblr(L-R) Gavin Wright, Curtis Allen and Patrick Stein are charged with planning to detonate a bomb at a Garden City, Kan., apartment complex where a number of Somalis live. Three Kansas men charged with planning to blow up a mosque and an apartment complex housing Muslim Somali immigrants told a federal judge Friday they want Trump voters on the jury. Gavin Wright, Patrick Stein, and Curtis Allen — who were part of a militia group called “the Crusaders”— are charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. They’re accused of planning to detonate truck bombs in Garden City the day after the 2016 presidential election. The men have pleaded not guilty. The defense filed a motion arguing it would be discriminatory to include jurors from urban communities as opposed to those from conservative areas that likely voted for President Trump. Anti-Muslim Kansas 'Crusader' tipped off FBI fearing violence “This case is uniquely political because much of the anticipated evidence will center around, and was in reaction to, the 2016 Presidential election,” defense attorneys wrote in the court filing. The U.S. attorney’s office said it was looking into the motion. The men hoped the plot would “wake people up” and inspire others to attack Muslims. The group also worried President Barack Obama would declare martial law if Trump won the election, a lawyer for Wright said. Their trial is expected to begin on March 19. Family of Kan. man accused of bomb plot 'grateful' it was foiled With News Wire ServicesArsenal’s frustration at Alexis Sánchez’s slump in form after his decision to run down his contract has been exacerbated by the fact that the Chile international agreed the terms of a new deal at the club 12 months ago. Sánchez is even understood to have shaken hands on the deal last December before changing his mind as Arsenal went out of the Champions League after a humiliating 10-2 aggregate defeat by Bayern Munich in the round of 16. Sánchez made it clear that he wanted to join Manchester City last summer and having failed to perform to his best since that transfer collapsed in August, will leave Arsenal for free next summer. Sánchez changed his mind about staying at Arsenal after their humiliation by Bayern ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images Southgate penalty takers Gareth Southgate revealed the identity of his preferred World Cup…I got married this month, and as most legally-bound couples can tell you, a wedding is a lot of work. Businesses need to be paid, family members have to be corralled, and members of the wedding party must be able to work together for the night to be successful. It’s a bit like throwing a house party with the added pressure of spending a few grand on a hopefully-once-in-a-lifetime moment. That said, the last thing we wanted was to get upstaged by modern technology. Advertisement My wife and I, being the busybodies that we are, decided we needed to manage a few other things on top of all the other craziness: Making sure people kept their phones in their pockets during the ceremony, and (stereotypical millennials that we are) encouraging them to use a dedicated hashtag for pictures from the reception. We decided to ban phones from the ceremony years before we even picked our venue. We had attended a family member’s wedding, and so many people were taking pictures as the bride walked down the aisle that trying to catch a glimpse of her was like trying to check out your reflection in the fragments of a shattered mirror. That makes sense. Facebook, Instagram, and other social networks thrive because people use them to share images of things that make them happy. It’s almost a Pavlovian response: “Did I feel a squirt of dopamine? Better grab my phone!” Still, we decided to fight those instincts by adding a rule to our program and having the officiant repeat it before the ceremony started in earnest. And it worked! I didn’t see a single phone out while I, my wife, nor anyone else in the wedding party walked down the aisle. A shirtless man on a bicycle screaming classic rock songs at the top of his lungs did make an appearance, but by some miracle, the audience managed to leave their phones alone for about 5 minutes. We didn’t have as much luck with the hashtag. The only person who has used it, in fact, is my wife. (I tend not to share much to social media, so I haven’t posted any pictures myself.) Most of the people attending took pictures, but many of them either shared them without the hashtag or didn’t share them at all. I suppose that shouldn’t come as much of a shock. Many of our family members qualify for senior citizen discounts at Denny’s, and at one point a thirty-something cousin had to ask my teenage brother how to use Snapchat. These people all know how to use Facebook — at least to play games or “poke” their grandkids — but I doubt most of them even know what purpose a “hashtag” serves. Yet, I was surprised. Maybe it’s because I spend most of my time writing about tech, or maybe it’s because people my age were among the first to start using many different social networks, but I just kind of assumed that I’d see more pictures of the reception when I went searching through Facebook and Instagram. Either way, it’s strange how some stereotypes (everyone taking pictures regardless of what’s happening around them) rang true while others (people knowing what a hashtag is and why they should use it) failed to manifest themselves in the real world. And here I thought that if something happened and it wasn’t catalogued on Facebook that it might as well have been a dream.Becky Hammon is a decorated basketball player and a second-year assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. [Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball] She will become the first woman to act as the head coach of an NBA Summer League team. Scroll to continue with content Ad This is the usual plan for young assistant head coaches, as San Antonio’s previous young assistant Ime Udoka was the head coach for the Spurs’ entry in the 2014 NBA Summer League. We are one more “first” away from this not being news, anymore. Just coaching as usual. And that is a fantastic thing. - - - - - - - Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!Having served as your police chief for the past eight months, I'm proud of the improvements made on my watch. Violent crime is down 3 percent, and that means we're headed in the right direction. While that's an excellent start, it still falls short of what I believe law enforcement can and should be doing. Because in my book, even 500 murders a year is too many. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, or what they call these days a hopeless idealist. Or maybe I'm just guilty of caring too much. But I find 1.4 brutal killings a day darn near unacceptable in a community of 7,500. Advertisement I suppose in a lot of American towns it's to be expected that, each year, one in every 15 or so people will be gunned down in their own homes, or have their throat viciously slashed from ear-to-ear while walking down the street in broad daylight. But I want to change that type of thinking. It's my goal, as your police chief, to succeed where my 32 slain predecessors have failed. If we all work together, I believe we can get our annual murder numbers down below the 400 mark. That may seem like wishful thinking, but I'm happy to report my department has already made some progress. Advertisement For starters, we've finally captured the Underpass Strangler—though, admittedly, only one of the half-dozen copycat killers he's inspired—and that in itself is an important step, considering that he alone was responsible for an average of 19 murders a year. We've also started to monitor those citizens believed to be at high risk for committing murders, such as Lawrence Mulaney of 324 Reston St., who recently bought a machete and has been doing a lot of digging at night. In addition, we've shut down all access to the roof of the city library, which means you won't have to pick up the newspaper and read how, once again, someone climbed up there with a sniper rifle and picked off a dozen or more bystanders. In fact, I can promise that you won't be reading anything at all about murder in the local paper, because last week the Gazette's newsroom was pelted with Molotov cocktails and the entire staff died. Remember, the town's population is significantly lower this year, so as long as the murder rate doesn't go up, there will be fewer total homicides. Advertisement I am not naïve, however. I'm well aware that most of you are still going to lose a family member or loved one to a messy decapitation in the next year. But if I can keep it to just one, I'll know I'm doing my job and making a difference. Two is probably more realistic, but we can't continue to settle for what's become the status quo for beheadings around here. Let me be perfectly clear with you murderers and potential murderers out there: Some of you will no longer be allowed to operate with total impunity. Mitch Roberts, of course, is excepted, since he is insane and frankly too scary for us to even try and deal with. To this end, I've adopted new policies to root out corruption within the police department itself. It shames me to tell you this, but after an internal investigation, we've found—well, let's just say you wouldn't believe me if I told you how many murderers were on the force. But no more. Following a brief amnesty period, every officer will be expected to follow a strict "no murdering" code of conduct. Advertisement And that includes me. I could stand to cut back on murders myself. That's what my wife would tell you if she were here today. My kids, too. We can make this town a safer, better place, but we have to do it as a community—and that means all of us. Except Gina Scharff, who I see has just been bludgeoned to death with a rusty lead fire poker.The best of many worlds, this wood-and-glass coffee table design by Shige Hasegawa is impressively attractive even at first glance — before you realize how innovative it is in terms of not just style but also sustainability and portability. A series of five identical ‘leaves’ are set together in the shape of an abstract flower. These structural design elements interlock without the need for glue or fasteners – much in the way you overlap the folds on top of a cardboard box to close it, only easier. This makes for an incredibly simple assembly process with very few parts, all of which pack flat for shipping/moving, and almost no labor involved. The materials are not difficult to come by to the point where this would also make a great do-it-yourself coffee table project. Each ‘leaf’ is simply cut from a sheet of plywood and the simple round glass top sits without any additional elements directly on top, requiring no customization nor even a particular fixed size (so it could easily be recycled from another old glass table, for example). No screws or nails are required, since the plywood petals hold the base together in an interlocking design. The Hana modern coffee table by Shige Hasegawa got so much attention when it first debuted at Milano Salone (and subsequently on the internet), the artist couldn’t keep up with all the demand. A crowdfunding campaign on Japanese site Greenfunding has now raised enough money from supporters to launch the production of the table at the Tochigi workshop, which will make it available through Italian modern furniture boutiques. They’ve even produced a miniature version of the table that can be used as a fruit bowl during their research and development process. The workshop hopes to bring the art of traditional Japanese wood-bending techniques to new generations and cultures around the world. Check out how this beautiful flower table is made in the video above.The authorities were faced with a credible challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who had the potential to challenge the existing power structure on certain key issues. He ran a surprisingly effective campaign, and his “green wave” began to be seen as more than a wave. In fact, many began calling it a Green Revolution. For a regime that has been terrified about the possibility of a “velvet revolution,” this may have been too much. On the basis of what we know so far, here is the sequence of events starting on the afternoon of election day, Friday, June 12. • Near closing time of the polls, mobile text messaging was turned off nationwide • Security forces poured out into the streets in large numbers • The Ministry of Interior (election headquarters) was surrounded by concrete barriers and armed men • National television began broadcasting pre-recorded messages calling for everyone to unite behind the winner • The Mousavi campaign was informed officially that they had won the election, which perhaps served to temporarily lull them into complacency • But then the Ministry of Interior announced a landslide victory for Ahmadinejad • Unlike previous elections, there was no breakdown of the vote by province, which would have provided a way of judging its credibility • The voting patterns announced by the government were identical in all parts of the country, an impossibility • Less than 24 hours later, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei publicly announced his congratulations to the winner, apparently confirming that the process was complete and irrevocable, contrary to constitutional requirements • Shortly thereafter, all mobile phones, Facebook, and other social networks were blocked, as well as major foreign news sources. All of this had the appearance of a well orchestrated strike intended to take its opponents by surprise-- the classic definition of a coup. Curiously, this was not a coup of an outside group against the ruling elite; it was a coup of the ruling elite against its own people. It is still too early for anything like a comprehensive analysis of implications, but here are some initial thoughts: 1. The willingness of the regime simply to ignore reality and fabricate election results without the slightest effort to conceal the fraud represents a historic shift in Iran’s Islamic revolution. All previous leaders at least paid lip service to the voice of the Iranian people. This suggests that Iran’s leaders are aware of the fact that they have lost credibility in the eyes of many (most?) of their countrymen, so they are dispensing with even the pretense of popular legitimacy in favor of raw power. 2. The Iranian opposition, which includes some very powerful individuals and institutions, has an agonizing decision to make. If they are intimidated and silenced by the show of force (as they have been in the past), they will lose all credibility in the future with even their most devoted followers. But if they choose to confront their ruthless colleagues forcefully, not only is it likely to be messy but it could risk running out of control and potentially bring down the entire existing power structure, of which they are participants and beneficiaries. 3. With regard to the United States and the West, nothing would prevent them in principle from dealing with an illegitimate authoritarian government. We do it every day, and have done so for years (the Soviet Union comes to mind). But this election is an extraordinary gift to those who have been most skeptical about President Obama’s plan to conduct negotiations with Iran. Former Bush official Elliott Abrams was quick off the mark, commenting that it is “likely that the engagement strategy has been dealt a very heavy blow.” Two senior Israeli officials quickly urged the world not to engage in negotiations with Iran. Neoconservatives who had already expressed their support for an Ahmadinejad victory now have every reason to be satisfied. Opposition forces, previously on the defensive, now have a perfect opportunity to mount a political attack that will make it even more difficult for President Obama to proceed with his plan. Certainly, we are concerned about spontaneous reactions. Iran's youth has been engaged and mobilized. Around the country, there have already been some violent clashes. We do not agree with violence, because violence will only give the Right an excuse to suppress the opposition. Certainly, the gap inside Iran, politically, will be widened. Our main concern is how to keep the enthusiasm that was created for the election alive, in order to monitor and constrain the power of the government. The only way to counter it is the power of the people. We need to organize them. In this we have an experience to guide us. During the era of the Shah, there was only one moment in which the power of the people was mobilized against the Shah and to support changes in the Constitution, and that was during the era of [Prime Minister] Mossadegh. [Mossadegh was ousted in the 1953 coup organized by the CIA and British intelligence.] In that era, there was a very powerful political movement inside the country that checked the power of the Shah. Today we have to do the same. We are nor after subversion. We do not want to change the Constitution. We do want to create a viable political force that can exert its influence. engaged and mobilized Although the United States is pursuing diplomacy with Iran in its own self-interest, electoral fraud (or the perception of fraud) complicates this strategy. And if political paralysis reigns in Iran, valuable time to address the nuclear issue through diplomacy will be lost. The White House's posture thus far is a constructive one -- while it cannot remain indifferent to irregularities in the elections, it must be careful never to get ahead of the Iranian people and the anti-Ahmadinejad candidates. Rightists have already decided that the Iranian election was stolen; maybe it was; maybe it wasn't. But rightists want everyone to run out and buy the new book by compulsive liar and reactionary Iranian exile Amir Taheri, The Persian Night: Iran under the Khomeinist Revolution. Most Americans know Taheri because CNN and theuse him as a commentator whenever they want to slant a story against the Iranian government-- despite the fact that his hysterical pronouncements (like Jews being forced to wear special clothes) are consistently shown to have been pulled out of his ass. Despite Taheri and a gaggle of right-wing propagandists, it is possible that Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad pulled off in Iran just what the Bush family pulled off in Florida in 2000 and again in Ohio in 2004-- essentially, a coup against democracy. Gary Sick, an Iran expert, a professor at Columbia and a far more reliable source of analysis than the deranged Taheri, explains the ramifications of what may have been a coup Yesterday we thought the protests against the purported theft of the Irani presidential election would result in about the same level of protest as the result in 2000 at the theft of the U.S. presidential election. America yawned as they surrendered any claim to democracy. Iranians, however, didn't. Iranians are out in the streets demonstrating against not just Ahmadinejad but, unthinkably, Ali Khamenei. Everything I'm reading is telling me that the Islamic Republic regime is losing legitimacy -- at least in Tehran, maybe just North Tehran. Former Iranian Foreign Minister Ibrahim Yazdi, now an exile and a dissident:Will this get out of hand and turn into an actual civil war? Look at this clip. Someone'smad as hell and doesn't want to take it any more:Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, writing persuasively at Passport, a blog set up by the editors of, warns that ever-truculent neo-cons, who openly rooted for Amadinejad for just this reason, want Obama to put the breaks on an outreach to Iran. Even if the election was rigged, as just about everyone believes, does this mean Obama needs to change his policy agenda? Labels: IranIt was one of the most haunting images that emerged after 9/11: a woman covered in ash and powdered concrete fleeing the World Trade Center after the first plane struck the tower and brought horror to the heart of New York. Marcy Borders was a 28-year-old Bank of America worker when the photograph of her staring into the lens with her eyes asquint and her mouth agape was taken. Borders, who came to be known around the world as “dust lady”, died on Monday at the age of 42 after a year-long battle with stomach cancer that she blamed on dust inhaled during the attack. “I can’t believe my sister is gone,” Michael Borders wrote of his sibling on Facebook. Borders’ cousin John Borde added that she was a “hero” and she “unfortunately succumbed to the diseases that have ridden her body since 9/11”. “In addition to losing so many friends, coworkers, and colleagues on and after that tragic day... the pain from yesteryear has found a way to resurface,” he said. Borders was photographed by Stan Honda, of the AFP agency after she was pulled in to a building lobby after watching the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. She had no idea that the picture had been taken until her mother called to say she had seen the picture. The image, which appeared in Time Magazine’s list of 25 most powerful images, remained an emblem of the problems that continued to trouble her after the attacks. She told the Jersey Journal before her death: “I’m saying to myself ‘Did this thing ignite cancer cells in me?’ I definitely believe it because I haven’t had any illnesses. I don’t have high blood pressure … high cholesterol, diabetes. “How do you go from being healthy to waking up the next day with cancer?” Borders, of Bayonne, New Jersey, was just a month into her new job on the 81st floor of the north tower when American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the building. Instead of remaining at her desk, as her supervisor had ordered, she ran from the building and into the chaotic street, which was heaving with enormous clouds of dust and the hordes of walking wounded. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Marcy Borders tells the story of how she became known as the ‘dust lady’ “I was picking the junk off the desk, getting ready to start my day,” Borders said in an interview in 2011. “That was then the plane hit. That’s when the building started quaking and swaying. I lost all control, and I went into a frenzy. I fought my way out of that place. “Hundreds of people were trying to get out. My stairwell was badly damaged and we had to move stairwells, I was convinced we were going to die. I’m so glad I had the strength to get to the bottom. There were wounded and the injured, it was too much for one to witness. “I saw people with things sticking out of them, covered head to toe in blood. I couldn’t understand it. What I saw was carnage, and I thought, ‘God, I’m going to die anyway’.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Marcy Borders photographed in September 2011. Photograph: Dan Callister/Rex Shutterstock Inside the White House on 9/11 - in pictures Read more Borders’ life spiralled downward after that fateful moment in 2001. She battled severe depression and became addicted to crack cocaine. “I didn’t do a day’s work in nearly 10 years, and by 2011 I was a complete mess,” she said. “I was convinced Osama bin Laden was planning more attacks. Every time I saw an aircraft, I panicked. If I saw a man on a building, I was convinced he was going to shoot me.” After losing custody of her two children, Borders checked into rehab in April 2011 and remained sober. She announced that she’d been diagnosed with stomach cancer and had undergone chemotherapy last summer. She was scheduled to undergo further surgery, radiation and chemotherapy in December. Her daughter, Noelle, told the New York Post her mother “fought an amazing battle”. “Not only is she the ‘Dust Lady’ but she is my hero and she will forever live through me.” The New York mayor Bill di Blasio tweeted: “Marcy Borders’ passing is a difficult reminder of the tragedy our city suffered nearly 14 years ago. NYC holds her loved ones in our hearts.” Thousands of people who were at Ground Zero on and after 9/11 - including emergency service workers, survivors and local residents - have since been diagnosed with cancer. In 2011, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund was re-opened to compensate first responders for health problems related to the attacks. Multiple studies conducted in the 14 years since 9/11 show that first responders and people working and living downtown at the time of the attacks have since experienced new or exacerbated respiratory ailments. And Mount Sinai Selikoff Centers for Occupational Health said last year that there were at least 1,646 certified cancer cases found in 9/11 first responders and rescuers. Yet, no study has conclusively proved a connection between 9/11 and cancer in people who were at Ground Zero during and immediately following the attacks. Researchers have called for continued monitoring of survivors and long-term analysis of medical conditions experienced by people who were at Ground Zero – in part because cancer can take much longer to develop than respiratory illness. The air at Ground Zero contained pulverized concrete, shards of glass and carcinogens, according to a 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. Under the Zadroga Act,
other individual – a total of five, including an OBE in 1955, a CBE in 1961 and a knighthood in 1968. Always a friend to the working class, he turned down the honors because, according to a friend, he did not want to “change his situation.” 4. Alfred Deakin The Australian statesman turned down a knighthood in 1887, when Australia was still a colony of Great Britain. He went on to become one of Australia’s founding fathers (it became a nation in 1901) and serve as Prime Minister three times. It seems that his refusal of a knighthood was due to a combination of humility (he would turn down several honors) and his preference for Australia becoming a republic, severing the last of its political links to the British Empire. Australia continued to award knighthoods (conferred by the Crown) after winning independence from Britain, even though many saw them as a remnant of the colonial past. Though it has still not become a republic, Australia finally stopped awarding knighthoods in 1983. 5. Robert Morley The actor and playwright, famous for playing a variety of rotund eccentrics, accepted an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1957, but turned down a knighthood in 1975. Other actors to turn down knighthoods included Trevor Howard, Alistair Sim and Paul Scofield. 6. Aldous Huxley The essayist and author (Brave New World) refused a knighthood in 1959, only four years before his death. Random fact: Huxley, C.S. Lewis and John F. Kennedy all died on November 22, 1963. 7. Doris Lessing When she was young, the Nobel Prize-winning author was an ardent communist, rebelling against the monarchy and the British political system. In 1993, at the age of 74, she refused to be made a Dame. “Surely," she said, "there is something unlikable about a person, when old, accepting honors from an institution she attacked when young?” Some years earlier, she had turned down an OBE, as the honor came from a “non-existent empire.” In 2000, however, she accepted a Companion of Honor (CH), claiming to prefer it because “you’re not called anything." 8. Henry Moore The great sculptor, a major figure in the modern art movement, was always keen to remember his roots as the son of a Yorkshire coal miner. Hence, he turned down a knighthood in 1951 because he didn't want to be seen as an establishment figure. 9. Rabindranath Tagore One of India’s great hyphenates – spiritual man, the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize (for literature, in 1913), poet, songwriter, dramatist, novelist, painter, educator – Tagore was offered a knighthood by King George V in 1915… and accepted it. However, he renounced his knighthood in 1919, following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, in which hundreds of Indians, suspected of plotting an insurrection, were gunned down by British troops. 10. Michael Faraday Just to prove that turning down knighthoods isn’t just for modern-day rebels, Faraday (1791-1867), the great chemist and physicist who discovered the electromagnetic field, also turned down a knighthood. Over a century later, another famed scientist, Stephen Hawking, also reportedly said no to the Queen. Bonus: John Lennon While turning down returning an MBE, Lennon spelled out his reasons in a letter to the Queen: "Your Majesty, I am returning this in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon of Bag."A court associated with the Israeli Rabbinate has ruled that a woman who underwent a conversion was legitimately married to a Cohen, awarding her full benefits when the couple divorced. BeHadrei Haredim reports that the Rabbinical High Court has set a new precedent by validating the marriage of a woman from the Bene Israel community of Indian Jews who was married to a Cohen despite the fact that she underwent a conversion. Cohanim are descendants of the priestly caste and are forbidden from marrying converts. Some rabbis claim that there is doubt as to the status of the Bene Israel community, who immigrated to Israel from western India. According to Bene Israel tradition, the community descended from a handful of Jewish shipwreck survivors on the Indian coast up to 2,000 years ago. However some Rabbis have ruled that members of this community must undergo conversion to be accepted as fully Jewish. In this case the woman was converted in Israel by the court of Rabbi Nissim Karelitz in Bnei Brak. However, as this conversion was not done through official governmental channels, the conversion did not come to the attention of the Chief Rabbinate at the time of the wedding. After the marriage the husband, who is a Cohen, raised the question of his wife's conversion with the Rabbinate. The wife turned to the former Chief Rabbi, the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and explained the situation to him. Rabbi Yosef ruled that the couple could remain married. Subsequently the couple decided to divorce, and their case was brought before the Rabbinical Court of Petah Tikva. Council for the wife, Rabbi Avargel, claimed that the position of the Chief Rabbinate since the founding of the State of Israel has been that the Bene Israel community are fully Jewish. Therefore the conversion was immaterial. He further argued that the fact that since she is considered by the Chief Rabbinate to be fully Jewish without conversion, the fact that she underwent conversion out of doubt should not harm her position. After much discussion, a court issued a unanimous ruling following the opinion of former Chief Rabbi Yosef, in favor of the wife and awarding her a divorce settlement. The husband filed an appeal with the High Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem. This court agreed with the ruling of the Petach Tikva court and awarded the wife an even larger settlement.According to Avenged Sevenfold lead singer M. Shadows, you might hear the group’s next single debut on Guitar Hero Live. We talked with Shadows?whose band is contributing exclusive live tracks and other content to Live as a pre-order bonus?at a recent press event for the game, where the singer shared his thoughts on how Guitar Hero can fit into the evolving landscape of music distribution. “Absolutely, we’ve brought [premiering songs in Guitar Hero Live] up, everything’s on the table. In terms of releasing music the same old way, it’s just the old world. So we absolutely would. We have a lot of aspirations…and video games have been in the forefront of those discussions,” said Shadows, in response to a question from Hardcore Gamer‘s Steve Hannley. “It’s a cool enough platform to us. As an artist right now, you have to be completely open to new ways [to release your music], and whatever the fans want, you have to be open to it.” If Avenged Sevenfold were to drop a new song via Guitar Hero Live, then it would be through the channel-based streaming service GHTV, where players can drop in and play along to a continuously updated selection of music videos, separated into TV-style channels. Guitar Hero Live will be available October 20th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Wii U, iOS, and Android. A version of the game was just announced for the new Apple TV, but no release date has been confirmed.Edward Snowden's leaks about National Security Agency programs have put U.S. troops at risk and prompted terrorists to change their tactics, according to a classified Pentagon report. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and ranking member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Mich.) said that the Pentagon report found a significant portion of the 1.7 million documents Snowden took were related to current U.S. military operations. ADVERTISEMENT Rogers said the Pentagon report concluded that Snowden’s disclosures place U.S. forces at greater risk, and that his actions “are likely to have lethal consequences for our troops in the field.” “Snowden handed terrorists a copy of our country’s playbook and now we are paying the price, which this report confirms,” Ruppersberger said in a statement. “His actions aligned him with our enemy. We have begun to see terrorists changing their methods because of the leaks and this report indicates that the harm to our country and its citizens will only continue to endure.” The Intelligence panel leaders did not provide specifics of how Snowden’s leaks could threaten U.S. forces, or what measures terror groups have taken in response to the leaks. A committee spokeswoman said the panel could not elaborate because the report was classified. The statement from the panel leaders — who have been among the biggest defenders of the National Security Agency — is pushing back against NSA critics who have called Snowden a whistle-blower and want him to receive amnesty. “Though Mr. Snowden and his defenders claim he is only ‘defending civil liberties,’ the truth is that most of the documents Snowden stole concern vital operations of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force,” Rogers said. “Snowden handed over great insight to our adversaries, endangering each and every American. Make no mistake, Snowden is no patriot and there is no way to excuse the irreparable harm he caused to America and her allies, and continues to cause.” The panel said that the Pentagon report found Snowden downloaded 1.7 million files. The lawmakers said that while Snowden’s leaks have focused on the NSA phone and Internet surveillance, he also has considerable information on current U.S. military operations. They say the report found that Snowden’s leaks has “already tipped off our adversaries to the sources and methods of our defense, and hurt U.S. allies helping us with counter terrorism, cyber crime, human and narcotics trafficking, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” Snowden’s leaks have prompted calls for the NSA to curb or stop its sweeping phone data collection, and President Obama is currently mulling changes to the NSA’s surveillance programs in the wake of the disclosures. Congress is also weighing NSA reforms with several competing bills. Snowden has been charged with espionage by U.S. authorities, and Obama administration officials have said they aren’t considering granting Snowden amnesty.Tacoma Owners Bristle as Toyota Takes Their Trucks Owners of Toyota Tacoma pickups are increasingly frustrated with the automaker instructing dealers to hold onto their trucks while waiting for parts to make repairs associated with a large recall. “I’m making payments on a vehicle that I can’t drive,” Darren Owen of Kansas City, Mo., told Trucks.com. For almost two months, Owen’s 2016 Tacoma Limited has sat at a local dealership awaiting repairs for an April truck recall affecting more than 228,000 2015 and 2016 Tacomas. The automaker needs to repair a possible oil leak in the rear differential, which could cause damage and increase the risk of a crash. TRD Pro, TRD Off-Road and certain 4WD models are not affected. The dealership’s service department told Owen it might not have the necessary parts until the first quarter of 2018. “This is extremely inconvenient,” Owen said. Owen is one of several Tacoma owners frustrated over losing their trucks for an uncertain period of time. For many, it’s already been months. Some say they are seeking legal advice. “You’re making payments on a Toyota Tacoma, not a rental vehicle,” said Shari King of Visalia, Calif. Her 2016 Tacoma Limited has been with the dealership since late June and she has received no estimate on when it will be repaired. “It just made me mad that Toyota did this,” said Tim Turner of Birmingham, Ala. Turner received the recall notice and shortly after took his 2016 Tacoma SR5 in for an oil change. The service manager noted a leak and said the dealership would have to keep the truck, but could not provide a timeline for repairs. The dealer covered the cost of a rental car, a Chevrolet SUV. “It’s a nice car but I just need a truck,” Turner said. Toyota is “working diligently to increase the supply of replacement parts,” said Victor Vanov, spokesman for the automaker. Vanov said Toyota has already completed repairs on 35 percent of all affected vehicles, but a vast majority of those are retightening of bolts in trucks that did not have significant leakage. The trucks that have leaks will require new carrier gaskets. Vanov estimates that only 5 percent of all recalled Tacomas will require the new parts. At the end of March, Toyota also changed the assembly process at its plant “to include a bolt retightening process,” Vanov said, so that new Tacomas will not experience problems. Toyota is supplying repair parts to dealerships on a first-come, first-served basis according to the order in which dealers request parts, Vanov said. The company is attempting to increase the supply of parts so that when available, they can be delivered quickly. The Tacoma is an important model for the automaker. Toyota has sold nearly 95,000 units through the first six months of the year, according to industry research firm Autodata Corp. That represents 48 percent of the midsized pickup market. The recall hasn’t seemed to slow sales. Tacoma sales are down just 0.5 percent compared with the first half of 2016. During the same period, the midsized pickup market has contracted by 5.3 percent. Owen, who works as a sales manager for a surveillance company, said he needs his truck to haul tools and equipment such as cameras, monitors and laptops. He traded in his 4Runner to buy the Tacoma specifically so he could lock the valuables inside a protected tonneau cover. “I bought it off the showroom floor because it was exactly what I needed,” Owen said. After the recall, his dealership supplied a loaner Camry sedan, but when it leaked oil and Owen requested something larger they gave him a RAV4 crossover. That didn’t suffice, either, and Owen is now back in a Camry. “This is getting a little bit ridiculous,” he said. Toyota owners can find information about current recalls by entering their VIN number at the automaker’s information site. Related: Tacoma Truck Owners Frustrated by Delayed Recall RepairsCharges of media bias have been flying like a bloody banner on the campaign trail. Newt Gingrich excoriated the “elite media” in a richly applauded moment during one of the Republican debates. Rick Santorum chewed out a New York Times reporter. Mitt Romney said this month that he faces “an uphill battle” against the press in the general election. Meanwhile, just about every new poll of public sentiment shows that confidence in the news media has hit a new low. Seventy-seven percent of those surveyed by the Pew Research Center in the fall said the media “tend to favor one side” compared with 53 percent who said so in 1985. But have the media really become more biased? Or is this a case of perception trumping reality? In fact, there’s little to suggest that over the past few decades news reporting has become more favorable to one party. That’s not to say researchers haven’t found bias in reporting. They have, but they don’t agree that one side is consistently favored or that this favoritism has been growing like a pernicious weed. On the conservative side, the strongest case might have been made by Tim Groseclose, a political science and economics professor at the University of California at Los Angeles. Groseclose used a three-pronged test to quantify the “slant quotient” of news stories reported by dozens of media sources. He compared these ratings with a statistical analysis of the voting records of various national politicians. In his 2011 book, “Left Turn: How Liberal Bias Distorts the American Mind,” Groseclose concluded that most media organizations aligned with the views of liberal politicians. (Groseclose determined that The Washington Post’s “slant quotient” was less liberal than news coverage in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.) Even with conservative-leaning sources such as the Drudge Report and the Washington Times factored in, “the aggregate slant is leftward,” said Groseclose, who describes himself as a conservative. But that’s not the end of the story. A “meta-analysis” of bias studies — that is, a study of studies — shows something different: When all is said and done, left-leaning reporting is balanced by reporting more favorable to conservatives. “The net effect is zero,” said David D’Alessio, a communications sciences professor at the University of Connecticut at Stamford. D’Alessio drew his conclusion from reviewing 99 studies of campaign news coverage undertaken over six decades for his newly published work, “Media Bias in Presidential Election Coverage 1948-2008: Evaluation via Formal Measurement.” The research, he says, shows that news reporting tends to point toward the middle, “because that’s where the people are, and that’s where the [advertising] money is.... There’s nuance there, but when you add it all and subtract it down, you end up with nothing.” So why the rise in the public’s perception of media bias? A few possibilities: l T he media landscape has changed. There’s more media and more overtly partisan media outlets, too. The Internet has given rise to champions of the left — Huffington Post, Daily Kos, etc. — as well as more conservative organizations such as Drudge and Free Republic. This means your chance of running into “news” that seems biased has increased exponentially, elevating the impression that “bias” is pervasive throughout all parts of the media. “There’s a kind of self-fulfilling perception to it,” said Robert Lichter, a pioneering media-bias researcher who heads the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University. “Once people see something they don’t like, they notice things that reinforce the belief that there’s bias” in the media as a whole. l There are more watchdog groups focused on rooting out media bias. Long ago, a few watchdog groups, such as the conservative AIM (Accuracy in Media) and its more liberal counterpart FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), kept an eye on reporters’ work. Nowadays, not just politicians criticize the media for their alleged bias; an entire cottage industry exists to highlight the media’s alleged failings. This includes ideological outfits such as Media Matters for America and the Media Research Center; the satirical “Daily Show” and “Colbert Report”; and blogs by the hundreds. All that scrutiny of the press may suggests an inescapable conclusion: There’s something wrong with the news media. All the time. Journalists have gotten that message, too. “Reporters have heard the criticism from the right so often that they lean over backwards to be fair to them,” said Eric Alterman, a journalist, college professor and the author of the best-selling “What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News.” l In the public’s mind, “the news media” encompasses the kitchen sink. Few people make a distinction between news reporting — which attempts to play it straight — and opinion-mongering, which is designed to provoke and persuade. Tellingly, when asked what they think of when they hear the phrase “news organization,” the majority of respondents (63 percent) in Pew’s news-bias survey cited “cable news,” and specifically Fox News and CNN. But while cable news networks do some straightforward reporting, their most popular programs, by far, are those in which opinionated hosts ask opinionated guests to sling opinions about the day’s news. “A big part of the conversation on cable is [people] telling you how the rest of the media is getting the story wrong,” said Mark Jurkowitz, a former press critic and newspaper ombudsman who is now associate director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a Washington-based research group affiliated with Pew. That, he noted, is likely to sow more doubt about the media’s integrity or accuracy. Of course, reporters have helped blur the very lines they want the public to respect, Lichter said, by writing up news stories and then appearing on TV or going on social media to tell people what to think about their stories. “The modern way [for journalists] is to be edgy and opinionated and to call attention to yourself,” Lichter said. l We know more and can second-guess. Thanks to technology, people have more access to more sources of news than before. Which means they can check several accounts of the same event. This can create its own kind of suspicion; savvy readers often ask reporters why they ignored or played down facts that another reporter emphasized. l People believe their preferred news sources are objective and fair, while the other guy’s are biased. Pew’s research suggests that people think the other guy’s media are spreading lies while one’s own are, relatively, a paragon of truth. A clear majority (66 percent) say news organizations in general are “often inaccurate.” But the figure drops precipitously (to 30 percent) when people are asked the same question about the news organization “you use most.” Jurkowitz said this is the analogue of how people feel about Congress — most give low marks to lawmakers in general, but they vote to reelect their incumbent representative more than 90 percent of the time. “If you watch the Channel 2 newscast night after night, you trust the people on the air,” he said. “The mere fact that you’re a habituated user makes you think better of them.” Despite the low esteem the public seems to hold for “the news media,” the good news may be that it’s all relative. Pew found last year that people said they trusted information from the news media more than any other source, including state governments, the Obama administration, federal government agencies, corporations and Congress. The lowest degree of trust? By far, people named “candidates running for office.”NEW DELHI: As the campaigning in the capital ended on Tuesday for April 10 Lok Sabha elections AAP expressed confidence of winning all the seven parliamentary seats in Delhi."We will sweep the elections. We are confident of winning all the seven seats in Delhi," said AAP spokesperson and secretary, Selection Committee, Dileep Pandey The party that drew criticism from some sections after its chief Arvind Kejriwal resigned as chief minister of the capital earlier this year, dismissed suggestions that there was "anti-Kejriwal" mood in the capital and claimed that the party will pull out maximum votes."The moment Arvind Kejriwal started his rallies and roadshows on the ground from March 31, we are getting immense support from people. There is no anti-Kejriwal mood anywhere. We are confident of sweeping the Delhi elections by winning all the seven seats," said Pandey at a press conference.Slamming Congress and BJP for holding "pan Delhi rallies" with no "connect with the people", Pandey said that the growing support for AAP can be gauged by social media."We do not believe in organising extravagant rallies. Our roadshows and Jan Sabhas are short and focused. One can sense the mood of the nation in favour of our party by the numerous photographs that get uploaded on social media. We believe in knowing the pulse of the people," Pandey claimed."BJP is losing ground and Congress is not even in the fight," he added.Pandey also took a dig at Congress leader Ajay Maken who is contesting against AAP's candidate Ashish Khetan from New Delhi constituency."We got to know that Ajay Maken could not meet the eyes of the people while holding a rally at Ramesh Nagar. People wanted to talk to him which he conveniently avoided," he said."We won't be deterred by anyone," Pandey reacted to the attack on Arvind Kejriwal by an autorickshaw driver at the Sultanpuri area on Tuesday.While the Aam Aadmi Party has shrugged off talks of a rift despite recent reports, letters from its internal Lokpal, founder member Prashant Bhushan and its Delhi secretary Dilip Pandey are clear signs of an escalating internal row which is polarising the party. Party spokesman Ashutosh also added fuel to the fire in a series of tweets, in which he confirmed a 'clash' within the party and also made a veiled attack on Prasant Bhushan: The decisive churning in AAP. It's clash of ideas between ultra left who demand referendum in Kashmir and pragmatic politics of welfarism. — ashutosh (@ashutosh83B) March 2, 2015 Churning in AAP is not a clash of personalities but of ideas. This will make way for future politics of AAP. This is my personal view. — ashutosh (@ashutosh83B) March 2, 2015 Meanwhile, the latest in the battle of the letters is the leaked missive by the Delhi secretary of the party Dilip Pandey, accessed by NDTV, in which he accuses Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and his father Shanti Bhushan of attempting to remove Arvind Kejriwal as the party's national convenor, and replace him with Yadav. He charges the trio of engineering the formation of AVAM, the group that accused AAP of getting undeclared funds from others, and claims that the Bhushans not only funded it but also encouraged it. Pandey also accuses Yadav of giving the data for what he said was a 'factually incorrect' Hindu article published in August that criticised Kejriwal. He further claims that all three undermining candidate selection for the Delhi polls with Prashant Bhushan even threatening to hold a press conference to attack the party. "Bhushan refused to campaign for the party and also planted several anti-party stories at a time when the party was going through its most severe crisis," Pandey said in the letter in which he has sought action against them. This letter comes on the heels of Prashant Bhushan's letter in which he wrote: "...one person-centric campaign, which was run during Delhi elections, is making our party look more and more like other conventional parties that are also one- person centric. The only difference being that we still claim that we are wedded to the principles of'swaraj' while they don't. Running one person-centric campaign may be effective, but does that justify sacrificing our principles? We will need to make a conscious course correction if we have to get away from a supremo controlled party," Bhushan pointed out that the National Executive had decided to allow party units in other states to contest polls but it had been overruled by Kejriwal, a move that, he claimed, made a mockery of the principle of swaraj and democracy. "...decisions are being made in an arbitrary manner by a few people who are not authorised by the National Executive to take such decisions. There are some volunteers who are paid by the party, but a vast majority of them are not... Even these decisions need to be taken in a systematic and democratic manner," Bhushan said. Bhushan also slammed the party over its 'lack of transparency', the one virtue AAP has repeatedly tomtommed as what separates it from other typical political parties. The party's internal Lokpal has already pointed, rather belatedly, that there has been "an abject breakdown in communications and mutual trust amongst the topmost leadership of the party" which has led to the growth of two camps within the party and 'loose talk about conspiracies'. "This is unacceptable and shows that we are no different from any of the parties whom we criticise so vocally. I sincerely urge the entire leadership of the party... to stop listening to rumours and to discourage colleagues... who continually bring negative feedback about each other," Admiral Ramdas, the party's internal Lokpal, said in the letter. In his letter, Ramdas said, "There has been criticism within the party regarding decision-making and inner-party democracy.This needs to be further analysed by an independent group who should carry out an internal audit and make suitable recommendations in keeping with the constitution and the high standards of probity and ethics that we have charted for ourselves." He also argued that the party may have taken its volunteers for granted, which resulted in the formation of AVAM. Despite the public mudslinging, however, Yogendra Yadav has dismissed reports of a rift as "bizarre" and has vowed to continue serving the party in any position. "I have fulfilled whatever responsibility the party has given to me in the past and will continue to do so even now. The organisation is bigger than any individual," Yadav was quoted as saying in a HT report. Yadav and Bhushan have met with AAP leaders and called for a reconstitution of the Political Affairs Committee even while accepting that Kejriwal was 'a first among equals'. In what is likely a bid to defuse the situation, Yadav has also reportedly offered to leave the party's PAC and has already sought a fresh assignment from the national executive. Bhushan has also reportedly offered to do the same, according to a Economic Times report that quoted a unnamed AAP leader. The leader was also quoted as saying that the situation also showed the grip Kejriwal had managed to get on the party. The fundamental source of contention-- at least according to what has been leaked to the media -- is the issue of national expansion, with Yadav and Bhushan arguing that another leader take the reins of such an effort, while Kejriwal focuses on Delhi as chief minister. However, the problem for the party is that Kejriwal remains the party's only nationally recognisable face. On the other hand, given the fact that they have been senior leaders of the party since its foundation, any move to remove or sideline Yadav and Bhushan will only dent the image of a party that has constantly touted its ability to encourage internal debate. But if such a debate becomes the source of festering internal dissent and battle for position within the party, AAP's ability to effectively govern will be undermined, and it will continue to make headlines for all the wrong reasons. AAP has always been the weakest in victory, and most likely to make strategic mistakes -- as it did the last time it claimed the gaddi in Delhi. It remains to be seen whether its leaders have grown wiser with experience or are set on repeating yet another expensive self-goal that will forever hamper their next five years on power. Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.How TV Networks Are Changing The Way Netflix Airs Shows By Adrienne Jones Random Article Blend According to the For the average Netflix subscriber, this doesn’t seem like a big deal. The promo only lasts for four brief seconds, after all, and even when you add up a whole weekend of gorging on Disney shows via the service, that won’t take up much of your viewing time. The real impact of this move is in the future of Netflix and their relationship with the other companies it partners with in order for us to have unlimited viewing of shows like Reign. Netflix’s unwillingness to allow this sort of promotional effort on its streaming shows is notorious within the TV industry. They were against networks being able to remind customers where a show originated. So, if you were watching As can be expected, networks don’t really like it when people can’t tell which shows are theirs. The industry complaint has been that any show directly from Netflix, like So, why the changes? It’s a simple content and money issue. Netflix is seeing more and more competition in the streaming field, with services like Hulu and Amazon, not to mention the current rise in network based streaming services. Even though some of these other platforms include promos, there’s still the issue of viewers having somewhere else to go to see their favorite content. Plus, Hulu and network based services offer episodes of current seasons the day after they air, as opposed to waiting until a whole season has completed to add the episodes. If people begin to opt out of Netflix because they can get more of those favorites somewhere else (and quicker), the service that started the streaming boom may fall behind. I have a feeling pressure from the networks will eventually give us more here’s-where-we-got-this-show ads from Netflix. But as long as they’re kept to a minimum, I don’t think most people will mind. Right now, Netflix is still the best game in town for catching up on several seasons of a show. And that probably won’t end any time soon. Netflix has been a boon to television lovers. If you miss an entire season of a show, you can easily catch up in one weekend on the streaming service, without having to buy expensive DVD sets or troll your local library for a copy. Another benefit, of course, is the lack of ads of any kind being attached to our favorite shows. With Netflix you can binge completely uninhibited on all the TV you want. Now, though, it looks like that might be starting to change.According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney (as parent company to ABC) has convinced Netflix to put a pre-roll title boasting a shot of star Viola Davis with the ABC logo before How to Get Away with Murder episodes play on the streaming network. They’ve also arranged for other Disney owned titles to get a similar treatment prior to shows playing.For the average Netflix subscriber, this doesn’t seem like a big deal. The promo only lasts for four brief seconds, after all, and even when you add up a whole weekend of gorging on Disney shows via the service, that won’t take up much of your viewing time. The real impact of this move is in the future of Netflix and their relationship with the other companies it partners with in order for us to have unlimited viewing of shows like Sons of Anarchy andNetflix’s unwillingness to allow this sort of promotional effort on its streaming shows is notorious within the TV industry. They were against networks being able to remind customers where a show originated. So, if you were watching Gilmore Girls without ever having seen the show before, you wouldn’t be able to tell from Netflix that it aired on the CW.As can be expected, networks don’t really like it when people can’t tell which shows are theirs. The industry complaint has been that any show directly from Netflix, like House of Cards or Orange is the New Black, was immediately identified as a “Netflix Original” before starting. Now that this door has to promotions has been opened, it’s not unlikely that Netflix will begin to allow those other companies to have similar ads attached to their programming. As it is, they’ve begun to show network logos on some of the title cards for the shows they carry.So, why the changes? It’s a simple content and money issue. Netflix is seeing more and more competition in the streaming field, with services like Hulu and Amazon, not to mention the current rise in network based streaming services. Even though some of these other platforms include promos, there’s still the issue of viewers having somewhere else to go to see their favorite content. Plus, Hulu and network based services offer episodes of current seasons the day after they air, as opposed to waiting until a whole season has completed to add the episodes. If people begin to opt out of Netflix because they can get more of those favorites somewhere else (and quicker), the service that started the streaming boom may fall behind.I have a feeling pressure from the networks will eventually give us more here’s-where-we-got-this-show ads from Netflix. But as long as they’re kept to a minimum, I don’t think most people will mind. Right now, Netflix is still the best game in town for catching up on several seasons of a show. And that probably won’t end any time soon. 5 Netflix Shows You Should Be Watching Right Now Blended From Around The Web Facebook Back to topStocking Up Tesla’s recent stock market surges placed Elon Musk’s company above some of the car industry’s veterans, including General Motors and Ford. Though its reign as the highest valued automaker in the United States was relatively short-lived, the momentary victory was a clear sign of Tesla’s current place in the industry, and Musk has boasted that it was also a sign of even better times ahead. In a letter sent to its German automation subsidiary, Tesla Grohmann, a copy of which was obtained by Fred Lambert at Electrek, Musk explained to the somewhat disgruntled employees why the raise they were asking for wasn’t better than the stock he was offering: Unlike other automotive manufacturers, each Tesla employee receives Tesla shares in addition to salary. These shares can be easily sold for money, but they also open up the possibility of earning much more through stock appreciation. The tenfold increase in our share price over the past five years has made shareholding exceptionally profitable for our Tesla employees. I firmly believe that we have the potential for a further ten-fold increase over the next five to ten years. That would make a total value of € 100,000 from the € 10,000 in stock. If his calculations were to come true, Tesla’s current valuation could grow to about $500 billion, which could make Musk the richest man in the world thanks to his 22 percent share.Expand Ziyad al-Ajili, executive director of the JFO, in his office after a raid by security forces earlier that morning. “[The authorities] were obviously sending us a message to stop our work of supporting journalists,” he said. “This kind of governmental intimidation is precisely what we try to shed light on.” © 2011 Human Rights Watch (New York) - Iraqi authorities should immediately investigate a raid by security forces on the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO), a prominent Iraqi press freedom group, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch also called on the government to ensure the speedy and safe return of all seized equipment and documents. At about 2 a.m. on February 23, 2011, more than 20 armed men, some of them wearing brown military uniforms and red berets, and others wearing black military uniforms with skull-and-cross-bones insignia on their helmets, pulled up in Humvees outside the group's office in Baghdad and broke in, a witness told Human Rights Watch. The security forces conducted a destructive search of the office that lasted more than an hour and seized the organization's computers, external hard drives, cameras, cell phones, CDs, documents, and several flak jackets and helmets marked "Press," the witness said. "This raid on the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory shows the contempt of Iraqi authorities for groups that challenge the state's human rights record," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. A spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command confirmed to Human Rights Watch that the men were part of the Iraqi army but gave few other details. Ziyad al-Ajili, the group's executive director, told Human Rights Watch that the authorities "were obviously sending us a message to stop our work of supporting journalists.... This kind of
keeps noise under 1.5 percent through ISO 3200, which is a good, but not stellar, result. At ISO 6400 noise increases to 1.9 percent, but some aggressive in-camera noise reduction drops the figure down to 1.5 percent at ISO 12800. I took a close look at images from our ISO test sequence (included in the slideshow that accompanies this review) on a calibrated NEC MultiSync PA271W display, and was happy to see that images are still very crisp at ISO 3200. There is some smudging of detail at ISO 6400, but you should still feel comfortable pushing the camera that far when shooting JPGs. ISO 12800 is a bit too blurry for my tastes, as is ISO 25600, and the top ISO 51200 sensitivity shouldn't be used when capturing JPGs. If you shoot in Raw you can push the camera a bit further and get a sharp image. There's a heck of a lot of noise at ISO 51200, but you can still make out details through the grain. ISO 25600 is very useable in Raw if you don't mind some roughness, and ISO 12800 should make most available light photographers happy. Raw image crops, developed in Adobe Lightroom CC using default settings, are also included in the slideshow. When pushed to its extreme settings in Raw format, the K-S2 lags just behind the Nikon D5500 in terms of image detail. The K-S2 records 1080p30 video in QuickTime format. The footage is as sharp and crisp as you'd expect from HD video, but there are some drawbacks. A rolling shutter effect is evident, and it gives motion a bit of a jelly-like look, which is less than ideal. Video autofocus is fairly quick, but it has to be initiated manually via the rear AF/AE-L button—there's no continuous autofocus available when recording video. Voices come up loud and clear on the soundtrack, but you can hear the 18-50mm lens as it changes focus. Pentax does include an external mic port if you want to capture high-quality audio with your video. There's also a micro HDMI port to connect to an HDTV, and a standard micro USB port. And you get a dedicated card slot for SD/SDHC/SDXC card formats. An external battery charger is included. The Pentax K-S2 is an attractive option for photographers who don't put an emphasis on video capture. Its 20-megapixel image sensor omits a low pass filter to maximize clarity, and the shake reduction system can also simulate the effects of an OLPF to eliminate color moiré. The weather-sealed design lets you shoot in any condition without worry, and the very basic 18-50mm kit lens that's available in a bundle with the camera is also sealed. But along with disappointing video capture, the built-in Wi-Fi is very slow, and the autofocus system isn't quite the equal of another Pentax body, our Editors' Choice K-3. The K-3 is an older model, and it won't be available forever, so Pentax shooters in the market for a body at around this price point should grab one while they can.The Wall Street Journal revealed April 24 that current National Security Agency (NSA) director Lt. General Keith Alexander will “head the Pentagon’s new Cyber Command.” Friday’s report follows an April 22 piece published by the Journal announcing the proposed reorganization. The Obama administration’s cybersecurity initiative will, according to reports, “reshape the military’s efforts to protect its networks from attacks by hackers, especially those from countries such as China and Russia.” When he was a presidential candidate, Obama had pledged to elevate cybersecurity as a national security issue, “equating it in significance with nuclear and biological weapons,” the Journal reported. The new Pentagon command, according to The Washington Post, “would affect U.S. Strategic Command, whose mission includes ensuring U.S. ‘freedom of action’ in space and cyberspace, and the National Security Agency, which shares Pentagon cybersecurity responsibilities with the Defense Information Systems Agency.” How Cyber Command’s launch would effect civilian computer networks is unclear. However, situating the new agency at Ft. Meade, under the watchful eyes of National Security Agency snoops, should set alarm bells ringing. Charged with coordinating military cybersecurity programs, including computer network defense as well as a top secret mission to launch cyber attack operations against any and all “adversaries,” the new command has been mired in controversy ever since the U.S. Air Force declared it would be the lead agency overseeing Cyber Command with the release of its “Strategic Vision” last year. Since that self-promotional disclosure however, multiple scandals have rocked the Air Force. In 2007, a B-52 Stratofortress bomber flew some 1,500 miles from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana with six live nuclear-tipped cruise missiles affixed to its wings. For nearly six hours, the Air Force was unable to account for the missing weapons. While the scandal elicited scarcely a yawn from the corporate media, physicist Pavel Podvig wrote, The point is that the nuclear warheads were allowed to leave Minot and that it was surprised airmen at Barksdale who discovered them, not an accounting system that’s supposed to track the warheads’ every movement (maybe even in real time). We simply don’t know how long it would’ve taken to discover the warheads had they actually left the air force’s custody and been diverted into the proverbial “wrong hands.” Of course, it could be argued that the probability of this kind of diversion is very low, but anyone who knows anything about how the United States handles its nuclear weapons has said that the probability of what happened at Minot was also essentially zero. (“U.S. loose nukes,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 12 September 2007) As a result of the affair and numerous procurement scandals, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Mosley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne were fired by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for incompetence. Numerous defense analysts believe this was a major reason why the Air Force was supplanted as the lead Cyber agency. While one can reasonably support government efforts to protect critical infrastructure such as electrical grids, chemical plants, nuclear power stations or the nation’s air traffic control system from potentially devastating attacks that would endanger the health and safety of millions of Americans, these goals can be achieved by writing better programs. Yet from its inception, Cyber Command has been theorized as a nodal point for launching crippling attacks against the civilian and military infrastructure of imperialism’s enemies. As I reported last July, Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYBER) is centered at the secretive Barksdale Air Force Base. At the time, AFCYBER had a unified command structure and a $2 billion budget through the first year of its operations. The Air Force Times reported last year that AFCYBER “has established 17 new enlisted and officer Air Force Specialty Codes–creating major changes in the career paths of more than 32,000 airmen.” Whether or not the command structure already in place will transfer to NSA is unknown as of this writing. Nor is it clear whether AFCYBER’s offensive capability–real or imagined–will transfer to NSA. But with billions of dollars already spent on a score of top secret initiatives, included those hidden within Pentagon Special Access (SAP) or black programs, its a safe bet they will. Defense analyst William M. Arkin points out in Code Names, that these programs fall under the rubric of Special Technical Operations (STO). Arkin defines these as, Classified SAPs and other programs, weapons and operations associated with the CIA and “other government agencies.” Entire separate channels of communication and clearances exist to compartment these military versions of clandestine and covert operations involving special operations, paramilitary activity, covert action, and cyber-warfare. A STO “cell” exists in the Joint Chiefs of Staff and at most operational military commands to segregate STO activity from normal operational activity, even highly classified activity. (Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs, and Operations in the 9/11 World, Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press, 2005, p. 20) Specific cyber-warfare programs identified by Arkin include the following: Adversary: an Air Force information warfare targeting system; Arena: an “object-based” simulation program to create “country studies of electronic infrastructure characteristics, targeting analyses, operational information warfare plans” as well as nearly three dozen other cyber-war programs and/or exercises. Many of the Pentagon’s cyber-warfare initiatives flow directly from research conducted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). For example, the agency’s Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) has a brief to “create the advanced information processing and exploitation science, technologies, and systems for revolutionary improvements in capability across the spectrum of national security needs.” As can be seen from the brief survey above, the vast majority of Pentagon programs concern Cyber Command’s offensive capability of which denial of service and other attacks against “adversaries” in the heimat are a distinct possibility. The Journal reports, The Department of Homeland Security is charged with securing the government’s nonmilitary networks, and cybersecurity experts said the Obama administration will have to better define the extent of this military support to Homeland Security. “It’s a fine line” between providing needed technical expertise to support federal agencies improving their own security and deeper, more invasive programs, said Amit Yoran, a former senior cybersecurity official at the Homeland Security Department. (Siobhan Gorman, “Gates to Nominate NSA Chief to Head New Cyber Command,” The Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2009) The Obama administration is expected to announce the the new agency’s launch next week, after completing what it terms a “comprehensive review” in addition to recommendations for cybersecurity policy. Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesperson, told the Journal that Gates is “planning to make changes to our command structure to better reflect the increasing threat posed by cyber warfare,” but “we have nothing to announce at this time.” Morrell said the Department of Defense’s 2010 budget proposal “calls for hiring hundreds more cybersecurity experts.” Aside from lining the pockets of enterprising grifters in the shadowy world populated by intelligence corporations, where top secret clearances are traded like highly-prized baseball cards, the potential for abuse by NSA given that agency’s key role in illegal domestic surveillance raise the prospect of further entrenching the agency in our lives. While Alexander sought to allay fears that NSA was out to run the nation’s cybersecurity programs, he hastened to add that the agency’s “tremendous technical capabilities” would be used to “assist” DHS in securing the government’s civilian networks. But given AFCYBER’s brief for offensive operations, what does this mean for civil liberties? As The New York Times reported April 17, with NSA leading the charge to control “the government’s rapidly growing cybersecurity programs,” critics within the national security apparatus fear the move by Gates “could give the spy agency too much control over government computer networks.” The Times avers, Rod Beckstrom, who resigned in March as director of the National Cyber Security Center at the Homeland Security Department, said in an interview that he feared that the N.S.A.’s push for a greater role in guarding the government’s computer systems could give it the power to collect and analyze every e-mail message, text message and Google search conducted by every employee in every federal agency. (James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, “Control of Cybersecurity Becomes Divisive Issue,” The New York Times, April 17, 2009) This is hardly an issue that should only concern government insiders or those who engage in bureaucratic in-fighting as if it were a blood sport. As a Pentagon agency, NSA has positioned itself to seize near total control over the country’s electronic infrastructure, thereby exerting an intolerable influence–and chilling effect–over the nation’s political life. As we have seen in our recent history, NSA and their partners at CIA, FBI, et. al., have targeted political dissidents: to varying degrees, antiwar organizers, socialist, anarchist and environmental activists have fallen under NSA’s electronic driftnet, most recently during last year’s Republican National Convention. As I reported last November, during the RNC conclave in St. Paul, Minnesota, local, state, federal officials as well as private security and telecommunications corporations conspired to target activists, journalists and concerned citizens during the so-called National Special Security Event. The whistleblowing website Wikileaks published a leaked planning document which outlined the close coordination across multiple agencies, including the FBI, NSA, U.S. Northern Command and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Cell-phones and other electronic communications were routinely monitored in real-time and NGA provided detailed analysis derived from military spy satellites. A “Strategic Vision” in the Service of Repression Although the Air Force has lost out to NSA over control of Cyber Command, AFCYBER’s planning document still provides a valuable glimpse into the formidable infrastructure arrayed against the American people. In the view of Air Force theorists, the strategic environment confronting imperialism is described as “unpredictable and extremely dangerous,” characterized “by the confluence of globalization, economic disparities, and competition for scarce resources.” And as “economic disparities” grow, particularly during a period of profound capitalist economic meltdown, newer and more effective measures to ensure compliance are required by the ruling class and its state. This is underscored by Cyber Command’s goal “to achieve situational dominance at a time and place of our choosing.” [emphasis added] According to the Air Force, Global vigilance requires the ability to sense and signal across the electromagnetic spectrum. Global reach requires the ability to connect and transmit, using a wide array of communications networks to move data across the earth nearly instantaneously. Global power is the ability to hold at risk or strike any target with electromagnetic energy and ultimately deliver kinetic and non-kinetic effects across all domains. These cyberspace capabilities will allow us to secure our infrastructure, conduct military operations whenever necessary, and degrade or eliminate the military capabilities of our adversaries. (Air Force Cyber Command, “Strategic Vision,” no date) As Wired defense analyst Noah Shachtman wrote last year, The Air Force wants a suite of hacker tools, to give it “access” to–and “full control” of–any kind of computer there is. And once the info warriors are in, the Air Force wants them to keep tabs on their “adversaries’ information infrastructure completely undetected.” … Traditionally, the military has been extremely reluctant to talk much about offensive operations online. Instead, the focus has normally been on protecting against electronic attacks. But in the last year or so, the tone has changed–and become more bellicose. “Cyber, as a warfighting domain... like air, favors the offense,” said Lani Kass, a special assistant to the Air Force Chief of Staff who previously headed up the service’s Cyberspace Task Force. (“Air Force Aims for ‘Full Control’ of ‘Any and All’ Computers,” Wired, May 13, 2008) While the cut and color of the uniform may have changed under the Obama administration, placing Cyber Command under NSA’s wing will almost certainly transform “cybersecurity” into a euphemism for keeping the rabble in line. Indeed, cybersecurity operations are fully theorized as a means of achieving “full-spectrum dominance” via “Cyberspace Offensive Counter-Operations,” Cyberspace favors offensive operations. These operations will deny, degrade, disrupt, destroy, or deceive an adversary. Cyberspace offensive operations ensure friendly freedom of action in cyberspace while denying that same freedom to our adversaries. We will enhance our capabilities to conduct electronic systems attack, electromagnetic systems interdiction and attack, network attack, and infrastructure attack operations. Targets include the adversary’s terrestrial, airborne, and space networks, electronic attack and network attack systems, and the adversary itself. As an adversary becomes more dependent on cyberspace, cyberspace offensive operations have the potential to produce greater effects. (“Strategic Vision,” op. cit.) [emphasis added] And when those “greater effects” are directed against American citizens theorized as “adversaries” by U.S. militarists and well-heeled corporate grifters, the problems posed by a panoptic surveillance state for a functioning democracy increase astronomically. The already slim protections allegedly afforded by the shameful FISA Amendments Act have already been breeched by NSA. As The New York Times reported April 16, NSA interception of the private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans have escalated “in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year.” As Wired reported April 17, the NSA isn’t the only agency conducting cyber operations against American citizens. One of the FBI’s International Terrorism Operations Sections requested an assist from the Bureau’s Cryptographic and Electronic Analysis Unit, CEAU, according to documents obtained by the magazine under the Freedom of Information Act. The FBI “geek squad” was in a position to conduct a “remote computer attack” against the target, and that “they could assist with a wireless hack to obtain a file tree, but not the hard drive content.” This followed an April 16 report published by Wired that a “sophisticated FBI-produced spyware program has played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in federal investigations into extortion plots, terrorist threats and hacker attacks in cases stretching back at least seven years, newly declassified documents show.” But as I documented last year in a case involving activists targeted during anti-RNC protests, with “preemptive policing” all the rage in Washington, the same suite of hacking tools and spyware used to target criminals and terrorists are just as easily deployed against political activists, particularly socialists, anarchists and environmental critics who challenge capitalism’s free market paradigm. Despite these revelations, the Obama administration is poised to hand control of the nation’s electronic infrastructure over to an out-of-control agency riddled with corporate grifters and militarists whose bottom-line is not the security of the American people but rather, the preservation of an economically and morally bankrupt system of private profit fueled by wars of aggression and conquest.The Kansas City Chiefs gave S Daniel Sorensen the second round level tender ($2.7 million) as a restricted free agent and they gave K Cairo Santos the low level tender ($1.8 million). We predicted Albert Wilson, their third and final restricted free agent, wouldn’t receive a tender. We were wrong. Chiefs give WR Albert Wilson the lowest level RFA tender per source. — ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 9, 2017 This means the Chiefs will pay Wilson about $1.8 million next year if it ends up going througho. Another team could come in and try to sign him but the Chiefs would be able to match. If they didn’t match, they wouldn’t receive any compensation in return (as opposed to a second round tender, where they would receive a second round pick in return... the difference being the second round tender is more expensive). I thought that was a little high for the Chiefs fourth or fifth receiver. Apparently the Chiefs disagree. I wanted Wilson back until they had someone better but I thought they could bring him back on a lesser deal to save some cap space.Stats highlights from the fourth ODI between England and Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Kumar Sangakkara made his 90th ODI fifty, trailing only Sachin Tendulkar (96) © Getty Images 115 Number of ODIs hosted at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, the fourth-most at any stadium, overtaking the Harare Sports Club (114). The only venues to host more ODIs are the Sharjah Cricket Stadium (216), the Sydney Cricket Ground (144) and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (138). 90 Runs scored by James Taylor, his maiden ODI fifty. He had only played two previous ODIs, both against Ireland, in 2011 and 2013, scoring 1 and 25 respectively in those games. 93 The partnership runs between James Taylor and Joe Root for the third wicket, England's best for any wicket this series. England had two partnerships of exactly 84, for the first and sixth wickets, in the third ODI at Hambantota. 1020 Runs scored by Kumar Sangakkara in 2014, the third most by any batsman. The two others to score more than 1000 ODI runs this year are Angelo Mathews (1183) and Virat Kohli (1054). 4 Number of consecutive years where Sangakkara has made 1000-plus ODI runs in each year. He is the first Sri Lankan, and third batsman overall, after Kohli and Saurav Ganguly, to achieve this feat. Sangakkara made 1127 runs in 2011, 1184 in 2012, 1201 in 2013 and 1020 in 2014. 30 Sixes hit by Jos Buttler in 40 ODIs, the most by an England wicketkeeper. Craig Kieswetter had hit 29 sixes in 43 ODIs. 9 Number of wickets taken by the Sri Lankan spinners during England's innings. This is the seventh instance of Sri Lankan spinners taking nine or more wickets, including an instance where they took all ten. Five of these seven instances have been at home, and two of those against England. 3 Number of Sri Lankan spinners who took three wickets each - Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis and Tillakaratne Dilshan. This is only the second instance in ODIs of three spinners taking three or more wickets in the same innings. The only other instance of this happening was by Bangladesh against Zimbabwe in 2009. 1527 Runs scored by Mahela Jayawardene against England in ODIs. He is one of only three batsmen to have scored 1500-plus ODI runs against England, the others being Viv Richards (1619) and Ricky Ponting (1598). Bishen Jeswant is a stats sub editor at ESPNCricinfo. @bishen_jeswant © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.HONG KONG ― Many of the economic development ideas the West believed to be long-held truths and major Western contributions to modernity no longer seem so accurate. From the unorthodox rise of China and the increasing economic heft of the developing world, through Brexit and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, to the continued futile search for market-driven solutions to tackle climate change, the tenets of neoliberalism and “the Washington Consensus” no longer seem like good predictors of where the world is going, or pathways to a safer and more equitable world. The developing world, which has long unthinkingly followed the lead of the West, needs to take the lead in challenging these ideas and devising new approaches. Many of the economic development ideas the West believed to be long-held truths no longer seem like good predictors of where the world is going. They are past their sell-by date, and preserving them is the cause of many of the major challenges of the 21st century. They distract us from making the political and economic shifts needed to survive in a crowded, hot, techno-charged and resource-constrained future. If fresh ideas are to emerge, these five neoliberal myths need to die. Larry Chan / Reuters Countries that aggressively deregulated and liberalized their financial sectors were later hit by major financial crises, like nations in Southeast Asia in 1997. Myth 1: Free market-driven development is the best mechanism to build vibrant economies, using the private sector to encourage growth and more opportunities for all, including the poor. Whether this comes in the form of deregulation for business, tax cuts for the rich or slashed and privatized public services to limit “dependency,” these policies are the centerpiece of the neoliberal “Washington Consensus,” promoted the world over by Western institutions and development experts. They form the core of the trickle-down economics school of thought. But the results from this widespread adoption have not all been positive. Growing global inequalities are a stark reminder that the gravy is too thick to “trickle down.” This has fueled social unrest and the global rise of populism, which has caught the imagination of the international media by upturning politics in the West. Cut government services have entrenched deep poverty amongst the very poor, who lose access to basic needs. Deregulation has led to less security for labor, great consumer risks, significant environmental damage and exhausted resources. Nor do governments give enforcement and monitoring agencies enough resources to do their jobs (leading to tragedies like the London apartment fire) — or, worse, are co-opted by business-friendly interests (as evidenced by politicians and urban regulators actively enabling the likes of Uber and Airbnb whilst being aware that their operations break existing laws) — meaning that regulations may not be worth the paper they’re written on. Growing global inequalities are a stark reminder that the gravy is too thick to 'trickle down.' There is ample evidence that the so-called Washington Consensus is harmful: countries that aggressively deregulated and liberalized their financial sectors were later hit by major financial crises, as happened in Southeast Asia in 1997, and in the United States in 2008. We also know that countries which pursue austerity politics and deregulation in the aftermath of economic crisis tend to do worse than countries that use direct government spending and intervention: compare the post-2008 performance of China (which launched a massive stimulus) and, to a lesser extent, the United States (which pursued a more limited stimulus and government intervention albeit to save its “too big to fail” banking and automotive sectors) with the sluggish performance of Europe (which largely slashed government spending). Many successful countries have bucked the prescriptions of the Washington Consensus. Even small ones like Malaysia challenged the International Monetary Fund free-market prescriptions during the Asian financial crisis and imposed capital controls that were successful. China, with its more state-driven development strategy and management of markets, has achieved economic success far faster and far more broadly than any other developing countries, although significant economic and environmental challenges remain. Singapore, despite being portrayed as a utopia by conservative economists, supports its public services through forced savings and government management of socially important sectors of the economy, such as health care and housing. On the other hand, Hong Kong’s adherence to free-market principles with regard to land and housing has created an untenable situation in which it is near impossible for ordinary people to buy or rent an affordable home. Then you have the Nordic states, which have smartly invested the revenue from their stocks of natural capital into high-quality and universal public services, creating a higher average standard of living than their more free-market Western counterparts. Greg Baker/Getty Images The concept of foreign direct investment, or FDI, is fickle and predatory by nature. Myth 2: Countries should sustain their development through foreign direct investment. The unquestioned assumption is that this investment would rapidly improve productivity in these emerging markets, leading to high growth, more jobs, increasing wages and a growing manufacturing sector with all the trickle-down benefits. However, the concept of foreign direct investment, or FDI, is fickle and predatory by nature. The reality is that developing countries can end up becoming dependent on this type of investment, and foreign investors can put pressure on and extract outrageous concessions from government and local administrations to ensure they remain. The controversial inclusion of investor-state dispute settlement courts, whereby multinational companies can sue governments often of poorer and weaker nations if their businesses are affected, in multilateral trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership is one such example of foreign governments and companies pushing through self-serving regulatory change. Often these dependent countries accept them as it is the only way to survive in an FDI-focused world. FDI is also not targeted at sectors of the economy that foster long-term economic development or meet the needs of the majority, take low-cost housing, sewerage and infrastructure, for example. Foreign investment often concentrates on specific products not meant for the wider population, and also can push countries to focus on extractive primary resources that increase inequality and environmental damage, dangerous manufacturing with low safety standards, or a premature move to a service-based economy which, as the economist Dani Rodrik notes, can have significant economic and political consequences. It is not perhaps surprising to note that when developing countries were depending on Western FDI, there was often little concern expressed about these countries becoming too dependent on a powerful economic player. Yet, when Western investment is replaced with Chinese investment, as has happened in some regions such as Southeast Asia and Africa, there is sudden concern that China is practicing “neocolonialism.” And when Chinese FDI targets key assets in the West, such as the attempts by Huawei, a Chinese telecommunication firm, to enter the United States, it is seen as a “national security threat.” The argument is not that FDI is innately bad in all circumstances, but rather that it should be seen as a means to the intended end, rather than as an end in itself. For a long time, Western-led FDI has in effect been a threat to the natural economies of many developing nations, given the non-level playing field written into contracts. But beggars could not be choosers. The argument is not that FDI is innately bad in all circumstances, but rather that it should be seen as a means ― and only one means, at that ― to the intended end, rather than as an end in itself. In China, the government did use FDI as it opened to the outside world, but it used it to quickly get experience with foreign practices and technology. China then understandably used that knowledge for its own factories and companies helping to give it a globally competitive manufacturing sector. By virtue of its size, Beijing was thus able to wed its FDI to an industrial policy with an objective, and not be at the mercy of foreign investors. Such a policy was often accompanied by accusations of infringing copyrights and patents: both China and India still remain on the United States’ “watchlist” for countries not protecting intellectual property. China has recently been accused of “stealing” tech from clean energy companies, while India is routinely pressured to implement American-style drug patents and clamp down on affordable generics. Patents, copyrights and other intellectual property protections have become legal tools that seek to lock in a market advantage and try to prevent others ― usually less developed countries ― from progressing with their own innovations on the back of existing global advances. It is a form of using FDI to keep recipients dependent on foreign capital and technology, especially as countries like America start putting more and more things, from business practices to design choices, under the umbrella of protected intellectual property. Jason Lee / Reuters Urbanization has led some Chinese cities to their breaking point. Myth 3: Large-scale urbanization is necessary and an inevitable step for developing countries seeking to modernize through industrialization, manufacturing and sustained productivity growth. This myth argues that migrants from underproductive rural communities would enhance economic productivity by being employed in the urban manufacturing and service sectors. This conveniently ignores the policies and decisions that deliberately help make rural life untenable and unproductive. Throughout the developing world, there has been massive overinvestment in urban areas aimed at fostering economic growth, along with a corresponding massive underinvestment in rural areas. Chinese policy in the 90s, for example, often favored cities over the countryside, which widened the ratio between urban and rural incomes later on in the early 2000s. While government programs over the past decade have narrowed the gap slightly, it remains true that urban employment opportunities and social services such as education are better in cities than in the countryside. There is also the continued failure to pass land reform in many countries, which concentrates land in a few rich landholders. This leads to situations like India, where studies show that 5 percent of India’s farmers control about one-third of the country’s farmland. In many developing countries, critical rural investment to enhance economic activity, such as irrigation, transport and health care, have lagged far behind what has been invested in cities. These policies depopulate the countryside, and lead it to be put to work by large agribusiness and primary resource companies, as most of the economy and jobs are increasingly centered in a few major cities. In reality, this massive wave of migrants is stretching developing cities to their breaking point. Roads are congested, with traffic jams lasting for hours. There is not enough housing, leading to rapidly growing slums and dangerous, cramped and illegal apartments. Those living in insecure housing have poor access to electricity, clean water, sanitation and waste disposal. What is obvious is that the basic infrastructure to house tens of millions in crowded cities in the developing world is simply unaffordable. We need to stop pretending that these monster cities will magically get richer and fix these challenges. Our warming climate hurts these cities even more. Combine the effects of global warming and the urban heat island effect, and tropical cities are ending up being around three degrees higher than their surroundings. They are becoming unlivable. Urban dwellers who can afford it are being forced to shelter inside climate-controlled homes ― which will consume more electricity and emit even more heat ― while the majority swelters in an uncontrolled, unbearable environment, with noise and sleep deprivation having a serious impact on the productivity and health of citizens. The lesson is not that urbanization is bad on the whole, but rather that it should be managed more carefully, with interventions and brakes as necessary. Uncontrolled urbanization also hurts rural communities. The lack of economic opportunities hollows out the countryside, as the best and brightest leave for better jobs in the city. This leaves behind the old, the young and the unskilled, leading to stagnation and decline. This can result in entrenched poverty for those who remain, with worse social, health and educational outcomes. The region may become more desperate for investment of any kind, leading to riskier and more environmentally damaging economic activity, such as extractive farming, unsafe manufacturing or polluting resource extraction. If urbanization becomes too centralized in a few cities, small towns and secondary cities are underinvested in and can suffer the same fate as rural areas. This has led to political resentment against the city ― much of the rise of populism around the world can be seen in this light. Nor is this solely apparent in advanced economies, where urbanization is largely irreversible. Thailand’s politics have been rocked by Bangkok’s urban elite trying to preserve their political and economic privileges against a rural population that largely feels it has been ignored yet toils on the land to feed the urban masses. The lesson is not that urbanization is bad on the whole, but rather that it should be managed more carefully, with interventions and brakes as necessary. Developing countries should pursue a managed urbanization ― one that spreads economic activity across multiple cities and a network of secondary towns (up to 1 million people) ― that does not corrode the countryside and that keeps rural areas economically viable. Mohammad Khursheed / Reuters Our narrow view of productivity inaccurately deems industrial farming more productive than organic farming. Myth 4: The best way to understand productivity so as to grow economies is to measure it as how quickly and how cheaply we can produce something. High “productivity” — the ability to produce a lot of goods cheaply, efficiently and quickly to promote relentless consumption — has led to a vast increase in the amount we can produce and consume and has improved, in theory, average living standards around the world. However, this narrow definition of productivity misses the huge external costs to the environment and the effects on the poor majority in the developing world, and it does not reflect the realities of our time. It might have been an appropriate measure around 100 years ago when the world had over 1.5 billion people and natural resources were abundant. But we live in a very different world today, one with 7.5 billion people and one in which abundance has been replaced by scarcity. If these external costs were instead paid by businesses, many of the world’s major industries could no longer make a profit. An illustrative example is a comparison between industrial farming and organic farming. The former, by relying on chemical fertilizer, economies of scale and mechanization, has driven its business costs down far enough to undercut other farmers on price. This has made small-scale farming uneconomical in many parts of the world. However, industrial farming has a high external cost and results in the scourge of over-consumption and food wastage (which, if it were a country, would be the third largest emitter of carbon emissions). It has transformed diets and eating habits: industrial corn and soya bean farming in the United States is the classic example of this, which led to the world being flooded with junk snacks. Organic farming, on the other hand, relies on intense labor and natural inputs to achieve smaller yields than industrial farming, with higher business costs yet lower external costs. If we are to understand how our economy actually consumes resources, we need a more honest assessment of how 'productive' it actually is. Our narrow view of productivity would deem industrial farming more productive than organic farming, due to its ability to produce more food for less. However, industrial farming has significant social and environmental repercussions. Fertilizer runoff can pollute water sources, endangering sources of drinking water and encouraging the growth of harmful algae blooms. The monocultures grown by industrial farms — necessary to achieve scale — lead to soil exhaustion, requiring agribusinesses to use even more fertilizer to replenish the soil. The mechanization and automation of some farming tasks lowers employment in the area, which in turn has economic effects on the wider community. Finally, large industrial farms need more and more land to lower costs even further, pushing smallholder farmers off their property (sometimes illegally). If any of these costs were tabulated and included, the industrial farm would no longer seem as “productive” as the smaller and slower, yet cleaner and employment-generating, organic farm. This is true of the entire economy. The only reason some industries and sectors appear productive is that they make other people pay some of the costs, selectively removing them from their business models. It is the same with carbon emissions, whose effect is only now more widely understood. If we are to understand how our economy actually consumes resources, we need a more honest assessment of how “productive” it actually is. We need to challenge the continuous drive for productivity increases in developing country factories by replacing people with automation. This is another example of an inappropriate definition of productivity resulting in social consequences that governments need to take action about. Why would a large country like India, with so many still seeking work, look to displace labor with mechanization, just for the sake of lowering the cost of production? Even some technology business leaders are starting to worry about the social repercussions of automation and digitization. Bill Gates, for example, has called for a tax on robots. Lukas Schulze via Getty Images Neither the free market nor a faith in technological development will encourage the climate restraint we need. Myth 5: We can fight climate change through the free market and technological innovation instead of actual hard limits on carbon emissions and consumption. The argument is that market forces will encourage sustainability: as resources become scarcer, they will increase in price, encouraging energy- and resource-efficiency, lowered emissions and, thus, lowered resource use. Market-driven approaches would, in theory, allow everyone to preserve their high living standards while protecting the Earth
era: the Classic Cortez running shoes that were a hit in the 70's and worn in the 1994 feel-good flick "Forrest Gump." Even those who never ran a marathon in the Cortez shoes -- or weren't alive in the '70s -- might still recognize them from the Tom Hanks film, where his character Gump wears them on a cross-country run from Alabama to the Southwest. Gump also wears them in the famous park bench scene where he cogitates about chocolates. The Nike Cortez shoes, with their streamlined features and herringbone style soles, might have looked cutting edge when they first went on the market back in 1972. That's when Nixon was president and the U.S. was still fighting a war in Vietnam (instead of making shoes there). Nike (NKE) is selling the Cortez, in that same red, white and blue design worn by Gump, starting on February 28 at select stores around the world. They can also be ordered online. The Cortez shoes, which were invented by Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman, are going for $100 a pair. That's cheaper than most adult-sized shoes in Nike's hot Air Jordan line, like the Future Premium, which is discounted to $300. They're also a lot cheaper than Kanye West's recently released Yeezy Boost shoes, a limited edition line retailing for $350 but going for more than $1,000 on eBay (EBAY).President Donald Trump has repeatedly described the Republican tax bill he signed into law on Friday as "an incredible Christmas gift" to low-income and middle class Americans—despite the numerous analyses showing that the legislation will ultimately raise taxes on millions in the middle class. The president hasn't, however, called the tax bill a massive "check to himself." But a new study (pdf) published on Friday by Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) demonstrates that this would, in numerous ways, be a more accurate description of the $1.5 trillion plan. Trump wanted to write a special thanks because he got all the tax breaks on his Xmas wishlist. The rest of us? 13M lose their healthcare. 90M working families get a tax hike. Medicare, Medicaid, education & more are put on the chopping block. Read More: https://t.co/J4xuy7VgXX pic.twitter.com/zOHrEDxE3r — For Tax Fairness (@4TaxFairness) December 22, 2017 While it is impossible to determine precisely how much Trump will benefit from the GOP's legislation given that he has persistently refused to release his tax returns, ATF finds that Trump could save "at least $11 million a year and perhaps as much as $22 million," thanks to several central elements of the tax plan (as well as some of its under-discussed components). Most obviously, Trump will profit from the bill's reduction of the top individual tax rate from 39.6 percent to 37 percent. The massive cut to the corporate tax rate—which Trump has openly described as "probably the biggest factor" in the bill—will also be a huge boon for the president, given that he "owns millions of dollars in individual stocks and mutual funds." SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Help Keep Common Dreams Alive Our progressive news model only survives if those informed and inspired by this work support our efforts Other prominent aspects of the bill that will benefit Trump include the plan's favorable treatment of so-called pass-through business income as well as its estate tax exemption, which "doubles the amount excluded from the tax, from roughly $5.5 million for individuals and $11 million for couples to about $11 million and $22 million." ATF goes on to examine the bill's favorable treatment of the real estate industry, which "will continue to enjoy some of the biggest loopholes in the tax code under the Trump-GOP tax law." Where the GOP plan closes loopholes, ATF notes, it makes exceptions for the real estate business—where Trump made much of his fortune. "When crafting the measure at least two special exceptions were made for the real estate industry when a loophole was closed," AFT notes: "Like-Kind Exchanges (Section 1031 Exchanges): Capital gains taxes are usually due when an asset is sold for more than it cost. But under current law, investors in tangible items can indefinitely delay paying if they keep reinvesting the proceeds in another item—what’s called a 'like-kind exchange.' If these gains are continuously rolled over until the taxpayer dies, they are never taxed at all. The Trump-GOP tax plan closes the like-kind-exchange loophole for real property—except for real estate investors such as Trump, who get to keep this handy way of avoiding taxes on their gains. Limiting Interest Deductions. The Trump-GOP plan required almost all businesses to accept new limitations on their right to deduct interest payments on their loans. All businesses, that is, except for those involved in real estate investments, such as Donald Trump’s. He’s called himself the 'king of debt'—some observers estimate his business loans exceed $1 billion." And despite Trump's promise to "eliminate tax breaks and complex loopholes taken advantage by the wealthy"—a promise he claimed made his accountants go "crazy"—the GOP bill leaves open a number of loopholes "enjoyed by real estate investors like Donald Trump," including: Depreciation, which allows real estate investors to write off the costs of property even as its market price rises, "cutting their taxes even as their wealth grows"; Passive losses, which allow real estate professionals to use "investments intended to lose money to reduce taxable income"; and The at-risk rule, which allows investors like Trump "to reap tax-saving losses from properties they bought mostly with borrowed money." Taken together, these loopholes and tax cuts could net the president millions of dollars of extra income per year—all while many middle class families see their taxes rise and their health insurance vanish.The Mariners have jumped into the Hyundai A-League’s top six after notching a thoroughly deserved 2-0 win over Perth Glory at Central Coast Stadium on Thursday night. Defender Harry Ascroft, making his first start of the season, opened the scoring from a corner in the first-half with Roy O’Donovan doubling his side’s advantage after the break with a cool finish. The Glory’s endeavours were not helped by injuries to key personnel but in truth the final scoreline flattered the visitors as the Mariners were rampant throughout. Paul Okon’s side had a couple of shouts for a penalty waved away and an O’Donovan finish chalked off in the opening stanza, while Connor Pain rattled the crossbar with a thumping strike late on. The three points is the Mariners first home win in almost 11 months as they climb to sixth, while the result extends Glory’s poor record in Gosford and sees them remain fourth. See the highlights and how the match unfolded in the Match Centre GOALS 1-0 Central Coast Mariners: Harry Ascroft, 30’ Having earned a corner skipper Nick Montgomery swung the ball into a dangerous area with the Mariners defender winning the second ball and sweeping it home with a left-footed finish from six yards out. 2-0 Central Coast Mariners: Roy O’Donovan, 63’ A mishit shot from Montgomery fortuitously played O’Donovan in behind the Glory defence, with the Irishman calmly slotting past keeper Liam Reddy to register his fifth goal in five games against Perth. OPTA DATA The Mariners' cleansheet was their first in 36 matches and the first of goalkeeper Paul Izzo’s Hyundai A-League career. Glory’s Rhys Williams became the first player who’ll miss a match due to an accumulation of yellow cards this season after picking up his fifth booking of the campaign. INJURY WARD The Glory lost right back Josh Risdon before kick-off after he picked up an injury in the warm-up with Shane Lowry promoted to the starting side and forcing a backline reshuffle. There were further injury woes for the visitors when reigning Johnny Warren Medallist Diego Castro had to be substituted after just 16 minutes, with Adam Taggart his replacement. Re-live the action on Twitter @ALeague, @CCMariners, @PerthGloryFC, #CCMvPERHome » Entertainment Free Movie – Get the new movie Bling before it hits the cinema for free now on Google Play Free Movie – Get the new movie Bling before it hits the cinema for free now on Google Play Deal Score +52 GET BARGAIN Limited time free movie only on Play. See it here before it hits theaters. Lowly theme park mechanic Sam dreams about his childhood sweetheart Sue. With the mistaken belief that only a bling ring can win the girl of his dreams, Sam plans the most perfect night to propose to his one true love. But when super villain Oscar shows up with his own evil ring that could destroy the city, Sam’s plans are thrown into utter disarray. Mistaking each other’s rings for their own, Sam teams up with his robot super heroes to track down his engagement ring and save the city… learning that it’s not about the size of the bling, but the size of your heaGreat Clock Artist/Maker: Designed by Thomas Jefferson; executed by Peter Spruck (also spelled Spurck, Spurch, Sprunk, active 1794-1806), apprenticed to Robert Leslie (active 1789-1803) Created: 1792-1793; installed at Monticello in 1804-1805 Origin/Purchase: Philadelphia Materials: wood, wrought iron, cast iron, brass Dimensions: 115.3 × 74.9 × 41.3 (45 3/8 × 29 1/2 × 16 1/4 in.) Location: Entrance Hall Provenance: Thomas Jefferson; by purchase to James Barclay; by purchase to Uriah P. Levy; by descent to Jefferson Monroe Levy; by purchase to Thomas Jefferson Foundation in 1923 Accession Number: 1923-6 Historical Notes: With its dual faces and hour-striking gong, the Great Clock at Monticello served the residents of the house as well as the workers in the field. Its design evinces Jefferson's desire for order, which he exerted in equal but different ways over his family and his slaves. It also reveals his love of innovation and his ability to modify the traditional to suit his needs. It was as much a topic of conversation in Jefferson's time as it remains today. The seven-day clock is mounted in the Entrance Hall and has a second face on the east front of the house. Jefferson's instructions for the clock's construction explain his intent for the exterior face, which has only an hour hand: a toothed wheel of 2. I. [inches] on the back-end of the axis of the hour hand... may turn an hour hand on the reverse face of the wall on a wooden hour plate of 12. I. radius. There need be no minute hand, as the hour figures will be 6. I. apart. But the interspace should be divided into quarters and 5. minute marks. The Entrance Hall face indicates the hours and minutes on a larger dial, and the seconds on a smaller one. The clock is powered by two sets of cannon-ball-like weights (eighteen pounds each), which drive its ticking and the striking of a gong on the roof. The weights are strung on ropes and descend in the corners of the room on either side of the clock, through holes in the floor to the cellar below. Jefferson placed labels next to the path of the ticking (or running) weights to indicate the days of the week, which he also did on the inside case of his astronomical clock. The clock was wound every Sunday with a cranklike key, and a folding ladder was made in the Monticello joinery for that task. Jefferson began planning the Great Clock in 1792, while in Philadelphia. He wrote to Henry Remsen, chief clerk of the foreign desk of the department of state, to inquire about Chinese gongs for the clock: The Chinese have a thing made of a kind of bell metal, which they call a Gong, and is used as a bell at the gates of large houses &c.... I wish for one to serve as the bell to a clock, which might be heard all over my farm. Benjamin Franklin's use of a gong in place of a bell, may have inspired Jefferson. By the beginning of 1793, the clock had been completed to Jefferson's specifications in Philadelphia by Peter Spruck, an apprentice to Robert Leslie, whose workmanship was less than satisfactory. Jefferson wrote to Leslie in December 1793: My large clock could not be made to go by Spurck. I ascribed it to the bungling manner in which he had made it. I was obliged to let him make the striking movement anew on the common plan, after which it went pretty well.... The clock was probably installed in Jefferson's Philadelphia house at Gray's Ferry before it was transported to Virginia. It was brought to Monticello when Jefferson returned there in 1794, and he soon solicited clockworkers to undertake its repair. At this same time he finally procured a gong for use with the clock. It was not until 1804, while president, that Jefferson ordered the weights for the clock from the Foxall Foundry in Washington, D.C. In January of that year, Jefferson was first confronted with the fact that the length of the descent of the clock weights, which he planned to have enclosed in a box, was greater than the height of the Entrance Hall. In a letter to James Dinsmore Jefferson arrived at the notable solution: I do not approve of cutting the wall, not even the cellar wall, to make a space for the descent of the clock weights; but would have them advanced into the room so as to descend clear even of the cellar wall. should the box in this case encroach too much on the window, we may avoid the eye sore by leaving them unboxed, to descend naked till they get to the floor whence they may enter a square hole & go on to the cellar floor. The Great Clock has never been removed from Monticello since its installation in 1804-1805. The Portico Clockface In Jefferson's specifications for the Great Clock, he calls for two wheels which will "turn an hour hand on the reverse face of the wall on a wooden hour plate of 12. I. [inch] radius." He goes on to say, "There need be no minute hand, as the hour figures will be 6. I. apart. But the interspace should be divided into quarters and 5. minute marks. The fore and back hour-plates will not be concentric." Thus the lack of a minute-hand is not a clockmaker's mistake but part of Jefferson's design. Because of the size of the face and the markings between the hour figures, the hour-hand itself would do the work of the minute-hand. The figure IIII is used on the clockface rather than IV. There are several reasons behind this. First, it provides a better visual balance on the clock face. Second, IIII is actually how the Romans wrote 4. The practice of using the subtractive forms of IV for 4 and IX for 9, etc. did not develop until about 1300 A.D. - Text from Stein, Worlds, 376-77 Primary Source References 1793. "... a toothed wheel of 2. I. [inches] on the back-end of the axis of the hour hand... may turn an hour hand on the reverse face of the wall on a wooden hour plate of 12. I. radius. There need be no minute hand, as the hour figures will be 6. I. apart. But the interspace should be divided into quarters and 5. minute marks." 1793 April 27. "Pd. R. Leslie for great clock." 1795 May 23. (Jefferson to Archibald Stuart). "I think you have a watch and clock mender in Staunton. Does he ever pass this way? If he does, I should be glad he would call upon me to do a little work. I have a large clock for the top of my house which needs to be cleaned only and fixed up." 1853. (Benson J. Lossing). "Over the entrance door from the portico, is a large clock, placed there by Jefferson, which by an index upon the wall, indicated the days of the week. The weight which propels it is composed of nine eighteen pound cannon balls." 1872. (David M. R. Culbreth). "... over the front door built into the wall is a good-sized clock, which had to be wound standing upon a ladder—this latter being in normal position and claimed to have been made by Mr. Jefferson himself; the hands stand at 7.34 o'ck." 1900. (Peter Fossett). "... As I entered the grand ballroom, there, above the door at the east, still stood the wonderful big clock, double-faced, with cannon balls of the Revolution for its weight. It marks the day of the week as well as the day time and its ponderous voice can be heard six miles away in the valley below. This Mr. Jefferson designed himself. And there, too, was the ladder he made—a folding one—to reach the lofty clock, and the big iron key he used to wind it with."The Competition Bureau has ordered Sobey’s Inc. to sell 23 stores in Western Canada before it will approve its $5.8-billion purchase of grocer Safeway Canada. The Nova Scotia-based supermarket chain says it has agreed to put the supermarkets on the block and it expects to close the acquisition of the Canadian assets of Safeway in early November.. Sobeys, which is owned by Empire Co. Ltd., says the stores are under various labels, including Safeway, Sobeys, IGA and Price Chopper. The Competition Bureau said it decided to order the sale of 23 stores to preserve competition in certain markets in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. “The bureau concluded that the proposed transaction would lead to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the retail sale of a full-line of grocery products in a number of local markets in Western Canada,” it said in its analysis released Tuesday. A significant number of Safeway's 213 grocery stores are in relatively close proximity to at least one Sobeys’ grocery store, it said. Five of the affected stores are in Winnipeg, four in Edmonton and two in Victoria. The full list: Sidney, B.C., Safeway Sidney, 2345 Beacon Ave. Tsawwassen, B.C., Safeway Tsawwassen, 1143 — 56th Street. Tsawwassen 56th Victoria, Safeway University Heights, 3958 Shelbourne Street. Victoria, Safeway Fort and Foul, 1950 Foul Bay Road. New Westminster, B.C., Thrifty Foods Sapperton, 270 East Columbia Street. Edmonton, Safeway Millwoods, 2331– 66th Street. Millwoods 66th Edmonton, Sobeys Hawkstone, 18370 Lessard Rd. Edmonton, Sobeys Goldbar, 5036 — 106th Ave. Goldbar 106th Edmonton, IGA Ottewell, 6204 — 90th Avenue NW. Ottewell 90th Canmore, Alta., Sobeys Canmore, 950 Railway Ave. Cochrane, Alta., Sobeys Cochrane, 65 Bow Street. Sobeys Cochrane Leduc, Alta. Sobeys Leduc, 5421 — 50th Street. Fort McMurray, Alta., Safeway Thickwood, 131 Signal Rd. McMurray Thickwood Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., Sobeys Station Square, 10004 — 99th Ave.(Image: Bank sign via Shutterstock)Truthout needs your support to produce grassroots journalism and disseminate conscientious visions for a brighter future. Contribute now by clicking here. North Dakota is the very definition of a red state. It voted 58 percent to 39 percent for Romney over Obama, and its statehouse and senate have a total of 104 Republicans and only 47 Democrats. The Republican super-majority is so conservative it recently passed the nation’s most severe anti-abortion resolution – a measure that declares a fertilized human egg has the same right to life as a fully formed person. But North Dakota is also red in another sense: it fully supports its state-owned Bank of North Dakota (BND), a socialist relic that exists nowhere else in America. Why is financial socialism still alive in North Dakota? Why haven’t the North Dakotan free-market crusaders slain it dead? Because it works. In 1919, the Non-Partisan League, a vibrant populist organization, won a majority in the legislature and voted the bank into existence. The goal was to free North Dakota farmers from impoverishing debt dependence on the big banks in the Twin Cities, Chicago and New York. More than 90 years later, this state-owned bank is thriving as it helps the state’s community banks, businesses, consumers and students obtain loans at reasonable rates. It also delivers a handsome profit to its owners — the 700,000 residents of North Dakota. In 2011, the BND provided more than $70 million to the state’s coffers. Extrapolate that profit-per-person to a big state like California and you’re looking at an extra $3.8 billion a year in state revenues that could be used to fund education and infrastructure. One of America’s Best Kept Secrets Each time we pay our state and local taxes — and all manner of fees — the state deposits those revenues in a bank. If you’re in any state but North Dakota, nearly all of these deposits end up in Wall Street’s too-big to-fail banks, because those banks are the only entities large enough to handle the load. The vast majority of the nation’s 7,000 community banks are too small to provide the array of cash management services that state and local governments require. We’re talking big bucks; at least $1 trillion of our local tax dollars find their way to Wall Street banks, according to Marc Armstrong, executive director of the Public Banking Institute. So, not only are we, as taxpayers, on the hook for too-big-to-fail Wall Street banks, but we also end up giving our tax dollars to these same banks each and every time we pay a sales tax or property tax or buy a fishing license. In North Dakota, however, all that public revenue runs through its public state bank, which in turn reinvests in the state’s small businesses and public infrastructure via partnerships with 80 small community banks. How the State Bank Creates Jobs Banks are supposed to serve as intermediaries that turn our savings and checking deposits into productive loans to businesses and consumers. That’s how jobs are supported and created. But the BND, a state agency, goes one step further. Through its Partnership in Assisting Community Expansion, for example, it provides loans at below-market interest rates to businesses if and only if those businesses create at least one job for every $100,000 loaned. If the $1 trillion that now flows to Wall Street instead were deposited in public state banks in all 50 states using this same approach, up to 10 million new jobs could be created. That would effectively end our destructive unemployment crisis. No Bailouts for the BND Banking doesn’t have to be a casino. It doesn’t have to be designed to create gambling opportunities so bank traders and executives can make seven- and eight-figure salaries. As BND president Eric Hardmeyer said in a 2009 Mother Jones interview: We’re a fairly conservative lot up here in the upper Midwest and we didn’t do any subprime lending and we have the ability to get into the derivatives markets and put on swaps and callers and caps and credit default swaps and just chose not to do it, really chose a Warren Buffett mentality—if we don’t understand it, we’re not going to jump into it. And so we’ve avoided all those pitfalls. As state government employees, BND executives have no incentive to gamble their way toward enormous pay packages. As you can see, the top six BND officers earn a good living, but on Wall Street, cooks and chauffeurs earn more. Eric Hardmeyer, President and CEO: $232,500 Bob Humann, Chief Lending Officer: $135,133 Tim Porter, Chief Administrative Officer: $122,533 Joe Herslip, Chief Business Officer: $105,000 Lori Leingang, Chief Administrative Officer: $105,000 Wally Erhardt, Director of Student Loans of North Dakota: $91,725 The very existence of a successful BND undermines Wall Street’s claim that in order to attract the best talent big banks need to offer enormous pay packages. Yet somehow, North Dakota is able to find the talent to run one of the soundest banks in the country? The BND is living proof that Wall Street’s rationale for sky-high executive pay is a self-serving fabrication. (For more information on financial inequality please see my latest book, How to Earn a Million Dollars an Hour, Wiley, 2013.) Wall Street Is Gunning for Bank of North Dakota As you can well imagine, our financial elites would love to see this successful (socialist!) bank disappear. Its salary structure and local investments makes a mockery of Wall Street’s casino banking system. But the bigger threat comes from the possible spread of this public banking concept to other states. Already, there are 20 or so state legislatures that are exploring state banks. Collectively, more public banks would pose an enormous threat to the $1 trillion in state and local bank deposits that now run through Wall Street. But elite financiers also stand to lose much more. In the 49 states without a public bank, there’s no safe place to turn for loans to rebuild schools and finance other public infrastructure projects. That creates an enormous opportunity for Wall Street firms to hook localities on expensive bond programs — like capital appreciation bonds, which can lead to repayments equaling 10 times the original loan. Investment bankers and advisers also make enormous fees by selling expensive, high-risk financial schemes to state and local governments (read an investigative report here). But such schemes are useless in North Dakota where the state bank provides the capital the state needs for a fraction of the long-term costs. Trade Agreements: Wall Street’s Weapon of Mass Destruction Clearly, from Wall Street’s perspective, the North Dakota bank must go, and all other state efforts to replicate it must be thwarted. Wall Street’s stealth weapon may be lodged within the latest corporate trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which currently is being negotiated in secret. We already know that Wall Street is seeking to remove all tariff restrictions that prevent the U.S. financial services industry from doing business in countries like Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The biggest banks also want the treaty to eliminate “non-tariff” barriers including regulations that create “unfair” competition with state-owned financial enterprises. Depending on the final language, it is possible that the activities of the Bank of North Dakota could be ruled illegal because “foreign bankers could claim the BND stops them from lending to commercial banks throughout the state,” according to an analysis by Sam Knight in Truthout. How perfect for Wall Street: a foreign bank can be used as a shill to knock out the BND. The Public Bank Movement A small but highly dedicated group of financial writers, public finance experts and former bankers have formed the Public Bank Institute to spread the word. Working on a shoestring budget, its president Ellen Brown (author of Web of Debt), and its executive director Marc Armstrong have become the Johnny Appleseeds of public banking, hopping from state to state to encourage legislatures to explore state-owned banks. The movement is gathering steam as it holds a major conference on June 2-4 at Dominican University in San Rafael, CA featuring such anti-Wall Street hell raisers as Matt Taibbi and Gar Alperowitz, along with Brigitte Jonsdottir, a member of the Icelandic parliament, and Ellen Brown. Is America Up For This Fight? Since the crash, the financial community has largely managed to wriggle off the hook. In fact, fatalism may be replacing activism as we sense that maybe Wall Street is simply too big and too powerful to change. After all, the big banks seem to own Washington, as too-big-to-fail banks are permitted to grow even larger and more invulnerable to prosecution and control. But this new public banking movement could have legs, especially if it teams up with those fighting for a financial transaction tax (see National Nurses United.) Most Americans remain furious about how financial elites profited from the crisis — before, during and after — while the rest of us pick up the tab. Americans know deep down that Wall Street is the predator and we are the prey. The state-owned and operated Bank of North Dakota proves that it doesn’t have to be that way. This is the time to fight for public state banking in a big way. You game?WASHINGTON — Two hours after the U.S. Consulate came under attack in Benghazi, Libya, the White House was told that a militant group was claiming responsibility for the violence that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. A State Department email sent to intelligence officials and the White House situation room said the Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia claimed responsibility on Facebook and Twitter, and also called for an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli. The document may fuel Republican efforts to show that the White House knew it was a terrorist attack, even as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was saying — five days afterward — that it appeared to be a protest gone awry. The Obama administration’s account of the Benghazi events has become a campaign issue, with Republican challenger Mitt Romney and GOP lawmakers accusing the White House of misleading Americans about the nature of the attack. The Associated Press and other news organizations obtained the unclassified email and two related emails from government officials who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about them publicly. White House press secretary Jay Carney said the emails represented just one piece of information the administration was receiving at the time. “There were emails about all sorts of information that was becoming available in the aftermath of the attack,” Carney said. “The whole point of an intelligence community and what they do is to assess strands of information and make judgments about what happened and who is responsible.” Carney, traveling with President Barack Obama Wednesday on Air Force One, said the emails were unclassified and referred to assertions made on a social media site. There were a series of three emails sent by State Department officials in Washington as events unfolded on Sept. 11. Among the recipients was the White House situation room. The first email said that the State Department’s regional security officer reported the mission in Benghazi was under attack, and that “20 armed people fired shots.” It said that Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in the attack, was in Benghazi, and that Stevens and four others were in the compound’s safe haven. Forty-nine minutes later, an email said that the firing at the consulate “has stopped and the compound has been cleared,” while a response team was attempting to locate people. The next message, one hour and 13 minutes after the second and some two hours after the attack began, a message reported that Ansar-al-Sharia claimed responsibility for the attack. “Embassy Tripoli reports the group claimed responsibility on Faceboook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli,” it said. Ansar al-Sharia bragged to members of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb that it was responsible for the attack, according to recordings of phone calls intercepted by U.S. intelligence. But the group has publicly denied having anything to do with the attack. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking to reporters at the State Department, said, “You know, posting something on Facebook is not in and of itself evidence and I think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued some time to be.” Clinton said the Accountability Review Board she appointed to investigate the attack is “looking at everything,” rather than “cherry picking one story here or one document there.” She added, “What I keep in mind is that four brave Americans were killed and we will find out what happened, we will take whatever measures are necessary to fix anything that needs to be fixed and we will bring those to justice who committed these murders.” ——– Associated Press writer Matt Lee contributed to this story. Follow Larry Margasak on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LarryMargasakDonald Trump appeared at the CIA on Saturday, supposedly to reassure the intelligence community that he supported their work. But instead, Trump had other issues to discuss. Standing in front of the CIA’s memorial wall of agents who died in the line of service to the nation, Trump let fly, telling the CIA know who America’s real enemy is. “I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth. They made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community.... exactly the opposite." Apparently Trump's Twitter account is part of the dishonest media. But after telling the story of how the rain miraculously stopped when he was delivering his speech on Friday, he had an example of the media’s dishonesty—the size of his inauguration crowd. "We had something like a million and a half people. It went all the way back to the Washington Monument. Then i turn on the media and they say we had 250,000 people. That's not bad. But it's a lie.... We caught them. We caught them in a lie, and it was a beauty." It was clear that Donald Trump was going to lie about this, but the scale of the lie is staggering, even for Trump. Even more staggering? That he would tell this monster whopper right to the face of people whose job it is to do information analysis.Jacqui Smith is now suffering from the triple whammy - sympathy, ridicule and outrage - which every politician fears. The irony is that only last week she told friends that she expected to be cleared in the inquiry into the expense claims for her second home. The home secretary has been poring over her home, constituency and office diary to plot where she had spent each night in the past year. She is confident that she has the proof that she's spent more nights in London than in her constituency and thus, under the Commons rules, could designate her family home as her "second home" and the flat she shares with her sister as her "main home". This, of course, allowed her to claim thousands of pounds from the ACA (Additional Costs Allowance) including that TV package with the "additional features". Thus, she has gone from confidence that she would be cleared to what I imagine must be despair in the past day or two. She is not, after all, just a minister or an MP but the mother of two school age boys who may now come to hate the day their mum went into politics. I've been arguing for weeks that it is the system of Commons expenses and the culture which surrounds it which has caused all the problems. Allowances are treated as just that - allowances not expenses - which compensate MPs for the fact that governments of all colours routinely ignore independent recommendations to increase MPs' pay. Commons officials have, until recently, encouraged MPs to claim the maximum and treated those that don't as if they're fools. The Speaker and the all-party committee which advises him vainly fought freedom of information requests at huge public expense without using the time that fight allowed them to clear up the system once and for all. Nevertheless, someone always becomes the symbol of systems that have gone horribly wrong. It is unfortunate for Jacqui Smith that she is that someone. To many MPs, she's a likeable working mum who didn't expect to be elected in '97; whose husband agreed to sacrifice his career to make hers possible; who works such long hours that she spends more days away from her family than with it and who knows that she's on course to lose her very marginal seat and thus, her job, income and allowances, at the next election. To many voters she's a minister "on the take" who is not satisfied with a fat salary, a chauffeur and two homes but also claims more by employing her husband, calling her family home her second home and submitting bills for porn films. The gap between the elected and those who elect them has rarely been wider. It is in all our interests that that gap is closed.Image caption Any snow cover is likely to be'very variable', said the Met Office Snow could cause travel disruption in parts of Wales on Sunday, the Met Office is warning. A yellow "be aware" warning for snow has been issued for much of eastern Wales all day from 06:00 GMT. Higher ground is expected to be hardest hit with persistent rain more likely at lower levels. On Monday, a yellow warning for ice is in place which the Met Office says could lead to problems during the morning rush hour. There is also a chance of some snow on higher ground overnight on Saturday. Snow caused major problems across Wales last month, closing schools and roads, and causing power cuts. The snow returned last week but much of it was on high ground with schools avoiding disruption. Heavy rain has also posed problems in recent weeks causing flash flooding. A landslip brought a tree and foliage onto a railway track near Bargoed last month and partially derailed a train. On Saturday, a landslip was reported near Fforestfach Retail Park in Swansea which closed the A483 westbound for a short time. Forecasters say rain early on Sunday morning over western Britain is expected to turn to snow as it spreads eastwards. The snow will become heavier and potentially disruptive, with lower ground in the north east potentially affected later in the afternoon and overnight into Monday. However, any snow cover is likely to be "very variable", said the Met Office. Ice could become a hazard during the Monday morning rush hour in eastern parts of Wales. "The public should be aware of possible disruption to transport," the Met Office warned.Arizona representative and leading progressive Raul Grijalva backed the Vermont senator’s campaign: ‘I am in it with Bernie for the long haul’ Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders received his first endorsement from a member of Congress on Wednesday, with word that veteran Arizona Democrat Raul Grijalva would back the Vermont senator. Grijalva, a seven-term congressman from Tucson, is one of the leading progressives on Capitol Hill and the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee. In an interview with the Guardian, Grijalva said that he didn’t make his endorsement for political reasons, even though it comes on the eve of the first Democratic debate and deadline for Joe Biden to make a final decision about mounting a campaign. Instead, he said that he felt strongly that “if I am going to make a commitment to [Sanders’] message that I do it prior to those other things
the LEED Gold-registered production facility and Hayseed, a farmstyle dining restaurant offering guests a wide selection of food perfectly suited for beer. Visitorsa disc golf course and daily brewery tours and growler fills. About the Association of Energy Engineers: Founded in 1977, The AEE exists to promote the scientific and educational interests of those engaged in the energy industry and to foster action for sustainable development. This non-profit professional society has 17,000 members in 90 countries and offers a full array of informational outreach programs including seminars, conferences, journals, books and certification programs.Video report by ITV News' Penny Marshall Nigel Farage has told ITV News that he thinks Donald Trump can become the next president of the United States. Mr Farage said Mr Trump - who is trailing Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House - could defy the predictions of pollsters and commentators to win the election. The ex-Ukip leader appeared alongside Mr Trump at a campaign rally in Mississippi on Wednesday night, telling 15,000 activists that he would not vote for Mrs Clinton "even if you paid me". Asked whether he truly believed Mr Trump could win on November 8, Mr Farage told ITV News: "Yes I do. "We've just had three years of experts telling us that Scottish nationalism would win, that the Tories couldn't form a majority and that the Remain camp would win the referendum. "Suddenly the experts aren't very good at these things." Mr Farage stopped short of endorsing Mr Trump, admitting he had "looked very sideways" when the presidential hopeful made controversial comments about Muslims and women. But he added: "If he [Trump] sticks to his disciplined campaign messages, he's got every chance of winning." Farage speaking at a Trump rally. Credit: Reuters Mr Trump backed the UK's vote to leave the European Union and introduced Mr Farage as the man who "brilliantly" led the campaign. In a tweet last week, Mr Trump said: "They will soon be calling me Mr Brexit." Mr Farage said voters were now beginning to see a different side to the billionaire - one which could lead him to victory. "I think what you saw tonight was a very different Trump," he said. "He clearly has a new campaign team around him and there's nothing he said tonight that anyone could find offensive in any way at all." And the reaction from people in the crowd was raucous - with one woman saying he had been "awesome".In honor of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a Florida gun shop is offering a free car wash, beer, and $25 off any gun purchased online with the coupon code “muslim” — because, well, Amurica. It’s 9/11 week. Use coupon code “muslim” at our site for $25 off any gun. Come in Fri for a free car wash and beer! pic.twitter.com/x1sTZPFk0V — Florida Gun Supply (@FLGunSupply) September 9, 2015 “At the end of the day, I am compelled to stand up for what I believe in. And I believe Islam is evil at its core,” said Andy Hallinan, owner of Florida Gun Supply, in an interview with MSNBC Friday. “I don’t believe that every Muslim is evil at their core,” Hallinan clarified. “But I do believe that the extreme political correctness in the U.S. leads to loss of life. And that’s why I have promotions like these designed to combat that kind of political correctness.” Hallinan rose to national prominence earlier this year after declaring his gun shop a “Muslim-free zone” following the shooting massacre in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that left five U.S. service members dead. The lone gunman was identified as 24-year-old Mohammad Abdulazeez, an electrical engineer who had grown up in Chattanooga as part of a conservative Muslim family. RELATED: Mass shootings have become more frequent since the 1970s In July, the Florida chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed a federal lawsuit against Hallinan, asking the court to prohibit Florida Gun Supply from discriminating on the basis of religion. To help pay for his legal fees, Hallinan then launched an online fundraiser selling prints of the Confederate flag that were painted by George Zimmerman, the man acquitted two years ago in the high-profile shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. In yet another controversial campaign, Hallinan took aim earlier this month at the Black Lives Matter movement, which he called a “joke that’s leading to deadly violence.” Hallinan couldn’t say how many people had taken advantage of his 9/11 promotion as of Friday afternoon, though he did say he’d been “washing cars all day.” Asked who he was considering for the next president of the United States, Hallinan responded: Donald Trump. “I believe that the nation is in such a crisis right now, we need a savior not a politician,” Hallinan said. “Donald Trump is my hero because he will not back down, and neither will I.”WASHINGTON ― U.S. defense companies sold $41.93 billion worth of weapons to foreign partners and allies in fiscal 2017, an almost 20 percent increase over 2016 figures. Of that total, $32.02 billion came through Foreign Military Sales, $6.04 billion was through Foreign Military Financing and $3.87 billion in cases funded through other Defense Department authorities, according to a Wednesday announcement from the State Department. Regionally, sales made through FMS and FMF totaled roughly $22 billion for Central Asia/Near East; $7.96 billion to the Indo-Pacific; $7.3 billion to Europe; $641.6 million to the Western Hemisphere; and $248.6 million to Africa. This number represents actual sales agreed to with customers, as opposed to notifications to Congress by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which also set a record in FY17. Those notifications are not final and only apply to potential sales that must be cleared by Congress. (Devan Feeney/Staff) “This positive sales trend isn’t surprising as the United States is the global provider of choice for Security Cooperation,” Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, DSCA director, said in a statement. “We deliver not only the most effective defense systems to our partners, but we also ensure a ‘Total Package’ approach that includes the provision of training, maintenance, and sustainment, to support full spectrum capability for our partners.” Sales totals tend to be volatile year over year, depending on what partner nations seek to buy. In FY16, sales totaled $33.6 billion, while FY15 totaled just more than $47 billion and FY14 totaled $34.2 billion. The sales total for FY18 may well eclipse the previous year’s total, thanks to a number of major sales still to be signed, including some tied to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proclaimed $110 billion arms package to Saudi Arabia. × 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 Early Bird Brief However, the Trump administration has sought to cut about $1 billion in foreign military financing, which could negatively impact future sales. Those dollars are supplied to foreign partners to bolster defense, but must be spent on U.S. products.Spectacular and reviled in equal measure, Valencia, Spain's City of Arts and Sciences has proved to be the proverbial gift that keeps on taking. Despite a budget that quadrupled to over €1 billion, the huge museum and arts complex, completed in 2005, just never attracted the predicted stampede of visitors. Designed by Valencia-born Santiago Calatrava, the complex itself is filled with bone-like constructions that recall a gargantuan dinosaurs' graveyard. The cemetery comparison isn't actually that far off—as I've commented before, this was one of the sites where the Spanish boom years' trend for grand urban projects came to die. The project's star fell even further after the 2008 financial crisis saw Valencia’s economy crumple, a slump in which mega-projects like the City played a not-insignificant role. Housed in a cash-strapped city whose region required a €4.5 billion bailout from central government two years ago, you might think that things could hardly get worse for the complex. It seems, however, that they have. Just over seven years after completion, parts of the complex are already falling apart. The complex's main problem is the centerpiece Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, an opera house whose silhouette is somewhere between a bird’s skull and a stormtrooper's helmet. It's this helmet resemblance that is actually the problem. The theater has a metal shell that tends to buckle as it expands and contracts in Valencia’s daily temperature extremes. Such buckling might just give it a beat-up look—unwonted but not unattractive—if it weren't for the thousand of tiny mosaic-like tiles that cover the metal sheets. These have started to ripple into wrinkles, transforming what started out looking like cool, pristine enamel into something closer to well-used bed sheets.The Insecure Writers Support Group is excited to host Janet Reid from New Leaf Literary today. We asked her some questions that we felt other writers would like answers to. I think we were right. Take a look at what she has to say. Hi, Janet So great to have you here today. Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. How many query letters do you read in a day, and how many, on average, lead to an offer of representation? I get about 100 queries a week. I read them in spurts, often when I need to feel like I've gotten at least one thing done in the last hour. I try not to read queries when I'm tired, hungry, or in a general snarl. I'm actively looking for good projects so I want to read with a positive attitude. I looked at my stats for query to rep, and frankly they're daunting. In 2016 I requested about 50 fulls. I offered rep on two. This year, since I'm expanding the categories I'm working in, those numbers will be higher but not by a lot. For example, I've requested 53 projects so far this year. I've offered rep on one, and two more in the pipeline. But, and this is a big ol but, you can't let those numbers discourage you. They're raw stats. They don't account for people querying on things I would not take on if you paid me upfront and promised no one would ever know it was mine; for categories I don't work in at all; queries for novels that were simply unpublishable. Every single agent I know is looking for good material. There's a lot of dreck to wade through to find it but your job is not to worry about the dreck, it's to not BE the dreck. What’s the biggest mistake an author can make in a query letter they submit to you? Failing to tell me what the book is about. It sounds very simple. It's not. In fact, I practice pitching my books before I got out with them, just to get input from smart, successful people on what works and what doesn't. (One of the many benefits of working at New Leaf.) What the book is about is generally the plot. It's what your main character wants and what's keeping her from getting it. A good way to think of this is how you'd tell a friend to read a book. You'd tell them what it's about, not about the theme, or why the author wrote it, or why the agent is the best choice for the query. Do you have any favorite query hooks that you can share? Ones that sold you on that book and that writer? I looked through my client emails and most of my guyz (not a typo--it's the gender neutral version) have been with me so long, their queries were lost in the great computer crash of 09. Or the other one in '11. (It still gives me the shivers!) But, for a terrific query, one that breaks all the rules take a look at Josin McQuein's query for PREMEDITATED (Harper)--still one of the most highly recognized entries at QueryShark (#192) and Dan Krokos, FALSE MEMORY (Hyperion)-winner of the inaugural International Thriller Writers Best YA (Query Shark #124) had a memorable query. as did Curtis Chen, WAYPOINT KANGARO (Macmillan) (Query Shark #242) What misconceptions or wrong expectations do writers have when signing with an agent? That the hard part is over. It hasn't even started. But let's not dwell on that or we'll get too depressed to write. Solve today's problems. Hit your word count. Read good books. Let tomorrow take care of itself. Are there some key questions an author should ask when they’re looking for the right fit in an agent? Communication style! Does the agent reply quickly or should the author know to expect lag time. Does the agent expect to do some editorial work on the ms before it goes on submission. Most important: what happens if the ms doesn't sell. These were great answers and I hope they helped our readers today. Did you look at those queries Janet touted? How about subbing a query for shark inspection; are you going to do that?Vic Gundotra, a longtime Google employee who has led Google+ since the beginning, is leaving the company. In a post on Google+, Gundotra says he wants to try new things. "Now is the time for a new journey," he wrote. "A continuation." The news was first reported by Recode, and had been rumored two days ago on the app Secret. The social network will now reportedly be led by David Besbris, a Google vice president of engineering. He apparently got the job over Gundotra's top lieutenant at the social network, Bradley Horowitz. Gundotra joined Google almost eight years ago after a long career at Microsoft. He was a vocal, cheerful presence at news events, and was responsible for shaping and implementing Google+ features like "circles" of friends. It was also Gundotra who pushed Google+ to focus on attracting users' photos in the hopes that it would draw more people to the network. But Gundotra was not universally beloved — internally, some of his employees referred to him as "The Vic-tator." One former Google+ team member told The Verge that Gundotra was a polarizing figure within the company, and that he had friction with other members of the so-called L Team — CEO Larry Page's inner circle of advisers. But the former employee said Gundotra also had a staggering challenge put in front of him: making Google+ as big and relevant as competitors like Facebook and Twitter. "You built Google+ from nothing." Publicly, Page congratulated Gundotra for his time at Google, managing to plug a Google+ feature at the same time: "You built Google+ from nothing," Page wrote. "There are few people with the courage and ability to start something like that and I am very grateful for all your hard work and passion. I really enjoy using Google+ on a daily basis, especially the auto awesome movies which I really love sharing with my family and friends." In October, Gundotra reported that Google+ has 540 million monthly active users, 300 million of whom regularly visit plus.google.com. But the network has struggled from the outset with the perception that it is a "ghost town," and that the use of circles to segment groups of friends into different buckets is confusing. In June, Google will host the I/O developer conference that Gundotra started. For the first time, the company will do it without him — and in the meantime, speculation about the future of Google+ will only intensify.“We had a dream and the dream is still with us,” said McDaniel. | M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Defiant McDaniel declines to concede HATTIESBURG, MISS. — A defiant Chris McDaniel walked up to the podium at his election night headquarters Tuesday night after the Republican runoff was called for his opponent Sen. Thad Cochran — and then he didn’t concede. “We had a dream and the dream is still with us,” said McDaniel to an increasingly vocal crowd, telling them that the fight is not over. “Today the conservative movement took a backseat to liberal Democrats in Mississippi.” Story Continued Below On Wednesday afternoon, his campaign released a statement saying they would look into “irregularities” before deciding whether to challenge his loss. ( Full primary election results here) The crowd at the McDaniel event was equally fired up after the loss, capping off a bitter extended primary fight that pitted the insurgent tea partier against long-time establishment candidate Cochran. Cochran is credited with winning by pumping up turnout for Tuesday’s runoff beyond the initial primary. In the final days of campaigning, he appealed to voters who don’t typically participate in Republican primaries, including those who traditionally vote Democrat, like blacks. Mississippi voting rules allow anyone to participate in a primary runoff. The tea party-backed McDaniel camp cried foul, sending in poll monitors and questioning the final outcome of the race. The more than 200 supporters gathered in the Hattiesburg Lake Terrace Convention Center were just as angry as McDaniel about the loss to Cochran, which virtually assures the 76-year-old an easy win toward a seventh term in the general election. ( Also on POLITICO: Rangel leads; Espaillat won't concede) They cheered his defiance and chanted “Write Chris In!” as he took the stage and calling out “It’s not over Chris” and “We’re not going with Thad.” McDaniel supporters quickly moved to consider legal challenges based on reported voting irregularities. Senate Conservatives Fund’s Ken Cuccinelli hung up on a POLITICO reporter when asked if they would consider challenging the result in court. McDaniel said that Republicans must find their “backbone again” and called out voting irregularities at polling operations. Cochran’s win was a major victory for the GOP Republican establishment that included heavy investment by the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. McDaniel had tried to position Cochran as a Washington insider with a history of pork barrel projects. His loss was the second major tea party defeat of the evening: Rep. James Lankford bested opponent T.W. Shannon in the Oklahoma Senate GOP primary. ( Also on POLITICO: Lankford wins Okla. GOP Senate nod) It’s a major loss for national tea party groups, who had hoped to capitalize on Dave Brat’s upset in Virginia of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor earlier this month. FreedomWorks put an aggressive ground game together, holding rallies and blanketing the state with yard signs. Club for Growth also put in financial resources during the run-off for an ad buy, following about $2.5 million the group dumped into Mississippi to aid McDaniel and attack Cochran before the June 3 primary. Still, playing Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” over the loudspeaker system as McDaniel closed the gap within a few thousand votes wasn’t enough to put the tea party favorite over the top. The mood quickly soured as word that Cochran had bested McDaniel in the run-off. Some hugged, others shook their heads while yet others headed for the exits before McDaniel even took the stage to address the crowd. What had started as a confident evening with McDaniel supporters predicting a victory quickly turned into a vent session over dirty politics. “This is such a perverting of a fair election system that we are outraged the Secretary of State hasn’t stepped in,” said Ray Nicholson, the founding and past chairman of the Mississippi Tea Party. “I think it is going to badly hurt the Republican Party in Mississippi.” Barry Neyrey, chairman of the South Mississippi Tea Party on the Gulf Coast, blamed Cochran’s move to try and expand the electorate and increase Democratic turnout in the primary as “dirty politics.” “That is corruption, that is Washington corruption on full display and that is what Chris McDaniel was trying to fight, is trying to fight against, the corruption of Washington,” Neyrey said. The political activist said McDaniel’s loss is making him rethink his involvement. “It makes you want to quit being involved. I never believed a third party would work, maybe that’s the only way to get rid of the corruption of Washington, the corruption of the Democratic Party, the corruption of the Republican Party,” Neyrey said. “These people do not exist to serve the public, they exist to serve themselves and each other.” Alexander Burns contributed to this report. Correction: An earlier version misidentified the band that plays, “Get Lucky.” The band is Daft Punk. CORRECTION: Corrected by: Libby Isenstein @ 06/25/2014 10:47 AM Correction: An earlier version misidentified the band that plays, “Get Lucky.” The band is Daft Punk.The Central Bank has cut its growth forecasts for this year and next, citing Ireland’s “particular exposure” to the fallout from Brexit. The bank now expects GDP growth of 4.9 per cent this year, down 0.2 percentage points on its previous forecast and 3.6 per cent next year, down 0.6 of a point. But it cautioned that its estimates, which include a cut to its forecasted rate of export growth, had been made at a time of heightened uncertainty and that the risks to its forecasts are firmly “on the downside”. “The severity of this impact is difficult to gauge,” said Central Bank chief economist Gabriel Fagan. “The impact on the Irish economy could be larger than what we have pencilled into the forecast.” As a result, the “best path” for the Government to adopt on budget policy is a cautious and prudent one, he said, so that the economy is in the best shape possible to withstand future shocks. The bank’s latest quarterly bulletin said the unexpected Brexit referendum result in the UK, combined with the distorting effect of the less than meaningful GDP figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), were creating major difficulties in compiling forecasts. “Forecasters always tend to say it is a very difficult time to forecast - there is so much uncertainty out there,” Mr Fagan said. “Well, on this occasion it is actually true.” ‘Particular exposure’ The close links between the UK and Irish economies create a “particular exposure” for Ireland, it said, with sectors such as agri-food, clothing and footwear, and tourism especially vulnerable. The Central Bank has revised down its forecast for export growth in 2016 from 6.8 per cent to 6.4 per cent, while it also expects this rate to moderate to 4.5 per cent next year. Its previous forecast for 2017 export growth was 5.5 per cent. The impact of Brexit on consumer spending and employment is expected to be smaller, but still adverse. “Our overall assessment is that, in both the short term and the long term, the economic impact of the Brexit referendum is set to be negative and material,” said John Flynn, head of economic analysis at the Central Bank. While the UK is negotiating with Europe, there is potential for a prolonged period of uncertainty, it says, which could damage spending and investment confidence. During this time, the Irish economy could suffer from either protracted periods of risk-averse behaviour, or spikes of risk-aversion. In the long term, the scale of the impact depends on the extent to which the free movement of goods, services, people and financial interactions between the EU and the UK is affected, once Brexit negotiations have concluded. “There is a wide range of possible outcomes,” Mr Flynn noted. While the economic outlook is still “relatively favourable”, Mr Flynn said, the downside risks include the possibility that Brexit has a bigger impact than expected on the UK economy and on global growth. “We have no hard data on Brexit at the moment, so we are a bit in the air,” said Luca Onorante, acting head of monetary policy at the Central Bank. CSO figures Calculating the performance of the economy has been “made more problematic” by the extraordinary scale of the recent Central Statistics Office (CSO) revisions to its national output figures, Mr Fagan said. The figures distort the picture of what is happening in the Irish economy and make it difficult to interpret key data such as the level of borrowing and debt compared to GDP. Rather than focus on such ratios, the Government should focus on abolishing the deficit in cash terms by 2018, the bank said. It must be careful not to rely “on volatile sources of revenue which may turn out to be transitory”, Mr Fagan said. Although the factors that caused the CSO to revise GDP growth for 2015 from 7.8 per cent to 26.3 per cent were long known to economists, “the sheer scale was completely unanticipated”. There is a risk that a similarly dramatic downward revision to the numbers could take place at some point in the future. “I don’t necessarily think it’s likely, but we have seen dramatic movements as a result of transactions by a few individual companies in one direction. We didn’t anticipate the magnitude of this. There is nothing to rule out movements in the other direction,” Mr Fagan said. “What goes up can possibly go down, and we should be aware of that possibility.” The Central Bank is involved in a working group that has been established by the CSO to develop more meaningful and commonly agreed indicators of real Irish economic activity, such as a measure of underlying domestic demand. The bank estimates that underlying growth in the domestic economy was around 5 per cent in 2015, far lower than the 26 per cent GDP growth.VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Award Now accepting nominations for the 2019 VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Award, click here for more details. PREVIOUS YEARS 2015 2016 2017 2018 pending VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Awards Embracing Diversity Purpose: To increase the chance for diverse readers to see themselves within the page To increase the visibility of diversity in graphic novels To recognize quality graphic literature promoting subjects or characters of diversity To support the role of libraries to educate and promote reading Eligibility (see FAQs at end of page for more details) Nominations Feature a diverse protagonist (casual or issue-based), a diverse supporting character that impacts the story, or a diverse subject Published in English by a North American “publisher” in the year that will be honored. Self-published nominations are accepted. Be a stand-alone or a story arc. The last volume of a story arc must have been published in the year being honored. Are submitted for only one of these age categories: Youth (ages 6-17) or Adult (ages 18 and up) Definition of diversity: Differences both visible and invisible that may separate an individual from the story’s mainstream. The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. Eligible diversity groups may include color/race, ethnicity/nationality, disability whether mental or physical, feminism, ageism, religion, forced minority and LGBT/sexual orientation. Definition of groups: Color/Race/Ethnicity/Nationality – Character(s) are recognizably portrayed as a member of a specific race, color or nationality through the art, dialogue, narrative. The character shows flaws and strengths in dealing with life as a member of a specific race, color or nationality. Disability (visible and invisible) – Character lives a normal life despite any limitations placed on by the disability, whether mental or physical. Feminism – A female is surviving in a male dominated environment or breaking free from gender norms. Ageism – Character is being diminished due to the character’s age. The story should reflect how the character succumbs to or overcomes age barriers. Religion – Character is of a specific faith and may deal with persecution because of religion or faith. Forced Minority – The main character, although not normally a minority, through circumstances becomes a minority. LGBT/Sexual Orientation/sexual identity/Intersex – Character is LGBT or identifies as sexually different and is coming to terms with this identity or dealing with discrimination. FAQs Is there a cash reward for the winning title? The winning title of each category will receive $500.00. Who receives the cash award, the writer or the artist? Both or all of the creators receive the cash award to split among themselves or to invest it in some way. Are nonfiction graphic novels eligible? Yes, entries can be fiction or nonfiction. There is no separate award for either. Can anyone nominate a title for the award? Only publishers can submit a title, since they are responsible for submitting a package to each member of the judging committee. If you feel strongly about a particular title, contact the publisher and let them know to submit the title for the award. Does the author or artist have to be a citizen of a North American Country? No. The entry is being viewed on its merits. The nomination has to be written in English and published by a North American publisher. If a Japanese Manga has been translated and published by a Publisher like DC Comics or Fantagraphics, the translated version is eligible if the translation was published in the year being honored. Are web comics or graphic novels eligible for submission? Not currently. We may look at adding them later if we can resolve issues pertaining to publication dates and permanence. Downloadable graphic novels are eligible. See the next question. I published my graphic novel as a downloadable only. Is it eligible? Since more and more self-publishers are making the decision to publish electronically, a downloadable graphic novel is eligible because it fits the criteria of being in print just not in the traditional sense. A downloadable differs from a web-based comic which is not eligible. To nominate a downloadable graphic novel, the publisher must add two more pieces of information: 1. proof that the downloadable was first available for purchase in the year being honored; 2. libraries should be able to purchase the graphic novel for the electronic collection to circulate for their users. Libraries may have platforms which allow them to add self-published materials for checkout. Can a title be submitted for both age categories if the story is for all ages? No, the submitter must choose the age category that best suits the age of the prominent readership. Our title focuses on diversity but does not fit any of the categories listed. Can we still nominate this title?Yes, the judges can determine if the title fits our broader definition of Diversity. What will the cover images of the books be used for? The images will be used for our web page and other publicity to announce the winners and honor books. Can you explain the story arc? Some series break their story arcs between several volumes. In some cases, the reader must begin at the first volume and read to the end to understand and enjoy the story. Some volumes are not complete on their own. In the case of such a story arc, the whole arc must be submitted for review as long as the last volume was published in the year being honored. If a single volume can stand on its own without reading the whole series or arc, then this volume may be submitted on its own. What countries are considered part of North America? According to the CIA World Factbook, the following countries, Bermuda, Canada, Clipperton Island, Greenland, Mexico, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and United States, are part of North America. We are currently abiding by this definition. Any North American publisher of English language graphic novels is eligible to submit to the award. Translations of foreign language graphic novels into English are eligible if the translation were published by North American publishers in the year being honored. I would like to be a judge for the VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Award. How can I become involved? At the end of each award year, a request for judges for the next year is announced. Interested individuals will fill out an application online. The application requires one to review a graphic novel, so it is recommended that the applicants give themselves ample time to complete the application before the deadline. It is also recommended that the answers to the application questions be typed into a word processor program and then copied and pasted into the application, just in case any computer issues occur. Eligibility requirements for a judge include: Be a VLA member Be able to commit to two years (an award season includes the award year and the following year for evaluation and decision making) Have an understanding of diversity Have knowledge of graphic novels Be able to read, write and speak English Have no relationship with a graphic novel publisher which may participate (if an applicant with a relationship with a graphic novel publisher is selected, this publisher will be ineligible to submit any titles for the award during this judge’s tenure. Apply to be a judge for the 2019 VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Award. The deadline for applications is March 15, 2019.LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A private club for thrillseekers in Los Angeles will remain men-only after members took the issue to a vote. On Thursday night, for the first time in its 93-year history, the Adventurers’ Club of L.A. faced the monumental decision of whether to allow women to become members of this males-only institution. A two-thirds vote by the members was required in order to allow women in and change the bylaws. However, members voted with a resounding “no,” according to KCAL9’s Kaj Goldberg. “It was massive resistance. I mean, people stood up. I gave my pitch as to why it should go through and people stood up and argued against me quite vehemently,” Marc Weitz, a former president of the group, told Goldberg. Weitz was one of the members that led the charge to attempt to include women as members. “We’re not changing the qualifications. They still have to meet the same standards that men have,” Weitz said of the proposed change. CBS2 tried to reach out to members who were opposed to allowing women in; however, our calls were not returned. Weitz and the handful of members who voted “yes” had already identified Andrea Donnellan of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an exceptional female candidate. “She’s spent time researching in Antarctica. She was almost made the astronaut program for NASA. An amazing, amazing person,” Weitz said. For now, though, the club will remain men-only, but Weitz feels that change is inevitable. “And it opens up more doors for opportunities,” he said. Weitz and some of the other members who support the inclusion of women say that they are going to hold off on another vote for now.Actor Rahul Dev thanked chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday after the garbage dump near his society in Saket, South Delhi, was cleaned up after he tweeted images of the overflowing dump on Tuesday and tagged an Aam Aadmi Party leader requesting action. AAP volunteers responded to the post, which also tagged nine institutions including HT. The volunteers ensured that the garbage dump was cleared and the actor shared images of the dump yard on Wednesday, thanking CM Kejriwal for action. AAP volunteer Vikas Yogi, who had responded to Dev’s tweet, told HT that he had asked the local party leaders to intervene, who in turn got it cleaned by concerned department of the municipal corporation. Thank u @ArvindKejriwal @vikaskyogi & @Pawansh07 for the quick action! Have faith in u, makes lives of the residents in Saket easier! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/G3BhYET0Zv — Rahul Dev Official (@RahulDevRising) January 4, 2017 Sir @vikaskyogi thank u for the reply! Glad @Pawansh07 is looking into this matter of basic civic sense & hygiene. Wish things were simpler🙏 https://t.co/Mr8OBblfUj — Rahul Dev Official (@RahulDevRising) January 3, 2017 First Published: Jan 04, 2017 18:52 ISTI was at a coffee shop in Park Slope. You were sitting next to me, talking to your friend about how you’re a vegan but you secretly eat eggs. I really wish I had said something to you. Your voice was loud and distracted me from my work. * * * You: sitting next to your backpack on the Brooklyn-bound L train last night. Me: super tired, holding onto the rail, standing up. I asked you to move your backpack so I could sit down. You said you were getting off in “only one more stop.” I just nodded and looked away. I don’t know if you will ever see this, but if you do I’d love to meet up. Manners are sort of my thing, and I’d love to teach you some. * * * You were in front of me in line at the Chipotle in Queens. You ordered a carnitas burrito with “no beans, add guac.” I still remember this because it took you almost ten minutes to order. You had all the time in the world while we were in line. What were you doing then? How could it take you so long to decide not to have beans? Either you want beans or you don’t want beans. It’s not that hard. Please e-mail me. I need to understand this. * * * At the gym parking lot today. You were the hot guy with the soul patch in the Kia Forte. You took my spot. I was waiting for that spot, and you just swooped in and took it. I wish you could have heard me honking at you. Our eyes connected but you just kept walking. If I had the chance to see you one more time, I would roll down my windows and call you a dick. * * * We made small talk in the checkout line at Trader Joe’s. You said that you literally could not live without the salsa you were buying. I wish we could talk again. You used “literally” incorrectly. It really pissed me off. I wish you could literally not live without that salsa, because then I’d take it from you. * * * Hi. I saw you at the dog park. You had the German shepherd and I had the terrier. If this is you, please message me the name of the park and your address. Your dog was not well attended and I’d like to report you to the proper officials. * * * Gramercy Park yesterday afternoon. You were wearing a scarf, a T-shirt, thick-rimmed glasses, and cowboy boots. I think that if we met I would find you insufferable. * * * At a bar celebrating my friend’s birthday in midtown. You were wearing Google Glass. I tried to mouth, “You look like a moron.” Did you record that? * * * You were sitting right next to me at an airplane terminal and we were both on our laptops. You were totally hogging the armrest. But when you moved your hand to cough, I took the armrest. You glanced at me angrily. This just happened. Now I can see you writing a post about me online. So
scrolling to keep reading Click the button below to start this article in quick view 570 Shares Share Tweet Email Copy Link Copied 15 Gold - $56 per gram Although the price and value of gold does fluctuate quite significantly according to markets, this element has been prized for thousands of years as a symbol of wealth and prosperity. In addition to acting as a form of currency, gold is found in a wide variety of jewelry, art and decorations. As an inert heavy metal with excellent conductivity, gold is also used in a wide variety of electronics, even providing a coating for satellites in space. Medical uses include dental implants and wires as well as treating arthritis and even cancer. 14 Rhodium - $58 per gram Nearly 60% of all rhodium is found in South Africa. A silver-white material that's a member of the platinum group of metals, this element is less dense and more resistant to heat than platinum while featuring excellent durability, hardness and reflectance. As a result, this element, sometimes referred to as “white gold”, can be found in jewelry, aircraft engines, search lights and processes that manufacture acids and organics. Part of the reason rhodium has a high price is due to interruptions in Russian supplies during the late 90s. 13 Platinum - $60 per gram Platinum is another attractive silver-white metal that has many uses due to its flexibility. Similar to rhodium and gold, platinum is used in jewelry, engines, chemical reactions, wiring, dentistry and electrodes. Platinum resists oxidizing in air and doesn't melt in hydrochloric or nitric acid. This element was rediscovered in 1735 after being used as far back as 1200 B.C in Egyptian jewelry. 12 Methamphetamine - $100 per gram As the illegal substance that helped drive the plot of Breaking Bad, methamphetamines are some of the most addictive substances in the world, resulting in serious health problems for hundreds of thousands of people in North America. The drug's ability to rapidly release dopamine in the brain causes side effects such as violent behavior, psychosis, paranoia, anxiety, sleep deprivation and intense mood swings. Sadly, extreme addiction can also result in “meth face” and death. 11 Rhino Horn - $110 per gram A cure to cancer and hangovers are just a couple of the largely unfounded claims of the benefits of this material. It's powdered rhino horn is considered a valuable resource in some countries in Asia. Traditional Chinese medicine also makes use of the powder, although having an intact rhino horn is considered a great way to display conspicuous wealth, considering the relative cost and scarcity of the product. 10 Heroin - $130 per gram Currently, almost 80% of all opium that's used in heroin is sourced in Afghanistan. During the 1990s, Latin America was the biggest source of the drug in the United States. Heroin travels directly to the brain, transforms into morphine and seeks opioid receptors responsible for breathing and other automatic cognitive processes necessary for life. Due to its euphoria-inducing qualities, heroin is one of the most addictive and destructive drugs in the world. 9 Cocaine - $215 per gram Another incredibly addictive and expensive stimulant is cocaine, which is derived mostly in South America from the coca leaf. Part of the value of pure cocaine is the ability to make incredible amounts of profit by cutting it with cheaper substances or freebasing the raw material, turning it into crack cocaine. Due to the short length of the effects of cocaine, addicted users often binge in order to avoid experiencing the negative side effects. 8 Lysergic Acid Diethylamide - $3,000 per gram More commonly known as acid or LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide was discovered by Albert Hoffman in Switzerland in 1938 while attempting to create a substance useful as a psychological remedy. Instead, counter culture gurus such as Timothy Leary suggested that people try it as a method to expand consciousness, resulting in the drug becoming wildly popular in the 1960s. LSD creates powerful hallucinations and can result in a dangerous trip that results in psychological problems as well as serious physical injuries. 7 Plutonium - $4,000 per gram Plutonium is derived from uranium that has been used in nuclear reactions. This element rarely comes into existence through natural processes. Nuclear power plants often use the plutonium from uranium reactions to continue the nuclear process, resulting in more than one-third of nuclear fission energy. 6 6 Painite - $9,000 per gram First discovered in Burma during the 1950s, painite is a rare mineral that features a pinkish, reddish or brown hue. Once known as the rarest mineral in the world, very few specimens of painite exist. Recent discoveries in the Mogok area of Myanmar, however, promise to result in an eventual reduction in its scarcity. 5 Taaffeite Stone - $20,000 per gram Taaffeite stone is another incredibly rare gemstone only recently identified by collectors. The attractive colors of this rare material range from red to purple, although there are less than ten red taaffeite stones known to exist. The amount of taaffeite discovered would fill the volume of approximately half a cup. 4 Tritium - $30,000 per gram Tritium forms naturally when deuterium or nitrogen atoms are bombarded with cosmic radiation, resulting in a hydrogen nucleus with two additional neutrons. As a radioactive form of hydrogen, tritium produces a glow that's useful for self-lit exit signs, gun sights and other illuminated products such as watches. 3 Diamond - $55,000 per gram Long-prized for their beauty and value, diamonds are the most expensive gemstone despite the fact that they're not the rarest on earth. Diamonds form deep under the earth's crust through intense pressure and heat, which transform carbon molecules into the hardest gem on earth. Some diamonds have been dated as far back as 3.2 billion years. The high value of diamonds is, of course, a contentious issue as the resource has been known to be exploited. The mineral is commonly found in certain war-torn areas of Africa, where 'blood diamonds' can be used as bartering material for illegal weaponry. 2 Californium - $27 million per gram Discovered in California in 1950, Californium is a rare earth metal that doesn't occur naturally on the planet. Highly radioactive, one microgram of Californium releases up to 170 million neutron particles every minute, making it extremely toxic to most organic life. Uses of this element include detection of gold, platinum and moisture gauges for oil wells. 1 Antimatter - $6.25 trillion per gram By far the most expensive substance on earth is antimatter, which requires some of the most advanced technology available, such as CERN, in order to create small amounts that are enough for physicists to study. Many people were introduced to the idea of antimatter through science fiction due to its incredibly destructive properties when mixed with regular matter.The terms “big data” and “massive data analytics” likely conjure thoughts of the modern world, of hundreds of millions of tweets or billions of Facebook posts streaming in real time into gleaming data centers filled with blinking lights. Libraries, on the other hand, filled with endless rows of dusty books, are likely not the first thing that comes to mind. Yet, what if we could use libraries to reimagine our past, creating a gallery of all the images from half a millennium of books or creating a 215-year animated map of human history as seen through millions of books? Libraries have reinvented themselves in the digital era and one library in particular, the Internet Archive, stands among the forefront of the big data era. The Archive, most famous for its historical archive of the Internet, today holds more than 23 petabytes of historical data that is growing at a rate of 50-60 terabytes per week. On its servers reside more than 436 billion web pages back to 1996, 750,000 television shows back to 2009, over 100,000 pieces of software dating back 30 years, and over half a billion pages of books dating back 500 years from over 1,000 libraries around the world. It is that last collection, of millions of books dating to the year 1500, that we will explore further here. What would it look like to reimagine the book not as pages of text, but as a global distributed gallery of illustrations, drawings, charts, maps, and photographs that together comprise one of the world’s greatest art collections? In Fall 2013 I approached the Internet Archive with the idea of using computer algorithms to extract every image found on all 600 million pages of their digitized book collection, along with the text surrounding each image and the basic metadata about the book. In just over a month I did precisely that, creating a massive gallery that is slowly being uploaded to Flickr. Browse the archive for yourself on Flickr, where more than 2.5 million of the images are already available, with more added every few weeks. If you’re interested in nature, try searching for “bird” or “butterfly,” or for the more historically-minded, try “railroad” or the “telephone.” Emblem books can be particularly beautiful, with their exquisitely detailed renderings of moral stories and daily life. Suddenly we can look across the centuries of images and create an interactive zoomable montage of 500 years of books, as seen in the image above. Beginning in the upper left with the year 1500 and proceeding by row from left to right and top to bottom, each image represents an illustration from a book published that year. Notice how styles and themes change over time, and the rise of colored prints in the nineteenth century. While books might not seem on the surface like “big data,” the ability to reach across over 1,000 libraries from around the world and make a searchable archive and zoomable collage of centuries of illustrations represents a new way of “seeing” our past. Yet, images show us only one dimension of what all of these books tell us about the world. What if we could turn to massive data mining algorithms once again, but this time have them “read” all of these books and create maps of all the locations mentioned within? Over the last several weeks I have been applying powerful algorithms to process over 3.5 million books English-language books dating back to 1800 from the Internet Archive and HathiTrust (which holds a mirror of portions of Google Books). (I only looked at books back to 1800 since books published prior to that tend to use older spellings and grammatical rules that are too difficult for modern data mining algorithms to understand). My GDELT Project, which is a non-profit initiative supported by Google Ideas to try to catalog and understand the global world using open data, used 160 processors and a terabyte of RAM from Google Cloud over a period of just two weeks to process all 3.5 million English-language books published since 1800 and compute an array of information about each book, from the list of people and organizations mentioned, to millions of themes and thousands of emotions, to a list of locations mentioned. All of this is freely available in Google BigQuery, where you can search 215 years of books in seconds using simple SQL queries. Using online mapping platform CartoDB to visualize the results from BigQuery, I then created the animated map above, showing all locations worldwide mentioned at least 30 times overall in books published each year, from 1800 to present, using the Internet Archive’s American book collection. Click on the map to view the interactive animated version. Watch the Westward expansion of the United States through the nineteenth century or the spread beyond Europe in the twentieth. Keep a close eye on the map as it changes from 1922 to 1923. Notice how the majority of the map suddenly disappears - that’s the copyright era kicking in. Libraries have focused the majority of their digitization efforts on the “public domain” era that runs up to 1922, where the majority of books have expired from copyright. Just a quick glance at this map confirms just how much we are missing about the world from all those books published after 1922, but before the digital era, that have gone out of print, but can’t be digitized because they are still in copyright. You can also compare with the same map compiled from the HathiTrust collection, which is largely a mirror of Google Books. Note that the two are extremely similar, suggesting that our understanding of the past, at least as seen through books, is not heavily influenced by the collection we use in the pre-copyright era. What if instead of trying to map every location from every book, we looked just at the locations mentioned in books about a particular subject? Click on the map above to access an interactive zoomable map of all locations mentioned in the 7,715 Internet Archive books published 1855 to 1875 about the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, or Reconstruction. This map features every location mentioned in those books, so locations elsewhere in the world, especially Europe, are seen on the map, reflecting their contextualization in the discussion of these topics. Yet, as you zoom in, you will notice that the overall contours of the map align closely with the contours of the Civil War and Lincoln’s life. Turning to the 13,684 HathiTrust books published from 1900 to 1920 about World War I (capturing the environment leading to war) using OCLC subject tags, the map below repeats this process, capturing the global extent of the “Great War.” Being able to visualize what was written in the past, the firsthand experiences of historical events as they actually happened, offers us an incredible lens to reexamine our understanding of our history. In particular, it allows us for the first time to compare what was written at the time period with what is written today. In 2012 I collaborated with Silicon Graphics to map world history as seen through the eyes of Wikipedia, using the same approach to identify textual mentions of location in Wikipedia articles and associate them with the nearest date reference. Locations mentioned with respect to a given year are showcased together on the map, with all locations appearing together in an article being linked and the color of each point/line being the average emotion of all mentions of that location or pair of locations within that year, from bright green (highly positive) to bright red (highly negative). Since Wikipedia is a modern encyclopedia of the world, it offers us the incredible ability to compare for the first time our present understanding of the past with what was really said at the time. As more and more of our history is digitized and preserved, the past will compete with the present as a source of “big data” and we will be able to apply the incredible tools of the modern era to reimagine how we understand the world around us and how we got where we are today.Nestopia UE Nestopia is a portable NES/Famicom emulator written in C++. Nestopia UE (Undead Edition) is a fork of the original source code, with enhancements from members of the emulation community. This includes support for new platforms, and bug fixes in the emulator core. News Platforms Nestopia UE officially supports: Linux FreeBSD OpenBSD NetBSD Windows macOS A libretro port is also available. Download/Source Code Windows Binaries If you're a Windows user, download the win32 build: 1.49 win32 Linux and BSD Binaries The following distributions have packages available: Arch Linux Debian FreeBSD OpenBSD Rosa Desktop Fresh Slackware (Slackbuilds) Ubuntu Void Linux Source Code If you want a source tarball, download it here: Download 1.49 If you're brave or crazy, download the master branch: Download master Git Clone This is the best way to get the latest source code: git clone git://github.com/0ldsk00l/nestopia To update your source tree later: git pull origin Changelog ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1.49 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Shell: Additions: - Added more palettes to extras - Game-specific custom palettes - Scale factors up to 8x - Added option to enable overclocking - Added rewind controls to gamepad - Famicom Mic support - Optional JACK Audio support (McKayJT) - Added.wav sample loading Changes: - Separated GTK+ and SDL input settings - Removed deprecated functions from UI - Use GTK+ OpenGL widget for GUI (Wayland support) - Reworked Alternate Speed/Fast-Forward - Allow mapping more than 9 joysticks (Lou-Cipher) - Restructured build system, separated SDL and GTK builds - Cursor options split int normal and special cursor options Fixes: - Fixed automatic ROM patching, improved patching function (hugoarpin) libretro: Additions: - Add support for multiline cheats and raw cheats (iLag) - Add adapter autoselect using NstDatabase.xml (hunterk) - Famicom Mic support - Cheevos ram access support (meepingsnesroms) - Add.wav sample loading Fixes: - Fixed heap corruption bug with crosshair (Arto Vainiolehto) - Fixed black screen when non-existent custom palette is selected - Fixed crosshair and overscan with blargg filter Core: Additions: - Added support for overclocking (meepingsnesroms) Fixes: - Fixed NSF and FDS in Dendy mode (Eugene.S) - Fixed coding mistake in PPU (zeromus) - Modified submappers for VRC2/VRC4 games (GeneralFailer) - Fixed compilation error in SetRamPowerState (Arto Vainiolehto) - Fix for McAcc games (joepogo) Origins Nestopia was written by Martin Freij, and ported to Linux by R. Belmont. The new cross-platform port is maintained by me.This is said to be the best Castlevania for the NES and I do agree with that for once. It’s probably the most complete Castlevania for the 8-bit console. I wouldn’t say otherwise because there isn’t much competition to begin with. You have a humble first game and a total turn around in the sequel. Finally, Konami releases a nice gem to finish off the series before moving to the SNES. Anyways, this game kicks ass in many different ways! The Castlevania series has always been a hit because of their wonderful sound scores. It doesn’t matter which game you are playing, you’ll familiarize yourself with the music in no time. The tunes on this game are no different. They are amazing and memorable. The music motivates you to get through the level and find that evil fiend Dracula. Hands down! The graphics are one of the best for the NES. They are as detailed as they can get. You can’t get much for the 8-bit console but then again, some of the most memorable games are for this same console. The game will be a joy for your retro loving eyes. The gameplay is one of the best. The game will challenge you along the way but you’ll have new allies to help you as well. Be sure to know the basics and be able to balance your team in order to get through the game. The controls are very responsive and don’t disappoint. Difficulty has always been a factor on Castlevania games. Konami did a great job at balancing the difficulty level. You won’t find it impossible but it won’t be an easy ride! The game is always great to come back to and play on such holidays as Halloween. It’s a classic and classic ultimately mean that you can come back and enjoy it time and again! Ready to hunt for vampires again? [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiW-vy0ZdAA[/youtube] The game itself is a perfect addition for your collection. You can’t say much of the negative side of the game because there isn’t much. Maybe trying to fuse the Castlevania 2 features within the game would’ve revolutionized it although other games did it already (Faxanadu, Zelda 2) But it definitely would’ve been welcomed. Hits: 48By John Denton Jan. 7, 2014 PORTLAND – The day after suffering a scary, head-first fall to the floor in Los Angeles the night before, Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic rested in his hotel room while battling a headache and the effects of a concussion. Vucevic accompanied the Magic for their flight to Portland late Monday night, but he was not allowed to join his teammates to practice at the Moda Center on Tuesday. He’ll likely be away from the team for a significant period of time after suffering his second concussion in the past 10 months. Your browser does not support iframes. Vucevic jumped to block a shot attempt in the third quarter of Monday’s 101-81 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers only to have his legs knocked out from under him by Clippers’ power forward Blake Griffin. He landed with the side of his head striking the floor first. Vucevic was down on the floor for several minutes but never lost consciousness. He walked slowly to the bench and then back to the Magic locker room where team doctors diagnosed him with a concussion. Vucevic said in a text message on Tuesday that he was dealing with ``just a headache’’ and he added, ``I haven’t seen the fall yet. I don’t really want to see it. … I’m resting now and hopefully I’ll be OK soon so I can get back out there.’’ The Magic (10-24) will now have to try and carry on without their standout center for an extended period of time. They are 0-6 this season in games that Vucevic has missed because of injuries. That doesn’t include the three games that Vucevic left early because of injuries – all losses – and games in which the Magic struggled to score just 80, 81, and 81 points. In the past, Orlando has started veteran Jason Maxiell at center and he played well last Thursday in Cleveland with three blocked shots. Orlando can also use Glen ``Big Baby’’ Davis and Kyle O’Quinn at the center position. Your browser does not support iframes. The challenge of playing without Vucevic begins Tuesday night in Portland against a Trail Blazers (26-8) team that is just a game out of first place in the rugged Western Conference. LaMarcus Aldridge, who ranks sixth in the NBA in scoring (23.3 ppg.) and rebounding (11.1 rpg.), will present major low-post challenges for the Magic. ``I’m certain that our guys will muster the energy and effort to play without Nik,’’ said Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said Tuesday. ``They will miss him, but they know that it’s a part of the job to be ready.’’ Monday’s game was Vucevic’s first back after missing the previous two games with an ankle that he’s injured twice this season. The hope was that his return and his ability to defend and rebound in the post would steady a Magic team in need of some consistency. Vucevic is averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds and has a team-best 16 double-doubles. The Magic got a good look at Vucevic’s injury as it happened right in front of their bench on Monday night. He was unable to break his fall as his arm was pinned underneath him and the side of his head was the first thing to hit the floor. ``It was tough to see him go down because Nik is a big part of our team and he does a lot for our team,’’ Davis said. ``We’re going to miss him. Hopefully he’ll be back to help us out soon.’’ Added Vaughn: ``The replay I had was a little blocked. It was weird because he didn’t jump that high but Blake went toward the bucket, so that’s what elevated (his legs) and got him in a position to get hurt. I saw it happening before he even hit his head on the floor. So my immediate reaction was, `I hope he’s OK.’ I saw it in slow motion a little bit. He’ll be OK.’’ Vucevic suffered a concussion on March 19 of last season following a hit by 7-foot-2 Indiana center Roy Hibbert. He didn’t return to the Magic lineup again until March 30. Your browser does not support iframes. Because of his diagnosis, Vucevic now falls under the NBA’s concussion protocol. According to the guidelines of the protocol, a player who has suffered a concussion can’t have any physical exertion until he is completely symptom free when he is resting and until the results of a neurological test shows no difference from the results of the mandatory test he took before the season. The player is not allowed to play in a game again until he passes a series of physical tests that require increasing levels of exertion. The tests are slowly increased from riding a stationary bike, jogging, agility work and non-contact drills. The player must be symptom free after each step and if the symptoms return, he must be stopped until the symptoms end. Then, he must begin again at the last step he passed without any symptoms. After the player, Vucevic in this matter, passes all the tests, his team’s doctor must consult with physician, Jeffrey Kutcher, the director of the league’s concussion program before the player is cleared to play. ``Our staff, like always, we want our guys to be comfortable and 100 percent when they get back on the floor,’’ Vaughn said. ``That will be the motive with any decision that we have.’’ Your browser does not support iframes.The Orioles confirmed today that Brian Graham has been named director of player development. He previously served as coordinator of minor league instruction. The club also confirmed the hiring of former Red Sox farm director Kent Qualls as director of minor league operations. John Stockstill will remain as director of player personnel, but the Orioles confirmed that he also will now oversee international and domestic professional scouting. Graham spent six years as the Pirates’ director of player development. The organization was recognized by Topps Baseball as having the best developmental system in baseball back in 2002. The Pirates had 54 players reach the majors who came up through their system during Graham’s time on the job, including current Orioles Nate McLouth and Steve Pearce, former Orioles Jose Bautista and Michael Gonzalez, Andrew McCutchen, Rajai Davis, Nyjer Morgan, Sean Burnett, Zach Duke and Tom Gorzelanny. “I’ve been fortunate to be a major league coach, a minor league manager at every level, to have been a coordinator and a farm director. I’ve been an interim GM for a major league team. But director of player development is the job I love,” Graham said. “I think it fits my skill set, it fits my personality. It’s an all-encompassing job. It’s 24/7. You have responsibilities for every area of the developmental system and it’s a job I love. “Player development and scouting will work very closely together. They’ll have very strong ties. It has to be that way for us to be successful. In player development, we feel strongly that we will be an extension of Buck Showalter and Buck’s staff. That’s something else that’s a necessity to be successful as an organization. “I feel really good about the direction we’re going in.” Here’s the press release issued by the Orioles this afternoon: Kent Qualls has been named Director of Minor League Operations, where he will oversee the business operations of the Player Development Department. Qualls served as Boston’s Director of Player Development for four years (1998-2001) and their Director of Baseball Operations for one year (2002) during his eight-years with the Red Sox. He spent eight years (1987-1994) as the Director of Minor League Operations for the Montreal Expos (1987-1994) and spent the past 10 years as Director ofthe Dan Duquette Sports Academy in Hinsdale, Massachusetts. Brian Graham has been promoted from Coordinator of Minor League Instruction to Director of Player Development. Graham is entering his 32nd year in professional baseball and sixth in the Orioles organization. Prior to joining the Orioles, Graham spent six seasons as the Senior Director of Player Development for the Pittsburgh Pirates and served as interim General Manager for the Pirates in 2007. Graham has major league coaching experience with the Orioles (2000) and Cleveland Indians (1998-1999). As a minor league manager in the Indians’ system, Graham managed eight consecutive playoff teams, compiling a 704-491 (.589) record, and his clubs finished above.500 nine consecutive years. As Director of Player Personnel, John Stockstill will now also oversee International and Domestic Professional Scouting. Since joining the Orioles in December of 2005, Stockstill has served as the Director of Player Personnel, Director of Player Development and Director of International Scouting. Prior to joining the Orioles, Stockstill spent 19 years in various scouting roles with the Chicago Cubs (1987-2005), including a stint as their Director of Scouting from 2000-2005. Note: Qualls will speak at the Shorebirds Hot Stove Banquet on Saturday. Executive vice president Dan Duquette had to cancel because he’s attending the memorial service for Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver in Davie, Fla.The United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that the US IHR National Focal Point has informed it of the third laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the country. Incidentally, the latest case is the first confirmed case of the disease being transmitted within the country. In the previous two cases, patients had flown into the US after getting infected outside the nation. Both of them were working in Saudi Arabia when they were infected. As part of the investigation of contacts of the first confirmed case, testing for MERS-CoV was undertaken on contacts. WHO said a contact of the first case initially tested negative for MERS-CoV by PCR based on respiratory tract samples taken 10 days after contact with the first case. "However, on May 16, this contact tested positive for antibodies for MERS-CoV in a blood sample taken 14 days after contact. Currently, this individual is asymptomatic. He is a male in his 70s with comorbidities and has no history of travel to countries outside the United States," the UN agency added. The antibody test result suggests this individual may have been infected with MERS-CoV; however, he does not meet WHO's current definition of a laboratory confirmed case of MERS-CoV, which requires positive PCR tests. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause a range of ailments from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which became an epidemic in 2003. The virus could be transmitted between people in close and prolonged contact. The sources of infection for the new coronavirus are still unclear. The deadly Novel Coronavirus (NCoV) strain, recently renamed MERS-CoV, reflects the fact that most of the reported cases are from that region, mainly Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, France, Germany, Jordan, Italy, the Netherlands, Tunisia and the United Kingdom have also reported laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infections. Those patients were either transferred there for care of the disease or returned from the Middle East and subsequently became ill. For comments and feedback contact: [email protected] Business News39.8K Shares NEWARK, NJ – Patient Deborah Skemp woke up today at 6:30 a.m. during rounds by her physician Dr. Waters. He asked her the usual morning questions that one would ask for a typical abdominal pain admission: “How was your pain last night?” Skemp replied, “Oh, just terrible!” Since “terrible” isn’t a coding measure, Dr. Waters asked, “If you had to rate your pain on a pain scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain of your life, what would you rate it?” This is where Dr. Waters made a horrendous mistake. “I’d rate it a 10,” the patient that was asleep 7 minutes ago responded. Dr. Waters rephrased the description of the pain scale. “So, a 10 would be similar to the time you gave birth. A 4 or 5 is about where most people start feeling uncomfortable and ask for pain medicine.” He then asked the patient, who was confused about the pain scale being in base 2 instead of base 10, about the pain medication she had received. “They haven’t really helped. I’m still a 10,” the patient who wasn’t in active labor responded. “I have a really high pain tolerance, but I need more medication.” Skemp, allergic to many pain medications except for Dilaudid, was still on IV narcotics for pain. “To put it differently, a 10 would be if someone was literally on fire. They couldn’t physically be in any more pain, the maximum amount of pain possible. Every inch of their body… in flames… with several knives jabbed in their side,” Dr. Waters said waving his hands around his body signifying where the flames would be if he himself were on fire. “Yes, like I said I’m in 10/10 in pain. I usually have a high pain tolerance but nothing except for Dilaudid works for me,” the patient whose heart rate was 56 bpm, respiratory rate 16, and BP 123/78, pleaded with her doctor. Dr. Waters told the patient, who had not yet spontaneously combusted that her scans were negative except for the severe constipation finding likely from the opioid pain medications. “Doc, I can’t go home. I’m allergic to that hydrocodeine. Also can you pass me my food tray, I’m starving. I hope the eggs aren’t too runny.” Dr. Waters was later seen logging onto monster.com, with his username “Killmenow.”One-year-old Sparkles couldn’t reach her water bowl. The pit bull was tied to a wooden box, or a hot box, in February outside a Riviera Beach home, Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control officials said. She was slowly starving to death, a veterinarian determined. The man tasked with caring for her, David Hayes, was arrested Tuesday on animal-cruelty charges, jail records show. The 30-year-old was released from the Palm Beach County Jail later that day on a $3,000 bond. Hayes was cited in March for failing to provide proper care for Sparkles, records show, and this month a judge signed a warrant for his arrest on animal-cruelty charges. See who was recently booked into the Palm Beach County Jail Hayes told officials his cousin’s girlfriend brought over the pit bull without his permission about a week before investigators arrived at his home. He refused to provide officials with contact information for either his cousin or the woman, records show. Hayes said the dog was thin when the woman left her. He admitted the dog had been losing weight, but assured officials he’d been feeding her and planned to take her to a veterinarian that day. Hayes agreed to surrender Sparkles to county Animal Care and Control, records show. A veterinarian said the dog had hookworms, which can be easily treated with over-the-counter medication. The parasite lives in the small intestines and affects the dog’s appetite. Officials noted that Sparkles ate and drank well in their care. She steadily gained weight and was adopted in April by a family in Greenacres, records show. About a week later the dog was found running loose. Animal Care and Control contacted her adopted family, who chose not to reclaim her. She was adopted by a family in Royal Palm Beach in June, but surrendered in late October after she bit the owner while he was trying to protect the family’s other dog from her. The family told Animal Care and Control the dog was friendly with people but not good with other dogs. The dog, who was renamed Coco, couldn’t be put back into the adoption program and was euthanized Nov. 8, officials said. Hayes was the subject of an animal-cruelty investigation in 2008, according to his most recent arrest report. Three dogs reportedly were tethered to trees in his yard without access to water. During the investigation, though, Hayes and the dogs disappeared, an official noted. Hayes also is facing drug-possession charges in an incident in late February, court records show. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.The European Union (EU) is years away from implementing a consistent framework for cryptocurrency regulation, according to a new report by the SWIFT Institute. The report notes the lack of convincing arguments to include virtual currencies under the EU’s current legal frameworks, set by the revised Directive on Payment Services (PSD2) and the fourth European anti-money laundering directive (AMLD4). The PSD2, adopted in the EU in October this year, consists of a new set of consumer payment protection rules, which seek to promote the development and use of innovative online and mobile payments. Meanwhile, the AMLD4 has been produced in line with recommendations issued by Financial Action Task Force (FAFT) in 2012 to enhance the EU’s AML (Anti Money Laundering) and CTF (Counter-Terrorist Financing) laws. The report reads: ” … recent legislative procedures – such as those for the AMLD4 and PSD2 – have not paid sufficient attention to this development, thus leaving virtual currencies largely untouched. While the AMLD4 could be construed to extend to virtual currencies, the precise degree to which will succeed in deterring their abuse for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes remains to be seen.” “Third, future legislation – such as the potential EMD3 – remains a development to be watched closely,” notes the report, adding: “However, in order for a potential new legislative framework regarding e-money to extend to virtual currencies, a more fundamental reconfiguration of the very notion of e-money is needed.” With multipurpose prepaid cards having lost the field and network-based money services coming closer and closer to being payment services, the original purposes of the e-money framework are quickly losing their relevance, it argues. “A reorientation toward virtual currencies could then bring new life to this notion, and extend the legal framework to include recent developments such as cryptocurrencies,” says the report. The SWIFT Institute, which was set up by SWIFT to fund independent research, has separately embarked on research campaigns aimed at bitcoin and blockchain technology, launching a grant in July of last year. The new working paper aims to offer recommendations for financial practitioners and regulators, according to the organization. International approach The report then looks at the way in which virtual currency regulation has been approached by stakeholders in the US. “[In the US], financial regulators have already undertaken efforts at bringing certain virtual currency service providers – mainly the virtual currency exchanges – under the existing legal frameworks regarding money services business,” explains the report. Although these attempts first started at the federal level, the report notes, they are now finding their way to the state-level in New York – which introduced the BitLicense – and California. Further, the report notes that there is an opportunity for international cooperation to regulate cryptocurrencies
HDD. To ascertain the performance increases from the removal of the old storage bottleneck, I ran some benchmarks. The following table consists of fast-travel loading times from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I ran the tests 5 times and averaged the resulting times. All calculations were made in Excel. Fast Travel Locations Internal HDD External SSHD % Reduction Upper Mill to Heirarch Square 39.88 21.88 45% Heirarch Square to Royal Palace in Vizima 29.96 16.20 46% Royal Palace in Vizima to Kaer Morhen 30.83 17.52 43% Kaer Morhen to Bridge to Kaer Trolde 59.86 39.93 33% Reload Save After Jumping from Bridge to Kaer Trolde 1:07.46 40.10 41% The average load time reduction is 42%, nearly cutting wait time in half. Loading between fast travel points that are much closer together is near instant. There are many other noticeable improvements as well: many games use a progressive asset loading algorithm that loads meshes and textures based on distance from the player to cut down memory constraints. This practice can lead to low-quality placeholders showing while higher-quality assets are decompressed. The new storage alleviates this quite well; I have not noticed any of this occurring in Witcher 3 since installation. For less than $100, the new drive and dock make an incredibly cost-effective solution to the memory bottleneck.For a second year, anglers will not be allowed to keep any Atlantic salmon caught in the Maritimes. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Hunter Tootoo announced the conservation measure Wednesday. In a release, the department said the decision to extend the policy was made after consultation with scientists and the public. They said scientific data showed the lowest returns on record of Atlantic salmon in many rivers in the Gulf region over the past five years. The waters under the catch and release order include all the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence adjacent to the eastern coast of New Brunswick, the Northumberland Strait coast of Nova Scotia and western Cape Breton Island, as well as all of Prince Edward Island. In 2014, the number of salmon returning to the Miramichi River in New Brunswick was about 12,000, which is about half the number recorded annually over the previous three years. That prompted the 2015 restriction by then Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea. At that time it was hoped one year would be enough to improve salmon numbers.David McKalip — the Florida neurosurgeon and healthcare reform opponent who sent a racist email showing President Obama dressed as a witch doctor with a loin cloth and a bone through his nose, which was posted yesterday by TPMmuckraker — has apologized directly to the president. Through a P.R. representative, McKalip put out the following statement: DR. DAVID MCKALIP SENDS APOLOGY DIRECTLY TO PRESIDENT OBAMA McKalip apologizes for sending insensitive image via e-mail St. Petersburg, FL (July 23, 2009) – David McKalip, M.D., brain and spine neurosurgeon of St. Petersburg has never been shy in expressing where he stands regarding President Barack Obama’s health-care reform. Despite McKalip’s position on health system reform, he sends a sincere apology for a forwarded image of President Obama in an e-mail depicting the president in Papua New Guinean tribal garb with a logo beneath it saying, “Obama Care.” “I genuinely regret the decision I made in passing this e-mail message along. Directly to President Obama, I sincerely apologize for offending him. This was, in no way whatsoever, my intention. The image has nothing to do with my feelings or thoughts on any race or culture. I recognize that this image is offensive and hope that the nation refocuses on assuring all Americans have access to high-quality, affordable health care with no party interfering in the patient-physician relationship. My intention is to focus directly on the issue at hand, which is putting financial and decision-making power into the hands of patients and taking it from government and insurance companies,” said McKalip. The image forwarded was from a long chain of e-mails and not created by McKalip. Late Update: It’s worth noting that McKalip wasn’t always so contrite in his response to the flap.video It was not the first time that the youths had decided over the hot line to meet at Fridhemsplan [a major central intersection and metro station]. This is how it sounded in an article in Aftonbladet the 9th of September. The new amusement for young people in Stockholm is impromtu group conversation by phone. You dial a number without subscriber. Between the beeps of Televerket (the state telecommuncations authority and public telecoms company) and the automatic voice “please dial…” up to 15 people can simultaneously talk and shout to each other. Here’s how it sounded at 8:30 in the morning on number 08 13 00 20: Beep beep beep beeeeep… Please dial 90 120 for information… (A murmur of voices, hello, hello, is Goran there?) (Girls voice:) Is there any boy on the line? (Boy:) Yes, me! Are you the one they call “Klark Gabble” Sure Oh, is there no one else? I’m also called Clark Gable… (Other boys voice:) Goran! Oh knock it off, ther is no Goran (Girl:) So where are you from? (Clark Gable:) Enköping. Are you going to Fridhemsplan tonight? Well, I don’t know. (Beep beep beep beeeeep… Please dial…) (AB820909) But already a few weeks later the number of youths had exploded. Social networks and rumors, like viruses, spread exponentially. One tells another. They tell two more. The four become 8, then 16, 32, 64 and so on and so forth. Not only that. Along the way they may also encounter a true hub, an extremely well-connected supernode. That’s when the spreading completely explodes. Such a thing must have happened between the 9th of September and the 17th of September that we now move to. A beutiful autumn evening in September 1982 a few dozen motley attired young people gathered at Fridhemsplan: ordinary schoolchildren, no organized motorcycle gangs. Neither the city’s few punks and anarchists were represented except by a few delegates. Continously new youths arrive from the depth of the underground metro station. No one knew where they came from and what their intentions were. The didn’t seemed to demonstrate for or against anything. They just stood there in loosely connected groups, talking to each other. Hans-Magnus Enzensberger Their numbers soon reached a thousand people. Nothing like this had ever been seen: uncontrollable, yet so calm. Perhaps they had a secret plan? Maybe they were under the influence of something? Maybe they were looking for trouble? The police though it was better to be safe than sorry and decided to disperse the crowd. They were everywhere, says Commissioner Kjell Andersson. On the roof of the bus shelter and the election booths, in the trees and the power lines. But they scattered when we arrived. (EX820918) Instead, the crowd move to the nearby Rålambshovs park without marching order, without slogans, without predetermined plan. The youths gather on top of the footbridge at the park, the police close behind. A tense situation arise. Someone throws a bottle. That triggers the police to enter. Fifty police officers with riot gear and dogs move in to in to disperse the crowd. The youths start to throw rocks, beer cans and bottles from the footbridge. Commissioner Kjell Andersson later describes it as if “it was some sort of mass psychosis. More and more people started throwing things”. (EX820918) People were hit by batons, bruising occured. Some claimed they had been bitten by dogs. Four policemen were injured by flying objects. Ten youths were taken into custody and had to be picked up by their parents. By 22 o’clock, the youths had dispersed and everything went back to normal. Following Day Reactions The day after this headline shows up in Aftonbladet: “Hot Line fans fight with police” (Soccer hooligans was probably the only street violance that they were aware about…). The teenagers, most of them between 14-18 years of age, didn’t know each other […] They had come into contact through the “hot line” – the new craze that through the misstake of Televerket allows an unlimited number of people to be connected to the same telephone line. (AB820918) The rumor goes that Televerket are going to shut down the hot line. “We sign protest lists against Televerket. Where should you now be able to get into contact with each other? says Sanna Norelid, 16, from Djursholm [a rich suburb] and she was eagerly supported by her unknown comrades who fought they way forward to sign the lists.” (AB820918) Indeed, commissioner Kjell Andersson fears new riots. “Now we fear what will happen tonight, says Kjell Andersson. If there are new riots with stones-throwing we have to ensure that Televerket stops the “hot line” immediately”. (EX820918) Svenska dagbladet notes that this was not the only event of its kind with a short notice the day after: Several large gangs roamed around Stockholm on Friday evening and caused the police great concerns. Several youths were arrested, including in the Rålambshovs park where they indulged in throwing rocks on the police. At the Norrmalm police the detention was almost packed already at 22 in the evening. Large gangs also ravaged in Gärdet, on Lidingö, on Ekerö and on Bromstensfältet. (SVD820918). Also Expressen acknowledges that it was a messy weekend. Youths have been seen “flipping over cars, breaking windows and burning election posters in Stockholm City”. At a rock concert in Sergels Torg (the central square) the youths gathered posters and set them on fire. When the police came to arrest them their friends attacked and tried to free them (EX820920). The youths acted as if possessed by something… After the initital reactions the news about the incident drown in two major events. On Sunday, the headlines are covered by the massacres in Sabra och Shantila in Lebanon that cost almost 1000 lives. On Monday, the news flow is dominated by the electoral victory of Olof Palme that marks the end of the Social Democrats six years as an opposition party. The Establishment of an Official Line However, a small notice on the front page of DN on Sunday says: “Slutringt på heta linjen” (No more calls on the hot line). Further into the paper we learn that Televerket has called in twenty experts that are going to shut down the numbers used for the hot line. The extra personell follows directly on a visit from the police that demanded an end to the calls. The telecoms authority explain how the hot line works: “The hot line” is actually many lines. It is subscriptions that has ended but where ther is a reference tone and the message; please dial 90 120 for information. Televerket has be generous and let the reference remain several years after the subscription moved or cancelled, says Bengt Källsson. All lines that are not used are connected to a special equipment where the lines are put in parallell and an answering machine has been plugged in. When several people call a number that has ceased they can speak or shout [sic!] to each other. (DN820919) DN explains further how the youths came across the numbers: The current phone numbers are spread with lightning speed. Often the youths share the phone numbers when they talk on the hot line. An 18-year-old boy told DN on Friday evening that he had a list of 60 numbers that went to hot lines. (DN820919) There’s our supernode… However, Televerket are not so heartless that they just shut down the lines. They understand after all that there is a social need, particularly for “old, sick and disabled”. Instead they will explore the possibilities of organizing “serious group calls”. (DN820919). An official number is eventually established, but under different house rules. Only 5 people are allowed to talk simultaneously and then only 5 minutes at a time. Presumable the police also have a ear on the wire on Friday evenings. In this way, a social need can be fulfilled without for that matter having unforseen events occuring in the city on the weekends. The official line later turn into private hot lines that still today can be sighted in small newspapers ads. The private lines hasn’t caused much fuss, although many certainly have fond childhood memories of them. The only controversy that arose in recent years was a murder in Malmö in the 90’s where two men had decided to meet over the hot line and one killed the other. But this time, no one got the idea to blame the medium. Instead, the individuals psychologic orientation and homophobic motives were seen as the cause. The Great Compromise The quotes in the beginning of this text are from Hans-Magnus Enzensbergers “Swedish Autumn”, one of the few longer accounts of the events and taken from the philosophers book “Europe, Europe” where he travels around seven European countries and captures the zeitgeist. The hot line riot and its consequences is looked upon by him as a sign of a typical Swedish relationship to the state and trust in social institutions. He is amazed by the discovery of a new mass medium, what he considers to be a “social innovation of the first order”. It’s hardy possible to use modern communication technology more intelligently. I don’t know if the city of Stockholms awards a cultural prize. If it does, then the unknown discoverers of the “hot line” have done more to deserve it than all the aspiring performance artists in the kingdom. That should be clear even to the higly paid experts whom for decades have bored audiences with their troubled statements on the aimlessness, weak motivation and anomie of current youth. The reaction from society was as we know not a prize, but an attack by the police. Enzensberger as German is of course no stranger to violent police action, but still says: In the Rålambshovs park there was no illegal squatting; there were no masked faces or molotov cocktails, just a few hundred young people who wanted to talk to each other. Their crime was simply that they had not called upon any of the resposible institutions available for this purpose. If they had applied to the appropriate office with a request to organize a meeting place for aimless, weakly motivated, anomic young people, they would have been met with sibsidies instead of police truncheons. Crowds of social workers, youth counselors and community art workers would have descended on them to help them achieve socially desirable forms of communication. And indeed, the institutionalization of the hot line arrives, where both Televerket and the police are pulling the strings. A delegation of youths from the hot line meet Televerket and arrive satisfied with the insurance that the youths will get their own “hot line” from the telecoms authority. Enzensberger: The logic of state intervention is quite clear: first the stick, then the carrot. The social imagination and independent initiative of the young people are crushed in a kind of pinchers movement – repression on the one hand and the state’s embrace on the other. And from that moment on the police dogs can remain in their kennel. The sheep that has found its way back into the fold encounters only helpfulness and understanding. According to Enzensberger the Swedes think of their institutions as an alien but benevolent power. Clearly, it was unfortunate this thing with the police dogs and the batons, but they just didn’t understand. As soon as the youth delegation had explained they realized that there was a legitimate social need. In this way a “moral immunity” emerges around the institutions where only one with “evil intent” would get the idea to resist their power. Once inside the institutions there is only warmth and helpfulness, life is simple and everything works. Out in the cold you not only risk harm but also that any fun you’re up to can be shut down. The Power of Media Enzensbergers sociological analysis in all glory, but the most interesting theory was still the one developed by the Swedish police. There, all so-called social explanations are completely absent. Here the blame is not put on lack of youth centers, the dismantling of the wellfare state or the individualistic culture of capitalism. No inherent logic in Swedish society has contributed to these stray youth gangs. To the Swedish police there were no doubt that the hot line had caused the riot. Not only that, the police believe that the bug in the phone system also explains why in recent times “very large young gangs have emerged in Stockholm” that often has led to vandalism and fights with the police (SVD820920). If only the hot line, this mass psychosic inducing medium, is shut down, the youths will most likely calm down. Not since the German media theorist Friedrich Kittler claimed that the “so-called man” is only a function of the contemporary technical mediastandards has anyone taken the power of media so seriously. Similar conclusions is also drawn in similar debates arising in the 80’s. Kung-fu flicks cause the riots in Kungsträdgården and W.A.S.P causes satanist suicide cults. And of course the Rave Commission and their fight against repetetive hypnotic rythms the following decade. However, I don’t want to dismiss these moral panics to easily. That would be to deny the transformative effect of new media. Sure, everything calms down after a while when society have gotten used to them, but that is only the dust settling after a great battle where social dynamics and power structures have already been altered. How many wouldn’t, like me, have had very different lives if not the internet got in the way sometime during adolescence and opened up whole new worlds? It was almost like a mass psychosis but in a positive sense. The hot line is also an espacially interesting case since it redrew the social networks within a limited urban area. The hot line forms a social sphere that cuts right across schools, regions, classes and center-perifery relations that otherwise divide social groups from each other. A World on Their own What the hot line, the riots in Kungsträdgården (when there still wasn’t any surveillence cameras in the city) and at least the early internet have in common is that they all create a social sphere where mostly young people create communities with their own norms and social behaviors, without transparency for either regulatory institutions or social workers – a social sphere that gives the possibility to restart a whole new life instead of the one handed down through social heritage. Long before Facebook and Gooogle gave direct access to their users personal data to intelligence agencies and long before FRA plugged in their cables and copied all Swedish internet traffic to their databases, the internet was also that kind of social space. Before web pages and even internet service providers existed anyone with a phone modem and a computer could call up another computer and exchange information. Thanks to clever phone hacks that made international long distance calls completely free this developed into a global social network long before Carl Bildt in 1994 sent the first email between heads of state to Bill Clinton. For Kittler it is our media that determine the boundaries of what we can experience and imagine. But this has nothing to do with the content of the media, which he just as McLuhan more or less ignores. It is not the content of novels, movies or philosophical manifestos that exhibit new worlds that inspire to action. For him, it is instead the technical structure of the media that set the boundaries – which connections and messages it allows or filters away, who can transmit, receive or overhear. New media creates new possibilities of communication and social groupings that draw new borders between participant and outsider. Comparisson with Net Politics Apart from Enzensberger account, references to the event is scarce, despite it having such a unique character. The only mention I find online is the blog Mothugg that read Enzensbergers text in 2011 and correctly pointed out that the story of the hot line riot is very reminiscent of todays discussions about net politics – “long before terms such as flash mobs, phreaking, hacktivism, social media, or for that matter, net politics became public property of the Swedish language”. Also the tactic of taking something free, shutting it down and making an official version of it has recently been termed “spotification”. A contemporary news item about the incident might have been as follows: Net politics: A flashmob that occured through social media ended up in a confrontation with the police on Friday evening. The police suspects that a group of phreakers are behind the hacker attack against the telephone system that enabled the anonymous metting place where the event was created. The police fear that there is a risk that the anonymous network can be used for organized crime and therefor intends to shut it down. Monday the 17th of September it is 30 years since the hot line riots. This text is yet another version based on my research into the Hot Line riot of 17th of September 1982. Earlier versions consists of an article in Arbetaren Kultur and a presentation at Make All at the Technical Museum in Stockholm on the 18th of August. The research is to a large extent based on an analysis on newspapers on microfilm from those days. Those who want to read the scanned newspapers I refer to can do so here. I also want to thank Kugg and Linusfor helping out with the research. Part 1 and 2 plus the TV4 Nyhetermorgon related feature of my research, available in swedish. :)Asus’s followup to the popular Eee Pad Transformer tablet maybe be set for a launch early next month. The LambdaTek Component Shop currently lists the Asus Eee Pad Transformer 2, referred to as model number TF201-1I020A, for £537.85 including VAT. Other details on the retailer’s site are limited, though the Transformer 2 listing mentions a quad-core Tegra 3 processor from NVIDIA, 32GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, a 10.1-inch display and Android 3 Honeycomb. LambdaTek also lists an in-stock date of November 7th, suggesting we might finally see an official unveiling in the coming weeks. Asus CEO Jerry Shen reportedly said recently that the Eee Pad Transformer 2 will launch by year-end and will retail for $499, about 40% below the slate’s listed price on LambdaTek’s website. [Via Tabletowo.pl] Read“There are too many people on too little land” says BBC presenter David Attenborough. “Every which way you look at it, a planet of 10 billion looks like a nightmare” says Stephen Emmott. The “population explosion” is a threatening concept for many. Why should the world feed ever more people and threaten its own existence? Farmland and water are scarce, world temperatures are rising, and environmental problems of modern agriculture are a threat for world ecosystems. Are we naïve to aim for reducing poverty and eliminating hunger? Was Malthus right in his gloomy theory that population would grow at a geometric rate while the food supply grows at an arithmetic rate? Overpopulation is an appealing emotional concept for many. With refugees, poverty, malnutrition, and hunger broadcast onto televisions around the world every day, emotional pictures are more convincing than facts. However, population explosion is a myth. Today, we have 7.3 billion people. In 2050, we will have around 9 billion, and in 2100 the world population will possibly reach its peak with about 10-11 billion people. This implies an actual annual population increase of less than 1 percent with a tendency to fall to zero by 2100. World fertility patterns tend to change due to rising income, and that is what might facilitate that drop to zero percent growth. With rising income food consumption patterns also change. Calorie intakes of poor and rich people are surprisingly similar, but rich people consume more protein.This adds about a further 1 percent growth to food demand which means that the world will need to produce approximately two percent more food annually if today’s poor become rich. Will we be able to sustainably supply that extra two percent? The answer is most likely yes. Let’s run through some numbers of food production and consumption. The world produces about 2.5 billion tons of cereals at present. A person needs a little more than 500 grams a day in grain-based diets, or 200 kilograms per year, which would be equivalent to one ton of cereals for a family of five. If we consider that the family would become richer and shift its consumption patterns to include more milk, meat, and eggs, it would need more cereals because animals would need to be partly fed with cereals. If we consider a grain-based diet with an already-moderate consumption of protein, current world cereals production could feed more than 10 billion people if distributed well. The growth of supply needed for the future—about 2 percent annually—has to come mainly from available farmland to avoid an overly negative impact on fragile ecosystems. This requires finance, investments, innovation, and knowledge to improve the yields at existing farmlands. The yield gap between what’s needed and what’s being produced is still very high. Farmers in the Netherlands produce 8.6 tons of cereals per hectare, Ukrainian farmers produce 4 tons per hectare, and yields in Nigeria are stagnant at 1.5 tons per hectare (Figure 1). Figure 1: A Dutch cereal farm is almost six times more productive than a Nigerian one On the demand side, reducing food waste can have a significant impact on the availability of food. The average European is wasting 179 kg of food in the value chain from the farm gate to the lunch or dinner table (Figure 2). This is almost the annual consumption of a poor person mainly living on cereals (200 kg). Reducing food waste can improve the efficiency of food value chains and help to distribute food more evenly to those in need. Figure 2: The average European wastes 179 kg of food Author H Heinz-Wilhelm Strubenhoff Agribusiness Program Manager, World Bank Group This means that we could quite easily provide food for 10 billion people on the planet. There is considerable potential on both the food supply and demand side to provide more food for all. Annual growth of demand can be met by helping farmers to intensify production where the yield gap is high. Conscious consumption and less waste in rich countries would already be a safe strategy to provide affordable food for all.If you’ve been channeling your stress from the 2016 election and the news cycle of this year into unhealthy or bad habits, you’re most certainly not alone. It turns out that lots of people who are stressed over the constant news cycle, or the election of President Donald J. Trump, are turning that stress into bad habits, Vice reported. The American Psychological Association revealed data that showed that 57 percent of Americans saw the political climate as a source of stress, while 49 percent of Americans saw the outcome of the election the same way. More Democrats were stressed over the outcome of the election, but a majority of both Democrats and Republicans saw the future of the country as a source of stress, according to the APA. Additionally, half of Americans said they're looking for a way to cope with the negative political environment, according to data from an April CareDash survey. Some are turning to habits seen as unhealthy to cope, 41 percent of the people surveyed ages 18 to 44 said they've been drinking, smoking, eating unhealthy foods and arguing more since the election. A therapist based in Maryland, Steven Stosny, even gave a name to the stress that came from the election and then from the almost constant news cycle of stressful headlines, identifying it first as “election stress disorder,” and then after the election, “headline stress disorder.” Stosny found that his female patients were worse off than their male counterparts, partly because to them, the news feels more like a personal betrayal, he wrote in The Washington Post. But the constant news cycle and sense of unrest in the county is still causing stress in both men and women, of all ages, and of all parties. While some people do opt for the healthier or more constructive ways to cope with the stress of what seems like a constant news cycle, sometimes it’s quicker, or easier, to just crack a beer or enjoy a whole pizza to yourself. Stress has been linked to a number of bad habits, including smoking, drinking alcohol, and eating, sometimes to excess. All of these indulgences can be used by people under stress as short-term coping mechanisms, not to mention they can help take your mind off the news for a bit. Long-term stress can increase the cortisol in the body, which can increase appetites, especially those for foods that are high in sugar or fat. Once those foods are consumed they can slow or stop the stress from processing temporarily, creating a sense of comfort, according to Harvard Medical School’s Mental Health Letter. Drinking has a similar impact, in small doses it’s been shown to reduce the stress response, but it can also induce the stress response. It can trigger the release of hormones that can increase stress, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. But because alcohol is a depressant it can slow down the thought process and help distract from the stressor, in this case, the news cycle. This is part of the appeal, it also brings feelings of excitement and can suppress feelings of fear. Using such coping mechanisms for a long period of time can result in serious health issues though, as can prolonged stress.I’m not familiar with javascript, so when I need to write some web apps, I went to look at Clojurescript, It works like this: I thought ok, looks good. Several months ago I quit my job to travel, you know, I call it “immutable gap year”. When i came back, I thought why not write an app to find local people, explore different cultures? When I decided to do it, I actually thought about swift/obj-c for one second, I went away just because drag ‘n drop is too magical for me. After browsing the react native documentation and the versatile UIExplorer, I decide to go with it. Then it’s the language battle, Clojurescript vs Purescript vs Elm vs Javascript, I choose clojurescript for now because the tooling: So, awesome choice! Actually even now, I’m still trembling with fright when I have bad dreams about this: Maybe i’m digging too deep a hole in the beach, but if you ask me what’s my experience about React Native with Clojurescript, it looks like this: It’s riding in the mud, a little tough, but enjoyable! The enjoyable part Learn once, write everywhere. All the api service, ios app, web page and admin panel are written by Clojure[script]. So I can save huge time by sharing most of the logic and components. Figwheel. I won’t do any clojurescript web or mobile development without it. Hot reloading, much better error report. Thank you, Bruce Hauman! Re-natal. Re-Natal is a simple command-line utility that automates most of the process of setting up a React Native app running on ClojureScript with Reagent an re-frame. Thanks for mfikes, decker405, drapanjanas, mjmeintjes and pesterhazy now we can use figwheel with react native in clojurescript. Fast development. Flexbox, interactive repl, source maps… Rich libraries, diligent community. Realm, webrtc, gifted-chat, vector icons, fs, linear gradient …, thank you, RN community! Performance is actually good. I’ve worried about the Listview performance issue, turns out not a big problem for me now. Seamless bridging with native. Bad news is you still need to write a little native code. You don’t want put your access token in the bundle. Good news is it’s really easy. The tough part React Native: Unable to resolve module ‘some-module’ #4968 “Solution”: npm cache clean && watchman watch-del-all && rm -rf node_modules && npm install && npm start -- --reset-cache Clojurescript re-natal: You have to restart repl when importing new react native modules or pictures. This is really a big distraction.Matt Forte would not offer a timetable Tuesday night for his return to the playing field. The Bears running back also said he has no regrets about not accepting the Bears’ best contract extension offer early in the season despite suffering a sprained right knee ligament Sunday that could put him out for the season. “I feel all right. I have good range of motion,” Forte said during a promotional appearance at Water Tower Place. “I’m here, standing up and walking around, so obviously that’s good. MCLs usually don’t take a whole lot of time to get back. But it does vary from two to as long as six weeks. I don’t want to make any predictions because I really don’t know. I got a (platelet rich plasma) injection this morning that is supposed to make it heal faster.” Regarding his public dispute over a contract extension, Forte added: “I have no regrets. I did extremely well this year. If there were any doubts, I answered them..At any time, you can be injured. Thank God I don’t need surgery (and a) long rehab.” Forte has gained 997 yards on the ground (4.9 average) and caught 52 passes for 490 yards, despite publicly expressing his disappointment that the Bears have not offered the type of guaranteed money he thinks he deserves. “This year has been great even though I’m battling through the contract negotiations,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that with four games left, I have an injury,” he said. “But hopefully this injury gets healed up.” Forte suffered the injury in the first quarter of Sunday’s 10-3 loss to the Chiefs. “I have seen the play many times,” Forte said. “The guy (Derrick Johnson) made a good play. He slipped the block. A lot of guys go low in the league now. So I was counting on that block to be made (by tight end Matt Spaeth). There was nobody else outside, so it was going to be a big play. (Johnson) made a good play.” Source: Chicago Tribune While we have your attention, please take a minute and swing by our Message Boards to discuss Chicago Sports with many other fans. http://chicitysports.com/forumIt was the perfect pro-Trump story in a time of controversy over veterans. On 8 October, Fox News published a video about John Garofalo, a multi-decorated Navy SEAL who had personally carved a ginormous — 4 foot, 150 pound — glass seal he wanted to give to President Donald Trump. In the clip, Garofalo, 72, is reported to have received two Purple Hearts and about 22 commendations for his seven years of service in the Navy. He was reportedly listed twice in Vietnam as M.I.A. “Garofalo is used to working under pressure,” Fox News reporter Bryan Llenas said. “The Vietnam War veteran served seven years as a member of the nation’s first Navy SEAL team. He was awarded 22 commendations, including two purple hearts.” "You are a hero," Llenas tells him in praise. "True hero," another anchor repeats. "An amazing guy, I hope he gets to meet the president," says another one. There's only one problem. The story is fake, as Garofalo himself admitted to NavyTimes. It turns out the guy never served in Vietnam, was never a SEAL and didn't receive a Purple Heart: “It got bigger and bigger," he said. “What I did I‘m ashamed of, and I didn’t mean to cause so much disgrace to the SEALs.” Fox News was forced to run a correction last night: Unfortunately, all of Garofalo's claims turned out to be untrue. The fact is that he did not serve in Vietnam. He was never a U.S. Navy SEAL. Even though he showed us medals, Garofalo was not awarded two Purple Hearts or any of the other nearly two dozen commendations he claimed to have received, except for the National Defense Service Medal. So what's true in Garofalo's story? The 72-year-old served in the Navy from 1963 to 1967 as an aviation boatswain's mate, and was deployed for a while in Rota, Spain. He is also a talented glass artist who gifted two presidential seals to President Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Former and retired SEALs said they tried to contact Fox News about Garofalo's fake story but the network failed to correct it. “Fox News not withdrawing that story has drove me nutty,” Don Shipley, a retired SEAL who's dedicated to finding fake military stories, told Navy Times. He provided the website proof of Garofalo's real military service. A Freedom of Information request shows "Naval Special Warfare Command having no records of Garofalo in the history of the elite units’ ranks," according to Navy Times. In its apology, Fox News added: Over the last two weeks, we've worked with Garofalo's family and the National Personnel Records Center to get to the bottom of a military past that Garofalo had claimed to be covert. We apologize to our viewers, especially veterans and servicemen and women. UPDATE: Oct. 20, 2017, 3:49 p.m. BST Headline on the story changed from'retracted' to 'corrected' to more accurately convey the action.Consumers’ Research, the independent educational group and organiser of a recent blockchain workshop at Bretton Woods, has published a new white paper on blockchain technology. The paper, released today, sets out to identify the opportunities presented by the technology, the challenges present today and potential solutions to those concerns. Yet the report often invokes the possible advantages of transacting in digital currencies like bitcoin. Joe Colangelo, executive director for Consumers’ Research, writes in the preface to the report: “At the core of bitcoin is the ability to send money faster around the globe, improve property rights, and enable people who have never met to fully trust one another.” Colangelo goes on to write that the paper aims educate those unfamiliar with the technology and inform members of the bitcoin community of hurdles that may impede their ability to
’t have to do it ever again), in the show she has yet to be introduced in any capacity. Likely, however, Freeman’s Watson and Benedict Cumberbatch‘s Holmes will be reuniting at 221 B, so one hopes that she wouldn’t be introduced simply to be killed off. It’s just as likely that she is some other one-episode character. Or, that Abbington is not involved at all and Bristol Culture was mistaken. Here’s their video of the shoot: (via Digital Spy.)President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is reported to have omitted dozens of contacts with foreign officials and leaders in recent months on his top-secret security-clearance application form. In order to get clearance, Kushner, according to The New York Times, was required to note all such encounters with foreign governments over the past seven years, but left out key liaisons, including meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak and another—that Kislyak set up—with the head of a controversial Russian state-owned bank. Kushner’s lawyer said the omissions were simply a mistake, but it raises questions as the FBI and two congressional bodies investigate the connections between Trump’s associates and Russian officials. The Senate Intelligence Committee weeks ago notified the White House that it plans to question Kushner about his meetings with Kislyak, among others, as part of its investigation.IT will be extremely difficult – perhaps even impossible - to keep party politics out of the parliamentary inquiry into the banking fiasco. IT will be extremely difficult – perhaps even impossible - to keep party politics out of the parliamentary inquiry into the banking fiasco. Taoiseach wants to see FF stitched up – and he'll get his wish That blindingly obvious conclusion emerged rather early in the Dail proceedings as the Taoiseach tore into Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. In summary, Enda Kenny said the forthcoming Oireachtas inquiry would have to look into what he called the "axis of collusion" between Anglo Irish Bank and Fianna Fail which had damaged so many lives in the false property boom. That assertion could be argued as fair ball. But when Independent TD Mattie McGrath followed by picking flaws in the Government's plan for this parliamentary inquiry, Mr Kenny could not resist reminding Mr McGrath that he too had been a long-time Fianna Fail member. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams highlighted the slow pace of criminal investigations into the Anglo Irish Bank debacle. But he also managed a few kicks against Fianna Fail – which, of course, his party hopes to oust as opposition kingpins. Mr Martin (pictured) was hurling uphill and into a rather stiff breeze. He was, after all, a Fianna Fail heavy-hitter through the phoney property boom and the interlinked and lethal rise of Anglo. The cosmetics of the FF-Anglo relationship do not look great. But Fianna Fail insists that its former ministers who were in office in summer and autumn 2008, when the bank tragedy was being played out, will turn out for a parliamentary inquiry. And the Fianna Fail leader has some compelling points in his favour as he argues the case for an independent judicial inquiry. He did not cite the danger of the Oireachtas inquiry becoming party-politicised. He did not need to yesterday afternoon as he faced a Fine Gael-Sinn Fein pincer movement. But Mr Martin did effectively conjure up the powerlessness of an Oireachtas inquiry to deal with those bank bosses who, through this newspaper, we have heard express their worldview and their level of respect for the nation's institutions. The reality is that this will be the fifth inquiry into the banking debacle. This time, we need names named and fingers pointed. And a parliamentary inquiry will not be empowered to do this. The Fianna Fail leader was aware that talk of judicial inquiries can invoke horrified public reactions harking back to years of tribunal delays and the creation of millionaire lawyers at taxpayers' expense. But he cited draft legislation, originally prepared by former justice minister Michael McDowell, for a slimmed-down express inquiry model which could easily be revived and enacted. Nevertheless, Mr Martin's battle is lost. For better or worse, the Taoiseach's determination to carry out an Oireachtas banking inquiry will become a reality. Irish IndependentNunavut was in the spotlight at the Toronto International Film Festival this week with the opening of two movies filmed in the territory: Maliglutit and Two Lovers and a Bear. Maliglutit, Zacharias Kunuk's newest film, premiered on Monday with a surprise performance from Tanya Tagaq. Kunuk, an Inuk filmmaker from Igloolik, is best known for Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner which won the Caméra d'Or for Best First Feature at Cannes in 2001. His second feature, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, opened TIFF in 2006. Now Maliglutit (Searchers), a retelling of John Ford's 1956 western The Searchers promises to become another addition to Kunuk's canonical films set in the North. The film, a collaboration with Natar Ungalaaq, is shot against the landscape of the Canadian Arctic and tells the story of a husband in search of the men who kidnapped his wife. "I'm very happy with it and the actors," said Ungalaaq. "They learned very quickly." On Tuesday, Two Lovers and a Bear screened at TIFF. The romance about two star-crossed lovers who find refuge from their pasts in the Arctic was partly filmed in Iqaluit, and in Timmins, Ont. It is Montreal-born director Kim Nguyen's first fiction film following his Academy Award–nominated Rebelle (War Witch). Iqaluit's Vinnie Karetak, one of the actors in Two Lovers and a Bear, was present for the TIFF screening. He said the film is a testament to the burgeoning filmmaking community in Nunavut. "We are tired of watching fake Inuit actors," he said. Karetak said he wants to see more filmmakers work with Inuit actors when telling stories about the Arctic.The Toronto Maple Leafs were already down 4-1 and getting completely dominated by the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. And then things really started to get bad. Early in the third period Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf injured his own teammate when he missed his intended target, Sharks forward Patrick Marleau, and accidentally took out James van Riemsdyk. Van Riemsdyk was shaken up on the play and had to leave the game before later returning. Seeing as how he has a history of concussions and was on the receiving end of that hit (not to mention the fact that the game was already pretty much decided) it seemed to be a bit of an unnecessary risk to put him back in. In 64 games this season van Riemsdyk has 26 goals to go with 27 assists. (GIF via @Drhabs)WASHINGTON (AP) — Schools would have more flexibility to serve refined grains and salty foods to the nation's school children under legislation a Senate panel is considering. The Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the bipartisan bill, which is designed to help schools that have complained that the Obama administration's healthier school meal rules are too restrictive. Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, the GOP chairman of the agriculture panel, and Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the committee's top Democrat, introduced the bill Monday after reaching an agreement to ease requirements for whole grains and delay an upcoming deadline to cut sodium levels. Take the poll What do you think? Take the poll at the end of this story and leave your thoughts in the comment section. The compromise signals a truce between first lady Michelle Obama and congressional Republicans who have been at odds over the rules for more than two years. The first lady has highlighted the standards as part of her campaign against childhood obesity and said she would fight "to the bitter end" to keep them intact. The White House has yet to weigh in on the agreement, but Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued a statement Tuesday supporting the legislation. The agreement is also backed by the School Nutrition Association, which represents school nutrition directors and companies that sell food to schools. That group has led the fight to scale back the administration's requirements. "In the absence of increased funding, this agreement eases operational challenges and provides school meal programs critical flexibility to help them plan healthy school meals that appeal to students," said Jean Ronnei, president of the association. The rules phased in since 2012 set fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits on foods in the lunch line and beyond. They also require more whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Schools have long been required to follow government nutrition rules if they accept federal reimbursements for free and reduced-price meals for low-income students, but the new standards are stricter and some schools have said they are unworkable. Related Utah schools look for kid-friendly solutions to school lunch law Utah schools are still searching for ways to serve meals that appeal to young tastes while complying with the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which recently mandated periodic overhauls for school lunches. The five-year Senate legislation would direct the Agriculture Department to revise the whole grain and sodium standards within 90 days of the bill's enactment, meaning the new rules could be in place by next school year if Congress acts quickly. Under a separate agreement among those negotiating the bill, including USDA and the school nutrition group, the new rules would scale back the whole grain standards to require that 80 percent of grains on the lunch line must be whole grain rich, or more than half whole grain. Currently, all grains are required to be whole grain rich, though some schools have applied for waivers. Schools say some kids don't like whole grain pastas, biscuits, grits and tortillas. In addition, the agreement would delay stricter standards on sodium that are scheduled for the 2017 school year. They would now be delayed two years, and a study would measure the benefits of those reductions. The legislation would also require the government to figure out ways to reduce waste of fruits and vegetables and put more resources into summer feeding programs. Supporters of the Senate bill are hoping that an agreement among the formerly feuding parties could influence the House, which has not yet introduced a bill. Not everyone is ready for compromise. GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie said Monday that the first lady has "no business" being involved in decisions over school lunches. The New Jersey governor, who has been public about his struggles with weight, said it's "just another example of how the Obamas believe that they've got a better answer for everything than you do." ___ Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MCJalonick. Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. × PhotosBill Bailey’s ability to blend music with comedy has made him one of Britain’s most eclectic standups. He explains where it all went right At a small pub in Bath in the early 80s, a goatee-less, teenage Bill Bailey was beginning his first standup show. After persuading the owner to let him have a comedy evening with a mate from school, Bailey was left alone on stage in between routines, and that was his first taste of being a comic. “It was nerve-wracking, haphazard, and I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.” The performance went by in a bit of a blur, but one gag shook the whole room with laughter. “I blundered into the joke and it was like a lightning rod suddenly connected everyone in the room. It was intoxicating. And that was it – I was hooked. I had to go back and do more.” The iconic British standup describes comedy as quicksilver. “It’s fascinating, it’s mercurial. You can’t quite get hold of it,” he says. “You think something is funny, and you say it in front of an audience and they just shrug. And then you make some off-the-cuff remark and that gets a laugh. And you think what was that? How did I do that? Even now after decades of doing it, odd lines get reactions I didn’t expect. That’s one of the great thrills of it.” Even now after decades of doing it, odd lines get reactions I didn’t expect. That's one of the thrills Bill Bailey At his first standup shows, Bailey says he was nervous, jittery and used to gabble through an entire set of material in five minutes. “You have to learn to recognise that you’re nervous and slow your pulse rate down by a sheer act of will to get the audience laughing again. That’s like some kind of strange, otherworldly skill. It’s like an X-Men power. Nobody knows how to do that when they’re starting out – it’s something you learn the hard way.” Surprisingly, when Bailey started out he didn’t really believe he’d ever become a comedian. “I thought it was just something I would do as a hobby – I would do another job, but certainly not as a standup. It surprises me every day.” He’s also a talented musician – able to play almost every instrument – and has always played short parodies and musical interludes on stage. But the first time his music really became part of the show was during his Cosmic Jam performance at the Edinburgh festival – simply because he had a stage with somewhere to put his instruments. “It was only because of the practicality of carrying a guitar was much easier than lugging a keyboard around.” This blending of music and comedy led to an eclectic career – from writing a rock opera about insects taking over the world to dissecting the cockney influence in classical music. Having free rein over what you do is one of the biggest draws of standup. “You can make it personal, impersonal, scatological, observational, absurd, surreal – whatever you like. There’s no constraints,” he says. “Sometimes I set myself a challenge: like try and describe the holy trinity and make it funny, try and make Emmanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason funny, try and rewrite a song that everyone knows – like Happy Birthday, but in 30s Berlin cabaret style.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bill Bailey playing the guitar on his Limboland tour. Photograph: Andy Hollingworth Throughout his career, Bailey picks out gigs that have been particularly memorable. “When all the elements are right – you’re prepared, you’re a bit loose, able to go off-piste because you’re comfortable with the material, and the audience are up for it.” He describes the ideal scenario like alchemy – “the jokes and the audience combine to make a show that’s greater than you imagined”. On the flipside, there are many moments as a standup that are exhaustingly mundane. Comedians often travel a lot while touring, and spend long periods away from home. “You’re away from your family a lot. As a young comic, with no ties and responsibilities, it’s a tremendous adventure – but at my stage [in life] with a family, it’s hard being away.” Aspiring comics need a certain kind of chutzpah, the confidence to perform and the ability to write, adds Bailey. “But you can have all of those and still not be successful. You also need a bit of determination, a bit of luck and a following wind.” Ultimately, if you want to be a comedian, you just have to be willing to take a punt on yourself, take risks and really get out of your comfort zone. “Sometimes you have to just fling yourself into a situation where you have no idea how it’s going to pan out and trust your instincts. Give it your best shot.” Bill Bailey’s Limboland is touring until 2 July. Looking for a job? Browse Guardian Jobs or sign up to Guardian Careers for the latest job vacancies and career adviceBOSTON -- Security officials at Boston's largest mosque requested police to guard its campus in the wake of Monday's deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon, a sobering reminder that Muslims in the U.S. often face threats after alleged terrorist attacks. But if the pair of city police officers parked outside the mosque conveyed a message of heightened alert, workers inside the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center were too busy to notice. There, a small staff spent Tuesday morning working with religious leaders from various faiths across the city to launch an interfaith prayer event to memorialize the attack's victims, while offering city and state officials all the resources the mosque could muster. "We're Bostonians - we mourn with the city," said Suhaib Webb, the Oklahoma-born imam who leads the congregation. "We stand in support with the city, with the victims. We're hurt, equally shocked and equally pissed off." The relationship that a Muslim community has with the city it inhabits can often be tested in the aftermath of acts of terror. But in the immediate aftermath of the Boston Marathon attacks, the prevailing sentiment inside this mosque was of shared grief rather than instinctive distrust. The mosque volunteered to city officials the services of the roughly 40 doctors who attend its religious services. The campus itself was volunteered to serve as a disaster relief center. And Webb, who was out of town when the attack took place, offered via Twitter his home to any marathon runner that needed shelter. "This is Boston's mosque," Webb said. Monday afternoon's deadly attack near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, an annual event that the state celebrates as an official holiday, killed at least three people and injured at least 170 others, police said. Flights were temporarily grounded Monday as the city's downtown was cordoned off and treated as a massive crime scene, frustrating residents as investigators spent Tuesday combing through an area roughly a mile in size for clues. No arrests had been made as of early Tuesday afternoon. The mosque -- New England's largest and the second-biggest on the East Coast -- once faced an uphill fight to be accepted within the Boston community, according to contemporaneous news reports. Its 70,000-square-foot building "stands tall... in the heart of Boston, a Muslim handprint on the city skyline," the mosque's website declares. The mosque is now working with religious leaders across Boston to ensure the city's healing in the aftermath of the attacks continues, even if those accused of the attack are found to be believers of Islam or of Middle Eastern descent. "Let's say the attacker is Muslim. I won't consider him to be a Muslim," Webb said. "I'm not going to defend him or represent him." About 1,200 people attend regular Friday prayers here, Webb said. Roughly half of the congregation is composed of immigrants. More than 250 people last year converted to Islam at the mosque, Webb added. Webb said the mosque had not received any threats as of Tuesday morning. Still, Muhammad Abuwi, a security guard at the mosque, said all the doors to the building had been locked except for a rear entrance. Abuwi said he had been in touch with Boston police and the city's SWAT team. The campus was in "more lock-down than normal," Abuwi said. Two police officers parked beside the sprawling campus declined to comment. "We have a very strong commitment to this city, and we are helping to maintain law and order," Webb said. Religious leaders from across the city peppered Webb with emails on Tuesday, he said, passing along incidents of hateful speech and threats they found on the Internet in hopes of warning him of a potential backlash. One offered to pray for his congregation.LAS VEGAS — Go ahead, throw a rock at your windshield. It might survive — if that windshield is made with Gorilla Glass. The same material protecting the delicate LCD screens on millions of smartphones is now ready for your road trip. Corning, the company that develops and manufacturers Gorilla Glass, introduced Gorilla Glass for Automotive on Thursday at CES in Las Vegas. It's related to the material used in smartphones, but with added ingredients to protect it against the extreme cold, heat and sun exposure experienced by most cars. To demonstrate the effectiveness and potential of glass in automotive use, Corning built an electric car and equipped it with a Gorilla Glass windshield, sun roof, rear window, dashboard, touchscreen steering wheel display and a control panel resting between two seats. Speaking about the potential of glass in a wide range of industries, including automotive, Corning's chief strategy officer Dr. Jeffrey Evenson said, "Glass can be to the next 50 years what silicon components have been for the last 50 years." Evenson said Gorilla Automotive Glass is thinner, lighter and stronger than traditional automotive glass, allowing Corning to make the windshield significantly thinner than a standard car windshield. In fact, the glass throughout the car is lighter and thinner, which, Corning claims, could make the car more energy efficient. Corning executives also claimed that Gorilla Glass Automotive is is two times more resistant to sharp stone impact, which means that when that big truck in front of you kicks back a pebble, you may not spider your entire windshield. Because the entire dash was made of Gorilla Glass, it could also accommodate a video screen in front of the passenger seat. During the demo, a movie played as the rest of the dash focused on driving tasks like speed and navigation. The Gorilla Glass sunroof has an opacity layer in it. Watch it go from clear to near opaque. #MashCES #CES2017 pic.twitter.com/rLi33RiwPr — Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) January 5, 2017 Gorilla Glass Automotive also maintains the flexibility found in their smartphone glass, allowing them to cold bend it to surfaces like the control panel and side windows. On the rear and sunroof windows, Corning sandwiched in an opacity layer. They demonstrated how, with the press of the button, they could turn these windows from clear to almost opaque. When your whole car dashboard is Corning Glass, you can play a movie on it. #CES2017 #MashCES pic.twitter.com/hsK2BiCzs0 — Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) January 5, 2017 Corning also announced a partnership with glass manufacturer Saint Gobain, and said they are ready to produce Gorilla Glass Automotive windshields for production cars today. No word on how much these next-gen windshields will cost.The first high-speed rail in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region began operating on Sunday, slashing travel time between the regional capital of Urumqi and the eastern city of Hami by half to three hours. This comes as China said it will promote travel to countries along the Silk Road in 2015.The 530-kilometer rail line is designed to run at speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour and is part of the 1,776-kilometer Lanxin high-speed railway linking Urumqi with Lanzhou, capital of the northwestern province of Gansu, which will be put into service by the end of this year.The railway crosses a vast expanse of the Gobi Desert and windy areas. It will be connected further with China's high-speed rail network.The Xinjiang railway bureau said a high-speed railway connecting Lanzhou and Beijing is now under construction and expected to be completed by 2017, which will reduce travel time between Urumqi and Beijing from the current 41 hours to 16 hours.As the only railway connecting Xinjiang with other provincial regions, the original Lanxin track has a designed transport capacity of only about 75 million tons per year, which is far below the increasing demands of freight and passengers.The new line, however, will unleash the region's transportation capacity by handling most passenger travel and enabling the old line to focus on freight transport.Du Jiang, the deputy director of the China National Tourism Administration, said the decision to promote travel was made against the backdrop of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives which were proposed by China to boost regional economic and infrastructure cooperation, as well as people-to-people exchange in Asia.This February, as you head to the bookstore in search of a wardrobe that matches your school spirit, something will be a little different. A few of the Brown-emblazoned items will not be your typical Under Armour or Champion brand wear. You may see a hoodie or a tee that says “Alta Gracia” on the label. At $39.99 and $19.99 respectively, these hoodies and tees are among the cheapest options at the bookstore. The price, however, is not the only reason to consider buying them. These garments were made by people who earn enough to improve the quality of their lives and provide opportunities for their children. Alta Gracia is a living wage factory in Villa Altagracia in the Dominican Republic. Its workers receive wages sufficient to provide for three quarters of the basic needs in a Dominican family of four, or more than three times the Dominican minimum wage. As Alta Gracia worker Mariza Vargas puts it on the company’s website, “Alta Gracia is great for me and my family because it gives us the chance for a better education — even for me to go back to school!” Things were not always this rosy at Alta Gracia. For years, the factory was operated by BJ&B, a Korean company that made Nike and Reebok brand caps for colleges and universities in the U.S. Workers from the BJ&B plant reported suffering many abuses typical of sweatshops, including forced overtime, lock-ins, verbal and physical abuse and dismissal for trivial causes. In 2001, when BJ&B workers unionized and sought recognition from the company, management retaliated by firing 20 union leaders. Only through extensive campaigning — in which U.S. college students played a pivotal role — did the company finally agree to negotiate a union contract in 2003. The result was the most worker-friendly contract in the Dominican garment industry, but in 2007, the factory closed, leaving the community in Villa Altagracia destitute as the owners sought out lower-wage labor overseas. This state of affairs might have continued indefinitely, thus indicating the futility of fighting sweatshop conditions. But it didn’t. A year ago, Knights Apparel reopened the factory under the name “Alta Gracia.” The new factory is an experiment of historic proportions, as it represents one of the first instances in which such a factory has attempted to pay a living wage. The resulting increase in labor cost — at about 80 cents per T-shirt — comes mostly out of the company’s profits, meaning that retail prices are competitive with industry standards. This model depends on the idea that consumers really want to buy living wage garments at moderate prices. In other words, the fate of the Alta Gracia experiment is now in our hands. We can either prove or disprove the power of consumer consciousness. Either way, the outcome will have a significant impact on the future of workers’ rights in the garment industry. To clarify the importance of this moment in our lives as consumers, it is worthwhile to consider some of its historical context. Next month will mark the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. On March 25, 1911, 146 workers died in 18 minutes during a fire at a garment factory in New York City. The victims, who were mostly young, non-unionized immigrant women, were unable to escape the fire because of locked exits. The public outcry that followed this tragic event led not only to the establishment of safety codes, but also to increasing public support for the labor movement. Over the following decades, garment industry sweatshops waned in this country. Critics of the anti-sweatshop movement hold that sweatshops are a necessary, albeit unfortunate, reality of industrial development. They point to the example of the demise of sweatshops in the industrial world as evidence that economic growth ultimately “raises all boats.” Yet this argument is seriously flawed for at least one obvious reason: Sweatshop conditions still exist in the United States. In 2000, half of the 434 investigations conducted in the garment industry by the Department of Labor found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. If economic development is the only way sweatshops will disappear, then how much more development will we need before sweatshops disappear here, let alone elsewhere? Last December, 28 were killed and more than 100 were injured in a garment factory fire in Bangladesh. Perhaps the most striking thing about the fire, which took place in a factory owned by a company that makes clothes for such brands as JCPenney, Walmart and Target, is that it is exactly similar to the details of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. Doors to fire escapes were locked, yes, and other safety measures were similarly nonexistent, yes. And like in the fire 100 years ago, the garment industry giants want to use the status of the victims as subcontracted labor to deny responsibility. In short, nothing has changed for those workers. Nothing will change until we as consumers demonstrate to global corporations that we stand for people before profit. Alta Gracia is a first step. Ian Trupin ’13 has not yet declared a concentration, but finds his new hoodie most sexy.By Rumplestatskin, a professional economist with a background in property development, environmental economics research and economic regulation. Follow him on Twitter @rumplestatskin. Cross posted from MacroBusiness. Imagine a modern economics textbook comprising of three parts, with the last two being Analysis and Modern Problems. What do you think would the first part would be called? I doubt your answer was Economic Doctrines. But that’s exactly how Joan Robinson began her textbook An Introduction to Modern Economics back in 1973. For Robinson, rebuilding modern economics teaching meant starting with an understanding of evolving economic doctrines. As such, she begins her revolutionary textbook with a summary of the defining battles within economic philosophy, tracing the key players and their moral and logical arguments since the writings of Fançois Quesnay in the 18th century. Robinson’s book, written with John Eatwell, was supposed to offer a fresh new way to teach economics that would replace the ‘Samuelson’ approach to economic teaching. It failed to do so. In fact it failed so catastrophically that it never gained one tenth the circulation of Samuelson’s principles text in its short publishing history, and has been all but forgotten in modern discussions about rewriting the economics curriculum. So unpopular is this book that it is deemed unworthy of shelf space at my university library, and instead resides in an off-site library storage facility. But its popularity should definitely not be a guide to its quality. For those who may never read the book I want to highlight some of the more interesting content that you won’t easily find elsewhere, and that is perhaps even more important and relevant today than forty years ago when the book was first published. As a recently trained economist one of the more shocking things about Robinson’s textbook is the way many core features of neoclassical economics are brushed away in a sentence or paragraph as mere metaphysical reasoning. She defines such reasoning as being “applied to a use of language that conveys no factual information, describes no logical relations nor gives precise instructions and yet is calculated to affect conduct.” One such concept is utility, which is described as follows when it is first introduced Utility is the characteristic of commodities which makes individuals want to buy them, and individuals buy commodities to enjoy utility consuming them. Another metaphysical concept is that of profit maximisation; which is purely defined in terms of itself. While it may seem a little smug of Robinson to dismiss these ideas, the unscientific nature of metaphysical concepts renders much of the economic approach to generating knowledge utterly useless. Not a week passes when I don’t see a new economics paper or seminar that makes appeals to unmeasurable and unknowable concepts, defined purely in terms of themselves, that exist precisely a story-telling devices. Just a few days ago I sat in a seminar where labour markets where being ‘modelled’ in terms of an unquantifiable concept of search efficiency, which could not be defined without circular reasoning, and offered no testable predictions. Another feature of Robinson’s book is that unlike our new Australian learning standards in economics, her text includes the following index items Moral considerations, 2-3, 42, 313; see also Metaphysics, Politics and Social Justice. Slogans, 1, 3, 9-10, 59 For anyone with a mainstream economics education these terms would seem wildly out of place. Even the mere suggestion of morality in economics these days will cast you as an outsider and ruin your career prospects. Economists love to see themselves as value free, and collectively ignore the reality that any welfare analysis is inherently a moral analysis. When discussing the rise of the neoclassicists, Robinson writes critically of their core construct of the Walrasian equilibrium. Walras himself realised that it is not practicable to reach the equilibrium position by trail and error, but he imagined that buyers and sellers could proceed by shouting out demands and offers, finding the equilibrium set of outputs and prices before production and trade took place. His modern followers seem to have given up pretending that this is possible, and content themselves with finding conditions necessary to ensure that at least one position of equilibrium exists. Oh my. She really did just say that a great bulk of academic economists have simply given up on reality to content themselves with mathematical game-playing. Which implies that much of neoclassical theory itself is unable to be reconciled with real processes in the economy. Finally, we get a taste of the controversy that surrounds the definition of capital which is generally omitted from introductory texts. Robinson includes Thorstein Veblen’s view on the orthodoxy from his review of John Bates Clarks’s The Distribution of Wealth to make the point. Here, as elsewhere in Mr Clark’s writings, much is made of the doctrine that the two facts of ‘capital’ and ‘capital goods’ are conceptually distinct, though substantially identical. The two terms cover virtually the same facts as would be covered by the terms ‘pecuniary capital’ and ‘industrial equipment’… This conception of capital, as a physically ‘abiding entity’ constituted by the succession of productive goods that make up the industrial equipment, breaks downs in Mr Clark’s own use of it when he comes to speak of the mobility of capital; that is to say, so soon as he makes use of it… The continuum in which the ‘abiding entity’ of capital resides is a continuity of ownership, not a physical fact. The continuity, in fact, is of an immaterial nature, a matter of legal rights, of contract, of purchase and sale. Just why this patent state of the case is overlooked, as it somewhat elaborately is, is not easily seen. But it is plain that, if the concept of capital were elaborated from observation of current business practice, it would be found that ‘capital’ is a pecuniary fact, not a mechanical one; that it is an outcome of a valuation, depending immediately on the state of mind of the valuers; and that the specific marks of capital, by which it is distinguishable from other facts, are of an immaterial character. What we see in this book is what I believe is an honest appraisal of economics. The myths and legends that are passed down as fact in most textbooks are shown to be anything but. Even Adam Smith’s pin factory and the lessons of division of labour are challenged. The book does leave the reader wondering exactly how economic research should proceed. I think Robinson would be impressed by the gains made by experimental economics researchers, particularly because their findings more often than not challenge some element of neoclassical doctrine. If you want an introduction to economics that acknowledges the rather limited knowledge generated by the field, and starts from fundamental moral foundations, then you could do worse than tracking down a copy of Robinson and Eatwell’s textbook from your local library’s storage shed.Ready to toot your own horn? Well you might be with this latest iPhone/iPod dock called the Trumstand. The Trumstand harks back to the simpler times of gramophones and their superior sonics that went well with a sublime cognac and a few drags from a cigarette. The Trumstand weighs a mighty 4.3kg and sports a 0.5mm hand-crafted horn, which is made of brass and can be plated in either nickel or gold powder. Making it look like a life-size Grammy award. While the Trumstand does have an electrical cord, it is purely just for juicing your iPhone/iPod while docked. Just like back in the day, the horn portion of the device will provide the texture of sound that emanates from it. Besides sounding absolutely smooth and velvety, the Trumstand should certainly make an impression in your home – now you just have to choose what tunes are worthy to be used in such a device. Luxury gadgets with an antique flair don’t come cheap and the Trumstand will set you back about £1499.99 ($2355 USD). Hmm…I might just have to pass on this one.Get Stuff We Love Subscribe to our newsletter. March 15, 2013, 3:45 PM GMT By Lisa Flam and Rina Raphael Yityish Aynaw, age 21 or 22 according to various reports, stands with other contestants during the swim suit part of the Miss Israel 2013 beauty pageant in Haifa, northern Israel, on Feb. 27. AVISHAG SHAR YASHUV / Today The young woman who became the first Ethiopian-born Israeli to be crowned Miss Israel last month has a very special dinner engagement next week. Yityish Aynaw, who arrived in Israel about a decade ago as an orphan, was invited to meet President Obama at a gala dinner hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Thursday, according to media reports. Obama’s staff invited her to the dinner being held in his honor that has a guest list of just 120 names, including Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It will be Obama's first visit to Israel while serving as president. "I have butterflies in my stomach," the beauty queen said Wednesday, according to ynetnews.com. According to media reports, Aynaw's father was killed in a war when she was 2, and she and her older brother were raised by their mother. When she was 12, their mother died and she and her brother later relocated to Israel, where they lived with their grandparents, according to news reports. “Ten years ago, I was walking around barefoot in Ethiopia and I never imagined that one day I would be in the land of Israel, meeting the Israeli president and the president of the United States,” Aynaw told ynetnews.com. “I could never have imagined such a powerful and exciting situation." The meeting is not without controversy, with some critics saying she skipped ahead of important politicians and influential Israelis. “She’s the highest-ranking Israeli to grace Obama with her presence,” wrote one sarcastic commenter on ynetnews.com. “Just what America needs, wisdom and advice from a 21-year-old beauty queen,” chimed in another on YouTube. Aynaw said she believes she received the exclusive invite to meet Obama because of their shared African heritage. She was “the first black Miss Israel to be chosen and [Obama] is the first black American president,” she told The Jerusalem Post: “These go together.” Aynaw is “very excited” about meeting the leader
can lead to the new drug not returning the initial investment and generating loss for it developer. Currently the industry spends about $135 billion on year on drug development, while the market value of the entire drug pipeline is estimated at a mere $293 billion. A concerning aspect is that as the former superstar drugs such as sildenafil (Viagra) gradually lose their privileged status and have to face generic competitions, the small amount of new entities cannot compensate for the losses. The theory of a solid supply of new “blockbuster” pharmaceuticals worked well in earlier periods, but as drug discovery struggles, the financial model of research oriented pharmaceutical companies are being jeopardized. Are the low-hanging fruits all gone? Another often emphasized causing factor is that decades of pharmaceutical research has cleared the opportunities that could be easily approached by the brute force “find a target-modify an effect” strategy, and the remaining options are either to niche to be financially rewarding, or are to difficult and require a conceptual paradigm shift. Notably neuroscience and cancer research are often mentioned as examples of fields where traditional small molecule drug developmental strategies proved to be less successful. Development of novel antibiotics is also badly needed in the ever-increasing amount of resistant pathogens, however very few new entities have been introduced in the last two decades, which seriously jeopardizes the improvements of modern healthcare. But are those fruits really gone? Most experts including the parents of Eroom’s law refute this. Remaining at the metaphor, the only thing we know is how many fruits have picked, but we have no clue about the number of fruits remaining. The human genome project was completed in 2002. At the time exactly 482 targets have been successfully drugged, whilst according to the contemporary estimations there were already around 8000 known potential drug targets, of which about 5000 can be realistically targeted alone by small-molecule compounds. Diminished output despite improved methods It is beyond doubt that the R&D technology evolved rapidly in the last decades, and major breakthroughs in biotechnology, informatics, and molecular biology now enable solving tasks previously deemed unimaginably complex. Despite this, the output of the Pharma industry (aka. the number of new drugs launched/year) did not keep up with the pace, and actually diminished compared to its peak years in the 1970–80s. This happened despite the steady increase of R&D spending of the pharma industry. These years also marked a paradigm shift in the research methods for new entities. The attention shifted from natural products being tested on complex system towards a molecular mechanims-based approach. The novel, streamlined mechanism-based reverse pharmacology proposed clean hits, and superior target selectivity compared to the earlier “hit a target-get an effect” approach, however many drug candidates discovered this way have failed in the clinical trials. This is seemingly controversial, perhaps even enigmatic at first. It turned out, that overemphasizing “clean” effects mediated by a single molecular pathways turned out to be less fruitful than initially thought, the reasons of which we will discuss later. Regulatory barriers — that nevertheless keep proving to be useful The necessity to regulate drug development has a history of more than a century, preceeded by the “dark ages” of patent medicine, when chemical mixtures of questionable or bona fide unknown composition were boldy marketed as universal cure against a plethora of ailments. Nevertheless laws concerning drug development remained relatively lax until well into the 20th century. With a swiftness now unimaginable chlorpromazine, one of the first antipsychotics to be discovered on December 11 1951 was administered within less than a month to the first actual patient in January 19 1952. In November 1952 it entered the market — only 11 months after being synthesised. The real change in regulation toke place in the 1960s, when the disastrous birth defects caused by the newly launched sedative thalidomide sent a shockwave through the public. Subsequent investigations found that the tragic effect was the consequence of the rudimentary safety testing, and no efforts were taken (nor was it mandated) to rule out possible teratogenic effects prior to the approval of the drug. The thalidomide disaster represents a tipping point after which pharmaceutical industry has become one of the least trusted industries, and the frequent target of conspiration theorists. In the subsequent decades laws regarding testing and licensing drugs have become gradually tougher, however occasional tragic events still occur. More recently rofecoxib (Vioxx) gained notoriety. This novel nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug had gained significant popularity before being withdrawn in 2004 due to increased cardiovascular risk. Just this year a tragic event again higlighted the importance of meticulous clinical trials. BIA 10–2474, a promising new drug candidate targetting the endocannabinoid system, and with manifold implications from pain to obesity induced disastrous adverse effects during the Phase I trial, leading to the death of one participant. In summary, regulatory barriers have been proving their merits, and tragic examples prove from time to time the immensely perilous nature of the the translation of pharmaceuticals from the preclinical phase to the clinics Growing disparity between basic research output and results translated into the clinics The recent decades have seen an astonishing growth of basic biomedical research productivity, reflected e.g. by the number of articles published. This however did not result in an accompanying increase of outcomes in applied pharmaceutical research, or the general health and life expectancy of the population. Quantum leaps occurred all across the biomedical field, from sequencing the human genome and advanced computer modeling, to high-throughput screening, yet the hard endpoint - namely the number of new drugs approved showed modest if any increase. In the meantime detrimental trends have also gained momentum, as increased specialization of basic scientists made complex task-solving more difficult, and the growing number of scientific misconduct, eroded the quality of the literature. The variability of reagents (e.g. antibodies), or the commonly occurring cell line contaminations also resulted in an altogether poorer reproductivity of basic research findings. Since basic research is the foundation, upon which pharmaceutical research can build, it is critical to repair the broken scientific publishing process, increase transparency, and to remove the perverse incentives that push authors to publish dubious results, and to engage in fraudulent actions. Hopefully, recently there seems to be a willingness to do this, facilitated largely by scientific publishing watchdogs such as Retraction Watch, or post-publication peer-review sites as PubPeer. Increasing the reliability of basic research findings can pave the way to improved success rates in pharmaceutical research. Ways to break out the vicious cycle Eroom’s law was coined four years ago, which gives us enough time to assess it from a semi-historical standpoint. The more than half thousand citations, the dedicated wikipedia article, and a myriad of reflections in online media signify its importance, while R&D costs kept rising as predicted. Moore’s law held up for decades, but eventually it succumbed, due to reaching the very limits of technology that allowed it in the first place. But what will be the fate of its distant cousin? Eroom’s law as we have seen has many facets, from technological limitations and “good enough” medications, to legislative challenges. Some of the greatest results of pharmaceutical research stem from “brute force methods” that we have discussed earlier, while the paradigm shift towards more sophisticated tools in the 1990s resulted in a paradoxically plummeting efficiency. It is very likely that over-reliance of presumably more streamlined cell-based systems compared to the extensive in vivo screening prevalent in the heyday of drug research, and overemphasizing the importance of “clean” effects mediated by acting on a single target are one aspect of this issue. The target-based approach seeking superselective drugs dominated the field since the 1990s, there are however increasingly vocal opinions proposing the return of polypharmacology. Since most diseases are being multigenic, multitarget drugs modulating a network of related targets could be the key for better outcomes. Advance in silico technologies like computational models, aided by machine learning methods are promising in reinvigorating small molecule drug discovery. Moving beyond sheer computational power, deep learning neural networks, offer new ways to analyze data, and search for patterns, will likely have a tremendous impact on drug development and healthcare in general, by facilitating biomarker discovery, screening, and clinical trial assessment. Artificial intelligence-based drug screening may appear futuristic, but several startups such as Atomwise or Numerate are convinced to bring multi-omics data analysis and high-throughput screening together this way. It goes beyond doubt that such systems could prove to be superior way to handle the information explosion in biomedicine, and potentially notice complex patterns unnoticed otherwise. AI could be useful for finding shortcuts to optimise chemical synthesis as well as a myriad of other, currently not even known potential uses. When it comes to preclinical testing of drug candidates organ-on-chip systems offer entirely new dimensions to screen and evaluate effects in a system retaining the complexity of an in vivo millieu while keeping costs at bay. In a similar vein some authors proposed open access models for early phase drug discovery, which would distribute risks among numerous stakeholders, whilst downstream patenting would make it profitable for all inventors involved. It is beyond doubt that such an environment, would counteract pharma mergers and acquisitions, and benefit smaller companies, altogether resulting in increased collaboration. Finally, increased risk-taking could result in more serendipitous “happy accident” discoveries. In the last few years there appears to be modest trend towards increasing drug approvals/year. As others have pointed it out it could be partially due to improved methods already taking hold, but also due to the successes with diseases caused by well-identified genetic risk factors. However some key drug categories don’t fare so well. Antibiotics transformed the entire healthcare and had a key contribution to the increased life expectancy in the post-war period. Its now hard to imagine how defenseless humanity was against bacteria in the prepenicillin era. Even in 1924, the son of US president Calvin Coolidge succumbed to generalized bacterial infection that started as a simple sore toe following a tennis match. Such a scenario would be impossible these days one would say — but is that truly so? Decades of widespread and sometimes irresponsible use of antibiotics are jeopardizing our defensive arsenal against microbes, as multiresistant strains are outpacing researchers. Despite this, there’s very little improvement in antibacterial agents recently. The reasons are manifold, and go beyond the scope of this opinion piece, however one key factor is certainly the relatively small market. Specialized super-antiobiotics are badly needed in hospital settings, but overall demand is low comparable to e.g. antidiabetic, or antihypertensive drugs — yet R&D costs are in the similar range. Hence, researching new class of antibiotics is less tempting, due to its increased risks and limited returns. This means, that strong incentives, and governmental aid is badly needed to reduce risk aversion of company executives, and also to maintain the necessary level of drug developmental efforts in some less tempting therapeutical areas. In conclusion, Eroom’s law can only be overcome by the joint effect of technological and conceptual paradigm shifts, but also by acknowledging that the road to discovery starts as often as not with one giant leap into the unknown. As a final remark: Moore’s law hold up surprisingly long, but eventually it gave its way. We hope that Eroom’s law will not last half a century.The Chinese government has been accused by the US Senate of orchestrating cyber-attacks on military targets and commercial defence contractors over a year-long period. Military airlines and computers onboard a commercial ship were attacked around 50 times between 2012 and 2013, according to a new report published by the Senate. "These peacetime intrusions into the networks of key defense contractors are more evidence of China's aggressive actions in cyberspace," said Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Our findings are a warning that we must do much more to protect strategically significant systems from attack and to share information about intrusions when they do occur." Civilian air, shipping, and other tranportation assets used by the military in times of crisis were targeted by hackers attributed to the Chinese government. Around 20 of the 50 intrusions were apparently successful and presented an "advanced persistent threat" to a network of contractors. "We must ensure that cyber intrusions cannot disrupt our mission readiness" said Senator Jim Inhofe, the committee's ranking member. "It is essential that we put into place a central clearinghouse that makes it easy for critical contractors, particular those that are small businesses, to report suspicious cyber activity without adding a burden to their mission support operations." The allegations - the latest in the long-running cyberwar between the US and China - have been denied by the Chinese government, with embassy officials in Washington calling the claims "groundless". In response to the investigation's findings, the committee included a provision in its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for next year directed at addressing reporting gaps in its cyber-defence infrastructure. It is hoped that such provisions will improve the way in which the Department disseminates information about cyber intrusions into the computer networks of operationally critical contractors.Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told reporters March 16 that he is working closely with President Trump on health-care legislation. (Reuters) It's almost like House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) thinks that by saying something enough times, it will make it true. As Ryan struggles to keep his fragile Obamacare reform bill from breaking apart and shattering (and potentially ruining Republicans' chance to get rid of Obamacare), there's one man he really wants to thank for doing his part. At a news conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday, here's how Ryan described President Trump's involvement in the Obamacare reform efforts: “Extremely constructive.” “Literally hand in glove.” “His involvement and his engagement, his listening and his negotiating skills are bringing people together so that we can have a bill we can pass, get a consensus on, and make good on our promises.” “This is a power we haven't seen since Ronald Reagan.” Since Ronald Reagan? Okay. All of that comes as news to us. Maybe there's a lot going on behind the scenes — we know Trump has met with some of the dozen-plus conservative lawmakers who have serious concerns about the bill. But publicly, Trump could best be described as distant from this whole Obamacare reform process, especially when compared to Ryan. In fact, he told Fox News's Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night that “if we're not going to take care of the people, I'm not signing anything.” Ryan has been on a media and PR blitz the past week to sell the bill to conservative voters and their lawmakers. He's appeared on at least eight national TV and radio shows in eight days to champion it. He's powered through a politically troubling report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that estimates that more people could be uninsured by this bill than became insured under Obamacare. In an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier on Monday, Ryan called the CBO report “encouraging,” prompting this incredulous question from the host: .@BretBaier to @SpeakerRyan: "If you're 'encouraged' by this CBO report, what’s the CBO report you’re discouraged by?" — Amber Phillips (@byamberphillips) March 13, 2017 Trump has not put on that same sort of full-court press. While in Michigan on Wednesday to promote his administration's reconsideration of fuel efficiency standards, Trump didn't mention health care once. (Wednesday was the same day we counted almost 60 GOP lawmakers who have serious concerns about the legislation, more than enough to sink it.) In yet another interview where Ryan praised Trump's help with the bill, CNN's Jake Tapper astutely pointed out that dissonance: “You really think that you and the White House are on the exact same page?” (Ryan brushed off the concerns.) Trump did take a stab at selling the plan at a rally in Tennessee later Wednesday night: “The House legislation does so much for you. It gives the states Medicaid flexibility and some of the states will take over their health care. Governor Rick Scott in Florida said, 'Just send me the money.' They run a great plan. We have states that are doing great. It gives great flexibility.” But he didn't seem laser-focused on it. Health care was just one of half a dozen legislative priorities the president mentioned in his address. There could be some face-saving going on here. If this bill fails, who owns it? Ryan or Trump? In that context, it's worth noting that in an interview on Fox Business Network on Wednesday morning, Ryan said this: “Obviously, the major components are staying intact because this is something we wrote with President Trump.” Meanwhile, conservative groups aren't helping Ryan's case. Breitbart, a conservative site formerly run by Trump's chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, derogatorily calls the bill “RyanCare.” So does Club for Growth, an influential conservative group, which sent out a news release Thursday thanking the three House conservatives who voted against “RyanCare” in the House Budget Committee. (It passed, but barely.) Whoever owns the bill, the stakes couldn't be higher for it. Ryan's acknowledged that passing this could be Republicans' first, last chance to do health-care reform. The thing is, health-care policy analysts say it's Trump — not Ryan — who could save this bill. If you're a member of the conservative wing of the party, it's probably politically beneficial to oppose Ryan, a.k.a. the epitome of the establishment, by opposing this bill. It's another thing entirely to cross Trump, who ran on a platform of change and largely did well in conservatives' districts. It's quite possible that a heavy hand on Trump's part could save this bill. Ryan appears to know that, and — unless we're missing some serious behind-the-scenes negotiating on the president's part — is publicly wishing it so by offering a reality to Trump that the president could slide into. But so far, we see no evidence that Trump is interested in taking the hand Ryan's extending.I want to look like that guy. No real man would ever say that. It’s superficial. What mature male builds their body just to look pretty? It’s weak. Girly. Non-functional. You should workout to be strong enough to deadlift a car. Or snatch double your bodyweight. Or throw a football across two time zones. Lifting weights to look good naked? What a waste of time. I read crap like that all the time. It pisses me off. It’s no longer acceptable to workout just to look better. No, everything you do must pertain to some mysterious real-world “function,” like those one-legged Bosu drills skinny trainers love to perform. As I’m old and grumpy and generally don’t give a shit about other people’s opinions (Happy Holidays!), when someone says stuff like that I typically do the opposite. So it’s no surprise that I refuse to let anyone tell me how I “should” or shouldn’t develop my body. I like “vanity muscle.” I think it’s cool. Bulging quads, wide backs, shoulders that blow the stitching out of cheap suits – it’s awesome. I’d love to wake up tomorrow with 20 extra pounds of muscle on my frame – my knees might not like it, but for a little while it would be fun. Still, give the critics their due. A muscular body can have limitations. They aren’t necessarily strong. At least not for their size. While the weight on the bar is just a means to an end, you should never accept being weak. They aren’t necessarily healthy. A physique can look great and still be a mess when you start running diagnostics. Or start running, period. It can be even uglier for competitive physique athletes, although to be fair, robust health and the extreme end of any sport rarely co-exist, whether it’s powerlifting, boxing, hockey, and yes, even running. Still, you shouldn’t practice something that flat-out degrades your health. They aren’t necessarily athletic. I’m not suggesting a bodybuilder can’t be nimble – I’m saying the training required to be a bodybuilder won’t do much to develop these athletic qualities. A truly impressive physique has “No Holes.” A pretty, proportioned physique is an acceptable goal. But it shouldn’t come at the neglect of something that contributes significantly to health or overall quality of life. This includes strength, mobility, low bodyfat, and aerobic endurance & anaerobic capacity, amongst other more nebulous qualities like “health.” You don’t have to excel at everything – although God bless you if you do. The idea is to score at least a passing grade in everything while keeping your focus clearly locked on what really motivates you. In this case that’s an aesthetic physique. So how do you target so many different qualities at once? Chase too many rabbits at once and you end up eating Ramen noodles for dinner. You need to periodize. Periodization is how you organize a long-term training program. With periodization, instead of throwing the kitchen sink at your body every training program, you split it up, so different qualities are emphasized over the course of the year. There have been many books and thousands of articles written on the subject for other strength sports like weightlifting and powerlifting, so if this is of interest you’ll find no shortage of quality material to dig into. But what if that’s not your bag, exactly? Say you’re not a powerlifter or a thrower or even an athlete, per se – you’re just an average dude who wants to look great naked and be healthy? How can you periodize your training to get a well-proportioned, muscular, healthy physique? There’s another wrinkle – being over 35. The big myth is that strength and muscle mass start decreasing after a certain age. If you train regularly, this is simply not the case. Truth is, it may be even easier to maintain what you’ve spent two decades building if you come from a long, active training background. Of course, that’s if you stay healthy enough to train hard – and that’s where age tends to kick guys in the balls. Your joints and connective tissues do not get stronger with age. On the contrary, most are already on death row thanks to the previous two decades of heavy training (including those years in college when you were a dumb ass). For that reason, mobility and tissue work now join regular bloodwork and prostate exams as “stuff older guys must take ownership of.” You also need to be mindful of your rest days. Some internet “fitness experts” like to brag about how hardcore not taking rest days is. Cool story bro, but that’s short-sighted thinking. Fact is, I have never met anyone who’s actually strong or big (not internet strong or big) that didn’t take rest days seriously. And that goes double as you push 40. Enter Aesthetic Training for Older Guys. This is something I put together largely for my own selfish purposes. However, judging by the questions I get, it’s safe to say there are many with similar goals. To help with the structure, I leaned heavily on former NFL strength coach Derek Woodske, aka The Manimal. Derek’s a great coach and an entertaining writer and speaker. You can learn more about Derek here. Businesses love to work off quarterly goals. It also works well when setting up a periodized training program. For the needs of the older, aesthetic-minded lifter, I like to work off 4 quadrants: • Hypertrophy • Strength • Fat Loss • Something Else While the total length is a year, the duration of each constituent phase would depend on the needs of the individual. For example, a naturally lean guy might only need an 8 week fat loss phase (or none whatsoever) while a chubbier dude may need more time there. Typically 16 weeks would be the maximum length of any phases (without a break) and 4 weeks the minimum. Although the order doesn’t really matter, from experience fat loss training (higher volume, lower intensity) seems to work better coming off a strength phase – perhaps due to the nervous system being tuned in or the dramatic change in paramters (low reps/high intensity to high reps/low intensity). Or at the very least, the change makes it all feel new and exciting. Now let’s look at each cycle in-depth and their respective goals: Hypertrophy A – 8 weeks Goal: Increase Muscle Size Weight training: 4 days per week. Multi-joint with some isolation exercises, 2-4 sets of 6-12 reps. Anaerobic Work: Power — 1-2 sessions per week, preferably on a lower body training days.* Examples include 20-meter hill sprints with a 3:1 up to 5:1 rest: work ratio. Aerobic Work: Steady state cardio is optional on off days. Restorative: Daily mobility/SMR work, off day flexibility training, ensure 2 off days per week (excluding steady state cardio). * Older athletes benefit greatly from more days off. While it’s convenient to schedule just one workout per day, doing anaerobic on a lower body weight training day (4-6 hours before or after training) can be very helpful if it frees up another day for rest. The goal of this phase is to get bigger all around. Think, a balanced bodybuilding program with a bit of lower rep work for good measure. Techniques like supersets and high-rep sets and other tools to extend the time under tension should only be used with the last set per exercise. WEEK OFF – You can deload or take the week off training entirely. Soft tissue work or massage is highly recommended. Hypertrophy B – 8 weeks — Specialization Goal: Increase Size of Weak Bodypart Weight training: 5 days per week. Mix of multi-joint and isolation exercises, 2-4 sets of 6-12 reps, even 15 reps or more. Anaerobic Work: Capacity — 1-2 sessions per week, preferably on a (non-specialization) training day. This could be pushing a Prowler with a 1:2 work-rest ratio. Regardless ditch the hill sprints for now to give the nervous system a break. Aerobic Work: Steady state cardio is optional on off days. Restorative: Daily mobility/SMR work, off day flexibility training, ensure 2 off days per week (excluding steady state cardio). This phase is all about attacking a predetermined weak point. Extra training days and a variety of intensity techniques like supersets, drop sets, giant sets, and rest-pauses can be used to help stimulate new growth. The key word here is pump. Of course, an increase in work in one area must be accompanied by significant reductions everywhere else, both in volume and intensity. Exercises on non-specialization should always be performed with a rep or two left “in the hole.” For example, a routine prioritizing shoulders might look like this: Monday: Chest, Shoulders (2 pressing moves) Tuesday: Back & Rear Delts Thursday: Shoulders (super sets & giant sets, 12-15 reps) Friday: Legs & Core Saturday: Arms WEEK OFF– Take the week off training entirely. Soft tissue work or massage is highly recommended. Strength A – 12 Weeks Goal: Get stronger. Weight training: 3-4 days, multi-joint exercises, 4-8 sets of 2-5 reps excluding structural balance work. Anaerobic Work: None. Aerobic Work: Steady state cardio on two off days. 30 minute sessions at 70% max heart rate. Restorative: Daily mobility/SMR work, off day flexibility training, ensure 2 off days per week (excluding steady state cardio). My colleague Dave Tate calls this movement-based training. The focus is not on the specific muscles but getting stronger in the major movements (squat, hinge, push, pull). So choose thick presses and rows and chin-ups and deadlifts, not cable curls and pec deck flyes. You should’ve had your fill of those kind of lifts in the last phase. In this phase anaerobic stuff like HIIT is dropped so you can channel your resources towards better recovery. To compensate for the drop in activity – and the fact that low rep work doesn’t burn as many calories – the steady state cardio is no longer optional. Just don’t turn it into a cardio contest – think restoration, not exhaustion. Do a deload before entering Strength B. Strength B – Max Effort — 4 Weeks Goal: Set New PRs! Weight training: 3-4 days, multi-joint exercises only. 4-8 sets of 1-5 reps No structural balance work or very little assistance. Anaerobic Work: None Aerobic Work: None. You won’t die. Restorative: Daily mobility/SMR work, off day flexibility training, ensure 2 off days per week. Massage is highly recommended. The volume goes down further and the intensity goes up. The next 4 weeks is about peaking your current strength phase. Slow down your training and up your focus. Growing a beard likely helps. The obvious question is — if aesthetics is number one, why bother with strength phases? While being able to bench press a Yugo isn’t your end goal, regular strength phases are highly beneficial: * They get you stronger, so you can use heavier weights in hypertrophy phases and grow that much faster. * They give the physique a slightly harder, denser “look” versus just pump training. * It’s a radically different stimulus to hypertrophy training — so when you go back to your beloved pump work, the novel stimulus can “shock” the body into growth. * Stronger is always better. Always. WEEK OFF — Take the week off training entirely. Get a massage or two — you earned it. Fat Loss – 12 Weeks Goal: Get lean. Weight training: 3-4 days, multi-joint and single-joint exercises, 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps, shorter rests, circuits and longer time under tension sets. Anaerobic Work: 2 sessions per week, on lower body training days. Aerobic Work: Steady state cardio 3-5 days per week x 20-60 minutes. No, does not have to be fasted. 😉 Restorative: Daily mobility/SMR work, off day flexibility training, ensure 2 off days per week (excluding steady state cardio). The primary driver of fat loss is a calorie deficit. You can lose fat while training for hypertrophy or strength. However, if a very cramped schedule poses a challenge, using lactic acid protocols (higher reps, short rest) can be helpful. However, my preference for using these methods while dieting versus lower rep protocols is efficiency. An older lifter will be hard pressed to hit a PR while on low calories, so why try to? Recuperative abilities are also greatly reduced on a lower calorie diet, making heavy training even less sustainable. Add in the negatively affected sleep patterns that come with dieting (due to low calories and higher cortisol levels) and attacking a bunch of neurologically demanding training is simply counterproductive. That said, you still need tension to “tell” the body to not burn muscle during the diet — doing just one exercise per workout for lower reps and higher intensity can accomplish this. WEEK OFF – Take the week off training entirely. Soft tissue work or massage is highly recommended. Other Stuff – 4 weeks Goal: Do something else Weight training: Not unless it’s a new activity (Olympic lifting, CrossFit) Anaerobic Work: Try a new sport. Aerobic Work: Walk or ride a bike to venue where you play said new sport. Restorative: Daily mobility work, off day flexibility training. Ideally something new (yoga perhaps?) Even an athlete can’t train hard all year. And to quote Louis C.K., “You’re not an athlete.” While I included breaks every 12 weeks or so, you should still have a short block per training year where you don’t train for any goal other than learning something new or just having fun. This can be a great time to learn a new skill or try a new sport. Ideally you’ll discover something that you stick with and perform all year. Or try out new gyms. Do something “goofy.” Better yet, skip the gym entirely and go on a long vacation. Walk around and take pictures like a tourist, the type that doesn’t plan travelling around finding the closest fitness centre. This not only offers a physical break from the wear of the last training year, it’s incredibly freeing to just exercise for the joy of doing it. Chasing your training log, while the best way to train, isn’t always the best way to live. As always, balance yo. Here’s to training time well spent. See you in front of the mirror. Personalize Your Plan? Some guys just want to look good. Others are willing to ask for help to look their best. Which guy are you? Click here to learn how you can finally build body you want. Enjoyed This Article? Enter your best email below to get updates delivered straight to your inbox. You'll also get instant access to my FREE Physique Mastery email course. You're all set! Check your email in the next 30 seconds to confirm your subscription. Share this: on Twitter on Facebook on Google+UPDATE: Regurgitator have issued a statement. Scroll down to the bottom of the story to read it. With Regurgitator set to headline the last-ever gig at Australia National University’s bar, it seemed like a fitting celebration for the 60-year-old venue, but now both the promoter and bands are under pressure after it came to light that the lineup was entirely male-dominated. In light of the lack of female and gender non-binary representation on the 11-act bill, and the ham-fisted response by the promoter when called out on it, some were calling on Regurgitator to lead by example and remove themselves from the bill, and the band have responded accordingly. Being made aware of the situation via social media, they quickly decided to pull out of the gig after a discussion with promoter Gary Peadon, and informed fans this afternoon via Facebook. For his part, Peadon has remained fiercely defensive of his lineup from the beginning, as reported by Pedestrian, but got himself into hot water with detractors early on when his comment of “what the fuck if a non binary” was deemed inflammatory. His defensive take on the situation continued, and Peadon points out that he had attempted to book several female performers, but that none were available – a claim backed up by the above response by Charlotte Napangardi Versegi, who points out that her band did in fact turn the gig down. Peadon also took to ABC Radio this morning to defend himself, Pedestrian reports, citing his ignorance of the term “non binary”, and displaying an apparent confusion between ‘gender’ and ‘genre’. “I’ve never heard of non-binary before,” Peadon told listeners. “When I book an act, I don’t sit down and think about the genre. “The only genre I think about is it punk, is it rock, whatever. I don’t sit there and go ‘ah, I need to put a female band on.'” In this argument, Peadon falls clearly on the side of gender not having to be a consideration when booking a lineup, simply talent. “When I was booking the acts, I already did ask a few local female acts beyond the bill, not because they were female, and it never entered my mind to ask because they’re female, but because I liked their band.” “If I’m going to cop backlash over bringing acts to Canberra and paying out of my own pocket for most of the gigs that I do, then I’d prefer not to do them. I’ve got better things to do.” Others, meanwhile, insist that actively promoting gender-diverse and ethnically-diverse lineups is now a venue’s responsibility, rather than taking the attitude of “why do I even have too (sic) think about this shit?” A mere few days back, one patron reached out to Peadon hoping to see more gender-diversity at the venue, and he indicated that the main problem he faces as a venue booker is finding the requisite female talent, but the fact that this task now falls on his shoulders was quickly pointed out to him. Peadon insists there will be no changes to the show, at least on his part, but with Regurgitator making a swift exit and Slow Turismo reportedly following, that may not be his choice to make. As of now, the show is still scheduled to go ahead on Wednesday the 17th of June, sans women and a very big headliner. Regurgitator released the following statement: Given our position on matters of gender equality, social justice and equal opportunity for all, we have decided we can not be involved with the upcoming ANU FINALE event. Based on the subsequent responses from the organisers to criticism about the heavy gender bias of the lineup and how this has aggravated rather than managed to accommodate the concerns posed online by people in Canberra we have had to cancel our upcoming involvement in this ANU BAR finale lineup. Apologies to any inconvenienced by this decision. Music is not about gender but we can not ignore gender in regard to the ongoing practices of music as an industry. Not excusing ourselves, but not knowing the majority of the bands selected we had no idea of the heavy gender bias of the lineup. We have friends who identify as non-binary or non-gender specific along with many from the LGBTQI+ community. We very much support mixed demographic scenarios where possible covering diversity in gender, sexuality, race etc. Like most we are not without our own flaws in managing such concerns but we are aware of how important this is, so this matter very much concerns us as a group. Being presented under the auspices of the ANU we also feel the lineup has a need to reflect the typical charter of a unversity in regard to diversity and inclusiveness. In stating these issues and the comments made online from the organisers we have decided to withdraw from this event as their public position runs against all we support. Given the state of society, environment and climate we hope upcoming generations across the world take time and effort to consider the realities of injustice right across the board and manifest more inclusive attitudes and overall awareness to make a stand against archaic and non-progressive approaches that we are currently laden with, and in turn to help make the world a better place for all.Command-Line Worldview, and kindly contributed to (This article was first published on, and kindly contributed to R-bloggers) This is the first walk-through I have posted. Reading these types of posts has been incredibly helpful as I have been learning R and other useful tools in the Unix universe. Hopefully you find it helpful. First, I have been watching Google Python Videos the last couple days and they have a coding assignment using Social Security Administration Data Baby Names. Not having the downloads for the course I thought it would be a good python exercise to try to get the same data. So, my interest in baby names has nothing to do with any impending life decision(or any recent drunken decisions). You can get the python script and the R we are going to use here
. But Jaffe quotes a "senior administration official who is involved in Middle East policy" who said of the call for a no-fly zone: "You can't pretend you can go to war against Assad and not go to war against the Russians." To which Greenwald and Jilani quipped: Obamas administration is cautioning Hillary Clinton is risking war with Russia, behind anonymous quotes https://t.co/Jem0x2y3zq pic.twitter.com/mADdicyKNy — Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) October 20, 2016Joe Namath says he’ll call at 9:30 a.m., and at 9:30 a.m. on the dot, a call comes in from his home in South Florida. “That’s part of the old quarterback in me,” Namath says. Conversation is always easy with Broadway Joe, whether it be about his first grandson, Nickoli William, who was born the Wednesday before Super Bowl XLIX; Seattle’s infamous goal-line interception; or Namath’s beloved Jets. Lately, though, he’s paid especial attention to one topic that hangs over all facets of the game of football—head injuries. The Super Bowl III MVP is the namesake of the Joe Namath Neurological Research Center in Jupiter, Fla., and he’s working to raise $10 million for an FDA-approved clinical trial of a treatment program for traumatic brain injury using hyperbaric oxygen. Once a trendsetting young quarterback, Namath, now 71, is still trying to make an impact on the game of football. VRENTAS: Give us your take on Super Bowl XLIX, through the eyes of the Super Bowl III MVP? NAMATH: This was the 49th Super Bowl, so I’ve had the honor and pleasure of being to several Super Bowls over the years. This was one of the best games I recall, if not the best. The most exciting, other than playing in one, you see. Well, there have been some other good ones, too. The finish was dramatic. You know, I am a guy that believed Pete [Carroll] made the right call that didn’t work. Earlier in the game, there were situations where [Marshawn] Lynch was stopped for no gain. When you see eight New England Patriots at the line of scrimmage to stop the run, that’s not just eight players up there, that’s eight Patriots that are pretty darn stout, or they wouldn’t be there in that position in the first place. Given the belief that Pete knows, with his coaches, exactly what they want to do in a given situation, what is the best opportunity, I really believe he called the play that they figured would be best with single coverage, and not butting heads, and in that given situation, with the time and the one timeout. It just didn’t work. That young man [Malcolm] Butler made a great play. I don’t believe Russell Wilson saw Butler. Having played the position before, had he seen Butler in that break position, he would have maybe put it on the receiver’s back shoulder. But it was such a flash, you know. From where Butler was, and came from, I really believe Russell didn’t see Butler, and he threw a strike right out there in front of the receiver. If you get real picky, you would have thought that the receiver would have been coming harder inside, a step faster. When I watch his body movement, watch his break inside, I don’t think it was as explosive as it could have been. I give all the credit in the world to Butler for making an absolutely great play and, wow, what a hero, coming from where he came from onto that team. What a finish for the season for him, boy. The MMQB ICYMI Seattle’s infamous interception overshadowed a career-defining game by the Tom Brady, who explains from his perspective what went down in the final quarter FULL STORY The official start of the offseason marks the transition from u201cwe timeu201d to u201cme timeu201d for NFL players. Here are 12 offseason predictions about who will get paid, who won’t, and how ongoing controversies will be resolved FULL STORY Cal wideout Chris Harper declared early for the draft and now is a combine snub, precisely the scenario the NFL is trying to avoid. Plus, get to know an ex-Oregon QB not named Marcus Mariota FULL STORY Shaq Thompson, a likely first-round pick, spent the past three seasons proving he’s capable of just about anything on the football field. But the first time he went pro, he proved to be anything but a can’t-miss prospect FULL STORY Our NFL film-study maven Andy Benoit and college football know-it-all Andy Staples will break down the needs of all 32 teams and suggest which prospects would be the best fit. We start in the division that the Lombardi Trophy calls home... FULL STORY The MMQB spent four frantic days—and a few sleepless nights—with a top broker as he worked the wildest and most lucrative Super Bowl ticket market ever FULL STORY Seattle’s infamous interception overshadowed a career-defining game by the Tom Brady, who explains from his perspective what went down in the final quarterThe official start of the offseason marks the transition from u201cwe timeu201d to u201cme timeu201d for NFL players. Here are 12 offseason predictions about who will get paid, who won’t, and how ongoing controversies will be resolvedCal wideout Chris Harper declared early for the draft and now is a combine snub, precisely the scenario the NFL is trying to avoid. Plus, get to know an ex-Oregon QB not named Marcus MariotaShaq Thompson, a likely first-round pick, spent the past three seasons proving he’s capable of just about anything on the football field. But the first time he went pro, he proved to be anything but a can’t-miss prospectOur NFL film-study maven Andy Benoit and college football know-it-all Andy Staples will break down the needs of all 32 teams and suggest which prospects would be the best fit. We start in the division that the Lombardi Trophy calls home...The MMQB spent four frantic days—and a few sleepless nights—with a top broker as he worked the wildest and most lucrative Super Bowl ticket market ever VRENTAS: After his fourth title, where do you think Tom Brady stands among quarterbacks to ever have played the game? NAMATH: No one’s ever been better. No one’s ever been better than Tom Brady, I don’t believe. And I go back to watching the guys earlier in some of the darker days, in the ’50s. One of my first heroes was Otto Graham. Come on, 10 straight title games in Cleveland. He was just spectacular. Bobby Layne was a unique quarterback, really terrific. Getting into the modern era, Peyton Manning has had his wonderful performances. Don’t tell me anybody is better than Aaron Rodgers, either. Better than, better than, better than. The best, the best, the best. To each his own. I have a hard time calling anybody in any sport “the best” because of the changes in the game, certainly, and because of the greats that were ahead of them. But I will say, no one has ever played the game better than Tom Brady. You start looking at numbers, and sometimes statistics tell a story, and sometimes they don’t tell the whole story. It’s such a team game. But Tom has answered the bell. He has answered every challenge. He’s great. He’s great. No one has ever done it better. VRENTAS: You know all about motivation leading up to a Super Bowl. Do you think the Deflategate scrutiny motivated Brady? NAMATH: I like to think he didn’t spend time thinking about those things. It’s almost impossible not to spend some time talking about them; when you are asked about them, you have to think about it. But I have to believe if anyone was trained, geared, experienced to shift gears mentally and focus on the objective, Tom did just that, and obviously he proved it. I don’t know if there is any merit to it. I do know we, quarterbacks, do favor a softer ball to get better grip pressure on it. I was surprised to hear Aaron Rodgers saying he prefers the hard football. I don’t know if he was just being contrary to be Aaron, or whatever. But you know, as a kid, as a young player, handling a hard ball in cold weather, or with water, the harder the ball is, the more difficult it is to get your fingers to depress it a little bit to get a good grip. VRENTAS: Speaking of Brady, how many more years do you think your Jets will have to go against him in the division? NAMATH: Oh, wow. When I think about the Jets, I am not concerned with anybody else. In other words, I hope Tom plays as long as he feels he can play productively. I’m more thinking about the transition the Jets are making and how soon we can get on the winning side of the ledger. VRENTAS: Well, the team certainly began an overhaul this offseason. What did you think of the decisions to fire Rex Ryan and John Idzik, and hire Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan? NAMATH: It’s a win game. I agree with Mr. [Woody] Johnson, what he had to say about it. You move on. Some of the greatest coaches, the most successful coaches in the history of the NFL, get fired and move on to somewhere else, or don’t go any farther, starting with Tom Landry. He retired. Many coaches, including Bill Belichick, got fired. It depends on where they are at the time in their career. Everyone that I’ve heard from appreciates Todd Bowles’ talent, experience, background. Certainly Mr. Johnson is excited, and all the folks there, to have Todd leading the Jets. And of course, Chan Gailey, he’s a gifted football mind and knows what to do. But I promise you, you’ve got to have the players, whether it is professional football, whether it is college football, whether it is high school. You can have a heckuva coaching staff, but the players are the ones that need to own up to the execution on the field. There can be some blunders from the sideline. There can be some mismanagement going on from time to time. There shouldn’t be, but there can be. There can be different ways of psychologically having your players ready. But it still comes down to the players’ execution on the field and what their preparation has been. The Jets need some more strength player-wise in some areas, and it remains to be seen. Mike Maccagnan, he has been around, and the new forces leading the scouting and player departments will come up with some guys that can do a good job. Find some of those Malcolm Butler guys, too. That’s a remarkable thing how that young man came from where he did, without being drafted, and into one of the heroes of the past Super Bowl. VRENTAS: If you were GM of the Jets, what would you do with the quarterback position? NAMATH: Well, I would have been analyzing every snap of the ball, every play that was called, every decision that Geno Smith has made since he got under center a couple of years ago. And knowing what the quarterback should be trying to accomplish with each and every down and distance and play call. Get to know Geno that way. It takes knowing what decisions have been made, and how much he’s learned from them. You are starting fresh. You certainly give Geno the opportunity to get out there and win for his team. I haven’t seen him quit on anything. I have seen him trying hard. He’s shown flashes of some outstanding play. So you don’t quit on him. Now, again, I don’t know what kind of decision-maker he’s been the major percentage of the time. And that’s something you can improve on with experience. You know, I never walked into a training camp saying I was the starter. You’ve got to earn that all the time. Now these animals change over the years; generations change. I gotta believe when you go out there, you’re planning on out-performing anybody that’s around. Now, if it’s equal, then you haven’t done enough. And so the coaches have got to make a decision, not only based on right now, but what might lie ahead and some other intangibles come into play. But I really do believe, I’ll bet you he goes out there and says, ‘Hey, I am the best, and I am going to prove it.’ That’s what you gotta do at training camp. Geno has gotta prove that. VRENTAS: You asked this question on Twitter in December, “Do you think Geno Smith has a future with the Jets?” How would you answer that now? NAMATH: I hope so. You know what it is, there is room for improvement in every aspect of the team. If you are just talking offensively, there could have been better blocking up front from time to time. If you are taking wide receivers, yeah, they can improve out there. If you are talking about tight end play, I have seen the draft pick last year [Jace Amaro] drop some balls, and he knows he can improve. One of the strongest parts of the offense, to me, was our running backs. I just love watching those guys run. And Chris Ivory, he is one of a kind in the sense he has the same third and fourth driving effort we witnessed with Marshawn Lynch from time to time. I am amazed in seeing his third and fourth effort, and maybe the next one, too. We got [right tackle Breno] Giacomini in last year, and he did alright. I gotta believe he can do better. D’Brickashaw [Ferguson] and [Nick] Mangold are outstanding, and [Willie] Colon is very smart and stayed healthy to where he is a positive. If the offensive line improves, whoever plays quarterback is going to have a better chance than they had last season, and the season before. And we don’t even need to go to the defensive side; you probably have a good handle on that. You’ve gotta like at least a few of the guys up front, but after that, it remains to be seen what is going to happen. VRENTAS: You’ve said in the past that your relationship with Woody Johnson has been “clumsy” at times. Where do things stand now? NAMATH: Well I hope they have improved. I feel good about it. We have been able to visit some the past couple seasons. You know, having lived the life in sports through the public eye, you get critiqued. Fans want to critique what you are doing; the media. And when I was doing some critiquing, five or so years ago, I felt like all of it was justified, to this day. But I feel bad. I don’t like making anyone feel awkward, but whenever you are asked questions, you want to give an honest answer, an honest opinion, instead of walking softly and being concerned. You wouldn’t be doing justice to your fans, listeners or readers. I’m certainly looking forward to visiting with the Jets this year, and with Todd Bowles and Chan Gailey. I like being around a football situation. It’s been in my blood since I was a little guy. But I am a Gemini, too, so that’s one of the reasons I never got passionate enough to be able to go into coaching. It’s very time-consuming, and I have another side that yanks at me to gear down now and then. GALLERY: JOE NAMATH THROUGH THE YEARS Joe Namath: ‘No One Has Ever Played the Game Better Than Tom Brady’ On the Jets sideline, 1967. (Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated) On the run for the Crimson Tide, vs. Georgia, 1963. (Jay Leviton/Atlanta Inc/Sports Illustrated) Warming up before the 1965 Orange Bowl. (AP) With Bear Bryant after losing to Texas in the ’65 Orange Bowl. (AP) “The body was simply not designed to be treated the way it is treated on a football field.” Namath against the Raiders in the 1968 AFL title game. (Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated) Poolside in Miami before Super Bowl III. (Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated) Namath at Shea Stadium in 1969. (Neil Leifer /Sports Illustrated) Injured in Denver, 1969. (Carl Iwasaki/Sports Illustrated) With Howard Cosell, 1970. (Getty Images) Namath and Jets coach Weeb Ewbank, 1971. (Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated) With Raquel Welch at the Oscars, 1972. (Getty Images) A postgame escort, 1972. (Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated) On the set of “The Brady Bunch,” 1973. (ABC/Getty Images) Captured in stop-motion, 1973. (John G. Zimmerman/Sports Illustrated) As a Ram, briefly, 1977. (Robert Riger/Getty Images) Noxzema ad with Farrah Fawcett, 1981. (Getty Images) With Frank Gifford and O.J. Simpson on Monday Night Football, 1985. (Mickey Pfleger/Sports Illustrated) With daughter Olivia in 1997. (Damian Strohmeyer/Sports Illustrated) Appearing in a production of Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” 1997. (Manny Millan/Sports Illustrated) At Super Bowl 48, with daughter Jessica. (John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated) At the NFL Honors event, Super Bowl 49. (Taylor Hill/Getty Images) 1 of 21 Advertisement VRENTAS: A recent mission of yours has been the Joe Namath Neurological Research Center, at Jupiter Medical Center, which was created last fall to explore new ways of treating and reversing traumatic brain injury. What inspired you to go down this path? NAMATH: It was shocking when Dave Duerson took his life. And the question of “Why?” A lot of us were perplexed and couldn’t understand it. Then a few other players, more players, were having difficult lives. About five years ago, a specific teammate of mine sat me and a couple other teammates down and explained to us what he was going through. It was frightening. It was frightening in that we didn’t like to see what he was going through, for him. But then I started thinking about my future, knowing that I had at least a handful of concussions. There is a selfish side to it, too, because I plan on living a number of years. My parents went into their mid, late 80s, and boy, that was without exercising and that kind of stuff. I plan on living a good while longer, and with having a family, my daughters and all, to myself, I said, “Joe, it behooves you to find out if there is an existing problem.” I have been living in the same location for over 25 years, and during those 25 years, I have been fortunate to call on for help from Jupiter Medical Center, for myself, for my family, so I inquired with some doctors and asked them for direction. They said, let’s find out. So I went through the process of cognitive exams and brain scans. We saw where a number of my cells and an area of my brain had ceased functioning. So we started with the hyperbaric oxygen treatments. After 40 treatments, I had more cognitive tests and more brain scans, and after 80 we did the same thing, and after 120. After 40, there was improvement. After 80, the blood flow was completely working to the cells that had been dark [on the scan]. And after 120 treatments, my brain has continued to have the blood flow restored to those cells, and cognitive tests have been positive. So I’ve continued with exercise, trying to keep active mentally as well as physically. “The body was simply not designed to be treated the way it is treated on a football field. Your knee joint. Your neck. Your spine. Your head. The trauma is going to keep happening.” But it was a matter of knowing I had been hit in the head, my head had hit the ground, I had seen gold flashes and not remembered what was going on until I was somewhere else. Ball players in my generation, we didn’t know about concussions. We knew we got our bell rung, and the trainers and doctors always had some smelling salts with them when they came onto the field, and that’s basically how we were able to get up and over to the sidelines. This is an area that is exciting to me, having visited with the doctors, because traumatic brain injuries aren’t limited to athletes. There is a whole world out there that suffers from some kind of brain trauma, and if we can find and solidify a protocol that helps people recover, to not have the early onset of Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s or dementia. Maybe brain trauma at an early age, mid-age, whatever, can be rectified and we can have a healthier society. I’m just glad to be a part of trying to learn more about these things. Our study has been approved by the FDA for a clinical trial, and now we are reaching out for at least 100 people to get started and get results from their tests. VRENTAS: When did you suffer your concussions, and what is your memory of how they were handled during your playing days? NAMATH: In college and the pros. Now, when I was a younger kid, I remember getting hit. But I don’t know whether I’d call that a concussion. Even when I was playing ball, we didn’t call them “concussions.” That word wasn’t used. When I was a kid, I was walking up the street with my dad, Sixth Street in Beaver Falls, Pa., we were walking over to the main avenue, Seventh Avenue, and there was always a guy standing on the corner, kind of mumbling and singing and talking to myself. I said, “Daddy, what’s wrong with him?” My daddy said, “Oh, he is punch drunk.” Punch drunk. He was a former fighter. You get hit in the head, you get some blows to the head, and they didn’t have a name for it back then other than punch drunk. They didn’t call it concussions or brain trauma—they just said punch drunk. And in sports, in football, it was just: he got his bell rung. No one ever used the term concussions. VRENTAS: Before you did the cognitive testing and brain scans, were you aware that you had impairment from traumatic brain injury? NAMATH: No, I didn’t know. But I did question myself. And it could be the same kind of questions you or anybody else asks yourself. How many times have you walked from the kitchen into the living room and forgot why you went there? What am I doing? Simple questions like that. You start asking yourself whenever you think there is a little possibility of being abnormal through trauma. As time moves on, and more guys were having problems, that got me to wondering, and that’s how I decided it behooved me to get checked. The first change I told my doctors about [after the treatment] was the vivid dreams I was having. But then I started thinking, was it the ice cream I was eating late at night that was causing those dreams? Again, as a Gemini, I don’t claim to be a saint by any stretch, so I do indulge from time to time. I even had a little ice cream last night, but I do get the no sugar added, low-fat kind. VRENTAS: Do you feel as though the future of football is at risk, as the awareness about and effects of brain injuries become better known? NAMATH: I believe the sport will never go away. The animals that we are, going back to the gladiator days. Violence and sex—and I add the sex part because of those tight football pants and all—and competition. There are always going to be people that are willing to take the chance. That are willing to believe it is not going to happen to them. To make the exchange for the opportunity to satisfy their manhood. The body was simply not designed to be treated the way it is treated on a football field. Your elbow is only supposed to go so far; that joint is not supposed to go past a certain point in any direction. Your knee joint. Your neck. Your spine. Your head. The trauma is going to keep happening. But the sport is a great sport. It’s dangerous, yes, but beginning with the NFL and every level of the sport, we are trying to make it safer. Things have been changed, techniques have been changed, trying to create a new style of play and trying to make it habitual. As opposed to the habits we had in the past as players, hitting with certain areas of the body, and using your head as a spear. The NFL has done a terrific job in changing things. So no, I don’t think the sport is going to go away because there are always going to be the guys that want to play it, and there is always going to be the audience who wants to see it. VRENTAS: Have any other former NFL players expressed interest in participating in the clinical trial at your research center? NAMATH: It’s not my place to say who they are. But there are hundreds of guys in more places than one that have been seeking help, going through protocols of different kinds, to try to get answers. We [have reason to believe] that cells that have been damaged, darkened, not getting blood flow at all, can be restored through the process and protocol we have used down here. I’m thankful, No. 1. And I’m humbly flattered that I guess because of my sports background, some people lend an ear and my voice can be heard. We can help people. There is help out there. It is a matter of proving it, and that’s why we’re doing this study. Even though the FDA has approved the study that I went through, and it looks like it works, we want to see another 100 patients through it. We are reaching out to folks that have to fit a certain profile to go through the study. VRENTAS: One last question that I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while. Don Shula once told me that the two of you have sat together at many Super Bowls in recent years. He was, of course, on the other end of your infamous guarantee as the Colts coach in Super Bowl III. That ever come up? NAMATH: He was a hero of mine, and he still is. Before we played him, he was a great coach, and afterwards he became an even greater coach. Coming where I came from, my respect for him overrode anything about that Super Bowl III game. Coach Shula and I have been together many times now, and I never opened my mouth about that game unless he brought it up or somebody else brought it up. I remember when I was first doing some color for TV on football, I went down to the Dolphins practice, and I took my father with me. At the time, my dad might have been in his 70s or early 80s. And Coach Shula put his arm around my father, and those guys start talking Hungarian. And I tell you what, he made my daddy feel so darn good. It was wonderful. Coach Shula has just been such a wonderful guy to me through the years. His sons have, too. I have enjoyed the family. We have never talked about the Super Bowl, and we don’t need to. We both moved on. One of the things I have said to other people and I said to you, too: it is the players on the field, for the most part, that execute. That team was so highly touted; they had accomplished so much that year in the NFL. They were called the best NFL team ever, the best defense ever, and I think they were overconfident. And if I am wrong—no, I know I am not. They were overconfident. And our guys, our team, our players, with our determination and urgency, outplayed them, and that was that. Follow The MMQB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. [widget widget_name="SI Newsletter Widget”]President Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaChicago's next mayor will be a black woman Obama portraits brought more than 1 million visitors to National Portrait Gallery in first year With low birth rate, America needs future migrants MORE appointed businessman James “Wally” Brewster, Jr. as U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic in 2013. Glancing over Brewster’s credentials, one can easily ascertain that the appointment was not made on meritocratic grounds. On the contrary, Brewster’s appointment is conspicuously of a clientelistic nature. Found wanting in diplomatic experience, mastery of the Spanish language and knowledge of the inner-workings of Dominican society, Brewster was a poor choice to represent the American people as a diplomat in said Caribbean nation. His lack of diplomatic and country-specific credentials notwithstanding, Obama appointed Brewster because of his important fund-raising efforts on behalf of the Democratic Party during the 2012 presidential campaign. Whereas Brewster shows a track record of success in the business arena, his diplomatic feats are nowhere to be found. Moreover, he does not seem to exercise his business acumen on behalf of strengthening U.S.-Dominican relations. Instead he uses the power of his office to subvert Dominican Republic’s sovereignty in decision-making. ADVERTISEMENT An example of this is Brewster’s vehement effort to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual tourism in the Dominican Republic. The Ministry of Tourism in that country has historically promoted its attractions to traditional families not as a way of discriminating against any other group, but as a matter of choice in the disbursement of marketing funds. In face of the Ministry of Tourism’s refusal to adopt his initiative to specifically promote the country to LGBT individuals, Brewster accused the country of outright discrimination and threatened to remove U.S. support to Dominican tourism if he does not have his way. Needless to say, such position and demeanor is utterly unbecoming of a U.S. ambassador. Brewster is directly conspiring against the Dominican Republic’s wellbeing by threatening to undermine one of the most important sectors of its emerging economy. Should Brewster’s threat become material it would constitute a veritable economic sanction on a country that is a friend of the United States. Is that the kind of action one would expect from a diplomat representing the greatest and most powerful democracy in the world? Certainly not! Acting against best practices in the exercise of diplomacy, however, is not a matter of concern for Brewster as oftentimes it looks like he is a diplomat only in the nominal sense. Alongside his partner, Bob Satawake, the role he is really playing in Dominican politics is that of a social activist. Proceeding in that capacity he adulterates the essence of his mission and grossly oversteps his authority. But that comes as no surprise as that is the general norm in patronage appointments to diplomatic posts. The appointee sees his office as a quid pro quo or gift from the patron as a token for political loyalty. Upon taking office, the appointee uses his position to advance his personal agenda even at the expense of the host country. Regrettably so, such seems to be the case with Brewster and the Dominican Republic. I wonder if the Department of State would knowingly endorse Brewster's position. Doing so would be nothing less than an infringement upon the most fundamental rights of a free and democratic country such as the Dominican Republic. Considering that a man cannot ride another's back unless it is bent, the onus is also on the Dominican government and its leaders to clearly demarcate the boundaries within which foreign officials must abide while on Dominican soil. D’Oleo is a management consultant, author, speaker and public policy expert. Twitter @JonathanJDOleoShare. Sales were down in spite of its popularity. Sales were down in spite of its popularity. UPDATE: Disney responded to our request for comment with the following statement: "After a thorough evaluation, we have modified our approach to console gaming and will transition exclusively to a licensing model. This shift in strategy means we will cease production of Disney Infinity, where the lack of growth in the toys-to-life market, coupled with high development costs, has created a challenging business model. This means that we will be shutting down Avalanche, our internal studio that developed the game. This was a difficult decision that we did not take lightly given the quality of Disney Infinity and its many passionate fans." Disney announced it's cancelling the Infinity line, and is getting out of the business of self-publishing games altogether. A charge of $147 million "in connection with the discontinuation" of Disney's console game business affected the company's earnings. Disney released a statement regarding the series' discontinuation, promising two more upcoming sets, "including three new characters from Alice Through the Looking Glass," as well as a Finding Dory playset in June. Exit Theatre Mode Senior vice president and general manager John Blackburn said he wanted to "take a moment to thank" fans of the Infinity line, "not just for your support over the years, but for creating a community" around the Disney toys-to-life franchise. "We hope you had as much fun playing the game as we had making it," Blackburn wrote. Earlier Disney announced it wouldn't be at E3 this June. At the beginning of March, it laid out its long-term plans for the Infinity franchise, announcing there would be no Disney Infinity 4.0 this year. Disney Infinity was the most popular toys-to-life brand coming into 2016, beating out Skylanders and Lego Dimensions thanks to the popularity of Star Wars. Correction: Originally this story referred to John Blackburn as John Blackwell. The article has been changed to correct this error. Seth Macy is IGN's weekend web producer and just wants to be your friend. Follow him on Twitter @sethmacy, myIGN, or subscribe to Seth Macy's YouTube channel.Pictured: Halle Berry's jaw-dropping close encounter with great white sharks It seems Halle Berry loves to live dangerously. The actress, 46, is seen having close encounters with great white sharks in behind the scenes footage of her movie Dark Tide. The mother-of-one is pictured reaching out to the ocean predators while leaning over on the edge of a boat and she even got to touch one in the wild. Scroll down for video... Getting close to nature: Halle Berry reaches out to touch a great white shark in behind-the-scenes footage for her film Dark Tide Incredible: Halle's encounters feature in behind-the-scenes footage of Dark Tide My what big teeth you have! Halle wasn't put off by the fearsome great white On edge: The star filmed on Seal Island, False Bay in South Africa 'Apparently, I’m one of the very few people who have done that,' she has said. 'How did I manage it? Very carefully,’ Halle, who filmed the thriller in Seal Island, False Bay in South Africa, stars as diving instructor Sara, who faces the difficult decision of getting back into the water following a near-fatal great white shark attack. She also swam with sharks for the part, but insists she never put herself in harm's way. Living dangerously: Halle leaned over the edge of a boat Brave move: The star said she was one of the few people in the world to have touched a great white in the wild ‘I got into the same water as the sharks. Was I scared? Yes. But I never put myself in harm’s way because I’m a mother and there are certain things I just would not do any more. 'I spent some time with a man known as the shark whisperer; my character is modelled on him. 'He has studied sharks for a couple of decades and swims with them – with nothing to protect him but a stick – so studying with him for a couple of weeks taught me how to interact with one.' VIDEO: Halle Berry's jaw-dropping close encounter with great white sharks Animal magnetism: The star plays a'shark whisperer' in the movie Finding love: Halle fell for her co-star Olivier Martinez on the set Olivier Martinez plays her old diving partner and ex-husband, Jeff, who convinces her to get back into the water and face her demons. The two met and fell in love while filming the action movie in the autumn of 2010 and are now engaged. Halle has a daughter Nahla, four, with her ex boyfriend Gabriel Aubry. Dark Tide is out now on DVD and Blu-ray through Revolver Entertainment. Back on solid ground: Halle appeared on Jay Leno's show last night to promote her other film, Cloud AtlasHTML5 means whatever you want it to mean Last Friday I found evidence for increasing confusion about what the HTML5 spec actually is. I don’t have any doubts on that score: HTML5 is anything you want it to be as long as it’s new and cool. In a discussion on the WHAT-WG IRC channel Jeremy got fed up with the fact that he can’t just point people at the spec during his HTML5 evangelism: I'm doing my damndest to evangelise HTML5 to front end developers and designers but you guys don't make it easy. [...] As if this stuff wasn't confusing enough for authors already. Now they have to put up with stupid spec obfuscation for the sake of some minor semantic victory for someone somewhere. [...] The WHATWG couldn't make the spec more author-unfriendly if they tried. Inevitably, it was pointed out that specs aren’t meant for developers but for browser vendors. That’s true but unhelpful, just as it has been for the past ten years. The ritual dance begins anew. Personally, I’m not going to take part in the dance this time. I already know what the outcome is going to be, and I’m going to skip the rituals. Because “HTML5” is so vaguely defined we web developers can decide for ourselves what is part of HTML5 and what isn’t, and that’s something I’m looking forward to. (If spec defenders don’t like that they should have been clearer.) My favourite examples are geolocation and Web Storage, which will feature prominently in my upcoming HTML5 mobile compatibility tables despite the fact that they’re not in the spec. They’re new, exciting, and absolutely vital on mobile. They’re in my HTML5 spec. HTML5 is the continuation of Web 2.0 by other means, just as Web 2.0 was the continuation of DHTML. Apparently we need a vague, all-encompassing term for cool new stuff that we want browsers to support and clients to buy so we can play
irrelevant in this context. The upper hand in this agreement belonged to Veniel, and Mattias knew he'd be a fool to refuse. The Jovians were never known for cruelty or deceit, and although this one seemed atypical of the stereotype, he sensed no ill will on Veniel's part. “Very well, Veniel. Deal.” “Excellent, Captain. Now, the artifact, if you please.” “I have your word that you'll fulfill your part of the bargain?” “Most certainly, Captain.” Mattias took a deep breath through the nose tubes. “Alright, then. Matuno, please jettison the casket.” “Roger.” A tiny cargo container appeared just above the Tempest. Mattias was thankful that the errant plasma and fire jets still erupting from the damaged ship were pointing away from it. The Wraith slowly pulled away from the Blackbird and positioned itself above the floating cargo container, guiding it on board. “Superb. Now, for my part of the bargain, if you'll excuse me for just a moment…” The Jovian broke the connection. Mattias focused his view on the Wraith hovering above the Tempest, already beginning to question his own judgment. It wasn't the first time he'd done that today. Orien Solar System, Besateoden Constellation, Molden Heath Region Orien III – Moon 3 Expert Distribution Retail Center 06:45 EVT The DED is the police force of CONCORD, and a Spartan affair even by military standards. Charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order within the borders of Empire space, the men and women who make up its ranks are meticulous in their work, fervently devoted to their mission, and strict advocates of structured rank and their own respective place within it. Candidates wishing to join the DED are subjected to a near ruthless application process. If accepted, recruits are given a training regime whose intensity rivals or exceeds any military institution in mankind's history. Their philosophy discourages autonomy insofar as its place within fighting units is concerned. DED ships are rarely seen alone. They patrol Empire shipping lanes and property in balanced fleets of varying military capacity, and are always within range of other patrols so that the response time to any crisis is almost instantaneous. The DED's prowess for coordinating strikes and rapid-response counterattacks within Empire space is staggering, thanks to the uniquely trained individuals that CONCORD enlists for the task. But no large organization is without its informants. And the DED, despite the extensive background checks, personality evaluations, and constant surveillance of new and experienced employees, was not without their own. With so much power concentrated there, entities both malicious and neutral went to great lengths to infiltrate the law enforcement agency. The DED quietly dealt with the moles they were able to catch. But with espionage at this level, where the stakes are so high and the potential for damage so great, no one could ever be certain that every spy was purged. Tantoseisen Kakkichi—the Chief of Internal Security at the DED—knew that other spies existed within the agency. He had been reviewing disinformation items designed to expose potential operatives when the Jovian contacted him. Midway through the conversation, Tantoseisen started believing that he was being set up for a disinformation play as well. “How many stations did you say there were again?” “Sixty-nine, to be exact,” Veniel repeated. “In twenty three deep space regions surrounding Empire space?” “Correct, Commander.” Tantoseisen sat back in his chair, glancing towards Veniel's dossier on the other screen. Although they never formally met, this was one of the few Jovians that CONCORD had some record of. Ever since the legendary trade that brought pod technology to the forefront of naval warfare, contact with the elusive race had been rare. Veniel was the only Jovian who surfaced from time to time, and whenever he did, there were always significant repercussions. The consensus among DED intelligence analysts was that Veniel was the Jovian equivalent of a maverick, and they had serious doubts that his actions proceeded with the blessings of his own kind. That notion alone would make anyone wary of trusting him, let alone believe his claim that dozens of stations existed in deep space which CONCORD knew nothing about. “Veniel, with all due respect, you'll understand that I'm having a difficult time believing your claim.” And that's about as delicately as I'm capable of saying that, he thought. “If you so desire, I can show you proof.” “Very well then. Show me proof.” Veniel's pale, vein-crossed, elongated face was replaced with the image of a Jovian frigate cruising slowly against the backdrop of a station. That could be anywhere, Tantoseisen thought. Something did seem different about it, but nothing so much out of the ordinary. “Are you convinced yet, Commander?” asked Veniel. “I'm afraid I haven't seen anything to make me change my mind.” The image rotated so that the camera perspective was behind the frigate, still continuing its deliberate pace outside the station. Tantoseisen could see the outer hull of the base in more detail. Emergency lighting, he thought. But again, that could be any one of dozens of Gallente stations here in Empire space. Approaching the end of an enormous hull section, the ship began a slight bank to its left. When it finished rounded the corner, the camera panned back again. The image of a critically damaged Tempest-class battleship came into view. “Veniel, I thought you said that no one in Empire space knew about this.” The Jovian did not answer. A second ship—an Omen-class cruiser, also badly damaged—was there, floating alongside the battleship. Both ships looked like they were on fire. “If my word alone will not suffice,” said Veniel. “Then perhaps his will.” The view focused back to the Tempest, then panned to an angle above and behind it. A third ship—a Blackbird—was also there, on fire and… The image suddenly registered as being very familiar to Tantoseisen: A Caldari, an Amarrian, and a Minmatar… Mattias! How can that be? “Is that my brother?” he asked incredulously. His question was answered immediately, as the view was replaced with portraits of his older brother on one side, and the Jovian on the other. “Mattias, where are you? What happened to your ship?” “Tantoseisen, it's good to see you”, said Mattias, who sounded angry. Veniel was silent. “I'm really sorry you got brought into this, but as long as we're all here, this is what happened…” Mattias explained the entire course of events that brought them to the abandoned station. He talked about the tip they received about Trald Vukenda's whereabouts and movements, the operation that he and his team had planned to ambush him, and how it went terribly wrong. Tantoseisen was stunned. “My God, Mattias…why Trald?” Tantoseisen didn't want to start an argument, but he just couldn't help asking. You're completely out of your league is what he should have said. Mattias was always like that, pushing himself to pull off impossible feats and insisting on doing things his own way. It was reckless, and it endangered everyone in his care. The strict military officer of Tantoseisen's psyche hated it. But as a younger brother, he found it inspiring. Mattias was always a source of strength in his life growing up. Tantoseisen surprised himself to discover that he still admired his brother's courage. He knew exactly what motivated him, and what the reply to his question would be. “Same reason as always, little brother,” he answered. “Because it was the right thing to do.” Yes, the right thing to do. Tantoseisen nodded his head slightly, not saying anything. He often passed along information about criminals who escaped the punishment of CONCORD to Mattias, always in secret. The DED, as powerful as it was, lacked the resources to chase felons past Empire borders. Justice should have no bounds, the brothers always said. Mattias would be the instrument of CONCORD where the Tantoseisen and the DED could not tread. “Commander, I can give you the exact locations of the other 68 stations,” said Veniel. “But that is conditional on two terms. First, you and your fleet must come to our present location here in the Immensea region.” “Hey, wait just a minute—“ Mattias started, but was cut off again by Veniel. “The second term is that you do not, under any circumstances, tell any of your superior officers of your intentions.” “So that's how you plan on fulfilling your agreement with me? Goddamn you, Veniel,” cursed Mattias. “You know he can't do that, he's a DED officer! He could be court-martialed and executed for doing something like that. Tantoseisen, don't listen to this snake, we'll be alright over here.” Veniel was unfazed. “It is true that the risks are great. But there is greater risk by not acting.” Remarkable, Tantoseisen thought, that he could put the both of us into positions that pit our mutual fates with each other's decisions. Was this man seriously prepared to let Mattias die at the hands of the Angel Cartel if I refused? Was he seriously capable of doing something that sinister? What was it that he really wanted, and why all this trouble for a corpse? “Why the second term, Veniel. Why is it that my superiors are to be kept out of this?” “There are certain elements within the DED which stand to benefit directly from this information, Commander. Some would almost certainly use it to advance their own personal incentives, rather than promote the cause of the greater good, as the DED mission statement specifies.“ Tantoseisen was losing his patience. “'Certain elements'? Veniel, don't be cryptic with me, give me straight answers—“ “Elements who would take this information and attempt to conceal it from the other Assembly members. Tell me, what do you suppose the repercussions would be if it was revealed that a member government was hiding the existence of these stations?” Veniel had a valid point there. Unbeknownst to the general public, the political situation within the Assembly had become very volatile, with disagreements between member governments on issues ranging from debt restructuring to deep-space territorial disputes. The internal strife wasn't serious enough—yet—to endanger the integrity of CONCORD, but this was precisely the kind of thing that could ignite the situation. If the right spies were to get hold of information this sensitive, the results could be drastic. Sixty-nine stations, Tantoseisen thought. Trillions of isk worth of property and assets, up for grabs to whoever wants them…nations have gone to war for much lesser reasons than that. Veniel continued his case. “Commander, time is running short. Trald's forces are actively hunting your brother, and they could appear here at any moment.” The comment infuriated Tantoseisen. “What's in this for you, Veniel.” He spoke through clenched teeth. “Knowledge, of course. And clarity of vision, for I consider myself a student of humanity.” This didn't surprise him. Jovians were known to covet the things that most other races took for granted. Judging from their grim, ghastly appearance, Tantoseisen could easily see how rediscovering humanity would be at the forefront of any Jovian's agenda. “I suppose you need my fleet there as well to get inside?” “That is part of the agreement, yes.” “And you'll share with us what you know of these stations?” “Correct. We can begin during your journey here.” “No! Goddamnit, Tantoseisen, don't listen to this man!” Mattias protested. “Mattias, I've already made up my mind. The Jovian is right; it's riskier not to do this. This is the right thing to do, even if the DED thinks the contrary.” He began tapping commands on the screen console in front of him, readying his battleship and replacing the hybrid weapons with energy turrets. “I just hope I don't have a mutiny on my hands once I tell the crew where we're going.” “You are a courageous man, Commander. The crew will rally to you, not to a DED protocol.” said Veniel. “Veniel, I'm still not sure what kind of elaborate scheme it is you have going here, or if I even understand what your true intentions are. What I do know is that it is not your place to make assertions of any kind about me, and especially not about my crew. I want you to know that I am disgusted about the manner in which you decided to handle this situation, and that I would prefer it if you ceased making any more judgments about what you think my brother or I believe is right. Are we clear?” “I intended no disrespect, Commander. I am deeply regretful for offending you.” “You're making a mistake, Tantoseisen”, said Mattias. “Your command, your career, your life, all of it is in jeopardy—“ “And I'm talking to someone who has done the exact same thing for years. For this one, I think I'll be the big brother for a change, Mattias.” He keyed in an order to have spare armor and hull repair modules loaded into his battleship's hold. God knows we'll probably need them also, assuming we actually make it there, he thought. “The order to recall my fleet from their patrol has already been issued. They will rendezvous with me here in Orien within 20 minutes, then we're going to set course for E8-YS9. That's 44 jumps…my ETA is 2 hours. I'm going to leave this channel and will contact you after we cross the line into unregulated space. Any questions?” Neither of them said a word. “Good. I'll be seeing the both of you soon.” Tantoseisen terminated the connection and looked down at the DED 5-star patch insignia on the breast of his uniform. He was about to violate every principle that he held his own crew accountable for. The only way out of this, he thought, is by going right through it. Without hesitating any longer, he rose from his desk and made his way for the door. E8-YS9 Solar System, EL8Z-M Constellation, Immensea Region Planet VI, Moon 4 Unknown Station 08:58 EVT Mattias was awestruck as the CONCORD-class battleships and their escorts unleashed a torrent of devastating firepower into the station. Tantoseisen had brought an entire task force with him—18 ships in all. Minutes earlier they had decimated the same Angel Cartel blockade which, hours before, had nearly killed Mattias. Using his cloaked Wraith, Veniel told Tantoseisen exactly what to expect before his fleet jumped in. The Warlord battleship was destroyed so quickly that the remaining ships retreated, but Trald—the slippery snake that he was—warped out immediately after the CONCORD ships arrived. It was anyone's guess whether or not he would return with a bigger fleet. But oddly enough, no one seemed concerned. The mood should have been more elated, given the brutal decisiveness of the battle that had just taken place. Instead, there was complete silence, even as the tachyons and heavy beam weapons drilled into the station's shields. Everyone was stunned by the story Veniel had told during Tantoseisen's journey to E8-YS9. About 40 years ago, a movement of radical thinkers emerged from the swirling maelstrom of galactic politics that were unhappy with the institutions responsible for shaping the post-EVE era." The group saw no purpose in borderlines or the imposition of cultural ideals into the populace through the use of government. They cited that this kind of thinking was counterproductive and ultimately to blame for the greater “fallacies and debacles of our time”, as Veniel had said, which included the continued imprisonment of Minmatar slaves by the Amarr Empire and the Caldari-Gallente War. They wanted to create a society that looked beyond bloodlines and focused more on the commonality between all the races; to embrace human diversity yet retain the true “embodiment of mankind” that has “kept our species from disappearing from the universe forever.” Every generation, Veniel had explained, has its prodigies. From time to time, people with extraordinary gifts surface in the gene pool, and the results are often unprecedented breakthroughs and contributions in a discipline commensurate with the individual's talent. The leader of the radical thinkers was a man named Sébastien Moreau, and his gift was charisma unlike anything the galaxy had ever seen. He was a powerful speaker and motivator, but could also make anyone feel at ease within minutes of meeting them for the first time. His charm—and soon, his mission—became irresistible to almost everyone who listened. Through the sheer power of Moreau's persuasion, “Immensea” was born. Refusing to take his cause for racial unity to the floors of government halls out of pure spite for the “antiquated institutional paradigms” they represented, Moreau sought believers of his mission in private. He recognized that his dream society could not coexist with the Empires. To make real strides in pursuing his goal, he needed to attach the idea of racial unity with a physical objective that his followers could work towards. Therein, Veniel explained, the concept of “Immensea” was defined: The “immense sea” that separates the horrors of yesterday from the utopian bliss of tomorrow. Earth—like the notion of utopia—is out there, but a vast physical and spiritual distance must be traversed in order to reach it. “Paradise was always within”, Moreau had once said. “And so the journey home completes the circle: From one we were defined, and to one we shall return, unbound, and true to our own pure selves.” Moreau's followers, now numbering in the thousands, became so passionate about this quest to “return home” that the task itself began to assume the form of a divine imperative. A massive research initiative was planned with a host of ambitious objectives, which included studies on how to stabilize the EVE gate in New Eden and a fast-track development of jump drives. All they needed was a base from which they could pursue these studies in earnest, far from the prying eyes of governments and “institutional bigots”. The cost to build even a single station was astronomical, but money, as it turned out, was hardly an obstacle. Immensea was spreading, picking up momentum, members, and resources at a frenzied pace. Because of Sébastien Moreau's supernatural gift, the talent pool and economic resources of the Immensea were enormous. CEO's of mega-corporations, high ranking military officers, government officials, and brilliant scientists from each sovereignty were either secretly a part of it or contributing directly to its growth. Immensea had become a cult with the financial and intellectual capital to rival any organization in EVE, and because it had pervaded every level of society—military, government, corporate, and even criminal—people looked the other way as convoy after convoy disappeared into the deep of space. True to the cult's directive to keep the institutions in the dark, no one said a word. People who tried to raise alarms about missing equipment or deleted journal entries were bribed to stay quiet. When that failed, they were silenced permanently. The first stations were built in the Immensea Region; they would eventually be constructed in a total of 23 regions, in some cases with the direct assistance of the local pirate cartels themselves. These “institutional outcasts” were especially vulnerable to Moreau's persuasion, who welcomed them as would a “foster parent to an abandoned child.” Every station was completely isolated from the commerce of Empire space, but entirely self-sufficient. They were all equipped with refineries, factories, clone banks, research facilities, and starship fitting hangars; everything that they needed to exist harmoniously with each other and pursue their mutually shared goals under the now prophetic vision of Moreau. Loners, families, and sometimes even entire colonies would vanish from Empire records as they traveled to deep space. They wandered into the open arms of the Immensea, which held no person accountable for any sins committed under the roof of the Institution and never, ever discriminated by bloodline. Caldari, Amarrs, Minmatar, Gallentes, and even the occasional Jovian found refuge in this hidden society. Utopia, so it seemed, had been achieved. But it was not to last, said Veniel. Two things had happened which spelled the beginning of the end for the Immensea. One, its members began to think of Moreau as a god; and two, Moreau also began to think of himself as a god. It was all perfectly sensible to Moreau that the Immensea should worship the man who had created so much from so little. How else to explain his wondrous powers of persuasion and the results of his vision as anything other than divine? Sébastien Moreau cultivated the image of a god as much as he could, fabricating miracles with the use of technology and demanding worship from his followers. There was nothing that he would not take; no custom that he would respect; no law that he would honor; and no woman—married or not, young or old—that he would not ravish, for who could deny the seed of a god? Moreau had descended into the darkest realm of the categorically psychotic, yet he retained his charismatic personage—a lethal combination that has manifested itself many times over in various rulers and tyrants throughout mankind's history. The deification of Moreau began to resonate deeply within the souls of the Amarr among the Immensea. While some were born directly into the cult, every Amarr was still deeply rooted in his or her belief in One God, and that hell itself awaited anyone who blasphemed the Faith by creating false idols to worship. “For the Amarr,” said Veniel, “it is better to have never been born, should you be guilty of this sin.” As for Moreau, the only evil more sinister than worshiping an idol was to claiming to be one. In the end, the religious conscience of the Amarrs proved to be too much, and they tried—unsuccessfully—to assassinate Moreau. The botched attempt on his life enraged Moreau and catapulted him even further into a deranged, diabolical mental abyss. He was now “fully capable of horrific atrocities and astounding cruelty.” He issued an edict declaring that all of the Amarr among them were to be exterminated for “interfering with the divine imperative that is the destiny of Immensea.” The result was effectively flat-out civil war and genocide. Suddenly bloodlines were drastically relevant again, and the Amarr were pitted against everyone else. In the end, all of the Amarr's—every man, women, and child among them—were mercilessly butchered by the other followers. Moreau meditated on the event and decided that its cause was due to the stations being too autonomous, thereby detracting from his “divine” cornerstone philosophy of interdependence and unity for one, single race. To set matters straight, he ordered the destruction of all but one of the three “life essence” modules aboard each station, decreeing that only one of each shall be permitted to exist per region. If his people would not cooperate with each other in the exact way that he ordained, then he would force the issue upon them and mend their foolish ways. His remaining followers rendered station modules useless by sabotaging them in ways that would make them impossible to repair, and murdered anyone who tried to stop them. In Veniel's opinion, the act merely accelerated the inevitable. Rumors of the slayings began to spread, and contacts within Empire space quietly began distancing themselves from any association with the Immensea. The logistical nightmare of having to support three stations with one module each for every region they had settled in was unmanageable. One by one they fell into ruin and were abandoned. Almost overnight, the Immensea had all but disappeared, and some of its survivors—many of whom were the source of Veniel's information—took their own lives, overwhelmed by the heavy burden of guilt from their complicity in the greatest human atrocity of the post-EVE era. Veniel said that there are remnants of the Immensea among us. Most of the Empire-based intelligentsia who supported the cult, but did not actively participate in the Amarr massacre, continued the grim task of keeping their identities and roles within the Immensea a closely guarded secret. Veniel said that he was once close to obtaining clear evidence that “the government officials of several sovereignties” were secretly hunting down Immensea survivors, but suddenly lost all contact with his source. Many intelligentsias still remain in positions of considerable power including, very much to Tantoseisen's concern, positions within CONCORD. Veniel refused to name anyone he personally suspected until he had irrefutable evidence, which as always, he would trade—for a price. Until this day, the fate of Sébastien Moreau had been unknown. By blind luck, Mattias had unwittingly stumbled across the final piece of the puzzle, and Veniel would have paid handsomely for it had the bounty hunter's situation been any less dire. He explained that Moreau's corpse held enormous scientific value to the Jovians, who were extremely interested in determining the biological components of Moreau's legendary charismatic qualities. The Jovians had been actively monitoring the Immensea stations for some time, searching for clues on the whereabouts of the cult figurehead. But to everyone's amazement, the Jovian's never ventured inside any of the stations to look, believing that it was not their place to disturb what was left before the Immensea's existence became known publicly. According to Veniel, the Angel Cartel knew the exact locations of every Immensea station in space. In fact, all of the major pirate organizations did, including the Serpentis, the Guristas, and the Blood Raiders. And most importantly, so did Trald Vukenda, who by now had to know where Mattias and the CONCORD fleet were, and that the dark secret of the Immensea was about to be revealed. As the tachyon laser turrets from the CONCORD battleships continued to spit focused white beams of searing energy into the station, Mattias focused on the last thing that Veniel said before concluding his story. He said that the pirate cartels wouldn't go near the Immensea stations. Far away from Empire borders, legends and stories can grow unchecked by rationality. The isolated life that pirates lead in the remote systems of deep space lends itself to being highly vulnerable to superstition. Out here, said Veniel, the word “Immensea” was a curse. The pirate's tale was that if you listened closely enough, you could still hear the screams of dying Amarrs as the demonic Moreau and his minions struck them down by the thousands. For the more practical minds among the scoundrels such as Trald, the reason to stay away from the stations was apparent in their condition. The Immensea made certain that the damage they inflicted to their own outposts was permanent. The pirate cartels were well financed and smart with their money. It was far more economical to build a station from scratch than to even attempt to make use of stations in such bad shape. There was one more part of the story that Veniel had intentionally omitted, saying that he would continue it once he was onboard, and in doing so complete the three terms of their agreement. Mattias panned the camera away from the CONCORD ships and back towards Kirlana's battered Omen. Neither she nor Matuno had uttered a word since the Jovian stopped speaking. He was deeply concerned about her. “Mattias…” said Tantoseisen. “It is done.” He panned the camera back around and saw that the CONCORD fleet had ceased firing, and were slowly aligning themselves behind the Wraith. One by one, the ships began a procession into one of the station's massive hangar bays. Matuno's Tempest swung around behind Tantoseisen, with Kirlana's Omen trailing in its wake. The ominous feeling that Mattias had when he first saw this station was much worse now. E8-YS9 Solar System Immensea Uncharted Base One – Main Hangar Concourse – Deck 22 09:23 EVT My God, you just lose perspective when you're looking at all this from a camera drone, thought Mattias. He was standing inside of the Mobile Gantry Unit (MGU) that had just extracted his pod from the Blackbird. The size and scope of the damage to his ship made him shake his head as the MGU flew downwards past one of the cruiser's massive engines. As big as his ship was, it was nothing compared to the immense size of the hangar it was floating inside of. They built so many of these stations, he thought. How could they have done all this so quickly? The darkness made him uncomfortable. Usually there was lighting from the windows of hundreds of offices, labs, and living quarters built into the walls of the hangar. In here, all of them were darkened. The entire cavern had a hazy, bluish glow from the emergency lighting system, and he could see debris drifting throughout as the MGU continued its descent towards the concourse. A click hiss sound marked the end of the trip as the MGU docked with the deck hub. Mattias oriented himself as the door in front of him opened. The hangar was a zero-G vacuum environment, but all sections that were accessible by habitants were surrounded by gravity wells and pressurized with breathable air. His knees buckled a little as he stepped through and adjusted to his own weight again. Matuno was waiting for him inside. “Mattias, Kirlana is not herself”, he said. “She has not been the same since the Jovian told his story.” Matuno was speaking quietly. “She will not tell me what troubles her.” “I'm worried about her too,” said Mattias. “I don't think she's ever been that close to death before in combat, and as if that wasn't enough for her, to hear about what happened to the Amarrs who used to live here…” Mattias kept trying not to think about the comment she made earlier, about there being “no such thing as God”. He took a deep breath. “I know I don't have to tell you this, but…just keep an eye on her.” “There is something else,” added Matuno, leaning even closer. “The Jovian and your brother started looking through station's logs as soon as they arrived. Veniel pointed to something on the screen and said very audibly, ‘Without question, that is Admiral Sulei Manatir. Now, look at the hooded female surrounded by the Amarr bodyguards.' Your brother looked very surprised, almost shocked, and then said 'Veniel, are you sure that's her?' The Jovian answered that he was ‘certain of it'. Then your brother re-entered the hub and went back to his ship.” Mattias blinked. “Back to his ship?” “Yes. Veniel is still here, just outside in the concourse, still pouring through the logs. Tell me, Mattias…do you know who this hooded female is that they were referring to?” Mattias said he honestly had no idea, and shrugged. Matuno took one step closer to him. The Minmatar Brutor towered over Mattias, and was almost twice his weight. “I certainly hope you'll tell me if you know.” Mattias was slightly unnerved, and stepped to the side. “Of course, Matuno. I'll…see what I can find out.” As he took a step forward, Matuno lowered a giant hand onto his shoulder, preventing him from exiting the hub. “Mattias…if it is her, then you know how personal it is with me.” Mattias looked up at him. “I know it is, Matuno. It's probably personal for a lot of other Minmatar's as well. But now is not the time, even if it's who you think it is. So, if you'll please excuse me, I need to get back to the business of trying to keep us alive.” Matuno removed his hand and allowed Mattias to pass into the concourse. The only light came from the hangar itself, through the transparent side of the concourse. The arched doorways to offices, freight warehouses, and even hovertram stations on the other side were barely visible. The Blackbird was high overhead, and its blinking navigation lights sent soft pulses of light throughout the darkened hall. Kirlana was sitting on floor with her back against the glass, staring blankly at a locket she held in her hand that was still hanging from her neck. Veniel was standing in front of a console built into the hub that Mattias had just exited from. The greenish hue from the console gave him a ghastly appearance. Without saying a word, he extended has hand towards Mattias. A disc was between his thumb and index finger. “What's this?” Mattias asked, taking the disc. “The last part of our agreement,” Veniel answered. “A way for you to get past the Arch Angel blockades on either side of this system.” “You mean having a CONCORD fleet blast through them for us wasn't your plan all along?” Veniel dismissed the remark. “Your brother has also been given a copy of that.” “What's on it?” Mattias asked. Matuno stepped out from the hub. “The Immensea had some help when they built these stations, Captain”, Veniel said. “What you are holding in your hand are the exact locations of not only these bases, but of a jumpgate network that you will not find on any CONCORD maps.” “What are you talking about?” Mattias asked. Kirlana looked up from her fixation on the locket. “This jumpgate network rings Empire space, but does not traverse it. Thus, every region in deep space is interconnected and completely independent of Empire influence.” Mattias was stunned. “The Immensea built them?” “Not the first ones, but once Immensea began establishing a presence in the outer regions, the gate builders realized they shared common ground with Moreau, especially where it concerned hiding their existence from certain Empire influence.” Veniel emphasized that word. “So, the Amarr built them?” asked Mattias. “Quite the opposite,” answered Veniel, who was now looking directly at Matuno. “The rise of Minmatar power was always puzzling to us, considering the extent to which the Amarr Empire went to suppress their ambitions. Amarr ships used to patrol all of the gates leading to and from Minmatar systems; nothing could travel in or out without being checked. We wondered how an enslaved nation was able to amass armies and construct warships right before the watchful eye of their alleged masters.” “The answer was hidden jumpgates, unknown even to us until very recently. With the help of Gallente engineers, Minmatar tribes began construction on the gates in complete secrecy and without Republic knowledge. The pirate cartels operating in the vicinity were sympathetic to the Minmatar's plight, but also saw an opportunity to advance their own agenda by assisting them. The gates provided the Minmatar with a ‘back door' through which rescued slaves, construction materials, supplies, troops, and warships could travel unhindered by Amarr checkpoints.” “Years after the Rebellion, the cartels continued work on extending the network to include more systems. When the Immensea constructed their first bases here in the Immensea Region, Moreau convinced the cartels of the mutual gains that could be realized by sharing resources. Moreau offered them access to his stations in exchange for access to their jumpgates. The resulting partnership quickly accelerated both projects, since they complimented each other's practical needs and counter-institutional ideals. In the end, 96 gates were constructed over the course of more than 140 years, with more than half built in the last 30 or so, after Immensea was founded.” “One of those gates is in this system, Captain, and Trald Vukenda believes that you are unaware of its existence. Most of the smuggler gates are used primarily to ferry supplies, the majority of which are illegal within Empire space. The pirates have never felt a compelling need to guard them, except when traveling near the borders of rival or competing clans. The only ships you will see near there will be Cartel industrials, although I imagine all that will change once knowledge of this network comes to public light.” The sound of the click hiss from another MGU startled Mattias. Tantoseisen emerged from the hub. “Well, it's official, I'm to be court-martialed as soon as I return,” he said. “But so long as I'm here anyway, I'm going to have a look around. If there is any evidence here about any intelligentsia still in power within Empire space, I need to find out.” “How did CONCORD take the news?” asked Matuno. Tantoseisen shook his head. “They're completely shocked. I'm still not sure they even believe it, and knowing them, there's going to be an expedition—this time, an authorized one—to confirm everything.” “I hope you exercised caution in choosing whom to share that information with, Commander” said Veniel. “It's been taken care of,” he answered. “No matter what, they won't be able to keep this discovery quiet.” “Court martial,” Mattias breathed. “Tantoseisen, I'm sorry,” said Mattias. He knew how hard his little brother had worked to build such a remarkable career in law enforcement, and that if not for his own bad luck and poor decisions, this would have never happened. Tantoseisen took a deep breath. “We were spotted near the Edbinger crossing by a convoy that was on their way out to deep space, and they reported it to the press. Now it's public knowledge that we're out somewhere we shouldn't be, and the spin on things is that I'm ‘defecting', or some other nonsense. Anyway, it's against the rules to take a CONCORD task force on a joyride through unregulated space without authorization, and I'm going to be punished accordingly for it.” “Where should we be looking for clues?” asked Matuno. “And how do we know for certain we're really alone here?” “I cannot say I agree with this idea,” said Veniel. “But if that is what you feel you must do, this
blood on his feet as well," Stevens said. "You really need your feet for this game so we were advised not to go down there," he said. Earlier this season, Stevens had his Saints debut delayed by a bout of food poisoning after he ate "off chicken" at a hotel while making the trip up to Albury for a pre-season game against Sydney. He lost eight kilograms during the week he spent in hospital.By Doug Powers • January 22, 2015 10:32 AM **Written by Doug Powers Hundreds and hundreds of private jets have been fired up to fly thousands of people to Davos, Switzerland for a hypocrite invasion of Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum. Naturally they’re addressing all manner of global crises and how they can contribute to worsening them. One person attending the forum is this man who thinks Americans need to tone down their lifestyles: Billionaire Jeff Greene, who amassed a multibillion dollar fortune betting against subprime mortgage securities, says the U.S. faces a jobs crisis that will cause social unrest and radical politics. “America’s lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted so we have less things and a smaller, better existence,” Greene said in an interview today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We need to reinvent our whole system of life.” Obviously he’s leading by example: Greene, who flew his wife, children and two nannies on a private jet plane to Davos for the week, said he’s planning a conference in Palm Beach, Florida, at the Tideline Hotel called “Closing the Gap.” The title of his speech was “Why ALl Americans Not Named Jeff Greene Should Downsize.” It will probably shock you to know that Greene’s a Democrat and onetime Senate candidate. Looks like we’ve found this month’s winner of the Albert Gore, Jr. Mega Hypocrite award. This is a description of one of Greene’s homes, which is currently for sale for $195 million in case Carlos Slim Helu is looking for a lifestyle downsizing opportunity: The massive 25-acre Beverly Hills compound, known as the Palazzo di Amore or Palace of Love, has its own vineyard, a bowling alley, a 50-seat movie theater, a discothèque with a rotating dance floor, a supersize reflecting pool and even a spa. To repeat: “America’s lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted so we have less things and a smaller, better existence.” In 2005 Belize accused the lifestyle downsizing crusader’s yacht anchor of tearing up a protected coral reef. Greene’s response was pretty much… “Hey, you scratched my anchor!” (h/t Lachlan Markay) **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBeWe’ve already told you that Microsoft was looking for software development engineers to work on the upcoming Windows Blue, but it’s also very important to note that the job ad we were referring to also unveils some very important details about the Windows 8 makeover. Sadly for so many Windows 8 users, Windows Blue won’t bring back the Start button, as according to this job posting, Microsoft will continue to work on the Start Screen. Windows Blue will improve many of the current features available in Windows 8, including “most of what customers touch and see in the OS,” as the ad states. This means that it will comprise a reworked Start Screen, improved application lifecycle and more personalization options. CEO Steve Ballmer has already said that Microsoft had no intention to reintroduce the Start button on the Windows platform and, given the fact that Windows 9 is also reportedly staying away from this popular feature too, users have no other option than to go for a third-party Start Menu app.GameFly will launch a new program through which subscribers can rent PC titles that will be delivered digitally instead of through the mail. GameFly is best known for its game rental service where customers can have differing numbers of games out at a time—much like the original Netflix. The new digital storefront allows subscribers to play PC games at no additional charge; access to the games is cut off when you end your subscription. The announcement comes three months after GameFly purchased Direct2Drive from IGN. "It's kind of like a Spotify or Rhapsody or a Napster," GameFly co-founder Sean Spector told USA Today. "You have access to the content as long as you are a subscriber but when you are no longer a member, the content then disappears." A closed beta of the downloadable client will launch early next month, while the full version is expected to be available in time for the holidays. Around 100 games are expected to be available for download initially, and the service will be PC only to start (Mac games will be available at a later date). Based on the teaser trailer, it looks like the service may already have support from major publishers like Ubisoft. Of course, GameFly isn't the first to offer a digital subscription-based rental service, as GameTap already provides a similar experience. The main difference is that the GameFly service is tied to the disc-rental business—as of now GameFly has no plans to offer a digital-only subscription option, according to Joystiq. You can sign up for the closed beta, which begins on September 8, here.Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is hitting back at critics who claim the social media platform benefits from "fake news" stories. "There have been some accusations that say that we actually want this kind of content on our service because it's more content and people click on it, but that's crap," said Zuckerberg said Monday, according to CNBC. "No-one in our community wants fake information," he added, in remarks at North Carolina A&T State University. The visit was part of a 2017 tour, that's taking the Silicon Valley exec to all 50 states. Facebook faced criticism after the 2016 election, with some saying the company didn't do enough to crack down on hoax stories that were being shared. Some said those stories could have helped swing the election to President Trump. ADVERTISEMENT Since the election, Facebook has taken new steps to remove fake stories, including allowing users to tag or report such content. Zuckerberg said Facebook had been hurt by the growth of fake news.. "We are also victims of this and we do not want it on our service," he said. "We don't want any of it." But he noted that the company needs to walk a fine line between removing stories that are incorrect or false, and those which just share opinions that some users disagree with. "It's not always clear what is fake and what isn't," said Zuckerberg. "A lot of what people are calling fake news are just opinions that people disagree with." Facebook users can now mark stories as "disputed" when they believe they are hoaxes. Those stories are then reviews by third-party fact checkers. Some on the fight though have criticized the system, saying the fact checkers are biased against stories with a conservative slant.I was just watching a chilling broadcast on CNN, about the US government’s 1973 civil rights case against Donald Trump. The case alleged civil rights violations against African-Americans in Trump housing in NYC. You can see a snippet of the video below. But then something caught my eye. CNN was mentioning how Trump, via his lawyer, hit back hard against the allocations. And I see a name flit across the screen, so I back up the DVR. This is what I see: Roy Cohn, the lawyer handling the case. Yes, that Roy Cohn. For anyone unaware, Roy Cohn was a hated man. He was Senator Joe McCarthy’s right-hand man during the McCarthy era anti-communist witch hunts that destroyed so many lives. But to add to the fun, Roy Cohn was a closeted gay man, who eventually died complications related to HIV/AIDS. But none of that stopped Cohn from destroying the lives of countless gay government employees who he, and McCarthy, drove out of of their careers. THAT Roy Cohn. You see, Trump met Cohn early in his career, and Cohn reportedly became a sort of mentor to the young Trump. And Cohn became Trump’s lawyer as well. As if you needed to know anything worse about Donald Trump. Now you do. Here’s a quick snippet of the CNN video: CNN covers the govt’s civil rights lawsuit against Trump in 1973. Damn, I had no idea the charges were this bad. https://t.co/mrkvSythwj — John Aravosis (@aravosis) August 25, 2016 *** I’ve just launched a big fundraising drive for my work here at AMERICAblog between now and the election. I hope you’ll consider helping out. You can donate below, and read much more about my work, and why and how I’ll use your donations, here. Thanks so much. Follow me on Twitter & Facebook: Follow @aravosisHey Jesus! Whatever happened to those pesky poor? Have you ever spent a lot of time in a modern Christian church? Well, I haven’t either, given that I’m a proud Atheist, but I was persuaded to visit one a few years ago. I was struck by the enormity of God’s humble house. In addition to its size there were the massive video screens hanging from every wall, and the sophisticated camera equipment, complete with cameramen, strategically located throughout. If that weren’t enough there was the “band” that was more like an orchestra. My “companion” was proud of her church and especially proud of the fact that it was buying up all the land around it, to the tune of millions and millions of dollars. When I asked whatever happened to giving to the poor and all of those traditional Christian values I was told that they needed to spend money to give money. I imagine the look on my face spoke volumes. I didn’t go to church again, regardless of the “rewards.” A friend sent me this picture, which is what inspired this rant. Remember that old saying: A picture is worth a thousand words: Tip o’ the hat to Ron John for the picture…..What is it? Poppy lets you capture and share the world the way you really experience it: in three dimensions. Have you ever wished you could record a moment, and share it so someone else could feel like they were there, too? Well, now you can. Poppy is the first device in the world that turns an iPhone into a 3D camera capable of capturing, viewing and sharing full-motion, full-color video and stills in 3D. How does it work? Poppy works with iPhone 4, 4S, iPhone 5 and the fifth generation iPod Touch. You put your phone in and Poppy’s mirrors capture two stereographic images using your iPhone’s single camera. When you look in the viewfinder, Poppy’s lenses combine the two video streams into a single, crisp, 3D video. It’s beautiful, and really hard to describe or show in two dimensions. It doesn't need batteries and there are no electronics. It's just optics and your iPhone's camera and screen, so we can keep the price low without sacrificing quality. Conceptualization of 3D stereo imaging Put your iPhone in Poppy and you can view 3D videos and photographs. Give it a twist, and you can capture your own experiences in 3D. What can I do with Poppy? Poppy is great for capturing events like weddings and for action sports, or for just playing with your kids in the backyard. Images and videos captured with Poppy are immersive. Viewing feels like you're experiencing the original moment again! There are other possibilities too, like real estate and architectural walk-throughs, science, education, augmented reality, art and more. We've tested Poppy in a lot of situations, but we're most excited about the uses you'll discover for Poppy! Explore the World in 3D via YouTube You can use Poppy to watch tens of thousands of existing 3D videos on YouTube. YouTube added support for 3D in 2009 and has since amassed a huge library of movie trailers, music videos, sports clips and user-generated content in 3D — and it all renders beautifully on Poppy. 3D videos on Poppy look much better than 3D content viewed using red/blue glasses. Since YouTube 3D uses the same stereographic image technology that Poppy does, their content plays back in beautiful, full-color, high definition 3D when viewed using Poppy. When viewed with Poppy, YouTube's entire catalog of 3D content (movies, movie trailers, music videos and sports clips) renders in full-color, high quality 3D. Go surfing in Fiji... Or experience what it's like to fly! 3D Prints You can take pictures with Poppy and have them printed so anyone can see them in 3D, without needing any extra device whatsoever. You've probably seen this before in gift shops, movie posters or cereal boxes. The prints are coated with a thin layer of plastic lenses that makes it so the image shifts as you move the print. You can get a pretty strong 3D effect. But what makes this interesting is that this will work with pictures of your own life -- your kids, your friends. We're looking into how we could incorporate this into our app, but at the very least we'll show how you could do this for yourself. Wiggle GIFs, another way to share You will also be able to make wiggle GIFs directly from Poppy's iPhone app. Wiggle GIFs create the illusion of 3D on an ordinary screen. It's not the same as seeing in 3D with Poppy, but it's a cool effect. Because Poppy captures a stereographic pair of images, it's relatively straightforward to create a wiggle GIF from a picture you take with Poppy. But we thought it would be better if we just built this right into Poppy's iPhone app. Here is wiggle we put together using a 3D photo taken on Poppy. View Vintage Stereograms Stereoscopic photography has been around since the 1800's, and in fact millions of stereoscopic viewers were sold towards the end of the 19th century. With Poppy, it's easy to view any stereoscopic photo in 3D. We put together this short video to show you how: Poppy makes a statement It's sleek. It's a bit retro. It twists open. It's not pocketable, but it does make a statement. If you've got Poppy, get ready to hear this a lot: "that looks cool! What is that thing?" David Crosby of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Poppy would have been amazing at Woodstock. White Poppy We hit our $150,000 stretch goal, so now Poppy will come in both a black and a white variety. We don't have a white prototype, but here are some renderings to give you a sense of what the White Poppy will look like when it's done. So what do Poppy's pictures look like? Because it takes a pair of images, and because Poppy's viewer magnifies your view, it's hard to appreciate what a video or photo actually looks like without having a Poppy. But just to give you some idea, here is some 3D video footage shot with one of our prototypes. If you have a pair of red/blue glasses, you can watch this on any screen. Just click the 3D button below the video, choose "Other options" and then "Red / Cyan". Here is a side-by-side image taken with Poppy. And here is that same image converted to anaglyph 3D. If you have a pair of red/blue glasses, you can see this 3D effect on any screen. Poppy's Inspiration Have you ever seen stereographic images from the 1800’s? Or played with a Viewmaster? We love the feeling those simple devices give of stepping into another world. But they were all about seeing someone else's photographs. Wouldn't it be so much better if you could create your own immersive 3D scenes like that -- but in full-motion video -- and share them with friends and around the world over the internet. That’s why we created Poppy. Poppy brings stereographic imaging into the 21st century! Video! Retina! The Poppy viewing experience is reminiscent of those Viewmasters you may have used as a kid — but so much more compelling as video and when it's content that you've created yourself. What will you create with Poppy? The iPhone App Since Poppy works by recording two stereographic images in your iPhone's single camera, any camera or video app you already use -- like Camera Plus or Vine -- will work with Poppy. Just put the iPhone in Poppy when you take the picture, and view the content with Poppy to see it in 3D. However, to make things easier, we're creating a dedicated iOS app for Poppy. It will feature: Capturing 3D videos and 3D still images Saving photos and videos to your iPhone's photo album Creating wiggle GIFs out of 3D still images Uploading videos to YouTube Browsing your own 3D content as well as 3D videos on YouTube Easy controls and navigation for when your phone is in Poppy Future Possibilities: Augmented Reality and Parallax Viewer We're quite excited about the applications that Poppy enables in the area of real-time 3D image processing. Because of it's low-cost and the fact that it uses iPhone, developers will be able to create true 3D augmented reality and other 3D applications that use Poppy as a viewer. Experimental analysis of Poppy 3D images to build depth maps useful in CAD modeling and interactive visualizations Specifications and Technical Details Poppy is flexible, and has inserts to accommodate the iPhone 5, 4S, 4 and even the fifth generation iPod Touch (the one with a camera). It's also designed with the future in mind. We want this to work with the next generation of phones as well, and we've left a little extra room in the device to make that possible. With Poppy, a system of mirrors splits the field of view of the iPhone's camera, so that it capture two images at once. The mirrors are positioned eye-width apart (the "interpupilary distance") so that the images represent what is seen by the left and right eye, independently. The viewer built into Poppy then isolates the images, so your right eye sees the image taken by the right mirror, and the left eye sees the left image. Your brain fuses the two images into a single, three dimensional scene. Once you have these two images, called a stereo pair, you can reconstruct the original three dimensional scene in number of ways. Anaglyph glasses (like the classic red/blue glasses) are one way. Peter testing Poppy footage with red/blue 3D glasses The polarized glasses used in IMAX or Real3D are another. 3D televisions often use glasses that actively present first an image to one eye, then the other. All of these are based around having a stereo pair like the ones generated using Poppy. So the videos and pictures you create with Poppy can be used anywhere you can see in 3D. Poppy is made of rugged ABS plastic. It weighs less than a pound. Because it splits the camera's view, images taken with the device are half the size of your iPhone's typical photos and videos. Our Progress We've been iterating Poppy for more than six months, improving the optics and the housing to make Poppy work well and be easy and fun to use. We filed for a patent covering a number of innovations. We started by designing the optics. The basic principle of using mirrors to split an image is pretty well understood, but getting it to work well with the particulars of the iPhone's camera took time. We worked with optical engineers to refine the design and get it right. We laser cut a first prototype, put the iPhone in, and were delighted with the results (and a little surprised -- usually nothing works on the first try!). From those initial cardboard tests, through 3D printed prototypes and now multiple factory iterations we have refined Poppy to something special. Sketches of the design's evolution The first cardboard prototype We've worked with a factory in China with extensive experience in manufacturing consumer products for major brands. We've collaborated with our factory, working in person and on site to make sure our design is manufacturable, high quality and that it will be affordable. We've signed off on a final design and are now ready to proceed with the tooling phase (and that's where we need Kickstarter's help). What's Next The next step is to make the injection molding tooling. Carving solid blocks of steel into precision molds takes time, 6-8 weeks. Once we have the tooling, we will begin test production runs and should be able to move to full production by this Fall. Our production timeline looks like this: July: Final pre-production prototype. This work is completed by our factory in China in conjunction with professional mechanical engineers and designers with experience in mass market consumer products manufacturing. We have also tested the pre-production prototype in the field and are satisfied with the usability and durability of the design. Final pre-production prototype. This work is completed by our factory in China in conjunction with professional mechanical engineers and designers with experience in mass market consumer products manufacturing. We have also tested the pre-production prototype in the field and are satisfied with the usability and durability of the design. August: Injection molding tooling complete, first test. Our manufacturer has done work of similar or more challenging design for major consumer brands in the US and Europe. We have reviewed this timeline with 3rd party manufacturing service firms and are satisfied that the tooling milestone is reasonable and achievable. Injection molding tooling complete, first test. Our manufacturer has done work of similar or more challenging design for major consumer brands in the US and Europe. We have reviewed this timeline with 3rd party manufacturing service firms and are satisfied that the tooling milestone is reasonable and achievable. September: Final engineering prototypes, final packaging ready Final engineering prototypes, final packaging ready October: Production begins. Our manufacturer has a large facility capable of producing 10,000 units per week, if necessary, and a demonstrated track record of high quality production for major consumer brands in the US and Europe. Production begins. Our manufacturer has a large facility capable of producing 10,000 units per week, if necessary, and a demonstrated track record of high quality production for major consumer brands in the US and Europe. November/December: Product transferred from factory, labeled, and shipped to backers' doors!My Amazon Echo just arrived, months after I pre-ordered it. I'd totally forgotten about it until I got a ship notification the other day, and then it was there, a strange little tube promising yet another peek at a future that never seems fully within grasp. After two days with it, it's mostly useful as a sort of permanent Siri: we've set kitchen timers with it, asked it for the weather, and otherwise generally ignored it. It seemed destined to be yet another foolish gadget buy, until I randomly asked it to play some music for me. And then it was magic. All of the stress and panic I feel when I have to pull out a smartphone and open an app and pick a playlist and select my AirPlay or Bluetooth speakers and wait for it all to work is gone. I just ask for music, and it's there. Great. But it's also super depressing, because it's just another example of how the rise of streaming media has brought crazy digital rights management back into our lives. We've completely traded convenience for ecosystem lock-in, and it sucks. We've completely traded convenience for ecosystem lock-in, and it sucks Right now, the Echo can play music from Amazon's Prime Music service, Pandora, and whatever random music I've uploaded to my Amazon cloud locker. This means that the music selection is pretty bad! I stopped buying music around the time I started using Spotify, so I don't have much new stuff to upload, and Prime Music has a fairly thin catalog compared to Spotify. Basically this thing can play my 2000s-era iTunes collection at me, which means I'm listening Wilco and The Clash way more than I have in the past few years. Is that good? It might be good. But next week Apple is probably going to launch another streaming service, and if history is any guide, it's only going to work with Apple products. That means I'll have yet a fourth music service in my life (Spotify, Google Play Music, Prime, and Apple Music) and a fourth set of content exclusives and pricing windows to think about instead of just listening to music. In 2007, Steve Jobs wrote a fiery essay on Apple.com called "Thoughts on Music." The essay is now gone from Apple's site, but it remains as powerful as ever, a straightforward examination of the state of digital music and the pros and cons of applying digital rights management to purchased music files — there were no streaming services back then. The labels had forced Apple to use DRM in the early days of iTunes, and Jobs clearly recognized that although Apple and the iPod had emerged as the early winners in digital music, the effort required to maintain DRM over time (or license Apple's DRM to other companies) would be better spent making new products and services. "If anything, the technical expertise and overhead required to create, operate and update a DRM system has limited the number of participants selling DRM protected music," wrote Jobs. "If such requirements were removed, the music industry might experience an influx of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies." But it's no longer the labels pushing DRM on the music services; it's the services themselves, because locking you into a single ecosystem guarantees you'll keep paying their monthly subscription fees and hopefully buy into the rest of their ecosystem. Google Play Music is an objectively better experience on an Android phone than an iPhone, because it can download files in the background and purchase music not available for streaming. Apple Music might be available on Android, but it probably won't be as good, because Apple wants you to buy an iPhone. Playing Spotify through Bluetooth or AirPlay on iOS requires a trip through a totally superfluous screen promoting Spotify Connect. YouTube is the best way to find and share a single song on a desktop computer, but it remains a strange little island, disconnected from almost every other service. I used to love playing MP3s on my Xbox 360 while gaming, but there's no Spotify app on the Xbox One, so those days are over. There's not even a single standard playlist format to make switching services easier There's not even a single standard playlist format to make switching services easier, like the old.m3u playlist files my friends and I used to swap back and forth between iTunes and WinAmp and whatever else. There's just lock-in, endless lock-in. Is this what we wanted? Am I really despairing for the days when I maintained a huge collection of legal and not-so-legal MP3 files that could play on any device I owned without any hassle? I don't know. All I know is that I'm listening to a lot of Wilco on my Amazon Echo.Earlier this month, Kuwait enacted a law that makes DNA profiling of its citizens and foreign nationals living in the country mandatory. Anybody refusing to furnish their DNA for this database is liable to be jailed for up to seven years. This means all residents of Kuwait, including Indian workers living there, will have to give samples so that their DNA can be extracted and kept in government custody. To say the least, it is draconian. Even before the news of Kuwait's DNA profiling law sank, news has emerged about such a law in India. No, the Indian government is not emulating the Kuwaiti model, but only wants to make DNA profiles of criminals and suspects. The Human DNA Profiling Bill 2015 is slated for introduction in the Indian Parliament during the current session. The full draft of the Bill is not currently in the public domain, but going by the details trickling from various sources (and information based on its earlier versions), it appears that the bill has clauses that violate privacy and leave room for potential misuse. What is DNA profiling? DNA fingerprinting is now fairly common in crime detection and is used for establishing the identity of people in the aftermath of accidents or in settling paternity suits, like in the case of former UP chief minister ND Tiwari. The identity of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was established through DNA testing, probably by matching it with earlier samples of Hussein or those of his sons. Since a person shares about half of his or her DNA from each of parents, this data can be used to identify parents, siblings and relatives of an individual. DNA profiling is an extension of using DNA testing for crime detection. It involves the creation of a database of DNA of those who are convicted, jailed or suspects for a crime, so that in the event of a crime in the future, their DNA can be matched against the details in the database. It is much like the police keeping a record of fingerprint and iris data of criminals. Why you need a law for it A law is needed so that DNA data becomes admissible as evidence in judicial proceedings and handling of DNA testing, and use of this information by law enforcement agencies and others is regulated. At present, DNA testing labs are unregulated and lack uniform testing protocols and procedures. In the absence of a legal framework, a database can't be prepared and maintained. It depends on the government as to what kind of information it wants included in the database - be it information on only convicted persons, suspects or all those jailed. If the database is to include all those in custody, then the DNA profile of acquitted individuals will have to be deleted, as done in some countries. A DNA profiling law is supposed to codify everything and set procedures for collection, safety, use and access of DNA samples and data. What are the objections? According to the 2007 draft of the Bill, which is available in the public domain, the National DNA Data Bank and state data banks will store DNA profiles received from different laboratories for samples picked up from crime scenes, samples of suspects, offenders, missing persons, unknown deceased persons and that of volunteers. The data will be shared with enforcement agencies within the country as well as abroad, upon request. Usha Ramanathan, one of the members of the expert committee which examined ethical issues relating to DNA profiling, has raised issues of consent, infallibility of DNA data and costs associated with setting up the database. There could be false matches, human error and cross-contamination during analysis. It is also doubtful if such a database can boost crime detection rates, going by experience of countries that have similar databases. How it can be misused Though the draft Bill provides for an elaborate procedure for accessing data contained in national and state data banks, possibilities of leakage and misuse exist. Technically it is possible for the data to be used for non-forensic purposes and to decipher information such as family history, medical history and ancestry. The prescribed form for collection of data from criminals has a column for "caste", which experts fear could lead to profiling of certain castes and population groups. The UID database already has biometric information for most Indians. If any government in future decides to link the UID database with the DNA database, it would place in the hands of the government and its agencies all personal details about millions of citizens. Will the information be made available for research? At present, for all DNA studies, scientists need consent of people whose samples are collected. Without proper consent procedures, it would be a gross violation of privacy and human rights. What is the way out? The idea of a DNA database administered by a DNA authority was first mooted during the NDA regime in 2003. After several committees and deliberations within the government, a draft was released in 2007 and another draft got leaked in 2012. Meanwhile, investigative and law enforcement agencies have been seeking speedy approval of the Bill. There has been some public discussion on the Bill, but all its provisions have not been discussed and debated in a transparent way. The need for DNA profiling for solving complex cases and the use of DNA information as evidence does exist, and so does the need for a law to regulate DNA collection, analysis and storage. However, this should be the limited purpose of a DNA database. India should proceed carefully without sacrificing the privacy and personal liberty of its citizens.Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican, was asked by federal investigators Monday to explain why $1,302 in campaign funding was used to pay for video games. An analyst for the Federal Election Commission sent a letter to Mr. Hunter’s campaign office in El Cajon, California, this week concerning 68 separate purchases the lawmaker made last year to Steam Games, an online gaming portal. The purchases were included on the congressman’s campaign finance disclosure for 2015 year-end with the notation “personal expense — to be paid back,” but the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Mr. Hunter has yet to follow through. Bradley Matheson, a senior campaign finance and reviewing analyst for the FEC, wrote that the purchases appear “to possibly constitute personal use of campaign funds by the candidate.” FEC rules state that campaign funds are to be used “for bona fide campaign or political purposes only” and cannot be used “to enhance a member’s lifestyle, or to pay a member’s personal obligations.” “If the disbursement in question does indeed constitute personal use, the committee should seek reimbursement for the appropriate amount of the personal use violation from the beneficiary,” Mr. Matheson wrote. Joe Kasper, spokesman for Mr. Hunter, told the Union-Tribune the congressman’s teenage son used his father’s credit card to purchase a single game off Steam last year, but several unauthorized charges appeared soon after while the lawmaker attempted to block access to the website. Mr. Hunter is currently fighting those charges and has no plans to reimburse the committee until the matter is resolved, Mr. Kasper said. Mr. Hunter has until May 9 to respond to the FEC, and failure to do as much could prompt investigators to conduct an audit, the letter stated. Mr. Hunter, 39, defended violent video games in a 2013 op-ed for Politico, challenging the notion that children learn “lethal skills” by gaming. “The problem with this rationale is that it conveys an image that America’s youth are incapable of discerning right from wrong, which simply is not true,” he wrote. The congressman recently made headlines when he openly vaped from an e-cigarette during a House hearing in February. Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.By Cromulent Labs, developer of the Launcher app that Apple initially approved, then rejected for misuse of Notification Center. Emphasis mine: During [a conversation with someone at App Review], I also asked specifically why Launcher was removed from the App Store after 9 days when other similar apps are still available weeks later. The answer to this question was the most interesting and informative response I had ever heard from them. They basically said that Launcher was a trailblazer in uncharted territories and that they felt that they needed to make an example of it in order to get the word out to developers that its functionality is not acceptable without them having to publish new specific guidelines. And they said that the fact that they aren’t seeing hundreds of similar apps submitted every day is proof to them that taking down Launcher was successful in this regard. This was a pretty big revelation to me. After Launcher was rejected and the press picked up on it and started writing articles which painted Apple in a bad light, I was afraid that Apple might be mad at me. But it turns out that was actually the outcome they were looking for all along. They acted swiftly and made me the sacrificial lamb. And after that, removing other apps with similar functionality became a low priority for them.Get the biggest Newcastle United FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Former Newcastle United midfielder Jermaine Jenas has hit out at Magpies owner Mike Ashley for not backing Rafa Benitez this summer. Jenas, who played for United between 2002 and 2005, spoke to Goal and revealed his worries that Benitez’s side does not have enough firepower. Benitez courted Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham earlier in the transfer window but the youngster chose to join Swansea City and the United boss has been further frustrated with attempts to sign a striker. United have welcomed Joselu to St James’ Park in a £5million deal but Jenas says he almost feels sick at the lack of spending on Tyneside. He said: “They won the Championship and finished last season on a high but it almost makes me sick that the players and manager put their heart and soul into the league and then they are not backed to improve. “The market is crazy and they can’t afford to go too big on signings but as far as I am concerned with the team that they have got now will be in a relegation battle at the end of the season. Is that good enough for a club at the size of Newcastle? No, as far as I am concerned. “So I am 100% behind Rafa Benitez. He has done his job, got them back into the Premier League at the first time of asking. You have banked god knows how many millions for being in the Premier League, or you will bank it over the next few years, now invest it and back me as a manager. “I am with him all the way. It makes no sense to not go for it and protect your status. Not only that, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look at what they have got and say it is not enough. I suppose Newcastle fans and even Rafa are probably only asking for signings to give them a better chance. “Right now, they are amongst the bottom three teams. He wants a chance to survive and that’s all he’s asking for. If they don’t get it, they could lose their most important person and that’s Rafa Benitez.” Jenas who played with Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy in the Champions League as United battled for the Premier League title, knows a thing or two about strikers. And the now TV pundit, who turns out on BT Sport and Match of the Day, feels that missing out on Tammy Abraham, and the lack of goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez could cost United in the long run. “I don’t think they have got enough goals, [Aleksandar] Mitrovic has had his season in the league below,” He continued. “I didn’t see enough from him. Maybe they didn’t play to his strengths or maybe it was just his ability, I don’t see him getting double figures. “They have Dwight Gayle, a proven goalscorer for them but the problem with Gayle is that he has to play in a two [forward system], then you are restricted with how you play. He is better with someone next to him in the Premier League but they
ultra-low cost and time requirements for factoring 512-bit keys, it's only a matter of time until they're cloned and used in in-the-wild attacks.Many travel to England because the bankruptcy procedure there is friendlier, allowing people to pay all debts within one year. It is possible that all Europe’s people with financial problems will come to Latvia instead. If the currently Saeima reviewed changes to the Insolvency law are approved, Latvia will have the most liberal insolvency process for private persons, reports Latvian Radio. 2 500 people in Latvia are currently engaged in insolvency proceedings, some of them are also residents of Lithuania and other European countries who chose to go bankrupt and settle all debt obligations in Latvia. While, in the past, people praised England for its liberal laws regarding insolvency procedures. This situation could change in the near future if the Saeima accepts the currently discussed amendments (to carry out insolvency processes within a year’s time). It could become the friendliest insolvency law in Europe, as concluded by the Latvian Commercial banks Association. According to the survey of the association, the insolvency process across the whole of Europe lasts for four years on average. There are also countries with a seven-year long period. The neighbouring Estonia’s insolvency procedure lasts for up to two years, during which property is simply sold. After that, there is another three or seven year period (depends of the size of the debt), during which payments are made to creditors. Lithuania’s insolvency period lasts from five to six years. Finland offers an opportunity to perform a personal approach, allowing the person to perform payments to creditors following a specific schedule, based on the person’s ability to pay without selling his or her property. The Netherlands’ insolvency process involves selling the entire property, but this does no help with debts – it is expected to be paid in full. Slovakia’s relieved bankruptcy procedure is simple and faster than the traditional one, but the amount of the debt must not exceed 165 thousand EUR. In England, people are prohibited from taking managing and state positions after going through a fast and simple bankruptcy procedure. The Commercial Banks Association believes that Latvia should introduce a similar practice. Ilmars Krums, a member of the Council of the Association of insolvency administrators, warns that the version currently discussed by the Saeima could turn Latvia into an area of bankrupt tourism. Insolvency process administrators believe the current law is the best compromise for all sides. However, the majority of the Saeima – two opposition and two ruling parties- support the relief of the insolvency process for private persons. Ref: 102.109.109.5850Ah, the tender feelings of a Doctor Who fan, forever at the mercy of the whims of fate. Mugabe has lost Doctor Who tapes? Robert Mugabe is reported to own long-lost episodes of Doctor Who. The President of Zimbabwe apparently possesses tapes of some early episodes of the science fiction series that could be thirty or forty years old, according to The Sun. Some Doctor Who programmes were deleted by the BBC in the late sixties and seventies to make room in the Beeb’s film library for new shows and Zimbabwe is thought to have bought the first season of the time-travel series when it was still the British colony Rhodesia. But because of poor diplomatic relations with the country, UK researchers are unable to look in Zimbabwe’s TV vaults and cannot know for sure if President Mugabe owns the missing 1963 and 1964 series starring William Hartnell. The BBC, which is missing 108 of 752 Doctor Who episodes and wants to recover lost episodes to release on DVD, also suspects that some later programmes not held anywhere else in the world may also be in Zimbabwe. Over the decades some previously lost episodes have been relocated as far away as Hong Kong and New Zealand. A BBC source apparently told The Sun: “We have looked all over the world for missing Doctor Who episodes but there are still some broadcasters we have not spoken to. Zimbabwe could prove a problem as there is so much red tape. “There is a fear that we may never get our hands on the footage and that would be a real shame for fans.”On 30 July, in the town of Lanjigarh in the district of Kalahandi, Odisha, district authorities and the Odisha State Pollution Control board organised a public hearing to discuss the potential expansion of an alumina-producing facility in the town. Sesa Sterlite, a subsidiary of the Vedanta group, was seeking environmental clearance to expand its 1 million tons per annum (MTPA) refinery to a capacity of 6 MTPA. The public hearing is a mandatory step in this process, and is the only formal space for local participation in a project’s clearance. After the meeting, government authorities and company officials rushed to declare the hearing for the expansion “a success,” and told journalists that villagers supported the expansion. This was duly reported through news agencies, such as Reuters and PTI, and carried in leading papers, such as the Economic Times and the Business Standard, within hours of the hearing. A video news story uploaded to YouTube—on a channel called “Lanijigarh News,” where that video is the sole upload—a few days later reinforced this perception, asserting that the hearing had been a smooth affair. But the Bhubaneswar-based web outlet Odisha Sun Times told quite a different story, reporting that the meeting had, in fact, been stormed by local Dongariya Kondh villagers, who snatched away the microphones, raised slogans against Vedanta and questioned the purpose of holding such public hearing in the absence of locals and stage managed by the ruling BJD and company officials. Contrary to official claims that the meeting was a success, the report notes that as a result of the protests, the meeting “had to be abandoned midway.”Millions of Americans will be forced into poverty in the coming years even as the US hauls itself out of the longest and deepest recession since the second world war. A study from Indiana University, released on Wednesday, says the number of Americans living below the poverty line surged by 27% since the beginning of what it calls the "Great Recession" in 2006, driving 10 million more people into poverty. The report warns that the numbers will continue to rise, because although the recession is technically over, its continued impact on cuts to welfare budgets and the quality of new, often poorly paid, jobs can be expected to force many more people in to poverty. It is also difficult for those already under water to get back up again. "Poverty in America is remarkably widespread," concludes the study, At Risk: America's Poor During and After the Great Recession. "The number of people living in poverty is increasing and is expected to increase further, despite the recovery." The white paper, drafted by the university's school of public and environmental affairs, which is among the best ranked schools of its kind in the US, says that six years ago, 36.5 million Americans fell below the poverty line. By 2010, the number of people living in poverty rose to 46.2 million and continued to grow over the past year. "The Great Recession has left behind the largest number of long-term unemployed people since records were first kept in 1948. More than 4 million Americans report that they have been unemployed for more than 12 months," said the report. John Graham, dean of the school and one of the authors of the report, said that the numbers of "new poor" will continue to rise. "One of the big surprises is that poverty in the United States is likely to continue to increase even as the economic recovery unfolds," said Graham. "The unique feature of the great recession is not just the high rate of unemployment, but the long duration of unemployment that millions of Americans have experienced. [For] a lot of these long-term unemployed, the job that they had won't exist when they go back in to the labour market." Graham said that many of those who once held well-paid jobs will be forced to settle for lower paying work, trapping some in a permanent cycle of poverty. "As a consequence they will be poor or near poor for a substantial period of time," he said. The latest census data shows that nearly one in two of the US's 300 million citizens are now officially classified as having a low income or living in poverty. One in five families earns less than $15,000 (£9,600) a year. The Indiana University study says that the numbers of people falling into poverty is also likely to grow because of severe cuts to state and federal welfare budgets. "The states by their constitutions all have to have a balanced budget each year. A lot of states are already in the process of cutting back their safety net programmes at the same time that poverty is increasing," said Graham. "Their needs are going up but the programmes are receiving less support. It's going to continue because the revenues of state governments are not increasing as rapidly as is needed and the federal government will be under a lot of pressure because of its large deficit to decrease funding given to the states." The report warns that the situation is likely to become even worse if the long-term unemployed lose their jobless benefits. Congress extended them for two months at the end of the year, but it is unlikely they will be continued indefinitely. Among the most severely affected states are Florida, Nevada and Arizona, which have been particularly badly hit by the housing foreclosure crisis, and Michigan and Ohio, which have seen the collapse of traditional manufacturing. Minorities are among the hardest hit. More than one in four African Americans and Hispanics is officially recorded as living in poverty. About one in 10 white Americans fall below the poverty line. "We can expect to find that the most vulnerable parts of our society are the ones who will recover most slowly from a deep recession like this. More have gone in to poverty and they'll be slower coming out of it," said Graham. "If you look at the educational levels and skill levels of African Americans and Hispanics, they are more vulnerable as the job market tightens. They don't have either the extra edge in education or skills that white Americans do." The report says that the situation would have been much worse had it not been for the Obama administration's 2009 federal stimulus package, which increased child health insurance for poorer families, and cut taxes for low income workers. Still, the study says that although unemployment is officially falling, that may not be the whole story. Some workers give up looking for jobs and are no longer counted in the unemployment rate. "Although the official rate of unemployment is declining, much of this apparent progress is attributable to the fact that many adults are giving up on the search for a job," it said. The report argues that a better measure of how well an economy is creating employment is the "jobs-to-people ratio". It says that in a healthy economy the range is between 0.60 and 0.70. The US fell within that range until it fell to 0.582 at the end of 2009. It had risen only to 0.585 in November 2011. "These data suggest that the reported progress in reducing the rate of unemployment may not be as encouraging as we think since increasing numbers of the unemployed may simply be giving up on the search for a job," the report said.Until the federal government legalizes marijuana, dispensaries operating in Victoria and Vancouver are illegal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday during a visit to the capital region. “We are hoping to bring in legislation before the summer, we’re working very hard on the excellent report put forward by the task force on marijuana. But I cannot stress enough that until we have a framework to control and regulate marijuana, the current law applies,” he said. article continues below He made the comments at a press conference while visiting CFB Esquimalt, after he and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan joined military personnel for a five-kilometre run and a tour of the base. Trudeau said regulating the sale of marijuana will keep it out of the hands of young people and stop criminal gangs from capitalizing on a multi-billion-dollar industry. “Right now, we know that young people have easier access to marijuana than just about any other illicit substance. It’s easier to buy a joint for a teenager than it is to buy a bottle of beer. That’s not right,” he said. “Secondly, we know criminal organizations and street gangs are making billions of dollars off of the sale of marijuana. We feel that regulating it, controlling it will bring that revenue out of the pockets of criminals and put it into a system where we can both monitor, tax it and ensure that we are supporting people who are facing challenges related or unrelated to drug use.” Victoria has followed Vancouver’s lead in regulating marijuana dispensaries, requiring pot shops to apply for a rezoning application and a business licence. About 35 marijuana dispensaries are operating in Victoria, none of which has a business licence. Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said pot shops did not come up in her meeting with the prime minister at City Hall on Thursday afternoon. “Personally, for our city and our region, I think we have much better things to talk about than cannabis,” Helps said. “We are doing the best we can with the resources available to us, which is our zoning bylaws and our business-licence bylaws.” Helps said her sit-down with the prime minister was warm and positive. In half an hour, they covered everything from the Belleville ferry terminal and Crystal Pool project to housing and the opioid crisis. “This was the first time a prime minister has visited City Hall since 1965 and I think the best outcome was I feel there’s the beginning of a relationship,” she said. “He was really receptive to the innovative approach we’re taking to housing,” she said, referring to the program in which the capital region borrows $30 million and the province matches it. “I let him know we have an ask to the federal government for another $30 million and he said, ‘Wow, this could be a model for across Canada,’ ” Helps said. She said, however, that Trudeau did not make any promises for the B.C. capital. “Prime ministers, just like mayors, don’t make commitments on the spot. He has his cabinet that makes decisions. He’s empowered his ministers. So today wasn’t about getting to decisions, today was about beginning a relationship,” Helps said. They did collide on one topic. “We talked about oil tankers and I said: ‘As you can see our residents here are opposed to oil tankers and city council is opposed to oil tankers,’ and we agreed to disagree on that,” she said, referring to protesters outside. Trudeau approved Trans Mountain’s Kinder Morgan pipeline and Enbridge’s Line 3 but rejected the Northern Gateway pipeline. On the Kinder Morgan pipeline approval, Trudeau said his government’s position is that “the environment and the economy need to work together.” He said it’s important that Canada gets it resources to market “responsibly, thoughtfully and sustainably.” The government has signed a pan-Canadian framework on climate change that puts forward a concrete plan to reduce emissions and cap oil-sands emissions, he said. Trudeau said he’s aware that increased tanker traffic poses a risk to the southern resident killer whale pod. “The existing tanker traffic and ship traffic is of significant challenges to them,” he said, adding that the oceans protection plan will aim to protect vulnerable marine mammals. About 300 people gathered outside City Hall to see the prime minister. “Trudeau skipped Victoria on his town halls and we think he has a lot of questions to answer for,” said Charles Campbell from the Dogwood Initiative. Sue Andrews was among many in the crowd angry about his support for the Kinder Morgan pipeline. “Why would he endanger thousands of jobs that rely on a pristine coast?” she asked. Robin Gannett and Gina Nickoloff, both 20, voted for the first time in the last federal election and said they were disappointed by the prime minister’s lack of action on climate change. “It’s super disheartening to see that elected officials don’t stick to their promises,” Gannett said. However, Kate Stark, who waited in the rain for a selfie, said Trudeau “is the first prime minister to give us hope for a long time.” Trudeau will be in Vancouver today, where he will participate in a discussion on opioids with first responders and health-care professionals. When asked by reporters on Thursday, the prime minister said he has no plans to legalize other illicit substances. He said he has a “tremendous amount of respect” for first responders and community organizers who are on the frontlines of the “incredibly difficult crisis that is right now upon us, not just on [Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside] but right across B.C. and spreading across the country. “We are moving forward on a framework to regulate and control marijuana. … and we are not planning on including any other illicit substances in the movement towards legalizing and controlling and regulating.” Trudeau said the federal government has contributed $10 million to help B.C. address the opioid crisis. The last time he spoke with people struggling with addiction in Vancouver, they expressed their desire to see longer opening hours at safe consumption sites, he said. “We continue to monitor very closely what’s happening in B.C. This is an issue that we are taking very seriously and we will continue to engage in it. Certainly, we hope the $10 million we’re sending to B.C. will allow for an improved response to this ongoing crisis.” [email protected] [email protected] Renner Broke Both Of His Arms, Will Injury Affect Avengers: Infinity War? By Dirk Libbey Random Article Blend UPDATE: The original story has now been updated to reflect the fact that Jeremy Renner was injured filming the new comedy Tag, and he was implying in his comments that his injuries will not affect his planned filming on Joe and Anthony Russo's Avengers: Infinity War. From Earlier: Making action movies with a lot of stunts can be tough work for anybody. Jeremy Renner learned this first hand as he apparently broke both arms while filming Tag. In a recent appearance, the actor confirmed that while performing a stunt, he successfully fractured his right elbow and left wrist. Ouch. Renner spoke about his injuries at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival (via Variety) as part of the promotion for his upcoming film Wind River. Renner doesn't go into detail about exactly what he was doing when he broke his arms. It's unclear if Renner has completed his portion of Infinity War or if he still has shooting left to complete. For his part, Renner doesn't seem to think that the injury will have a significant impact on his job performance. Based on Jeremy Renner's comments it sounds like his current Marvel work may have wrapped, as he makes reference to another film he has on the horizon that will require him to work around his injury. This would appear to be the film Tag, a comedy about a group of old schoolmates who organize a massive game of tag. While the movie is a comedy, as the premise shows, the movie will have its share of action and Renner says there will certainly be stunts involved for him. For the most part, it appears that two broken arms are actually having a minimal impact on Jeremy Renner's life. The actor says the only thing he really can't do is tie his shoes. Let us take a step back and enjoy the irony of the fact that the guy who plays an archer has two broken arms. Honestly, this would probably be less of a hassle for literally anybody else in the MCU as actually pulling on a bow string is probably incredibly painful in that state, assuming, of course, that it's even possible. As an associated joke, we also have to assume that it was some sort of archery stunt gone wrong that led to the broken arms. How does one fire an arrow so badly that they break bones in both arms? How bad an archer do you actually have to be to pull that off? In all seriousness, we hope that Jeremy Renner recovers as he, we assume, has one more Avengers movie to film in fairly short order. Hawkeye may not be the most impressive Avenger, but he's a great character in his own right that we're looking forward to seeing again. Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters in May of 2018 but you'll be able to see Renner much sooner in Wind River, which debuts August 4. WATCH: The Avengers: Infinity War Gag Reel - Blu-ray Bonus Feature Blended From Around The Web Facebook Back to topProcurement officials with the Department of Defense thought they had devised a new means for a very old form of aviation warfare when they invested nearly $300 million in a high-tech blimp to spy on insurgents in Afghanistan. But the costly program never panned out, and the Pentagon is now taking heat for selling the unused airship back to its maker for only $300,000. The length of a football field and seven stories tall, the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle resembled the blimps first used during World War I. But this model of airship could stay afloat for up to three weeks, allowing U.S. Army commanders to monitor enemy movements with an array of advanced cameras, sensors and spy technology. The airship could even withstand hostile fire, thanks to a blend of unique fabrics, including bullet-proof Kevlar. But the humongous, floating surveillance center became 12,000 pounds overweight (cutting its endurance capability by 75%), fell eight months behind schedule and, after only one brief test flight over New Jersey, the Army decided to cancel it. The Defense Department then sold it back to Hybrid Air Vehicles, a British firm that had developed the blimp along with Northrop Grumman, for $301,000. That decision prompted criticism from government watchdog groups. “We don’t expect every military acquisition to work perfectly,” Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense told the Los Angeles Times. “But this sale is adding insult to fiscal injury. The contractors are happy. They were paid millions of dollars. Now they have their aircraft back too.” The Army insists the project was a money-saver, claiming that the technology developed for the craft was a valuable learning experience, applicable toward future projects. The helium, by the way, was drained from the blimp for resale. -Noel Brinkerhoff To Learn More: Army Lets Air Out of Battlefield Spyship Project (by W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times) Air Force Plans Enormous Spy Blimp (AllGov)In this Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012 photo, a relative of ethnic Hazara, Ali Raza Qurban, holds his portrait in Quetta, Pakistan. Brutal sectarian bloodletting has killed hundreds of Shiite Muslims in Pakistan's Baluchistan province and fired a flourishing human smuggling business in the provincial capital of Quetta. Shiite Muslim leaders in Quetta say the militant Sunni Muslim group, Lashkar-e-Janghvi, is behind much of the bloodshed. They have accused the authorities of indifference and elements within Pakistan's intelligence agencies of being complicit. Qurban tried to seek asylum in Australia but disappeared on Dec. 17, 2011 when his smuggler boat packed with nearly 250 asylum seekers capsized within hours leaving the Indonesian shore bound for Australia. Smugglers lure ethnic Hazaras with promises of safety in Australia. They also cash in on asylum seekers from neighboring Afghanistan and Iran, who transit through Pakistan, say survivors and analysts. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt) QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — As he knelt in prayer to mark one of Islam's holiest days, Ali Raza Qurban saw a childhood friend and dozens of others die in a suicide attack on their Shiite mosque. Sunni militants were again targeting minority ethnic Hazaras in this city of narrow streets and wide-open hatreds. Qurban decided it was time to leave. He found an agent who would hook him up with a smuggler in Indonesia and, for $8,000, get him to Australia. But he never made it to Australia. He disappeared on Dec. 17, 2011, aboard an overcrowded, rickety wooden boat that capsized within hours of leaving the Indonesian shore. Four months had passed since the suicide bombing at the mosque in Quetta, where the violence has spawned a vibrant human smuggling business. The smugglers operate out of small, unidentified shops. Selling promises of a safe and better life in Australia, they largely capitalize on the fear and desperation of the Hazara, a largely Shiite community that is facing attacks not only here but in neighboring Afghanistan. In Quetta, Shiite leaders say many of the attacks against Hazaras are carried out by the Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Janghvi, which they contend is backed by elements within Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI. Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry and a panel of three judges last month ordered authorities to investigate allegations that vehicles illegally imported by the ISI were used in suicide bombings targeting Shiites. Most of the Afghans who cross into Pakistan with the intention of going on to Australia and elsewhere are thought to be Hazara. "Every month hundreds of Hazaras leave Afghanistan for another country," said Waliullah Rahmani, executive director of the Kabul-based Center for Strategic Studies, a privately funded think tank. In the last two months more than 20 Hazaras have died in targeted killings blamed on the Taliban, he said. Hazaras, who were massacred by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban in the late 1990s, fear that the religious militia will return to power after the departure of U.S. and other NATO service members in 2014, according to Rahmani. "With 2014 getting closer, most of the Hazaras think that the history will repeat again," he said. "So that is why they risk their lives for illegal immigrations to Australia and other places." Many choose Australia because it already has an established Hazara community. The trip to Australia usually begins in Pakistan's port city of Karachi, stopping either in Thailand or Malaysia before arriving in Indonesia's East Java province, according to testimony of survivors and local Malaysian authorities. "Asylum seekers from Pakistan often fly either from Karachi or Lahore to Kuala Lumpur and sometimes enter through Malaysia's northern border with Thailand," said a Malaysian home ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. He said laws have been tightened in the last two years, sea patrols increased and cooperation has been stepped up with Pakistan and Afghanistan. "The people-smuggling groups that facilitate them are generally Pakistani, but Malaysians are sometimes hired for logistics to help in transportation," said the official. Once in Indonesia's East Java, asylum seekers are packed into boats bound for Australia. The booming business is confounding the governments of Indonesia, which has hunted down and arrested some smuggling kingpins, and Australia, which is being bombarded with more refugees than it is willing to accept. Australia is trying to discourage prospective asylum seekers with new laws and with offers to take more refugees who choose to enter the country legally. In August, Australia reintroduced offshore processing centers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Asylum seekers who are sent there will not be let into the country without going through the same process as those legally seeking protective asylum in Australia. "The strategy underpins the key message that asylum seekers should think twice before getting on a boat to Australia, because they will be risking their lives at sea for no advantage," according to Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship. In 2011 four boats sank, killing 109 people. So far this year 23 boats have capsized with 200 people still missing and 2,225 people rescued. Most of the passengers have been Afghans, Pakistanis and Iranians.[ad name=”Google Adsense 468×60″] The idea of the trombone as a solo instrument seems to appeal mostly to trombonists. Trombone soloists who tour or record extensively can develop quite a following. Nowadays, many can be found on You Tube, where people can not only hear, but watch performances. As long as they remain freely on line, people will be able to find them and enjoy them indefinitely. It’s easy for us to forget earlier generations of trombone soloists. A trombonist’s reputation does not necessarily vanish after his or her death or retirement simply for lack of recordings. It is easy to find information about such greats as Antoine Dieppo (first professor of trombone at the Paris Conservatory), Carl Traugott Queisser (a legendary trombone soloist from Leipzig), or Frederick Neil Innes (considered by some superior even to Arthur Pryor). Here are five pioneering soloists who deserve to be better known. Davis Shuman Since people who knew and studied with the former trombone professor at Juilliard are still alive, it might seem a stretch to list Davis Shuman among forgotten soloists, but many compilations of important trombonists of the twentieth century omit him entirely. Everyone who ever gives a trombone recital and gets paid for it owes Shuman a debt of gratitude. After all, he started it. Shuman made history when he presented a full-length recital for trombone and piano at New York’s Town Hall in 1947. Until that time, hardly any music besides contest solos existed for that combination except for Hindemith’s then-recent Sonata. Shuman played transcriptions of music by Beethoven and Brahms and commissioned three new works. He actively commissioned new music for the rest of his life, including Milhaud’s Concertino d’hiver. I can only speculate that the Russian-born Shuman had a sound and technique significantly different from the developing American sound, and other trombonists therefore disliked it. Alfred Phasey Shuman may have presented the first full-length trombone recital, but not the first trombone recital. That honor goes to Alfred Phasey, who presented three springtime series of concerts at London’s Crystal Palace in 1889, 1890, and 1891. Newspaper advertisements frequently called them bass trombone recitals. Each consisted of only three pieces, accompanied by organ rather than trombone. Phasey’s recitals were offered “at no extra charge,” but so were as many as three other concerts also presented at the Crystal Palace at the same time. It appears that, once someone paid the general admission to the Palace, all the various events going on there did not cost extra. The fact that Phasey presented several concerts every year for three years, which started at exactly the same time as three other offerings sufficiently indicates how successful and well respected he was. Advertisements occasionally mentioned what he would be playing that evening. On one, he played “Nasce al bosco” / Handel, “The lost chord” / Sullivan, and “Old German drinking song.” A week later played “O, ruddier than the cherry” / Handel, “The two grenadiers” / Schumann, “and, by special request, Old German Drinking Song.” At the time, much of what we consider classical music had broad popular appeal. Think of Phasey and his organist-partner covering top hits on a chart that didn’t change very fast. Phasey was neither the first nor most successful English trombone soloist, just the first to entertain with organ accompaniment instead of orchestra or wind band. Edouard Dantonnet Some times, some very highly respected performers worked at the same time as other, even more highly respected performers. They fall by the wayside. Nowadays, trombonists know of Antoine Dieppo. He was the first of a long line of distinguished trombone professors at the Paris Conservatory. Not a whole lot has been written about his playing career, though. We also know the name Felix Vobaron. He taught a provisional trombone class for three years before Dieppo won the permanent position. History has judged his method book better than Dieppo’s. Vobaron claimed to be the first Frenchman to attempt a solo in public. The name of Victor Cornette is familiar enough: his method book is older and now more widely used than either Dieppo’s or Vobaron’s. Again, no one has written much about his playing career. Since trombone soloists are a pretty obscure group to begin with, how could any contemporaries’ reputation stand up to those three? Edouard Dantonnet never wrote a method book, but he, like Dieppo, played trombone for the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, one of the top orchestras in the world at the time. Like Dieppo he regularly played solos at the popular series of promenade concerts led by such popular conductors as Musard and Jullien. Both conductors took their orchestras to London, and Dantonnet played there two years before Dieppo did. Typical of the newspapers of the time, write-ups of these concerts give little indication of what they played or how the audience responded. The Times, however, did thoroughly describe the time Dantonnet came out on the first half of a concert to play his solo and collapsed on stage. What or how well he played when he recovered enough to play it on the second half remains a mystery. Gioacchino Bimboni Gioacchino Bimboni remains obscure largely because he was Italian, and everyone knows that Italians didn’t compose anything but operas in the nineteenth century. Actually, the history of Italian military bands is every bit as interesting and important as the better-known development of bands in Germany, Austria, France, England, or the United States. James Wesley Herbert wrote a doctoral dissertation on the subject in 1986, and Henry Howey has published some material. Perhaps eventually the Italians will get their due, and Bimboni with them. I could have used any of four men as my example for this post, but Bimboni may be more responsible than any other single individual for the Italians’ overwhelming adoption of the valve trombone and abandonment of the slide trombone. He first became the first Italian instrument-maker to manufacture valve trombones. Only then did he travel throughout Italy as a trombone soloist. He and the others appear in the Italian press. For what it’s worth, a lukewarm review of a performance by Bimboni in Vienna is the only mention I have found of an Italian trombone soloist in the foreign press, at least until Carlo Antonio Cappa, a slide trombonist of excellent repute, emigrated to the United States. Bimboni and his contemporaries played exclusively Italian operatic arias or variations and potpourris based on them. M. Schmidt How is it that we don’t even know his first name? The American Musical Journal referred to Schmidt in passing as “the best trombone that ever existed.” When a Viennese correspondent to the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung expressed the same opinion, the editor of that Leipzig-based magazine added a footnote that he would not believe it unless Schmidt challenged home-town hero Queisser directly. At about the same time, the Berliner allgemeine musikalische Zeitung commented favorably on Queisser’s performance of a concertino, but lamented that, with trombonists the caliber of Queisser, Belcke (another household name among anyone who cares about trombone history) and Schmidt, it was too bad they had no good music to play. He must have been outstanding to rate mention with those two! Besides incidental mentions like these in the contemporary press, I know nothing about Schmidt except that he was a court musician in Kassel. As far as I know, he was given leave from his post only for this one outstandingly successful tour. The only book I have found about the musical establishment at the court in Kassel lists only opera singers by name. Perhaps someone with access to archives there can do us all a great favor and let us know who this guy was!Salt, a chemical that combines the elements sodium and chlorine, has occupied a foremost position in human society since prehistoric times. The Bible speaks approvingly of ''the salt of the earth.'' A good Greek slave was said to be ''worth his weight in salt.'' Salt has been bartered, used for pay, and fought over. A tax on it was sure to bring violent protest. It once was worth its weight in gold literally, traded ounce for ounce. Salt also has been a traditional symbol of social status. The most important guests at the dinner table were seated ''above the salt.'' In recent years, however, research has linked excessive consumption of salt to hypertension (high blood pressure) and its potentially fatal consequences, heart and kidney disease and stroke. Hypertension, one of the nation`s most widespread diseases, afflicts an estimated 60 million Americans, usually producing no symptoms until one day the signs of permanent organ damage appear as a chronic illness or death. The main precipitant of hypertension, much evidence indicates, is the mineral sodium, which is 40 percent of the salt molecule by weight. Between 15 and 20 percent of Americans are genetically prone to developing high blood pressure if their diet is rich in sodium, as the typical American diet is. Hypertension is practically non-existent among people in cultures in New Guinea, the Amazon Basin, the Kalahari Desert and elsewhere where little or no salt is added to foods. In such cultures blood pressure does not rise ''naturally'' with age; if anything, it drops. Some say it is lack of stress, not lack of salt, that keeps the lid on blood pressure in these cultures. But in a few pre-industrial societies such as the Gashgai nomads of southern Iran, where a lot of salt is consumed, high blood pressure is common despite the lack of societal tensions. On the other hand, in societies where salt and sodium are consumed to great excess, such as in Japan, hypertension is the leading cause of death and disability. Further, the ravages of hypertension are greatest in northern Japan where salt consumption is highest. When 1,346 Americans were grouped according to salt intake more than 10 percent of those who consumed a lot of salt were found to have high blood pressure, 7 percent of those who consumed an average amount of salt had the condition, but less than 1 percent of those who consumed a small amount of salt had hypertension. A five-year study at the Mayo Clinic showed that sodium restriction alone could lower blood pressure to normal in persons with mild hypertension. Studies of laboratory rats suggest that excess salt early in life can set the stage for later development of high blood pressure. If rats that are genetically predisposed to hypertension never are given salt, their blood pressure remains normal throughout life. But those that get salt early in life develop hypertension even if the salt is later eliminated from the diet. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine in advance which people are susceptible to the pressure-raising effects of salt. Sodium is a vital constituent of the human body. Our tissues swim in a salty sea-a vestige perhaps of our aquatic evolution. The more salt in the sea, the more water is needed to dilute it to maintain the proper concentration of sodium. WORK OF KIDNEYS The body`s machinery for keeping a normal level of sodium in its fluids is the kidneys. When the body has too much sodium the kidneys dump it out into the urine and excrete it. When the body needs sodium the kidneys reabsorb it from urine and pump it back into the blood
ing of the recording studio previously known as DARP.Yesterday morning, the popular Youtube channel CorridorDigital released their newest video..a really well made portrayal of Dark Link, they dubbed “Link’s Shadow, The Legend of Zelda”. Being one of their subscribers, I naturally clicked over to see what it was about…and was pleasantly surprised when I recognized my good friend, Geran Simpson, playing “good” Link!..now I had heard about this project from Geran a couple of months ago, but had somehow managed to forget about it until seeing it yesterday. Check out the video here.. My opinion as a big fan of The Legend of Zelda franchise, and as someone who usually works on bigger budgeted projects? THIS VIDEO ROCKS. I love the sword fight choreography and execution, I love the special effects, setting, style, and the concept…also, I’m pretty sure the guys at Corridor Digital filmed this video in two days total, which is an impressive feat considering the attention to detail they managed to portray while filming on a free, remote location. I asked Geran his opinion on the choreography.. he told me “The fight was a lot of fun to shoot, and everyone I worked with was great. I just wish the fight could have lasted longer, I see so much potential for a more epic showdown..but we were held back with time constraints.” Maybe sometime in the future they will re-visit this idea with a super epic showdown? Let’s hope…below, you can watch their “making of” video.. I am continuously being astounded by the production value and ingenuity that the YouTube channels of today are putting into their videos. The future looks very bright for the online filmmaking community, as Netflix has recently surpassed HBO in number of US subscribers. My friends and I look forward to working more and more with the online community, to help bridge the gap between elite Hollywood productions and uniquely talented filmmakers. Until next time, -Rustic ps If you have any thoughts/questions to add, please comment below! And don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you would like me to write about your upcoming project and/or collaborate on something.It has been nearly two years since the conservative provocateur Andrew Breitbart died, but the online news organization that carries his name is not only continuing to wage his political battles, it is taking the war global. Breitbart News Network, a group of activist, conservative news sites — including Big Government, Big Hollywood and Big Journalism — said on Sunday evening that it was adding at least a dozen staff members as it opens operations based in Texas and London. Stephen K. Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News, said that those offices were the beginning of an expansion that would add a new regional site roughly every 90 days. California, Florida, Cairo and Jerusalem have already been chosen as expansion sites, he said. Mr. Bannon said he was taking his cue from The Huffington Post, the liberal news and commentary site that has been growing rapidly overseas. He said there was an audience hungry for his brand of activist journalism. “There is a growing global anti-establishment revolt against the permanent political class at home, and the global elites that influence them, which impacts everyone from Lubbock, Tex., to London, England,” he said. The expansion is being financed by a large pool of capital that Mr. Breitbart raised from private investors, Mr. Bannon said. Although it was always the company’s plan to add staff members and offices overseas, he said the timing had been accelerated because of a desire to influence two important political battles.Congressman Surges To Second In National Poll Steve Watson Infowars.com February 8, 2012 In conjunction with a strong second place finish in the Minnesota caucuses, GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul is now polling in second place nationally, within eight points of front runner Mitt Romney. Paul tallied a solid 21 percent in the new Reuters/Ipsos Poll released this week, beating rival competitors Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, who scored 19 percent and 18 percent respectively. Romney still leads the pack with 29 percent, however, the poll finds that his popularity declined since early January, while, Paul’s support increased by five percent. Romney “still hasn’t really convinced all the Republicans across the country that he’s the guy to get behind,” said Ipsos research director Chris Jackson in a statement. “This poll further illustrates that Ron Paul is emerging as the real conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, and that he can also obtain the needed support from Independents and disenfranchised Democrats to defeat President Obama in November,” said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton. With most of the votes counted in Minnesota, Rick Santorum won the caucuses with 45% of the vote followed by Paul with 27%, Mitt Romney, 17% and Newt Gingrich, 11%. The result saw Paul garner 10 points more than Romney and a higher percentage than his previous best of 22.9 percent from New Hampshire’s primary one month ago. Despite not yet outright winning any of the primaries or caucuses, Paul is picking up a significant amount of delegates, a point he highlighted in his speech last night following the announcement of the Minnesota vote. “We had a very, very strong second place — and it’s going to continue,” Paul told more than 200 supporters. “We do have to remember: the straw vote is one thing, but then there’s a whole other thing — delegates — and that is where we excel.” “So when the dust settles, I think there’s a very good chance that we’re going to have the maximum number of delegates coming out of Minnesota.” Paul said, noting that because of the loyalty and savviness of his supporters, he could still end up with more delegates out of Minnesota than Santorum. In some states, the Congressman has seen his support triple or even quadruple on votes he received during his campaign four years ago. Paul told CNN that he is optimistic that he is going to keep picking up delegates and that the next major battle ground is in Maine, where results are to be announced on Saturday. —————————————————————— Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.Four moderate Republican senators have just joined forces to encourage their party to think critically about climate change, Politico reports. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) created an "informal coalition" to work against what they believe is an unsustainable GOP outlook on environmental policy. All four senators have previously gone on record with the belief that human activity causes climate change, a scientifically backed notion that most of the Republican Party refutes, The Hill reports. The green coalition, called the Energy and Environment Working Group, will meet periodically to discuss ways to protect the environment through legislative measures that support clean energy production, economic reform, and scientific research. An informal green group "The Energy and Environment Working Group will be a way for us to bring people together and start an ongoing conversation about these topics — like how we can best protect our environment and climate, pursue common sense and market-based reforms to grow our economy, and promote cleaner energy production," Ayotte said in a statement. Ayotte is the only one in the group to support Obama's clean power plan, which is designed to cut coal emissions from power plants, Politico reports. Presidental hopeful Lindsey Graham has been outspoken in the GOP field about climate change, specifically its potential impact on industry and the American economy — a sentiment echoed by all four senators. Ayotte and Kirk will face a tough reelection in 2017, the results of which will determine which party holds the Senate majority, The Hill reports.PoliZette Leftist Professors Defend, Celebrate Antifa Violence College progressives embrace left-wing extremist group, some even form campus chapters As the nation becomes evermore aware of Antifa activists and the violence they bring with them wherever they rear their masked faces, left-wing college professors seem set on helping the militant left-wing group advance its goals. Many were shocked last week after Mark Bray, a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College, penned a Washington Post opinion piece in defense of Antifa violence. Bray defended Antifa’s violent tactics designed to “preemptively shut down fascist organizing efforts” on the grounds that “physical violence against white supremacists is both ethically justifiable and strategically effective.” Advertisement [lz_ndn video=32552515] Bray defended his stance on an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Again he argued that Antifa’s political violence is somehow “self-defense” against “white supremacy and neo-Nazi violence” and “legitimate response.” Bray argued that “what people did in Boston, what people did in Charlottesville.” is the only way to stop white supremacy from “becoming established.” It appears other campus professors agree. Indeed some are going beyond Bray, not only defending Antifa tactics but also appearing to organize their own Antifa cells. Last week, Purdue University Professor Bill Mullen and Stanford University Professor David Palumbo-Liu launched the “Campus Antifascist Network” (CAN) — an apparent Antifa network for college kids. Mullen, a professor of American studies, on Wednesday described CAN as a “big tent” that “welcomes anyone committed to fighting fascism.” Mullen said that the purpose of the group is “to drive racists off campuses.” Speaking with Inside Higher Education Magazine, Palumbo-Liu — who is a professor of comparative literature — effectively said that feelings are more important than facts. Pointing out that many of Antifa’s targets aren’t actually fascists is “literally an academic argument in the worst sense of the word. We need to pay attention to what is happening, not the labels that we feel are most fitting,” he said. Advertisement Georgetown professor Mark Lance, a far-left philosophy professor also seemed to support violence against so-called “fascists” on the grounds that their mere existence is somehow an act of physical aggression. According to Lance, anyone who acknowledges the reality that there were two radical, violent sides involved in the Charlottesville violence is just a lazy person who doesn’t understand the “fascist” threat. “If you find yourself thinking that there is something to these comments of Trump’s about “both sides,” if you want to pick apart what you take to be bad behavior by anti-nazi protesters …, if you want to condemn people putting their lives on the line in the streets because they aren’t sufficiently focused on kindness and light, then I think you should seriously consider the possibility that what is actually motivating you is a desire to find an excuse not to do any real work,” Lance wrote in a post on Facebook published on April 16. In an interview with the Washington Examiner the next day, Lance predicted that — far from rejecting Antifa violence — the radical group would become part and parcel of the mainstream progressive left. “I’m seeing more concrete productive discussion between anti-fascists and others on the Left these days than ever before in my life,” Lance told the Examiner. “There is reason to think that it will become integrated into an emerging coalition that includes Sanders supporters, democratic socialists, dreamers, the Movement for Black Lives, environmentalists, [and] Native American organizers,” he continued. [lz_related_box id=”833505″] Several academics have shown they believe they are engaged in some sort of noble struggle. Advertisement The most obvious evidence of this is the case of Eric Clanton, a former professor of philosophy at a number of colleges including Diablo Valley College and East Bay community college, who is facing charges for assaulting someone with a bike lock and chain during in the midst of violence that broke out during a rally at the Berkeley college campus in April. Video footage appears to show Clanton intentionally swinging the lock-and-chain at a pro-Trump activist and smashing him in the head with it. Last week, however, Clanton launched a defense website, in which he portrays himself as a victim, even appearing to suggest he was framed, and makes no reference whatsoever to why he is facing prison in the first place. “My name is Eric,” he wrote. “I’m currently facing years of prison time as the result of accusations made in the most shockingly hateful parts of the internet. On April 19th I began being targeted by a dedicated swarm of internet trolls known for spewing racism, xenophobia, and misogyny onto the web,” he said. (photo credit, homepage image: C64-92, Flickr; photo credit, article image: Jake Mohan)In the wake of the Snowden revelations, China's encouraging local companies to buy from their brethren behind the great firewall. That exhortation won't hurt Chinese companies because the nation's domestic IT outfits are now very sophisticated. In some product categories Chinese kit is a no-brainer. Lenovo PCs, tablets and servers are world class and the company also has a handy line of EMC-influenced storage. The HP and 3Com offshoot H3C will do for switches. At last week's Canalys Channels Forum in Shanghai the analyst outfit's supremo Steve Brazier mentioned Inspur as a candidate for your servers. The company does all sorts of X86ery, also offers a mainframe, storage and even a “Cloud OS” complete with virtualisation stack. Brazier's also keen on Kingsoft, maker of an office suite and Qihoo's security applications for Windows, Mac OS and Android. The company also offers a browser in case you fancy an alternativer. Brazier also mentioned Beijing's Yonyou Software, a vendor of business applications such as HR, CRM, BI, financial management, supply chain management and manufacturing management, plus the NCS enterprise management suite. The company's already opened an office in France, in addition to presences across South-East Asia. Yulong also scored a mention during Brazier's talk, because it's Coolpad brand is China's top tablet vendor. The company also makes a decent smartphone, as does another local outfit called Oppo that, like smartphone darling Xiaomi, is already exporting. And here we are in paragraph seven before we even mention Huawei, source of routers, switches, storage, a virtualisation stack, telco kit galore, mobile phones of most shapes and sizes, servers, PCs and all manner of other kit. There are plenty of others Brazier might have mentioned. Chinese middleware CVIC SE has a shot. Kingdee and Ufida are top-tier ERP players in China and are looking to offshore markets. Kanakura offers the Kingbase database. China's a bit thinner in software than it is in hardware, but that will change because the nation is funding a national effort to create the capacity to build “Core Electronic Components, High-end General Chips and Basic Software Products”. The latter category focuses on databases, operating systems and middleware. The “Chips” are intended to be 45nm general purpose creatures, and the core components are next-generation wireless devices, which will make China an even more formidable source of hardware. Those efforts, and many more, mean that while today it's possible to shop for many but not all of your computing needs from Chinese companies, before long lots more basic building blocks will be available. And as of this week, Chinese companies will have a very good reason to target buyers beyond the middle kingdom, thanks to the likely abolition of tariffs on tech products. Government patronage and liberalised trade allowed Huawei to kick off operations in 1987. 25 years later it became the world's premier telecoms networking company. Which other Chinese companies will have similar stories 25 years from now? And what will their success mean for today's enterprise giants? Those tired of hearing the word “disruption” may have to get used to hearing it for a lot longer if China's plans come to fruition. ®The Royal Fine Art Commission, of which he served three terms as chairman from 1985 to 1999, described itself as “the ultimate authority for consultation on matters of taste and aesthetics” — a remit which fitted Lord St John to perfection. Like Oscar Wilde, he put his genius into his life, affecting the flamboyant mannerisms of an Edwardian aesthete (proffering his hand in papal fashion, lapsing into Latin, deliberately mispronouncing modern words). At his Northamptonshire rectory he amassed an impressive collection of Victorian bric à brac and royal memorabilia, including photographs and mementos of the Royal family and a pair of Queen Victoria’s undergarments. Irrepressible, witty and disarmingly immodest, Lord St John was an expert on much else besides aesthetics. In the 1990s, during the break-up of the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales, he became known for his frequent television appearances in which he would give the nation the benefit of his expertise on the attendant constitutional implications, a role in which he claimed extensive knowledge of the inner workings and private thoughts of the Royal family. It was never entirely clear how much direct access he had, though he was certainly a great friend of Princess Margaret, whose framed likeness, prominently displayed behind him, graced many an official photograph. But that did not stop him assuring the nation that, for example, the young princes bore no grudge against Camilla Parker Bowles, or that the Prince of Wales was a loyal member of the Church of England with no intention of converting to Islam. When criticised for his willingness to pontificate on any royal issue, however trivial, he explained that his motivation was a “desire to do what one can to help the monarchy and help the Queen”. In his role as Arts Minister in Mrs Thatcher’s first administration, Norman St John-Stevas was said to be one of the only cabinet members allowed to tease the Prime Minister, whom he referred to as “the Blessed One”, “the Leaderene” or (unaccountably) “Heather”. He liked to tell the story of how he asked to be excused from a meeting because he had a reception to go to. “But I’m going to the same function,” protested Mrs Thatcher. “Yes, but it takes me so much longer to change,” replied St John-Stevas. Yet it seemed that Mrs Thatcher did not see the need for a licensed jester — particularly one so well-known for his indiscretions with the press over lunch. For St John-Stevas did not so much leak as gush, providing an entertaining running commentary on the foibles of his colleagues (on whom he bestowed nicknames), spiced up with fruity society tittle-tattle. “The trouble with you, Norman,” one listener complained, “is that you’re such a compulsive name dropper.” “The Queen said exactly the same to me yesterday,” came the rejoinder. His ministerial career proved short-lived. In January 1981 he found himself exiled from the charmed circle in Mrs Thatcher’s first cabinet reshuffle. Yet those inclined to dismiss him as a lightweight were mistaken. Behind the affectations lurked a sharp intellect and a prodigious talent for networking. “People say you have to be nice to people on the way up because you might need them on the way down. But on my way down I’ve met people I never want to see again,” he said after his dismissal. The quip was irresistible but misleading, for Norman St John-Stevas had a genius for making and keeping friends, and to those favoured with his friendship he was ever kind and loyal. After being sacked by Mrs Thatcher, he was duly rewarded with the appointments for which he became better known and which provided rich opportunities for him to play the aristocrat he had somehow always seemed to be. His Who’s Who entry reveals that Norman Anthony Francis St John-Stevas was the only son of an engineer and company director, Stephen Stevas, and his wife, Kitty St John O’Connor, and that he was born in London on May 18 1929 (“the same birthday as his late Martyred Imperial Majesty Nicholas II”). There was some confusion later when it was discovered that his birth certificate gave his Christian names as Norman Panayea St John, his father’s name as Spyro Stevas and occupation as “hotel proprietor”. St John-Stevas explained that his mother had hyphenated the name St John after she had divorced her husband. His father had qualified as an engineer but had never practised and had gone into business in hotels and property. Certainly St John-Stevas was closer to his Irish Catholic mother. He was sent to Ratcliffe, a small Roman Catholic school near Leicester. He then spent six months in Rome studying for the priesthood but discovered he had no vocation. Instead he went up to Fitzwilliam House, Cambridge, where he became president of the Union and famous for things like jumping into the river in evening dress. After graduating with a First in Law, he went on to Christ Church, Oxford, where he was secretary of the Union and obtained a Second in the examination for Bachelor of Civil Law. He was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1952. But he “never practised, only preached”, and became a noted academic lawyer, lecturing and tutoring at Yale, at Southampton University, King’s College, London, and at Oxford. His career during the 1950s was studded with prizes — the Blackstone and Harmsworth Scholarship in 1952; the Blackstone Prize in 1953; The Yorke Prize of Cambridge University in 1957; a fellowship at Yale Law School in 1958; a Fulbright award; and a Fund for the Republic fellowship in 1958. He lectured all over the United States and held a visiting professorship at the university of California at Santa Barbara. From 1954 to 1959 he was legal adviser to Sir Alan Herbert’s Committee on book censorship. His Obscenity and the Law was published in 1956 and became a key work of reference during subsequent reforms. In 1959 he joined The Economist, at first to edit the collected works of Bagehot, a mammoth and scholarly task that eventually saw the light of day as a series of 15 beautifully produced and highly regarded volumes published between 1966 and 1986. He also became the magazine’s correspondent on law, the Church and politics. Having contested the hopeless seat of Dagenham in 1951, St John-Stevas won Chelmsford for the Tories in 1964, and remained its MP until his elevation to the Lords in 1987. In Edward Heath’s administration, he was Parliamentary Undersecretary at the Department of Education and Minister of State for the Arts. Although generally regarded as a “wet”, he supported Mrs Thatcher for the Conservative leadership against Ted Heath and became Opposition spokesman on education, in which role he got on famously badly with his populist Right-wing colleague Rhodes (later Sir Rhodes) Boyson, to whom he gave the ironic nickname “Colossus”. It came as a relief when, in 1978, he was made shadow Leader of the House. After the Conservative victory in 1979, he was appointed Leader of the House, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Arts. Despite becoming better known for his contributions to the arts, St John-Stevas made his most enduring contribution as Leader of the House. He inaugurated the present system of parliamentary select committees, placing them on a departmental basis and ensuring that membership was not controlled by the party whips. His dismissal in January 1981 was a devastating blow, but he had no shortage of friends in the arts world and took on a clutch of appointments on national bodies concerned with theatre, dance, music and the decorative arts. He was created a life peer as Lord St John of Fawsley in 1987. His time at the Royal Fine Art Commission was not entirely uncontroversial. The Commission had been a dozy quango which, for many years, could hardly even be bothered to produce an annual report, and it was hoped that his appointment would inject a bit of panache and excitement. It did, and he changed the public image of the Commission considerably. But critics accused him of turning it into a personal publicity vehicle (one annual report featured no fewer than six full-colour photographs showing the chairman striking one pose after another in the company of the great and good), and of allowing his own wayward preferences to take precedence over the views of the experts. There was, for example, the affair of the Millennium wheel on the South Bank (now known as the London Eye), which was the subject of a blistering public attack by the Commission, even though at least three commissioners strongly supported the design. After a bad-tempered meeting at which Lord St John was reportedly rude to the architects concerned, the Commission’s secretary, Sherban Cantacuzino, wrote to the architects saying: “I am sure that he enjoys putting people down, all of us have suffered from his bullying.” Problems magnified after Lord St John was elected Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1991. Academic politics proved highly diverting, and his frequent absences from the Commission’s offices in London raised eyebrows. In 1994 the government called in the retired civil servant Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield to examine the Commission. His conclusions were devastating: the Commission acted arbitrarily and was not respected, and the chairman’s office and car were over-lavish for a publicly funded body. Any other chairman would probably have had to resign, but Lord St John defied all predictions and was reappointed for a third term in 1995. His time at Emmanuel College, from 1991 to 1996, was equally tumultuous. It was said that the dons of the historically Puritan institution first had doubts about whether they had chosen the right man when several of his friends were caught naked one night in the Fellows Garden swimming pool. While he certainly raised the college’s profile (albeit particularly in such outlets as House and Garden and Hello!), there was controversy on the high table over the lavish refurbishment of the Master’s Lodge and an expensive new extension to the college which some saw as a monument to the Master rather than a useful addition. Some fellows were furious that Mohammed Fayed had donated £250,000 to the project, his reward being a “Harrods Room” and honorary membership of the college — a distinction invented by the Master. So bad was the feeling in some quarters that one tutor started handing out copies of the Master’s pronouncements in his role as “constitutional expert” with a prize for the student who spotted the greatest number of legal mistakes. Lord St John was also accused of spending an excessive amount of time with a small clique of mainly public school-educated young men who, it was alleged, were favoured with introductions to royalty and captains of industry, to dinners at White’s, private theatrical performances at the Master’s Lodge and long, affectionate letters. Such special privileges were extended to very few. Other undergraduates would recall the Master cutting them off in mid-sentence with some disparaging remark in Latin. To bitchy colleagues in other colleges, Emmanuel became known as “Mein Camp”. Second only to royalty in Lord St John’s affections was the papacy. One of the rooms in his house was virtually a shrine to Pius IX, and in 1982 he published Pope John Paul II: his travels and mission. He himself was known to appear at official functions wearing the insignia of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem (he was Grand Bailiff and head of the order in England and Wales). In Who’s Who Lord St John described himself, somewhat superfluously, as “unmarried” (the description, coming after details of his parentage, led at least one profile writer to describe him, erroneously, as “illegitimate”). He had a close friend who was a merchant banker, but claimed to be “celibate” or “chaste”. Lord St John of Fawsley, born May 18 1929, died March 2 2012Ten years after Polaroid stopped making instant film cameras, and nine years after it stopped making the film those cameras use, the Polaroid instant camera is back — well, kind of. Announced today, the new $99 Polaroid OneStep 2 is not made by Polaroid, if only because Polaroid largely exists these days as a brand and a nebulous collection of patents and intellectual property. Instead, the new camera is being made by the Impossible Project, the very company that spawned out of the groundswell effort to preserve Polaroid’s film in the first place. Before I untangle this weird web any further, here’s what we know about the camera: it’s an instant film camera like many before it, and it’s available for preorder now, with a ship and store date of October 16th. It has very few modern-day technological comforts. There’s a timer, a flash, and you can charge it over USB... and that’s about it. It shoots $16 packs of eight color or black-and-white “I-type” film, which the Impossible Project started up last year for its own instant camera, the I-1. That film is also a part of Polaroid’s “return,” for lack of a better word. Impossible is going to release different films (and the new camera) under the name of Polaroid Originals. In addition to the new Polaroid-branded I-type film, there will also be new films for cameras like the Polaroid SX-70, Spectra, and the original OneStep, the Polaroid 600. This resurrection is in many ways the ultimate realization of the Impossible Project’s original goal. When Polaroid announced it was abandoning its film in 2008, Impossible Project leased the fading company’s factory and bought the remaining equipment. Impossible Project reverse engineered Polaroid’s instant film and began selling it, providing a lifeline to the many people around the world who still shot with Polaroid’s classic cameras. Polaroid, having gone through two bankruptcies, continued to survive by licensing its brand here and there to middling digital cameras and other products. At one point it even tried to make a return to instant film cameras, announcing one at CES in 2010, but it never materialized and the legacy brand only faded as the years went on. Earlier this year, though, the parent company of the Impossible Project bought the Polaroid brand as well as its intellectual property. With all that now under the same house as Impossible Project, Polaroid Originals was born. We can’t say if the new OneStep 2 will make it worth suffering through all that without trying it, but the Impossible Project’s own I-1 instant camera certainly felt like a proper reflection of Polaroid legacy. If the OneStep 2 is anything like that, this will be a good (new) start. Update September 13th, 11:30PM ET: In what feels like the ultimate twist of this story, the Impossible Project has apparently rebranded itself to be known as Polaroid Originals. Polaroid’s brand was still strong enough to subsume what saved it.If you have followed our previous posts on system design interview questions, you might be surprised at how common news feed system is. No matter whether you are building Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, you will need some sort of news feed systems to display updates from follows/friends. In fact, there are a bunch of interesting details about news feed like how to rank feeds, how to optimize publishing etc.. So in this post, I’ll cover this popular question – design news feed system. Question To make it simple, let’s focus on designing news feed system for Facebook since different products have different requirements. To briefly summarize the feature, when users go to their home pages, they will see updates from their friends based on particular order. Feeds can contain images, videos or just text and a user can have a large number of friends. So how can you design such news feed system from scratch? Subproblems If you haven’t thought about this problem, it’s better to solve it by yourself before reading the rest of the post. Although there’s no such a thing as standard answer, you can still learn a lot by comparing your solution with others. Here we go. As we said before, when facing such large and vague system design question, it’s better to have some high-level ideas by dividing the big problem into subproblem. For a news feed system, apparently we can divide it into front-end and backend. I’ll skip the front-end as it’s not that common in system design interviews. For backend, three subproblems seem critical to me: Data model. We need some schema to store user and feed object. More importantly, there are lots of trade-offs when we try to optimize the system on read/write. I’ll explain in details next. Feed ranking. Facebook is doing more than ranking chronologically. Feed publishing. Publishing can be trivial when there’re only few hundreds of users. But it can be costly when there are millions or even billions of users. So there’s a scale problem here. Data model There are two basic objects: user and feed. For user object, we can store userID, name, registration date and so on so forth. And for feed object, there are feedId, feedType, content, metadata etc., which should support images and videos as well. If we are using a relational database, we also need to model two relations: user-feed relation and friend relation. The former is pretty straightforward. We can create a user-feed table that stores userID and corresponding feedID. For a single user, it can contain multiple entries if he has published many feeds. For friend relation, adjacency list is one of the most common approaches. If we see all the users as nodes in a giant graph, edges that connect nodes denote friend relation. We can use a friend table that contains two userIDs in each entry to model the edge (friend relation). By doing this, most operations are quite convenient like fetch all friends of a user, check if two people are friends. Data model – continue In the design above, let’s see what happens when we fetch feeds from all friends of a user. The system will first get all userIDs of friends from friend table. Then it fetches all feedIDs for each friend from user-feed table. Finally, feed content is fetched based on feedID from feed table. You can see that we need to perform 3 joins, which can affect performance. A common optimization is to store feed content together with feedID in user-feed table so that we don’t need to join the feed table any more. This approach is called denormalization, which means by adding redundant data, we can optimize the read performance (reducing the number of joins). The disadvantages are obvious: Data redundancy. We are storing redundant data, which occupies storage space (classic time-space trade-off). Data consistency. Whenever we update a feed, we need to update both feed table and user-feed table. Otherwise, there is data inconsistency. This increases the complexity of the system. Remember that there’s no one approach always better than the other (normalization vs denormalization). It’s a matter of whether you want to optimize for read or write. Ranking The most straightforward way to rank feeds is by the time it was created. Obviously, Facebook is doing more than that. “Important” feeds are ranked on top. Before jumping to the ranking algorithm, I’d usually like to ask why do we want to change the ranking? How do we evaluate whether the new ranking algorithm is better? It’s definitely impressive if candidates come up with these questions by themselves. The reason to have better ranking is not that this seems the right thing to do. Instead, everything should happen for a reason. Let’s say there are several core metrics we care about, e.g. users stickiness, retention, ads revenue etc.. A better ranking system can significantly improve these metrics potentially, which also answers how to evaluate if we are making progress. So back to the question – how should we rank feeds? A common strategy is to calculate a feed score based on various features and rank feeds by its score, which is one of the most common approaches for all ranking problems. More specifically, we can select several features that are mostly relevant to the importance of the feed, e.g. share/like/comments numbers, time of the update, whether the feed has images/videos etc.. And then, a score can be computed by these features, maybe a linear combination. This is usually enough for a naive ranking system. Summary I didn’t expect to have so many details before writing this post and I had to cut the post in half. In the second part, we’re going to cover more details about ranking, scalability issues with feed publishing and other interesting topics. If you find this post helpful, I would really appreciate if you can share it with your friends. Also you can check more system design interview questions and analysis here. The post is written by - a platform that allows you to have mock interviews with employees from Google, Amazon etc..A top officer of the force conceded the ambush was an intelligence and tactical failure combined with poor training The soldiers were providing security for road construction in the area when they were ambushed by 60 heavily-armed Maoists The Naxals used explosive-tipped arrows to distract the attention of security forces, while attacking with landmines Calling the ambush an intelligence and tactical failure, senior CRPF officials admit that Rs 112 personnel of its troops of A/E 219 battalion deployed on a road opening duty’ in Bheji walked into a trap laid by Maoists. The soldiers were providing security for road construction in the area when they were ambushed by 60 heavily-armed Maoists. The Naxals used explosive-tipped arrows to distract the attention of security forces, while attacking with landmines. Following the episode, internal security advisor K. Vijay Kumar was amongst eight top guns who travelled on bike to visit Bheji ambush site A senior CRPF officer told Mail Today, ‘It is not a question whether the forces were following the SOP which meant that they walk at a distance. ‘The Maoists knew the forces would walk right in (to an L shaped trap) for the construction of the road. ‘Even though the road had plains around it. There was heavy vegetation, an effective camouflage for the Maoists. ‘Maoist fired from front and from one side, even as 12 soldiers were killed.’ With 12 soldiers killed, the 100 odd soldiers could not respond effectively, giving Maoist time to loot weapons, and disappear into the plains. A top officer of the force conceded the ambush was an intelligence and tactical failure combined with poor training. The deputy commandant was 30 minutes away, the commandant 2 hours away. Both responded as per top CRPF officer but the ambush was over in first 15 minutes. A bruised CRPF officer faced loss and humiliation at the hand of Naxals who disappeared minutes after the encounter. The 208 Cobra battalion that was sent to recover looted weapons, found nothing but the remains of a bloody ambush. Following the episode, internal security advisor K. Vijay Kumar was amongst eight top guns who travelled on bike to visit Bheji ambush site. Accompanied by top CRPF officials and Chattisgarh police, the officials used bikes over Mine Proof Vehicle (MPV) to reach the site in order to avoid risk of being a target of
but adds that treating addiction is similar to treating diabetes or other chronic conditions: It requires major lifestyle changes that take time. To prepare for value-based reimbursements, the company is initiating its own outcome studies, and Cartwright says the addiction treatment industry needs increased funding and research to further its efforts. "We've come a long way, but we have a long way to go," he says. "We do need more outcome studies. We do need to look at the different components of drug treatment and dig down and look at effective ways of treating people. This is one of the most underfunded diseases out there, in my opinion." The profitability and success of the addiction treatment industry is certainly an important piece of reversing the rising rates of addicted Americans. But beyond company endurance are larger questions about the complicated nature of addiction, and addiction treatment, in America. Most drug treatment is still based on 12-step programs, which are recommended by many leading addiction specialists, including the aforementioned SAMHSA. However, an increasing number of critics have studied the success rates of these programs and many have claimed they lack evidence and can even hinder patients' path to sobriety by eschewing medical approaches in favor of moralistic methods. "There are new medications for addiction treatment that 12-step programs are not embracing, but I am," Cartwright says. "Twelve-step programs have helped many people get sober for many years, but I do think there's a place for medication. They go hand in hand, as well as with faith-based groups, and I don't know why they need to be separate." Opiate addiction is a complicated public health issue, as it involves physical care and mental health treatment, as well as more social aspects like family, employment, housing and often the legal and criminal justice system. A wide-scale approach has not yet been successful in uniting the disparate pieces of the addiction puzzle, nor in tapering off usage statistics or overdoses. However, individual communities have seen some success with innovative approaches. One approach that has received particular attention involves the Gloucester Police Department in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Facing opiate overdoses as the leading cause of death in the state, a city police department took an innovative stance on its role in treating the addiction crisis. Under the ANGEL Program, any addict who comes into the Gloucester PD with drugs or paraphernalia and seeking help will not be charged or arrested. The Department has connected with local providers at Lahey Health Behavioral Services to provide the patient with an "angel" to walk them through the detox and recovery system. The program has been in place since June and has received public support from the Office of National Drug Control. As of late October, the city has directed 260 people into treatment and seen a 23 percent drop in quality-of-life crimes. According to the Gloucester PD, initial statistics also show it costs the department 75 percent less to direct addicts to treatment than it does to arrest them. Compare that to a recent legislative approach in Tennessee: In 2014, the state passed a bill that permits law enforcement agencies to criminally charge new mothers who used illegal drugs while pregnant. The mothers could face jail time. The law was highly criticized by health advocates, who said it actually incentivized addicted pregnant women to avoid treatment for fear of incarceration. Further, the law did not address prescription opiate use, which a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study found was behind many of the state's cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome. The law will face renewed scrutiny in the upcoming legislative session, when legislators must decide whether to adjust it or let it expire in 2016. But whether lawmakers take a tough-on-crime approach as in Tennessee or a more decriminalized course of action as in Massachusetts, the opiate crisis will continue until the stigma around addiction and treatment is reduced. The scaling of treatment services through companies such as AAC looks like a step in the right direction, especially if the industry is successful in its research and educational efforts. But without a comprehensive approach that ties together the medical nature of addiction with its substantial societal elements, the numbers of addicts and overdoses may continue on their current, upward trajectory. "This is a societal problem and it's taken over America," Cartwright says. "I do believe if we focus our efforts and intentions on the best possible ways to treat someone, we'll get better as a country and overcome this disease. But it is complicated."PRINCETON, NJ -- The U.S. Gallup Economic Confidence Index surged to -18 for the week ending Sept. 9, up 11 points from -29 the prior week. This puts the index near the high point for the year after 2 ½ months when, weighed down by continued high unemployment, the index had languished well below -20. At -18, the index is also on par with the highest levels seen since the start of Gallup Daily tracking in January 2008, although this has proved a difficult barrier for the index to break. The index has reached -16 or -17 just a handful of times in weekly averages, only to quickly recede. Last week's 11-point jump is also the biggest one-week improvement in the Gallup Economic Confidence Index since its inception, although it roughly matches the 10-point gain that occurred the week after the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. The biggest weekly change of any kind in the index was the 15-point decline that occurred at the start of the U.S. financial crisis in September 2008. Democratic National Convention Moves Consumers It appears that the spark for the dramatic rise in Americans' economic confidence last week was the Democratic National Convention. A review of Gallup's nightly tracking results shows that the index was consistently near or below -25 each night in late August and early September, but then sharply improved on Sept. 4, the first night of the convention, to -18. Confidence then held at or near -18 through Sunday, despite the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' mixed August unemployment report Friday morning showing continued weak jobs growth. More specifically, the convention appears to have given Democrats and, to a lesser degree, independents, fresh optimism about the economy. Democrats' confidence for the week spanning the convention averaged +24, up 17 points from +7 the prior week. Confidence was up 13 points among independents, but was virtually unchanged among Republicans. There was no comparable shift in Americans' views of the economy, either overall or by party, during the prior week spanning the Republican National Convention. Bottom Line While television ratings for most nights of this year's presidential conventions were down from 2008, enough coverage of the Democrats' convention may have filtered through to the party faithful and independents -- particularly online and through social media -- to generate improved confidence in the economy under President Obama's stewardship. This could reflect renewed confidence in the economy per se, or heightened enthusiasm for the Democratic Party generally. It remains to be seen whether the gains made last week will carry into the fall, or whether -18 will again prove an impenetrable boundary for the Gallup Economic Confidence Index to surpass, at least by much, as long as the nation's employment picture remains weak. Gallup.com reports results from these indexes in daily, weekly, and monthly averages and in Gallup.com stories. Complete trend data are always available to view and export in the following charts: Daily: Employment, Economic Confidence, Job Creation, Consumer Spending Weekly: Employment, Economic Confidence, Job Creation, Consumer Spending Read more about Gallup's economic measures. View our economic release schedule. Survey Methods Results are based on telephone interviews conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking Sept. 3-9, 2012, with a random sample of 3,330 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points. Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each sample includes a minimum quota of 400 cell phone respondents and 600 landline respondents per 1,000 national adults, with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents by region. Landline telephone numbers are chosen at random among listed telephone numbers. Cell phone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday. Samples are weighted by gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, adults in the household, and phone status (cell phone only/landline only/both, cell phone mostly, and having an unlisted landline number). Demographic weighting targets are based on the March 2011 Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older non-institutionalized population living in U.S. telephone households. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed design effects for weighting and sample design. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. For more details on Gallup's polling methodology, visit www.gallup.com.SECURITY WARNING: Please treat the URL above as you would your password and do not share it with anyone. See the Facebook Help Center for more information. SECURITY WARNING: Please treat the URL above as you would your password and do not share it with anyone. See the Facebook Help Center for more information. Andrew Kerr, an independent investigative journalist, uncovered shocking information regarding David Brock of Media Matters. For those who do not know, Media Matters monitors and “debunks” conservative news while pushing liberal narratives. Roger Stone, Glenn Beck, and countless other conservatives have had their character assassinated by Brock and Media Matters. Brock is also at the center of Correct the Record, the group of paid trolls who haunt pro-Trump websites, forums, and Facebook pages in an attempt to “correct the record” regarding Hillary Clinton’s decades long Andrew Kerr, an independent investigative journalist, uncovered shocking information regarding David Brock ofMedia Matters. For those who do not know,Media Mattersmonitors and “debunks” conservative news while pushing liberal narratives. Roger Stone, Glenn Beck, and countless other conservatives have had their character assassinated by Brock andMedia Matters. Brock is also at the center of Correct the Record, the group of paid trolls who haunt pro-Trump websites, forums, and Facebook pages in an attempt to “correct the record” regarding Hillary Clinton’s decades long crime spree. He is so involved with Clinton one of Brock’s Super PACs has been accused of illegally selling information to the Clinton campaign. He is so invested in the prospect of a Clinton presidency he has been accused of running an illegal shadow campaign for Clinton. And now, thanks entirely to independent investigative journalist Andrew Kerr, we know David Brock routes his donations through the mysterious solicitor known as the Bonner Group. For every donation the Bonner Group solicits, they take 12.5% of the total as an administrative fee. Say Brock receives a $1 million donation from George Soros, the Media Matters. Brock will credit the Bonner Group for soliciting the donation, giving them 12.5%. Then Brock sends the remaining money to one of his 13 other foundations or charities sharing the same address as Media Matters. The Bonner Group takes another 12.5%. Brock then sends the money to yet another one of his foundations. The Bonner Group takes 12.5. Eventually the Bonner Group ends up taking as much as a third of the donation. And now, thanks entirely to independent investigative journalist Andrew Kerr, we know David Brock routes his donations through the mysterious solicitor known as the Bonner Group. For every donation the Bonner Group solicits, they take 12.5% of the total as an administrative fee. Say Brock receives a $1 million donation from George Soros, the globalist financier ofMedia Matters. Brock will credit the Bonner Group for soliciting the donation, giving them 12.5%. Then Brock sends the remaining money to one of his 13 other foundations or charities sharing the same address asMedia Matters. The Bonner Group takes another 12.5%. Brock then sends the money to yet another one of his foundations. The Bonner Group takes 12.5. Eventually the Bonner Group ends up taking as much as a third of the donation. On Kerr’s website, On Kerr’s website, The Citizens Audit, he cites publicly available information and breaks it down succinctly: Say, for example, you donate $1,062,857 to Media Matters for America. This is how David Brock would have used your charitable donation in 2014: Media Matters would receive your $1,062,857 donation The Bonner Group would earn a $132,857 commission would earn a $132,857 commission Media Matters would retain $930,000 Next, Media Matters would give what’s left of your entire donation, $930,000, to the Franklin Education Forum The Bonner Group would ‘earn’ a $116,250 commission The would ‘earn’ a $116,250 commission The Franklin Education Forum would retain $813,750 The Franklin Education Forum would then forward the remaining $813,750 to The Franklin Forum The Bonner Group would ‘earn’ a $101,718 commission The would ‘earn’ a $101,718 commission The Franklin Forum would retain $712,031 In the end, Brock’s solicitor would have pocketed $350,825, almost a third of your initial donation! That’s a far cry from the advertised 12.5% commission. As bizarre as that scenario may sound, this is exactly what David Brock did in 2014. And it gets much worse. Kerr did his homework. According to Brock’s financial data, he has billable hours at all these organizations. Either he is the least competent executive in history, or he is willfully perpetuating this money laundering scam. According to their tax returns, Brock allocates time, weekly, to his organizations: Media Matters: 31.50 hours per week Media Matters: 31.50 hours per week Franklin Education Forum: 3 hours per week Franklin Education Forum: 3 hours per week The Franklin Forum: 1 hour per week If you are still not convinced, consider the $850,000 bribe If you are still not convinced, consider the $850,000 bribe Brock paid to his ex-lover who blackmailed him. He paid this exorbitant fee to keep his ex from going public with shocking secrets. As the bribe was paid, we do not know the secrets. However, it is safe to assume it had something to do with this massively corrupt, totally illegal money laundering scheme. It gets even worse. The Bonner Group, as a solicitor, is supposed to file paperwork with each state it operates within. They almost exclusively fail to do so, or misrepresent themselves by forgetting to mention they solicit donations from incredibly rich people on every piece of paperwork. In fact, they are not even licensed to operate. And, because coincidences rule the world in 2016, the Bonner Group just happens to share office space with Brock. So how is the Bonner Group spending this skimmed money? I asked Kerr in our interview. He didn’t know. After three months of researching this topic incessantly, he came to the conclusion that nobody knows what the Bonner Group does aside from solicit donations. Before it had its business license revoked, it was listed as a company in Washington D.C. What does the Bonner Group build? Produce? Sell? Market? We don’t know.Quote PHOENIX, AZ - Oct. 27, 2016 - Space Wars: Interstellar Empires, a turn-based tactical strategy MMO from publisher ToHeroes and developer Desert Owl Games, will include more than 100 different ships and thousands of possible build combinations for crews when it reaches Early Access on January 2017 for PC, Mac and Linux. Ship captains will upgrade and unlock different abilities for their officers and themselves via an extensive skill tree. With full squads aboard each ship, and every officer highly customizable, the performance of each spacecraft will be as distinctive as every galaxy in Space Wars' universe. Experience gained through tactical interstellar battles, conquering other factions' territories or completing missions can be exchanged to purchase more ships from 10 diverse classes, in addition to gaining or improving officer abilities. Players will explore a massive intergalactic map with different regions belonging to each of the four empires. Each area will harbor clusters of star systems and planets defended by large bases. Captains protect their faction's sectors while advancing into hostile territory, pushing back enemy lines until one race conquers the universe. After investing over a million dollars into the development of Space Wars, ToHeroes is currently seeking $40,000 on Kickstarter due to fan requests to add single player missions. The MMO genre is something Linux doesn't really have a lot of games in, so I am pleased every time I hear about one coming. Space Wars: Interstellar Empires [ Official Site ] is a turn-based tactical strategy MMO that will launch in January 2017 with Linux support.It will release into Early Access to help get polished up before the full release.The developers are also wanting to put in a single-player, so they are seeking extra funds on Kickstarter for that.We actually covered it before here (I thought it sounded familiar!), it seems the initial release has been pushed back, likely to see if the Kickstarter for a single-player is a success or not.From the Press Release:This article is about the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis game. For the Master System and Game Gear game, see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit video game) Sonic the Hedgehog 2[a] is a platform game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis console, released worldwide in November 1992. It is the second main entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and introduced Sonic's sidekick, Miles "Tails" Prower, controllable by a second player. In the story, Sonic and Tails must stop series antagonist Dr. Ivo Robotnik from stealing the Chaos Emeralds to power his space station, the Death Egg. Development of the game began in November 1991. The game was developed by both Japanese and American staff at Sega Technical Institute. Art director Tim Skelly designed the appearance of the new 3D special stages based on a tech demo created by Yuji Naka. The staff increased the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in comparison to its predecessor. As with the first game, the soundtrack was composed by Masato Nakamura. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 sold over six million copies, making it the second-bestselling Genesis game behind the original Sonic the Hedgehog. It received highly positive reviews from critics, who commended the game's level design and visuals, although its multiplayer mode was criticized. It has been rereleased on various platforms; a remastered version developed using the Retro Engine released on iOS and Android in December 2013. Two direct sequels, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, were released in 1994. Plot [ edit ] The game's premise is similar to that of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic's nemesis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, is planning world domination through the power of the Chaos Emeralds and an army of robots powered by trapped animals. Specific to this game, he is additionally constructing an armored space station known as the Death Egg (a parody of the Death Star), also for the means of world domination.[1] The events of the game see Sonic and Tails chasing Robotnik through West Side Island, and eventually up to the Death Egg, pursuing him with Tails' biplane, the Tornado. The plane is damaged after being shot at, but Sonic still manages to infiltrate the Death Egg, alone. Once there, he battles a robotic imposter before taking on Robotnik, who is piloting a giant mech. Sonic manages to defeat the robot and it explodes, damaging the Death Egg and knocking it out of orbit. Sonic falls to the ground and is saved by Tails in the Tornado. If the player has collected all of the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic, in his Super Sonic form, flies alongside it.[2] Gameplay [ edit ] Sonic and Tails hopping across pillars in the third stage, Aquatic Ruin Zone Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 2D side-scrolling platform game.[3] The game stars Sonic the Hedgehog and his sidekick, Miles "Tails" Prower, who is described as having idolized Sonic as a child and wanting to keep up with him.[4] At the game's start, the player can select to either play as Sonic, Tails, or both. The difference between the two is purely cosmetic; the two both have identical abilities.[5] In the latter mode, players control Sonic while Tails runs along beside him. A second player can join in at any time and control Tails separately.[6] The game takes place over a series of levels, each divided into one, two, or three acts with a boss fight with Robotnik at the end of the last act. Certain levels have features that are unique to them; for example, Emerald Hill has corkscrew-like loops, and Chemical Plant has boost pads that instantly put Sonic at his top speed.[4] The character can jump on enemies to defeat them; the game also introduces a new move, the "spin dash" or "Super Dash Attack", by which the player curls in a ball and spins while stationary, resulting in a speed boost.[7] When the player is attacked by an enemy without rings, is crushed, falls off-screen, or exceeds the act's ten-minute limit, they lose a life and return to the most recently passed checkpoint.[8] Dying with zero lives gives the player a game over.[9] The game's special stages, in which the player collects rings in hopes of obtaining a Chaos Emerald, are presented in 3D, unlike the rest of the game. When the player collects at least 50 rings and passes a checkpoint, they can warp to a "special stage".[10] In these stages, the player runs through a pseudo-3D half-pipe course, collecting rings and dodging bombs. A set amount of rings must be collected to pass through each of three checkpoints and in turn to obtain the emerald itself. If Sonic collides with a bomb, he loses ten rings and is immobilized momentarily. The stages rise in difficulty, and the player cannot enter any stage without passing the previous one. After finishing, the player is transported back to the star post they used to enter the special stage, with their ring-count reset to zero.[11] When all Emeralds have been collected, Sonic can transform into Super Sonic by collecting 50 rings and jumping.[2][10] Super Sonic is invincible to attacks, runs faster, and jumps further; however, he loses one ring per second and reverts to regular Sonic when his rings are depleted.[2] The game also has a competitive mode, where two players compete against each other to the finish line, as either Sonic or Tails, in a split-screen race through three of the regular levels and a special stage. After one player finishes one of the regular levels, the other player must finish the zone within 60 seconds, or the level ends instantly. In the regular levels, players are ranked in five areas (score, time, rings held at the end of the level, total rings collected, and the number of item boxes broken). The player with wins in the most number of categories wins the level. In the Special Stage, players compete to obtain the most rings. The mode ends when all stages have been completed, or if a player loses all their lives, in which their opponent will automatically win.[12] Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 [ edit ] Sonic & Knuckles was released in 1994, two years after Sonic 2. The Sonic & Knuckles game cartridge features a special "lock-on" port into which the player can insert other Genesis cartridges. Attaching Sonic 2 unlocks Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, a variation of Sonic 2 whereby the player plays as Knuckles the Echidna, a character introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and not playable until Sonic & Knuckles.[13] Though the game is largely identical to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Knuckles is able to glide and climb walls, allowing him access to areas previously inaccessible to Sonic or Tails. However, he cannot jump as high, making some parts of the game, such as certain boss fights, more difficult. In addition, Knuckles restarts with the amount of rings he collected at checkpoints (if he loses a life), the options are unavailable, the special stages have slightly fewer rings required to collect than before (for example, ten rings fewer than in the special stages with Sonic and Tails), and the two-player mode is removed.[13] Development [ edit ] Following the release of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, creator Yuji Naka quit Sega due to disagreements over corporate policy.[14][15] Mark Cerny, who had recently founded Sega Technical Institute (STI) in the American state of California, met with Naka in Japan and offered him a higher salary and more creative freedom if he joined STI.[14][15] Naka agreed, and Hirokazu Yasuhara, the lead level designer of Sonic the Hedgehog, also decided to move to STI.[14][15] Yasuhara had been assigned to help Cerny establish STI in 1990, but the outbreak of the Gulf War delayed his move to the United States by three months, during which he joined Sonic Team and became part of the original Sonic project.[16][17] Development of Sonic 2 began in November 1991, two months later than Cerny had intended because Sega of America initially felt it was too soon for a sequel.[14] STI handled development;[14][18][19] both American and Japanese staff contributed, although, according to team member Tim Skelly, "Everyone attached to Sonic 2 ultimately worked for Yuji Naka. I think Naka would have been much happier if he was working with an all-Japanese team, but just because of the language barrier and some cultural differences."[14] Skelly designed the appearance of the pseudo-3D special stages, based on a tech demo created by Naka.[20] The special stages were created out of pre-rendered 3D polygons, video of which was compressed and halved vertically and horizontally to fit in the game cartridge.[21] Sonic 2 also introduced Sonic's sidekick Tails, a flying two-tailed fox, inspired by Japanese folklore about the kitsune and created by level artist Yasushi Yamaguchi. Sega of America objected to the character's name, Miles Prower (a pun on "miles per hour"), so he was given the nickname Tails as a compromise.[22] Masaharu Yoshii served as director. The staff increased the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 compared to the first game.[23] Cut content [ edit ] Sonic 2 is believed to have been planned to have time travel aspects and was originally developed alongside Sonic CD as the same game,[24] but Sonic CD eventually became a separate game.[25] A demonstration cartridge of Sonic 2 was stolen at a New York City toy show early in 1992. The theft was attributed to a lack of security. The prototype ROM was rediscovered by fan Simon Wai on a Chinese website,[26] and features playable sections of two cut levels: Wood Zone and Hidden Palace Zone.[27][28][29] Hidden Palace Zone was planned as a secret stage accessed by collecting Chaos Emeralds. According to Naka, the stage would explain where the Chaos Emeralds came from and grant Sonic his Super Sonic powers.[30] It was removed for lack of time and cartridge space, and a different version was used in Sonic & Knuckles. The 2103 remastered iOS port includes a redesigned Hidden Palace Zone as an optional stage.[31] Sega released mockup images of another cut level, the desert-themed Dust Hill Zone,[32][33] and the stolen 1992 prototype features an unused level slot titled "Genocide City".[26] According to Naka, the third act of Metropolis Zone was planned as a different stage, but was cut. Feeling it would be a shame to waste the finished map, the team redesigned it as an additional act for Metropolis Zone.[34] Music [ edit ] Sonic the Hedgehog 2's music, like the previous game, was composed by Masato Nakamura, bassist and lead songwriter of the J-pop band Dreams Come True. The music began early on in development with only concept images for Nakamura's reference, but having a previous game meant he had experience with creating music for the Genesis and began taking a similar approach to the first game.[35] Nakamura treated Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as a film and designed the music around the atmosphere that he felt from the images of the stages.[36] Except for the graphics and some discussion with Sonic Team, Nakamura was given freedom over the music creation which he believes was the reason why he was able to create "such melodic tunes and unusual rhythm patterns".[37] Nakamura created the music while he was recording with Dreams Come True in London, working on their fifth album The Swinging Star. As a gift to Sonic Team, Masato produced an alternate version of the ending theme with Dreams Come True, which was included in the album they were recording at the time.[38] In 2011, the stage music from Chemical Plant and Casino Night Zone were remixed by Sega for use in Sonic Generations.[39] Later in October of the same year, a three-disc compilation of the music from Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released in Japan.[40] Alongside music from the game, the compilation includes comments by Yuji Naka and an interview with Nakamura.[41][42] The first disc contains original tracks from both games, and the second contains Nakamura's demo recordings produced during the games' development.[43] The third disc contains "Sweet Sweet Sweet" by Dreams Come True,[40] its English-language version "Sweet Dream", and 2006 remixes of both songs by singer Akon which were used in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).[44][44][45][46] Release [ edit ] Sega launched a $10 million advertising campaign for Sonic the Hedgehog 2's release.[47] Sega sought a global release date to make the game available in all stores on the same day, a fairly novel concept at the time. This required Sega to reconfigure its distribution system to ensure that games were available in all major stores. The release date, Tuesday, November 24, 1992 was marketed as "Sonic 2s day". While the Genesis release in North America and the Mega Drive release in Europe both released the game on this day, Sega made the game available a few days before in Japan on November 21, 1992.[48][49] 400,000 copies of Sonic 2 were sold in the first seven days after release[47] and over 6 million in the lifespan of the console (only 180,000 of which were in Japan[50]).[51] Alternate versions and ports [ edit ] 8-bit version [ edit ] A version of the game for the Sega Master System and Game Gear was developed by Aspect. Though based on the original game of the same name, it is a distinct game, with different level designs and a different plot,[52] and this version, unlike the 16-bit release, does not have the spin dash, which led it to being thought to be made before the Sega Genesis version.[53] 2013 remaster [ edit ] A remastered mobile port was released for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices on December 12, 2013. This version was developed from scratch by Christian "Taxman" Whitehead and Simon "Stealth" Thomley using the Retro Engine previously used in the 2011 remaster of Sonic CD. This version adds several enhancements, such as widescreen graphics, Knuckles as a playable character, time and boss attack modes, online multiplayer, additional multiplayer stages, and the previously unreleased Hidden Palace Zone. Additionally, Tails is given his abilities from Sonic the Hedgehog 3,[31] and the remaster features a post-credits scene which depicts the Death Egg crash-landing on Angel Island.[54] This version was received positively, with Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade declaring it the "definitive version" of the game.[55] The iOS version was updated in 2016, adding compatibility for Apple TV.[56] Compilation releases [ edit ] Compilations that include the game are Sonic Compilation (1995) for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis;[57] Sonic Jam (1997) for the Sega Saturn;[58] Sonic Mega Collection (2002) for the Nintendo GameCube;[59] Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC;[60] Sega Genesis Collection (2006) for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable;[61] Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009) for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3;[62] and Sonic Classic Collection (2010) for the Nintendo DS.[63] Download releases [ edit ] The game was made available for download on Wii's Virtual Console on June 11, 2007,[64] PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network on April 19, 2011,[65] and Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade, the latter having enhancements such as online leaderboards, achievements, and online play.[66] Various mobile phone versions exist as well, including the iOS release.[67] The game was released as part of the Nintendo 3DS 3D Classics line in Japan on July 22, 2015, with a release in North America and Europe initially slated for September 2015, before being pushed back to October 8.[68][69] In 2018, Sega announced a Nintendo Switch port will be released as part of the Sega Ages product line. It will include most of the features added to the 3DS version; it also adds the option to use Sonic's Drop Dash ability from Sonic Mania (2017) and a time attack mode.[70] Reception [ edit ] Due to the popularity of its predecessor, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 already had an established fanbase anticipating its release.[3] The game received critical acclaim and was a bestseller in the UK charts for 2 months.[96] As of 2006, the game had sold over 6 million copies,[51] making it the second best-selling game for the Sega Genesis (after the original Sonic the Hedgehog). Reviewers praised the large levels,[82] colorful graphics and backgrounds,[82][97] increased characters, enemies,[3] and music. GameSpot stated that "time may have eroded Sega's prominence, but it hasn't done much to diminish how sweet Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is," and, along with other reviewers, commented on how it is still a fun game to play.[3][82] Electronic Gaming Monthly named it the best Genesis game of 1992.[92] In 2000, Game Informer ranked Sonic 2 number 61 on its "Top 100 Games of All Time" list, calling it "the most challenging and finely polished Sonic the Hedgehog title."[98] Mega placed the game at #36 in their "Top Sega Mega Drive Games of All Time" list.[99] Critics also enjoyed the faster gameplay in comparison to its predecessor, as well as its new features. Lucas Thomas of IGN praised the new "spin dash" ability.[100] The main criticisms were of the two-player mode, a first for the series.[101][97] Reviewers criticized the mode's slowdown and flickering, and the squashed play area. However, Lucas Thomas praised the innovation, quipping that "Mario and Luigi could never run competitively through the same levels, at the same time".[100] William Burrill of the Toronto Star described the racing mode as the "only part of the game that can be faulted," as its split-screen view "squeezes the graphics, plumps up the characters and slows down the action."[102] Legacy [ edit ] Sonic 2's success was a major factor in Sega catching up to Nintendo in the early-1990s console wars.[103] It brought their market share up to 40% within six months of its release.[82] Tails, whom Sonic the Hedgehog 2 introduced, went on to become one of the most prominent characters in the series, appearing as Sonic's sidekick in most Sonic media, including in recent games such as Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, and Sonic Lost World. Sonic the Hedgehog 2's popularity extended to various merchandise such as comic books such as Sonic the Comic,[104] a television series,[105] and a sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which received similar acclaim.[106] For Sonic's 20th anniversary, Sega released Sonic Generations, which remade aspects of various past games from the franchise.[107] The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC versions contained a remade "Chemical Plant" level.[108] It also contained a remake of the final boss fight, the Death Egg Robot, as the Classic Era boss of the game.[109] Separately, the Nintendo 3DS version of the game contained a remake of the "Casino Night" level.[110] A "Casino Night" themed pinball minigame was made available for download as a pre-order bonus for the console versions at GameStop.[111] Remade versions of Chemical Plant and Oil Ocean also appear in the 2017 game Sonic Mania.[112] In 2008, an unofficial, high-definition remake was announced titled Sonic the Hedgehog 2 HD, which included development members who would later work on Sonic Mania.[113][114] In 2012, it was reported that a potential keylogger was included with an alpha build of the game, which led to the project being discontinued due to the controversy.[115] In 2014, the project was restarted under a new development team.[116] The final version is planned to feature additional stages and the option to play levels as Knuckles the Echidna.[117] Notes [ edit ] ^ Japanese: ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ 2 ( ツー ), Hepburn: Sonikku za Hejjihoggu Tsū?An independent campaign watchdog group Wednesday filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission charging that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee filed “false” campaign disclosure reports that concealed payments to the private investigative firm that commissioned the controversial “dossier” on then candidate Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia. The complaint by the Campaign Legal Center — a nonpartisan group with no ties to any political party — came shortly after President Trump, in an impromptu press conference on the White House lawn, called it a “disgrace” that Clinton’s campaign and the DNC paid for what he termed the “fake” dossier.
if that were always true, then voters should now be ecstatic that President Obama delivered on his campaign promise of health-care reform, while being mad as hell that nothing's been done about global warming. So maybe that wasn't what voters were really thinking way back in 2008. Maybe voters were simply angry about the lousy economy and looking for a new team to take the country in a new direction. And maybe that's the story this year as well. As for the details of that new direction, it's not at all clear what voters have in mind. Most voters - particularly the swing voters - aren't as well-informed as they might be on major policy issues. What they do have are experiences and instincts and emotions that politicians play upon in order to win elections. Rarely, however, do the election results add up to a mandate. More often it's nothing more than a temporary license to govern. Americans, it is said, are suddenly recoiling at the dramatic expansion in the reach and power of a federal government that is "taking over" the economy. Topping this list of alleged voter grievances is a new health-care law that requires every American to buy health insurance, a new consumer protection agency for financial products and the government bailout of the auto industry. Now ask yourself: Do you think the results of the coming election would be tilting in favor of Democrats if the "individual mandate" had been omitted from health reform, if the consumer protection agency had been dropped from financial regulatory reform and if General Motors had been left to die. Somehow I doubt it. The dirty little secret is that most Americans don't really know what they think about the issues that so animate the political conversation in Washington, and what they think they know about them is often wrong. Most Americans still think that the bailouts of the banks, the auto companies and American International Group will wind up costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. In fact, the latest guess is that the government will come out even on the deal, and may even turn a profit. Many Americans think that the economic stimulus package has been a failure. In fact, the estimates from a wide range of experts say the stimulus has saved or created more than 3 million jobs. Many Americans believe their federal taxes have gone up in the past two years. In fact, for 90 percent of households, taxes were temporarily cut. After the headlines of the past few weeks, most Americans probably think government has been able to do little, if anything to stem the tidal wave of foreclosures. In fact, over the past 18 months, two mortgages have been modified to avoid foreclosure for every completed foreclosure.I’m sorry that your husband had eight years to destroy the country and actually stoked racial division, by encouraging people like Black Lives Matter. I’m sorry you don’t appreciate the great gift you got to be FLOTUS. You got to travel around the world and do everything on our dime, and somehow the only thing you can talk about now is how you suffered instead of how much you hurt the country. Via The Hill: Michelle Obama opened up about racism she faced as first lady in a public appearance in Denver on Tuesday. Obama spoke about being called an ape and people talking about her body, saying she wouldn’t pretend the attacks didn’t hurt, The Denver Post reported. Women’s Foundation of Colorado President and CEO Lauren Casteel said Obama broke a glass ceiling by becoming the first black first lady, and asked which of the falling glass shards from that glass ceiling cut the deepest. Keep reading…Thanks to two epic trailers and a number of teasers, the fan frenzy around season seven of Game of Thrones has reached a fever pitch. But with the return of the HBO drama just a little over two weeks away, one industrious fan has found a way to up the ante — by combining footage from every season seven promo into one epic supercut trailer. The mashup — which has been viewed nearly 225,00 times since Saturday — was created by YouTube user Sebastian Hughes and teases the impending showdown between the major factions vying for control of the Seven Kingdoms. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now Of course, it also hints at the coming Great War between the people of Westeros and the White Walkers. “If we don’t put aside our enmities and band together we will die,” Ser Davos Seaworth interjects as footage of Daenerys Tagaryen and Cersei Lannister walking toward their respective thrones plays. “And then it doesn’t matter whose skeleton sits on the Iron Throne.” Watch the trailer below. Write to Megan McCluskey at [email protected]: Arsenal must retain "main asset" Wenger Alisher Usmanov - Arsenal's 2nd largest shareholder - backs Wenger in interview with Rossiya24 TV channel. Alisher Usmanov: "I have increased my stake in Arsenal to above 30%, and became the second largest shareholder. Arsenal’s results are stable. They are always among the leaders of the English Premier League. This is a good and large sports business project, and I am pleased with it. The only thing is that today such situation occurred, like in any sport, there are ups and downs. The club must retain its major symbol and main asset - manager Arsene Wenger. Failures have been haunting Arsenal for many years now, they cannot become the EPL champions. This has led to some discontent with Wenger's position as a manager. I believe that Arsene Wenger is a great coach, and Arsenal has to give him the opportunity to plan the succession process and leave his legacy when he deems it necessary. It is very important for the football club to maintain the principles that were established by those people who created its victories. Arsenal needs Arsene Wenger." <ENDS> Reply · Report PostThe auto and building industries boomed after World War II. Plate glass was in extremely short supply. Twin-grinding—used all over the world to make the glass—was too costly and too slow to keep up with the demand. Could high-quality glass be made without grinding and polishing? Alastair Pilkington, an engineer at Britain’s Pilkington Brothers, was washing dishes when the idea struck: maybe it is possible to form a perfectly flat sheet by floating molten glass on a pool of liquid tin. That way, the glass would be smoothed by gravity and surface tension, rather than being squeezed by rollers. If the glass wasn’t marred by rollers, it wouldn’t need grinding and polishing. The idea was brilliant in its simplicity, but seven costly years were needed to make it work. The risk paid off. The revolutionary Pilkington float process, introduced in 1959, is used today to make nearly all the flat glass in the world. Making float glass A float glass factory is tireless. Its tank can operate continuously for up to 12 years—making over 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) of high-quality flat glass almost automatically. The first step in making float glass occurs in the melting tank. Pre-mixed raw materials continually move into a furnace, where they are melted. From the melting tank, the molten glass flows into the float tank by passing over a spout landing onto a shallow pool of liquid tin. Here, surface tension and gravity distribute the viscous molten glass into a relatively flat ribbon of uniform thickness, while edge rollers maintain the desired width. From the float tank, the glass continues rolling into the annealer where the solidified ribbon is cooled slowly to prevent stresses from building up in the glass. As the ribbon moves along, it further cools and hardens. Once the glass is through the cool-down phase, the edges of the ribbon, marred by the rollers, are trimmed off, and the glass is cut to size. At the end of the process, robotic arms lift the glass panes and load them on a storage rack. The Corning Museum of Glass This article was originally published in Innovations in Glass, 1999, pp. 14–15.The renewed critical interest in soul and R&B music that sprung up around the rise of Miguel, Frank Ocean, and the like over the last four years has helped award some much-deserved prestige on the form after years of undue neglect, but the push broke as much as it fixed. The music commands more respect now, but the accolades are disproportionately showered on a boy’s club of talented, offbeat songwriters circuitously linked together under the banner of "alternative R&B" by little else than the fact they all had very good albums out the same year. "Alt-R&B" isn’t just circuitous, though; it’s not real. Cordoning off and lionizing an alternative quadrant of R&B dismisses gifted but traditional singers like K. Michelle as plebeian, and worse, it carries the subtle insinuation that this music can’t be—and hasn’t always been—delightfully weird. California soul collective the Internet frequently weather the alternative R&B tag, but hopefully their new album Ego Death will help shake the descriptor. It made sense around the group’s 2011 debut Purple Naked Ladies, a quiet collaboration between Odd Future affiliates Syd tha Kyd and Jet Age of Tomorrow architect Matt Martians. On Purple, Syd stepped out of her role as Odd Future’s house engineer into that of singer-songwriter for a batch of quirky, sometimes-crass tunes about the peaks and pitfalls of love and sex. Since then, Syd and Matt have expanded the project into a fully functional band. While the arrangements grew more accomplished between Purple and 2013’s Feel Good, the songwriting lagged, sultry and intimate, if, at times, not much else. Syd comes into her own as a writer on Ego Death, and the band steps up and reins Feel Good’s jazz-chords-for-jazz-chords’-sake extravagance into tight, hooky hip-hop soul. Ego Death is both spare and quietly musical, its crisp low end anchored in hip-hop as the rest of the band coolly branches out into jazz, funk, and rock. Think of it as an offspring of early neo-soul pillars like Groove Theory and Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, bedroomy but also lush and progressive. Ego Death is leagues too studiously retro to fit anyone’s idea of "alternative," but it’s still plenty odd. These songs frequently take hard, unexpected turns: Opener "Get Away" is a tribal bass and percussion stomp in the verses (twice as sinister live) but gossamer and pretty around the choruses. "Gabby"’s hip-hop strut melts into a psychedelic waltz-timed coda adorned with pretty, wordless melodies from Janelle Monáe. "Girl", the album’s Kaytranada-assisted centerpiece, hangs spectral keys over thick, heavy bass until the groove trails off into a spacey interlude. Ego Death’s short cuts get straight to the point, while the longer ones tease out instrumental sections without coming apart at the seams. The economic, purposeful instrumentation clears ample room to showcase Syd’s writing, and she’s got a war story here for every stage of love and loss: "Special Affair" and "Go With It" are horned-up player’s anthems ("Fuck what’s in your phone, I wanna take you home."), while "Get Away" and "Under Control" beg a suspicious lover to stop nagging about girls she’s not cheating with. "Girl" is the big syrupy cohabitation ballad, the song couples will hug and sway through at the live show, but "Partners in Crime Part Three" raises the stakes, testing our duo’s mettle with a Thelma & Louise police chase. Syd taunts an old flame on "Just Sayin/I Tried", chanting "You fucked up," but ultimately coming to peace with the break because she did everything in her power to stop it. Parsing Syd’s lyrics can feel like eavesdropping on a lover’s quarrel in a restaurant; she’s adept at tackling complex matters of the heart in a voice that’s both relatable and conversational. The Internet’s songs have always felt like scenes of salaciousness happening just out of earshot. Ego Death finally pulls us into the maelstrom.Pride Toronto has hit a snag after it was revealed that it lost almost $1.3 million during the 2017 festival, landing it the red for the first time since 2010. Financial documents show that Pride lost $1.3 million, absorbing its $848,124 surplus and bringing the deficit to $458,209. .@PrideToronto suffers biggest financial hit since 2010 when group calling itself #QueersAgainstIsraeliApartheid was allowed to parade. This year police were banned from #PrideParade. https://t.co/S2Wsvh2sNu — Jane Brown (@JaneBrownNews) November 22, 2017 While never originally intended to generate revenue or include corporate sponsors, the numbers show that sponsorship dropped from $2.3 million in 2016 to $1.5 million this year, and donations by $651,450, which could spell trouble down the road. The sponsorship dollars is one thing, but the drop in donations is stunning. It means that @PrideToronto has lost a very large part of the community. — Peter Nogalo (@PNogalo) November 22, 2017 Beverage sales and government grants were down as well, with Pride organizers receiving only $19,120 of the $260,000 available through the Ontario Trillium Foundation. This past year's celebrations were marred with controversy after Pride adhered to a list of demands from Black Lives Matter, one of which asked for the "removal of police floats in the Pride marches and parades." Some have called the move exclusionary and point to it as the main reason for the financial hit. @PrideToronto So how did banning @TorontoPolice from the Pride Parade work out for ya??? Hope you are in so much financial debt that your parade floats into non-existence! Remember, hatred & exclusion gets you no where!!!#Toronto #TOpoli #PrideTO #onpoli #PrideToronto #BLMTO — Brian Connolly (@bconnolly00) November 22, 2017 Toronto's Pride festival has become one of the biggest Pride events in North America and has evolved into an international week-long celebration that attracts people from all over the world.Each Team’s All-NBA First Team- A 30 Part Series: Part 8- The Portland Trail Blazers Sean Mason Blocked Unblock Follow Following Aug 2, 2016 G- Terry Porter: 1985–1995 Terry Porter wasn’t the flashiest player nor was he the most dominant player, but what he was, was enough for those great Trail Blazers’ teams of the late 80s and early 90s. He wasn’t asked to be the leading scorer, but rather a distributor. His job was to get the ball to his playmaking teammate Clyde Drexler, and he did just that. On top of his prolific passing ability, Porter was also a capable defender. Him and Drexler proved to be among the best defensive backcourt in the NBA, both averaging over 1.5 steals per game during their time together. Porter’s two All-Star appearances came as a member of the Trail Blazers. Porter is the team’s All-Time leader in assists and his 10.1 assists per game during the 1987–1988 season is the highest single season average in franchise history. G- Clyde Drexler: 1983–1995 Terry Porter’s running mate, Clyde “The Glide” Drexler is the definitive best player in franchise history. Not only did he produce individual success as a player, but that success also translated into team success in the form of victories on the court. The team appeared in the playoffs in all eleven of Drexler’s full seasons with the team. He led the team to the NBA finals twice, losing both times. Drexler’s 27.2 points per game during the 1988–1989 NBA season is the highest single-season scoring average for a Trail Blazers’ player. Drexler is the team’s career leader in games played, minutes played, points scored, field goals made, steals, and win shares. Drexler was not only the team’s best offensive player, but he was also the team’s best defensive player. He averaged 2.1 steals per game, the highest average per game in franchise history. In five of his eleven seasons, Drexler finished in the top ten in total steals. His tenacious defense was the catalyst for the Trail Blazers’ persistent team defense during the late 80s and early 90s. His eight All-Star appearances are the most of any player in team history. He appeared on four All-NBA Teams (1x First Team, 2x Second Team, 1x Third Team). His best season came during the 1991–1992 NBA season, in which he finished second in the MVP voting. F- LaMarcus Aldridge: 2006–2015 During his time in Portland, LaMarcus Aldridge was among the more underrated superstars in the NBA. In his nine seasons in Portland, Aldridge established himself as a prolific offensive player. Being both a terrific mid-range shooter and finisher in the post, Aldridge proved deserving of his four All-Star and three All-NBA Team (1x Second Team, 2x Third Team) appearances. The Trail Blazers made the playoffs in five of Aldridge’s nine seasons, which is remarkable given the turmoil the franchise was in prior to drafting Aldridge and after drafting him (injuries to Brandon Roy and Greg Oden). He was immediately asked to be the face of the franchise and he delivered beyond expectations, becoming not only the best player on the Trail Blazers, but also one of the best players in the entire NBA. Only Clyde Drexler has scored more points, made more field goals, and played in more games than Aldridge has for the Trail Blazers. F- Rasheed Wallace: 1996–2004 Following the departure of Clyde Drexler, the Trail Blazers were in need of a new face, and Rasheed Wallace filled that void (much to the dismay of Commissioner Stern) (See Jailblazers on Wikipedia). Wallace was the best player on the Blazers for his entire tenure as a member of the team. During his seven full years in Portland, Wallace led the Trailblazers in points scored, rebounds, blocks, and field goal percentage. He made the Western Conference All-Star team twice. Wallace led the Trail Blazers to the playoffs in all but oneof his full seasons with the team. C- Bill Walton: 1974–1978 Arguably the biggest ‘What-If” in NBA history is Bill Walton. After a sensational college career, Walton immediately came into the NBA and established himself as one of the best players in the league. Before suffering a devastating foot injury, Walton was dominant, winning the league MVP award following the 1977–1978 season, making two All-Star games, appearing on two All-NBA Teams (1x First Team, 1x Second Team), and leading the Trail Blazers to their only NBA championship in 1977. In the 1977 finals, Walton took home the finals’ MVP award, averaging 18.5 points, 19 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 3.7 blocks. He was the best player on the court in all six of the games. It’s a shame that Walton’s career as a dominant player was cut short because of his foot injury, but even so, what he did in his four seasons in Portland cannot be overlooked. They were among the most dominant in the history of the NBA.Nick Suzuki starred for Owen Sound in the OHL and scouts love his skill and compete level, he was also a possession beast. Last week I did my first-ever “Sleeper Series” of draft prospects. One player I did not include was Owen Sound’s Nick Suzuki, since he is projected to be a fairly high first-rounder. But make no mistake, Suzuki could end up being the steal of the entire draft. Scouts love his skill and his compete level. What’s even more intriguing is that, by advanced stats that I have seen, Suzuki was the best possession forward in the entire draft class – better than Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier by a mile. And if you’re not up on the advanced stats movement, how about goals and assists? Because Suzuki had 45 goals and 96 points in 65 games, making him one of the most prolific producers in his class, too. “He’s very consistent in his play and he plays the game within the rules,” said Owen Sound coach Ryan McGill. “He plays hard every shift and his teammates love him. His game has grown so much that the sky’s the limit because of how he thinks the game.” Suzuki won the CHL’s most sportsmanlike player award this year and the fact he was able to avoid the penalty box (10 PIM in the regular season) while still playing a competitive game speaks to the smarts that he brings to the table. On an Owen Sound Attack team that played in the OHL’s vicious Midwest Division (which also featured Dylan Strome’s Erie Otters and Tyler Parsons’ London Knights), Suzuki helped his squad to an incredible second-half run that saw the squad go 17-1-2 in to end the regular season. “As a group we really started to buy in, in the second half,” Suzuki said. “We knew we could do something special. Everybody on the team really bought into their own roles.” The Attack got to the Western Conference final before succumbing to Erie, but the future looks bright. Suzuki leads a draft cohort that also includes running mate Jonah Gadjovich and defenseman Markus Phillips – both of whom will likely be top-50 picks. And winning in Owen Sound is fun. It’s one of the smallest markets in all of junior hockey (the town has about 22,000 residents), but also a fervent base for the sport. “I love it,” Suzuki said. “All the fans are really passionate. They get to know you and you get to know some of them. The support we get is pretty unbelievable.” A big fan of Boston’s Patrice Bergeron, Suzuki prides himself on being responsible in both ends and it’s fair to say that all NHL teams are looking for elite players like that in the draft. Born and raised in London, where he played for the Jr. Knights, Suzuki is now a rival of his hometown’s OHL squad, but soon he’ll add another adversary to the pool: younger brother Ryan Suzuki. He was just taken first overall by the Barrie Colts in the OHL draft and will step into the league next season. Ryan has a slightly bigger frame than Nick and is already getting a ton of hype thanks to his smart and skilled game. Right now, big brother Nick is proud – though it comes with a caveat. “It’s really cool,” he said. “He’s a really good player and it’s good to see him get the recognition he deserves. I really hope he does well in Barrie, but when we play them, I’m gonna give him a hard time.” That’s nothing new for Nick – but soon he’ll be giving NHL competition a hard time out there. THE LATEST HOCKEY NEWS PODCAST:Inheritance is an Object-Oriented Programming concept near and dear to my heart. Early on I recognized it as a godsend to programmers. Over time, I found myself realizing its destructive nature in my projects. In programs where I began to crave extensibility, I noticed that inheritance started limiting me to due to its tightly coupled nature. In services I had to maintain, I found inheritance hindering readability causing headaches figuring out where functions were defined. I want everyone to realize that composition should be used instead of implementation inheritance all the time because inheritance creates code that is neither extensible or readable which are the foundational properties of clean code. What is Inheritance? Inheritance is the concept of an “is-a” relationship. We say “a cat is a mammal” and “a mammal is an Animal.” When we say something is an animal, it means it has the properties of an animal (shares member variables), and it does things that animals do (shares methods). There are two types of inheritance: Interface inheritance – Derived classes share the public method interface of the class and override its implementation. Java/C# makes this clear by having “Interfaces” where the methods in the Interface has no implementation. In C++, you’ll need to make an abstract base class and force there to be no default implementation. Interface inheritance is the good type of inheritance, required for polymorphism – the ultimate tool for creating extensible code in Object-Oriented Programming. Implementation inheritance – Derived classes share the data and implementation of methods in the base class. This leads to inflexible systems where derived classes couple tightly to their base classes. From now on, when I say inheritance, this is the type of inheritance I’m referencing. When I first started programming, I saw inheritance as a way to share code between different classes. It was beautiful. You could write functions in a base class, and all of the derived classes would automatically have those functions, reducing redundant code. It took me a long time to understand that implementation inheritance was inherently evil, and we can achieve the benefits of polymorphism without the disadvantages of inheritance by using composition to reduce redundancy. Problems with implementation inheritance: Inheritance relationships reduce extensibility. Derived classes are tightly coupled to your base class keeping you from trading out behaviors from your base classes with different ones and requiring you to make different classes to mix and match different base classes. Additionally, in most languages, this tightly coupled relationship can’t be changed at runtime, which composition would allow you to do. Every class that inherits from another class diminishes readability. It’s hard to know where functions are declared and what classes override certain methods. You can’t test the derived class separate from the base class. This impact on testability is a dead giveaway that your code is tightly coupled. Remember, testable code is extensible code. I’ll walk you through the thought process I took years to understand. Think about the above problems as I go through my learnings. Hierarchies are Horrible I used inheritance to create a large hierarchy of classes in a game I was making. Here’s a simple version of the hierarchy: Polymorphic containers of Players and Snowballs would be iterated through to render, handle collision detection, and move every object without needing to know the derived type. You automatically have the methods for rendering, colliding, and moving with no extra lines of code. It seems awesome! Let’s see how bad this really is. How would you add an InvisibleWall class? What about adding a ParticleEffect that moves but would annoy the player to death if they collided with it? One way to add these classes could be to create them at the bottom of the hierarchy and override the methods to be blank. For example, make ParticleEffect inherit from Moveable but override the collide() method with an empty body. The problem: now you’re lying. InvisibleWall is-a Renderable, but it doesn’t render. The lie damages the readability of your code because you’ll have to dig into the implementation of the derived classes to understand which objects are doing what. Also, notice how this would add redundancy because you would end up with classes that override the same methods with no-op behavior (InvisibleWall and InvisibleSnowball would both override render with the same behavior). Seems silly because the whole point of using inheritance was to share code 😛 Another way to add classes like InvisibleWall or ParticleEffect would be to create classes like RenderableCollidableMovers and InvisibleCollidableMovers. You can quickly see here that this would cause a combinatorial explosion with so many redundant classes and code. It’s a mess! The core problem that makes hierarchies difficult is how inherently tightly coupled derived classes are to their base classes. In this example, you can’t make a Movable that isn’t a Renderable or a Collidable without lying by overriding their methods. That’s a huge problem. How would we fix this while still using inheritance? Remove the hierarchies! The Madness of Mix-ins Now that we understand that hierarchies are a tightly-coupled mess, we can use flat hierarchies to make this better. This is called Mix-ins. The name comes from an ice cream shop that allowed customers to mix and match different “mix-ins” like sprinkles and caramels together. Let’s see our example modified to use Mix-ins: In this example, the Renderable class still contains the code for rendering, removing redundancy. We get the benefit over hierarchies because Movable, Collidable, and Renderable are no longer coupled to each other. So now how would we add an InvisibleWall or a ParticleEffect class? Well, it’s pretty easy. We can have InvisibleWall only inherit from Collidable (in fact, you might just use Collidable instead), and ParticleEffect would inherit from Moveable and Renderable. Not bad. Wait a minute… Isn’t this multiple inheritance, and isn’t that bad!? Yes, it is. Multiple inheritance, in this case, isn’t so bad because we will avoid the dreaded diamond by only allowing two layers of classes. Still, there’s a huge code smell here. We can notice it when we try to test Snowball or Player and find that we can’t isolate the snowball code from its base classes to test, resulting in redundant tests across classes or just more complicated tests in general. Again, the problem is the tight coupling between the derived class to the base class. Let’s say in the beginning, Collidable just assumes all objects are rectangles and uses that to calculate collisions. As our physics gets more sophisticated, we find Snowballs shouldn’t really be rectangles. Playtesters think the snowballs look strange when they collide. To fix this, we want to add circular colliders. How could we do this? Override the Snowball collide method with circular collision logic. This damages readability because Snowball would be lying. It’s not Collidable in the same way that other Collidables are. It’s not extensible. What if we add basketballs later and need the same code? We wouldn’t be able to share it. Rename the Collidable class RectangleCollidable and create a new one called CircleCollidable. Each derived class can inherit from the one we need. This allows us to share code between classes. Now we lose the power of polymorphism – you can’t use all collidable objects with the same interface. We’d be tempted to create a new base class collidable to gain this back, but now we’d be creating a hierarchy… Not good. In most languages, we can’t change the behavior at runtime. Imagine a new object that changes between rectangle and circle colliders. Not easy to do. Add a flag inside the Collidable class that says if it’s rectangular or circular. Snowballs can set the flag to Circular on construction and Walls can be rectangular. Now the Collidable class begins to do too much, weakening cohesion, which makes testing the class more complicated. In the future, if we want to add new types of collision, we’d have to update the code inside this class violating the open-closed principle. Updating this class could cause bugs that impact every class that inherits from Collidable! The derived class is still coupled to the base class making testing in isolation hard. This testability predicament is a smell that our code isn’t as extensible as we believe. What can we do to fix this? Let’s abolish the is-a relationship. Let’s make it so we can pass in different types of collidable components into our classes to make them super flexible. Part 2- We need a has-a relationship, composition. If you loved this post, you would enjoy reading most of the books I recommend. Check them out!We usually try to avoid tackling controversial "issues" in Critical Miss. This is a space for tired Pokemon jokes and odes to my phallus, not political discourse. But after hearing about the appalling treatment of so-called "Bronies" at the hands of callous female My Little Pony Fans, we've decided we have to make our voices heard. At cons, not only are Bronies subjected to numerous unwanted sexual advances, some critics have even questioned their motives for attending such gatherings in the first place. Every year, male fans face the same, insipid accusations that they attend cons simply because they know they'll be the center of attention, and the leers of female pony fans will somehow "satisfy their hollow egos." Women, imagine if you were attending a convention, and some petty little tit claiming to be a kind of geek gatekeeper were to question your right to be there based only on your gender. How would that make you feel? Pretty terrible, right? Never mind that questioning other people's geek cred and worrying that "attention seekers" might be stealing your limelight is a giant, flashing sign that reads "I have poor self-esteem," the extra scrutiny placed upon genuine male fans is likely to drive them away, leaving only the "attention seekers" you claim to detest. Please, ladies. The hate has to stop. In other news: Sexual Harassment Fluttershy has replaced Stupid Sexy Mudcrab as my favorite character. As always, you can follow Grey and Cory on Twitter.There’s an awful lot of money spent marketing sports and energy drinks as if they’re a vital,'scientifically proven' component in any self-respecting athlete's track bag – but do you really need to guzzle bottles of coloured liquid to ensure you're maximising your performance? Not really, according to a new study by researchers in the UK, which found that just stirring some table sugar into water is all that's necessary to stave off tiredness in endurance sports. Researchers at the University of Bath tested the effects of both sucrose- and glucose-based drinks on long-distance cyclists to compare how good they were at preventing the decline of carbohydrate stores in the body's liver glycogen levels. "The carbohydrate stores in our liver are vitally important when it comes to endurance exercise as they help us to maintain a stable blood sugar level," said lead researcher Javier Gonzalez. "However, whilst we have a relatively good understanding of the changes in our muscle carbohydrate stores with exercise and nutrition, we know very little about optimising liver carbohydrate stores during and after exercise." Both sucrose – which in its refined form is the sugar many of us keep in our cupboards – and glucose are carbohydrates that are known as'simple sugars'. They’re quickly absorbed by the body to produce energy. However, from a molecular perspective, they’re quite different. Glucose is a monosaccharide, as is another sugar, fructose. When glucose and fructose combine, they make sucrose, which is classified as a disaccharide. While many sports and energy drinks use sucrose, some use mixtures of glucose and fructose, and some purely use glucose. To your tongue, these all taste the same (ie. sweet and rather excellent), but when they’re broken down by the body, their differences become pronounced. The molecular structure of these sugars affects the rate at which we can absorb them in the gut, with sucrose being faster. This means that glucose-only sports drinks can actually produce gut discomfort, leading the researchers to recommend simply stirring some sugar into water as a preferable method of making exercise easier to bear. While all sugars will help restore your energy levels, it’s the rate at which they do so that becomes all-important when you're engaged in demanding exercise – especially if performance-based results are important. "We [found] that the exercise felt easier, and the gut comfort of the cyclists was better, when they ingested sucrose compared to glucose," said Gonzalez. "This suggests that, when your goal is to maximise carbohydrate availability, sucrose is probably a better source of carbohydrate to ingest than glucose." So what’s the ideal amount of sugar water you should be consuming when exercising? According to the findings, which are published in the American Journal of Physiology – Endocrinology & Metabolism, for optimal performance in sports like long-distance cycling – where exercise may last for over 2.5 hours – consuming up to 90 grams of sugar per hour, diluted to 8 grams of sugar per 100 ml, is the recommended amount. Now admittedly, measuring out and mixing table sugar into tap water may not look quite as cool as chugging down a bottle of shiny branded sports drink, but you can't argue with science. And think of all the money you'll be saving. Just don’t forget to brush afterwards. But what about electrolytes? After all, they're one of the core substances energy drinks are specially designed to replenish, right? Luckily, if you search the web, there are about a zillion ways to make electrolyte-laden drinks in the comfort of your own home as well (although none are quite as effortless as just adding sugar to water).Originally posted at Feral Scholar I am offering this piece by my dear collaborator, De, as an essential bit of counter-propaganda against Big Ag -- one of the key players in the oligarchy that holds sway over the Obama administration every bit as much as they have Bush II, Clinton, Bush I... etc. etc., just go back and check. The nascent food underground in this country is a mass movement in embryo form that offers us "food praxis" as a point of departure in redesigning our built environment for a post-imperial, and -- yes -- post-capitalist age. SG * * * * * Not Rocket Science: Land Productivity, Food Rights By DeAnander We're all familiar with the myth: we learned it in school. It goes something like this: Once Upon a Time, in the 1960's, a crew of brilliant whitefellas in lab coats Saved the World by revolutionising farming and eliminating world hunger. Their new, advanced mechanical/chemical farming methods -- vast areas of monocrop, heavy tractors, giant combines, tonnes of artificial pesticides and fertilisers -- and their new, improved, superior hybridised crops increased yields tenfold and more. Without industrial farming, billions would starve, even though other billions would be re-sentenced to the short lives of brutal, backbreaking toil from which they were rescued by industrial/mechanised farming. Therefore, anyone who advocates organic or "sustainable" farming practise is some kind of heartless elitist who wants billions to starve and the rest to live as dawn-to-dusk field slaves -- for this is what will happen if we do not continue and expand the highly successful [and highly profitable, for everyone except farmers and eaters] model of industrial/corporate farming. There is no other way to feed ourselves. If there are "external costs" of the industrial farming system, we will just have to accept them. That's what I was taught in school -- and probably you were too, if the subject of agriculture was even mentioned during your school years. The real story -- slowly emerging now into public discourse, in bits and pieces
The DOT's task is challenging. The agency will risk lawsuits if it does not provide IDs to people who lack key government documents, but officials also will want to make sure people are who they say they are. "The Wisconsin DOT is put between a rock and a hard place," said Tokaji, the election law professor. In an opinion earlier this month, Adelman wrote he did not believe the state Supreme Court's decision guaranteed people who don't have birth certificates can get IDs because DOT officials will have discretion in when to issue IDs. Adelman said the state's high court had given only "cryptic" clues as to how the DOT could accomplish what it must. "The Wisconsin Supreme Court did not... set forth any standard that might guide the exercise of the (DOT) administrator's discretion," he wrote. Karyn Rotker, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said the voter ID law should not be put in place, particularly if the state has not spelled out a plan for providing IDs to those without birth certificates. Her organization is one of several that brought the challenge to the law in federal court. "You would want to see the plan and see something in place before you lifted the injunction," she said. "Otherwise there would be a lot of chaos and deprivation of voting rights." Rotker and Richard Saks, an attorney with the NAACP's Milwaukee branch, said they were concerned the DOT might make it too difficult to get IDs for those who don't have birth certificates. The NAACP was a plaintiff in one of the cases recently decided by the state Supreme Court. "The question they have to grapple with is how rigorous a process they want to put people through to get an exception," Saks said. For now, the focus is on whether the appeals court will put the voter ID law in place in time for the Nov. 4 election. Ballots are expected to be printed after Sept. 5, after two recounts are completed from the Aug. 12 primaries. Once the ballots are printed, clerks can begin sending absentee ballots to those who request them; they must begin mailing them by Sept. 18 at the latest. When they send out the absentee ballots, clerks will need to inform recipients whether they need to include copies of their IDs for their votes to count. Poll workers would also need to be trained soon on the voter ID requirements, according to the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections. Van Hollen told the appeals court that state officials would ideally have a ruling on reinstating the voter ID law by Sept. 5. In his latest request, filed Friday, he asked that the court revive the law immediately after oral arguments on Sept. 12. Wisconsin's case is being watched nationally, along with litigation from North Carolina and Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2008 upheld Indiana's voter ID law, but the nation's high court is expected to revisit the issue at some point because so many states have passed voter ID laws since then. Those laws differ in some ways from Indiana's and they are being attacked using different legal theories.Case have increased fourfold in Sunderland, Durham and Teesside, the areas of Britain where Facebook is most popular. Professor Peter Kelly, director of public health in Teesside, claimed staff had found a link between social networking sites and the spread of the bacteria, especially among young women. He said: “Syphilis is a devastating disease. Anyone who has unprotected sex with casual partners is at high risk. "There has been a fourfold increase in the number of syphilis cases detected with more young women being affected. "I don't get the names of people affected, just figures, and I saw that several of the people had met sexual partners through these sites. "Social networking sites are making it easier for people to meet up for casual sex." In Teesside there were 30 recorded cases of syphilis last year, but the true figures are expected to be much higher. Research has shown that young people in Sunderland, Durham and Teesside were 25 per cent more likely to log onto social networking sites than those in the rest of Britain. A Facebook spokesman said: “The assertion that Facebook is responsible for the transmission of syphilis is ridiculous. Facebook is no more responsible for STD transmission than newspapers responsible for bad vision. Today’s reports exaggerate the comments made by the professor, and ignore the difference between correlation and causation. "As Facebook’s more than 400 million users know, our website is not a place to meet people for casual sex – it’s a place for friends, family and co-workers to connect and share.”Convenience store chain 7-Eleven is celebrating its self-appointed birthday Wednesday, July 11 (7/11), with a free slurpee day. They’re going full stop with the theme, too. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, you can get a free 7.11-ounce Slurpee, while supplies last. The offer applies to any flavor, and there are quite a few to choose from – 7-Eleven boasts over 70 varieties. In addition to standbys like Cherry, Coca Cola, and Blue Raspberry, you can get Dr. Pepper, Peach Dragon Fruit, and something called “KZ3 Battle Fuel.” The promotion officially runs until 7 p.m., but you may want to get there earlier. According to past patrons on 7-Eleven’s Facebook page, once the special-sized cups run out, it’s all over. It’s fitting that 7-Eleven celebrates its birthday with ice-based drinks, since ice is what drew customers there in the first place. Started in 1927 in Dallas, 7-Eleven’s original location was at the front of an ice house, where founder Joe C. Thompson started selling milk, bread, and eggs. The ice house’s ability to preserve the food staples made traveling long distance to a grocery store unnecessary, and Thompson expanded the concept to several ice houses in the Dallas area. The name 7-Eleven comes not from the company’s actual birthday, but from its original operating hours: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. (And in the years before 24-hour establishments became common, such long operating hours were unprecedented.) 7-Eleven expanded quickly, and locations were so prevalent in the second half of the 20th century that the name became a stand-in for convenience stores in general. Following a period of decline in the 1980’s, the chain was spared bankruptcy via a buyout from a large Japanese franchisee, Ito-Yokato. In addition to the Slurpee, which is a registered trademark of 7-Eleven, the chain has gifted society with the Big Gulp and the Super Big Gulp (a 1.2 liter fountain drink). Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy The Slurpee, though, is its calling card, and is, like many great innovations, completely accidental. The invention of slushy drinks is credited to Omar Knedlik, a Dairy Queen owner with a broken soda fountain. According to legend, Mr. Knedlik was forced for a time to sell bottled sodas out of his freezer, where the sodas became cold and slushy. Customers loved the consistency, and Knedlik developed the machine that became the ICEE machine. 7-Eleven bought special licensing rights from ICEE in the 1960’s, and as a result today we have free Slurpees, in flavors from Wicked Apple to Pina Colada. If you can’t get to a 7-Elelven in time for a free slurpee today, never fear: the last free slurpee day at the chain was in late May, so there’s likely another one looming on the horizon.MANATEE -- The Florida pastor who is near the top of an al-Qaida hit list is now running a french fry stand at a Bradenton mall. The Rev. Terry Jones has opened Fry Guys Gourmet Fries in the food court at DeSoto Square mall. When customers arrive at the counter, they see a drawing of Jones' stern face front and center in what looks like a police sketch beside pictures of the other two co-owners. Their slogan: "We Take Fries Seriously." "At first I thought the pictures would not be so recognizable," Jones told the Bradenton Herald in a phone interview Thursday. "They were supposed to be more of a cartoon type of thing." Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to the Bradenton Herald The mall's manager was not aware of Jones' associations until contacted by the Herald for this story, and he immediately contacted the minister with his concerns. Just the sight of Jones' face could stir outrage. Jones said he agreed to take the drawing of his face off the wall, but his face will remain on the company's logo and his name will remain on the paperwork. "This is our first restaurant and we plan on being a chain," Jones said. "Right now we just agreed to take down the three pictures." Mall manager Robert Tackett said he was "shocked" by Jones' background, adding that the Jones family appeared to be "very nice people" to work with when they signed the lease. "There was not any indication of trouble whatsoever," Tackett said. Tackett said the parent company, Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty, has no problem with Jones operating his business. Mason Asset owner Elliot Nassim did not return a message requesting comment. Tackett, who served six years in the military, acknowledged this is a delicate issue balancing free speech while protecting DeSoto Square mall's image given what he now knows about the co-owner. "People have an opportunity to do business in America because we are a free country," Tackett said. "He has not caused any problems or concerns. In fact, this is the first time I've heard any of this." Security concerns? Jones moved with his church, Dove World Outreach Center, to Waterline Road in East Manatee in August 2013, about a month before his Sept. 11 plan to burn the Quran in Mulberry. Jones was arrested by Polk County deputies before the event occurred for unlawful carry of a firearm and unlawful conveyance of fuel. His congregation had burned a Quran at a previous event in 2011 despite a request by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to cancel the event. Jones is No. 2 on an al-Qaida propaganda poster for being wanted dead or alive. Slain French editor Stephane Charbonnier of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was also on that list. That poster circulated on Twitter this week with an X on Charbonnier's face after he was murdered Wednesday in an attack that killed at least 12 at the Paris office. The terrorist group targeted the cartoonist after he published a satirical cartoon of prophet Muhammad in 2011. Having Jones as a terrorist target operating a business in a mall could be cause for concern. Tackett said a member of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office intelligence unit contacted him Thursday and assured him there weren't any security threats to the mall because of Jones' business. Dave Bristow, spokesman for the sheriff's office, declined comment about the sheriff's office intelligence on Jones and any threat to the mall. "We're aware of Mr. Jones being in Manatee County, but were not aware of his restaurant in the mall you mentioned," Bristow told the Herald. The Federal Bureau of Investigation did not return calls for comment by end of day Thursday. Views on Islam The events in France, said Jones, reinforce his beliefs against Islam. He said he does not group all Muslims with radical Islam. "I will continue to speak out against Islam or even if you want to define it as radical Islam," Jones said. "I'm not putting everyone in the same box, but Islam itself is a very oppressive religion." Samir Khatib, a spokesman for the Islamic Society of Sarasota and Bradenton, said everyone has a right to free speech and to start a business. He doesn't have a problem with the french fry stand "as long as he's not doing something stupid to invite trouble," Khatib said. Khatib said he hopes Jones would stop burning the Quran because the holy book mentions Jesus about 100 times compared to the four for Muhammad, while Abraham and Moses outpace the references to Jesus. "To me, it's insulting to society because he's insulting the intelligence of the people by his actions," Khatib said. Jones added that freedom of speech comes with a price. "If it doesn't happen to be what certain people like, they will crucify you and try to put you out of business," Jones added. Statements aside, Jones said he has had an uptick in threats since the al-Qaida poster reappeared. "We've always been concerned. I have about 400 to 500 death threats, and there's an award for my life for $6.5 million," Jones said. He has contacted the FBI as well as local police to request additional protection. "I don't know if we may get extra protection from them," he said. "They do patrol, on a semi-regular basis, my house." Business plan The pastor incorporated his fry business in November, according to records filed with the state, and includes wife Sylvia Jones, Kevin Jones and Wayne Sapp on the business records. Jones thought that and his face would be enough to let the mall know who he was. "When I went in there and made contact, I assumed he knew who I was," Jones said of the mall's manager. Saying he wished he had done more research before signing a lease, Tackett said if he would have known at the time, he would have asked how Fry Guys would have been marketed. Fry Guys has been doing well and paying their rent, Tackett acknowledged, and helped make the food court 100 percent leased. Two other locally owned businesses will open there soon. DeSoto Cheese Steak Factory will replace the Charley's Grilled Subs spot, and Hot Rod Cafe is remodeling the former McDonald's space, he said. The fry stand was actually the idea of the pastor's brother, Kevin Jones. The key to making it a go is a $5,600 ventless fryer that doesn't require a hood, Jones said. A regular batch of fries can take four minutes to cook, he added, and the restaurant doesn't charge extra for its dozen toppings. "I thought it was a unique idea and it sort of seems to be an up-and-coming trend," Jones said, with a desire to add locations. Jones agreed to work with Tackett to keep the business open. And both Tackett and Jones said they have received only positive responses from customers and mall employees. Jones said he will not go into hiding, but will remove his face from the sign. "We're not fearful, and we're not going to run and hide," Jones said. "If they (terrorists) come, we're going to try to get them before they get us." Charles Schelle, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095. Follow him on Twitter @ImYourChuck.American Democratic Party supporters react to the news that Donald Trump has won the state of Florida at the Democrats Abroad election night party in London on Nov. 9. Chris J. Ratcliffe/Getty Images Like many journalists who write about the intersections of gender and politics, I was asked to draft an essay in advance of election night about the meaning of Hillary Clinton’s expected victory. I felt a superstitious unease—despite the pollsters’ assurances, I had always been terrified about the outcome—but I banged something out. The piece, excruciating to read now, discussed the significance of Clinton running on an explicitly feminist platform and winning thanks to women’s votes. I wrote about her promise to assemble a half-female Cabinet. “Her victory is a sign that the gender hierarchy that has always been fundamental to our society—that has always been fundamental to most societies—is starting to collapse,” I wrote just before Nov. 8. “In America, men no longer rule.” Obviously, I was very wrong. Instead of the year that the highest glass ceiling shattered, 2016 might go down as the year the feminist bubble burst. In America, men have always ruled, and right now I wonder if they always will. For the last couple of years, feminism has been both ubiquitous and improbably glamorous, its pop culture currency symbolized by Beyoncé silhouetted before a giant glowing FEMINIST sign at the 2014 Video Music Awards. On television, women went from ornaments to protagonists, starring in a slew of raunchy comedies in which men were often afterthoughts. Feminist polemics became a staple of fashion magazines. Female college students demanded standards of sexual consent that were often unfathomable to their elders. In my little corner of Brooklyn, ambient feminism appeared to influence the way fashionable young women dressed. They wore oversized shirtdresses or loose wide-legged pants and chunky shoes, clothes for doing things rather than displaying oneself. Last year, the New York Times ran a trend piece about hip young women rejecting thongs in favor of comfortable underwear. Female masochism, it seemed, was falling out of style. Young women rebelled against the small indignities that make even the most privileged female lives taxing. They defined condescending lectures from poorly informed men as mansplaining. They named the male entitlement to public space that leaves women on trains and airplanes hunched into corners: manspreading. Sometimes the new feminism flirted with triviality and absurdity, but even its silliest manifestations were evidence of a revolution of rising expectations. It was as if the war for parity was nearly won, and what was left was a mopping-up operation. I never wore one of those T-shirts proclaiming “The Future is Female,” but I came close to believing it. Certainly, I’ve always known that many women don’t identify as feminists, and don’t see their interests as being bound up with those of womankind. But in 2016, the polls foretold a history-making gender gap. Donald Trump’s bombastic campaign seemed like the terminal stage of aggrieved American machismo rather than simply the terminal stage of America. In the days before election, I kept returning to a 4,000-word essay by Christopher Caldwell that the Weekly Standard ran 20 years ago. Titled “The Feminization of America,” it was meant to be apocalyptic, but it gave me a giddy hope. “Women are now thought to have more in common with other women than they do with men of similar ethnicity, religion, or income level, their interests coinciding more with those of other women than with those of their own fathers and brothers and husbands and sons,” Caldwell wrote with palpable alarm. “Women now constitute a class – a dominant class.” It wasn’t true in 1996, but in 2016 the world that Caldwell warned of was just visible on the horizon. It seemed significant that his piece both began and ended by griping about Hillary Clinton. For 25 years, after all, Clinton was reviled as a synecdoche for unseemly female ambition. That’s part of what made her candidacy so fraught. If she’d become president, it would have been in the teeth of widespread male opposition; even the models that showed her winning had her losing the majority of men. She proposed policies that would have increased women’s power and autonomy at every level of society: equal pay, paid family leave, subsidized child care, abortion rights. For all her manifold faults, her election would have both signified progress toward gender equality and made more such progress possible. Before Nov. 8, it looked as if the arc of history was bending toward women. Trump’s victory has obliterated this narrative. In many ways it was a fluke; had a few thousand votes in a few Rust Belt states gone another way, we’d be talking about Clinton’s popular vote landslide and the decisive defeat of Trumpian reaction. However freakishly contingent his triumph, it forecloses the future feminists imagined at least for a long while. We’re going be blown backward so far that this irredeemably shitty year may someday look like a lost feminist golden age. The very idea that women are equal citizens, that barriers to their full human flourishing should be identified and removed, is now up for grabs. A pastor warming up the crowd at a post-election Trump rally in Louisiana promised that with Trump in office, the White House would be a place “where men know who men are, women know who women are.” The massive power of the American state is about to be marshaled to put women in their place. We might well lose Roe v. Wade in the next four years. Trump has said the issue would then go back to the states, but there’s no reason to think that Republicans would settle for anything less than a national ban. There is a particular insult at the thought of a sybarite like Trump, who still won’t say whether he’s ever paid for an abortion himself, imposing a regime of forced birth on American women. When and if Trump strips us of bodily autonomy, there won’t be any illusions that he’s doing it to protect life or the family or sexual morality. It will be because he has power, and women’s hopes and plans for their own lives don’t matter to him at all. Controlling the course of our own lives is going to get harder in many different ways. We can say goodbye to Department of Education pressure on colleges to address campus rape. We can expect the end of federal aid for Planned Parenthood and of federal government action to promote equal pay and fight sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination. The Women’s Bureau, the one department in the federal government tasked with responding to the needs of women in the workforce, will now fall under the aegis of former Carl’s Jr. honcho Andrew Puzder, whose company is known for commercials featuring near-naked women in orgasmic communion with sandwiches. “I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis,” he said. “I think it’s very American.” Like top Trump adviser Steve Bannon, Puzder has also been accused of assaulting his now-ex wife. In Achieving Our Country, a 1998 book much discussed since Trump’s election, Richard Rorty discussed how culture would change after the ascension of an American strongman. “Jocular contempt for women will come back into fashion,” he wrote, adding, “All the sadism which the academic Left has tried to make unacceptable to its students will come flooding back.” This will likely prove prescient. Under an administration hostile to women’s equality and contemptuous of modern political norms, the way we live will slowly start to change. With colleges no longer worried about federal action on campus rape, enforcement will loosen up, and college men will realize they can emulate the president of the United States with impunity. The same will happen in many workplaces. Trump will be able to appoint a new chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency where a woman would file a complaint if she’s fired for getting pregnant, or if her boss, say, grabs her by the pussy. As avenues of redress for sexual discrimination and harassment close off, men who’ve been stewing about political correctness will discover a pleasing new latitude in their relations with women. Women who’ve fallen out of the habit of survival flirting will relearn it. It remains to be seen how the culture at large reacts to these changes. My nightmare is a particularly vicious reprise of the phenomenon Susan Faludi described in Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, which looked at the multifaceted assault on feminism during the Reagan years. Faludi analyzed how, as women lost ground politically in the 1980s, feminism itself was treated as the cause of their growing distress. A great many indicators of female advancement plunged during Reagan’s reign. Wrote Faludi: “Government and private surveys are showing that women’s already vast representation in the lowliest occupations is rising, their tiny presence in higher-paying trade and craft jobs stalled or backsliding, their minuscule representation in upper management posts stagnant or falling, and their pay dropping in the very occupations where they have made the most ‘progress.’ ” Meanwhile, women were told over and over again, and sometimes came to believe, that they were unhappy because they’d put too much stock in equality. “Backlash-era conventional wisdom blames the women’s movement for American women’s ‘exhaustion,’ ” Faludi wrote. “The feminists have pushed forward too fast, backlash pundits say; they have brought too much change too soon and have worn women out.”* If a new backlash comes, some women will embrace it. The uphill struggle for freedom and equality can be enervating. Many women find comfort and consolation in being provided for by a man—or in the dream of being provided for by a man—and are sick of feminists making them feel guilty. Others know how to negotiate the male power structure without challenging it, like Ivanka Trump. In a time of backlash, women will redouble their efforts to accommodate men, and the culture will celebrate their choice in making that accommodation. The backlash, wrote Faludi, “manipulates a system of rewards and punishments, elevating women who follow its rules, isolating those who don’t.” People who are committed to gender equality will try to salvage what they can of the last 40 years of progress. They’ll try to maintain their morale, but living in total opposition to the zeitgeist is hard. In the defining drama of our time, a woman who was the most qualified person ever to run for president lost to a man who was the least. That can’t help but reverberate through the culture, changing our sense of what is possible for women. My abiding fear is that the idea of women running the world will start to seem like an innocent, dated dream, akin to communes, lesbian separatism, and spelling “women” as “womyn.” Someday I’ll tell my daughter about the time we all thought the future was female. I hope she doesn’t laugh at our naïveté. *Correction, Dec. 27, 2016: This article originally misquoted a line in Susan Faludi’s Backlash. She wrote that backlash pundits say feminists “have brought too much change too soon.” (Return.) Read more of Double X’s 2016 year-in-review coverage.Knitting as computation K2G2 -- a wiki for "krafty knerds and geek girls" -- has a marvellous series of posts about "Computational Craft" through which traditional crafting practices, like knitting, are analyzed through the lens of computer science. The most recent post, A Computational Model of Knitting, point out the amazing parallels between knitting and computing, with knitting needles performing stack and dequeue operations, "While straight needles with caps store and retrieve their stitches according to the principle of LIFO (first in - last out), double pointed and circular needles additionally implement the functions of a queue or FIFO (first in – first out), effectively forming a double ended queue, also known as dequeue." Garbage Collection There even is an automatic garbage collection accounting for dropped stitches: once the number of superordinate stitches referencing a stitch drops to zero, the whole stitch is dropped altogether, meaning that it is replaced by the null stitch, which only contains references to is neighbors but not to any subordinate stitch. This garbage collection mechanism gives rise to typical avalanche effects, generally known as runs or ladders. A Computational Model of Knitting (via Beyond the Beyond) (Image: Learn to Knit, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from abbynormy's photostream)The editors of The Economist magazine say America's health care debate has become a touch delirious, with people accusing each other of being evil-mongers, dealers in death, and un-American. Well, that's charitable. I would say it's more deranged than delirious, and definitely not un-American. Those crackpots on the right praying for Obama to die and be sent to hell — they're the warp and woof of home-grown nuttiness. So is the creature from the Second Amendment who showed up at the President's rally armed to the teeth. He's certainly one of us. Red, white, and blue kooks are as American as apple pie and conspiracy theories. Bill Maher asked me on his show last week if America is still a great nation. I should have said it's the greatest show on earth. Forget what you learned in civics about the Founding Fathers -- we're the children of Barnum and Bailey, our founding con men. Their freak show was the forerunner of today's talk radio. Speaking of which: we've posted on our website an essay by the media scholar Henry Giroux. He describes the growing domination of hate radio as one of the crucial elements in a "culture of cruelty" increasingly marked by overt racism, hostility and disdain for others, coupled with a simmering threat of mob violence toward any political figure who believes health care reform is the most vital of safety nets, especially now that the central issue of life and politics is no longer about working to get ahead, but struggling simply to survive. So here we are, wallowing in our dysfunction. Governed -- if you listen to the rabble rousers -- by a black nationalist from Kenya smuggled into the United States to kill Sarah Palin's baby. And yes, I could almost buy their belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, only I think he shipped them to Washington, where they've been recycled as lobbyists and trained in the alchemy of money laundering, which turns an old-fashioned bribe into a First Amendment right. Only in a fantasy capital like Washington could Sunday morning talk shows become the high church of conventional wisdom, with partisan shills treated as holy men whose gospel of prosperity always seems to boil down to lower taxes for the rich. Poor Obama. He came to town preaching the religion of nice. But every time he bows politely, the harder the Republicans kick him. No one's ever conquered Washington politics by constantly saying "pretty please" to the guys trying to cut your throat. Let's get on with it, Mr. President. We're up the proverbial creek with spaghetti as our paddle. This health care thing could have been the crossing of the Delaware, the turning point in the next American Revolution -- the moment we put the mercenaries to rout, as General Washington did the Hessians at Trenton. We could have stamped our victory "Made in the USA." We could have said to the world, "Look what we did!" And we could have turned to each other and said, "Thank you." As it is, we're about to get health care reform that measures human beings only in corporate terms of a cost-benefit analysis. I mean this is topsy-turvy -- we should be treating health as a condition, not a commodity. As we speak, Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker, has been fined a record $2.3 billion dollars as a civil and criminal -- yes, that's criminal, as in fraud -- penalty for promoting prescription drugs with the subtlety of the Russian mafia. It's the fourth time in a decade Pfizer's been called on the carpet. And these are the people into whose tender mercies Congress and the White House would deliver us? Come on, Mr. President. Show us America is more than a circus or a market. Remind us of our greatness as a democracy. When you speak to Congress next week, just come out and say it. We thought we heard you say during the campaign last year that you want a government run insurance plan alongside private insurance — mostly premium-based, with subsidies for low-and-moderate income people. Open to all individuals and employees who want to join and with everyone free to choose the doctors we want. We thought you said Uncle Sam would sign on as our tough, cost-minded negotiator standing up to the cartel of drug and insurance companies and Wall Street investors whose only interest is a company's share price and profits. Here's a suggestion, Mr. President: ask Josh Marshall to draft your speech. Josh is the founder of the website talkingpointsmemo.com. He's a journalist and historian, not a politician. He doesn't split things down the middle and call it a victory for the masses. He's offered the simplest and most accurate description yet of a public insurance plan -- one that essentially asks people: would you like the option — the voluntary option -- of buying into Medicare before you're 65? Check it out, Mr. President. This health care thing is make or break for your leadership, but for us, it's life and death. No more Mr. Nice Guy, Mr. President. We need a fighter. That's it for the Journal. I'm Bill Moyers. See you next time. _______ About author Bill Moyers is managing editor of the weekly public affairs program Bill Moyers Journal, which airs Friday night on PBS. Check local airtimes or comment at The Moyers Blog at Bill Moyers is managing editor of the weekly public affairs program Bill Moyers Journal, which airs Friday night on PBS. Check local airtimes or comment at The Moyers Blog at www.pbs.org/moyersWOW! Al Sharpton & Democrats Honor Convicted Voter Fraud Felon Melowese Richardson at “Welcome Home” Party WOW! Ohio Democrats held a “Welcome Home” party for convicted voter fraud felon Melowese Richardson this week. Al Sharpton gave the convicted Democratic voter a big hug. Melowese Richardson who was convicted of Voter Fraud and released early from a five year prison sentence is hugged by Rev. Al Sharton as he joins State Representative Alicia Reece to kick off the petition drive for Ohio Vote at Word of God Deliverance Family Life Center in Forest Park. (Photo: The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger) Melowese voted twice for herself in 2012 and three times for her comatose sister! Melowese got a hero’s welcome by local Democrats at the party. Cincinnati.com reported: A Hamilton County poll worker who has been held up nationally as an example of voter fraud took the stage at a local voting rights rally – outraging Republicans and dismaying even top local Democrats. The Rev. Al Sharpton, keynote speaker at Thursday’s rally to kick-off the campaign for an Ohio Voters’ Bill of Rights Ohio Constitutional amendment, even hugged Melowese Richardson. Richardson, a Democrat, was convicted of voter fraud after using her position as poll worker to vote more than once in the 2012 presidential election. She got a five year prison term, but was released earlier this month after local Democratic activists pressed for a fairer term. A judge sentenced her to probation instead. Richardson was among the more than 400 at Word of Deliverance Church in Forest Park when Cincinnati National Action Network President Bobby Hilton called her on stage for a “welcome home.” A tweet from an Enquirer reporter about the moment sparked immediate outrage from Republicans on Twitter. Even Democrat leaders questioned the idea of applauding Richardson. “I am very glad the county prosecutor and judge reconsidered and got her out of jail, but she is not a hero,” Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke, who was at the rally, told the Enquirer. “What she did was criminal conduct and was particularly problematic because of her role as a precinct executive.” Hamilton County Democratic Party Executive Director Caleb Faux, who was also at the rally, saw it as an attempt to portray Richardson as a martyr because of the lengthy sentence. Democrat Melowese Richardson candidly admitted to Cincinnati’s Channel 9 in February 2013 that she voted twice in the 2012 election. “I’ll fight it for Mr. Obama and Mr. Obama’s right to sit as president of the United States,” she proclaimed in the interview. She was convicted of voter fraud in May 2013.One is a mentorship program with Intel. The other is a collaborative internship with Explora, the children’s museum in Old Town Albuquerque that provides interactive learning opportunities focused on science, technology, math and art. “These are both opportunities for the students to grow in their fields,” said Heather Fitzgerald, CNM STEM coordinator. “It requires a lot of commitment and dedication on the part of the students.” The Intel/CNM STEM Mentoring Opportunity, which started this month, provides 13 students majoring in Intel-related STEM fields with a unique opportunity to meet with Intel mentors, explore career paths and learn about jobs in these fields. Students selected for the Intel program must meet regularly with Intel mentors during the fall and spring terms -- a 20-25 hour a term commitment. Scholarships are awarded to the students who have met the requirements at the completion of each term. The Intel Foundation gave CNM $25,000 for the stipends. To be eligible for the Intel program students must have a declared major at CNM in Engineering, Physics or Advanced Systems Technology, have a GPA of 2.5 or greater and have completed at least 15 credits toward a degree. “Students learn about career topics, like what it’s like to be an engineer,” Fitzgerald said. “They will work with local Intel engineers one on one, in round robin sessions and they will tour Intel.” Explora Program CNM also received a $50,000 grant from the New Mexico's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NM EPSCoR), a National Science Foundation program, to provide students majoring in STEM fields or an education field the opportunity to work as a team to learn how to develop and deliver science education to the general public. The students will learn how Explora teaches science, which will provide them ideas for how to present science to others as they progress in their fields. The topic for this project is Uranium Energy Waste and Remediation. The students will devote between 45-60 hours of their time to this internship during the fall and spring terms. The students will receive scholarships at the completion of each term if they have met requirements. Twelve students have been selected for the program and are being led in this program by CNM instructor Elizabeth Dolan, who teaches chemistry and education. “The students are learning from science educators at Explora and from local experts in the field of uranium mediation – the cleanup of uranium mines,” Fitzgerald said. “By the end of the year-long program they will make their own educational modules and give presentations to students and the general public.”I write this as an individual who happens to be Muslim, not as a representative of the Muslim community. My attempt here is to explain the “voice in my head” – the rationale behind voting for Modi. It could be interpreted as an act of selfishness (probably, it may well be one) but IMO it is keeping in mind that my act isn’t adversely affecting the lives of my fellow Indians. This is basically a gist of what I feel about the man and the hopes I have from him. These uncertain times have forced every Indian to make a choice – Maintain Status Quo or attempt to make our world better. I feel Modi is the only option we have to choose the latter. Let us first begin with the contentious issues: MODI HAS ACTIVELY/IMPLICITLY PLAYED A PART IN ORCHESTRATING THE 2002 ANTI MUSLIM RIOTS The allegation has time and again been dismissed by the courts and a SIT monitored by the Supreme Court. Enough has been debated
, they do not distinguish from Nazism and focus their spite on Ukrainian conservatives, the right and extreme right, which they do not distinguish from each other. They ignore the much more powerful revanchist Russian extremist right in Russia and Ukraine whose aim is to re-colonize Ukraine within a very much capitalist tsarist-type Russian empire. These avowed leftist and liberal authors remain silent about the Ukrainian national question and Ukrainian anti-colonialist thought. They make no mention of Russian colonialism, Russian imperialism, Eurasianism, Russian militarism, or the linguistic/cultural Russification of non-Russians. They are concerned about Russians who complain that having to use Ukrainian in Ukraine is “oppression” ignoring the dominance of Russian in Ukraine’s public communication sphere and government support for Russian language media and schools. Supposedly defenders of oppressed minorities, such people make no mention of the lamentable condition of the almost 2 million strong Ukrainian minority in Russia who have one community-funded Ukrainian language newspaper and no Ukrainian media at all, let alone government financing for anything. We find no critique of men like Dugin, Surkov, Gundaiev, or Glazeev - the counterparts to Wolfowitz, Cheney, and Rumsfeld in Flashpoint. No author scrutinized Kremlin ties to and sponsorship of EU neo-Nazis, nor Russian neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine. There is no reflection on why Ukrainians after 1929 stopped associating communism with national liberation – unlike populations throughout Asia, Africa, and Western Europe. All of which amounts to hypocrisy that ignores the misery of millions who prefer not to live under the Russian version of neoliberal capitalist imperialism. Some, like Michael Hudson, think that Ukraine must remain dependent on Russia because it is economically tied to it and that severing those ties would result in destitution. This argument was also used by Russian industrialists, bankers and “Black Hundred” leaders one hundred years ago to justify Russian rule over Ukrainian lands. Hudson and his like-minded co-authors have apparently forgotten that, in so far as all empires and dependencies are economically tied to each other, it follows that no dependent population anywhere should secede from any empire, in which case the self-determination, anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism leftist and liberals so strongly support would make no sense. Yet no leftists or liberals argue like this except in the case of Ukraine. For all their concern over corporate control over US and EU media, no Flashpoint author, including the media specialist Michael Parenti, refer to Russia ranking 148 out of 179 countries rated in the Press Freedom Index and that, as of the summer of 2014, Putin’s government had either closed or muzzled the country’s last major independent media outlets. They do not seem to reflect on the fact that unlike in Russia, no journalist in North America or the EU is known to have ever been assaulted or murdered by armed gangs. Politkovskaya is not in the index. Today there are only three major independent Russian English language media organizations that do not toe the Kremlin line on Ukraine. As the Moscow Times and Petersburg Times are foreign owned, leftists presumably ignore them as tainted “Western capitalist” media. Novaia gazeta carries very little on Ukraine and, as of September 2014, appeared only in blog format. Parenti either does not know or does not care that, in so far as any of the leadings personages in official Russian outlets – like Dmitrii Tsorionov, Alexander Prokhanov, Sergei Kurginyan, Margarita Simonyan, Dmitry Kiselev, Igor Osadchii, Evgenii Prigozhin, Mariia Kuprashevich, Vladimir Solovyov, or Arkady Mamontov – ever had anything to do with Marxism or socialism in general, then it was only of the official Soviet Stalinist variety. His concern with the “corporate media’s Cold War bias,” does not extend to Kremlin bias. Before 1991, when foreign pro-Kremlin leftists justified their support for the USSR and condemnation of the Ukrainian anti-Kremlin national movement, they had a degree of Marxist credibility. They defined socialism in terms of one-party rule and state ownership. According to that definition, Russia, then ruled by a declared communist party, had to be defended against its opponents. Although the USSR no longer exists and Russia is an imperialist neo-capitalist country, such leftists still provide a platform for official Kremlin government propaganda. This includes condemnation of those who oppose Putin’s foreign policy as fascists. As a representative example of this kind of double-think the Flashpoint book will be of interest to only two kinds of readers – students of Kremlin propaganda and believers. Russophilism, ignorance, and anti-Americanism explain why some leftists and liberals apply double standards to Ukraine. Flashpoint authors condemn Ukrainian independence and its new capitalist government, but not Putin’s imperialist neo-liberal capitalist government, as a “fascist junta” and do not consider the neoliberal capitalist Russian government imperialist. Unable to deny that Putin’s government is capitalist, they tacitly assign it a “progressive” role because it is anti-American and has used some oil and gas revenues to finance social programs. No one from this group reflects on whether the Russian variant of neoliberal capitalism might be more destructive and rapacious than its EU or US counterpart because it is not tempered by a strong left opposition, trade unions, independent political parties and critics, rule of law, and generally, what Marx considered the “bourgeois rights and liberties” established in Europe between 1789 and 1914. Pro-Kremlin leftists and liberals who condemn the claims of the US ruling class to a sphere of influence in Latin America on the grounds of self-determination and anti-imperialism, nonetheless, defend the claims of the Kremlin ruling class to a sphere of influence in Europe. In conclusion, it should be noted that there are leftists and liberals, critical of Putin’s government. The former may be best described as sympathetically neutral towards Ukrainian national interests and the Maidan movement. They place themselves in the tradition of the Ukrainian pre-Stalinist radical left (the Borotbists and the Ukrainian Communist Party, not to be confused with the Stalinist Communist Party of Ukraine – a Russian party in Ukraine, and not a Ukrainian party), and Trotsky’s post-1923 support for Ukrainian interests. Although they regard Russia as an imperialist power, they do not regard Russians in Ukraine as settler colonists. Thus, absent from their writings today are comparisons with French settlement in Algeria or Protestant settlement in Ireland where unassimilated imperial loyalist colonist communities served as the social base for the extremist rightwing OAS and UDA, and UDF, much like today Russian settlement in Ukraine provides a base for Russian neo-Nazis. The Fourth International, Ukraine Solidarity, Revolutionary Communist International Tendency, and Socialist Worker contain articles condemning not only the Ukrainian right, which they consider too influential in the new government, but also Putin, and the armed Russian neo-Nazis. This is also the position of the Party of the European Left. These foreign leftists are critical of the new Ukrainian government as neoliberal capitalist, call for peace and the right of Ukrainians to determine their political future for themselves independent of either US or Russian imperialism.Obamacare. The Democrat plan so incredible that we had to pass it just to find out how much awesomeness was hiding inside. But alas, it turned out to be nothing to write home about. For instance: Do you remember when insurance companies were going to be lining up out the door to be a part of this amazing deal? Today, they are dropping like flies due to the billions of dollars being lost annually. Do you remember how Obamacare wouldn’t lead America down the road to a nationalized, single-payer, government-run, socialized healthcare system? Last week, thousands of doctors and other medical professionals demanded that very thing due to the failure of the Affordable Care Act. Do you remember how we were going to be able to keep our plan if we liked our plan? Obama’s speechwriters recently appeared on CBS for an interview, and they thought it was laugh-out-loud funny that America believed that lie. Do you remember how the Democrats denied claims that Obamacare would lead to the creation of death panels? Technically, this is true as far as creating an actual panel. But under a program that pays hospitals a bonus for spending as few Medicare dollars as possible, seniors are dying by the thousands as hospitals deny them necessary services and medications in order to get the biggest payday. These are only a few of the failures, but you get the idea. The Republican establishment, led by Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and now Paul Ryan, promised America that the GOP would rip our Obamacare “root and branch” if we gave them the keys to the Capitol Hill kingdom. But as we know all too well by now, not only did they leave it alone, they continued to fully fund it — choosing to surrender the power of the purse and opting to put the fate of the Affordable Care Act in the hands of the courts. As we now know, their plan failed in their first and second attempts to have the Supreme Court do their job for them, but it looks like they might get a third chance to begin dismantling the healthcare behemoth. Yesterday, a federal judge ruled that Obama was essentially misappropriating funds to pay for an Obamacare subsidy program that Congress had defunded. So NOW they figure out the whole power of the purse thing? Anyway, the judge stayed the ruling in order to give Obama the opportunity to file his appeal which means that we could see the third time be a charm. In the end, Obamacare is performing exactly as experts predicted — IT’S FAILING! David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” David is also a contributor to RedState.com. His daily commentary is nationally syndicated via Salem Radio Network. Advertisements Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email More Print Reddit Tumblr Pocket TelegramFor reasons that aren’t relevant here, I was reminded of the power of fixed point theorems on partially ordered sets to prove some fundamental results in set theory earlier. This is an expository post about that. If you don’t care about set theory you probably won’t care about this. I’m going to mention two fixed point theorems and use each of them to give a simple proof of a well known result in set theory. Preliminaries A poset is a set \(X\) with a relation \(\leq\) on it that is Reflexive: \( \forall x. x \leq x \) Antisymmetric: \(\forall x, y. x \leq y\) and \(y \leq x \implies x = y\) Transitive: \(\forall x, y, z. x \leq y\) and \(y \leq z \implies x \leq z\) Additional reminders: A poset is said to be totally ordered if additionally it is Total: \( \forall x, y. x \leq y\) or \(y \leq x\). A chain is a subset of a poset which is totally ordered under the restriction of the relationship to it. \(x\) is an upper bound for a set \(A\) if \(\forall a \in A. a \leq x \) \(x\) is a least upper bound for a set \(A\) if it is an upper bound and \(x \leq y\) for all upper bounds of A \(y\). When such an upper bound exists it is unique (by anti-symmetry) and we write it as \(\sup A\) A poset is said to be complete (resp. chain-complete) if every subset (resp chain) has a least upper bound Every chain complete poset has a least element (the least upper bound of the empty set). Examples of posets are any of the normal sets of numbers – e.g. \(\mathbb{N}, \mathbb{Q}, \mathbb{R}\). All of these are total orders, none of them are complete. \([0, 1] \subseteq \mathbb{R}\) is a complete total order. For any \(X\), the power set \(\mathcal{P}(X)\) is a complete poset with the order being set inclusion. Our fixed point theorems will concern functions Our fixed point theorems are both about particular types of mappings of posets to themselves. Knaster–Tarski fixed point theorem (This is actually a slightly weakened form of the theorem because it’s slightly easier to prove and we don’t need the full thing) Theorem: Let \(X\) be a complete poset and \(f : X \to X\) be order presering. That is \(x \leq y \implies f(x) \leq f(y)\). Then \(f\) has a fixed point. Proof: Let \(A = \{ x : x \leq f(x) \} \). If \(x \in A\) then \(f(x) \in A\) as if \(x \leq f(x)\) then \(f(x) \leq f(f(x))\) due to \(f\) being order preserving. Suppose now that \(y = \sup A\). Then if \(x \in A\) we have \(x \leq y\) and so \(f(x) \leq f(y)\). But \(x \leq f(x)\) by hypothesis of \(x \in A\), so we have \(x \leq f(x) \leq f(y)\). Therefore \(f(y)\) is also an upper bound of \(A\) and thus, because \(y\) is the least upper bound, \(y \leq f(y)\) and thus \(y \in A\). But then as per above we must also have \(f(y) \in A\), and thus \(f(y) \leq y\). Therefore \(f(y) = y\). QED. This then lets us provide a very short proof of one of the basic results of set theory. Cantor–Bernstein–Schroeder theorem Let \(A, B\) be sets, and let \(f : A \to B\) and \(g : B \to A\) be injections. There exists a bijection \(h : A \to B\) Proof: The idea is that we want to find some subset \(H \subseteq A\) for which we can define our function h as \(h|_H = f\) and \(h|_{H^c} = g^{-1}\). Claim: If \(g(f(H)^c) = H^c\) then the function h is well defined and is a bijection. Well defined is easy: By the assumption, every element of \(H^c\) is in the image of \(g\), so \(g^{-1}\) is well defined on it. Injective: It’s injective when restricted to \(H\) and to \(H^c\), the only question is whether we can have \(h(x) = h(y)\) with \(x \in H\) and \(y \in H^c\). But by assumption and injectivity of \(g\) we have \(g^{-1}(H^c) \subseteq f(H)^c\), so this is impossible. Surjective: By assumption, \(g^{-1}(H^c) = f(H)^c\), so the function is surjective. So now all that remains is to find such an H. Which we will now do by using Knaster-Tarski to pull it out of a hat. Rewrite the requirement as \(H = g(f(H)^c)^c\) i.e. we have the function \(S(A) = g(f(A)^c)^c\) and are looking for \(S(H) = H\). Suppose \(A \subseteq B\). Then \(f(A) \subseteq f(B)\), so \(f(B)^c \subseteq f(A)^c\), so \(g(f(B)^c) \subseteq g(f(A)^c)\), so \( g(f(A)^c)^c \subseteq g(f(B)^c)^c\). i.e. \(S(A) \subseteq S(B)\). So \(S\) is an order preserving map on the complete poset \((\mathcal{P}, \subseteq)\). Thus by the Knaster–Tarski fixed point theorem it gives us \(H\) we want. QED I find Knaster-Tarski a particularly “magic” fixed point theorem usage here because there’s no obvious connection between \(A\) and \(S(A)\) – we’ve just defined \(S(A)\) so that if it had a fixed point it would be the thing we wanted, and thus a solution appears. Our next fixed point theorem is one I find much more intuitive, which makes it perhaps slightly odd that the proof we’ll use it in is intimately connected with the Axiom of Choice (which is intuitive itself but produces unintuitive results) and Zorn’s lemma (which is too technical to really have much intuition about). Bourbaki–Witt fixed point theorem Let \(X\) be a chain-complete poset and \(f : X \to X\) such that \(f(x) \geq x\). For every \(x i X\), \(f\) has a fixed point \(y \geq x\) Proof: The proof is by transfinite induction. That is, we’ll take some ordinal \(\kappa\) with no injection into \(X\) (such an ordinal exists by Hartog’s Lemma) and define \(g : \kappa \to X\) as follows: \(g(0) = x\) \(g(\alpha + 1) = f(g(\alpha))\) \(g(\beta) = \sup \{ g(\alpha) : \alpha < \beta\}\) when \(\beta\) is a limit ordinal (this is well defined because g produces a chain by construction and \(X\) is chain complete) \(g\) is, by construction and that \(x \leq f(x)\), a monotone increasing function. i.e. \(\alpha \leq \beta \implies g(\alpha) \leq g(\beta)\). It’s not injective, therefore we can find some \(\alpha < \beta\) with \(g(\alpha) = g(\beta)\). Then \(\alpha + 1 \leq \beta\), so \(g(\alpha) \leq g(\alpha + 1) \leq g(\beta) = g(\alpha)\). Therefore \(g(\alpha) = g(\alpha + 1) = f(g(\alpha))\) and \(g(\alpha)\) is our desired fixed point (and is \(\geq x\) because \(g(0) = x\). QED Now, how do we use this? Well, it provides a very nice proof of Zorn's lemma by way of a closely related result. Hausdorff maximality theorem Let \(X\) be a poset. Every chain \(C \subseteq X\) is contained in a maximal chain (that is one not properly contained in any other chain). This is a theorem very closely related to Zorn’s lemma – either can very easily be proved from the other. But Zorn’s lemma is a simple corollary of Hausdorff’s maximality theorem (whileas the other direction requires at least a bit of machinery), and this way round we get to apply a nice fixed point theorem to give a very simple proof. Proof: Let \(\mathcal{C}\) be the set of chains of X ordered by inclusion. Claim: This is a chain complete poset. Proof: Let \(\mathcal{A} \subseteq \mathcal{C}\) be a chain. Let \(A = \bigcup \mathcal{A}\). If \(x, y \in A\) then \(x, y \in B\) for some \(B \in \mathcal{A}\) (because it’s a chain, so find one containing each and take the larger of the two). Therefore \(x \leq y\) or \(y \leq x\). Hence \(A \in \mathcal{C}\). Clealy it’s a least upper bound for \(\mathcal{A}\) as it is one in the poset \(\mathcal{P}(X)\). So, we’ll now apply the Bourbaki Witt fixed point theorem. Define \(f : \mathcal{C} \to \mathcal{C}\) as follows: If A is maximal, \(f(A) = A \) If A is not maximal, use the axiom of choice to arbitrarily pick some chain strictly containing \(A\) as \(f(A)\) By construction \(f(A) \supseteq A\), by the above \(\mathcal{C}\) is chain complete, therefore by Bourbaki Witt \(f\) has a fixed point above every element of \(\mathcal{C}\). The elements of \(\mathcal{C}\) are the chains of \(X\) and the fixed points of \(f\) must be maximal. Hence the result is proved. QED As promised, Zorn’s lemma is just a simple corollary: Zorn’s Lemma Let \(X\) be a poset such that every chain has an upper bound (not necessarily a least one). \(X\) has a maximal element. Proof: Pick a maximal chain, \(C\). Let \(x\) be an upper bound for \(C\). If there were some element \(y \) with \(x < y\) then \(C \cup \{y\}\) would be a chain strictly containing \(C\). Therefore no such \(y\) exists and \(x\) is maximal. Conclusion A lot of the proofs presented for both of these results are pretty inscrutable. They’re not hard to understand, but there are quite a lot of details to get right. I’ve got to admit, this mostly exhausts my list of cute things in set theory you can prove by way of fixed point theorems. I’m sure there are more, and I’d be interested to hear about them, but it’s been a while since I’ve looked at this and these are the only two I remember. Update: In talking to Imre Leader, who taught me the course in which I learned Bourbaki Witt, he points out that as far as set theory is concerned Bourbaki Witt is almost entirely useless. It can essentially be regarded as “the choice free part of Zorn’s lemma”, and as a result no one actually uses it because the hypotheses of Zorn’s lemma are so much easier to verify.The anti-Constitutional decision, known as Citizens United, instituted by five extreme activist Injustices, has been much in the news of late. I considered joining the fray sooner, but decided to wait until the birthday of if this ignoble atrocity. To make matters worse, Citizens United just hit home for me, as I have been bombarded with television advertising from faux-moderate Teabagger, Rob Cornilles. Today I learned who is paying for it from a DCCC email. Here it is in part. We knew it would come to this. Voters in Oregon’s vote by mail only election have already started to receive ballots and sure enough Washington Republicans have swooped in with a television ad buy distorting Democrat Suzanne Bonamici’s record with half-truths, mistruths and lies. Now we’ve learned her Republican opponent Rob Cornilles has received thousands of dollars from the billionaire Koch Brothers’ business PAC. This Oregon special election race is in its final throes and we need to have Suzanne’s back. Be part of our people-powered movement and fight back. Help us raise $30,000 for Suzanne by Monday’s media buy deadline for her immediate rapid response operation. Please contribute to Suzanne today for her rapid response operation before Monday’s media buy deadline. That’s right. Rob Cornilles is a Koch sucker. The five filthy fascists pictured above made this, and the pollution of other elections all over this nation, possible. There are things Congress can do, if Democrats can get sufficient traction in Congress to overcome Republican obstruction, but the way to permanently undo this travesty requires a Constitutional amendment. I’m sure you must have seen Robert Reich’s excellent video by now, but here it is just in case. You can tale action at Amend 2012.William Swartz / Getty Images If having work-life balance is important to you, then don’t become a doctor. That was Dr. Karen Sibert’s advice to students considering careers in medicine, in a controversial New York Times op-ed last summer. “You can’t have it all,” Sibert wrote, exhorting students — women mostly — to remember that “medical education is a privilege, not an entitlement, and it confers a real moral obligation to serve.” If you want to work and be a mother, then you can find a job in journalism or professional cooking or law. But “if you want to be a doctor, be a doctor,” wrote Sibert, an anesthesiologist, concluding: “Patients need doctors to take care of them. Medicine shouldn’t be a part-time interest to be set aside if it becomes inconvenient; it deserves to be a life’s work.” Sibert’s piece likely sparked countless conversations — and moments of doubt — at medical schools around the country. Ours was no exception. In the wake of Sibert’s column, Gina Siddiqui, a medical student at University of Pennsylvania, where I teach, and I launched our own conversation about being a doctor-in-training and how doctors ultimately fit into the future of health care in the U.S. We recruited other students to participate, including second-years Alexandra Charrow, Derek Mazique and Ofole Mgbako. What follows are excerpts of that roundtable conversation. Driving the debate was the question of whether being a doctor is in some way exceptional, more important to society than any other profession. I started the ball rolling thusly: “What do you guys think is your duty to society, and how do you feel it is different from that of your peers going into other fields? Should all doctors have to work full-time?” The students’ responses: Alexandra Charrow: Implicit in what you’re asking is the question of whether doctors are “special,” so special that we should be required to work additional hours and so integral to society that we have additional duties. For the 60 or so years that physicians have been able to actually cure people there has been an increasing fetishization of the field. Numerous TV shows and movies romanticize the occupation, feeding into a belief that medicine is the grandest and noblest of professions. Medicine is not the only profession with the power and duty to save lives — air traffic controllers save lives every day. Yet how many shows are there about air traffic controllers? We are not alone in our unwavering responsibility, our duties, and our power. Derek Mazique: The complexity of medicine, the physician shortage, and the rise of managed care almost guarantee that physicians are no longer the only decision-makers in the room. So now, I think physicians are decidedly “less special.” Are they skilled and necessary for the average consumer? Yes, but so is their accountant. Ofole Mgbako: Through my experiences with people living with HIV, I realized that the way people readily share the most intimate details of their lives and entrust their bodies with physicians is unlike any other profession. Each interaction with a patient is based on an unspoken covenant, a belief that the doctor not only will do no harm, but also will try to relieve suffering. I believe this basic, universal interaction between patient and physician engenders a greater responsibility on the part of physicians. It is difficult to speak to how much this dynamic sets us apart from the teachers, the lawyers, the scientists, the politicians. However, this dynamic does set us apart to some degree. Regardless of how much more “exceptional” doctors may be — indeed, Sibert’s original argument was that doctors not only play a special role in society, but also that there are necessarily too few of them to justify any of us choosing to be a part-time doctor — our student moderator, Gina Siddiqui, concluded that forcing physicians to work longer isn’t necessarily the right answer. “I don’t know if it’s feeling special or a strong sense of duty or what, but on balance, I think most doctors will choose to work more, and coercing more hours out of those that don’t is unlikely to do much good for patients,” Siddiqui says. “For the record, I think everyone should think his or her job is special, just like every mom should think her kid is special.” Given the students’ debate, I wondered further whether their views on the exceptionalism of doctors — and on the importance of work-life balance — were affecting their choice of specialty, particularly in light of the deepening primary care physician shortage. I asked them: “Do salary and lifestyle play a role?” Their responses: D.M.: Both my parents are in primary care, and seeing them practice has been a powerful example of how the field has changed. Perhaps most telling for me is how the current primary care situation is a perfect storm of low reimbursement and doctor burnout. Both of my parents have had to increase the number of patients they see — for my mother who is in private practice, that’s the only way she can keep the lights on. I didn’t go into medicine in order to emerge as a strictly lifestyle physician … but I did go into medicine expecting to forge meaningful relationships with my patients and to perform my intellectual craft to the utmost. Primary care in its current iteration makes these goals seem even more difficult. Of course, money is a factor, but these expectations of a personally fulfilling medical career also steer my decision-making process. A.C.: Personally, I recognize the pressure and fear … that either my family values or career choices will have to change. I often meet physicians who tell me it’s possible to have both a family and a career, but for the most part, they are men with wives who have made the tough decision to work part-time for them. The women I have met have painted a more pragmatic picture — you can have what you want, just not all of it. D.M.: All of us have been fixated on the profession, the role of lifestyle when picking a specialty, and our own particular experiences as medical students. But at the end of the day, our concern for the patient should be paramount, and it’s also worth exploring the effects that these choices will have on them. If a surgeon spends less time in the operating room, will he or she show a greater error rate and will more patients be harmed? If doctors work shorter shifts and hand off patients more, will discontinuity of care lead to a spike in adverse drug events and complications? A.C.: This reminds me of the arguments hashed out concerning reduced residency work hours. Certainly there are many who still claim an 80-hour max workweek has reduced quality of care. However, others would argue that extra sleep, spending time with family, and eating regularly make up for reduced hours. I imagine that at some number of hours of experience, the quality of care reaches a plateau. With people working well into their 60s, 70s, and 80s, perhaps it is better to allow physicians to slow the rate at which they accumulate expertise in order to make their lifelong commitments to their specialty more sustainable. If doctors are able to fulfill other life obligations early in their career, they might be willing to stay in the profession longer, allowing society many years to benefit from a skilled physician’s services. O.M.: What’s interesting to me is the tension between being a balanced, content physician who explores his or her interests outside of medicine and being an extremely driven workaholic who gives up family time and other hobbies in order to be engrossed by work. Thus, in addition to the monetary concerns Derek brought up, I think more medical students will be drawn to specialties that allow them the flexibility to explore other aspects of themselves in addition to medicine: in addition to [being] future doctors, my peers are journalists, writers, musicians, entrepreneurs and engineers. As a teacher of medicine, I was inspired and not a little bit relieved that the students in our program had given so much thought to their training and the way their own values were shaping their decisions as up-and-coming physicians. But the question remained, How does the role of the individual doctor fit into the greater context of American health? Our student moderator concluded with another shrewd observation about the state of our country’s health: that our well-being is bound largely to our environment, and not only to the quality or quantity of the health care we receive. “Looking back on our discussion, I am struck by how the increasing sophistication of medicine hasn’t made a single one of us feel a greater sense of control over health outcomes,” Siddiqui says. “The more we learn about the causes of disease, the more interrelated we realize our work is with farmers, urban planners and school counselors. In this environment, our aspirations to heal are bound less to our office hours and more to the communities we cannot afford to be strangers to.” I am not surprised that the students pushed back against Sibert’s essay. This discussion could have easily become about self-determination and the right to determine the shape of one’s own career. But, instead, these students challenged Sibert by using humility and introspection — which bodes well for their future patients. Dr. Meisel is a practicing emergency physician and assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is medical editor of the LDI Health Economist from the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. Follow him on Twitter at @zacharymeisel.The Catholic-run Mater Hospital in Dublin is to allow its doctors to carry out abortions where there is a real and substantial risk to the life of a pregnant woman. The Catholic-run Mater Hospital in Dublin is to allow its doctors to carry out abortions where there is a real and substantial risk to the life of a pregnant woman. Mater Hospital says it will carry out abortions under new law The hospital is one of 25 across the State which are listed as appropriate centres to terminate pregnancies under the terms of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act. In a statement today the board said it has carefully considered the Act and said its priority is to be at the frontier of compassion, concern and clinical care for all our patients. “Having regard to that duty the hospital will comply with the law as provided for in the Act,” it added. The statement followed earlier objections raised by one of its board members Fr Kevin Doran, a priest in Donnybrook in Dublin. No hospital has a legal right to “opt out” of terminating a pregnancy to save the life of a pregnant woman under the terms of new abortion legislation,according to the Department of Health. However, Fr Doran said he would raise his objections the scheduled meeting of the board of the Mater. He suggested that the European Directive on discrimination may make provision for the protection of institutional ethos. During the debate on the legislation Health Minister James Reilly also made clear that a hospital funded by the taxpayer would have obligations under the law when he said: "We could not have a situation where a service being funded by the taxpayer could deprive a citizen of their rights." All other hospitals will comply with the legislation. St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin has that its board of directors held its scheduled meeting in July where the legislation was discussed and it confirmed it would “operate within the law of the land”. By Eilish O’Regan Health Correspondent Online EditorsAmazon Fire Phone 4G LTE Unlocked Smartphone - 32GB Features: Powerful performance • Ultra-fast launch and load times A 2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, combined with 2GB of RAM, enables faster app launch times, quicker website load times, and smoother multi-tasking. • Fast, fluid graphics An Adreno 330 graphics processor delivers the performance and fluidity needed for immersive gaming, video, and more. • High-speed data and voice support Fire phone features nine bands of 4G-LTE, four bands of GSM, five bands of UMTS for better voice coverage, faster data speeds, and international roaming, plus 802.11ac support, Wi-Fi channel bonding, NFC and Bluetooth LE support. • Better viewing indoors and out Fire phone's 4.7" HD display features dynamic image contrast, a wide viewing angle, circular polarizer, and an ultra-bright display at 590 nits, making it easy to see in all lighting conditions, indoors and out. • Uncompromised battery life With advanced power management technology, Fire phone delivers up to 285 hours of standby time, up to 22 hours of talk time, up to 65 hours of audio playback, and up to 11 hours of video playback. • Dynamic Perspective sensor system Dynamic Perspective uses four ultra-low power specialized cameras, plus four infrared LEDs for invisible illumination, real-time computer vision algorithms, and a custom graphics engine rendering at 60 fps. 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Choose from before and after images and pick the perfect shot. • Burst capture Press and hold the volume buttons or the Shutter icon to take a burst capture. • Panoramas and lenticulars Capture even the widest scene with the panorama setting. Combine and animate up to eleven distinct frames in lenticular mode. • Intelligent HDR Fire phone automatically suggests when to turn on High Dynamic Range (HDR). HDR merges multiple exposures into a more detailed, vibrant image—even in back-lit conditions. Firefly technology Simply press the Firefly button to instantly identify and take action on... • Phone numbers, web, and email addresses Firefly identifies printed text on posters, magazines, and business cards—make calls, save new contacts, send emails, and visit websites without typing long addresses. • Movies, TV, and art Firefly recognizes over 240,000 movies and TV episodes, and 160 live
find problem players. So, there’s a tone you want the game to be and if it starts straying from it you’re willing to police it to bring it back in line? Yeah. It’s a hard feat policing that kind of behavior, so it’s not like we’re trying to say “We’re going to be crazy extreme!” Some of it’ll be policed through systems. Like you won’t be able to steal someone’s clothes until they’re naked. Vampires don’t go around stealing each other's clothes. So that’s okay, let’s put that restriction in place. It doesn’t mean you won’t be able to take things from them, it just means you won’t be able to take their basic clothes items. Someone asked about nudity in the game during the World of Darkness keynote. Well, in a mature way, we’d like to have it. It’s not something that we’re sure we’ll be able to do, but it’s certainly something where we’d put rules in place as to where that’s appropriate and what could happen. So this will be governed more than EVE Online then? (Laughs) Now I’m just setting myself up for fail. So the answer is “No.” Really, I can’t tell you. We’re so far away from the customer service aspects of this right now that anything I say is complete speculation. World of Darkness is still in production with no current release date.2 of 5 Usually, it's a bad thing if you are most famous for the stupid patterns you shave into your chest hair. But even so, Brian Ebersole (49-14-1) has done pretty well for himself since he seemingly came out of nowhere and took the UFC's welterweight division by storm. Accepting a late-notice fight against Chris Lytle at UFC 127, Ebersole derailed the fan-favourite's title aspirations and came away with a dominant unanimous decision victory. His effort earned him Fight of the Night honours and an immediate place in the ever-stacked welterweight division. Since then, he's rattled off two more wins inside the Octagon, destroying Dennis Hallman's banana hammock via TKO and taking another solid decision against Claude Patrick. Ebersole brings an energetic fighting style featuring solid wrestling and unorthodox striking. When he's at his best, Ebersole brings a frenetic, fan-friendly pace that tends to overwhelm his opponents. He also has one of the sport's great chins since he has never been knocked out or TKO'd in a staggering 65 career fights. No matter who he's facing, Ebersole brings a fun, energetic match. TJ Waldburger (15-6) is a young, fairly unknown fighter with an incredible ground game. The numbers are pretty staggering. Out of his 15 career wins, 12 have come by way of submission. If he's smart, Ebersole will want to stay away from this kid's ground game. Waldburger scored a brilliant victory over Jake Hecht back in March, flipping his opponent on the mat and locking in a nasty armbar that made Hecht scream in pain. Other than his ground game, Waldburger has some serious chinks in his armour. It's never good to have five of your six losses come by way of knockout. It's even worse when you're only 24 years of age and thinking about the longevity of your career in one of the world's most brutal sports. Assuming that Ebersole wants to stay away from Waldburger's submission game, he must feel pretty confident that he score another knockout victory for his resume. Still, if Waldburger can find some success on the ground, he could definitely pull off a submission win over his stronger, more experienced opponent. In the end, I have to think that Ebersole has this one in the bag. He's a very strong, smart fighter with a ton of experience under his belt. He also had good wrestling and should be able to keep this one standing, where he can proceed to dominate Waldburger on the feet. Overall, a compelling matchup that should deliver fireworks. Prediction: Ebersole by Unanimous DecisionVaporizing is all the hype these days. Not only is this a healthier alternative to smoking rapidly gaining popularity, the number of vaporizers available is also growing fast. But how does a vaporizer work? And which vaporizer to choose? The latter is a difficult question to answer, but in the following article, we’ll try to steer aspiring vaporists in the right direction. What exactly is a vaporizer? Technically, a vaporizer is a device that heats up plant material (which can be any type of herb such as tobacco, damiana or valerian, although most users prefer to load theirs with good ol’ Mary Jane) to a temperature where it doesn’t burn (combust), but reaches a temperature high enough to release the active ingredients in with the damp. Since there is no smoke, there are also no carcinogenic fumes present in the vapour that is inhaled. What’s more, the taste of vapour is often described as more flavoursome and pure, as the lack of tobacco – and smoke – makes it easier to identify all the different aromas. Most vaporizers will pass a flow of hot air through the compartment that holds the herbs (which is most commonly referred to as bowl or herb chamber), preventing direct contact with the heating element. This principle is called ‘convection’ heating. When the herb or tobacco touches the heating element or coil, it is called ‘conduction’. As convection offers a safer way of heating with less chance of combustion, most modern vaporizers now apply this type of heating. What is the best vaporizer? To start off with a rather bold statement: At Azarius we believe there is no ‘best vaporizer’. As each vaporizer has its own unique features, it’s all about personal preference. It is therefore important to find the vaporizer that best suits your needs. Ask yourself the following questions: Where will I use the vaporizer? Is it home-use only? Or both at home and on the road? How often will I use it? Every day? All day? Or once a week? What is my budget? How much are you willing to pay for a vaporizer? Vaporizers may seem expensive but bear in mind that it can save you money in the long run as you’ll require less herb compared to smoking. Vaporizer features and characteristics In the following bit, we’ll go through the characteristics that mark the main differences between various vaporizers. Portability On our website, you’ll find three categories under ‘Vaporizers’: Portable vaporizers, Pen vaporizers and Non-portable (table top) vaporizers. Portables are small, light, fit easily into a pocket and do not need to be plugged in to use. Most modern portable vaporizers use an internal battery as power source. Battery lives can vary, so this is also something to keep into account. Some use a USB port to charge, others can be charged via a terminal. Non-portable vaporizers need to be plugged in and are often a bit bulkier. Examples are the V-tower, Extreme-Q, De Verdamper and Volcano vaporizers. Non-portables usually offer a broader range of features and can include a glass bowl or larger tubes (for cooling down the vapour). Ease of use The number of hands (as well as time/effort) required to prepare and use your vaporizer can be an important consideration. Some vaporizers require both hands to function correctly, and some take a bit of fiddling to fill the bowl or access the herb chamber. Videos of how vaporizers are used can be found on YouTube and can be a good help in finding the right vaporizer for you. Discretion Because vaping in public is often frowned upon, some users may prefer to keep their vaporizing from unwanted eyes. Small devices that fit in the palm of your hand or disguised as an inhaler (PUFFiT) will do just this. Vapour itself carries a slight smell but doesn’t linger around like smoke. It can sometimes be visible, but this depends on the type of vaporizer and the temperature used. Just be careful when filling your vaporizer with freshly ground Super Skunk, as it may spread aromas that can get you busted. Delivery Vapour can be delivered directly through a whip (tubing), a tube or stem, or by drawing right from the device itself. Indirect delivery involves filling a bag or balloon using a fan or a pump and is sometimes referred to as assisted delivery. The Volcano is currently the most popular balloon-type vaporizer. Balloons can be filled and taken around the house, offering more freedom than whip-based vaporizers. Materials and vapour path Materials are extremely important when it comes to vaporizers. The combination of heat and inhalation can be a tricky one, as unsafe materials may give off fumes that can be bad for your health. After all, we’re trying to prevent smoke and its toxic by-products, so we don’t need any of this! For this very reason, Azarius does not carry any ultra-inexpensive China-made vaporizers that can be found in many stores. Not only do these sometimes give off a plastic taste and smell, often they’re also very inaccurate when it comes to maintaining the right temperature, occasionally even causing combustion. Heat-up time If you’re of the impatient type, this is something you’ll want to pay extra attention to. Most portables take anywhere between 30 seconds and 5 minutes to heat up, but non-portables generally require a bit longer to reach their optimum vaporization temperature. Temperature control Did you know that temperature plays an important role in both the effect and taste of the vapour? Higher temperatures also give thicker vapour, but you’ll be able to obtain fewer hits from a single bowl. Most vaporizers now offer various (preset) temperature settings, allowing the user to experiment and determine their favourite temperature. Efficiency Some vaporizers are considered more efficient than others; this is typically achieved by keeping the vaporization temperature low and the load small. It improves taste and yields smoother vapour, but might not release the components that you need. Vaporizing is more efficient than smoking, but keep in mind that this efficiency can be offset by an increase in consumption. Herbs and the appropriate vaporizing temperatures Nip it in the bud, try something new...Vaporizing is simply a healthy substitute for combustion and so not just something that's confined to the great green grass... These herbs have a long history of being smoked by many different tribesmen and so it's not restricted to vaporization alone, though we should count ourselves lucky that we have the opportunity to conduct a healthier lifestyle. The list below is intended for inspiration and the temperatures indicated are also something to experiment with, for not everyone enjoys the same potency… Herbs with low vaporizing temperatures: Herbs with medium vaporizing temperatures: Herbs with high vaporizing temperatures: Aloe Vera: 175°C to 200°C (347°F to 392°F) Betel nut: 185°C to 200°C (365°F to 392°F) Calea Zacatechichi: 185°C to 200°C (365°F to 392°F) Clavo Huasca: 175°C to 200°C (347°F to 392°F) Galangal: 150°C to 200°C (302°F to 392°F) Temperatures over 230°C are not recommended. Medicinal users pay attention! The temperature at which you set your vaporizer is of big influence to the effects that you can get from it. There are a huge amount of active compounds in cannabis with different effects, which need different temperatures to become effective. In general, the temperature range of 170 - 200°C is ideal for cannabis. Depending on the vaporizer you should experiment with this range to get your preferred effect. 210°C is nowadays considered the best balance between efficient evaporation of terpenes and cannabinoids and smoothness of the vapour, although lower temperatures are seen as healthier. Delta-9-THC Temperature: 157°C 157°C Effect: Gives the smoker a classic "high" effect. Gives the smoker a classic "high" effect. Medical: Analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-emetic (agent against nausea) and euphoriant. CBD (cannabidinol) Temperature: 160-180°C 160-180°C Effect: Provides a mental sense of well-being and ease. Provides a mental sense of well-being and ease. Medical: Anxiolytic, analgesic, antipsychotic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antispasmodic. CBN (cannabinol) Temperature: 185°C 185°C Effect: A complex compound which acts as an Oxidization Breakdown Product A complex compound which acts as an Oxidization Breakdown Product Medical: Sedative and antibiotic. CBC (cannabichromene) Temperature: 220°C (beware, in many vaporizers this could lead to combustion because the chamber will become too hot.) 220°C (beware, in many vaporizers this could lead to combustion because the chamber will become too hot.) Effect: Collaborates with THC to increase euphoria. It has a strong resemblance to CBD. Collaborates with THC to increase euphoria. It has a strong resemblance to CBD. Medical: Anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and anti-fungal. CBG (cannabigerol) Temperature: 220°C 220°C Effect: The first cannabinoid to be produced by the cannabis plant. It is mostly sleep-inducing, but not psychoactive. The first cannabinoid to be produced by the cannabis plant. It is mostly sleep-inducing, but not psychoactive. Medical: Anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antifungal and hypotensive. THCV (tetrahydro-cannabivarin)Ebert DID criticise in terms of social critique, #GamerGate Here are some examples for you (this is extract from my post http://geekessays.wordpress.com/2014/10/15/gamergate-patriotism-and-c-s-lewis/) Some of you may say – Ebert didn’t insult his audience. You’re wrong there, I’m afraid – in some of the films he hated most, he often insulted those who would enjoy it. Some examples are below: “That makes “Hellbound: Hellraiser II” an ideal movie for audiences with little taste and atrophied attention spans…” – Hellbound: Hellraiser II “It was not just a large crowd, it was a profoundly disturbing one…And if they seriously believed the things they were saying, they were vicarious sex criminals….To hold his opinions at his age, he must already have suffered a fundamental loss of decent human feelings…There is no reason to see this movie except to be entertained by the sight of sadism and suffering.” – I Spit On Your Grave “If your date likes it, do not date that person again.” – Valentine’s Day Comments on poorly done sexualisation? Got that too! “That this film is not only garbage on an artistic level, but that it is also garbage on the crude and base level where it no doubt hopes to find its audience. “Caligula” is not good art, it is not good cinema, and it is not good porn…In the two hours of this film that I saw, there were no scenes of joy, natural pleasure, or good sensual cheer. There was, instead, a nauseating excursion into base and sad fantasies” – Caligula “…and a shapely slave girl, who seems to represent the filmmakers’ desire to introduce voyeurism into the big sex scenes” – The Scarlet Letter A ‘tropes vs women’ equivalent? https://t.co/khT261qL70. He also pointed out issues of race : “There’s one peculiarity. Usually in formula pictures with this huge a cast, maybe one couple will be African American, one Latino and one Asian. No such luck.” – Valentines Day “There is a thin line between satire and offensiveness, and this crosses it…Its portraits of these two working-class black women have been painted with snobbery and scorn…The result is a hurtful stereotype, because the comedy doesn’t work to redeem it.” B.A.P.S “One of the ancient ploys of the film industry is to make a film about non-white people and find a way, however convoluted, to tell it from the point of view of a white character…One of the last places you’d expect to see this practice is in a Chinese film…Now let me ask you: Can you think of any reason the character John Miller is needed to tell his story? Was any consideration given to the possibility of a Chinese priest? Would that be asking for too much?” – Flowers of War Reply · Report Post(Reuters) - Even as the U.S. Senate moves to allow oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the real action is 150 miles (241 km) west, where industry proponents hope a coming sale of 10 million acres of land will revitalize the state’s sagging crude production. The Trump administration, through the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, will auction off 10 million acres on Wednesday in the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A), a hotbed of oil exploration and development in the western part of Alaska’s North Slope. The planned sale has encouraged the oil industry while angering environmental groups. It would be the largest amount of land offered in a single lease sale there. The last sale of 1.45 million acres in 2016 netted $18.8 million, according to the U.S. Interior Department. Alaskan crude output this year was just 490,000 bpd, according to government data, far off its peak in 1988, when it produced more than 2 million barrels a day, nearly a quarter of overall U.S. production at the time. Alaska’s Congress members have pushed to allow drilling in ANWR, and a provision to do that was included in the Republican tax bill that recently passed the Senate. Yet industry supporters say development in the NPR-A, already established for the oil and gas industry, could yield barrels much more quickly than drilling in more remote Alaska frontiers. “NPR-A has the potential to fulfill short-term oil and gas needs for the state,” said Kara Moriarty, executive director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association. “It’s right next to currently producing fields,” she said, rather than in the Arctic Ocean or the wilderness. She said that even if ANWR is opened to drilling, it would be 10 to 15 years before any oil could be produced there. The NPR-A was set aside in 1923 as a source of oil for the military, but seven decades passed before there was any serious interest in drilling, and first production did not happen until 2015. Future development is held in check by a land management plan issued in 2013 that established five areas across the 23 million-acre reserve for special protection. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in May issued an order to review Arctic Alaska oil policies, with a potential repeal of environmental rules restricting NPR-A drilling. The reserve holds an estimated 896 million barrels of recoverable oil and 52.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to a mean estimate issued by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2010, though the oil figure represents a sharp downward revision from 2002 estimates. In his May order, Zinke directed the USGS to revise that 2010 estimate. ConocoPhillips Inc, the company most active in NPR-A, will ask the Bureau of Land Management to open up some territory near Teshekpuk Lake, Lisa Bruner, the company’s Alaska vice president of North Slope operations and development, said at an industry conference last month in Anchorage. Teshekpuk is the North Slope’s biggest lake and site of protections that date to the Reagan administration. “We see potential as we move into that area further to the west,” Bruner said. ConocoPhillips plans to drill four exploration wells this winter on leases within NPR-A, and one on adjacent state land. Environmentalists are chagrined at the pace of NPR-A development. “We need to be talking about the North Slope overall, and the Arctic overall - the Arctic Refuge, the NPR-A and the Arctic Ocean – because the Trump administration wants to open it all,” said Nicole Whittington-Evans, Alaska regional director of The Wilderness Society. Federal law requires protection of ecological resources and Alaska Native cultural rights to hunting and fishing areas, along with oil development, Whittington-Evans said. The Obama-era management plan, the product of years of scientific and public review, accomplished those goals, she said.Does it ever feel like we’ve just got over the last election before the next one looms? This week, yet again, there is talk of replacing three year parliamentary terms with four. What would the benefits be? What about the drawbacks? Why do we have three years anyway? Here’s the low down. First, what does a fixed-term mean? A ‘fixed-term’ means the term of an elected official expires automatically and an election is held at the same time every time, no matter what the circumstances. Fixed-terms are actually more common around the world; the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and the UK all have them to some degree. So do most of the Australian states and territories. The alternative is an unfixed term, where elections are called at the discretion of the government, until a maximum time has elapsed. The unfixed term was the norm for most parliaments based on the Westminster System until quite recently. This system was adopted in most British colonies, most of which eventually replaced it with a fixed term. Australia’s Commonwealth Parliament, however, never has. Most jurisdictions with fixed terms have provisions that mean new elections can be held early under certain circumstances, such as when there is a successful motion of no-confidence, or by agreement between government and opposition. Why are our parliamentary terms three years anyway? Only Australia, New Zealand, El Salvador, the Philippines, Mexico and Nauru choose their lower house for a three-year term. Four-year and five-year terms are much more common. Among Westminster parliaments, New Zealand and Australia are the only ones with three-year terms. British, Indian, Irish, South African elections are fixed every five years, Canadian ones every four. So why so short? When drafting the Constitution, its authors were much more interested in the financial provisions and powers of the parliament than they were with time between elections. They chose three years because it was the maximum length of parliamentary terms in most of the Australian colonies. One of the drafters of the Constitution, Andrew Inglis Clark, believed since most Australian parliaments had three-year terms, it was logical to have the same for the new Commonwealth. Interestingly enough, all the state parliaments are now elected for four-year terms. Does this apply to the Senate too? The Senate’s term is fixed. All Senators from the six states serve six-year terms, taking office on July 1, with half of them up for re-election every three years. Technically, elections for the House and half the Senate don’t have to be held at the same time, and indeed for a period in the 1960s and 1970s they weren’t. Now, for logistical reasons, elections are usually for both. The last election was a double dissolution, electing the whole senate, and backdating half the terms so some senators will have to face re-election in 2019. What would be the advantage of changing to a fixed four years? Some of the most commonly given reasons are: It would be cheaper, since there would be fewer elections, which a cost significant amount. People would have less election fatigue, since they wouldn’t have go through election campaigns as often. Politicians would have more time to focus on legislation and governing, with less worry about the next election being right around the corner. It creates certainty in the community about when elections will be, and creates less risk for businesses and voters who can plan around the set date. It means the government of the day won’t be able to call an election whenever it likes, to take advantage of political circumstances. Governments would be able to better plan policies and govern effectively if they know in advance precisely when the parliament’s term will expire. Almost all the states and territories have fixed four-year terms. Sounds reasonable. What’s the case against four year terms? Reasons often given against the proposed change include: It makes politicians less accountable, for having to face electors less often. It means unpopular governments will be in for longer. It means electing Senators for either an eight-year term, which is much too long, or a four-year term, which means the whole Senate would be chosen every election. Either that, or elect the senate separately, which would mean more elections (thus defeating the point). It stops the prime minister or government seeking a mandate for new policies, or new leadership. Voters might have to wait longer to give their approval or disapproval to governments and policies. It would lead to longer election campaigns, which are more expensive. Has Australia ever voted on this idea before? Australians voted in a referendum on fixed four-year terms in 1988. This pamphlet outlines the key arguments in favour of the reform. Voters rejected the change by a 2-1 margin. Yes, several times. The maximum terms of parliament are laid out in the Constitution, so changing the term from three years to four would require a national referendum. In 1988 the Hawke government asked the electorate to vote yes on extending the House of Representative term to four years, and shortening the Senate to four, meaning the entire Senate would always be chosen at once. Voters rejected this proposal, which also would have fixed the election dates. Before 1988, other attempts had been made to change the rules. Four times (1906, 1974, 1977 and 1984) voters were asked about simultaneous elections; these proposals wouldn’t have necessarily fixed the terms or extended them, but meant Senators would have had looser terms, effectively serving for two House terms, however long they happened to be. The reasoning was that it would make sure elections for the two houses were always held at the same time. All four times, voters turned the proposals down.Do you remember when I discussed the crushing disappointment that is Google AdSense in Podcast 64? If Stack Overflow, a site that does a million pageviews a day, can’t make enough from AdSense to pay even one person half time — and let me tell you, that’s being overly generous based on the actual income it generated — how does anyone make a decent living with AdSense? Seriously, how? Exclusively talking about Mesothomelia and Asbestos, or what? As a result, we dropped AdSense like a hot (or, rather, a particularly cold) potato. Instead, we turned to our pal Alex of The Daily WTF, and hooked into his curated ad network for software developers. We are firm believers in responsible (read: no flash, no animation) and restrained (read: limited to 3 ad slots, reduced ads for >200 rep) advertising. This has worked quite well for us so far. How well? On the order of fifty to a hundred times better than AdSense! I am not exaggerating. Those are actual numbers. Even though Alex does a great job, we always have a lot of left over unsold ad space. And as the site has grown over the last 6 months, this gap has widened. So then the question becomes — if AdSense doesn’t work for us (and boy, does it ever not work for us) — then what can you do with that remnant ad space? I hate the word monetization with a passion, but surely something useful could be done here? That’s when Portman Wills approached us. He’s not only an old school 4 digit Stack Overflow user and fellow programmer — he also has extensive experience in his previous gigs with advertising code. Portman is currently busy building cool stuff like shuffletime (not to mention his hilarious parody sites woofer and feeling unlucky). But he was enthused about the opportunity to help out Stack Overflow — and maybe, just maybe, generate some ads that were actually (gasp!) useful and relevant to his fellow programmers at the same time. Thus, Portman generously offered to build a custom ad-serving site for us, which we gladly hosted at rads.stackoverflow.com. Rads has three main components: A spider which uses the Amazon Product Advertising API to crawl the Amazon product catalog. A website which renders an advertisement based on Stack Overflow tags. Some analytics to determine which ads, books, and tags are most effective. The spider was fed the top 5000 tags on Stack Overflow. For each tag, it preformed a keyword search on the “Computers & Internet” node, returning the top 10 books with five-star reviews, sorted by number of reviews. You can read the full skinny in Portman’s summary. We had high hopes of building something that connected great programmers with quality programming books on Amazon. The ads looked nice, too: Excellent plan, right? Smart. Clever, even! Well, it was a complete and utter failure. Despite our purported cleverness, it didn’t work. Not even a little. The Amazon ad experiment was a total failure by any metric I can think of. Clicks, revenue, goodwill, newton-pounds, cuils, you name it. It was literally a waste of everyone’s time. Even flipping burgers would have paid more. But this failure was not for lack of trying. If a guy as skilled as Portman — who not only has a deep background in custom advertising, but is also a programmer capable of writing a solution tailored to our specific audience — can’t make this work, I had to regretfully conclude that nobody could make it work. It’s just not possible. So we scrapped the whole thing, and we’re going in a different direction. More news on that soon. But in the meantime, since we had our fancy-shmancy Amazon Affiliates account set up, we might as well put it to good use. Even way back in the original Stack Overflow beta, people were proposing that we convert any Amazon book links to Stack Overflow amazon affiliate book links. I was hesitant to do this at the time, but given our failure, I was licking my wounds. I was willing to give it a try. Particularly since the community seemed totally OK with the concept. So, onward to plan B: we now auto-insert Stack Overflow affiliate info into any amazon book links posted on Stack Overflow. Oh yeah, and here’s the kicker. These silly little rewritten text links work 200%-300% better than our custom amazon book ads! Go figure. All I can say is, advertising is hard, let’s go shopping! And when it’s not hard, it’s borderline scammy, which is something we just don’t do at Stack Overflow. At any rate, I’m glad Portman is here to take the blamehelp. Apparently we can add advertising to the long, long list of things that we suck at. But we do plan to suck less every year!Copyright 2019 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. VERMONT - Since 2013, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets has issued more than $210,000 in penalties to Vermont Dollar General stores for pricing inaccuracies, such as discrepancies between posted shelf price and the price charged at the register. Vermont Dollar General stores were fined $24,000 this year alone. "We feel it is important that consumers are aware of these inaccuracies, so they can take an active role in ensuring they are charged accurately, by checking their receipts and paying close attention in the store," said Dr. Kristin Haas, head of the Agency's Food Safety and Consumer Protection Division. Agency inspectors have reported 47 price scanner violations since 2013. According to the Agency, Inspectors are always looking for errors that can cost consumers money such as faulty scales and price scanners. Stores receive an official notice for their first violation and must respond with a corrective action report. If the problem is not fixed, the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets can issue administrative penalties and even refer stores to the Vermont Attorney General's Office. "We are working towards helping Vermonters have a better experience when they shop at Dollar General," said Consumer Protection Chief Henry Marckres. The Agency has a list of the current Consumer Protection violations on their website.Texas Longhorns defensive end Cedric Reed (88) closes in on Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Blake Bell (10) in the fourth quarter of the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, October 12, 2013. Texas upset No. 12 Oklahoma, 36-20. Our college football bloggers took a crack at analyzing the 2014 schedules for our area teams, also predicting wins and losses. Take a look for yourself and let us know how your favorite team should fare in the regular season. Texas Longhorns Predicted record: 9-3, 7-2 in Big 12 Notable game: Oct. 11 vs. Oklahoma in Dallas – A young talented Oklahoma unit greets Strong for his first Red River Rivalry game. Expect Bob Stoops to find continued success; this time against someone different than Brown. Click here to see Chris Hummer's full breakdown. LONGHORNSRECORD Texas A&M Aggies Predicted record: 9-3, 5-3 in SEC Notable game: Oct. 18 at Alabama – It’s become a marquee matchup in the SEC West and it can’t be said that the Crimson Tide has dominated the Aggies in consecutive games. What A&M won’t have at their disposal is the determination of Manziel which proved the difference in both games which leads to A&M’s second loss. Click here to see Sean Lester's full breakdown. AGGIESRECORD Oklahoma Sooners Predicted record: 12-0, 9-0 in Big 12 Notable game: Sept. 13 vs. Tennessee – The Sooners meet the Vols for the first time since the 1968 Orange Bowl. The Vols are rebuilding their program under Butch Jones, but the Sooners are more talented. The Vols will start five new offensive linemen which gives the Sooners run defense a chance to make plays in the backfield. The Sooners ranked second in the Big 12 in rushing defense in 2013, and they will shut down the Tennessee run game in this one. Click here to see Alex Apple's full breakdown. SOONERSRECORD TCU Horned Frogs Predicted record: 8-4, 5-4 in Big 12 Notable game: Oct. 25 vs. Texas Tech – Like Doug Meacham helped against Oklahoma State, Sonny Cumbie will help TCU gameplan for the Red Raiders. TCU held TTU to a season-low 20 points last year, but the Frogs could not score. With new offensive coordinators, TCU will score points on a Red Raider defense that gave up over 30 points per game in 2013. Click here to see Alex Apple's full breakdown. FROGSRECORD SMU Mustangs Predicted record: 5-7, 4-4 in AAC Notable game: Sept. 27 vs. TCU – Anything can happen in rivalry game, and this one will be close. But TCU’s stable of backs should carry them to victory. SMU hasn’t beaten TCU at home since 2005. Click here to see E.J. Holland's full breakdown. MUSTANGSRECORD Baylor Bears Predicted record: 10-2, 7-2 Notable game: Oct. 4 at Texas – Baylor’s first real test of the season will be a rematch of the Big 12 title game from a season ago. Expect Texas to be more competitive at home. Click here to see Josh Friemel's full breakdown. BEARSRECORD Texas Tech Red Raiders Predicted record: 8-4, 5-4 in Big 12 Notable game: Nov. 29 vs. Baylor at AT&T Stadium – This game is a potential program changer for the Red Raiders now that Baylor has seized recruiting momentum and national notoriety away from them. Click here to see Mike Graham's full breakdown. TECHRECORDNew York (CNN) In a rare public appearance eight months after leaving office, former President Barack Obama took shots at his successor's plans on health care and foreign policy but didn't criticize him by name. In a speech and question-and-answer session that closely resembled the types of appearances he favored as president, Obama called repeated efforts to repeal his signature health care law "frustrating." He defended institutions like the United Nations as essential to collective diplomacy. And he warned against nationalism and xenophobia, saying they threaten to stymie progress that has made the world more livable. "It may be frustrating that we have to mobilize every couple months to keep our leaders from inflicting real human suffering on their constituents," Obama said of the health care battle. "But typically, that's how progress is won." Obama's speech at an event sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation came during Trump's first trip to the UN General Assembly, the yearly gathering of diplomats in New York. As Obama spoke, Trump was shuttling between meetings with the leaders of the Palestinian Authority and various countries in Africa If Trump's campaign message and governing philosophy has been focused on repairing a damaged country, Obama offered a starkly different view on Wednesday, focusing instead on the advantages Americans currently enjoy compared to moments in the past. "We just have to reject the notion that we are suddenly gripped by forces that we can't control, and embrace the longer, more optimistic view of history and the part that we play in it," he said. "I know that statement doesn't seem to jibe with the steady stream of bad news and cynicism we're fed on television and Twitter," he said. Obama has largely avoided criticizing his Trump since the handoff of power in January, though he has released statements on Facebook decrying decisions Trump has made over the course of his presidency. He was sharply critical of Trump's plan to end a program shielding certain young immigrants from deportation, and he has been critical of attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In other areas, however, Obama has expressed more veiled displeasure. He didn't respond directly to Trump's equivocal comments about white supremacist violence in Virginia, instead tweeting a quote from Nelson Mandela (the tweet became the most liked of all time). The two men have not spoken since January, and their relationship is marked more by animosity than a shared respect at having both held the same office. On Wednesday, Obama followed the classic post-presidential etiquette of not directly criticizing the sitting president -- even as he
over your document and looking at some of the pipedreams, things like "remort" and I think I heard something about multi-guilding mentioned from the discord." Lyneya says, "Ok, but keep in mind that pipe dreams are not plans." Perune asks, "Are you saying you don't eventually intend to put hand to them?" Lyneya says, "I'm saying that it's a fun idea, and it may or may not get developed. If it does get developed, it may end up in a completely different form. It's a brainstorm practice." Perune says, "Well, keeping that in mind, when brainstorming for the future, is the setting a serious consideration? I could see how some people might like some of these, but I can also see how some ideas seem pretty far fetched for the game itself." Lyneya asks, "Nothing is far fetched. We own the code. We can literally do whatever we want to do. Realistically, we're limited by our resources. If you have other ideas or feedback on the pipe dreams, by all means please comment them on the doc?" Lyneya says, "But we definitely feel that we can make either of those ideas work within our setting." Perune nods. Perune says, "That's all I have." The faint glow of an unseen sun rises higher amidst the smothering banks of clouds. Lyneya says, "We haven't really discussed them to that degree of detail, because again -- they're pipe dreams." Lyneya nods to Perune. Lyneya says, "Thank you." Tache is next. Lyneya points a speaker's staff at Tache and the usher moves over and holds the voice scepter before him. Tache says, "Hello, my comment is about simu coins. I'd like you to consider adding higher end items to the simu coin marketplace that could potentially give you a slice of all the RL money that is being made via RL item sales." Tache says, "I'd personally rather pay simu for higher quality/rare items than people who constantly farm plats to buy said items at auctions." Tache says, "I'm not saying to sell everything on there, but there should be some neat and rare stuff that pops up from time to time to give YOU guys money to keep this game going." Lyneya nods to Tache. Tache asks, "Has there been any discussion about something of that sort?" Lyneya says, "I agree, the SimuCoin store needs more items of a wider value range." Tache says, "That's it from me." The heavy rains lessen to a steady shower. Lyneya says, "That is something I'd like to work on over the course of the year, but it's more likely to be a little here a little there, as time allows." Lyneya nods to Tache. Tirost is next. Lyneya points a speaker's staff at Tirost and the usher moves over and holds the voice scepter before him. Tirost says, "Hi, Lyneya." Tirost says, "You mentioned that we might email the events team about player run events." Lyneya says, "Yes." Lyneya nods. Tirost says, "Each time I've done that so far it's been... disheartening, and I truly feel that RP events are perhaps the best way to retain new players who are looking to integrate into the community as well as giving them a reason to grind skills." Tirost asks, "Can you say a little bit about what the Events GMs might be willing to do for players interested in organizing RP events?" Grenhart shakes his head as if clearing it. Lyneya says, "I'm looking for a list, one sec." Tirost nods to Lyneya. Tirost says, "Thanks." Lyneya says, "I can't find it quickly." Lyneya says, "I'll ask Persida to post a summary on the forums for you though." Lyneya nods to Tirost. Tirost says, "Really appreciate it." Tirost says, "Thank you." Tirost nods to Lyneya. Whiteburn is next. Lyneya points a speaker's staff at Whiteburn and the usher moves over and holds the voice scepter before her. Lyneya says, "Hello." Whiteburn says, "Yoyo." Chuno removes his name from the speaker's list. Whiteburn says, "My question is sorta piggybacking on Sulic's. I would like to know if it's at all possible for there to be a system in place where certain players could have select mini-events permissions in order to help further GM-run events when no events GMs are available to do so." Whiteburn says, "The player could have specific goals (do this by the end of the week, or make sure that the plot progresses to this point) or perhaps be able to make NPCs who can also progress goals. The player could also be expected to record logs and write summaries so that events gms can know of and react to player actions as they see fit." Whiteburn says, "This could help the "lag" that sometimes happens between big event times and also might help to keep current events fresh. It would also be a way to provide players with more opportunities for roleplay during down times when nothing official is going on. Sometimes it may seem like people are just waiting around for something to participate in, and this could help to make the world feel more alive and hopefully also support and encourage regular player-run events, too." Lyneya says, "That's definitely an interesting idea. I'm not sure how realistic it is right now, but something worth discussing, especially if we were talking about world-wide, large scale events." Whiteburn says, "Of course. That is all I really had to say. But yet, as it seems appropriate, please remember to always donate blood to Drogor forever." Whiteburn nods. Lyneya says, "I'll get right on that." Lyneya nods to Whiteburn. Agadir is next. Lyneya points a speaker's staff at Agadir and the usher moves over and holds the voice scepter before him. Agadir says, "Hello, I was going over the group content and some of the other ideas that are pipe dreams or in the pipeline, and one thing I was wondering more about was group content." Agadir says, "Have there been any ideas about how to introduce more of it into the game? In other games I've played, that's always been one of the best ways to get to know other people." Lyneya says, "I have some ideas, but nothing I'm ready to discuss yet. Not even pipe dream yet, just vague thoughts. It's definitely something we've discussed - and recently." Agadir says, "That's all I really had." Agadir nods. Lyneya says, "We have some tools in the works that may make some things possible.. but it's not near enough to discuss yet." Lyneya says, "I'm hopeful that in the next year, we can have that conversation because you're right - it is important to the game to have reasons to interact with each other." Fillius is next. Lyneya points a speaker's staff at Fillius and the usher moves over and holds the voice scepter before him. Fillius says, "Hello." Lyneya says, "Hi." Fillius asks, "Would you be willing to share the scheduled release date for Trader magic?" Lyneya says, "No." Fillius says, "Aww." Lyneya laughs! Fillius says, "That's it." Lyneya says, "Ok." The steady rains lessen to a light, misty drizzle. Lyneya says, "Ok, so." Lyneya says, "If anyone has questions they did not get to ask -- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W3Z77LY -- I will try to keep an eye on this and maybe do a weekly answers post. Possibly. Depending on how many questions come in to it." Lyneya says, "I'm trying to figure out how to unhush you but it's not cooperating with me." Katamba slowly rises above the horizon. Lyneya casually observes the area. Lyneya shifts her weight. Lyneya asks, "Did that work?" Gallifreius loudly exclaims, "Test!" Gallifreius flashes a wide grin. Lnenea gets an impish expression on her face, and lets out a hearty cheer. Merlun grins. Xiv says, "Hmm." The katambite set in Xixist's paws slowly shifts from black streaked with gold to golden. Divy nods. Lnenea says, "Thank you." Xixist grins. Kehlbins wryly asks, "So...no gift box, does that mean we get enchanting for Christmas?" Gallifreius bows. Lnenea smiles at Kehlbins. Lnenea is hugging herself. Tirost grins at Kehlbins. Lnenea stands near Lyneya. Lyneya says, "I've been putting gifts out for people all week long." Kehlbins grins at Lyneya. Lnenea pokes Lyneya in the ribs. With steady, methodical placement of each foot, Xixist's chameleon races from one shoulder to the other. It should get there by tomorrow! Xixist smiles. Lowering her head in reverence, Lnenea sweeps her wool cloak aside and bends in a formal bow. The motes of light in Ethun's crystal armband drift and twinkle, reminiscent of fireflies at night. Lnenea waves. Xixist raises his hand in a quick salute. Kehlbins waves to Tirost. Tirost waves to Kehlbins. Kehlbins says to Lyneya, "Seriously though. Thanks for doing this." Vorare nods in agreement. Gallifreius nods politely. Lyneya says, "Welcome. Thanks for participating in surveys." The katambite set in Gallifreius's claws slowly shifts from black streaked with gold to golden. Xixist says, "I feel our crys are nae sung to the wind." Xixist grins. Rhoslyn reaches down and rubs Aislynn's tail. Rhoslyn nods. Aislynn babbles incoherently. Yvela says to Lyneya, "Thank you for doing this! Good night." Aislynn gives Rhoslyn a gentle poke in the ribs. Aislynn growls at Rhoslyn. Rhoslyn grins at Aislynn. Arandrowse exclaims, "Yes thanks again, and Merry Christmas to all and all a good night!" Rhoslyn says, "Aww..." Rhoslyn begins pouting. Merlun bows to Lyneya. Xixist's monkey's paw twitches as it clenches into a tight fist. Erieck strokes his beard in thoughtful contemplation. Aislynn adjusts her icesteel pel'hhsmur into place. Lyneya says, "I'm tired." Sarvatt rubs Rhoslyn's nose with his cat fur. Kehlbins praises Lyneya. Arandrowse says, "Oh and sorry and condelences on your losses." Kehlbins waves. Lyneya grins. Xixist says, "And remember the rivercraft idea." Rhoslyn begins nagging Sarvatt unmercifully. Xixist grins at Lyneya. Sarvatt rubs Rhoslyn's head with his yellow onion. Aislynn just tickled Rhoslyn, making her laugh. The vibrant blue nimbus fades from around Uritel. Sarvatt puts his pole in his multi-strapped carryall. Rhoslyn grins. Whiteburn says to Lyneya, "Indeed, thank you for hosting and for the surveys." Sarvatt gets a clove of garlic from inside his multi-strapped carryall. Sarvatt rubs Rhoslyn's head with his clove of garlic. Sarvatt just hugged Rhoslyn. RAW Paste Data **************************************** State of Elanthia Meeting Log Time: Friday, December 22, 2017 - 9PM ET Location: Crossing Amphitheater **************************************** >look [The Crossing Amphitheater, The Seating Area] Stone benches and wooden seats form a semi-circle around a stage at the north end of this theater. Designed so even a whisper can be heard by all, this area is used for everything from town meetings to staged performances. You also see a handful of buttery popcorn, a handful of buttered popcorn sprinkled with sea salt, a one-eyed brown tabby kitten, a questions list, a speaker's list and a large stone archway. Also here: Shadow's Touch Ethun, Lightning Warden Aurayn who has a stony visage, Spirit Weaver Gabellia who is shrouded in ghostly flames, Tallen, Wildwood Summoner Ronicoregest, Parched Avareyna, Accompanist Poose who is sitting, Belhem, Executioner Grenhart who is sitting, Celestian Rjandys who is sitting, Agadir, Visionist Miskton, Ranger Arandrowse, Eyrie Master Toridahn, Rigek, Kehlbins, Gorteous who is sitting, Ranger Vykanthiss, Healer Nestariel, Maxwelinski, Myrmidon Kerizon, Ruea, War Witch Heartsfyre, Bone Mender Rablan, Tinkerer Fillius, Heresiarch Uritel who is shrouded by swirling grey fog, Manterre who is radiating a glowing aura, Bone Mender Sablema who is sitting, Sameera, Bellatristezza, Corruption's Death Agodius who is surrounded by a shimmering shield, Surgeon Gallifreius, Dikka'staho Ashu Vorare, Tirost, Yvela, Holy Warrior Caele who is sitting, Engineering Master Ascot, Oscearo who is surrounded by a shimmering shield, Priestess Anlise, Roughneck Syngolith, Divine Armorsmith Ederick, Ahneya, Revolutionary Zharyn, Arcanist Nefis, Libertine Charlize who is sitting, Vigilant Lasika, Initiate Empath Pynga, Inspiration Zoggrogg, Orcris a Ilet Epato Sarbu Vanxa, Fearless Zehira, Battle Jester Aldeberan who is sitting, Skullcrusher Sophrona who is sitting, Knight Magistra Rhoslyn who has a fiery visage, Life Weaver Karthor, Toxophilite Talinel, Inquisitor Whiteburn who is emanating a malevolent holy aura, Knight Magister Firekast, Spider Jalika, Glamour Seeker Koravian who is sitting, Grayhair Sarvatt who is sitting, Perune, Kolja, Adaptable Mobam who is sitting, Lnenea who is sitting, Merry Butcher Leilond, Azettie, Cabraken, Chuno who is sitting, Retired Commander Xixist, Gauntlet Champion Mazrian, Hodierna's Fist Kaelie, Tache who is sitting, Court Historian Erieck and GameMaster Lyneya. Obvious paths: none. Lyneya fades into view. >look lyn You see GameMaster Lyneya, a Human Cleric. Lyneya has pointed ears, jade eyes and a small nose. Her amber hair is very long and fine with a white streak running through it, and is worn loose. She has some rainbow glitter accenting pale skin. She has transcended time. She has a tattoo of a stormy raincloud made from the tears of thousands of babies on her face. She is in good shape. She is wearing a thin silver circlet set with a cabochon moonstone, an elegant silver amulet dangling a single sapphire teardrop, a pure white spidersilk cloak woven in a pattern resembling swan feathers, an ornate platinum brooch set with an orichalcum icosahedron, a pale blue moonsilk bag with a clasp shaped like a flying dove, a lumpy green-black canvas bag, a pale blue moonsilk robe elegantly embroidered with the image of a swan in flight, a fancy trinket and a pair of pale blue moonsilk slippers decorated with tiny seed pearls. Lyneya says, "Ok, sorry.. I was trying to figure out where one of the portals is." Lyneya exclaims, "HELLO!" Lyneya says, "So, I have some things prepared to share with you." Lyneya says, "My basic plan for tonight is to first share some comments about the MOST COMMON statements in the General Survey." Lyneya says, "Then answer some specific questions -- I can't answer all of them tonight, but the ones I do not answer, I will type up for the forums sometime next week." Lyneya says, "I'm going to share a fun document with all of you." Lyneya says, "And then open it for live Q&A." Lyneya says, "A bit about the surveys, before I get into my comments." The rain falls harder and is now a heavy downpour. Lyneya says, "Thank you guys, SO very much, for taking the time to fill them out." Lyneya says, "I've shared your responses with staff, and we're so very pleased with the participation and the insight into the current pulse of the players." Lyneya says, "Tonight I'm just going to talk about the general survey, but in the coming weeks you'll see more about some of the other ones." Lyneya says, "For kicks, just because I'd be curious myself..." Lyneya recites: "Responses counted for each: General - 148 Guilds - 103 Hunting - 131 PVP - 107 Events - 93" Lyneya says, "And that's awesome, again I can't thank you enough." Lyneya says, "So, for the general survey, I have some comments prepped." Lyneya says, "Again, these are based on the most common themes in your responses - obviously I can't comment on every single individual's response." Lyneya says, "Onboarding more GMs -- Yes! Yes, please. Apply now. I intend to review applications after the holidays and have a new group training in the first quarter of 2018. If you're interested in working with us and already have an application on file, PLEASE visit the application section of the website and update your application AND your tests. That means GO IN TO EACH ONE and review it, and save it again so that I can see that it's been touched recently. I can only bring up 4 or 5 new GMs at a time, so if you don't hear from me this round please don't be disappointed. My goal is to run at least 3 groups in 2018, so if you don't make the first group you may make the second or third." Lyneya says, "Development speed -- I agree with each and every one of you that commented about the slow speed of gamewide (not MicroTrans) releases. This is something I've felt strongly about for years, and until now haven't really been in a position to do anything about. There are some longterm projects that are necessary -- Armifer's Paladin Guild review is expected to take the better part of 2018, for example -- and some others that I feel could have waited. We need to have a better balance between these "BIG" projects and the smaller, more regular releases. As it happens, several big things are on their way to being wrapped up, and it's my intention to limit how many developers at a time should be focused on major systems and/or overhauls, at least until we have more hands working on development. (See: Previous point about onboarding more GMs) It will help us realize more frequent releases if more of our developers are working on smaller (and also important) projects." ********************************* ********GAME CRASHED HERE******** ********************************* [The Crossing Amphitheater, The Seating Area] Stone benches and wooden seats form a semi-circle around a stage at the north end of this theater. Designed so even a whisper can be heard by all, this area is used for everything from town meetings to staged performances. You also see a large stone archway, a speaker's list and a questions list. Also here: Merlun, Legionnaire Sulic, Shadow Priestess Brennarose, Spirit Weaver Gabellia who is shrouded in ghostly flames, Belhem, Inquisitor Whiteburn who is emanating a malevolent holy aura, Zabin who is sitting, Big Shot Cash, Lightning Warden Aurayn who has a stony visage, Zoluren's Herald Navesi, Fearless Zehira, Prestidigitator Serrathon, Heresiarch Uritel who is emanating a bright holy aura, Orcris a Ilet Epato Sarbu Vanxa, Parched Avareyna, Yvela, Sameera, Accompanist Poose who is sitting, Blood Warrior Zharen, Hunter Hanryu, Visionist Miskton, Skullcrusher Sophrona who is sitting, Commodities Specialist Tellel, Gorteous, Inspiration Zoggrogg, Perune, Court Historian Erieck, Kehlbins, Roughneck Syngolith, Delani, Libertine Charlize who is sitting, Rigek, Maxwelinski, Grayhair Sarvatt, Knight Magister Firekast, Chuno who is sitting, Executioner Grenhart who is sitting, Merry Butcher Leilond, Kolja, Ahneya, Holy Warrior Caele who is sitting, Dikka'staho Ashu Vorare, Ruea, Ranger Quinnus, Retired Commander Xixist, Celestian Rjandys who is sitting, Tinkerer Fillius, Vigilant Lasika, Spider Jalika, Arcanist Nefis, Gauntlet Champion Mazrian, Corruption's Death Agodius, Manterre who is sitting, Tirost, Hodierna's Fist Kaelie, Surgeon Gallifreius, Oscearo who is surrounded by a shimmering shield, Lnenea who is sitting, Bone Mender Rablan, GameMaster Lyneya, Divine Armorsmith Ederick, Knight Magistra Rhoslyn, Ranger Arandrowse, Azettie, Tache who is sitting and Bellatristezza. Obvious paths: none. Lyneya exclaims, "Ok!" Lyneya says, "FALSE START GUYS." Lyneya says, "I'm not going to repeat my agenda." The rain increases in severity and is now a severe downpour. Lyneya says, "But I will repeat my walls-of-text so it's all in one log for you guys." Lyneya says, "Onboarding more GMs -- Yes! Yes, please. Apply now. I intend to review applications after the holidays and have a new group training in the first quarter of 2018. If you're interested in working with us and already have an application on file, PLEASE visit the application section of the website and update your application AND your tests. That means GO IN TO EACH ONE and review it, and save it again so that I can see that it's been touched recently. I can only bring up 4 or 5 new GMs at a time, so if you don't hear from me this round please don't be disappointed. My goal is to run at least 3 groups in 2018, so if you don't make the first group you may make the second or third." Lyneya says, "Development speed -- I agree with each and every one of you that commented about the slow speed of gamewide (not MicroTrans) releases. This is something I've felt strongly about for years, and until now haven't really been in a position to do anything about. There are some longterm projects that are necessary -- Armifer's Paladin Guild review is expected to take the better part of 2018, for example -- and some others that I feel could have waited. We need to have a better balance between these "BIG" projects and the smaller, more regular releases. As it happens, several big things are on their way to being wrapped up, and it's my intention to limit how many developers at a time should be focused on major systems and/or overhauls, at least until we have more hands working on development. (See: Previous point about onboarding more GMs) It will help us realize more frequent releases if more of our developers are working on smaller (and also important) projects." Lyneya says, "Skill gap between new and seasoned characters -- This one is tricky. I agree that there is a big gap. I disagree that it is an insurmountable gap, but I could see an argument that a true new player would be unwilling to invest the time it takes to work on closing that gap. That said, there is also a complex issue of fairness that I haven't fully settled on: on the one hand, if someone has been dedicated to their character for years.. Well they DESERVE their spot at the top. They've worked for it and earned it. On the other hand, if we can't attract and retain new players, we'll only continue to get smaller over time. I feel like this is a topic to revisit after or while we spend some time addressing the New Player Experience, and that's a stretch goal for 2018." Lyneya says, "Roleplay -- I also agree with the comments that talk about the lack of roleplay in today's game. Sometimes events consist of people who ignore everyone, and then see a GMPC log in. They pull out their thees and thous until the GMPC leaves and then they go back to ignoring people, or talking about how the Steelers got ripped off and the Pats don't deserve to win. (Suck it up, Buttercup. He's the GOAT.) Enforcing the RP atmosphere of the game is something that slipped between the cracks when the size of our staff got smaller. As we bring more hands on board I intend to encourage a more vigilant eye on those things, and remind our players that OOC/OOG conversations and actions need to be whispered or behind closed doors. The atmosphere is part of what makes our game awesome, and we need to spend some effort returning to our roots there." Lyneya says, "(seemingly) AFK people -- I can't say this enough, guys. REPORT them and move on. Don't ASSIST. REPORT Soandso appears to be AFK scripting. DO NOT interfere with them. Move on. If you interfere with the character in question, you run a high risk of disrupting our ability to check them and/or catch them at gaining experience while they are unresponsive. THAT SAID -- Not everyone who doesn't answer you or doesn't stop to say hi to you is AFK. We check people if you report them, and often times the player passes the check. White lists and triggers are a thing, and some people are very successful at evading our standard checks, but if we suspect that someone is using these methods there are some other ways to check them that people are less successful at avoiding. Let us do our jobs - We can't be everywhere every minute, but we do what we can." Lyneya says, "Policy enforcement -- This is a big one. We will never be able to discuss actions we've taken against another account holder with you, but that does not mean that we haven't taken action. It ALSO does not mean that whoever you're complaining about is being 100% honest when they say they merely got a slap on the wrist and sent on their way. You have to trust that we're doing our jobs. To that same point, just because someone is annoying you does not mean that they are breaking policy. It's definitely grey, it definitely needs more work, and it's absolutely high on my list for 2018." Lyneya says, "Communication and timely information -- There is no ONE PLACE to go to stay on top of every conversation that happens related to DragonRealms. Some GMs monitor (and occasionally participate in) Reddit discussions. For myself, I've been keeping my eye on Discord recently. Others watch Facebook, and others stick to Twitter. We are all people, and we all prefer to communicate via different mediums. Important announcements will continue to be posted on the forums, but general conversation and discussion may happen where ever is convenient for the GM participating in that discussion at that time." Lyneya says, "Again, these are my comments about the MOST PROLIFIC statements on the general survey." Lyneya says, "There's a ton of great feedback on all of them, and we'll be looking at it a lot in the near future as we try to dial in to the pulse of the current playerbase." Lyneya says, "As for the other surveys, the response on them wasn't quite as high. I am going to go through and prepare something similar -- my comments in response to your feedback -- but more importantly, I've shared your responses with staff members and asked them to take your input on board going forward." Lyneya says, "This series of surveys contained all open-ended questions because I did not want to limit you to what -I- think you'd answer. The next series will likely be more specific." Lyneya says, "Ok, now for some answers to specific questions --." Lyneya asks, "Q. Hunting rooms in "good" critters have been an issue since forever. What is happening now to address the issue? Why are GMs so reluctant to just make more rooms and turn up the gen and turn off the terrible special attacks?" Lyneya says, "A. We've got some plans for some new hunting areas, and are in the process of reviewing current areas. The Hunting survey has given us a great head start. It's definitely part of the plan to make the most out of what we have and fix what isn't working. Turning up the gen and off the special attacks isn't an optimal solution and is unlikely to happen. We don't WANT everyone to pile up in a few specific hunting areas, and if you think a special attack is broken, please post what specifically you think is broken about them. Don't just say "These things are broken, shut off special attacks!" Tell us why you think it is broken." Lyneya says, "Q1. What can we do as players to develop RP events that seek GM support? I've noticed Necros get a lot of support, but it seems like their events are simpler than what Thieves or Traders or Paladins could bring to the table to make players feel like their RP was semi-meaningful." Lyneya says, "A1. Write to [email protected] with your inquiries. There are limits to what we can do for player-run events -- If we can't guarantee it for every single player-run event in the future, we don't do it for any. Anything else would be unfair." Lyneya says, "Q2. What can players do to help "develop" game content outside of GM support. E.g., can a workflow be created that allows other players to act as QA/QC on submissions and allow GMs to scan instead of in-depth evaluation." Lyneya says, "A2. Not too much at this time, but I am willing to explore options. This is an interesting idea, and when I have time I will see if I can find a way to implement something of this nature. QC is more than just testing, it's also a thorough examination of the code used and the core settings on items." Lyneya asks, "Q. Why does GSIV have so many GMs where DR has so few?" Lyneya says, "A. I don't work for GSIV and can't speak to their staff structure, but I can say that they haven't had the same set of challenges we have over the past couple years. We here in DR are actively working towards improving our staff numbers." Lyneya asks, "Q. Why doesn't staff document the items and abilities they create?" Lyneya says, "A. If you're talking about Elanthipedia, that's a player-run resource. Simu hosts it ONLY so that it remains available for you. GMs are not now, nor will they be, required to update items there." Lyneya asks, "Q. Why are all these vanity pets created that (rumored) use different scripted code when they're basically the same reskinned item? Wouldn't it have made much more sense to code up the Core Pet system that we've been promised for years and dole out a few scripted abiltiies from Core with messaging/skins for each variant of vanity pet?" Lyneya exclaims, "A. Core Pet System will be a reality someday. In the meantime, we have a simple way to do a fun thing and that's not a bad thing. We are doing what we can!" Lyneya asks, "Q. Will more RP events/storylines come up in the new year and is there anything additional you can say about it?" Lyneya says, "A. Yes, no." Lyneya grins. Lyneya says, "Q. State of development on Risen, state of barrier re-write." Lyneya says, "A. Risen will be done sooner than the barrier review, but I cannot give a release date for it. Barrier rewrite is somewhere on the horizon but not being worked on yet. Still "Simu-soon" there." Lyneya asks, "Q. Are we ever going to see a return to the integrity of the roleplay aspect of the game? I.E the enforcement of changing silly names, OOC talk on the gweth, etc?" Lyneya asks, "A. I spoke on this briefly already, but I also want to point out this: Stupid and silly is not against the name policy. Buffoon is the one that has to live with being called Buffoon, you know?" Lyneya says, "Q. To what extent are you willing to change core DragonRealms systems in order to draw and maintain fresh blood? Older DR players are notoriously allergic to change, but big changes may be necessary to keep DR relevant and profitable in the modern era of gaming." Lyneya says, "A. I am willing to entertain any and all ideas. I agree that today's gamer is not the same gamer we attracted in 1996, and that our game may need some changes to attract the type of gamer that is available today. This line of thought will be revisited when we make ready to address the New Player Experience." Lyneya says, "Q. Why are necro's risen still in development? They were "in QC"." Lyneya says, "A. Because they aren't finished with QC yet. Life happens. We do our best, and we will get there as quick as we can." Lyneya asks, "Q. What happened to the "crowds" system to give performance a purpose?" Lyneya says, "A. The developer that was working on that is no longer on staff. I don't know if it'll get picked up by someone else or not, but if it does it probably wont be soon." Lyneya asks, "Q. Do the suggestions on the forum actually help, or are they mostly annoying?" Lyneya says, "A. Yes they do! Please continue to post suggestions if you have them." Lyneya asks, "Ok. So, all of that said -- the thing everyone wants to know is WHAT IS THE PLAN. Where are we going, what are we doing?" Lyneya exclaims, "Have a look at this -- it will remain viewable. I'll try to keep it updated, but if I forget feel free to nag me. 2018 goals and current project status!" https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_KlJW-Q-CX-dAyLUX8xCB3WSAG9-hR0JLMwZBbaMGtE/edit?usp=sharing The air shimmers for a moment as Xiv's spell ends and he becomes visible once more. Lyneya says, "Note that the things on various plates are in no particular order." Lyneya says, "Different people working on different things." Lyneya just opened the speaker's list. Jalika adds her name to the speaker's list. Poose adds her name to the speaker's list. Mazrian adds his name to the speaker's list. Arandrowse adds his name to the speaker's list. Jalika is next. Navesi adds her name to the speaker's list. Lyneya exclaims, "Hello, Jalika!" Gallifreius adds his name to the speaker's list. Xixist adds his name to the speaker's list. Rhoslyn adds her name to the speaker's list. The dark stripes upon Hanryu's skin fade away. Sulic adds his name to the speaker's list. Ahneya adds her name to the speaker's list. Grenhart adds his name to the speaker's list. Perune adds his name to the speaker's list. Lyneya leans on Jalika. The veil of ice suddenly shatters and melts from around Aurayn. Lyneya gets a speaker's staff. Lyneya points a speaker's staff at Jalika and the usher moves over and holds the voice scepter before her. Lyneya whistles a merry tune. Poose is next. Lyneya points a speaker's staff at Poose and the usher moves over and holds the voice scepter before her. Poose says, "Hello." Tache adds his name to the speaker's list. Lyneya exclaims, "Hiya!" Poose says, "I noticed there is no mention of the boating system."...." Tirost adds his name to the speaker's list. Lyneya says, "Correct." Poose says, "I think it has been broken for so long that most people probably think that even thinking about it is beating a dead horse." Poose asks, "When is it ever going to be worked on?" The shifting winds blowing from behind Aurayn die down. Lyneya says, "Probably not soon." Lyneya says, "It's not really broken. Boats work." Chelinde's movements come down from their fluid and somewhat manic tempo. Poose asks, "Why not just overhaul the entire system?" Lyneya says, "They're just
who have played for the Red Wings were born in Canada. There are also dozens who hail from Europe and even one from the Middle East. However, ice hockey remains a game dominated by players who are born and grow up in northern (colder) climates. The map below contains a marker for every player’s birthplace – every Red Wing from Abdelkader (Muskegon, MI) to Zunich (Calumet, MI). Zoom in (use the PLUS button on the map) to see the markers and names and details for every player. Comments commentsWhat if fighting climate change was as easy as not setting your clock forward today? Always sold as a conservation measure, the practice of daylight savings actually jacked electricity use in homes across one central U.S. state by up to four per cent, according to a new American study. Daylight Saving Time returns at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 9. ( TORONTO STAR FILE ) "If you could actually get energy savings and decrease carbon dioxide emissions just by adjusting the clock, that's certainly something we should at least consider," says Matthew Kotchen, a University of California-Santa Barbara economics professor who, together with a graduate student, combed over almost 8 million residential meter readings across Indiana to quantify the change in electricity use over three years. The state offered a perfect case study: Up till 2006, only a handful of its counties pushed their clocks around at all. The vast majority, mostly rural farm communities where daily routines are still largely dictated by sunrise and not an electric clock, stuck stubbornly to standard time year-round. Then, two years ago, the entire state standardized their clocks and joined the daylight savings movement. That provided both a bulk of data and a control group. The results? Instead of saving electricity and money by adding an extra hour of sunlight to evenings most of the year, it cost Indiana homes an extra $8.6 million in electricity bills – mostly from chugging air conditioners – each year. And since 95 per cent of that extra energy was generated by coal-fired power plants, that meant much more atmosphere-warming carbon dioxide was spewed into the air. Article Continued Below Expanded nationally, those results would translate to at least two coal-fired electricity plants pumping power just to feed the daylight savings habit. "In Indiana, I can tell you unambiguously now, there are social and environmental costs associated with daylight savings time because of the pollution emissions and carbon dioxide emissions contributing to climate change," Kotchen says. The irony is that daylight savings has always been promoted as an energy conservation measure; theoretically, one extra hour of natural light in the evening would erase an hour of electrical light. In 2005, when the American Congress voted to extend daylight savings by four weeks, pushing the start date back three weeks to today, it was advertised as saving Americans the equivalent of 100,000 barrels of oil daily. Ontario decided to follow suit for trade reasons. "If we're staking our national policy on conservation on daylight savings, we're in big trouble," says Jeff Deyette, an energy analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists in the United States. "This was one of the few victories of the energy bill of 2005 that otherwise was entirely focused on increasing supply." The American Congress has promised to review the extension of daylight savings after the U.S. Department of Energy does an audit of its effect. Those findings should be presented by June, says department spokesperson Chris Kielich. "If daylight saving time doesn't save energy, it's hard to find a cogent reason to continue the experiment," says Ralph Cavanagh, energy program co-director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Since first conceived of by Benjamin Franklin more than two centuries ago, the principle behind daylight savings has always been to save on lighting bills. But what the American inventor couldn't envision in 1784 was the rise of the power-sucking central air conditioner. In Indiana, people might not have been flipping on the lights when they returned home after work. But they were cranking their air conditioners, because that extra hour of evening sunlight meant another hour of "solar build-up on your house," says Kotchen. Article Continued Below "Take an hour at dawn versus an hour at sunset. When do you think you're going to run the air conditioner harder?" Kotchen is now studying the effect of daylight savings on the rest of the country. He figures the air conditioning effect will be even more profound in southern states. And in the north, there is the opposite problem: waking up an hour earlier in the spring and fall means more time roaming around a cold house, rather than dozing under a duvet. It likely has a similar effect in Ontario, where hot, humid summers are not unlike Indiana's, Kotchen says. On a hot summer day in Ontario, air conditioning can account for a quarter of our total electricity demand. (A preliminary examination of the extended daylight savings hours last fall showed a very marginal reduction in electricity use – about 0.1 per cent, says Terry Young, spokesperson for the Independent Electricity System Operator, which manages Ontario's electrical system.) Another way daylight savings might be fuelling our warming climate? Increased carbon dioxide fumes sputtering out of car tailpipes, says Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time. Last March's early spring forward coincided with increased gas prices at the pumps. But the hikes had no effect on gas sales, a result dubbed by many analysts as the "daylight savings effect," he says. "When you give people more light after work, they do go to the mall or ball park and they don't walk there. They get in their cars," says Downing, adding that in the 1930s, the petroleum industry lobbied hard to reintroduce daylight savings. The practice was first introduced, temporarily, in the United States during World War I, and then again during World War II. In 1966, it was reintroduced across most of the United States and Canada, beginning the last Sunday in April and ending six months later in late October. Since then, it has been expanded twice. While energy conservation has always been the window dressing, the true motivation was repeatedly economic, says Downing, who spent two years reading all the U.S. congressional and senate hearings on DST dating back to 1919. "The most persistent lobby on behalf of daylight savings has long been retailers and merchants. If you give people more light when they leave work, they will stop and shop on their way home," says Downing, a writing professor at Tufts University. "There is a reason we continue to get daylight savings under the rubric of energy conservation because as a policy, it costs individual consumers nothing and asks them to conserve nothing. So it's wildly popular," he says. "Unfortunately, it's entirely ineffective." Previous studies on daylight savings have had similar findings. But most have been based on simulation models, not concrete data. An exception was a study on the extension of daylight savings in two Australian territories for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, which showed more electricity used. But even that didn't dissuade the Australian government from introducing daylight savings to the western part of the country more than a year ago, says David Prerau, author of Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time. "Most people feel they are gaining an extra hour to do things in," says Prerau, adding other benefits include decreased traffic accidents, a more active population and a boost to the economy. "There's a lot of benefits that generally outweigh the negatives. Energy is just one of the impact areas." A broader study would be needed to convince even Ontario's chief conservation officer, Peter Love, to include ending the practice in his campaigns to cut back Ontario's electricity usage. "Ontario, quite frankly, is not doing this for energy efficiency reasons," Love says. "We did it to be in sync with our major trading partner to the south," he says. "It's not something I'd want to do alone."Reports in Italy suggested that the IMF is drawing up plans for a €600 billion (£517 billion) assistance package for the country. Spain may be offered access to IMF credit, rather than a rescue package, to avoid it being “picked off” by the markets in the coming weeks. Any IMF involvement in European rescue packages would be partly underwritten by British taxpayers, which could leave this country liable if Italy and Spain did not repay any international loan. Britain provides 4.5 per cent of the IMF’s funding and would, therefore, face a potential liability to an Italian package of up to €27 billion (£23 billion). An IMF rescue package involves a country being offered hundreds of billions of euros in return for agreeing to launch a major austerity programme to cut spending. A credit line is a more flexible arrangement which gives countries short term access to international finance. Italy and Spain are likely to be forced to accept some international help as the cost of their debts has risen to unsustainable levels of about seven per cent. The reports of an IMF rescue package being prepared - which was denied on Monday by an IMF spokesman who said there were "no discussions with Italian authorities" - come as European finance ministers meet tomorrow to discuss draft plans for a bail-out scheme. Under the scheme set to be discussed, the euro area’s European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), would have to “insure” bonds of troubled countries by covering the first 30 per cent of any unpaid debts. To offer this guarantee, the European bail-out fund would have to be able to raise €1.4 trillion – a threefold increase compared to the current size of the scheme. Last night, it was not clear if or how this money could be raised, although the EFSF may itself sell bonds to international investors. At the weekend, European finance ministers from Germany and the Netherlands met and disclosed that IMF involvement was under discussion. Wolfgang Schauble, the German finance minister, said yesterday he was confident that the euro would be saved – and go on to become the most stable currency in the world. The next fortnight is now seen as one of the final opportunities to resolve the crisis because European leaders will meet on December 9 for crunch talks on the package and changes to EU treaties.In celebration of the Magic Kingdom’s birthday today we have something special for you. We’re giving new meaning to “it’s a small world” on the Disney Parks Blog. “A Day at the Magic Kingdom Park” is a never-before-seen look at the park in miniature scale. The video is created from a series of photos snapped inside the Magic Kingdom Park. And the trick is tilt-shift photography. It’s a sunrise-to-sunset story told without words. But the message is clear — celebrate. Our celebration begins at the Magic Kingdom front gates and the Seven Seas Lagoon. The character train welcome and “Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It!” are also featured. Also, we captured some amazing images of our attractions and the “SpectroMagic” parade on one of the days it was running on Main Street, U.S.A. Enjoy. Update: We’ve recently launched a tilt-shift video of Epcot. Watch it here.The grain or flour mites are one of the most important mites infesting food and feed products, cereals, dried vegetable materials, cheese, corn and dried fruits. Grain mites proliferate under high moisture conditions and are often found in conjunction with fungal growth. Severe infestations result in brownish tinge over the commodity, called "mite dust" because of the light brown coloring of the mite legs. This "mite dust" gives off a "minty" odor if the mites are crushed. Grain mites are widely distributed throughout the temperate regions, but only occur in tropical areas unless a constant influx of new mites is supplied via contaminated goods. DESCRIPTION Flour or grain mites are pale, pearly or grayish white, with legs varying in color from pale yellow to reddish-brown. Each leg has one claw at the end. As with all mites, they are smooth, wingless, soft-bodied creatures. The males are from 0.013 to 0.017 inch long, and the female is from 0.014 to 0.026 inch. The males have enlarged forelegs which bear a thick spine on the ventral side. These two characters can be used to separate Acarus sp. from other genera. Juvenile mites are similar in appearance to the adults. The first or larval stage has only six legs. However, when they molt into the nymphal stage, they have eight legs like the adults. Mite eggs are oval, smooth, white, and are 0.12 mm long. LIFE HISTORY Female grain mites may lay up to 800 eggs, which are deposited on the surface of food material at the rate of approximately twenty to thirty per day. The eggs may be deposited singly or scattered at random over the food material. The entire life cycle may take only nine to eleven days to complete under the optimal conditions of ninety percent humidity and seventy-seven degrees F. The life cycle is completed in seventeen days at sixty-four to seventy-one degrees F, and twenty-eight days at fifty to sixty degrees F. At some time during the juvenile period, grain mites may change into a stage known as the hypopus. During this unique stage, the body wall hardens and suckers appear on the underside. These suckers allow the mite to attach to insects and other animals for dispersal. The eggs and especially the hypopuses appear to be more tolerant of insecticides than other juveniles or adults; and they may be the primary stage responsible for resurgences in mite populations after chemical control appeared to have been successful. DAMAGE Grain mites primarily attack the germ. However, they will feed on other parts of the kernel, as well as mold growing on the grain. These mites are responsible for the spread of various fungal spores throughout a grain mass and into adjoining bins. When present in large numbers, the flour or grain mites promote sweating and impart a disagreeable odor to the grain. Grain mites can cause "grocer's itch" in humans exposed to the mites. Some persons may be allergic to mites. CONTROL Prevention is the best strategy to avoid mite problems in stored grains. Proper bin sanitation before introduction of new grain minimizes the need for pesticides. Good sanitation involves the removal of old grain and dust in and around the grain bin. This includes removal of old grain from corners, floors, and walls and grain that may have spilled on the exterior of the bin. Any grain remaining when a bin is emptied can harbor insect infestations which will move into the new grain. After the bin is cleaned, and all needed repairs have been made, the floor and wall surfaces both inside and outside the bin should be treated. Take special care to treat all cracks, crevices, and areas around doorways and other places where insects hide or enter. Spray the bins about four to six weeks prior to storing grain if the grain is to be stored longer than six months. Before grain is placed in a bin it should be screened to eliminate fine materials and broken kernels. Grain placed in a clean bin should be checked at two week intervals during warm months and at one month intervals during cooler months for the presence of hotspots, moldy areas, and mite activity. If any of these conditions exist, the grain should be aerated to lower the moisture level and temperature. At humidities less than fifty-five to sixty percent (commodity at twelve percent moisture content or less) grain mites can not survive. Grain that is to be stored for longer than six months may need a protective application of an approved insecticide. Treatments can be applied as the grain is loaded into the bin through the use of a metering device calibrated to apply the proper amounts. After the grain is binned and leveled, a surface dressing can be applied to prevent insects from entering the grain on the surface. If infestation occurs in spite of these precautions, fumigation of the grain will be necessary. Because of the higher tolerance of mite eggs to fumigation, the concentration of gas introduced will need to be fifty percent greater than that for insect control. Fumigants are highly toxic, and technical knowledge is required for their proper use. A qualified, licensed pesticide applicator should be contacted to perform the fumigation. WARNING Pesticides are poisonous. Read and follow directions and safety precautions on labels. Handle carefully and store in original labeled containers out of the reach of children, pets, and livestock. Dispose of empty containers right away, in a safe manner and place. Do not contaminate forage, streams, or ponds. Authored by: Steve Jacobs, Sr. Extension Associate Dennis Calvin, Assistant Professor Last updated October 1988Hello everyone. My name is Dave, and today I will be teaching you on how to successfully host your own Tor relay on a Ubuntu 14.04 x64 VPS. The general method should be the same across most major Linux distros as well. I have noticed a distinct lack of simple and clear tutorials on how to do this, so I am hoping that this will be the first mainstream one available. The first thing you are going to want to do is run “sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade” and accept all of the updates to the packages. This just makes sure we have the most up to date software for your systems security. After this is completed, you are going to want to edit the /etc/apt/sources.list with your favourite editor, and add the following lines. deb http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org trusty main deb-src http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org trusty main 1 2 deb http : //deb.torproject.org/torproject.org trusty main deb - src http : //deb.torproject.org/torproject.org trusty main After you have added those two lines into the sources list, copy, paste, and run the following two lines separately as two different commands. It’s very important that you copy and paste each line correctly. gpg --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --recv 886DDD89 gpg --export A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 | sudo apt-key add - 1 2 gpg -- keyserver keys. gnupg. net -- recv 886DDD89 gpg -- export A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 | sudo apt - key add - Once you have ran those two commands, run one more apt-get update && apt-get upgrade command, and then finally, we are ready to install the latest stable version of Tor! sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade apt-get install tor deb.torproject.org-keyring 1 2 sudo apt - get update & amp ; & amp ; sudo apt - get upgrade apt - get install tor deb. torproject. org - keyring Tor is now installed, and we are ready to get down and dirty with configuring and starting your Tor node. Make sure that Tor is not running before we begin to make any changes to the torrc file, or the changes will not take place. To do this, make sure you run the following command. sudo service tor stop 1 sudo service tor stop Once that is done, we can use our favourite editor to edit the magic file known as “torrc”, located in the /etc/tor/ folder on our VPS. This file contains all of the options to run Tor as a hidden service, as a bridge, and for today’s tutorial, a Tor relay. We want to scroll down in this file until we see the information stating that the section is just for Tor relays. It will look something like this. It is also worth noting that I will be going down the list of configuration options out of order, since some of the options are not really needed for this tutorial. The picture is just the first few settings in the options for our Tor relay, but don’t get overwhelmed. It’s really simple when you take your time and read through it. The first setting we will be dealing with is the “ORPort”. This is the port that will accept connections from clients so they can use the Tor network. It is a required option, and the default selection of 9001 is the optimal way to run it. Remove the octothorpe(that is the # sign) from the front of it to make it active. The rest of the options under it can be ignored, as they are used for specific configurations. The second setting we will be dealing with is the “Nickname” setting. This is only a name for the relay you are making for you to keep track of it, and for other people to know who runs it. It can be anything you want. The next two settings we will be relating to your bandwidth. These are very important to set correctly, otherwise you may end up in trouble with your hosting provider. Be sure you know your limits before setting up a Tor relay in the first place. RelayBandwidthRate is the base line of how much bandwidth you want to allow people to use off of your relay. RelayBandwidthBurst is how much bandwidth you want to allow in one quick burst to and from a client. This does not cap the bandwidth you use outside of the Tor applications on your VPS. The default settings for both of these are usually fine. You can adjust them up or down as you need or want though. AccountingMax is the total amount of data you want to be sent in a given period of time. This could be 10 gigabytes of data in a 24 hour period, for example. AccountingStart is when that period of time starts for your relay. In the example below, I will set it so that only 10 gigabytes of data can be sent in a 24 hour period. Again, this can be set up or down to your wants or needs. The next setting is your contact information. This can be as simple as an email address, or as advanced as your PGP key, but using an email address is absolutely recommended to get you on the Tor mailing list. Usually, people put there email address, followed by their BitCoin address just in case someone wants to donate BitCoins to that relay, as shown in the example below. The final option is an important option. It is the decision as to if you want to be an exit node or not. Being an exit node is important to the Tor network, as it is where encrypted Tor traffic gets into the internet. For more information, click here. You don’t hurt the Tor network by not being an exit node at all, so it is no worry if you want do not want to be. Just uncomment the last ExitPolicy option I did in the picture. If you do want to be an exit node, leave all of them commented just like they are. Once you make sure everything is to your liking, start up Tor again with the command below, viola! You are running your own Tor relay, heloing users around the world have safer and more anonymous internet! sudo service tor start 1 sudo service tor start A few things to keep in mind that are not really listed in any help file before we end the tutorial. One, is that your relay may not be listed for a few hours on sites like Globe or Atlas. It takes a bit. Don’t go restarting your VPS or anything. The second thing is that your bandwidth is going to be really screwy for awhile. It will jump up, it will go down to nothing, it will even out, and even sometimes go COMPLETELY INSANE like it did for me the first time I ran a Tor node. It’s entirely natural, and I recommend you take a look at this article for more reading on what to expect. Another thing is that there is a community established that is ready to help you if you have any trouble at all. Stackexchange is a website dedicated to people who are having problems with a wide array of subjects, and Tor is one of them! It can be accessed at this link, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The last thing I can think of is that logs are your friend. If there is anything going wrong with your relay, it will be located in the log files at /var/log/tor. Read them, find out where the problem is, and fix it. If you need some help, use the Stackexchange link above Well, this about covers the tutorial on how to host your own Tor relay. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments below. Thank you all so much, and thank you for your interest in helping the Tor community. This tutorial is by Dave, who can be reached at [email protected]Steve Scalise, the third highest-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, was among five people taken to hospital after a shooting at a baseball practice in Alexandria, Va., involving Republican politicians and officials. Scalise's office released a statement indicating he was shot in the hip and underwent surgery. The hospital treating Scalise said Wednesday afternoon that he was in critical condition after the surgery. Previous Next "Prior to entering surgery, [Scalise] was in good spirits and spoke to his wife by phone. He is grateful for the brave actions of U.S. Capitol Police, first responders, and colleagues," the earlier statement from the congressman's staff said. The FBI is overseeing the investigation, as it involves crimes against federal officials, but the agency was tight-lipped at a news conference. Agent Tim Slater of the FBI said it was too early to tell if anyone was targeted or if it was a random act. Scalise had surgery on Wednesday after being shot in the hip, his office said in a statement. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press) A senior official speaking on the condition of anonymity identified the gunman to Associated Press as James T. Hodgkinson, an Illinois native. Speaking from the White House, President Donald Trump said the "assailant" was dead, without referring to his name. Trump praised Scalise as "a patriot" and said he had spoken to the 51-year-old congressman's wife, Jennifer, and offered his full support. "Everyone on that field is a public servant," Trump said. "Their sacrifice makes democracy possible." Later on Wednesday night, Trump sat by the bedside of Scalise as he and his wife Melania Trump paid a visit at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center. House Speaker Paul Ryan echoed the president's non-partisan comments and told his fellow lawmakers that "an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us." U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Virginia shooting 0:57 Hodgkinson reportedly volunteered for the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, but in what capacity or for how long was not immediately clear. The 66-year-old also reportedly had several minor run-ins with the law in recent years and belonged to a Facebook group called Terminate the Republican Party. 'I am sickened by this despicable act' Court records show that Hodgkinson's legal trouble started in the 1990s with arrests for resisting police and drunken driving. His most serious problems apparently came in 2006, when he was arrested on a battery charge. Records indicate he has not been involved in any legal cases since 2011. Sanders released a statement condemning the shooting. "I am sickened by this despicable act," Sanders said. "Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. Real change can only come about through nonviolent action, and anything else runs against our most deeply held American values." Prominent Republicans recounted a chaotic scene at their regular 6:30 a.m. practice for a Thursday night charity game, including Alabama congressman Mo Brooks, who helped tend to Scalise. In this undated file photo, James Hodgkinson holds a sign during a protest outside of a U.S. post office in Belleville, Ill. Hodgkinson has been identified as the suspect in Wednesday's Washington D.C. shooting. Brooks said Scalise "crawled into the outfield, leaving a trail of blood." "We started giving him the liquids, I put pressure on his wound in his hip," Brooks said. Michigan Congressman Mike Bishop said Scalise was standing on second base when gunfire erupted. "I was looking right at him," Bishop told Detroit radio station WWJ. "He was a sitting duck." Police, staffers also wounded Texas Congressman Joe Barton, whose young son was with him at the park, told reporters after returning to Capitol Hill that the person who fired the shots directed a rifle at Mississippi Congressman Trent Kelly first before hitting Scalise. "I think the security detail saved a lot of lives because they attacked the shooter," said Barton. "So the heroes are the Capitoll Hill police, the Alexandria police and Steve Scalise's security detail." WARNING: Video below contains graphic language and imagery. Police said they responded to a report about an active shooter just at 7:09 a.m. and that after responding to the scene within three minutes, there was an exchange of gunfire with the suspect. Two law enforcement officers were injured, and were first identified publicly by Ryan as David Bailey and Krystal Griner. Matthew Verderosa of U.S. Capitol Police said earlier the officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are in good condition. Expanded police presence in D.C. Arkansas-based Tyson Foods Inc. says one of its employees was among those shot. Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson identified the wounded employee as Matt Mika. He says Mika was taken to a hospital and that the company is awaiting word on his condition. Mickelson says Mika is director of government relations for Tyson's Washington, D.C., office. The shooting occurred early Wednesday morning at Eugene Simpson Park in Alexandria, about a 30-minute drive southwest of Capitol Hill across the Potomac River. (CBC) Roger Williams, a Republican from Texas, said a member of his congressional staff, Zachary Barth, was shot. Barth confirmed that later in a Facebook post. "I got shot this morning at the baseball fields, but I am in the hospital and OK," said Barth. "Thank you for the thoughts and prayers." 'There are too many guns on the street' Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe praised the response of police and paramedics, but said guns are too easy to obtain in his state. "I think we need to do more to protect all of our citizens," said McAuliffe. "I have long advocated, there are too many guns on the street. We lose 93 Americans a day to gun violence." Police said there were no other active threats in the area, but U.S. Capitol Police said a "robust police presence" is to be expected around the prominent government buildings in Washington, D.C, about a 30-minute drive from the shooting location. In Statuary Hall, congressman Chuck Fleischmann was on the field when shots rang out. Hopes community of Capitol Hill will "pull together" <a href="https://t.co/cq42eE9kRL">pic.twitter.com/cq42eE9kRL</a> —@matt_kwong The shooting reverberated back to the floor when the House came to session in the early afternoon. "We are all horrified by this dreadful attack on our friends and our colleagues and those who serve and protect this capital," said Ryan. Ryan praised Democrats for putting political differences aside and immediately offering support and prayers. "It's an injury in the family," said House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat. Chris Murphy is the Democratic senator from Connecticut whose constituents live in the area of the deadly Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown in 2012. On Twitter on Wednesday, he first simply said: "Oh my god," in reaction to the ballpark shooting. An hour later, Murphy tweeted, "We are all pulling for you @SteveScalise. My heart is with you, the Capitol Police, and everyone who was on the scene." 2nd shooting involving House representative Scalise was elected in 2008 and named majority whip for the Republicans in the House of Representatives in 2014. Just after his appointment, he dealt with controversy in late 2014 surrounding his appearance as a speaker at a 2002 event in New Orleans. A man receives medical attention from first responders on the scene following the shooting in Alexandria, Va. Scalise said he was unaware the hosts, from the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), were white nationalists. It is the second shooting in six years involving a member of the House of Representatives. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat from Arizona, suffered brain injuries when she was shot outside a supermarket. Giffords no longer serves in D.C. but has made a remarkable recovery from the shooting, in which six were killed. Giffords, too, offered her condolences in a statement. "I also know the courage it takes to recover from a shooting like this, and I know Steve and everyone there this morning have such courage in great supply," she said. The charity ball game tradition between the two parties dates back to 1909, according to NPR. Eric Swalwell, a Democratic congressman from California, said on social media the 57th edition of the game will still be played on Thursday night.This master infector gets infected, in turn, by WO. WO is a bacteriophage, or phage for short—a virus that specializes in infecting bacteria. It can actively make many copies of itself within Wolbachia, eventually bursting out with fatal results. Alternatively, it can insinuate its DNA into Wolbachia’s genome, literally becoming part of its host. As the bacterium reproduces, it copies its genome and so copies WO. WO can also switch between these two strategies. If two strains of Wolbachia infect the same insect, WO can awaken and violently burst out of one strain, only to infiltrate the other and gently conceal itself. No surprise then that it is present in the vast majority of Wolbachia strains—a nigh-omnipresent virus lurking in the genome of one of the planet’s most widespread microbes. Sure, WO is cool, but the Bordensteins—a husband-and-wife team—had been studying it for around 15 years, and frankly, they were getting bored. “We were losing interest because we had answered most of the big questions about it,” says Seth. But one vexing mystery remained. Wolbachia lives inside the cells of its animal hosts. And WO can burst through not just Wolbachia but the surrounding animal cell, too. Somehow it can punch its way through two sets of barriers—one bacterial, and one animal. Once it’s out, to find a new host, it must punch its way back into another insect cell and another Wolbachia. All viruses are masters of escape and infiltration, but WO must be doubly so. How does it manage? To find out, the Bordensteins sequenced the phage’s genome. It was largely unsurprising, containing all the expected genes for infecting bacterial hosts and building new viruses. But amid these usual suspects, the Bordensteins noticed a weird and previously unnoticed cluster of genes, taking up a full third of the WO genome. “These genes are all very strange,” says Sarah. They’re definitely part of the phage, because they aren’t found in Wolbachia strains that don’t contain WO. But they don’t look like phage genes at all—or even bacterial ones. Instead, they had several hallmarks of animal genes, and specifically those of the spiders, insects, and other invertebrates that Wolbachia infects. For example, the virus contained part of the gene for latrotoxin—the chemical in black widow spider venom. The toxin punches holes through the cells of victims, causing their innards to leak fatally outwards. “There hasn’t been another case of a latrotoxin being found outside of spiders,” says Seth. It’s possible that the spiders got the latrotoxin gene from the virus, or that the two evolved their copies independently. But by comparing the various versions of latrotoxin, the Bordensteins think that it’s most likely that the virus got the gene from spiders. It certainly had the right opportunity, since Wolbachia, its host microbe, does indeed infect black widows. The phage could have picked up spider DNA directly from the creature’s own cells. Or Wolbachia could have picked up spider DNA and then transferred it to the phage. Or other as-yet-unidentified viruses and bacteria could have acted as intermediaries.Story highlights The actor underwent surgery on his aorta February 14 and died February 25 Paxton's extensive career included films such as "Twister," "Aliens" and "Titanic" (CNN) Actor Bill Paxton died of a stroke after heart surgery, according to his death certificate, issued Monday by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. He was 61 years old. The surgery, which replaced his aortic valve and repaired an aortic aneurysm, took place February 14. He died February 25 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. A previous statement said his death was due to complications from surgery but included no further information. The aortic valve is one of the most commonly replaced valves, according to the American Heart Association. Although aortic valve replacement can be a lifesaving procedure, it also comes with risks. Stroke can be a complication. An aortic aneurysm is "a weakened or bulging area on the wall of the aorta," which carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body, according to the American Heart Association. Aortic aneurysms are the main cause of death for nearly 10,000 people in the United States each year and contribute to an additional 16,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When such a problem is diagnosed, surgery is performed to repair the aorta. Read MoreDuplicity - Chapter 1: False Icons (a Zootopia FanComic) *To clarify, BYVE is a title for prologue of the comic, not the title of the comic over all. *Duplicity is the title of the comic, and will be uploaded in form of chapters and pages. *How to read: i.e., 1.1 means Chapter 1, page 1, and 2.1 means Chapter 2, page 1. Illustrations by: GlumHum Story by: Xzylo and GlumHum Next Previous Words from creators: Glum: After a long hiatus, Xzylo and I will be able to post the comic that we want to continue. Sorry for keeping you guys waiting. Chapter 1 is called 'False Icons'. Speaking of titles, we have decided to change the comic's main title to "Duplicity" since "Before Your Very Eyes" no longer matches the tone and story that we are going for anymore; so instead of it being the main title, it is now the title for the prologue. Thank you for reading this, and we hope to see you next week with
the basement of his Perry Street home, also in Bellevue, when a towering maple tree crashed into his living room. The 64-year-old Impellizzeri escaped injury but he may have to move out because support beams in the dwelling were damaged and the foundation and chimney shifted. A neighbor said he and Impellizzeri had recently talked about splitting the cost of taking down the tree. Impellizzeri's neighbor, Emmett Inserra, took damage to his own property in stride. "I never liked that tree anyway," he said of the honey locust in his front yard that brought down power lines when it toppled onto his front lawn. In the backyard, another tree was on the roof of his detached garage. "We're fortunate the house is still intact," he said. "What are you going to do? You just have to pick yourself up, brush yourself off and move on."OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 30: Brandon Phillips #4 of the Atlanta Braves is congratulated by Dansby Swanson #7 after Phillips scored against the Oakland Athletics in the top of the ninth inning at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on June 30, 2017 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) It’s been one hell of a ride as a Braves fan through 81 games. We’ve seen the good and the bad in all areas of the game, and now, at the halfway mark in the season, things are looking better than ever for Atlanta. Based on the club’s recent success, mixed in with a bit of luck, there is a fair chance that this team can keep themselves in the hunt for the NL East, or at least a Wild Card spot. Many Atlanta Braves fans have given up hope for the 2017 season due to a lack of starting pitching, as it’s seemingly the only thing keeping the club out of the hunt right now. However, what most fail to realize is that anything can be fixed with the right tools, and in Julio Teheran‘s case, a little patience. There’s absolutely no way that Julio keeps up his struggles this season. His home/road splits are some of the most dramatic I’ve ever seen. He’s 1-6 with a 7.58 ERA in 9 home starts, while boasting a 5-0 record with a much more respectable 2.89 ERA in 7 starts on the road. SunTrust Park is giving him fits, but he’ll figure things out there soon enough to turn things around. I have mixed feelings about the remainder of the starting rotation. Sean Newcomb and Mike Foltynewicz look great, while R.A. Dickey and Jaime Garcia have been streaky, and either is liable to be traded at the first sign of someone being ready to take one of their spots. I’m certain that once Teheran settles down at home and another frontline pitcher (Sonny Gray?) is added to the rotation, the Atlanta Braves will be in a position to chase down Washington in the East. On the other side of the ball… The Braves’ bats are looking great after a hot June. Matt Adams led the way with a 1.034 OPS, while 6 Braves (min. 40 PA) batted.296 or better last month. This offense does not need to be slept on, especially once Freddie Freeman returns. Once Freddie does come back as a third baseman, things are going to be very interesting. People have their doubts about Freeman’s defensive capability at third, but I’m free of any worries. Some are calling Freeman at third an ‘experiment’, but I’m calling it an adjustment. The guy’s a ballplayer, and he’s going to do nothing but play ball the Freddie Freeman way. I’m more excited than most about the potential this offense has for the rest of the season, but how could you not be excited for this lineup?: My #Braves lineup once Freeman returns: 1. Inciarte 2. Phillips 3. Freeman 4. Adams 5. Kemp 6. Markakis 7. Flowers 8. Swanson 9. Pitcher — Toast Malone (45-45) (@BravesTwills) July 2, 2017 Matt Adams has been the silver lining to Freddie’s wrist injury, and now there’s an opportunity to keep him in the lineup when Freddie gets back. I’m convinced that this offense will score close to 5 runs per game for the remainder of the season. Relievers holding steady There really isn’t too much to be said about the Braves’ bullpen now. A couple of guys had rough patches last month, but for the most part, things are looking great. I’m just waiting for Arodys Vizcaino to take over as the team’s primary closer. Akeel Morris is striking out an impressive 11.2 batters per nine innings in Gwinnett, but with these strikeouts have come a great deal of walks. He’s closer than ever to the big leagues, but it’s difficult to justify cutting anyone to bring him up. We may have to wait until September to catch a glimpse of him. Contention is a REAL possibility Cut out all the skepticism and have faith in the Atlanta Braves. They’ve done a heck of a job just to get near the.500 mark here in early July. We’ve only seen the lineup with Freeman OR Adams, and it’s been impressive. The Nationals are 4-6 over their last 10 games, and 10-14 over their last 24. They’ve shown signs of slowing down, and Trea Turner‘s wrist injury will only set them back further. If the Atlanta Braves can capitalize on the Nationals’ misfortune and continue to win like they have been, the rest of the season will be worth paying close attention to. The Braves have 10 more games against the Nats, including 6 in September. Those September games could likely be the difference between first and second place in the NL East. Atlanta gets to start on that this week: four games in DC starting Thursday.Statistics by Iain Dale Commentary by Sean Whetstone With 6,356 match going supporters filling out this survey it has to be the biggest of its kind and statistically accurate to make the findings a true reflection of fans’ perceptions of the London Stadium. There is no evidence that the survey was hijacked by rival fans or protest groups with hidden agendas. The Board may not like these results but we all understand it is early days in our ninety-nine year tenancy and the first year was always going to be a difficult one. Age 18-24 26% 25-34 17% 35-44 16% 45-54 22% 55-64 14% 65-74 4% 75+ 1% How long have you been supporting West Ham? Less than a year 1% 2-5 years 2% 6-10 3% 11-15 7% 16-20 14% 21-25 12% 26-30 10% 31-40 19% 41-50 20% 50+ 12% How many games have you attended at the London Stadium since we moved in August? 1 9% 2-5 18% 6-10 15% 11-15 13% 16-19 27% All 20 18% After seven months in the London Stadium do you still believe that the move was a good idea? Yes 34% No 38% Not sure 28% West Ham’s Official Poll before the move showed 85% of supporters backed the move, 10% wanted more information and 5% were against the move. These new results show only a third still believe it was the right thing to do, less than a third are undecided with nearly 40% saying it was not a good idea in hindsight. When will the London stadium feel like our proper home? It does already 6% Next season 13% 2-5 seasons 41% 6-10 seasons 6% +10 seasons 4% It never will 30% Only 19% believe it will feel like our proper home by the end of next season but 41% believe it will feel like home within 5 more years. More tellingly is the 30% who say it will never be our home. Let’s hope that 30% change their mind. If you are a season ticket holder do you plan to renew for next season? Yes 40% No 12% Not sure 17% Not a season ticket holder 23% On the waiting list 8% This shows that around 69% of those filling out the survey claim they are season ticket holders who account for 4,392 supporters. 2,546 say they will renew their season tickets which is just under 58%, just 17% say they won’t renew their season tickets which could account for 8,840 seats if they really mean what they say! 1,082 were undecided which account for the remaining 25%; again history tells us many of them will bite the bullet and renew as the deadline gets closer so renewals could be as high as 83%. With a doubling of season ticket holders from 26,000 to 52,000 last season we were never going to get 100% renewals and not all of the reasons for non renewal will be down to the London Stadium. If you are a season ticket holder have you ever used ticket exchange functionality for matches you can’t make? I never miss a game 28% Yes sometimes 15% Yes, every time I can’t go 8% Not worth it financially 39% I prefer to leave my seat empty 10% Good to see that 28% never miss a game but disappointing that only 23% of the respondents say they use the functionality when they can’t make a game. 49% seem to say they don’t want to help their fellow Hammers fans without a ticket watch a match and this is possibly the main reason we can see so many empty white seats on match days. The club needs to do more to fix the perception of this service and get a greater take-up. If you are a season ticket holder were your expectations managed well before the move to the new Stadium? Stadium as expected 32% Stadium worse than expected 62% Stadium better than expected 6% This is possibly the most disappointing result from the survey. It indicates that 62% believe they were mis-sold in communications and their Stratford reservation visit. Only 6% would admit to the stadium being better than expected. What is your view on the general matchday atmosphere at the London Stadium in terms of volume and support for the team? Excellent 3% Good 24% Average 44% Poor 29% No surprise here, maybe the 3% only went to the Chelsea cup game or the Palace game which could be described as excellent, but we have had everything in between and the atmosphere needs to improve with the fans leading the way. What is your view on the quality of stewarding and security taking into account the last game you attended at the London Stadium? Excellent 2% Good 17% Average 37% Poor 44% Personally, I believe stewarding has vastly improved over the last few weeks so surprised at such poor results. Are we are the level of the Boleyn Ground stewarding? No, and that will take some time, so I suppose the perception will improve over time too. What is your view on the quality, choice and price of food and drink within the London Stadium? Excellent 3% Good 17% Average 40% Poor 40% Again surprised about the 80% who said the catering average and poor. A vast improvement on the Boleyn Ground and similar to other Stadia such as Emirates and Embley whose catering is run by the same company but as they say perception is the reality so obviously room for improvement for the majority. What is your experience of the London Stadium sight lines and views of the pitch from your seat? Excellent 18% Good 39% Average 23% Poor 20% The key message for me here is that the majority like their view of the pitch and sightlines with 57% giving a good or excellent rating. One in five think their view is poor, but you can’t help but wonder whether the majority of these season ticket holders are stuck at the back of the upper tier in the cheap seats which cost £289 per season. What is your experience of travelling to and from the London Stadium taking into account walking, public transport or car? Excellent 13% Good 31% Average 26% Poor 30% We were told it was the most connected stadium in the country, that might be technically true, but it still takes around 30 minutes to walk from Stratford Tube Station to my turnstile. The majority of respondents (56%) believe transport is poor or average. I am not sure what the club can do about this, but a better route from the station to the stadium would be a big step in the right direction. How do you rate your general match day experience at the London Stadium? Excellent 5% Good 34% Average 38% Poor 23% So the all important match day experience is only average or poor for 61% of those surveyed. I think the results on the pitch have got as much to do with this sentiment as the stadium does and I do wonder what the result would have been to this question would have been if we won every game at home. West Ham have been criticised by Taxpayers groups for not paying enough in the contribution to the transformation costs and running costs. Do you think West Ham should pay more? Yes 20% No 61% Don’t know 19% I surprised 20% said the club should pay more, but it certainly has turned out to be the deal of the century with predicted operating losses for the stadium owners predicted to top £8.4m next year. The club will come under more pressure to increase their contribution to reach the 66,000 capacity they so desperately want. Do you think West Ham will become a regular top six club within the next five years as a result of the move to the London Stadium? Yes 15% No 64% Not sure 21% Just goes to show not many of us bought into the top six dream sold to us before the move. The problem is as we earn more ourselves the current top six move to higher levels and it ends up a cat and mouse game. Do you think West Ham will kick on to the next level and become a top four team within ten years as a result of the move to the London Stadium? Yes 12% No 64% Not sure 24% I love the optimism of the 12% of supporters who think we could become a top-four team within ten years. I suppose it happened briefly to Leicester for one season only so we can all dream Do you think the West Ham board are doing a good job? Excellent 5% Good 27% Average 40% Poor 28% Another surprising result was the view that 68% thought the West Ham board was only doing an average or poor job. They will be disappointed with that view as many of them work tirelessly to improve things and I think they deserve more credit than they get. How well does West Ham value you as a supporter and listen to fans concerns? Excellent 3% Good 21% Average 39% Poor 37% Room for improvement here but things are starting to change with more customer support staff and forty match day SLO’s. It is very telling that 76% think the club don’t listen or value fans and possibly the biggest takeaway for them from this survey. Where did you come to this survey from? West Ham Till I Die 14% Claret & Hugh 19% KUMB 5% WHUISA 4% The West Ham Way 17% HammersChat 6% Other 35%For clues as to how Queens Park Rangers have progressed since the Air Asia mogul Tony Fernandes walked through the door promising to polish up west London’s “rough diamond” and proceeded to go round in circles, it is worth taking a trip to their training ground. Long-mooted plans for a new training complex at Warren Farm, initially rejected in the face of protests from residents and then resubmitted in January this year, will not bear fruit for at least two years. Meanwhile, an exciting vision for a new stadium at Old Oak Common remains in flux amid opposition from the landowner Car Giant and debate over the wider regeneration of the area. So QPR carry on battling in their cramped, charming ground and are engaged in an uphill scrap against a second relegation from the top flight in three years at Chelsea’s cramped former training headquarters. For all the millions poured into the pockets of players and agents who did little to deserve it, for all the big talk and grand plans, QPR are arguably no further forward than when the likable Fernandes pitched up in 2011. “What’s happened with the training ground isn’t too dissimilar to the situation with the first team, where we brought a lot of players in and it didn’t work – we got relegated,” admitted Fernandes in January. Or as one poster on a QPR messageboard ruefully put it, Fernandes took over the team in the Premier League with debts of around £20m (following the madcap, chaotic Flavio Briatore era brilliantly captured on film in The Four Year Plan) and could this summer preside over one heading for the Championship with debts of more than £200m. For all the business acumen of Fernandes in other fields (not to mention that of the billionaire steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, who owns a 30% stake in the club), during his time at QPR the club has fallen foul of all the worst excesses of the modern game. One of the puzzles of the Fernandes era has been how a man so feted elsewhere – and recently named by Time magazine as among the world’s 100 most influential people – could preside over such a chaotic rollercoaster ride at QPR. As Neil Warnock was traded in for Mark Hughes and then Harry Redknapp, the club became first stop for agents looking to offload players past their prime and whose big wages have proved a drag on the balance sheet ever since. Jermaine Jenas, a QPR player for 18 injury-hit months and now a pundit for the BBC, was the latest to confirm, on Football Focus last weekend, that work ethic were not always the first words that sprang to mind when he scanned the dressing room. As Ed Thompson points out on his Financial Fair Play blog, it is instructive to note that the Derby team that outplayed QPR in last season’s play-off final before going down to a late Bobby Zamora goal had a wage bill of around £13m. We now know that QPR’s that season was £71.96m, just £1.3m less than their previous season in the Premier League. On returning to the Premier League following that dramatic play-off victory, things were supposed to be different. The club bought more sensibly, showing signs of wanting to build a team rather than throwing together a collection of big-name recruits. But Redknapp’s QPR was a misfiring, oddly melancholy machine and the signing of a spent Rio Ferdinand a reminder of earlier regimes. Under the director of football, Les Ferdinand, and the manager, Chris Ramsey, appointed in February after Redknapp departed complaining of a dodgy knee (he has since alluded darkly to mischief-making behind the scenes), it has been a case of one step forward followed by one back. Ramsey, who has had no discussions over his future beyond the end of the season, insists the days of dressing-room discord are long gone. He talks up the spirit engendered by Joey Barton and Clint Hill, of the brilliance of Rob Green, about the willingness of Zamora (a doubt for this weekend) to play through injury, about Charlie Austin’s ability to shoulder the goalscoring burden. Yet recent weeks have brought only frustration, with decent performances failing to yield precious points. At home to Chelsea they lost to a last-ditch Cesc Fàbregas goal and then Austin missed a penalty to forego victory against West Ham. The fine margins that assume even greater importance for clubs in dire straits are looming large for Ramsey before Saturday’sgame at Liverpool. “The last thing you want to do is start moaning about who is injured and who isn’t and which referees decisions happened and which didn’t, but sometimes you do reflect on how these last few games have panned out because of these critical times,” he says. When it is suggested that Brendan Rodgers may be under more pressure than him, Ramsey stops short of calling his inquisitor an ostrich. Not for him the passive aggressive posturing of the similarly under-pressure Nigel Pearson. But he makes his feelings plain nevertheless. “I would really love to have that pressure that he’s got,” he says. “I don’t know how you guys work if I’m being honest. He’s at a big club, he’s done very, very well. You don’t become a bad manager overnight. “The pressure is on us really because we don’t want to go out of the division. The implications of going out of the division are huge. So I think we actually have much, much more to lose than him.” With QPR four points from safety with four to play, and at Leicester on the last day of the season, it will be an uphill battle. “Every manager will feel the pressure,” Ramsey says. “Most of the pressure isn’t about yourself, it’s about the people around you. You want to do well for the fans, the owners and everyone who has put their effort and time into making the club what it is. How can you keep everyone in work? How can you keep the people that surround the club in work?” And if the worst happens and QPR yo-yo back down again, the £50m mystery hanging over the club’s head will become a major concern. Last month QPR released a terse statement saying that losses had been cut from £65.4m to £9.8m during their year in the Championship and noting that the club’s owners had written off £60m in loans; the implication being that QPR would thus avoid a hefty fine of up to £50m levied by the Football League for busting its FFP rules. But the long-running issue is far from settled, with lawyers on both sides scrutinising the fine print over whether the £60m write off is legitimate under the rules and the threat of a fine still hanging over the club. Despite the controversial loan write-off, debts grew according to the most recent accounts to more than £205m. They also reveal that £53.7m of that loan was waived by Tune QPR, the vehicle though which Fernandes and his partners (Kamarudin Meranun and Ruben Gnanalingam) own 69% of the club. Sea Dream, the company through which Mittal owns 30%, waived just £6.6m. So Fernandes and his business partners continue to pour money into a club that they insisted would essentially run as a going concern, while granting interest-free loans that have helped swell the overall debt. The accounts to the end of May 2014 detail a lengthy list of interest-free loans totalling £115.3m from Tune QPR and £5.3m from Sea Dream that may have to be repaid if the club were sold. Having alighted almost by default on Ferdinand and Ramsey, surely the best course of action would be to give them an opportunity to build from the bottom up. There has been upheaval at executive level too, with the recent departure of chief executive Philip Beard. Fernandes claims to be learning all the time and in it for the long haul. But an increasingly jittery fanbase that initially warmed to the Malaysian over his Twitter accessibility is urgently looking for reassurances that he will not leave them back where they started nursing an altogether bigger debt burden. “The key is a philosophy, and a philosophy can’t be built overnight,” said Fernandes when he arrived. “A philosophy takes years, and the culture of what you want to do.” Four years into another plan that has dissolved into a soap opera, that guiding philosophy is not much clearer. For Ramsey, at least, the immediate task is plain: “We do believe we can stay up,” he insists. “But we know it’s going to be a very difficult task.”Showtime president and CEO David Nevins provided a status update on the new Twin Peaks installment during Tuesday’s TCA presentation. “I’m excited to tell you that David Lynch is now more than halfway through his shooting schedule, and the limited series will premiere in the first half of 2017”, Nevins said. The new season originally had eyed for 2017. Nevins in the summer expressed hope that the show may be ready for a 2016 premiere but that was considered a long shot. The followup series is now locked in for early 2017. Lynch is directing all episodes from one long script he wrote with fellow Twin Peaks co-creator Frost. Lynch is shooting the series continuously as a movie, and will later cut it into episodes. Originally envisioned as being 9 episodes, the series was expected to run longer. Nevins said that he went to the editing room and watched 24 minutes, calling the material “stupendous.” Star Kyle MacLachlan is the only cast member confirmed for the new Twin Peaks season. I’d heard other original cast members making a return include Sherilyn Fenn Fenn, Miguel Ferrer, Sheryl Lee, David Patrick Kelly and possibly Richard Beymer. New additions are believed to include Jennifer Jason Leigh, Laura Dern, Robert Knepper, Balthazar Getty, and Amanda Seyfried.Water management system using underground channels "Falaj" redirects here. For other uses, see Falaj (disambiguation) "Karez" redirects here. For settlements in Afghanistan and Iran, see Kariz Scheme of a qanat A qanāt (Arabic: قناة‎) or kārīz (Persian: کاریز‎) is a gently sloping underground channel to transport water from an aquifer or water well to surface for irrigation and drinking. This is an old system of water supply from a deep well with a series of vertical access shafts. The qanats still create a reliable supply of water for human settlements and irrigation in hot, arid, and semi-arid climates, but the value of this system is directly related to the quality, volume, and regularity of the water flow. Traditionally qanats are built by a group of skilled laborers, muqannīs, with hand labor. The profession historically paid well and was typically handed down from father to son. According to most sources, the qanat technology was developed in ancient Iran by the Persian people sometime in the early 1st millennium BC, and spread from there slowly westward and eastward.[1][2][3][4][5][6] However, some other sources suggest a Southeast Arabian origin.[7][8] Names [ edit ] Common variants of qanat in English include kanat, khanat, kunut, kona, konait, ghanat, ghundat.[9] Qanāt (قناة) is an Arabic word that means "channel".[10] In Persian, the words for "qanat" are kārīz (or kārēz; كاريز), and is derived from earlier word kāhrēz (كاهریز). The word qanāt (قنات) is also used in Persian. Other names for qanat include kahan (Persian: کهن‎), Kahn (Balochi), kahriz/kəhriz (Azerbaijan); khettara (Morocco); Canal (Spain); falaj (Arabic: فلج‎) (United Arab Emirates and Oman), foggara/fughara (North Africa).[11] Alternative terms for qanats in Asia and North Africa are kakuriz, chin-avulz, and mayun. Origins [ edit ] Traditionally it is recognized that the qanat technology was invented in ancient Iran[12] sometime in the early 1st millennium BC,[13][14][15] and spread from there slowly westward and eastward. Accordingly some sources state qanats were invented in Iran before 1000 BC[16][17] and as far back as 3000 BC.[18][19] Consequently, the qanats of Gonabad have been estimated to be nearly 2700 years old.[20][21] In 2002, archaeologist Walid Yasin Al Tikriti provided a counterpoint that the qanat did not originate in Persia.[7] As evidence, he noted seven Iron Age aflaj recently discovered in the Al Ain area of the UAE which were dated back to the first millennium BCE based on sherds, pottery, fireplaces, and architecture.[7] Tikriti pointed to excavations in Sharjah, by the French archaeological team working there, as well as a German team working in Oman of possible Iron age aflaj.[7] He concludes that the technology originated in South East Arabia and was taken to Persia, likely by the Sasanian conquest of the Oman peninsular.[7] In 2013, Boualem Remini and Bachir Achour, stated that the origin of the qanat technology is uncertain, yet confirmed the technology was in use in northwest Iran c.1000 BCE.[22][23][24] In 2016, Rémy Boucharlat in his paper Qanāt and Falaj: Polycentric and Multi-Period Innovations Iran and the United Arab Emirates as Case Studies, asserted that the attribution of the technology to Iranians in the early first millennium BCE is a position that cannot longer be maintained.[25] Whereas Boucharlat contends archeological evidence indicates a polycentric innovation as opposed to a radial diffusion.[26] Technical features [ edit ] Cross-section of a Qanat "In arid and semi-arid regions, owing to high evaporation, transportation routes were in the form of ganats, which lead groundwater to consumption areas along underground tunnels. In the long run, the qanat system is not only economical but also sustainable for irrigation and agricultural purposes... The ground water flow was known to depend on grain size of sediments, and, therefore, the tunnels in qanats are filled in with coarser material than the surrounding hose geological formations. The qanats are constructed mainly along the valleys where Quartenary sediments are deposited." — Underground Aqueducts Handbook (2016) The original ancient engineered design of the Qanat and its multiple aligned bore-holes are thought to have controlled desert endorheic basin flooding without destroying the salt mirror playa or causing erosion of the flat evaporation fields. The Qanat water was primarily needed to extract salt, rather than for simple domestic irrigation. Additionally considerable quantities of subsoil brines existing in such basin water tables would ensure brine supplies, as is demonstrated by the new potash plants in the Tarim basin using the ancient Qanat technology. The surface crust of an inland Sabkha endorheic basin typically is made up of layers of salts that have re-crystallized and settled or precipitated during the evaporation process of controlled Qanat system flood waters. Leached salts dissolve quickly in a desert endorheic basin, and over a short intensely hot period, the process of re-crystallizing the salts can produce purer and more concentrated, layered playa cakes. The dissolved salts leached out of the underlying layers in such vast desert basin flats, are intermittently precipitated back onto the basin surface, predominantly sodium chloride crystals, one after the other. It is thought that the many Qanat systems in the Taklamakan desert basin (Tarim basin) were primarily built to produce and trade salt along the Silk Road. The position of the Silk Road skirting these endorheic basins may well have resulted due to efficient and pure salt leaching technique still producing salt cake crust in similar deserts. Qanats are constructed as a series of well-like vertical shafts, connected by gently sloping tunnels. Qanats efficiently deliver large amounts of subterranean water to the surface without need for pumping. The water drains by gravity, typically from an upland aquifer, with the destination lower than the source. Qanats allow water to be transported over long distances in hot dry climates without much water loss to evaporation.[27] The qanat should not be confused with the spring-flow tunnel typical to the mountainous area around Jerusalem. Although both are excavated tunnels designed to extract water by gravity flow, there are crucial differences. Firstly, the origin of the qanat was a well that was turned into an artificial spring. In contrast, the origin of the spring-flow tunnel was the development of a natural spring to renew or increase flow following a recession of the water table. Secondly, the shafts essential for the construction of qanats are not essential to spring-flow tunnels. It is very common for a qanat to start below the foothills of mountains, where the water table is closest to the surface. From this source, the qanat tunnel slopes gently downward, slowly converging with the steeper slope of the land surface above, and the water finally flows out above ground where the two levels meet. To connect a populated or agricultural area with an aquifer, qanats must often extend for long distances.[28] Qanats are sometimes split into an underground distribution network of smaller canals called kariz. Like qanats, these smaller canals are below ground to avoid contamination and evaporation. In some cases water from a qanat is stored in a reservoir, typically with night flow stored for daytime use. An ab anbar is an example of a traditional Persian qanat-fed reservoir for drinking water. The qanat system has the advantage of being resistant to natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, and to deliberate destruction in war. Furthermore, it is almost insensitive to the levels of precipitation, delivering a flow with only gradual variations from wet to dry years. From a sustainability perspective, qanats are powered only by gravity, and thus have low operation & maintenance costs once built. Qanats transfer freshwater from the mountain plateau to the lower-lying plains with saltier soil. This helps to control soil salinity and prevent desertification.[29] Importance [ edit ] The value of the qanat is directly related to the quality, volume, and regularity of the water flow. Much of the population of Iran and other arid countries in Asia and North Africa historically depended upon the water from qanats; the areas of population corresponded closely to the areas where qanats are possible. Although a qanat was expensive to construct, its long-term value to the community, and thereby to the group that invested in building and maintaining it, was substantial.[28] A qanat tunnel near Isfahan Features common to regions that use qanat technology [ edit ] The qanat technology is used most extensively in areas with the following characteristics:[citation needed] An absence of larger rivers with year-round flows sufficient to support irrigation Proximity of potentially fertile areas to precipitation-rich mountains or mountain ranges Arid climate with high surface evaporation rates so that surface reservoirs and canals would result in high losses An aquifer at the potentially fertile area which is too deep for convenient use of simple wells Impact of qanats on settlement patterns [ edit ] A typical town or city in Iran, and elsewhere where the qanat is used, has more than one qanat. Fields and gardens are located both over the qanats a short distance before they emerge from the ground and below the surface outlet. Water from the qanats defines both the social regions in the city and the layout of the city.[28] The water is freshest, cleanest, and coolest in the upper reaches and more prosperous people live at the outlet or immediately upstream of the outlet. When the qanat is still below ground, the water is drawn to the surface via water wells or animal driven Persian wells. Private subterranean reservoirs could supply houses and buildings for domestic use and garden irrigation as well. Further, air flow from the qanat is used to cool an underground summer room (shabestan) found in many older houses and buildings.[28] Downstream of the outlet, the water runs through surface canals called jubs (jūbs) which run downhill, with lateral branches to carry water to the neighborhood, gardens and fields. The streets normally parallel the jubs and their lateral branches. As a result, the cities and towns are oriented consistent with the gradient of the land; this is a practical response to efficient water distribution over varying terrain.[28] The lower reaches of the canals are less desirable for both residences and agriculture. The water grows progressively more polluted as it passes downstream. In dry years the lower reaches are the most likely to see substantial reductions in flow.[28] Construction [ edit ] Traditionally qanats are built by a group of skilled laborers, muqannīs, with hand labor. The profession historically paid well and was typically handed down from father to son.[28] Preparations [ edit ] The critical, initial step in qanat construction is identification of an appropriate water source. The search begins at the point where the alluvial fan meets the mountains or foothills; water is more abundant in the mountains because of orographic lifting and excavation in the alluvial fan is relatively easy. The muqannīs follow the track of the main water courses coming from the mountains or foothills to identify evidence of subsurface water such as deep-rooted vegetation or seasonal seeps. A trial well is then dug to determine the location of the water table and determine whether a sufficient flow is available to justify construction. If these prerequisites are met, the route is laid out aboveground. Equipment must be assembled. The equipment is straightforward: containers (usually leather bags), ropes, reels to raise the container to the surface at the shaft head, hatchets and shovels for excavation, lights, spirit levels or plumb bobs and string. Depending upon the soil type, qanat liners (usually fired clay hoops) may also be required.[28][30] Although the construction methods are simple, the construction of a qanat requires a detailed understanding of subterranean geology and a degree of engineering sophistication. The gradient of the qanat must be carefully controlled: too shallow a gradient yields no flow and too steep a gradient will result in excessive erosion, collapsing the qanat. And misreading the soil conditions leads to collapses, which at best require extensive rework and at worst are fatal for the crew.[30] Excavation [ edit ] Construction of a qanat is usually performed by a crew of 3–4 muqannīs. For a shallow qanat, one worker typically digs the horizontal shaft, one raises the excavated earth from the shaft and one distributes
: Labrador-shepherd mix Relationship to dog: Famiy Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Uncle Spay/Neuter: No Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Suzanne Story 36-years old | Hertford, North Carolina Suzanne Story, 36-years old, suffered a violent death by her pit bull-mix. She died just as a helicopter sent from a Virginia hospital was landing to airlift her to the facility. Story had been cleaning the dog's crate in her home when it suddenly attacked her. Her older sister and roommate, Robin Ross, heard her screams for help. Ross managed to pull the roughly 100-pound dog off her and shut the animal in the bathroom, but the dog broke a hole through the door and attacked Story again, ripping her throat out. "The dog was holding her down," Ross said. "It was horrible." Story had acquired the 1.5-year old dog, named Buddy, about two weeks earlier from a newspaper ad placed in The Virginian Pilot. The ad said the dog was "very good" with kids and people. Cheryl Davino of Norfolk, the dog's former owner, placed the ad. Davino and her husband drove the animal across state lines to Story's home and gave her the dog free of charge. Davino said the dog was "a big baby" and had never been aggressive in the past. [ ] Date of death: February 10, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-boxer mix Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Victim Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Gladys Alexander 92-years old | Olympia, Washington Gladys Alexander, was brutally attacked by up to four dogs after entering a neighbor's home to give her a newspaper. The neighbor had helped Gladys with some day-to-day tasks, and it was not unusual for her to enter into the person's home, the Thurston County Sheriff's Office stated. At the time of the attack, the neighbor was away. She returned while the dogs were attacking Gladys. She intervened to stop the attack and called 911. Gladys was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. She died from her injuries two days later. The sheriff's office described the dogs as two adult pit bull-mixed breeds and two juvenile mixed-breeds, containing pit bull, labrador and heeler. The neighbor owned one of the dogs and had been dog sitting the others for her daughter who was incarcerated. Officials seized the dogs after her death and all four were euthanized after a 10-day quarantine period. [ ] Date of death: March 8, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-lab mix (2) Lab-pit bull mix (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Neighbor Spay/Neuter: Unknown/No 5 Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Bessie Flowers 86-years old | Charlotte, North Carolina Bessie Flowers, 86-years old, was fatally attacked by her daughter's two pit bulls. Flowers was visiting her daughter's home in south Charlotte when the deadly attack occurred. Flowers was on the back porch heading into the home when she slipped or tripped onto the dog bed. The family pit bulls approached Flowers and began "playing with her." This turned into aggression, which rapidly escalated, according to police. The victim's daughter was able to pull the dogs off Flowers and call 911. In a gasping voice, she told dispatchers, "This is an emergency. My dogs attacked and really hurt her. Please come!" The dogs attacked her face and neck causing fatal dog bite injuries; she died at the scene. Because the daughter did not want to surrender her pit bulls to authorities, animal control officers seized them. Both pit bulls, a male and female, were later euthanized. No autopsy was performed because the cause of death was "clear" as "blunt force neck injuries due to dog attack," the medical examiner's office said. [ ] Date of death: March 28, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (2) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Daughter Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Sonda Dyan Tyson 66-years old | Leesburg, Florida Sonda Tyson, 66-years old, was brutally mauled to death by her own dog. Family members discovered Tyson lying in a pool of blood on the back porch of her home. Her daughter-in-law, Amber Fletcher, called 911. Fletcher told dispatchers, "She's bleeding everywhere... Her bones are showing..." Paramedics arrived and began to evaluate the victim when a large dog coated in blood tried to push its way onto the porch. Paramedics first tried to block the dog's path with a refrigerator, then retreated and called police. Officers arrived minutes later and shot the dog with a rifle from atop of a fire truck. A second shot was required to kill the animal, police said. “It was a gruesome scene,” Police Lt. Joe Iozzi said. The medical examiner said the cause of death was massive blood loss, resulting from the mauling. Family members said that Tyson lived alone with her four dogs, including the pit bull-bullmastiff mix named "Hercules." Tyson's son found the dog as a puppy and gave it to her for protection, they said. [ ] Date of death: March 31, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-bullmastiff mix Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Victim Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Valente Lopez Aguirre 58-years old | Fresno County, California Updated Information: April 29, 2017 Valente Lopez Aguirre, 58-years old, was discovered dead in a dry canal on West Barstow Avenue between Floyd and Bishop Avenues on April 14. Farm workers found the body as they walked along the canal bank. Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene. The coroner determined Aguirre died of an animal attack. Detectives found a group of aggressive dogs in the area. Five dogs were seized and underwent DNA testing to establish if the dogs were responsible for Aguirre’s death. The results were inconclusive. On June 16, authorities released the dogs back to their owner. Three weeks later, Robert Simonian, 74, was found dead in the same canal -- this time the canal was not dry. The coroner ruled Simonian died of drowning, but he also suffered dog bite injuries. Authorities seized the same five dogs again. No breed information was released. On April 29, 2017 the five suspected dogs owned by Harold Matthews were identified as three pit bull-mixes, a small mixed-breed and a chihuahua-mix. [ ] Date of death: April 14, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-mix (3) Mixed-breed (1) Chihuahua-mix (1) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Property owner Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: No Sebastian Caban 3-days old | San Diego, California Sebastian Caban, 3-days old, was killed by a pit bull-mix while lying in bed with his parents and the dog. When his mother coughed, the dog suddenly attacked the baby's head. Both parents had to pull the 80-pound dog off the baby. After two 911 call attempts that went unanswered, the couple rushed Sebastian to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Deputy Director of San Diego County Animal Services, Dan DeSousa, told the media the dog was an American Staffordshire terrier, a breed more commonly known as a pit bull. Within 3-hours of news media reports, DeSousa used multiple breed names to distance the dog from a pit bull, including a "great dane-terrier mix" -- complete denial of any pit bull heritage. Five days after the baby's death, San Diego Humane Society (SDHS) admitted they adopted out the neutered 2-year old pit bull-mix named Polo to the couple 5-months earlier. Over the next few days, SDHS posted four posts to their Facebook page promoting pit bulls and pit bull adoptions. [ ] Date of death: April 21, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-great dane mix Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Parents Spay/Neuter: Yes Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Manuel Mejia 49-years old | Miami-Dade County, Florida Manuel Mejia, 49-years old, was killed by a pack of dogs in southwest Miami-Dade County. Authorities did not release any information to the public until reporters began investigating over 2-weeks after his death. Mejia was a live-in caretaker at a dragon fruit farm in Homestead. On April 23, up to 10 dogs kept by the owner of the farm viciously attacked Mejia. His girlfriend, Pamela Babineau, witnessed the attack and called 911. Mejia was airlifted to Kendall Regional Medical Center where he died of his injuries six hours later. The medical examiner's report showed he suffered severe bite injuries to his head, neck, chest, back and legs, fractured ribs and more. The dogs are described as a female American bulldog and nine Belgium malinois-bulldog mix offspring about 8-months old. Babineau told police three dogs instigated the attack and up to seven others joined in, indicating that all 10 dogs were involved. On November 14, 2016 DogsBite.org submitted two public records requests about this case. [ ] Date of death: April 24, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: American bulldog (1) Belgian malinois-bulldog mix (9) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Business owner Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Antoinette Brown 52-years old | Dallas, Texas Antoinette Brown, 52-years old, suffered catastrophic injury by a pack of loose dogs in southern Dallas on May 2. Police did not confirm the attack until 5 days later. Due to protocol failures between police and Dallas Animal Services (DAS) the dogs were not seized until 4 days later. Antoinette was bitten over 100 times. Her mother, Barbara Brown, said the dogs, "Ate her like they was eating a steak." Doctors placed her into a medically induced coma. She died on May 9 after being removed from life support. DAS and other city officials came under fire after the grisly attack. The city had recently stepped up efforts to combat the longstanding loose dog problem in south Dallas, but it was not enough. Authorities seized seven dogs from 3307 Spring Avenue suspected in the fatal mauling. From July 2013 through September 2015, authorities seized 21 dogs from the same home due to violations. On October 31, 2016 police announced that no charges would be filed because a DNA link could not be established. [ ] Date of death: May 9, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-mix (4) Rottweiler-mix (1) Shepherd-mix (1) Doberman-mix (1) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Neighbor Spay/Neuter: No Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: No Adonis Reddick 45-years old | St. Louis County, Missouri Adonis Reddick, 45-years old, was fatally attacked by his own pit bull. He was discovered dead by family members at his home near Spanish Lake. Family members had not heard from him for a few days so they stopped by to check on him. They found him lifeless with bite injuries and his pit bull, named Milow, loose in the house behaving extremely aggressive. St. Louis County police responded to the home and shot and killed the pit bull because police and animal control could not control it. Another dog in the house, a female German shepherd-mix, was taken into custody without incident. The county medical examiner determined that Reddick died of "penetrating and perforating" wounds to the neck, St. Louis County police spokesman Shawn McGuire said. Reddick had developmental disabilities and is remembered as a powerful advocate for others living with disabilities. In 2015, Reddick won a national award, the Self Advocate of the Year Catalyst Award, for his efforts to educate and support others with disabilities. [ ] Date of death: May 9, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Victim Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Earl Stephens Jr. 43-years old | Stockton, California Earl Stephens Jr., 43-years old, was killed by a pit bull while visiting the dog owner's home in east Stockton. Stephens had gone over to his friend's home to help him repair a scooter in the friend's fenced-in front yard. The men were inside the home when Stephens walked outside to get some cigarettes from his car, according to authorities. As soon as he walked into the front yard, his friend's pit bull, named Harley, viciously attacked him. The dog had reportedly been friendly to Stephens earlier in the day. Sounds from the attack caused his friend and a woman inside the home to rush outside to help. The woman was bitten on her fingers while struggling with the dog. The friend was struck in the head accidentally by a hammer the woman was using on the dog. Stephens' injuries were described as "massive." When deputies arrived, they found Harley in the yard still aggressive. They shot and killed that pit bull. Two younger offspring pit bulls also participated in the attack and were seized by authorities. [ ] Date of death: June 4, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (3) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Male (primary attacker) Owner of dog: Friend Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Hunter Bragg 7-years old | Corinna, Maine Hunter Bragg, 7-years old, was brutally killed by a pit bull while visiting his father. The attack occurred at the home of Gary Merchant Jr. at 207 Moody's Mill Road in Corinna. Hunter's father, Jason Bragg, was living in a camper on the Merchant property. When Penobscot County first responders arrived on scene, Hunter was already dead. Hunter was playing in the yard with two other children when the pit bull fatally attacked his throat and face. The medical examiner's report said Hunter died of "blunt and sharp force injuries of [his] head and neck." There were eight dogs living on the property at the time of the attack. The 1.5-year old male pit bull, named Koda, previously belonged to the daughter of Merchant's wife since a puppy. She returned the dog to the Merchants in early 2016 after it attacked another dog in her home multiple times, according to the bite report filed by animal control officer Charles Gould after Hunter's death. As of August 26, 2016, no additional information has been released. [ ] Date of death: June 4, 2016 Chained: Yes Breed of dog: Pit bull Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Relative Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: Pending Erin McCleskey 36-years old | Manor, Texas Erin McCleskey, 36-years old, was killed by a pack of dogs while serving civil papers to a home in northeast Travis County. McCleskey was an independent contractor for a legal support services provider. On June 15, McCleskey drove to 12316 Fay Street in Manor. She exited her vehicle, leaving it running, and entered the property's front gate. Upon entering, she was attacked by up to six dogs. The medical examiner said that she had been dead for five hours before being discovered. A neighbor, who saw her running car parked in front of the gate, found her body, according to news reports. The dogs' owner, Terry Swanson, was away at the time. Authorities seized six adult dogs, four labrador-mixes and two Australian cattle dog-mixes. There were also 14 puppies in a pen on the property. Justice of the Peace Herb Evans later ordered all six dogs euthanized. He noted in his order, "She didn’t deserve to die, and these animals don’t have a license to kill." As of June 26, 2016, the investigation remains active. [ ] Date of death: June 15, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Labrador-mixes (4) Australian cattle dog (heeler)-mixes (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Property owner Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Jocelyn Winfrey 53-years old | New Haven, Connecticut Jocelyn Winfrey, 53-years old, was mauled to death by two dogs while visiting the dog owner's home. On June 20, Winfrey and Dr. Hamilton Hicks, a resident in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, returned to his home on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard. After the two stepped inside Hicks' fenced-in yard, his two American bulldog-mixes viciously attacked Winfrey. Hicks tried to intervene, but he could not stop his dogs. Alderman Brian Wingate lives nearby and witnessed part of the attack. He described the scene as "really, really horrific." Another witness said, "Half of her face was basically bitten off. She looked like she was dead." Winfrey underwent cardiac arrest twice while en route to Yale-New Haven Hospital. She lost a leg and both eyes in the attack. On June 27, doctors removed Winfrey from life support and she died. Police arrested Hicks after finding three bags of crack on him at the time of the attack. Dr. Hicks graduated from Harvard in 2001, attended medical school in Miami then began a residency at the Yale School of Medicine. No charges were filed in connection to the fatal attack. [ ] Date of death: June 27, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: American bulldog-mix (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Friend Spay/Neuter: No/Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Susie Kirby 3-days old | Fresno, California Susie Kirby, 3-days old, was mauled to death by two family dogs at a home on North Glenn Avenue. The baby was taken to Community Regional Medical Center, where she later died. The baby's' mother had placed the infant on a recliner-type couch and put pillows around her so that she would not fall off, according to Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer. Earlier, the mother had propped open the front door to let cooler air inside. When she left the baby to go to the bathroom, she believed her brother's two dogs -- one with a history of aggression -- were tied up outside. However, that was untrue. "While she was in the bathroom," Chief Dyer said, "the dog came through the door, grabbed the infant and took that baby outside." The baby's uncle returned home from the store and found his dogs attacking Susie outside, Dyer said. Both male dogs, described as a mix of Shar-pei and pit bull, were euthanized. Police turned the case over to Child Protection Services for a complete investigation. No charges are anticipated. [ ] Date of death: June 27, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-shar pei mix (1) Shar pei-pit bull mix (1) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Uncle Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Kayden Begay 3-years old | Navajo Nation Reservation, Arizona Kayden Begay, 3-years old, was struck down by a pack of pit bulls while visiting his paternal grandparent's home in Seba Dalkai. The boy's mother, Kimasha Shorty, told the Navajo Times that her son followed her aunt outside to get the cattle when a pack of pit bulls belonging to a neighbor attacked and killed him. The owner of the dogs, Marlinda Begay, is a relative on Kayden's father's side, the mother said. Kimasha was told his aunt was unaware that Kayden had followed her outside. People in the area had complained to the Navajo Nation Rangers about these dogs attacking livestock before, Shorty said, but no action was ever taken. A report from the Navajo Nation Animal Control Program obtained by the Associated Press confirmed that five dogs killed the boy before officials arrived. Navajo officials shot and killed two dogs on scene and took three others into custody. Those dogs were later euthanized. All five dogs tested negative for rabies. As of July 26, 2016 no other information is known. [ ] Date of death: July 14, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (5) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Neighbor/relative Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: Unknown Elizabeth Rivera 71-years old | Detroit, Michigan Elizabeth Rivera, 71-years old, was mauled to death by up to four family pit bulls at her southwest Detroit home in the 2000 block of Ferdinand Street. Sgt. Michael Woody of Detroit Police said a family pit bull attacked the woman, knocking her down then attacked her throat, severing her jugular vein. She died at the scene. Rivera's granddaughter arrived home and discovered her lifeless body on the home's first floor. After an autopsy, the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office said that Rivera died of "crush injury to the neck." The manner of death was ruled an accident. Family members said the pit bulls belonged to Rivera's daughter and her daughter's boyfriend. Several years ago, Rivera was severely bitten in the face by a different pit bull owned by the same couple, relatives said. Rivera underwent extensive surgeries and skin grafts after the earlier attack. That pit bull was put down, family members said. On July 16, one or more pit bulls owned by the same family members killed Rivera. [ ] Date of death: July 16, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (4) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Daughter Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Crisencio Aliado 52-years old | Honolulu, Hawaii Crisencio Aliado, 52-years old, was found bloody and dead on a stream bank in Kalihi, near the Kamehameha Highway on July 29. Aliado was a homeless man, according to reports. Two dogs were discovered at the scene and seized by the Honolulu Police Department. The Honolulu medical examiner ruled that Aliado died due to multiple dog bite injuries. The deadly attack occurred behind a local business, ContainerLand, located at 2312 Kamehameha Highway. The owners of ContainerLand confirmed to news sources that the two dogs in custody at the Hawaiian Humane Society, both pit bull-mixes, belonged to them. The owners claimed their dogs "somehow" escaped the fenced warehouse. A friend of Aliado, Norbert Cardoza, said that Aliado had been washing his clothing in a nearby stream when he was attacked. “He was the most mild-mannered person you could meet. Didn’t bother nobody. Just that he was homeless,” Cardoza said. On August 11, authorities returned both pit bulls to their owners. [ ] Date of death: July 29, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-mix (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Business owner Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: No Michelle Wilcox 30-years old | Screven County, Georgia Michelle Wilcox, 30-years old, was mauled to death by her boyfriend's pit bull while visiting his home near Newington. An autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Wilcox died of injuries inflicted by the dog. No one else was home during the fatal attack, according to a statement issued by the Screven County Sheriff's Office. The boyfriend destroyed the dog, a male pit bull, immediately after discovering the attack. Michelle was familiar with the dogs and had handled them on "numerous occasions in the past," and "none of the dogs in the home had any known history of viciousness or aggression," the statement added. It is later learned, however, that one of the boyfriend's four pit bulls had "some legal charges over an attack," while under the care of its former owner. Michelle was a meat inspector employed by the Georgia Department of Agriculture and studied pre-veterinary medicine at Gainesville State College and animal science at the University of Georgia. [ ] Date of death: August 1, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Boyfriend Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Derion Stevenson 9-years old | Las Vegas, Nevada Derion Stevenson, 9-years old, was killed by a pit bull-mix while visiting a friend's home. Derion had gone to a home on Duck Hill Springs Drive when the pit bull exited the home and attacked him in the throat and face. He was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, where he later died. “This 9-year-old young man was with friends when this incident occurred,” Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Jesse Roybal said. “Not only is this tragic for this young man’s family, but for his friends that had to witness it.” The Clark County coroner’s office said the boy died from blunt force injuries to the neck and head. His death was ruled an accident. The 3-year old unaltered male pit bull, named Left Eye, was euthanized the next day. 3-weeks before the deadly attack, Left Eye attacked a pet dog being walked in the neighborhood. At that time, Clark County animal control officials did not declare the dog dangerous or vicious. They said the incident was "not serious enough." [ ] Date of death: August 17, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-mix Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Friend Spay/Neuter: No Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: Pending Michael Downing 83-years old | Jacksonville, Florida Michael Downing, 83-years old, was brutally killed by up to four dogs. Police believe the dogs escaped their yard through a hole in the fence, attacked the man then dragged him back under the fence. The man was discovered dead and dismembered along the fence line inside the dog owner's backyard. The fence line divides the parking lot of the Franklin Arms Apartments, where the victim lived, and the dog owner's backyard. Witnesses said Downing was taking out trash to the dumpster when the dogs attacked him. The owner of the dogs, Lephus Felton, 52, blamed the victim for the attack, alleging, "He was antagonizing my dogs." Felton said one of his dogs is a rottweiler and the other three are part rottweiler, German shepherd and chow. Two of the dogs are parents of the two younger dogs. Felton was away when the attack occurred, when he returned, a woman told him his dogs killed someone in his backyard. Authorities confiscated all four dogs. As of September 17, 2016, no charges have been filed. [ ] Date of death: August 19, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Rottweiler (1) Mixed breed (3) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Neighbor Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: Pending Susan Shawl 60-years old | Conifer, Colorado Susan Shawl, 60-years old, was killed by her two family pit bulls at her home on Black Widow Drive. The pit bulls belonged to her son, 36-year old Richard Shawl, who also lives at the home. Jefferson County sheriff's deputies responded to a dog attack about 7 pm. They arrived to Susan badly mauled, "barely conscious" and heavily bleeding. They tried to keep her alive using a tourniquet as medical responders rushed in. Initially, a medical helicopter was called to the scene, but was later cancelled. Susan died at the scene. The dogs also attacked their owner. Richard suffered non-life-threatening injuries trying to help his mother. He was transported to a local hospital. The family had owned the pit bulls for at least 8-years. In 2008, Jefferson County Animal Control issued a warning citation to Richard about his dogs being "loose and aggressive." Just after the deadly attack, a photo of the two family pit bulls appearing calm and idyllic from Richard's Facebook page was featured on many news stories. [ ] Date of death: August 29, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (2) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Son Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Baby Jane Doe 6-days old | College Station, Texas Baby Jane Doe, 6-days old, died after being attacked by a family dog in Brazos County. The only news report of this infant's death was reported by Rusty Surette of KBTX on September 23, 2016, nearly one month later. The report by Surette stated only that the infant died after an "incident" with the family dog and did not state if the baby died due to a dog bite. Surette also failed to answer this basic question after our nonprofit asked him twice in two separate emails. To confirm whether the infant was a dog bite-related fatality, we sent public information requests to three separate Texas agencies: Brazos County Health Department, Texas Department of State Health Services (Temple) and the College Station Police Department. According to the "front page" of the police report, the only page we were able to access, the victim suffered an "animal attack," the injuries are described as "punctures and lacerations through skull" and the victim was deceased. No other information was released to the public. [ ] Date of death: September 1, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Unreleased (1) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Family member Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Piper Dunbar 2-years old | Topeka, Kansas Piper Dunbar, 2-years old, was found dead in her front yard by a search-and-rescue team. Topeka police Lt. Bryan Wheeles attributed her death to a dog attack. Authorities seized two dogs that were in a fenced-in area at the home. Police identified both dogs as pit bulls. The animals belonged to Margaret Jaramillo (Johnson), a family friend who was temporarily staying at the home. Piper was first reported missing Saturday at about 8 pm. Her father, Donnie Dunbar, said she slipped away when he fell asleep. Topeka Police responded to 814 SE Carnahan Avenue and began going door-to-door in the neighborhood. Officers found Piper in the northeast corner of her front yard. Dunbar said that when police located his daughter they tackled him. Both Dunbar and Jaramillo were taken by police to the Law Enforcement Center for questioning. Information from the interrogations was submitted to Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor’s office for review. Authorities euthanized both pit bulls. [ ] Date of death: September 24, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Family friend Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: Pending Kiyana McNeal 4-years old | Sherman Township, Michigan Kiyana McNeal, 4-years old, was killed by a dog she had known less than an hour. The child's mother, Jacey McNeal Wolkins, had been searching for a new family dog after her previous dog died of cancer. The new dog arrived on October 23, 2016 -- a man from Illinois drove his doberman-type dog to their home. The former owner stayed with Kiyana and her mother for 30 to 45 minutes, as they got acquainted with the new dog, then departed for Illinois. About 5 minutes after he left, Jacey called the man for unknown reasons and asked him to return, according to family members. Before he returned, the dog attacked Kiyana in the neck as she tried to give the animal a dog biscuit. The man returned while the dog was attacking Kiyana and her mother was struggling to get the large dog away from Kiyana. He carried the child outside and began CPR on the little girl. Emergency responders tried to resuscitate Kiyana, but she died on scene. No charges were brought and the dog's previous owner was never named. [ ] Date of death: October 23, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Doberman-mix Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Mother/Seller Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Daisie Bradshaw 68-years old | New York City, New York Updated Information: April 29, 2017 Daisie Bradshaw, 68-years old, was mauled to death by dogs in her Mariners Harbor home on Staten Island. On October 25, police responded to a 911 call for an unresponsive female at a home on Simonson Avenue at about 9:40 am. Police found Daisie's body covered in bite marks, bruises and lacerations in the basement of her home along with two dogs. Police said the victim was bitten multiple times and suffered "defensive wounds." The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The dogs belong to Daisie's daughter who also lives in the basement, but was not present when her dogs attacked. Animal Care and Control impounded both dogs. About 10 days after the attack, both dogs were listed on the NYC Urgent Dog website, which urges people to adopt dogs on death row. Both of the daughter's male neutered dogs, listed as pit bull-mixes, were stated to be "on hold for legal reasons." On January 26, 2017 the New York City Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that Daisie died due to dog bite injuries. [ ] Date of death: October 25, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-German shepherd mix (1) German shepherd-pit bull mix (1) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male (2) Owner of dog: Daughter Spay/Neuter: Yes Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No Isaiah Jacob Franklin 6-years old | Huntington, West Virginia Isaiah Jacob Franklin, 6-years old, was fatally attacked by a family pit bull in his home in the 2600 block of 9th Avenue in Huntington. Scanner traffic reports at the time of the attack indicated Isaiah suffered severe injuries to his head and neck and the dog remained aggressive when first responders arrived. He was transported to Cabell Huntington Hospital where he died of his injuries. Family members said the 3-year old male pit bull, named Tiny, belonged to his mother's boyfriend and that it attacked the child without provocation or warning. Two adults where in the room with Isaiah as he finished up playing a video game when the dog suddenly attacked; his mother was in the next room. The dog had been living in the household for about a year, according to his mother. Photographs of the dog posted to social media showed the dog was unneutered. The family also owned a female pit bull that was uninvolved in the attack. Both dogs were taken into custody by animal control. No charges are anticipated. [ ] Date of death: December 2, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Mother's boyfriend Spay/Neuter: No Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No David Fear 64-years old | Grover Beach, California David Fear, 64-years old, was attacked by a police officer's "personal" dogs after they escaped their owner's property. The primary attacker, a Belgian malinois, first attacked his neighbor, Betty Long. Fear intervened to save her life and suffered critical dog bite injuries, including two arteries in his arms being severed, contributing to him losing six pints of blood. Long suffered dog bite injuries and multiple broken bones from falling. Fear died of his injuries. The city of Grover Beach refused to release the officer's name for nine days. The Tribune later published an exclusive article, detailing officer Alex Geiger's previous employment and that his malinois was a trained police K-9. The dog was dual-certified in narcotics detection and patrol work -- obedience, search, apprehension and handler protection (bite work). Geiger was the dog's handler and part of the city of Exeter's K-9 unit from September 2015 to August 2016. Ge
a non-media mail object in with my Norton anthologies — not a toothbrush but an armless Hideki Matsui bobblehead doll. (It made it through undetected.) Those several dozen books transported from the West Coast multiplied over the years to fill 45 some-odd boxes, proving that the greatest fiction is that book lovers can reform. I had tried to downsize before this latest move as well. Sure, I granted a reprieve to all my old favorites and recently received Christmas gifts, as well as those books I hadn’t yet cracked open and had no immediate plans to. As recounted by Walter Benjamin, Anatole France was once asked whether he had read all the books in his library. He responded, “Not one-tenth of them. I don’t suppose you use your Sèvres china every day?” No indeed, and I won’t take my illustrated copy of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels with a Donkey out of its cover until I’m good and ready. But many books did go into the “sell pile.” First were Finding the Right Words, 101 Ways to Say Thank You and Great Letters for Every Occasion, which my college roommate had sent me as a joke after I admitted that I enjoyed penning “Thank You” notes. Next in were a few Peter Carey paperbacks, John Banville’s Benjamin Black mysteries and David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, which made the cut five years ago, but not this time, and plenty more. On a roll, I even tried to throw in my wife’s pristine and eminently resalable copy of Wild — twice. She made it clear that if it happened again, Stevenson’s donkey might wander off as well. I took the carful to a used book store, where the clerk instructed me to wait as he sorted the books into two piles — one he wouldn’t buy and the other he’d buy for a pittance. For a bibliophile, this period is especially dangerous, akin to an alcoholic trying to dry out in a Kinky Blue Liqueur distillery. If you must browse to pass the time, I recommend confining yourself to the least tempting section, for me “Spirituality” or “Business.” Then plug your ears when the clerk offers you a figure for store credit, which can be twice as high as the cash offer. Always take the cash. The most desirable stuff having been picked clean, I went to another store in the area, selling some of my remaining wares to a less discriminating buyer for $24 in trade. (I know what I just said, but what’s one more hardcover?) I still had a box of unwanted books left, including a copy of David Copperfield with increasingly embarrassing marginalia from the times I had read it in high school, college, and graduate school; some tattered mysteries; a comedic romance with a moose on the cover; Anatomy flashcards; and those three indispensable treatises on writing the perfect “Thank You” note. Over the next couple days I distributed these among a local coffee shop, the library donation bin, and my apartment complex clubhouse, disposing of the dismembered corpus of rejected texts so as to leave no trace of its owner. However, as the moving estimate made clear, I hadn’t really made a dent. And thus, here I am in a new home, resolving once more to reform my book-hoarding ways. Unlikely, especially with Politics & Prose, Kramerbooks, and Capitol Hill Books nearby. Luckily, my movers made my task a little easier. As if sensing that I was a recidivist, they took it upon themselves to smash one of my bookshelves to pieces in transit. Message received. They also blithely informed me that they had broken my writing desk as well, which I chose to take as a sign of their carelessness rather than a pointed criticism of my work. The books, all 45 boxes of them, naturally survived the move unscathed. Image Credit: pixshark.It was a warm, cloudy evening on May 25th 2014, and the prime minister was feeling confident. As opposition leader five years earlier Ken Clarke had led the Conservatives to a solid victory in the European election on a "pro-Europe, pro-growth" platform. The governing Labour Party had come second, but so dramatic had been its collapse that the foreign secretary, David Miliband, had resigned only hours after his cabinet colleague, James Purnell. Gordon Brown had quashed the rebellion, but his authority had been permanently damaged. His attempts to portray the Tories as "posh boys" had fallen apart when Mr Clarke—speaking with a proud Nottinghamshire lilt—had pointed out that Labour's cabinet had more privately educated members than his shadow cabinet. Mr Miliband had gone on to seize the Labour leadership after his party's worst-ever election result in 2010, but his wonkish language and increasingly frequent flashes of arrogance had cost the opposition dear. His speech on "Leveraging our National Potentialities going forward" in particular had attracted widespread mockery. Mr Clarke's down-to-earth talk and willingness to shoot from the hip, by contrast, had served him well. When he had announced that the Tories would seek to legalise cannabis and halve rates of imprisonment, his approval ratings had soared. Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks. Not everyone had been happy, but Mr Clarke had dealt with the fallout. When a group of backbenchers had risen up to demand a referendum on Britain's EU membership, the prime minister's passionately pro-European speech (delivered alongside Richard Branson in Birmingham) had been powerful enough to turn the media against them. Peter Bone's later appearance on "I'm a Celebrity" was not an edifying affair, most had agreed. When Russian agitation in Ukraine had given way to incursions into the Crimea, Mr Clarke had rapidly mobilised his colleagues in the European People's Party (EPP). The Stafford Summit would soon come to be seen as a turning point in the West's political fortunes—the point at which the European powers stood together and issued eye-wateringly tough sanctions against Russian officials. Mr Clarke's late-night cigar sessions with Angela Merkel—conducted in fluent German with the help of his Europe minister, Gisela Stuart—were later described as a decisive factor. Moreover, the prime minister's roll-out of renewable energy and crack-down on opaque financial holdings in London had made Britain near-immune to Russia's retaliation. He had been well received by Mr Putin's successor, Alexei Navalny, the month before. As the results came through, Mr Clarke felt vindicated. The Conservatives now held 45 seats in the European Parliament, so could look Ms Merkel's CDU eye-to-eye in the EPP. Mr Clarke knew that this would help him promote his young protégé, David Cameron, to be Europe's new high representative for foreign affairs. Mr Cameron had done an excellent job as foreign secretary, despite a Eurosceptic streak that had occasionally unnerved his boss. Both the chancellor, Theresa May, and her chief secretary to the Treasury, George Osborne, had always assured Mr Clarke that Mr Cameron well understood the economic advantages of EU membership. Perusing the results tables in his morning copy of The Independent, Mr Clarke stumbled across the leader of a minor party that had won a few council seats in Kent. "Is is pronounced like 'carriage'?", thought the prime minister, before flicking to the results of the Monaco Grand Prix.HOUSTON (Covering Katy) – Comcast announced is launching a new internet service that will deliver speeds up to 1 Gigabit-per-second to residential customers in Katy. Comcast will use DOCSIS 3.1 technology to deliver these speeds over the company’s existing network infrastructure. “We realize technological innovations are occurring rapidly, and our customers’ need the speed to make the most of them,” said Ralph Martinez, Senior Vice President of Comcast’s Houston Region. “This increases reflect our commitment to delivering the fastest speeds to our customers, just like we’ve done almost every year for more than a decade.” The company’s new 1 Gigabit internet service will use existing communications lines that are already in most people’s homes. As a result, it has the potential to reach more homes even faster and allows for broad deployment across communities. To enjoy the service, all customers need to do is install a new DOCSIS 3.1 compatible cable modem that is capable of delivering gigabit speeds. The everyday price for 1 Gigabit service in Houston is $159.95, without a contract. The company will test a $109.99 per month promotional price across the Houston area. Additional prices and promotions may be tested in the future. New and current customers in the Houston can visit Xfinity.com/gig to learn about the new service and request additional information. About Comcast Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation’s largest video, high-speed internet, and phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand, and also provides these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and security and automation services to residential customers under the XFINITY brand. NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.Democrat Christine Pellegrino has defeated her Republican challenger in a New York state special election, just months after the district went big for Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE in the 2016 presidential race. Pellegrino, a delegate for Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernard (Bernie) SandersPush to end U.S. support for Saudi war hits Senate setback Sanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' MORE (I-Vt.) during the Democratic presidential primary, defeated Republican challenger Thomas Gargiulo in the District 9 State Assembly special election. "Thank you to all the volunteers and supporters who worked so hard during my campaign," Pellegrino posted on her Facebook page. "I look forward to representing the people of the 9th Assembly District!" Some Democrats applauded the win on Twitter to warn Republicans that their unified control of the federal government is at risk in the 2018 midterm elections. The race represents another victory for Democrats, who are looking for wins in state races and House special elections in Georgia and Montana as proof that an anti-Trump backlash is building. Wow! Educator & Bernie 2016 delegate Christine Pellegrino won her special election tonight & flipped New York Assembly District 9 blue! pic.twitter.com/XwLYqdRlwc — Our Revolution (@OurRevolution) May 24, 2017 A Bernie delegate just won a state assembly seat in a district Trump won by 23. Time for GOP to panic.https://t.co/VgWirgvrrq — Krystal Ball (@krystalball) May 24, 2017 Another canary in the coal mine for Republicans. https://t.co/SjlxuS0KuJ — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 24, 2017 Something is happening. BIG congrats to Christine Pellegrino on flipping this CONSERVATIVE Assembly district. I got 31% in 2016. https://t.co/V4ZyOYs2g3 — Brendan Cunningham (@cunningham61) May 24, 2017 In New Hampshire, Democrat Edith DesMarais also won a special election in the town of Wolfeboro, defeating Republican Matthew Planche. Pellegrino will take the seat of Republican Joseph Saladino. He has served in the position since 2004 but stepped down earlier this year after he was appointed Oyster Bay town supervisor. Matt Walter, the president of the Republican State Leadership Committee, said Democrats may be beginning to understand that "political action starts in the states." “After investing unprecedented dollars in failed efforts to flip seats, it appears Democrats could be waking to the reality that political action starts in the states," he said in a statement. "Before last night, the only seat to change parties was from Democrat to Republican after Democrats failed to flip any seats in blue states with Republican control, including both chambers in Virginia, the Minnesota House – where Republicans have an all-time high – and a tied Connecticut Senate.” - Updated at 11:52 a.m.For more than 20 years, one of the Redskins’ worst problems has been the inability to construct a young roster that develops continuity and cohesion over a number of years until it becomes a genuine team. That is changing. On Saturday, the Redskins outgained Buffalo, 452-155; held the Bills to 63 net passing yards; committed no turnovers; rushed for 208 yards; and won, 30-7, with neither Robert Griffin III nor Kirk Cousins taking a single snap. True, the Bills are bad. The Redskins’ three preseason wins evaporate on opening night in two weeks. But when a team can play as crisply as the Redskins have so far, don’t disregard it too quickly. They have taken advantage of teams with new coaches or rebuilt offensive or defensive units. But whom do they meet in their first game? The Eagles, a team surrounded by buzz because of Chip Kelly’s warp-speed offense imported from Oregon. But Philly is in that same rebuilding boat. Washington is finally that rare NFL team that opens a season polished and comfortable in its own Skins. “I was impressed with our football team. We did a bunch of positive things. I was impressed with our [offensive] line and backs,” Coach Mike Shanahan said after Saturday’s game, using the word “impressed” five times in different contexts. “There’s cohesion now. They know each other, and that familiarity is a key to running-game success. You could see it today — continuity, knowing what to expect from each other.” Even Joe Gibbs in the four years of his second go-round as Redskins coach had tons of churn as players aged and the team spent big to get better fast. Now, partly by design and also because of a $36 million salary cap penalty over the last two seasons, the Redskins have brought back the same NFC East championship team at almost every starting position. Nobody in the NFL has blown up its roster more often with worse results than Washington since 1991. The Redskins’ penalties, missed assignments and lack of discipline, their disorganization in the fourth quarter of close games and their almost complete inability to function as a team whose sum is greater than its parts have been pet peeves throughout the six coaching regimes between their last Super Bowl win and Shanahan’s arrival. Manic Mike’s beady glare doesn’t make him an ideal dinner companion, but it’s a joy to imagine 300-pounders who cringe when they see his Albert Haynesworth-stare and vow never to get the snap count wrong again in this century. Many Redskins followers are ready to swap charm for football fear and take a second helping of NFL coach deviousness, too, as long as their team actually can remember 11 assignments correctly on 20 plays in a row. In contrast to those teams, the current Redskins are built on players who are 30 or younger yet also have multiple years of playing together. In the fourth season under Shanahan, the Redskins are familiar with the quirks of one another’s styles and can start the year not just on the same page but on the proper sentence and word. This phenomenon may linger; the only starters older than 30 are London Fletcher and Santana Moss. “It’s a lot easier when you have guys who already know the system and you aren’t bringing in new people. It definitely helps,” said Alfred Morris, the 1,613-yard rusher of last season. “We only lost Lorenzo [Alexander, a Pro Bowler on special teams,] off the whole [starting] team. We don’t need to reteach. The retention is there. We’ve passed the learning curve.” Not only are almost all of the NFC East champs back this year, but one of the key offensive elements that they lacked last season has returned — a man from their past, Roy Helu Jr., who gained 1,019 yards from scrimmage in 2011. On Saturday, he rushed for 70 yards and caught a 21-yard pass. Last season, the Redskins led the NFL in rushing with 2,709 yards. But almost all of it came from Morris and RGIII (815 yards). The team’s next-best rusher had only 88 yards! No one thinks Griffin, with a rebuilt knee, will be asked to run 120 times this season. So who makes up the difference? Who’s the relief for Morris or a third-down back that also catches passes? It certainly looks like Helu, who, despite only five starts in ’11, had 640 yards rushing and caught 49 passes for 379 yards, too. “Our second team really moved the ball against their first-team defense,” said Helu, who also noted that he was surrounded by familiar faces, making his return much easier. “To pull off what [General Manager] Bruce Allen did and get everybody back is remarkable.” A weak free agent class helped the Redskins stay intact by restructuring contracts and re-signing some, like cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who might not have returned in other years. Irony came into play, too. The same autocratic NFL that slapped the Redskins with a $36 million ’cause-we-say-so penalty was, perhaps, a contributing factor in that dreary free agent market in which hardly a cornerback anywhere got a competitive salary offer. Never say “collusion.” But the NFL gets want it wants. Last offseason, even as it kept the Redskins from adding star names, it may have helped them stay intact. “It’s true that we couldn’t go out and get huge price free agents,” said safety Reed Doughty, who adds that the Redskins, coming off a 10-6 year, weren’t exactly stuck with dregs. “But they only kept people they wanted.” Preseason wins seem to exist for the sole purpose of teasing provincials into overestimating the local team. So before allowing too much exhibition enthusiasm, let’s note two negative factors. The Redskins’ pass defense was awful last year, 30th and 29th in yards and touchdowns allowed, respectively. Against the Bills, Josh Wilson was called for a 34-yard pass-interference penalty on a bomb on the first play from scrimmage. Buffalo knew where to test. Rookies Bacarri Rambo and David Amerson will play key roles in the secondary. Neither has looked adequate yet on open-field tackles. And against the Bills, Amerson was penalized 57 yards for two infractions. Also, a main reason the Redskins went 10-6 last year was a plus-17 in turnover differential. That can hardly be overemphasized. In the last 43 years, the Redskins have topped that mark only four times. Only three times have they had back-to-back seasons with plus-10 in turnovers. Okay, that’s enough realism for August. Until the games begin to count and RGIII shows how healthy his knee truly is, here’s the central news about the Redskins: By the end of last year, they played like a true team. Now almost every one of them is back. For more by Thomas Boswell, visit washingtonpost.com/boswell.Another month, another assurance that federal law enforcement has rebranded as a sort of national ministry for vice prevention. This week, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigators and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials conducted a widespread raid on Korean massage parlors in New York City, which the feds allege were not-so-secretly operating as fronts for commercial sexual activity. According to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 11 massage-parlor owners were indicted as part of the operation. They have been charged with conspiracy to launder money and to violate the federal Travel Act. Both statutes are broad measures that prohibit earning money, crossing state or national boundaries, sending wire payments, making bank deposits, or using the U.S. postal service in conjunction with any "unlawful activity." This particular sting, which has been in the works since around 2012, involved the cooperation of ICE, DHS investigations, the IRS, the New York City Police Department, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. According to the indictment, the 11 massage parlors that were targeted "are independently owned but assist each other" by "sharing the same customer list," employing some of the same women as independent contractors, and using the same advertising sources—apparently enough to frame them as "co-conspirators" rather than independent entities operating within the same geographic and commercial space. One of the main lines of evidence ICE offers that prostitution was taking place at these massage parlors is that "sexually explicit" photographs of some staff were posted on their websites. Of course, plenty of places—strip clubs, chain restaurants, night clubs—use the sex appeal of staff to bring in customers, and presumably, most of these businesses are not engaged in secret sex-trafficking rings. But then, most of the women posing in racy photos for these places are not of an ethnic persuasion frequently presumed to be sex workers (or sex-trafficking victims), or employed in an industry that's long been a target of government regulators. The other evidence ICE offers comes from two informants, "CS-1," who worked as a manager at several of the massage parlors in 2014, and "CW-1," a South Korean woman who paid to be smuggled into America last decade. Upon her arrival, CW-1 began working in Manhattan brothels and eventually opened her own. She has since been arrested and charged with violating the Travel Act and money laundering, and is now "cooperating with law enforcement in the hope of receiving a more lenient sentence." According to both sources, the alleged prostitution at these massage parlors was not being forced upon the staff. Any money earned from such endeavors was split between workers and business owners, and workers were free to come and go as they pleased. The indictment also notes that while many of the workers were immigrants, their use of brokers and smugglers was on the decline, as the women can now arrange for their own entry into the United States under a visa waiver program for South Korean tourists. Nonetheless, the indictment refers to the massage parlors as "commercial sex trafficking businesses." Remember the last big immigrant sex-trafficking takedown that made the news?A four-year investigation into the dog meat industry, published today by Animals Asia, has uncovered no evidence of any large-scale breeding facilities in the country, supporting long-standing claims that the vast majority of so-called “meat dogs” are in fact stolen companion animals and strays. Report 1: Lies, illegality and stolen lives: a true crime story Report 2: The black market for dog and cat meat in China: Media reports 2001-2015 Report 3: China's rural dogs in crisis Report 4: Attitudes to dog and cat eating in China to be released Friday 12 June Our exhaustive investigation covered 15 cities in eight provinces in northeast, southern and central China, where dog eating is most prevalent. The dogs farms located and visited were found to be farming dogs on a very small scale nowhere near large enough to supply the country’s appetite for dog meat. Media reports estimate up to 10 million dogs are slaughtered annually for meat in China, yet not a single farm visited during our investigation showed evidence of large-scale breeding facilities, where 100-plus dogs were bred and raised. Animals Asia founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE said: “Our investigations strongly point to what everybody familiar with the industry has long suspected – that the vast majority of China’s dog meat comes from stolen companion animals and that misinformation and illegality is rife at every stage of the industry supply chain.” In Jiaxiang County, Shandong, considered one of the country’s most active dog-raising areas, investigators found scant evidence of industrial-scale dog breeding for consumption. While more than 100 dog farms listed online gave the impression of a thriving industry, in reality many alleged dog farms were actually the same entity with different titles, while none had more than 30 adult dogs on site. An anonymous worker at Fankuai Dog Meat Products told investigators: “There were large breeding farms, but not any more, they couldn’t carry on. We also had one of our own before, but we found that the bigger it grew, the more diseases the dogs had, plus the costs were very high. The price of raising the dogs is higher than the market price of dog meat.” Animals Asia Cat and Dog Welfare Director Irene Feng added: “This is why calls for regulating the cat and dog eating industry are completely wrong. The trade cannot be legitimised because it can only ever survive as an industry characterised by criminality and cruelty. Even those who work in the trade know – there is no legitimate future – there’s only the current brutal status quo or the end of cat and dog meat eating altogether. In that respect the end should be inevitable and we say – end it now.” The report has added yet more weight to the belief that dogs cannot be cost-effectively farmed on a mass scale due to the high cost of a meat-rich diet, their highly territorial nature which makes them inclined to fight in confined groups, and the risk of diseases such as rabies. In 2014, Xia Zhaofei, head of Clinical Medicine at the China Agricultural University in Beijing said: “Our technology now can realise dog farming, but it entails considerable high technology, and it’s especially difficult, and once something goes wrong, it causes a large number of deaths. Meat from dogs raised on a farm would be expensive at around 100 RMB per jin [1 jin =0.5kg] if everything goes well." Between 2011 and 2014, the price of dog meat has fluctuated between 6.5 and 23 RMB per 0.5kg. When questioned, some workers at facilities claiming to be large scale but with few dogs on site argued that they worked under a scattered “household breeding” model, where the central farm supplies puppies for local households to raise. However, no farm could provide any details of the locations of these cooperative breeding households and further investigations in local villages also revealed that villagers had no knowledge of such a system. In fact, Animals Asia investigations into the attitudes of those raising dogs in rural China revealed that 99.6% of those raising dogs, do so for reasons other than profit. The evidence and testimonies collected suggest that China’s dog meat doesn’t come from industrial scale farms with vaccinations and hygiene standards as required by law, simply because it is not cost-effective. The history of the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, due to take place June 22nd 2015, shows how, once forced to adhere to Chinese law – profits collapse. In 2014, the Yulin authorities enforced food safety laws more stringently at the annual event resulting in an estimated 80% decrease in the number of canines slaughtered for consumption. The truth is that far more of the animals ending up on China’s dinner plates are actually stolen companion animals and home guardians than was ever previously imagined. And these are supplied by roving gangs of violent dog thieves. The criminal network is vast with few localities escaping the dog thieves’ attention, especially in rural China. In the spring of 2013, Animals Asia investigated the circumstances of dogs living in rural areas of major Chinese cities and the severe threats they faced. A total of 1,468 responses from 771 villages in 28 provinces, autonomous prefectures and municipalities were collected. An astonishing 70% of villages surveyed claimed to have suffered mysterious dog losses, 75.9% of which were believed to have been stolen to supply the dog meat industry. Further evidence certainly supports the claim with 73.6% of dog disappearances occurring during winter, showing a correlating spike between traditional annual demand for dog meat and companion animal thefts. An evaluation of Chinese media reveals the extent of the social disorder being wreaked by dog thieves. More than 710 stories were reported in newspapers across the country between 2001 and 2015, with instances increasing year on year since 2011. The reliance on stolen animals is undoubtedly increasing – meaning more crime is giving more prosperity and power to the criminals. The newspaper cuttings reveal a history of serious animal cruelty being practiced by dog thieves who snatch victims using wire lassos, cyanide tainted bait and crossbows fitted with poison darts. The violence inflicted upon animals often crosses over to bodily harm on villagers as 3.5% of the villages polled in Animals Asia’s investigation claim to have suffered brutal attacks at the hands of dog thieves during abductions. The risks to human health of an industry relying on stolen dogs is clear when it is considered that around 38% of dogs in rural China receive no vaccinations. Animals Asia’s four year investigation into every stage of the dog meat industry supply chain saw investigators visit more than 110 dog meat retailers, 66 restaurants and food stalls, 21 farmers’ markets, 12 dog slaughterhouses, eight dog breeding farms, eight dog meat food companies, four dog collection points, and three large live-animal wholesale markets. At every stage, investigators found a trade riddled with crime and extreme cruelty, violating existing laws on food safety, while those involved in the industry were highly secretive and suspicious of outside interest in their work. Animals Asia Cat and Dog Welfare Director Irene Feng said: “A legal industry with proper business practices should have no problem with public and media scrutiny. However, the sensitivity and mistrust shown in each link of the dog meat industry chain during our investigation – from rearing, to transport, slaughter and point of sale, points to unlawful acts being carried out at every stage. For the sake of law and order, food safety, public health and animal welfare, the public needs to know the truth behind the dog meat on their plates – and the country’s own laws must be upheld.”RAYADH: An Indian worker, convicted of murdering his Saudi sponsor, has been executed in the Gulf kingdom. Muhammad Latif was beheaded here yesterday after being found guilty by a local court of killing his sponsor Dhafir Al-Dossari by hitting him with an iron rod during a dispute, according to the Interior Ministry. He then hid the body in an abandoned well, the Ministry was quoted as saying by state-run SPA news agency. The court had earlier postponed the execution until the minor sons of the sponsor are old enough to agree to the verdict. This was the third execution this year in oil-rich Saudi Arabia, that practices a strict version of Shariah law under which rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death.Do you know about the ‘Olive Oil Fraud’? Many of us want to use ‘extra virgin olive oil’ for all the wonderful health benefits and taste, but is the olive oil real or fake? When you go to the trouble of seeking it out the best olive oil and spending the extra money, there is a high chance that it is not virgin at all! It is one of the many that are part of the ‘Olive Oil Fraud’. A high percentage of the olive oils are not at all what they say on the label. Just because they say it is ‘Extra Virgin Olive Oil’ (EVOO) or even ‘Certified’ does not mean that it actually is. Olive oils are not created equal. Do you know about the olive oil fraud? Learn which oils are really olive oil. Click To Tweet Updated: Jan 2019 This post is updated on a regular basis and reflects the current information available. – Diana Italy’s extra virgin olive oil fraud scandal! The anti-fraud police squad in Turin, Italy are examining seven well-known olive oil brands (Carapelli, Santa Sabina, Coricelli, Sasso, Primadonna and Antica Badia) to find out if they are selling an inferior virgin olive oil as “extra virgin” olive oil. To learn more, watch this video: ‘60 Minutes’ Looks at Olive Oil Adulteration in Italy. Extra Virgin Suicide slide show by Nicholas Blechman explains well what happens on the NY Times In America, more than $700 million a year is spent on olive oil, but unfortunately, it is not really olive oil because of olive oil fraud. Most of the olive oils on the market are cut with cheap vegetable oils. The results from the Consumer Report’s found that only 9 of the 23 olive oils from Italy, Spain, and California tested, and passed as being extra virgin olive oil even though all of them claimed so on the label. AND: “More than half tasted fermented or stale.” “International standards for extra virgin olive oil are mostly unenforced. Although the term ‘extra virgin’ is generally understood to denote the highest quality of olive oil, industry representatives report that the current standards are easily met by producers and allow olive oil marketed as ‘extra virgin’ to represent a wide range of qualities. This lack of enforcement has resulted in a long history of fraudulent practices (adulteration and mislabelling) in the olive oil sector.” – United States International Trade Commission A study at the UC Davis Olive Center found that 69% of the imported EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) sold in California supermarkets did not qualify as extra virgin. Tests indicate that imported EVOO often fails international and USDA standards. A bottle labeled EVOO may not be olive oil and instead be a seed oil which is made to smell and look like olive oil by adding a few drops of chlorophyll and beta-carotene making it part of the olive oil fraud. ‘Olive Oil Fraud’ oils that failed to meet EVOO standards: Carapelli Colavita Star Filippo Berio Mazzola Mezzetta Newman’s Own Safeway Whole Foods Which Olive Oils Passed the EVOO Standards? These olive oils have met the extra-virgin standards; this list of brands is from the research above. Bariani Olive Oil is Stone Crushed, Cold Pressed, Decanted, and Unfiltered California Extra Virgin Olive Oil and they are committed to producing an authentic extra virgin olive oil which is raw. Weston Price recommends this oil. Corto Olive – can sometimes be purchased at Costco. can sometimes be purchased at Costco. Cobram Estate – Australia’s most awarded extra virgin olive oil – Australia’s most awarded extra virgin olive oil California Olive Ranch – Award winning olive oil brand. It is in a t inted glass bottle protects oil and is 1 00% grown and made in California. Kirkland Organic – Amazon says: “Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil certified organic by the USDA. Made from the first cold pressing.” Comments on Amazon: of the 478 people who gave stars, 73% gave 5 stars.I have to say it is a very delicious olive oil, tasting like real olives; I’m just finishing up the bottle I bought. Amazon says: “Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil certified organic by the USDA. Made from the first cold pressing.” Comments on Amazon: of the 478 people who gave stars, 73% gave 5 stars.I have to say it is a very delicious olive oil, tasting like real olives; I’m just finishing up the bottle I bought. Lucero (Ascolano)– the olives are grown, harvested, and produced into the most authentic 100% Californian extra virgin olive oil. McEvoy Ranch Organic – one of the highest scoring olive oils which is from California. – one of the highest scoring olive oils which is from California. Ottavio – good olive oil but in a plastic bottle. good olive oil but in a plastic bottle. Omaggio – Couldn’t find this anywhere. Couldn’t find this anywhere. Whole Foods California 365 – 100% Californian, Unfiltered, Cold Processed, California Olive Oil Council – Certified Extra Virgin 100% Californian, Unfiltered, Cold Processed, California Olive Oil Council – Certified Extra Virgin Olea Estates 100% extra virgin olive oil – This olive oil is grown on a single family farm in Greece and is a great tasting olive oil. Here is another very good Olive Oil: Bertolli Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil – It is made from organic olives and produced using organic farming standards. This oil was on our list of not being approved but we have now learned that was incorrect. Here is a statement from the company: “Our olive oil exceeds the rigorous and exacting standards of the International Olive Council (IOC) and European Union (EU). As proof, in 2017 alone, we achieved global recognition for the quality of our products, winning 4 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze awards at multiple prestigious international olive oil competitions.” Consumer Reports (September 2012 issue), published results of a taste test of 138 bottles of extra virgin olive oil from 23 manufacturers. The olive oil was sourced from the US, Argentina, Greece, Chile, and Italy. They found that olive oil produced in California exceeded those from Italy. Two highest scoring olive oils (both from California) from their testing were: Ellora Extra Virgin Olive Oil is one of the best olive oils. It is 100% Pure Cretan Extra Virgin Olive Oil of which the origin and authenticity is certified by the EU standards. While meeting the stringent requirements it maintains a focus on environmental consciousness and tradition. When you are ordering it online it comes in many sizes which can make shipping more economical. This is the one I am getting: 2 tins of Ellora Extra Virgin Olive Oil and 2 Ellora EVOO spray bottles saves on shipping to get lots at the same time. Here is another olive oil I recently discovered that is certified: Kasandrinos Organic Extra Virgin Greek Olive Oil – 100% certified organic, non-GMO extra virgin olive oil from Kasandrinos century-old family orchard. Mechanical cold-pressing within 48 hours locks in the delicious flavor of the olives at peak of ripeness. And one more that is a very good oil winning medals: Partanna Extra Virgin Olive Oil is cold-pressed oil, unfiltered oil grown and packaged in Partanna, Sicily. The Asaro family has been producing it since 1916. This EVOO has been the winner of Gold Medals at the L.A. County Fair. What is Extra Virgin Olive Oil? First, the oil must come from fresh olives that were milled within 24 hours of their harvest. Next, it must be extracted by mechanical means, not from heat or chemicals. They must not be treated chemically in any way. Extra virgin oil is, in fact, fresh olive juice. Being a fruit, olives contain natural antioxidants that protect the plant during its lifetime. When the olive tree is very old it contains more of these antioxidants
. But she’s going to go home.” Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected]"contract" with the electorate which stated "if we don't deliver our side of the bargain, kick us out in five years". If you search for this "contract" on the Tory website, all you get is Here's my annotated version of this Tory "contract". In 2010 David Cameron and the Tories unveiled a 16 pointwith the electorate which statedIf you search for this "contract" on the Tory website, all you get is a desperate plea for you to tell them your salary and give them your email list so that they can send you targeted political spam. This suggests that they Tories have realised how badly they have failed to deliver their side of the bargain, but rather than accept that they should now be kicked out by the electorate, they've decided to hide the contract and hope that everyone has completely forgotten about it.Here's my annotated version of this Tory "contract". If you want a higher resolution version of this image, In this article I'm going to go through the promises made in this so-called "contract" providing a little more detail than space would allow in the infographic. I'll also provide a number of links to back up the claims I've made in my responses. If you want a higher resolution version of this image, I have uploaded a copy to my Flickr account In this article I'm going to go through the promises made in this so-calledproviding a little more detail than space would allow in the infographic. I'll also provide a number of links to back up the claims I've made in my responses. "Changing Politics" 1. Recall "Give you the right to sack your MP so that you don't have to wait for an election to get rid of politicians who are guilty of misconduct" The right to recall MPs has still not been delivered, and the current proposals are terribly watered-down, meaning that MPs will have the final say on whether recall proceedings go ahead, because the decision will be made by the Parliamentary Standards Committee which is heavily dominated by current MPs (and other members of the political class). The proposed system has been described as a weak imitation of the Recall systems used in other countries like the US The right to recall MPs has still not been delivered, and the current proposals are terribly watered-down, meaning that MPs will have the final say on whether recall proceedings go ahead, because the decision will be made by the Parliamentary Standards Committee which is heavily dominated by current MPs (and other members of the political class). The proposed system has been described as 2. The Number of MPs, and MPs expenses The number of MPs has not been cut by 10% and the amount claimed by MPs in subsidies and expenses is still enormous. In fact 3. Ministers' pay "Cut ministers pay by 5% and freeze it for five years" The number of MPs has not been cut by 10% and the amount claimed by MPs in subsidies and expenses is still enormous. In fact the £103 million claimed in expenses by MPs in 2014 is higher than the amount claimed at the peak of the MPs expenses scandal in 2009 "Changing the economy" 1. Wasteful government spending "Cut wasteful government spending so we can stop Labour's jobs tax, which would derail the recovery" Fearmongering about Labour extraordinarily hubristic stuff, since it was George Osborne's ideological austerity experiment that caused the recovering economy to flatline for several years. "wasteful government spending" that was arbitrarily slashed by the Tories included flood defence schemes in places that suffered heavy flooding between 2012 and 2014, What is more, the Tories have done a hell of a lot of wasteful government spending of their own. Ideological cuts in government spending crashed the economic recovery and caused the "double dip recession", which did immeasurable long-term damage to the UK economy. Some of thethat was arbitrarily slashed by the Tories included flood defence schemes in places that suffered heavy flooding between 2012 and 2014, one of the prime examples being Kendal in Cumbria What is more, the Tories have done a hell of a lot of wasteful government spending of their own. 2. The national debt "Act now on the national debt so that we can keep mortgage rates lower for longer" Despite their promises that ideological austerity would have completely wiped out the budget deficit by now, the government is still borrowing £billions a month. In fact Cameron's government has now The stuff about keeping mortgage rates lower through fiscal policy is a perfect illustration of the economic illiteracy of the Tories. Low mortgage rates are caused by the Bank of England setting the interest rate at an all-time historic low of 0.5% and keeping it there for six long years. If there was any correlation between increases in the national debt and mortgage rates, we should expect mortgage rates to have skyrocketed in the last four years as a result of George Osborne increasing the national debt from £811 billion to £1,452 billion. Instead they remain extremely low due to the monetary policy of the Bank of England. The fact that the Tories printed such abject economic gibberish that 3. Green economy "Reduce emissions and build a greener economy, with thousands of jobs in green industries and advanced manufacturing" After pretending that they were going to be "the greenest government ever" Cameron soon U-turned. He cut spending on green energy infrastructure and research, he began promoting fracking, Despite their promises that ideological austerity would have completely wiped out the budget deficit by now, the government is still borrowing £billions a month. In fact Cameron's government has now created more debt than all of the Labour governments in history combined The stuff about keeping mortgage rates lower through fiscal policy is a perfect illustration of the economic illiteracy of the Tories. Low mortgage rates are caused by the Bank of England setting the interest rate at an all-time historic low of 0.5% and keeping it there for six long years. If there was any correlation between increases in the national debt and mortgage rates, we should expect mortgage rates to have skyrocketed in the last four years as a result of George Osborne increasing the national debt from £811 billion to £1,452 billion. Instead they remain extremely low due to the monetary policy of the Bank of England.The fact that the Tories printed such abject economic gibberish that confuses fiscal policies with monetary outcomes just goes to show how unfit they are to be running the economy.After pretending that they were going to be "the greenest government ever" Cameron soon U-turned. He cut spending on green energy infrastructure and research, he began promoting fracking, and he even instructed his aides to "cut out all the green crap" 4. Benefits "Get Britain working by giving unemployed people support to get to work, creating 400,000 new apprenticeships and training places over two years, and cutting benefits for those who refuse to work" Like so many Tory pronouncements on the social security system, this statement is soaked in Orwellian language. The Tories have been blatantly exploiting the unemployed as a source of free labour for their corporate chums, whilst telling anyone daft enough to listen that they are "helping" them. Other examples of Tory for the unemployed include to drive vulnerable people into absolute destitution (unlike the severely uneducated and the mentally unwell the hardcore benefits claimants know exactly what to do to avoid getting sanctioned) and herding them onto corporate schemes where they are treated with such contempt that the people who are supposed to be helping them refer to them as " ". 5. Immigration "Control immigration, reducing it to the levels of the 1990s - meaning tens of thousands a year, not the hundreds of thousands under Labour" Without reforming EU Freedom of Movement legislation this was always a completely impossible promise. Net immigration rose 39% to 243,000 in 2013-14, despite Cameron's government deliberately discriminating against British families This shocking discrimination against British families has barely been mentioned in the mainstream press, and after introducing these rules designed to deliberately break up thousands of British families (or force them to live in exile) the rate of net migration to the UK has actually risen. Without reforming EU Freedom of Movement legislation this was always a completely impossible promise. Net immigration rose 39% to 243,000 in 2013-14, despite Cameron's government deliberately discriminating against British families with arbitrary and draconian income requirements that apply only to British citizens with non-EU spouses, whilst citizens of other EU countries with non-EU spouses can come and go as they please with their non-EU partners.This shocking discrimination against British families has barely been mentioned in the mainstream press, and after introducing these rules designed to deliberately break up thousands of British families (or force them to live in exile) the rate of net migration to the UK has actually risen. "Changing society" 1. The NHS "Increase spending on health every year while cutting waste in the NHS so that more goes to nurses and doctors on the frontline..." 2. Families "Support families by giving married couples and civil partners a tax break, giving more people the right to request flexible working and helping young families with more Sure Start health visitors" 3. Schools "Raise standards in schools by giving teachers the power to restore discipline, and by giving parents, voluntary groups and charities the power to start new schools" The opening part about restoring discipline is empty rhetoric about which nothing has been done, the concluding part is just jargon for their The opening part about restoring discipline is empty rhetoric about which nothing has been done, the concluding part is just jargon for their giving away £billions worth of public property to unaccountable private sector pseudo-charities (over 3,000 schools have been simply given away since 2010, many of them to businesses run by major Tory party donors). 4. Pensions "Increase the basic state pension by re-linking it with earnings, protect the winter-fuel allowance, free TV licences, free bus travel and other benefits for older people" When the Tory party cut the link to earnings in 1980 the basic pension was worth over 25% of the average wage, by the time the link to earnings was restored it had slumped to well below 20%. The basic state pension has been re-linked with earnings, however this isn't any kind of victory for pensioners given that this government has overseen the longest real terms decline in wages since records began. The winter fuel allowance was cut in George Osborne's 2011 budget When the Tory party cut the link to earnings in 1980 the basic pension was worth over 25% of the average wage, by the time the link to earnings was restored it had slumped to well below 20%. The UK continues to have one of the stingiest basic state pensions in the developed world 5. Police "Fight back against crime, cut paperwork to get more police officers on the street, and make sure criminals serve the sentences given to them in court" . Slashing the number of police working and imposing huge cuts on police budgets would seem like an extremely odd way to "get more police officers on the streets". Over 34,000 police jobs have been cut since 2010. Slashing the number of police working and imposing huge cuts on police budgets would seem like an extremely odd way to "". The part about could be considered a success, as long as you consider the police simply not bothering to record some 20% of all reported crimes as an exercise in , rather than an exercise in so that the Tories can pretend that crime is falling by ignoring all of the reported crimes that the police didn't bother to record. Sentencing has not been reformed, so sentences handed out in court are very rarely served in full. 6. National Service "Create National Citizen Service for every 16 year old, to help bring the country together" National Service for every 16 year old is a terrible idea, so at least in this litany of broken promises, the last one of the 16 is a broken promise that nobody in their right mind would have wanted fulfilled anyway. What Cameron has introduced is a voluntary scheme called National Citizen's Service (NCS) for 16 year olds, which is not something that can be described as "national service" (it's voluntary) nor "for every 16 year old" (there were only 30,000 places in 2013). Aside from the fact what has been promised hasn't been delivered, the scheme itself is extremely dubious too. It costs £1,400 per participant, and in the later weeks of the scheme these kids are expected to work for no wage doing jobs like cleaning streets and underpasses, maintaining parks and restoring old buildings. In my view there would be two much more useful ways of spending this money. It could be used to give the kids £1,400 worth of vouchers to help towards their education costs, or to be used to establish a small business. The money could also be used to create jobs (with wages and labour rights) to do the work that these kids are doing for free. The wages would add to demand in the local economy, and unemployment would be reduced. The problem with this "lets create real jobs" approach is that the unemployment statistics are so badly doctored nowadays, that all of the kids working for free on these schemes are classed as "in training" and therefore excluded from the unemployment figures in the ONS Labour Market Statistics. Thus if the money was actually spent providing paid jobs, the real level of unemployment would obviously fall, but the government unemployment statistics would go up, because £1,400 pays for far more wageless 16 year olds in "training schemes" than it pays for real people doing real jobs. Conclusion Given the shocking failure to deliver on promises in this "contract", is it any surprise that the Tory party have purged this document from their website in the hope that everyone will forget what they were promising back in 2010? Perhaps the Tories imagine that simply deleting this "contract" from their website will be enough to ensure that everyone forgets the promises they made, and the fact that David Cameron put "if we don't deliver our side of the bargain, kick us out in five years" into writing.Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement A piglet scared of wallowing in mud has overcome its fears with the help of some Wellington boots. Six-week-old Cinders appears to suffer from mysophobia, a fear of dirt, after refusing to join her siblings as they splashed around in the mud. Owner Andrew Keeble from Thirsk, North Yorks, said his daughter Ellie, 12, suggested kitting her out in the tiny footwear which had been on a key ring. "Lo and behold they fitted her like a glove," Mr Keeble said. "She's scared of mud, but her brothers and sisters are quite happy in it. "We've never come across this before. They are born ready to go and explore, but she never really liked going in the mud." Mr Keeble and wife Debbie, both 42, run a sausage company and keep about 200 pigs on their 1,000-acre farm. But the father-of-four said there was no chance that Cinders would be slaughtered. "She's more of a pet really now and she's going to live a very long and happy life," he said. The young saddleback has been chosen by the couple as a mascot for their campaign to raise money for the Farm Crisis Network, which supports struggling farmers.— Kansas’ high sales taxes on groceries have people crossing state lines to shop, particularly residents living in border counties, and the trend is hurting not only low-income families, but also rural grocery stores and local governments, according to a new study. Kansas lost $345.6 million in food sales in 2013 — costing the state $21.2 million in lost sales tax revenue, according to a recent report by Wichita State University’s Kansas Public Finance Center. The center analyzed the latest available food sales data, which does not include last year’s food tax hike to 6.5 percent, among the highest in the nation even before local sales taxes are added in. Kansas is one of only 14 states that tax food. In northwest Kansas, 73-year-old Larry Adams and his wife struggle to make ends meet on the $800 monthly Social Security check he receives. The Logan couple has been doing most of their grocery shopping and non-food item shopping in neighboring Nebraska for about 10 years when they cross the border for doctor’s appointments. Nebraska doesn’t have a grocery tax, he said. “It doesn’t cost us anything extra to go out of state,” Adams said of driving the 80 to 100 miles. Of the state’s 105 counties, 35 counties share at least one border with a neighboring state that has either no or lower food sales tax than Kansas, the study noted. Colorado exempts grocery store food sales from taxes, Missouri has a 1.2 percent tax on food sales and Oklahoma has a 4.5 percent tax. The WSU study was commissioned by KC Healthy Kids, a nonpartisan, nonprofit that has been advocating for healthy living for 10 years. The study found that for every 1 percent difference in sales taxes between adjacent states or counties, food consumption drops about $101.80 per person per year in the county with the higher food sales tax. KC Healthy Kids was looking for ways to make compelling arguments to the Legislature this session on why it should eliminate or reduce the sales tax on food, state policy manager Ashley Jones-Wisner said, and the first was equity, because sales taxes on groceries have a disproportionate impact on low-income families and their access to food. But the organization realized it needed hard numbers on the economic impact such taxes have on the state. “We could talk until we were blue in the face as advocates, but it’s nice to have some data — some substantial data from a neutral third party — to kind of substantiate that,” she said. The state’s largest county, Johnson County, suffered the biggest losses with an estimated $93 million loss in food sales in 2013, the report said. But food sale losses on a per-capita basis hit less populated border counties the hardest — especially Greeley, Pottawatomie and Comanche counties, where grocery stores are already struggling to survive amid dwindling populations. When people crossed borders to shop, it hurt the local economy, as well as county and municipal governments who impose their own sales taxes on food and other items. “We are putting a tax on something which disproportionately affects low-income households, and it appears to cause people to move across borders to do shopping, which basically produces a revenue loss,” said Ken Kriz, the center’s director. “So the question is, thinking going forward, what are the goals we are trying to achieve by keeping this in place?”Republican nominee for president of the United States Donald Trump continues to trail Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that was released on Friday night. The poll, which was conducted from Sept. 30-Oct. 6 and included 1,695 likely voters from all 50 states, had a margin of sampling error of three percentage points. Likely voters were picked based on registration status, voting history and stated intention to vote in the election. “The Sept. 30-Oct. 6 opinion poll showed that 43 percent of likely voters supported Clinton while 38 percent supported Trump. Clinton has consistently led Trump by 4-6 points in every weekly poll since the beginning of September. During this period, the candidates faced off in the most-watched presidential debate in history – a matchup that a majority of Americans believed Clinton won. The New York Times also released portions of Trump’s 1995 tax returns that showed the celebrity real estate developer had reported a loss that was big enough to have allowed him to avoid paying personal taxes for a number of years.” As the Inquisitr reported last week, Clinton led Trump 43 percent to 38 percent in the same Reuters/Ipsos poll that was conducted from Sept. 23-29. Last week’s poll included 2,501 participants and had a margin of sampling error of only two percentage points, so it was considered slightly more accurate. Regardless, yesterday’s results show that Clinton has the same five-point lead over Trump. null While Trump has said numerous controversial things over the course of his campaign, his latest remarks regarding women may be towards the top of the list. As CNN reports, Trump released a video on Saturday morning apologizing for his remarks that were heard in a 2005 tape. While Trump apologized, he quickly went on the offense against Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. In addition to blaming the Clintons for running the country into the ground, Trump went on to say that Bill Clinton has abused women. He then said that Hillary has bullied and shamed Bill’s victims. While Bill Clinton has been involved in various controversies regarding women, most notably with Monica Lewinsky, potential voters may be put off by Trump’s attack on the Clintons in his apology. Additionally, it appears as though Trump is going to address those issues in the second presidential debate, which will take place on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. Even with all of Trump’s controversies, Clinton is failing to significantly separate herself from him. Along with the recent email scandal, potential voters view Clinton as dishonest and untrustworthy. Since neither candidate is particularly liked, many Americans will have to ultimately settle when they vote in November. Public opinion regarding the recent vice presidential debate between Tim Kaine and Mike Pence is mixed, but most unbiased sources view Pence as the winner. While certain left-wing outlets have admitted that Pence won, they said it was only because he refused to answer questions. Regardless, Pence is a positive for the Trump campaign, which has consistently gotten off track over the past few months. He even issued a statement regarding Trump’s comments regarding women, which were seen in the 2005 tape. null With exactly one month to go until the election, it is really still anyone’s race. Clinton should be considered ahead at this point, but Trump has remained close in recent months. Throughout most of the summer, Clinton held a double-digit lead over Trump in the Reuters/Ipsos favorability poll. In the beginning of September, Trump actually led Clinton for a short time. She has since regained the lead, but she has been unable to extend it. Tomorrow’s debate could make or break Trump. If he comes prepared this time, he has a chance to sway more undecided voters. If he has a similar performance that he did in the first debate, things could get ugly in the polls very quickly. [Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]*The sources for all of these figures are the original government reports (when applicable) published in that country’s language so if you cannot read Swedish, Norwegian, or Danish you can use Google Translate to translate the pdf files* Sweden A report studying 4.4 million Swedes between the ages of 15 and 51 during the period 1997-2001 found that 25% of crimes were committed by foreign-born individuals while and additional 20% were committed by individuals born to foreign-born parents. In particular, immigrants from Africa and South & Western Asian were more likely to be charged of a crime than individuals born to two Swedish parents by a factor of 4.5 and 3.5 respectively. In regard to rape, the report revealed that immigrants were 5.5 times more likely to be charged of rape than individuals born in Sweden to two Swedish parent, although the category of immigrant was not broken down by country of origin in this report [1]. Findings from a previous study published by the Swedish government in 1996 determined that between 1985 and 1989 individuals born in Iraq, North Africa (Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia), and Africa (excluding Uganda and the North African countries) were convicted of rape at rates 20, 23, and 17 times greater than individuals born in Sweden respectively. In total, individuals from an immigrant background accounted for 61% of all rape convictions [2]. Norway According to a 2011 report by Statistics Norway in 2009 first generation immigrants from Africa were three times more likely than ethnic Norwegians (or rather individuals who are neither first nor second generation immigrants) to be convicted of a felony while Somali immigrants in particular being 4.4 times more likely to be convicted of a felony than an ethnic Norwegian. Similarly, Iraqis and Pakistanis were found to have rates of conviction for felonies greater than ethnic Norwegians by a factor of 3 and 2.6 respectively. Another finding was that second-generation African and Asian immigrants had a higher rate of convictions for felonies than first-generation immigrants. While first generation African immigrants had conviction rates for felonies of 16.7 per 1,000 individuals over the age of 15, for second generation immigrants the rate was 28 per 1,000 – an increase of over 60%. And for Asian immigrants an increase from 9.3 per 1,000 to 17.1 per 1,000 was observed. In 2010 13% of sexual crimes charges were filed against first generation immigrants who make up 7.8% of the population – a rate of overrepresentaion of 1.7. Unfortunately no data is available on sexual crime which is broken down by ethnic background [3]. Although, according to a 2010 statement by the Oslo Police Department since 2006 every convicted perpetrator of assault rape was a non-Western immigrant and the vast majority of victims were ethnic Norwegian women [4]. Denmark A study of crime statistics published in 2014 found that among males between the age of 20 and 24 descendants of non-Western immigrants had a crime rate 2.6 times greater than those of Danish origin. In terms of types of crime among those who are convicted of a crime, descendants of non-Western immigrants are more than twice as likely to have been convicted of a violent crime than an individual of Danish origin. And even after for controlling for age and socioeconomic status individuals whose ethnic background is from Morocco, Somalia, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Iraq are still overrepresented as convicted criminals by factors of 1.5 to 2.5 [5]. AdvertisementsIntroduction and Specifications One of the ways AMD is able to test and qualify ATI Mobility Radeon GPUs, without having to design and build numerous mobile reference cards that fit in multiple notebook form factors, is to produce fully-loaded, custom reference cards that'll fit into standard PCI Express x16 slots. The cards won't be used in any actual retail product, but they allow AMD to test all of the various features and functionality, and experiment with clock speeds and voltages to fine tune and balance performance, thermal output, and power consumption. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 Series What you see pictured here is just such a card. The item pictured below is an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670, PCI Express-based reference card. We talked about the new mobility Radeon HD 4000 series during CES earlier this year; more details are available at this link. The reference card pictured here is equipped with every type of output supported by the GPU--Displayport, DVI, VGA, S-Video / HD component, and HDMI--and it even has CrossFire connectors for experimenting with multi-GPU configurations. We've had a couple of Mobility Radeon HD 4670 and 4500 class reference cards in house for a while now, and have a sneak peek at approximate performance using a desktop platform for testing on the pages ahead. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670 Reference PlatformPrairie cities lead the list of Canadian cities with the most sunshine. Calgary is the sunniest of Canada's large cities, enjoying an average of 2396 hours of bright sun each year, spread over 333 days. That amounts to just over half of Calgary's daylight hours. The tables here rank Canada's largest cities for the most hours, days and percentage of sunshine they usually get a year, based on weather data collected from 1981 to 2010. The large cities included in these rankings are the 33 Canadian metropolitan areas that had over 100,000 people according the 2011 census by Statistics Canada. Of these, only 26 have sunshine data collected by Environment Canada. Major cities missing from these sunshine ratings are Barrie, Kitchener - Waterloo, Oshawa and Windsor in Ontario along with Saguenay and Trois-Rivières in Quebec. No matter how you look it — hours, days or percent — Calgary consistently leads the pack for most sunshine. Edmonton also appears in the top three cities for all measurements. But the cities that show up in the rest of the top ten varies a little among the weather measures. Highest Hours of Sunshine Calgary is the only major city in Canada to average nearly 2400 hours of sun a year. Winnipeg, Edmonton and Regina come close behind Calgary, all typically topping 2300 hours of sunshine annually. Outside of the Prairie provinces, the sunniest of cities are scattered across Ontario, and on the south coast of British Columbia. These round out Canada's top ten major cities for total sunshine. Average number of hours of bright sunshine a year in major Canadian cities. City Hours Calgary, Alberta 2396 Winnipeg, Manitoba 2353 Edmonton, Alberta 2345 Regina, Saskatchewan 2318 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 2268 Thunder Bay, Ontario 2121 Hamilton, Ontario 2111 Victoria, British Columbia 2109 Ottawa, Ontario 2084 Toronto, Ontario 2066 Most Sunny Days Calgary also heads the list of Canadian cities for total days in a year when the sun is bright enough to be measured. Joining the country's top ten cities based on days with sunshine are Canada's two largest, Toronto and Montréal. Average number of days annually with some bright sunshine. City Days Calgary, Alberta 333 Edmonton, Alberta 325 Regina, Saskatchewan 322 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 319 Winnipeg, Manitoba 316 Victoria, British Columbia 308 Montréal, Quebec 305 Toronto, Ontario 305 Thunder Bay, Ontario 305 Kelowna, British Columbia 304 Greatest Percentage of Sun For the sunniest Canadian cities, the sun beams down during at least half of daylight hours. Again, Calgary enjoys the top place among the country's cities ranked for the proportion of daylight hours when the sun shines.R v Reece [1799] NSWSupC 1; [1799] NSWKR 1 (31 January 1799) [bestiality] R. v. Reece Court of Criminal Jurisdiction Dore J.A.., 31 January 1799 Source: Court of Criminal Jurisdiction Minutes of Proceedings, 1798 - 1800, State Records N.S.W, X905 [1] [66] The King against James Reece on the prosecution of Patrick Brannagham for beastiality. Plea not guilty. The prosecutor having no facts to establish but by the testimony of others, being the owner of the sow and therefore the prosecutor, Raymond Tierney was duly sworn who disposeth that on the 19th day of January and about eight in the morning as he was passing the dwelling house on Captain Townson's farm (in the occupation of the prosecutor) he observed in the swine stye a sow lying therein and the prisoner also lying at her stern in the act and fact of having carnal knowledge of the said sow, whereupon he called to his companion with whom he was walking (namely Dennis Newnham) to witness this extraordinary circumstance. That the prisoner was in consequence of such calling disturbed. Swears that he saw the prisoner withdraw his private parts from out of the body of the said sow and that his semen or nature flew from him upon the hinder parts of said sow. That the prisoner's penis was also in a like condition and that this witness was particularly observant as to this transaction and also desired his companion the said Newnhan to be particular also. That this witness leapt over the fence and seized upon the prisoner before he had time to button up his affairs. That the prisoner was secured and brought into custody to Sydney. Dennis Newnham, being sworn, deposeth that at the time sworn to by the last witness his companion Raymond Tierney called to him saying "come, here, Dennis, here's a fellow by b- gg -g a sow". That the last witness when he so called was at some little distance from this witness and was leaning over the swine stye. That this witness accordingly went and saw the prisoner sitting down in the rear or behind the body of said sow. That the said sow was also lying down. That he got over the fence and proceeded to draw aside the prisoner's trousers which were not buttoned up. That he discovered his penis besmeared with his nature, not in an erect state. That upon viewing the sow move minutely he discovered her private parts to be much irritated or inflamed and that the hinder parts of said sow were besmeared with what he believes to have been nature discharged from prisoner. The prisoner on his defence denies the fact. Generally says he was hired by the prosecutor to repair the hog stye and that on the day on which the charge is laid in the indictment he was employed to take care of the prosecutor's house. Patrick Brannaghan being sworn, deposeth that on the Friday before he employed the prisoner to repair the stye for which he paid him one [67] shilling. That on the day whereon said prisoner is charged he employed him to take care of his house. Whilst he went to Sydney on business and on his return was met by the two witnesses who had the prisoner in custody. Guilty. Death. Ordered by the court that the sow mentioned in this indictment be put to death under the immediate direction of the Provost Marshal or his Deputy and that the report be made of the execution order. But the court taking into consideration the extreme poverty and distress of Patrick Brannagham the prosecutor in this unhappy business who appears unable to sustain a loss so material as the value of said sow which he estimates at �15 sterling and moreover as it appears that the said sow has ferried since the commitment of this unnatural felony and produced a litter of the 11 pigs, also which must be necessarily lost by the condemnation of the said sow. The court beg here respectfully to submit this poor man's hard case to his Excellency's humane consideration, and humbly to recommend such remuneration to the unfortunate man in the present case as to his Excellency's wisdom and humanity may seem met. Note [1] Reece was executed on 8 February 1799: K. Macnab, Database of Prisoners Sentenced to Death in New South Wales, 1788-1968, unpublished.A man with a large knife has been arrested outside Buckingham Palace. Two police officers suffered minor injuries to their arms as they detained the suspect, Scotland Yard said. The man, believed to be in his early 20s, was said to have stopped his car near a police vehicle on the Mall roundabout at around 8.35pm. Spotting the weapon, officers attempted to detain him and received "minor injuries" to their arms, the Metropolitan Police said. He was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and assault on police and is now being treated for minor injuries at hospital, according to the force. (Image: PA) Armed police officers have set up a large cordon as they patrol the area around the Queen's residence in central London, with witnesses saying the area was in "lockdown". The Queen was not at Buckingham Palace when the incident unfolded in front of shocked tourists at about 8.35pm. She is currently away at Balmoral Castle, her holiday home in Scotland. (Image: REUTERS) Detective Superintendent Guy Collings said: "A man in his mid-20s has been arrested by police after they spotted a weapon inside his car. "The quick and brave actions of both officers meant that the suspect was detained very quickly. "No members of the public had any interaction with this individual at the scene. He will now be questioned by detectives in police custody. It is too early in this investigation to speculate any further." (Image: PA) Witness Kiana Williamson said: "We turned up and there was one police van and one car, there was also a civilian's car that had veered towards the police car. "They were trying to get the man out of the car, shouting, more police were arriving on to the scene and the man was fighting back. "I saw one injured policeman with an injury to his arm although it didn't look severe. "He was being tended to by another officer. "The man had been restrained and looked almost unconscious by the side of the road. "I didn't see the car driving but the car had been left at the side of the road and an eyewitness had said that he had driven towards the police car. The whole encounter lasted around one minute." Armed police at Buckingham Palace as area is cordoned off after attack (Image: PA) (Image: REUTERS) Police said it was too early to know whether the incident was terror related. Another passer-by, who asked not to be named, said her partner had seen the weapon, which he initially thought was a sword. She said: "Something happened before which is why the people ran away. I'm not sure what this was. "But people were already scared and I saw the policeman pull the man from the car. "The police didn't just run up to the car. There was some shouting prior to this, I couldn't tell you what, I was a bit panicked, then I went to the small crowd as this seemed the safest place to be, on the memorial. "My partner saw a sword, which I didn't see, as well as a policeman with blood on him, looking like his hand or chest was injured. "The police officer had it in his hand, walking away with it." (Image: PA) (Image: PA) The whole encounter lasted around one minute, she added. Witnesses said a car was being searched by police. London Ambulance Service attended to treat the injured men, who were not taken to hospital. No other people were injured. Armed police patrolled the entrances to the palace where several police cars and at least two ambulances could be seen. People filed out of the affected area, saying they had been directed to leave. An American couple outside the palace, who did not give their names, said they saw a car being searched by officers. Ambulance arrives at Buckingham Palace after police officers attacked (Image: REUTERS) Witness Nicole Kyle was walking home when she saw armed police swoop on the scene and quickly put up a cordon. The 25-year-old consultant said: "I was walking toward The Mall and St James's Park when I saw police rush down toward the palace in great numbers. "As we got further down The Mall we saw armed police outside a police van, at which point we were able to walk closer to the palace still, where we were eventually stopped by a cordon. "All we were told was that there's been an incident. "A few minutes later police came by to have us clear the area and move further away from the palace. "We then saw that police had expanded the cordon. It looks like the cordon is continuing to expand." (Image: PA) Police tape closed the entrances at both Buckingham Gate and at Wellington Arch. Birdc
quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> GROUND PHOTOS: Neighborhood on lockdown after officers shot "The suspect at large is considered armed and dangerous," Acevedo said. "Someone who is willing to shoot and try to kill two officers in broad daylight over a property crime, is someone who is a threat to the community." The officers were responding to a burglary in progress in the Glenshire subdivision near the Beltway and West Bellfort. Mayor Sylvester Turner said one of the wounded officers lives in the neighborhood and was among the first to respond. Aerial photos: 2 HPD officers shot <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> <p>Two Houston Police officers were rushed to the hospital from southwest Houston after they were shot by a possible burglary suspect. One officer was quickly stabilized but the other was critically injured with a bullet lodged near his spine.</p> AERIAL PHOTOS: 2 HPD officers shot A homeowner told the officers her backyard shed door was open so they jumped the fence and approached the shed. The suspect hiding inside opened fire and struck the two officers before he was shot to death. Two ambulances, escorted by several HPD units, rushed both injured officers to the Texas Medical Center. The Houston Police Officers Union says the officers were wearing vests that covered their chests and torsos. CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Shots heard at officer-involved shooting scene "The outpouring of prayers and love and messages from our community has really touched the hearts of our officers," Acevedo said. Raw video: 2 HPD officers shot Earlier, Acevedo tweeted: "On way to officer involved shooting. If you're a person of faith please pray for our officers." On way to officer involved shooting if you're a person of faith please pray for our officers. — Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) February 28, 2017 Acevedo believes the suspects were responsible for at least three burglaries in the Glenshire neighborhood Tuesday. Mayor Turner said they may have stolen the gun used to shoot the officers. KHOU 11 News photojournalist Steve Barnes was in the neighborhood to cover the burglaries when he heard the gunshots from a few houses away. He saw residents running inside while the officers ran toward the danger. RAW AERIALS: 2 officers shot in southwest Houston "Without hesitation... as soon as those shots were fired, they were running," Barnes said. "They went directly towards the shots and they went there fast." Two officers who rushed toward shooting scene w/ guns drawn return to unit but tell me "neighbors still not safe" #khou11 #hounews #hpd pic.twitter.com/aSiPeEaHbE — Drew Karedes (@DrewKaredesKHOU) February 28, 2017 Dozens of HPD officers, SWAT and K9 units swarmed Sterlingame after the shooting. A police helicopter also circled the area. "We may be bruised. We may be battered. We may be shot. But our men & women...don't get to take the night off," Acevedo said. Residents were urged to take cover and stay inside with the doors locked for more than three hours. Mayor Turner, Chief Acevedo give update on injured officers Some residents said the cops searched their homes with guns drawn. “All of a sudden, SWAT pulled me and my husband over and were like, 'You need to get out of the car!' So we got out with our hands up and they searched our car and told us two police officers had been shot," Tiffany Daugherty said. "So they wanted to know if anyone was holding us under duress." RAW AERIALS: 2 wounded officers rushed to hospital Three HISD schools, Gross Elementary, West Valley Elementary and Welch Middle School were on lockdown all afternoon. The HCC Brays Oak campus was also lockdown and later closed for the day. No one was allowed inside the neighborhood until the lockdown was lifted. If you know anything, please call Houston Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-8477. For more information on how to help the officers and their families, visit assisttheofficer.com. Our Thoughts and Prayers are with Our Fraternal Police Brothers.@HoustonPolice — Houston Fire Dept (@cohoustonfire) February 28, 2017CLOSE Disney's teaser trailer for 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' picks up with Rey's encounter with Luke. Pictured: Darth Vader in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. BB-8, Yoda and an Ewok, along with 66 original costumes from the first seven movies in the Star Wars saga are some of the highlights of the exhibition “Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume” at the Detroit Institute of Arts May 20–Sept. 30, 2018. (Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd, All rights reserve) The best-known cinematic franchise in the galaxy is bringing its iconic outfits to the Motor City. Next year, the Detroit Institute of Arts will be hosting a major costume exhibit on the "Star Wars" movies. Clothing and gear for characters ranging from Darth Vader, Princess Leia and Stormtroopers to Chewbacca, Han Solo and droids (including C-3PO and R2-D2) will be part of the " 'Star Wars' and the Power of Costume" exhibit. It will run from May 20 to September 30 in 2018. More on Freep.com: Fall TV 2017: The 15 prime-time dramas and comedies we'll be watching — and why Dlectricity fest returns with plans to light up Midtown The sure-to-be popular show also will feature BB-8, Yoda and an Ewok, according to the DIA. In addition, more than 150 items and sketches will help illustrate the process of creating the apparel and accessories of the "Star Wars" universe that sprang from the vision of director George Lucas.. And there will be videos and interactive elements about the work of concept artists and costume designers for the movie franchise. “This exhibition allows visitors to explore the creative processes behind the art of costume design, while discovering the unexpected ways in which these works relate to art from the DIA’s collection,” said DIA director Salvador Salort-Pons in a press statement. “It also connects directly with our Detroit Film Theatre program, which has shared the art of film with hundreds of thousands of visitors over its 42-year history.” The ticketed exhibition was put together by the Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibit experts in partnership with the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which will be constructed in Los Angeles. Detroit will be the sixth city on its tour, which launched in 2015 in Seattle. Ticket prices have yet to be determined, but tickets should be available by April 2018, according to the DIA. The latest movie in the "Star Wars" series, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," is due Dec. 15. Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or [email protected]. Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/2xo2A9gBrightly clad brides at the center of the occasion [Ramallah] – For the third year running, a colorful parade showcasing traditional Palestinian bridal dresses livened up the streets of the town of Birzeit. The “Flower of the Countryside” competition, organized by the non-governmental organization Rozana and local partners, aims to revive Palestinian heritage and culture in the form of the pre-1948 “zaffa,” or wedding march. Eleven villages from throughout the West Bank took part in the 2015 competition to present the special features of their local wedding traditions: costumes, songs, dance and lululish. Girls from 14 to 18 years of age were selected to showcase the wedding dress representative of their region. Groups of women adorned in richly ornamented gowns and men wearing the qumbaz and the sword, surrounding the bride, marched while singing and dancing from the Al-Natour Square to the garden of the Catholic church where a stage was set up for the competition. Five judges noted the quality and the originality of each bride’s dress. Also, each bride had to draw the traditional henna on the hands of their girlfriends and share homemade cakes from the feast. “The festival seeks to revive the pride among villagers about their culture and to transfer it from one generation to another. We believe that it is important in times of uncertainty under occupation to raise hope among the people by bringing their national identity, and by praising this identity and making them feel united together,” Terry Bullata, a volunteer coordinator from Jerusalem, told The Media Line. The bridal dress is the centerpiece of the ceremony. Traditionally, it was completely handmade, requiring hours of work to weave, embroider and to add embellishments to the handcrafted garments. Wedding dresses could be made from scratch or, as some girls prefer, be the dress worn by their mother or grandmother after adding a few alterations and a little tailoring. The creation of these dresses played a significant role in the lives of the women, the patterns displaying heritage, ancestry, and affiliations. Historically, the garment was one of the features that indicated regional identity and local social standing, as explained by the local proverb saying, “A Palestinian woman’s village can be deduced from the embroidery on her dress.” A wide range of textiles was used to design traditional costumes and dresses: Damascus velvets; muslin and tabby silk from Iraq; fine white cotton from Lebanon; linen from Egypt; and silk from China. Great emphasis was placed on ornamentation with valuable coins sewn into the headdress. Ornamental embroidery was specific to the areas of Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron. In the north of the West Bank, traditionally populated by peasantry, the time consuming practice is less common because women had to attend to their fields. It is for that reason that wedding dresses from the north emphasize bright colors and accessories such as belts and headscarves rather than elaborate ornamentation seen in the three main cities. Dressmaking skills were systematically passed from grandmother to granddaughter as the young girl reached the age of seven or eight. But today, Palestinians living in the cities have adopted a Western style and abandoned traditional costumes with many modern brides choosing to marry in a pure white dress instead. “Traditions are not being lost, but rather are being modified and modernized. We cannot expect things to stay the same, but we need to remember what has been before,” Dr. Sonya Nimer, teacher of Oral History and Traditions at Birzeit University, told The Media Line. “Even if we don’t expect our youth to wear these costumes, we want them to know the culture of their ancestors. We need to associate the past with the present,” Nimer said. Although the centricity of wedding costumes is being largely abandoned, other traditions remain alive in the wedding ceremony. The Henna party, held on the night before the wedding, is one of the most important rituals. Previously practiced by both the bride and the groom, nowadays, mostly the bridal henna party has survived. Although, the ritual has lost its initial meaning of marking the bride and instead has now become a beauty ritual. “Recently, we notice that young brides are reviving the culture, and taking out of the closets the dresses of their grandmother that they proudly wear on their wedding night,” concluded Dr. Nimer.: Vietnam. Sex, drugs and terror lurking in the tropical night. If even half of what you read about it is true, then this was the war to end all wars: the war of America against itself. The Viet Cong were just along for the ride. This was my generation’s World War 2, the conflict from which 80’s society forged martial myths of heroism. Yet, hard as it tried, pop culture couldn’t quite scrub the filth away. Always there were undertones of dirty warfare, of eventual failure. It wasn’t ideal hero material, but it was all we had. For me, that complexity made it all the more compelling. Then I read Dispatches. This account of a journalist’s experience in the conflict is the finest book on war I have ever read. As well as the history, there is an important lesson. Dispatches taught me that war can be both beautiful and terrible at the same time. That it was okay to hate war and love militaria. To be a pacifist and to play wargames. Reading it made a piece of distant history into a personal thing, a hot piece of literary shrapnel lodged close to my heart. So I’ve waited years for a definitive Vietnam game to explore this dichotomy. The best I’ve played is recently re-released card-driven title Hearts and Minds. For all its qualities, it couldn’t quite capture the politics of the war. It’s a little too clean and predictable. In the films and books, the high command always reeked of chaos, whatever the propaganda said. A real Vietnam game should capture that, should make the players confused, uncertain, afraid. When I first played Fire in the Lake, it seemed the opposite. It’s a COIN game (just like A Distant Plain, if you remember our review of that war game of modern Afghanistan), and these are more systematic than most wargames. That’s one reason they’re popular with heavyweight gamers outside the niche. Yet for all that depth, their predictability sits uncomfortably with the popular conception of Vietnam. There’s little in the way of hidden information or dice. Combat is a fixed exchange of units based on terrain and troop quality. When I read the rules, the Vietnam I knew, the Vietnam of tunnels, booby traps and airborne assaults, wasn’t hiding in ambush between the lines. It tried to compensate. You can see where guerrillas are on the board but while they’re face down “deactivated”, they’re untouchable. They have to be activated, either by being sent into action or uncovered in a sweep operation, before they can be attacked. So watching them mass in provinces, knowing there’s nothing you can do about it, is one of the bitterest, most frustrating experiences in gaming. Naturally, that means the Communists do it at every opportunity. Then there’s the way the whole board can change state in a moment. When someone picks a full operation, it potentially affects every map space, providing the player can pay for it from their resources. It doesn’t seem very realistic. But it makes for a terrifying wellspring of strategic depth to draw on. These wheels within wheels have tiny wheels inside them. So while I gorged myself on the strategic meat in the game, I stayed hungry for the soul of Vietnam. There’s a deck of event cards featuring important moments from the conflict. Many are powerful, like “Uncle Ho” which gives the ARVN player two operations and a resource boost to pay for them. But while one is in play, the one that’ll arrive next turn is visible to all the players, devoid of surprise. The way the position of all the guerrillas on the map was clearly visible really bugged me. It was too clean, too clinical for the conflict that taught us to love the smell of napalm in the mornings. The deck for Fire in the Lake is enormous. You only use a fraction of it each game, mixing in “coup” cards that act as a timer, allow players to redeploy troops, and change the South Vietnamese government. So far I’d stuck with the short scenario: at three hours, that seemed enough. But what if the things I’d been missing were in the cards for the longer game? I owed it at least one more shot. Longer scenarios use pivotal events, a unique card for each player representing a key moment like the US Linebacker II campaign or the ARVN Easter Offensive. These can trump standard cards, and pivotal events can themselves be trumped by bigger pivotal events. The Tet Offensive beats everything, just like real life. They bring some welcome human drama to the game. Critical plays become a Mexican standoff, each faction willing the others to crack and play a pivotal event first. Four players also bring an element of politics. The capitalist and communist forces are allied, but only one faction can win. So players are torn between helping their ally and helping themselves. The Americans need political goodwill, and troops at home, but to get it they’ve got to advance the South Vietnamese cause by helping them take territory. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese are balanced together on a similar razor. Player count in Fire in the Lake reflects unsettled history: did the Communist command have direct control over the Viet Cong? Play with two or three, and you’re saying that it did. With four, you’re saying the VC was an allied, but distinct movement. Wargames are a wonderful way of exploring what-if questions, but this was something more. This was history built right into the metagame. It’s an impressive standard of research. And as the long game unwound, I could see it everywhere. Most of all it was in the cards. There were events I’d never heard of. The longer game deck hid all the politics, the US home front, the casual racism. With so much academia on display, it made me wonder. Perhaps all those books and films were wrong. Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps Vietnam wasn’t like that at all. It came back to those highly visible guerillas. I did a little research. And unsurprisingly, Fire in the Lake had it right. Hollywood taught us that Marines lived in terror of the VC descending on them like jungle mist, and dissipating just as quickly. In fact, they knew where the enemy was operating. It was finding and killing the Commie bastard that was so difficult. So: see the cylinders, but can’t destroy them. Suddenly, everything else started to fit. I’d never thought of the Viet Cong as terrorists. But there they were, performing terror operations and playing events representing bombings and assassinations. I’d never thought of Vietnam as being an insurgency. But there was the South, a weak, corrupt state surviving only because of American patronage. We’re taught that Vietnam was a regular war, just one in which the faceless, cheating, Communists refused to fight fair. But it never was: it was the first conflict in which a mighty war machine got restrained by politics, tried to fight a new enemy by the old rules, and lost. It was the first war of the modern age. This is where Fire in the Lake earned its space on my shelf. It sometimes feels too cumbersome, too predictable for the subject. But it cuts through the clouds of dope smoke to show us the war as it happened, not as shown through the warped lens of popular culture. This was no heyday of glamourised violence and countercultural mystique, but a ragged mess of politics, terrorism, and death in the service of broken ideologies. A tragedy of barbarism in the name of very little, like far too many wars down the ages. That we finally have a wargame that can remind us of this is a triumph in itself. The weight of strategy is just gravy.i just reinstalled debian 8, installed bumblebee on my laptop. I tried optirun glxgears, to check it worked, and all is fine. for some reason, if i disable vsync, i get much higher results using the intel integrated graphics than using the nvidia one. intel: rhiakath@aiur:~$ vblank_mode=0 glxgears -info | grep -v EXTENSIONS ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment. ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment. GL_RENDERER = Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile GL_VERSION = 3.0 Mesa 10.3.2 GL_VENDOR = Intel Open Source Technology Center VisualID 33, 0x21 32346 frames in 5.0 seconds = 6469.036 FPS 32110 frames in 5.0 seconds = 6421.822 FPS and now for the nvidia part rhiakath@aiur:~$ vblank_mode=0 optirun glxgears -info | grep -v EXTENSIONS ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment. ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment. ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment. ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment. GL_RENDERER = GeForce GT 630M/PCIe/SSE2 GL_VERSION = 4.4.0 NVIDIA 340.65 GL_VENDOR = NVIDIA Corporation ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment. ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment. VisualID 33, 0x21 11828 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2365.596 FPS 12384 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2476.770 FPS what's wrong here??? I remember using the nvidia gpu would be much faster! Did i forget something?IN A DAY of massive highs and the cruellest of lows, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea emerged as the best of the elite men while Ireland and Canada again stamped their authority in the women's competition of the AFL International Cup. It was a rollercoaster round of matches on a wet and windy Tuesday at Royal Park in Melbourne, with a brave Ireland team edged out of a Grand Final spot in division one of the men's competition, after a goal on the final siren. The Warriors then demonstrated phenomenal spirit to get behind Ireland's women's team, the Banshees, who overcame a seven-point final-quarter deficit to beat Great Britain and reach the women's Grand Final at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night. In a repeat of the 2011 and 2014 AFL International Cup grand finals, Ireland will face Canada, which delivered a consummate display to beat neighbour and rival, USA. In the upset of the day, Germany soared into the men's division two Grand Final in its first appearance at the AFL International Cup with a classy performance against China. The Eagles will meet Croatia, which leveraged a huge height and weight advantage to kick nine goals and nullify a lively Japan. The action returned to Royal Park on Tuesday after round two at Victorian schools and last weekend's round three at community clubs. Less than two weeks ago, the AFL International Cup's sixth chapter was a blank page. Twenty-six teams were heading into the unknown, and nervous energy was lifting the roof at Government House in Melbourne. Forty-seven games later, the energy is still on the rise, the quality of football is skyrocketing and all roads have reached the Grand Final stage – albeit with a few sore bodies along the way. "The women are not that far behind the Australian girls and the Papua New Guinea boys are playing some of the best football I have seen at any International Cup," said five-time Hawthorn premiership player Dermott Brereton. "There is a sprinkling of top talent in every team and the willingness is there throughout. Every time there is a disposal there is a contest, which makes it very watchable. "The competition has improved dramatically in quality – Germany and Japan for example are now playing at the level (that) division one was three years ago. I felt sorry for the Ireland boys, though," he said. Canada escaped the USA's grasp to book a place in the women's Grand Final. Picture: AFL Photos With two minutes to go in Ireland's enthralling clash against New Zealand, all was set for a rematch in the Grand Final. Ireland was two points ahead after a heroic team performance and five goals from Padraig Lucey. The two division one heavyweights had exchanged blows all the way through a fiery affair. But Barclay Miller's free kick and goal left Ireland on 12 points, alongside Papua New Guinea and USA on the ladder, meaning the Mosquitoes' superior percentage saw them head to the Grand Final. It was a birthday dream come true for Papua New Guinea's Jeconiah 'JJ' Peni, who turned 22 on Tuesday. The Mosquitoes kicked 16 goals against South Africa in an attempt to ensure they had a better percentage than the Americans, who booted 132 points on their way to a demolition of France. Although Peni's smile will be lighting up Melbourne over the next few days, the biggest smile of the day could be seen across the face of Enrico Misso, the first Sri Lankan to play at VFL level. The Sri Lankan Lions roared to their maiden victory on Tuesday, at this, their first AFL International Cup. Former St Kilda ruckman Misso, who coaches the Lions, said: "It's such a delight that these guys got a win. Their spirit has been incredible. This is one of the biggest buzzes I have ever had in footy!" Sri Lankan forward Damian Ratwatke, who added four goals today to his competition tally of nine, said: "The boys come from different sports – we are incredibly proud to get together and produce a winning performance after just four games together." Sri Lanka will face Indonesia in a play-off for fifth after the Garudas showed tremendous energy to beat India by 51 points, along the way kicking a spectacular team goal finished off by Dillasyah Abdillah. Canada and Nauru kicked off by setting a high bar for the day. The Chiefs lit up a gloomy morning with two goals from outside 45 metres and a hanger from Shaun Kemp Maaki in the second quarter. The damage was done and Nauru showed class, composure and pace in closing out a 32-point win. AFL International Cup Grand Finals Men's division two 12.30pm Friday, August 18 Germany v Croatia Royal Park – Ransford Oval Men's division one 11.15am Saturday, August 19 New Zealand v Papua New Guinea, MCG Women's competition 4.30pm Saturday, August 19 Canada v Ireland Etihad StadiumWindows 10 Creators Update includes many new features and enhancements but watchful users may have noticed that one feature was missing when Microsoft began rolling out the operating system upgrade on April 11. First announced last fall, Windows 10 Creators Update was slated to ship with My People, a feature enables users to pin contacts to the taskbar to encourage quick messaging and drag-and-drop content sharing. Now, members of the Windows Insider early access program can finally try out My People for themselves by downloading Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16184 for the PC. My People supports multiple communications apps like Microsoft's own Skype, which users can select for each contact. For now, users are currently limited to having up to three people pinned to the taskbar. Build 16184 also includes an update to the built-in Mail and Calendar apps that offers some of the intelligent services offered in the Outlook.com web-based email client to Gmail users. Recently, Microsoft teased "a new experience for Gmail accounts in the Windows 10 Mail and Calendar apps that brings our latest features such as Focused Inbox and richer experiences for travel reservations and package deliveries that were previously only available to those with an Outlook.com or Office 365 email address," blogged Dona Sarkar, a software engineer in the Windows and Devices Group at Microsoft and head of the Windows Insider program. "Windows Insiders will be the first to try out the new experience as the roll-out gradually happens over the next few weeks," continued Sarker. "You'll know the new experience is available for your account when you are prompted to update your Gmail account settings." A number of bugs have been fixed, including one that caused the Start menu to crash when attempting to drag an app from the All Apps list to the neighboring tile grid. The company also addressed an issue that could cause Night Light to "get stuck in a disabled state," Sarkar said. Night Light, like the Night Shift feature in Apple iOS, is a viewing mode that cuts down on blue light emissions to help reduce eye strain. Owners of Surface 3 tablets may face trouble updating to newer builds if they have an SD memory card inserted, warned Sarkar. Some operating system components like Windows Defender, Action Center and Windows Update may exhibit finicky behavior, Sarkar added. The newest build for Windows 10 Mobile (number 15208) contains a few bug fixes, including one that addresses a flaw in Bluetooth settings that prevented users from accessing certain options. Users who switch networks prior to shutting down their phones should now notice their handsets complete shutdown much faster. As with any pre-release software, users run the risk of losing data or app instability. This time around, Sarkar cautioned users that some users may experience the loss of data in text message backups. Others may encounter random shutdowns or the immediate crashing of the WeChat app upon launch.Simona Halep Sets Date To Have Breast Reduction Video Playback Not Supported Updates June 3/09 – *Alena Schurkova: “Simona Halep You Can Be A Champion With Big Boobs” Total Pro Sports – Many of us may have thought her previous threat to undergo breast reduction surgery would not fall through. Maybe she would realize how much those breasts meant to her fans. Perhaps she would understand that this can be the move that makes or breaks her promising career.Well the surgery has been booked, and let me be the first to shed a tear during this sad moment in the world of sports. Reports indicate that the 34DD-sized Romanian tennis star, Simona Halep, has booked herself into a private hospital for surgery in the fall. When asked about the decision, Simona stated the following: “This fall I’ll have a breast reduction operation. The breasts make me uncomfortable when I play. It’s the weight that troubles me – my ability to react quickly.” [TheSun] While Simona believes that the reduction will give her less weight to carry around, making it easier for her to win some points, what she may also need to realize is that the loss of her large boob size will likely result in the loss of many fans. Anna Kournikova didn’t need to be the best tennis player to make millions of dollars from it. Looks seem to go a lot further in woman’s tennis these days, but that road may soon close itself for simona halep. The exact date of the surgery is still unknown, but we here at TPS will continue to keep you posted on that as well as the chosen size and any other information we receive regarding our favorite tennis player, Simona Halep. [poll id=”28″] Start Slide Show Tags: Share ThisInternational Service Providers Sue GCHQ For Potentially Hacking Their Networks from the could-get-interesting dept First, in the course of such an attack, network assets and computers belonging to the internet and communications service provider are altered without the provider’s consent. That is in itself unlawful under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in the absence of some supervening authorisation. Depending on the nature and extent of the alterations, the attacks may also cause damage amounting to an unlawful interference with the internet and communications service provider’s property contrary to Article 1 of the First Protocol (“A1P1”) to the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”). Second, the surveillance of the internet and communications service provider’s employees is an obvious interference with the rights of those employees under Articles 8 and 10 ECHR, and by extension the provider’s own Article 10 rights. As Der Spiegel reported in relation to a separate attack on Mach, a data clearing company, a computer expert working for the company was heavily targeted: “A complex graph of his digital life depicts the man’s name in red crosshairs and lists his work computers and those he uses privately (‘suspected tablet PC’). His Skype username is listed, as are his Gmail account and his profile on a social networking site. […] In short, GCHQ knew everything about the man’s digital life.” It is not simply a question of GCHQ confining its interest to employees’ professional lives. They are interested in knowing everything about the staff and administrators of computer networks, so as to be better able to exploit the networks they are charged to protect. Third, the exploitation of network infrastructure enables GCHQ to conduct mass and intrusive surveillance on the customers and users of the internet and communications service providers’ services in contravention of Articles 8 and 10 ECHR. Network exploitation of internet infrastructure enables GCHQ to undertake a range of highly invasive mass surveillance activities, including the application of packet capture (mass scanning of internet communications); the weakening of encryption capabilities; the observation and redirection of internet browsing activities; the censoring or modification of communications en route; and the creation of avenues for targeted infection of users’ devices. Not only does each of these actions involve serious interferences with Article 8 ECHR rights, by creating vulnerabilities and mistrust in internet infrastructure they also chill free expression in contravention of Article 10 ECHR. Fourth, the use by GCHQ of internet and communications service providers’ infrastructure to spy on the providers’ users on such an enormous scale strikes at the heart of the relationship between those users and the provider itself. The fact that the internet and communications service providers are essentially deputised by GCHQ to engage in heavily intrusive surveillance of their own customers threatens to damage or destroy the goodwill in that relationship, itself an interference with the provider’s rights under A1P1. A group of seven smaller international ISPs, many of which tend to be used by activists, are now suing GCHQ via the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, for hacking into their networks. The focus of the lawsuit is on the GCHQ's now infamous hacking of Belgian telco Belgacom, via a quantum insert, to get access to a variety of communications. While those revelations don't name any of the service providers filing suit, they note that "the type of surveillance being carried out allows them to challenge the practices in the IPT because they and their users are at threat of being targeted." The seven service providers are:There may be a big question as to whether or not any of those organizations really have standing if there's no evidence they were actually targeted by GCHQ, but I don't know enough about
— it says the Mac Pro will be redesigned, and a new Pro version of the iMac is coming later this year. “I think Microsoft has recognized over the last couple years that maybe the creative community isn’t as locked into the Mac as many people think it is,” said Jan Dawson, an independent technology analyst. “There’s this window of opportunity for Surface to get in there — and even if that window closes with some of Apple’s upcoming devices, I don’t think Apple has that market locked up.” Last month, I visited Microsoft’s hardware lab at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash. I arrived in the midst of a renovation, finding a team of its best hardware designers sitting in a cavernous, mostly empty room — a scene that perfectly captures Microsoft’s approach to hardware. Under Panos Panay, Microsoft’s Surface chief, the company has given its designers and engineers license to rethink the future of PCs in grand ways — to sit in an empty room, dream big things, and turn those visions into reality. “We have this mind-set that says, ‘Hey, I’m going to take a shot at this, and if it’s not going to work, we’ll move on to the next thing,’” Mr. Panay told me. “That is celebrated — it’s always, ‘Let’s go, let’s move.’” The mind-set has resulted in several shining ideas. For Surface Studio, Microsoft built a brilliant companion device called Surface Dial — a palm-size knob that sits on your drafting-table screen, creating a tactile interface with which to control your computer. You can use Dial for basic things like turning up the volume. But in the hands of a designer, it becomes a lovely tool; you can scrub through edits in a video or change your pen color in Photoshop with a turn of the wheel. Like Microsoft’s digital stylus — which works across the company’s PCs and tablets, whereas Apple staunchly, weirdly opposes adding touch-screen abilities to its Macs — Dial is one of those interface breakthroughs that we might have once looked to Apple for. Now, it’s Microsoft that’s pushing new modes of computing.When the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils meet tonight at the Prudential Center, it will be more just the second and final meeting of an out-of-conference season series. Rookie leaders Adam Henrique and Gabriel Landeskog will play head-to-head, looking to break a tie atop the rookie leaders and make a late statement for who should win the Calder Trophy. The two rookies enter tonight's matchup with 46 points, tops among all rookie skaters. Henrique leads all rookies with 31 assists, and Landeskog leads with 20 goals. But the two enter tonight on two different ends of the spectrum. Henrique has failed to score a goal in 13 games and has just five assists in his last 11 contests. Landeskog has found his offensive game, recording nine goals and 10 assists over his last 18 games. The Devils' rookie leader isn't concerned about the head to head matchup. "I played against him a little there [in juniors]," he told Tom Gulitti of The Bergen Record. "He was a solid player there. He's a team guy. He's a leader. He's a great player. Obviously, he creates a lot of opportunities, a lot of chances. He scores goals. He makes plays. He's a great player. So, it's fun to be part of a battle." The two teams also enter tonight's game battling for playoff positions. New Jersey is sixth in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of the Ottawa Senators. They've won four of their last five meetings, but are looking to rebound from a 3-0 shutout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night. The Devils failed to solve Ilya Bryzgalov, who stopped 17 shots for his third straight shutout win. The Colorado Avalanche are fighting to hold on to the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Colorado has won three straight games, and enters tonight's matchup two points ahead of the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames. They defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 5-4, in a shootout last night in Buffalo. Jamie McGinn led all Avs skaters with two goals, and Peter Mueller scored the game-winning shootout goal in the third round. Martin Brodeur will start tonight for the Devils. Colorado won the first meeting fo the season, 6-1, on November 30 at the Pepsi Center. Six different players scored in the victory.This drone video is special. Not just in the wide lens it casts on Los Angeles—capturing everything from obvious landmarks (Griffith Park, the Hollywood sign, the Santa Monica Pier) to lesser-known ones, like the Baldwin Hills oil derricks, the Felix the Cat car dealership sign, and murals and public art across the city—and not just because it manages to cram more than 100, beautifully-shot locations into one, short video. It's that on top of all that, it's also got a listenable soundtrack (an edit of Boo Boo Davis's "If You Ain't Never Had The Blues"), as opposed to the ridiculously dramatic stuff most drone videos have. For all of that, it is a standout winner. Shot over several months by filmmaker/drone-flyer Ian Wood (who last year made a beautiful video of the Downtown LA views that you can't usually see), the video also comes with a companion map charting every location that makes an appearance. Think you can identify every spot that gets the drone spotlight? Quiz yourself! Los Angeles from Ian Wood on Vimeo. · Drone Video Reveals the Parts of DTLA You Can't Usually See [Curbed LA]Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman of Union Temple, a Reform congregation in Brooklyn, said she would refer to the controversy over the Muslim center in summoning her congregants to reassert their commitment to tolerance and freedom of religion for all — “as Americans and as Jews.” Rabbi Allan Schranz of Sutton Place Synagogue, a Conservative congregation in Manhattan, said his “mandate as a rabbi to confront social issues” required him to bring up his opposition to the center in at least one sermon. “A mosque on the site,” he said, “would be insensitive to the memory of those who were killed on 9/11” by terrorists claiming to act in the name of Islam. Photo Some rabbis of each persuasion have said they will avoid the topic altogether — either because they had already addressed it, or because they believe, like Rabbi Yaakov Y. Kermaier — an opponent of the project who heads the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, an Orthodox congregation in Manhattan — that “there are more important matters of the spirit to address.” The wide variety of postures reflects a schism among Jews in New York, who have been among the most vocal proponents on both sides of the debate over the Islamic center. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is the project’s most prominent supporter. Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, contends that organizers have every legal right to build but should refrain in deference to the survivors of those killed on 9/11. Some scholars suggest that, more than any other religious minority in the United States, Jews have a special stake in the controversy. “This debate touches on the two strongest commitments that American Jews have,” said Steven M. Cohen, a sociologist and a professor at Hebrew Union College in Manhattan. “One is to protect democracy and the rights of minorities, which makes Jews feel safer. The other is to protect Israel, which makes Jews feel safer.” “This is a battle over which vulnerability you feel more keenly,” he said. Dr. Cohen said protecting Israel was inherently linked in the minds of many Jews with distrust of Islamic institutions, regardless of whether they were Israel’s avowed enemies or the leaders of an initiative to cultivate understanding among religions, as the organizers have described their project. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. Whatever side they take, some rabbis will probably risk alienating some congregants by addressing the issue. Asked if she knew where the majority of her members stood, in advance of her sermon, Rabbi Goodman said with a nervous laugh, “No, but I will on Thursday!” Advertisement Continue reading the main story But most rabbis are not likely to stray far from what they believe are the prevailing opinions of their congregations, said Rabbi Irwin Kula, co-president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a New York-based group that promotes cooperation among faiths. “The congregations are so polarized, it’s difficult for a lot of them to speak up, especially if they happen to disagree with the majority,” he said. Photo Those who do speak, he added, may send shock waves throughout the network of the city’s synagogues — as was the case last month, when Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, the prominent senior rabbi of Kehilat Jeshurun Synagogue, a Modern Orthodox congregation on the Upper East Side, delivered a sermon on the Islamic project. Rabbi Lookstein, a member of the City Commission on Human Rights who has joined in past interfaith efforts with Muslims, told worshipers that while “not every Muslim is a terror threat,” jihadist violence was part of a global movement “deeply embedded within the Islamic world.” He then described plans to build the center as not only insensitive but “provocative.” Rabbi Kula criticized the sermon, calling it “paradigmatic” of much thinking behind opposition to the center. “Claiming this is not a war against Islam, and then evoking fear of all Muslims, is something you hear over and over in many congregations,” he said. Leaders of organizations representing a vast majority of affiliated Jews — the Union for Reform Judaism, and the Rabbinical Assembly, the Conservative group — have unconditionally supported Park51, as the project is known. The American Jewish Committee offered its backing, too, as long as organizers agreed to “fully reveal their sources of funding and to unconditionally condemn terrorism inspired by Islamist ideology” — a caveat that supporters of the center consider discriminatory unless the same promises are required of those who build Roman Catholic, Jewish, Protestant and other houses of worship. Rabbi J. Rolando Matalon, senior rabbi of B’nai Jeshurun, a nondenominational synagogue on the Upper West Side, caused about as much of a stir this summer as Rabbi Lookstein, by posting on his synagogue’s Web site a copy of an address made by Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the proposed Islamic center. In the remarks, delivered at a first anniversary memorial service at B’nai Jeshurun in honor of the journalist Daniel Pearl, who was murdered by jihadists in Pakistan in 2002, Mr. Abdul Rauf said: “If to be a Jew means to say with all one’s heart, mind and soul, ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One,’ not only today I am a Jew, I have always been one.” The statement was widely circulated among people who support the imam’s project, Rabbi Matalon said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “I won’t be further addressing the topic in my sermon,” he added. “Instead, I plan to talk about the tremendous polarization in our society.”As Luke wrote this morning, several Cubs prospects offered a nice showing in the minor league All-Star Games taking place yesterday. One of those players was Dan Vogelbach, who earned his way into the Southern League All-Star Game with a.285/.400/.425 line, and a walk rate (16.4%) that nearly matched his strikeout rate (21.8%). He still hasn’t quite shown off the prodigious power he was expected to have by this point in his career, though he did put some of it on display in the All-Star Game: Your browser does not support iframes. Did you see where that pitch was, and where the ball ended up? The camera angle makes it a little difficult to see, but the pitch was up at Vogelbach’s shoulders – or maybe even higher – and on the inner half – or maybe even inside – of the plate. Somehow he gets the barrel up and gets around on it quickly enough to yank it. And he doesn’t just slap it, he crushes it. That ball just kept going and going, easily clearing the onlookers in right, who couldn’t even seem to figure out where the ball wound up. Vogelbach’s future with the Cubs’ organization is unclear – he’s a 1B/DH guy, about to reach AAA, and is eligible for the Rule 5 after this season – but here’s hoping he keeps on raking and gives the Cubs (and himself) some options, maybe as soon as next month.‘JAWS 19’ Trailer Released For ‘Back To The Future’ 30th Anniversary There’s a scene in Back to the Future Part II most of you will recall in which Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) arrives in the year 2015 and is frightened by a promotion for JAWS 19. The time-traveling sequel was released in 1989, two years after the third sequel to Steven Spielberg’s original 1975 classic JAWS was released. Thankfully, as it turns out, Back to the Future Part II was not prophetic, and that fourth murderous shark movie was the last (so far anyway…we all dread the day the word “reboot” becomes latched onto the franchise, unlike the currently protected Back to the Future franchise). While the movie isn’t happening anytime soon, Universal Pictures decided to have a little fun in celebration of the release of the Back to the Future 30th Anniversary Trilogy later this month by making a special trailer for JAWS 19. You can check out what a promotion for the movie might look like below. Here’s some information on the 30th anniversary releases. More info can be found right here: Great Scott! In 1985 Director Robert Zemeckis, Executive Producer Steven Spielberg and Producer/Screenwriter Bob Gale embarked on a three-part journey through time that broke box-office records worldwide and catapulted Back to the Future into one of the most beloved trilogies in motion picture history. In 1989, the filmmakers gave us a glimpse of the future in Back to the Future Part II as Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled to 2015…or, if our calculations are correct, October 21, 2015, to be exact. “The Future” has finally arrived. Now, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment celebrates this once-in-a-lifetime date, as well as the 30th Anniversary of the groundbreaking first film, with three new releases debuting on October 20, 2015. Available on Blu-ray™ & DVD, the Back to the Future 30th Anniversary Trilogy will include all three movies plus a new bonus disc with more two hours of content. Back to the Future: The Complete Animated Series will be released for the first time ever on DVD featuring all 26 episodes from the award-winning series and Back to the Future: The Complete Adventures will include all three movies, the complete animated series, a new bonus disc, a 64-page book and collectible light-up “Flux Capacitor” packaging. Featuring more than two hours of content, the bonus disc will include all-new original shorts, documentaries, two episodes from the animated series and more. In addition to the home entertainment release, the Back to the Future celebration continues in theaters when the films go back to the big screen on October 21, 2015. Check local listings for show times. Additionally, Universal Music Enterprises is reissuing an all-new 30th Anniversary picture disc vinyl soundtrack, available October 16th in stores and through all digital partners. You can pre-order the Back to the Future 30th Anniversary Trilogy on Blu-ray and DVD now. VideoAmerica's founding fathers thought freedom of the press was pretty important. So important, in fact, that they made it the first amendment of the Constitution. As Americans, we have the right to criticize our government openly and without fear of legal repercussions. But the Duggars are another story — at least as far as Sarah Palin's interpretation of the Constitution is concerned. The former governor of Alaska went off on the public for having "double standards" when it comes to the Duggars. In particular, she's upset that Lena Dunham's admission of looking at her sister's genitalia when they were both little kids did not elicit the same public outcry as Josh Duggar repeatedly molesting his much younger sisters when he was a teenager. Duggars prove why they don't belong on television with Fox News interview In a Facebook post, the one-time vice presidential candidate calls Dunham a pedophile and accuses the "intolerant left" of letting her off the hook. "The intolerant left's destructive personal intrusions and narrow-mindedness applied to their chosen targets are bad enough, but their double standards are beyond the pale," she writes. It takes her four paragraphs to get to the "I'm not defending what Josh Duggar did" part of the statement. Oh right, that! Then she proceeds with a list of two things the media needs to focus on instead. Objective No. 1: A witch hunt for the "politically motivated law enforcement official" who leaked the documents in the first place. "Media - time to go after her or him for illegalities and for destroying the public's trust in law enforcement," Palin wrote. (Because THAT'S what's eroding people's trust in the police: Too many information leaks! By that logic, those Ferguson and Baltimore protests were all about child molesters' right to privacy.) Objective No. 2 is to stop criticizing the entire Duggar family for the actions of one family member, "while giving a total pass to perverted actions of someone like Lena Dunham - or any other leftwinger celeb caught doing awful things." One might quibble that people are going after the Duggar *parents* for covering it up and failing to get counseling for their predator son or keep him away from their other kids, but that would be because one is a LIBERAL WITCH HUNTER who hates the Constitution and also doesn't support the troops who DIED for your rights. "Such obvious double standards applied to equally relevant stories underestimate the wisdom of the public, discredit the press, and spit on the graves of every American who fought and died for the press's freedom," Palin writes. You hear that? If you think Josh Duggar is disgusting and his parents facilitated his molestation, you hate the troops. They died for your right to freedom of speech, and you're using that speech in a way Sarah Palin disagrees with, so YOU'RE the true hypocrite. Not that she's defending the Duggars or anything. TODAY'S VIDEO: On the set of Hannibal: The stars break down the hunt for Dr. LecterInfamous graffiti artist Banksy is making a splash in New York City, and unsurprisingly, the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, isn't a fan. Asked about the artist's presence at an unrelated press conference this morning, Bloomberg reiterated that graffiti ruins property. "It's a sign of decay and loss of control," he said. According to Politicker, the mayor added that he doesn't think graffiti is a form of art at all: Art is art, and nobody's a bigger supporter of the arts than I am. I just think there are some places for art and there are some places [not for] art. And you running up to somebody’s property or public property and defacing it is not my definition of art. Or it may be art, but it should not be permitted. And I think that’s exactly what the law says. The rhetoric isn't remotely surprising. Mayor Bloomberg launched a citywide grafitti cleanup initative way back in 2002, and has been outspoken about the dangers of grafitti even earlier than that. In 2005, he defended the city's decision to block a grafitti party hosted by Marc Ecko. Ecko later won in court.WG21 Number Title Author Document Date Mailing Date Previous Version Subgroup Disposition 2014-07-post-Rapperswil SD-1 2014 PL22.16/WG21 document list Clark Nelson 2014-07-08 2014-07 N4052 WG21 2014-06-06 Telecon Minutes Ville Voutilainen 2014-06-10 2014-07 N4053 WG21 2014-06 Rapperswil Minutes Ville Voutilainen 2014-07-02 2014-07 N4054 PL22.16 2014-06 Rapperswil Minutes Ville Voutilainen 2014-07-03 2014-07 N4055 Ruminations on (node-based) containers and noexcept Ville Voutilainen 2014-07-02 2014-07 Library N4056 Minimal incomplete type support for standard containers Zhihao Yuan 2014-05-23 2014-07 N3890 Library N4057 A Proposal to Add a Const-Propagating Wrapper to the Standard Library J. Coe, R. Mill 2014-07-02 2014-07 N3973 Library N4058 Atomic Smart Pointers Herb Sutter 2014-06-12 2014-07 Concurrency N4059 Spring 2015 C++ Standards Committee Meeting Michael Price 2014-07-03 2014-07 N4060 Changes to vector_execution_policy Pablo Halpern 2014-06-11 2014-07 Concurrency N4061 Greatest Common Divisor and Least Common Multiple, v3 Walter E. Brown 2014-06-30 2014-07 N3913 Library N4062 Working Draft, C++ Extensions for Concepts Andrew Sutton missing N4040 Core N4063 On Parallel Invocations of Functions in Parallelism TS Artur Laksberg 2014-16-20 2014-07 N3993 Concurrency Accepted 2014-06 N4064 Improving pair and tuple, revision 2 Daniel Krügler 2014-07-02 2014-07 N3739 Library N4065 make_array, revision 2 Zhihao Yuan 2014-06-26 2014-07 N4031 Library N4066 Delimited iterators (Rev. 3) M. Spertus, N. Wilson 2014-06-18 2014-07 N4007 Library N4067 Experimental std::function etc. Daniel Krügler 2014-06-20 2014-07 Library Accepted 2014-06 N4068 Toward More Expressive Iterator Tags Bill Seymour 2014-06-28 2014-07 Library N4069 C++ Ostream Buffers L. Crowl, P. Sommerlad 2014-06-18 2014-07 N3978 Concurrency N4070 Improving the specification of the vector execution policy in Parallelism TS Hans-J. Boehm 2014-06-20 2014-07 Concurrency Accepted 2014-06 N4071 Working Draft, Technical Specification for C++ Extensions for Parallelism Jared Hoberock 2014-06-19 2014-07 N3989 Revised N4104 N4072 Fixed Size Parameter Packs Maurice Bos 2014-05-26 2014-07 Evolution N4073 A Proposal to Add 2D Graphics Rendering and Display to C++ M. McLaughlin, H. Sutter, J. Zink 2014-07-03 2014-07 N4021 I/O N4074 Let return {expr} Be Explicit, Revision 2 Herb Sutter 2014-07-02 2014-07 N4029 Evolution N4075 Centralized Defensive-Programming Support for Narrow Contracts (Revision 5) J. Lakos, A. Zakharov, A. Beels 2014-06-20 2014-07 N3997 Library N4076 A proposal to add a generalized callable negator (Revision 2) Tomasz Kamiński 2014-06-17 2014-07 N4022 Library Accepted 2014-06 N4077 Experimental shared_ptr for Library Fundamentals TS Jonathan Wakely 2014-06-20 2014-07 Library Accepted 2014-06 N4078 Fixes for optional objects F. Cacciola, A. Krzemieński, V. Voutilainen 2014-06-20 2014-07 N3966 Library Accepted 2014-06 N4079 C++ Standard Library Issues Resolved Directly In Rapperswil, 2014 Alisdair Meredith 2014-06-20 2014-07 Library Accepted 2014-06 N4080 File System TS Immediate Issues for Rapperswil Beman Dawes 2014-06-20 2014-07 Library Accepted 2014-06 N4081 Working Draft, C++ Extensions for Library Fundamentals Jeffrey Yasskin 2014-07-07 2014-07 N4023 N4082 Programming Languages — C++ Extensions for Library Fundamentals Jeffrey Yasskin 2014-07-07 2014-07 N4083 Editor's Report for Version 1 of the Library Fundamentals TS Jeffrey Yasskin 2014-07-07 2014-07 N4084 Working Draft, C++ Extensions for Library Fundamentals, Version 2 Jeffrey Yasskin 2014-07-06 2014-07 N4085 Editor's Report for Version 2 of the Library Fundamentals TS Jeffrey Yasskin 2014-07-06 2014-07 N4086 Removing trigraphs??! Richard Smith 2014-06-18 2014-07 N3981 Evolution N4087 Multidimensional bounds, index and array_view, revision 3 Ł. Mendakiewicz, H. Sutter 2014-07-01 2014-07 N3976 Concurrency N4088 Task Region R3 P. Halpern, A. Robison, A. Laksberg, H. Sutter, et al. 2014-06-21 2014-07 N3991 Library N4089 Safe conversions in unique_ptr<T[]>, revision 2 Geoffrey Romer 20140625 2014-07 N4042 Library N4090 The Maladies of All Member Templates: An Incomplete Biography of Specialization (DR727 + DR1755) Faisal Vali 2014-06-21 2014-07 N4042 Library N4091 C++ Standard Core Language Active Issues, Revision 90 William M. Miller 2014-07-07 2014-07 N4018 Core N4092 C++ Standard Core Language Defect Reports and Accepted Issues, Revision 90 William M. Miller 2014-07-07 2014-07 N4019 Core N4093 C++ Standard Core Language Closed Issues, Revision 90 William M. Miller 2014-07-07 2014-07 N4020 Core N4094 Response To: Let return {expr} Be Explicit H. Hinnant, V. Voutilainen 2014-07-06 2014-07 Evolution N4095 File System TS Active Issues List (Revision R2) Beman Dawes 2014-07-05 2014-07 N4003 Filesystem N4096 File System TS Closed Issues List (Revision R2) Beman Dawes 2014-07-05 2014-07 N4004 Filesystem N4097 File System TS Defect Report List (Revision R2) Beman Dawes 2014-07-05 2014-07 N4005 Filesystem N4098 File System TS Editor's Report, Post-Rapperswil Beman Dawes 2014-07-05 2014-07 N4099 Working Draft, Technical Specification — File System Beman Dawes 2014-07-04 2014-07 N3940 N4100 Programming Languages — C++ — File System Technical Specification Beman Dawes 2014-07-04 2014-07 N4101 C++ Standard Evolution Active Issues List (Revision R08) Ville Voutilainen 2014-07-01 2014-07 N4010 Evolution N4102 C++ Standard Evolution Completed Issues List (Revision R08) Ville Voutilainen 2014-07-01 2014-07 N4011 Evolution N4103 C++ Standard Evolution Closed Issues List (Revision R08) Ville Voutilainen 2014-07-01 2014-07 N4012 Evolution N4104 Working Draft, Technical Specification for C++ Extensions for Parallelism Jared Hoberock 2014-07-04 2014-07 N3960 N4105 Information technology – Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces – Technical Specification for C++ Extensions for Parallelism Jared Hoberock 2014-07-04 2014-07 N4106 Parallelism TS Editor's Report, post-Rapperswil Jared Hoberock 2014-07-04 2014-07 N4107 Working Draft, Technical Specification for C++ Extensions for Concurrency Artur Laksberg 2014-07-07 2014-07 N3970 N4108 Concurrency TS Editor's Report, July 2014 Artur Laksberg 2014-07-02 2014-07 N4109 A proposal to add a utility class to represent expected monad - Revision 1 V. Escriba, P. Talbot 2014-06-29 2014-07 N4015 Library N4110 Exploring the design space of contract specifications for C++ J. Daniel Garcia 2014-07-06 2014-07 Evolution N4111 Static reflection (rev. 2) Matúš Chochlík 2014-07-02 2014-07 Reflection N4112 File System PDTS National Body Comments Record of Response Beman Dawes 2014-07-03 2014-07 N4113 Reflection Type Traits For Classes, Unions and Enumerations (rev 3) A. Tomazos, C. Kaeser 2014-07-02 2014-07 N4027 Reflection N4114 Defaulted comparison operators Oleg Smolsky 2014-07-02 2014-07 N3950 Evolution N4115 Searching for Types in Parameter Packs B. Seymour, S. Lavavej 2014-07-04 2014-07 Library N4116 Nested Namespace Definition (rev 1) A. Tomazos, R. Kawulak 2014-07-03 2014-07 N4026 Evolution N4117 C++ Standard Library Active Issues List (Revision R89) Alisdair Meredith 2014-07-08 2014-07 N3967 Library N4118 C++ Standard Library Defect Report List (Revision R89) Alisdair Meredith 2014-07-08 2014-07 N3968 Library N4119 C++ Standard Library Closed Issues List (Revision R89) Alisdair Meredith 2014-07-08 2014-07 N3969 Library N4120 Null Coalescing Conditional Operator Alexander Bock 2014-07-02 2014-07 EvolutionNew ‘Arrested Development’ Pulls Off The Geekiest Gag Ever, Confuses Much Of The Internet New Arrested Development is here! Have you heard? I could probably fall back on an “Unless you’ve been living under a rock..” joke here, but I’m pretty sure they’ve got WiFi under rocks now. Rock people are quite well informed these days. Anyway — if you’re just catching the first few episodes of the new season: Yeah, you saw what you think you saw. Yeah, it’s a gag. No, you’re not the only one that it confused. Warning: Here be (minor) spoilers. Arrested Development is all about the inside jokes. It’s part of what makes it great, and so fun to rewatch. It’s meta jokes all the way down. This time, though, the writers went a lil’ too deep down the rabbit hole for some of the folks back at home. About 10 minutes after midnight (when the new season went live on Netflix), the Intertrons started buzzing with mentions of a faint watermark that had seemingly snuck its way into a bunch of scenes in the new season. “SHOW STEALER PRO TRIAL VERSION”, it read, sprawled across the screen in a way that almost certainly couldn’t be missed in editing. Right? I mean… could it? No, it couldn’t. You see, that watermark only shows up in very specific scenes: the flashbacks. Whenever they needed to use clips from the first 3 seasons, up pops the watermark. Get it? Ehhhhhhh? Still not gettin’ it? Fine, fine, I’ll be that guy: they’re joking that they couldn’t get the raw footage from the original seasons, so they had to use a screen-capture/video downloader program to rip it. Many of these apps will let you capture video for free, but will embed a big ol’ watermark on everything you rip until you cough up a few bucks. Add in the fact that Arrested Development wasn’t originally Netflix’s show to produce, and the joke starts to take on all sorts of clever little layers. Pretty much immediately, two camps formed: those who didn’t get the joke, and those who were making fun of everyone who didn’t get the joke. Edit note: We had cited a bunch of tweets here, but most of’em got deleted after a day or two. While the WordPress tweet embed system allows deleted tweets to remain embedded, that keeps their original author’s handle tied to it, and that seems… not-awesome. Instead, have a few anonymized quotes: Why are the new arrested development episodes flashbacks clearly ripped with a watermark? “Show stealer pro trial version” :/— @arresteddev what is with this stupid show stealer pro trial version crap during flashback scenes of old episodes? @netflix Show stealer pro “trial” version on fucking Arrested Development’s past clips? You were that cheap? Excellently trolled played, Arrested Development writers. Confused tweets about the gag are still rearing up every minute or two. Oh, and for the curious: Yeah, Show Stealer Pro is a real application. You can get the trial version right here.O'Shea looks set for another game in a holding midfield role when Sunderland take on Middlesbrough this weekend. Sunderland's John O'Shea in action with Manchester City's Fabian Delph Sunderland experienced captain John O'Shea has said he is prepared to fill in wherever he needs to while the Black Cats are short on players. David Moyes doesn't have a lot of options in central midfield and although O'Shea has been playing at centre-back for much of his Sunderland career, he was asked to play further forward in order to help out in last weekend's defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. O'Shea explained in the Sunderland Echo, that he isn't a stranger to the position having played there on numerous occasions during his time at Manchester United, as well as in other areas of the field. Sunderland's John O'Shea He said: “At different stages at Man United, there were spells when I played in the holding role in the Champions League – I’ve played maybe 20-25 games there. “I am used to it, but I haven’t played there for a few years – I have more been in central defence. “Hopefully we will get the bodies back as quickly as possibly, because we saw last season, when we had a healthy squad, the competition kept everyone on their toes and that was reflected in performances.” Sunderland manager David Moyes It looks as though he could be playing in a similar role at the weekend when Sunderland face Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light, but it's clear the Irishman would like other players to return as soon as possible - partly so the role can be played by those more accustomed to the position. Nevertheless, it shows a great degree of leadership from the Black Cats skipper. He has made it evident he would like to play the role that has become that more natural to him in recent years going forward. Sunderland's Jermain Defoe celebrates scoring their first goalEven Detroit's Big Three see self-driving cars in their rear-view mirror. In a wide-ranging interview on Thursday at the Forbes Reinventing American Summit, Ford executive chairman Bill Ford talked about rebuilding his family's company's -- and the future that will soon disrupt automobiles through technology. "Self-driving cars are coming," said Ford. "But the technology will arrive before society figures out how to make it work. There’s a whole element that needs to be worked out." The great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford believes the technological revolution goes beyond self-driving cars, though. Using more efficient materials, like aluminum in the new Ford F-150, is a major effort for the company -- both to add safety and increase fuel economy. Ford, interviewed on stage by Steve Forbes, said this new era of technology is fun. "We used to talk in 5-7 year cycles, but we’re moving to software cycles now. We’re learning to speed everything up." The crisis the auto industry went through in the last decade was also on the agenda, with Ford reflecting on the many sleepless nights he spent during the darkest days. "The biggest trouble we’ve gotten into in the past is when we’re drinking our own Kool-Aid," Ford says. "The scaring that we’ve had in the last go around will remain with us for a long time. Part of my role is to be the institutional memory for this company." Ford also finds himself in a role of re-focusing his company on what matters most. He believes Ford is more than just a straightforward car manufacturer. "I said to our company – we’re a personal mobility company. Whatever form that
sexual intercourse after the start of ovulation, which can be before the first menstrual period (menarche) but usually occurs after the onset of periods.[4] In well-nourished females, the first period usually takes place around the age of 12 or 13.[5] Pregnant teenagers face many of the same pregnancy related issues as other women. There are additional concerns for those under the age of 15 as they are less likely to be physically developed to sustain a healthy pregnancy or to give birth.[6] For girls aged 15–19, risks are associated more with socioeconomic factors than with the biological effects of age.[7] Risks of low birth weight, premature labor, anemia, and pre-eclampsia are connected to biological age, being observed in teen births even after controlling for other risk factors (such as accessing prenatal care etc.).[8][9] Teenage pregnancies are associated with social issues, including lower educational levels and poverty.[3] Teenage pregnancy in developed countries is usually outside of marriage and carries a social stigma.[10] Teenage pregnancy in developing countries often occurs within marriage and half are planned.[3] However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause medical problems. When used in combination, educational interventions and access to birth control can reduce unintended teenage pregnancies.[11][12] In 2015 about 47 females per 1,000 had children well under the age of 20.[3] Rates are higher in Africa and lower in Asia.[3] In the developing world about 2.5 million females under the age of 16 and 16 million females 15 to 19 year old have children each year.[3] Another 3.9 million have abortions.[3] It is more common in rural than urban areas.[3] Worldwide, complications related to pregnancy are the most common cause of death among females 15 to 19 year old.[3] Definition [ edit ] [13] Most teenage pregnancies in developed countries involve legal adults. The age of the mother is determined by the easily verified date when the pregnancy ends, not by the estimated date of conception.[14] Consequently, the statistics do not include pregnancies that began at age 19, but that ended on or after the woman's 20th birthday.[14] Similarly, statistics on the mother's marital status are determined by whether she is married at the end of the pregnancy, not at the time of conception. Effects [ edit ] According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), "Pregnancies among girls less than 18 years of age have irreparable consequences. It violates the rights of girls, with life-threatening consequences in terms of sexual and reproductive health, and poses high development costs for communities, particularly in perpetuating the cycle of poverty."[15] Health consequences include not yet being physically ready for pregnancy and childbirth leading to complications and malnutrition as the majority of adolescents tend to come from lower-income households. The risk of maternal death for girls under age 15 in low and middle income countries is higher than for women in their twenties.[15] Teenage pregnancy also affects girls' education and income potential as many are forced to drop out of school which ultimately threatens future opportunities and economic prospects.[16] Several studies have examined the socioeconomic, medical, and psychological impact of pregnancy and parenthood in teens. Life outcomes for teenage mothers and their children vary; other factors, such as poverty or social support, may be more important than the age of the mother at the birth. Many solutions to counteract the more negative findings have been proposed. Teenage parents who can rely on family and community support, social services and child-care support are more likely to continue their education and get higher paying jobs as they progress with their education.[17] A holistic approach is required in order to address teenage pregnancy. This means not focusing on changing the behaviour of girls but addressing the underlying reasons of adolescent pregnancy such as poverty, gender inequality, social pressures and coercion. This approach should include "providing age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education for all young people, investing in girls' education, preventing child marriage, sexual violence and coercion, building gender-equitable societies by empowering girls and engaging men and boys and ensuring adolescents' access to sexual and reproductive health information as well as services that welcome them and facilitate their choices".[16] In the United States one third of high school students reported being sexually active. In 2011–2013, 79% of females reported using birth control. Teenage pregnancy puts young women at risk for health issues, economic, social and financial issues.[18][19] Teenager [ edit ] In 2008 teen birth rates internationally, per 1000 girls aged 15–19. U.S. and UK had some of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the developed world. Being a young mother in a first world country can affect one's education. Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of high school.[20] However, recent studies have found that many of these mothers had already dropped out of school before becoming pregnant, but those in school at the time of their pregnancy were as likely to graduate as their peers.[21] One study in 2001 found that women that gave birth during their teens completed secondary-level schooling 10–12% as often and pursued post-secondary education 14–29% as often as women who waited until age 30.[22] Young motherhood in an industrialized country can affect employment and social class. Less than one third of teenage mothers receive any form of child support, vastly increasing the likelihood of turning to the government for assistance.[23] The correlation between earlier childbearing and failure to complete high school reduces career opportunities for many young women.[20] One study found that, in 1988, 60% of teenage mothers were impoverished at the time of giving birth.[24] Additional research found that nearly 50% of all adolescent mothers sought social assistance within the first five years of their child's life.[20] A study of 100 teenaged mothers in the UK found that only 11% received a salary, while the remaining 89% were unemployed.[25] Most British teenage mothers live in poverty, with nearly half in the bottom fifth of the income distribution.[26] Teenage women who are pregnant or mothers are seven times more likely to commit suicide than other teenagers.[27] Professor John Ermisch at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at Essex University and Dr Roger Ingham, director of the Centre of Sexual Health at Southampton University, found that comparing teenage mothers with other girls with similarly deprived social-economic profiles, bad school experiences and low educational aspirations, the difference in their respective life chances was negligible.[28] Teenage motherhood may make economic sense for young women with less money, some research suggests. For instance, long-term studies published in 2005, found that by age 35, former teen mothers had earned more in income, paid more in taxes, were substantially less likely to live in poverty and collected less in public assistance than similarly poor women who waited until their 20s to have babies. Women who became mothers in their teens—freed from child-raising duties by their late 20s and early 30s to pursue employment while poorer women who waited to become mothers were still stuck at home watching their young children—wound up paying more in taxes than they had collected in welfare.[29] Eight years earlier, the federally commissioned report "Kids Having Kids" also contained a similar finding: "Adolescent childbearers fare slightly better than later-childbearing counterparts in terms of their overall economic welfare."[29] According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, nearly 1 in 4 teen mothers will experience another pregnancy within two years of having their first.[30] Pregnancy and giving birth significantly increases the chance that these mothers will become high school dropouts and as many as half have to go on welfare. Many teen parents do not have the intellectual or emotional maturity that is needed to provide for another life.[citation needed] Often, these pregnancies are hidden for months resulting in a lack of adequate prenatal care and dangerous outcomes for the babies.[31] Factors that determine which mothers are more likely to have a closely spaced repeat birth include marriage and education: the likelihood decreases with the level of education of the young woman – or her parents – and increases if she gets married.[32] Child [ edit ] Early motherhood can affect the psychosocial development of the infant. The children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely with a low birth weight, predisposing them to many other lifelong conditions.[33] Children of teen mothers are at higher risk of intellectual, language, and socio-emotional delays.[31] Developmental disabilities and behavioral issues are increased in children born to teen mothers.[34][35] One study suggested that adolescent mothers are less likely to stimulate their infant through affectionate behaviors such as touch, smiling, and verbal communication, or to be sensitive and accepting toward his or her needs.[34] Another found that those who had more social support were less likely to show anger toward their children or to rely upon punishment.[36] Poor academic performance in the children of teenage mothers has also been noted, with many of the children being held back a grade level, scoring lower on standardized tests, and/or failing to graduate from secondary school.[20] Daughters born to adolescent parents are more likely to become teen mothers themselves.[20][37] Sons born to teenage mothers are three times more likely to serve time in prison.[38] Medical [ edit ] Maternal and prenatal health is of particular concern among teens who are pregnant or parenting. The worldwide incidence of premature birth and low birth weight is higher among adolescent mothers.[7][20][39] In a rural hospital in West Bengal, teenage mothers between 15 and 19 years old were more likely to have anemia, preterm delivery, and a baby with a lower birth weight than mothers between 20 and 24 years old.[40] Research indicates that pregnant teens are less likely to receive prenatal care, often seeking it in the third trimester, if at all.[7] The Guttmacher Institute reports that one-third of pregnant teens receive insufficient prenatal care and that their children are more likely to have health issues in childhood or be hospitalized than those born to older women.[41] In the case for Latinas and teenage pregnancy there are barriers that prevent them from receiving any health care. That is because the Latino population is the least insured group in the Unites States [42] Young mothers who are given high-quality maternity care have significantly healthier babies than those who do not. Many of the health-issues associated with teenage mothers appear to result from lack of access to adequate medical care.[43] Many pregnant teens are at risk of nutritional deficiencies from poor eating habits common in adolescence, including attempts to lose weight through dieting, skipping meals, food faddism, snacking, and consumption of fast food.[44] Inadequate nutrition during pregnancy is an even more marked problem among teenagers in developing countries.[45][46] Complications of pregnancy result in the deaths of an estimated 70,000 teen girls in developing countries each year. Young mothers and their babies are also at greater risk of contracting HIV.[6] The World Health Organization estimates that the risk of death following pregnancy is twice as high for girls aged 15–19 than for women aged 20–24. The maternal mortality rate can be up to five times higher for girls aged 10–14 than for women aged 20–24. Illegal abortion also holds many risks for teenage girls in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa.[47] Risks for medical complications are greater for girls aged under 15, as an underdeveloped pelvis can lead to difficulties in childbirth. Obstructed labour is normally dealt with by caesarean section in industrialized nations; however, in developing regions where medical services might be unavailable, it can lead to eclampsia, obstetric fistula, infant mortality, or maternal death.[6][16] For mothers who are older than fifteen, age in itself is not a risk factor, and poor outcomes are associated more with socioeconomic factors rather than with biology.[7] Risk factors [ edit ] Culture [ edit ] Rates of teenage pregnancies are higher in societies where it is traditional for girls to marry young and where they are encouraged to bear children as soon as they are able. For example, in some sub-Saharan African countries, early pregnancy is often seen as a blessing because it is proof of the young woman's fertility.[47] Countries where teenage marriages are common experience higher levels of teenage pregnancies. In the Indian subcontinent, early marriage and pregnancy is more common in traditional rural communities than in cities.[48] Many teenagers are not taught about methods of birth control and how to deal with peers who pressure them into having sex before they are ready. Many pregnant teenagers do not have any cognition of the central facts of sexuality.[49] Economic incentives also influence the decision to have children. In societies where children are set to work at an early age, it is economically attractive to have many children.[50] In societies where adolescent marriage is less common, such as many developed countries, young age at first intercourse and lack of use of contraceptive methods (or their inconsistent and/or incorrect use; the use of a method with a high failure rate is also a problem) may be factors in teen pregnancy.[51][52] Most teenage pregnancies in the developed world appear to be unplanned.[52][53] Many Western countries have instituted sex education programs, the main objective of which is to reduce unplanned pregnancies and STIs. Countries with low levels of teenagers giving birth accept sexual relationships among teenagers and provide comprehensive and balanced information about sexuality.[54] Other family members [ edit ] Teen pregnancy and motherhood can influence younger siblings. One study found that the younger sisters of teen mothers were less likely to emphasize the importance of education and employment and more likely to accept human sexual behavior, parenting, and marriage at younger ages. Younger brothers, too, were found to be more tolerant of non-marital and early births, in addition to being more susceptible to high-risk behaviors.[55] If the younger sisters of teenage parents babysit the children, they have an increased probability of getting pregnant themselves.[56] Once an older daughter has a child, parents often become more accepting as time goes by.[57] A study from Norway in 2011 found that the probability of a younger sister having a teenage pregnancy went from 1:5 to 2:5 if the elder sister had a baby as a teenager.[58] Sexuality [ edit ] In most countries, most males experience sexual intercourse for the first time before their 20th birthday.[59] Males in Western developed countries have sex for the first time sooner than in undeveloped and culturally conservative countries such as sub-Saharan Africa and much of Asia.[59] In a 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation study of U.S. teenagers, 29% of teens reported feeling pressure to have sex, 33% of sexually active teens reported "being in a relationship where they felt things were moving too fast sexually", and 24% had "done something sexual they didn’t really want to do".[60] Several polls have indicated peer pressure as a factor in encouraging both girls and boys to have sex.[61][62] The increased sexual activity among adolescents is manifested in increased teenage pregnancies and an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. Role of drug and alcohol use [ edit ] Inhibition-reducing drugs and alcohol may possibly encourage unintended sexual activity. If so, it is unknown if the drugs themselves directly influence teenagers to engage in riskier behavior, or whether teenagers who engage in drug use are more likely to engage in sex. Correlation does not imply causation. The drugs with the strongest evidence linking them to teenage pregnancy are alcohol, cannabis, "ecstasy" and other substituted amphetamines. The drugs with the least evidence to support a link to early pregnancy are opioids, such as heroin, morphine, and oxycodone, of which a well-known effect is the significant reduction of libido – it appears that teenage opioid users have significantly reduced rates of conception compared to their non-using, and alcohol, "ecstasy", cannabis, and amphetamine using peers.[51][60][63][64] Early puberty [ edit ] Girls who mature early (precocious puberty) are more likely to engage in sexual intercourse at a younger age, which in turn puts them at greater risk of teenage pregnancy.[65] Lack of contraception [ edit ] Adolescents may lack knowledge of, or access to, conventional methods of preventing pregnancy, as they may be too embarrassed or frightened to seek such information.[61][66] Contraception for teenagers presents a huge challenge for the clinician. In 1998, the government of the UK set a target to halve the under-18 pregnancy rate by 2010. The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS) was established to achieve this. The pregnancy rate in this group, although falling, rose slightly in 2007, to 41.7 per 1000 women. Young women often think of contraception either as 'the pill' or condoms and have little knowledge about other methods. They are heavily influenced by negative, second-hand stories about methods of contraception from their friends and the media. Prejudices are extremely difficult to overcome. Over concern about side-effects, for example weight gain and acne, often affect choice. Missing up to three pills a month is common, and in this age group the figure is likely to be higher. Restarting after the pill-free week, having to hide pills, drug interactions and difficulty getting repeat prescriptions can all lead to method failure.[67] In the U.S., according to the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, sexually active adolescent women wishing to avoid pregnancy were less likely than older women to use contraceptives (18% of 15–19-year-olds used no contraceptives, versus 10.7% for women aged 15–44).[68] More than 80% of teen pregnancies are unintended.[69] Over half of unintended pregnancies were to women not using contraceptives,[68] most of the rest are due to inconsistent or incorrect use.[69] 23% of sexually active young women in a 1996 Seventeen magazine poll admitted to having had unprotected sex with a partner who did not use a condom, while 70% of girls in a 1997 PARADE poll claimed it was embarrassing to buy birth control or request information from a doctor.[61] The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health surveyed 1027 students in the U.S. in grades 7–12 in 1995 to compare the use of contraceptives among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. The results were that 36.2% of Hispanics said they never used contraception during intercourse which is a high rate compared to 23.3% of Black teens and 17.0% of White teens who also did not use contraceptives during intercourse[70] In a 2012 study, over 1,000 females were surveyed to find out factors contributing to not using contraception. Of those surveyed, almost half had been involved in unprotected sex within the previous three months. These women gave three main reasons for not using contraceptives: trouble obtaining birth control (the most frequent reason), lack of intention to have sex, and the misconception that they "could not get pregnant".[71] In a study for The Guttmacher Institute, researchers found that from a comparative perspective, however, teenage pregnancy rates in the U.S. are less nuanced than one might initially assume. “Since timing and levels of sexual activity are quite similar across [Sweden, France, Canada, Great Britain, and the U.S.], the high U.S. rates arise primarily because of less, and possibly less-effective, contraceptive use by sexually active teenagers.”[72] Thus, the cause for the discrepancy between rich nations can be traced largely to contraceptive-based issues. Among teens in the UK seeking an abortion, a study found that the rate of contraceptive use was roughly the same for teens as for older women.[73] In other cases, contraception is used, but proves to be inadequate. Inexperienced adolescents may use condoms incorrectly, forget to take oral contraceptives, or fail to use the contraceptives they had previously chosen. Contraceptive failure rates are higher for teenagers, particularly poor ones, than for older users.[63] Long-acting contraceptives such as intrauterine devices, subcutaneous contraceptive implants, and contraceptive injections (such as Depo-Provera and Combined injectable contraceptive), which prevent pregnancy for months or years at a time, are more effective in women who have trouble remembering to take pills or using barrier methods consistently. According to The Encyclopedia of Women's Health, published in 2004, there has been an increased effort to provide contraception to adolescents via family planning services and school-based health, such as HIV prevention education.[74] Sexual abuse [ edit ] Studies from South Africa have found that 11–20% of pregnancies in teenagers are a direct result of rape, while about 60% of teenage mothers had unwanted sexual experiences preceding their pregnancy. Before age 15, a majority of first-intercourse experiences among females are reported to be non-voluntary; the Guttmacher Institute found that 60% of girls who had sex before age 15 were coerced by males who on average were six years their senior.[75] One in five teenage fathers admitted to forcing girls to have sex with them.[76] Multiple studies have indicated a strong link between early childhood sexual abuse and subsequent teenage pregnancy in industrialized countries. Up to 70% of women who gave birth in their teens were molested as young girls; by contrast, 25% of women who did not give birth as teens were molested.[77][78][79] In some countries, sexual intercourse between a minor and an adult is not considered consensual under the law because a minor is believed to lack the maturity and competence to make an informed decision to engage in fully consensual sex with an adult. In those countries, sex with a minor is therefore considered statutory rape. In most European countries, by contrast, once an adolescent has reached the age of consent, he or she can legally have sexual relations with adults because it is held that in general (although certain limitations may still apply), reaching the age of consent enables a juvenile to consent to sex with any partner who has also reached that age. Therefore, the definition of statutory rape is limited to sex with a person under the minimum age of consent. What constitutes statutory rape ultimately differs by jurisdiction (see age of consent). Dating violence [ edit ] Studies have indicated that adolescent girls are often in abusive relationships at the time of their conceiving.[80][80][81] They have also reported that knowledge of their pregnancy has often intensified violent and controlling behaviors on part of their boyfriends. Girls under age 18 are twice as likely to be beaten by their child's father than women over age 18. A UK study found that 70% of women who gave birth in their teens had experienced adolescent domestic violence. Similar results have been found in studies in the U.S. A Washington State study found 70% of teenage mothers had been beaten by their boyfriends, 51% had experienced attempts of birth control sabotage within the last year, and 21% experienced school or work sabotage. In a study of 379 pregnant or parenting teens and 95 teenage girls without children, 62% of girls aged 11–15 and 56% of girls aged 16–19 reported experiencing domestic violence at the hands of their partners. Moreover, 51% of the girls reported experiencing at least one instance where their boyfriend attempted to sabotage their efforts to use birth control.[82] Socioeconomic factors [ edit ] Street Arabs and Gutter Snipes by A young poverty-stricken girl clutches her child. Frontispiece illustration fromby George Carter Needham, Boston, 1884. Teenage pregnancy has been defined predominantly within the research field and among social agencies as a social problem. Poverty is associated with increased rates of teenage pregnancy.[63] Economically poor countries such as Niger and Bangladesh have far more teenage mothers compared with economically rich countries such as Switzerland and Japan.[83] In the UK, around half of all pregnancies to under 18 are concentrated among the 30% most deprived population, with only 14% occurring among the 30% least deprived.[84] For example, in Italy, the teenage birth rate in the well-off central regions is only 3.3 per 1,000, while in the poorer Mezzogiorno it is 10.0 per 1,000.[51] Similarly, in the U.S., sociologist Mike A. Males noted that teenage birth rates closely mapped poverty rates in California:[85] County Poverty rate Birth rate* Marin County 5% 5 Tulare County (Caucasians) 18% 50 Tulare County (Hispanics) 40% 100 * per 1000 women aged 15–19 Teen pregnancy cost the U.S. over $9.1 billion in 2004, including $1.9 billion for health care, $2.3 billion for child welfare, $2.1 billion for incarceration, and $2.9 billion in lower tax revenue.[86] There is little evidence to support the common belief that teenage mothers become pregnant to get benefits, welfare, and council housing. Most knew little about housing or financial aid before they got pregnant and what they thought they knew often turned out to be wrong.[53] Childhood environment [ edit ] Women exposed to abuse, domestic violence, and family strife in childhood are more likely to become pregnant as teenagers, and the risk of becoming pregnant as a teenager increases with the number of adverse childhood experiences.[87] According to a 2004 study, one-third of teenage pregnancies could be prevented by eliminating exposure to abuse, violence, and family strife. The researchers note that "family dysfunction has enduring and unfavorable health consequences for women during the adolescent years, the childbearing years, and beyond." When the family environment does not include adverse childhood experiences, becoming pregnant as an adolescent does not appear to raise the likelihood of long-term, negative psychosocial consequences.[88] Studies have also found that boys raised in homes with a battered mother, or who experienced physical violence directly, were significantly more likely to impregnate a girl.[89] Studies have also found that girls whose fathers left the family early in their lives had the highest rates of early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy. Girls whose fathers left them at a later age had a lower rate of early sexual activity, and the lowest rates are found in girls whose fathers were present throughout their childhood. Even when the researchers took into account other factors that could have contributed to early sexual activity and pregnancy, such as behavioral problems and life adversity, early father-absent girls were still about five times more likely in the U.S. and three times more likely in New Zealand to become pregnant as adolescents than were father-present girls.[90][91] Low educational expectations have been pinpointed as a risk factor.[92] A girl is also more likely to become a teenage parent if her mother or older sister gave birth in her teens.[37][56] A majority of respondents in a 1988 Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies survey attributed the occurrence of adolescent pregnancy to a breakdown of communication between parents and child and also to inadequate parental supervision.[61] Foster care youth are more likely than their peers to become pregnant as teenagers. The National Casey Alumni Study, which surveyed foster care alumni from 23 communities across the U.S., found the birth rate for girls in foster care was more than double the rate of their peers outside the foster care system. A University of Chicago study of youth transitioning out of foster care in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin found that nearly half of the females had been pregnant by age 19. The Utah Department of Human Services found that girls who had left the foster care system between 1999 and 2004 had a birth rate nearly 3 times the rate for girls in the general population.[93] Media influence [ edit ] A study conducted in 2006 found that adolescents who were more exposed to sexuality in the media were also more likely to engage in sexual activity themselves.[94] According to Time, "teens exposed to the most sexual content on TV are twice as likely as teens watching less of this material to become pregnant before they reach age 20".[95] Prevention [ edit ] Comprehensive sex education and access to birth control appear to reduce unplanned teenage pregnancy.[96] It is unclear which type of intervention is most effective.[96] In the U.S. free access to a long acting form of reversible birth control along with education decreased the rates of teen pregnancies by around 80% and the rate of abortions by more than 75%.[97] Currently there are four federal programs aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy: Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP), Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), Title V Sexual Risk Avoidance Education, and Sexual Risk Avoidance Education.[98] Education [ edit ] The Dutch approach to preventing teenage pregnancy has often been seen as a model by other countries. The curriculum focuses on values, attitudes, communication and negotiation skills, as well as biological aspects of reproduction. The media has encouraged open dialogue and the health-care system guarantees confidentiality and a non-judgmental approach.[99] Abstinence only education [ edit ] Ad promoting abstinence in Ghana for prevention of unplanned pregnancy and HIV/AIDS (2005) Some schools provide abstinence-only sex education. Evidence does not support the effectiveness of abstinence-only sex education.[100] It has been found to be ineffective in decreasing HIV risk in the developed world,[101] and does not decrease rates of unplanned pregnancy when compared to comprehensive sex education.[100] It does not decrease the sexual activity rates of students, when compared to students who undertake comprehensive sexual education classes.[102] Public policy [ edit ] United States [ edit ] In the U.S., one policy initiative that has been used to increase rates of contraceptive use is Title X. Title X of the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970 (Pub.L. 91–572) provides family planning services for those who do not qualify for Medicaid by distributing "funding to a network of public, private, and nonprofit entities [to provide] services on a sliding scale based on income."[103] Studies indicate that, internationally, success in reducing teen pregnancy rates is directly correlated with the kind of access that Title X provides: “What appears crucial to success is that adolescents know where they can go to obtain information and services, can get there easily and are assured of receiving confidential, nonjudgmental care, and that these services and contraceptive supplies are free or cost very little.”[72] In addressing high rates of unplanned teen pregnancies, scholars agree that the problem must be confronted from both the biological and cultural contexts. U.S. stats in April 2015 On September 30, 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approved $155 million in new funding for comprehensive sex education programs designed to prevent teenage pregnancy. The money is being awarded "to states, non-profit organizations, school districts, universities and others. These grants will support the replication of teen pregnancy prevention programs that have been shown to be effective through rigorous research as well as the testing of new, innovative approaches to combating teen pregnancy."[104] Of the total of $150 million, $55 million is funded by Affordable Care Act through the Personal Responsibility Education Program, which requires states receiving funding to incorporate lessons about both abstinence and contraception. Developing countries [ edit ] In the developing world, programs of reproductive health aimed at teenagers are often small scale and not centrally coordinated, although some countries such as Sri Lanka have a systematic policy framework for teaching about sex within schools.[48] Non-governmental agencies such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes International provide contraceptive advice for young women worldwide. Laws against child marriage have reduced but not eliminated the practice. Improved female literacy and educational prospects have led to an increase in the age at first birth in areas such as Iran, Indonesia, and the Indian state of Kerala. Other [ edit ] A team of researchers and educators in California have published a list of "best practices" in the prevention of teen pregnancy, which includes, in addition to the previously mentioned concepts, working to "instill a belief in a successful future", male involvement in the prevention process, and designing interventions that are culturally relevant.[105] Prevalence [ edit ] [106] Teenage birth rate per 1,000 females aged 15–19, 2000–2009 Worldwide [ edit ] In reporting teenage pregnancy rates, the number of pregnancies per 1,000 females aged 15 to 19 when the pregnancy ends is generally used.[107] Worldwide, teenage pregnancy rates range from 143 per 1000 in some sub-Saharan African countries to 2.9 per 1000 in South Korea.[51][108] In the U.S., 82% of pregnancies in those between 15 and 19 are unplanned.[109] Among OECD developed countries, the U.S., the UK and New Zealand have the highest level of teenage pregnancy, while Japan and South Korea have the lowest in 2001.[110] According to UNFPA, “In every region of the world – including high-income countries – girls who are poor, poorly educated or living in rural areas are at greater risk of becoming pregnant than those who are wealthier, well-educated or urban. This is true on a global level, as well: 95 per cent of the world’s births to adolescents (aged 15–19) take place in developing countries. Every year, some 3 million girls in this age bracket resort to unsafe abortions, risking their lives and health.”[15] According to a 2001 UNICEF survey, in 10 out of 12 developed nations with available data, more than two thirds of young people have had sexual intercourse while still in their teens. In Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Norway, the UK and the U.S., the proportion is over 80%. In Australia, the UK and the U.S., approximately 25% of 15-year-olds and 50% of 17-year-olds have had sex.[51] According to The Encyclopedia of Women's Health, published in 2004, approximately 15 million girls under the age of 20 in the world have a child each year. Estimates were that 20–60% of these pregnancies in developing countries are mistimed or unwanted.[74] Save the Children found that, annually, 13 million children are born to women aged under 20 worldwide, more than 90% in developing countries. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of mortality among women aged 15–19 in such areas.[6] Sub-Saharan Africa [ edit ] The highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the world is in sub-Saharan Africa, where women tend to marry at an early age.[108] In Niger, for example, 87% of women surveyed were married and 53% had given birth to a child before the age of 18.[47] India [ edit ] In the Indian subcontinent, early marriage sometimes results in adolescent pregnancy, particularly in rural regions where the rate is much higher than it is in urbanized areas. Latest data suggests that teen pregnancy in India is high with 62 pregnant teens out of every 1,000 women.[111] India is fast approaching to be the most populous country in the world by 2050 and increasing teenage pregnancy, an important factor for the population rise, is likely to aggravate the problems.[112] Asia [ edit ] The rates of early marriage and pregnancy in some Asian countries are high. In recent years, the rates have decreased sharply in Indonesia and Malaysia,[citation needed] although it remains relatively high in the former. However, in the industrialized Asian nations such as South Korea and Singapore, teenage birth rates remain among the lowest in the world.[48] Australia [ edit ] In 2015, the birth rate among teenage women in Australia was 11.9 births per 1,000 women.[113] The rate has fallen from 55.5 births per 1,000 women in 1971, probably due to ease of access to effective birth control, rather than any decrease in sexual activity.[114] Europe [ edit ] The overall trend in Europe since 1970 has been a decreasing total fertility rate, an increase in the age at which women experience their first birth, and a decrease in the number of births among teenagers.[115] Most continental Western European countries have very low teenage birth rates. This is varyingly attributed to good sex education and high levels of contraceptive use (in the case of the Netherlands and Scandinavia), traditional values and social stigmatization (in the case of Spain and Italy) or both (in the case of Switzerland).[10] On the other hand, the teen birth rate is very high in Bulgaria and Romania. As of 2015, Bulgaria had a birth rate of 37/1.000 women aged 15–19, and Romania of 34.[116] The teen birth rate of these two countries is even higher than that of underdeveloped countries like Burundi and Rwanda.[116] Many of the teen births occur in Roma populations, who have an occurrence of teenage pregnancies well above the local average.[117] United Kingdom [ edit ] The teen pregnancy rate in England and Wales was 23.3 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 17. There were 5,740 pregnancies in girls aged under 18 in the three months to June 2014, data from the Office for National Statistics shows. This compares with 6,279 in the same period in 2013 and 7,083 for the June quarter the year before that. Historically, the UK has had one of the highest teenage pregnancy and abortion rates in Western Europe. There are no comparable rates for conceptions across Europe, but the under-18 birth rate suggests England is closing the gap. The under-18 birth rate in 2012 in England and Wales was 9.2, compared with an EU average of 6.9. However, the UK birth rate has fallen by almost a third (32.3%) since 2004 compared with a fall of 15.6% in the EU. In 2004, the UK rate was 13.6 births per 1,000 women aged 15–17 compared with an EU average rate of 7.7. A spokeswoman for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service said: "Contrary to popular perception, this data shows that the teenage pregnancy rate is falling dramatically in England and Wales. While the UK has historically had a high teenage conception rate, it is now at its lowest level on record and not significantly out of step with other European countries. "We have seen a huge decline in the number of babies born to teenage mothers over the last decade, in part due to the improvements we've seen in contraception advice and services for younger women, with straightforward access to abortion services when their chosen method lets them down. But it also reflects broader societal shifts, with younger women quite rightly expecting and able to pursue educational and professional ambitions."[118] United States [ edit ] [119] U.S. teen pregnancy rate 15 to 19 year olds (per 1,000), including black, Hispanic, and white populations. In 2001, the teenage birth rate in the U.S. was the highest in the developed world, and the teenage abortion rate is also high.[51][needs update] In 2005 in the U.S., the majority (57%) of teen pregnancies resulted in a live birth,
that Muslims can replace the white working class that let them down so badly by refusing to follow their orders to seize power.’ One had to check the date of publication. Yes, it was published on April 1. But, nonetheless, Observer readers were forced to accept that this was indeed not a spoof piece by a spoof Cohen. The attitude was summed up by the title of a Liberal Conspiracy blog, run by Sunny Hundal: 'When populism is dangerous for democracy'. Hundal, the Guardian's 'blogger of the year' in 2006, was himself busy on Twitter. He referred to Galloway in responding to a questioner: ‘I don't want any part of a left that supports dictators thanks. Maybe you do.’ We were intrigued by this and responded: ‘Yet you write that Obama's re-election “is worth fighting for”. Does Obama not support, indeed arm, dictators?’ The following day, Hundal replied. Here are some highlights from the subsequent exchange: Sunny Hundal (SH): ‘answer to that question is simple: as Us Prez Obama can't easily call for dictators to go. But Galloway isn't leader: he can.’ Media Lens (ML): ‘You can't reject George Galloway for dictator “support” and then back Obama who arms them, actually helps them kill.’ SH: ‘can you name me one dictator that one Obama has cheerleaded for?’ Writer and activist Ian Sinclair replied: ‘Mubarak “is a stalwart ally... a force for stability and good” - Obama to BBC, 2009 http://bit.ly/H2ZeLg’ We responded to Hundal: ML: ‘Simple questions 1) Has Obama armed dictators? 2) Is that more or less important than what he/Galloway says about dictators?’ SH: 1) ‘Has he personally sanctioned arming of dictators? No. They can buy weapons from China/Russia too, as Libya did.’ SH: ‘he [Obama] didn't support Mubarak.’ We replied with a quote from 2011 in The Times on US aid to Egypt: ML: ‘"the Mubarak regime is still receiving $1.3 billion of military aid each year from America.” (The Times, January 31, 2011)' SH: ‘Just for your info, since you guys set yourself up as a major source of info and critique: “military aid” is not guns/ammo.’ ML: ‘True. Do F-16 jets, M-1A1 tanks, Harpoon, TOW, Hellfire, and Stinger missiles count? http://tinyurl.com/5rwx7zf’ SH: ‘might help if you recognised that most of it referred to stuff over a decade, not during Obama. Now, answer my question?’ ML: ‘Details here: http://tinyurl.com/2ekorm9 May 2009 Apache attack helicopter sale here: http://tinyurl.com/7djfdzl' And indeed Hundal’s position was completely untenable. To sample at random, the Washington Post reported last December: ‘The Obama administration on Thursday announced an arms deal with Saudi Arabia valued at nearly $30 billion, an agreement that will send 84 F-15 fighter jets and assorted weaponry to the kingdom.’ And so on. Hundal wriggled and dug himself ever deeper. For us, it was another encounter with the curious capacity for ‘selective inattention’ found at the intellectual fringe otherwise known as ‘the mainstream media’. For Hundal, Galloway’s words really are far worse crimes than Obama’s active participation in the arming and diplomatic protection of murderous dictators who use his support to kill large numbers of people. Closing Remarks In our 2005 media alert, Ambushing Dissent, also analysing media treatment of Galloway, we noted how ‘across the spectrum, “rogue” thinkers, politicians and parties are relentlessly smeared and mocked by the elite media. The effect is as inevitable as it is intended - to persuade the public to revile and turn away from radical voices threatening established privilege and power.’ The response to Galloway’s latest electoral victory from the Guardian, the Observer, Channel 4 News and the BBC piles on the evidence. It shows – once again – that the supposedly liberal media, purveyors of 'open journalism', will fight tooth and nail to neutralise anyone who challenges the establishment status quo. And yet it could hardly be more obvious that the British political system has degenerated into a grotesque, neo-feudalist fraud representing the same elite interests under different brand names. Our politics is structurally addicted to greed-based 'humanitarian' militarism, to exacerbating the catastrophic threat of climate change, and to denying the public any serious choice on the major policy issues of the day. An honest media would welcome any small sign of hope that the iron grip of this corrupt and oppressive system might be subject to serious challenge. SUGGESTED ACTION The goal of Media Lens is to promote rationality, compassion and respect for others. If you do write to journalists, we strongly urge you to maintain a polite, non-aggressive and non-abusive tone. Please write to: James Stephenson, BBC News at Ten editor Email: [email protected] Patrick Wintour, Guardian political editor Email: [email protected] Twitter: @patrickwintour John Mulholland, Observer editor Email: [email protected] Jim Gray, Channel 4 News editor Email: [email protected] Sunny Hundal, blogger and Guardian columnist Email: [email protected] Twitter: @sunny_hundal Please copy us in on any exchanges or forward them to us later at: [email protected] all its differences, the Toronto of 1931 had a very relatable problem: traffic. Parked cars on major crosstown routes blocked streetcars and forced moving vehicles to share a lane with public transit. At the time, cars park on King, Richmond, Yonge, and other major routes without fear of a ticket. New mayor William Stewart, who had arrived in office earlier in the year, changed all that by pushing a new parking by-law through council, banning or restricting parking on key routes through the city. During rush hour, curbside waiting was halted entirely in an attempt to keep streetcars and private autos moving. Speaking on April 27, 1931, days before the rules came into effect, Steward declared: "The parking situation is particularly unsatisfactory. Too many of us have come to regard street parking, not as a privilege, which it is, but rather as a statutory right, which, decidedly, it is not." In the days after the ban, as photographs attest, the weight of traffic on the most congested routes access roads to the downtown core was dramatically reduced. In a radio address, mayor Steward said the by-law would "assist our people to operate their vehicles in their own interests, in the interests of their fellow citizens, and for the good of the city." Though it clearly was effective at unclogging Toronto's busiest streets, shopkeepers and business owners cried foul, claiming the city had inadvertently stymied trading. Pedestrians were not immune from regulation; traffic officers handed tickets to "jaywalkers" who crossed mid-block. Despite some confusion on May 1, the first day of the new rules, the Toronto Star "successful, even beyond the hopes of those concerned." Interestingly, private parking lot owners who fiendishly inflated their prices in anticipation of a spike in demand found many drivers simply left their cars at home and hopped on the streetcar. Many of these rules are still in effect on parts of King and Yonge, but is it time the city did something about the parking situation on Queen and other roads? Could restricting parking there improve streetcar service in peak periods or would that have a negative effect on local business? Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman. Images: Toronto Star.Tylenol for Babies & Toddlers?!? The FDA’s Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and Pediatric Advisory Committee have together recommended that “pain relief” be removed from the label of Tylenol for babies and toddlers and other brands of acetaminophen* because there is no reliable evidence that it relieves pain better than placebo in children under age two. This will surprise many parents who reach for these common pain relief drops when their little ones are teething or have an earache or a sore throat. Not surprisingly, the over-the-counter drug industry trade group (CHPA) objects to the findings of the expert panel. Tylenol Does Reduce Fever – But Why? The advisory panel recommended that the acetaminophen label should say it’s for “fever reduction” and nothing else. But here’s the thing – in most cases the fever is helping the child by activating the immune system and fighting the infection. I don’t routinely recommend treating a typical fever unless it is interfering with a child’s ability to sleep or to drink liquids (both are even more important for healing than the fever). If the fever is high or prolonged, it is wise to consult with a physician. If we don’t give acetaminophen to babies and toddlers for pain, and we rarely give it for fever – this will change the landscape of over-the-counter medications for young children. Tylenol Is Not As Benign As Many People Think Acetaminophen is the most common cause of acute liver failure in the US. It has been estimated to cause three times as many cases of liver failure as all other drugs combined. While the serious problems usually come from overdoses, in babies and small children the dose that can cause harm may be not many times more than the recommended dose. Tylenol Dosing Should Be Based on Weight Most dosage charts that parents see list a dose based on age, or suggest that parents ask a doctor for the dose. And dosage concentrations have varied in various formulations. Together, this confusion has led to overdosing and to fatalities in several dozen healthy young children over the last decade. The FDA panel has recommended that all liquid acetaminophen come in the same concentration, that all packages contain dosing information for children down to 6 months of age, and that the dose be based on the child’s weight. Powerful Recommendations I applaud these recommendations and hope they will be formally adopted by the FDA. If so, I expect they will result in safer children. As parents we don’t have to wait, though, to change our own practices. 2015 Update: Why Did This Post Go Viral Four Years After the Fact? As many of our readers have pointed out, this isn’t new news. The joint meeting of the FDA Advisory Committee for Nonprescription Drugs and the FDA Pediatric Advisory Committee took place on May 17th and 18th 2011. I wrote this article on May 18th. In March of 2015, someone on Facebook found this post and began to share it, even though the post had not been updated for four years. This took us by surprise, but pointed out the Tylenol for babies and toddlers is still an important topic to parents of young children. What Happened in 2011 The dozen or so manufacturers of acetaminophen were unable to point to evidence that convinced the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and patient advocates present at the joint FDA Advisory Committee and Pediatric Advisory Committee meeting that oral, OTC-strength acetaminophen relieves pain in children 6 months to 2 years old. The experts reviewed all 10 studies that addressed this question and concluded there was no compelling evidence for pain relief (unlike fever reduction, which is clear cut). You can read the entire FDA panel transcript here [as of June 15, 2018, the transcript is no longer on the FDA web site, but the archive copy is available]. They often used the word analgesia, which is a medical word for pain relief. It appears to have been a spirited discussion. At the hearing, the Director of Pain Medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital said, for example, “it would be a horrendous disservice to young children to label this product as having any kind of analgesic effects because I think that if we assume that it does, and people are walking around giving acetaminophen to children thinking it’s analgesic and it’s not, you’re going to have a lot of children stuffing pain that should not be.” “So I would argue extremely strongly that unless there are data to convince us that this product is analgesic in young children, that that should not only not be on the label but should be made extremely clear to the public and professionals alike that the analgesic effects of acetaminophen in younger children have not been shown.” (page 106) But despite their strong decision, it was never made extremely clear to the public or to professionals that pain relief for younger children had not been shown. (Though this little post has certainly been passed around recently!) At the FDA meeting, the experts on the panel pointed out that we get it wrong about 20% of the time when we extrapolate that because something works in older kids or adults it will also work in babies or toddlers. Babies’ livers (for instance) function differently than older kids’. Susan Baker, Professor of Pediatrics at Women and Children’s Hospital gave a great example of this. Doctors used to commonly give reflux medications to colicky babies because many of these babies have reflux, the medications (PPIs) work in older children, and the babies are clearly in pain. Doctors thought they worked for babies; parents thought they worked – but the FDA used a ‘cattle prod’ to make the manufacturers do studies to show they really worked, better than just waiting, because these drugs also had side effects. Turned out – babies’ reflux is different and the meds didn’t work at all. Here’s what Dr. Baker said: “I would like to point out that this was the situation with PPIs before the FDA took that on. Every baby was put on PPIs in high doses because they were all perceived to be in pain. When you demanded that appropriate studies be done, they were done by almost every manufacturer of PPIs, and my group participated in every one of them. And in fact, they did zip, zero, nothing. They did absolutely nothing. We could say why didn’t we just simply extrapolate that data down to babies and then continue to use it as we have been?” “But because of the very good data that we were able to obtain, because you used a cattle prod, we know that that was worthless, and perhaps we saved babies from being on PPIs for an indeterminate period of time. We know that PPIs are a risk factor for a C. diff, and so on.” “We don’t know a lot of that stuff about acetaminophen right now. And I think that we need to step up to the plate…” Acetaminophen Manufacturer’s Response Unsurprisingly, the manufacturers were not pleased with the decision of the advisory groups and wasted no time in speaking up. They also voluntarily agreed to change the concentrations on their new labels to make them consistent, instead of different concentrations for different ages, to reduce overdose (a major problem). When the FDA made its decision on the new labels, they chose to disregard the recommendations of their advisory groups about pain relief. This is not unusual. They weigh many issues in their larger deliberations, not just the findings of the physicians, nurses, pain specialists, pharmacists, and patient advocates. Where does that leave us today? Pain relief on the label is unchanged for children under age 2. The latest major scientific reviews of pain medications in infants I can find today were published in 2014. We are perhaps better now at measuring pain in babies, using validated combinations of heart rate, oxygen levels, blood pressure, as well as facial expressions, cries, and sometimes hormone levels. We do know and have known that oral acetaminophen relieves pain in older children and adults. But the studies looking for pain relief from oral acetaminophen in babies have been disappointing. (For instance, in babies getting a heel prick, there was no discernible difference between babies who got or didn’t get oral acetaminophen). But heel prick pain is different than teething pain, which is different than an earache. The thing about kids less than two years old is that it’s a pivotal time of development – so much so that there is an important emerging area of science called the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). A combination of maternal and environmental factors early in life can have a long-term effect on health. Because acetaminophen is one of the most widely used medications at that age, because we know acetaminophen is a powerful drug, and because we know so little about the effects at that age (having not even shown pain relief), to me it seems an important area for research – or at least not to cover over the questions. I’m not saying oral acetaminophen doesn’t work – I’m saying we don’t know enough. And we should. Babies’ pain is important. Which questions to study and how to study them is a great discussion to have. Parents Report that Tylenol Works as Pain Relief for Their Babies & Toddlers In the comments below, you’ll see that many parents and nurses report that they use Tylenol (acetaminophen) for their babies and toddlers and it works for them. That experience is compelling. I still think it’s sad that when it comes to commonly used medicines in infants and toddlers that the effects have often not been well-studied. Wouldn’t it be great if parents’ experience of clinical observation and of changes in vital signs – and the experience of thousands of others – were collected and explored, since the medicine is being given anyway. We could learn so much about the timing of effect, for instance, which might be very different in babies than in older kids. With medical-grade sensors becoming far less expensive and far more available, I’m looking forward to parents being able to get better answers to lots of questions. One person doing this is powerful (and can answer the question for a particular child). With lots of us doing it we could learn so much so quickly! When ResearchKit was released by Apple two weeks ago, it was able to do in only 24 hours what would typically take 50 medical centers a year to do – recruit 10,000 people into a medical study. These 2011 FDA Advisory Committees had all the available medical literature available to them in trying to answer their question – but there was very little data, gathered over many years, involving very few children, with mediocre results at best – so they had little choice but to say there’s not enough evidence to conclude that acetaminophen relieves pain in kids 6 month to 2 years. If 10,000 parents measured objective criteria, we could know in a day. What If We Found Tylenol Was Effective Pain Relief for Babies & Toddlers? The next question would be, if it works, is it the acetaminophen in Tylenol (the ‘active ingredient’) or is it another ingredient (such as the high fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners) or a combination of the ingredients. We know more about the power of sugar than acetaminophen to relieve pain in babies FYI: The ‘inactive’ ingredients in Cherry-Flavored Infant’s Tylenol include: anhydrous citric acid, butylparaben, FD&C red no. 40, flavors, glycerin, high fructose corn syrup, microcrystalline cellulose and carboxymethylcellulose sodium, propylene glycol, purified water, sodium benzoate, sorbitol solution, sucralose, and xanthan gum. Various types of ‘sugar water’ have been shown to significantly relieve pain in babies. Also, there are large studies showing that coal-based FD&C dyes can affect behavior. The sorbitol and sucralose might play a role. There’d still a lot to sort out – but we could do it. Major Concerns Tylenol (acetaminophen) can be very safe at the right dose, but it deserves respect. Acetaminophen is responsible for more overdoses, and overdose deaths [the original report is no longer on the —– site, but as of June 15, 2018 you can read the archive report here] than any other drug product. Acetaminophen poisoning was responsible for [the original report is no longer available, but as of June 15, 2018 you can read the archived report here]: 56,000 ER visits 26,000 hospitalizations 458 deaths Those aren’t big numbers for 28 billion doses given in the US, but every one is important when it’s your child. In addition, too much acetaminophen is the single biggest cause of acute liver failure in US. Some studies suggest acetaminophen can cause asthma, I’m not convinced about that yet. Who’s Fault is Acetaminophen Overdose? The drug manufacturers suggest dosing errors are parents’ faults. Thankfully in 2011, the FDA Committees voted for standardized liquid dosing. But many parents aren’t aware that acetaminophen is an ingredient in over 600 different easy to buy over-the-counter medicines that are used to relieve symptoms including in medicines labeled as pain relievers, fever reducers, sleep aids, cough, cold and allergy management. Using these medicines in combination can lead to accidental overdose — even when parent think they are within the correct limits. Tylenol for Fever in Babies & Toddlers At the 2011 joint FDA meeting, they discussed acetaminophen to reduce fever in babies and toddlers. On page 6 of the minutes of the FDA Advisory Committees[the original report is no longer on the —– site, but as of June 15, 2018 you can read archive copy here], it says that the committees agree that acetaminophen is effective at reducing fever in kids under 2. Keep in mind, often fevers help kids to heal and are better untreated. Personally, I use Tylenol (acetaminophen) often, confidently, but thoughtfully. This is the approach I recommend for my patients as well. Resources: *FDA Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes [Last accessed on the FDA site April 1, 2015. Available here as of June 15, 2018.] FDA Meeting Transcript: Day One [Last Accessed on the FDA site on March 30, 2015. Available here as of June 15, 2018.] FDA Meeting Transcript: Day Two [Last Accessed on the FDA site on March 30, 2015. Available here as of June 15, 2018.] OTC Industry Supports FDA Advisory Committee Recommendations on New Dosing Instructions. May 18, 2011. Lee WM. “Drug-Induced Hepatotoxicity.” New England Journal of Medicine, July 31, 2003, 349:474-485 “Pain management in newborns.” Clinics in perinatology. yr:2014 vol:41 iss:4 pg:895 “Neonatal pain.” Paediatric anaesthesia. yr:2014 vol:24 iss:1 pg:39 This American Life: “Use Only As Directed” Act 2: Babies [Last accessed June 15, 2018.] We’ve known much of this for over a decade: PERSONAL HEALTH; With Tylenol and Children, Overdosing Is Perilously EasyHorrified by the tragic loss of innocent human lives in the then-ongoing Vietnam War, a young philosopher by the name of Tom Regan went to the university library and buried himself in books on war, violence, and human rights, determined to prove that the American involvement in the war was morally wrong. One day, he picked up Mohandas K Gandhi’s autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Reading it with great care and interest, he must have come across the following lines: “To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.” Little did he know that this literary encounter with Gandhi would change his life forever and would have a lasting and profound impact on the history of moral philosophy. He asked himself: “How can I oppose the unjustified killing of human beings in Vietnam and at the same time fill my freezer with the dead body-parts of innocent animals?” Shortly thereafter, in 1975, he wrote his first article on the moral status of animals. As its title, he chose “The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism,” the same title as that of a 1959 essay by Gandhi. He argued that vegetarianism and, more generally, the idea of animal rights, are not the products of excessive sentimentality they are often perceived to be, but, rather, “have a rational foundation.” In the decades that followed, he further developed and defended that argument in more than 20 books, hundreds of articles, and countless public lectures across the globe, and became one of the philosophical leaders of the animal rights movement. ‘The other animals humans eat, use in science, hunt, trap, and exploit in a variety of other ways have a life of their own that is of importance to them, apart from their utility to us. They are not only in the world, they are aware of it and also of what happens to them’ In a telling reminder that the power of ideas knows no national or cultural boundaries, he wrote later in his life: “I think it is fair to say that I would never have become an animal rights advocate if I had not read [Gandhi’s] autobiography.” Tom Regan passed away last Friday. He died of pneumonia at his home in Raleigh, North Carolina at the age of 78. Regan’s most notable book, The Case for Animal Rights, was first published in 1983, and has since been translated into several languages. It contains the most comprehensive account of his theory of animal rights and has played a crucial role in establishing the intellectual respectability of the animal rights movement. With more than 400 pages of dense philosophical reasoning, it is not an easy book to read, but the basic argument is not difficult to understand: If all human beings have equal rights, as virtually everybody agrees they do, these rights must be based on a relevant similarity between them. That similarity cannot be the fact that all human beings are members of the same species, as it would be no less arbitrary to base rights on species membership than on being of a certain gender or race. Rationality, the ability to use language, and moral agency, features we like to think make us special among the animals, are not plausible candidates either. After all, there are some of us, such as young children and people with certain severe cognitive impairments, who are incapable of rational thought, language-use, and moral agency. The relevant similarity, Regan argues, is that each one of us is an experiencing subject of a life, a one-of-a-kind individual with a unique life story. But so are many non-human animals, which he explained with his characteristic eloquence at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1989, with an estimated audience of one million people watching the BBC live broadcast: “The other animals humans eat, use in science, hunt, trap, and exploit in a variety of other ways have a life of their own that is of importance to them, apart from their utility to us. They are not only in the world, they are aware of it and also of what happens to them. “And what happens to them matters to them. Each has a life that fares experientially better or worse for the one whose life it is. Like us, they bring a unified psychological presence to the world. Like us, they are somebodies, not somethings. In these fundamental ways, the non-human animals in labs and on farms, for example, are the same as human beings.” We must, hence, accept, on pain of inconsistency, that these animals too have moral rights, including the right not to be killed or made to suffer. The practical implications of this view are nothing short of radical, and, include, most importantly, the total abolition of the use of animals as experimental subjects and as sources of food, clothing, and entertainment. Combining scholarly rigour and dispassionate attention to philosophical detail with the infectious passion of moral conviction, Regan was as close to the ideal of a moral philosopher as only very few others. He was also a wonderful person and one of the kindest people I ever knew. While he will be missed by many, I take comfort in knowing that his words will endure, calling on us to treat animals with the respect they are due, and continue to inspire generations to come. Rainer Ebert is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa and an Associate Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. You can follow him on Twitter @rainer_ebert.Blog Post by Jiri Novotny published on Sunday, 20 March 2011 in Personal Development, Productivity This is a summary of the book The Now Habit (A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play) by Neil Fiore, Ph.D. The Now Habit has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time and I’ve been putting of reading it for a few years now :-) It sounds like a joke, but it’s not – there always were more interesting books to read – or so I thought! I’m not a procrastinator – you can’t be if you want to run a successful business – but perhaps I was a bit afraid that the book might slap me in my face and force me to reconsider my approach to work and play. Now when I’ve finally read The Now Habit, I bring you a full summary of the book so you can get the most out of it quickly. The Now Habit book is well structured and surprisingly easy to read and has given me multiple insights into procrastination and productivity. The Now Habit book says: “People do not procrastinate because they are lazy or irrational. They procrastinate because it makes sense, given how vulnerable they feel to criticism, failure, and their own imperfection”. The book offers a new definition of procrastination: Procrastination is a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. Why we procrastinate We don’t procrastinate because we are lazy. You certainly have motivation and energy for various activities that you do daily. Procrastination is not a character defect. We procrastinate to defend our self-worth when we feel a threat to our sense of worth and independence. We procrastinate to temporarily relieve deep inner fears. The fears are: The fear of failure The fear of being imperfect (perfectionism) The fear of being overwhelmed The fear of success (advancement vs. friends and acceptance) The fear of increased demands (as a result of your good work) To overcome these fears, you need to accept yourself as imperfect and human. Your self-worth is not defined by your output. It’s okay to make mistakes. You must stop criticizing yourself. Procrastination is rewarding – it brings us relief and refuge. We’ve learnt to use it as a tool for solving problems. The task will often get taken care of by itself or by someone or something else. The cycle of procrastination goes like this – the more you procrastinate, the more anxious you are, and the more you criticize yourself, and the more you lose confidence. With lost confidence, you have even greater need to use procrastination, because you are afraid that others will judge you unfavorably. How we procrastinate When it comes to the actual methods of procrastination, everyone is different. The best way to learn how you procrastinate is to observe yourself for 3 days. Whenever you put something off, write down what, how, and why. Write down your feelings and thoughts. After three days, review your notes. This will give you great insight into the “why & how” of your procrastination habits. (Yes, procrastination is a habit. And like any habit, it can be changed.) Identify the attitude and self-talk that keeps you from accomplishing your tasks. If you were to walk a board between two skyscrapers, you would be paralyzed by fear. But if there was a 100% reliable safety net, you would dance your way to the other side. You need to create that safety net in your life. Develop indisputable sense of worth for yourself. Allow yourself to make mistakes. Make a safe place where you are free of judgment, in your mind and in your life. Make a commitment to yourself and your self-worth. Nothing must threaten you. Allow yourself to be human. Whatever happens, you will survive. It’s okay! How to talk to yourself It is very important that you master the self-talk, because it determines the whole context or your life and your attitude to everything. It determines how you feel and how you act. The “Have To’s” are messages of stress, and the “Shoulds” are messages of depression. These messages are negative because they do not clearly communicate what you choose to do, when you choose to do it, and where you choose to start it. Replace the negative messages with positive ones. Give yourself the power of choice. Learn to say “no” – you do not have to do anything. You can say no. Always keep that in mind. Replace ”I have to” with ”I choose to”. Replace ”I must finish” with ”When can I start?” (and where?). Replace ”This is so big” with ”I can take one small step”. Replace ”I must be perfect” with ”I can be human”. Replace ”I don’t have time to play” with ”I must take time to play”. The statement of a producer with a powerful focus is: I choose to start on one small imperfect step knowing I have plenty of time for play. Guilt-Free Play, Quality Work This chapter could be summarized like this: Play hard, work hard. Focus on playing hard first. Schedule your play, leisure and time for friends first, and start scheduling your work only after that. This might seem counter-intuitive at first, but it works for multiple reasons: First, it is an excellent reverse-psychology trick. Before you know it, whenever some of your leisure activities gets cancelled for some reason, you will be relieved and thinking Great! I can work instead! Second, you need the extra stimulation, socialization, relaxation and exercise for high-quality output. No one can live in a bubble and come up with creative solutions. Additionally, exercising will give you more energy. Third, because the time when you can work will become limited, you will automatically have a tendency to make the most out of it. You will eliminate distractions. When you work, you really work. Fourth, you can achieve genuine and lasting motivation only through abundant rewards. Make the periods of work shorter, but make them count. Procrastinators have many things common with workaholics. But both of them should realize that you do not need to put of living. Overcoming Blocks to Action The Now Habit offers three tools for overcoming blocks to action. The tools are: Three-dimensional thinking and the reverse calendar Any large task can easily overwhelm you without the proper perspective. You need to consider the size, length, and breadth of your task. You need to divide the work in time. Divide and conquer :-) Reverse calendar helps you to schedule your work realistically. You start with an ultimate deadline, and then work your way with smaller deadlines up to the present moment. All these deadlines are within your control. The work of worrying You should respect your ability to worry as a means to alert you of a potential danger. Whenever you worry, figure out a plan for alleviating your worries. Establish a plan how to cope with any potential danger. This will give you a true peace of mind. Constant worrying can drain your energy quickly. Persistent starting Summary of this passage of The Now Habit is simply “Keep on starting.” Do not think about finishing. Think about starting. Always be starting. The finishing will take care of it itself. You can start many times every day. Always focus on what you can do next. One little step. The Unschedule The unschedule is a weekly calendar of your recreational and non-work related activities. Personal organizer software comes in handy for that. If you fill your weekly schedule with all your daily chores, committed activities, and a scheduled leisure time, you will see that you can’t realistically work 12, 8, or maybe even 6 hours a day on your task. The unschedule uses reverse psychology to spring you into action. You can give yourself restraints like these: Do not work more than twenty hours a week on this project. Do not work more than five hours a day on this project. You must exercise, play, dance at least one hour a day. You must take at least one day a week off from any work. Aim for only thirty minutes of quality work. Work for an imperfect, perfectly human first effort. Start small. With those restrains in place, you will have a strong unconscious desire to work more, play less, and resist the “authority” of your unschedule Keep track of every uninterrupted 30-minute block of work that you’ve done during the day. Log how many hours you have worked every day and week. Working in the Flow State You are most productive when you can fully focus. Distractions, intensive emotions and concerns undermine your focus and productivity. You need to deal with them before you start your work session. Even a simple 2-minute relaxation can work wonders. Just close your eyes, breathe, and empty your mind. It’s as simple as that. (My own suggestion is that you can also simply write your worries and “stuff” on paper, and get to them later. Your brain will let go once you write it all down.) Fine-Tuning Your Progress One of the techniques described in The Now Habit is called “Planned setbacks”. This could be summarized as observe and optimize. Consciously choose projects/tasks that you are most likely to procrastinate on, and observe your thoughts and feelings. This will point out the areas where further development is needed. Another thing you can do is to develop resilience. Failing is okay. In fact, if you are fully committed to anything, you will encounter many setbacks and failures. But that’s not a bad thing. The more you fail, the closer to success you are. There are no perfect paths. Even if there are setbacks and failures, it doesn’t mean that you’ve made any mistake! Make commitment only to goals that you fully embrace. Do not set goals that you simply do not care about. It’s a waste of time that will lead only to unhappiness.
ina and her allies want to reestablish the habits and moral standards of the 19th century as a model for present-day Russia. Why? Because in present-day Russia social modernization is synonymous with westernization, and the political forces that appeal to the less educated, less conscious, and less confident majority promise a “special path for Russia” and have no other image for Russia’s future than its past. Under the new amendment where is the line between simply being gay and “promoting” nontraditional sexuality? Our biggest problem is not the law itself but the public campaign around it. Taken literally, ‘promoting’ homosexuality is not punishable under Article 6.21 if it is not addressed to minors. That interpretation is still bad because, for instance, schoolteachers and psychologists now have no legal right to help LGBT teenagers with their struggle for self-reconciliation. Of course, most LGBT people never intended to discuss their sexuality with children, but the new law implies that they have done this. State-controlled media has used this angle to claim that “Homosexuals are chasing after our children, we need a law to stop them.” As a result, in the last two years public opinion of gay people has drastically leaned towards seeing gay people as extremely importunate, seeking to entice and seduce everybody. Nowadays it is very normal to hear people say, “We are exhausted by all this buzz produced by LGBT people, why they don’t do their dirty things in silence?” —without realizing that the buzz was created by our pursuers. Another idea that is implied with Article 6.21 is that ‘nontraditional sexuality’ is necessarily wrong (because if it was okay, why shouldn’t children know more about it?). That is a very convenient situation for the authorities: They can claim that just being gay is not persecuted under the new law while citizens have no difficulty understanding the aforementioned implication. Article 6.21 is not aimed at persecuting a few infringers; it is designed to spread hate and xenophobia in Russian society. From now on at my public readings I must ask the audience if everybody is eighteen or older. The amendment also has larger fines for “propaganda” that is distributed online. Does this mean that existing websites for LGBT groups can be persecuted under this law? Internet activity is still the widest and most effective field of LGBT activism in Russia. I don’t foresee any change here, although it is quite possible that some websites might be fined, suspended, or shut down. The goal of the authorities is to make us feel unstable and uncertain, and that is not only for LGBT people; they want to eliminate stability for everyone but their unthinking supporters. Did gay individuals face job discrimination before this amendment? Do you think it is going to make it harder for openly gay individuals to find work? Russian employers have not needed this law to discriminate against LGBT people because employee protection in Russia is very low. Again it is not about employers’ fear in the face of possible penalty under Article 6.21, it’s about employers being as xenophobic and intolerant as the whole society. And even if they are not, it does not help. Since the beginning of September we have known about two schoolteachers in different regions of Russia, a man from the far east and a woman from the Urals, that were forced to resign from teaching just for being gay, notwithstanding their pupils testifying that they had never heard from the teacher anything about it. And in both cases the school administration initially tried to back the teachers but stepped down quickly under the pressure of anonymous homophobes campaigning on the internet and mass media. The risk of discrimination increases as long as authorities are fostering and promoting homophobia. According to a poll by VTsIOM, 88% of Russia’s population supports Article 6.21. Do you believe this is an accurate statistic? What are some of the obstacles to LGBT equality in Russia? I can easily believe these statistics, but such a number is the result of the recent anti-gay campaigns. The same poll showed that 42% of Russians believe that homosexuality should be re-criminalized; in 2007 only 19% of respondents responded this way. A lot of people in Russia are ignorant, intolerant, and highly suggestible, but it is the powerful elite who nurture this ignorance and intolerance. There have been several well-publicized attacks against gay individuals in Russia since the amendment was signed. Do you think the government supports or allows anti-gay groups to escape repercussions? I don’t think that anti-gay groups, whether ultra-Orthodox or radical nationalists, enjoy direct support from the government, though it is quite possible that some of these groups are personally connected with some state officials. But it is quite clear that these groups have emerged as a result of deliberate fostering of anti-gay sentiments in Russian society. Some of these groups are really terrible, especially the so-called “Occupy-Pedophilia” group, whose members seek out gay adolescents on dating websites by pretending to be gay themselves. They then meet these adolescents, humiliate and abuse them, and publish videos of these attacks online. However, until now most gay people in Russia were not targets of intentional violence, though becoming a victim of accidental violence was quite possible for almost all of us, especially in smaller cities. LGBT people in Russia were shocked by the murder of twenty-three year-old Vlad Tornovoi in May. The murderers hammered three empty vodka bottles into the victim’s anus and burned his genitals. After being detained they said they did this in a fit of anger after he admitted his homosexuality. Later, other information was released which claimed that the murder was committed for no reason and that the murderers invented the homophobic motive in order to be treated with indulgence. I can’t say which version is more horrible, but in both cases the murderers were well aware of the new trend in public opinion. How active is the LGBT community in Russia? Do you think the amendment is going to be effective at silencing the LGBT community or do you think it will cause more people to speak out? In a sense Russia has almost no organized LGBT community. All the organizations are very weak and small, and moreover, most LGBT people don’t feel represented by them. I don’t know what kind of impact this new law might have on these organizations but whatever it will be, unfortunately many LGBT Russians will hardly notice it. Because of this new amendment, some people have called for a boycott of the upcoming Sochi Olympics. With so much international attention on Russia, why do you think the Russian government chose to pass this law now? I don’t see any connection between the Sochi Olympics and the plenty of harmful laws passed by the Russian government since 2011. In my opinion it seems that government is anticipating increasing economic troubles or something like that, and wants people to be diverted from the real problems of economy, public health, and education, and have them focus on fictional enemies and artificial hate. Russia recently had problems with the US over the Edward Snowden case. Now many Americans are pronouncing themselves against the Russian government because of the new law. Are you afraid that, even though this is a just cause, you could be used for political interests when your cause seems to be exclusively about human rights? There is no remedy for this. Most people in Russia don’t understand the concept of human rights and see this question as purely political. And Russian authorities support this view by underlining again and again that the idea of gay rights is completely foreign and alien for Russia, that this moral disease is ‘nontraditional’ here while dissolute western countries are eager to seduce our pious motherland. If someone wrote a story about a gay couple, would that constitute promotion, even if the story is not necessarily supportive of homosexuality? A writer might prevent this accusation by publishing this story with an 18+ label. Otherwise the publisher (not the author) is endangered, even if the story is not supportive of ‘nontraditional sexuality’ because Article 6.21 also criminalizes “imposing information on nontraditional sexuality which creates an interest in it.” A good story usually creates an interest in its subject. Therefore, any discussion of any kind of sexuality, except heterosexual, reproductive sex, with children and youths under eighteen could be treated as violating 6.21. From now on at my public readings I must ask the audience if everybody is eighteen or older. Prior to this law, did you face problems getting published in Russia due to your orientation? How do you think this law is going to affect the publication of gay-positive and/or gay-centric material? The book market in Russia is very polarized, and there is a big gap between highbrow writing and pulp fiction, with almost nothing in the middle. The former is rather tolerant and inclusive for both gay topics and gay authors but its audience is very small; the latter is either silent or hostile when it comes to LGBT issues. I do not expect any significant change in this situation because Russian authorities, it seems, have absolutely no interest in the narrow stratum of literary intellectuals; they only want to prevent free-thinking intellectuals from influencing the rest of the people. However, in some cases anti-gay sentiments could be instrumental in polemics. Just recently my very critical review of a certain poetry selection faced the indignant riposte of its author who argued that as a gay man I should not dare to judge her poetry inspired with Christian pathos. At the same time a Moscow newspaper published a rather overwrought lampoon against Irina Prokhorova, the head of a prestigious Russian publishing house, labeling her as a ‘counterspy of Sodom’ for having published a book by an openly gay poet over ten years ago—however, it was actually the attack towards Prokhorova’s brother, a well-known financial tycoon. This is making it risky for a public figure in present-day Russia to have any connections with homosexuality and gay people.BURNS - Crews from a national cleaning company bustle from building to building at the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, ravens watching from perches in the towering cottonwoods outside. Big steel boxes serve as giant garbage drops. Truck-mounted vacuums whine with industrial strength. Workers come and go from big cargo trailers, drawing supplies to clean carpets, wash walls and remove stains. The compound is under one giant spring cleaning. The workers are scrubbing away traces left by armed militants. Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, stood outside the closed visitor center Wednesday, vowing that the refuge would be better than ever after the crews are done. The 41-day occupation of the refuge will give way to "something more" than before - the reserve will become a symbol to the rest of the country that collaboration, not confrontation, endures, Ashe said. He trekked to the Oregon desert to meet with community leaders two days after Interior Secretary Sally Jewell visited. Ashe and Fish & Wildlife employees who briefed reporters read from the same script as Jewell had earlier in the week: The refuge is a national model for getting along with your neighbors. Ammon E. Bundy, 40, of Emmett, Idaho, said the opposite when he led a group of anti-government protesters in taking over the refuge headquarters on Jan. 2. The siege resulted in one death and the federal indictment so far of 27 people, including Bundy. Federal officials shared photos of what they found at the compound after the FBI had scoured it for explosives and evidence. The photos captured scenes of messy living - clothes strewn around one room, an office ransacked with chairs knocked askew and equipment on the floor, a Jim Beam whiskey bottle tucked among couch cushions. Removing the debris and repairing the damage is likely to take until early summer. Until then, the headquarters remains closed but the public is free to roam the rest of the 187,700-acre bird sanctuary. Ashe said the occupation will cost his agency roughly $6 million. About $2 million of that came during the takeover and included paying to move the refuge's 17 employees out of town for safety to live at government expense in hotels for weeks. The rest, Ashe said, is going for repairs and upgrades to make the refuge the bright star in the national constellation of refuges. Still, the takeover has changed the government mindset about such remote installations. The agency remains worried, Ashe said, that an occupation could happen again here or elsewhere. Those who work on the Malheur must remain vigilant against a repeat of January's takeover, he said. The refuge, 30 miles southeast of Burns, is known nationally for collaboration among government, environmentalists and ranchers, he said: "a great example of good government, good community, good intentions." At a bluff on Wright's Ridge, on the refuge's northern shoulder, local leaders echoed that. Gary Marshall, a longtime local rancher and chairman of the High Desert Partnership, said years of work by diverse groups arrived at a plan for the refuge that accounts for all needs, from environmental to economic. With the water-logged refuge landscape stretching out behind him, Marshall noted that none of the occupiers talked to him or others to learn what had gone on. Bundy repeatedly said at news conferences that the refuge and other federal lands had been mismanaged in ways that oppressed local ranchers. "They were misinformed or they didn't care," Marshall said. Dan Nichols, another local rancher, said he decided recently not to retire after 20 years on the Harney County commission but will seek re-election because he wants to be part of refuge's future. Back at the refuge compound, fish biologist Linda Beck said she's glad to be back to work, but faces a daunting task. The occupation disrupted plans to remove invasive carp by commercial fishing earlier this year. The prolific carp consume habitat sorely needed by birds. "We lost the opportunity to fish for these fish in a really condensed setting," Beck said. Malheur Lake covered about 3,000 acres at the beginning of the year. Now, it stands at about 20,000 acres. Still, the refuge and its partners will try netting fish starting in May. But Beck estimated the disrupted work will cost about three years of carp control because the fish are such efficient breeders. By day's end, Beck and her colleagues were ready for their next appointment. They were heading for a barbecue set up to welcome them back to duty - and back to the community. Their hosts were the 20 or so ranchers who graze cattle in partnership with the refuge. -- Les ZaitzFederal officials have backed away from a growing confrontation over land rights in Clark County, Nev., citing “serious concern” about the safety of law enforcement officials and private citizens on the front lines of the standoff. As WND reported, helicopters, four-wheel-drive vehicles and an estimated 200 armed officers of the federal Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, were deployed to the Nevada ranch of Cliven Bundy, while citizen militias rallied to the property, prepared to support the rancher. The dispute escalated last weekend, when federal authorities began seizing cattle grazing on federal lands adjacent to Bundy’s property in Bunkerville, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, charging the rancher has been in violation of a law that aims to protect an endangered desert tortoise. The BLM also says Bundy owes more than $1 million in grazing fees to the federal government. But now, according to a report by KSNV-TV in Las Vegas, the gathering of cattle has been stopped by the director of the BLM, and Bundy is meeting with Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie to discuss a possible solution. The station reported the following statement, made by Neil Kornze, director of the BLM: “As we have said from the beginning of the gather (sic) to remove illegal cattle from federal land consistent with court orders, a safe and peaceful operation is our No. 1 priority. After one week, we have made progress in enforcing two recent court orders to remove the trespass cattle from public lands that belong to all Americans. “Based on information about conditions on the ground, and in consultation with law enforcement,” Kornze continued, “we have made a decision to conclude the cattle gather (sic) because of our serious concern about the safety of employees and members of the public. “We ask that all parties in the area remain peaceful and law-abiding as the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service work to end the operation in an orderly manner,” he concluded. As WND reported, tensions rose Thursday when two men from Utah who had come to join the protest in support of Bundy were detained by federal officials. Brothers Tyler and Spencer Shillig said they walked through a gated area of land near Overton, Nev., when they were confronted by BLM rangers, according to KTNV-TV in Las Vegas. Spencer claims he was handcuffed and sustained cuts and scrapes to his head, neck and arms when he was detained. The BLM has stated “public safety is key to this operation’ and it has “minimal law enforcement in place to ensure public safety.” One of Cliven’s seven sons, Dave Bundy, was taken into custody Sunday after allegedly being roughed up for taking pictures along State Road 170, which has been closed. His camera was confiscated. Another son, Ammon, was tased Wednesday by authorities in a clash with about 50 protesters. The Washington Free Beacon reported Thursday that the BLM has brought in armed rangers from out of state to assist in security surrounding the Bundy ranch. Stetsy Bundy Cox, Cliven’s daughter, said the rangers are “almost like a hired gun.” “Because what they’re supposed to do is they each have a road, and are told to stay on that road, and they’re supposed to keep people off that road, whatever means possible. That’s their job,” she told the Free Beacon. “They don’t even know how many cows have been gathered.” ‘No cow justifies’ Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval decried the federal government’s tactics. “No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans,” Sandoval said. “The BLM needs to reconsider its approach to this matter and act accordingly.” Sen. Heller, R-Nev., meanwhile said he told BLM Director Neil Kornze that “law-abiding Nevadans must not be penalized by an over-reaching BLM.” Sandoval has criticized the federal government’s decision to confine protests to “First Amendment areas.” The move, he said, “tramples upon Nevadans’ fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution.” At a town hall meeting this week, Bundy’s sister Margaret Houston said she felt like she was in “a war zone” and “not in the United States,” the London Daily Mail reported. ‘Better have funeral plans’ Sparking outrage, Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins warned that supporters of Bundy planning to come from Utah “better have funeral plans,” according to a Utah county commissioner who said he spoke with Collins. Darin Bushman, a commissioner in Piute County, Utah, said in a post on his Facebook page that Collins told him “all of us folks from Utah are a bunch of ‘inbred bastards” and if we are to come to [Clark County] to support Cliven Bundy we all ‘better have funeral plans.'” Adding fuel to the growing rhetorical fire, Arizona state Rep. Kelly Townsend said the roundup reminds her of the Tiananmen Square massacre in China. She is among about three dozen Arizona Republican state legislators who have signed a letter to federal and Nevada officials expressing concern about government heavy-handedness and the restriction of free speech. The lawmakers say aren’t arguing over whether Bundy has broken laws or violated grazing agreements. Townsend told the Las Vegas Review-Journal she was shocked after seeing video that showed federal police used a stun gun on one of Bundy’s sons. “Watching that video last night created a visceral reaction in me,” Townsend said. “It sounds dramatic, but it reminded me of Tiananmen Square. I don’t recognize my country at this point.” Who is the trespasser? Cliven Bundy’s son Ammon Bundy told WND this week that federal authorities have not been merely re-locating the cattle but engaging in actions that have killed many of the animals. “They are flying helicopters over the herd to chase them,” Ammon Bundy said. “It was over 90 degrees here today, and the cattle can’t run very far in this heat before collapsing. This is especially true for the young calves. We have a lot of them being born because it is springtime, and they don’t have the strength to keep up with their mothers when they are running. The cattle then become overheated and die.” Cliven Bundy, who has said he fears the standoff could turn into another Ruby Ridge or Waco disaster, insists he has been acting within his legal rights. “I have raised cattle on that land, which is public land for the people of Clark County, all my life. Why I raise cattle there, and why I can raise cattle there, is because I have preemptive rights,” he said, contending that among them is the right to forage. “Who is the trespasser here?” he asked. “Who is the trespasser on this land? Is the United States trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Or is it Cliven Bundy who is trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Who’s the trespasser?” In 1992, in a confrontation with members of a militia movement Ruby Ridge, Idaho, federal agents shot an unarmed woman at who was holding an infant in her arms. In Waco, Texas, in 1993, federal and state law enforcement and military engaged in a siege of a compound belonging to the Branch Davidian cult that resulted in the deaths of 76 men, women and children. Clark County Sheriff Douglas Gillespie has called for both sides to resolve the issue peacefully, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal “no drop of human blood is worth spilling over any cow.” Ammon Bundy told WND that his family and others who are defending them believe they have been left unprotected because “the local sheriff has said they are not going to get involved in what is happening, saying this is a BLM issue.” “This means they are leaving us completely vulnerable, because the BLM are the only side with the weapons and if they decide to use violent force there is nothing we can do.” Last rancher in the county Cliven Bundy is the last rancher operating in Clark County, where he’s been grazing his cattle on a 600,000 acre portion of land managed by the BLM called Gold Butte. His family, whose ties to the land go back to the 1880s, has been engaged in a dispute since 1993 with the Bureau of Land Management over long-established cattle-grazing rights. After years of wrangling in the courts, last week BLM secured a federal court order declaring Bundy’s herd to be “trespass cattle” and began removing the animals. Since 1998, when it designated Gold Butte home of the protected desert tortoise, Gold Butte has been off-limits to cattle grazing. BLM has insisted it has exhausted all other options to stop citizens who are ignoring federal regulations. “For more than two decades, cattle have been grazed illegally on public lands in northeast Clark County,” BLM said in a statement. “BLM and (the National Park Service) have made repeated attempts to resolve this matter administratively and judicially. Impoundment of cattle illegally grazing on public lands is an option of last resort.” The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmentalist group, has praised the federal government for taking action. “Despite having no legal right to do so, cattle from Bundy’s ranch have continued to graze throughout the Gold Butte area, competing with tortoises for food, hindering the ability of plants to recover from extensive wildfires, trampling rare plants, damaging ancient American Indian cultural sites and threatening the safety of recreationists,” said spokesman Rob Mrowka in a statement. ‘Things got pretty ugly’ Dave Bundy’s aunt, Kay Sessions, told WND that authorities who detained her nephew Sunday gave him a concussion and “stomped him on the ground,” causing kidney problems. “They hauled him to jail and interrogated him all night before letting him go,” she said. “Before they took him to jail officials left him in a hot vehicle for three hours.” She explained that he was “trying to get pictures of what government officials are doing and they confiscated his camera and tablet.” Ammon Bundy said he was with a group of about 50 people “peacefully protesting the removal of the cattle” when “suddenly, 14 units with Rangers came off the mountain – 13 of them were armed ranger vehicles with two rangers per unit.” He said the protesters went over to see what was in a dump truck, “because we were afraid this might have been a rendering vehicle, and we wanted to know what was in the back of the truck.” See video of the confrontation with Ammon Bundy and protesters: The rangers got out of their vehicles and the conflict escalated, he said. “Things got pretty ugly for awhile. They threw a 65-year-old woman on the ground, they tased me twice and they had dogs out there.” What do you think about standoff at Nevada ranch? If it's federal land, the feds make the rules. Deal with it Some people just don't have any respect for government Sounds like some anti-government fanatics went over the edge Washington learned nothing from Ruby Ridge and Waco Another example of the Nazi-fication of U.S. government It's a great opportunity for local governments to exercise some muscle Federal government is increasingly acting Stalinesque Team Obama would love nothing more than for 'right-wing' violence to break out to justify further repression, demonization and gun control This is a power play by the government, and it had better stand down Other View ResultsWithin a generation China, is likely to replace the US as the biggest market in the world. We report from the heart of the consumer revolution Made in China says everything, economically, about the last decade. Sold in China tells you everything about the next. Recent output figures from China were greeted with concern after the country reported its lowest GDP growth for three years, although, at 8.1%, it's magnificent compared to the UK's double-dip recession. Still, there is much talk among economists about a "hard landing", a "property bubble" and "bankrupt banks". But there is one key fact to remember about the economy in China. It's that the minimum wage is going up 15% a year, every year, for the next five years. Take a billion workers and give them a 100% pay rise. It changes everything. Within a generation, China is likely to displace the US as the biggest consumer market in the world. At Tianjin Port, the world's fifth biggest, container ships used to export Chinese goods to the rest of the world but come back empty. Now they return with the finished and semi-finished goods from the rest of the world to satisfy a ravenous consumer appetite. In Tianjin's vast factory zone, (across the road from a Foxconn plant making the next wave of Apple iPhones), the Master Kong factory makes more pot noodles than anywhere else in the world. The huge automated production lines, with machine tools imported from Japan and Germany, churn out five billion noodle packets a year – enough to reach to the moon and back. All the raw materials come from China, all of the finished product is consumed in China. It's just one of 23 Master Kong plants on the mainland. Further south in the "groundscraper" (and weirdly Hogwarts-esque) Shanghai offices of Ping An, China's second biggest insurer, 12,000 commission-led telesales agents make one million sales calls every day. It is the largest telemarketing operation on the planet, feeding on the explosive growth of domestic car sales. Last year 14.5m cars were sold in China – or 2m more than in the US, previously the world's biggest auto market. Nine in 10 were to people who had never bought a car before. Ping An now insures 32m private cars, raking in premiums of £2.2bn (22.3bn renminbi) a year. Four years ago, that revenue was below £100m. As the Beijing auto show opened (it has replaced Detroit as the barometer of the industry), Ford said it was pressing ahead with its fifth giant factory in the country, and Volkswagen its seventh. Industry experts say sales will rise to 40m a year by 2020 – or 20 times the size of the UK market. In a country where air quality is staggeringly bad, the environmental consequences are terrifying. So is the outlook for the price of petrol, which sells in China for about half the price in Britain. If the country reaches US levels of car ownership, China alone will need to import more oil than is currently produced from every well in the world. It doesn't appear to concern the 4S showroom in Beijing, the biggest BMW dealership in Asia. Sales of luxury cars were up 30% in the first quarter of this year, and after signing a deal to distribute Range Rovers, they are selling every (Merseyside-made) Evoque they can get their hands on. The waiting list stretches for months. China's industrial revolution has created hundreds of thousands of dollar millionaires, and more than 400 billionaires, second only to the US. That translates into extraordinary sales of luxury goods, although much of that is in Hong Kong as wealthy consumers skirt import tariffs that make prices in Shanghai 40% higher than abroad. The vulgar display of new wealth is beginning to worry the communist (in name) leaders. Income inequality is among the world's worst. Median wages for rural workers were, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, just £608 last year, and £1,877 for workers in the cities. Yet Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Bottega Veneta stores dominate shopping malls. Last year authorities banned the use of the word "luxury" in advertisements, but to little effect. Sales surged, with revenue at Burberry shops up 30% in 2011. The millions of migrant workers flooding into the cities, their only possessions stuffed into a battered suitcase, are greeted by the sight of a £3,000 monogrammed Louis Vuitton bag in a shop window. Discontent is rising: in Guangdong, a coastal industrial province where, on paper, earnings are among the highest in China, riots in June last year continued for three days. Clashes erupted over unpaid wages, but behind the violence lies the fact that a huge underclass has gained little from the new China they built, mostly with their own hands. At the Master Kong factory in Tianjin production line workers, we are told, earn £300 a month. But they have to work six days a week, receive just one week's holiday a year, and sleep in a factory-controlled dorm. And this is one of the plants where management is happy to receive foreign visitors (but we were banned from taking photographs). In Shanghai, the glitziest and richest city in China, with 23 million residents, factory workers rarely take home more than £200 a month. Worried Chinese leaders have put spreading the country's wealth at the heart of the latest "five-year plan". It's this that mandates the coming 15% a year increase in the minimum wage, although how much of that will be eaten by price inflation is a moot point. Westerners who mock the concept of the five-year plans lamentably misunderstand China, says William Fung of Li & Fung. It is a company virtually unknown in the west, but is the biggest supplier of clothes to Europe and America, with Walmart and Marks & Spencer among its customers. "You report the five-year plan in the west as a one-day wonder... then people are surprised that growth is falling to 7.5%. But it's in the plan. All the time we are told that China is old and complex to understand. But it is the easiest country in the world to understand. "They tell you what they are going to do. Every official knows the five-year plan. The plan calls for slower growth, but a 15% per annum increase in domestic consumption. All the evidence is there that we are going to grow consumption," says Fung. His company, whose clothing and toy exports are so vast it is regarded as the bellwether of the global economy, will continue selling huge quantities overseas, but sees the home consumer as perhaps its greatest opportunity. Just off outer ring road five in Beijing, a mundane average-income district, the Wu Mart hypermarket is perhaps an early indicator of how domestic consumption will grow. The store bears more resemblance to a Lidl than a Tesco but, unlike the oddly deserted luxury shops in the city centre, it is teeming. It's instantly apparent that mid-range western brands are phenomenally popular with middle-income Chinese consumers. Shelf after shelf stocks the likes of Colgate toothpaste, Nivea, Quaker Oats and Snickers bars. Whole aisles are devoted to disposable nappies. China's one-child policy, rigorously enforced, means that spending on a sole child is proportionately huge. Hong Kong babies use 50% more diapers than those in the west, and mainland China is heading the same way. Want to invest in China? Maybe buy Procter & Gamble (Pampers) or Kimberly-Clark (Huggies) instead. Back in Shanghai we meet Ji Qi, another entrepreneurial billionaire. He opened an Ibis-style budget hotel in 2002, called Home Inns, for the country's emerging business and leisure market, and built it to a chain of more than 1,000. After a bust-up with his co-founder he's set up Hanting Inns, has 639 hotels, and is opening a 140-bed inn every two days. Room rates range from £10 to £40 a night. He confidently expects Hanting to overtake Accor (Ibis, Mercure, Novotel and Sofitel) this year, and become, perhaps, the world's biggest hotel chain by 2020. He is the epitome of the ambition, drive and vision in China that is in such stark contrast to the miserable business outlook in Britain. But do investors who buy the China story ever actually make any money? One of the remarkable facts is that its stock markets (the big exchanges are in Shanghai and Shenzhen) are a great way of turning a large fortune into a small one. Over the past five years the benchmark Shanghai Composite index has fallen by 41.4%. The Shenzhen market has been falling since mid-2010. For British investors, the average China unit trust has lost 17% over the past year. Critics warn that many Chinese companies regard equity investment by westerners as an interest-free loan never to be repaid. Tellingly, few of the rich put their own cash into the stock market – expanding their businesses, and investing in property (no matter how super-charged prices appear) is what they see as the future. Patrick Collinson was a guest on a trip organised by Fidelity Investments. Fidelity's China Special Situations investment trust is a holder of shares in Ping An, Master Kong and Wu Mart.Twenty-five years ago, McDonald’s made Maryland history when they rolled out a new item on their menu: a crab cake sandwich. The Golden Arches served up their take on the crustacean patties at different test locations along the Eastern Shore and two in Baltimore beginning in spring 1992. They later expanded to sell at all 91 Mickey D’s in the Baltimore area. “More cake than crab but they are fast and they are cheap,” ran a Sun headline that year accompanying food critic Rob Kasper’s lukewarm review of the McDonald’s as well as the Wendy’s version of the Maryland staple. While they were a far cry from the traditional Maryland crab cake – “lump crab meat held together by little more than willpower,” he wrote – at $2.99, or around $5.21 in today's currency, it was hard to summon a more vociferous complaint. However, for other Marylanders, the new menu item seemed to signal the onset of the apocalypse. “It’s all over, forget it; this is a sad, sad state of affairs,” one customer told The Washington Post. The horrors mounted the following year, when McDonald’s announced they would be using mostly crab sourced in India rather than the more expensive Maryland blue crab. And yet they had the nerve to still call it a “Maryland-style crab.” Karl Merton Ferron / Baltimore Sun / June 1992 A crab cake sandwich from a McDonald's in Ocean City. A crab cake sandwich from a McDonald's in Ocean City. (Karl Merton Ferron / Baltimore Sun / June 1992) A state employee suggested that the McDonald’s version could bring shame across the crab cake industry. “If the crab cake tastes really lousy, people who are eating crab for the first time may never try it again. That’s not good for the industry,” William F. Sieling of the Department of Agriculture told The Sun in 1993. The cakes were reintroduced in the early aughts, around the appearance of the McGriddle. In 2003, Dan Rodricks urged his readers not to try it – not because it was McDonald’s, but because he believed then that a moratorium on crabbing in Maryland was necessary in order to save the state’s crab supplies. When called on the phone this week, a McDonald’s employee in Kent Island sounded perplexed when asked if her restaurant sold crab cakes. “Not at McDonald’s,” she said. The company did announce a snow crab sandwich on select menus earlier this year – but customers will have to head to California to try it.Story highlights Report: Samsung Galaxy S4 will roll out in February at Mobile World Congress in Spain Phone will have a 5-inch screen, more powerful hardware, report says The Samsung Galaxy S III has emerged as the iPhone's chief rival NEW: Samsung calls the report "simple rumor" A day after reports that Samsung plans to announce a follow up to its popular Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone in February, the Korean company has taken to Twitter to deny them. The Samsung Galaxy S4, a new iteration of the phone that has established itself as the chief rival to Apple's iPhone, will be introduced in February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, according to The Korea Times A day after that report surfaced, though, Samsung took to its Korean Twitter account to deny it. "Please note that some media reported speculation that the Galaxy S's subsequent models will be released," the tweet read in Korean, calling the report "a simple rumor [that] is not true." The report from the Times, the oldest English-language newspaper in South Korea, cites unnamed company officials and parts suppliers in the region. Among the Galaxy S4's features will be a 5-inch screen, slightly larger than the display on the popular Galaxy S III and a full inch bigger than the iPhone 5, the report said. It will have more powerful hardware and software and will "definitely use" 4G LTE networks, a parts supplier told the paper. Phones running Google's Android operating system have been outselling the iPhone for some time. But that's a fragmented field that includes dozens of phones of varying quality. No single handset has established itself as a serious
children learn a new skill from Rachel, then follow the pups on an animated adventure where they put their skills to practise What are your thoughts on more women being board members at the FA? (Mark Lygo) It's positive. Boards need to be diverse and have more women on the board. There's 10 members. If three of them are women, who are the other seven? It can't be the same people who were there previously. The whole thing needs to change and we need to look at getting more women involved and more ethnic minorities and different age groups. Football is a sport that goes out to everybody and covers so many different people. We all love the game so why not let it be represented by the people! Should football be a mixed game and will it ever be? (Adam Jonathon Asa Scholes) Do I want to see senior football as a mixed game? No. I just think the way we're built and made up, it's like having the fastest woman in the world against the fastest man in the world. The guy is going to win. They should play together and develop at a young age when the physical attributes are pretty much the same. It depends on what you want to see. If you're going to watch a women's game to see high-tempo physical game you're not going to get that. You need to look at it and be open-minded in what the game is. It is still high-speed and physical but at the tempo of the women's game. Opinion on future (hopefully) female managers managing male senior football teams? (Aaron Case) Each individual will have different aspirations. I think outside influences will make it extremely difficult for a female to manage a male team. We've seen how the media and fans are looking at [Arsenal manager] Arsene Wenger and [former Leicester boss] Claudio Ranieri. Imagine if that manager was a woman. People still sadly have the perception that it's a men's game and women don't understand football. People who pass the qualifications and get the right badges should be looked at. Managing is managing people and managing players, you don't have to be a man to do that. If you've passed those courses you know your stuff anyway. Chairmen and boards need to be open-minded and if that's the route they want to go down and they find a coach who is the best fit for their club and happens to be a woman, then go for it. But can I see it happening at this moment in time? No, not in England. Yankey, right, played for Arsenal ladies between 1996–2000 and 2005–2016 Comment on Arsenal's Champions League performance against Bayern Munich. (Zax Wander Hood) I was on a train up to Manchester so I didn't see the game. I am an Arsenal fan and obviously you never want to see your team lose so I'm disappointed in that. I think for me it is the bigger picture and we are all looking at Arsene Wenger and pointing the finger there, but as a player you have to look at the players and now I really want the players to stand up. At the end of the season everyone will look at this season and decide what they want to do moving forward. At this moment in time the players need to stand up, especially with a massive game on Saturday [against Lincoln in the FA Cup]. A chance to get through to the FA Cup semis. The team needs to stick together and the players really need to show what they've got. Do you think Arsenal Ladies could dominate English football again soon or are Chelsea and Man City too strong? (James Wyatt) Obviously I'd love to see that happen but I don't think any one team will solely dominate in the way that Arsenal did. My question for the legend: What law change or adaptation to the game do you think we need in the 21st century? (Kate Vogelsang) Thanks for the legend comment! It would be difficult to pin down one thing but with the amount of stick referees get these days, something to help them make accurate and fair decisions would always help. I have actually refereed grassroots football and it is extremely difficult. The pressure from the sidelines was overwhelming and unnecessary so anything to help out the officials would be brilliant. But then I guess fans lose their debate in the pub!Image caption Mr Rowley will represent Cowdenbeath in the Scottish Parliament Labour has held the Scottish Parliament seat of Cowdenbeath with an increased majority in a by-election sparked by the death of sitting MSP Helen Eadie. Fife Council leader Alex Rowley beat the SNP to claim the seat with a 5,488 vote majority. The Conservatives came third, while UKIP pushed the Liberal Democrats into fifth place. The result saw an 11.25% swing from the SNP to Labour from the 2011 Scottish election, on a voter turnout of 34%. Mr Rowley said the outcome of the by-election, declared at about 01:00 on Friday, was about more than the Scottish government's 18 September independence referendum. He said: "It's about full employment for every young person to get the opportunities that they deserve from their lifetime. "It's about elderly people living in Fife with dignity, and making sure when they need services those services are available. "We can give people jobs, we can give people opportunities, we can do that with a strong, devolved Scottish Parliament working within the UK." Cowdenbeath by-election result Alex Rowley (Lab) - 11,192 votes Natalie McGarry (SNP) - 5,704 votes Dave Dempsey (Con) - 1,893 votes Denise Baykal (UKIP) - 610 votes Jade Holden (Lib Dem) - 425 votes Stuart Graham (Victims Final Right) - 187 votes James Trolland (SDA) - 51 votes Labour majority - 5,488 (27.36%) 11.25% swing SNP to Lab Turnout 20,062 (34.78%) Labour held Cowdenbeath with a 1,247 vote majority at the last Scottish Parliament election. The area is represented at Westminster by former prime minister Gordon Brown. Labour leader Johann Lamont said the by-election result was "significant". She added: "I believe people in this area have responded to our positive campaign on jobs, education and support for older people - these are the issues they want politicians to be focusing on, and that's what Alex Rowley will be doing as an MSP. "I think voters are telling Alex Salmond to get on with his day job." Independence vote The SNP said its share of the vote was the same as in the 2007 election, adding that Cowdenbeath was the only Fife seat the party did not win in the 2011 polls. The party's candidate, Natalie McGarry, said: "In eight months' time there is going to be a referendum, and people in this constituency and across Scotland will have a vote. "I heard on the doorsteps from a lot of traditional Labour voters who said: 'Listen, Natalie, I'm not going to vote for you, but I am actually thinking about voting yes in the referendum'. "So Alex Rowley may be the victor tonight, but I believe the whole of Scotland will celebrate a Yes victory in September." Fife councillor Dave Dempsey, who came third for the Conservatives with 1,893 votes, said: "We are going in the right direction. You could not buy the effort, dedication and enthusiasm that I have had at my disposal over the last several weeks. We're getting there." A Conservative spokesman said it was a "good result" as they were the only party to increase their share of the vote. Jade Holden, who fought the seat for the Liberal Democrats, added: "I am really proud of the campaign we have run. "It has been really positive, and we have got our message out there about lower taxes and support for jobs." UKIP candidate Denise Baykal said of the result: "This shows that UKIP is here, it's here to stay and we are increasing our vote all the time. "Hopefully this will mirror our success in the European elections." Ms Eadie, who was being treated for cancer when she died in November last year at the age of 66, had been an MSP since the Scottish Parliament was established, in 1999. Council by-election Labour also held on to its Motherwell North seat in a by-election for North Lanarkshire council, the result showing another swing from the SNP to Labour. Scottish Labour's Pat O'Rourke polled 1,719 first preference votes. The SNP's Jordan Linden was second with 520, followed by the Conservatives with 173 and UKIP with 107. The 4.7% drop in the SNP vote was smaller than the 13.2% slump at Cowdenbeath.CLOSE Police officers used pepper spray to try to enforce curfew and break up crowds on the second night of protests in Baltimore. VPC A protester kicks back a teargas canister as police push their line out into the street along after the 10 p.m. curfew in Baltimore, Tuesday. (Photo11: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY) BALTIMORE -- A citywide curfew took effect Tuesday night in tense, riot-torn Baltimore as a heavy presence of police and National Guard troops sought to disperse protesters. Dozens of people remained in the streets after the 10 p.m. curfew. Officers with bullhorns and self-appointed citizen peacekeepers urged them to go home, and when some failed to disperse, police fired pepper pellets and smoke canisters. Some protesters hurled objects at police, who held shields and formed a line across an intersection and slowly advanced toward protesters. Baltimore police said on Twitter: "Officers are now advancing on the group. They remain aggressive and disorderly." "We've got a long night ahead of us,'' Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said earlier. Security forces "will not tolerate violence or looting,'' he vowed. Hogan said a massive display of security was deployed in the city: 2,000 National Guard troops and 1,000 law enforcement officers. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said in a news conference late Tuesday night that 10 people had been arrested, seven of them for violations of a 10 p.m. curfew. The Baltimore Orioles canceled Tuesday's scheduled home game and in an unusual move said Wednesday's game will be played in an empty Camden Yards stadium, without spectators. Baltimore's school system announced it would reopen for classes Wednesday. Batts defended his agency's slow response to violence that tore through the city a day earlier, leaving cars and buildings gutted by fire and stores looted. Batts said the young age of those who took to the streets with rocks and bricks -- high school students, many of them -- caused officers to take a measured initial response to Monday's violence. "Why didn't you move faster? Because they're 14, 15 and 16 year old kids out there,'' Batts said at an afternoon news conference, posing to himself a frequently asked question. "They're old enough to know better ….old enough to be accountable. But they're still kids, unfortunately, and we have to take that into account when we're out there.'' The violence erupted on the day of the funeral for Freddie Gray, 25, who died after suffering a mortal spinal injury while in police custody. Appearing with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Batts defended her against critics for an initially low-profile response, calling her "courageous.'' He acknowledged that Baltimore's police culture must change: "We have more to do, but we can't do it by destroying this beautiful city." "Overall today has been a very good day,'' Batts said. "We're going to be out in strong numbers making sure we have no issues in our city.'' There were some tense protests and a massive cleanup underway. The city was going on a week-long nightly curfew beginning at 10 p.m. Hogan said 250 people were arrested in Monday's violence. Police said more than 20 police were injured, and Batts said one of them remained hospitalized Tuesday. About 20 businesses and more than 140 cars burned as the mayhem spilled into Tuesday's early hours. From 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., the city's Office of Emergency Management reported 10 major blazes. "Acts of violence and destruction of property cannot and will not be tolerated,'' Hogan said. "This is far from over.'' President Obama promised a thorough investigation into the death of Gray. U.S. Justice Department officials met with members of Gray's family late Tuesday, in addition to relatives of police officers who were most seriously injured in Monday's unrest, a Justice official said. Vanita Gupta, chief of the department's Civil Rights Division, and Ronald Davis, director of the Community Oriented Policing Services office, were dispatched to Baltimore to represent the department. A man stands in front of a line of police officers in riot gear as part of a community effort to disperse the crowd ahead of a 10 p.m. curfew Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Baltimore. (Photo11: David Goldman, AP) Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke with Hogan and members of the Maryland congressional delegation to discuss the developments in Baltimore and to offer assistance. Across the city, schools were closed, the National Guard was on the streets and wreckage was everywhere. Across the street from a burned and looted CVS store, several people threw water bottles at officers who stood in riot gear. At times protesters argued among themselves, some pleading for a peaceful event and others arguing that the police officers needed to feel the pain they have inflicted on the community. Still, Batts said only two arrests were made by late afternoon. "For the most part, the city has been calm today,'' Batts said. James Brown, 27, an event planner, said he believes the situation will worsen. "This is not going to end," he said. "Black men feel like we don't have rights. We are not being heard." Earlier, Rawlings-Blake toured the destruction. "We will not let these deplorable and cowardly acts of violence ruin our city," she tweeted. "I sincerely want to thank all those out there cleaning up streets and sharing their love for #OurCity. Thank you, Baltimore!" Rawlings-Blake walked back comments she made about "thugs" trying to tear down the city. "I wanted to say something that was on my heart … We don't have thugs in Baltimore. Sometimes my little anger interpreter gets the best of me," she said, pointing to her head. "We have a lot of kids that are acting out, a lot of people in our community that are acting out." She dismissed claims that she waited too long to send in a heavy police and National Guard presence. She cited a "delicate balancing act" between managing the problem and making it worse. "It is very important that we respond to the situation as it is on the ground," she said. "There are always going to be armchair quarterbacks who have never sat in my seat." Police Capt. John Kowalczyk said the relatively light initial police presence was because authorities were preparing for a protest of high schoolers. A heavy police presence and automatic weapons would not have been appropriate, he said. Kowalczyk said police made more than 200 arrests, 34 of them juveniles. During the mayhem, social media was alive with "#purge," an apparent allusion to the film The Purge, which featured a 12-hour period in which all crime is legal. Police stand guard as people protest near the CVS pharmacy that was set on fire Monday during rioting after the funeral of Freddie Gray, on April 28, 2015 in Baltimore. (Photo11: Andrew Burton, Getty Images) Gray, 25, died April 19, one week after being arrested and suffering a severe spinal injury. After Gray's funeral Monday, protests ostensibly against police violence quickly deteriorated into devastating riots. Bands of looters, some armed with crowbars, roamed the city, hurling rocks at police, destroying patrol cars, smashing store windows and torching buildings. Residents swept glass and debris from battered sidewalks and streets while National Guard members stood sentry during daylight hours Tuesday. Tanisha Owens, 30, an elementary school teacher living in Baltimore, said she hopes young people will get a chance to come to peaceful protests in the city and learn how to voice their concerns. "My students see this destruction happen to their communities and they need to also see the good side of it," Owens said. "I want them to understand that not everyone is bad. There's also good in their city." Owens added that she was impressed at how quickly people cleaned up stores affected by looting. She and several co-workers came to the city with brooms and gloves but found that all the places they wanted to volunteer were already cleared of debris. But many said they remain frustrated by what they believe is unfair treatment of blacks by police. "We have too much violence against all the little brown children," Mitchum Alexander, 46, of Baltimore, said. "We need to put a stop to this and educate law enforcement and people in society so incidents like this don't occur." Martin O'Malley, former governor of Maryland and former mayor of Baltimore, stopped by West Baltimore where hundreds of demonstrators gathered all day. "There's a lot of pain in our city right now, a lot of people feeling very sad," O'Malley said. "We have got to come through this together. We are a people who have seen worst days and we will come through this." Yet as O'Malley walked through crowds of protesters some heckled him and told him to leave. Wayne Gray, 47, has lived in Baltimore his entire life and said O'Malley had a chance to help the city and didn't. Instead, Gray said O'Malley didn't help improve the lives of poor people and started the culture and policies that led to over arresting black men. "He had a chance to fix this," Gray said of O'Malley. "He's part of the frustration that built up in these black men." Hogan also toured parts of the city. "What happened last night is not going to happen tonight," he said.l Many businesses, wary of a resurgence of violence that had overwhelmed police and fire fighters, closed on Tuesday. The list included Security Square Mall with more than 100 stores in western Baltimore. Many downtown businesses were closed, and mutual fund houses T. Rowe Price and Legg Mason announced that most employees were working from home. Jamal Bryant, a local activist and pastor of Empowerment Temple AME Church, opened his church to teens with no place to go due to the school closures. He promised to conduct training on how to protest without destroying the city. Bryant tweeted: "We're also gonna take HS students to go clean up OUR neighborhoods. We must rise from the ashes. Meet at @EmpowermentTem2 at 10" Obama also said economic and cultural problems must be addressed to fully solve the problem of violence on streets here and across the nation. Still, he stressed, that's no excuse for the violence. "When individuals get crowbars and start opening doors to loot, they're not protesting," Obama said in response to a query at a White House news conference. "They're not making a statement. They are stealing. When they burn down a building they are committing arson. And they are destroying and undermining businesses and opportunities in their own communities." Contributing: Donna Leinwand Leger, John Bacon Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1GAkHaySign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week! Next level your BBQ pork chops by adding crushed pineapple into the BBQ sauce before baking them. Yes, it’s that easy! I’ve also kicked up the heat and garlic (go figure!) by mixing a little hot sauce, garlic and onion in as well. And this sauce would also be amazing on chicken breasts too! These babies are MUST TRY. Who knows…it might become your new favorite family meal!?!?! Yield – 4 servings Preparation Time – 10 minutes Cooking Time – 30 minutes Ingredients 4 boneless pork chops Salt and pepper, to taste 8 oz. can crushed pineapple 1 cup BBQ sauce 1 tsp hot sauce 1 tsp minced garlic 1 tsp minced onion Dinner rolls, as side dish Fresh veggies, as side dish Directions Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly spray baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Open the can of crushed pineapple. Do not drain. In a small bowl, whisk together the crushed pineapple (with juices), BBQ sauce, hot sauce, minced garlic, and minced onion. Pour a thin layer into the base of the baking dish and spread around. Place the pork chops into the saucy baking dish, season with a little salt and pepper, and then pour the remaining pineapple BBQ sauce evenly over the pork chops. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 40 minutes, or until pork chops are cooked through. Cooking time will vary depending on thickness of the pork chops. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Warm the dinner rolls. Prepare veggies. Serve Pineapple BBQ Pork Chops with dinner rolls and veggies.Surely you've seen a caterpillar in your lifetime, and you've probably even handled one, but how much do you know about Lepidopteran larvae? These cool facts about caterpillars will give you new respect for what remarkable creatures they are. A Caterpillar Has Just One Job -- to Eat During the larval stage, the caterpillar must consume enough to sustain itself through its pupal stage and into adulthood. Without proper nutrition, it may not have the energy to complete its metamorphosis. Malnourished caterpillars may reach adulthood, but be unable to produce eggs. Caterpillars can eat an enormous amount during a life cycle stage that typically lasts several weeks. Some consume 27,000 times their body weight during this life phase. Caterpillars Increase Their Body Mass by as Much as 1,000 Times or More The larval stage of the life cycle is all about growth. Within the span of a few weeks, the caterpillar will grow exponentially. Because its cuticle, or skin, is only so pliable, the caterpillar will molt multiple times as it gains size and mass. The stage between molts is called an instar, and most caterpillars go through 5 to 6 instars before pupating. No wonder caterpillars consume so much food! A Caterpillar's First Meal Is Usually Its Eggshell In most cases, when a caterpillar ecloses (hatches) from its egg, it will consume the remainder of the shell. The outer layer of the egg, called the chorion, is rich in protein and provides the new larva with a nutritious start. A Caterpillar Has as Many as 4,000 Muscles in Its Body That's one seriously muscle-bound insect! By comparison, humans have just 629 muscles in a considerably larger body. The caterpillar's head capsule alone consists of 248 individual muscles, and about 70 muscles control each body segment. Remarkably, each of the 4,000 muscles is innervated by one or two neurons. Caterpillars Have 12 Eyes On each side of its head, a caterpillar has 6 tiny eyelets, called stemmata, arranged in a semi-circle. One of the 6 eyelets is usually offset a bit and located closer to the antennae. You would think an insect with 12 eyes would have excellent eyesight, but that's not the case. The stemmata serve merely to help the caterpillar differentiate between light and dark. If you watch a caterpillar, you'll notice it sometimes moves its head from side to side. This most likely helps it judge depth and distance as it navigates somewhat blindly. Caterpillars Produce Silk Using modified salivary glands along the sides of their mouth, caterpillars can produce silk as needed. Some caterpillars, like gypsy moths, disperse by "ballooning" from the treetops on a silken thread. Others, such as eastern tent caterpillars or webworms, construct silk tents in which they live communally. Bagworms use silk to join dead foliage together into a shelter. Caterpillars also use silk when they pupate, either to suspend a chrysalis or to construct a cocoon. Caterpillars Have 6 Legs, Just as Adult Butterflies or Moths Do There are way more than 6 legs on most caterpillars you've seen, but most of those legs are false legs, called prolegs, which help the caterpillar hold onto plant surfaces and allow it to climb. The 3 pairs of legs on the caterpillar's thoracic segments are the true legs, which it will retain in adulthood. A caterpillar may have up to 5 pairs of prolegs on its abdominal segments, usually including a terminal pair on the hind end. Caterpillars Move in a Wavelike Motion, From Back to Front Caterpillars with a full complement of prolegs move in a fairly predictable motion. Usually, the caterpillar will first anchor itself using the terminal pair of prolegs and then reach forward with one pair of legs at a time, starting from the hind end. There's more going on than just leg action, though. The caterpillar's blood pressure changes as it moves forward, and its gut, which is basically a cylinder suspended inside its body, advances in sync with the head and rear end. Inchworms and loopers, which have fewer prolegs, move by pulling their hind ends forward in contact with the thorax and then extending their front half. Caterpillars Get Creative When It Comes to Self Defense Life at the bottom of the food chain can be tough, so caterpillars employ all kinds of strategies to avoid becoming a bird snack. Some caterpillars, such as the early instars of black swallowtails, look like bird droppings. Certain inchworms in the family Geometridae mimic twigs, and bear markings that resemble leaf scars or bark. Other caterpillars use the opposite strategy, making themselves visible with bright colors to advertise their toxicity. A few caterpillars, like the spicebush swallowtail, display large eyespots to deter birds from eating them. If you've ever tried to take a caterpillar from its host plant, only to have it fall to the ground, you've observed it using thanatosis to thwart your efforts to collect it. A swallowtail caterpillar can be identified by its smelly osmeterium, a special defensive stink gland just behind the head. Many Caterpillars Use the Toxins From Their Host Plants to Their Own Advantage Caterpillars and plants co-evolve. Some host plants produce toxic or foul-tasting compounds meant to dissuade herbivores from munching their foliage. But many caterpillars can sequester the toxins in their bodies, effectively using these compounds to protect themselves from predators. The classic example of this is the monarch caterpillar and its host plant, milkweed. The monarch caterpillar ingests glycosides produced by the milkweed plant. These toxins remain within the monarch through adulthood, making the butterfly unpalatable to birds and other predators. SourcesThe inventor of the world wide web Tim Berners-Lee said people were absolutely right to take to the streets to protest SOPA, PIPA and ACTA and said disconnecting a family’s internet service in today’s world deprives people of their ability to communicate. He said people would likely choose prison than lose their internet connections. Ironically, he was speaking in a country that recently signed into law a contentious statutory instrument that provides court judges with the power to potentially deprive users of their internet access in copyright cases. Berners-Lee was in Dublin today to keynote the 2012 Teradata Universe Conference at the National Convention Centre. In the US, widespread protests against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy) and its sister act PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property) shocked politicians into rethinking the controversial proposed legislation. When thousands signed petitions across Europe after politicians signed ACTA (Anti-Copyright Trade Agreement) without any consultation, the European Commission took note and referred the matter to the European Court of Justice. But when 75,000 people in Ireland protested the statutory instrument, the politicians signed the law anyway. Open data but protect privacy Berners-Lee, who also directs the UK’s Data.gov.uk project to open up official data for public use, was strident in his views that governments and enterprises should look to releasing data sets for the public good and to enable better business opportunities. Claims by government bodies that the quality of the data isn’t good enough is a standard delaying tactic, he warned. He was equally strident that privacy, anonymity and human rights must also be respected by governments as they patrol the internet to combat terrorism or pedophiles’ activities. Speaking with journalists today, he said public and private organisations can release open data sets without compromising individuals’ privacy or anonymity or revealing other sensitive information. For example, datasets in healthcare can be analysed without revealing personal information or "violating patient rights." He said providing some of the pieces of the jigsaw should be enough to allow people to develop the full picture, for example, analysing heart disease or cancer cases in a district and linking such datasets with genomic datasets. He said data licences that safeguard privacy are essential. "But if you start doing things to de-anonymise the data, that’s not good." Government internet censorship He said he has nothing against government monitoring of internet data as long as privacy is respected. "In general, we have to make sure that governments are not spying on the the internet except for serious issues, like terrorism. “In my book, a child stealing a song is not a serious organised crime, governments should be focusing on terrorism, serious fraud and other serious crimes. “Governments must remember that where data is stored it is like dynamite, it can reveal intimate details about individuals, could be used to blackmail and lead to coercion." He said we need to avoid situations like the Middle East and China, where government snooping on internet use leads to incarceration. In relation to pressure from the recording industry and Hollywood in the US and UK to create laws that deprive users of their internet access and France where HADOPI legislation allows for three-strikes rules, Berners-Lee said he disapproved of over-zealous laws. “Disconnecting an entire family from the internet and making them lose their internet service, I think, is more than censorship – that is actually depriving somebody of their ability to communicate. “In fact, if you offer people a choice between going to prison but having access to the internet and being at home without access to the internet, they will choose the prison option. “It’s a serious loss of liberty if you take away someone’s internet access. “People should write to their MPs or politicians and sign petitions. In the US, with SOPA and PIPA, people saw these laws as an attack on their rights and there was such an uproar and lawmakers hadn’t seen anything like it. “Get out there. With ACTA in Europe, which was done without consulting a lot of people, people took to the streets and jumped up and down and protested," Berners-Lee said.Several lawyers are to be involved in the defense of the Vnukovo Airport snowplow driver; the private jet crashed into his vehicle while trying to take off, killing all aboard. MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - The lawyer of a snowplow driver involved in the Monday night fatal plane crash killing the chief executive of French energy giant Total said his client was not drunk at the time of the incident, television channel RT reported Tuesday. "My client is suffering from an acute heart condition; he does not drink at all and his relatives and friends can testify to that. He was sober at the time of the crash," Alexander Karabanov was quoted as saying by RT. He added that several lawyers are to be involved in the defense of Vladimir Martynenko, a driver of the snowplow. "We don't want the blame for the accident to fall on an ordinary man," the attorney said. A Falcon 50 business jet crashed late Monday night in the Vnukovo-3 Airport in Moscow after hitting a snow removal vehicle on takeoff. The aircraft was flying from Moscow to Paris with Total CEO Christophe de Margerie as the only passenger on board besides three crew members, also French citizens. All four died in the crash. Earlier on Tuesday, Russia's Investigative Committee said that the snowplow driver was drunk at the time of the accident.The alarming image above is part of a training video McGill University will be showing students to prepare them for the (unlikely) possibility of an active shooter on campus. It is part of a chilling scene that depicts a masked gunman loading a weapon and then stalking the hallways of a campus building, randomly shooting at anyone in his path. “Every second counts,” counsels the video. “Active shooter situations are unpredictable and evolve quickly. … Planning could save your life.” McGill has taken the unsettling step of choosing to not just prepare students for the workforce, but for the unlikely event they may one day encounter an active shooter on campus. The new training video, which has been distributed among teachers to share with their classes, coaches faculty and students on how to react if a gunman starts randomly firing in the hallways, classrooms, libraries – or anywhere – on the tranquil university campus. Laced with constant warnings about its disturbing nature, the video provides three main tactics for surviving such an ambush by a shooter: run, hide, fight. “As unlikely as it is, it could happen,” the video says. “Odds are you will never face the unthinkable, but if you do, keep the odds in your favour. … You can never fully prepare for an active shooter, but you can improve your chances of surviving.” Ollivier Dyens, deputy provost of student life at McGill, sent out the video to faculty Thursday morning with a note asking them to disseminate as widely as possible “this training video on what to do in the unlikely event of a shooter on campus.” Participation is critical, he noted, saying McGill is dedicated to providing its community “with the safest environment possible.” As the video was just distributed Thursday, many students and staff contacted about it weren’t even aware of it yet. Terry Hébert, president of the McGill Association of University Teachers, said in an email he hadn’t yet seen the video. It was the same for Erin Sobat, vice-president of university affairs for the Students’ Society of McGill University. In an interview Thursday, Dyens said it’s something he’s been wanting to do for a while and he just figured the start of the school year was the best time, especially in light of “all the events” (terrorist shootings in Europe) of the spring and summer. “If, God forbid, something happens we want to make sure we’re as prepared as we can be,” he said, admitting “there’s no easy way to broach the subject” and that the video could be upsetting as it is “quite powerful.” And it arrives at a relevant time in Montreal’s own history – on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Dawson College shooting, Sept. 13, which ended the life of first-semester student Anastasia De Sousa, as well as injuring 16 others. While Dawson now relies on many security measures to keep students safe – including upgraded surveillance cameras, an extra security shift during peak hours, dead bolts on all classroom and lab doors and a two-way intercom system – it has no plans to create an active shooter training video, said Donna Varrica, co-ordinator of communications. She said Dawson has been advised not to engage in lockdown exercises because it can create “chaos and panic, even trauma, in some,” she said. Might the new McGill video cause anxiety among students on campus? Teachers already have to give trigger warnings about a variety of topics that can distress students. Dyens said he understands it could, which is why teachers were told to advise students about its troubling nature in advance and that they aren’t obliged to watch it. He also provided contacts for the university’s counselling and mental health services. “It could scare them but there’s no easy way to prepare students,” he said. “We want people on campus to know what they should be doing.” One McGill student who watched the video, but didn’t want to be identified, called it “slightly shocking,” particularly “the push to choose action over fear,” as the video counsels. However, the student still believes it’s useful. “It’s important people understand how to react in a chaotic and frightening situation. Better safe than sorry, and a 13-minute video is worth saving lives.” It’s not the first such video the university has used, but it’s the first it has participated in making (the video was made by campus public security, using some footage from an Alberta production depicting a shooting) and the first it is proactively distributing to be seen and discussed among the university community. Concordia University – which had its own campus massacre in August 1992, when a disgruntled engineering professor killed four colleagues and wounded a staff member – uses a different video, produced in the U.S., but one with a similar message which is available on its website, said media relations director Chris Mota. In the McGill video, it’s a normal day on campus – students diligently taking notes in class or studying in the library – until someone starts shooting. Panic quickly ensues, with students and staff screaming and fleeing the scene while more shots are fired. Others barricade themselves in classrooms. Those in the line of fire fight to overtake the gunman. If it sounds like gunshots but you’re not sure, react as though it is, counsels the video. Your first recourse is to flee, if you can. If not, hide. And barricade your hiding spot. Turn off the lights. Be quiet. Mute your phone. You don’t want to attract the shooter’s attention. The last resort is to fight, using objects as weapons to disarm and incapacitate the shooter. “Commit to aggressive action,” it says. “Be ready to fight for your life.” Alarming advice, but necessary in today’s world, said Dyens. “Unfortunately.” [email protected] twitter.com/KSeidmanBreaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. Nov. 27, 2016, 5:26 AM GMT / Updated Nov. 27, 2016, 5:26 AM GMT By Associated Press Six people have died and five others remained on life support after a rare condition known as "thunderstorm asthma" struck Melbourne, Australia, officials said Sunday. The sixth victim died in a hospital on Saturday night from medical complications stemming from a wild thunderstorm that struck Australia's
… What is funny is that last Sunday it was raining hard in L.A. I was driving to the art store and I got into an accident. It wasn’t that serious and I wasn’t hurt but it’s the first car accident I’ve ever had. I drove home and that’s when the wheel came off my BMW. My assistant told me I could have died if the wheel had come off when I was on the freeway. Then I was watching the news and saw Harrison had his crash. I’m a bit worried it’s the curse of Star Wars.” Ford’s plane crash came just months after he broke his leg on the set of the movie in the U.K. and had to take a hiatus from filming while he recovered, and Fisher admits the accident was “more serious than was let on”, adding, “It could have been billions of times worse. Fisher goes on to reveal she has sent a case of beer to Ford as he recovers from his plane crash injuries in hospital as part of a long-running joke between the pair. She explains, “(One time) he said, ’Look, do you want to fly or can we have a beer?’ He wouldn’t have a drink if we were going to fly. It became something of a joke between us that I chose to have a beer that time rather than fly. I sent him some beers to the hospital with the message, ’You should have had a beer this time’.”Dylan DeBoard was in his Mount Vernon, Ohio, front yard putting his grill together when he saw something alarming. A few houses down, a police officer was struggling with a suspect on the porch, and from what DeBoard could see: “The suspect had the upper hand.” The suspect, who was under the influence of meth, managed to pin down Officer Michael Wheeler and then went for his gun. He’d also ripped off Wheeler’s shoulder mic, which prevented him from calling for backup. With his back against the porch and the suspect pounding on him, Wheeler felt like he might not make it back home to his wife and children. But suddenly, the suspect stopped the attack and raised his hands. Standing there to save the day was DeBoard, with his handgun drawn on the criminal. Wheeler used the moment of distraction to his advantage. He flipped the suspect over and cuffed him. DeBoard told Independent Journal Review how Wheeler reacted to him being at the right place at the right time. “After he found out that I have a license to carry, he gave me the most heart-filled thank you that I ever received.” He revealed how the decision to act was even bigger than just saving Wheeler: “The more I think about it, right behind me was my home with my son, my fiance, and my mother in it. I did what needed to be done to protect them, so if the suspect would have taken Wheeler’s gun, yes I would have killed him or died trying to protect my family.” And he explained why he didn’t think twice about pulling his weapon: “I don’t know why I didn’t think twice, maybe because they are the values that I grew up on. I was taught that when someone is in need and you can help them out, you just do it.” Yet, even though DeBoard has been credited with saving a life, he thinks Wheeler is the one who deserves the gratitude: “Officer Wheeler does thank me every time I see him and I truly appreciate it, but I still thank him. He was there in my neighborhood helping my neighbors and my family.” Later on, the Mount Vernon Police Department gave DeBoard an award to recognize his heroism: DeBoard described the emotional ceremony: “When I was at the city council meeting his entire family was there and they had nothing but thanks and tears in their eyes.” He added this piece of advice: “Protect your family, friends, neighbors…we live in a crazy world and the only way to make it better is to help each other and protect one another.”Given the fact that a large amount of people–users and non-users alike–have a severe distrust of Facebook and their intentions, it’s not that surprising that hundreds of thousands of people have already signed a petition asking that the largest social network in the world please kindly refrain from listening to users’ conversations. Ok, that might be a little misleading. What people want is for Facebook to cancel their plans to release a new app feature that passively listens to users’ background activity in order to identify songs, TV shows, movies, and more to help with easier status sharing. Or, you know, possibly eavesdrop on your most intimate conversations, store that data, and sell it to the highest bidder. What we have here is a classic case of I don’t believe a goddamned word you say, as Facebook is pretty clear about what the new features does, and maybe more importantly, what it doesn’t do. First, let’s look at what Facebook says it does: When writing a status update – if you choose to turn the feature on – you’ll have the option to use your phone’s microphone to identify what song is playing or what show or movie is on TV. That means if you want to share that you’re listening to your favorite Beyoncé track or watching the season premiere of Game of Thrones, you can do it quickly and easily, without typing. As for what it doesn’t do, Facebook says that not only is no sound stored, but it can’t even understand background noise like conversations–only movies, music, and TV shows. It’s kind of like Shazam, but with more sharing. It seems the creators of a fast-moving petition on the site Sum Of Us take issue with that last part. “Facebook says the feature will be used for harmless things, like identifying the song or TV show playing in the background, but it actually has the ability to listen to everything — including your private conservations — and store it indefinitely,” says the petition. “Not only is this move just downright creepy, it’s also a massive threat to our privacy. This isn’t the first time Facebook has been criticized for breaching our right to privacy, and it’s hoping this feature will fly under the radar. No such luck for Facebook. If we act now, we can stop Facebook in its tracks before it has a chance to release the feature.” The petition continues… “Facebook says it’ll be responsible with this feature, but we know we can’t trust it. After all, just a few months ago Facebook came under fire for receiving millions of dollars for working with the National Security Agency’s PRISM, a wide-scale and highly controversial public electronic data surveillance program — something its CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially denied…” Still denies, actually. The petition currently has about 235,000 signatures out of a necessary 250,000. At the rate it’s moving, it should hit its threshold by the end of the day, thanks to social media and a nice, warm reddit hug. The feature is set to land on both iOS and Android in the next few weeks. Image via YouTubeTheresa May under pressure as DUP says: ‘Show some respect’ Theresa May will press ahead with a Brexit-dominated Queen’s speech shorn of a series of controversial social policies after failing to complete “confidence and supply” negotiations with the Democratic Unionist party. The Conservative leader will become the first prime minister in decades to lay out a legislative programme without a guaranteed House of Commons majority after DUP sources said the two-party negotiations “haven’t proceeded in the way we would have expected”. The Northern Irish party accused Downing Street negotiators of being chaotic and said the “Conservative high command ought to stop their backbenchers whingeing about the DUP and show our party some respect”. The DUP added that the party “can’t be taken for granted”. No 10 sought to brush off the intervention, with May promising on Tuesday that she would use the Queen’s speech to respond with “humility and resolve to the message the electorate sent” after the snap general election left the Tories with 318 seats, eight short of an overall majority. Plans for a new generation of grammar schools will be among a number of high-profile policies to be dropped by the PM, in a speech which will instead emphasise Brexit, counterterrorism and the least controversial aspects of the domestic agenda. The speech is likely to steer clear of any mention of contentious issues such as gay marriage or abortion. Ian Lavery, the chair of the Labour party, accused May of having “no mandate, no authority and no programme” to even win support in parliament for those areas of policy. “This is chaos from a weak and wobbly prime minister,” he said. “At the moment, it looks like the Tories are unable to put together even a basic programme for government in the Queen’s speech, or stitch together a stable deal with the DUP to stay in office.” Tory sources insisted the government was confident of winning support for its legislative agenda, with an agreement with the DUP still expected to be signed off on Thursday – well before next week’s crucial parliamentary vote on the Queen’s speech. Defeat for May in that vote would mean her government would fall. May’s own backbenchers – including some of her most vociferous critics – also made clear that they would back the government at this point, although made no promises for continued support in the medium term. In order to secure enough parliamentary backing, May will have to scrap plans to end free school meals for younger pupils, and drop her party’s social care policy, including means-testing of the winter fuel allowance alongside lifting the ban on selective schools. She insisted, however, that she would be pushing ahead with Brexit legislation, including a “great repeal bill – to bring EU regulations into UK law – and a series of other bills linked to customs, trade, immigration and agriculture. Labour politicians join forces to fight against Tories' hard Brexit Read more “Much has been said in recent days about what the general election signified about Britain’s decision to leave the EU,” she said, responding to a clamour from some for a softer form of Brexit given the new parliamentary mathematics. “The fact is that over 80% of the electorate backed the two major parties, both of whom campaigned on manifestos that said we should honour the democratic decision of the British people.” A cabinet minister said Jeremy Corbyn’s party was essentially in the same position as the Tories when it came to ending free movement and leaving the single market, despite a number of backbench Labour MPs questioning the position. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said Labour would seek to create alliances with Tory rebels and other parties to “reverse some of the most dangerous cuts” of austerity. “There’s a whole range of issues around austerity where we think there may well be majorities in parliament now to reverse some of the proposals, particularly those brought forward in the last budget,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “We’ll finalise the drafting of amendments over next the next few days. We’ll wait to see the Queen’s speech today. From all the reports it’s pretty light. “But remember, most of the austerity that’s rolling forwards is from the budget, and we won’t see another budget until the autumn.” May said her government would be one that “consults and listens” as she struck a more conciliatory tone after the election seriously weakened her leadership and resulted in the loss of her two closest advisers, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill. “The election result was not the one I hoped for, but this government will respond with humility and resolve to the message the electorate sent,” May said. “We will work hard every day to gain the trust and confidence of the British people, making their priorities our priorities.” She will face a tense atmosphere on Wednesday, with protesters planning a “Day of Rage” march on parliament in protest at the government’s handling of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Organisers have written on Facebook that they hope to “bring down the government” and “shut down London”. A difficult few weeks for May led to her facing crowds chanting “coward” after initially failing to meet people affected by the fire. As well as the series of Brexit bills, May is expected to respond to recent attacks in Manchester, London Bridge, Westminster and Finsbury Park with beefed-up counter-terrorism plans, including a focus on social media. Theresa May faces legal challenge over proposed deal with DUP Read more There will also be some uncontroversial domestic moves including a civil liability bill to tackle a “rampant compensation culture” in which whiplash claims have spiked. There will also be a financial guidance and claims bill to help consumers make effective decisions, and draft legislation on cracking down on domestic violence – particularly where children are involved – and pushing ahead with plans to ban letting fees for renters. Sources said the Queen’s speech would also include a consultation on social care and a bill on mental health - but nothing on the NHS more widely. In order to pass the legislation next week, May is almost certain to need the support of the 10 DUP MPs to give her a majority in the Commons. Problems have emerged in the discussions between the Tories and the DUP, with unionist sources saying “backbiting from Tory backbenchers” against their party had stiffened their resolve to dig in. They said complaints by Tory MPs about having to deal with the DUP had gone down badly. “They attempted to bounce us into a deal on Saturday night and then we had the backbenchers saying that we were unsavoury, etc.” There is also a concern within the DUP that extra spending in Northern Ireland could trigger a barrage of complaints from English, Scottish and Welsh Tories over the special treatment. The DUP wants to abolish air passenger duty for Northern Ireland’s airports – but there are concerns that a special deal could lead to demands for the same elsewhere in the UK. The DUP deal is likely to be one of “confidence”, through which the party will back the Queen’s speech and support the government in any confidence votes, and “supply”, which refers to support for budgets and financial measures. Hannah White, the director of research for the Institute for Government thinktank, explained how May would have to operate to survive the parliament. Tory MPs urge loyalty after suggestion Theresa May has 10 days to improve Read more “Getting legislation through the Commons should be possible with effective whipping,” she said. “While government and opposition numbers on public bill committees will be evenly balanced, procedural conventions around the way the chair votes when a committee vote is tied mean the Conservatives should be able to get bills through committees without any amendments. “Then, drawing on the support of the DUP or other parties, they may be able to make any amendments they need at the report stage.” May will, however, face fierce resistance to some of her Brexit legislation, with a parliament in which opponents of a hard Brexit feel emboldened by the general election result. Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said: “Theresa May failed to win a mandate at the ballot box for her no-deal Brexit. Instead, we need a Brexit deal that puts jobs and rights at work first.” She said the great repeal bill “must not be allowed to get away with eroding the rights that working people got from the EU”. Other campaign groups, including Global Justice Now and Another Europe is Possible, claimed the legislation could result in a “decimation of rights”.A NEW conflict in Gaza is likely unless Israel lifts its blockade on the Palestinian enclave, a senior UN aid official has warned. James Rawley, the chief UN humanitarian official for the Palestinian territories, said that the international community had failed during more than a month of fighting between Israel and Hamas, which has killed nearly 2000 Palestinians and 67 people on the Israeli side. Speaking as a new three day ceasefire began in the Gaza strip, Mr Rawley called for the Palestinians to be allowed to trade freely with the outside world again. Read Next “The blockade must be lifted not only to get material into Gaza in order to rebuild it but to allow Gaza to do what it was doing very well just 10 years ago, to trade with the outside world,” he said. Mr Rawley said Israel’s legitimate security concerns must be addressed but warned that unless the blockade was ended, another round of fighting was “likely”. “Not only will we see very little in the way of reconstruction, but I am afraid that the conditions are in place for us to have another round of violence like we’re seeing now,” he said. “It (another conflict) would be likely... it doesn’t make me feel good to say that.” The latest ceasefire, announced on Sunday, has cleared the way for the resumption of talks on a long-term truce to end a month of heavy fighting in the Gaza strip that has taken over 1,930 Palestinian lives. It marked the second time in less than a week that the bitter enemies had agreed to Egyptian mediation. A similar three-day truce last week collapsed in renewed violence over the weekend. In Cairo, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the truce scheduled to take effect at midnight would allow humanitarian aid into battered Gaza neighbourhoods and the reopening of indirect talks on a more lasting and comprehensive deal. Hamas is seeking an end to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade against Gaza, while Israel wants Hamas to dismantle its formidable arsenal of rockets and other weapons. Palestinian negotiators accepted the proposal early on Sunday after meeting with Egyptian officials throughout the weekend. Israeli officials concurred later. Both delegations are back in Cairo. Qais Abdelkarim, a member of the Palestinian delegation, said indirect talks with the Israelis would begin Monday “with the hope of reaching a lasting ceasefire.” The goal, he added, was to end the blockade, which he called “the reason for the war.” The recent fighting has been the heaviest between Israel and Hamas since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. More than 1900 Palestinians have been killed, including hundreds of civilians. On the Israeli side, 67 people have been killed, including three civilians. Nearly 10,000 people have been wounded and thousands of homes destroyed. The fighting ended in a three-day ceasefire last Tuesday. Egypt had hoped to use that truce to mediate a long-term deal. But when it expired, militants resumed their rocket fire, sparking Israeli reprisals. The violence continued throughout the weekend, including a burst of fighting late Sunday ahead of the expected ceasefire. The Israeli military reported some 30 rocket attacks from Gaza on Sunday. Palestinian medical officials said seven people were killed in Israeli air strikes, including the bodyguard of a Hamas leader, the medical officials said. Israel had walked away from ceasefire talks over the weekend. “Israel will not negotiate under fire,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier Sunday, warning that his country’s military campaign “will take time.” Last week’s talks failed in part because Israel rejected Hamas’ demand for a complete end to the blockade. Israel says the closure is necessary to prevent arms smuggling, and officials do not want to make any concessions that would allow Hamas to declare victory. A senior Palestinian negotiator acknowledged that the Palestinians would make more modest demands this time around. He said they will seek an end to the bloodshed in Gaza and an easing — but not an end — to the blockade. “We might not get everything we want, particularly on freedom of movement. But we believe the Israelis and the world have gotten the point that Gazans should live normally and things should be much better than today,” the negotiator said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing internal Palestinian deliberations. Israel says Hamas must disarm. Hamas has said handing over its arsenal, which is believed to include several thousand remaining rockets, is out of the question. The blockade has greatly limited the movement of Palestinians in and out of the impoverished territory of 1.8 million people for jobs and schooling. It has also limited the flow of goods into Gaza and blocked virtually all exports. An Egyptian crackdown on smuggling tunnels along Gaza’s southern border has made things even tougher by robbing Hamas of its key economic pipeline and weapons conduit. Gaza’s unemployment rate surpasses 50 per cent, and Hamas is unable to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of workers. An easing of the blockade would mean an increased role for Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces were ousted by Hamas seven years ago. Officials said the rival Palestinian factions were already exploring options that would give Abbas, who now governs in the West Bank, a foothold in Gaza, including the likely control of its border crossing with Egypt. At a minimum, Israel will want guarantees that the rocket fire will stop. A 2012 ceasefire promised an easing of the blockade but was never implemented — in part because of sporadic rocket attacks by various armed factions in Gaza. Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said Hamas could get the blockade lifted by accepting longstanding international demands to renounce violence and recognise Israel’s right to exist. “They want to get legitimacy as a terrorist organisation without accepting the requirements of the international community,” she told a news conference. In the West Bank, Palestinian health officials said an 11-year-old boy was shot and killed Sunday by Israeli forces in a refugee camp near the city of Hebron. Witnesses and relatives of the boy said Israeli security forces opened fire at Palestinian stone-throwers. They said the boy was standing on the road in front of his home at the time. The military said its forces encountered a “violent riot” and opened fire. It acknowledged that the boy was killed in the violence and said it was investigating. The current Gaza war escalated from the abduction and killing of three Israeli teens in the West Bank in June. Israel blamed the killings on Hamas and launched a massive arrest campaign, rounding up hundreds of its members in the West Bank. Hamas and other militants unleashed rocket fire from Gaza.Nearly 20 drivers participated in a preseason test session Wednesday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park nearly in anticipation of the 2017 NASCAR Pinty’s Series season opener. Among the participants was two-time series champion D.J. Kennington, who was testing his No. 17 Castrol Dodge before heading to Talladega Superspeedway. Kennington will attempt to qualify for his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start of the season. “Our car ran well during the test at CTMP,” Kennington said. “We ran about 10 laps in the car and had a good test just making sure everything we right with the car and it was fast. We should be good to go when we come back and get it dialed in for the season opener.” While Kennington is ready to challenge for his third Pinty’s Series championship, the St. Thomas, Ontario native is also looking forward to qualifying for the Cup race at NASCAR’s largest and fastest oval track. From the editor, also read: American driver Williams to compete in Pinty’s Series in 2017 “We’re getting everything ready and I’ll be in North Carolina (today) with the team and get the car loaded up and headed to Talladega,” Kennington said. “Having Mike Ford on board with us as crew chief for this race is huge for our team. He brings so much experience to our team and it should be a big help for us to try and qualify for the race. If we get in the show anything can happen so we’re going there to do the best we can.” Kennington qualified for the Daytona 500 and was running with the leaders when he was collected in a multi-car accident. L.P. Dumoulin, the 2014 series champion, also logged laps at the historic road course located outside of Toronto as Trois-Rivieres. The Quebec native was pleased with his test. “The test session went really well for us in our No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge,” said Dumoulin. “Our team worked really hard in the offseason on our cars and its already paying dividends for our team. Last year was a challenging year for us but the guys in the shop have kept working hard and we’re looking forward to the season.” While the test session was relatively calm for most competitors, Alex Tagliani couldn’t say the same for his No. 18 Lowes Canada/Epipen Chevrolet. “We had the drive shaft break on our second lap of practice and when that happened I lost all rear braking and hit the wall in Turn 5,” said Tagliani. “I hit the tire barrier pretty hard as I picked up speed before hitting the tires. I’m okay and our car was really fast before we had the mechanical issue.” The Can-Am 200 on May 21 kicks off the 13-race 2017 season for Canada’s only NASCAR-sanctioned touring series.How much do you really know about Hoboken? Founded in 1630 after being purchased for half a barrel of beer, 12 kettles, 6 guns and a few other treasured items, Hoboken has accrued a rich history with some impressive Hollywood ties, sports facts and inventions. So here it goes: Hoboken was originally an island (seriously). It was surrounded by the Hudson River. The first organized baseball game was played in Hoboken in 1846 (New York Nine vs. Knickerboxers). The zipper was invented here by Automatic Hook & Eye Co. Could you imagine life without them? Eli Manning, the quarterback for the NY Giants lives in Hoboken, NJ. Check out his rap skills here Justin Timberlake filmed a commercial at Maxwell’s in 2013. The legendary crooner Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken in 1915 on Monroe St. An Acadamey Award winning film, “On the Waterfront” was shot entirely in Hoboken. For 43 years the floats for the Macy’s Day Parade were stored in North Hoboken, in a former tootsie roll factory. Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, The Black Keys & many others Have anything to add? Comment below! EDITS MADE: Timeline for the Macy’s day parade floats was updated. Thanks Mental Floss!Keith Duffy thinks other members of Boyzone and Westlife would love to join the super-group Boyzlife - but he doesn't want them. Keith Duffy thinks other members of Boyzone and Westlife would love to join the super-group Boyzlife - but he doesn't want them. Keith Duffy: 'I'm sure they would love to join Boyzlife but we haven't invited them' The Dubliner is one half of the group, which also features Brian McFadden. Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden have formed Boyzlife They have been on a tour of the UK and have no plans to invite any other former members to join them. "I'm sure they would love to join but we haven't invited them," he said. "We don't want them. "Why would you want to split the money three ways instead of two ways? "We just did about 29 dates in the UK. We did Glasgow right down to Brighton. "It's a bit full-on at the moment, but it's all good." Boyzlife has not gone without controversy, with Keith previously hitting out at former Westlife members Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne after he heard they criticised the group. He said the pair took themselves too seriously and he did not care what they thought about the group. The father-of-two reckons he and Brian will continue to perform together for many years to come. "Boyzlife has been going on for two years now and it's going to keep going," he told the Herald. "By default or by accident, we have fallen into a corporate market and the corporate work that's coming in is fantastic. It's great, we're getting to travel and getting to work together. "Myself and Brian have always been pals. We don't take anything too seriously. "We're doing gigs for cruise lines, for Euro Disney, it's very busy. "We're going to keep going for as long as people want to see us." Keith and Brian have begun writing some new material together, which they hope to record over the coming months. However, Boyzone's 25-year reunion in 2018 is taking top priority for the time being. "We've already written a couple of songs together and we're going to get in and record them over the next couple of months," Keith said. "There's a Boyzone reunion happening next year and Warner Music have signed a deal with us for a new album, which we're going to record in November and December, and then we'll be out in April for an arena tour." Keith's former Boyzone bandmate Ronan Keating recently welcomed a new addition to his family. His wife Storm gave birth to their first child together, a boy named Cooper, and Keith revealed he has been introduced to him on Skype. Keith was speaking at the launch of Dolmio's Mealtime Memories initiative, which encourages families to make an effort to have their meals together. Online EditorsImage caption Mango growers get paid only when the product reaches the end user The year ahead seems gloomy for almost half a million people in a small district in the southern part of India, as a result of last year's Arab Spring. Mango cultivators in the district of Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, are worried after last year's political uprising in the Middle East and Northern Africa resulted in the $100m (£63m) mango pulp industry grinding to a halt. Arab countries - including Yemen, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and Kuwait where mango juice, mango milk shakes and mango puddings are popular energy boosters - are among the major importers of mango pulp from the districttraditionally importing some 70% of Krishnagiri's output. "Our fate depends on the political situation in the Arab world," says Rama Gounder, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Agriculturalists Association (TNAA). In recent months, it has become clear that the political turbulence in some of these countries has thrown the lives of India's mango growers out of gear. Many importers from the Arab world who have placed orders for mango pulp from Krishnagiri have failed to turn up to take delivery of the consignments, according to Mr Gounder. This has happened even in cases when advances of some 20-25% of costs have been paid, he says. This is because many importers are concerned that the uncertain political situation will make transport and distribution both less safe and more costly, so they worry about losing money rather than making a profit from such trade. Loan burdens Krishnagiri's mango cultivators are spread over an area of more than 100,000 acres (40,000 hectares). Image caption Making money from mangoes has become difficult for Indian cultivators Here, some 175,000 tonnes of mango pulp is produced each year. Some 250,000 people are employed directly by the growers and cultivators, though it is estimated that the industry supports an additional 400,000 jobs indirectly. So when the mango cart is rocked, "many thousands of labourers are at the risk of losing their jobs", according to mango pulp manufacturer Ellappan Madhavan, who is also secretary of the Krishnagiri district's mango industry body. "Under the present circumstances, we are unable to repay the loans," he says, referring to how local pulp manufacturers generally borrow working capital of between $200,000 and $1m on the back of orders placed by merchandised exporters. The cultivators are paid only for the mangoes they deliver once the exporters' shelves are cleared and they themselves have been paid by the final customers. Currently, mango stocks are either stuck in warehouses in India or in the ports in various countries in the Arab world, which means no cash is travelling up the supply chain. 'Irreparable loss' Image caption Some farmers have cut down mango trees in despair Many farmers have switched to mango cultivation in recent years, inspired by the boom in the export of mango pulp. Each year, some four million saplings are planted in the Krishnagiri district. This has helped increase productivity considerably, says Mr Manoharan, who owns a 150-acre mango plantation. "The mango industry is a tricky one and operates on a cyclic mechanism," he says. "Any break in the link leads to irreparable loss and affects many thousands of families immediately." Many mango farmers have started cutting down mango trees in despair and pulp manufacturers say that the hope of a reasonable export in 2012 is all the more grim. Mango milkshake The cultivators also feel vulnerable because insurance companies decline to offer insurance for mangoes, which they describe as perishable goods with limited storage value, observes Mr Manoharan. The crops are susceptible to natural damage from heavy wind, rain or drought, according to the insurers. The Tamil Nadu Agriculturalists Association feels the Indian government should have come to their rescue, given that the crisis has been caused by forces beyond their control So far, the only response from the federal government of Tamil Nadu has been an initiative to offer mango milkshakes in state-run schools as part of a social welfare programme. This has helped create a market for some of the mango. In addition, the agricultural exports agency India-APEDA says is looking at ways to help.Kentucky Coal Company Plans To Build State’s Largest Solar Farm April 19th, 2017 by Steve Hanley Berkeley Energy Group is a coal company located in eastern Kentucky, one of the areas of America hit hardest by declining coal production. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, coal extraction in Eastern Kentucky fell from 23 million tons in 2008 to about 5 million tons last year. Over the same period of time, mining employment dropped from 14,373 to 3,833. Now Berkeley Energy says it will build the largest solar farm in Appalachia. The solar panels will be erected on land reclaimed at the end of strip mining operations. In partnership with EDF Renewable Energy, the company is currently conducting feasibility studies for the project on two reclaimed strip mines, both located in the eastern part of the state. It estimates the solar farm could produce up to 100 megawatts of electricity — ten times the size of Kentucky’s largest solar farm today. It says it doesn’t intend to replace coal production with the solar farm. Instead it sees the project as a chance to reclaim used land while creating job growth in the area. “I grew up with coal,” said Ryan Johns, BEG project development executive. “Our company has been in the coal business for 30 years. We are not looking at this as trying to replace coal, but we have already extracted the coal from this area.” Everywhere across America, jobs in the renewable energy sector are growing. According to a Sierra Club analysis published earlier this year, clean energy employs more people than fossil fuel jobs by more than 2.5 to one and renewable energy jobs exceed fossil fuel jobs in almost every state. In recent years, solar and wind jobs have grown at a rate 12 times faster than the rest of the U.S. economy. Clean energy employs more people than fossil fuels in nearly every US state. Former Kentucky Auditor Adam Edelen, who is involved in the solar farm project, says interest in the project has been high, especially among unemployed coal workers. Many Kentucky companies are looking to renewable energy as a way to reduce their carbon footprint and that is pushing the state to embrace forms of energy other than coal. Kentucky presently has no renewable energy target. It is not the only red state to embrace large scale renewable energy. Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma are the top three states in the country when it comes to installed wind capacity. North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada are the second, third, and fourth in the nation when it comes to installed solar capacity. When a coal company elects to build a solar farm instead of digging more coal, the renewable energy transformation is well and truly under way and gathering speed. Source: Think ProgressThe moderator for Tuesday night's vice presidential debate is getting a thumbs down by her peers in the media for not being more aggressive with the candidates, especially Republican Mike Pence. Elaine Quijano, a CBS digital news anchor, took a largely hands-off approach to the one and only vice presidential debate, allowing Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine a more "open discussion." Others in the media were dissatisfied with her performance. "[S]he is to blame for preventing real debate, and for allowing Mike Pence to pretend he isn't running on a ticket with Donald Trump," said liberal writer Isaac Chotiner at Slate. CNN media reporter Dylan Byers said Quijano "lost control" of the debate and "stopped the candidates when they were in the middle of a good discussion and failed to stop them when they were simply talking over one another." Glenn Thrush, Politico's top political correspondent, said her "inexperience" showed. Quijano was rarely seen on camera, even when she spoke. She asked almost no follow-up questions, did not fact-check the candidates and re-directed the candidates to address specific questions only a couple times when they wandered off topic. Her style was in direct contrast to last week's presidential debate, moderated by NBC News anchor Lester Holt, who was far more aggressive in following up on topics. He asked Donald Trump roughly seven follow-ups to Hillary Clinton's one. Holt also rebutted Trump on several occasions, attempting to fact-check him live. Kaine spent much of the debate repeatedly challenging Pence to answer for controversial marks Trump has made throughout the campaign, such as calling some Mexican illegal immigrants "rapists." Pence almost exclusively met those challenges by shaking his head and pivoting to an attack against Clinton or Kaine. Quijano did not interject to side with Kaine, though at some points when Kaine was attacking Pence, she redirected the debate to a new topic. "[Lester] Holt was looking better in hindsight," wrote Politico media reporter Hadas Gold.0 Mother throws children to safety during fire SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. - A family is recovering after taking desperate measures to escape an apartment fire at the Azalea Park apartment complex. The mother, Raven Hines, had to toss two of her children over a balcony down to neighbors willing to catch them. The fire started around 4 p.m. Friday. “I saw the smoke and I knew the fire was close. I remember seeing the ceiling melting but I don’t remember smelling the smoke or feeling the fire,” said Hines. When Hines opened her apartment door, she couldn’t see the staircase – so she knew jumping over the balcony was the only way out. TRENDING STORIES: Neighbors down below said they’d catch the children – so she grabbed her 1-year-old son, put him over the railing and dropped him. “He was looking up at me like why did you just do this? Why? He held onto his bottle tight the whole way down,” said Hines. She grabbed her 10-year-old daughter, Aliyah, next. “I was like – I don’t want to go down there,” said Aliyah. “I don’t remember doing this, but she said I picked her up over the balcony and threw her,” said Hines. Mom jumped next. The fall fractured her leg and left her with a huge gash on her forehead. She’s thankful that her family survived, and thankful that the fire was in the daylight hours instead of after dark. “Many people would’ve died if that had happened. If it was at night, no one would’ve been up to smell the smoke,” said Hines. The family has set up a GoFundMe account if you would like to donate to their recovery effort. Raven Hines had to toss two of her children over a balcony down to neighbors willing to catch them. © 2019 Cox Media Group. © 2019 Cox
the globe, 2017 heralded a string of jobs losses across various sectors such as construction sector, steel industry, public sector, and media. Locally, many workers have been on the edge, complacent in the knowledge that their firm could be bracing for cuts to spike costs amid dwindling returns on investment. Now Tata Motors, India's leading automaker says that up to 1,500 from its total 'white collar' workforce will lose their jobs, an exercise that started in 2016. In that move, Tata Motors has reduced its staff at managerial levels from 14 to 5 in what it termed 'organisational restructuring'. The sacking, the firm said, was done following performance and leadership reviews of the employees and had nothing to do with cost cutting. The current process involves reduction of white - collar from its total workforce. "The reference (total managers) on which we started (the exercise) was in the vicinity of 13,000... we do see as far as the white collar population is concerned, an overall reduction in the vicinity of 10-12 per cent (up to 1,500)," Tata Managing Director and Chief Executive Guenter Butschek said in a statement read to reporters. He was speaking after releasing the firms earning for the fiscal year 2016-17. The retrenchment exercise however will not impact the firm's 'blue-collar' workforce. With the inevitable and regrettable impact of restructuring and redeployment on employees, one can only hope that Tata Motors will explore all redeployment opportunities and ensure that compensation is provided to affected employees, together with appropriate life skills training and counselling sessions. With the job-cuts, Tata Motors joins an unenviable list of firms that have laid off their staff citing automation, cost cutting, and performance, amongst other reasons, in the recent times. These include automaker Ford, which is likely to lay off about 10 percent of its global workforce to boost profits and its stock price, Toubro, a construction and engineering powerhouse that decided to shed of 14,000 jobs, and HDFC Bank sent off a workforce of 10,000 in the first half of FY17 alone, to mention a few.Many in the pundit-sphere said Wednesday was a great day for Donald Trump. His one-two punch of meeting with Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico City and delivering a substantive immigration reform and border security speech played very well with the American people as well as the people of Mexico. Proof of this great day—of the public’s approval of Trump’s actions and words—came in an inarguably significant way. To put it bluntly, Trump broke the Internet! Well, he at least broke his website due to a sudden influx of visitors to check out his positions and donate to his campaign! Trump website CRASHES Due to high volume of donors after #Immigration speech! @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/xpL69a5R8M — Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) September 1, 2016 In politics, a valid and serious indicator of how your campaign is doing is how it performs in fundraising. Since Donald Trump has been, to a large part, self-funding his campaign, that barometer wasn’t in play…until now. “The donations page is down due to ‘unusually high volume of traffic,’” Hoft tweeted. “This was at 10:53 PM.” That was directly after Donald Trump left the stage in Arizona. This financial indicator should be felt as a sea-change earthquake in the Clinton campaign. When a national campaign website can be taken out by people wanting to give money in the wake of a policy speech, that means the people liked what they heard. Trump laid out, in specifics, his immigration reform and border security plan on Wednesday. Far from “flip-flopping,” as his opposition tried to paint it in the complicit mainstream media, Trump stood firmly behind each and every promise he made throughout the campaign. He talked about how those with criminal records would be deported and how an extensive and in-depth vetting process – “extreme vetting” – would be put in place to protect the American people from drug cartel operatives and Latin American gangs from the South and Islamofascist terrorists from the East. He talked about embracing true and honest immigration so that the country could benefit from the existence of people passionate about freedom and assimilated into the American experience. He talked about enforcing the laws we have on the books – laws the Obama Administration has ignored for eight years. He talked about eliminating the lawlessness of sanctuary cities and punishing criminal illegal aliens who commit crimes against American citizens. And he talked about building the wall. Even as the Mexican President tweeted out that Mexico would not be paying for the construction of the wall, Trump insisted that the cost of the wall’s construction would come out of the Mexican end of trade negotiations and not from the American taxpayers. While the Clinton campaign scrambles to play catch-up from the massive Trump victory on Wednesday, one thing is for certain. The Trump campaign has all the momentum in this election, and the crashing of the donation page at the Trump website is proof undeniable. Borrowing from and paraphrasing a line in the movie Backdraft, “Hillary, you know that little glow that’s starting to blink in the corner of your eye? That’s your career dissipation light. It just went into overtime.” What do you think about a huge number of supporters crashing Trump’s donation page on his website? Please share this story on Facebook and tell us because we want to hear YOUR voice!Compiler: Visual C++ 2010 Operating System: Windows 7 32bits Tested machine CPU: Intel core i3 Download: preVSpost (demo project) (1049 downloads) A recent Visual C++ team’s comment on twitter.com reminded me a hot topic that exists in C++ programming world: there is a long discussion of using pre versus post increment operators, specially, for iterators. Even me I was witness to a discussion like this. The discussion started from a FAQ written by me on www.codexpert.ro. The reason of preferring pre increment operators is simple. For each post-increment operator a temporary object is needed. Visual C++ STL implementation looks similarly with next code: _Myt_iter operator++(int) { // postincrement _Myt_iter _Tmp = *this; ++*this; return (_Tmp); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 _Myt_iter operator ++ ( int ) { // postincrement _Myt_iter _Tmp = * this ; ++ * this ; return ( _Tmp ) ; } But for pre-increment operator implementation this temporary object is not needed anymore. _Myt_iter& operator++() { // preincrement ++(*(_Mybase_iter *)this); return (*this); } 1 2 3 4 5 _Myt_iter & operator ++ ( ) { // preincrement ++ ( * ( _Mybase_iter * ) this ) ; return ( * this ) ; } In the discussion that I mentioned above, somebody came with a dummy application and tried to prove that things have changed because of new compilers optimizations (the code exists in the attached file, too). This sample is too simple and far away to the real code. Normally the real code has more code line codes that eat CPU time even if you’re compiling with /O2 settings (is obviously). Base on that VC++ team’s tweet related to viva64.com’s research I decided to create my own benchmark base on single and multicore architectures. For those that don’t know Viva64 is a company specialized on Static Code Analysis. Starting from their project I extended the tested for other STL containers: std::vector, std::list, std::map, and std::unordered_map (VC++ 2010 hash table implementation). For parallel core tests I used Microsoft’s new technology called Parallel Pattern Library. 1. How the tests were made 1.1. Code stuff In order to get execution time I used same timer as Viva64 team (with few changes). Each container instance was populated with 100000 elements of same random data. An effective computing function was repeated 10 times. Into this function some template functions are called for 300 times. The single core computing function contains loops like this: for (size_t i = 0; i!= Count; ++i) { x += FooPre(arr); } // where FooPre looks like template <class T> size_t FooPre(const T &arr) { size_t sum = 0; for (auto it = arr.begin(); it!= arr.end(); ++it) sum += *it; return sum; } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 for ( size _ t i = 0 ; i!= Count ; ++ i ) { x += FooPre ( arr ) ; } // where FooPre looks like template < class T > size_t FooPre ( const T &arr ) { size_t sum = 0 ; for ( auto it = arr. begin ( ) ; it!= arr. end ( ) ; ++ it ) sum += * it ; return sum ; } For the parallel core computing the first simple for loop has changed in: parallel_for (size_t(0), Count, [&cnt,&arr] (size_t i) { cnt.local() += FooPre(arr); }); 1 2 3 4 parallel_for ( size_t ( 0 ), Count, [ &cnt, &arr ] ( size _ t i ) { cnt. local ( ) += FooPre ( arr ) ; } ) ; Where cnt is an instance of combinable class and the sum of partial computed elements is obtained by calling combine() method: cnt.combine(plus<size_t>()); 1 cnt. combine ( plus < size_t > ( ) ) ; As you can see, the parallel_for function uses one of the new C++ standard features: a lambda function. This lambda function and the combinable class implements the so called parallel aggregation pattern and helps you to avoid the multithreaded common share resource issues. The code is executed on independent tasks. The reason that this approach is fast is that there is very little need for synchronization operations. Calculating the per-task local results uses no shared variables, and therefore requires no locks. The combine operation is a separate sequential step and also does not require locks. 1.2. Effective results The tests were running on a Intel core i3 machine (4 cores) running Windows 7 on 32bits OS. I tested debug and release mode for single and multi cores computation. The test application was build in VC++ 2010 one of the first C++11 compliant. The OX axis represents the execution repeated times, and the OY axis means time in seconds. 1.2.1. Single core computation Debug Release 1.2.2. Multi cores computation As you know, multi core programming is the future. For C++ programmers Microsoft propose a very interesting library called Parallel Pattern Library. The overall goal is to decompose the problem into independent tasks that do not share data, while providing a sufficient number of tasks to occupy the number of cores available. This is how it looks my task manager when the demo application runs in parallel mode. Isn’t it nice comparing to a single core use? 🙂 Debug Release 1.2.3. Speedup Speedup is an efficiency performance metric for a parallel algorithm comparing to a serial algorithm. Debug ReleaseKanye West recorded ‘The Life of Pablo’ in a variety of different studios across the world — including Italy! When Kanye West dropped The Life of Pablo last year, the hip hop world stopped what they were doing immediately to listen. As a result, the album hit Platinum status just two months after being released. Hitting the market on February 14th, The Life of Pablo featured a long list of artists and producers including (but not limited to) Rick Rubin, Mike Deans, Metro Boomin, Swizz Beatz, Chance the Rapper, Young Thug, Rihanna, Kid Cudi, Ty Dolla $ign and Desiigner. Since going Platinum, Kanye West has been everywhere without being anywhere. Staying low key since cancelling his Saint Pablo tour and mental breakdown, Kanye has since dropped his first ever jewelry line, a kids clothing line with Kim Kardashian and began working on his new album in Wyoming. With all eight of Kanye’s albums going Platinum so far, I’m sure to expect the same from his new album. Want your voice heard? Join the Wake Up Mr. West team! Write for us! After releasing the full album credits for TLOP, Kanye also released a full list of locations that he recorded the album at. The list includes studios across the world, but mainly in California and New York. It’s quite an interesting lineup and explains the different types of sounds that are heard on the album. Let’s go through all the locations, starting with one of the more odd ones out. No Name Studios Florence, Italy Not much info was given on where Kanye recorded in Florence, but it was likely a hotel or rented condo ordeal due to the ‘no name studios.’ It’s important to note that Florence, Italy was where Kanye West and Kim Kardashian got married in May 2014. Moving on to another ‘no name studios’ and unique location compared to the rest of the locations.As I noted yesterday, Floyd Corkins, the guy who planned to kill a bunch of people at the Family Research Council offices in Washington, DC and then rub Chick-fil-A sandwiches in their faces as they died, pleaded guilty yesterday. And he admitted that he picked the FRC and several other targets based on a “Hate Map” at the Southern Poverty Law Center website: If this sounds familiar to you, it’s exactly what the left and the media (PTR) claimed was the cause behind Jared Lee Loughner’s shooting spree in Arizona two years ago, in which he killed six people and severely wounded Gabby Giffords. Within hours, our moral, ethical, and intellectual betters seized upon a map from Sarah Palin’s website as the cause: According to leftist logic, this map made Jared Loughner shoot a bunch of people, whether he ever saw it or not. It didn’t matter whether he saw it. It didn’t matter that blaming Palin for it made no sense. It didn’t matter that it was insane. It felt right. So they went with it. Now we have another maniac and another map. Except this time, the maniac is pointing directly at that map and saying, “That’s why I picked those people.” But since the targets of his thwarted rampage don’t hold the correct opinions, they don’t count. They’re not keeping quiet about it, as Paul Bedard reports: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said that the Southern Poverty Law Center should take responsibility for the shooting and take down their hate map. “The day after Floyd Corkins came into the FRC headquarter and opened fire wounding one of our team members, I stated that while Corkins was responsible for the shooting, he had been given a license to perpetrate this act of violence by groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center which has systematically and recklessly labeled every organization with which they disagree as a ‘hate group,'” he said. “Once again, I call on the SPLC to put an immediate stop to its practice of labeling organizations that oppose their promotion of homosexuality,” said Perkins, adding, “Whether the SPLC continues to demonize those who hold to biblical morality or not, the Family Research Council will remain unequivocally committed to our mission of advancing faith, family and freedom.” But the left and the media hate the FRC’s opinions about homosexuality, so that will be the story. I noted yesterday that in CNN’s story on Corkin’s guilty plea, the SPLC isn’t mentioned until paragraph 19. Talk about burying the lede. Which makes sense when you consider that CNN actively promoted the SPLC after Corkins’ arrest. Newsbusters: Only 20 hours after the shooting, CNN cited a 13 year-old FRC pamphlet to support the SPLC’s label of them as a “hate group.” Anchor Zoraida Sambolin passionately insisted: “But it is spewing hate, isn’t it? It is spewing hate. So it’s hate spewing hate.” Four days after that, anchor Randi Kaye used the SPLC map to report on “hate groups” in the U.S., still treating it as a credible source. Maps don’t make people do things, any more than guns make people do things. The point here is the double standard. The left blamed a map for Gabby Giffords’ shooting because it was an excuse, however tenuous, to blame conservatives. Now they’re going to ignore, underplay, and/or explain away Floyd Corkins’ open admission that he used the SPLC’s “Hate Map” to target conservatives. Because they are utterly corrupt. P.S. In related news: Suspected LA Cop Killer Posted Pro-Obama, Pro-Gun Control, Leftist Rant on the Web. But you won’t hear about it on the network news. That’s the rule among the media: It’s “right-wing violence” even if it doesn’t have anything to do with the right wing, and it will receive saturation coverage. Whereas violence that’s very clearly left-wing gets perfunctory national coverage (if any) that ignores the left-wing motive. Again: They are utterly corrupt.Spain announces host venue for game versus Ireland VALENCIA TO HOST WORLD CUP QUALIFIER Following on from Monza staging a match in this autumn’s Rugby League World Cup European qualifiers, in another first for the sport, Valencia is set to host a tie, with Quatre Carreres announced as the venue for Spain’s Pool B clash with Ireland on 22 October. The round two game could be potentially decisive for the Spanish following on from their away encounter in Moscow seven days earlier, and is the latest chapter in the young rugby league country’s unexpected march towards the finals. “The Ireland game will not only be against our highest-level opposition in our history but it's possibly our chance to progress through to the Antipodes next year,” said Spanish head coach Darren Fisher. “Spain is well known for the ex-pat community here and I’m sure Irish supporters will be out to enjoy the match in Valencia, it is a terrific city. “It's exciting to be part of the qualifying rounds, we will try not to get carried away too much in the emotion of the occasions. I will be preparing the squad for two very challenging, different styles in Russia and Ireland. The game has already attracted a lot of interest.” Spain defeated Latvia in the European Championship C pre-qualifier, then surprised Malta and Greece to take their place in this autumn’s European qualifiers, as well as gaining promotion to European Championship B, which will resume in 2018. Ireland face Russia at home on 29 October and will be seeking to win the group in front of their own fans. RLI director Richard Egan said: “We are really looking forward to visiting Valencia. There is an air of uncertainty around the Spanish team as we haven’t faced them before, but we have seen their results and we know we will need to prepare for a tough encounter.” Rugby League World Cup 2017 European qualifiers - Pool B match 2 22 October - Spain v Ireland, Quatre Carreres, Valencia (kick off 1pm)1st February 2015 U.S. Navy announces progress with railgun technology The Electromagnetic Railgun – a weapon that will play a major role in the future of the U.S. Navy – will be shown to the public for the first time on 4th-5th February at a technology expo in Washington DC, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has announced. The EM Railgun is a long-range weapon that fires projectiles using electricity instead of chemical propellants. Magnetic fields created by high electrical currents accelerate a sliding metal conductor, or armature, between two rails to launch projectiles at 4,500 mph – nearly six times the speed of sound. Unlike traditional artillery that destroy targets using explosive materials, the railgun inflicts damage by the extreme speed of impact. The kinetic energy of the warhead also eliminates the hazards of storing high explosives in the ship and leaving unexploded ordnance on the battlefield. Its pinpoint accuracy and phenomenal range (over 100 miles) will be a "game-changing and disruptive technology" according to the U.S. Navy. Each 18-inch projectile will cost about $25,000, compared to $500,000 to $1.5 million for conventional missiles. A prototype program was started in 2005 and demonstrated proof-of-concept at 32 megajoules of energy. Phase II, which began in 2012, has been focussed on rep-rate fire capability and thermal management techniques required for sustained use. This program continues to make progress and is now scheduled for at-sea testing aboard a Joint High Speed Vessel – USNS Millinocket – in 2016. When perfected, it is hoped that the final version of the railgun will achieve 64 megajoules of energy, with an even longer range. Experts from the ONR, Naval Sea Systems Command and BAE Systems will showcase the railgun to the public, for the first time, on 4th-5th February at the Naval Future Force S&T EXPO, the Navy's premier event to share information, discuss research opportunities and build science and technology partnerships between the Navy and Marine Corps, industry and academia. "This year's Expo will showcase the naval portfolio of innovative breakthrough technologies that are shaping our warfighting tactics today and changing the way our Sailors and Marines will operate in the future," says Rear Admiral, Mat Winter. "The Electromagnetic Railgun is among several disruptive capabilities that the Naval Research Enterprise is championing to ensure a dominant, capable and relevant naval force for the future." "The Electromagnetic Railgun brings significant technological advances to our Sailors and Marines," says Roger Ellis, program manager at ONR. "As the system moves forward along its planned schedule from the laboratory launcher, we've achieved breakthroughs in compact power and gun design, and will test the next phase of prototype at both sea- and land-based sites in 2016 and 2017." The video below is of some earlier testing conducted in 2012. Further advances in reducing the mass, size and cost of the required power supplies could lead to railguns becoming practical and used routinely on U.S. Navy ships by 2025. Comments »The Dutch city Hertogenbosch, colloquially referred to as “Den Bosch,” remains remarkably similar today to its layout during the medieval age. Similar enough, says mayor Tom Rombouts, that the city’s celebrated native son, painter Hieronymus Bosch, if somehow revived, could still find his way blindfolded through the streets. This year, timed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Bosch’s death, Den Bosch is hosting the largest-ever retrospective of the renowned and fanciful eschatological painter who borrowed from his hometown’s name to create a new one for himself. The exhibition, “Hieronymus Bosch: Visions of Genius, ” held at Den Bosch’s Het Noordbrabants Museum gathers 19 of 24 known paintings and some 20 drawings by the master (c. 1450-1516). Several dozen works by Bosch’s workshop, followers, and other of his contemporaries provide further context in the exhibit. What makes this exhibit even more extraordinary is that none of Bosch’s works reside permanently in Den Bosch. In the run-up to the exhibit, the Bosch Research and Conservation Project engaged in a multi-year, careful study of as much of the Bosch repertoire as it could get its hands on. In news that made headlines in the art world, the researchers revealed that “The Temptation of St. Anthony,” a painting in the collection of Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art -- believed not to be an actual Bosch -- was painted by Bosch himself and that several works at the Museo del Prado in Spain were actually painted by his workshop (his students.) Bosch’s art is known for its fantastical demons and hybrids and he’s often discussed anachronistically in Surrealist terms, even though he died nearly 400 years before Salvador Dalí was born. In his “Haywain Triptych” (1510-16), a fish-headed creature with human feet clad in pointed black boots swallows another figure with a snake twisted around her leg. Elsewhere, in “The Last Judgement” (c. 1530-40) by a Bosch follower, a figure with a human head, four feet and peacock feathers narrowly avoids the spear of a bird-headed, fish-tailed demon dressed in armor and wearing a sword. Bosch’s is a world in which figures are likely to wear boats as clothing or to emerge from snail’s shells; one of greatest dangers is getting eaten alive by demons; and eerily, owls proliferate. Most bizarre, perhaps, is a drawing by Bosch and workshop titled “Singers in an egg and two sketches of monsters,” in which a musical troupe (one member has an owl perched on his head) practices its craft from inside an egg. Beyond the exhibit itself, the city is obsessed with Bosch. Cropped figures from Bosch’s works appear throughout Den Bosch, plastered to storefront windows, and toys shaped like Bosch’s demons are available for sale in museum gift shops. Other events include a boat tour of the city’s canals (with Bosch-styled sculptures punctuating the canal edges and hellfire projections under bridges), a nighttime light show projected on buildings in city center (which was inspired by a family trip the mayor took to Nancy, France), and much more. “This city is the world of Bosch. Here, he must have gotten all of his inspiration through what happened in the city and what he saw in the churches and in the monasteries,” Rombouts says in an interview with Smithsonian.com. “This was little Rome in those days.” When one projects back 500 years, though, it’s hard to dig up more specific connections between Bosch and his city due the lack of a surviving paper trail. Late last year, researchers at the Rijksmuseum were able to identify the exact location of the street scene in Johannes Vermeer’s “The Little Street”, thanks to 17th-century tax records. But there is no such archive for Bosch, who kept few records that survive today. There is no indication that he ever left the city of Den Bosch, and yet no depictions of Den Bosch, from which he drew his name, seem to surface in any of his paintings or drawings. The town does know, however, in which houses the artist, who was born either Joen or Jeroen van Aken into a family of painters, lived and worked and where his studio stood. The latter is a shoe store, and the former a shop whose proprietors had long refused to sell but, nearing retirement age, they have slated the house for sale to the city to turn into a museum, the mayor says. Asked if Den Bosch will be able to purchase any works by Bosch, Rombouts says the city had hoped to do so, but price tags are prohibitive. “If we would have been more clever, we could have said to [the Kansas City museum], ‘May we have it on loan for eternity?’ And then said that it is a Bosch,” he says. “But we would have to be honest.” While those at the Nelson-Atkins were surely elated to learn about the upgrade, curators at other museums who saw works they considered to be authentic Bosch’s downgraded were none too happy, said Jos Koldeweij, chairman of the Bosch Research and Conservation Project’s scientific committee. “Sometimes it’s very emotional; sometimes it’s very academic,” he says. “At the end, it should be very academic, because museums are not art dealers. So the value in money isn’t what is the most important thing. What’s most important is what everything is.” Still, some conversations “got touchy,” he says. In addition to the Prado works, the committee declared two double-sided panels depicting the flood and Noah’s ark at Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, as being from the workshop and dated to c.1510 to 1520. The museum, however, identifies both as Bosch and dated to 1515, the year before his death. “This is a process of consensus, and discussions about the originality of a work will continue until everyone agrees,” says Sjarel Ex, the Boijmans’ director. “We think that it is very necessary,” Ex says of the investigation, noting the importance in particular of Bosch’s drawings. “What do we know about the time over 500 years ago?” he adds. Just 700 drawings remain in all of Western culture which were created before the year 1500. “That’s how rare it is,” he says. The star of Bosch’s repertoire, the Prado’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” is not part of the exhibit, although that’s unsurprising. “It’s huge and too fragile,” Koldeweij says. “Nobody reckoned it would come. It’s impossible. There are a number of artworks that never travel. So [Rembrandt’s] ‘Night Watch’ doesn’t go to Japan, and the ‘Garden’ doesn’t come here.” “Death and the Miser” from Washington’s National Gallery of Art (c. 1485-90 in the gallery’s estimation, and c. 1500-10 in the exhibit’s tally) appears early in the exhibit and reflects powerfully the religious view that would have been ubiquitous in 16th-century Den Bosch.. In what is perhaps a double portrait, a man – the titular “miser,” a label associated with greed and selfishness—lies on his deathbed, as a skeleton opens the door and points an arrow at the man. An angel at the man’s side guides his gaze upward toward a crucifixion hanging in the window, as demons do their mischief. One looks down from atop the bed’s canopy; another hands the man a bag of coins (designed to tempt him with earthly possessions and to distract him from salvation); and yet others engage perhaps another depiction of the miser (carrying rosary beads in his hand) in the foreground as he hoards coins in a chest. That choice between heaven and hell, eternal life and perpetual damnation, and greed and lust on the one hand and purity on the other -- which surfaces so often in Bosch’s work -- takes on an even more fascinating role in this particular work. Analysis of the underdrawing reveals that Bosch originally placed the bag of coins in the bedridden man’s grasp, while the final painting has the demon tempting the man with the money. The miser, in the final work, has yet to make his choice. “Responsibility for the decision lies with the man himself; it is he, after all, who will have to bear the consequences: will it be heaven or hell?” states the exhibition catalog. The same lady-or-the-tiger scenario surfaces in the “Wayfarer Triptych” (c. 1500-10) on loan from the Boijmans. A journeyer, likely an Everyman, looks over his shoulder as he walks away from a brothel. Underwear hangs in a window of the decrepit house; a man pees in a corner; and a couple canoodles in the doorway. As if matters weren’t sufficiently dour, a pigs drink at a trough -- no doubt a reference to the Prodigal Son -- in front of the house. The man has left the house behind, but his longing gaze, as well as the closed gate and cow obstructing his path forward, question the degree to which he’s prepared to actually carry on along the straight and narrow path, rather than regressing. And his tattered clothes, apparent leg injury, and several other bizarre accessories on his person further cloud matters. Turning on the television or watching any number of movies today, one is liable to come across special effect-heavy depictions of nightmarish sequences that evoke Bosch’s demons and hell-scapes. In this regard, Bosch was doubtless ahead of his time. But his works are also incredibly timeless, particularly his depictions of people struggling with basic life decisions: to do good, or to do evil. The costumes and the religious sensibilities and a million other aspects are decidedly medieval, but at their core, the decisions and the question of what defines humanity are very modern indeed.Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that his government supports the positions of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, “because it embraces the Palestinian cause and struggles for its people.” In an interview with a local TV channel on Saturday, Davutoglu stressed that his government supports any organisation or individuals who serve the interests of Palestinians. “Those who criticise Turkey’s support for Hamas are not aware of the balance of power in the Middle East,” he said. Hamas should not be discarded from any ceasefire efforts, he added. Excluding Hamas from discussions, he claimed, is the reason for the delay in reaching a ceasefire. “The will of Palestinians should not be ignored,” he insisted. Stressing the importance of Egypt’s role in the Palestinian cause, the minister pointed out that the most essential party to any ceasefire agreement is the people of Palestine, including Hamas and other resistance groups. “Hamas is not an authoritarian movement as some claim,” said Davutoglu. “There are diverse thoughts and opinions within Hamas, and it’s not controlled by one individual. It’s based on consultation.” Furthermore, Davutoglu pointed out that Hamas is not an international movement, but rather a national resistance movement that struggles for the defence of its land against occupation. “There are no foreign fighters in Hamas,” he noted.This article originally appeared on AlterNet. An interesting new study compares the leading causes of death today against the leading causes of death in 1901, providing an eye-opening look at how much our world has changed over the course of a century. Advertisement: One thing we never learned growing up, while watching “Bonanza” or “Gunsmoke” or “Rawhide,” was how truly fragile life could be in the Old West. If we took our cowboy television seriously, we might think the leading cause of death was a gunfight, or hanging for horse thievery, or maybe falling off a horse. The truth was much more mundane. The leading cause of death in 1901, almost 59,000 cases, was actually diarrhea, or other intestinal distresses. Not far behind was tuberculosis at 55,000. Pneumonia was third at 48,000. Today we take medicines like antibiotics or vaccines for granted, but without them our death statistics would likely look very similar to those of 1901. Here’s the rest of the list: 4. Heart disease 5. Bright’s Disease (kidney disease) 6. Congenital disorders (birth defects) 7. Apoplexy (bleeding of internal organs) 8. Unknown causes 9. Premature birth 10. Convulsions Looking at this list, we can see that none of these causes of death, save for heart and kidney disease, is widespread today. The lack of medical knowledge back then made survivable circumstances fatal. Advertisement: The leading cause of death in the United States today is certainly not diarrhea. (For that, we just down a few tablespoons of Pepto Bismol.) Instead, heart disease has leapfrogged to number one, with 614,000 deaths. Following heart disease is cancer, with 591,000, and chronic lung disease a distant third at 147,000. The rest of the list looks like this: 4. Accidents 5. Stroke 6. Alzheimer’s disease 7. Diabetes 8. Influenza and pneumonia 9. Kidney disease 10. Suicide What strikes one most of all from this modern list is that most of these causes of death are age-related. The longer we live, the more likely we are to fall victim to heart disease, cancer, emphysema, stroke or Alzheimer’s. The reason most of these are not on the 1901 list is that the average life expectancy in that era was only about 50 years. People simply didn’t live long enough to get cancer back then. Meanwhile, most of the causes of death on the 1901 list are absent from the modern list because modern medicine has figured out treatments for them. Advertisement: The modern list is also notable in that the fourth leading cause of death is accident, something missing from the 1901 list. We can speculate that the reasons for this have much to do with technology. Back in 1901, people got from here to there mostly by horse or railroad. Today, motor vehicles take us where we want to go, often at very high speeds. A horse accident was unlikely to cause death, and in fact, it was only the 11th-highest cause of death in 1901, about 550 deaths. Meanwhile over 32,000 people died in 2014 from car accidents alone. The list of deaths by accident in 1901 seems almost quaint today: 1. Heat and sunstroke (lack of AC, perhaps, or working outdoors under the hot sun?) 2. Railroad accidents Advertisement: 3. Drowning 4. Burns and scalds 5. Bone fractures/dislocations 6. Birth injuries 7. Accidental poisonings 8. Gunshot wounds (now there’s a familiar cause of death) 9. Suffocation 10. Poisonous gases (we can speculate from mining, mostly) 11. Horses and other vehicles (very few cars back then) Advertisement: 12. Mine injuries 13. Chronic poisoning (probably workplace substances no one knew would kill people over time) 14. Machinery 15. Hypothermia (think of this next time you complain your radiator is too hot in the winter) 16. Lightning Breaking down causes of death by age group, these days babies and infants under one year old are not likely to die from diarrhea, as was the case in 1901. In fact, unless a child is born with a fatal birth defect, she is likely to make it past one year of age. In 1901, those who died at age 2 likely had pneumonia as their cause of death; ages 3 to 9, diphtheria; and 10 to 54, tuberculosis — all curable diseases today. Advertisement: Meanwhile, today at age 2 right up to age 44, having conquered most of the childhood diseases (although anti-vaxxers seem determined to roll back those gains), you are likely to survive unless you are the victim of an accident. In 1901, from age 55 to 79, heart disease was the killer. Today, from age 45 to 64, look out for cancer. Finally, in 1901, if you made it to 80, death came most likely from natural causes as a result of old age, while heart disease is the cause of death in modern-day older people,
reports not to Executive Editor Jill Abramson but directly to publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. One source claims that Mr. Sulzberger is “afraid” of Mr. Rosenthal, possibly because of a perceived debt that the Sulzberger family owes to Mr. Rosenthal’s father, A. M. “Abe” Rosenthal, for the elder Mr. Rosenthal’s half century of service to the Sulzberger family. Andrew Rosenthal now inhabits perhaps the most important opinion perch in the world, at a time in which the media is awash in opinion. During his long career at the Times—a career that has included stints as assistant managing editor and foreign editor, as well as some time at the Associated Press—he has consolidated hold on that perch and answers only to Mr. Sulzberger, himself facing the challenge of filling his father’s big shoes. One veteran reporter who has been at the paper for more than 20 years said, “‘Bullying’ and ‘petty’ are Andy’s middle name. He’s very smart, he’s very funny. But any place he’s gone where he’s had a position of authority, he’s bullying and petty. For a time in 2000, he was essentially running the Washington bureau, though I don’t think he had the title of bureau chief. Dean Baquet was the national editor and left for the L.A. Times, and they put Andy in as sort of acting national editor for the duration of the 2000 coverage. During the 2000 campaign, he developed a very personal, gut-level animus toward Al Gore. And it showed in our coverage. And then he was the assistant managing editor under Howell [Raines], and the consensus was that as he rose he became nastier. He had the reputation as Howell’s hatchet man. When Howell was tossed out and Andy was sent to the editorial page, there were a lot of people breathing a sigh of relief that they didn’t have to deal with Andy anymore. That’s not an exaggeration. He had made himself extremely unpopular.” There is suddenly evidence that the festering dissatisfaction with the edit page has broken into what one reporter dubbed “semi-open revolt.” One reporter says that he literally will not allow Mr. Rosenthal to join their lunch table in the cafeteria. The Observer heard from two different sources about a posting created by respected health reporter Catherine Saint Louis and shared among her friends that pointed out a bevy of bad thinking made by the editorial page in a recent editorial related to the Affordable Care Act. In it, Ms. Saint Louis detailed the many errors in the piece’s coverage and asserted that “the basic premise is wrong.” (The Observer agreed not to share the post itself, since the person who shared it with The Observer did not have permission from Ms. Saint Louis to do so.) Confronted with the charge that the reporters might simply be envious that resources don’t seem to be bleeding from the edit page the way they have throughout the rest of the institution, one reporter hit back hard at that notion. “It’s so obvious that people on the news side find what the people on the opinion side are doing to be less than optimal. And it’s not that we want their money; we want them to be awesome. The fact of the matter is the Wall Street Journal editorial page just kicks our editorial page’s ass. I mean there’s just no contest, from top to bottom, and it’s disappointing. You know, we hold ourselves to incredibly high standards on the news side, and we meet them more often than not. Methodically, for the last 10 years, you’ve seen various editors march through and dispatch with mediocrity in many places where it had been allowed to fester for years, from the book review to the feature pages. And so to see it persist and persist and persist on the editorial page with nobody having the guts to retire some of the people or things that are not only not working but have become caricatures of themselves is just a huge bummer.” UPDATE: After this piece was published on Tuesday afternoon, several New York Times reporters The Observer had not originally interviewed have been in touch. One texted the author simply, “Thank you.” Another emailed to say, “I saw opinion people storming around the newsroom. … Especially nice to see Andy get the focus.” Finally, Catherine Saint Louis, whose post critical of the editorial page’s take on health care was cited in the story, contacted The Observer to take issue with the characterization of the impact of her post: “I think these paragraphs err in leaving the impression that a single Facebook post by me constitutes “evidence that the festering dissatisfaction with the edit page has broken into … ‘semi-open revolt.’ ” It does not. Such a post would at most constitute evidence that one reporter disagreed with a single editorial. As it happens, I have no objection to the way op-ed conducts business.”“A lot of liberals talk about, ‘let’s have an open, honest dialogue on race,'” he said. “That’s what’s gonna be able to solve these problems we have in the communities and what not. But they do not want that. They do not want open and honest dialogue. They want you to agree with them. They want the continued victimization and excuses that go out. The second you literally bring up the real problems that are happening in this country as far as certain communities go, you’re chastised, you’re given the scarlet letter which is now R – “racist”. And there’s no way to discuss this as a white, especially male American without being called a racist.” And… “White males are just the abomination of the United States right now,” he said. “They’re looked at as jokes, as horrible people that are so against diversity and everything, and when you look back at the history of this country, the achievements that white males have made in this country is astounding. And regardless of what diversity might bring to this country, you can’t discount what white men have done for this country.DragonFly 3.4 released! Version 3.4 of DragonFly is officially out. The release ISO/IMG files are all available at the usual mirrors: http://www.dragonflybsd.org/mirrors/ The release notes have details on all the changes: http://www.dragonflybsd.org/release34/ If you are planning to try the new dports system for installing third-party software, check the DPorts Howto page: http://www.dragonflybsd.org/docs/howtos/HowToDPorts/ If you have an installed DragonFly 3.2 system and you are looking to upgrade, these (not directly tested) steps should work, as root: cd /usr/src git fetch origin git branch DragonFly_RELEASE_3_4 origin/DragonFly_RELEASE_3_4 git checkout DragonFly_RELEASE_3_4... And then go through the normal buildworld/buildkernel process found in /usr/src/UPDATING. If you are running a generic kernel, that can be as simple as make buildworld && make buildkernel && make installkernel && make installworld && make upgrade (and then reboot) If you encounter problems, please report them at bugs.dragonflybsd.org. I get better at testing for each release, but I also get better at discovering new problems just after release.Deep breathing exercises can be a very powerful tool to use when you want to get control of your state of mind or reduce stress and tension. If you are going through a period of high stress or change, such as a new work environment, weight loss, or trying to quit smoking; deep breathing exercises can make you feel more centered, more relaxed, more in control and relieved of stress. Deep Breathing Exercises Here’s the first breathing exercise we just discussed on the previous page. Start by taking a break. If you’re trapped at work and can’t take a break, just do the breathing exercises while sitting at your desk. The breathing exercises will still have a calming impact. Relax – relax your arms, shoulders, neck, and even close your eyes. Slowly inhale through your nose to the count of 5, drawing the air down into your abdomen. Slowly exhale through your mouth to the count of 6. Repeat until your breathing is regular and steady. Continue for about 2 minutes. With every slow inhale and long exhale, you should feel more relaxed. You can also enhance your feeling of inner peace by focusing your thoughts or things that are calming and relaxing to you while doing the breathing exercises. Clearing your mind while practicing breathing exercises is even better. Just let thoughts go. Muscle Relaxation Breathing Add these steps to your breathing exercises. Clear your mind of stressful thoughts. It’s all about you and your breathing right now. Nothing else. Mentally scan your body, notice the areas that feel tense or cramped and release them. Rotate your head in a smooth circular motion, right to left and left to right once or twice very slowly. Roll your shoulders forward and backward a few times. Let all of your muscles completely relax. Continue inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly until you feel completely relaxed. Relax with Stress Relief Videos If you find yourself mind-racing, and you just can’t seem to let those stressful thoughts go, just click on one of the stress relief imagery meditation videos on this page. You probably know by now that the videos have a calming effect and can help you release stressful thoughts. Just focus on the tranquil imagery and be willing to let go. Stress Relief Music Combine your breathing exercises with your favorite music. Select the type of music that you find soothing or calming, and make sure it will play without interruption. Relax using Affirmations. Once you are comfortable performing the breathing exercises, add positive self-talk or what some call positive affirmations to the mix. Identify your self-talk. Is it positive or negative? Do you put yourself down? Do you secretly tell yourself that you will never have what you desire? It is important to identify negative self-talk and replace it with healthy, positive self-talk. Positive self-talk and calming mental imagery can help you focus on relaxation and create harmony in your mind and body. Here are some positive thoughts that can enhance your breathing exercises, but come up with statements that work specially for you: Enhance Your Breathing Exercises My neck and shoulders are letting go I am calm and in control Breathing deeply is soothing and relaxing I feel centered and calm I am refreshed and ready for anything To whatever decree you decide to use breathing exercises, deep breathing is a powerful tool that can give you control over stress and anxiety. Breathing is a simple yet underutilized stress relief technique that can induce a relaxed state of mind. Give it a try and see what it does for you. SaveWASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. elections watchdog is mulling if it should allow contributions to political campaigns of virtual coinage that can be used for real-life goods. The Federal Election Commission has until Oct. 28 to issue an advisory opinion on so-called bitcoin donations after a conservative political action fund asked permission to accept and spend the virtual currency, The Hill reported. While bitcoins exist only online, they can be used to buy real-world goods and services, and have gained acceptance by a growing number of Internet retailers. "We know people want to use this," said attorney Dan Backer, who filed the FEC request on behalf of the Conservative Action Fund Political Action Committee. "If they want to use it, we want to let them. " FEC approval isn't a sure thing because the virtual currency has come under scrutiny from federal regulators since its owners are anonymous and there is no central managing authority, The Hill said. Several campaigns and political organizations have begun to accept bitcoin donations, The Hill said, based on its search of several campaign websites indicated. The review indicated donations of bitcoins is popular among Libertarians. The Libertarian National Committee accepts donations in bitcoins, executive director Wes Benedict told The Hill, noting the party's platform that states, "Individuals engaged in voluntary exchange should be free to use as money any mutually agreeable commodity or item." "We don't favor one currency or form of payment over another," Benedict said. "Many constituents asked us to offer the bitcoin option, so we made it available."During the era of agitprop theatre in the 1960s and 70s, when politically committed companies toured the UK, there was usually a rule that the show would not go on if there was a risk of having more people on stage than in the audience. And even with the hallucinogenic substances that were part of the scene at the time, no one would have imagined that a passionately leftwing theatre show would one day play to an audience of one billion and have a budget of £27m to spend. But, last Friday night and Saturday morning, that is exactly what happened. Among the spectacular achievements of the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony was that it marked the apotheosis of a dramatic tradition that had previously been marginalised in this country. This is not just a critic's whimsy: the key creative forces behind the games – the ceremony director, Danny Boyle, and creative overseer, Stephen Daldry – are children of political theatre. This experience has shaped them at least as strongly as the cinematic credits (Daldry's Billy Elliot and The Hours, Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later) with which they are now more commonly associated. Apart from the era of "agitprop" – a word combining "agitation" and "propaganda", derived from Soviet theatre in the 1920s – there have been three key locations in Britain for leftwing drama: the Theatre Royal Stratford East just after the second world war, the Royal Court theatre from the 1950s onwards and television drama between the 60s and the 90s. Boyle and Daldry both made their theatrical reputations at the Royal Court, where each had a long period on staff as deputy director and artistic director respectively, while Boyle's screen career began in television, with work for ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC drama and film units during their most ideologically engaged periods. Both men are too young to have been involved in the Theatre Workshop at Stratford East, but several sections of the opening show seemed to me to nod deliberately to the work done by the pioneering Joan Littlewood, whose celebrated productions, such as Oh, What a Lovely War!, used song, dance, pageant and community participation to make political points in an accessible style – and, furthermore, did so just up the road from where the Olympic stadium now stands. Boyle's tableaux of the industrial revolution and the National Health Service – and the moment when the CND badge was suddenly formed on stage – felt strongly Littlewoodesque, honouring an east London heroine in the same way that David Beckham's participation honoured his local origins. Another intriguing connection is that the peak years of radical theatre were often subsidised by rightwing governments: the purest expression of the "arm's length principle", by which the British state funded culture, chiefly through the Arts Council, without influencing its content. Given all this, it was always likely that the show would inflame some conservatives, and, sure enough, it did – as revealed in comments by the Tory MP Aidan Burley on Twitter and the rightwing commentator Peter Hitchens in the Mail on Sunday. But Boyle's approach can be justified by the fact that the 2012 Olympic bid was initiated and successfully executed by Labour governments at both national and London level. More importantly, the ability to choose what to say, free of political influence, is a fundamental British value, and so merited expression in a show that celebrated the nature of the nation. Following a Beijing ceremony that had to say exactly what the country's government wanted it to, the Boyle event pointedly delighted in saying things our rulers might dispute. And, from a dramatic point of view, one of the evening's many ironies was that the kind of theatre honed at the Theatre Royal Stratford East and the Royal Court in Sloane Square played to a combined global audience surely greater than all the combined theatre-goers they have ever served.No if you are strictly speaking about regular expressions and not including some regular expression implementations that are actually context free grammars. There is one limitation of regular expressions which makes it impossible to write a regex that matches all and only regexes. You cannot match implementations such as braces which are paired. Regexes use many such constructs, lets take [] as an example. Whenever there is an [ there must be a matching ]. Simple enough for a regex "[.*]". What makes it impossible for regexes is that they can be nested. How can you write a regex that matches nested brackets? The answer is you can't without an infinitely long regex. You can match any number of nested parens through brute force but you can't ever match an arbitrarily long set of nested brackets. This capability is often referred to as counting (you're counting the depth of the nesting). A regex by definition does not have the capability to count. EDIT: Ended up writing a blog post about this: Regular Expression LimitationsChip Ganassi has seen his cars go to victory lane at the Indianapolis 500 four times. He has also stood in victory lane at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the Daytona 500, among many other races. Later this month, he will see his Ford GTs race around the Circuit de la Sarthe at his first 24 Hours of Le Mans. On Twitter, the 58-year-old team owner has made it very clear what he looks for in a driver, using the hashtag #ilikewinners. One winner he might be interested in signing is 34-year-old Spanish racing driver Fernando Alonso – who has 32 Formula One race wins and two championships to his name. Article continues below... Recently, Alonso was featured on the cover of Motorsport magazine with the following words next to him: “I want to win the Indy 500 & Le Mans”. A fan on Twitter tweeted to Ganassi, saying: “come on Chip. Make it happen.” Here was Ganassi’s response: Send him my email, phone # and Twitter handle!#ilikewinners https://t.co/Joehz2jzhA — Chip Ganassi (@GanassiChip) June 4, 2016 Having started racing in Formula One in 2001 and having not scored a win in 2013, there have been talks about Alonso retiring from the sport in the not too distant future. It remains to be seen if, when he retires, we’ll still see him behind a wheel of a different kind of racing car… or bike.Australia has its own education solution: Gonski Updated Australia doesn't need to import education reform ideas from the US or elsewhere - its own Gonski reforms would remove the inequality which is holding its schools back, write Pasi Sahlberg and Dennis Shirley. One riddle of education debate today concerns the strange disconnect that occurs between how schools actually perform and how they are perceived. As regular visitors from Finland and the US to Australia, we find that the country's schools are better than they are often given public credit for. The Australian public school system that has successfully catered to a large and diverse student population has been a model for many other countries with similar challenges. As we see it, there is no calling for the nation to transport fashionable practices from abroad. What Australia needs instead is full commitment to its own jointly agreed-upon commitments. Politicians are often eager to announce that the performance of their education systems is getting worse only to justify new reforms. In Canada, England, New Zealand, and Australia, school systems have declined in rankings on international tests. When the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results were released last December, several commentators concluded that the Australian school system is in crisis and needs to be reformed. Beyond the headlines, in cases such as these, little attention is given to the topic of how equitable school systems are for children with different life circumstances. The OECD has concluded in its 2012 PISA study that "the highest-performing education systems across the OECD countries are those that combine quality with equity". That same study found that Australia is the only country where differences in learning mathematics between advantaged and disadvantaged students are large, while the relationship between students' achievement in school and their family background is weaker than average. This indicates that there is an equity problem in Australia but that public schools are able to cope with much of the inequality that the pupils bring with them to school every day. The fact of the matter is that all the world's successful education systems have carefully designed mechanisms to allocate resources equitably to their schools. Finland, Korea and Singapore all resource their schools based on students' needs, not just a headcount. The Review of Funding for Schooling by the expert panel that David Gonski led is exactly what Australia needs to enhance the equity and the excellence of its schools. The question is not whether the government should or shouldn't commit itself to full funding of the report's suggestions. It is: Can Australia afford to continue to fund inequity in its school system as it seeks to bring its overall educational performance back on track? Australia can build great schools for all of its children. Phenomenal cultural richness and substantial national wealth create a unique platform for improvement that places Australia far ahead of many nations. The clearly articulated and widely shared idea of Educational Goals for Young Australians in the Melbourne Declaration provides a basis for development that other countries can only dream of. The Declaration proclaimed that the Australian governments "must ensure that socioeconomic disadvantage ceases to be a significant determinant of educational outcomes". Gonski's recommendation for fairer funding of schools clarifies how to accomplish this important national goal. Australia has another unique aspect in its education system. It has one of the largest proportions of children studying in non-government schools among the OECD countries. Public schools educate more than 80 per cent of students in the lowest quartile of socio-economic status, Indigenous students, students in remote areas, students with a funded disability, and the vast majority of students with English language difficulties. As a consequence, deeply segregated Australian public schools continue to suffer from the unfair social stigma of serving these disadvantaged children, rather than carrying the inspiring connotation of providing a unifying, high-quality education for all. Around the globe, all nations stand at an educational crossroads today. In the world that is becoming increasingly unequal, evidence from the OECD countries is clear: equity and excellence combined provide the best strategy forward. Whatever politicians may say, there is no need in Australia to transport education reform ideas from the US or any other country. What this country needs now is to respect its earlier commitments to strengthen its public school system in order to build a new and inspiring system of schools that are not based on any foreign models but instead define a uniquely Australian and utterly compelling vision and strategy for giving a great education to each and every child. Dr Pasi Sahlberg is Finnish educator and scholar. He is currently a visiting Professor of Practice at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, MA, USA. View his full profile here. Dr Dennis Shirley is Professor of Education at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. View his full profile here. Topics: education, schools First postedHere’s a selection of some of the most ghostly abandoned places around the world. when you try to imagine these people and their lives, each picture gets a special aura of nostalgia. It’s as if the people in these places just picked up and left. They say that the only permanent thing in the world is change. History books are one way to understand the passage of time, but there are also some real-life monuments that speak of the past in their own ways. While some of these monuments are well taken care of and protected, those that are partially or even completely run-down often are the most interesting. On the other hand, it’s also fascinating to see how some things that used to belong to people are slowly being reclaimed by nature again. A tree growing through an abandoned piano Overgrown palace, Poland Jet Star Rollercoaster, Seaside Heights, New Jersey Abandoned House in the Woods Church in St. Etienne, France An abandoned church with a few lingering parishioners, Czech Republic Shipwrecks in a sandbar, Bermuda Triangle Floating forest, Sydney, Australia Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California The Titanic wreck Spreepark, Berlin, Germany More : 20 Magical Caves Every True Adventurer NEEDS To Explore Turquoise Canal, Venice, Italy. Nara Dreamland, Japan Abandoned Jetty Church in the snow, Canada Abandoned theater Abandoned House in Virginia Source:Distractify.comAnd I go to my dermatologist for regular checkups. Most visits, she pulls out something that looks like a welder’s torch but instead of fixing the kitchen sink, she blasts me with liquid nitrogen chilled to 320 degrees below zero, which freezes and kills patches of dry, potentially cancerous cells. It takes a few days for the scabs to fall off, and until then if people ask I just say it’s a mild case of plague. The last few years, she has also sliced off pieces of me to be biopsied. Recently, she called to say two had come back cancerous — basal and squamous cells — and I needed to schedule a follow-up with her staff to have them removed. “Tell them you need a three-slot surgery,” she said. Older white men like me are the worst when it comes to skin cancer rates. While the death rate from melanoma — the most severe skin cancer — has been declining for 20 years for people under 50, men over 50 have the highest increase in death rate, 3.2 percent a year since 2002. The highest annual increase in incidence of melanoma is among white men over 65, 8.8 percent a year since 2003. And while there’s also rapid growth among young white women ages 15 to 34 (40 percent of 18-year-old women have used a tanning bed in the last year, compared to 8 percent of men, according to the American Academy of Dermatology), nearly twice as many men as women die of skin cancer each year. So here’s what I can’t figure: How could I have been so stupid? How was I so oblivious for 40 years, and could I blame my mother for any of this? Dr. Darrell S. Rigel, 59, a past president of the American Academy of Dermatology, and editor of “Cancer of the Skin,” a leading textbook in the field, advises against blaming mothers. “My own mother would spend hours tanning in the backyard, and developed a melanoma,” he said. “The public awareness on this is relatively new, 20 to 25 years.” The progression from serious sun exposure to skin cancer can take decades to unspool in our DNA. “What we’re seeing now, in increased rates of melanoma, is what people did in the ’80s,” Dr. Rigel said. “Baby boomers out baking in the ’80s.” Why didn’t baking boomers slather up? Turns out, the protective sunblock that we’ve doused our children with is relatively new. “In the ’60s and ’70s all we had was suntan lotion with an SPF of 2, to take a little edge off the sun,” Dr. Rigel said. “The first SPF 15 was introduced in 1986 and 30 SPF not until the early ’90s.” Furthermore, dermatology was quite primitive when we were born. In the 1950s, Dr. Rigel said, doctors were still amputating limbs to stop the spread of melanoma. As late as the 1980s, he said, there were no good studies on how big a margin needed to be when removing a melanoma, and incisions would stretch 8 to 10 inches. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. As to why we boomers were the first to metastasize in a big way, Dr. Rigel rounded up the usual suspects: increased wealth and leisure; the explosion in air travel, allowing more vacations in sunny Florida, California and Arizona and at ski resorts; a thinning ozone layer; and a longer life span that gives us the opportunity to die of more things. The good news is that skin cancer is one of the most treatable of cancers when caught early. Since the American Academy of Dermatology undertook its first national public health campaign 25 years ago, there has been steady progress in reducing death rates. The five-year survival rate for melanomas has improved from 82 percent in the mid-’70s to 87 percent in the mid-’80s and to 92 percent by the mid-2000s. Advertisement Continue reading the main story For perspective: last year, 11,590 people died of skin cancer, more than the number of people who died of stomach cancer (10,620) but less than those who died from pancreatic cancer (35,240), breast cancer (40,610) and, the biggest of all, lung cancer (159,390). Early detection is crucial. If a melanoma is removed while still confined to the skin, the five-year survival rate is 99 percent; if it has spread to the lymph system or blood, the survival rate drops to 65 percent; if it has reached the organs, 15 percent. And if you need to be scared into a checkup, Dr. Rigel can do it: “For a melanoma the size of a dime, there’s a greater than 50 percent chance it’s already spread beyond the skin.” And that, he said, helps explain why the mortality rate is increasing among men over 65. “They’re resistant to getting spots looked at,” Dr. Rigel said. “They tell me, ‘I’m only here because my wife made me.’ ” At my recent checkup, I had suspected an asymmetrical red mark on my shin, nearly the size of a dime with irregular borders, that had lingered for months, no matter how hard I’d stared at it. My doctor cut out a piece for biopsy as well as two samples from my back. Ten days later, I learned the mark on my shin was nothing, “a solar lentigo that became inflamed.” (Right.) But the two spots I didn’t know were there — to be honest, I can go years without looking at my back — were cancerous. One, midback, was basal cell, the most benign skin cancer. The other, near my right shoulder, was squamous cell, riskier but virtually always treatable when caught early. Each year, one to two million cases of basal and squamous cell cancers are diagnosed. The operation, done in the doctor’s office, was simple: gouging out the cancerous cells. For the record, I’ve written this entire column with 13 stitches in my right shoulder, a 1.5-inch incision. To create his dermatology textbook, Dr. Rigel read many old textbooks, and he was struck by both the progress and primitiveness of treatment. “We’ve gone from burning out the cancer with a branding iron in the 1800s, to amputating limbs, then digits, then taking out big hunks and now smaller hunks,” he said. “I’m sure 100 years from now, they’ll pick up my textbook and say, ‘Can you believe in 2010 they used knives to cut out skin cancer?’ ”If you legally purchase, ingest, and enjoy marijuana, you are no longer allowed to purchase firearms. A recent ATF memo states that firearm dealers in states where medical marijuana is legal can no longer sell firearms or ammunition to registered users. The new policy has come under fire from both marijuana and gun rights groups, saying that the ATF policy violates the second amendment rights of marijuana users. Arthur Herbert, the ATF’s assistant director for enforcement programs and services, wrote in the memo: “Any person who uses or is addicted to marijuana, regardless of whether his or her state has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes, is an unlawful user of, or addicted to a controlled substance, and is prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition… There are no exceptions in federal law for marijuana purportedly used for medicinal purposes, even if such use is sanctioned by state law.” Forbes reports that Federal firearm licensees, or FFLs, are not allowed to sell guns to anyone who checks ‘yes’ when asked if they are a controlled substance user. The memo also states that FFLs can’t sell guns to a person if they have “reasonable cause to believe” that the person is a marijuana user. Jon Svaren, a medical marijuana user and a 15-year Navy veteran who was honorably discharged in 2009, told the Great Falls tribune: “To take away my Second Amendment rights is contrary to everything I’ve ever fought for, and contrary to every oath of enlistment I’ve taken.” Marijuana advocates are also upset about the ATF’s memo. Kate Cholewa, a board member of the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, said: “The cannabis issue has become representative of nation-wide concerns. Citizens are increasingly concerned that the government, rather than expressing the will of the citizens, now sees itself as separate from the citizens and is imposing their will upon the people.” What do you think about the ATF’s memo? Should legal marijuana users lose their right to bear arms?Tractable and Consistent Random Graph Models NBER Working Paper No. 20276 Issued in July 2014 NBER Program(s):Development Economics, Labor Studies, Technical Working Papers We define a general class of network formation models, Statistical Exponential Random Graph Models (SERGMs), that nest standard exponential random graph models (ERGMs) as a special case. We provide the first general results on when these models' (including ERGMs) parameters estimated from the observation of a single network are consistent (i.e., become accurate as the number of nodes grows). Next, addressing the problem that standard techniques of estimating ERGMs have been shown to have exponentially slow mixing times for many specifications, we show that by reformulating network formation as a distribution over the space of sufficient statistics instead of the space of networks, the size of the space of estimation can be greatly reduced, making estimation practical and easy. We also develop a related, but distinct, class of models that we call subgraph generation models (SUGMs) that are useful for modeling sparse networks and whose parameter estimates are also directly and easily estimable, consistent, and asymptotically normally distributed. Finally, we show how choice-based (strategic) network formation models can be written as SERGMs and SUGMs, and apply our models and techniques to network data from rural Indian villages. Acknowledgments Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w20276 Users who downloaded this paper also downloaded* these:Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption They might be happy now but that could change as the rows break out over what they listen to It's a common problem for anyone embarking on a road-trip with family or friends. Battles are waged over who chooses the sound track for the trip. It can lead to arguments, stress and ultimately resentment that can linger throughout the journey and beyond. Now, one company thinks it has found an answer - a way to create different audio zones in a single vehicle, with little spillover of sound between separate spaces. But is Harman's solution so elaborate that it will be priced out of the range of most motorists? Sonic clutter The US company invited the BBC to be one of the first to try out its new technology, which is being shown off at an invite-only fringe venue at CES. There, in a darkened room, sits a customised Lexus four-seater. The vehicle's existing sound system has been enhanced by micro-speakers placed in the headrests of each seat and a set of thin loudspeakers inside the roof. By combining this tech with specially-designed software, the firm is able to let each passenger hear a separate source of audio while radically reducing the amount of what it calls "sonic clutter" created by the other sources. "We are able to play the desired source of audio in a particular seat but also simultaneously play the opposite of the other sources of audio from the other seats, thereby cancelling their sounds out," explains the project's lead engineer Christopher Ludwig. "We can do that for any sources of audio in any particular seat, thereby creating personalised audio zones. "[The other sounds] don't completely go away but we're achieving about a 15 to 20db reduction in audio from zone to zone." Four zones Image copyright Harman Image caption The system uses algorithms to create a noise-cancelling effect In practice what that means is that you still get a hint of what the other passengers are listening to, but it's very much background noise. During the demo the car remains stationary, but Mr Ludwig said that were it being driven, the resulting noise would further dampen sounds passing seat-to-seat. "We can achieve four different audio zones," he says. "It could be that the driver wants to enjoy a sports game. His wife is sitting next to him, and she would like to have some soft music playing. "And maybe you have kids in the back, and they want to watch [different] movies. "It really gives you a way to listen to what you want, rather than having to put the driver in full control." Directed navigation There are other potential benefits too. Even if the passengers want to listen to the same music they can each set the volume at a different level. In addition, the driver can set his or her speakers to override the tunes with navigation prompts, while the other passengers listen to the songs uninterrupted. Furthermore, if one of the travellers wants to make a mobile phone call, they can do so on loudspeaker without spoiling the others' enjoyment. Experiencing the effect is surreal. To switch back and forth from loud commentators discussing a baseball match to the chords of a Bruno Mars track by simply moving one's head between the car's two front seats seems to defy past experience of how sound should work. Harman has already branded the experience as ISZ - individual sound zones - and says it is ready to begin talks with manufacturers about building the tech into vehicles. Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption The innovation could make driving holidays a more enjoyable experience However, one expert downplayed the idea that this was a giant leap forward. "This is more an evolution than revolution," remarked Seung Min Yu, an automotive analyst at Consumer Reports magazine. "The just announced Audi Q7, for example, will have an optional 23-speaker sound system that uses software and microphones to adapt music playback to deal
au. “He was so many things — he had such a wide variety of interests,” she said. “A lot of times he gets reduced to ‘that guy who went to live out in the woods.’ That really doesn’t do justice to the breadth of interests that this amazing writer had.” By 1845, Thoreau could see the world was speeding up. The railroad had come through town just a year earlier, and workers would soon start laying thousands of miles of telegraph cable across the country. He’d also lost his brother John, who died three years earlier. “He was wrestling with these questions,” Fullerton said. “He had experienced deep tragedy and was kind of stoic — not the kind of guy who’d go out and talk about it, but he was definitely trying to figure these things out.” Though he held on to a “sustaining interest for people,” she said, he also wanted to find a way to part with the complexities of the world, most notably the burden of possessions and smothering social ties. “Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends,” he wrote. “Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.” Getting Thoreau right Jeffrey Cramer, curator of collections for the Walden Woods Project, said he was “very, very reluctant” to get behind the project when Fullerton approached him in 2007. “Within five minutes of talking to Tracy, I was totally hooked on what she was trying to accomplish.” Cramer, who admitted that his idea of games was “cars chasing each other” and players “trying to blow up the world,” soon understood Fullerton’s vision. “Her integrity in wanting to get Thoreau right and wanting to get the experience of Walden Pond right — everything about her research — was impeccable.” An example: Michael Sweet, the game’s sound designer, spent years at Walden Pond, recording its birds, insects and other creatures in each of the four seasons. But his recordings of cardinals ended up on the cutting room floor after he consulted with local birders, who told him that the species migrated north to the pond after Thoreau’s era. When Cramer broke the news to Fullerton that the correct pronunciation of Thoreau is “THOR-eau,” her team tweaked the voiceover. Also, he said, Sophia, Thoreau’s sister, is pronounced “So-FY-a.” Though it clashes with our expectations, Fullerton said, “In the end, we went with the accurate way.” A decade after he met Fullerton, Cramer calls the game “brilliant.” “It will introduce Thoreau’s ideas to a new generation of people who might not otherwise take the time to understand who Thoreau was,” he said. “Anybody who takes five minutes to sit down with the game will experience something extremely different from what they’ve imagined.” Even books can't replace nature Fullerton actually welcomes the criticisms of Luddites and Thoreau purists. To those who say that a walk in the woods beats a video game, she agrees: “I say to them, ‘Go out into the woods.’ The game is in no way attempting to replace the book or a real-world experience in nature. Actually, the goal is to send you to those places.” She understands readers’ protective impulses around Walden, the book. “I’m protective of books,” she said. “I love books.” But observers should keep an open mind, she said. Actually, she said, we forget that Walden (the book) is “a media experience about nature. In no way does it replace nature. It has inspired many, many people to go to nature, and I think we could say the same about a song or a film or a game.” Thomas Knowlton, a school outreach librarian with the New York Public Library’s My Library NYC program, agreed. “Games are simulations of systems, but so are books,” he said. “I would almost say that Walden, the text, is closer to the game than Walden, the woods." He noted that just as Fullerton and her team compressed Thoreau’s "two years, two months and two days" at Walden Pond into a six-hour game, so did Thoreau reduce his time into a four-season narrative. It works beautifully, he said, but it’s also a kind of adaptation. Knowlton has played Fullerton’s game and is impressed with how it simulates the push and pull of solitude and society. “It gives you the sensation of (being) in absolute solitude one moment,” he said, "then you walk for a few minutes and suddenly you’re in town.” The game's depth, he said, will impress critics. Like many educators who have experimented with games, he said people who aren’t familiar with them somehow believe games can’t be serious. But young people naturally gravitate toward the control games give them: They want to explore and discover how a game's system works as they familiarize themselves with the text. “They’re pushing against boundaries,” he said. Versions of Walden, a Game have been making the rounds of film and game festivals for years — the game was on display this year at the World Economic Forum at Davos, and it’s featured at the Concord Museum in Massachusetts, where Fullerton said one young player got so excited his grandfather had to bribe him to persuade him to stop playing. “They had to pull him away with the promise that they’d walk to Emerson’s house in real life,” Fullerton said. Follow Greg Toppo on Twitter: @gtoppo Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2uNRqchSweden is in mourning today over the death of the world’s oldest eel. Åle the eel was around 155 years old when he left a country bereft, a prodigious age for the European eel Anguilla anguilla which in the wild typically lives around seven years in fresh water before returning to the ocean to spawn and die. They can be very long-lived, though. The oldest recorded wild eel was 85 years old. Åle was put in the well in the fishing village of Brantevik on the southeastern tip of Sweden by eight-year-old Samuel Nilsson in 1859. This was a common practice in a time when running water was rare (Stockholm only got public water mains in the 1850s; it took more than a century after that for waterworks to be installed in smaller towns) and a good eel could keep the home’s water supply free of bugs, worms, eggs, algae and any other number of critters. European eels will even eat carrion, so they’re extremely helpful additions to a well. This particular eel has been a star for close to a hundred years, garnering articles in the paper, TV news stories and documentaries, even making an appearance in the Swedish Tom Sawyer, Bombi Bitt and I written by Fritiof Nilsson Piraten in 1932. Thomas Kjellman, current owner of the cottage, remembers Åle from when he was a boy. His family bought the house in 1962 with the understanding that the eel came with the property. Last Tuesday, Kjellman lifted the lid off the well to show his famous eel to guests when he discovered Åle was no more. He had fallen apart, in fact, which must have put a bit of a damper on the annual crayfish party. They had to drain the well in order to recover the delicate remains which are being kept in the freezer until eel expert Dr. Håkan Wickström comes to pick them up. He will then take them to a laboratory in Stockholm for a necropsy. Although the body is in pieces, the entire spine is intact and the family is hoping to send along the head as well. Rings in the otolith, or ear stone, of the eel would reveal its exact age. The Kjellman family will have to take solace in the fact that they have a backup superannuated eel. Their other well eel, currently unnamed, is only about 110 years old. You can catch a glimpse of Åle in his rather depressing well home/dungeon at 2:39 in the following video. You can see him in all his big-eyed glory (reportedly a result of a century spent in near constant darkness) when they bring him up into the light starting at 4:00. [youtube=http://youtu.be/LBW7cVZs8ys&w=430] This entry was posted on Saturday, August 9th, 2014 at 11:35 PM and is filed under Modern(ish). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.Trumpcare could cause health insurance premiums to rise dramatically. Find out how Trumpcare could impact your health insurance premiums. Seniors in particular could bear the brunt of Trumpcare's cost-cutting measures. (Photo11: Getty Images) After the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act -- better known as the AHCA or Trumpcare -- in May, all eyes turned to the U.S. Senate, which would be writing its own version of the bill. That Senate bill has arrived in the form of the Better Care Reconciliation Act, or BRCA. While there are differences between the two, both the House and Senate versions of Trumpcare make fundamental changes to Obamacare, the current law of the land. While neither fully repeals Obamacare, both provide more flexibility to the states to roll back Obamacare protections, and both change the rules regarding how much older Americans can be charged for insurance relative to younger Americans. RELATED: While Obamacare capped premiums for older Americans at three times what younger people pay for a policy, Trumpcare would allow pre-Medicare adults to be charged up to five times what younger insureds pay. And while Trumpcare continues Obamacare's policy of providing tax credits for the purchase of insurance, the tax credits are less generous. These changes, among other modifications to Obamacare, could make policies much more expensive for those who buy private insurance. In fact, one study conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation found that average premiums could rise as much as 74%. How would Trumpcare affect premiums? Kaiser Family Foundation estimated future premiums under Trumpcare based on the cost to buy the equivalent of a "silver" Obamacare policy. The silver plan is the most popular of Obamacare's four policy tiers. It covers an average of 70% of healthcare costs -- more than the bronze plan but less than the gold and platinum policies.. While the average enrollee is expected to pay 74% more on a comparable "silver" plan under Trumpcare, different groups of enrollees would not be affected uniformly. Older Americans and lower-income Americans would face the largest increase in premiums after a switch from Obamacare to the Senate version of Trumpcare, while some wealthier young people could actually see premium decreases. Kaiser's estimated 2020 health insurance premiums show how much different groups of Americans would be affected by Trumpcare: Age Forecast premium change if income is less than 200% of the poverty level Forecast premium change if income is 200% of the poverty level or higher Under 18 +121% -4% 18-34 +82% No change 35-44 +117% +25% 45-54 +223% +72% 55-64 +294% +96% While a 55- to 64-year-old with income below 200% of the poverty level would pay just $69 monthly for a silver plan in 2020 after Obamacare's premium tax was applied, that same pre-Medicare American would pay $272 after tax credits under Trumpcare. The difference: They'd owe $2,436 more in premiums each year. Why would premiums rise so much? Trumpcare changes many aspects of Obamacare, but one big reason for the dramatic rise in premiums is a change to the benchmark plan used to calculate the subsidy amount an insurance buyer receives. Under Obamacare, tax credits equaled the difference between the actual premium costs of the second-cheapest silver plan in the insurance marketplace and a capped percentage of income. The second-cheapest silver plan was thus the "benchmark plan," or the metric by which tax credits were calculated. Under the Senate's version of Trumpcare, the "benchmark" plan by which tax credits for premiums are calculated is a plan covering 58% of your expected costs. Because this less generous plan would have lower premium costs, the subsidy is, in turn, less generous. If you opt to buy a better plan under Trumpcare -- the equivalent of an Obamacare silver plan -- you would have to pay 100% of the price difference between the cheaper benchmark plan and the policy you'd prefer. Trumpcare's future is uncertain, but if a version of the Senate bill passes, these changes mean you could pay higher premiums and end up responsible for covering a larger portion of your healthcare costs. Investing in a health savings account and exploring ways to cut costs with a high-deductible health plan could become essential to affording the care you require. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY. Offer from the Motley Fool: 10 stocks we like better than Wal-Mart When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of June 5, 2017 The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned. Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2tUonpYRussell Street Report Filmstudy Who’s to Blame for Leaky Run Defense? Defensive Notes vs. Minnesota (10/22/17) In case you missed it yesterday, the Colts lost to the Jaguars 27-0 in a game in which Jacoby Brissett was sacked 10 times among 20 QHs (knockdowns). T.Y. Hilton was quoted afterwards as saying: “It is the offensive line. They need to block.” Hilton’s words are both entirely right (in the assignment of blame) and entirely wrong (in being said publicly). They are a cautionary tale to a team like the Ravens amongst whom there is plenty of blame to share. For some reason, Ravens fans want to know if Harbaugh has “lost the team” and speculate over that during games rather than focusing on the play on the field. We only get 48 hours of meaningful football memories per year, so I’d prefer not to waste time worrying about that question while a game is in progress. However, squelching public discussion of blame is one of the most significant roles a coach plays in promoting unity. Crazy Unbalanced Roster For the first time this season, the Ravens found themselves without a healthy scratch. They had 5 players ruled out on Friday with another doubtful. That injury report also included 10 players with the “questionable” status. Maclin and Matthews were ruled out on Sunday, which meant the other 9 questionable players had to play so the Ravens could fill their game day active roster. To fill in the gaps, the Ravens: — Reacquired Tony Bergstrom (who they had cut earlier in the week) as the 7th healthy offensive lineman — Signed WR Griff Whalen who had been released in camp — Played with just 4 true wide receivers (Campanaro, Moore, Wallace, Whalen) and 2 TEs (Boyle, Watson) plus 1 hybrid (Mayle) — Activated all 7 defensive linemen even though they went all of 2016 with just 5 linemen ever getting a snap Disturbing Run Defense When trying to find the underlying problem for a leaky run defense, you’ll see some crazy ideas tossed around. Bronson Kaufusi: He was called out by Harbaugh for a lack of physicality against the run versus the Bears. Is it possible that deficiency continued against the Vikings? Bronson played 5 snaps on which the Vikings ran the ball 4 times for 15 yards (3.8). Whatever his technique issues, Kaufusi had nothing to do with the run defense issues in this game. Carl Davis was ineffective in his return: Davis did not make the defensive stat sheet in 22 snaps, but the Ravens allowed just 32 yards on 13 carries (2.4) with him in. I’m calling bullshit on that hypothesis also. Tony Jefferson can’t tackle: Jefferson was beaten twice in the open field, once when stiff-armed by Murray and another time when juked by Murray on the game’s 2 longest runs, which totaled 64 yards. However, Jefferson’s missed tackles only served to tack on the final 20 yards or so (approximately 12 on the first run and 8 on the second) on 2 breakaways. The more significant question is how the plays made it to level 3. To summarize: — (Q3, 15:00): The Vikings zone blocked to the left and Keenum handed off to Murray running left. Case then continued with the naked boot play fake by rolling right. Za’Darius Smith bit hard on the fake and chased Keenum without first seeing the ball. Pierce also engaged RT Remmers, pushing hard to the front side of the play to the point where his back was turned to Murray’s cutback. Mosley also slipped reversing to the cutback. That left the back side wide open and Murray burst forward for 22 yards before first contacted by Jefferson, who he stiff armed to extend the run to 35. I can’t blame Smith too much for biting on the fake, because the Ravens have run that same naked boot perhaps twice per game for the last 8-9 years (and must have done so plenty in practice as well). However, he had to either see the football or know he had help from behind. — (Q3, 8:05): Terrell Suggs crossed the face of LTE (I can’t read his number from the broadcast angle), who easily sealed him inside. Meanwhile, C Elflein combed to pin Pierce for RG Berger, then took out Onwuasor in L2. Similarly LT Reiff executed an outstanding combination block, pinning Williams for LG Isidora and moving to L2 to block Mosley. WR Wright blocked Webb straight ahead at the LoS. WR Thielen motioned inside and blocked Weddle in L2. Murray ran 20+ yards before Jefferson got a hand on him inside the 10. The play was as well blocked as you’ll ever see a downhill run schemed including a pair of highlight-worthy combination blocks. The Vikings essentially forced one of 3 players (Suggs, Weddle, or Webb) to beat a block from an eligible receiver to prevent the breakaway. It should be clear that Jefferson was only part of the problem. The defensive line was tired from the extended drives: For the first time this year, the Ravens had more than 5 defensive linemen active. Ricard did not play on defense, but that left 6 defensive linemen to share 151 individual snaps spread over 64 team snaps (2.36 per play): I don’t see anything alarming about these totals. The defensive line had a lousy game: On the surface it seems logical, since there are some linemen in every play and the runners have to get to level 2 to uncork damaging runs. Both of the long runs occurred against the nickel. Summarizing results by DBs: How does the number of DBs reflect differently on the defensive line? In standard (4 DB packages) the Ravens have 3 defensive linemen. With the nickel, they have 2, and with the dime they have only 1, because the Ravens usually play an additional OLB on the inside in such packages (including all 8 dimes on Sunday). It’s a stretch to find fault with the line, especially considering the breakdowns on the 2 longest runs above and success of the standard package. If I had to pick a single problem (it’s much more complex than that) that I haven’t often heard, it’s that the nickel defense is vulnerable to the run when teams have eligible receivers that can block effectively. Jaylen Hill Debuts Hill had a fine debut, so let’s review his snaps individually: — (Q2, 4:57): Hill covered Wright slot left on post. Wright had Hill beaten deep, but Keenum threw left to Thielen for a gain of 5. — (Q2, 4:16): Hill covered at intermediate distance on a bunch right. He broke off to cover Thielen running an out route to the right sideline a Keenum threw to Treadwell for a gain of 11 between the hashes. — (Q3, 11:56): Hill covered the RTE Morgan as Keenum threw left to Thielen who was flagged for OPI. — (Q3, 11:33): On 3rd and 13, Hill raced in unblocked off the right edge to McKinnon for a gain of 5. — (Q4, 12:02): On 3rd and 5, he covered Thielen slot right. The Vikings WR ran a zero-cross with which Hill not only kept up, but took inside position and cleanly deflected to deny the conversion. Had the ball been more underthrown, it would likely have been an interception. — (Q4, 9:17): Hill covered Wright slot right closely as Keenum threw left to Treadwell for a gain of 10. — (Q4, 6:01): Hill was blocked by Wright from slot left to help lead McKinnon’s run left for 6 yards. — (Q4, 5:16): On 3rd and 5, Hill covered Thielen slot right, who gave a firm push for separation coming out of his break. The play was completed for a gain of 14. Trent Green said he “might have got away with a push,” but Greg Gumbel was appropriately more firm in his disdain for the lack of a call. — (Q4, 3:13): On 3rd and 9, Hill lined up shallow on twins right. Clark undercut McKinnon for a gain of 5 to deny the conversion. His debut was encouraging at the least. At the most, he’s already usurped Webb’s job as the SCB. Including penalties, Hill played the last 5 snaps in the slot, 7 of the last 11, and 9 of the last 18. Prior to his entry, Webb played the first 17 snaps in the slot. Lardarius Webb can help the team in a lot of ways, including a different role on the back end. Given some of the struggles Jefferson has had, I would not be shocked to see more varied use of personnel at safety and Hill’s play could be the catalyst.REUTERS/Scanpix/Keld Navntoft There is no monetary inflation in Sweden — the official rate is just 0.9%— but there sure is house-price inflation. Property prices rose 11% in Sweden in Q4 2014, according to Statistics Sweden, the government stats agency, which reported new numbers on Thursday. Everyone pretty much agrees that that housing in Sweden is in a bubble. With interest rates so low they are negative, Swedes are getting mortgages and putting the cash into stocks and bonds rather than paying down the debt. Economists worry that if the economy takes a downturn, Swedes will be forced to liquidate their stocks and bonds at the same time they sell their houses — and that could cause an economic death spiral. How bad is it? There is so little affordable housing that immigrants are forced to sleep 10 to a flat and plan their visits to the bathroom, according to Reuters: "If I needed to go to the toilet in the morning, I would have to wake up one hour earlier for my turn," said Jean, 48, who fled Syria three years ago. He moved with his wife and five children from one crowded apartment to another, sometimes sleeping 10 in two bedrooms, before finding a permanent flat close to Stockholm. One way to think about that anecdote is from a supply and demand perspective. There is fierce demand for housing in Stockholm, but rising prices restrict available supply. The knock-on effect of that is that poorer people have to share smaller spaces. So they have fewer toilets between them. A cynic might suggest that the Swedish housing bubble is now so bad it has produced a toilet shortage in Stockholm. The bubble is also distorting other areas of the economy. The German startup Cuponation (a discount shopping company) wanted to move its HQ to Stockholm from Munich, but 30 staff won't be making the move because housing is too expensive. Reuters reports that in Stockholm a one-bedroom basement flat "with almost no natural light" currently costs 7.5 million crowns (£610,000 or $880,000). Statistics Sweden A black market has grown up in which unofficial rent contracts for flats change hands for inflated sums. You can "buy" a rental room in Sweden for $23,500 or £16,000. The reason? There is no market to incentivise new construction, because rents aren't set by the free market, according to Reuters: A regulated market where rents are decided in negotiations or by courts rather than supply and demand means there is little incentive for construction. The wait in Stockholm's public queue for a rental in the inner city averages 13 years. Here is a chart showing how little construction is being done:Published in Oil Industry News on Tuesday, 27 September 2016 Helicopter crashes en route to Chevron Angola oil platform, at least four dead Four people died and two were missing after a helicopter crashed en route to a Chevron oil platform off the Angolan coast, Chevron said on Tuesday. The helicopter left Malongo port in Angola's Cabinda province on Monday at 1523 local time to make the short journey to the Tombua-Landana offshore oil platform but never arrived. "The helicopter did not reach its intended destination. It was carrying five passengers and one pilot," Chevron said in a statement, adding that one of the passengers was an employee while four others were contractors. "Extensive search and rescue activities continue for those who remain missing." Chevron did not say if there was any impact on oil production from the crash or the search and rescue operation, which involved 19 marine vessels and three helicopters. Angola competes with Nigeria to be Africa's largest oil exporter, shipping around 1.7 million barrels per day, mainly to Asian markets.Without question, the Columbus Blue Jackets have been one of the season’s best stories. Coming off of a disastrous year and with virtually nobody picking them to even make the playoffs, the Blue Jackets have exceeded all expectations while contending for first place in the Metro Division. The power play is smoking, the goaltending is excellent, John Tortorella looks like the Jack Adams favourite, and the Blue Jackets are the hottest team in the league today, winning nine straight and counting. After years of misery, fans in Columbus finally have something to cheer about. It’s too bad it can’t last. I mean, it can’t… right? These are still the Blue Jackets. Seeing them beat up the Canadiens and run right alongside the Penguins and Rangers has been fun, but eventually things will go back to normal and they’ll fall out of contention. Of course, plenty of us have been saying that for most of the season, and it hasn’t happened yet. If anything, the Blue Jackets are getting better as the year wears on. So today, let’s try to get this settled once and for all. Let’s lay out the case against the Blue Jackets—all the reasons why this can’t be the real thing and their crash back to mediocrity is inevitable. And then let’s pick that case apart and see if it actually holds up. Let’s start with an area where the Blue Jackets aren’t just good, but historically good. They’re not for real because: Their power play is too good to be true. Literally. Plenty of things have been going right for the Blue Jackets. But with apologies to Sergei Bobrovsky and Zach Werenski, the biggest story in Columbus has been the power play. And it’s a virtual certainty that that unit will be coming back to Earth soon. Right now, the Blue Jackets’ power play is clocking in at a 27.7-per cent success rate. Only one team in NHL history has finished with a higher rate over a full season, and that was back in the high-flying ’80s when everyone was filling the net against tiny goalies who hadn’t figured out the butterfly yet. Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers never had a 27-per cent power play. Neither did Mario Lemieux’s Penguins or Mike Bossy’s Islanders. But we’re supposed to think that Nick Foligno’s Blue Jackets have figured it out? Not a chance. This is a classic case of a decent unit hitting a hot streak for a few weeks, and once it regresses back to where it deserves to be, this team will look very different. Yeah, but: Plenty of smart people have been studying the Blue Jackets’ power play to try to figure out what makes it tick. And they’ve been finding some interesting things, including a five-man first unit that’s doing an excellent job at consistently generating high-percentage shots from dangerous areas. Sure, there’s clearly a degree of good luck happening here; nobody thinks that the Blue Jackets have suddenly cracked the code on 100 years of power-play strategy. But the top unit isn’t simply succeeding based on a fluke; they’ve been earning it. And even if you don’t buy any of that, let’s not overestimate the impact that the Columbus special teams could be having. If they were hitting at a league-average rate of 18 per cent or so, their 23 power-play goals would drop to 15 or so. That’s eight goals, which conventional wisdom says translated to one or two wins. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and it’s possible that Blue Jackets’ power-play prowess is even more important because it’s forcing teams to play them differently at even strength. But it’s not enough to make the difference between them being an elite team and an also-ran. Even if the power play settles down, this still looks like a strong team. They’re not for real because: The key underlying numbers tell us they’re not that good. We’re living in hockey’s era of analytics. And when it comes to team performance, the numbers have taught us a few things. The best predictor of future success is strong possession numbers. Sky-high team shooting percentages tend to regress. And we shouldn’t trust teams with high PDOs, because they’re usually outperforming based partly on luck. Well, take a look at the Blue Jackets’ numbers, and guess what you see. They’re only an average even-strength possession team, they’ve got the second best shooting across all situations in the league, and their PDO of 103.7 is well outside the range of what we’d expect anyone to be able to maintain over a full season. We know what these numbers mean, and they’re all pointing in the same direction. The Blue Jackets aren’t as good as their record tells us. Yeah, but: First of all, there’s no PDO category in the standings. There are wins and losses and points, and when it comes to those categories the Blue Jackets are doing just fine. That’s the simplistic old-school answer, of course, so let’s dig a little deeper. For one thing, shooting percentage makes up half of PDO, so we’re penalizing the Blue Jackets twice for a high number in the same category. And if we’re looking at all situations, that means we’re also penalizing Columbus for their unsustainable power play, which we’ve already covered. If we look at 5v5 instead, the Blue Jackets start to fall into a more reasonable range. They drop to fifth in the league in shooting, which is still higher than we’d expect based on their talent level but no longer seems like a sure thing to plummet. And their PDO drops down to fifth in the league as well, at 102.3. That’s probably still too high to continue, but now it’s being driven more by team save percentage—and they do have a former Vezina winner in net. Speaking of whom… They’re not for real because: Sergei Bobrovsky can’t keep this up. Yes, Bobrovsky won the Vezina in 2013, finishing with a.932 save percentage in a lockout-shortened season. That’s the exact same number he’s sporting now, which suggests that his performance so far this season isn’t entirely unsustainable. But since that season, Bobrovsky’s save percentage has fallen every year. He posted a.923 in 2013–14, followed by a.918 and then a.908 last year. That’s a pretty unmistakable trend. Over the course of his career, his save percentage is.918, which would peg him as being slightly above average. So what’s more likely: that Bobrovsky has reversed three years of declining play and reverted back to his peak form, or that we’re witnessing a decent goalie putting up numbers unlikely to last? It’s pretty tough to argue it’s the former. Yeah, but: Goaltending is voodoo and nobody knows how it works. That’s not much of a response, but it’s hard to deny. Goaltender performances are notoriously tough to predict. Tuukka Rask is having a similar (though not quite as extreme) rebound season in Boston. Brian Elliott has been all over the map for years. Jimmy Howard has gone from star to overpaid bum and back again. This stuff happens. If Devan Dubnyk can go from barely holding down a job to a Vezina candidate and Dominik Hasek can go from backup to the greatest goalie of all-time, surely Bobrovsky can go from all-star to all-star with a slight dip in between—especially considering he was hurt for some of that. Could Bobrosvky’s numbers decline sharply as the year goes on? Of course they could. But it’s no sure thing. And remember, the Blue Jackets offence is filling the net, so it’s not like they need Bobrovsky to stand on his head every night just to have a chance. Is this the real Bobrovsky or some kind of fluke? The answer is that it doesn’t matter, as long as he can keep it up. And we shouldn’t assume that we can know whether or not he will, because he’s a goaltender and they make no sense. They’re not for real because: John Tortorella has to melt down and blow this at some point, right? Sure, he’s got a Cup ring. But that was from 2004, and the pre-salary cap NHL might as well be the Paleozoic era. The game has changed, and other than one good run with the Rangers, Tortorella hasn’t come close to showing he can change with it. He was awful in Vancouver, and couldn’t move the needle for last year’s Blue Jackets. And we’re just months removed from an embarrassing World Cup in which he led Team USA to a round-robin exit. Things are good now, but at some point the Blue Jackets will struggle. And that’s when Mt. Tortorella will explode and everything will fall apart. Yeah, but: That was the old John Tortorella. This is the new model. Kinder, gentler, more progressive. He’s learned from his mistakes, you see. And sure, that all sounds like nonsense, the sort of feel-good story we tell when things are going well and then abandon as soon as the trouble starts. But in Tortorella’s case, there really does seem to be some truth to it. Tortorella has toned down the hostility, and he’s shown a willingness to embrace some new ideas. And it might help him win the Jack Adams this year. Sure, we don’t know what will happen if and when the Blue Jackets start to slump. But ripping on Tortorella because of what he’s done or said in the past doesn’t really work unless you also acknowledge that he really does seem to have changed this year. They’re not for real because: Nobody saw this coming, and the chances of everybody being this wrong about a team are slim. Here were Sportsnet’s preseason predictions, including a section for “Team most likely to exceed expectations”. There’s not one mention of the Blue Jackets to be found. Here’s one site’s entire staff making their Metro picks; everybody has the Blue Jackets either last or second last. Here’s a Blue Jackets fan site, which you’d expect to be most optimistic outlet available; only two writers have them making the playoffs, and both times it’s as a wildcard that loses in the first round. Nobody went into this season thinking the Blue Jackets would be a Stanley Cup contender. What are the odds that absolutely everybody was wrong? Yeah, but: The odds of everybody being wrong are higher than you’d think. Who saw last year’s Panthers coming? Or the 2013 Avalanche? Or the 2006 Hurricanes? We could go down the list. Hockey is a random game and we all know a lot less than we think. We might have countless season previews that said the Blue Jackets would be bad, but we’ve got 29 games and counting that say they’re good. Trust what happens on the ice before you trust the self-proclaimed experts. They’re not for real because: Come on… they’re the Blue Jackets. This is a team that hasn’t won a playoff round in the entire history of the franchise. They’ve only won two playoff games, period. And it’s not like they’ve had a long list of near-misses. This is a team that’s finished 15th in its conference four different times, including just last year. They’re the laughingstock of the league. Yeah, but: All of that may be true, but none of it matters. The struggles of Geoff Sanderson and David Vyborny have nothing to do with Cam Atkinson and Brandon Saad. This is the 2016–17 season, and all that matters is what’s happened since opening night. This is how sports work. You’re the laughingstock right up until you’re not. The Cubs were terrible for 100 years, and now they’re champions. The Saints never won anything until they won the Super Bowl. Cleveland hadn’t won anything (in any sport) since the 1950s, but now they’re the reigning NBA champs. But we’re supposed to believe that the Blue Jackets can’t win a Stanley Cup? That’s just lazy. It’s what you say when you’ve run out of
Iraq." Excuse me?! Whooa! Total lie. Keith, she went on the Sunday tv talk show circuit to champion the war and cheerlead for Bush. I heard her with my own ears. And then on the Senate floor re: the Iraq authorization, she was quoted as saying, "It's with conviction I support this resolution as being in the best interests of our nation. It's a vote that says clearly to Saddam, "This is your last chance. Disarm or be disarmed." She has been a huge hawk from Day 1 on the Iraq War, continually votes to fund it, and only very recently, when all the polls indicated she was on the wrong side, started to backtrack. Marcy was right, if not precise about what Sen. Clinton said. I went back to watch the interview and here are Clinton's exact words on Olbermann's show. Explaining a litany of issues that the Bush Administration has embarked upon that have pushed our country off course, she said, "To launch a pre-emptive war which I said at the time I was against." That is a flat-out lie--as Marcy correctly explained. Sen. Clinton also lied to Olbermann about her positions since the war began. She told Olbermann: "I have been a very consistent and persistent critic of the actions that the Administration has taken." That is a lie. For most of the period that the violence in Iraq has taken place, Sen. Clinton remained silent, despite pleas from Democratic activists and families whose loved ones were killed in the war that she speak out. Only during her re-election campaign in 2006, when the war was clearly driving the dynamic of the political season, did she begin to pipe up. Her first substantive public criticism of Donald Rumsfeld came, not surprisingly, just a week before the Democratic Senate primary in Connecticut where her ideological soul-mate on the war, Joe Lieberman, was on the ropes. She and her advisors realized that her chances to run for president would be severely compromised if she did not become more visible as a critic of the war I maintain that had Sen. Clinton used her position long ago as a national figure and as perhaps the single most powerful person in the Democratic Party, to speak out against the war and admit--as John Edwards and John Kerry have--that her vote was a mistake, many lives would have been saved. Instead, we are stuck with the parsing of words and poll-tested statements such as "you don't get do-overs in life" to obfuscate the enormity of her vote and the damage we, and the Iraqi people, have endured during her self-imposed silence. A plea to the press: do not be fooled, be persistent, be vigilant when it comes to forcing candidates to own up to their records. The voters deserve to know the real records of the candidates, not what they want to spoon-feed the public. Keith Olbermann is a voice of sanity but he blew this one. It's time for a Special Comment, Keith.There's a little argument that Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson won't end up in the Hall of Fame when he finally walks away from the game. He's been the consensus top running back in the league for nearly a decade, became one of just seven players in NFL history to rush for 2,000-plus yards - coming up nine yards short of the all-time single-season record - and won three rushing titles. However, Peterson's now unlikely to add more than one elite season to his resume. He's 31 years old - an age when players at his position usually face a steep decline. Although he's claimed he'll play until he's 40, there's no doubt the former NFL MVP's in the twilight of his career. While it's almost certain Peterson will remain effective beyond the 2016 season, his days as the league's top runner are almost over. Vikings will soon transition offense to suit Bridgewater Teddy Bridgewater is the future of the Vikings' franchise. The quarterback isn't an elite talent, but he's shown enough during his first two seasons for Minnesota to place the foreseeable future of the organization in his hands. His numbers aren't great (6,150 passings yards, 28 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions in two seasons), but part of the reason for that is the presence of Peterson. Bridgewater was forced to play his rookie season without Peterson, who was suspended for the campaign. This meant the Vikings' offense ran through the quarterback, and he was put in a system that suited him. Upon Peterson's return last season, though, the team shifted back to its running game. Unfortunately, Peterson's and Bridgewater's skills don't mesh well together. Peterson is most effective when running with his quarterback under center, so naturally the Vikings tailored their offense around that. Peterson 2015 Carries Yards YPA TDs First downs Shotgun 39 57 1.7 1 4 Under center 311 1463 4.7 10 70 The problem is, Bridgewater plays best in the shotgun. His numbers from that formation dwarf those he puts up when throwing from under center. Bridgewater 14-15 Attempts Completions Completion % Yards YPA TDs INTs Shotgun 637 433 68% 4653 7.3 22 10 Under center 235 134 57% 1618 6.9 7 11 The Vikings will eventually have to decide which philosophy they'll move forward with. They cannot continue to try to walk the line between appeasing both Peterson and Bridgewater, and they most certainly can't continue to stunt the growth of their young quarterback to accommodate the last few years of production from the running back. While it's possible Peterson could develop a more versatile skill set and improve as a pass-catcher in order to remain on the field with Bridgewater in the shotgun, it's more likely the Vikings use other runners in that spot. Minnesota will allow Peterson to remain the centerpiece of the offense for the majority of 2016 regular season, allowing him to put up another year of great numbers. However, if that fails, a late-season change to a passing-led offense will happen, meaning Peterson's role and numbers will decline in 2017 and beyond. Elite seasons at 32-plus are rare Peterson is a once-in-a-generation talent, but time beats all, regardless of their abilities. When the 2017 season starts, Peterson will have been 32 years old for six months. While it's easy to say he'll be the exception, not the rule, when it comes to playing at a high level beyond that age, history says otherwise. Of the 250 best single-season rushing totals in NFL history, only two were by a running back aged 32 or older: Walter Payton (aged 32, 1,333 yards, eight touchdowns) and John Riggins (aged 34, 1,347, 24 touchdowns). That's a lot of precedent to argue against. Even the two examples of Payton and Riggins do little to convince that Peterson can be elite for several more seasons. Payton is considered by many to be the best running back in NFL history, and even he was done after that spectacular season at age 32. A year later, he rushed for 533 yards, and the year after that he retired. Riggins appears to be an anomaly. His best season by far was at age 34, which was helped by the fact he didn't have the number of carries a back of his age usually had at that point in his career. It's also hard to class Riggins' season as "elite" since he averaged 3.6 yards per attempt. It's not only age that indicates decline; carries do, too. A running back generally peaks in efficiency and workload at some point between 2,250 and 2,500 career touches, according to apexfantasyleagues.com. Heading into 2016, Peterson is at 2,636 career touches. Even allowing him some leeway because he's far from your standard running back, the punishment he's taken over eight seasons of play in the NFL means he's heading for a cliff. While no one wants to see one of the best players in recent memory decline, it's inevitable. We all watched it happen to Peyton Manning over the last season-and-a-half of his career, and it's going to happen to Peterson. Enjoy him in 2016, NFL fans. It'll likely be the last time we witness vintage A.D. (Statistics courtesy pro-football-reference.com)At the risk of cheap rent increasing and a Pinkberry being on every corner, I’m going to go ahead and say it — one of Oklahoma’s two main towns (Oklahoma City and Tulsa) is going to be the next Austin. Granted, I don’t have all the fancy numbers to back this claim up, but fancy numbers are not what Okies are all about. They’re good folks who love their live music, and anyone who begs to differ should spend an evening catching a show at Tulsa’s iconic Cain’s Ballroom. So which is it? Well, I’d say three things: 1. People. As I mentioned, Okies are hungry for entertainment. Years of hearing you all call us a drive-thru state and immediately launching into the song — with more than enough emphasis on the OOOOOOO, thank you — has worn us thin (and we hate anything thin), and has created a monster when it comes to grasping at ways to entertain ourselves. Think I’m lying? Ask Seattle. They’re still sore over us stealing their NBA team. And doing better with it than they did. 2. Location. New York, Louisiana, Chicago, Austin, Los Angeles. We’re in the middle of it all. Gas is expensive these days. Everybody wins. 3. Vision. We actually produce serious visionaries, something we don’t get enough credit for. ”This is the home of everyone from legends like Woody Guthrie and Leon Russell,” says Oklahoma City’s Okie Dope Records co-founder Rob Vera, “to critical favorites like The Flaming Lips and Chainsaw Kittens.” View Images Me and Tyson Meade, lead singer of the Chainsaw Kittens. Speaking of the Kittens, I met frontman Tyson Meade for a coffee to discuss this very thing. “OKC (Oklahoma City) has such a brilliant assortment of freaks and drag queens and drop-outs and drop-ins and dreamers” says Meade, who then goes on to back up my initial claims: “you’re right, it’s Third-World cheap to live there and easy easy easy to fly anywhere from there.” So there you go. Clean (kinda) and clear (sorta) evidence proving that one of these two cities — in the next five years — will be the new live-music mecca. Now, we just need to fix that whole weakest beer in the country problem and we’ll be all set.I'm sitting in jury duty & I guess if I tell yAll how I really feel, yall would judge me, even if I was joking yall would be sensitive. Lol — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 Update: This could all have been an elaborate (albiet, very well done) hoax by the Cardinals DE. The picture at the bottom of this article came from a 2013 courtroom in Washington. That said, we want to believe. People say athletes get preferential treatment when it comes to the law, but we're pretty sure you can't Tweet from jury duty. Arizona Cardinals defensive end Darnell Dockett doesn't care -- and his messages from inside the jury room are amazing. If I was in front of the juror Id be guilty it's not a secret. Only way I go to jail is protecting my family and me. I'd plead guilty! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 The lady ask me if I wanna be here.. I said hell no I rather be home. But I don't believe in death penalty and Im not racist. Can I go now? — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 The guy facing 15-20 yrs.... And what's crazy i see both sides. His and the law. If I tell yall what he "supposely" did yall be like DAMN. — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 I wonder if they know I'm tweeting? Oh well, they shouldn't have selected me. They brung in this big ass police officer like gone scare me — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 I wish this guy would have told me what his intentions was, I could have helped him plan this out better to get away with it! #badplan — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 Rule #1 don't talk with out a lawyer!!!! #2 all cases can be beat!!! #3 call Dockett to help plan!! #4 keep don't talk with out a Lawyer!! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 They bring this big ass police in here like he supposed to scare me while I'm looking like I don't give a shit. I'm like you want ☕️ and — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 They have no idea Im am double parked in a handicap spot out side this court house in a 450k car with a registered pistol. Who am I to judge — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 I just told this guy Im hungry and he's like I can't leave.. wtf U mean I can't eat! Ok watch this. Im gonna order pizza off this app! F.U.! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 I'm going back into this discussion, brb! Pizza on the way. Gonna look at the details more, and give my opinion. They ask me to speak. wtf — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 Ok so now they asking everyone to cut the phone off. I have 2 phones and Twitter app on both. cool I'll give up this android keeping iPhone — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 I'm the wrong guy to be put on jury duty. Dude is innocent in my book. It's all he say and she say. I wish I could talk to the guy. — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 I just told these people I don't wanna be here, and they keeping me and talking to me like I'm gonna get along and be friendly.. — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 Look, I just don't feel the need to judge anyone not my place. The system is corrupt anyway. They feel this guy was guilty of the top. BS!! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 I'm gonna go move my car, I didn't think id be in here this long, even though I have a handicap sticker from my surgery! I'm legit! ✌️ — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 Hold up!!!!!!! I think I'm gonna get kicked out!! For my comment saying "yall had this guy guilty no matter what" and my pizza is here! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 Are they allowed to ask you questions about yourself? "Have you ever been arrested Mr.dockett?".... Like I'm gonna tell you! I'm sleep — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 This ain't about me!!! Don't ask me nothing about me! Should have done your research before I was made to come here then you'd know better! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 This ain't about me!!! Don't ask me nothing about me! Should have done your research before I was made to come here then you'd know better! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 A lady in here crying, I feel bad for her! Don't know what she did but seems she about to get 474773837 years in jail! p.o.p holdn it down! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 Please don't judge me.... I love all of you, and even the ones that hate me I love your hating ass too. I just wanna live my life and leave! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 I need to be a lawyer.... This is crazy! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014 These people ask me have I broken the law in the last 2yrs!!!! I bust out LOL, I didn't even answer I just laughed and told her to continue! — DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) December 2, 2014A Pennsylvania woman who told a witness she was running away from an alleged attacker was rescued after being impaled on a cemetery fence. Emergency workers found the unidentified woman stuck on the five-foot-tall iron fence surrounding Vine Street Cemetery, in Hazleton, The Standard Speaker reported. One of the woman’s legs was impaled on the fence, while the other was still inside the cemetery. “We helped to hold her up because her other leg was getting numb,” Dorothy Molion told The Standard Speaker. “We were trying to keep her calm because if she panicked, it would have been worse,” Molion told the news station. The woman reportedly told Molion and her husband that she was running away from someone who was beating her and had attempted to hurdle the fence. Rescue crews reportedly worked for 30 minutes using power saws and a grinding tool to cut the section of the fence that the woman was stuck on. A towel was used to shield her from ensuing sparks. “We removed a section of the fence and sent it with her the hospital. It was the only way to prevent her from bleeding to death if the spike cut through an artery,” city fire Chief Brian Mandak told The Standard Speaker. The victim was taken to LeHigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton for x-rays and surgery to remove the rest of the fence. Police are investigating the incident and have not confirmed the woman’s account of an alleged attacker. Click for more from The Standard Speaker.Star Ocean Producer On Rebooting The Series And Hopes For The Next Star Ocean Game By Sato. November 29, 2017. 6:15am Square Enix producer Shuichi Kobayashi revived the Star Ocean series that was dormant for over seven years with the release of Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. He recently spoke in an interview with Sisilala to talk about some behind-the-scenes info on the reboot of the series as well as hopes for future developments. [Thanks, Game Jouhou.] Here are highlights from producer Shuichi Kobayashi’s interview: When Kobayashi went to get approval from producer Yoshinori Yamagishi who said he’ll no longer make a Star Ocean game, he was jokingly told “So you’re going to take one for the team.” Kobayashi said there wasn’t any chances in his favor but felt it was a waste to see the IP that is Star Ocean remain dormant. He always felt that it was worth doing since he understood that it has many passionate fans, but since nobody stepped up to the task he decided to do it myself. Unfortunately, Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness didn’t meet its sales expectations, but that was also something that Kobayashi expected. Resource management was one of the first things Kobayashi thought about. From the very start, he had no intention to simply make Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness and stop right there. The producer explained that nowadays if you make something from scratch and end it there, the hurdle of making profit is very high. For this reason, it’s important to manage resources. For better or worse, by “customizing and recycling” well you can consequently secure its quality. Assets are part of your resources, and something that has been cultivated doesn’t go bad. By using those resources, you can think of various new developments, reduce risks, and develop with a sense of speed. Simply put, you can use assets as a base and from there it is possible to make something even better. Kobayashi used assets from Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, including its game engine, character model data, backgrounds, and other texture data in the early development of Star Ocean: Anamnesis. When Kobayashi first brought the idea to bring back Star Ocean, he presented a three-step proposition to Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda: The Star Ocean series that has been dormant will reboot under Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness on console and revive the IP. With the revived IP we’ll develop an IP and bring sales from there. If this development works out we’ll continue boosting the series with new title developments. Star Ocean: Anamnesis is being supported by many fans. If Star Ocean’s popularity continues, and there’s enough demand from fans, Kobayashi hopes to be able to do the next thing for the series. Star Ocean: Anamnesis uses tri-Ace’s very own Aska Engine, and they have modeling, effects, and textures on a level that can even be used on PlayStation 4. That said, unlike Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness that was made from scratch, Kobayashi feels that they can make a sequel with less expense and time using their resources. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is available on PlayStation 4. Star Ocean: Anamnesis is available in Japan for iOS and Android.For well over 5 years, I successfully advanced the Information Theory argument for design in DNA on Infidels, which from 2005-2010 was the world’s largest Atheist discussion forum. My infidels debate eventually became the longest-running, most viewed thread on the board, as you can see here: Click image for a higher resolution screen shot In over five years, the Infidels failed to refute the information theory argument for design in biology. You are invited to study, in detail, one of the longest-running debates in the history of the Infidels discussion board. Information Theory and DNA contradict the Atheist/reductionist view of science, because the laws of physics and chemistry do not account for the existence of information. Don’t just take my word for it. Verify for yourself: To the extent that science can demonstrate anything, the information in DNA is inference to design in living things. Here’s how the fight began…. On August 30, 2005, a member of the infidels online forum (screen name “wdog”) posted the following on the Internet Infidels Discussion Board. The link (now dead) was http://www.freeratio.org/showthread.php?t=135497&page=1 “I have been emailing back and forth with Perry Marshall, the author of this site http://evo2.org/ifyoucanreadthis.htm and since it quickly expanded in scope I invited him to come here and present his ‘evidence’ and proof. You might find the site amusing anyway. Feel free to critique his statements as i am sure he may at least read this since i will make him aware of this thread. please be polite. Thanks” My first post: Gentlemen: The starting point of this discussion is my central thesis, which is: 1) DNA is not merely a molecule with a pattern; it is a code, a language, and an information storage mechanism. 2) All codes are created by a conscious mind; there is no natural process known to science that creates coded information. 3) Therefore DNA was designed by a mind. If you can provide an empirical example of a code or language that occurs naturally, you’ve toppled my proof. All you need is one. Perry Marshall Initially, the discussion continued for more than 4 months and 300 posts. At the end, nearly all participants dropped out, having failed to topple my proof or produce any new objections that had not already been addressed. In the course of a very detailed and vigorous discussion my argument did not suffer the slightest injury. There were six major counter-arguments to information as proof of intelligent design. You can follow these links for a thorough summary of the discussion threads: The objection that DNA is not a code (it is, by universal definition) 1.(it is, by universal definition) 3. The objection that information has no objective meaning (it does, because a message produces results that are just as objective and specific as the message itself) (Note: for brevity and because of copyright concerns I have edited and / or paraphrased most of the questions, being careful not to change the intent of the message. I was challenged by dozens of people and responded in detail to all major objections.) On December 4, 2005 I made my last of 16 posts. Notice that my language re-stating my syllogism is somewhat tightened as a result of four months of discussion: Let’s review where we’ve been in this thread. I have said: (1) The sequence of base pairs in DNA is a code. Much effort has been made to discredit this statement, unsuccessfully. This statement is fully and explicitly supported in virtually all of the scientific literature since the 1960’s. (2) All codes that we know the origin of come from a mind. Much effort has been expended to discredit this statement as well. Assertions have been attempted that gravity, snowflakes, magma flows and the like are codes. But none accurately conforms to Shannon’s communication model. Most of the examples cited do not contain an encoding system, and none contain a decoding system. (3) Therefore DNA came from a mind. The objection to this statement has been that the conclusion is reached inductively. Complaints have been lodged that inductive reasoning is inherently unreliable. But we do observe that the laws of thermodynamics and in fact the majority of known scientific laws are determined inductively and not deductively. If you wish to throw out inductive reasoning, then we can discard almost all scientific knowledge and start all over again and use rocks and sticks to make fire. Thus we have, right here on the Infidels discussion forum, after more than 300 posts, robust evidence that life was intelligently designed. It is not possible for me to persuade people to believe in God if they do not want to; that is not my job. But one can hope that some will follow the evidence, wherever it leads. Perry Marshall At this point the moderator, RBH, said: “I’ve pretty much abandoned this thread as hopeless, but recently ran onto the Evolving Code Wiki run by Stephen Freeland’s bioinformatics lab. A good resource for those who wish to ‘follow the evidence’.” Mr. Freeland’s site doesn’t answer the questions I raise either, but skeptics are free to pursue that line of inquiry if they wish. Let’s not forget that the entire enterprise of scientific inquiry during the last 500 years has been the ongoing discovery of underlying order, not the assumption of accident. For that reason I think it’s far more productive to hypothesize design in DNA and devote our energies to discovering all its wonders. Open Challenge: The discussion continued long after that on IIDB, as discussion resumed in late February 2005. No doubt people will editorialize about this elsewhere, attempting to dismiss it as ‘arguing by failed analogy’ or whatever. But to whoever said I’m wrong, I instructed visitors: Read the summaries, and if you have a counter argument, step into the ring with me and prove I’m wrong. Discussion Board History: Eventually the Infidels board ownership was transferred to another organization, freeratio.org. The thread continued to be open for a few more years. Later, it became locked; then password protected; then removed. Freeratio.org no longer appears to exist. All during this time, I actively encouraged visitors to my website to go investigate this and see it for themselves. I even bought paid traffic on Google AdWords to expose as many people as possible to this debate. Again this became the longest-running most-viewed thread on the entire forum and remained so for several years. I would post the entire contents of the forum here for you, but I do not own the copyrights. I have thus far been unable to obtain permission or cooperation in continuing to make this discussion public. This is understandable of course, but no one should be deceived into thinking that Infidels or the Freeratio board is interested in pursuing the truth. Note: Before you enter into this discussion here on my blog, do your homework. (I’ve done mine.) Carefully read every single item and make absolutely sure you’re not just repeating what somebody else has already said. After more than 1000 messages on the board, the atheist position is forced to insist, against decades of firmly established scientific literature and every convention in the field of biology, that DNA “isn’t really a code.” And yet things like pebbles and snowflakes somehow are. A number of people on the atheist side called them on this, but even the moderator continued to insist that I’m foolish for taking all those biology books literally. How very interesting that the atheist position could no longer accept one of the most fundamental definitions in modern science, once the implications become clear: If DNA is a code, then we have every reason to believe that it is designed. Personal Comments After Debating Information Theory in Public for Years and Successfully Advancing Design to hundreds of Atheists: First of all, the vast majority of “evolution vs. creation” debates are fundamentally incapable of reaching a conclusion because 99% of the evidence is subjective and anecdotal. If you argue about fossils, for example, the evidence is extremely fragmentary and people see the evidence through their presuppositions. An endless debate that never reaches a conclusion is a great way to sell books, because skeptics buy evolution books and creationists buy creationist books and nobody really listens to each other anyway. But Information Theory is different. The arguments I make here, and the arguments Hubert Yockey makes in his book Information Theory, Evolution and the Origin of Life are not subjective at all. (Yockey is not a creationist or even an advocate of Intelligent Design, by the way, and nowhere do I reference anything other than widely accepted, non-controversial scientific literature.) The information theory argument is based on rigorous logical and mathematical definitions, and long-standing conventions in Electrical Engineering. The pattern in DNA is not like a code, it is a code, by definition. So information theory applied to DNA is not an analogy and actually has a possibility of making real progress in this debate. Secondly, please understand the origin of life question is separate from the evolution question. This thread is not about evolution per se. As you will see here, the only resource the skeptic can use to fight this is confusion and obfuscation. You’ll notice the skeptical attempt to take my simple argument and make it impossibly complicated and confuse people, including the skeptics themselves. Information Theory really isn’t all that complicated. But… it is sufficiently abstract that you can throw up smoke screens, and the smoke screens will work for quite awhile. Notice how tirelessly these guys argued that DNA doesn’t actually contain a code. (Also notice that at the very same time they also try to argue that gravity is a code!) And although most members of the board don’t explicitly admit it, their argument does ultimately fail. The pattern in DNA is a code. You will notice that there is a handful of atheists here who do acknowledge that DNA is a code – and that yes, my first two points are correct, all known codes are designed. They are lambasted by their brethren and accused of secretly being on my side. My argument is inductive. It does not explicitly identify God as designer, it just leaves God as the only available possibility. So a person is still free to reject the God conclusion and suppose that there must be some other explanation. And of course one is perfectly free to pursue naturalistic explanations for the origin of information – after we acknowledge that we currently do not know! (This is why I organized the Evolution 2.0 Prize.) But what is interesting is that almost nobody on this forum is willing to even acknowledge they don’t have an alternative explanation. This strikes me as self-deception. Hey, if you don’t know something, why not just admit it? How else can rational inquiry move forward? As you see here, not many infidels were willing to make that admission. Fact is, “skeptics” take a whole bunch of things on faith, too – faith that science will fill the ever widening gaps of the origin of life question for example. Skepticism fails to satisfy its own criteria – because every worldview invokes a miracle, somewhere along the line. Another thing you’ll quickly see on the infidels forum is extreme hostility. The gentleman who invited me to the forum asked his colleagues to be polite, but many were not. (At some points, he wasn’t all that polite either.) One guy said, “If you quote Yockey one more time I’ll claw your eyes out.” One participant had his posts heavily edited by the moderator and was eventually kicked off. These guys hate design and everything it implies. The contempt for religious ideas and religious people, especially Christians, is palpable. But again, the infidels failed to put so much as a dent or scratch in my argument. Because the greatest failure of materialism is that it simply cannot explain the existence of information! Decades ago this would have seemed like an odd and abstract argument, but living in the digital information age as we do now, with computers and credit cards and smart phones, even a child can easily grasp it. It is not my intent to embarrass, humiliate or “show up” anyone here. Nobody likes to be publicly made a fool. Nonetheless truth does matter. And if naturalism is false, then the faster we put a fork in it, the faster we can get to the truth. After all, if there is a pre-programmed order in the universe, then the most unproductive assumption science could possibly make would be that it is random, accidental or purposeless. Ultimately the outcome of this discussion reinforces what the great mathematician Norbert Weiner said almost 50 years ago: “Information is Information, neither matter nor energy. No materialism that fails to take account of this can survive the present day.” – Norbert Weiner, MIT Mathematician and Father of Cybernetics On this discussion board I rigorously demonstrated that an Intelligent Designer is the only available explanation for the genetic code in DNA. I did so in the same manner that we assert the truth of other scientific theorems, like the laws of thermodynamics. But I couldn’t get a congregation of hard-core atheists to accept it – which goes to show that Dale Carnegie was right: “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” Here, atheists show themselves to be just as devout in their beliefs, and just as steadfast in the face of reason, as the adherents of any world religion. -Perry Marshall NOTE: Origin of Information is now the subject of a $3 million USD technology prized funded by private equity investment group Natural Code LLC. Details here. Get 3 free chapters of Evolution 2.0: Breaking the Deadlock Between Darwin and Design here. “Let us break the chains of the prejudice called Logic. Are we going to be stopped by a syllogism?” -Dr. Floyd Ferris, villain who opposes reason and logic in Ayn Rand’s landmark novel Atlas Shrugged “The Christian is quite free to believe that there is a considerable amount of settled order and inevitable development in the universe. But the materialist is not allowed to admit into his spotless machine the slightest speck of spiritualism or miracle.” -G.K. ChestertonIn the previous post on stopping threads, we explored thread design strategies to safely stop threads in Java. In this post, let’s look at various ways we can stop or cancel tasks handled by Executors (and ExecutorServices). Standard Cancellation: When we submit a task (Callable or its older cousin Runnable) for execution to an Executor or ExecutorService (e.g. ThreadPoolExecutor), we get a Future back which wraps the tasks. It has a method called cancel(…) which can be called to cancel the taskFuture wraps. Calling this method has different effects depending on the stage the task is in. A task could be in three possible stages after being submitted to an Executor: The task hasn’t started executing yet – it is waiting in the work queue for a thread to start executing it. A thread is executing the task. The task has finished executing. Cancellation is trivial, if the task hasn’t started executed. It is simply removed from the work queue. Similarly, if the task has finished executing, cancelling it has no effect. It is a little tricky when the task is executing in a thread. Recall from my previous post: to stop threads in Java, we rely on a co-operative mechanism called Interruption. The idea is very simple. To stop a thread, all we can do is deliver it a signal, aka interrupt it, requesting that the thread stops itself at the next available opportunity. If the thread cooperates, it will clean up itself and stop. Non-cooperating threads ignore the request and cancellation will have no effect. From Javadocs: boolean cancel(boolean mayInterruptIfRunning) Attempts to cancel execution of this task. This attempt will fail if the task has already completed, has already been cancelled, or could not be cancelled for some other reason. If successful, and this task has not started when cancel is called, this task should never run. If the task has already started, then the mayInterruptIfRunning parameter determines whether the thread executing this task should be interrupted in an attempt to stop the task. So when the tasks is already executing and we call cancel(true) on it, it will deliver an interrupt signal to the thread executing the task. In order to make this work properly, your threads must be designed to handle interruption. Refer to this post for more info. Non-Standard Cancellation: Sometime, it becomes necessary to support non-standard task cancellation – especially when the task relies on blocking or long-running methods that are oblivious to interruption. E.g. when you call ServerSocket.accept(), it starts waiting for a client connection. The catch-22 is that it will ignore all interruption requests and if this function is called in a thread, you cannot stop that thread using interrupts. To support nonstandard cancellation where interrupts won’t work, there
after a vaccination program was disrupted by war, and the list is growing to include TB, leishmaniasis, typhoid and cholera, which will come up during the summer months. Leishmaniasis is spreading so fast among the displaced people inside of Syria that it is now called the "Aleppo boil" — for the running skin sores transmitted by sand fleas. Fouad says with the collapse of Syria's health care system, many Syrians have not had any medical care or medicine for more than two years. When you consider chronic diseases like diabetes, Type 1 and 2, and cancer, Fouad says, you start to see that more people are dying of disease rather than war. Disease moves easily across boundaries along with the refugees. Coutts and Fouad warn this could lead to a public health crisis for the entire region. By the end of this year, the Syrian refugee population is expected to reach more than 3 million. In Jordan, the patient load in hospitals has jumped 250 percent in the past five months. Lebanon's health system is under strain with more registered refugees than any of its neighbors. "With this huge influx of refugees now in Lebanon," Fouad says, "the number will come to change the whole system." One expected change is in the school system. U.N. officials estimate that when school starts in the fall, Syrians will outnumber Lebanese kids in the country's public schools. That worries Hayda Mohammed Al Jeeshi, the nurse at the health care center. She says many Syrian kids missed childhood vaccinations before they fled to Lebanon and that puts Lebanese children at much greater risk. The measles outbreak that started in northern Syria is now showing up among the refugee community in Lebanon. Scrambling to care for one of the world's largest refugee populations is another burden of the Syrian war. The U.S. government has upped its contribution to host countries to more than $800 million, with an additional $300 million pledged this month for food, shelter and health care. "Diseases don't care whether you're for Assad, or against Assad, or uninterested in politics," says Anne Richard, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for refugees, who was in Lebanon this week. "It strikes everyone, as an equal opportunity."Arsenal have been given an injury boost with the news that Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott could be back in the running for the game with Norwich on April 13. Wilshere, 20, returned in October from a 17-month absence because of a stress fracture to the right foot and was recently given a three-week break to guard against a repeat of that injury. The midfielder missed Arsenal's 2-0 win over Bayern as they went out of the Champions League as well as England's World Cup qualifiers away to San Marino and Montenegro. However, while the weekend's trip to West Brom is too soon, assistant manager Steve Bould is confident that he, and Walcott who has been laid low with a groin injury, could be ready next week. "We have good news with both of them," he said. "Jack and Theo are outside running, and have an outside chance of being involved against Norwich a week on Saturday. "We just have Ryo [Miyaichi] and Abou [Diaby] out for the long-term so things are looking good in terms of availability." There was also good news for defender Nacho Monreal, who is fit after hurting his knee trying to stop a goal against Reading. Bould added: "Nacho has recovered well from his knee problem from the impact of the post and has trained the last couple of days so is available for the weekend."So, this has warmly nested itself in my weekly breakfast rotation. I’ve been making it for years, but I hadn’t realized that until we’d hosted a few of our guests and was told, adamantly, that I’d never made it for them before. The original recipe is from the Tasjahara Bread book, which is worth leafing through just for the cheerful musings on the nature of yeasts by the Buddhist monk who is its author. I’m not sure how a sam is terribly different from a clafoutis, but what’s in a name really? It has all the toasty comfort of French toast or pancakes, but takes only 30 minutes to make (20 of which are baking time). It’s also a great foil for whole grains, as the eggs provide all the lift you need. It’s extremely adaptable. Ingredients: 3 eggs 1/2 cup flour, any kind (here it’s whole grain spelt, but I’ve used a bunch of gluten-free substitutes without problems) 1/2 cup milk (again, any kind. The eggs are doing the heavy work). 1 heaping cup of fruit of your choice, fresh or frozen 1tbsp of butter 1 8-9 inch cast iron pan. 1tsp of vanilla (optional) 1/2 tsp cinnamon (also optional) * This recipe halves and doubles easily, but your pan must change accordingly. Start by preheating the oven to 400. You’ll do all your mixing and chopping in the time it takes the oven to come to temperature. Pop your cast iron in the oven with the butter to warm. Combine the ingredients (always wet into dry!) and mix until combined. A few lumps are fine. I’m using apples here, chopped into cubish pieces. Every fruit I’ve tried so far has worked well. If your fruit is frozen, thaw it and discard (or drink) any resulting liquid. It won’t hurt anything, but too much will make the bottom soggy. Pop the pan back out of the oven when it’s part-way through the preheat (I don’t know, 300-ish? specificity is overrated) and add your fruit. Stir lightly to coat with butter. If you’re using the cinnamon add it here. Pop the pan back in the oven and let it come all the way up to temperature. * if you’re using really soft or ripe fruits, like, say, peaches you might want to skip this step and add them right before you pour in the batter. The apples benefit from some time toasting in the butter and cinnamon, but not all fruits will. You’re wearing gloves for this right? Cast-iron pans are real hand-scalders. Give your batter a quick stir to catch anything that may have settled on the bottom and pour it over the fruit in the hot pan. No need to stir, just make sure it’s roughly even and the batter meets the edges of your skillet. If it doesn’t, you’ve beefed it on your pan size. I can’t help you now. It’s probably still going to be delicious. Pop it back in your oven and set a 20 minute timer. And voila! Sexy, right? It will come out of the oven all puffy but will quickly deflate out of the heat. Don’t worry, it’s supposed to. Take a spatula and separate it from the sides, then carve it up to serve it. Depending on how well your pan is seasoned you might have some side-stickidge. This volume comfortably feeds 2. I usually snarf mine with plain yogurt and maple syrup. AdvertisementsThe BPM Festival ups the ante with the announcement of the Phase 2 artist lineup and showcases for its seventh edition in Playa Del Carmen, Riviera Maya, Mexico from January 3 to 12, 2014. With over 250 artists confirmed, BPM 2014 continues to expand its musical scope, bringing the top talents from all around the world playing the highest quality electronic over ten days in one of the most spectacular winter hotspots on the planet. BPM is proud to announce the following showcase debuts: All Gone Pete Tong, Luca Bacchetti’s Endless, white hot U.S. label French Express, Scuba’s Hotflush Recordings, Nicole Moudaber’s MOOD Records, Denmark’s Noir Music, Josh Wink’s Ovum Recordings, Nick Curly presents Trust, and Toronto’s Union. In addition to the showcases already announced in Phase 1, there will be the return of the following BPM veterans: Akbal Music, Bedrock Records, Cadenza, Digital Delight, Kraftek, MEXA vs. Off Recordings, Paradise, Pets Recordings, Smoke N’ Mirrors, Superfreq, This & That, This Is The End, tINI & the gang, and Wolf + Lamb. For the first time ever, BPM will host two editions of select parties during the festival, including: Lee Burridge’s All Day I Dream (January 4 & 11), Circo Loco (January 6 Night & January 10 Day) and Marco Carola’s Music On (January 6 Day & January 11 Night), plus special editions of Richie Hawtin presents ENTER. (January 5 Day & Night). All events will be ticketed and entrance to all events is included with the purchase of 3-Day | 7-Day | 10-Day wristbands, now available at bpm.wantickets.com while supplies last. Wristbands include expedited, guaranteed entrance, and re-entry to all day & night parties. Single event tickets will be available at a later date (please note: single event tickets do not include re-entry). Related articles AdvertisementsFamily members remain by the bedside of Camden Officer Patrick O'Hanlon as he recovers from a gun shot to the leg. NBC10s Aaron Baskerville talks to those concerned family members. A 19-year-old faces attempted murder charges in the close-range shooting of a rookie Camden County police officer Wednesday night. Delronn Mahan, of Lindenwold, was charged Thursday with attempted murder, aggravated assault and related offenses, Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo said. Mahan is accused of shooting 21-year-old officer Patrick O'Hanlon shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday around 8th Street and Chelton Avenue in Camden. The first-year officer approached three men he believed were suspicious, investigators said. The area is known for gang and drug activity, Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said. As O'Hanlon walked toward them, one of the men began to flee. After O'Hanlon caught up to him, the man allegedly pulled out a gun and the two men began to struggle over the weapon. Mahan then opened fire at close range, shooting O'Hanlon in the leg, police said. "It appears that the suspect tried to shoot the officer a second time in the face, but the gun did not go off," Thomson said the gun jammed, likely saving Officer O'Hanlon's life. Responding officers took the suspect into custody and tended to the wounded officer. "The officers who immediately responded to the scene immediately applied a tourniquet to the wounded officer's leg," Thomson said. O'Hanlon, who is also an Army reservist, was taken to Cooper University Hospital where he was listed in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries. Thomson said the bullet went through O'Hanlon's upper right thigh. He praised the officers who rushed O'Hanlon to the hospital. "They saved the life of their brother officer and got him to the hospital and he's gonna be fine," Thomson said. The officer remained in a lot of pain Thursday, his parents at his side, Thomson said. O'Hanlon was able to give a thumbs up from his hospital as seen in a tweet from police. Photo credit: NBC10/ Camden Police Mahan was not injured during the incident. Police say O'Hanlon never opened fire during the struggle. "I'm extremely proud of the officer," Thomson said. "I'm extremely proud of the fellow officers that responded, minimized the situation without injury to even the suspect in that matter. That's asking a lot of people to do." Mahan was jailed ahead of a bail hearing, prosecutors said. "We know that a really bad guy had a gun on him and he was gonna do some bad things with it out there on the street," Thomson said outside Cooper University Hospital late Wednesday night. "If not for our officer intercepting him and taking him off the street and the gun there probably would have been a lot worse events taking place tonight." Police continued to investigate the incident Thursday.Al Mukalla: At least five Al Houthi fighters were killed and several others arrested late on Friday in brief clashes with resistance fighters loyal to the Yemeni government in the province of Dhamar, army generals and government-run media said on Saturday. The clashes erupted when rebel forces tried to set up a checkpoint inside areas controlled by resistance fighters in Utmah district. The state-run Saba news agency said that pro-government forces attacked two armed vehicles carrying the rebel forces, killing five and arresting seven others, including the group’s commander Abdul Malik Al Jarmouzi. The rebel movement backed by local renegade army units loyal to the ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh seized control of Dhamar in October 2014. Al Houthis’ capture of Dhamar was largely uncontested until they approached the district of Utmah where locals took up arms and revolted against them. When the Saudi-led coalition began bombing Al Houthi-controlled military sites in Dhamar early 2015, the resistance picked up the steam and announced liberating some regions of Utmah. “Utmah resistance is commanded by Abdul Wahab Maodhah and will expand its territories if they got arms and other logistics from the government like other fronts,” Major Mohsen Khasrouf, chief of Yemen’s Armed Forces Moral Guidance Department, told Gulf News. "More people have joined the resistance as the resentment is growing against Al Houthi militia.” Early last year, local army commanders announced mobilising hundreds of soldiers in the central province of Marib, the base of the government and coalition forces. The forces were prepared to take part in a major operation to eject the rebels from Dhamar province, but the government apparently gave preference to focusing military efforts on Sana’a Nehim front and the western coast. In the northern province of Hajjah, government forces heavily shelled Al Houthi-controlled territories in Haradh and Medi districts. The official Facebook page of the 5th Military Region said that the army’s cannons targeted Al Houthi sites northern of Haradh to pave the way for the troops to advance. Yemen government forces backed by the coalition’s warplanes opened a new front in the northern last 2015 when hundreds of troops, marching from the Saudi side of the border, advanced deeply into Hajja province taking control of part of Haradh city and the strategic port city of Medi, a smuggling point for the rebel movement. In the west, Yemen army battled Al Houthi fighters on the edges of Khokha port region, Hodeida province, after liberating all coastal areas in the province of Taiz.company's strong intention to "invest significantly" in the country + demonetisation move in India + NEW YORK: The demonetisation drive undertaken by the Indian government is a "great move" in the longer term, Apple CEO Tim Cook said as he emphasised theCook, in first quarter fiscal year 2017 earnings release conference call, said despite the demonetisation exercise, US-based iPhone maker performed well in the Indian market."Despite thethat created lots of economic pressure there last quarter, despite that, we had all-time record revenue results, and so we were very happy about that," Cook said in the call yesterday when asked about the company's performance in India during its fiscal 2017 first quarter ended December 31, 2016.Cook, 56, said the impact of demonetisation has not worked its way through yet and it is "still definitely having some overhang.""But I think in the longer term, it's a great move, and I feel really good about how we're doing there. We are in discussions on a number of things, including retail stores, and fully intend to invest significantly in the country and believe it's a great place to be," Cook said.Describing India as a "great" market, Cook said Apple will make significant investments in the country going forward.The Indian government had last year in November withdrawn from circulation the highest denomination currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 in an effort to curb black money.Apple's chief financial officer Luca Maestri said the company established new all-time revenue records in most developed and emerging markets, with strong growth rates in many countries, including the US, Japan, Canada, France, Australia, Brazil, India, Turkey, and Russia.He said the iPad and its laptop range Macs did very well in the Indian market.Cook said Apple sold 5.4 million Macs and generated its highest-ever quarterly Mac revenue. "We were very happy to report double-digit unit growth in several countries, including Japan, Mainland China, India, the Netherlands, and Sweden, as well as in the US education market," he said.Apple sold 13.1 million iPads, ahead of its expectations, posting double-digit growth in China and India, "as we've expanded distribution channels in those countries and we continue to attract a very high percentage of first-time tablet buyers," Maestri added.In the Senate, estimates have same-sex marriage passing with a majority of one. These figures assume that Liberal MPs are given a free vote and includes MPs who have only declared their support in private. Ms Burke's announcement comes as Mr Shorten announced he will introduce a bill to legalise same-sex marriage into the lower house next week, and in doing so, try and force the issue in the Liberal party room. The move has angered some Liberal MPs who support same-sex marriage and do not think Labor pressure will help them secure a free vote for their side. It has also caused confusion in the Parliament, given Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm and the Greens also have same-sex marriage bills on the Senate's books. During question time on Wednesday, Mr Shorten asked Mr Abbott if he would let his MPs have a free vote. The Prime Minister replied that even though he could not "forsee the future", if Parliament did discuss same-sex marriage, it should be under a non-partisan banner. "If our Parliament were to make a big decision on a matter such as this, it ought to be owned by the Parliament and not by any particular party," he said. "I would ask the Leader of the Opposition and all members of Parliament to consider this as we ponder these subjects in the weeks and months to come." Mr Abbott is a staunch defender of the existing marriage definition. But he has previously said it will be up to the Liberal Party to decide their position on a free vote and has conceded he is the only person in his family who is against same-sex marriage. If our Parliament were to make a big decision on a matter such as this, it ought to be owned by the Parliament and not by any particular party. On Wednesday, Ms Burke revealed that she not only backs same-sex marriage but a binding vote. The former speaker did not vote when a same-sex marriage bill last came before the House of Representatives in 2012 and was defeated. "Marriage equality should be endorsed by our Parliament and our community, as it is a fundamental right that everyone should be equal before the law and marriage is a legally binding contract enacted under law," Ms Burke said. "My marriage will only be enhanced by all those who seek to publicly declare their union, children will only benefit from their parents being able to publicly declare their union and our society will only be enhanced by removing discrimination." Ms Burke polled her electorate on marriage equality in 2010, which told her "my community did not support a change to the Marriage Act". The Labor MP holds the seat of Chisholm in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. She explained she did not put forward her own personal view at the time because she believed same-sex marriage "needs to be embraced by the community to ensure lasting equality". Ms Burke follows similar announcements from Labor colleagues Wayne Swan, Tony Burke, Chris Bowen, Ed Husic and Joel Fitzgibbon in recent weeks. Australian Marriage Equality said it welcomed Ms Burke's support. "It will send a positive message to Labor members who have yet to support the reform that they should get their skates on," national director Rodney Croome said. "By our estimation we are now just one vote short of a majority in the lower house." Mr Croome cautioned that the news did not mean "we should rush to a vote". "It's important that the Coalition allows a free vote for its members and that these members have a chance to have a dialogue with their electorates about the reform." Follow us on TwitterBy Céline Nahory The veto has always loomed over the work of the UN Security Council. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union often brandished their prerogative publicly in Council meetings. Overall, the five permanent members cast 199 vetoes between 1946 and 1989 (1) - well over four per year - preventing the Council from taking action on many important matters. Since the end of the Cold War, however, the formal use of the veto has diminished dramatically. Between January 1990 and March 2004, the Permanent Five (P5) cast 17 vetoes - only about one per year. In spite of this new appearance of restraint, the P5 continue to pressure the Security Council through a "hidden" veto - the quiet threat of possible veto use. As Ambassador Curtis Ward of Jamaica put it, "the mere presence of the threat of the veto … determines the way the Council conducts its business." (2) Permanent members use the hidden veto mainly in closed-door informal consultations, rather than in official open meetings. Since the late 1980s, the Council largely conducts its business in such private sessions. Away from the public and without any record of what has been said, the P5 have more freedom to pressure, threaten, and even bully other members of the Council. By giving private veto warnings before a vote takes place, the P5 can "convince" Council members to shift their position and still persuade the international public of their good intentions. Hidden vetoes - nearly always pitting a single permanent member against the rest of the Council - have a very negative impact on the work of the Security Council. Washington's constant threat of vetoes on Security Council actions critical of Israel is a notorious example of this abuse, which generally worsens international crises. Though the Arab group has obtained monthly Security Council meetings on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories, the US prevents any substantive role of the Council on the matter. The constant threat has been strengthened by the actual use of the veto on draft resolutions judged either "unfair" or "unconstructive" by Washington (3). By contrast, France's threat to block a resolution authorizing war against Iraq in the spring of 2003 illustrates the very unusual case of a threatened veto with an arguably positive effect. Contrary to most threats of veto, France made its threat publicly, confident that worldwide support for its action would ultimately help other members of the Council to stand up against US pressure. But in the great majority of cases, a single member issues a veto threat against the will of a large majority of Council members, and often too against the preponderance of UN member states and international public opinion. (4) Controlling the Agenda Permanent members use their hidden veto to control the Council's agenda and prevent the Council from taking up certain issues. The Council never discusses crises that a P5 member considers to be within its own exclusive sphere of interest. Chechnya, Tibet, Xinjiang, Northern Ireland, Sudan, Uganda and Colombia figure among the forgotten conflicts that the Council ignores. Even in earlier days, when the formal veto was used much more frequently, hidden vetoes kept key issues such as colonial wars and Cold War conflicts off the agenda. The Security Council never debated the Algerian war or the partitioning of India because of the hidden vetoes of France and the UK. Nor did the Council take up US involvement in Vietnam or the Soviet war in Afghanistan even though hostilities continued for almost a decade after Moscow vetoed a draft resolution in 1980. To prevent the Council from discussing taboo issues, permanent members carefully mould the monthly program of work during intense negotiations among the rotating president and the other Council members. Though the UN Charter does not provide a right of veto on procedural matters, the P5 insist on their right to set the boundaries of what may and may not be said. The P5 argue implausibly but unshakeable that the Council makes a decision on substance (rather than a simple procedural move) when deciding what goes onto the agenda, thus making such a decision subject to a veto! (5) Blocking Action Even when items pass through P5 censorship and make the agenda, permanent members continue to use the hidden veto to further their national policy goals. Iraq, a theater of deeply divergent strategic and commercial interests among the P5, has provoked more threats of veto than any other recent issue. For more than a decade, the US and UK clashed with Russia, China, and France – freely using their hidden vetoes at every turn, not only in the Security Council, but also in the Council's sanctions committee dealing with Iraq. (6) During committee debates, the US (and sometimes also the UK) blocked approval of contracts for Iraq imports under the Oil-for-Food programme, while in the Council France and Russia blocked lesser changes of the sanctions regime, pressing for extensive revamping or lifting of the sanctions. Successive threats of veto blocked action on the damaging consequences of the sanctions, the Oil-for-Food programme, no-fly zones, arms inspections and eventually the war of 2003. The hidden veto weakens many resolutions by removing language disapproved by P5 members. France presented a draft resolution in January 2004 on the protection of children in armed conflict. The text was based on a 2003 report by the Secretary General that provided a list of affected countries. (7) The UK and Russia strenuously opposed the inclusion of Northern Ireland and Chechnya as "armed conflicts," especially because the conflicts would be subject to monitoring under the terms of the resolution. London and Moscow signaled their hidden vetoes by "refusing to support" the text. The UN Secretariat was then forced to make "official corrections" to the original report so that it referred in the sensitive cases not as "armed conflicts" but as "situations of concern." After four months of negotiations and Secretariat collusion, Resolution 1539 was then adopted unanimously. The public, generally unaware of the dispute, welcomed the adoption of the weakened resolution. In the Security Council's culture of formal cooperation and teamwork, the hidden veto plays a highly strategic role even among the P5 group. As the Council increasingly takes decision by consensus, permanent members consult often among themselves on important matters before going to the Council with a common arrangement. In this context, permanent members may threaten a veto as leverage to strike a deal with other members or swap their support. The United States and Russia apparently struck a deal in 1999, trading off a threat of Russian veto on Iraq in return for ''no action'' on Chechnya. Early in their term, elected members learn the topics they cannot raise without risking a very high price. Increasingly discouraged after facing one hidden veto after another, they stay away from these topics, creating what can be considered a "double hidden veto." In addition to P5 threat of veto, then, elected members' self-censorship paralyzes the work of the Council. When determined ambassadors challenge the veto system, they are quickly put in their place. Past the middle of his term in the Security Council in 1999-2000, Ambassador Peter Van Walsum of the Netherlands interjected a statement about Chechnya in a Council debate on another subject. Ambassador Sergey Lavrov of Russia immediately interrupted to object and make clear that, as a veto-wielder, he would block any further discussions on the topic. The president of the Council ruled that Van Walsum was out of order and the matter never arose again. Hidden vetoes can have terrible consequences. The Security Council failed to act during the Rwandan genocide in 1994 due to the hidden vetoes of France and the US. Paris and Washington not only blocked UN action, but also used their hidden veto to weaken the definition of the crisis under international law. An independent UN report admitted that the failure of the Security Council to act led directly to the genocide. (8) The Security Council could not even pass a resolution containing the word "genocide," which would have required intervention by parties to the 1951 Genocide Convention. Only after the worst months of the killing did the Security Council endorse Opération Turquoise, a deployment of French troops as a "humanitarian" mission under the UN flag. Yet, 800,000 people died because permanent members considered an earlier UN intervention contrary to their interests. A Human Rights Watch report scathingly said: "The Americans were interested in saving money, the Belgians were interested in saving face, and the French were interested in saving their ally, the genocidal government." (9) Hidden vetoes usually do not make the headlines, so the public tends to believe that the veto is a problem of the past. Permanent members continue to keep the Security Council under intense political pressure, shaping Council action according to their own national interests. Only abolishing the power of veto can resolve the problem of the hidden veto. But permanent members oppose any reforms of the voting system. Eager to keep their absolute prerogative, the P5 will rule out any attempts to eliminate the veto - even proposals aiming at limiting the use and the scope of the veto. Permanent members concede that the veto should remain a "last resort," but in fact they use the hidden veto constantly. Their abusive use of this privilege bedevils the Security Council, making it undemocratic, lacking in legitimacy and often sadly ineffective. Footnotes: (1) Between 1946 and 1989, the USA and USSR cast respectively 60 and 79 vetoes. The topics vary from the Korean war and the Middle East conflict to applications for membership. Moscow especially exercised its veto power in the early period, while Washington cast its first veto in 1970. For more information on numbers and subjects of veto from 1946 until today, see security/membship/veto/vetosubj.htm (2) Statement at the Wrap-Up Session of August 2001, S/PV. 4363, p.7. Jamaica served in the Council in 2000-2001 (3) Between 2001 and May 2004, 6 out of the 8 vetoes were cast by Washington specifically on Israel and the Occupied Territories. See a complete list of subjects of the veto: security/membship/veto/vetosubj.htm (4) Because veto threats are issued informally, it is impossible to count the number of hidden vetoes, which must add up to many hundreds. As an indicator, the count of actually cast vetoes gives a sense of how the P5 use the hidden veto to block decision against the will of other Council members. Among the 216 vetoes cast between 1946 and April 2004, only 27 were cast by more than one P5 member. (5) See Bailey and Daws, The Procedure of the Security Council, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998, Third Edition, p. 240-249. (6) Sanctions Committees operate by consensus. Therefore, in theory, all fifteen Council members have the capacity to block decisions. But in practice, only P5 members regularly use this veto power. (7) Report of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict (S/2003/1053 and Corr.1 and 2), November 10, 2003. The countries listed are Afghanistan, Burundi, Chechnya, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Myanmar, Nepal, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda. (8) Independent UN Inquiry into the Actions of the UN during the 1994 Genocide, commissioned by Secretary General Kofi Annan. Released December 15, 1999, S/1999/1257 (9) Alison Des Forges, "Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda" Human Rights Watch, March 1999In the Indie GIF Showcase, we dig up the best-looking new and upcoming indie games and explore what makes them special. Are you a developer with a game to submit? Use this form. It's no grand secret that indie developers love them some Metroidvania, but even given the genre's popularity, developer Cardboard Sword's The Siege and the Sandfox stands out, and not just because of its name. A so-called "stealthvania," it seeks to blend the freewheeling exploration of Metroidvania with careful, stealthy movement, and if its looks are anything to go by, it may well pull it off. As you parkour your way around The Siege and the Sandfox's detailed levels, your character will cause thuds and clangs of varying loudness based on how softly or hurriedly you move. You can tell how much noise you're making from the flashing noise bubbles, for lack of a better word, which briefly appear on impact. It's a neat way to integrate a stealth meter without cluttering the UI or distracting from the game's stunning environments. And stunning really is the word. The sheer amount of detail that's been crammed into levels is staggering, from the mossy brickwork in the foreground to the shaded stone in the background. The bouncy, nimble protagonist looks sharp too. I look forward to stepping into their shoes when The Siege and the Sandfox eventually releases, though without an official release date, there's no telling when that will be. In the meantime, you can read more about it on the official site.Share You’ve seen what the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang looks like. You’ve read its specs. But what does it sound like? Well, delightfully, we have that for you, too. Yes, I’ll admit it’s not the best example of the acoustics of the updated Coyote 5.0-liter V8. But it’s better than nothing, right? That upgraded 5.0 now makes 420 ponies, up 8 hp over the last version of the Coyote. I absolutely love the sound of the Coyote underneath the 2015 skin. I, however, have always loved the sounds of the Coyote. The sounds I am really curious to hear are those of the new 2.3-liter turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder that will be wedged between the base V6 and the V8 as the mid-level powerplant. I suspect, though, we won’t hear that one roar for a little while Want to learn more about the 2015 Ford Mustang? Check out our full breakdown. If you’re curious to know how it drives, you’ll have to wait for our first drive report early next year. Until then, these dulcet V8 tones will have to do.The question of whether Amazon can or will block sideloading apps, specifically Kodi, on the Fire TV or Fire TV Stick comes up often. The recent removal of Kodi from the Amazon appstore has stirred up this concern more than ever. The short answer is yes, Amazon can technically block sideloading with a software update, but in my opinion, it is so extremely unlikely to happen, that you shouldn’t worry about it one bit. Read on for a more detailed explanation of why that’s the case. Will Amazon block sideloading on the Fire TV or Fire TV STick? Simply put, Amazon will not block sideloading on the Fire TV or Fire TV Stick because sideloading is the only way for developers to test their apps on Fire TV devices. Sideloading is currently the only way to test apps on ANY Android device for that matter. Remember, Amazon provides their own official instructions on how to sideload apps onto Fire TV devices. Sideloading isn’t a hack or exploit. It’s a standard feature of Android. There is absolutely zero indication that Amazon is even considering the option to block sideloading. It’s actually the opposite because they recently made sideloading easier with the 51.1.5.0 update by adding the ability to sideload over USB, in addition to the existing method of sideloading over a network connection. Okay, but CAN Amazon block sideloading on the Fire TV or Fire TV Stick? Yes, with software updates, Amazon can completely change any aspect of the Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, including the removal of sideloading. If Amazon removed sideloading, they would have to adopt Apple’s iOS approach for app development, which requires developers to register their devices for development with a proprietary system that controls which apps can and can’t be installed on the device. There are zero Android devices which use this approach. If Amazon implemented such a system, it would instantly make their devices the hardest Android devices to develop for, which in turn, would surely kill their third-party app ecosystem. Stopping a small portion of their customers from installing a few rogue apps is not worth crippling their app library. What about Kodi? Can just Kodi be blocked? Yes, Amazon can push software updates that block specific apps or specific app functionality, but they never have. Back when the Fire TV launched in the UK, there was a Fire TV software update that broke Kodi, but this was due to a bug and not Amazon deliberatly blocking the app. Amazon quickly pushed out an update the same day which fixed the issue and restored compatibility with Kodi. It’s not easy to permanently block a single app without inadvertently breaking other apps. If Amazon were to block Kodi, the Fire TV community would likely find a workaround which would then spawn a cat and mouse game of Amazon blocking the workaround and the community responding, and so on and so forth. Does Amazon have a reason to block Kodi? This is the most difficult question to answer because one could argue that the existence of Kodi on the Fire TV makes Amazon lose money. When the Fire TV was released, Amazon was selling it at cost, which really translates into selling it at a loss when you factor in the money spent to bring it to market. This means that if you buy the Fire TV, are not an Amazon Prime member, and never ever spend a penny on apps or content, then Amazon has lost money by selling you the device. They are not in the business to profit from hardware sales. If they were, the Fire TV would have been $179-$199 at launch, similar to the comparable Nvidia Shield box that was just released. They want you to be a part of their ecosystem of products, and the cheap hardware is just a perk to keep you happy and help you better be part of their ecosystem (i.e., buy stuff from Amazon). Kodi is the top offender of apps that strip away Amazon’s ecosystem and just use the device as a blind platform. I want to make it clear that I’m not saying Kodi users are bad in any way. It’s quite the opposite. I think they’re the smartest Fire TV users because they’ve found a loophole in the system. An analogy is someone accepting a free shoebox full of stuff because they just want to use the shoebox to store their own stuff in
The reason behind such response is the fact that HinKhoj is not just some another dictionary app that gives you mere words meanings, but it’s a holistic learning experience in itself as we try to educate our users in every possible way through our vocabulary tips, daily learning notifications and blogs. If someone is looking to learn English via Hindi, HinKhoj comes to the rescue. In line with our motto to help the masses to learn English through Hindi, we have also developed another application branded as Namaste English. This app helps the user to enhance their English language skills in every possible way. It’s easy and is loaded with fun games to help you learn in an entertaining manner and not just by using plain boring methods. We feel proud to say that Namaste English has got the same overwhelming response as HinKhoj Dictionary. Future work and challenges We are continuously working on various new initiatives to make our products more useful for our users. Further we are working to build a unique platform through which hindi and english language experts can contribute to educational needs of fellow users and also get paid for the same. They will be able to contribute through teaching, providing translation services etc. With a vision of promoting Hindi across the world and helping Hindi users in all possible ways by removing language barrier, we strive to get better and enhance our scope to reach out to the masses on a daily basis. We push our limits everyday to improve user experience.Mates of Costate There have been four thousand new frameworks for deep learning thrown on the market the past year, and I bet you were wondering what you needed to jump into this hot marketplace. Essentially, there are two components required for most mortals who aim to train neural nets: a unit that efficiently computes derivatives of functions that are compositions of many sub-functions and a unit that runs stochastic gradient descent. I can write the stochastic gradient descent part in ten lines of python. I’ll sell it to the highest bidder in the comments. But what about the automatic differentiator? Automatic differentiation does seem like a bit of a black box. Some people will just scoff and say “it’s just the chain rule.” But evaluating the chain rule efficiently requires being careful about reusing information, and not having to handle special cases. The backpropagation algorithm handles these recursions well. It is a dynamic programming method to compute derivatives, and uses clever recursions to aggregate the gradients of the components. However, I always find the derivations of backprop to be confusing and too closely tied to neuroscientific intuition that I sorely lack. Moreover, for some reason, dynamic programming always hurts my brain and I have to think about it for an hour before I remember how to rederive it. A few years ago, Steve Wright introduced me to an older method from optimal control, called the method of adjoints, which is equivalent to backpropagation. It’s also easier (at least for me) to derive. This is because the core of the method is Lagrangian duality, a topic at the foundation of everything we optimizers do. Deep neural networks Before we get to Lagrangian duality, we need a constrained optimization problem. There’s no Lagrangian without some constraints! So let’s transform a deep learning optimization problem into a constrained optimization problem. The standard deep learning goal is to solve optimization problems of the form where $\varphi$ is a function from features to labels that has an appropriate level of expressivity. In deep learning, we assume that $\varphi$ is a giant composition: and each $f_i$ has a vector of parameters $\vartheta_{i-1}$ which may be optimized. In this case, we can rewrite the unconstrained minimization problem as a constrained one: Why does this help? Explicitly writing out the composition in stages is akin to laying out a computation graph for the function. And once we have a computation graph, we can use it to compute derivatives. The method of adjoints The method of adjoints reveals the structure of the backpropagation algorithm by constructing a Lagrangian and computing the KKT conditions for the constrained optimization formulation. To simplify matters, let’s restrict our attention to the case where $n=1$. This corresponds to when there is a single $(x,y)$ data pair as you’d have if you were running stochastic gradient descent. To derive the KKT conditions we first form a Lagrangian function with Lagrange multipliers $p_i$: The derivatives of this Lagrangian are given by the expressions: The Lagrange multipliers $p_i$ are also known as the adjoint variables or costates. To compute the gradient, we just have to solve the set of nonlinear equations and then we can just read off the gradient with respect to $ abla_\vartheta \mathrm{loss}(\varphi(x;\vartheta),y)= abla_{\vartheta_i} f_i(z^{(i-1)},\vartheta_i)^Tp_i$. (I’ll explain why later… trust me for a second). The structure here is particularly nice. If we solve for $ abla_{p_i} \mathcal{L}=0$, this just amounts to satisfying the constraints $z^{(i)} = f_i(z^{(i-1)})$. This is called the forward pass. We can then compute $p_i$ from the equations $ abla_{z_i} \mathcal{L} =0$. That is, This is the backward pass. The gradients with respect to the parameters can then be computed by adding up linear functions of the adjoint variables. What is particularly nice about the method of adjoints is that it suggests a convenient set of working variables that enable fast gradient computation. It explicitly builds in a caching strategy for subunits of the computation. Two different constrained formulations will lead to different computation graphs and sets of costates, but they will return the same gradient. There are tons of ways to generalize this. We could have a more complicated computation graph. We could share variables among layers (this would mean adding up variables). We could penalize hidden variables or states explicitly in the cost function. Regardless, we can always read off the solution from the same forward-backward procedure. The computation graph always provides a “forward model” describing the evolution of an input to the output. The adjoint equation involves the adjoint (“transpose”) of the Jacobians of this equation, which measures the sensitivity of one node to the previous node. Adjoints in Optimal Control As I mentioned already, the method of adjoints originates in the study of controls. According to Dreyfus, this was first proposed by Bryson in a paper called “A Gradient Method for Optimizing Multi-Stage Allocation Processes” that appeared in the Proceedings of the Harvard University Symposium on Digital Computers and Their Applications in 1961. I was unable to find this proceedings in our Engineering Library, but the Lagrangian derivation plays a prominent role in Bryson and Ho’s 1968 book Applied Optimal Control. Note that Bryson’s paper appeared only a year after as Kalman’s absurdly influential A New Approach to Linear Filtering and Prediction Problems. This use of duality was very much at the birth of modern control theory. Let’s take the simplest and most studied optimal control problem and see what backpropagation computes. In optimal control, we have a dynamical system with state variable $x_t$ and input $u_t$. We assume the state evolves according to the linear dynamics where $(A,B)$ are some known state-evolution equations. Suppose we would like to find a sequence of inputs $u_t$ that minimizes some quadratic cost over the trajectory: The Lagrangian for this system has a similar form to that for the neural network The gradients of the Lagrangian are given by the expressions Again, to satisfy $ abla_{p_i} \mathcal{L}=0$, we simply run the dynamical system model forward in time to compute the trajectory $x_t$. Then, we can solve for the costates $p_i$ by running the adjoint dynamics with the initial condition $p_N = Sx_{N+1}$. For the optimal control problem, the Lagrange multipliers are a trajectory of a related linear system called the adjoint or dual system. The dynamics are linear in the costate $p_t$, with time running in reverse and the state transition matrix being the transpose (also known as the adjoint) of $A$. The costate is driven by the forward trajectory $x_t$. This gives us a clear way to think about the dynamics about how later states are sensitive to early states. In the special case when $Q$ and $R$ are zero, we are computing the sensitivity of the end state $x_{N+1}$ to the inputs $u_t$. If $A$ is stable, meaning all of its eigenvalues have magnitude strictly less than $1$, than early inputs have little effect on the terminal state. But if $A$ is unstable, the costate dynamics may diverge, and hence the gradient with respect to $u_t$ for small $t$ can grow exponentially large. In the special case where the cost involves tracking an observation $y_t$, we arrive at the cost function of Kalman’s Filter: One could solve the Kalman Filtering problem by performing gradient descent on the cost and computing the gradient via the method of adjoints. This would be a totally reasonable solution, akin to solving a tridiagonal system via conjugate gradient. However, the special structure of this system enables us to solve the normal equations in linear time, so most people don’t compute their filters this way. On the other hand, the method of adjoints is far more general than the Kalman Filter as it immediately applies to nonlinear dynamical systems or the nonquadratic costs. Moreover, the iterations require only $O(N)$ operations even in the general case. This method is quite useful when the constraints are defined by partial differential equations, as there is an associated adjoint PDE that enables optimization in this setting as well. Lions has a whole book on this topic. And, if you wanted to be crazy and make the control policy $u_t$ to be the output of a neural network applied to $x_t$, one could still compute gradients using the method of adjoints. Why is this the derivative? So why is this Lagrangian procedure correct? The KKT conditions are a necessary condition for stationarity in nonlinear programming. It’s not particularly obvious why this should also give a way to compute derivatives. In the next post, I will show how the method of adjoints is intimately connected to the KKT conditions. I will describe how the proof of the KKT conditions also provides a proof of correctness for the method of adjoints. And I’ll also describe other algorithms that naturally arise when one views a cascade of function compositions as a dynamical system.Soon after teasing fans with various handsome photos of himself for EXO‘s upcoming comeback album, Kai continues to tease with a short clip of himself from Barcelona, Spain. On March 19th, Kai uploaded a short video clip on his newly retained Instagram account walking briskly from the camera after giving a fiery look at it, only to return with an adorable smile as he gives off a cute laugh. With the post, he writes, “Here I Am. BARCELONA 10:10,” which no doubt are additional hints that surrounds EXO’s comeback. EXO’s hightly anticipated comeback with the title track “Call Me Baby” is slowly nearing and it seems that teasers for it has finally begun to be release. A special Twitter account, under the name PathcodeEXO, was also opened to further give fans hints behind the mysterious veil of their return, with the first hint given as, “The first hint is ‘the number of marbles that passed the maze.” This hint may no doubt refer back to the first teaser given on December 2014. Stay tuned to Koreaboo for more information and teasers regarding to EXO’s comeback! The first hint is “the number of marbles that passed the maze”. — PathcodeEXO (@PathcodeEXO) March 18, 2015 https://instagram.com/p/0X61iNLiOV/S.F. Bulls hockey team could fold or move soon After losing $2 million last season and facing projected similar losses this season, the San Francisco Bulls minor-league hockey team could fold as soon as next week. Bulls head coach Pat Curcio told The Chronicle on Monday that there is a pending agreement with a new ownership group that would save the Sharks-affiliated franchise but would relocate the team - which is a member of the ECHL - to Oakland or Fresno. The deal hinges on league approval and a different venue; ECHL meetings are Wednesday in Philadelphia. Curcio cannot name the potential owners because of a nondisclosure agreement. With the Bulls folding or moving and the 49ers moving to Santa Clara, the Giants will be the only pro sports team in the greater city area; the Bulls play at the Cow Palace in Daly City, on the border of San Francisco. "If anyone can save us... I don't know what to do," said Curcio, who put together an ownership group to bring pro hockey back to San Francisco in 2012 only to have investors withdraw as losses mounted. "I want to do what's best for the city, the league and the Sharks. But we may have to cease operations next week if we don't finalize this deal. It's devastating." The ECHL team would stay in the Bay Area only if the Warriors agree to allow the Bulls to play at Oracle Arena, according to Curcio. The Bulls would reschedule all of their games to avoid any conflicts, but the Warriors have first right of refusal to share the arena and have shown no inclination to do so. The San Francisco Bulls, who play their ECHL home games at the Cow Palace, lost $2 million last season and are struggling financially this season. The San Francisco Bulls, who play their ECHL home games at the Cow Palace, lost $2 million last season and are struggling financially this season. Photo: Sam Wolson, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Sam Wolson, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 25 Caption Close S.F. Bulls hockey team could fold or move soon 1 / 25 Back to Gallery Curcio said the Cow Palace has been a major problem for the Bulls. The team pays all of its expenses at the building and made numerous upgrades, including putting in a new ice system and scoreboard. The arena and the team split concessions and parking, and the Cow Palace gets a cut of ticket sales. The state-owned Cow Palace was unwilling to explore new terms, however, with the Bulls on the brink of defaulting, Curcio said. "Why not help us out, get us back on our feet and then make revenue when it comes?" he said. "That's the final nail in the coffin." Cow Palace CEO Ken Alstott said his understanding was that the team was restructuring its ownership group. Only then would there be the potential of talks about a new contract. "If it made sense we would," Alstott said, "but it has to be profitable for us or we'd rent the space out for other events. That's part of this industry; things come and go." Curcio claims that the Bulls have brought the city millions in revenue and the team has created jobs, but, he said, "The costs of doing business in San Francisco are the highest in the league.... Then you look, and every night, there are 1,000 kids in the stands, watching us and dreaming of being hockey players. You can't put a price on that." "They're trying to operate a minor-league team in a major-league city," Alstott said. "That's got to be tough. They've been doing their best." Curcio said he hopes to stay as head coach should the pending agreement with new ownership become final.Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The woman found the munition on a beach on the Elbe river A German woman narrowly escaped injury after picking up an object she believed to be amber but which then spontaneously combusted. She had plucked the small object from wet sand by the Elbe river near Hamburg and put it in a pocket of her jacket, which she laid on a bench. Bystanders soon alerted the 41-year-old to the fact her jacket was ablaze. The stone was actually white phosphorus, which had reacted with the air as it dried. Police say the two are easily confused. They are warning local beachcombers to collect amber in tins, saying pieces of phosphorus dropped in incendiary bombs by the Allies in World War Two still wash up. White phosphorus burns at 1,300 C (2,370 F) and its flames cannot be put out using water. It can cause horrific burns that often require skin grafts. Fortunately, this time, only the jacket was damaged.TOKYO — Japan will re-examine a landmark apology it made two decades ago to women forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels, a government spokesman said on Friday, in a move that could further outrage South Korea, where many of the women came from. The spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary, said a team of scholars would examine what historical evidence had been used in composing the apology, known as the Kono Statement. The statement, issued in 1993 by the chief cabinet secretary at the time, Yohei Kono, acknowledged for the first time that the Imperial military had been at least indirectly involved in coercing those known euphemistically as “comfort women” to provide sex to Japanese soldiers during World War II. Mr. Suga did not say whether the inquiry could possibly lead to a scrapping of the statement, an action that would most likely draw an explosive reaction from South Korea, where the women are seen as an emotionally potent symbol of their nation’s brutal early-20th-century colonization by Japan. It was also unclear whether Mr. Suga was offering to form the team simply as a way to deflect pressure from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s supporters in the political far right. They have argued that the statement should be scrapped because, they say, there is insufficient objective evidence supporting the testimony of the women that the Japanese military forced them to provide sex. (Most scholars reject that, saying the military was at least indirectly complicit because it allowed the brothels to operate.)We've seen how the Zamtrios was inspired by real-life sharks on our #SharkWeek special, and we even touched briefly on its subspecies Tigerstripe Zamtrios; now it's time to take a closer look at the actual Zamtrios and what it does in the game. Will you dare to stare the monster shark in the eyes? For starters, I know the image above makes the Zamtrios look quite deadly (and it is), but don't worry too much. When calm, it doesn't have that sharp icy armor covering its body... here's a little clip showing the transition: Okay, now you can be scared. Once you manage to cut through Zamtrios' rime coat, it willl inflate itself into a giant deadly blob. No... it's not funny. This thing can jump really high and come crashing down on any distracted hunter. And since it forms a pretty large circumference, it can cover long distances pretty fast by rolling in your direction. These screenshots of the Tigerstripe Zamtrios illustrate this idea very well. By now you should be at least 35% more scared of sharks and 78% more scared of the Zamtrios... but hey, here's a little incentive to try and take this guy down: Bow (left) and Lance (right) Blademaster armor Gunnner armor Dual Blades - see more Zamtrios weapons here. Oh! Let's not forget Zamtrios' ice beam attack... basically a shark with lasers! Remember to secure your copy of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, or even the awesome Collector's Edition; 2015 is coming up pretty fast!Newcomers to the Quran might be surprised to find that the Prophet Muhammad is only mentioned a handful of times in the Muslim holy book. The prophet whose name is mentioned most? That would be Moses — indeed, the very same Moses from the Book of Exodus. Jesus, the son of Mary, is mentioned numerous times in the Quran. And the Islamic version of the Jesus story, it turns out, tracks quite closely to the one that Christians know. The Quran has a whole chapter about Mary, who is the only woman mentioned by name in the holy book. In one scene after the birth of her child, Mary is confronted by holy men accusing her of being impure. That is when baby Jesus speaks up in his mother’s defense, performing one of a couple of miracles that never show up in the New Testament version of the Jesus story. About 15 years ago, the Turkish writer Mustafa Akyol was handed a copy of the New Testament for the first time by a missionary on the street in Istanbul. Akyol says he went home and started reading it, and what struck him most was how much of the story of Jesus was already so familiar to him as a Muslim. Such as the angel visiting the Virgin Mary to tell her that she would give birth to a son, and the description of Jesus as a messenger of God. “It was so similar,” Akyol says. The author took out a pen and started underlining the passages about Jesus in the Bible that he agreed with as a Muslim. Those sections turned out to be extensive. And they prompted Akyol to start working on his new book, “The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims.” While both the Quran and mainstream Muslim teachings emphasize the importance of Jesus as a prophet, Akyol is going a bit further. “I’m saying [to my fellow Muslims], let’s learn about Jesus by reading the New Testament, as well,” says Akyol, who is currently a visiting fellow at the Freedom Project at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Akyol admits that calling on Muslims to spend more time thinking about Jesus, and even reading Christian scripture, might be too much for some Muslims. But he says this is something the Quran itself advocates. “The Quran repeatedly speaks of Jews and Christians as people of the book, and in one verse it says, ‘Go and ask them,’” Akyol says. But when it comes to Jesus, there is also a bright red line in the Quran. One such passage reads, “the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a messenger of God.” “So believe in God and His messengers and do not speak of a ‘Three’ — stop it, that is better for you — God is only one God. He is far above having a son,” the Quran goes on to say. This all means, of course, that ultimately Christians and Muslims simply do not agree on the nature of Jesus. Akyol is not trying to erase or diminish these sorts of distinctions. And that is important, says Celene Ibrahim, a Muslim chaplain at Tufts University. Lately, Ibrahim has been speaking with church groups about Islam and the Muslim understanding of Jesus. But she says there are still more theological similarities than differences between the Islamic and Christian depictions of the prophet known in Arabic by the name Issa. “I explain how the Quran talks about him as ‘the word of God,’” Ibrahim says. “That’s a very miraculous thing that is beyond my possible comprehension. I also talk about how the Quran talks about [Issa] as ‘one drawn near.’ And so this idea really resonates with the Christian audience, with all the imagery of sitting at the right hand of the Father.” Akyol says he has received a lot of positive feedback on the book. But he’s also faced criticism from some fellow Muslims. “I got one harsh criticism in Turkey, from a newspaper that I call hardcore Islamic nationalists,” Akyol says. “They want to deny everything that is Western, and Christian, so, they were not happy with the fact that I referred to the New Testament.” But Akyol adds, “I’m referring to the New Testament because the Quran values the New Testament. That’s why I value it, as a Muslim.” Remember, he says, Jesus was a Jewish reformer. For Christians, he is the son of God. And he is also seen by Muslims as a prophet. There are plenty of geopolitical tensions dividing the three Abrahamic monotheistic faiths, Akyol says. But they still have a lot to learn from each other.This explosion is also "biased" "[A]s society has hitherto moved in class antagonisms, morality has always been class morality; it has either justified the domination and interests of the ruling class, or ever since the oppressed class became powerful enough, it has represented its indignation against this domination and the future interests of the oppressed." "We know that our answers will not satisfy you. How is it possible when we both have different ideological and political perceptions towards the means to be adopted to bring the oppressed out of their miserable conditions of existence? There is no level playing field in the merciless class war between the cruelly exploited, brutally oppressed majority on the one hand, and the fatty [sic] upper five per cent of our society bulging at the expense of the hundreds of millions of poor on the other. In a class-divided society there cannot be any absolute truth. The truth of the oppressed is different from the truth of the oppressor. […] In class conflicts, unlike in ordinary sport, it is impossible to have an impartial referee who cries foul whenever there is a violation of the rules by either side. For class war is no game played out between equals based on rules that apply to both sides equally. It is an unequal war between the mighty militarised state that stands in defense of the propertied classes and their 'right' to exploit the majority at will, and the vast majority of the wretched of the earth––hungry, homeless, emaciated, docile, helpless masses––who, in the eyes of the ruling elites, are not much distinct from the slaves of bygone millennia. […] Rules are preset by these very same exploiters… Those who imagine themselves to be impartial referees in class war and try to set the rules equally for both sides will ultimately end up as apologists for the oppressors, in spite of their good intentions and sincere attitude. Anyone who thinks that he/she is being impartial in a class-divided society is only a victim of his/her fanciful imagination." [In People's March, December 2006, pp. 13-14] You would think that in the context of Israel's current ethnic cleansing offensive in Gaza it would be rather inappropriate to publicly flaunt zionist propaganda. For though the mainstream discourse surrounding Israel-Palestine is still unabashedly liberal, even the liberal world is reacting with a certain level of shock, no matter what qualifications they make, at the unfolding events in Gaza. So you would think, with this in mind, hard-line zionists might feel a little shame. Not so with the woman standing beside me on public transit the other day, proudly reading Alan Dershowitz's(that reactionary piece of zionist "history" that, despite being rather fraudulent, is still treated as a viable source by racists seeking scholarly justification for their backwards views), as if another case for Israel wasn't being made, at the very moment, by the military beloved by the author of her book.Obviously I am being somewhat facetious because I actually would not think that the events currently unfolding in Gaza would cause your average rugged zionist very much shame. Neo-nazis, after all, do not feel any shame when their racist violence is broadcasted; they are just, in their own despicable way, honestly proud about their racism. The same goes for committed IDF soldiers who are shamelessly tweeting about ethnic cleansing. The only difference between these honest racists and the racists represented by the woman on the bus readingis that the latter, while proud to defend the IDF in Gaza, are usually rather dishonest about the meaning of the event––they feel the need to speak about the IDF as if it is actually defending Israel and not engaged in expansionism, that the colonizers are the victims, and arm themselves ideologically with the kind of semi-academic crap of which Dershowitz's book is a paradigmatic example.Indeed, just a day after the invasion the most vocal zionist on my union local's list-serve unleashed yet another complaint about a supposed "bias" towards Israel and how no one supporting Palestine could hope to understand the fact that Israel is the democratic victim in a sea of barbarism, etc…. perhaps nobody could understand this because of some intrinsic anti-semitism that everyone who supports Palestine possesses by virtue of supporting Palestine even if their background is jewish. [As a tangental side-point, it is worth pointing out that the fact that someone like this reactionary can have a voice in my union local demonstrates, again, that unions are not essentially politically radical spaces––you're stuck with the people you work with and even "trade union consciousness", already insufficient to produce a revolutionary movement, is hampered by those fellow workers who are allowed to keep their reactionary politics and participate in union spaces simply because they pay their dues.] And even though the whole charge of "bias" seems ludicrous in a context where the Obama administration, representing the most powerful nation in the world, is making public statements about standing by Israel, these people will still make it so that they can wallow in a false victimhood.Unfortunately, there is this problem the left sometimes has when it encounters this kind of reactionary ideology––an error that those of us who are academically trained are often the most guilty of making. That is, the belief that we can somehow reason with these people to "see the truth" about a specific event and the possible ethics connected to this event. It's like we subconsciously believe, as I was joking with a friend on the subway the other day, that all we need for a revolution is an army of trained philosophers to go out and win over the enemy with logical arguments. The fact, however, is that we usually end up becoming frustrated when the logical force of our arguments are denied… But then we keep arguing with these people, even though we should know by now that they will never accept our arguments no matter how contradictory their own position, and become even more frustrated. We complain that they cannot "see the truth" and take bastion in the fact that at least we are correct and, if anything, we've convinced some abstract bystander of the rationality and ethical correctness of our position.Look, many of us have been here before when it comes to zionists and Israel. I know that I have argued with my share of raging zionists at competing student demonstrations, committed to winning a debate that could never, in such a context, be won. Afterwords, angry and unsatisfied, I would convince myself that it hadn't been a waste of time because maybe some fence-sitting observer realized the righteousness of my side of the debate and was politically converted. And though it is important to wage ideological struggle to convince those with a potentially advanced consciousness to move towards our political camp, there comes a point where we end up too focused on the debate itself and the person(s) we are debating.The fact is that we shouldn't take bastion in the fact that we are correct in some abstract and logical sense because our correctness is determined by the politics to which we ascribe. The zionist is actually just as correct according to the class content of hir ideological terrain: that is, if Israel is to persist as Israel, if zionists are to persist as zionists, then their arguments, according to their political presuppositions, make complete sense. Similarly, the truth of a capitalist is to continue being a capitalist and all arguments regarding the supposed immorality of such a position are in a certain sense meaningless; the capitalist's class position produces its own ideological discourse, complete with its own interior truths, that justifies the reason for capitalism's existence. As Engels writes inThus, there comes a point where ideological struggle must encounter concrete class struggle and where, as Fanon once noted (and to paraphrase), no argument can replace the measured taking up of arms on the part of the oppressed. If these moral arguments ultimately represent class positions, they cannot be solved outside of actual class struggle.Instead of dismissing those zionists who uphold the "right" of zionism in the face of the current Gaza offensive as simply "dogmatic" in their ideological commitment, it is better to understand their ideology as an expression of their class position and the consciousness that positionality produces. For though they may indeed be dogmatists, this is besides the point: they actually have good reason to cling to their dogma because it is a very logical expression of their class interests.Understanding that class interest generates specific moral and logical justifications is important because, in the case of Palestine and elsewhere, the left needs to ground itself on a revolutionary foundation rather than the vagaries of moral righteousness. For what does it matter to the left, ultimately, if more Palestinian than Israeli children are dying, if the former side's casualties are far greater? This might help us demonstrate the current state of oppression, but it would never justify any potential revolutionary war where the oppressed overthrow their oppressors––a situation that would logically require the oppressor to eventually sustain more casualties. And in such a situation we will be forced to choose what class morality to accept, and this is more important than some general and nebulous ethical apprehension of the moment.In 2006, Ganapathi, on behalf of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), replied to an "Independent Citizens Initiative", composed of liberal intellectuals, that was investigating the violent clashes in those areas where the CPI(Maoist) was active. It is worth quoting a large passage of his response that echoes Engels:And in the situation of Palestine we know that there are no "impartial referees" because the only state that acts as a global referee is far from impartial and has already sided with Israel. In this context our moral arguments do not matter; they break upon the moral hegemony of the oppressor. Committed political philosophers have been wont to reply to the charge of "bias" thatthey are "biased" because the truth, by its very definition as, is "biased"… It is more accurate, however, to point out that we are either biased for the truth of the oppressors––the truth that thinks the world as it is should continue upon the backs of the wretched of the earth and, through this assertion, generates a specific logic––or the truth of the oppressed that demands the production of another world beyond oppression. Thus, in this context, we should not see those zionists who cling to their ideology in the face of what it ultimately means as acting in an inappropriate manner; we should simply treat them as class enemies and, in this treatment, hope for a revolutionary movement to reemerge in Palestine and demolish the foundations upon which their ideology is dependent.Yahoo Security Notice December 14, 2016 Yahoo has identified data security issues concerning certain Yahoo user accounts. Yahoo has taken steps to secure user accounts and is working closely with law enforcement. Below are FAQs containing details about these issues and steps users can take to help protect their accounts. For information about the data security issue the company disclosed on September 22, 2016, click here. Law enforcement provided Yahoo in November 2016 with data files that a third party claimed was Yahoo user data. We analyzed this data with the assistance of outside forensic experts and found that it appears to be Yahoo user data. Based on further analysis of this data by the forensic experts, we believe an unauthorized third party, in August 2013, stole data associated with more than one billion user accounts. Yahoo has not been able to identify the intrusion associated with this theft. We believe this incident is likely distinct from the incident we disclosed on September 22, 2016. We are notifying potentially affected users and have taken steps to secure their accounts, including requiring users to change their passwords. Yahoo has also invalidated unencrypted security questions and answers so that they cannot be used to access an account. Separately, our outside forensic experts have been investigating the creation of forged cookies that could allow an intruder to access users’ accounts without a password. Based on the ongoing investigation, the outside forensic experts have identified user accounts for which they believe forged cookies were taken or used in 2015 or 2016. The company is notifying the affected account holders, and has invalidated the forged cookies. We have connected some of this activity to the same state-sponsored actor believed to be responsible for the data theft we disclosed on September 22, 2016. We are notifying potentially affected users and posting additional information on our website. Additionally, we are taking steps to secure users’ accounts, including requiring users to change their passwords. Yahoo has also invalidated unencrypted security questions and answers so that they cannot be used to access an account. Based on the ongoing investigation, the outside forensic experts have identified user accounts for which they believe forged cookies were taken or used in 2015 or 2016. The company is notifying the affected account holders, and has invalidated the forged cookies. For potentially affected accounts, the stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (using MD5) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. The investigation indicates that the stolen information did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information. Payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system the company believes was affected. Hashing is a one-way mathematical function that converts an original string of data into a seemingly random string of characters. As such, passwords that have been hashed can’t be reversed into the original plain text password. At the time of the August 2013 incident, we used MD5 to hash passwords. We began upgrading our password protection to bcrypt in the summer of 2013. Bcrypt is a password hashing mechanism that incorporates security features, including salting and multiple rounds of computation, to provide advanced protection against password cracking. Forged cookies could allow an intruder to access users’ accounts without a password. Based on an ongoing Yahoo investigation, we believe an unauthorized third party accessed our proprietary code to learn how to forge cookies. The outside forensic experts have identified user accounts for which they believe forged cookies were taken or used. The company is notifying the affected account holders, and has invalidated the forged cookies. A cookie is a small piece of information stored on a computer for the purpose of identifying a web browser during interaction on websites. Websites use cookies to remember and recognize details about visitors, such as website preferences. Click here for more information on Yahoo practices regarding cookies and similar technologies. We believe that the August 2013 incident is likely distinct from the incident we disclosed on September 22, 2016. We have connected some of the cookie forging activity to the same state-sponsored actor believed to be responsible for the data theft we disclosed on September 22, 2016. Those users targeted by the state-sponsored actor were sent an additional notification like the one found here. Click here to view the content of our notice to affected users. Please note that the emails from Yahoo about this issue will display the Yahoo icon when viewed through the Yahoo website or Yahoo Mail app. Importantly, the
upon withdrawal. A portion of your retirement money in CDs may help diversify your portfolio. This may be a good option for money that you don’t want in a fluctuating investment product. Not all CDs can be IRAs, so check with your financial institution. CDs vs. Traditional Savings Accounts Savings and money market accounts are more liquid than CDs. That means the funds you store in those types of accounts are easier to access. You could withdraw the savings you’ve stashed in a CD, but be prepared to pay a penalty (unless you’ve purchased a no-penalty CD). The gap between rates tied to CDs and savings accounts has narrowed. But CDs are more likely to pay a higher yield. While the best nationally available savings account rate is 2.35 percent APY, the most you can earn on a 5-year CD offered in all 50 states is 3.60 percent APY. CDs vs. bonds Investors have a lot to consider when deciding between a CD and a bond. Traditional CDs from banks are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., or the National Credit Union Administration if you’re getting a certificate from a credit union. CDs are safe investments that typically have a fixed interest rate. In other words, you know how much you’re earning each year upfront. And you’re guaranteed to receive that amount of interest, as long as you don’t make any premature withdrawals. If you do have to pull any money out of the account before it matures, you’ll likely have to pay a penalty. A few banks offer no-penalty CDs, which allow customers to withdraw funds before the CD matures without facing any consequences or losing any interest. While there’s a guaranteed rate of return, the downside to having a traditional CD is that there’s less flexibility. Your money is locked up for a particular term and the amount of money you’re earning is low because you have to account for inflation and the amount of interest you’ll lose paying taxes. “They're really only appropriate for short-term needs simply because they are too low. The rates of return are too low,” says Mari Adam, president of Adam Financial Associates Inc. Other than no-penalty and traditional bank CDs, savers also have the option of putting their money into: Step-up CDs: Accounts that allow the annual percentage yield to increase automatically at set intervals. Accounts that allow the annual percentage yield to increase automatically at set intervals. Bump-up CDs: Fixed-deposit accounts that permit an interest rate increase during the term, upon request. Fixed-deposit accounts that permit an interest rate increase during the term, upon request. Brokered CDs: Investment accounts that are opened with the help of a broker rather than coming directly from a bank. Investment accounts that are opened with the help of a broker rather than coming directly from a bank. Add-on CDs: Certificates of deposit that allow account holders to make multiple deposits before the maturity date. Certificates of deposit that allow account holders to make multiple deposits before the maturity date. Callable CDs: Fixed-rate investment vehicles that can be “called” or redeemed by the bank after a certain period of time, limiting the amount of interest you can potentially earn. Getting a CD generally only makes sense if you’re looking to store money for the short term and it’s being used for a particular goal, like a mortgage down payment or a kid’s college fund. “When it's probably not good is when you don't know the timing. Like if you want to buy a house but you don't know when you're going to find one and you might see one in four weeks, then it's probably not good to go buy a one-year CD,” Adam says. If you’re interested in having more flexibility and you want the chance to earn a higher yield, you may be more interested in investing in a bond. By buying bonds, you can also potentially avoid paying taxes on the interest you earn. There are many different types of bonds and some are riskier than others. But bonds across the board aren’t protected by FDIC or NCUA insurance like CDs are. You can sell them before they mature. And the value of your bonds will vary depending on what’s happening with interest rates. If interest rates are rising, the price of your bonds will fall and vice versa. “It's driven by market conditions and market prices. So you could buy a bond or a bond fund and a year from now it may be worth more than you paid. It could also be worth less than you paid,” Adam says. “So you don't have that certainty.” Some examples of bonds you could invest in include: Bond funds: Pooled investments made up of different types of bonds and other debt instruments. Pooled investments made up of different types of bonds and other debt instruments. Municipal bonds: Issued by governmental entities like states and counties to pay for different projects and infrastructure. Issued by governmental entities like states and counties to pay for different projects and infrastructure. Corporate bonds: Bonds issues by companies and corporations that typically pay higher yields. Bonds issues by companies and corporations that typically pay higher yields. Junk bonds: Riskier bonds with a greater likelihood of default that pay higher yields. Riskier bonds with a greater likelihood of default that pay higher yields. Treasury bonds: Securities issued and backed by the federal government. Securities issued and backed by the federal government. Zero-coupon bonds: Securities that don’t pay interest and are normally issued at a discounted rate. Securities that don’t pay interest and are normally issued at a discounted rate. Foreign bonds: Purchased from foreign entities. Purchased from foreign entities. Mortgage-backed securities: Bonds backed by real estate loans that are typically pooled. Before you choose a bond or bond fund, it’s best to do your research and consider the risk, maturity and quality of the bond. How to build a CD ladder Laddering is a method to space out maturity dates on your CDs. It’s a way to both spread out when the money is available and protect yourself from being stuck in a long-term product if rates skyrocket. For instance, a CD laddering plan of three CDs might have a 1-year CD, a 2-year CD and a 3-year CD. "Looking for a regular stream of interest income? Consider a CD ladder where your money is diversified over a range of maturity dates, structured so you get to reinvest at consistent intervals." - Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst. Generally, the longer your CD term, the higher your rate of return. One way to grow your savings and earn as much interest as possible is to build a CD ladder. You could buy several CDs with different term lengths at one time, giving you the chance to invest in a long-term CD with a higher yield and short-term CDs that will mature within a short period of time. CD laddering can also shield you from interest rate changes. If rates are rising, you’ll be able to take advantage of higher yields when your short-term CDs mature. And if interest rates are falling, you’ll be happy that you locked up your savings when your bank was paying a higher rate. Consider keeping your CD ladder short during a rising interest rate environment and long when rates are moving in the opposite direction. "When rates are declining, you want to go long on your ladder because then you want to tie up that high rate for the longest period of time." - Dana Twight, Twight Financial Education Bankrate's Best CD Rates in February 2019 The experts at Bankrate have compiled our best available CD rates into an easy-to-read table so you can compare rates and minimum deposits across banks. Term Bank CD Rate (APY) Minimum Deposit 6 months Citizens Access 2.35% $5,000 1 year Ally Bank 2.75% $0 18 months Capital One 2.70% $0 2 years Citizens Access 2.95% $5,000 3 years Capital One 2.85% $0 4 years Vio Bank 3.10% $500 5 years Goldman Sachs Bank 3.10% $500 Popular Banks Breakdown Bankrate has provided a quick-hit comparison of some top banks that offer competitive CD rate options so that you can see rates side-by-side before choosing the best CD for your financial goals. The Institutions: Check out the tables below for a breakdown of Bankrate's available CD rates for these financial institutions. Be sure to factor in minimum deposit amounts and other fees when applying for a certificate of deposit. Capital One CD rates Term APY Minimum Deposit 12 months 2.70% $0 18 months 2.70% $0 24 months 2.80% $0 3 years 2.85% $0 4 years 2.90% $0 5 years 3.10% $0 Marcus by Goldman Sachs CD rates Term APY Minimum Deposit 6 months 0.60% $500 9 months 0.70% $500 12 months 2.75% $500 18 months 2.65% $500 24 months 2.70% $500 3 years 2.75% $500 4 years 2.80% $500 5 years 3.10% $500 Live Oak Bank CD ratesIn an interview Friday on the NY1 cable news channel, a McCain supporter, Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, called “ridiculous” the implication that Mr. Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” comment was a reference to Ms. Palin, whom he also defended as coming under unfair attack. “The last month, for sure,” said Don Sipple, a Republican advertising strategist, “I think the predominance of liberty taken with truth and the facts has been more McCain than Obama.” Indeed, in recent days, Mr. McCain has been increasingly called out by news organizations, editorial boards and independent analysts like FactCheck.org. The group, which does not judge whether one candidate is more misleading than another, has cried foul on Mr. McCain more than twice as often since the start of the political conventions as it has on Mr. Obama. A McCain spokesman, Brian Rogers, said the campaign had evidence for all its claims. “We stand fully by everything that’s in our ads,” Mr. Rogers said, “and everything that we’ve been saying we provide detailed backup for — everything. And if you and the Obama campaign want to disagree, that’s your call.” Mr. McCain came into the race promoting himself as a truth teller and has long publicly deplored the kinds of negative tactics that helped sink his candidacy in the Republican primaries in 2000. But his strategy now reflects a calculation advisers made this summer — over the strenuous objections of some longtime hands who helped him build his “Straight Talk” image — to shift the campaign more toward disqualifying Mr. Obama in the eyes of voters. “I think the McCain folks realize if they can get this thing down in the mud, drag Obama into the mud, that’s where they have the best advantage to win,” said Matthew Dowd, who worked with many top McCain campaign advisers when he was President Bush’s chief strategist in the 2004 campaign, but who has since had a falling out with the White House. “If they stay up at 10,000 feet, they don’t.” For all the criticism, the offensive seems to be having an impact. It has been widely credited by strategists in both parties with rejuvenating Mr. McCain’s campaign and putting Mr. Obama on the defensive since it began early this summer. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Some who have criticized Mr. McCain have accused him of blatant untruths and of failing to correct himself when errors were pointed out. Photo On Friday on “The View,” generally friendly territory for politicians, one co-host, Joy Behar, criticized his new advertisements. “We know that those two ads are untrue,” Ms. Behar said. “They are lies. And yet you, at the end of it, say, ‘I approve these messages.’ Do you really approve them?” “Actually they are not lies,” Mr. McCain said crisply, “and have you seen some of the ads that are running against me?” Mr. Obama’s hands have not always been clean in this regard. He was called out earlier for saying, incorrectly, that Mr. McCain supported a “hundred-year war” in Iraq after Mr. McCain said in January that he would be fine with a hypothetical 100-year American presence in Iraq, as long as Americans were not being injured or killed there. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. More recently, Mr. Obama has been criticized for advertisements that have distorted Mr. McCain’s record on schools financing and incorrectly accused him of not supporting loan guarantees for the auto industry — a hot topic in Michigan. He has also taken Mr. McCain’s repeated comments that American economy is “fundamentally sound” out of context, leaving out the fact that Mr. McCain almost always adds at the same time that he understands that times are tough and “people are hurting.” But sensing an opening in the mounting criticism of Mr. McCain, the Obama campaign released a withering statement after Mr. McCain’s appearance on “The View.” “In running the sleaziest campaign since South Carolina in 2000 and standing by completely debunked lies on national television, it’s clear that John McCain would rather lose his integrity than lose an election,” Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said in a statement. At an event in Dover, N.H., a voter asked Mr. Obama when he would start “fighting back.” Mr. Obama, who began his own confrontational advertising campaign Friday, said, “Our ads have been pretty tough, but I just have a different philosophy that I’m going to respond with the truth.” “I’m not going to start making up lies about John McCain,” Mr. Obama said. The McCain advertisements are devised to draw the interest of bloggers and cable news producers — but not necessarily always intended for wide, actual use on television stations — to shift the terms of the debate by questioning Mr. Obama’s character and qualifications. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Mr. Sipple, the Republican strategist, voiced concern that Mr. McCain’s approach could backfire. “Any campaign that is taking liberty with the truth and does it in a serial manner will end up paying for it in the end,” he said. “But it’s very unbecoming to a political figure like John McCain whose flag was planted long ago in ground that was about ‘straight talk’ and integrity.” The campaign has also been selective in its portrayal of Mr. McCain’s running mate, Ms. Palin. The campaign’s efforts to portray her as the bane of federal earmark spending was complicated by evidence that she had sought a great deal of federal money both as governor of Alaska and as mayor of Wasilla. Ms. Palin has often told audiences about pulling the plug on the so-called Bridge to Nowhere, an expensive federal project to build a bridge to a sparsely populated Alaskan island that became a symbol of wasteful federal spending. “I told Congress, ‘Thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska,” she said this week in Virginia. But her position was more like “please” before it became “no thanks.” Ms. Palin supported the bridge project while running for governor, and abandoned it after it became a national scandal and Congress said the state could keep the money for other projects. As a mayor and governor, she hired lobbyists to request millions in federal spending for Alaska. In an ABC News interview on Friday with Charles Gibson, Ms. Palin largely stuck to her version of the events. Disputed characterizations are not uncommon on the trail. At a campaign stop this week in Missouri, Mr. McCain said that Mr. Obama’s plan would “force small businesses to cut jobs and reduce wages and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.” Jonathan B. Oberlander, who teaches health policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that Mr. Obama’s plan would not force families into a government-run system. “I would say this is an inaccurate and false characterization of the Obama plan,” he said. “I don’t use those words lightly.”The subject of the second post in my “Waiter, There’s Woo in My Food” series will be instantly recognizable to many vegans, Supreme Master Ching Hai. Supreme Master Ching Hai (SMCH) presides over a multi-million dollar empire encompassing hundreds of meditation centers, her own fashion and jewelry lines, her own line of faux meats, and hundreds of vegetarian and vegan restaurants worldwide including the largest vegan chain, Loving Hut. A teacher of the Quan Yin Method of meditation who promotes veganism to her followers, Hai is more than a mere spiritual guide. She is billed as the “Supreme Master”, “god’s direct contact” who can show you how too release the master within. She is venerated by her many followers who eagerly buy up her photographs, artwork, spiritual paraphernalia and other merchandise. Her magical candy can reportedly even heal people. A controversial figure to say the least, her past is fraught with questions both over her purported origins¹ and her actions. A VegNews article in the October 2010 issue titled Supreme Mystery suggested Hai to be a cult² leader. Hai’s followers responded quite vocally, tossing accusations of slander and bigotry on the author, Abigail Young, and the magazine. Some went so far as to allege that the article was a hit piece paid for by the meat industry or that it was an act of vengeance. Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace Diet, also jumped into the fray lending his support to Hai and calling the article an act of violence, but of course Tuttle is no stranger to Hai. VegNews defended their decision to run the article and published letters from both sides of the controversy in a subsequent issue. Joseph Connelly, publisher of VegNews, described the resulting flood of mail, “The feedback generally fell into two different categories, those that felt the article was even-handed, almost neutral. And feedback coming almost exclusively from within the Loving Hut organization that was critical of us.” I was personally not at all impressed with the content of the rebuttals offered by Tuttle or Hai’s followers, though I encourage my readers to read the original article and responses themselves and decide. One of the more damning charges against Hai in the VegNews article is that her followers destroyed a swath of protected seagrass and coastal mangrove, encroaching upon the Biscayne Bay National Park when they illegally constructed an artificial island with a 350 foot board walk leading out to it. Three comfortably stocked RVs and a 50 foot aviary were found onsite at the future retreat as well. The adjacent property owned by Hai under the alias Celestia De Lamour, one of her numerous Florida waterfront properties, was seized and resold to help partially pay for the repairs. Officials estimated the damages to exceed a million dollars but Hai was nowhere to be found. One of the laborers who was also charged in the case went missing, believed to have fled the country. Hai’s followers and apologists claim that this was merely the result of a misunderstanding over property boundaries though a quick look at Florida law indicates that is likely still not an adequate defense for this illegal construction and environmental damage. If Hai did ever pay for the damages she would do herself a favor by publicizing it, perhaps a nice donation to Biscayne Bay National Park and Palmetto Bay Branch Library which now inhabits the property. This incident was not Hai’s only property troubles either.³ Hai’s followers like to call attention to the organizations charity work and generous donations. While admirable, such donations can often serve a double purpose as a form of advertisement for the group. Not all organizations have been so quick to accept Hai’s money, in 1996 President Clinton’s legal defense fund refused more than $600,000 in donations for the questionable, possibly fraudulent, way in which the funds were gathered. In 2001 UNICEF also turned down a $100,000 donation from Hai’s organization after looking into the organization. Hai’s organization is adamant that it will not accept donations, claiming to fund her activities primarily through Hai’s artistic work, though this has been questioned as a mere matter of semantics and obfuscation4. The up-keep of local meditation centers is donation based and property is also sometimes donated. Follower also will donate to causes in Hai’s honor buying her further credibility. The inflated price of some of her merchandise and encouragements for member to buy books to donate to others can also be seen as back door donations. It should however be noted that there is no franchise fee for opening a Loving Hut instead groups of local devotees pooling together their savings to fund their own Loving Hut location. There are just some simple rules including that the food be vegan and about the decor, Ching Hai pictures appear to be mandatory. This may make it appear that she profits very little from the vast enterprise but critics claim that this is simply a tactic that shifts the economic and legal risk onto the backs of individual followers and still allow for locations to serve as points of first contact for potential initiates and some as retail outlets for her merchandise. Loving Hut locations are also encouraged to buy faux meats from EcoVegan, Hai’s own company, further sweetening the deal. A few former workers at Loving Hut have also levied various complaints including mismanagement, withholding tips, tax irregularities and utilizing underpaid and unpaid labor. In 2010 the Loving Hut in France was investigated for illegal and unethical business practices such as using undocumented & unpaid labor resulting in 9 arrests. Later that year Hai herself was arrested along with some of her followers at a posh villa in Italy. Investigators seized a luxury sports car, 40,000 euros, and at least 8 illegally imported Macaws and a veritable “Noah’s Ark” of animals. I wonder if those illegal Macaws were rescues? Supreme Master Television (SMTV), Hai’s own 24/7 satellite and online network, is instantly recognizable to anyone who has eaten at one of her restaurants. Said to be funded by Hai herself, SMTV uses volunteer labor and there have even been accusations of marriage fraud to retain foreign workers. SMTV was broadcast & subtitled in over 40 languages, it went off the air this year but the video archives remain available. Programing included environmental politics, vegan cooking demonstrations, self-referential human interest stories, spiritual addresses and lectures, musings about “science” and occasional teleconferences with Ching Hai herself. I am no stranger to SMTV, I discovered it a number of years ago while eating at Golden Era in San Francisco, one of Hai’s many restaurants. It seems most locations associated with Hai have a TV set, often times a big screen, tuned to SMTV all day. I was first drawn in by a video demonstrating an egg-free “meringue” product that I had never seen. Imagine that, vegan baked Alaska! But after the cooking demonstration and a few feel-good stories I began to notice it getting weirder and weirder. I was already sketched out by the level of praise heaped upon this colorful guru, treating her as a god. Continuing to watch the occasional video at home over time only strengthened that feeling. SMTV programming and Hai’s lectures often have a decidedly pseudo-scientific angle. One example is the credulous reporting of Dr. Hubers unsupported claims of a dangerous “micro fungus” in glyphosate-tolerant GE crops. Hai’s own lectures on genetic engineering also repeat many myths and falsehoods, for example that inserting animal derived genes into plants, setting aside the fact that no such products are on the market, will result in vegetables that cause obesity, heart disease, strokes and “have similar effects” to meat. Hai claims to have once been breatharian, though the the burdens of the world got to much for her, and also teaches her followers that living without eating or drinking is possible, saying “Everyone can be breatharian, I believe. Its not that difficult.” She has also promoted the breatharian author and obvious fraud Jasmuheen, among others, who’s teachings have been linked to at least three deaths. Hai’s channel has even gone so far as to promote the idea of breatharian pregnancies in its many hours spent on this dangerous nonsense. Other topics dealt with credulously include ancient astronauts, crop circles, Emoto’s “Message from Water“, cosmic alinements, 2012, Egyptian pyramids as lighthouses for UFOs, solar flare alarmism, hair analysis, animal communication, alternative medicine, and life on Venus. She also sometimes introduces her followers to seeming unique teachings of her own such as the existence of Spiritual Blessing Lines and portals to hell and “lower world” that may even be a cause of prolonged war. In addition to SMTV, Hai’s organization has a large internet presence and is accused of operating very much like a cyber-sect, using the internet to gain greater exposure and more followers. Utilizing numerous websites Hai’s organization is able to flood search engines with positive mentions of the group. They have even branched out into smartphone apps. In addition to spreading propaganda Hai’s followers are also active in monitoring criticism. Hai’s Wiki page is under constant policing, erasing and diluting criticisms. It also appears her followers also have a habit of stacking Amazon reviews and getting followers to game the rating system. Hai’s teachings also have an apocalyptic bent to them. Her warnings about cosmic disasters, climate change, and environmental collapse go so far as to make Al Gore appear moderate. I’m not suggesting that the scientific consensus on climate change is wrong or that it is not a dire issue but I fear that the alarmism, unfounded claims, and simplistic “solutions” Hai proposes do not actually help public understanding of this important issue and may in fact be counter productive in some areas. So once again, why am I writing these posts? My purpose is not to be a cynic or to call for a boycott of all religiously associated restaurants, but in addition to simply finding such topics interesting I feel we need to be wary when our dollars may serve to enrich an abusive or unethical leader or perpetuate a manipulative organization. The ethics of consumption go beyond just animal flesh and byproducts. We can not simply brush legitimate criticism aside because “she does so much good” or because “at least she helps spreads veganism”. I can’t say that the above criticisms apply to all SMCH restaurants and there are many other concerns to consider so the decision to patronize SMCH-associated businesses is a choice your going to have to make for yourself. I encourage my readers to click on the provided hyperlinks, use them as a starting point for your own research. Further reading: Supreme Mystery in VegNews Critics Claim Supreme Master Ching Hai’s Followers’ Restaurants Featuring Tasty Vegan Fare Front For an Exploitive Movement. by Stephen Lemons Why Not to Write About a Supreme Master of the Universe: A day with the disciples of Ching Hai by Nancy Rommelmann Immaterial Girl by Rafer Guzmán God Inc. Inner peace isn’t the only thing Supreme Master Ching Hai is selling Bay Area disciples by Gordon Young Supreme Master and the Breatharianists Cult took my wife – now it’s funding a woodland in North Wales Suma Ching Hai sect activities in Cambodia Supreme Leak A Cult I Can Live With? by Jasmin Singer Vegan Chicago’s baloney detection guide Global Unity: Together in Saving Lives, A collection of spiritual teachings by Supreme Master Ching Hai The Truth about Merits: How to Gain or Lose Them by SMCH “We sold our house and gave all the money to the Supreme Master…with what is coming in two years, you don’t need a house.” 1. Suma Ching Hai’s Spiritual Handbook is similar to Thakar Singh’s spiritual diary, which in turn is similar to Kirpal Singh’s diary. This is of note because some followers objected to Abigail Young writing that Hai is a spiritual decedent of controversial guru Thakar Singh. Further evidence appear to support this as well. Though personally I am less concerned with the genesis of her teachings and more with the content and effect, I think Hai’s claim that her Master in the Himalayas was 450 years old should be evidence enough of this farce. 2. in this post I use the term “cult”. It is important to remember there is a wide continuum of “cultishness”, not all groups fall on the Johnstown/Heavens Gate/Aum Shinrikyo extreme of the spectrum, there is no agreed upon universal definition and there are competing lists of characteristics but for this post the definition most in mind is that laid out by psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton. The three primary criteria are as follows: a. a charismatic leader who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose their power; b. a process of coercive persuasion or thought reform; c. economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie. 3. SMCH headquarters constructed without a license in Taiwan 2003 Delinquent Property Tax Statement for Regency Green Dr Northwest Harris, TX 77429 2003 Delinquent Property Tax Statement for 11420 CYPRESS NORTH H77429 2004 Delinquent Property Tax Statement Regency Green Dr Northwest Harris, TX 77429 4. A number of followers have openly admitted to giving Hai property and savings, one such example was published recently: “We sold our house and gave all the money to the Supreme Master,” she said. ‘Don’t you need a house?’ I ask. “No no, no, with what is coming in two years, you don’t need a house.” Advertisements Share this: Share Facebook Reddit Twitter Google Tumblr Like this: Like Loading... RelatedA destination-based cash-flow tax being mooted by Republicans could turn the current system on its head The controversial border tax Donald Trump says will pay for his wall with Mexico is such a good idea that Britain should consider adopting something similar, according to one of the UK's most famous reforming chancellors. Lord Lawson has told Sky News the UK should abolish corporation tax and replace it with a business tax that resembles the one the new US president is now considering. It would amount to the most radical reform of business taxation since the 1920s. His comments come as the Republicans push the president to adopt their proposals for what is known as a destination-based cash-flow tax - a plan that would turn the system of business tax on its head. Under today's tax system, businesses are taxed on the basis of where goods are produced; under the Republican proposal, they would be taxed based on where those goods are sold. There would also be a so-called border adjustment in which all imports have to pay a tax - the "border tax" Mr Trump has referred to. While the idea is being pushed hardest in the US, it was actually originally invented by an Oxford academic. Image: Lord Lawson wants the UK to be a pioneer Professor Michael Devereux dreamed up the tax in the train from London to Oxford back at the turn of the millennium. His ideas have since been taken up by American economist Alan Auerbach, who has been involved with designing the Republican plan. Professor Devereux said the tax would work just as well in the UK as the US, helping cut down on tax avoidance by multinationals, which often shift profits around the world towards the low tax jurisdictions such as Luxembourg or Ireland. "There's been lots of competition to attract inward investment by lots of countries," said Professor Devereux. "And that's because we tax economic activity where that economic activity takes place, where the production is. "What this proposal would do would be to essentially set that tax rate to zero, and replace it with a tax on where sales are. "And that would make the US a very much more attractive place to do business. "The same thing could easily be applied here if the UK decided to - again - set its tax rate on production to zero and move instead to a tax rate where we're taxing multinationals' profits in the place of consumption and sales. That would be a big boost to the UK economy." :: How Trump's plans could shake up outdated tax system He added: "The disadvantages from leaving the EU could at least to some extent be offset by this kind of fundamental change in the tax system." Lord Lawson, who abolished numerous taxes during his time as chancellor, said that corporation tax was "past its sell-by date". "The scale of avoidance is massive. There's no reason why we shouldn't do it ourselves and be a pioneer. There's no reason for the US to lead." There is still much speculation in the US about whether Mr Trump is convinced by the overall tax plan or whether he has simply seized on the border tax, which is one element of it. However, economists believe that were the US to implement the tax, it would see a big increase in investment as companies moved their factories to America, where they would pay zero tax.Image: DARPA Attributing cyberattacks to a particular hacker, or indeed even a nation, is a tricky task. But US military research agency DARPA hopes to overcome those difficulties through a new initiative. The destructive malware attacks on Sony Pictures in late 2014 highlight how hard it is to attribute a cyberattack to a specific actor. Even seemingly solid clues, such as computer code containing the Korean language, can be easily planted by an attacker as a decoy. DARPA is now offering funding to researchers who have ideas on how to overcome this challenge in a new program called Enhanced Attribution. The research agency acknowledges that in some cases it's impossible to reliably and confidently pin a cyberattack on an individual. These days attribution often relies on a static picture of the attackers encapsulated by 'indicators of compromise', which can include specific IP addresses, servers, domains and malware used by the attackers. "The current characterization of malicious cyber campaigns based on indicators of compromise, such as file hashes and command-and-control infrastructure identifiers, allows malicious operators to evade the defenders and resume operations simply by superficially changing their tools, as well as aspects of their tactics, techniques, and procedures," DARPA notes. To address this situation, DARPA is seeking technologies that would allow US defenders to "extract behavioral and physical biometrics from a range of devices and vantage points". While this wouldn't necessarily produce an actual identity of an individual, it wants defenders to be able to identify "virtual personas and individual malicious cyber operators" and track their activities on different devices. It would also be a new direction from current methods, which focus on identifying a group or organization rather than individuals within a group. DARPA is hoping researchers can deliver technical approaches that combine behavioral biometrics and activity tracking. By vantage points, DARPA means IoT devices, mobile phones, DevOps desktops and laptops used by attackers, and network infrastructure. Other technologies that it hopes will come out of the program include algorithms to generate predictive behavioral profiles of attackers, and technologies that can integrate with other sources of public and commercial data. It also wants a system that can help build a full historical picture of an attacker's malicious activity over time. Anyone keen on the funding opportunity needs to submit proposals by June 7.Matty Fryatt: Hull striker now back in full training The 27-year-old has spent seven months on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on an Achilles injury but returned to full training with the Tigers this week. City manager Steve Bruce told the Hull Daily Mail: "We'll see how he is after coming back into full training but that (Oldham game) could be a possibility. "He trained Monday and Tuesday and he could still be a big plus for us in the last few weeks of the season. "It's clear he's kept himself in magnificent nick and given himself the best possible chance to come back as soon as he can. "We still have to be careful with him. We'll wait and see if there's any sort of reaction first but it's been promising to see him back involved. I certainly hope he's still got some part to play this season."5 Reasons To Want Ducks This is a short list of reasons why I love my ducks. Ducks are a wonderful addition to the farm. When people visit they are attracted to the ducks. We have three breeds on the far. It all started with a visit to the local feed store in the Spring time. My little girl just couldn’t go home without a duck. The baby Rouen duck was our first. Later we ordered the Australian Spotted ducks. As a bonus, Holderread Waterfowl Farm & Preservation Center included a couple Indian Runner ducks. Here is the video produced on the Daddykirbs farm about our ducks. Reason No. 1 To Want Ducks Eggs! Yep we love the duck eggs. Of the three breeds we keep here on the farm, the Rouen ducks are the most consistent egg layers. The Indian Runners and the Australian Spotted ducks take long breaks from laying eggs. They primarily lay eggs in the Spring time. Rouen ducks take a short break in the Summer but lay most of the year otherwise. Reason No. 2 To Want Ducks The ducks are really good at messing up a pool of water. For me this is really good. The nutrients that the ducks leave behind are great for adding to the compost pile or to the garden beds. This waste can be use for good. We let the ducks dirty up a pool for a few days then we scoop it out with our trusty kitty litter buckets to pour onto the gardens. Reason No. 3 To Want Ducks Ducks don’t scratch up the yard and flower beds like chickens do. They wiggle their bills into the soil and find the goodies. Normally this is up against the edge of the trees, rocks and pools. This method of foraging is very pleasant. We don’t have to worry about them destroying our landscaping. Reason No. 4 To Want Ducks Reason 3 was about HOW they eat. Reason 4 is about WHAT they eat. The ducks love to find their high protein snacks in the form of snails, slugs and grubs. I love that they eat these buggers. Occasionally I’ll turn ’em loose in the garden to help eliminate the snails and slugs in the garden beds. Most of the time they will leave the garden plants alone. Reason No. 5 To Want Ducks They are Cute! Of course we had to have this for a reason. The ducks are so much fun! They have wonderful little personalities. Ducks are not always the most affectionate birds, but they do enjoy being with you. Sometimes they don’t mind being held. How can you watch ducks and not smile? Thank you so much for being here with me on the Daddykirbs Farm. I appreciate your time and your support. Pin this! It’s not all fun and games! Check out Duck
Castings are often used in place of hero props in stunt scenes so the detailed original doesn't get damaged. This resin casting was used in the Sarlacc sequence at the Great Pit of Carkoon. Prop: T-800 | Film: Terminator 2 (1991) | Designer: Stan Winston | Materials: Plastic, copper paint, nickel and chrome electroplating | Value: $488,750 Dan Winters Every generation has its childhood demons. The release of The Terminator in 1984 introduced a new bogeyman to the silver screen (and VHS): the T-800. Seven years later, the film’s sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, cemented the reputation of the crimson-eyed grim reapers. Only four of these "puppets" were made for T2: two articulating heroes (capable of gross body movement, plus head and facial movement), and two “stunts” (nonarticulating, but designed to take more punishment). An original, full-scale T-800 endoskeleton sold at auction in 2007. Bidding started at $80,000 and topped out at $488,750, crushing the pre-auction high estimate of $120,000. Why so much for a shiny puppet? Because it was a screen-used hero T-800, one of the models that saw action when the cameras were rolling. Also, the T-800 happens to be Stan Winston’s Mona Lisa. The late designer's FX wizardry is part of Hollywood lore: Jurassic Park III, Aliens, Predator, Predator 2, A.I., Edward Scissorhands. One of his four Oscars (Best Visual Effects, 1992) is thanks to this 6' 2" animatronic skeleton. The second-gen T-800 is made mostly of plastic that's been electroplated. How do you electroplate a nonconductive material like plastic? By spraying the plastic with a high-particulate, conductive copper paint, then submerging the pieces in an electroplating bath, first nickel, then chrome. Although this added more weight to the puppets, it made the finish more durable. Huge weight savings were realized elsewhere—50 pounds’ worth—because the harder exterior eliminated the need for internal steel supports. This light and nimble design allowed a puppeteer to crash a stunt T-800 through a breakaway wall or wreak havoc on the Future War battlefield without having to worry about bits of chrome flaking off. Sweet dreams, puny humans. Prop: Proton pack | Film: Ghostbusters (1984) | Designers: Stephen Dane and Ivan Reitman | Materials: Fiberglass, aluminum, lights, rubber tubing, and computer parts | Most Recent Selling Price: $169,900 Dan Winters There’s no denying the cultural significance of Ghostbusters. Now more than three decades old, the original film still resonates like a giant tuning fork. Which goes a long way toward explaining why the proton pack is so revered by prop collectors. After all, who wouldn’t want their own portable unlicensed nuclear accelerator? Inspired by a military-issue flamethrower, “hardware consultant” Stephen Dane purchased a backpack frame from an army surplus store in Hollywood and made a rough prototype. After director Ivan Reitman added his tweaks, a cinematic legend was born. The molded fiberglass shell is attached to an aluminum backplate, which was then bolted to a US Army–spec backpack frame. Dane added paint, aluminum warning labels (“Danger: High Voltage 1KV”), flashing lights, crank knobs, and enough electronic parts to make the thing pop onscreen. Most of those components have been identified thanks to hi-res photos on prop sites: Sage and Dale resistors, Clippard pneumatic tubing, Arcolectric indicators, and Legris banjo bolts (on the neutrona wand). It's as heavy as it looks—with the battery, a hero weighs more than 30 pounds. To ease the load on the actor’s shoulders, two lighter versions were available for use during filming: a gutted “semi-hero,” with some cast surface details (for wide shots) and a bantam-weight “stunt” made of foam rubber (for action scenes). Four years ago, a screen-used hero proton pack was added to the Lanigan collection. Price: $169,900. Congrats Dan, but remember: Don’t cross the streams. It would be bad. Prop: Aries 1B Translunar space shuttle | Film: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) | Designers: Harry Lange, Fred Ordway, and others | Materials: Wood, plexiglass, acrylic, steel, brass, aluminum, plastic | Most Recent Selling Price: $344,000 Dan Winters Stanley Kubrick's masterful tale of human evolution catapulted the humble sci-fi genre from B-movie fodder to serious art, thanks largely to the groundbreaking visuals pioneered by the auteur director and his FX master, Douglas Trumbull. The miniature models used in the eerily realistic space travel scenes are of particular interest to collectors because of their intricate design—aerospace engineers were consulted on the production of each model. Most of the original props were destroyed, but one of the 2001 miniatures survived: the screen-used Aries shuttle that transports Dr. Heywood R. Floyd from the space station to the Clavius excavation site on the moon. In 1975, the prop found its way to one of Kubrick’s neighbors, a Hertfordshire public school teacher, who used it as a show-and-tell exhibit for art students. When the prop was eventually consigned to auction in 2015, the final paddle price greatly exceeded the expected high mark of $100,000. The winning bid, at $344,000, was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It will be restored before being displayed at the new Renzo Piano-designed Academy Museum, which opens in 2018. The hulking Aries model—it weighs about 100 pounds and measures 94 inches in circumference—is made of wood, blown plexiglass, and various metals, finished with plastic bits cherry-picked from off-the-shelf scale-model kits. These hobby-model parts provide the detail, texture, and depth necessary for close-up FX photography with large-format cameras. Look closely and you’ll also see wires, tubing, flexible metal foils, decals ("Battery Location Point Here"), and plenty of heat-formed plastic cladding. Although the internal mechanicals were removed many years ago, the gears that control the four landing legs still function flawlessly. The virtuosic scene in 2001 starring this long-lost orb is the reason Mission Control still has The Blue Danube Waltz in heavy rotation on its wake-up playlist for ISS astronauts. Prop: Phaser | Show: Star Trek (1966-1969) | Designer: Wah Chang | Materials: Aluminum, brass, popsicle sticks, acrylic tube, fiberglass, cast resin | Value: $200,000 Dan Winters There are plenty of bogus or knockoff Star Trek props in circulation, but there's nothing fake about this original series phaser. The provenance is stellar: purchased by a prop artist directly from Paramount in the 1970s. It's an ultra-rare hero constructed mostly of aluminum, fiberglass, and cast resin. The handle is a hand-painted brass tube embellished with popsicle sticks. (Yes, really. Look closely.) There were other phasers made, including midgrade fiberglass models for longer shots and VacuForm plastic ones for Kirk to use when clubbing Klingons. But this is the most intricate variant used for close-ups. Only two were made, so this specimen is worth a bundle. The owner isn't selling anyway. It's part of a massive sci-fi prop collection that includes classics like a prized space suit from 2001. If you must have a phaser of your own, there's always the forgery market. Prop: The Samaritan | Film: Hellboy (2004) | Designer: TyRuben Ellingson | Materials: Painted urethane | Estimated Value: $10,000 to $15,000 Dan Winters Some props are sketched by a conceptual artist and painstakingly assembled by union craftspeople piece by piece. Many more, though, are simply castings. This is particularly true of movie prop firearms. Matt Damon can’t pistol-whip a bad guy with a real Sig Sauer 9-mm hero gun in The Bourne Identity. A “live gun” is used strictly for close-ups and shooting blanks, where filming anything but an actual Sig just won’t do. To pull off a pistol-whip scene, the prop department must cast a Sig Sauer stunt gun out of soft rubber. Guns are also cast in hard rubber, resin, and even metal depending on what function they need to serve in the film. In the prop collecting community, castings and recastings (castings of castings) are highly contentious subjects. “If you look for cheap movie prop kits or ‘raw castings’ on eBay, you’ll find hundreds of people all over the world who bought some shitty rubber prop and made it shittier by recasting it,” says former Lucasfilm VFX designer and MythBusters host Adam Savage. “Because every time you cast something, each successive generation gets crappier.” So when Savage decided to add the comically oversized Samaritan handgun to his prop collection, he went straight to the source: Guillermo del Toro, director of the Hellboy franchise. Unlike a lot of iconic props, there aren’t many genuine Samaritan castings on the market. Del Toro owns the only hero Samaritan, which was cast in aluminum by the famous Weta Workshop in New Zealand. He also had a spare screen-used hard rubber Samaritan casting, which he traded straight up for a casting of Adam Savage's immaculate scratch-built Blade Runner PKD blaster. A perfect clone of visual designer TyRuben Ellingson’s original concept for the film, the Samaritan is one of the heaviest stunt handguns ever cast. “My Samaritan weighs 5 or 6 pounds,” Savage says proudly. “Guillermo had the stunt guns cast in hard rubber because he wanted them to feel heavy when [Hellboy star] Ron Perlman picked them up.” The Weta detailing is so accurate that this thing could pass for the hero Samaritan in a tight shot. “The gravitas and veracity of this prop is exceptional,” Savage says. “It feels luxurious to hold.” Rene Chun *is a frequent *WIRED contributor. He wrote about the SFMOMA redesign in issue 24.05. This article appears in the March issue. Subscribe now.Downtown Eastside anti-gentrification protesters are planning a news conference at the site of the old Pantages Theatre tomorrow at noon, where they say a formerly homeless resident will begin a hunger strike. The hunger striker will start at the Pantages site – location of the proposed Sequel 138 condo project – and then move a block and a half west to picket the embattled restaurant Pidgin restaurant at 6 p.m., according to a news release. The release was sent out by DTES activist Wendy Pedersen, an organizer for the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) and a 16-year resident of a housing co-operative on Alexander Street. The goals of the hunger strike are unknown at this point. Tensions have flared in recent weeks between business owners in the area and activists who have picketed the Pidgin restaurant and allegedly swiped the Save On Meats sandwich board. [email protected] www.twitter.com/MikePHagerVladimir Putin has been featured in political headlines more and more frequently since Donald Trump became president. But with news of the twosome’s undisclosed meeting currently dominating international interest, the President of Russia found himself the star of a more unlikely news vertical this week: the entertainment section. Wednesday morning, The Hollywood Reporter published a story claiming that Putin had “been excised from two upcoming studio features” for fear of a retaliatory Russian hack. The biggest of the two features that The Hollywood Reporter alleged went to Putin-excising extremes was Red Sparrow, the anticipated adaptation of Jason Matthews’s spy thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence. The only problem with the claim? Putin barely had a role in the movie’s source material—about the romance between a Russian ballerina-turned-spy and a CIA agent (played in the film by Joel Edgerton), set against an espionage backdrop. In his largely glowing 2003 review of the book, New York Times literary critic Charles Cumming acknowledged that Putin had only a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in the story—and even called out the Putin cameo as one of the book’s few weaknesses. “I think it was a mistake to give Vladimir Putin a walk-on part,” wrote Cumming. An insider with knowledge of the production told Vanity Fair that Putin was never included in the script. The other project that reportedly scrubbed Putin from its script is Kursk, EuropaCorp’s upcoming drama from Danish director Thomas Vinterberg about the 2000 Russian submarine disaster. Per the report, Putin “appears in the source material, Robert Moore’s best-seller A Time to Die, and was in early versions of the screenplay.” A source close to production confirms that Putin was mentioned in a very early iteration of the script, but says that he, along with other political leaders, were cut to focus the film on the heroes of the story—the 23 soldiers who survived the submarine crash, which took place during a naval exercise. In fact, the cut was first reported back in March and explained it as a strategy “to shift the story’s focus to the rescue mission rather than the politics behind the disaster.” If EuropaCorp really were frightened of Putin and a possible retaliation, the studio might have scrapped the entire project—which will undoubtedly refresh the public’s memory of the disaster, which was a symbol of national failure for Russia. A recap, per the New York Times: The two mysterious explosions that sent the Kursk crashing bow first to the bottom of the sea cost Russia not only the lives of 118 seamen, but a large measure of pride, Russians watched their leaders lie about the crew's fate, refuse foreign help in trying to rescue them and insist -- over the opinion of many experts that the explosions were caused by a malfunctioning torpedo -- that a collision with a foreign submarine caused the crash. Every disaster since then -- from the burning television tower that caught fire in Moscow only weeks later, to repeated battle failures in Chechnya and now the downing of a Russian passenger airliner which exploded over the Black Sea last week -- has been compared to the Kursk as a symbol of national failure. VanityFair.com reached out to representatives for both Fox and EuropaCorp, both of whom told us they have no comment. Get Vanity Fair’s HWD Newsletter Sign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood. E-mail Address SubscribeGautam Gambhir By Express News Service Back in 2011, I remember meeting the great Brian Lara at Heathrow Airport. We had just arrived for a full-fledged tour of England. I am an introvert by nature but thought this was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity to get some nuggets from the champion. Pleasantries exchanged, I came into my own. I’m not sure about right-handers, but I’ve noticed that two lefties connect like high-tension wires. A bit like two Indians meeting on the streets of Boston, absolute strangers but bursting at seams, keen to share a lot in common. I asked Lara about stance, high backlift, playing spin and more. But the best advise he gave me was, “Gautam, remember one thing, there are more bad days than good in cricket and that will never change.” On Saturday, when we were committing hara-kiri against Mumbai Indians, I could almost hear Lara’s words on the stadium PA system. I could almost see his face on the giant screen loaded with a smirk. This was destiny’s cruel way of underlining that Lara observation. We were chasing 174 to win, a magical number that would have put us in the top 2. The past and the present both had combined to give us future. The past said were two-time champions, we knew how to win big games. The present said we were 53/2 in 5.5 overs, needed close to only eight an over in 85 balls. All we needed was cricketing awareness, calm minds and above all, pride in wearing the purple jersey. Unfortunately, all these were missing. I was shattered seeing my teammates committing suicide after suicide. This was after twice we sent messages to the batsmen that there was no need to accelerate. All we needed was a partnership of about 70-80 runs to break the back of Mumbai’s total. Even during the first strategic break, both Kallis and Katich tried to impress upon batsmen that we don’t need to go aerial, just play risk-free cricket. It becomes incomprehensible for me when I recall that in team meetings before that Mumbai game, we had made it clear that we were going in with one batsman short and the top 6 needed to score the bulk of runs. This meant that the chase should feature at least one proper batsman till at least 17-18 overs. But look what we did! Post match, our dressing room resembled a mourning place. I heard some boys had tears. While I sympathised with them, we had only ourselves to blame for being in this situation. Anyways, bygones need to be buried and I did that on flight from Kolkata to Bengaluru. Our next opponents Sun Risers Hyderabad are defending champions for a reason. They are a great deal more than David Warner alone. Shikhar Dhawan, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are some real challengers in their room. Let’s see if Yuvraj makes the cut. I have a lot of time for the other Afghan, Mohammad Nabi. He’s quite good and has wonderful control in his off-spinners. It is a sudden death for both teams and we suffered at the hands of the same team last season. In a way, it is good that there is a lot of hurt and pain in our dressing room. It can work as a catalyst but it all depends on the individual. You can either use these reversals as strengths or crib and cringe. I know what my team will be doing, as none of us can afford another bad day in cricket, as Mr Lara pointed out. Dinesh Chopra MediaSince U.S. President Donald Trump took office, he has yet to put forward a clear foreign policy framework for U.S.-Saudi relations. Instead, observers must wade through a bog of ad hoc comments. This month, Trump made his view clear that Washington should not offer free protection to Gulf states. He has also said that Gulf states “have nothing but money” and that he intends to make them pay for future “safe zones” in Syria. At the same time, Trump has expressed his desire to improve relations with Gulf states in general in order to tackle Iran’s “destabilizing regional activities.” For their part, and notwithstanding Trump’s harsher comments, the Saudis see in the new president an opportunity to enhance their relationship with the United States and repair the rift created by former U.S. President Barack Obama’s championing of the Iran nuclear agreement. They rejoiced, for example, when Trump described Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism and questioned the rationale behind the nuclear deal. If Trump undermines the nuclear agreement and continues to maintain and even expand sanctions against Iran, the Saudis will welcome it. Such moves would assure Riyadh that Saudi Arabia remains at the center of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Regardless of the path Washington pursues with Iran, however, Trump should rethink important elements of the so-called special relationship with Saudi Arabia. Specifically, the United States should cease to offer unconditional support for the regime, as such backing legitimizes the regime’s excesses and makes Washington vulnerable to accusations of supporting dictatorship. To be sure, Washington should not sever relations with Riyadh, but there are good reasons for redefining the relationship in ways that protect the United States. AN ANACHRONISTIC ALLIANCE Ever since U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met the founder of the kingdom, King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, on board USS Quincy in February 1945, oil, security, and Saudi Arabia’s strategic location have been reasonStanley Kubrick died for the first time inside a New York City movie theater in 1952. He had just scraped together enough money and footage to complete his first feature film, an existential 66-minute war picture called Shape of Fear that would eventually be given a slightly more salacious title, Fear and Desire. Now the 24-year-old Kubrick was holding previews in the hopes of finding a distributor. According to Curtis Harrington, an experimental filmmaker who attended one of the screenings and later recounted the experience to Kubrick biographer John Baxter, “the film was not well received. There were giggles in the wrong places, and it all seemed overdone and overwrought.” Harrington later spied Kubrick in the aftermath of the disastrous preview, looking like Lee Ermey had just discovered his doughnut stash. There were tears in Kubrick’s eyes, he said. Years later, when the subject of Fear and Desire came up in a New York Times Magazine profile, all Kubrick could muster on his debut was a terse epitaph: “Pain is a good teacher.” Sixty years have passed since Kubrick first unveiled Fear and Desire, and Kubrick has been dead for 13 of them. And yet, in whatever solar system the star-child incarnation of Kubrick is currently residing, he can’t be pleased that the black sheep in his filmography is now more accessible than ever. Last month, Fear and Desire was finally released on DVD and Blu-ray in a newly restored version overseen by the Library of Congress. It’s a must-see for Kubrick completists who haven’t caught it yet and are desperate to check this otherwise inessential and somewhat tiresome item off their lists. For everybody else, the most succinct assessment of Fear and Desire comes from Kubrick himself, who in a letter issued by Warner Bros. in the early ’90s called it a “bumbling, amateur film exercise” and “a completely inept oddity, boring and pretentious.” Put another way, Fear and Desire is Stanley Kubrick’s cinematic equivalent of a bad high school yearbook photo. If you study its gawky features close enough, you can almost make out traces of the films that followed in its wake. Like Dr. Strangelove, it is about grand militaristic schemes short-circuited by human weakness. Like A Clockwork Orange, it presents a young man of questionable sanity engaged in a fever dream of violent impulses and sexual desire. Like Full Metal Jacket, it is an allegory about all war, rather than a story about any specific war. Like Barry Lyndon, it is impossible to watch after 9 p.m. for longer than 10 minutes without falling asleep. Unlike those movies, Fear and Desire is not a classic. Fear and Desire is not even all that good. Which is why, like a fluffy 11th-grade rattail, Kubrick tried to bury all evidence that Fear and Desire ever existed. But Fear and Desire refuses to be buried, and I’m glad. Stanley Kubrick is still regarded as a chilly, intellectual, weirdo recluse perfectionist. Even people who love his films (like me) will concede that he examines the human condition with a level of empathy and affection most people reserve for the dandruff they flick off their shoulders. He has never seemed like a particularly human sort of human being. But that’s only if you’ve never seen Fear and Desire. For once, when Stanley Kubrick tried to be great, he failed. It proves that before he was The Monolith, he was an ape just like the rest of us. As the chief engineer and promoter of the Stanley Kubrick mystique, Stanley Kubrick had good reason to keep Fear and Desire out of circulation. But now that Stanley Kubrick is gone, the work of Stanley Kubrick’s mystique-building falls to others. And it falls quite well to Room 237, a bizarrely entertaining new film Kubrick himself might’ve enjoyed, though he also would’ve wanted to sue the people who made it. A documentary composed entirely of footage from other people’s films — mostly Kubrick’s — Room 237 pushes the “fair use” loophole in copyright laws to the breaking point. It’s a thoroughly postmodern mash-up of scholarly film criticism and media content reappropriation, a “new” mind-blowing Kubrick movie for the YouTube generation that explores the nature of obsession and how coded language speaks to our subconscious until it finally invades the conscious world and reveals surprising truths. The object of obsession in Room 237 is Kubrick himself, and his oft-misunderstood 1980 gothic family drama The Shining. The film centers on five people who have watched and rewatched The Shining in order to uncover secret meanings they say are obvious and plain to see for anyone who has also seen The Shining 200 times. When Room 237 goes into wide release in March, the person likely to draw most of the attention is Jay Weidner, an author, filmmaker, and self-described “hermetic scholar” who’s been saying for years that Stanley Kubrick was hired by the U.S. government to shoot fake footage of the moon landing, in exchange for the leverage he needed to make his aliens-are-God acidhead epic 2001: A Space Odyssey. For Weidner, The Shining is Kubrick’s mea culpa, with Jack Nicholson’s unhinged patriarch acting as a doppelgänger for the distraught director, and the sinister Overlook Hotel doubling for the all-powerful feds that infiltrated (and presumably ruined) his life. The other interviewees in Room 237 aren’t outright conspiracy theorists like Weidner. They’re more along the lines of Geoffrey Cocks, a history professor from Michigan who reads The Shining as Kubrick’s comment on the Holocaust. Where Weidner sees moon landings, Cocks sees recurring instances of the number “42” and conspicuously German-made typewriters. As Cocks says toward the end of Room 237, it doesn’t matter that the various interpretations of what The Shining is “really” about — which in the documentary range from the extermination of the American Indians to the myth of the Minotaur — don’t seem to mesh, because “we all know from postmodern film criticism that author intent is only part of the story for any work of art. And those meanings are there regardless of whether the creator of the work was conscious of them.” Room 237 starts out talking about The Shining, but it’s really about how The Shining has morphed into different shapes and configurations through the years. Room 237 is a really good documentary, but it’s maybe the greatest DVD extra of all time. It drove me in the last few weeks to compulsively rewatch Stanley Kubrick’s films, looking for my own connections, and shot me down a rabbit hole of Kubrick analysis online, of which Room 237 barely grazes the surface. What’s never really answered by Room 237 is why Stanley Kubrick’s movies inspire these intensely close readings more than movies made by other great directors. The cult of Kubrick seems predicated on the belief that Kubrick was a (1) genius that (2) was sequestered from the rest of the world for not-quite-knowable reasons. Whether Kubrick kept himself separate because he had clandestine relations with a cabal of government spooks and ultrarich hedonists, or because he was a little weird about strangers and traveling, this otherness is hardwired into his work, and it stubbornly suggests to some viewers that there will always be something else embedded in there that us “normal” people have never grasped. Stanley Kubrick either gets way too much credit, or Room 237 finally gives him the exact right amount of credit he always deserved but didn’t want people to actually give him. I tend to believe the former, but I’m not prepared to rule out the latter. Either way, I imagine Stanley Kubrick would love all of this. With the possible exception of Alfred Hitchcock, no major director got off more on his self-made image as a controlling cipher imparted with a near-mystical ability to manipulate an audience. It’s an illusion that falters only when you remember that kid crying in the lobby outside of Fear and Desire. Before Stanley Kubrick could fashion himself into a shadowy figure of international renown who may or may not have sneaked references to a labyrinthine underworld of cultural influence and moral corruption into his films, he needed to borrow money from his dad. Kubrick also hit up a rich uncle from California who owned a string of drugstores to pitch into a $10,000 pot before filming of Fear and Desire commenced in 1951. Armed with a script written by his high school chum Howard Sackler and assisted by a small film crew that included his then-wife Toba, Kubrick set out to paint his masterpiece in Southern California’s San Gabriel Mountains, with additional stops at locations near Bakersfield and Los Angeles. Fear and Desire follows four soldiers, of unnamed affiliation, trapped behind enemy lines without a clear objective. “These soldiers that you see keep our language and our time but have no other country but the mind,” intones the opening voice-over narration, which tells you exactly how chin-stroke-y the rest of the movie is going to be. Not much else happens after that, outside of the platoon capturing a peasant girl (played by the ravishing Virginia Leith) and taking her prisoner. The film’s centerpiece features a lot of melodramatic huffing and puffing by future director-screenwriter Paul Mazursky, whose campy performance as Leith’s baby-faced captor, Private Sidney, prompted most of the snickering during early previews. Driven insane by Leith’s physical charms, Sidney — SPOILER ALERT! — assaults and kills her while overtly referencing Shakespeare’s The Tempest. (This only seems like a dumb idea if you’re not a first-time director under the age of 25.) When Fear and Desire was released commercially in the spring of 1953, it garnered generally positive reviews from critics at The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times, among other publications. Kubrick’s editing and cinematography were singled out for praise, while the clunkiness of Sackler’s script was somehow overlooked. But even Kubrick must’ve sensed that Fear and Desire probably wasn’t going to attract an audience on its own merits. Working in concert with the film’s distributor, Kubrick marketed Fear and Desire on the strength of Leith’s sex appeal, snapping a cheesecake dressing-room photo of his star clad in a tight satin breast-band that emphasized her erect nipples, and plastering it prominently on the film’s advertisements. Anyone who bought a ticket to Fear and Desire expecting to see that instead got a lot of scenes in which unshaven men stare forlornly at trees. Within a few years of Fear and Desire‘s release, Stanley Kubrick would begin the process of becoming Stanley Kubrick. In 1958, when Kubrick was fresh off his first hit, Paths of Glory, he cut a familiar figure in the New York Times Magazine, which described him as a “lank-haired, slightly elusive, seemingly diffident young man who talks little, wears dark suits in the bright sunshine on Canon Drive, and makes astonishing movies.” He reportedly burned the negative of Fear and Desire shortly after it came and went at the box office, though he could never completely write the film out of his personal history. It’s possible that the Stanley Kubrick who made Fear and Desire really did die after that tearful preview screening, and the wunderkind the world came to know was born. But if Kubrick’s life, like his films, is open to interpretation, I have a theory of my own: He remained essentially unchanged from the ambitious hustler who bit off more than he could chew on his first picture. It’s just that he learned to hide himself better. At the height of his career, the subterfuge grew so sophisticated that his audience would spend the following decades trying to parse it from the “real” man underneath. But in the end, it’s all subterfuge. Pain really is a good teacher.The San Francisco 49ers have 14 potential unrestricted free agents who would hit the market when the new league year begins on March 10. Let’s continue our countdown with a receiver who returned to the Niners after eight years away and a year out of football. WR Brandon Lloyd Originally a fourth-round pick of the Niners in 2003 out of Illinois, Lloyd spent the first three years of his NFL career in San Francisco before going to Washington, the Chicago Bears, the Denver Broncos, the St. Louis Rams and the New England Patriots. Lloyd did not play in 2013 before signing with the 49ers as a free agent. He was a Pro Bowler in 2010 with the Broncos as he led the NFL in receiving yards (1,448) and catches of at least 25 yards (18) with 11 touchdowns on 77 receptions. His 18.8 yards-per-catch average ranks fourth since the 1970 merger for a single season among players with at least 75 catches. 49ers career: In his first go-round, Lloyd had 105 catches for 1,510 yards and 13 touchdowns in 45 games, with the likes of Jeff Garcia, Tim Rattay, Ken Dorsey, Cody Pickett and Alex Smith under center. Last year, at age 33, Lloyd was the Niners’ most acrobatic pass catcher, averaging 21 yards per catch on 14 receptions. He also had a score, a clutch 80-yard catch-and-run at St. Louis just before halftime, but only three of his catches came after Week 9. Argument for keeping Lloyd: Sure, he’s old by football standards. And yes, his production tailed off in the second half of the season. But he did average 21 yards per catch. His 80-yard touchdown at St. Louis on "Monday Night Football" was the team’s longest reception by a receiver since Lloyd himself had an 89-yard touchdown reception from Rattay in 2005. He also had an acrobatic sideline catch against the Kansas City Chiefs to keep a drive alive in Week 5. After a year off, he seemed re-charged, and even at 34 (his age on July 5), he could be a change-of-pace receiver for a receiving corps that might also lose Michael Crabtree and Stevie Johnson. Argument for letting Lloyd walk: He’s old by football standards. And since we’re talking football here, that’s the most important thing. He petered out in the second half of the season and while his experience -- he has played 11 seasons and has 399 career catches for 5,989 yards and 36 touchdowns – is impressive, he is no longer a game-changer. And with the Niners receiver corps in flux, the team needs to start fresh. A bold prediction: Lloyd takes the decision out of the Niners’ hands and retires. Again.Military veterans fighting the federal government for benefits have another avenue for potential legal help under a new Veterans Legal Assistance Foundation. The fund will pay the legal bills for qualifying vets who can’t afford a lawyer, but want to go to court to fight decisions made by the Veterans Affairs Department or the veterans appeal board. The foundation has received seed money through a $1 million endowment from two law firms that won a 2013 settlement against the federal government after a class action suit led by veteran Dennis Manuge. The settlement was worth more than $900 million and the law firms that fought the seven-year case were awarded approximately $35 million. Peter Stoffer, the former New Democrat MP and veterans affairs critic who lost his Nova Scotia seat in the October election, will sit on the board of the foundation. Stoffer says many veterans simply give up the fight for benefits, because the legal and medical bills often add up to more than the benefits are worth. “Right now a Federal Court claim can be anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 in many cases,” said Stoffer. “And many, many veterans just simply don’t have the wherewithal or the money to carry on their discussion to the Federal Court.” A board of volunteers, including Stoffer and representatives from the law firms McInnes Cooper of Halifax and Branch MacMaster of Vancouver, will decide which cases to pay for. Ward Branch of Branch MacMaster said he hopes veterans use the foundation to get the benefits they deserve. “For veterans who don’t have the resources to hire a lawyer, or to hire a doctor to move their case forward, we’re hoping that they consult with their lawyers and then eventually find their way through to us,” he said. The Manuge class action was filed in early 2007 on behalf of disabled veterans whose long-term disability benefits were reduced by the amount of the monthly Veterans Affairs Canada disability pension they received. The Federal Court of Canada ruled that the federal government acted illegally in making the deductions. Funding for the foundation was originally announced in 2013 as part of the class-action settlement .Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, who is working on “Fahrenheit 11/9,” a film about the President Donald Trump’s administration, has launched TrumpiLeaks, a website for whistleblowers who want to send information to him. The site's launch comes after a government contractor was arrested by the FBI, allegedly for sharing classified information with the news outlet the Intercept, the Justice Department announced Monday. Read: Did Russia Hack U.S. Election? NSA Details Attempts To Compromise Election Systems, Report Says The Intercept published an article Monday based on National Security Agency documents it obtained, allegedly from government contractor Reality Leigh Winner, 25. The documents said the Russian military carried out a cyberattack on a U.S. voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials just days before the presidential election last year. After news Winner had been arrested broke, Moore launched the site, which lists his WhatsApp number, how to communicate with him using the end-to-end encryption apps Signal and Peerio, and other means of communications. “Today, I’m launching TrumpiLeaks, a site that will enable courageous whistleblowers to privately communicate with me and my team,” Moore said in a letter on the site. “Patriotic Americans in government, law enforcement or the private sector with knowledge of crimes, breaches of public trust and misconduct committed by Donald J. Trump and his associates are needed to blow the whistle in the name of protecting the United States of America from tyranny.” Read: EU Bracing For Trump's Flight Electronics Ban, Warning Airports, Airlines The filmmaker, who has not shied away from sharing his feelings about Trump, acknowledged sharing sensitive information can be dangerous. “I know this is risky,” Moore added. “I knew we may get in trouble. But too much is at
a long story fairly brief, President Hoover began the ill-fated government-assisted economy called the 'New Deal,' which FDR fanatically continued. FDR ended the "classical" gold standard with his theft by force of America's remaining coin bullion. On March 5, 1933, he cajoled the American public to return its gold coinage to the banks. On April 5, 1933, he made the private ownership of gold illegal and demanded that all remaining gold be surrendered to the government. The next step was obvious, as Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote in A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, FDR devalued the dollar from $20.67 to $35.00 per troy ounce of gold to PARTIALLY account for all of the inflation that had occurred since 1914. Those who were forced into giving their gold to the banks in March and April now realized a whopping 70% loss of their purchasing power, which had been stolen by the Fed. Those who retained their gold were now conveniently branded outlaws, and unable to legally use their gold as currency. [Note: After the FDR confiscation order was passed, only ~20% of the outstanding gold coinage was returned, the rest disappeared.] The statists' rule by decree, or fiat rule, began to fully consolidate its grip upon the world. America's poor and middle class would languish in the throes of this 'New Stupidity' until WWII. A few Misesian boom-bust cycles later bring us to the present-day, as President Obama readies his 'New Stupidity Again' stimulus plan. As the Great Depression was to a large extent exemplified by high involuntary unemployment, one has only to look at the below chart to realize that FDR and Hoover were economic failures. Only until the war boom of 1942 would unemployment drop to pre-Depression levels. [Of course, this "boom" assisted America, but destroyed much more of the industrialized world. I've found that Henry Hazlitt explains the fallacies of the New Deal best in his Economics in One Lesson, chapters 4 and 8.] Now at long last we can refocus on Bernanke's lies. In fact, he is fully cognizant of the Fed's role in causing the Great Depression. On November 8, 2002, he stated: Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again. However, in the same speech, a cascade of lies flows: The next episode studied by Friedman and Schwartz, another tightening, occurred in September 1931, following the sterling crisis. In that month, a wave of speculative attacks on the pound forced Great Britain to leave the gold standard. As previously claimed, Great Britain had never returned to the "classical" gold standard, and instead had been propped up by the FED! The "speculative attacks" were not speculative at all; they were committed by those who recognized that this Madoff-Ponzi scheme had failed! [In the 1920's] countries that adhered to the international gold standard were essentially required to maintain a fixed exchange rate with other gold-standard countries. Moreover, because the United States was the dominant economy on the gold standard during this period (with some competition from France), countries adhering to the gold standard were forced to match the contractionary monetary policies and price deflation being experienced in the United States. Again, a blatant misuse of "gold standard"! The countries Bernanke is referring to were on the "gold bullion" or "gold exchange" standards, which are de facto FIAT! Friedman and Schwartz's insight was that, if monetary contraction was in fact the source of economic depression, then countries tightly constrained by the gold standard to follow the United States into deflation should have suffered relatively more severe economic downturns. Although not conducting a formal statistical analysis, Friedman and Schwartz gave a number of salient examples to show that the more tightly constrained a country was by the gold standard (and, by default, the more closely bound to follow U.S. monetary policies), the more severe were both its monetary contraction and its declines in prices and output. Friedman and Schwartz had no "insight" here! In fact they were blinded! Countries on the "gold exchange" standard were constantly devaluing their currencies by repegging to the dollar or the British pound, although they were correct in that Fed dollar inflation secretly contributed to further debasement. Bernanke in his 2004 speech "Money, Gold, and the Great Depression": After 1918, when the war ended, nations around the world made extensive efforts to reconstitute the gold standard, believing that it would be a key element in the return to normal functioning of the international economic system. Great Britain was among the first of the major countries to return to the gold standard, in 1925, and by 1929 the great majority of the world's nations had done so. Unlike the gold standard before World War I, however, the gold standard as reconstituted in the 1920s proved to be both unstable and destabilizing. He's lying through his teeth! Great Britain never returned to the "classical" gold standard after 1914! In 1929, NONE of the countries that had left the "classical" gold standard returned to it! NONE ever would! Sure, he admits that the post-WWI "gold standard" did not work well, but he does not state the true reason why! The British pound, the German mark, the Italian lira, et cetera were all just fiat in disguise! Here's classic Bernanke: The existence of the gold standard helps to explain why the world economic decline was both deep and broadly international. Hogwash! First, WWI would have been greatly shortened and the economic decline would never have occurred if the world had not left the "classical" gold standard. Second, we have already seen how the FED, Hoover, FDR, and especially the British lack of fiscal discipline widened the depth and breadth of the Depression, not the "gold standard"! If declines in the money supply induced by adherence to the gold standard were a principal reason for economic depression, then countries leaving gold earlier should have been able to avoid the worst of the Depression and begin an earlier process of recovery. The evidence strongly supports this implication. For example, Great Britain and Scandinavia, which left the gold standard in 1931, recovered much earlier than France and Belgium, which stubbornly remained on gold. As Friedman and Schwartz noted in their book, countries such as China - which used a silver standard rather than a gold standard - avoided the Depression almost entirely. The finding that the time at which a country left the gold standard is the key determinant of the severity of its depression and the timing of its recovery has been shown to hold for literally dozens of countries, including developing countries. This intriguing result not only provides additional evidence for the importance of monetary factors in the Depression, it also explains why the timing of recovery from the Depression differed across countries. Sorry for sounding like a broken record, but let's continue. First, all the countries Bernanke mentions were not on the "classical" gold standard, just a weak fiat facade. For one of his key supporting pieces of evidence, Bernanke fails to complete a thorough eco-political study of China, including the theft of the populace's silver by their government, and the MINOR detail that China was under massive upheaval and wracked by civil war in the mid-1920s, so they just MIGHT have been fudging some of their economic numbers. Comparing the Chinese economy with the likes of Britain and France in 1925 is as silly as comparing the Somalian economy with Japan's in 2008. In his 1990 NBER paper "The Gold Standard, Deflation, and Financial Crisis in the Great Depression," Bernanke does reveal he is aware of the Genoa Conference of 1922 that promoted the "gold exchange standard." It is also interesting that in 1990 Bernanke fairly consistently uses the term "interwar gold standard," while in his recent speeches and writings he just uses "gold standard." At no point does he clearly define the "interwar gold standard." In fact, he even lists the League of Nations claim that by 1925, 28 of 48 major currencies were once again "pegged to gold." Maybe when this depression finally ends in the hyperinflationary death of a bunch more fiat currencies, I will write a paper to correct all the Keynesian and Friedmanite gaffes Bernanke and others continue to make. Hopefully, I can call it "How the Austrian Standard Cured Inflation and Stopped the Financial Crisis of the Greater Depression." I will be sure to correctly define the Austrian Standard first. (1) Bimetallism refers to a policy when countries fix a ratio of silver to gold, say equating 16 grams of silver to the same purchasing power as 1 gram of gold. America used this type of monetary system during much of its early history. The key problem with bimetallism is that differing international fixed ratios or even large supply-side changes will result in large outflows of metal, or attempted arbitrage, to make profits based on the ratio difference. Roughly speaking, a kind of modern fiat equivalent would be the yen carry trade, which is based on foreign exchange rates and interest rate differences. (2) The Austrian School of economics follow the Misesian regression theorem, which succinctly states that for anything to become money, it must first have intrinsic value of its own and have been chosen by the free market to serve as money. When this occurs, the gold or silver typically gains a monetary premium over other commodities [Block, 1999]. From a sound money purist's point of view, the most obvious example of this is the monetary premium that the petrodollar receives as the world's reserve currency. Gold and silver have unparalleled records as successful money across most of continents, culture, and time. One has only to research the Alexander's Greeks, the Mayans, medieval Europe, imperial China, the Egyptians, British Empire, the Romans, and ancient Mesopotamia. (3) The Gold Standard Act of 1900 equated $1 USD ≈ 0.048 troy ounce gold. At today's price of ~$850 per ounce, the dollar in December 2008 is worth a scant 2.4% of its' 1900 value. (4) The pro-FED forces were actually anxious to pass this law; it was a key step towards the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. By making gold the sole metal backing the currency, the pesky, harder-to-control threat of silver was formally vanquished [Rothbard, The Case Against the Fed]. (5) Federal outlays to pay for President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society" and the Vietnam War caused a massive debasement (or inflation) of the dollar, which resulted in other nations, most famously France, to redeem their dollar reserves for gold.Subscribe Get all our recipes sent to you for FREE! Email address First Name A silky beer and bacon-infused cheese sauce takes this mac and cheese up a notch. This recipe is perfect for entertaining or feeding a crowd. Not much needs to be said for this Mac and cheese. Crispy bacon, beer and cheese all in one dish? Yes please! This might seem like it’s ‘bloke-only’ food but I have to say, I loved this so much I had seconds and found myself picking at the left-overs all night. I like to make a huge amount of this as there never seems to be enough but also because I love (LOVE) left-over mac and cheese the next day. Re-heated with tons of chilli sauce, it’s one of my guilty pleasures in life. Serve the mac and cheese with a zesty side salad and cold beers for a weeknight favourite revisited! 5 from 4 votes Print Beer & Bacon Mac 'n Cheese Prep Time 5 mins Cook Time 1 hr Total Time 1 hr 5 mins A silky beer and bacon-infused cheese sauce takes this mac and cheese up a notch. This recipe is perfect for entertaining or feeding a crowd. Course: Baked pasta, Mac and cheese, macaroni, Pasta Servings : 8 -10 Author : Alida Ryder Ingredients for the sauce 500 g bacon diced 150 g butter 1/2 cup flour 1 can beer approximately 330ml 250 ml milk 250 ml cream 2-3 cups strong cheddar grated pinch of freshly grated nutmeg 1 teaspoon smoked paprika salt & pepper to taste to assemble 1 kg cooked macaroni reserve 2 cups of the cooking water 1 cup grated cheese mixed with 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs Instructions Pre-heat the oven to 200°c and grease a large oven-proof dish. Fry the bacon in a large pot until crisp and golden. Remove the bacon from the pot but leave the fat. Add the butter to the bacon fat and allow to melt before adding the flour. Stir and cook for 1 minute before slowly pouring in the beer whilst whisking. When all the beer has been incorporated, add the milk and cream and mix until the sauce is smooth. At this point you might need to add a little more liquid, I just add more milk but you can also use chicken stock if you prefer. The sauce needs to be the consistency of shop-bought custard. Take the pot off the heat and Add the cheese and bacon back to the sauce as well as the smoked paprika and nutmeg, and stir until the cheese has melted. Season to taste. When the sauce is cooked, mix it with the cooked macaroni. Add some of the reserved cooking water and mix well. The macaroni needs to be well covered by the sauce and will almost look like it's got too much sauce covering it. If it doesn't, add more of the water. If you wanted to be very decadent you could add more cream at this stage too. Transfer the macaroni into the prepared dish and cover with the breadcrumbs/cheese mixture. Place in the oven and allow to bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving. Other mac and cheese recipes you will love:The opening date for Barcadia Baton Rouge has been pushed back another couple months, which means owners' original intention of opening by the start of LSU's football season has long been tossed out the window. "We're probably looking at late October, early November," said Stan Ripp, co-owner of Barcadia Concepts and the Louisiana director of operations. The reason for the delays came down to construction costs. Pushing for the earlier open would have meant paying lots of overtime, which just didn't jive with the bottom line. "In reality, construction costs squeeze it so quick," Ripp said. "It wasn't worth the overtime to get it done that fast. So, we're just going to take our time, get it done right, get it on budget and go from there." Barcadia first announced its entrance into the Baton Rouge market in February, and the news that Curbside Burgers' Nick Hufft would be at the helm of the kitchen was welcomed by many local burger connoisseurs. The arcade/restaurant has been under construction for several months and it takes over the space vacated by Serrano's Salsa Company in Northgate.In his greatest work, Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed that “God is dead.” This means several things. First of all, the philosophical abstraction known as “God” to institutional religion, especially Christianity, has met its demise in Western culture. Secondly, it means the dualistic metaphysic of Plato is no longer viable. It also means the point of centrality (monotheism) that once undergirded Western culture has been ripped away. After Nietzsche, because we didn’t know where to turn, we were left teetering on the brink of a dark abyss, of which Soul is the bridge across. Giordano Bruno, in the sixteenth century, showed that there is no center to the universe at all. According to the Hermetic maxim of correspondence, we can also claim that there is no center to God, the universe, or the human Soul. The concept of centrality has fallen away gradually in human thinking. After concluding there is no center to the universe, thinkers realized this was not only a physical characteristic of Nature, but of Soul as well. The idea was actually a projection of what we believed existed in God and Soul. Eventually, however, the projection was withdrawn and we were faced with the stark reality that God, Soul, and Universe are all acentric and polytheistic realities. The multifariousness of Nature is manifested in all Her creations. The above photo is but one example. This beautiful sunflower head is metaphorical of the living Beings that compose our Souls and the World Soul. There are many such examples in Nature, if we were more aware of them. The Copernican theory did manage to make the Sun the center of the solar system instead of the Earth, but it still required a center. Bruno opposed this and claimed that we live in an acentric universe. This is the predominant theory today. The concept of centrality is a product of a control mentality. For example, having a central figure as the head of a religion or state to promote and perpetuate control. When a center is required, there is usually a lack of freedom in religion, society, or nation. When released from the tyrannical imperialism of monotheism by the death of God, man has the opportunity of discovering new dimensions hidden in the depths of reality’s history. He may discover a new freedom to acknowledge variousness and many-sidedness. He may find, as if for the first time, a new potency to create imaginatively his hopes and desires, his laws and pleasures (David L. Miller, The New Polytheism, p. 3-4). The proclamation of God’s death paved the way for a new epoch of freedom. If centrality suggests control, acentrality suggests theological and psychological liberty. “The death of God gives rise to the rebirth of the Gods” (ibid.). We are a privileged group to live in the Epoch of Soul. Humans have always been polytheistic in nature. The word, polytheism, is a way to explain the plurality of living Beings that compose each and every person. Make no mistake, they are real Persons. Monotheism, on the other hand, is the promotion of a single, central figure at the center of the human Microcosm, which we call the Ego. The overinflated Ego is the Minotaur at the center of the maze of existence that consumes all others that challenge his authority. It is a male character because monotheism is very much a patriarchal phenomenon. Polytheism is just as much a social phenomenon as it is a theological phenomenon. The idea of polytheism is inherent in the democratic ideal. The implication here is that there are many voices having a say in matters, rather than what occurs in totalitarian societies. True human nature demands democracy. Because we have many Voices within us, the best form of government for humans is to include the many voices of the people. As above, so below. Our true nature as multifaceted selves leaves no room for an autonomous, overruling entity. Our identities are not fixed because we are composed of many equally real, but distinct personalities. Variety is the spice of life! I would like to remind my readers that Reality is paradoxical in nature and that one truth, such as the truth of our polytheistic nature, does not totally exclude what truth there is to be found in monotheism. Reality is paradoxical, meaning we can simultaneously adhere to seemingly contradictory truths and not be inconsistent. The truth of the One and the Many has long been a problem for Western philosophy. For me, it’s not a problem at all because I believe one can hold such views in dialectical tension. Most of the ideas I write in support of have long been neglected in the West. There have been overemphases on matter, the body, monotheism, spirit, etc. I try to give a voice to those truths that have been ignored for such a long time. Also, I try to reject an either/or mentality in an attempt to see Reality in synthesis. This post has been read 3590 times!This is Your Country on Drugs Why we say yes to drugs Resistance to mind-altering substances is futile, according to a new "Secret History of Getting High in America" Not long ago, I was talking with a couple of friends who are about a decade younger than I am. We got onto the subject of recreational drugs and how my friends had recently sworn off Ecstasy. "I know a guy who used to love it, and he's quitting, too," one of them explained. "He's learned a lot about it and says it's just too hard on your body." I remarked that since Ecstasy is the sort of drug most people take only very occasionally, it probably wasn't as dangerous as something like cocaine, which can be addictive, expensive and lethal. "Oh, cocaine's not that bad," said my friend, looking puzzled and leaving me surprised. Hadn't he ever worked for someone who'd gotten so tweaked on coke that he burned out his septum, emptied his bank account and triggered a heart attack? Hasn't every journalist worked with someone like that? Ryan Grim would understand this disconnect perfectly. One of the theses of his new book, "This is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America" -- a cornucopia of unconventional wisdom about our relationship to mind-altering substances -- is that the popularity of drugs waxes and wanes according to a complex sum of factors. One of those factors is the "perceived risk" of using a particular chemical, which also fluctuates. There's a tendency to idealize new drugs, as the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal did with a recently isolated narcotic in 1900. "There's no danger of acquiring a habit," it assured its readers about the drug that had just emerged from the labs of the aspirin manufacturer, Bayer. They named it heroin. Advertisement: Even when we ought to know better, we don't. "It takes about seven years," Grim writes, "for folks to realize what's wrong with any given drug. It slips away, only to return again as if it were new." I came of age professionally at a time when older journalists and editors were wrecking themselves on cocaine right and left; as a result, I still think of the drug as equal parts perilous and pathetic, as well as hopelessly uncool. My friend, no doubt, came up during a coke lull. A political reporter who currently works at the Huffington Post, Grim wrote a 2004 article for Slate inspired by a curious observation: LSD, which had been "a fixture of my social scene since the early '90s," seemed to have vanished from that scene. No one he knew was taking it or selling it, and when he approached a drugs-policy researcher for some hard data, they discovered that according to several metrics, acid use was at "an historic low: 3.5 percent." By 2003, it was down to 1.9 percent. Why? It wasn't just that LSD had gone out of style, although it had, somewhat. Grim found evidence of a perfect storm of causes for the decline. In 2000, the DEA had arrested a man named William Pickard, thought to be the manufacturer of as much as 95 percent of the available acid in the U.S. The Grateful Dead, whose concerts provided an opportunity for suppliers and users to connect and network, had stopped touring after the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia, and Phish, a jam band that had stepped in to fill the gap, also stopped touring by the end of 2000. The rave scene began to fade away under pressure from authorities who threatened to arrest organizers for drug offenses committed at their events. But if Grim has learned anything from his forays into the tangled world of drug laws (he once worked for the Marijuana Policy Project, which lobbies for the repeal of pot prohibition), it's that the American passion for getting high turns enforcement-centered strategies into a vast game of Whack-a-Mole. "Policies enacted to counter other drugs -- marijuana and cocaine, for example -- have ended up encouraging the meth trade, as have laws against meth itself," he writes. Crackdowns on pot smuggled from Mexico during the 1970s caused growers, dealers and users to turn to heroin, meth and especially cocaine, the last of which was brought in from Colombia via the Caribbean and Miami. When federal authorities finally got around to draining the swamp of crime and corruption in Miami (where one-fifth of all real estate transactions were paid for in cash), coke smuggling migrated to Mexico, and when attacked there, it scattered throughout the region, "creating the cartel structure that exists today." This year, the National Drug Threat Assessment has described Mexican cartels as "the greatest organized crime threat to the United States," whose violence has spilled over the border and whose influence "over domestic drug trafficking is unrivaled." Grim has a knack for digging up facts and crunching statistics to get unexpected results. The meth "epidemic" that has recently inspired so much media alarm is already in decline, while crack use, never as pervasive as it was depicted in the 1980s, has remained fairly steady since then. Today's kids aren't smoking much pot because pot is a "social" drug, shared among peers who gather in parking lots and other hangouts; teens have less unstructured time now and tend to socialize online. They still get high, only on prescription drugs pilfered from adults or ordered off the Internet. "There's no social ritual involved," he observes, "just a glass of water and a pill," which "fits well into a solitary afternoon." There's more. Early American settlers drank like fish, even the Puritans (though, as Grim fails to note, this was likely a habit transferred from Europe, where the water in many communities wasn't potable). In the 19th century, the heyday of temperance campaigns, it was more socially acceptable to consume opium than alcohol, and by the end of the 1900s, America was a "pharmacopoeia utopia" in which coke, heroin and morphine were all readily available, either with a doctor's prescription or in patent medicines and products like Coca-Cola, once a cocaine-containing beverage marketed as "a substitute for alcohol." Traditionally, attempts to regulate or prohibit drugs in America have come from the left rather than the right; only with the advent of the counterculture did this change. Advertisement: Some of Grim's arguments are familiar, but with a twist. By now, most informed people know that anti-drug education and P.R. campaigns directed at children don't work, but Grim has noted several studies indicating that they may actually foster experimentation. He sees the mini-boom in drug use among 10th graders in the late '90s as caused by a confluence of the "inner child" therapy boom exhorting parents to encourage children's curiosity and programs like D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), which inadvertently directed that curiosity toward exotic chemicals. Despite ample proof of its ineffectiveness, D.A.R.E. continues to be used in three-quarters of all American school districts on some 25 million children. (President Obama even proclaimed April 8 "National D.A.R.E. Day" in honor of the organization's "important work.") Grim thinks that D.A.R.E. and similarly wasteful programs persist simply because they relieve parents from the duty of having awkward (and possibly "hypocritical") conversations with their kids about drugs. Also because no one knows what else to do. Even less excusable in Grim's eyes is the predominance of law enforcement strategies in America's disastrous war on drugs, initiated by the Reagan administration. Drug courts, in which offenders are directed to court-monitored treatment programs instead of into prison, are, according to Grim, both cheaper and more successful. Yet even politicians inclined to support a treatment-oriented approach to diminishing the American appetite for illegal drugs have opted to emphasize enforcement in order to position themselves as "tough" on crime. For just this reason, President Clinton replaced his first, reform-minded drug czar, Lee Brown, with retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who squandered billions on a scandal-ridden media campaign (planting secret anti-drug messages in prime-time TV dramas) and combating the medical marijuana movement, which is supported by a majority of Americans. Worse yet, overseas enforcement campaigns lead to horrific blowback. Grim points out that aggressive attacks on growers and suppliers cause centralization of the drug trade (only big organizations can afford the losses) and this in turn leads to corruption, as cartel leaders parlay their fortunes into political influence. Not only are we pissing away our own resources on ineffectual enforcement efforts, we have "brought the Mexican government to the brink of collapse, making the prospect of a failed state on America's southern border a very real possibility." For Grim, most of these mistakes have roots in an elementary error, the inability to accept that "altering one's consciousness is a fundamental human desire." The craving to be more relaxed or more alert, more outgoing or more reflective, happier or deeper or even just sillier and less bored -- in one form other another, this drive has always been and always will be with us, though many of us refuse to admit it. As a result, our political response to drug problems tends to be blinkered. "In reality, there's no such thing as drug policy," Grim writes. "As currently understood and implemented, drug policy attempts to isolate a phenomenon that can't be taken in isolation. Economic policy is drug policy. Healthcare policy is drug policy. Foreign policy, too, is drug policy. When approached in isolation, drug policy almost always backfires, because it doesn't take into account the powerful economic, social and cultural forces that also determine how and why Americans get high." Advertisement: Yet a simplistic call for legalization fails to take into account the fact that almost all drugs can be very dangerous, and that the impulse to control them may run as deep as the desire to enjoy them. People who trust themselves to use drugs wisely don't necessarily want their kids, or their irresponsible neighbors, or their troubled relatives to enjoy unfettered access to previously controlled substances. For that reason, Grim -- who exhibits a distinct preference for hallucinogens and is prone to idealizing the "psychonauts" who use them to "expand consciousness" -- stops short of calling for the repeal of all drug prohibitions, for the most part, apparently, because he thinks it just won't last. "What would happen if drugs were legalized?" he asks, referring to the "pharmacopoeia utopia" of the late 1800s. "Well, it happened. And history suggests that if we ever legalize them again, it won't be long before we ban them all over again." "Realism" seems to be the most Grim can bring himself to hope for, which is why he applauds cable TV series like "Weeds," "Breaking Bad" and "The Wire" for their nuanced depictions of the drug trade and the people who ply it. The library-like Web site Erowid.com emerges as one of the few real heroes in "This Is Your Country on Drugs," due to its curators' fierce commitment to objectively and thoroughly substantiating the vast amounts of information -- positive and negative -- they present about virtually every drug under the sun. A little realism would certainly help with regard to cocaine, whose "perceived risk" is rapidly shrinking in my own (admittedly highly anecdotal) experience. In the final pages of the book, Grim remarks that his own observations suggest that "coke's next honeymoon could be right around the corner." Sounds prescient, but not more so than his world-weary conclusion that "America has shown just about zero capacity to learn from its long and complicated history with drugs."It was bittersweet to leave Vikings Training Camp in Mankato for the final time late Saturday night. I stayed on the field until they turned the floodlights off, soaking in everything I could. I watched players tossing commemorative footballs into the crowd and chasing their kids around the field. I admired stars staying well after practice to sign nearly every autograph for fans. I looked skyward for every last moment of the final fireworks show. I have now covered a handful of night practices from Blakeslee Stadium for Daily Norseman; the atmosphere of the final edition in 2017 will always be a special memory. Of course, I couldn’t just stand there for three hours soaking up the nostalgia all night. I had work to do! Saturday marked my fourth day in Mankato. I used most of that time to get an idea of where all 90 players stood as the team transitions from camp in Mankato to the preseason in Buffalo on Thursday. I watched drills closely, saw how players performed in 11-on-11, and took pages upon pages of notes. And now I’m going to share those notes with you! So how is this all going to work? I’ll go position by position for every player on the Vikings offense and give my brief evaluation of what I saw from them during my time in Mankato last week. Think of it as a CliffsNotes version of Training Camp for each player. These won’t be comprehensive evaluations; they will simply be blurbs giving you a general idea of how I thought the player performed. After each mini-evaluation, I will provide where I think the player will end up after the final 53 is announced: lock, bubble, practice squad, or cut. Got it? Good. But before we get started, please enjoy nearly 200 high-quality images from our intrepid photographer Thad Chesley. Once again, he did an amazing job of capturing a ton of great moments from the night practice in Mankato. Scroll through to make it feel like you were there on the field! Quarterbacks Teddy who? I kid, I kid! Put down your pitchforks and torches. That said, I think the offense is in pretty good hands with Bradford this season. Although it feels like we have been debating his merits in Minnesota for the better part of a decade, this was Bradford’s first (and last) Mankato experience. And he was pretty damn impressive. He had a rather quiet start to camp, but he certainly finished with a flourish. There were a handful of intermediate and long throws that Bradford fit into very tight windows during the Saturday night practice. His accuracy has always been great, and the confidence in his receivers and the offense seems to be growing. There are still a lot of ways the Vikings offense could falter in 2017. Right now, I wouldn’t put Bradford very high on that list. He should be just fine as long as the line can keep him upright. Prediction: Lock Case Keenum After watching a week of camp, I have Keenum second on the depth chart at QB. He’s a lot closer to third than he is to first though. Keenum did well enough on short and intermediate passes, but anything long was a real struggle for him. His lack of arm strength was incredibly noticeable. On anything long, he’d change his delivery to where he sort of rocked back on his back foot before lunging forward and launching a (usually inaccurate) pass. His pocket presence was OK, but he probably would have been clocked several times if it weren’t for his red jersey. I think the Vikings are getting about what they thought they would when they signed Keenum—a relatively inexpensive stopgap that could come in for a game or two without mucking things up too badly. But if Bradford goes down for an extended period of time...watch out. Prediction: Lock I was really excited to see the comeback of Heinicke last week. The reviews of his first week of camp were a bit mixed but many people thought he had a chance at winning the QB2 job. For the four days I was in Mankato, that definitely did not seem to be the case. Heinicke struggled mightily with his accuracy and decision making. It actually looked like he had regressed since being the surprise third stringer his rookie year. I liked some of what he did moving around in the pocket, but definitely not throwing on the move. Heinicke’s lack of arm strength reared its ugly head even more than it did with Keenum. Prediction: Bubble. I’m assuming the Vikings will keep all three healthy quarterbacks, even with Teddy there. But if they don’t, Heinicke is out. Get well soon! Again, the #1 “problem” I’m praying for the Vikings to have at the end of the year is deciding between a 100% healthy Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford coming off a career year. Prediction: PUP list. Hopefully not IR after Week 6, but it wouldn’t surprise me either. Running backs The hype is real, you guys. He hasn’t played a down of professional football yet, but it’s impossible not to get excited about Cook’s potential. Cook is an incredibly gifted athlete and an incredibly skilled runner, which could be a lethal combination. I think I was most impressed with how he sets up his blocks. He can casually hit the hole, wait until a defender commits, and then use his amazing lateral quickness to burst through on the other side. He reminded me a bit of Le’Veon Bell in that respect. (OK, that’s probably too lofty of a comparison for a rookie—let’s call it Le’Veon Lite.) Plus his pass catching and blocking looked much more natural than the last guy. The Vikings might have something special on their hands with Cook. Prediction: Lock Latavius Murray Unfortunately I didn’t get to see him in action as he returned to the first practice after I left camp. The one thing that everyone in Mankato noticed about Murray even though he wasn’t taking snaps: his size. At 6’3” and 230 lbs, Murray is huge compared to most running backs. Obviously I can’t assess his play, but I’m sure he will be a healthy part of the offensive attack, especially in short yardage and red zone situations. Prediction: Lock Jerick McKinnon Jet had a rough start to camp thanks to being a little banged up, but by Saturday night he was reminding everyone what his strengths were. McKinnon can still dart around the field like a water bug and flash his incredible athleticism. His pass blocking and running between the tackles still leave a lot to be desired though. Don’t
Spectacle than Big Ideas. And sure enough, once people start dying, Prometheus' ambitious thematic payload goes straight out of the airlock. But Scott's movie is flawlessly designed, with the beautiful 3D cinematography contrasting the clean white futurism of Prometheus' interiors with the black corporeal surfaces of the alien catacombs. It might not pack the unbearable menace or blazing horror of the saga's first two movies, but it utterly eclipses the last two. It's exciting, tense and fully impregnated for sequels… Advertisement Variety also comments on the score (something lots of online critics are making note of) and explains how Prometheus uses chatter to disperse tension in various directions. Yet a key difference between this film and its predecessor is one of volume. Incongruously backed by an orchestral surge of a score, the film conspicuously lacks the long, drawn-out silences and sense of menace in close quarters that made "Alien" so elegantly unnerving. Prometheus is one chatty vessel, populated by stock wise-guy types who spout tired one-liners when they're not either cynically debunking or earnestly defending belief in a superior power. The picture's very structure serves to disperse rather than build tension, cross-cutting regularly between the underground chamber [spoiler redacted] and the ship, where efforts to contain the threat are thwarted by the increasingly uncertain chain of command…Scott and his production crew compensate to some degree with an intricate, immersive visual design that doesn't skimp on futuristic eye-candy or prosthetic splatter. The translated review from Sci-Fi Universe seems torn. But they have hope that Prometheus will be built up as a cult legend, much like Blade Runner. Prometheus is just perfect in terms of image design, this means that the sense of framing, the esthetic, what the meaning of everything shown on the screen. Ridley Scott is a genius in this field, and it is the top of his game on this film.... Provided that a future "director's cut" makes its appearance (or an assembly fixing some questions), or that comes back to lessen the disappointment of the moment, it is not unlikely that Prometheus may grow in the heart of people with time and earns cult status. If it is not the masterpiece of the immediate, the time may well be favorable to him. Advertisement The Telegraph gives us a lot of hope for lengthy late-night debates after you've watched the film: There's too much to process in a first viewing of Ridley Scott's Prometheus — some of it good, some of it great, almost all of it mental. How the movie fits together — both internally, and in sequence with the Alien series Scott launched in 1979 — are questions its core audience will come out fiercely debating: those who've managed to keep down their dinner, anyway. Screen Daily saw both Prometheus' flaws and its success. One thing that Prometheus isn't is an Alien-clone. Alien – despite that it may feel slowly-paced set against current editing styles – was a film that embraced its horror-in-space format, and after a slow-burn set up and magnificent central gore moment as the mini-alien bursts from John Hurt's chest settled into a brilliantly shot monster movie before Sigourney Weaver's final memorable battle. While Prometheus has some striking chilling moments it never plays the all-out horror card, instead developing the science alongside the action and punctuating the film with moments that jolt and amaze... It is Michael Fassbender, though, who perhaps has the most fun in Prometheus. Meanwhile the online scene has been twittering up a storm in defense of the flick. Advertisement Peter Sciretta of ‏Slashfilm tweets: I've been given the go ahead. I can tell you I've seen Prometheus and I can confirm that it is awesome. Prometheus: Not only is it thrilling, but it leaves you asking questions. (remember, @DamonLindelof is involved after all) Advertisement Steven Weintraub of Collider tweets: Prometheus is the type of big budget sci-fi that studios rarely make. Extremely well done. Don't read reviews. Just go see it. Daily Telegraph's Robbie Collin tweets: PROMETHEUS is, um, absolutely nuts. Not perfect by a stretch but there are ideas here you wouldn't expect a studio to touch with a 10ft pole. Advertisement Jennings Roth Cornet ‏of Screenrant tweets: I predict that #Prometheus will sway some 3D nay sayers. Simply stunning. Well, almost everyone... Daniel Fienberg ‏from HitFix: The first two acts of "Prometheus" are fairly tremendous — 2 or 3 classic fright scenes, some strong acting, good 3D. The last chunk of "Prometheus" is trying to serve too many masters and becomes muddled, though not cripplingly so. Advertisement Devin Faraci from Badass Digest:The front shelf can carry up to 50 pounds. Via Sizemore Bicycle The unpredictability of a bike commute in densely packed cities is dangerous — a rider needs to navigate cars, buses, potholes, taxis, and distracted pedestrians. In fact, there are so many hassles and dangerous elements that many people avoid it altogether. But the nonprofit Oregon Manifest wants to change all that. They teamed up with Fuji Bikes and challenged five design teams from busy American cities to build the ultimate urban utility bike — something that would make commuting in a city not only safer, but more enjoyable, too. After a public vote, the end result was "The Denny." The automatic lights react to natural light conditions. Via Sizemore Bicycle The Denny bike has a lot of clever features: an automatic shifter, an ingenious front basket, integrated lighting, turn signals, a built-in handlebar lock, and a fender that removes water before it can do damage. It even has an e-assist to give you a boost when you're struggling up a hill so you don't sweat through your work outfit. "One of the challenges with cycling currently is that it needs to be a planned decision, you really need to know what you're doing with your day and if the bike is appropriate," Roger Jackson — a creative director for Teague, the Seattle-based firm that won — told Business Insider. "And so we tried to integrate as much into the bike as possible." Teague wanted people to be able to grab their bike and know that no matter what their day had in store, they could use it without the need to add any accessories. From baskets to a bike lock, the firm built everything into the body of the bike. There are three core tenets to this bike: safety, security, and convenience. Security: Integrated Lock System The handlebar doubles as a lock so you never have to carry a heavy U-lock while biking again. "I think from a public standpoint the handlebar really resonated with people," Jackson said. The public responded really well to the new integrated lock, which is an elegant solution that has never existed before, according to Jackson. Via Oregon Manifest Plus, if you're in a hurry and don't want to remove the handlebar completely, you can use the quick lock option: Via Oregon Manifest Convenience: The Flexible Storage System The front basket isn't even a basket at all — it's a shelf that was built into the frame of the bike. It provides the ability to steer stably with hefty loads up to 50 pounds. The bike also has automatic shifting and an electric assist for biking up hills. The battery in the bike is also removable, so you never have to carry your bike inside to recharge it (a blessing for anyone who lives in a walk-up). The storage shelf is part of the frame. Via Sizemore Bicycles Safety: Automatic Lighting Safety is often the biggest concern for anyone afraid of riding bikes around a big city, so the firm tried to emulate other vehicles on the road. "We took a lot of cues from these vehicles that people are already using," Jackson said. "We implemented a lot of the safety features that people take for granted on those vehicles — daylight running lights, turn signals, break lights —and we brought those to the bike." Teague understands that visibility is key when biking, so they also included a "Halo Light" that floods light onto the road around the front wheel when it's dark. Via Oregon Manifest Via Oregon Manifest Aside from achieving the three core tenets, they also wanted to design a bike that looks good. They teamed up with a well-known local bicycle builder, Taylor Sizemore, to create the prototype. The Denny bike is about returning the rider to "those early days of carefree riding, when cycling was just about 'get up and go' freedom — the reason we all fell in love with bikes in the first place," according to the Sizemore website. Via Sizemore Bicycle Jackson said that there are always slight changes when you move from a concept to a reality, but that the actual bike will be very similar to the Denny prototype. There will also be an option for a bike without the electric assist, for cities like New York that don't have as many hills, which will also significantly lower the price. The Denny is all about a ‘get up and go’ freedom. Via Sizemore Bicycle The Denny is set to launch in 2015. For more information about the Denny as well as the other cities that participated, check out the Oregon Manifest website here.WUTC's Michael Edward Miller speaks with Jeff Shaara about his newest novel "The Smoke At Dawn." “There’s a lot that happened [in Chattanooga] that people are not aware of,” acclaimed Civil War author Jeff Shaara says of the battles that took place in 1863, when Union forces controlled the city and Confederates cut off supply lines. Shaara’s new novel The Smoke At Dawn dramatizes what happened, including conflicts such as the Battle of Lookout Mountain and the Battle of Missionary Ridge. Shaara’s books are fiction, but he painstakingly researches historical figures and visits the battlefields, in order to give readers an accurate portrayal. “My job is not to just make up stories,” Shaara says. Most of the characters in The Smoke At Dawn are real soldiers and generals, such as Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg. Because these are real people, they don’t always come across as heroic. Bragg, for example, was a paranoid, sometimes bumbling leader despised by his own subordinates. What’s it like to have such an unsympathetic protagonist as Gen. Bragg? It’s an interesting experience, getting inside Bragg's head and learning why he did what he did. “There’s nothing worse than a boring character,” Shaara says. WARRING VIEWPOINTS Shaara also includes prominent Union point-of-view characters such as General Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. Throughout the novel, Shaara shows the Civil War from both sides and explains what motivated leaders to make both good and bad decisions, which gives readers a complex, compelling story where it’s difficult to definitively label anyone as a hero or a villain. This format—switching viewpoints across Confederate and Union lines, and re-creating the inner thoughts of major players in the war—is something Shaara learned from his father. His father was author Michael Shaara, who wrote the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel The Killer Angels, which told the story of the battle of Gettysburg and became the basis for a major motion picture. THREE OF FOUR Jeff Shaara’s The Smoke At Dawn is the third in a four-book series of novels dramatizing the western theater of the Civil War. “A lot of people don’t think of Tennessee as being [in the] west,” Shaara says. However, in the 1860’s, Tennessee was thought of that way because it lay west of the Appalachians. Before writing this series, Shaara wrote another series of novels about other Civil War conflicts (including a prequel to his father’s book) and wrote novels about the First World War, World War II and the Revolutionary War. He also wrote one nonfiction title, Jeff Shaara's Civil War Battlefields, which includes ten sites that he believes every American should visit. In this interview, he explains why he included Chickamauga among those sites. AN EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH SHAARA Also in this conversation, Shaara also explains how he became a writer. Although he’s a critically-acclaimed author of 13 novels, he never expected this to be his career. Growing up, Jeff saw his father Michael struggle. “My father could never make a living” as a writer, Jeff says. When Jeff grew up, he became a rare-coin dealer. Then, when his father Michael passed away in 1988, Jeff decided to give writing a try. In this interview, Jeff Shaara explains why he started writing, and how success unexpectedly came to him with the 1996 novel Gods and Generals. SHAARA IN CHATTANOOGA He will give an author talk at the Chattanooga library on June 5th at 6 p.m. The event is free, but anyone interested in attending should get tickets in advance. Also, a limited number of VIP tickets are being sold for $50 each. From the Friends of the Library Web site:Back in January and February, we surveyed you, our readers, to find out what Linux-based products, tools and services you prefer these days. More than 5,900 of you completed the survey, and your favorites are the worthy recipients of the 2008 Readers' Choice Awards. Although some results are predictable, many are certain to both interest and surprise you. In this year's competition, we designated only one winner per category, with strong contenders receiving honorable mention awards. For instance, in the categories where a cluster of formidable contenders followed the outright winner, we designated up to three honorable mentions. However, if one product clearly dominated a category (for example, OpenOffice.org with 85% in Favorite Office Program or Apache with 92% in Favorite Web Server), and the contenders were barely on the radar, there were no honorable mentions. The developers among you will want us to weigh in on how we dealt with languages. We created two categories: Favorite Programming Language and Favorite Scripting Language. See Technical Editor Michael Baxter's reasoning in the sidebar, as well as the category contents and winners. Please let us know what you think of our approach. And now, without further ado, we present the 2008 Linux Journal Readers' Choice Awards. Favorite Primary Linux Distribution of Choice Ubuntu (37.4%) Honorable Mentions Mandriva (13.9%) Fedora (11.1%) In the last LJ Readers' Choice awards, many readers were “shocked” and “flabbergasted” that the upstart Ubuntu handily took the crown for favorite distribution. This year, however, there is little surprise that Ubuntu has won again, garnering nearly triple the votes of its most able challenger, Mandriva—supposedly the forgotten distro? Clearly Ubuntu has morphed from the “little distro that could” to the “big distro that did”. How would the results differ if we asked for your favorite distribution for servers? Favorite Desktop Environment GNOME (45.7%) Honorable Mention KDE (42.5%) Clearly independent decision making is in ample supply in our community, because (despite Nick Petreley's anti-GNOME rants over the years) GNOME is your Favorite Desktop Environment. GNOME barely edged out its also-popular desktop rival, KDE. The result makes sense given that the GNOME-defaulting Ubuntu trounces all other distributions. However, the fact that GNOME won by just a few percentage points perhaps means that many of you use Ubuntu's sister distribution, the KDE-based Kubuntu? Favorite Web Browser Firefox (86%) Given our readers' extreme penchant for tinkering, it's no surprise that we love Firefox and its ever-growing treasure trove of extensions [see “Must-Have Firefox Extensions”, page 80]. Firefox wins Favorite Web Browser with 86% of your votes. But where, oh where, have the very capable Opera and Konqueror gone? Fewer than 5% of you named them your favorite browser. Honorable mention for most creative response in this category goes to “All I know is that IE7 is worse than dreadful.” Favorite E-mail Client Mozilla Thunderbird (44.9%) Honorable Mentions Gmail Web Client (19.7%) Evolution (13.4%) KMail (10.1%) Although Mozilla Thunderbird did not vanquish its opponents as decidedly as its sibling Firefox did in the browser category, it had more than twice the support of its nearest rival, the Gmail Web Client, to win Favorite E-Mail Client. We were a bit surprised to see that only about 7% of you are still using text-based e-mail clients, such as Alpine (formerly Pine) and Mutt. Favorite Office Program OpenOffice.org (85.1%) OpenOffice.org garnered a whopping 85% of the votes to win Favorite Office Program, while competitors AbiWord and KOffice squeaked in a barely perceptible 3% each. Nor did EIOffice, a program that has received much praise in our pages in the past, register more than a few votes. OpenOffice.org has become the de facto default office suite for Linux. Favorite Audio Tool Amarok (40.5%) Honorable Mentions XMMS (18.1%) Audacity (12.3%) Rhythmbox (11.9%) Perhaps the most feature-rich audio player on any platform, Amarok has won most of your hearts and minds for Favorite Audio Tool. Meanwhile, the applications XMMS, Audacity and Rhythmbox each have their loyal constituencies of a bit lesser but similar size, making each worthy of an honorable mention. Favorite Media Player MPlayer (34.6%) Honorable Mention VLC (27.4%) This close race in the Favorite Media Player category may be as much a testament to MPlayer's legacy to thankful Linux users everywhere as a vote for excellence. When playing nonfree media content was still a problem for Linux users, MPlayer was there, leveling the field and making sure we could play anything our Windows-using friends were playing and then some. VLC, a close second, is growing in popularity for its friendly interface and equally adroit ability to play pretty much any format you can throw at it. Favorite Communications Tool Pidgin (42%) Honorable Mentions Skype (17.8%) Kopete (12.8%) Pidgin, the messaging tool formerly known as Gaim, readily handled all of its competitors, garnering 42% of your votes. Pidgin users appreciate the ability to monitor all of their messaging accounts using one tool. Currently 15 protocols are available, including AIM, Google Talk, Novell GroupWise, ICQ, MySpaceIM, Yahoo and others. Despite Skype's popularity, it remains in Pigin's long shadow—maybe because its closed-source credentials tug at our consciences? Favorite Graphics/Design Tool The GIMP (76.4%) If anything qualifies as a legendary piece of Linux software, then The GIMP certainly has earned that mantle. Winning 76.4% of the votes, The GIMP wins for Favorite Graphics/Design Tool. As for the others? “Ouch!” is the collective cry from the other graphics applications, such as Inkscape, Scribus and Blender, each of which reached percentages only in the single digits. Notable for its absence is the increasingly impressive KDE graphics tool, Krita. Favorite Digital Photo Management Tool digiKam (24.9%) Honorable Mention Picasa (24.5%) digiKam, at 24.9%, edged out its image-organizer rival Picasa from Google by a mere 13 votes. Picasa's excellent functionality is powerful enough to make up for its deficits—its non-FOSS status and Wine-based emulation. Like its e-mail cousin Gmail, Picasa is an interesting choice given that it is not a Linux application, per se. Gmail exists only in Google's cloud, and Picasa is—gasp!—a Windows application. Favorite Text Editor vi (35.3%) Honorable Mention gedit (15%) Who would have thought that after all these years, the vi editor would rule the roost? It beat out every other editor, including Emacs and vim. Three years ago, it didn't even make the top three! Go figure. It is interesting to note that Emacs, KWrite and Kate all scored about evenly, clustering around the 10% mark. Favorite Linux Game Frozen Bubble (19.2%) Honorable Mentions Doom (12.3%) Tux Racer (11.7%) It is beginning to seem that no game will ever knock Frozen Bubble from its lofty perch as Favorite Linux Game. Not only does Frozen Bubble lure you in with its pure simplicity, but also those penguins are just too darn cute! Doom and Tux Racer, which won honorable mentions, are two more of your favorites. Favorite Virtualization Solution VMware (38.7%) Honorable Mention VirtualBox (20.4%) Given VMware's meteoric rise during the past few years, it's no surprise to see it win the gold for Favorite Virtualization Solution. More surprising is VirtualBox's showing, the application that a fellow publication called “The best virtualization program you've never heard of” in late 2007. VirtualBox's patron, innotek of Germany, was acquired by Sun Microsystems earlier this year, giving VirtualBox the marketing injection it needed to match its technical prowess. Wine and Xen fared decently in this category too. Favorite Backup System Simple Linux Backup (25.5%) Honorable Mentions Amanda (16.1%) Bacula (16.1%) In this year's competition, we differentiated between comprehensive applications, or systems, and specific utilities. Regarding the Favorite Backup System category, most of you prefer the no-frills, low-budget approach over corporate solutions—that is, the application Simple Linux Backup. The open-source applications—Amanda, with the Zmanda interface for server backup, and Bacula, for network-based backup—also got many of your votes. Backup also is the category in which the most readers roll their own script-based solutions. Favorite Backup Utility tar (35.4%) Honorable Mentions rsync (22.4%) k3b (15.1%) For Favorite Backup Utility, the perpetual winner is the workhorse tar, tallying 35.4% of the vote. Enough of you love rsync and the CD/DVD-authoring application k3b to warrant honorable mentions. Favorite Database MySQL (62.7%) MySQL is not only the world's most popular open-source database, it's your favorite as well. Although PostreSGL, SQLite, Firebird and others registered votes, the competition was not fierce. It doesn't hurt that MySQL runs on more than 20 different platforms. Favorite Programming Language C (26%) Honorable Mentions C++ (25.7%) Java (22.9%) 'Twas the battle of the Cs in the Favorite Programming Language category, with C taking first prize, C++ landing in second and Java in the third spot. Don't see your own wildly favorite language here? You wouldn't believe the number of “WTFs” we got when readers didn't find Python, Ruby or other languages here but rather in the scripting language category. Check out that category's results, as well as Michael Baxter's explanation in the sidebar for how we differentiated between programming and scripting languages. (No doubt we'll see you in the on-line comments section too!) Programming Languages and Scripting Languages We received a lot of feedback about our on-line survey of favorite languages. A particular point from this feedback has been why some languages were called scripting languages, and others not. A criterion was used to decide this, as will be explained. A plethora of issues was raised in the responses we received, so highlighting some of the issues will contextualize how the criteria emerged for this survey. One simple way of distinguishing computer programming languages is whether they are compiled or interpreted, which several Linux Journal readers pointed out. However, even that is an issue. Java is considered as a general-purpose programming language, but nominally the runtime environment is a Java Virtual Machine. This is very similar to a variety of scripting languages actually, including Emacs Lisp. However, Java also can be compiled to native machine code. So, for the interpreted versus compiled issue, one might ask, “What kind of compiled?” A scripting language could generally be a language that is hosted by another environment. In other words, it's “running on top of something”, whether that be a byte-code interpreter or, in the case of embedded application use, as an adjunct to another software application. One also might ask whether the breadth and representative power are obtained by libraries, or because of built-ins to the language? Scripting languages also can have object features and work at a higher level, or work more like a dynamic language, such as Lisp, which does manifest typing. AWK and Python or Perl are arguably scripting languages, but they are quite different in their utility. One might think of AWK as slightly easier to use than bash, with the particularly nice facet of associative arrays. But, Python or Perl (via strong libraries) are much more powerful, and they are glued to numerous layers in the complete FLOSS stack. So, the “grain size” of a scripting language tends to matter as to its utility. One of the scripting languages that was omitted in the original survey was Tcl, and this was a mistake. Tcl is very popular, especially in certain application domains, such as CAD tools, where it is a de facto scripting language. Similarly, upon further reflection, it might be argued that the general-purpose programming language BASIC that is most in use today is not really a later variant of Kemeney and Kurtz' 1964 original, but rather Visual BASIC, arguably a scripting language. However, that language generally does not run well on Linux, and efforts to bring this particular language to Linux have provoked some controversy. Based on comparative technical criteria, one could make the case that Java is a scripting language. Its runtime implementation is strikingly similar to Python, though there are clearly very divergent language syntax and semantics in both: Python is much less strongly typed. The problem is that Java users really don't use it as a scripting language, and its promoters don't promote it that way either. It's much more ubiquitous in any of its roles, such as middle-ware, for complete applications, or as a standalone embedded platform. So, a leading clue is that what defines a “scripting language” is not necessarily decided along strictly technical lines. Perhaps the motivating factor behind what determines whether a language is a scripting language or programming language is ultimately how a critical mass of users tend to use it. Other factors include how it's promoted, whether it's standardized, how the user community is responded to with emergent problems or technical issues, and how the primary maintainers allow the language to “evolve” where necessary. A really good way to see this is to compare the number of technical book titles on computer languages and associated libraries or environments in a modest bookstore. Finally, it was this “tendency of use” that was the primary litmus test to assert which language was selected as a programming language versus as a scripting language. Some respondents have rightly pointed out that this was relatively “arbitrary”, and that there were numerous dissonances along the axis of “compiled” versus “interpreted”. They are right. This arbitrariness is borne out, in fact, by the usage patterns seen; the mass of users themselves really have decided the use models. Practical and reasonable programmers, in fact, do disagree on such distinctions. Such divides cut across much more than compiled or not. A larger divide would appear to be strongly typed versus dynamic languages. Another would be functional versus imperative. One divide that seems to be waning is whether object-oriented is good; we generally seem to believe that it is. Despite this general consensus, C is not going away any time soon. C is viewed as the most portable high-level “assembly language” there is. I think a conundrum about languages is benign, and actually good news, because it reflects the diversity of choice and utility. If the absolute ultimate runtime performance is not relevant to a programming problem, modern scripting languages are a strong play. One can get more done with fewer lines of code, if compared with starting a program in the C language. Most are easier to learn and use than, say, C++. This may well be a legacy of highly evolved computer technology. If you believe that “premature optimization is the root of all evil”, perhaps using a “standard” programming language is one kind of premature optimization. A lot of careful thinking has gone into certain scripting languages, and very strong compilation software is available to host these languages. But, these advances in computer science also derive benefit from late-modern hardware technology. Machines today are so fast that it really is possible to use scripting languages as general-purpose programming languages for nearly any purpose on a wide variety of applications. —Michael Baxter, Technical Editor, Linux Journal Favorite Scripting Language Python (28.9%) Honorable Mentions PHP (21.7%) bash (19.8%) Perl (17%) It's no surprise that Python grabbed top honors in the Favorite Scripting Language category, and that PHP, bash and Perl all deserve honorable mention for their strong showings. Favorite Language Construction Tool Flex (18.1%) Honorable Mentions Bison (14.7%) javacc (12.8%) You know you're reading the right publication when a collective cheer rises up to celebrate the scanner-generator Flex winning a prize. Although Flex took top honors for Favorite Language Construction Tool with 18.1% of the votes, its yacc-compatible parser generator, Bison, tallied enough votes for an honorable mention (14.7%), as did the compiler-compiler for Java, javacc (12.8%). Although this category registered fewer votes than other categories, nearly 2,000 of you weighed in with your opinions. Favorite Security Tool SSH (29.5%) Honorable Mention iptables (19.4%) Just as it did in the last edition of this competition, the hyperversatile and hyperfavorite SSH wins this year in the Favorite Security Tool category with 29.5% of the votes. You also showed your love for the iptables tool for your packet-filtering tasks, which deserves an honorable mention for garnering 19.4% of the tally. Favorite Linux Software Development Tool Eclipse (29%) This year, Eclipse easily eclipsed all of its competitors to win Favorite Linux Software Development Tool. Although the rest of the votes were widely dispersed among many different tools—KDevelop, Emacs, GNU autoconf and NetBeans all registered significant vote counts. Favorite Package Management Application Apt (35.3%) Honorable Mentions RPM (16.5%) Yum (14.9%) Synaptic (11.6%) One of the main reasons so many of you love (K)Ubuntu so much is its sweet package management via Apt, this year's victor in the Favorite Package Management Application category. Apt won 35.3% of your votes. Many of you also cast your votes for the classic RPM (16.5%) and its useful friend Yum (14.9%). Meanwhile, a respectable number of you (11.6%) prefer the Synaptic front end on top of Apt to perform your package management tasks. Favorite System Administration Tool OpenSSH (52.7%) The depth of your love for OpenSSH is clear. Not only did you choose it for Favorite Security Tool (above), but you chose it as Favorite System Administration Tool as well. With 52.7% of your votes, it stands head and shoulders above its nearest competitors. Favorite Content Management System WordPress (23.8%) Honorable Mentions Drupal (21.4%) Joomla! (18.9%) Competition was tough for Favorite Content Management System, for you love your myriad options. Nevertheless, your favorite application in this category was the blog publisher WordPress (23.8%), which edged out the able Drupal (21.4%) and Joomla! (18.9%) to take the prize. It appears that the vast majority of you bloggers are gravitating toward WordPress, while the Webmasters are splitting into Drupal and Joomla! camps. Favorite Web Server Apache (90.9%) Rather than offer a Favorite Web Server category, we should just ask “Do you use the Apache Web server, yes or no?” and leave it at that. Apache wins with 90.9% of your votes. Favorite Linux-Friendly Web Hosting Company GoDaddy.com (14.7%) Honorable Mentions 1&1 (9.8%) DreamHost (9.4%) Rackspace (7.5%) Given the variety of hosting companies available today, it's no surprise that none of them dominated the voting for Favorite Linux-Friendly Web Hosting Company. Although the winner, GoDaddy.com, garnered a respectable 14.7%, the real winner was “Other” with a whopping 42.4%. Nevertheless, hats off to GoDaddy.com for its rapid rise in popularity—it was absent from our last awards. Favorite Network or Server Appliance Avocent Cyclades ACS Console Server (15.7%) Honorable Mention Guardian Digital Linux Lockbox (12.7%) As with hosting, the voting for Favorite Network or Server Appliance category was diffuse due to the rabbit-like proliferation of useful products in the marketplace. The top vote-getter at 15.7% was the Avocent Cyclades ACS Console Server, and following up with honorable mention (at 12.7%) was the Guardian Digital Linux Lockbox. Favorite Linux Handheld Device Nokia N800 (43.9%) Honorable Mention OpenMoko Neo (23.7%) In case you hadn't noticed, many of us Linux Journal editors adore the Nokia N800. The N800 won the 2007 awards for Ultimate Linux Handheld, and its predecessor, the N770, would have won the 2006 Editors' Choice Award for Best Mobile Device, only we were afraid we never talked about anything else. Well, clearly our readers dig it too, because 43.9% of you chose it as your favorite handheld. Keep your eye on the newer OpenMoko Neo 1973, which burst on the scene and grabbed 23.7% of the vote. Favorite Linux Laptop ASUS Eee PC (34.7%) Honorable Mention Lenovo T61p (20%) Is there any surprise that the ASUS Eee PC got 34.7% of the vote to win the Favorite Linux Laptop category handily? Finally, a company created a laptop with Linux in mind and didn't consider Linux as a second-rate afterthought. It also is nice to see that our readers appreciate Lenovo's better-late-than-never but admirable effort to pre-install its T61p with SLED. This helped the device win honorable mention. Hopefully, awards like this will encourage Lenovo and others to pre-install all of their laptops with Linux from the start. If you accumulate the various models from our Linux-specialist friends like LinuxCertified, EmperorLinux and R Cubed, they fared well as a group too. Who Makes Your Favorite Linux Desktop Workstation? Dell (30%) Honorable Mention Hewlett-Packard (12%) It wasn't surprising to see PC giant Dell win top choice in this category with 30% of the vote tally. Dell's product line has become more Linux-friendly over the years, which shows up clearly in your preferences. HP gets an Honorable Mention for its Linux offerings, and there were lots of write-ins for various verndors in this category, but they were too diverse to merit a third place award. And of course, many of you chose a home-brew solution as well. Who Makes Your Favorite Linux Server? Dell (21%) Honorable Mention IBM (14%) Hewlett-Packard (12%) The majority of voters in this category give their server business to the big vendors, such as Dell (winner of both Favorite Desktop Workstation and Server categories), IBM, HP and Sun. Many readers also like to purchase from the smaller mom-and-pop shops—with too many write-ins to list here. And, as with the Favorite Desktop Workstation category, many readers prefer to build their own servers. Favorite Green Linux Product or Solution VMware (42.6%) Honorable Mention PowerTOP (16.3%) Because virtualization is such a fabulous and popular way to improve the efficiency of your servers, VMware landed the top spot in the Favorite Green Linux Product or Solution category. The PowerTOP tool for finding energy wasters on your systems also is popular and won an honorable mention at 16.3%. Although many readers earnestly consider energy consumption and environmental impacts in their data-center strategy, we were surprised to see the high number of responses like “Hummer” and “I promote global warming”. We wonder with concern, “How much good science is necessary to convince us of the seriousness of our environmental challenges?” Favorite Linux Book (revised or released in or after January 2007) Linux System Administration by Tom Adelstein and Bill Lubanovic (O'Reilly) (16%) Honorable Mentions Linux System Programming by Robert Love (O'Reilly) (7.2%) Official Ubuntu Book by Benjamin Hill (Prentice Hall) (7%) Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux by Mark G. Sobell (Prentice Hall) (6.6%) There are so many great Linux books, how can one choose a favorite! Despite the amazing diversity, your clear winner for Favorite Linux Book is O'Reilly's Linux System Administration by Bill Lubanovic and LJ regular Tom Adelstein. Three other books clustered around the 6–7% mark, one from O'Reilly and two from Prentice Hall. Interestingly, several of you mentioned that you don't read “analog” printed books anymore, only digital materials. Linux Journal Column FavoriteColumn Cooking with Linux by Marcel Gagn� (26.9%) Honorable Mention Work the Shell by Dave Taylor (15%) Hack and / by Kyle Rankin (14.1%) Looks like Marcel Gagn� is going to have to be knocked off before anyone knocks him off the award stand for Favorite Linux Journal Column. Marcel's Cooking With Linux column, where Linux must be fun and one hand must remain free to fill the wineglass, has tickled and informed Linux Journal readers since its inception more than 100 issues ago. The ever-popular Dave Taylor also fared well (15%) for his Work the Shell column, and the upstart Hack and / from Kyle Rankin has become quite popular (14.1%) in its short life. Linux Product of the Year ASUS Eee PC (37.3%) Honorable Mention One Laptop Per Child (17.9%) We are pleased to present you with your very own Linux Journal Readers' Choice Product of the Year...drumroll please...the ASUS Eee PC! Once again, we congratulate ASUS for making a great Linux product from the ground up and not as an afterthought. The win is well deserved due to the pure excitement it has created in our community. And, it's created excitement here at LJ as well—see Jes Hall's review of the ASUS Eee PC at www.linuxjournal.com/article/9947, her “Hacking the Eee PC” at www.linuxjournal
In this conception of the shakuhachi, “bad” music—as represented by noisy, rough timbre—is “good” spiritual practice. In fact, musical purposes diminish the shakuhachi’s efficacy as a spiritual tool. “Unclean,” bad sounds are desired, and it is the very dirt in the shakuhachi’s timbre that ultimately, and paradoxically, purifies the player.31 Following Bataille, then, the sacred sound is the ugly, abject sound. Once breathed into existence, this abject sonic utterance is incorporated into the body, which is purified as a result. Kristeva identifies this sort of phenomenon as “purifying the abject,” arguing that it lies at the heart of “artistic experience, which is rooted in the abject it utters and by the same token purifies” (1982:17). This process nullifies the abject presence, since that which is pure—clean, incorporated, identified with the self—ceases to be radically other. Conversely, that which is musical and beautiful is rendered truly abject, as “music,” associated with all-too-human artifice, unnatural control, pretention, and “seductiveness,” offers no possibility for purification. But there are further complexities. This is not just an example of “purifying the abject”; it is also its inversion, an abject that purifies. It is ultimately at this level that the knotty duality of the shakuhachi (and the crux of this article) breaks open: to non-musically oriented players, the shakuhachi not only summons the abject in order to purify it, it embraces the abject as part of the totality of life, and this embrace is itself purifying. To Kristeva, the abject is “radically excluded and drives me toward the place where meaning collapses” (2). Similarly, through the opposition of binary forces in the shakuhachi, “meaning collapses” and the essential emptiness (sunyata) of reality is revealed. The abject sound is used to purify a false understanding of the duality of things. In this way, shakuhachi players treat the activity of blowing into a bamboo flute as a sonic koan: negation and ultimate unity are revealed when “meaning collapses” in the act of breaking apart.32 Unity is the result first of duality. References Bataille, Georges. 1985. “The Use Value of D. A. F. de Sade (An Open Letter to My Current Comrades).” Translated by Allan Stoekl, with Carl R. Lovitt and Donald M. Leslie, Jr., ed. and intro Allan Stoeklin. Visions of Excess: Selected Writings, 1927-1939. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Blasdel, Christopher Yohmei. 1984. “The Shakuhachi: Aesthetics of a Single Tone.” Japan Quarterly 31(2):214-217. ——— and Yuko Kamisango. 1988. The Shakuhachi: A Manual for Learning. Tokyo: Ongaku no tomo sha. Bolger, Deidre and Niall Griffith. 2005. “Multidimensional Timbre Analysis of Shakuhachi Honkyoku.” Proceedings of the Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology, 1-11. Douglas, Mary. 2002. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London and New York: Routledge Classics. Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Anchor. Gutzwiller, Andreas. 1974. “Shakuhachi: Aspects of History, Practice, and Teaching.” Ph.D. dissertation, Wesleyan University. ———. 2005. Die Shakuhachi der Kinko-Schule. Wilhelmshaven: Noetzel. ———. 1984. “The Shakuhachi of the Fuke-Sect: Instrument of Zen.” World of Music 26(3):53-65. ——— and Gerald Bennett. 1991. “The World of a Single Sound: Basic Structure of the Music of the Japanese Flute Shakuhachi.” Musica Asiatic 6:36-60. Hisamatsu, Fuyo. 2005. “Hitori Mondo” and “Kaisei Hougo.” Reprinted and German trans. in Andreas Gutzwiller, Die Shakuhachi der Kinko-Schule. Wilhelmshaven: Noetzel. Howard, Gregg. 1991. “Musico-Religious Implications of Some Buddhist Views of Sound and Music in the Surangama Sutra.” Musica Asiatica 6:95-102. Kakizakai, Kaoru. Conversations with the author. Los Angeles, CA, November 2010 to November 2011. Keister, Jay. 2004. “The Shakuhachi as Spiritual Tool: A Japanese Buddhist Instrument in the West.” Asian Music 35(2):99-131. Kikkawa, Eishi. 1965. “Nihon ongaku no rekishi 日本音楽の歴史 [The history of Japanese music]." Tokyo: Kuramoto sha. ———. 1948. “Nihon ongaku no seikaku 日本音楽の性格 [The character of Japanese music]." Tokyo: Wan'ya shoten. ———. 1984. Vom Charakter der japanischen Musik. Translated by Petra Rudolph. Basel: Bärenreiter Kassel. ———. 1984. “Nihon ongaku no biteki kenkyuu 日本音楽の美的研究 [Research in the aesthetics of Japanese music]." Tokyo: Ongaku no tomo sha. ———. 1987. “The Musical Sense of the Japanese.” Contemporary Music Review 1(2): 85-94. Kristeva, Julia. 1982. Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. Translated by Leon S. Raudiez. New York: Columbia University Press. Lee, Riley. 1993. “Yearning for the Bell: A Study of Transmission in the Shakuhachi Honkyoku Tradition.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Hawai‘i. Malm, William. 2001. Traditional Japanese Music and Musical Instruments. Tokyo: Kodansha International. Matsunobu, Koji. 2009. “Artful Encounters with Nature: Ecological and Spiritual Dimensions of Music Learning.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana. Miller, Susan. 2004. Disgust: The Gatekeeper Emotion. Hillsdale, NJ: Routledge. Nussbaum, Martha. 2004. Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Samuelson, Ralph. 1994. “Shakuhachi and the American Composer.” Contemporary Music Review 8(2):83-93. Sanford, James. 1977. “Shakuhachi Zen: The Fukeshu and Komuso.” Monumenta Nipponica 32(4):411-440. Schultz, Bill Shozan. Conversations with the author. Los Angeles, CA, September 2010 to July 2012. Stagg, Richard. 2002. Shakuhachi: The Japanese Bamboo Flute. Arc/CD. Takemitsu, Toru. 1995. Confronting Silence: Selected Writings, trans. Yoshiko Kakudo and Glenn Glasgow. Berkeley, CA: Fallen Leaf Press. ———. 2004. “On Sawari.” In Locating East Asia in Western Art Music, edited by Yayoi Uno Everett and Frederick Lau. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press. ———. 1994. “One Sound.” Contemporary Music Review 8(2):3-4. Tsukitani, Tsuneko, Toru Seyama, Satoshi Shimura, and Riley Lee. 1994. “The Shakuhachi: The Instrument and its Music, Change, and Diversification.” Contemporary Music Review 8(2):103-129. Watazumi, Doso. 1981. Lecture and workshop (fall). Creative Music Studio, Woodstock, NY ———. 1974. Yuri Sashi. Columbia/CD. Weisgarber, Eliott. 1968. “The Honkyoku of the Kinko-Ryu: Some Principles of Its Organization.” Ethnomusicology 12(3):313-344.Preface: The war between liberals and conservatives is a false divide-and-conquer dog-and-pony show created by the powers that be to keep the American people divided and distracted. See this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this. So before assuming that privatization is a good thing, read on. If these resources had always been in the private sector, that would be fine … that would be free market capitalism. But if they were purchased on the people’s dime with our taxpayer funds and then sold to the big boys for cheap, that’s not capitalism … that’s looting. Greece is thinking of selling some islands. Austria is thinking of selling mountains to pay off their national debt. Cities throughout the U.S. are thinking of privatizing their parking meters. What’s going on? Well, as I predicted in December 2008, bailing out the giant, insolvent banks would cause a global debt crisis: The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is often called the “central banks’ central bank”, as it coordinates transactions between central banks. BIS points out in a new report that the bank rescue packages have transferred significant risks onto government balance sheets, which is reflected in the corresponding widening of sovereign credit default swaps: The scope and magnitude of the bank rescue packages also meant that significant risks had been transferred onto government balance sheets. This was particularly apparent in the market for CDS referencing sovereigns involved either in large individual bank rescues or in broad-based support packages for the financial sector, including the United States. While such CDS were thinly traded prior to the announced rescue packages, spreads widened suddenly on increased demand for credit protection, while corresponding financial sector spreads tightened. In other words, by assuming huge portions of the risk from banks trading in toxic derivatives, and by spending trillions that they don’t have, central banks have put their countries at risk from default. Top independent experts say that the biggest banks are insolvent (see this, for example), as they have been many times before. And a study of 124 banking crises by the International Monetary Fund found that propping banks which are only pretending to be solvent hurts the economy: Existing empirical research has shown that providing assistance to banks and their borrowers can be counterproductive, resulting in increased losses to banks, which often abuse forbearance to take unproductive risks at government expense. The typical result of forbearance is a deeper hole in the net worth of banks, crippling tax burdens to finance bank bailouts, and even more severe credit supply contraction and economic decline than would have occurred in the absence of forbearance. Cross-country analysis to date also shows that accommodative policy measures (such as substantial liquidity support, explicit government guarantee on financial institutions’ liabilities and forbearance from prudential regulations) tend to be fiscally costly and that these particular policies do not necessarily accelerate the speed of economic recovery. *** All too often, central banks privilege stability over cost in the heat of the containment phase: if so, they may too liberally extend loans to an illiquid bank which is almost certain to prove insolvent anyway. Also, closure of a nonviable bank is often delayed for too long, even when there are clear signs of insolvency (Lindgren, 2003). Since bank closures face many obstacles, there is a tendency to rely instead on blanket government guarantees which, if the government’s fiscal and political position makes them credible, can work albeit at the cost of placing the burden on the budget, typically squeezing future provision of needed public services. By failing to break up the giant banks, governments are forced to take counter-productive emergency measures (see this and this) to try to cover up their insolvency. Those measures drain the life blood out of the real economy … destroying national economies. Selling the Farm to Pay for Debt Incurred to Make the Rich Richer Matt Stoller notes: Privatization takes inherently governmental functions — everything from national defense to mass transit and roads — and turns them over to the control of private actors, whose goal is to extract maximum revenue while costing as little as possible. *** It isn’t true, as a general rule, that privatization shrinks the public sector. When investor demand for high returns is combined with the natural monopolies of public assets, what often results instead is citizens finding themselves saddled with high fees and poor service. Even more perniciously, selling infrastructure such as toll roads puts the coercive power of the state in the hands of private actors. We have great public assets built by prior generations. We should and could be building a better country for our children, rather than liquidating what we have. *** Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) pointed out the truth of the Obama administration’s stimulus program: “Larry Summers hates infrastructure. And some of these other economists — they don’t like infrastructure. … They want to have a consumer-driven recovery.” Both domestic manufacturing and taxation are opposed by the current corporate and political elites. Take the liberal establishment economist Alan Blinder, who horrified former Intel chief Andy Grove when he celebrated as “success” the fact that America today cannot make televisions. Or Michael Boskin, an economic adviser to President Reagan, saying potato chips, microchips, what’s the difference? The real infrastructure trend in America today is privatizing what is left. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica has been holding hearings on privatizating Amtrak’s Northeast corridor — ostensibly because private capital can more easily bring in high-speed rail. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback just turned over arts funding to the private sector, making Kansas the only state without a publicly funded arts agency. Cities across California, meanwhile, are trying to outsource nearly all municipal functions. Chicago famously sold its parking meter revenue to a consortium headed by Morgan Stanley. The Arizona Legislature sold and then leased back its state capitol. Are these good deals? History would say no. The granddaddies of privatization were Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the housing giants whose public role was supporting the secondary mortgage markets. These companies were “private” in the sense that they operated without public accountability. But eventually, their losses ended up on the public’s balance sheet. Most privatization deals of core public assets have the same essential structure as Fannie and Freddie. Listen to a Goldman Sachs managing director, John Ma, who expressed his reservations about the privatization of Amtrak’s Northeast corridor. “Structuring these public-private transactions are always a delicate balancing act,” Ma explained, “of what risks the public sector will retain and what risks you’ll try to transfer to the private sector.” Privatization doesn’t actually make something private; it simply divides risks between public and private entities. In fact, the real allure of privatization is that it offers what looks like a free lunch. The public receives revenue, but privatization keeps the costs hidden by deferring them to the future. Political actors get to close deficits without raising taxes on wealthy interests. And the political muscle is provided by the people who ultimately benefit from the deal — the same way that Countrywide, Fannie Mae and allied private bankers brutalized their political critics in the name of homeownership. *** For Democrats, the benefits are more subtle. Privatization allows them to paper over the party schism between liberals and neoliberals by spending money for social aims through what is, essentially, an off-balance-sheet channel. Does this sound like Greece? Creating off-balance-sheet shenanigans to hide debt and try to kick the can down the road, and then having to sell off public assets and impose austerity to try to climb out of the sinkhole of debt? There’s a reason for that. Shock Doctrine As I explained in 2008: Well-known Austrian economist Friedrich von Hayek wrote: “Emergencies” have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have eroded. [Obama’s former chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel famously said: Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you couldn’t do before. Naomi Klein documented in the Shock Doctrine that the Neoliberals and Chicago school followers advocated a kind of “disaster capitalism”. Specifically, whenever a natural, economic, war-related, or other disaster strikes, these folks pounce and use the opportunity to quickly impose a brand of economic policy which benefits the elite at the cost of everyone else (by increasing unemployment, pushing the cost of essential goods through the roof, and otherwise increasing poverty), while people are still in shock and before they can react. Publishers Weekly’s review of the Shock Doctrine puts it this way: The neo-liberal economic policies—privatization, free trade, slashed social spending—that the Chicago School and the economist Milton Friedman have foisted on the world are catastrophic in two senses, argues this vigorous polemic. Because their results are disastrous—depressions, mass poverty, private corporations looting public wealth, by the author’s accounting—their means must be cataclysmic, dependent on political upheavals and natural disasters as coercive pretexts for free-market reforms the public would normally reject. Amazon’s review of Klein’s book states: “At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq” civil war, a new law is unveiled that will allow Shell and BP to claim the country’s vast oil reserves… Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly outsources the running of the ‘War on Terror’ to Halliburton and Blackwater… After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts… New Orleans residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be re-opened.” Klein not only kicks butt, she names names, notably economist Milton Friedman and his radical Chicago School of the 1950s and 60s which she notes “produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today.” And Pulitzer prize winning journalist David Cay Johnston provided an interesting example of disaster capitalism, noting that 2 days after 9/11, Congress was thinking about how to help the ultra-wealthy: [Johnston]: Both parties are doing this. They’re doing it because they’re listening to a narrow group of very well to do people who do not want to pay taxes, who do not want to share in the expenses of the country that has made them rich. And they want you to pay their taxes. Those are the people who get access. Every politician will say you to, you can’t buy my vote. Generally, that’s true. The problem is that you and I don’t have the real access, and the proof that Congress is thinking about the super rich came two days after 9/11. The House Republican leadership introduced ten bills to address 9/11. One of them was a tax bill. What did it do? It gave estate tax relief, which did nothing for the firefighters and police officers and army sergeants at their desk and nurses and the busboy at the World Trade Center. All of those people that were killed. A tiny handful of people, but that’s what Congress thought these people needed, was estate tax relief even though 99% wouldn’t pay estate taxes. [Interviewer:] It’s slipping it in as a very opportune time. [Johnston]: That was just for this group of people. That was just for this group of people, but it’s indicative of what Congress is thinking about, what’s on the minds of Congress are not the concerns of ordinary Americans who want to educate their children, you know, who want to engage in enjoying life. Their concerns are about the super rich and within the super rich, those who are very anti-tax. As I noted last year, this is a game which both liberals and conservatives play: Whether that agenda is labelled “conservative” or “liberal”, it is almost certain to benefit the powers-that-be, rather than the average American. Some inside the halls of power have tried to warn of this risk: Senator Leahy and the New York Times are questioning Paulson’s use of shock and awe: Senator Leahy said “If we learned anything from 9/11, the biggest mistake is to pass anything they ask for just because it’s an emergency” The New York Times wrote: “The rescue is being sold as a must-have emergency measure by an administration with a controversial record when it comes to asking Congress for special authority in time of duress.”*** Mr. Paulson has argued that the powers he seeks are necessary to chase away the wolf howling at the door: a potentially swift shredding of the American financial system. That would be catastrophic for everyone, he argues, not only banks, but also ordinary Americans who depend on their finances to buy homes and cars, and to pay for college. Some are suspicious of Mr. Paulson’s characterizations, finding in his warnings and demands for extraordinary powers a parallel with the way the Bush administration gained authority for the war in Iraq. Then, the White House suggested that mushroom clouds could accompany Congress’s failure to act. This time, it is financial Armageddon supposedly on the doorstep. “This is scare tactics to try to do something that’s in the private but not the public interest,” said Allan Meltzer, a former economic adviser to President Reagan, and an expert on monetary policy at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business. “It’s terrible.” But the first world is still being turned into the third world: When the International Monetary Fund or World Bank offer to lend money to a struggling third-world country (or “emerging market”), they demand “austerity measures“. As Wikipedia describes it: In economics, austerity is when a national government reduces its spending in order to pay back creditors. Austerity is usually required when a government’s fiscal deficit spending is felt to be unsustainable. Development projects, welfare programs and other social spending are common areas of spending for cuts. In many countries, austerity measures have been associated with short-term standard of living declines until economic conditions improved once fiscal balance was achieved (such as in the United Kingdom under Margaret Thatcher, Canada under Jean Chrétien, and Spain under González). Private banks, or institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), may require that a country pursues an ‘austerity policy’ if it wants to re-finance loans that are about to come due. The government may be asked to stop issuing subsidies or to otherwise reduce public spending. When the IMF requires such a policy, the terms are known as ‘IMF conditionalities’. Wikipedia goes on to point out: Austerity programs are frequently controversial, as they impact the poorest segments of the population and often lead to a wider separation between the rich and poor. In many situations, austerity programs are imposed on countries that were previously under dictatorial regimes, leading to criticism that populations are forced to repay the debts of their oppressors. What Does This Have to Do With the First World? Since the IMF and World Bank lend to third world countries, you may reasonably assume that this has nothing to do with “first world” countries like the US and UK. But England’s economy is in dire straight, and rumors have abounded that the UK might have to rely on a loan from the IMF. And as former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker said : People seem to think the [American] government has money. The government doesn’t have any money. Indeed, the IMF has already performed a complete audit of the whole US financial system, something which they have only previously done to broke third world nations. Al Martin – former contributor to the Presidential Council of Economic Advisors and retired naval intelligence officer – observed in an April 2005 newsletter that the ratio of total U.S. debt to gross domestic product (GDP) rose from 78 percent in 2000 to 308 percent in April 2005. The International Monetary Fund considers a nation-state with a total debt-to-GDP ratio of 200 percent or more to be a “de-constructed Third World nation-state.” Martin explained: What “de-constructed” actually means is that a political regime in that country, or series of political regimes, have, through a long period of fraud, abuse, graft, corruption and mismanagement, effectively collapsed the economy of that country. What Does It Mean? Some have asked questions like, “Is the goal to force the US into the same kinds of IMF austerity programs that have caused riots in so many other nations?” Some predicted years ago that the “international bankers” would bring down the American economy. I used to think, frankly, that such kinds of talk were crazy-talk. I’m not so sure anymore. Catherine Austin Fitts – former managing director of a Wall Street investment bank and Assistant Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President George Bush Sr. – calls what is happening to the economy “a criminal leveraged buyout of America,” something she defines as “buying a country for cheap with its own money and then jacking up the rents and fees to steal the rest.” She also calls it the “American Tapeworm” model, explaining: [T]he American Tapeworm model is to simply finance the federal deficit through warfare, currency exports, Treasury and federal credit borrowing and cutbacks in domestic “discretionary” spending …. This will then place local municipalities and local leadership in a highly vulnerable position – one that will allow them to be persuaded with bogus but high-minded sounding arguments to further cut resources. Then, to “preserve bond ratings and the rights of creditors,” our leaders can he persuaded to sell our water, natural resources and infrastructure assets at significant discounts of their true value to global investors …. This will be described as a plan to “save America” by recapitalizing it on a sound financial footing. In fact, this process will simply shift more capital continuously from America to other continents and from the lower and middle classes to elites. Writer Mike Whitney wrote in CounterPunch in April 2005: [T]he towering [U.S.] national debt coupled with the staggering trade deficits have put the nation on a precipice and a seismic shift in the fortunes of middle-class Americans is looking more likely all the time… The country has been intentionally plundered and will eventually wind up in the hands of its creditors This same Ponzi scheme has been carried out repeatedly by the IMF and World Bank throughout the world Bankruptcy is a fairly straightforward way of delivering valuable public assets and resources to collaborative industries, and of annihilating national sovereignty. After a nation is successfully driven to destitution, public policy decisions are made by creditors and not by representatives of the people …. The catastrophe that middle class Americans face is what these elites breezily refer to as “shock therapy”; a sudden jolt, followed by fundamental changes to the system. In the near future we can expect tax reform, fiscal discipline, deregulation, free capital flows, lowered tariffs, reduced public services, and privatization. And given that experts on third world banana republics from the IMF and the Federal Reserve have said the U.S. has become a third world banana republic (and see this and this), maybe the process of turning first world into the third world is already complete. The Raping of America Dylan Ratigan writes: In Chicago, it’s the sale of parking meters to the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi. In Indiana, it’s the sale of the northern toll road to a Spanish and Australian joint venture. In Wisconsin it’s public health and food programs, in California it’s libraries. It’s water treatment plants, schools, toll roads, airports, and power plants. It’s Amtrak. There are revolving doors of corrupt politicians, big banks, and rating agencies. There are conflicts of interest. It’s bipartisan. And it’s coming to a city near you — it may already be there. We’re talking about the sale of public assets to private investors… In an era of increasingly stretched local and state budgets, privatization of public assets may be so tempting to local politicians that the trend seems unstoppable. Yet, public outrage has stopped and slowed a number of initiatives. *** On Wall Street, setting up and running “Infrastructure Funds” is big business, with over $140 billion run by such banks as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Australian infrastructure specialist Macquarie. Goldman’s 2010 SEC filing should give you some sense of the scope of the campaign. Goldman says it will be involved with “ownership and operation of public services, such as airports, toll roads and shipping ports, as well as power generation facilities, physical commodities and other commodities infrastructure components, both within and outside the United States.” While the bank sees increased opportunity in “distressed assets” (ie. Cities and states gone broke because of the financial crisis), the bank also recognizes “reputational concerns with the manner in which these assets are being operated or held.” The funds themselves are clear when communicating with investors about why they are good investments — a public asset is usually a monopoly. Says Quadrant Real Estate Advisors: “Most assets are monopolistic in nature and have limited competitors, creating the opportunity for stable, long-term investment returns. Investment choices include economic assets and social assets.” Quadrant notes that the market size is between $12-20 trillion, roughly the size of the American mortgage market. “Given the market and potential return opportunities, institutional investors should consider infrastructure a strategic investment allocation.” As with mortgage securitizations, the conflicts of interest are intense. Pennsylvania nearly privatized its turnpike, with Morgan Stanley on multiple sides of the deal as both an advisor to the state and a potential bidder. As you’ll see, these deals are often profitable because they constrain the public’s ability to govern, not because they are creating value. For instance, private infrastructure company Transurban, now attempting to privatize a section of the Beltway around DC, is ready to walk away if local governments insist on an environmental review of the project. Many of them have clauses enshrining their monopolistic positions, preventing states and localities from changing zoning, parking, or transportation options. While the trend is worldwide, privatization of public infrastructure only came to America en masse in the 2000s. It is worth discussing, because where it has happened it has sparked deep and intense anger. *** The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the influential think tank that targets conservative state and local officials, has launched an initiative called “Publicopoly”, a play on the board game Monopoly. “Select your game square”, says the webpage, and ALEC will help you privatize one of seven sectors: government operations, education, transportation and infrastructure, public safety, environment, health, or telecommunications. *** The Obama administration has been encouraging Chinese sovereign wealth funds to invest in American infrastructure as a way to bring in foreign capital. It was Chicago Mayor and Democratic icon Richard Daley who privatized Chicago’s Midway Airport, Chicago’s Skyway road, and Chicago’s Parking Meters. Out of office after 22 years, he is now a paid advisor to the law firm that negotiated the parking meter sale. Ratings agencies are also in the game, rating up municipalities willing to privatize assets, or even developing potential new profit centers around the trend (see the chapter titled “Significant Debt issuance Expected with the Privatization of Military Housing” from this September 2007 Moody’s report). Where To? The strikes and riots in Greece, Spain, England and elsewhere are one reaction to the raping of their countries by creditors and politicians. Others talk about taking the power to create debt away from the giant banks. But the banks (and the politicians which they own) – are obviously against that idea. Max Keiser believes that Americans will simply stop making their mortgage payments en masse, an idea which many have discussed (and see this). Will people stand up and demand that the bondholders and other creditors take haircuts? Or will we all be scalped of our national assets, our pension funds, our money … and our freedom? Remember, more and more national security and police services are being outsourced to the private sector, and such military, intelligence and police powers are being used to protect big business. And see this.Furnace designs Tools and materials Foundry (foun'dre) n., pl. -dries. 1.A location where metal is melted. 2. The complete setup of equipment to melt and cast metal, esp. for a backyard hobbyist. Iron casting and waste oil fuel The Machines E-mail responses I appreciate the e-mails I receive from visitors to this website. I read all of them (unless I mistake the e-mail title as junkmail or "spam") but I only respond to about 30% of them. It's usually nothing personal against the sender, I just sometimes don't feel like answering all those e-mails! So for questions I have put together this Frequently Asked Questions page. Hopefully it'll answer your question(s) with no need to e-mail them to me. Also the metalcasting message board is a "happening spot" and good for getting answers to questions. Propane & Mapp® gas fuel General Molding and Casting Like this site? Please tell a friend! Your Name: Your E-mail: Your Friend's E-mail: Your Comments: Receive copy: "Must see" guest pages! Check out Bruce Metzger's homemade horizontal milling machine! of Gingery design! Tim Williams' carbon arc welder built from a microwave oven transformer! Check out ALL the guest pages! Other stuff Stuff for SALE! Cast (Kast) v. cast, cast·ing 1.To form by pouring into a mold. 2. An impression formed in a mold. Metalworking galleries The galleries are no longer limited to foundry stuff! View pictures of other metalworker's projects. You can get yours included. Frequently Asked Questions Get the answers to some of the questions I often receive in e-mails. Hopefully it'll save all of us some time. New questions and answers are added as needed. Links to other websites Links to other metalcasting and general metalworking and suppliers websites. Furnace building kit Build your own foundry furnace the easy way with one of these kits! When complete you'll have a furnace to be proud of! Metalworking bookstore Valuable metalworking books from Amazon.com! Please support the Lab and buy some (we're broke around here!). Booklets Short "how-to" booklets published by BackyardMetalcasting.com. They get you going quickly! Have you seen metalcasting in a movie or TV show? This place is about melting metal at home!Daily Photo Aging Project - 20+ YEARS Worth ( photo-a-day ): This is the first aging video I created. It's entitled "Time of my Life". It was created about 4 years ago and encompasses approximately 16 years. It's a low resolution, non-dejittered, highly compressed version: You can also download a copy of "Time of my Life" if you click here. It's almost 20MB and so don't attempt this unless you have a hi-speed connection. Alternate Vision/Version: General Description: The following images are of the apparatus that I'm using to create a stop-motion animation of myself getting older. Every day I position myself in the center of this ring and take two simultaneous photos (180 degrees apart). The ring is marked off for the 365 days of the year and a pair of crosshairs (mounted on a sliding wooden fixture) are incremented along the circumference of the ring to line up with these markings. I use the crosshairs to position my head as nearly as possible in the center of the ring. So far, I've accumulated almost 21 years worth of photos (the project was started on June 1st of 1991). An early photo of the ring when I used to live in Chatsworth (LA). Normally the ring hangs from the ceiling but this is similar to what I do when I travel. The ring viewed from the top. Close up of the Spring section. Close up of the Fall section. Partially dismantled. Completely dismantled. All 8 of the ring segments Just prior to packing. All packed up. Packed and ready to go. The ring is designed as follows: The foundation of the design is 2 wooden rings, each 4 feet in diameter, 4 inches wide and 1/2 inch high. Each of these rings is cut into 4 pieces. The rings themselves symbolize the year and the 4 pieces symbolize the 4 seasons. Each of the 2 rings lie on top of each other and are bolted together. They are rotated relative to each other by 1/8. This rotation causes the 4 seasons of the lower ring to overlap the 4 seasons of the upper ring. Because of this I have determined that there are really eight seasons: lower-seasons(Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) & upper-seasons(Allwin, Tersp, Ringsum, Merfa). The upper seasons overlap the lower-seasons and are formed by taking the appropriate syllables. For example, Tersp is the end of WinTER and the beginning of SPring. Breaking the ring (year) up into 8 overlapping pieces allows me to pack it up and take it with me when I travel. It also makes the ring very stable when bolted together. I have 2 cameras mounted to the ring opposite each other. When one camera is looking at the front of my face the other camera is looking at the back of my head The ring is marked off with 365 tic marks which represent the days of the year. The tic marks cause me to look directly at one of the cameras at the Spring and Fall Equinoxes and sideways to the cameras at the Winter and Summer Solstices. View of my head from the 2 cameras at the Summer Solstice. View of my head from the 2 cameras at the Spring Equinox. FAQ: Why did you decide to use a ring? The ring made sense once I decided I wanted my head to rotate in sync with the Earth's orbit. I thought it would give a better sense of the aging process. The ability to view my expanding bald spot from behind, the sagging jowls and neck from the side, etc... It also seemed like a good way to visually indicate the passage of time - of the seasons and years. Synchronizing with the solstices and equinoxes was also appealing to me. Finally, I was also attracted to the symbolic and poetic nature of the ring and of circles in general. Stonehenge, the circle/cycle of life, ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds (that are themselves symbols of passing time). The ouroboros (the snake which devours itself) is in the shape of a ring and alludes to nature devouring itself to sustain itself. There are children's songs: "Ring around the
. It's not the night Cristian Anguiano and his friends had in mind when they stopped for a bite to eat after a night out “This couple comes in and accidentally bumps into the girl,” he explained. “I don't know if they knew each other or not. They started exchanging words with each other.” After that, Anguiano says the argument quickly escalated. “Like 0 to 100 really fast,” he said. “One thing back to back to back.” The video shows men throwing punches, women pulling hair and someone starts throwing chairs. By the time firefighters arrived five minutes later, the restaurant was nearly cleared out. Tables were left overturned and salsa left all over the floor. Anguiano is the guy seen in the gray t-shirt in the middle of it all in the video. He says he was trying to pull people apart but ended up getting involved. “I get close and try to pull her away again. And that's when he pushes me,” he explained. “That's when they started trying to hit her. So that's when I started going off on the dude.” Soon after that, restaurant furniture and fixtures went flying. Rojas is still amazed at how quickly his video of the fight reached millions of hits. “This is just one of those things I decided to share and it just spread like wildfire,” he said.”I was just like whoa, that was crazy.” Anguiano says the fight is not something he's proud of. “If I could go back in time, I'd wish I didn't go there that night,” he said. “I'm completely sorry about what happened at the restaurant. I really don't know what to say. I'm just sorry.” Anguiano says he had a busted lip, some scratches, bumps and bruises. However, no one was seriously injured. Dallas police say since no one involved in the fight wanted to file assault charges, no arrests will be made. Police weren’t able to file any disorderly conduct charges since officers didn’t arrive until after the fight was over. The restaurant owner did not want to comment on camera, but said it was most likely just drunken stupidity.The Disney community has been buzzing the last 24 hours since the Disneyland Resort again raised prices. This happens pretty much every year in recent memory and really should have come as no surprise. Over the past 24 hours I have been talking to people both that have a range of opinions on the matter. After all these conversations, I thought I should share mine. Normally on DAPs Magic News we generally do avoid opinion pieces but this seems like an appropriate time to set that rule aside. I hope you will keep an open mind as you read this and then share your thoughts below. Quality or Quantity? I have been an annual passholder for nearly two decades now. Through those years I have seen a lot happen and experienced many magical moments. One of my favorite memories is the “good old days” of walking around Disneyland on a Sunday night when the park was quiet and nearly empty. There was something special about those nights, extra magical if you will. Wait times were never a consideration when choosing to go on an attraction. In fact, the only things you really had to wait for was Fantasmic! or perhaps the fireworks. Cast Members always had a few extra minutes to invest in guests without feeling rushed to get the next person through the line. The line for coffee was never long before the 96 mile drive home. As the years have gone by, Disneyland has become increasingly popular. The Disneyland Annual Passport has also become more popular. This has made for busier days with more people visiting Disneyland. I’m sure this is good for the bottom line at some level because it does lead to more food sales, more souvenir sales, more tour sales, more parking sales… you get the idea. However, as the demand of more people and the need for more services weighs down on both facilities of the Disneyland Resort and its Cast Members, quality can end up suffering. As more people pour through the gates, lines get longer for everything, wait times increase for everything, and the wear and tear on Disneyland and Disney California Adventure gets worse. Quite often the Cast Members also suffer from this wear and tear. To sum it all up: quality suffers. The question in my mind then becomes, would I rather have a more affordable experience that suffers in quality or pay more for an experience that is unmatched in quality? The answer for me is a no brainer, I want the quality. Quality is something Walt Disney hoped would continue on after he was gone. It was something that Walt Disney always stood by and fought for. But quality costs money. Quality costs resources. Quality also takes a dedication to doing what is right and not always what is the most popular. I would like to believe that by raising prices and capping how many annual passes are sold (potentially at any level), this will help the Disneyland Resort combat the issues I mentioned and maintain a gold standard of quality. Supply and Demand Clearly raising the price hasn’t done enough to cap how many people visit the Disneyland Resort. Anyone who visits regularly can easily recognize that there are a lot of people still visiting. The demand to visit Disneyland continues to exceed the supply. In my mind, putting a cap on the amount of annual passes being sold becomes the next logical (albeit undesirable) step and a compromise that is far more desirable than the alternative. The alternative to capping how many annual passes are sold is to continue to raise the prices until it really does discourage enough people from coming and attendance is controlled. This would clearly price out a lot of families and is not what is wanted. I would venture a guess that a much steeper price increase would still sell annual passes but also discourage many families from visiting. By capping how many annual passes are sold, Disney is able to slow down the rate of price increase and still allow families to visit the Disneyland Resort. As long as there is a value to what is being paid for, people will continue to visit the Disneyland Resort. Walt Disney always wanted Disneyland to be a place where families could go together. I believe that this is an effort to preserve Walt Disney’s dream for Disneyland. Yes, it will be more difficult for families but hopefully it won’t be impossible.With the territory of the Islamic State cut by a third and Kurdish militias launching an offensive into its proclaimed capital of Raqqa, the group appears to be preparing its followers for a new, drawn-out phase of warfare. In a rare recorded audio message released May 21, IS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani conceded that the group has lost territory to the US-backed international coalition and its allies, and vowed that IS will still strike the West even if it is “driven into the desert.” He called on IS supporters across the world to carry out attacks during the month of Ramadan, which starts in early June. “We will make this month, inshallah, a month of calamities for the infidels everywhere,” said Mr. Adnani, also known as Taha Subhi Falaha. “This call specifically goes out to the supporters of the Islamic Caliphate in Europe and America.” The announcement signals a shift away from the traditional military campaign that enabled IS to rapidly capture large swaths of territory across Syria and Iraq and establish the so-called “Islamic Caliphate,” a jihadist’s utopia where its ultra-extremist interpretation of Islam is enforced in all aspects of life. IS, which is also known as ISIS, has long based its legitimacy – and supremacy over other jihadist groups such as Al Qaeda – on its ability to capture and administer territories in Iraq and Syria. That was the major draw for an estimated 25,000 recruits who came from Arab Gulf states, European capitals, and the United States. Analysts and counterterrorism experts say Adnani’s message came as a rhetorical “insurance policy” should it soon be ousted from its strongholds, and suggests that the group is preparing followers to wage a long-term insurgency. “What the speech is trying to do is set the stage so if they do face that setback, they are able to adapt and keep their followers,” says J.M. Berger, a fellow at the George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, and coauthor of a book on IS. “We are not talking about ISIS going away, we are talking about a major tool of ISIS going away. What we have yet to see is what shape its new approach will take.” Treasury of $2 billion In his weekend message, al-Adnani gave an air of invincibility, referring to the ability of IS’s predecessor, Al Qaeda in Iraq, to recover from near devastation in 2008 and take over the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in dramatic fashion six years later. “Would we be defeated and you be victorious if you were to take Mosul or Sirte or Raqqa, or even take all the cities that were controlled by us and we were to return to our original condition? Certainly not!” Adnani said in the 32-minute speech, published by Al Furqan, IS’s media arm. The group offered a preview of the new havoc it can wreak even without its strongholds on Monday, unleashing a series of explosions in Tartus and Jableh on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, killing 120. What made the attacks impressive was not only the scale, but the location – in coastal cities fiercely loyal to the Assad regime, which is fighting IS. Counterterrorism experts are still befuddled about how IS could plant one of its operatives – let alone fully equipped sleeper cells – hundreds of miles away from its territory and in the heart of one of the most heavily-fortified regime havens. The group in Syria retains 20,000 fighters and a treasury of more than $2 billion, which observers say can fund “several years” of insurgent attacks. “In Syria, ISIS literally has tons of weapons and explosives, and are likely now to shift their strategy from military campaigns to coordinated car-bombings and suicide bombings,” says Patrick Skinner, counterterrorism expert at Soufan Group intelligence firm and former CIA case officer. “They still have members and weapons and they will shift from harder targets to, sadly, civilian targets anywhere in Syria and Iraq.” New challenge for US-backed coalition Unlike other terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda, IS has been unique in that it did have an "address" – a known headquarters, which Western military forces could target. But should IS choose to go underground, forgoing its geographical base and melding into the local population, experts say the US and its coalition will need to make a dramatic shift in strategy in their two-year war. Until now, the coalition has relied almost solely on air power, carrying out 9,500 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since August 2014 to weaken ISIS, decreasing its territory by 35 percent, according to the Pentagon. In such a traditional military campaign, with air superiority, “it will be a long, expensive fight, but you will win,” says Mr. Skinner. “But when it is a counter-terrorism fight, you need forces on the ground. You can’t win in the air.” When looking to the next phase of the coalition’s war on ISIS, analysts and military experts point to the campaign against Al Qaeda in Iraq in 2007 and 2008, when government and tribal forces, bolstered by a US military surge, drove the group from its strongholds in western Iraq. Yet Syria today is far from what Iraq was then. There is no effective local government for US-backed forces to partner with, while a multitude of factions and foreign armies make a unified ground force almost impossible to assemble. “In Syria, you spend half the time making sure your allies don’t fight each other instead of the enemy,” says a Western military official in Amman, Jordan, who is close to the coalition. Tensions have already reportedly arisen in northern Syria. Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) militias, one of Washington’s main allies in the ground-war against IS, have repeatedly clashed with Arab rebel groups affiliated to the FSA, many of whom are vetted and also backed by the US. Then there is the question of US commitment. As of April, some 300 US special forces had been dispatched to Syria. If it were to root out IS after the group goes underground, analysts say Washington would have to bring in “thousands.” The situation in Iraq today is no more conducive to waging a counter-terrorism campaign. While the US relied heavily on Sunni tribes and their “awakening councils” in 2008, the Iraqi government is now leaning heavily on sectarian Shiite militias, outsiders to Sunni Iraq, who cause resentment among Sunni civilians and reinforce IS’s portrayal of a greater sectarian war. IS likely to adapt Analysts say IS will rely on a “hybrid model,” using insurgency tactics such as suicide bombings with a standing militia ready to seize territory should the opportunity arise. Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy “The group has adapted throughout its history, and has never truly gone away – always waiting to benefit from the social, political, and economic failures in Iraq and Syria,” says Hassan Hassan, a Syrian fellow at the Washington-based Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy and coauthor of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror." In his assessment, the group could come back stronger if the region doesn’t stabilize. “Politically and economically Iraq and Syria are only getting worse; new tensions and new divisions are emerging that will, once again, allow ISIS to rise again. It knows this.”Released today is the latest in our monthly series of Torchwood adventures... Torchwood - The Dollhouse moves the base of operations to America for this brand new release out today, with a script by Juno Dawson, directed by Lisa Bowerman, and starring Laila Pyne, Kelly-Anne Lyons, and Ajjaz Awad. 1970s Los Angeles – the city of angels and broken dreams. Three remarkable women keep the West Coast safe from alien attacks – they are Torchwood Los Angeles. So many young girls come to this city hoping for something better. For some, luck is just around the corner. For others that golden ticket never arrives and they just fade away. But it’s not that simple. Everyone has a value to someone, and Torchwood are about to discover Hollywood’s darkest secret: Torchwood - The Dollhouse is available for £7.99 on Download and £9.99 on CD, with any CD purchase unlocking a digital version as an exclusive to your Big Finish account. This latest run of six single-disc stories, from last month through to August, can be Subscribed to for just £45 on Download or £50 on CD - the same prices for the past collected bundles of Torchwood stories 1-6 and 7-12. In next month''s story, events move back to Cardiff as PC Andy Davison (Tom Price) teams up with Dr Owen Harper (Burn Gorman): an undead Torchwood operative who is able to put the actual corpse into Corpse Day...10 May 2017 The month started interestingly for Huawei fans after a TENAA listing leaked the nova 2. Now a poster about the official launch of the device appeared, confirming that the new nova will arrive on May 26, just eight months after the initial Huawei nova launch. The new device might appear in Plus version as well since the poster says “Huawei nova 2 series.” The key slogan on the poster translates roughly to “That’s one small step for self-shooter, one giant leap for the value of the device.” It hints to a 20 MP selfie camera in the Huawei nova 2 and two 12 MP snappers on the back, according to inside info. Sources also suggest the screen of the nova 2 will be 5.2” while the nova 2 Plus will have slightly bigger 5.5” screen. The chipset might be Snapdragon 660 with 4 GB RAM. The phone is powered by a 3,000 mAh power cell that will support 18W fast charging. Source (in Chinese) | Via (in Romanian)Hellmuth von Mücke (1881-1957), first officer of SMS Emden and commander of the landing party at Cocos on November 9. Over the next seven months, he led the fifty-three men of the landing party successfully back to Europe, losing only four men in the process. After the war, he became an early member of and politician for the Nazi Party, but became a pacifist in the late 1920s and disavowed the Nazis, an action which precluded him from serving in any capacity in the next war. January 9, Hodeida [Al Hudaydah]—Two months before, the SMS Emden had been destroyed at the Battle of Cocos; most of her men had captured by the Australians or killed in the battle. However, the fifty-three men the Emden landed on Cocos Island to destroy the wireless station there earlier that morning had escaped capture aboard the schooner Ayesha, and had since been attempting to make their way back to friendly territory. This was no easy task; with the Emden gone, there was no German naval presence in the whole Indian Ocean (apart from the Königsberg holed up in the Rufiji delta). The British and their allies controlled the Indian Ocean and the vast majority of its ports; the only friendly ports in the ocean were those in German East Africa (which was itself isolated) or in Turkish-controlled Arabia (which would require passing through the British-controlled Straits of Aden). There were a few neutral ports scattered around the ocean—Portuguese ports in Africa (and Goa) and Dutch ports in Indonesia. The Ayesha made for the latter, arriving at the Dutch port of Padang in Sumatra. The Ayesha was in no condition to sail across the ocean again, but their captain, von Mücke (formerly first officer of the Emden), was unwilling to risk internment, and set off the next day. While in Padang, von Mücke had arranged for a German merchant ship, the Choising, which had been sheltering in Padang, to meet the Ayesha off the coast of Sumatra. There, the Emden survivors transferred off the leaky Ayesha and the Choising began its cruise across the unfriendly Indian Ocean. The Choising disguised herself as an Italian merchant vessel in an attempt to avoid the British, but it was unlikely the ruse would stand up under close inspection. On January 8, the Choising had reached the Straits of Aden and the entrance to the Red Sea. Sailing through at night, they managed to avoid nearby British ships, and von Mücke’s men had disembarked in the Turkish port of Hodeida [Al Hudaydah, in modern-day Yemen] by January 9. There, von Mücke met with the commander of the Turkish 40th Division in an effort to determine the best way back to Germany. He received little help from the Turks, and after several weeks of delays, von Mücke decided to march his men to Sana’a, the major city in Yemen. Sources include Randal Gray, Chronicle of the First World War (Volume I).Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner is set for a month on the sidelines with an ankle injury. The Denmark international, 25, came off the substitutes' bench to score the opener in the Gunners' 2-0 win over Cardiff on New Year's Day, but sprained his ankle in the process. Media playback is not supported on this device Arsenal 2-0 Cardiff: Arsene Wenger rues striker shortage He missed Saturday's 2-0 FA Cup third-round win at home to Tottenham. Top scorer Olivier Giroud also missed the clash with an ankle problem, while Theo Walcott went off injured. With the transfer window now open, manager Arsene Wenger admitted earlier this week his side's injuries "show we are short". However, he declined to be drawn on whether he would be targeting a striker in this month's transfer window. Bendtner scored in last month's 2-0 win over Hull in his first Premier League start for Arsenal since 5 March, 2011. His last Premier League goal for the Gunners before that was against Wigan on 29 December, 2010.It’s been about five months since we launched Nexus, and in true Riot form, we’re Still In Beta. Since there’s no Ask Riot this week (most of the folks who typically answer Ask Riot stuff are off at GDC), now seemed like a good time for a brief update on what we’re up to and where we’re headed. So. Let’s just dive into it, yeah? BETA STATUS We stuck the beta tag on Nexus at launch to indicate what you were seeing then wasn’t the final version of what we intended to make. Most of the work done since then was on building the backend (at launch, Nexus posts were hard-coded—now we actually have a CMS), but we’ve also shipped a number of small quality-of-life updates. Stuff like: Category filtering! Ask Riot moved to Nexus! Any-region commenting (SHOULD BE WORKING I HOPE) Over the next few weeks, we’ll be implementing the last few features, ending with what we lovingly refer to as “Nexus 2.0.” Here’s what to expect: Full Ask Riot integration (including the Ask page) A complete Ask Riot archive with every question ever asked Search! On a League of Legends website! RSS feed Some small stuff, like a progress bar on articles and minor visual changes These new elements will go live whenever they’re ready—it’s not a one-giant-update kind of thing. Once they’re all up and running, we’ll remove the beta tag (take that, Mac client!). LOCALIZATION One of the biggest bummers about the current iteration of Nexus is that it’s English-only. While the content still follows the normal localization pipeline at Riot and ends up published globally, only English-speaking regions have the full Nexus experience. We knew starting with English would be the fastest way to get going and test content, but it has always been our intention to bring Nexus to every region. Once 2.0’s features are live and functioning (which I expect/hope will be before the end of March), we’ll focus all of our efforts into getting Nexus localized and live in other regions. I’m not sure how long this will take, but it’s going to be the editorial team’s #1 priority. I do have to apologize here—we had intended this to begin much sooner but ran into some technical hurdles with the backend that slowed us down quite a bit. Hopefully we’ll be able to do the regional versions right and fast now that we’ve learned how to do it wrong and slow. IN CLOSING That’s pretty much the gist. We’ll keep you posted as things change or don’t change, and Ask Riot will return to its regular Thursday time slot next week. Thanks for hanging out, and thanks for reading/watching/asking/commenting. And please, if there’s any type of content you’d like to see on Nexus, let us know. We can’t do this without you.Farmed turkeys endure 'the worst suffering' says animal rights campaigner Updated Animal rights campaigners claim factory-farmed turkeys endure some of the worst suffering of any farmed animals, but the industry rejects the allegations. Up to four million turkeys are killed annually in Australia, many for Christmas festivities. Tasmanian animal rights campaigner and the operator of Brightside Animal Sanctuary, Emma Haswell, wants consumers to think about where their Christmas meal is coming from. "[In factory farms] it's just unbelievable," she said. "There's no room to move, the frustration in the birds mean they fight, so they cut their toes off." The Australasian Turkey Federation has rejected those claims. The federation's vice president, John Watson, said in a statement if such treatment was commonplace the industry would not be viable. Ms Haswell has adopted 12 former factory-farm turkeys at her sanctuary in the Huon Valley. "They'd never been outside, [they were] just kept in a shed with a stocking rate of six turkeys per square metre and they would have been for the dinner plate," she claimed. "[There are] very, very high ammonia levels in the sheds, it's just appalling," she added. Ms Haswell's sanctuary provides visits for school children in an effort to connect them with animals they may usually only see as meat. "The thing is we all connect with a dog or a cat because we see them everyday and they're part of our family but because we don't get to meet animals like these turkeys we don't stop to think that they interact with people in exactly the same way as a dog or a cat if they are given the opportunity," she said. The vast bulk of turkeys consumed in Australia will be produced by industry giants Inghams and Steggles. With some turkey meat being sold for as little as $5 a kilo, the industry believes most consumers are not willing to pay much higher prices expected for free range birds. However, Hobart butcher Marcus Vermey has seen a change in customer demand. He says he is ordering more free-range birds every year. "People want to know where its from, how its grown, they don't want it injected with any different sort of chemicals and things like that" he said. Topics: livestock-welfare, animal-welfare, activism-and-lobbying, human-interest, tas First postedBBC Copyright: BBC The question: Graeme emails to ask: Now that the EU referendum vote has been declared to leave EU, is it not possible for the government to have a second referendum vote just the same as SNP wants to have another referendum for independence. The answer: It is unlikely that there would be a second in-out referendum, not least because there is little evidence it would have a different result. In a post-referendum poll by ComRes, 92% of leave voters said they were happy with the outcome, while 4% of remain voters were happy (and, overall, 7% were indifferent). Also, MPs (with a handful of exceptions) have been rushing to say that the result of the vote must be respected. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has suggested there may be a second referendum on the terms of an eventual deal to the leave the EU, although that is not required by current legislation. You can read the full Reality Check here.India, the largest democracy on the planet, is highly regarded as vibrant, safeguarded by the most credible institutions like the Election Commission, an independent judiciary and the media. Media in fact is supposed to be the most important watchdog of democracy and its freedom the biggest critical indicator of the quality of a democracy. The role of the media in playing its vital role has, however, been coming in for sharp criticism lately, thanks to its own irresponsible conduct. In the latest report of World Press Freedom Index 2017, India is ranked at 136 out of 180 nations, slipping from the 105th position back in 2010. There has been continuous slide ever since. Ironically, according to the report, even countries like Palestine, Afghanistan and Uganda have more freedom than India. Even the Freedom House Index 2017 classifies the Indian Press as ‘partly free’ which is a matter of shame. Media’s own lack of integrity, strong arm of the government and the vigilantism of a section of the public have all contributed to this dismal situation. The India Freedom Report 2016-17 (the hoot.org) has observed that in the period of 16 months under report, 54 attacks and 25 serious threats to journalists in India were reported. This low rating, along with issues like corruption, mass illiteracy and poor status of women etc have caused India to be consistently listed among ‘Flawed Democracies’ in the Global Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit published annually. Paid News In recent years, corruption within the Indian media has gone far beyond the corruption of individual journalists and specific media organisations. From ‘planting’ information and views in lieu of favours received in cash or kind, to more institutionalised and organised forms of corruption, wherein newspapers and television channels receive funds for publishing or broadcasting information in favour of particular individuals, corporate entities, film producers and actors, you have it all. Although the media was used in the past to manipulate stock and the real estate markets, the phenomenon of ‘paid news’ acquired a new and more pernicious dimension by entering the sphere of political ‘news’ or ‘reporting’ on candidates contesting elections over the last few years. The malpractice of paid news has become widespread and now cuts across newspapers and television channels, small and large, in different languages and located in various parts of the country. Alarmingly, these illegal operations have become ‘organised’ and involve advertising agencies and public relations firms, besides journalists, managers and owners of media companies. So-called ‘rate cards’ or ‘packages’ that include ‘rates’ for publishing ‘news’ items in a predetermined manner, not merely praising particular candidates but also criticise their political opponents, are distributed. Candidates who do not go along with such ‘extortionist’ practices are blacked out, if not tarnished brutally. Given the illegal and clandestine nature of malpractices, it is not easy to find clinching evidence in the area of political ‘paid news’ that pins responsibility for such corrupt practices on particular persons and organisations. All we have is circumstantial evidence that points towards the growing use of the media for publishing ‘paid news’. A sub-committee appointed by the Press Council of India, comprising K. Sreenivas Reddy and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, documented instances of identical articles with photographs and headlines appearing in competing publications carrying bylines of different authors around the same time. You could even find articles praising competing candidates, claiming that both are likely to win the same elections, both on the same page of a newspaper, since both had bought the package! Another modus operandi is that advertisement tariff is ‘officially’ slashed to suit a candidate’s expenditure ceiling, but the actual rates are in fact increased, with the difference being paid in cash. Besides, last-minute poll surveys are sometimes organised predicting the victory of whichever candidate pays more than the others. Over and above this, expensive poll packages are offered by some media organisations to promote a particular candidate and black-out others. The Press Council defined ‘paid news’ as ‘any news or analysis appearing in any media (print and electronic) for a price in cash or kind as consideration.’ Paid news not only seeks to circumvent election laws relating to ceilings on expenditure that can be incurred by a candidate, but such advertising, masquerading as news, has the potential to exercise undue influence on voters and adversely affect their right to factually correct information. There has been widespread condemnation of this phenomenon within and outside Parliament. Appointing ombudsmen in media organisations and better self regulation are ways to check the ‘paid news’ phenomenon. However, self-regulation, though ideal, could just be wishful thinking and could at best offer partial solutions to the problem, since there will always be offenders who will refuse to abide by voluntary codes of conduct and ethical norms that are not legally mandated. The owners of media companies need to realise that in the long term such malpractices undermine not just the credibility of the media but imperil democracy itself. Two of India’s renowned journalists, (the late) Prabhash Joshi and Kuldeep Nayar were the first crusaders against ‘paid news’. P Sainath of the Hindu took it as a mission to expose the malaise. Mrinal Pande even resigned the editorship of a national daily when she was confronted with the ugly reality of bypassing the editorial department and the introduction of ‘lethal and invisible viruses within the system that may corrode and finally kill the newspaper.’ Election Commission and Media The Election Commission has always accepted the media as its ally. With its wide reach in every nook and corner of the country, the media is more vigilant and often quicker in noticing and highlighting malpractices resorted to by candidates and political parties in their political campaigns. Quite often, it is through the media that the Commission observes or becomes aware of violations of the Model Code of Conduct or other corrupt or illegal practices being indulged in by certain candidates and their supporters and workers. In all such cases the Commission promptly directs urgent remedial action. That apart, the Commission heavily depends on the media’s power to inform and educate all stakeholders about its directions and instructions as well as its programmes, election schedules and awareness campaigns. It is because of the media that the Commission effectively implements the Model Code of Conduct, as it is the fear of adverse publicity that makes political parties and candidates wary of violations of the Code. Public censure through the media is the sanction behind the Model Code of Conduct. The Commission decided that a Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) in each district would keep an eye on all the advertisements and news published about candidates during the election process. They are tasked to report any suspected paid news published during this period to the returning officer and expenditure observer. Based on these reports, notices are given to candidates for not showing expenses on such advertisements or paid news. In 2013 there were 396 confirmed cases of paid news during Elections. However, in 2014 General Elections, these went up to 1009 and it seems to be reflecting upon the democracy index. The Umlesh Yadav case The most famous paid news case surfaced in 2007 before the Press Council of India (PCI) against two major dailies, Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala, for publishing paid news on 17 April 2007, that is, on the eve of UP Vidhan sabha elections, with a view to furthering the prospects of Umlesh Yadav, a BSP candidate. The Council held the respondent newspapers Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran guilty of ethical violations and, adopting the observations of the Inquiry Committee, it cautioned the media to refrain from publishing news masquerading as advertisements and vice versa. For action against the candidate, it referred the case to the Election Commission of India. The Election Commission found Ms Yadav guilty and, in for the first time ever, disqualified her for a period of three years for failure to submit correct accounts in the manner prescribed, under Section 10A of The Representation of the People Act, 1951. Her appeal in the High Court was dismissed. The case is now in the Supreme Court. It’s a pity that media which was always considered the fourth pillar of democracy is now becoming the fifth column of democracy! This is an urgent wake up call. The author is a former Chief Election Commissioner of India and the author of An Undocumented Wonder - The Making of the Great Indian Election[tweetmeme]One of the most common traits I’ve noticed in writers is that they tend to treat themselves like crap. While lots of us pay lip-service to the importance of living the life of the bacchanal or of embodying duende, most of the writers I know seem to lead somewhat stale, anemic lives that do not involve quaffing large amounts of claret or reading snatches of Byron or Baudelaire at awkward, inappropriate moments (1). Nor do we follow our hearts and spend a year writing in the wilds of Provence or on the beaches of the Algarve. No, most writers I know wind up on the outskirts of some big, dirty city of industry teaching the children of privilege at three different institutions—none of which can afford to give health insurance (2). And we rent apartments that we furnish sparsely with flea market finds, Swedish particleboard bookcases, and piles of dreadful student essays whose only interesting gesture is the inadvertent transposition of “public” into “pubic” more than 25 times in the same paper. And our regular, nightly companion? A screechy cat on antidepressants hell-bent on giving itself a Brazilian (3). Sound familiar? So what’s wrong with this picture? Well... apart from absolutely everything... what is most wrong with this picture is the critical assumption that often flows forth from the mind of the writer who has ensconced herself in such unpleasant surroundings: the assumption that she has writer’s block and cannot, therefore, write. You see, as any normative member of the human race—that is, someone outside an English department or the poverty-stricken world of “the humanities”—would immediately recognize, Shakespeare himself would not be able to write in that demoralizing, debilitating situation. And yet somehow, those of us who grew up loving books and leather-bound journals more than our pet guinea pigs still willingly keep placing ourselves back in that anhydrous situation only to discover that, when it comes time to write, the well is dry and we don’t feel like writing. Quelle fucking surprise! So what’s a writer, newly awakened to the horror of her own situation, to do? How does she prime the pump? Here’s my koan-like answer: she takes better care of herself and lets it happen naturally. Right. Horseshit! No, really, it makes more sense than you realize. Do a little gedanken with me... Think of everything you do and experience in your life as a kind of “food” that your mind uses to write. The more palatable and higher the quality of food you ingest—both literally and metaphorically—the better your writing is and the less depleted your system feels. The mantra known to both the nutritional and computational sciences seems screamingly obvious here: garbage in means garbage out. So, the reverse must be true, right? My contention is this: as writers, we need to be well-fed and fattened up with interesting calories that we can burn; otherwise, we just end up leaching out all of our own calcium when we give our little writing baby the tit. And, if we do nothing but grade sub-par, semi-literate student essays in a drab apartment seven days a week, we’ve really done nothing more than empty the larder and punish ourselves with a constipatory diet of rice cakes and peanut butter. (4) If you want to write, you need to take decent care of your system and vary that insipid diet. You need to live somewhere you find pleasant and inspiring. And you need to have some fun that involves cool shit, mind-stretching events, and honest-to-god enjoyment. Some Tips on How to “Eat Well” as a Writer: 1. Don’t feel bad about being good to yourself. This can be applied to something simple like getting a massage, going to sleep at a reasonable hour each night, or fucking a gorgeous younger man in your department. As a writer, you need to make sure you feed yourself in an inversely proportionate manner to the amount of crap you’ve had to take in during your “day job.” So, if you’ve just graded the latest set of drafts in a batch of 60, make sure to set the balance right and fuck him all night long. 2. Read other writers for pleasure—not for comparison. Don’t pay attention to the reviews—those can be bought. Skip over that annoying glam shot of the author that just makes her look pissed,
a little too wide, particularly when in landscape, so you can choose other aspect ratios if you want. Tap the settings gear, then the "3.7M" button to select picture size — if you want something more traditional choose 2.8MP 4:3, or if you want to go straight to Instagram try 2.1MP 1:1. Use the volume keys and heart rate sensor to take photos When you're holding a phone as big as the Note 4 to take a picture, it isn't always the most convenient to reach and hit the shutter key on the screen. Samsung has turned on two more methods for taking pictures on by default, though, letting you press either volume key or put your finger on the heart rate sensor to capture photos. You can press either volume up or down to instantly capture a shot, or press and then remove your finger on the heart rate sensor to do the same. (Pro tip: You can also use the heart rate sensor to capture pictures with the rear camera.) Save as flipped When you take a picture with the front-facing camera it's going to save the picture that the camera sees, but what you see on the display is actually flipped, like a mirror. If you would prefer that the camera save the exact shot that you see on the display before you press the shutter key (or volume key), you can turn that on. Head into the camera settings and tap "save as flipped" to turn it on. Wide selfieThrough the first three weeks of the NFL season, the Bengals are off to a poor 1-2 start. Their most recent loss came on Sunday to the Denver Broncos in the Bengals’ first home game of the season. For the most part, the Bengals put up a strong effort through most of the game. At times, it looked like the Bengals not only had a good chance to win, but were actually going to. But, a fourth quarter collapse led to the Bengals losing by 12, a score that doesn’t really do the game justice for being as close as it was. Despite the loss, there were a handful of players who impressed in Sunday’s game. The Bengals will need more consistent performances like these if they want to bounce back and fight for a playoff spot going forward. But, these players still deserve credit for receiving the team’s top grades from Pro Football Focus. The Bengals’ offense was led by Andy Dalton (84.9), Andrew Whitworth (82.2), Kevin Zeitler (77.1), Russell Bodine (76.7), and A.J. Green (75.1). Things looked a bit better on defense, a unit led by Vincent Rey (87.3), Shawn Williams (85.0), Karlos Dansby (84.6), Geno Atkins (82.0), and Carlos Dunlap (82.0). Williams’ grade comes despite a key dropped interception that really could have turned the tide of the game. Offense Although the offense ultimately was unable to come up with a strong enough showing to get the job done late in the game, certain aspects of the Bengals offense looked pretty good on Sunday. In particular, Dalton looked good in just about every aspect. He threw one bad interception, but otherwise had an 82.1 adjusted completion percentage. When plays broke down, he took a very heads-up approach, running the ball six times for 40 yards. Unfortunately, Bengals receivers struggled against the Broncos’ tight coverage. The Bengals saw poor grades given to their top two receivers behind Green, Brandon LaFell (48.1) and Tyler Boyd (51.0). Interestingly, Dalton’s impressive performance came despite being pressured on 11 dropbacks and recording a QB rating of 2.8 on those plays. He did make up for it on the other 28 drop backs, recording a QB rating of 97.1. Those pressures were mostly a result of new right tackle Cedric Ogbuehi continuing to get up to speed at his new position. For reference, Whitworth only allowed a single sack on the left side, but Ogbuehi allowed a sack in addition to six quarterback hurries. That sack was Whitworth’s first allowed of the season. He has only allowed three pressures in 133 snaps this season and has recorded the fourth best pass blocking efficiency in the NFL so far (98.1). Ogbuehi (35.6) has been playing better than Andre Smith, who he replaced this offseason. But, that’s not really saying much, as Smith is currently the 69th ranked tackle in the NFL. Ogbuehi is currently ranked 58th. Defense Carlos Dunlap finally recorded his first sack of the season, after recording the fourth most in the NFL last year (13.5). He also recorded a QB hit and two QB hurries for an impressive overall grade (84.6). Unfortunately, his counterpart, Michael Johnson, did not have nearly as good of a game. His overall grade (40.2) was a result of only recording a single QB hurry in 50 snaps. Dunlap was ranked the fifth best defensive end in the NFL this week, but Johnson was ranked 73rd. Despite the struggles of one starting defensive end, the Bengals got a decent game out of backup Margus Hunt. He was unable to record a QB pressure in 28 passing snaps. But, he earned a very good grade against the run (84.2) and blocked an extra point on his way to an impressive overall grade (78.5). That grade ranks 21st among defensive ends in the NFL this week. Bengals fans are excited to get Vontaze Burfict back this week from suspension. But, the Bengals’ starting linebackers performed great in coverage without him. Rey Maualuga (81.5), Karlos Dansby (82.6), and Vincent Rey (85.2) all recorded very good grades when defending the pass. Chris Lewis-Harris‘s limited time on the field displayed a lapse in his ability to play coverage. He allowed a 55 yard touchdown reception by Demaryius Thomas on his only target of the game, resulting in an extremely poor overall grade (39.9). In the defensive backfield, Shawn Williams recorded a very good grade this week (84.9) despite dropping a key interception. For the most part, he was lights out in coverage. Interestingly, PFF felt George Iloka was unable to play up to Williams’ level, receiving only the 65th highest overall grade among safeties in the NFL this week (44.9).Opponents of a state law that lets utilities charge customers in advance for construction of new nuclear plants plan to rally for repeal of the measure at Duke Energy's headquarters in downtown St. Petersburg at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The campaign, Rally for Florida Ratepayer Refund, has sparked interest from almost 100 supporters on Facebook. They say they will attend because they oppose Duke's use of the law for $1.5 billion in spending for the Levy County nuclear plant project it canceled last month. Rep. Dwight Dudley, D-St. Petersburg, who was elected last year largely campaigning to repeal the law, will join with Greenpeace for Saturday's protest. During the last legislative session, state lawmakers tweaked the advance fee in response to coverage in the Tampa Bay Times. The newspaper has reported how the law was costing Duke customers hundreds of millions of dollars even though it was unlikely the Levy nuclear plant would ever get built. But legislators stopped short of repealing it. Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel-Vasilinda has filed a bill for the 2014 session for another attempt to repeal the law.This week's launch of India's spacecraft to Mars should not come as a surprise. Five years ago, the country sent a mission to the Moon. And going ahead, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has bolder aims. In 2015, it plans to send a probe to Venus and then another to the Sun. A reusable launch vehicle is already in the works, something that NASA is letting SpaceX develop. These achievements, however, haven't stopped detractors from asking why India is doing this when a third of its people live below the international poverty line. The simple answer is because it makes economic sense, as technological and social development go hand in hand. This reasoning has been embraced throughout the developing world. Investment from poor countries has helped double global government spending on space programs in the last decade. It was $73 billion in 2012 but only $35 billion in 2000, according to a report by the space market consultancy Euroconsult. In that time, NASA's budget fell from $18.7 billion to $17.7 billion. Countries like Bangladesh, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are leading the charge. More than 70 countries now have space programs of some sort. India's success in space has proven to these countries that modest investments can provide big gains. The Mars Orbiter Mission, for instance, cost only $73 million. NASA's next mission, which will not do a lot more, is going to cost $671 million. This mission may be part of India's competition with China, but its real implications are broader. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle used to put Mangalayaan (Hindi for Mars vehicle) into orbit has a success rate of 95 percent in its 23 launches. The ISRO also has a private arm called Antrix corporation, which has launched French satellites. In 2012, Antrix helped an Indian private space company called Earth2Orbit use the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to put a Japanese satellite in orbit. With the world's eyes on the nation's frugal space technology, India is attracting investors beyond France and Japan. ISRO was founded in 1969. In the last 44 years, it has achieved remarkable feats on a shoe-string budget. India has its own satellites for communication, weather data, agricultural data, and military applications. ISRO's R&D has not just helped India remain a technologically advanced country, it has also saved lives. In 1999, a fierce cyclone hit India's east coast, killing more than 10,000 people. Earlier this year, an even more powerful cyclone hit the same region but caused only a handful deaths. One of the main reasons for this contrast is that India's improved weather-monitoring systems provided accurate early warnings. India's space ambitions are also indirectly responsible for other benefits. Bangalore, where ISRO is based, is the heart of India's high-tech industry. Before housing the likes of Infosys, Google, and IBM, it had been home to the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. If a Zambian nun were to ask ISRO's chief "Why explore space?" (just as one asked a NASA scientist in 1970), it seems that coming up with an explanation will be easier. ISRO's success means it can justify its spending without needing to invoke Carl Sagan's big-picture quotes. Of course, India cannot afford to ignore its poor. In September, despite fiscal difficulties, India signed the Food Security Bill which will provide food for about 800 million Indians at the cost of $20 billion (about 1 percent of India's GDP). In contrast, Mangalayaan cost only 0.4 percent of the bill's annual budget. Mangalayaan has already run into a glitch, and chance is not in its favor. More than half of the 40 missions to Mars have failed. But even if it does not reach Mars, it has already achieved one of its main goals. It has forced the world to pay attention to India's success in space. Updated to reflect that the $35 billion spent on space programs was in 2000, not 2010.A longtime Donald Trump confidant said Friday he is unfazed by calls for a federal investigation into allegations he’s colluding with WikiLeaks and Russian intelligence to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s campaign. In an interview with POLITICO, Roger Stone said the FBI hasn’t contacted him to discuss his relationship with WikiLeaks and a series of anti-Clinton public statements that Democrats interpret as evidence he was well aware of the hacking into campaign chairman John Podesta’s Gmail account. Story Continued Below “I have not” heard from the FBI, Stone said. “But I’d be happy to cooperate if they decided to call me.” Stone, a longtime GOP operative and one of the youngest members of Richard Nixon’s infamous 1972 reelection bid, has taken on an outsized role in the murky world of the WikiLeaks documents thanks to his personal boasts of having regular contact with the group’s founder, Julian Assange, through “mutual friends.” Several months ago, Stone predicted an October surprise that would disrupt Clinton’s campaign and his recent Twitter posts suggested Podesta would soon be facing scandal, including an August update stating, “Trust me, it will soon the Podesta’s time in the barrel. #CrookedHillary” Speaking to reporters earlier this week on Clinton’s airplane, Podesta confirmed he’d spoken to the FBI on Sunday as it probed the criminal hack into his email and he leveled a charge that Stone had “advance knowledge” of the document leaks. Stone’s comments, combined with a swirl of additional controversies surrounding the role of other former Trump advisers with ties to Russia have prompted several Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, to request a wider federal investigation into some of the people who have been in the GOP nominee’s orbit. On Friday, the top Democrats on four House committees repeated a request for the FBI to investigate the connections between Trump's presidential campaign and the alleged Russian hacks of Democratic organizations and figures, citing new comments from Stone. "Troubling new evidence appears to show that the Trump campaign not only was aware of cyberattacks against Secretary Clinton’s campaign chairman, but was openly bragging about it as far back as August," wrote the congressmen, Reps. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, John Conyers of Michigan, Eliot Engel of New York and Bennie Thompson of Mississippi. Also Friday, former Acting CIA Director Mike Morell said during a conference call organized by the Clinton campaign that several of the GOP nominee’s former staffers “may be in this more deeply and may have relationships with Russia, perhaps financial relationships or other relationships and they’re working on behalf of the Russians to get this material out and spread this around.” “I don’t want to go overboard and say we know for sure, but I’m deeply concerned about it. It requires a full investigation and it requires the American people to know the truth here before Election Day,” Morell said. On the call, Morell specifically named Stone, former campaign manager Paul Manafort and Carter Page, an investment banker who Trump in an interview with the Washington Post editorial board once described as a foreign policy adviser. CNN reported in August that the FBI and Justice Department had already opened a broad investigation that covers alleged corruption of the pro-Russian former president of Ukraine and his ties to Manafort. Yahoo News, meanwhile, reported last month U.S. intelligence officials were looking into Page’s meetings with Russian officials where the adviser allegedly discussed lifting sanctions on the country if Trump won the White House. Page, who the Trump campaign says is not connected to the Republican nominee, wrote FBI Director James Comey last month asking him to put a “prompt end” to any inquiry looking into his ties to Russia, according to a letter first published by the Washington Post. Officially, the FBI has refrained from giving any public signals that it’s investigating any of the Trump associates. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month, for example, Rep. Jerry Nadler singled out Stone for his acknowledged ties to Assange and the operative’s comments acknowledging the prospective leaks of the hacked documents. The New York Democrat then asked if Comey if his investigators had conducted any interviews with Stone. “I don’t want to confirm whether there is or is not an investigation,” the FBI director replied, declining any additional comment. But several current and former officials who have worked in the Justice Department, FBI and intelligence community said they have little doubt federal law enforcement is looking into the different questions surrounding the different current and one-time Trump campaign operatives. After all, Podesta confirmed he’s spoken with the FBI as part of its examination into his email hack. And last Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and director of national intelligence James Clapper issued an unprecedented statement signaling with high confidence that the Russian government was trying to meddle in the U.S. presidential election via cyber espionage. “The way that DOJ works, once they start looking at something they don’t look at very narrow discrete questions when there are other related questions swirling around. They try to get the rest of the picture,” said Matthew Miller, a former Obama administration Justice Department spokesman. “It stands to reason,” he added, “they’d already be investigating the Trump campaign.” A current Justice Department official agreed with the outlines of that assessment. "You follow the evidence and the evidence leads you to wherever it takes you," the DOJ staffer told POLITICO. "That is how the investigation into the recent breaches will be done. You gather the pieces of the puzzle and put them together." "Sometimes it leads to a guy in his basement. Sometimes it leads you to the People's Liberation Army [in China]. And sometimes it leads you to Iran's Revolutionary Guards,” the DOJ source added. Multiple sources with a law enforcement background explained that the FBI — if it was investigating Stone or others — would likely still be in an evidence collection stage and nowhere near the point where they were ready to publicly question him, especially on a politically sensitive topic so close to Election Day. “There’s no way they’d do that before the election,” said Jim Garland, a former senior Obama DOJ official who served as then-Attorney General Eric Holder’s deputy chief of staff. But given the series of Stone’s public remarks and familiarity with the WikiLeaks troves, Garland predicted the operative should expect a call. “Without a doubt he’s earned himself a subpoena.” Stone, meantime, pushed back in the interview on the Democrats’ demands for an investigation into his ties to the WikiLeaks saga, calling his accusers “partisan hacks with not a leg to stand on.” “No, I don’t work for the Russians. I don’t work for the Russian intelligence. I have no Russian clients. I’ve not received any money from Russia directly or indirectly. It’s a dead end,” he said. “I’ve spent my entire political career as an anti-communist.” Stone explained that he’s neither met nor spoken with Assange and he insisted that he’s played no role in the release of the hacked documents. “I’m not orchestrating the activities or disclosures of WikiLeaks,” Stone said. As for the hacked emails to date that have been released — a mish-mash of thousands of messages that included the first glimpses into Clinton’s private Wall Street speeches and tense personal battles inside the Clinton Foundation – Stone said what’s out so far is just “small potatoes compared to what I’m told is coming.” Asked if he was concerned that the document dumps would lose their punch with the public if they continued surfacing in small batches each day through the end of the campaign, Stone replied, “I have a greater concern that certain media outlets have lost their journalistic objectivity. They’ll bury stories they won’t like or not report them at all.” The WikiLeaks trove to date has only covered Clinton operatives, and the Democratic nominee’s campaign has declined to comment on the veracity of the emails. While Stone said he’d encourage the publication of documents pertaining to Trump or his campaign, he said he doubted they’d find anything incriminating because the real estate mogul doesn’t use e-mail. “All they’d learn,” Stone said, “is the inner workings of a real estate company.” Bryan Bender and Tim Starks contributed to this report.I am frankly disappointed with C++0x futures. They lack a major feature–composability. It’s like having Booleans without OR or AND. But let me first explain what futures are and how they’re implemented in C++0x. What is a future? In a nutshell, a future is an asynchronous function call. You call a function, but don’t wait until it completes–the body of the function executes in a separate thread. Instead you get a future, a promise to deliver the result at some later point in time. Only when your program desperately needs that value, do you synchronize on the future. If the calculation hasn’t been completed by then, you block until it has. Otherwise you get the result of the calculation. C++0x futures C++ splits the implementation of futures into a set of small blocks–it almost creates an assembly language of futures. Here are the primitives. -promise A promise is a vehicle for passing the return value (or an exception) from the thread executing a function to the thread that cashes in on the function future. The function (or a callable object) that is executed in a separate thread must have access to the promise, and it explicitly sets the return value. You can think of a promise as a primitive channel; the function in this case is the sender. The equivalent of the “send” method is called promise::set_value (to pass an exception to the caller, the callee can call promise::set_exception. There is no corresponding “receive” method–the receiving is abstracted into the future object. Here’s some code that illustrates the use of promise. Notice how the function to be called asynchronously must be aware of the promise. void asyncFun(promise<int> intPromise) { int result; try { // calculate the result intPromise.set_value(result); } catch (MyException e) { intPromise.set_exception(std::copy_exception(e)); } } The calling thread creates the promise and passes it to the worker thread executing asyncFun (I’ll show the details later). -future A future is the synchronization object constructed around the receiving end of the promise channel. The calling thread obtains a future using promise::get_future. The most important method of the future is get. If the result is not ready, get will block. When get completes, it either returns a value or throws an exception. The return value or the exception has been set by the called function through the promise associated with the future (see above). get can also be split into its more basic parts: wait, optionally followed by has_value (or has_exception ) and the call to get, which is guaranteed not to block. The advantage of the latter approach is that one can use versions of wait, wait_for and wait_until, that set timeouts. There is also an asynchronous method, is_ready, that can be used for polling rather than blocking. There are two separate implementations of future : regular future (which used to be called unique_future in Draft Standard) that works like a unique_ptr as far as passing values goes, and shared_future that works more like shared_ptr. For instance, the method get of future cannot be called twice because it transfers the ownership of the result. Here’s an example how a future could be used in the caller’s code: promise<int> intPromise; future<int> intFuture = intPromise.get_future(); std::thread t(asyncFun, std::move(intPromise)); // do some other stuff int result = intFuture.get(); // may throw MyException -packaged_task In most cases the use of promises can be hidden from the programmer. There is a template class, packaged_task that takes any function (or callable object) and instruments it for use with futures. In essence, it creates a promise and calls the function from inside a try/catch block. If the function returns, packaged_task puts the value in the promise, otherwise it sets the exception. A packaged_task is a callable object (has the function call operator() defined) can be passed directly to a thread. Here’s a more complete example: vector<int> primesUpTo(int n); int main() { packaged_task<vector<int>(int)> task(&primesUpTo); future<vector<int>> fut = task.get_future(); thread t(move(task), 100); t.detach(); // do some other work while the primes are computing vector<int> primes = fut.get(); // print primes return 0; } Composability So far so good. The creation of futures might be a bit verbose in C++, but it can be easily adapted to concrete environments. The futures standard library should be treated as a set of primitive building blocks from which to build higher abstractions. Notice how C++ separated the channel (promise) from the synchronization mechanism (future); and thread creation from communication and synchronization. You may, for instance, use futures with thread pools or create threads on the spot. What was omitted from the standard, however, was the ability to compose futures. Suppose you start several threads to perform calculations or retrieve data in parallel. You want to communicate with those threads using futures. And here’s the problem: you may block on any individual future but not on all of them. While you are blocked on one, other futures might become ready. Instead of spending your precious time servicing those other futures, you might be blocked on the most time-consuming one. The only option to process futures in order of completion is by polling (calling is_ready on consecutive futures in a loop) and burning the processor. The need for composability of synchronization events has been widely recognized. Windows has WaitForMultipleObjects, Unix has select, and several higher order languages have explicit constructs that serve the same purpose. But that’s a topic for my next installment. Acknowledgments I’d like to thank Anthony Williams for helpful comments. Among other things, he is the author of one of the futures proposals for Boost. A stripped down version of it will become part of the threadpool library. Unfortunately, the stripping got rid of composability features. AdvertisementsYonkers, New York rapper DMX recently offered his thanks to the police officers who played a vital role in saving his life earlier this year. In addition to performing a medley of his past hits during the Yonkers Police Department vs. Fire Department’s “Toughman Competition” charity event last week, DMX thanked those who were there that night in February with a short speech. Before clarifying that he was speaking from personal experience, DMX explained that the same officers who saved his life were likely the ones he used to run from. “There’s a few officers here tonight that on February 8, saved my life,” DMX said in a video obtained by TMZ. “Saved my life. To go from at one point running from the police … to having them same police save my life. True heroes … I’m not speaking from what someone else told me or someone else’s opinion. This is my personal experience.” Although DMX wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse during the incident in February, his near-death encounter was chalked up to an asthma attack by reps for the rapper. The former Def Jam artist’s death-defying ordeal serves as yet another bleak moment for X, whose rap career has been characterized by ups and downs since he made his debut in 1998 with It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot. While speaking exclusively with HipHopDX for the Breakdown, Def Jam founder Russell Simmons even went so far as to declare that DMX “destroyed his career.” “Unfortunately, the streets got the best of him. Some people can’t get rid of them demons. They can’t escape … DMX did hurt his talent, destroyed his career,” Simmons said."As a young Indian-Australian migrant, Homecoming King is deeply self-affirming." Hasan Minhaj is riding a wave of success. A senior correspondent on The Daily Show since 2014, Minhaj has served under the helm of the comedic heavyweights Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah. He exudes a preppy California charisma, and a wholesome rom-com handsomeness which serves as a foil for his razor sharp humour. He has a disarming ability to flash a megawatt smile while delivering uncomfortable truths. As the host of this year’s controversial White House Correspondents Dinner, Minhaj delivered a scorching 25-minute excoriation of Trump which ended on an impassioned defence of American values. “Only in America can a first-generation, Indian-American Muslim kid get on this stage and make fun of the president: the orange man behind the Muslim ban.” Now, Minhaj’s off-Broadway show Homecoming King has been adapted to a comedy special on Netflix. The show explores Minhaj’s experiences growing up as a brown kid in monocultural ‘90s California and his struggle to fit in with the overwhelmingly white, privileged “Ryan Lochte crowd” at his school. Like Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, Homecoming King presents a delicately constructed portrait of the migrant family and questions the mythology of the American dream. Minhaj and Aziz Ansari share a comedic sensibility; they have a swaggering onstage persona and cultivated brashness. Like Ansari, Minhaj’s comedy is replete with pop culture references (Homecoming King’s eclectic roll-call includes Voldemort, #blessed, Soul Cycle and an uncannily precise Drake impression). As a young Indian-Australian migrant, Homecoming King is deeply self-affirming. Minhaj perfectly captures the experience of being a ‘third culture kid’ and the difficulty of navigating a hyphenated identity. A Story Worth Telling Growing up, I always felt invisible in the cultural landscape; I craved complex depictions of people who looked like me. South Asians were always reduced to crude stereotypes; Apu on The Simpsons or Peter Sellers in The Party. This erasure made me feel as though I didn’t exist; like my story wasn’t worth telling. With the emergence of performers like Minhaj, it feels like there are finally cracks in the ivory tower of whiteness. In particular, there is a gradual shift in the representation of South Asian men, beyond the caricature of ‘faceless terrorist’ or ‘desexualised nerd’. This year the internet had a collective meltdown over Dev Patel’s luxuriant mane in Lion; Riz Ahmed had a hilarious turn as a ditzy surfer on Girls and Kumail Nanjiani is the leading man in rom com The Big Sick. Homecoming King arrives at this watershed cultural moment; as the diversity of South Asian stories increases, the burden of representation eases. This creates a space for greater specificity and nuance, and a more authentic kind of storytelling. Minhaj’s show opens with a retelling of his parent’s migration to the US from Aligarh, a small town in India. With the aid of a Powerpoint presentation, he guides the audience through his fraught childhood relationship with his father — an authoritarian figure who took him to Home Depot for his sixth birthday (“You get to pick a door handle for the bathroom”). Minhaj jokes about his father’s emotional distance, riffing on the dissonance of being asked, “So, what do you like?” by a friend’s parent. A teenage Minhaj is utterly at a loss and answers “No one has ever asked me that before”. It is not until years later that Minhaj is able to recognise his father’s fragility; the fundamental loneliness of migration. This theme of father-son conflict serves as the moral core of the show. Unlike other South Asian comedians (Russell Peters being a notable example), Minhaj never resorts to using the Indian accent as a punchline. Instead, Minhaj ties in his father’s inscrutability into a larger narrative about the “conditional love” of immigrant parents and their attempt to mould their children into “little Kobes”; steely-eyed and overachieving. At one point he plays a clip of the unblinking 13-year-old Arvind Mahankali winning the National Spelling Bee, flashing to the faces of his expressionless parents in the audience. As a South Asian migrant, I found Mahankali’s cagey resilience deeply familiar; second generation kids often face extreme pressure to justify their parents’ sacrifices. I have always felt a cultural divide between myself and my white friends who believe in “following your dreams”. I can never fathom their easy, natural confidence. From a young age I had an implicit understanding that academic success was a non-negotiable. I worked towards goals with a single mindedness; attending an elite university, pursuing a lucrative career. Minhaj jokes about his father’s similarly stern expectations (“You can have fun when you’re at med school!”). At the heart of Minhaj’s show is the concept of “Log Kya Kehenge?”, which translates to “What will people say?” This is a universal concern, but it has a particular resonance within migrant communities. He describes his parents’ reluctance to him marrying a Hindu girl (Minhaj is Muslim, and he aptly describes the Hindus and Muslims as the “Montagues and Capulets of India”). There’s a deep associative shame in revealing an “ethnic side”. I found myself cringing with recognition; my parents had the same reaction when they met my white boyfriend, the same fear of backlash from the brown community. In my case, there was the added dimension of gender; as a South Asian woman, the politics of respectability are particularly unforgiving. Dating a white person is a kind of exile. It can limit your dating options within the Indian community. For the first few months, I felt like a beleaguered defence lawyer preparing for a trial; compiling evidence, producing character witnesses, constructing arguments. Ultimately, over time (like Minhaj’s parents) they have demonstrated an open mindedness — a gradual acceptance. Homecoming King captures the contradictions of Minhaj’s upbringing; the difficulty of navigating his strict home life while surrounded by permissive freedom. This ‘code-switching’ is captured by Minhaj’s choice to do parts of the show entirely in Hindi. The audience is exposed to the deep associative shame he felt when revealing his “ethnic side” — the feeling that he was opening himself up to ridicule. In the past I have felt the same reluctance about wearing my traditional Indian clothes (the sari, salwar kameez, bindi) in white-dominated spaces. Minhaj’s version of the American dream needed a ‘co-sign’ by whiteness; he desperately craved the approval of “Cody, Corey and Cole”, but most of all, his teenage infatuation, Bethany Reed. True to the ‘00s zeitgeist, their relationship began on MSN Messenger, with Bethany soon becoming Minhaj’s best friend/crush. With masterful precision, Minhaj unravels a devastating story of teenage heartbreak, centred on a quintessentially American rite of passage: prom. “The Audacity of Equality” Homecoming King is also set against the fabric of a larger narrative about being Muslim after 9/11. Minhaj shares comedy DNA with African American greats like Richard Pryor, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock, he is able to present the personal as political. He never confronts the spectre of Trump directly. Rather, he translates broader political issues (“the Muslim ban”, police brutality, rising xenophobia) into tangible, everyday experiences of racism. Racism can sometimes be the relentless and exhausting justification of your existence. Minhaj explores how racism exists on a spectrum. On one extreme, the collateral damage of racism is death (“Our African American brothers face having their spine shattered in the back of a police van”), but Minhaj explores how bigotry can exist in many different shades. People can be bigoted when smiling at you. Racism can sometimes be the relentless and exhausting justification of your existence (“As an immigrant, you are always auditioning to prove how much you love this country.”) Minhaj tells the wrenching story of his father’s stoicism when their family car was destroyed on September 12, 2001 (“My dad swept the glass on the street like it was some hate-crime barbershop”). His father believed that they were paying “the American dream tax”. “If it doesn’t cost you your life, you pay it,” he said. Minhaj contrasts this with his own righteous fury and belief in “the audacity of equality.” Homecoming King is ultimately about duality and reconciliation. Minhaj is trying to find a balance between his father’s worldview and his own outlook. For Minhaj “the pendulum swings back and forth” between optimism and pragmatism, freedom and obligation, anger and forgiveness. Minhaj is caught between Hindi and English, California and Aligarh, Americanised Hasan Minaj and desi Hasun Minuj. Homecoming King creates a space where these tensions can co-exist, and transforms this dilemma into a fresh, insightful and deeply human comedy. – Homecoming King is on Netflix now. – Rhea is a writer and spoken word poet. Her work has been published in Voiceworks, The Lifted Brow and Overland among others. She constantly retweets gifs of Dev Patel at @rheaviewmirror.By meteomorris on 18 November 2016 · 8 Will this dump bring 5 meters of freshies, like it did in the beginning of November 2014? If you read the forecast from two years ago and compare it to this one, you'll see lots of similarities. You can expect lots of freshies, but will we get four (or even five) meters of snow again? In this forecast: Lower temperatures this weekend PowderAdvice for the weekend Southern stau in three stages for a week The snow line will rise Eventually two, locally even four meters of freshies Lower temperatures this weekend Although we are on the eve of a southern current (that will stick around for a while), the complete Alps will experience some colder air on Friday and Saturday. The cold front arrives on Friday and the current will temporarily turn to the northwest on the north side of the Alps. The current on the south side of the Alps is still coming from the southwest, so the Alps will get into a snow sandwich (snow from both the northwest and southwest). This will result in great conditions with freshies and sunshine on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Sunday will start sunny, but it will start to snow again in the French southern Alps and the northwest of Italy. The north side of the Alps will have to deal with a strong Föhn from the south, which you can see on the Föhn chart. The temperature will drop temporarily in the northern Alps on Saturday when the southern Föhn is not that strong, but expect it to come back even stronger on Sunday. It will start snowing in the south of the Alps. PowderAdvice for the weekend You'll find the best conditions (thanks to the Föhn wind in the north and the freshies from Friday and Saturday) on the south side of the Alps: Passo Tonale Diavolezza But to be honest: save your euro's for better days. There will be lots of wind, rising temperatures, bad visibility and humidity in the air. Southern stau in three phases for a week Watch this movie I've published yesterday. The current turns to the south and that results in snow for the south side of the Alps. The snow will come down in three phases: The snowfall from today will bring 10-30, locally 40 cm of freshies in the French southern Alps and the south side of the Alps. Phase two will follow on Sunday. The most snow will come down in the French southern Alps, the Italian Piedmont and Lombardia, the Swiss Tessin and Ober Engadin. That's the area below: Andermatt will also get some snow (it will be the only resort north of the main alpine ridge that will get significant snow). It
— and it’s quite a big one. Prior to release, BlackBerry said it was committed to making the PRIV and its Android software as secure as possible. This has been BlackBerry’s USP since day one and it isn’t about to start changing things now, even if it is using Google’s Android software. Here’s what you can expect in the first release: An improved camera: We’ve implemented a number of tweaks that improve the speed of our camera app, and re-tuned it for better low-light image quality. Better performance: We’ve also tweaked the PRIV’s software to improve overall system performance Improved stability: The update further includes a number of adjustments designed to improve device reliability and reduce instances of crashing and freezing. Enhanced security: Lastly, the release includes December’s security patches – rest easy knowing your device is protected against the latest Android security threats. BlackBerry will also update its Blackberry Keyboard, Blackberry Hub, Blackberry Camera, and DTEK by BlackBerry on December 14 with the following attributes: Camera: Now supports 16:9 photos Keyboard: Increased language support and emojis added to predictive typing Hub & Contacts: Now includes WhatsApp DTEK by BlackBerry: More notification options to alert you when apps use your info BlackBerry PRIV Review: Specs, Hardware & Performance Like Apple, BlackBerry has never been one for Keeping Up With The Jones’ when it comes to spec and hardware. Previous handsets have been decent, most notably the Passport, but most have settled for middling spec and hardware because, put simply, people used BlackBerry’s differently to how they use Android phones. The PRIV bucks this trend in SPECTACULAR fashion. Looking like the Samsung Galaxy S6 EDGE and packing specs and hardware to rival it, the BlackBerry PRIV is the most powerful and feature-packed phone BlackBerry has ever released. Hell, it’s probably one of the best phones on market at present in this respect too. But as Apple likes to teach us once a year: specs and hardware aren’t everything. Here are the BlackBerry PRIV’s specs in full: Operating system Android 5.1.1 Lollipop Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (8992) Hexa-Core, 64 bit GPU Adreno 418, 600 MHz Display 5.43-inch curved AMOLED, 2560x1440 resolution (540 ppi) Memory 3GB low-power RAM Storage 32GB Flash storage MicroSD up to 2TB Rear camera 18MP, f/2.2, OIS, phase-detect autofocus Front camera 2MP, f/2.8, 1.75um pixel size Battery 3,410 mAh, 4.4volt Non-removable Charging Quick Charge 2.0 Qi wireless (some models) Size 147 x 77.2 x 9.4 mm 184 x 77.2 x 9.4 mm (keyboard open) Weight 192 g Network FD-LTE: Band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 17, 20, 29, 30 HSPA+: Band 1, 2, 4, 5/6, 8 Quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE Connectivity Wifi 802.11ac Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, USB 2.0 For the most part everything does tick along nicely but, as I mentioned above, there are some notable glitches (at least on my handset, anyway) when the PRIV simply becomes completely unworkable. I don’t know what causes this and I don’t know if it affects ALL handsets but I do know that when it happened the handset is basically unusable until you’ve switched it off and turned it back on again. The PRIV also features QuickCharge but for some reason mine did not work. Again, I have no idea if this is specific to my handset or not -- either way, it's a bit disappointing. This is the first time BlackBerry has used Android though, so I am more than willing to give the company the benefit of the doubt. Nailing software and getting it perfectly integrated with hardware is VERY difficult and it has taken the likes of Samsung and HTC years to get it 100% right. Everything else, beyond this, is very tight. The new BlackBerry Hub, while not quite as intuitive as it is inside BB10, is a welcome addition to the Android experience, giving you A LOT more control over your notifications than the traditional, slide-down menu. At its core, though, the PRIV kind of feels just like any other Android handset. It does everything they do, with access to things like Google Now and Google Play, just with a few additional extras peppered ontop. Given time, and providing things like the Hub and Blend (sadly, not present here) are developed further, BlackBerry could really begin to carve a niche out for itself in the Android Kingdom. BlackBerry PRIV Review: Camera The 18MP sensor on the BlackBerry PRIV is EASILY the finest camera unit ever fitted to a BlackBerry handset. Images are crisp and detailed and there are plenty of settings and effects for augmenting shots both prior and after the fact. The rear setup, to be specific, is an 18MP Schneider-Kreuznach-certified imaging sensor. Think Carl Zeiss optics, like on old Nokia handsets, and you’re in the same ballpark of what this essentially means -- very good imaging but not quite as good as it sounds. The PRIV will not replace your DSLR, like, at all, but it is perfect for what 99.9% of people’s require from a camera, meaning it is more than decent enough for uploading images to Facebook and Instagram. The UX is easy to use and there are plenty of nice filters to make your shots look more professional. Images for the most part are great, as you can see below. I have ZERO complaints in this regard. The BlackBerry PRIV features optical image stabilization (OIS), phase-detect auto focus and the ability to record 4K video at 30fps. In this respect it matches and in some cases surpasses pretty much every currently available on market. So if imaging is something you look for in a handset, the PRIV’s setup should cause you no concern. It’s not the best by any stretch of the imagination but it is certainly closer to the top than most current players. BlackBerry PRIV Review: Battery The PRIV features an utterly MASSIVE 3,410 mAh battery inside its chassis and BlackBerry promised me a full day’s usage without worry. To date, the only handset I have ever used that actually managed to achieve this was Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus -- my current daily driver. Based on the size of the battery and BlackBerry’s expertise with software and optimisation, I had high hopes for the BlackBerry PRIV. The reality is quite a bit different, though, unfortunately. During my two week test of the handset, the PRIV seldom made it through a full day -- 8am to 11pm -- without requiring a top-up at some point. Now, this real-world type of battery testing is entirely subjective to how I used the phone -- your experience might be different -- but I did notice the PRIV eats through charge at a rather alarming rate when you’re actually using it, something I’m assuming BlackBerry is very keen for you to do. For instance, while checking emails and the like over coffee most mornings I was able to drain around 15%-20% off the battery in about 30 minutes. On my iPhone 6 Plus, for the sake of comparison, the same ritual took about ~5% of the handset’s charge. Again, this is something that can potentially be resolved with further optimisations to the software, every phone is different in how it manages power consumption, but this is something BlackBerry really needs to drill down on because the PRIV is VERY thirsty for power and this has a very negative effect, obviously, on its overall performance. So what’s causing this? I’d argue the QHD panel. But it could just as easily be something else. Part of me wishes BlackBerry had used a 1080p display on the PRIV, too. I don’t think anyone would have minded. QHD panels are great when they don’t KILL battery life, but in this respect -- if, indeed, it is the culprit -- I’d take a few extra hours of actual usage over slightly crisper visuals EVERY day of the week. Blackberry Priv latest deals: BlackBerry Priv Review: Verdict It’s very popular to bash BlackBerry these days. The once-great company has had a turbulent couple of years and, should things get worse, will exit the phone-making game altogether. Basically, in most people’s eyes BlackBerry can do no good. This was evident when it released BB10 and when it launched the Passport and it is evident now with the release of the BlackBerry PRIV. The PRIV, because it runs Android, is seen by many as the company’s last ditch, fumbling attempt at making itself relevant once again. It is also a HUGE talking point for the mobile technology space, sort of like if Apple decided to release a Windows 10-powered iPhone. But this is all by the by. BlackBerry has pedigree and it has consistently shown this over the past few years with advancements to BB10, the release of BlackBerry Blend and, of course, the excellent BlackBerry Passport. The PRIV isn’t perfect, as I’ve noted throughout this review, but I have tried to be as diplomatic as possible, highlighting why certain things might not work quite as well as they should, commending its positives, and attempting to explain the presence of certain performance gremlins. This is a new beginning of sorts for BlackBerry and the true test of the PRIV is not sales or this first batch of reviews, but how it develops in the coming months once BlackBerry has some user data to work with and can update the software accordingly. I wanted the PRIV to be perfect; the best of both worlds -- Android and BlackBerry in one. The marriage isn’t a disaster, not by a long shot, and BlackBerry has made all the right decisions. The overall experience of the using the PRIV is just slightly hampered by a few performance bugs. Beyond this I have ZERO complaints, though I do admit the keyboard could have been A LOT better -- or just left off the device entirely. Handset makers rarely hit the nail in the head first time around when releasing a new handset running new software. It takes time to finesse things and gain an understanding of the software’s nuances and finer points. For a first attempt, though, the PRIV is more than adequate as an Android device. I just don’t know if this will be enough for the majority of people. Speaking from a personal perspective, I have now switched back to my iPhone 6 Plus. I need a phone that can consistently last all day with issue. Nevertheless, I will be keeping a close eye on BlackBerry’s software updates for the PRIV to see how things change in the coming weeks and months. The BlackBerry DTEK50 is now available on Amazon for £245.99 or DIRECT from BlackBerry.President Trump this week signed an executive order declaring war on so-called sanctuary cities. Agencies within the United States Government will begin withholding federal grant funds from those cities, and additional actions to enforce federal immigration law will be taken soon. Unlike Obama, President Trump is not trying to making new laws by executive decree. In his Executive Order, the president is only reminding mayors and governors of existing federal law dating to 1996: U.S. Code › Title 8 › Chapter 12 › Subchapter II › Part IX › § 1373 8 U.S. Code § 1373 – Communication between government agencies and the Immigration and Naturalization Service: Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual. (b) Additional authority of government entitiesNotwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State, or local law, no person or agency may prohibit, or in any way restrict, a Federal, State, or local government entity from doing any of the following with respect to information regarding the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual: (1) Sending such information to, or requesting or receiving such information from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service. (2) Maintaining such information. (3) Exchanging such information with any other Federal, State, or local government entity. (c) Obligation to respond to inquiries The Immigration and Naturalization Service shall respond to an inquiry by a Federal, State, or local government agency, seeking to verify or ascertain the citizenship or immigration status of any individual within the jurisdiction of the agency for any purpose authorized by law, by providing the requested verification or status information. (Pub. L. 104–208, div. C, title VI, § 642, Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–707. The president’s executive order is not only good news for law enforcement, it is also a good civics lesson for some mayors and even some members of Congress. The mayor of Denver last week said in the same breath that Denver is not a sanctuary city but it will continue to defy federal immigration law. Congressman Michael Coffman, whose district office is located in Aurora, Colorado, made an announcement after the mayor of Aurora similarly disclaimed the label “Sanctuary City” while affirming, sanctuary policies, Representative Coffman said he will propose a bill in Congress defining a sanctuary city as ONLY cities which call themselves sanctuary cities. Is it any wonder citizens are confused when politicians go to such lengths to obfuscate the issue? The Trump executive order is also good news for taxpayers. Sanctuary cities impose a huge, billion cost to taxpayers that has been hidden from public view and shielded from political accountability. That annual taxpayer burden amounts to over $14 Billion nationally, over $1 billion in California and Texas and over $100 million annually in over a dozen states. This will be news to you because those annual taxpayer costs are hidden from public scrutiny — by Congress, by state legislatures, and by local officials. Sanctuary city policies have a high cost not only in allowing criminal aliens to roam free on our streets, they also impose a huge burden on taxpayers. How can we estimate those taxpayers costs? There is a wealth of data hidden in the annual reports on the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) published by the US Department of Justice and each state department of corrections that chooses to apply for reimbursement grants under that program. Over 2,000 local county sheriffs also get federal reimbursement grants under that federal program. The taxpayer costs revealed by those annual reports are mind-boggling. States and local communities are being reimbursed at less than three cents on the dollar of the true costs for criminal alien incarceration, but politicians are hiding that fact from the nation’s taxpayers. In my home state of Colorado, the 2016 SCAAP report by the state Department of Corrections revealed that state prison system was holding 2,039 criminal aliens at a cost of $37,958 per inmate. That is a total cost of $77,396,362. The federal reimbursement grant was $2,077, 720. That is a grant of 2.7 cents for every dollar of actual cost. Those 2,039 criminal alien inmates were 14% of all state prison inmates: One in every seven felons in the state prison system is a criminal alien. What are the comparable numbers for your state? You can discover the SCAAP grant amounts for each state prison system and the local county jails applying for federal reimbursement at this website. The federal SCAAP grant program was established by Congress as an acknowledgment of federal responsibility for a failed border security and failed federal enforcement of immigration laws. But the appropriated amount for reimbursing local communities their incarceration costs through SCAAP grants has NEVER been adequate for full cost reimbursement. In 2016, the federal reimbursement program was given a paltry $189 million. At 2.7 cents on the dollar, that amount would not reimburse the full costs of even one of the five states having over 10,000 criminal aliens in the state’s jails and prisons and receiving over $6 million in SCAAP grants– California, New York, Texas, Florida, and Arizona. That $189 million would be $7 BILLION annually if the federal government wanted to reimburse states and local communities the full cost of incarcerating over 200,000 criminal aliens To most Americans, these hidden taxpayer costs are not the most important reason for opposing sanctuary city policies. The real cost is not in taxpayer dollars but in the hundreds of thousands of crimes committed by individuals who should not be here in the first place. If we had secure borders and effective enforcement of all immigration, these criminal alien incarceration numbers would be very small. Yet, the fact that local governments hide these cost figures is symptomatic of the deeper problem. Too many local officials want all the political benefits of claiming to be the protector of “our immigrant community” while hiding the costs of protecting criminal aliens. Does your local sheriff publish the incarceration costs for criminal alien inmates in your local jail. Does he ever acknowledge the number of criminal aliens released from jail annually who are NOT turned over to federal immigration authorities because of local sanctuary policies? Does anyone on your local city council ever ask those questions? Some local politicians also use a phony “states rights” argument for resisting federal enforcement of immigration law. This is a phony argument because there is a long string of Supreme Court decisions, most recently the 2012 Arizona v. United States ruling by Justice Kennedy, saying that the Constitution in Article VI gives the federal government preemptive authority over immigration law. States cannot “opt-out’ of federal immigration law, and neither can cities or counties– or universities or private religious organizations. While public attention has been focused on the non-enforcement policies of the Obama administration, the truth is, even without official sanctuary policies established by mayors of local government, too many local sheriffs and police chiefs have been hiding behind an alleged “fear of liability” in not honoring the Detainer requests made by federal law enforcement, namely the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency– known as ICE. Based only on one federal district court decision in 2014 in Clackamas County, Oregon, sheriffs across the country have been intimidated into rejecting ICE detainers by the mere threat of lawsuits by ACLU and sanctuary advocates. The fact is, ICE has revised its Detainer form to meet the constitutional standards for Probable Cause and thus render that district court ruling moot. ICE detainers are fully legal and should be — indeed, MUST be– honored by local law enforcement agencies. Local sheriffs and police chiefs have no constitutional basis for refusing to honor ICE detainers. Citizens should hold local officials accountable when they refuse to obey the law. The Trump administration is making it clear that federal sanctions will be imposed — including the withholding of federal funds — from cities which want to disobey the law. But local citizens need not remain silent in this battle. Editor’s note: This article has been updated to note the figure for the cost to Colorado is $37,958 rather than $27,958.Image copyright Three Mobile service provider Three has confirmed it will block advertising on its network for a day-long trial in June. In February, the company said it wanted to give its customers "control, choice and greater transparency" over the adverts they received. But the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) said Three's approach was too "broad" and would harm businesses. The opt-in trial will take place on a day between 13 and 20 June. Three said it was exploring ad-blocking on its network because: advertisements count towards customers' mobile data charges, rather than advertisers shouldering the cost some advertisers "extract and exploit" customer information customers do not always receive relevant adverts and have their browsing experience "degraded by excessive, intrusive, unwanted or irrelevant adverts" In February, it announced a partnership with ad-blocking start-up Shine, in which Li Ka-shing, the owner of Three's parent company CK Hutchison, is an investor. The mobile network said the technology would block 95% of pop-ups and adverts on websites, but the pre-roll video adverts, sponsored articles and in-feed promotions on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook would not be blocked. 'Disagree with Three' Steve Chester from the IAB said encouraging advertisers to produce a "lighter, less invasive ad experience" was preferable to ad-blocking. "We're all committed to solving the ad-blocking issue but disagree with Three's approach that network-level ad-blocking is the way to go," he said. "It's a broad-brush approach that the largest media owners can probably survive but not the smaller ones. "In the long-term consumers will also lose out, as they'll most likely have to pay for services that are currently free because they're supported by advertising." Many people already choose to block adverts online by downloading browser plug-ins or mobile apps that can strip promotional content off websites. Ad-blocking at a network level could reduce mobile data use by customers, but could also let a mobile service provider decide who can advertise to its customers, or charge fees to "white list" advertisers. Three told the BBC it was in the early stages of testing the technology and did not know whether it would charge customers for an ad-blocking service, but said it would not "white list" advertisers, were it to launch one. The company said it would contact 500,000 of its customers to invite them to take part in the trial.Image caption Children help return the route of the old A3 to nature by sowing heather seeds The final stage of returning the route of the old A3 to nature is getting under way in Surrey. Children are joining National Trust director general Dame Fiona Reynolds to sow heather seeds at the Devil's Punch Bowl beauty spot. Contractors have now finished taking up the old London to Portsmouth road which used to cover 1,600 acres at Hindhead. "In this day and age, to take up a road has got to be a first," said head ranger Matt Cusack. The old road, which was cut through the hillside 180 years ago, closed in July last year after the new Hindhead Tunnel opened to take the A3 away from the National Trust land. The old road separated Hindhead Commons from the Devil's Punch Bowl. 'Real blight' "It is good to actually remove a built structure," said Mr Cusack. "When the trust took over Hindhead Commons and the Devil's Punch Bowl in 1906, the motorcar was quite a young invention. "As it became more and more popular it became a real blight on the landscape. "People used to have lovely views driving past. Now the same stunning views are still there but we haven't got the traffic pollution and noise."This article is part of the Science in Sci-fi, Fact in Fantasy blog series. Each week, we ask an expert to tackle some aspect of fantasy writing (cultures, weapons, horses, etc.) or a scientific / technological concept pervasive in science fiction. Please join the mailing list to be notified every time new content is posted. About the Expert E.B. Wheeler has an MA in European history and an MLA in historical landscape architecture. Her work writing about history and historic preservation includes the scripts for Letterpress Software’s award-winning Exploring America series. Her previous post for this series covered witchcraft for writers. She also writes historical fiction and fantasy. Her first novel, The Haunting of Springett Hall, comes out July 2015. You should check out her blog. Traditional Superstitions for Writers So, you want to visit the past? Be aware that it’s a very different world than the one you’re living in now. You might scoff at fairy tales and ghost stories (at least in the daylight), but the people you encounter in the past most likely will not. Germs have not yet been discovered, nor have many of the means we now have for maintaining an illusion of control over our environment, so people find ways to make themselves feel safe. Their world is full of harmful influences like demons, faerie, and witches, but also helpful ones in the form of God, angels, saints, and perhaps other friendly spirits. Rightful kings have special abilities too, both to keep nature in harmony and to heal with their touch. If you’re going to visit premodern Europe, you need to think like the natives and be prepared for the unseen threats you may encounter in your everyday life. This means understanding their superstitions. This article assumes you are visiting medieval or early modern Europe (up to about 1700), though some of these superstitions were taken very seriously through the 1800s and even today. Don’t scoff. You may still believe a few of them yourself. Superstitions of Time The inhabitants of premodern Europe saw time as a yearly cycle, especially in Catholic regions. Each day was governed by at least one saint or religious observance. Some days were bad luck for travelling, bloodletting, marrying, or other major events because of the religious festivals or saints they were associated with. In Wales, and perhaps other parts of Great Britain, Tuesdays and Thursdays were common times to encounter the faerie. Fridays were bad luck because Jesus was crucified on a Friday. It was bad luck to marry during the fasting period of Lent because sex was taboo for that time of the year. Yearly rituals also brought good luck, like eating hot cross buns on Good Friday or a goose on Michaelmas, or giving gifts at the New Year. Superstition in Numbers Numbers were also important for determining luck. Numbers 13 and 666 were bad luck, while three, seven, and nine were lucky. Thirteen people should never sit down to a meal together, since there were thirteen at the Last Supper. The belief that people are renewed every seven years dates back at least to the Renaissance, so each seven year milestone of a person’s life was regarded as a time to be cautious, with 63 (seven times the mystical number nine) being the most precarious age of all—if you were lucky enough to live that long. Searching for Omens Because life was dangerous, people were very concerned about knowing the future. There were many ways to predict future events, including consulting a local cunning man or woman skilled in the magical arts, but astrology was probably the most popular—watching stars and planets to determine not only the future, but also the past and present. The belief that the heavens guided daily life and events was widespread, not just among the masses, but among the most educated elite and the nobility. The one thing you should never predict? The death of a monarch. It wasn’t just bad luck—it was treason. Premodern people spent much more time outdoors, close to nature, than most of their modern descendants, so they searched for omens in the weather and in animals. Some of these make sense—like watching birds or clouds to predict a coming storm—but others have no obvious explanation. It was bad luck to disturb a sparrow’s nest or have a rabbit cross your path, though carrying a rabbit’s foot was considered good luck, as it is today. Crows and ravens were often associated with death, but depending on the time and place, they could be helpful or dangerous, and often helped foretell the future. Natural Sciences Everything in the natural world had mystical properties, so medicine often employed strange combinations of plants, animal parts, and even pearls or gems to treat illnesses and restore the balance of the humors (fluids) in the body. Alchemy was the science that attempted to change the nature of materials—especially to turn common metals into gold. Respecting the Dead Europe before the Reformation had a sense of community that is mostly foreign to the modern mind. Community extended not only among living family, friends, and neighbors, but also to those who had gone before and those who would come after. The dead trapped in purgatory needed the prayers of the living in their efforts to reach heaven, while the dead who had passed on could help or hinder the living. It was unlucky to disrespect the wishes of the dead, who might cause you trouble for ignoring them. Charitable giving, both while alive and in your will, were good luck because the subjects of your charity might help you in the next life. For instance, some people believed if you gave a pair of shoes to someone in this life, in the next, you would have shoes to wear on your journey to heaven. You would not want to make your will too early, though—it could hasten your death. Ghosts and Spirits Ghosts were known to return to help their friends and to harass their enemies. It could be difficult to distinguish between true ghosts and demons, though. Evil spirits were all around, waiting for the chance to pounce. In some regions, they could be invited in through an open window or by rocking an empty rocking chair. It was bad luck to leave fingernail clippings, hair, or other bodily leavings lying around since they could be used against you in a spell. Even sweeping could be an invitation to the forces of evil, and though the traditions vary, it’s probably best not to sweep at night or to use a new broom in a new house. The faerie were also a major source of concern for premodern Europeans. They kidnapped infants and even adults as well as leading them astray or killing them for entertainment. They punished those who were sloppy or unchaste, though they might also try to seduce people. If they are chasing you, you can turn your clothes inside out to confuse them. When you have a baby in the house—especially one who has not been christened—you can keep an iron knife or scissors opened to look like a cross in or near the cradle (but not where the baby can hurt itself, please!). Carrying an iron knife is a good idea while travelling through unpopulated areas. To keep the faerie happy, and perhaps even solicit their help, leave food and drink out for them while you sleep. Warding Off Evil So, how do you protect yourself from all these dangers? An apotropaic is an object, symbol, or gesture meant to ward off evil. Depending on where you’re traveling or staying, your hosts may have various objects in their homes to protect everyone inside from evil, such as a cross made out of straw. Many of these were associated with annual rituals, often involving the purifying effects of fire. They varied widely by culture. Grotesque figures, which could be viewed as either frightening or humorous, such as gargoyles in medieval Europe or Gorgons in the ancient world, were used to scare away or distract evil spirits. If you see images of eyes carved or painted on your drinking vessels or on ships, be assured that these are protecting you from evil. If someone is dead, you can help make sure they rest in peace by driving a stake through their heart. This is especially important if they were suicides or died unrepentant. You might also make crosses over them or tie their feet together, depending on if you prefer spiritual or practical solutions to the restless dead. Some animals offered protection against evil spirits, including man’s best friend. A spayed dog was especially effective against ghosts. If your house was haunted and you lived in a Catholic region, a priest could perform an exorcism. If your area was Protestant, you were left with only fasting and prayer to drive out the evil spirits, unless you turned to a local cunning man or woman, who would employ traditional Catholic symbols mixed with popular magic to clear out the ghosts. It’s Dangerous To Go Alone. Take This If you’re especially worried about something dark coming after you, there are also apotropaic protections you can carry on your person while you travel. Many objects were viewed as effective against evil. Garlic, silver, and mirrors were supposed to ward off certain evil creatures. Iron, and especially horseshoes, have long been known to keep evil away. If worst comes to worst, you can cross moving water, which stops most evil beings. Some plants had protective power, including roses (especially wild roses), rowan (AKA mountain ash), and elderberries. Hawthorn could be protective, but was also regarded with superstition because of its association with the faerie—no one was supposed to harm a hawthorn tree or they might face the wrath of the faerie. Religious Protection Objects with religious associations were seen as providing protection. With the advent of Christianity, the Bible, blessed wax, crosses—including making the sign of the cross—and holy water or holy oil were effective apotropaic symbols. Baptism protected infants from being kidnapped by the faerie, and being born on a Sabbath allowed a person to see through faerie glamours. Bells—and especially church bells or those used in traditional funeral ceremonies—also frightened away demons and malevolent faerie. While we may not think of salt as religious today, in the past it was considered so. Spilling it was bad luck, which could be countered by tossing some over your left shoulder, into the face of the devil, who is always lurking there. How to Handle Superstition There were so many day-to-day superstitions in premodern Europe that it’s impossible to list them all here. If you are interested in a particular time and place, it’s best to research it to discover the details of what people there did to counter the harmful influences in the world. It’s easy to look down on people of the past because of their superstitions, but they were not stupid. They lived in frightening, unsettled times, and humans do not do well with uncertainty. Many of their superstitions were very reasonable based on what they believed to be true. They did many things as well as (or better than) we do now—discovering techniques for treating illnesses or forging metal, for instance, which modern people still try to replicate. They simply lived in a different world than we do—one more richly populated with things unseen and unexplained. Their superstitions allowed them to function and evolve while maintaining an illusion of mastery over the uncontrollable forces in their lives. Further Reading on Superstition A collection of old superstitions about daily life, mostly from Germany: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/superstition.html Religion and the Decline of Magic, by Keith Thomas Magic in the Middle Ages, by Richard Kieckhefer The Rise and Fall of Merry England, by Ronald Hutton Please Share This Article If you liked this article, please share it with your writing friends using the buttons below. You can also click to send this ready-made tweet: Click to Tweet Historian @EB_Wheeler returns to discuss origins of superstition: http://bit.ly/1GklagM Part of the #FactInFantasy series by @DanKoboldt Please share this article:Follow me and you'll never miss a post:Introduction AUSTIN, Texas — President Donald Trump’s young administration has already sharply diverged from the ethical norms that typically govern the executive branch, exposing vulnerabilities in the system, a small group of ethics experts and former government officials agreed Saturday. The consensus emerged at a panel titled “Trump, Ethics and the Law” at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas. The panel was moderated by Dave Levinthal, a senior reporter at the Center for Public Integrity. (Watch it here.) “There have been untidy administrations in the past, but usually it takes a while to see these things develop,” said Ken Starr, a lawyer and judge who served as solicitor general under President George H.W. Bush and is best known for heading the investigation that led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Ethics laws are based on the idea that norms will be followed, said Walter Shaub, former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE). “When they’re not followed, we suddenly discover how completely vulnerable our system is,” Shaub said. For example, Shaub said that before he resigned from OGE in July, he had to fight to get his hands on financial disclosures for President Trump’s appointees. “We didn’t have the chance to resolve conflicts of interest and the White House ethics officials not only didn’t want to fulfil their responsibilities in support of ethics, they didn’t know how,” Shaub said. Shuab said he didn’t feel able to confidently sign off on some financial disclosure reports. Since resigning, he has become senior director of ethics for the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan legal advocacy group, and has been a frequent critic of the Trump administration. Matthew Miller, a former Director of the Office of Public Affairs for the Department of Justice under President Barack Obama, said Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey, reportedly after the director refused to pledge loyalty to him, also was outside the norm. Miller, now a partner at strategic advisory firm Vianovo, said an ongoing investigation into ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia has the potential to lead to more firings. Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the investigation, has a broad mandate to investigate and he is moving aggressively, Miller said. “This is, in some ways, the most important investigation the Department of Justice has ever conducted. It goes to the question of whether the president of the United States himself has been compromised by a foreign power,” Miller said. If Mueller gets too close to a member of Trump’s family or the president himself, Miller said he expects Trump might try to rescind the rules governing the appointment of the special prosecutor so that he can fire Mueller. Trump could potentially also pardon those involved in the case. “How we respond to that, whether Republicans in Congress see that as a red line, is going to answer the question of whether the president is above the law or not,” Miller said. Another panelist, Richard Painter, the vice chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) who was the chief ethics lawyer for the administration of President George W. Bush, said that the Mueller investigation is worrying, but it’s far from the only concern. “There are many other issues that fall outside of the scope of his investigation that I am very worried about and that Americans ought to be worried about and that Congress ought to be worried about,” he said. In late January, CREW filed a lawsuit against Trump, claiming that his refusal to sell his businesses generates conflicts of interest and violates the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause.by thanks Southwick’s Zoo for this submission – all images by Southwick’s staff Daisy born February 2014 being bottle fed Mendon, MA— 2014 is clearly the year of the giraffe! Three giraffes, a female and two males, have been born at Southwick’s Zoo since January. Two of the calves are being bottle fed, so the Southwick’s zookeepers certainly have their hands full this year. Daisy, a female, was born on January 11th. The mother giraffe, Dottie, was unable to feed the calf, so Daisy did not receive colostrum. Colostrum is a type of milk that is very important in building immunity, so Daisy was transported to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Grafton, MA where she remained for a week. Just a few weeks later another giraffe, Maisy, gave birth to a male calf on February
Vitamin E, which can boost the state of arousal and intensity of physical experience. The artificial creation of the approximation of physical passion is in the end a rather lonely, deadening business. If you can affect the mind, the body will soon follow after. Which of course brings us inevitably to booze, which has brought so many people together who would never remotely have contemplated the possibility when sober. “Looking through the eyes of love” or, as some folk would have it, the “beer goggles” has been by far the most effective seduction method since Bacchus first squeezed his grapes. As Anton La Vey points out in his book “The Satanic Witch” – many of the old recipes for “liquid lust” were instructions for preparing liqueurs which are now available on the open market. Commercially available today, traditional potions include Advokaat, Chartreuse, Drambuie, Goldwasser, Parfait Amour and Vermouth. Vermouth especially is notable for containing herbs and barks which were classic botanical ingredients of ancient mixtures, and like the witches of days past, the makers like to keep the exact recipe a secret. Originally developed for medicinal purposes, it has evolved into a traditional cocktail component. As you can pick these concoctions up so easily now, you are really spoilt for choice if you look to get lucky, so why not whip up something which evokes your eventual goal by name alone? I refer of course to the Orgasm, which can be converted to a Screaming Orgasm by the simple addition of vodka. The Screaming Orgasm ½ shot vodka ½ shot Amaretto ½ shot Kahlua ½ shot Baileys Single cream Combine ingredients in a chilled shaker with ice, and shake. Serve in a chilled glass on the rocks. The Orgasm, or Screaming Orgasm, ranks along with other 1980’s classics Sex on the Beach, Sloe Comfortable Screw, and the Slippery Nipple as top options to order in bars when you are looking to combine spoken word comedy with something terribly drinkable. Since 2011 the International Bartenders Association no longer rates it officially as a cocktail, but quite honestly until they think up something with a name that lends itself as well to a fun night out, The Orgasm will remain popular. Whilst booze is an intoxicant and releases inhibitions when taken in any form, sucking the liquid from an alcohol wipe at your desk, say, is hardly going to have the same passion-inducing effect as this combination of delicately blended flavours whirling through a cream base. Speaking its name can lend it power also, with the use of Voice Magic. Our words, uttered with enough conviction and intent, can have a considerable effect on the world we inhabit. Pushing the name of the drink out of the cavern of your mouth and using breath from the very bottom of your lungs can send it out to mingle with your surroundings- you breathe in air, breathe it out with a word – then that breath and that word are in turn breathed in by people around you. So go all out and order an Orgasm. Skål!SHIPPING: Please remember to add $5 to your pledge for postage to anywhere in the world. So, for the $75 option, please pledge $80 to ensure shipping is included. Thank you! UPDATE: When the project funds, the price of the Triggertrap will go up to $125 per unit. Kickstarter is your chance to get a 40% discount! What is Triggertrap? Triggertrap is an open-source hardware project for photographers and geeks. And geeks who are photographers. And photographers who are geeks. And photographers who wish they were geeks, but really just want to play with the cool toys. What will the Triggertrap do? The idea is simple: Create an universal camera trigger that makes it easy to trigger your camera any way you could possibly think of. Out of the box, Triggertrap will support being triggered by: LASER - someone breaks a laser-beam, the camera takes a picture. - someone breaks a laser-beam, the camera takes a picture. SOUND - clap your hands, take a picture. Great for hands-free photography in the studio - clap your hands, take a picture. Great for hands-free photography in the studio TIME - Time lapse photography in the palm of your hand. - Time lapse photography in the palm of your hand. EVERYTHING - If the above options don't float your boat, there's an Aux port. If you can find a way of connecting it, you can use it to take photos. The possibilities are as exciting as they are endless. Oh, and because the Triggertrap will be optically isolated from the camera, the very worst that can happen (say, if you connect your Triggertrap to a 10,000 volt mains line, whether by dumb accident or - even dumber - on purpose), is that you blow up your Triggertrap device, whilst your camera stays safe. Where's your money going? The money will be spent developing, prototyping, and manufacturing two versions of the Triggertrap: Version A - A professionally developed and designed product in an eminently portable and water-resistant case. Perfect if you just want to plug it in and get going. The idea is to make Version A as good as something you might buy in the shops. In fact, that's my goal: Triggertraps, in all good photography stores worldwide. Version B - An Arduino-based home-brew version that you can build yourself. Instructions and source-code will be available on the Triggertrap website for free, and I'll offer kits for sale so you have all the bits and pieces you need to make one. Kickstarter exclusive pre-orders As you will have spotted in the'rewards' on the right-hand-side of this page, the Triggertrap only costs $75. Two notes on that: Firstly - $75 is half what other, similar products cost (although, of course, none of them are as awesome as the Triggertrap). Secondly - This price is exclusive to early adopters on Kickstarter: Once the project is a success (how could it not be?!), chances are prices are going up. I'm in talks with manufacturers, distributors and retailers, and whilst they are great for reducing the workload on me, it means that they all take a cut... In other words: Get 'em whilst you can, at a price you may never see again... Finally, I will be asking everyone to pay $5 towards packaging and shipping for a Triggertrap. That's flat-fee for shipping all around the world - I'm some will be more expensive and some a little cheaper, but hopefully it'll all average out...Brooklyn jurors got a virtual tour Wednesday of the decrepit basement where prosecutors say a door-to-door salesman hatched his murderous schemes, smoked cigars — and practiced shooting the rifle that would later be linked to the deaths of three Middle Eastern shopkeepers. Prosecutors showed photo after photo of the dingy, ramshackle space where Salvatore Perrone allegedly plotted the killing of Mohamed Gebeli, Isaac Kadare and Rahmatollah Vahidipour. NYPD Det. Warren Davis described the scene as looking like a “garage sale” as he walked jurors through the sea of “clutter,” pointing out a FedEx box of ammo, and Remington 12 gauge shotgun, two empty shotgun casings, duct tape and the broken butt of a rifle. On the back wall of the basement, investigators found a piece of printer paper propped up against the moulding, concealing a cluster of 12 bullet holes from a.22 caliber rifle. As he has throughout the trial Perrone, who appeared to be fighting a cold, pored over the evidence, making the jurors wait more than 10 minutes while he leafed through photos of his dying plants, mildewy walls, and tattered insulation, blowing his dripping nose between in between. The court officer handing him the photos repeatedly used hand sanitizer to ward off the germs. During cross examination of Davis, Perrone interrupted his defense attorney Howard Kirsch, asking him to have the detective testify about the amount of space between the bullet holes. When the detective said he didn’t have that information, the defendant loudly whispered, “show him the photo.” Kirsch ignored him, and finished his line of questioning. When the attorney resumed his seat at the defense table, Perrone, who was warned about outbursts by the judge a day earlier, hissed, “Why didn’t you show him the photo?!?” Kirsch sat back in his seat, scowling.David Siegel was the timeshare mogul who said in 2012 that his business had become so bad since Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, that if Obama won a second term, he’d close down his company, put all of his employees out of work, and spend the rest of his life sunning himself on a tropical island. But as things turned out, not even two full years after Obama’s reelection, the Orlando, Florida-based David Siegel is not only still in business, the Westgate Resorts CEO is doing so well that just in recent months he bought himself a Las Vegas hotel-casino, the Cocoa Beach Pier, and an Arena Football League franchise, The Orlando Predators. The 79-year-old Siegel took a huge financial hit in the economic meltdown of 2008, seeing his personal net worth drop from an estimated $1 billion — he claimed it to be $1.8 billion — in 2007 to $100 million today. He and his wife Jackie Siegel were the subjects of a highly critical documentary, The Queen of Versailles, which chronicled their attempt to complete construction on their new home — at $75 million the most expensive single-family home in the country, at the time. They never finished building their “Versailles,” though reportedly, Siegel is now resuming work on his 90,000 square-foot palace. David Siegel's "Versailles," 90,000 square-foot dream home. About one month before the 2012 election, Siegel sent a mass mailing to his “valued employees” complaining that his business and financial struggles were all the fault of the current president, Barack Obama. “Obviously, our present government believes that taking my money is the right economic stimulus for this country,” said Siegel’s October 8, 2012 missive, which made no mention of the previous administration whose policies, economic studies show, were largely to blame for the 2008 collapse that led to Siegel’s struggles. “When you make your decision to vote, ask yourself, which candidate understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn’t? Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of protecting and saving your job. I can no longer support a system that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, so will your opportunities. If that happens, you can find me in the Caribbean sitting on the beach, under a palm tree, retired, and with no employees to worry about.” But under the second Obama administration, which has seen U.S. stock markets soar to all-time record levels, David Siegel has not only survived but thrived. “Nicely done, David! It’s all especially impressive, considering you told us that, if Barack Obama were re-elected, you might have to abandon your business — maybe even leave the country,” wrote Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell last week. “Yet, miracle of miracles, you somehow manage to not only stay in this great country and keep your doors open, but even buy an Arena Football League team! God bless America.” David Siegel plans to convert most of his newly acquired Las Vegas Hotel — formerly the Las Vegas Hilton — into a timeshare property, and to build a new resort on the four-acre Cocoa Beach Pier. He also intends to move his Orlando Predators back to the downtown Amway Center from the University of Central Florida campus where the team now plays home games. In a final twist, Siegel admitted that his grim, 2012 letter to employees was mostly plagiarized from a chain letter that had circulated on the internet since 2008.Recap: Irwin introduced Fantine to his alien son Cid, expecting the worst possible outcome. Fantine accepted Cid for who he was, however, so Irwin proposed to her. Irwin was elated when the day of his wedding arrived. He had saved up enough money for a tiny ceremony in his enormous backyard, as Fantine was Frugal, and she insisted on a cheap event. The weatherman had predicted sunny skies, however, it began raining anyway, practically soaking the grass and ruining the cake. The rain lasted so long that by the time it let up even a little bit, it was dark outside. Irwin was okay with it, as he is a Night Owl after all, but Fantine was a little disappointed. Cid was dressed to the nines so as to greet guests and lead them to where the actual ring exchange would take place. He got several funny looks from the townsfolk as he grinned and held out his hand to cordially welcome them, but they didn’t phase him. “I, Fantine Christenson, vow to honor, respect, love, and cherish you, Irwin Thrones, for all of my days. I promise to stand by your side through any and all hardships, to hold your hand during your darkest days and your longest nights, to keep you in my heart every moment.” “I, Irwin Thrones, swear my heart to you, dear Fantine. You are the breath that fills my lungs, the sun that warms my skin, the joy that touches my soul. I will never give up on you. I vow to hold you close during times when you feel you cannot stand alone and to shoulder any pain that may ever ail you.” There were not many guests at Irwin’s wedding. The ones that showed up were co-workers of his, and they hardly even knew him. They seemed touched by the ceremony regardless; Cid was especially touched to see his father so happy and in love. Irwin leaned forward to kiss his bride when flower petals rained down from the top of the arch. Cid smiled to himself — it was but a little wedding gift he had rigged to surprise his father, and it did not go unnoticed. Fantine laughed as Irwin placed his lips on hers. The crowd cheered for the couple. The wedding lasted well into the early hours of the morning and everyone had a blast. There was a lot of socializing and hugs were shared, but the best part about the night to Irwin was that he now had a wife to add to his happy family. Exhausted from the evening, Irwin led his wife to their new bedroom, where they shared their first night together as husband and wife. Irwin had known a little bit about Fantine’s likes and dislikes before they wed, like, for example, her favorite color was Yellow, she loved eating Mac and Cheese whenever possible, and that she preferred to listen to Indie music. She was a Capricorn who was also vocal about her Frugal tendencies. He learned after getting married that she had a Green Thumb, was a Supernatural Fan, Artistic, and also a Workaholic. She had shared with him her lifelong desire of becoming a Visionary, so Irwin abandoned his painting easel and let her have at it. She spent day and night improving her painting skills by imagining Irwin in different time periods or envisioning Waffles as a bigger cat species. While she tried to translate her visions to her art, most of her work wasn’t worth framing. She had a long way to go before she could complete her dream. Knowing she would never buy one for herself, Irwin gave her a camera to get a start on her photography skill. She loved it so much that before she even had a chance to learn how to use it properly, she ventured to City Hall to register herself as a self-employed photographer. She just knew she would be using it constantly, so why not go ahead and start making a living out of it? She found the painting skill much easier to learn, but enjoyed practicing photography more often. She was incredibly eager to go out and start advertising her skills for work, but before she even had a chance to get her name out there, she discovered she was pregnant. Irwin didn’t find out until he was admiring his wedding ring in the bathroom and Fantine burst in to vomit. “Did your dad tell you the good news?” Fantine began, stuffing her face with stale wedding cake. Cid nodded. “Yeah, you’re pregnant!” Fantine smiled, puffing out her cheeks with a mouthful of cake. Cid held up his hand. “You know, you probably shouldn’t be eating that, I can’t imagine it’s good for the baby.” Fantine shrugged. “I know, you’re probably right… I just have these weird cravings all of the sudden, nothing sounded good except this cake.” She set her fork down. “We have to teach your father how to cook a proper meal. Once this baby gets here, we’ll all have to start eating better.” “I know what you mean.” Cid stare down at his peanut butter and jelly. “I know Dad is trying his best, but I do agree with you about cooking.” Cid didn’t want anything special for his birthday, so he simply aged up in the living area. There was no need for him to ask for a giant birthday party with a new little sibling on the way who would need that money more than he did. As a teenager, Cid discovered he was a Natural Cook, which was good news, as the Thrones family needed some hot meals in their bellies asap. Cid found himself having odd urges every now and then as a teenager. When he finally unleashed the strange sensation welling up inside of him, he found he could boost the brains of those around him. He was astonished. Having been raised around humans, he had never known of anything like this before. Could other aliens do this as well, or was this just something that Irwin’s psychic genes passed along to him? When he tried brain-boosting himself, he found he did not need to sleep. This was amazing! Cid could literally stay awake for days at a time as long as he did his little brain trick to himself for a few minutes! “Do you think you could use your magic on the new baby?” Irwin asked. “You know, learn things about it before it’s born?” Cid cocked his head. “I don’t think so, and even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. I’d be too concerned I’d hurt it.” He raised an eyebrow at Irwin. “Are you nervous about the baby?” “Of course I am!” shouted Irwin. “Cid, I hate to tell you this, but when you first came into my life, I had no idea what to do with you. I was a terrible father. I didn’t understand you, so I flat-out abandoned you.” “That isn’t true, I have vivid memories of you reading me to sleep and helping me walk across the room.” “Well, eventually I snapped out of it and became the father I am today, but at first…” Irwin sighed and rested his head in his hands. Cid placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up. “Dad,” Cid started, “you’re a wonderful father. I know you love me and that’s what matters most. You will be great to this baby, I just know it.” The overall vibe in the Thrones household was stressful as everyone prepared themselves for the new arrival. Waffles became protective of Fantine and started following her wherever she went. He wouldn’t sleep unless he knew she would be painting in front of the easel for hours at a time, and even then he was prepared to awake should anything happen. “Fantine… this baby kicks an awful lot…” Irwin stated, his heart pounding hard against his chest. Fantine nodded. “I’ve noticed that too! You’d better start thinking of names, I think the day may be approaching fast!” Irwin gulped. Hopefully, he was ready to be a father again, because it was starting to look like he didn’t have a lot of time left to prepare himself. AdvertisementsBanding Together Police Community Support Officers in Barmouth are working to help keep families together this summer. The days out to the beach over summer can be fun for the whole family, but on a busy beach it can be stressful for parents who may lose track of their children when they run to the water, shops or go off with school friends. CSO Elliw Williams from the South Gwynedd Safer Neighbourhood Team said: “On busy beach days, we get reports of 5 or 6 lost children. “By the time we arrive at the location, the children have usually been reunited with their parents. Over the summer, waterproof high visibility wristbands will be available for children from the beach wardens, harbourmaster, Co-op and Original Factory Shop. “The bands are more than just a fashion statement, you will be able to write your mobile number on the bands, and if your child gets separated, there is a way of getting in contact. “If you are separated, you can enter local shops displaying the ‘Barmouth Safe Child Scheme’ sticker and ask staff for help, before phoning 999.” Look out for these posters: The purpose of the scheme is to reassure parents and help avoid any unnecessary heart-ache. South Gwynedd Inspector Gethin Jones said: “This initiative is a great proactive approach to keeping local and visiting families safe over the summer holidays. “We want to make sure everyone is focussed on having fun outdoors while the weather’s still on our side!” Notes The wristbands are free and disposable.PARIS – France will boost 2017 defense spending by €600 million ($666 million) compared to this year's military budget, President François Hollande said July 13. That increase was set out in one of the official letters the Prime Minister sent to ministers setting out spending for next year, he said. A €600 million increase was a "strong signal" and showed the government was respecting the 2014-19 multi-year budget law. The spending rise compares to €32 billion in the revised 2016 defense budget. Hollande was speaking at a garden reception held by the Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, for the service personnel who will march in the July 14 military parade on the Champs Elysées. Australian and New Zealand forces attended the reception as they will take part in the high profile march, which closes with an extensive fly past by the French Air Force. Alain Juppé, who served briefly as a defense minister, said in a 25-page campaign note on defense that French spending will need to rise by at least seven billion euros in 2022 if Paris were to hit the NATO target of two percent of gross domestic product on defense by 2025. Juppé is one of the candidates for the primaries for the conservative party Les Republicains, seeking a selection to be the candidate for the presidential election in May. The candidates have all pledged to boost defense spending to meet the NATO target, said a defense analyst who declined to be identified. But there was skepticism among the armed forces that campaign pledge will be respected, in view of the poor economic outlook. Such was the deep doubt, that promise to increase defense spending could be compared to the swift row back in Britain by a far-right politician, Nigel Farage, who said it was a "mistake" to claim the £350 million of contributions to the European Union would be spent on the national health service if UK pulled out of the EU, the specialist said. × 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 Early Bird Brief1. We’re talking to Nick Kallen from Twitter about Scala. Nick, you say that you are using Scala more and more at Twitter. Tell me a little bit how that’s happened, what Scala is good for at Twitter, and so on. We use Scala for a lot of our newer network services. As you may know, Twitter was originally written in Ruby on Rails using the Rails Web Framework and even some of our first home-grown network services like the first message queue we built, which was called Starling, was originally written in Ruby. At a certain point in Twitter’s history, engineers discovered Scala and wanted to experiment with it. The first project that was taken on was to rewrite our Ruby message queue into Scala. That became what’s now called Kestrel. That’s a message queue that implements the memcache protocol as the RPC protocol. That project was very much a success, and we went on as Twitter gradually grew and we had need to build more sophisticated systems, we started to build more and more of them in Scala. For example, our Firehose which is an HTTP push service that streams all of the tweets to some of the organizations that we partner with, as well as some other internal services - that’s written in Scala. Some of the projects that I worked on over the last year or two are written in Scala. For example, Flock, which is a middleware layer that partitions our MySQL database effectively. We represent a distributed graph and Flock is written in Scala as a middleware layer that implements a Thrift RPC protocol and does transparent partitioning and replication and sophisticated query evaluation on top of a large cluster of MySQL backends. Just now, more and more projects are starting, and by default they start in Scala. 2. Maybe you could tell me a little bit about what types of applications or systems work well in Scala versus what you would use other languages for. That’s a great question, but it’s very subjective. I’ll give you my personal opinion and I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s everyone’s opinion at Twitter. I think Scala’s sweet spot is network services. I think one way of describing how network services work is that they have a very strict or constrained interface, like usually an RPC layer is a very tight protocol with very few procedures or methods to invoke. But the implementation of those methods is very sophisticated. Often it will involve partitioning strategies or a sophisticated use of the file system or something like that. A system like that has an interesting property as a small surface area of the protocol, but sophisticated implementation. A rich type system or a rich statically typed language, in my judgment, is a real boon for those kinds of problems. I’ll contrast that with building a website. When rendering web pages, often you have very many components interacting on a web page. You have buttons over here and little widgets over there and there are dozens of them on a webpage, as well as possibly dozens or hundreds of web pages on your website that are all dynamic. With a system with a really large surface area like that, using a statically typed language is actually quite inflexible. I would find it painful probably to program in Scala and render a web page with it, when I want to interactively push around buttons and what-not. If the whole system has to be coherent, like the whole system has to type check just to be able to move a button around, I think that can be really inflexible. Something that a dynamic language offers, in contrast, is the system need not be coherent while you are experimenting. That’s a weakness of Scala or at least it’s an area where it’s less applicable. But for network services, a statically typed language with a very rich and expressive type system like Scala gives you a lot of security. On balance, the language itself, is very efficient: the way the compiler is implemented, and how efficient the JVM is as well, and the availability of libraries from the JVM - threading and concurrency libraries, and good data structure implementations - makes it really good for those types of problems. 3. Maybe you can say a little more about some of those aspects you just mentioned about why you like Scala - being able to leverage a mature JVM and so on. With Scala I think you have all of the major benefits of Java: you have access to all of the libraries, almost all of the libraries that are available, in an effortless way. That includes not just libraries, but tools; for example Visual VM and commercial tools as well as things that come with the JVM, such as JHAT and other things. As you run into performance problems or memory leaks, or something like the tool chain that exists in the Java world just applies directly to Scala, which is wonderful and the accessibility of the libraries from Java is also really wonderful. I think a disadvantage of Java in relation to Scala is in some ways Java is a very simple language and inflexible and it has very few features that allow you to flexibly express your program at a level of abstraction that maybe matches your domain. Like you have fewer tools for abstracting, for reusing code, and for expressing sophisticated ideas in the type systems so that they can be guaranteed to be correct, as opposed to verified to be mostly correct as in an unit test. That kind of flexibility for code reuse as well as the level of abstraction you can program at that is arguably more readable and more closely matches the domain is a strength of Scala over Java. But you get all of the major benefits of Java from efficient implementation to great tooling to great libraries. 4. You’ve talked about the dualism of Scala: partly in the object world and partly in the functional world. Maybe you can talk a little bit more about that. One of the things that I think is most attractive about Scala is that you can program using idioms from object-oriented languages as well as functional languages. Even object-oriented idioms which you might suspect are fully supported by Java, even Java in some ways is inflexible and if you come from a dynamic language like originally I come from Ruby, Java seems perhaps simplistic in some of the tools it offers for object-orientation. Maybe a concrete example might be the fact that in Java, interfaces cannot store implementation, so an interface cannot have implementation. In Scala you have tools like traits, which are analogous to modules in Ruby and these are called mixins in other languages. They are traditional object-oriented tools that Scala gives you. Even though Scala is good because it’s not just object-oriented, it’s actually great at being object-oriented. Then, on the other hand, Scala is quite great at being functional. One of the things that’s actually in some ways just a syntactical feature, but to me is quite beautiful is the fact that everything in Scala is an object, but if that object implements a method called apply(), it’s also a function. So, on the one hand, everything in Scala is an object, and on the other, everything in Scala is a function. In some ways that’s just a syntactical feature, because it allows you to omit explicitly naming the method you are invoking and you can just treat an object like a function. But it strikes at something much more deep about the language that is everything from let’s say a really effective implementation of closures -- like in Ruby there is a good use of blocks, and in JavaScript you have really good use of closures - that are tedious to do in Java. They are both functional and object-oriented, they sort of straddle both worlds. At the extreme of functional programming techniques, you have something called "monads", which are inherited from Haskell. It’s a kind of a scary word, although the idea is very simple: there is a design pattern that emerged in the functional programming community, but they recognized that certain kinds of things like the "maybe" type, which has an equivalent in Scala of the "option" type, and lists are sequences, and stateful IO as well as asynchronous computation share an interface in common. They actually share certain mathematical properties, but I like to use the word "interface" - I think it’s clearer. A lot of the libraries in Scala are influenced by this design pattern or these mathematical properties. The language directly supports them in a way because there is a syntactic sugar for what’s called the "for comprehension". As beginner programmers are exposed to it, it’s like in Python, where you can tersely express iteration through a sequence and filtration and nested iteration, but it turns out that it’s much more general and can be used for asynchronous computation as well as even very basic problems like avoiding null pointer exceptions. In the example - this is an idiom that’s inherited from Haskell - there is what’s called the option type and it’s a container that represents the presence of a value or the absence of a value. And it’s analogous to whether an object is null or not null in say Java. Because that’s reified directly in the standard libraries and as part of the style of idiomatic programming in Scala, it’s actually quite easy to avoid null pointer exceptions - arguably much easier than in Java. That’s really a functional idiom, although in some ways, it’s just a certain kind of interpretation of the null object pattern, that’s an object-oriented design pattern. 5. In Scala, as I understand it, a common pattern is the actor pattern. Could you contrast uses of the actor pattern in Scala versus maybe threaded patterns? Are they both supported? How does that work well? That’s a great question and there are a lot of different opinions on this. Scala ships with a library that implements the actor pattern, so Scala is somewhat unique in that. Unlike Erlang, which is maybe the canonical example of the actor pattern, where the actor pattern is directly supported in the language, Scala, because of its use of closures and some other features of the language makes it quite easy to implement actors directly as a library. Something interesting about Scala is that many concurrency patterns don’t need to be directly implemented in the language but can be implemented as libraries. That’s something very powerful and gives the programmer a lot of flexibility to choosing one concurrency model over the other. A second part of your question is maybe like "What are the merits of the actor pattern as compared to say programming directly with threads?" The traditional argument in favor of the actor pattern is, because there is very little shared state across agents that are interacting concurrently, it’s difficult to have synchronization problems - it’s relatively more difficult. You don’t have a shared mutable data structure, for example, that can be concurrently mutated in incoherent ways. A typical pattern is to do a "get" and then a "set" to read the value of a mutable data structure before deciding what to set. If you have two parallel threads that are doing those sort of operations, usually you need to synchronize that sort of behavior. With actors, often there isn’t shared state at all and data is passed between interacting agents by sending messages and so data is copied rather than shared. Because of that copying, arguably it’s much easier to write concurrency-safe code. I think that argument is true, but I’d like to point out maybe some weaknesses in the argument and one of them is that you simply can’t model all problems as message passing. There is shared state. In the most obvious example, the shared state of the database, as an external process, if it’s accessed by different actors, if it’s accessed without coordination, without transactions, without "select for update" or without locks, you can easily have two concurrent agents leading to an incoherent, inconsistent result. The same thing applies to in-process data structures. For example, if you are building a network service that relies on an in-process cache where there is an extensive object graph that represents the domain that you are dealing with in-process. Those data structures are often mutable -- maybe they are changed as a result of the user actions -- and you can run into the same concurrency problems that you run into with an external database with these in-process data structures. Often very simple caches that are stored in hash tables will be shared across concurrent units and you do need to coordinate access to them. That said, not all problems are modeled that way. So some mix of the two seems to be the sweet spot maybe and Scala is perhaps unique in that it elegantly supports a mix of the two. But even then, you don’t have to married to the actor pattern in Scala. I’m very fond of Futures and I use Futures more than I use actors. An argument in favor of Futures is they are more like plain old Scala objects and it’s easier to unit test with them. With actors it’s actually maybe non-trivial to set up a unit test of interacting agents.The Baltic Dry Index is a measure of the price of shipping bulk cargoes around the world. This price has crashed meaning that we're all in for a whole world of pain, right? Well, no, it doesn't quite work like that. Prices are influenced by both supply and demand. And if it's purely demand that's dropped off a cliff then yes, this is bad news for world trade and the global economy. But that's not quite exactly and totally the case. There's been a change in supply too. This hasn't stopped certain of the headline writers: Abandon ship: Baltic Dry index hits record low A leading indicator of world economic growth, the Baltic Dry, has plunged to its lowest ever level It's not an indicator of world economic growth. It's a proxy for an indicator of world economic growth. And that caveat is a hugely important one. Or as another article has it: The Baltic Dry Index is seen as a leading indicator for world economic growth because it tracks the demand of moving raw materials such as coal, iron, steel and copper across the oceans. The index measures the demand for moving these raw materials against the supply of ships that can carry them. The movement of raw materials is a useful guide to future economic growth because the raw materials are the building blocks for the world economy; coal is used to generate power, iron ore is used to make steel for housing and construction, and copper is needed for electrical wiring and plumbing. That first para is wrong. The first sentence of the second is correct. The price is the balance of the supply and demand. If demand had fallen off a cliff then yes, batten down the hatches. But as I said back a few months, when we all last worried about this, it's not quite so: A longer term factor is that it takes more than two years to build ships, whereas demand can change very quickly. The world is suffering from a huge oversupply of mega ships that have been built to feed China’s demand for commodities. Vale the biggest iron ore miner in the world has built a fleet of 35 massive iron ore carriers, to ferry iron from Brazil to China. It's not even, so far as we know at least, true that China's demand for these commodities has fallen. It's only that it hasn't risen as fast as the supply of vessels in which it can be carried. As I also wrote elsewhere when looking at a different measure of shipping prices, container rates: Analysts estimate the industry suffers from up to 30% overcapacity on some of the busiest ocean trade routes. Container ships move more than 95% of the world's manufactured goods. New ship deliveries will boost capacity by 1.7 million containers, or 8.2%, while demand should top out at 2% this year, the lowest since 2009, estimates Jonathan
2006 article in the London Review of Books entitled "The Israel Lobby", later turned into a 2007 book. They alleged that hawkish pro-Israel lobbying groups -- most notably the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) -- have for decades skewed foreign policy in a direction detrimental to U.S. interests. The Mearsheimer/Walt thesis has been extremely controversial since its publication. To critics, the thesis was simply the latest manifestation of a long line of conspiracy theories alleging covert Jewish domination of politics. Defenders countered that the idea of an Israel lobby was not meant to stand in for Jews as a whole -- both because the policies of groups like AIPAC were unrepresentative of the more dovish views of most U.S. Jews, and because the lobby was also made up of large numbers of evangelical Christians. Regardless, the years since the publication of Mearsheimer and Walt's article have seen more open debate about the way that Israel policy is formulated in Washington. Relatively centrist commentators such as Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic and Joe Klein of TIME, while taking pains to distinguish their views from those of Mearsheimer and Walt, have suggested that hawkish Jewish groups in the U.S. political establishment are skewing Israel policy in an unhealthy direction. As world debate over the Gaza war remains fierce, it seems unlikely that these controversies will die down in the near future. Walt, for one, has taken recent developments as a further vindication of his views. "[A]lthough most Americans support Israel's existence and have more sympathy for them than they have for the Palestinians," he wrote Jan. 5 in response to the Rasmussen poll, "they are not demanding that U.S. leaders back Israel no matter what it does. But that's what American politicians reflexively do." 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Information Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Information ClearingHouse endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)New book explores the ABCs of California’s native bees A female Anthophora curta Provancher bee, one of 1,600 wild species native to California. A female Anthophora curta Provancher bee, one of 1,600 wild species native to California. Photo: California Bees And Blooms Photo: California Bees And Blooms Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close New book explores the ABCs of California’s native bees 1 / 7 Back to Gallery The plight of the nonnative honeybee has been much in the news lately, but little has been reported about the bees that are native to California. While these native bees don’t make honey, they are important because they pollinate not only wild plants but also our gardens and farm crops. Little has been known about how our “wild bees” are faring after 160 years of decreasing wild habitat. In 1999, UC Berkeley professor and research entomologist Gordon Frankie began a statewide survey of wild bees in urban areas. His new book, “California Bees & Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists” (Heyday Books; $28), written with Robbin W. Thorp, Rollin E. Coville and Barbara Ertter (in collaboration with the California Native Plant Society), reports the results of the 15-year survey and much more about these little-known creatures. This is a landmark book, and one that could mark the start of a revolution in how our crops are pollinated. It will also provide a great deal of enjoyment as gardeners attract and learn about these big or tiny, fuzzy or shiny, striped, black, brown or iridescent green bees. Frankie says the book takes a “bee-flower-people approach to knowing what we have in our own environments in cities.” After starting his observations in a Berkeley test garden, Frankie surveyed about 50 other gardens, in 15 cities from Redding to Palm Springs and east to Bishop (Inyo County). So far, about 400 of the 1,600 wild bee species ever recorded in California have shown up in these gardens. Most of the cities surveyed had 90 to 100 bee species. Want to grow some flowers that will help these bees thrive and let you watch them at work? The book profiles many commonly grown “wild bee attractive” plants, tells you which bees you might see on the plants, and exactly how and when native bees use them. There are tips to help you choose the best cultivars of certain species, and often notes to identify the plants that attracted the most bees in particular cities. Surprisingly, while California native plants, such as ceanothus, wild buckwheat and California poppy, do attract these native insects, so do a number of nonnatives, such as cosmos, sea holly (eryngium) and pride of Madeira (echium). Several “recipes for bee-friendly gardens” will help you design your planting. These include a food-centric garden and a design for “brown thumb” gardeners. Want to recognize and understand the life cycles of these native bees? Here you will find plenty of information, along with many fine close-up photos. One native bee, the carpenter bee, is being trialed in commercial orchards as a replacement for the imperiled imported honeybee. One of the many myths about native bees dispelled in the book is that honeybees displace the natives. In fact, except for an occasional scuffle with male native bees, the honeybees and wild bees seem to coexist in peace, so we should be able to get the pollinating benefits of both. Pam Peirce is the author of “Golden Gate Gardening.” E-mail: [email protected] in indirect response to the Kahn family attacks on Donald Trump, Pat Smith and Charles Woods, parents of Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods who were killed in the Benghazi terrorist attacks on September 11, 2012, have filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton alleging, among other things, that her "negligent and reckless" actions with regard to her private email server resulted in the "wrongful death" of their sons. The lawsuit, filed in the District of Columbia, also accuses Clinton of "defamation" and "intentional infliction of emotional distress" as they claim she has launched a "smear campaign" against the Plaintiffs in an effort to cover up the facts and save her Presidential campaign. The suit alleges that Clinton's use of a private email server is what allowed terrorist groups in Libya to obtain the whereabouts of Ambassador Christopher Stevens which ultimately led to the "wrongful death" of their sons: This information was compromised from the second that it left Defendant Clinton’s private e-mail server and easily found its way to foreign powers including, but not limited to Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea. As a direct result of Defendant Clinton’s reckless handling of this classified, sensitive information, Islamic terrorists were able to obtain the whereabouts of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and thus the U.S. State Department and covert and other government operations in Benghazi, Libya and subsequently orchestrate, plan, and execute the now infamous September 11, 2012 attack. The suit also alleges that Clinton has gone a "defamatory smear campaign" to paint the Plaintiffs as liars and discredit their claims that Clinton blamed the attacks on a YouTube video in the aftermath of the Benghazi attacks. The suit goes on to highlight specific instances where Clinton denied that she originally attributed the deaths of the Americans in Benghazi on the YouTube Video. Defendant Clinton made false and defamatory statements negligently, recklessly, purposefully, and/or intentionally with actual malice as set forth in paragraphs 23(a), (b), (c), and (d) concerning Plaintiffs by stating that Plaintiffs were lying about Clinton having told them that the Benghazi Attack was caused by an anti-Muslim YouTube video. Now, Defendant Clinton, in an attempt to save her reputation and intimidate Plaintiffs and their surviving family members into silence as she attempts to be elected President in the November, 2016 election, has gone on a defamatory smear campaign to paint Plaintiffs as liars in the public eye in order to discredit Plaintiffs, who have been vocal about Defendant Clinton’s pattern and practice of dishonesty regarding what caused the Benghazi attack, its aftermath, and the death of their sons. March 9, 2016 – Democratic Presidential Debate – When asked about Plaintiff Smith’s allegation that Defendant Clinton lied to her by blaming the Benghazi Attack on the YouTube video, Defendant Clinton responded by saying, “I feel a great deal of sympathy for the families of the four brave Americans that we lost at Benghazi, and I certainly can’t even imagine the grief that she has for losing her son, but she’s wrong. She’s absolutely wrong.” The suit points out the various instances where Clinton did in fact reference the YouTube video as the potential cause of the attack: After the Benghazi Attack, Defendant Clinton attempted to blame an anti-Muslim YouTube video for inciting the Benghazi Attack. On September 11, 2012, Defendant Clinton stated in a Press Statement, “Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet.” Again, on September 12, 2012, in a public speech, Defendant Clinton states, “Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protest that took place at our Embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the internet.” On September 14, 2012, Defendant Clinton met privately with the family members of the four Americans who were killed during the Benghazi Attack, including Plaintiffs Pat Smith and Charles Woods (“Woods”) at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. During the private meeting, Defendant Clinton lied to Plaintiffs and told Plaintiffs that the Benghazi Attack was the result of the anti-Muslim YouTube video that had been posted online and that the creator of the video would be arrested. Woods contemporaneously recorded this September 14, 2012 interaction with Defendant Clinton by writing in his diary, stating that “I gave Hillary a hug and shook her hand, and she said we are going to have the film maker arrested who was responsible for the death of my son.” Paradoxically, she simultaneously admitted the attack "had nothing to do with the film" to the Egyptian Prime Minister: In another email the day after the Benghazi Attack, Defendant Clinton directly told the Egyptian Prime Minister “we know the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack, not a protest.” Unfortunately, video of remarks made by Mrs. Clinton seem to support the claims made by Pat Smith. Below is a video of comments made by Secretary of State Clinton on September 14, 2012, as the bodies of Tyrone Woods and Sean Smith were arriving home, in which she clearly blames the attacks on a YouTube video (fast forward to about the 1:00 mark for the specific comments). And then we have the video of Clinton from a recent Democratic Presidential Debate saying the Mrs. Smith is "wrong." We guess we should just ignore the video above then? That never happened...nothing to see here. But we're sure this was just another couple of "short-circuits" that will conveniently fade away. Full complaint belowA North Carolina congressman is joining women in the House in their call for a congressional investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by President Donald Trump. “President Trump will not silence the voices of the 17 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct,” Rep. David Price, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “I’m proud to join @HouseDemWomen in their call for a congressional investigation into allegations against @realDonaldTrump.” Congressman David Price of North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District. Robert Willett [email protected] Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to The News & Observer Price represents North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, including Orange and parts of Wake and Durham counties, in the U.S. House. President Trump will not silence the voices of the 17 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. I'm proud to join @HouseDemWomen in their call for a congressional investigation into allegations against @realDonaldTrump. — David E. Price (@RepDavidEPrice) December 12, 2017 Price elaborated further on his Facebook page. “The #MeToo movement has sparked an important conversation in our country about sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying and abuse. Those who are willing to share their story deserve to be heard, regardless of the influence or position of their alleged aggressor. President Trump is attempting to silence the voices of the 17 women who have come forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct. I'm proud to join the Democratic Women's Working Group in their call for a congressional investigation into the allegations against Donald J. Trump.” At least 15 women have come forward with a range of accusations against President Donald Trump, from sexual harassment and sexual assault to lewd behavior. Thirteen of the women say Trump attacked them directly and two others say they witnessed behavior that made them uncomfortable. All of the alleged incidents took place before Trump assumed the presidency. More than 100 members of congress had called for an investigation into allegations against Trump as of Tuesday. #BREAKING: Today 100+ @HouseDemocrats demand House Oversight cmte investigate @realDonaldTrump sexual misconduct allegations from at least 17 women. Proud to join call for truth. No president is above the law. pic.twitter.com/v8dLItiYsk — Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) December 12, 2017 Trump has denied the allegations, dismissing them as "fake news" in a tweet on Tuesday. Some members of the House and Senate have gone so far as to call for the president's resignation in the face of the allegations.The Racial Empathy Gap: No Sympathy For The Black Working Class Marcus H. Johnson Blocked Unblock Follow Following Dec 9, 2016 Let’s do a thought experiment. I want you to imagine that there is a Black mayoral candidate running in Detroit, one of the Blackest cities in the United States. Let’s imagine that the Black mayoral candidate — let’s call him Jamal Brown — has no government experience whatsoever, but has a bombastic, braggadocious personality and billions of dollars in real estate wealth. Mr. Brown claims that Detroit’s decline in economic might and political stature is due to white people who are coming into the city and “taking jobs” from hard working Black Detroitians. Mr. Brown alleges that Indiana and Wisconsin are sending in white criminals and rapists, and that the city of Detroit should build a wall to keep these white people out. Mr. Brown was sued by the federal government in the past for refusing to rent to white people, has declared bankruptcy several times, has been accused of sexually assaulting over a dozen women, and questioned whether or not George W. Bush was an American citizen. Mr. Brown has ties to Black separatist groups that he refuses to condemn, and in fact encourages violence against white protestors at his rallies. Let’s be honest here. Would Jamal Brown win the Detroit mayoral race? No. Would Mr. Brown get support from law enforcement, intelligence agencies, or military generals? No. Would our fictitious character get the support media apologists who claim that he is simply channeling the anger of Black “economic anxiety?” No, of course not. He wouldn’t get hundreds of millions in small donations either. Our fictitious character is obviously a direct analogy to Donald Trump. The comparison is made to show what I like to call the racial empathy gap. The media has pushed a narrative that a large number of Americans have simply come to accept: that Donald Trump’s supporters aren’t racist, they are simply worried about the economy, and this pushes them to words and actions that might “appear” racist, but in reality are not. I wholeheartedly reject the “economic anxiety” narrative, not only because Clinton won voters in every rust belt state whose number one issue was the economy, but also because the economic anxiety narrative itself is a prime example of white privilege (and thus the racial empathy gap). According to a Pew Research piece published in 2014, the white median net worth for a family stood at $141,000. The median net worth for a Black family stood at $11,000, and the same number for a Latino family was $13,000. That means the median white family had 13 times the net worth of a comparable Black family! Despite this massive racial wealth gap, economic anxiety was frequently employed as a catch all excuse for aggrieved over the past 18 months. Economic anxiety is virtually never used as an excuse for Black people. There’s a reason for that. The Crack Epidemic Vs. The Heroin Epidemic If you want to examine how the white working class receives empathy that is never reserved for the Black working class, look no further than the heroin epidemic. Now admittedly, the heroin epidemic is a terrible health crisis that requires bipartisan solutions. But when crack cocaine disproportionately affected Black communities in the 1980s, there was no call for a public health solution. In fact, the crack epidemic was not considered a public health problem at all, instead, it was considered a criminal justice issue. Crack cocaine users in the Black community were not given clean needles or anti-overdose drugs. They were arrested, given records, and mandatory minimums. Politicians did not call for compassion and sympathy for poor Black people caught up in drugs in the 1980s. They called for harsh criminal penalties. Just look at the 100–1 mandatory sentencing ratio between crack cocaine and powdered cocaine. The law was consciously designed to more harshly impact Black people, who were more likely to use crack cocaine versus the powdered version of the drug. Millions of Black people were got records, were locked up, lost their voting rights, and were later unable to reenter the economy or get a job due to harsh state and local laws passed in the 1980s. Those poor Black people who used crack cocaine got no sympathy from the media or from politicians. But we are expected to sympathize with poor white people who use heroin, and even work overtime to help them avoid criminal penalties. No “Economic Anxiety” Excuse For Black Workers How many times have you turned on the local news and seen a Black person accused of committing a petty crime, such as stealing from a gas station or not paying a parking ticket? How many times have read a piece in conservative media that called Black people “lazy,” or “freeloaders,” or “welfare queens?” How many times have you seen members of the media or politicians go on some extended riff about Black on Black crime? Now think about how many times you’ve heard “economic anxiety” used as an excuse for Black people for any of these things? Zero right? Economic anxiety isn’t an excuse that Black people (or any other minorities really) are allowed to have. Black people are supposed to be at the bottom of the social caste system, and we’re supposed to be meek and quiet about it. Even supposed leftists talk almost exclusively about the white working class, spending virtually no time speaking to the Black working class or building relationships with them. When they ask us to talk about “workers,” they are talking specifically about white workers in factories in the northeast and the rust belt. They aren’t talking about Black communities in South Carolina, in North Carolina, or in Georgia. Despite the median Black family having 13 times less the wealth of the median white family, Black people have not turned to racial demagogues who demonize other races and call for attacking them to solve their economic problems. The Black community has not turned to the politics of hate in order to fix our much more pressing and severe economic anxiety. Why isn’t economic anxiety ever an excuse we get to use? You already know the answer. Instead, “economic anxiety” is reserved as an excuse for significantly wealthier white workers who have espoused support for racist politics. Nobody is talking about how the Black working class has very real economic anxiety. They are either ignored or told that that they deserve it. My Personal Empathy Challenge For Readers Initially, I wanted to say I challenge white leftists, but that wouldn’t be fair. I want to challenge everyone to this: the next time you see a Black person who has done or said something bad, consider if they have economic anxiety. Since economic anxiety is an excuse that is readily available for the white working class, I think it should extend the same empathy to Black people feeling real economic anxiety. If that Black teenager on the local news stole a sandwich, that doesn’t mean he is an irredeemably bad person, it just means that he has economic anxiety. If a Black person says something mean or inappropriate, perhaps they are just worried about the economy, and you should have sympathy for them. We’re not going to defeat anti-blackness and discrimination overnight, but having genuine empathy for Black people (instead of viewing them as a threat, or violent, or stupid) is one of the first steps on the long winding road towards justice and equality.DoubleClick rejigs to improve service. DoubleClick UK has restructured its operations to link together both its sales and business development sides to service vertical advertising markets, such as leisure and business sectors. The move follows the sudden departure of sales director Richard Firminger last month (Revolution, 9 August, p4). The online sales house will now feature individual teams covering the business, leisure, consumer, technology and automotive sectors. The networks will be presided over by Anne-Catrin Sallaba, DoubleClick's newly promoted group publisher. Eric Stein, managing director of DoubleClick UK, explained that the restructure would offer clients a more thorough service. "What we've done now is focused specific resources on those vertical markets from the sales side as well as the business development side, so that we can have expertise in-house that can understand the perspective of publishers, web sites, advertisers and agencies," he said. Stein referred to DoubleClick's recent deal with British Airways to illustrate how the company is committed to achieving its client's objectives. The agreement saw BA sign a year-long global online media-buy deal with DoubleClick to execute ad campaigns across 15 countries. BA will also be the first company in the UK to use its Boomerang retargeting tool. "There is more demand from our clients for integrated types of solutions, for expertise on our part and for us to understand what is best for them," he continued. "This structure is designed to respond to both their current needs and those that we expect to experience in the future."The Royals have their backs against the wall. Trailing 3-2 in the World Series they need to take care of business at home to capture the crown. An interesting subplot to this situation is that there is a chance the Royals win the World Series with a negative run differential. After five games they are -12 (15 runs scored; 27 runs allowed). Their track record for low-scoring, close games suggests that even with two more wins they are unlikely to get themselves onto the positive side of things, and could be near the top of the list for their deficit. If (and at this point that is a big if) this happens, the Royals would be the 14th team since 1961 to win the World Series with a negative run differential: Year Winner Games RS RA R-Diff 1996 Yankees 6 18 26 -8 1997 Marlins 7 37 44 -7 1991 Twins 7 24 29 -5 1972 Athletics 7 16 21 -5 2003 Marlins 6 17 21 -4 2002 Angels 7 41 44 -3 1973 Athletics 7 21 24 -3 1992 Blue Jays 6 17 20 -3 1977 Yankees 6 26 28 -2 1975 Reds 7 29 30 -1 1962 Yankees 7 20 21 -1 1971 Pirates 7 23 24 -1 1964 Cardinals 7 32 33 -1 The table shows that one quarter of the World Series winners (since 1961) have won with a negative run differential. You can see that the run differential in many of these series was not large. And in the series where the run differential ended up larger, the series typically involved many close games with a blowout loss for the eventual winner mixed in. With two 2-run wins, the Royals will put themselves in a tie at the top of the list. I am sure they won't care, as winning is what really matters. But this post does not need to only focus on the negative. If we flip things over and look at the largest positive run differentials for World Series winners, we see that the Giants have a chance to move into the upper tier. Year Winner Games RS RA R-Diff 2001 Dbacks 7 37 14 23 2007 Red Sox 4 29 10 19 1989 Athletics 4 32 14 18 2010 Giants 5 29 12 17 1985 Royals 7 28 13 15 1976 Reds 4 22 8 14 1990 Reds 4 22 8 14 1961 Yankees 5 27 13 14 1970 Orioles 5 33 20 13 2013 Red Sox 6 27 14 13 1978 Yankees 6 36 23 13 1998 Yankees 4 26 13 13 With a Game 6 win, the Giants are guaranteed to have a run differential of at least 13, which will put them into the group shown above. With a big win they can jump up to the top of the list. Catching the Diamondbacks will be tricky, although their +23 is really driven by a 15-2 win in Game 6 of the 2001 Series, so who knows. In the end, being the team with the best (or worst) run-differential in the World Series does not really matter. Winning the series is what matters; the run differential that accompanies it is just a footnote of the series. It just so happens that this year the run differential result could be quite interesting either way. ... All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference. Chris Teeter is a featured writer and editor at Beyond the Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @c_mcgeets.AIG gets $170 billion from taxpayers. Taxpayers now own 80% of the company. Company hands out hundreds of millions in bonuses. Congress and Treasury claim they had no idea and can’t stop the payments. Congress announces new taxes to recover most egregious bonuses (e.g. million dollar “retention” payouts to people that have left). And now this. The company is suing the federal government to get $306 million it paid after being busted for illegal use of offshore tax shenanigans. A government-owned company is suing the government to get back tax money it paid for not paying its taxes, and is using taxpayer money to pay the lawyers. My head hurts. From the NYT: While the American International Group comes under fire from Congress over executive bonuses, it is quietly fighting the federal government for the return of $306 million in tax payments, some related to deals that were conducted through offshore tax havens. A.I.G. sued the government last month in a bid to force it to return the payments, which stemmed in large part from its use of aggressive tax deals, some involving entities controlled by the company’s financial products unit in the Cayman Islands, Ireland, the Dutch Antilles and other offshore havens. A.I.G. is effectively suing its majority owner, the government, which has an 80 percent stake and has poured nearly $200 billion into the insurer in a bid to avert its collapse and avoid troubling the global financial markets. The company is in effect asking for even more money, in the form of tax refunds. The suit also suggests that A.I.G. is spending taxpayer money to pursue its case, something it is legally entitled to do. Its initial claim was denied by the Internal Revenue Service last year. The lawsuit, filed on Feb. 27 in Federal District Court in Manhattan, details, among other things, certain tax-related dealings of the financial products unit, the once high-flying division that has been singled out for its role in A.I.G.’s financial crisis last fall. Other deals involved A.I.G. offshore entities whose function centers on executive compensation and include C. V. Starr & Company, a closely held concern controlled by Maurice R. Greenberg, A.I.G.’s former chairman, and the Starr International Company, a privately held enterprise incorporated in Panama, and commonly known as SICO. The lawsuit contends in part that the federal government owes A.I.G. nearly $62 million in foreign tax credits related to eight foreign entities, with names like Lumagrove, Laperouse and Foppingadreef, that were set up or controlled by financial products, often through a unit known as Pinestead Holdings. United States tax law allows American companies to claim a credit for any taxes paid to a foreign government. But the I.R.S. denied A.I.G.’s refund claims in 2008, saying that it had improperly calculated the credits. The I.R.S. has identified so-called foreign tax-credit generators as an area of abuse that it is increasingly monitoring. The remainder of A.I.G.’s claim, for $244 million, concerns net operating loss carry-backs, capital loss carry-backs, a general refund claim and claims for refunds of other tax-related payments that A.I.G. says it made to the I.R.S. but are now owed back. The claim also covers $119 million in penalties and interest that A.I.G. says it is due back from the government. In part, A.I.G. says it overpaid its federal income taxes after a 2004 accounting scandal that caused it to restate its financial records. A.I.G. says in part that it is entitled to a refund of $33 million that SICO paid in 1997 as compensation to employees, which it now says should be characterized as a deductible expense. A.I.G.’s lawyers in the case, at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, referred calls to the company. Asked about the lawsuit, Mark Herr, an A.I.G. spokesman, said Thursday that “A.I.G. is taking this action to ensure that it is not required to pay more than its fair share of taxes.”I must say I really like these headlights!! Many will find a downside to the type of battery you "MUST" use as they are not readily available in stores. Amazon does sell them and I have found them on Ebay. I have a couple of high intensity lights that use that battery so I have several. I used this thing recently to repair my clothes washer! It is a dark and gloomy place inside the cabinet of a washer, but these light brighten things up nicely. The single light on, it fairly intense, but if you turn it on so that the three front lights work it gives a nice overall brightening of an area. The single light is more for a specific spot. Very bright and very comfortable to wear. The cheap headlight clamp just to the forehead and are a bit uncomfortable to wear, but these lights are mounted on a plastic piece that fits nicely against your head. So far I really like the thing and will use it more often as I repair my own radios and my eyes are not what they used to be! Extra light is always helpful. They are very adjustable for about any situation.Seattle's first signing of the free agent period, offensive lineman Luke Joeckel, became official Saturday afternoon, as the team continues its pursuit of T.J. Lang. While the Seahawks officially announced the addition of one free agent offensive lineman Saturday — Luke Joeckel — they appeared to take a big step closer to securing another offensive line free agent target, T.J. Lang. Lang, a 2016 Pro Bowl selection as a right guard with Green Bay, was reported to have had a “great” visit with the Seahawks with a decision possibly coming as early as Sunday, according to Jordan Schultz of the Huffington Post (Seahawks’ fans also read optimistically into the fact that almost the minute that report was released, Lang began following the Seahawks’ official Twitter account). Proof that something was going on at the team’s facility in Renton came in the fact that Seattle had a much-smaller contingent of coaches and execs at the University of Washington’s Annual Pro Day Saturday morning. Coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider often attend, as do coordinators. But none were at the Pro Day with the Seahawks wooing Lang, as well as fellow former Green Bay teammate running back Eddie Lacy (Lacy was spotted in Minnesota Saturday night, having flown in after his visit with Seattle). The 29-year-old Lang was expected to be put through a physical by the Seahawks after having hip surgery in January and also suffering a foot injury last season that he re-aggravated in the Packers’ playoff loss to Atlanta. He was also likely mulling over a contract that would almost certainly be the largest the team has given to a free agent offensive lineman in the Carroll/Schneider era, and possibly threatening the most the team has given any offensive lineman, an honor that for the moment goes to the four-year, $25 million extension handed center Max Unger in 2012. A general expectation is that Seattle would have to pay Lang $8-9 million annually over three or four years. While Seattle continued its work on Lang, another piece of earlier reported business became official as the team announced the signing of Joeckel. It had been reported Thursday that he had agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $8 million with the Seahawks. That was the only move involving the Seahawks listed on Saturday’s NFL transactions report. Exact details of Joeckel’s contract also had yet to be revealed. As it is, the $8 million reported contract would be the most Seattle has paid to any offensive lineman since re-signing Unger. But it is anticipated that much of Joeckel’s money is tied up in performance and ability-to-play incentives considering he is coming off major knee surgery (ACL, MCL) last October. The 25-year-old Joeckel was the second overall pick of the NFL Draft in 2013 out of Texas A&M. Texas A&M had three players that year taken in the top 100 in the draft and all three have now been Seahawks, the others being RB Christine Michael, taken that year by Seattle at No 62 overall, and DE Damontre Moore, taken No. 81 by the Giants and then spending some time with Seattle last year before signing on Friday as a free agent with Dallas. Joeckel played both tackle and guard in four years with the Jaguars, initially viewed as a franchise-type left tackle but moved to guard last season after the team declined to pick up his fifth-year option, which allowed him to become a free agent this year. It’s unclear if the Seahawks see him specifically as a guard or tackle or if they are bringing him in to add experience and competition, something Schneider said at the NFL Combine last week was a goal of the team this off-season. Adding Lang, a Pro Bowler as a guard last season and an eight-year veteran with the Green Bay Packers, would add even more experience and a player who would be viewed as a certain starter. Green Bay allowed Lang to enter free agency due in part to concerns over the hip and left foot issues and age, as well as simply apparently prioritizing other players. But the Seahawks appear to have made a heavy push to get Lang, a player drafted by Green Bay in 2009 when Schneider was the team’s director of football operations. Lang played the last four seasons at right guard, the same spot where Seattle last season used first-round pick Germain Ifedi. If Seattle gives Lang a significant deal, though, it undoubtedly comes with the expectation that he will start. Whether that means moving Ifedi back to tackle — he played right tackle his last two seasons at Texas A&M — or moving Lang to tackle, a spot he played some during his first four years with the Packers, remains unclear. What is obvious is Seattle’s desire to improve an offensive line that many considered among the worst in the NFL last season and was due to have no returning players with more than three years experience before the signing of Joeckel. Lang visited Detroit Thursday and Friday and also had been reported as considering returning to Green Bay. But a few other potential suitors appear to have fallen to the wayside. An earlier reported trip to Denver for Lang was canceled when the Broncos signed free agent guard Ronald Leary. And it was reported Saturday that the Atlanta Falcons had initial interest in talking to Lang but were no longer expected to do so. If that makes it just a three-team race, Seattle would be fighting against Lang’s Green Bay ties as well as a Detroit team near his hometown of Royal Oak, Mich., and likely hoping it could get a deal signed by the time the weekend is out. It was also revealed Saturday afternoon that running back Latavius Murray will visit Jacksonville on Monday and the Seahawks on Tuesday. The Seahawks were also reported to be getting a visit Friday/Saturday from Green Bay free agent running back Eddie Lacy. Also, safety J.J. Wilcox of Dallas, who had been expected to visit Seattle, instead signed with Tampa Bay on Saturday following his visit there.Customers can choose the robot's eye colour, nipple shape and fingernail type. Credit:Facebook/RealDoll "People snigger about them, but they [the companies] are actually shipping quite a lot and we are going to see them a lot more," Mr Sharkey said at the launch of the new report. Modern sex dolls have evolved out of their blow-up counterparts into robots with a silicon skin that is warm to the touch – with deliberately human-like responses achieved by artificial intelligence. The user can also "customise" their robot to suit their persuasions, choosing everything from the robot's eye colour, nipple shape to fingernail type or colour. But it gets even more disturbing, with many of the robots possessing "personalities" that would make a Stepford Wife look progressive. Modern sex dolls have evolved into robots with a silicon skin. Credit:Facebook/RealDoll The RealBotix robot, for example, allows users to customise their robots according to the traits they find appealing, such as shyness. Then there are the Roxxxy Gold sex robots, developed by True Companion, which come with pre-programmed personalities, including "Frigid Farrah" that gives the impression of shyness and "Wild Wendy" with an "adventurous" personality. "Roxxxy Gold has a personality which is matched as much
was officially appointed Historian of the City when he had already demonstrated, in daily practice, that he was the ideal person to carry out the ambitious projects that were only in his mind but which he described as fait accompli. So many people had to be convinced that the need to save Havana was so pressing that it would have to be taken on as a priority together with the education, public health and defense of the country. This implied such tasks of convincing and promoting that made Eusebio Leal excel as a tribune and diplomat as well as administrator and builder. Of course, the works and projects of the Office of the Historian of Havana earned enthusiastic patronage from the highest political leadership of the Cuban state, including that of the top leader Fidel Castro, who gave them their full support whenever necessary. With Eusebio’s personal participation in every promotional detail, the historic center of the Cuban capital was declared a World Heritage SIOPite by UNESCO in 1982. This fueled a process of restoration that has transcended the patrimonial conservation framework and became an example of sustainable local development. The restoration process had, as a central aim, the concept that the historic center would be not only an act of high architectural and urban value, but also the creation of a site with great cultural, economic and social potential. Eusebio was convinced that a successful rehabilitation should be self-financing and socially participatory. The restoration process of the Historic Center of Old Havana –based on a model of self-management with a participatory and community approach– has been successful in the Cuban patrimonial context. It has contributed to the objective of guaranteeing the social achievements of the Cuban people within the socialist revolution. One undoubted social impact of the restoration process is that it created a new awareness about the value of the city, its potential and the feasibility of its recovery. The restoration of old hotels, the creation of hostels and extra-hotel services of various kinds has created the most visible side of the economy of the historic center. These, together with the commercial activity and handicraft production, have formed a profile that describes the historic center of the city. Havana will not be gentrified. The population that has given it worldwide fame for its joy, traditions, hospitality, generosity and solidarity will continue to be the absolute owner of the increasingly beautiful and welcoming city. A CubaNews translation.When Republic FC coach Preki asked midfielder Agustin Cazarez to switch to outside back during a training session, the former Saint Mary’s standout was surprised and intrigued. Cazarez hadn’t played as a defender since his youth days. But he also had yet to play for Republic FC in USL action, so he saw it as a potential opportunity to get on the field. A few days later against the Orange County Blues FC at Bonney Field, Cazarez entered the match in the second half at left outside back. Five days later, Cazarez started at what has been Republic FC’s most unstable position during its two seasons. He made his second start Saturday against the Seattle Sounders FC 2 at Bonney Field. “There was a little bit of nerves and a little bit of excitement,” Cazarez said of his first action as a defender against the Blues. “You have the nerves because you know you can’t make mistakes. But I was a little calm, too. I know the more I play, the more comfortable I’m going to get.” Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to The Sacramento Bee Preki has moved several players into different positions during his two seasons with Republic FC, but he said Cazarez’s transition is still a work in progress. “He’s done OK so far,” Preki said. “Obviously, it’s a new position for him. But in professional football, players should be able to play every position.” One of Preki’s biggest success stories is Emrah Klimenta, Republic FC’s second-year pro. The Bay Area product grew up as a forward, made the Republic FC roster from an open tryout and has been a fixture at right fullback from the start. “It was a challenge, but Preki told me from Day One, I wouldn’t be here if he didn’t trust me and didn’t see something in me,” Klimenta said. “Preki is a genius when it comes to making the right decision. He moves people around in practice. But he’s not going to throw someone into a game if he doesn’t think he can do the job.” When Republic FC opened its inaugural USL campaign, right back seemed to be the questionable spot because of Klimenta’s inexperience. Left back was considered a team strength. Nemanja Vukovic was an experienced outside defender with Major League Soccer experience. But when Harrison Delbridge struggled in central defense, Preki moved Vukovic to that position, where he went on to be named USL Defender of the Year. Since that move, a carousel of players has played left back. James Kiffe came to Republic FC as a late signing last season and played well at the position in the last four regular-season and three postseason matches. Kiffe started Republic FC’s first seven USL matches this season. But he didn’t return in the second half of the April 24 match against the Blues after forward Denzel Slager scored on a breakaway late in the first half of an eventual 2-1 Blues win. In Preki’s system of play, outside backs are allowed to push up and become playmakers in the offensive end. But they can’t be burned for easy goals, either. “The defending has to be solid,” Preki said. “You’ve also got to give us some quality movements forward. In those positions, players have to be good both ways. We’re always assessing here where the best place is to play people. We felt with Emrah, defender was the best place for him. Now we feel the best place for Cazarez is at left back.” The left-footed Cazarez said playing defender as opposed to the midfield comes with a “different mindset, different mentality.” “Positioning is huge, and your head is always turning to make sure you know what’s around you,” he said. “Your one vs. one defending has to be good, and you really have to be locked in, because if you make a mistake, they are going to (score).” Klimenta knows how Cazarez feels, having been in his boots last season. “Augie has come in and filled the position beautifully,” Klimenta said. “He’s an offensive player as well, so when he gets the ball, he’s comfortable on it. He’s making those nice passes in the middle and down the line. Going and up and down, he’s lacking a little game fitness because he hasn’t played that much. But that will come.” Klimenta said the most important thing he learned in his transition from being a forward to a defender was the need to be tough and fearless. “You have to be a little tougher and go hard into challenges,” Klimenta said. “For me, it’s more second nature now. I love cracking people – not to hurt them – but to win the ball back for my team so we can start off our attack again.”Pelle Braendgaard is the co-founder of Kipochi, a UK-based, globally focused bitcoin wallet service started in March 2013. Kipochi notably integrated with Kenya-based mobile payments provider M-Pesa in July 2013, allowing its users to send and receive bitcoins before converting them to local currency. Braendgaard recently spoke at Inside Bitcoins NYC as part of the a keynote panel called “Bitcoin, Remittances and the Developing World”. The panel included Epiphyte CEO Edan Yago and Let’s Talk Bitcoin! co-host Stephanie Murphy, among others. After the session, CoinDesk spoke to Braendgaard in a candid conversation about the challenges bitcoin faces in the developing world. CoinDesk: Since Kipochi is mostly focused on developing markets, some readers may be unfamiliar with your service and its mission. Can you start by briefing us a bit on the big-picture vision for the company? Pelle Braendgaard: What we’re trying to do is, first of all, create a wallet that allows you to send and receive bitcoins. I think that most current wallets are just not very easy to use for your average user. We do that by modeling it very much on how mobile money systems work in Africa. There, you can send money with your mobile number, if you send money to someone, a wallet gets created in the background and you can just access it. So, there’s no sign-up. You spoke at length today about the challenges bitcoin faces in the remittance market. Should consumers view Kipochi as a wallet provider or a remittance service? Remittance is really an old-fashioned way of looking at it. You’d go into the Western Union office and send an amount of money to Senora Gonzalez, or whoever, in some country, and she could go to an office down there and pick it up. Yes, it’s electronic, but the end user doesn’t do anything electronic. They deal person-to-person. So, that model doesn’t really work with bitcoin. It could work with bitcoin as a back-end, but bitcoin itself doesn’t have a way of providing an identifiable person behind it, so you need to send money to a bitcoin address somehow. [With] that model, unless it’s just Western Union and they change from using whatever electronic system they use now to use bitcoin as a back-end, things may be a little cheaper, but the savings is not really big. I see remittances being more like mobile money, where you load money onto the phone and send it to someone, who can then go and cash that money out. Given that the international market is so large, do you view Kipochi as a company that has competitors in the bitcoin wallet or remittance space? Our primary competitors are existing remittance systems. I mean, you could say that other bitcoin wallets like Blockchain are our competitors, but they’re really only our competitors in the established technical user space. People will argue that non-technical users can use bitcoin and download an Android wallet, but most of them are really, really complicated. Your average user starts getting scared if he sees all kinds of crazy code, which is what a bitcoin address is, it’s just a bunch of letters and numbers and it freaks people out. Maybe a phone number used to freak people out, but at least there was a period where you’d call your operator and say ‘I’d like to call Mr Smith in number 12’, they would do that. So, there was this period where people got used to the numbers. I think it’s actually the biggest stumbling block in the bitcoin community. When you think of remittance providers, you think of companies that need licensing to operate in different countries. Do bitcoin wallets need licensing if they’re used for international money sending? No jurisdiction so far has not come out with any rules regarding wallets. The exchange is what you have to go in and license. The exchange is the equivalent of the Western Union office. Here in the US, at Coinbase, we can get money in and out using our bank accounts. Developing countries and immigrants, they would prefer to go into an agent of some sort and do it in person. We’re working with banks and operators to make an easy way for people to exchange bitcoin for Kenyan shilling in their bank account. It’ll take time before that deal is confirmed, but we’re working with them. In the meantime, LocalBitcoins and similar kinds of services are where people are going to start using these systems. If you look at M-Pesa, you could go to a local agent and someone you trust, so they were able to grow quickly. It will be very easy for those businesses to offer bitcoin services, so I see a lot of new business coming from there. How does Kipochi plan to adapt its wallet offering to serve a remittance function? The wallet doesn’t handle the translation into the local currency […] We’ll be announcing a South African exchange soon – it will be the first one where you can move money between your Kipochi wallet and the exchange. So, we’re looking at it in a way where we are helping exchanges. Whether those exchanges are online or not, it’s all the same for us, we provide an easy way for them to get money in and out of wallets so they can build their own business. Given that you’re casting such a wide net by focusing on the developing world, how differently are you approaching different markets? Our base wallet is going to be the same, but each exchange will be determined by the regulatory culture of each country. For example, in Kenya, people are a lot more used to dealing with mobile money, so I see Kenya being small agents first, then fairly quickly banks will offer a service where you can get money in and out of your wallet. We’re already talking with banks to do that down there. So, there will be a button where – I won’t mention the banks that we’re working with – but you’ll be able to move money in and out of your bank account. Let’s talk about Kenya. Its consumers are the most experienced with digital money, and therefore it would seem, most likely to understand your solution. Are you worried about not being able to replace solutions like M-Pesa for this reason? [Bitcoin]’s cheaper, it’s international. The international part is the important part. For people sending money in Kenya, there’s no way we can compete with M-Pesa within the next year or so, probably in the longer-term, yes. But, there are a lot of problems with M-Pesa. They are very, very happy with themselves and trying to cut competitors out as much as possible. One of the pain points that comes up when talking about international markets is that those who might benefit the most from solutions like bitcoin might not have the technical knowledge to understand them or be worried about its volatility. How big is this issue? Initially it will be an issue, and for mass adoption it will need to be solved. But, there are enough people that can use the technology now. It won’t reach the grandmas just yet, until that volatility issue is solved. Education is a big issue. Most of our users are pretty much young well-educated tech-savvy guys in their twenties. I don’t have definite numbers on that, but that’s everyone I talk to. This interview was edited for clarity. Smartphone user image via Shutterstock. Pelle Braendgaard image via KipochiWhile X-Men: Apocalypse is still in production in Montreal, writer/producer Simon Kinberg is already thinking about what’s next for the merry mutants. “I just wanna finish this movie and then figure out the next one,” writer-producer Simon Kinberg tells EW. “But I do think about the next chapters of these stories.” The X-Men films are coming up on a turning point. The contracts for the core cast members who came onboard with X-Men: First Class – Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, and Nicholas Hoult – are all set to expire after Apocalypse. Kinberg hopes that they’ll return, but says the series will continue either way. “My hope is we can bring these guys back,” Kinberg says. “And if we didn’t then I would adjust.” X-Men: Apocalypse is a pivotal moment for the series, shifting the narrative focus to the young versions of Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), and Storm (Alexandra Shipp) while concluding the character arcs begun in First Class and continued in Days of Future Past. It’s interesting to hear Kinberg mention that he’s already looking to the series’ future, and that the focus of the series is on the newly cast young X-Men, as this seems to clash with rumors of a franchise reboot that surfaced back in April.After a World Series in 2016 and signing Edwin Encarnacion in the off-season, Cleveland has high hopes for this upcoming season. Many have called them the favorites in the American League, and the Indians are looking to end the longest active World Series drought in baseball. How much can the team expect from their catcher? Despite his awful season last year, Gomes will retain the everyday catching job. Roberto Perez handled himself extremely well in the playoffs for Cleveland but it’s pretty clear what kind of player he is. What isn’t clear is what kind of player Gomes is. Can teams expect a 2014 Silver Slugging season, or a 2016 collapse? The answer is almost definitely “somewhere in the middle.” It’s certainly possible that Gomes has another down-in-the-dumps season, but looking at his career averages it isn’t likely. It’s also possible that Gomes has a comeback-player-of-the-year-award type of season, but coming back from a sub-.200 year makes that a tall task. No, instead Gomes will likely have a decidedly average season. The Tribe committed to Gomes when they gave him that long extension in 2014. They know he has the potential to play like a star so they’ll be looking to give him every opportunity to play at a high level. We know Gomes will produce defensively. He’s been a top defensive catcher since he joined Cleveland in 2013. Last year, Gomes focused on his defense and finished the season with a 99.5 fielding percentage. The question is all about his batting. With a lineup including Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santanna, Edwin Encarnacion, and Jose Ramirez the Indians won’t need Gomes to produce much offensively. Even at his peak Gomes wasn’t a better hitter than any of the guys who will be batting in front of him now. However, that release of pressure to produce will enable him to take the game as it comes to him and hopefully bring his bat up to speed. Barring more injury problems Gomes’ numbers will rise significantly from his last campaign, but the question is how much. He isn’t a defensive specialist with no offense to speak of, but he probably isn’t a perennial Silver Slugger either. All the Indians need from him are solid numbers on par with other players of his position. If they can get that sort of performance the Tribe will be in good shape for another deep playoff run. A solid prediction for Gomes’ 2017 season would put him batting around.250 with 50+ RBIs and double digit home runs. His on-base percentage should hover around.300 and he’ll be looking to push that slugging percentage around.420. We know he’ll produce defensively, and you can expect a fielding percentage around 99%. Gomes should look at this season as an opportunity to gain a foundation he can build on in the future. These are rather average numbers, but a start to getting back to the level he played at two years ago. If he can just get average production he’ll be the starter on what looks to be a great team and help contend for a championship.Ask an Iowa fan and they’ll tell you that special teams have been anything but special over the past few seasons. Between trying to find a reliable field goal kicker, recognizing and defending an onside kick, actually "tackling the guy who has the ball" on kickoffs and finding a punt returner who won’t call for a fair catch despite having 10 yards of running room, it’s been a tough stretch for the Hawkeyes. But there have been glimmers of hope this season. Central Michigan (vomit) aside, the Iowa special teams have been surprisingly competent and appear to be improving as the season moves forward. The unanimous special teams MVP is Mike Meyer, who is 14 of 15 on FG attempts with his only miss being a 40 yarder in week one against NIU. Since that time he’s converted three 40+ yard attempts, including a 42 yarder against Michigan State in the second overtime which ended up being the game winning points. Meyer has also kicked a school record 68 PATs in a row. A few more stats: Meyer’s 14 field goals tie him for third in the nation. Meyer’s 54 points leads the Hawkeyes and makes him the 18th highest scoring player in the nation. Meyer’s 2.33 field goals made per game put him at fifth in the nation. Summation: Meyer has been excellent and is arguably the best kicker in the nation. The punting unit has been less than spectacular. Between using a true freshman to play boom ball and an ex-quarterback to coffin corner, Iowa is one of the worst teams in the conference in punting yards and worst teams in the nation when it comes to net punting. Same goes for punt returns, as Micah Hyde has a nasty habit of fair catching when he should be running and running (or attempting to run) when he should be fair catching. Despite the lack of success, he maintains starting status as punt returner. If the Iowa offense is to continue treating the end zone like it’s littered with the bubonic plague, the kicking game has to maintain its high level of success. Despite their trouble scoring touchdowns, the Hawkeyes are scoring almost 93% of the time they get into the red zone thanks to Meyer’s excellent play. Naturally, they’re taking on a team that is the 14th best in the nation when it comes to opponent red zone scoring percentage (69%). Thus, it goes without saying: special teams are important against Penn State. Speaking of Penn State special teams. Wow. If Iowa is bad in some special teams categories, Penn State is worse. To illustrate: Let’s start with "kicker." Following the departure of starter Anthony Fera, the Nittany Lions turned to sophomore Sam Ficken, who is currently 3 of 9 on the year and has only made 19 of 21 PATs. It’s arguable that he’ll forever be remembered for the disastrous Virginia game, where he went 1 for 5, had a PAT blocked and missed the game winning field goal. Since that time Penn State has attempted 4 field goals in 4 games. And it’s not that their offense doesn’t need to kick field goals. It’s that Bill O’Brien has his team going for it on 4th down 2.2 times a game. Only three teams (ULM, Navy and Army) are going for it more. Ficken’s struggles explain why Penn State has one of the worst red zone scoring offenses in the nation. The Nittany Lions are only scoring 70% of the time they get inside the opponent 20, which ranks 102nd out of 124 FBS teams (Team Rankings counts the transitional FBS teams). Finally, punting isn’t much better. The Nittany Lions rank dead last in net punting and are only averaging 36.5 yards per punt. It could be better. That’s why special teams will decide this game. Iowa is one of the worst touchdown scoring offenses in the nation. Penn State’s defense will look to hurry Vandenberg, bottle up whoever is running the ball and keep the Hawkeyes out of the end zone. Thus, the Hawkeyes will be forced to rely on the special teams in the clutch. The positive is that their special teams are clutch. Penn State certainly doesn’t have that luxury. Both Iowa and Penn State are holding teams to 1.8 offensive touchdowns per game. Bend, but don’t break. Thus, when it comes down to crunch time and a big kick is needed to seal the victory, the team with the better kicker will walk away the victor. And I think we know who that team is... Image credit via The Pants, all stats taken from Rivals and Team Rankings.Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential contender, speaks at the 59th annual Nevada State AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention on Aug. 18 in Las Vegas. (LE Baskow/Las Vegas Sun via AP) Earlier this month, a group of activist teachers wrote an open letter to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is running for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination against front-runner Hillary Clinton and who has gained some unexpected support around the country. These teachers support Sanders but are concerned about his views on public education and wrote to him to express their disappointment with at least one vote he cast recently in the Senate during the debate over rewriting No Child Left Behind. Back in May 2001, Sanders voted for No Child Left Behind in the Senate, but in December of the same year, voted against the final bill, one of the few members of Congress to do so. In a recent statement to the American Federation of Teachers, he said: I voted against No Child Left Behind in 2001, and continue to oppose the bill’s reliance on high-stakes standardized testing to direct draconian interventions. In my view, No Child Left Behind ignores several important factors in a student’s academic performance, specifically the impact of poverty, access to adequate health care, mental health, nutrition, and a wide variety of supports that children in poverty should have access to. By placing so much emphasis on standardized testing, No Child Left Behind ignores many of the skills and qualities that are vitally important in our 21st century economy, like problem solving, critical thinking, and teamwork, in favor of test preparation that provides no benefit to students after they leave school. But during the debate last month in the Senate about legislation that seeks to rewrite NCLB and slash federal involvement in education, he supported a measure known as the Murphy amendment, which would have kept alive some of NCLB’s punitive, federally mandated actions against schools considered to be failing based on standardized test scores. The letter by the activist teachers was published on Huffington Post by Arthur Goldstein, an ESL teacher and chapter chair of the United Federation of Teachers at Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows, N.Y. A Sanders aide responded to the letter, sending an e-mail to Goldstein. With permission, here is the open letter to Sanders from the teachers, and then the Sanders campaign response, which Goldstein published on his Facebook page. Here’s the open letter, with an introduction by Goldstein: Many of us, public school teachers and parents, have enthusiastically supported Senator Sanders for President. We were encouraged by his opposition to NCLB, but disappointed when he voted for the Murphy Amendment, which would have imposed many of the conditions we’ve consistently opposed. Our students have been through more than enough of this already. Therefore we’ve written the following: Dear Senator Sanders, We are educators and supporters of yours, from across the country. Many of your positions on the issues that are the most significant facing the American populace resonate with us, inclusive of but not limited to economic inequality and the plutocratic maldistribution of political power. In addition to being supporters and organizers for your campaign and the issues above, we are also some of the educators who are fighting against the privatization of public education and the test and punish philosophy that has become pervasive with far too many politicians. We champion this fight because our students, our profession, and the future of this country depend upon our changing the conditions that exist today under the failed No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top policies. We are disappointed with your recent votes in the senate that contain provisions which perpetuate quantitatively based measures of education. Your Tennessee senatorial colleague Lamar Alexander correctly stated that what you just recently voted for, “Instead of fixing No Child Left Behind, it keeps the worst parts of it.” Quantitative measures are invalid. They are masks for social inequalities. They merely highlight and then reflect economic and racial inequalities. Mel Riddile, “PISA: It’s Still ‘Poverty Not Stupid'”at the blog, “The Principal’s Corner”, found that numerical performance of districts mirrors the scale of economic inequalities of those districts. Statisticians have proven over and over again that the use of value added modeling is logically flawed. NCLB drove the use of value-added modeling (VAM) which negatively transformed the teaching and learning processes in the nation’s schools. Furthermore, as union members we believe that the current education “reform” agenda is a relentless and insidious attack on unionism itself. This agenda’s usurpation of the language and iconography of the Civil Rights struggle and the limitlessness financial resources of the billionaires, hedge funders, and corporations who are championing and bank rolling it are reprehensible. It is therefore, sir, not merely an attack on children, teachers, and public education, but an undermining of the noblest and most progressive movements in American history: union rights and civil rights. We implore you to rethink your recent vote, which is wholly and utterly incongruous to your noble and progressive defense of the American working class. In order for us to continue to organize and mobilize our communities’ voters to support you, we need you to clearly articulate a position that is anti Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and high-stakes testing (HST) and in favor of decoupling testing from teacher evaluations. The CCSS were written by two lobbying entities, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, and David Coleman, all of whom were interested in making money, rather than by K-12 educators who work with students in the classroom every day. The adoption of these standards by the states happened because the Obama administration was able to capitalize on the recession and the states’ need for an influx of federal monies for their statewide education programs. As the economy is improving and the awful realization of the CCSS testing standard charade becomes more obvious, states are abandoning the CCSS and the abusive testing regime that is embedded in it. Senator Sanders, these standards do not facilitate conventional and/or appropriate student understanding in core curriculum and in many cases singularly serve to alienate educators and students from the very subjects they need to understand to function in society. Please accept this letter as a formal request that you begin publicly, in the Senate Chamber and on the campaign trail, stipulating that you stand with teachers against CCSS, HST and VAM. Please feel free to contact any or all of us if you need further information. Respectfully, (organizations, for affiliation) Alexandra Alves, UFT Chapter Leader, PS 2, Movement of Rank and File Educators (UFT), STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Gina Amodeo (CFT, AFT), BAT Karen Arneson, Movement of Rank and File Educators (UFT), STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Fredrick Bertz, Board Member, United Teachers Los Angeles, (NEA, AFT – For identification only) Lyn Bigelow, Natomas Teachers Association (CTA, NEA) Judy Bjorke, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (AFT, NEA) Brenda Borge, Natomas Teachers’ Association (CTA, NEA) Tandy Braid, PEA,FLEA (AFT, NEA) Beth Chetney, President Baldwinsville, Teachers Association, STCaucus Treasurer (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Rob Connaire, Philadelphia, Local 3 (AFT) Gina Jeanne Damone, Canajoharie United School Employees (AFT, NEA, NYSUT), NYBAT, BAT Albert Delgado, Chicago Teachers Union, Local 1 (AFT) Beth Dimino, President, Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association, Chair STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Pat Dobosz, Movement of Rank and File Educators (UFT), STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Helen Farias, VP Sweetwater Education Association (CTA/NEA) Nick Ferraioli, Brentwood Teachers Association (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) and Connetquot School Board Trustee Amy Fried, Philadelphia, Local 3 (AFT) Arthur Goldstein, UFT Chapter Leader, Francis Lewis High School, Movement of Rank and File Educators (UFT), STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Larry Graykin, Barrington EA (NEA-NH, NEA), BAT Elias Hadjiminas, Movement of Rank and File Educators; Solidarity (UFT), (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Nathaniel Hathaway, Malone Federation of Teachers, Vice chair STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Caroline Hooper, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (AFT, NEA) Terry Kalb, Retiree Vice President of my NYSUT local BOCES Educators of Eastern Suffolk Joseph Karb, President, Springville-Griffith Faculty Association, Vice Chair STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) David Kaufman, West Islip Teachers’Association Vice a president for Secondary Schools, member of STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Nonie Kouneski, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (AFT, NEA) Gayle Lakin, Prince Georges County (NEA) Jia Lee, Movement of Rank and File Educators (UFT), (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) and Change the Stakes August Leppelmeier, Movement of Rank and File Educators (UFT), STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Michael Lillis, President, Lakeland Federation of Teachers, Vice Chair STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Carl Makower, Retiree Advocate (RTC/UFT) Barbara Mandeloni Jo Marley, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers PFT Local 3 (AFT) and PA BATs Louise Martin, Tal Lindenhurst (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Corinth Matera, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (AFT, NEA) Suzanne Mears, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (AFT, NEA) Kristen Konrad Mendoza, Buffalo Teachers Federation, NYSUT (AFT) Rebecca Miller, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers MFT, Education Minnesota (AFT and NEA) Jodi Szenda Monday, AAFMCC Local 6533 (AFT) Nate Morgan, President Hastings Teachers Association, Vice Chair STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Margaret Moschell, OEA (NEA), BAT Lisa Muntean, LEAD Caucus NV (NEA), BATs of NV Jon Parker, Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers Building Representative (AFT) BAT (PA BATs Admin) Pia Payne-Shannon, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT, AFT, NEA) Roberta Reid, Movement of Rank and File Educators (UFT), STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Valerie Rittler, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (AFT, NEA) Mindy Rosier, Movement of Rank and File Educators (UFT), STCaucus (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Patricia Rydeen, Minneapolis Federation of Teacher (AFT, NEA) Mike Schirtzer, Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE-UFT), STCaucus Vice Chair (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Karyn Schnaible-Coelho, FMEA (CTA, NEA), BAT Jolinda Simes, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (AFT, NEA) Steven Singer, Steel Valley Education Association (NEA), BAT Lynne Siqueiros, Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers (CFT, AFT), BAT Yvonne Lieberman Spector, BTU (NEA) Melissa Marini Svigelj-Smith, Local CTU 279 (Cleveland), OFT (Ohio, AFT), Refuse of Cuyahoga County (RoCC), Teachers for Social Justice, Opt Out Ohio, BAT Delegate Jane Swatosh, Minneapolis Federation of Teacher (AFT, NEA) Anna Tenaglia (PFT Local 3, AFT), BAT Jim Thomas, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (AFT, NEA) Patrick Walsh, UFT Chapter Leader, Movement of Rank and File Educators (UFT), STCaucus, (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Lesa Aloan Wilbert, President, Adirondack Teachers Association (AFT, NEA, NYSUT), BAT and NYBAT Richard Willis, North Babylon Teachers Organization (AFT, NEA, NYSUT) Mary Wester Wurl, FCFT Local 2401 (AFT), and BAT Janine Sopp, parent, Change the Stakes, NYC Opt Out Here’s the response from the Sanders campaign, which I am publishing with permission.A woman smokes a cigarette in an undated file photo. A virulent anti-smoker in Germany was so angry when his girlfriend lit up he emptied a fire extinguisher to put out the cigarette, caking her and their apartment in powder. REUTERS/File BERLIN (Reuters) - A virulent anti-smoker in Germany was so angry when his girlfriend lit up he emptied a fire extinguisher to put out the cigarette, caking her and their apartment in powder. “My colleagues said it looked like a bomb had gone off in there,” said a spokesman for police in the western city of Bielefeld. “He managed to put the cigarette out though.” After the woman ignored his request not to smoke, the 42-year-old sprayed the contents of the extinguisher all around the flat shouting abuse, police said. “He said he wasn’t bothered by the damage it caused,” the spokesman said. “And that he’s through with his girlfriend.”Earlier this week, ABC announced that Nashville had been picked up for the rest of its first season. Happy news for us, since the show remains one of the best new dramas of the year, winning hearts where Revolution and Last Resort had left us wanting. Now that we’ve had five episodes to settle into its rockabilly arms, let’s look at what makes what’s ostensibly just another story about country music and heartbreak so refreshing. Despite its mileage on country clichés, Nashville feels like a sparkly newcomer to the television scene. Beyond the cheatin’, schemin’, and burning old flames, the drama is at heart about two women: the older established country star Rayna James and poppy newcomer (as well as potential rival) Juliette Barnes. Rayna’s and Juliette’s characters are inflected and mediated through their interaction with men — sexual, economic, and otherwise — but these alliances take second stage to the female networks that underwrite the world of Nashville. The show is, in a sense, as heterosexual as they come, but its portrayal of female relationships makes me wonder if it’s not one of the most distinct feminist dramas to appear on network television yet. As with most melodramatic soaps, Nashville often frames female interactions in terms of mutual undermining. Yet these contests aren’t just manifestations of girlish pettiness, envy, or “bitchiness”; nor are they made for the sole sake of men. While the quest for creative fulfillment
aked,” and pose for photos in exchange for tips. “The paint is on, but they’re still bare,” one mother from Canada said as she scanned photos to delete ones photobombed by the naked women. And now, the front page of a newspaper shows two police officers posing with the women, CBS2’s Dave Carlin reported. “Police probably shouldn’t be taking pictures with them because they should be setting an example,” Mark Nesbitt of London said. CBS2 demanded answers from NYPD Chief of Department James O’Neill who said the department is investigating and disciplinary action is possible. As 1010 WINS’ Juliet Papa reported, the mayor is planning what he described as an aggressive crackdown. “This situation is going to change. This is what I’ll guarantee you, I’m not going to tolerate it,” said de Blasio. “I’m not satisfied that we have used every tool in our arsenal yet.”UIG / Getty Images The Moon has been kind of a backwater lately. During the 1960’s, and early 1970’s it was the hottest possible destination, what with unmanned probes from the U.S. and U.S.S.R. touching down on the lunar surface, followed by American astronauts tromping and joyriding across the dusty landscape. It’s not that scientists have lost interest by any means, but most of what they’ve learned in recent decades has come from orbiting spacecraft like GRAIL and LCROSS and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. All that is changing, however, as China gears up to launch its first lunar rover, the Chang’e-3 in mid-December, following the success of the Chang’e-1 and Chang’e-2 orbiters in 2007 and 2010. The Russians have plans to return with unmanned probes as well, and so does at least one private company named Astrobotic Technology. While this new flurry of interest in up-close lunar exploration could be terrific for science, it could also threaten to disrupt or damage the historic sites of previous landings, where 60’s-era technology still sits, undisturbed. And undisturbed is how it should stay, say Henry Hertzfeld and Scott Pace, of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute. “Although we might assume the best of intentions for such [new] missions,” they write in a policy paper in the current Science, “they could irreparably disturb the traces of the first human visits to another world.” (MORE: Visitors From Beyond the Galaxy Reach the Antarctic) It’s not an entirely new worry. In the 1950’s, in fact, before the first primitive probes headed to the Moon, a panel of scientists warned the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to “make haste with due care” in exploring our closest neighbor. They were worried about contaminating the Moon’s then-pristine environment, but last summer the House of Representatives drafted legislation that would create the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites National Historical Park to safeguard artifacts from the heroic early years of the Space Age. It’s a noble idea, says Hertzfeld, but there’s one glaring problem. “If the bill were to become law,” he says, “it would be very easy for other nations to say the U.S. is aggressively declaring sovereignty over parts the Moon”—something explicitly prohibited by the U.N.-sponsored Outer Space Treaty created in 1967. Indeed, the new American law would violate not merely the spirit of that 46-year international one, but the letter of it too since all national parks fall under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, whose charter is to manage its assets “for the benefit and inspiration of all the people of the United States.” (PICTURES: Earth Photobombs Saturn) That sounds an awful lot like a declaration of sovereignty, worries Hertzfeld. It might be possible instead to have the Apollo sites and other places with remnants of unmanned landers declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites—but again, says Hertzfeld, “all of those sites are on sovereign territory,” raising that tricky question again. A better route, he and Pace argue, might be to create a new international treaty through the U.N. That, however, could take many years to push through, and with a new Moon rush about to begin, the diplomatic pace might not keep up with the exploratory one, leaving the historic sites vulnerable to damage. “The lunar regolith is dusty,” says Pace, “and if you kick up a lot of dust, you can inadvertently cause a lot of damage.” If lunar tourism ever begins in earnest—even if it’s virtual tourism, with a rover taking customers on a video ride-through of Apollo landing sites—the danger of flinging dust and, worse yet, obliterating astronaut footprints, would be even greater. The most efficient solution, Hertzfeld and Pace say, is to approach Russia directly, and, as of next month, China as well. “We should engage with those nations, despite some obvious political issues, and make a multilateral agreement that simply says ‘you leave our stuff alone, we’ll leave your stuff alone.’” As for lunar tourism, he says “any company that wants to do it will have to get permission from their government first,” so any multiparty agreement would presumably be binding on private companies as well. (MORE: The Rock That Clobbered Russia: Meteor Post-Mortem) The good thing about last summer’s Congressional bill, Hertzfeld believes, is that while it might never actually be passed into law, it jump-started an important conversation. The new paper is part of that conversation. “Our suggestion would need a lot more study and negotiation before it could be implemented,” he says, and acknowledges that someone might come up with an even better idea for preserving these monuments to space exploration. “Of course,” Hertzfeld says, “we’re assuming they’re worth preserving. But I think that’s a given.” Anyone who’s ever been inspired by the drama and adventure of space exploration would find it hard to disagree. (VIDEO: Countdown to NASA’s MAVEN Mission to Mars)debug-comments-loader A simple webpack-loader, that turns javascript-singel-line-comments into debuging tools. It will make the following code... var pi2 = square ( Math. PI ) ...print this in the console 9. 869604401089358 is PI squared. Installation npm install -- save - dev debug - comments - loader Usage It's recommended to only use it when importing the files that you are currently working with var stuff = require ('debug-comments-loader!stuff.js') But it can as well be used with a regex in the webpack.config.js { module : { loaders : [ { test : / \. js $ /, loader : " debug-comments-loader " } ] } } Then it's just to add your one line comments like this: var someJavascriptCode = " whatever " function someFunction ( ) { return " whatever " } Use a differnt logging command Just name a different logger function in the webpack-query-string var stuff = require ('debug-comments-loader?console.log!stuff.js') Known issues All known issues can be solved by moving the comment and/or using block comments instead. var bestArray = [ bestValue, bestvalue2 ] ( ) = > { }The Alamo Drafthouse used to do this thing every year called QT Fest where they would invite Quentin Tarantino to come down and bring 24 hours’ worth of film prints, then let him talk and talk and talk in the company of similarly verbose dorks like Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News fame. But QT Fest sputtered to a halt sometime around 2007, which is either an incalculable loss or a massive relief depending on your answer to this question: Would you rather be trapped in an elevator with Hannibal Lecter, or Quentin Tarantino after a couple of Red Bulls? Most people fall somewhere in the middle, which is why it’s a good thing that Tarantino is reportedly limiting his new role as full-time programmer of the New Beverly Cinema, the theater he owns in Los Angeles, to putting together double features. (Tarantino bought the theater in 2007 and has left its care to Michael Torgan, son of original owner Sherman Torgan, ever since). The New Beverly has been closed for almost a month, sparking rumors that the theater was going dark forever. But as Tarantino tells LA Weekly, he’s actually planning on ramping up his participation in the theater by using it to screen 35mm prints from his personal collection: “We’ll be doing the thing the New Beverly does so well—we’ll have Fassbender double-features, Truffaut double-features, The Thin Man movies, all that. But I have a really, really huge film print collection that I’ve been curating for almost 20 years now. And I want to show my prints!” Advertisement (Incidentally, I once saw a list of the titles available for rent from Tarantino’s collection—just the ones he was willing to lend out, mind you—and it is indeed very impressive. Although, he did own a 35mm print of Big Daddy for some reason.) Tarantino also says he will be adding six-track magnetic sound and a 16mm projector to cement the New Beverly’s reputation as the last bastion of celluloid fetishism. He plans on programming the first three months of double features at the New Beverly after the theater reopens; no exact date for that has been announced, so expect all Tarantino, all the time through the end of the year.Newsroom Our Stories Large amounts of folic acid shown to promote growth of breast cancer in rats Toronto, January 21, 2014 By Leslie Shepherd Dr. Young-In Kim Dr. Young-In Kim Folic acid supplements at levels consumed by breast cancer patients and survivors in North America promoted the growth of existing breast cancer in rats, new research found. The role of folate, a B vitamin, and its synthetic form, folic acid, in the development and progression of breast cancer is highly controversial. Although some studies have found it may offer protection against breast cancer, recent studies have suggested that taking high amounts of folic acid may increase the risk of developing breast cancer. Dr. Young-In Kim, a physician and researcher at St. Michael’s Hospital, said his lab has shown for the first time that folic acid supplements in doses 2.5 to five times the daily requirement “significantly promotes” the growth of existing pre-cancerous or cancerous cells in the mammary glands of rats. His research was published today in the online journal PLOS One. “This is a critically important issue because breast cancer patients and survivors in North America are exposed to high levels of folic acid through folic acid fortification in food and widespread use of vitamin supplements after a cancer diagnosis,” Dr. Kim said. “Cancer patients and survivors in North America have a high prevalence of multivitamin and supplement use, with breast cancer patients and survivors having the highest prevalence.” The amount of folic acid consumed in North America has increased dramatically in the past 15 years. Women are routinely advised to take folic acid supplements before becoming pregnant and while pregnant to prevent neural tube birth defects such as spina bifida. Since 1998, the Canadian and U.S. governments have required food manufacturers to add folic acid to white flour, enriched pasta and cornmeal products as a way of ensuring women receive enough of the B vitamin. In addition, up to 30 to 40 per cent of North Americans take folic acid supplements for possible but as yet unproven health benefits. Dr. Kim is also a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. This research was funded in part by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. About St. Michael's Hospital St. Michael’s Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in 27 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, care of the homeless and global health are among the Hospital’s recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Centre, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. Media contacts For more information or to interview Dr. Kim, contact: Leslie Shepherd Manager, Media Strategy 416-864-6094 [email protected] Hampshire Presidential primary preference: New Hampshire Likely Republican Primary Voters Feb 2-3 Feb 3-4 Feb 4-5 Feb 5-6 Feb 6-7 Feb 7-8 Bush 8% 8% 8% 9% 9% 9% Carson 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% Christie 6% 6% 5% 5% 6% 8% Cruz 12% 12% 9% 9% 10% 10% Fiorina 2% 2% 2% 2% 3% 3% Gilmore - - - - - - Kasich 13% 14% 17% 17% 16% 17% Rubio 14% 15% 16% 17% 16% 14% Trump 34% 36% 34% 31% 30% 33% Other * * * * * * Unecided 7% 6% 6% 8% 9% 6% Read this table down *= Less than 1/2 of 1% - = None ni = Not included New Hampshire Likely Republican Primary Voters Dec 2015 Jan 7-10 Jan 15-18 Jan 23-25 Jan 29-31 Bush 7% 8% 8% 8% 9% Carson 6% 2% 2% 2% 2% Christie 12% 10% 9% 8% 6% Cruz 10% 9% 9% 12% 10% Fiorina 5% 3% 2% 3% 2% Gilmore - - - - - Huckabee * 1% 1% 1% - Kasich 13% 14% 20% 17% 16% Pataki * ni ni ni ni Paul 4% 4% 5% 2% 2% Rubio 15% 14% 10% 9% 11% Santorum * 1% 1% 1% 1% Trump 21% 25% 27% 31% 34% Other * * 1% 1% 1% Undecided 5% 8% 7% 6% 6% Read this table down *= Less than 1/2 of 1% - = None ni = Not included Preference by party registration: New Hampshire Likely Republican Primary Voters Republicans (59%) Undeclared (41%) Bush 12% 7% Carson 1% 2% Christie 9% 6% Cruz 10 10% Fiorina 4% 3% Gilmore - - Kasich 15% 20% Rubio 13% 16% Trump 32% 34% Other * * Undecided 6% 6% Preference by age: New Hampshire Likely Republican Primary Voters 18 to 49 (39%) 50 and older (61%) Bush 7% 11% Carson 2% 1% Christie 7% 8% Cruz 12% 8% Fiorina 3% 3% Gilmore - - Kasich 15% 18% Rubio 15% 13% Trump 36% 31% Other * * Undecided 6% 6% Preference by sex: New Hampshire Likely Republican Primary Voters Male (55%) Female (45%) Bush 8% 11% Carson 1% 1% Christie 8% 8% Cruz 12% 7% Fiorina 2% 5% Gilmore - - Kasich 16% 18% Rubio 14% 14% Trump 36% 30% Other * * Undecided 6% 6% Preference by likely to vote: New Hampshire Likely Republican Primary Voters Definite - 10 (91%) Probably - 7-9 (9%) Bush 9% 14% Carson 1% 3% Christie 8% 3% Cruz 10% 5% Fiorina 3% 4% Gilmore - - Kasich 17% 20% Rubio 14% 16% Trump 33% 31% Other * * Undecided 6% 4% Preference by type of contact: New Hampshire Likely Republican Primary Voters Landline (61%) Cell phone/other (39%) Bush 10% 9% Carson 2% 1% Christie 8% 8% Cruz 10% 10% Fiorina 3% 3% Gilmore - - Kasich 17% 17% Rubio 14% 14% Trump 32% 35% Other * * Undecided 7% 5% About this Survey - Survey Sponsor: American Research Group, Inc. The American Research Group has been conducting surveys of voters since 1985. Sample Size: 418 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of likely Republican primary voters living in New Hampshire (248 Republicans and 170 undeclared voters (independents)). Sample Dates: February 7-8, 2016 Margin of Error: ± 5 percentage points, 95% of the time, on questions where opinion is evenly split. Question Wording: If the 2016 Republican presidential preference primary were being held today between (names rotated) Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump, for whom would you vote? Using a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 meaning that you will definitely not vote in the 2016 Republican presidential preference primary and 10 meaning that you will definitely vote in the 2016 Republican presidential preference primary, what number would you give as your chance of voting in the 2016 Republican presidential preference primary?WASHINGTON, March 3 - The United States suffered a final defeat Thursday in its dispute with Brazil over cotton subsidies at the World Trade Organization. The organization's appellate body upheld a ruling last year by trade judges who said American subsidies to cotton farmers broke international trade rules by depressing world prices and harming cotton farmers in Brazil and elsewhere. The decision on Thursday could force the United States to lower the subsidies it pays farmers to grow cotton and, eventually, other crops. Representative Clay Shaw, the Florida Republican who leads the trade subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, said: "If we want to keep exporting American cotton, we're going to have to abide by the W.T.O. ruling. It certainly gives you cover to make some of the corrections needed." Advertisement Continue reading the main story The administration was more cautious. Richard Mills, the spokesman for the United States trade representative, said, "We will study the report carefully and work closely with Congress and our farm community on our next steps."Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday brushed aside accusations in a recent discredited report that President-elect Donald Trump had once cavorted with prostitutes in Moscow. While doing so, however, he managed to plug the local sex trade. Trump is “a grown man,” Putin said, according to Bloomberg News, “and secondly he’s someone who has been involved with beauty contests for many years and has met the most beautiful women in the world … I find it hard to believe that he rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world.” Putin Says Doesn't Believe Trump Met Prostitutes in Russia. "Although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world." https://t.co/SUOFAlZMu3 — Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) January 17, 2017 The allegations were contained in a “dossier” that had circulated for months in Beltway media without ever being substantiated, and which was published by Buzzfeed last week, along with the disclaimer: “It is not just unconfirmed: It includes some clear errors.” Among the more salacious accusations was that Trump had hired several prostitutes to urinate on a bed in a Moscow hotel room where President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama had once spent the night. Trump angrily denied the claims in a press conference last week, and most media organizations cast doubt on their credibility. Russia also denied the accusations, including the suggestion that the Russian government had been colluding with the Trump campaign itself. Putin added that the allegations were “obvious fabrications,” Bloomberg reported. He added: “People who order fakes of the type now circulating against the U.S. president-elect, who concoct them and use them in a political battle, are worse than prostitutes because they don’t have any moral boundaries at all.” Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.I’m watching a video of 12 of the most famous people on the planet naked in bed together. The material is being guarded so closely that the people in possession of it have refused to send me a link in case it gets hacked. Instead I’m looking at it via Skype, with the person on the other end of the line pointing the camera at a laptop screen on which the footage is playing. You can understand the desire for secrecy. As the camera’s ghostly night-vision lens pans slowly, hypnotically over the mostly sleeping bodies, their identities are revealed as follows: George W. Bush. Donald Trump. Anna Wintour. Rihanna. Chris Brown. Taylor Swift. Kanye West. Kim Kardashian West. Ray J. Amber Rose. Caitlyn Jenner. Bill Cosby. Fast forward 48 hours. By now—at this exact moment in fact, if all goes to plan—the rest of the world will be watching the film. That includes the 8,000 people seeing it on a 100-foot screen at the live unveiling at the L.A. Forum, as well as the glazed-eyed legions catching the live stream on Tidal or the afterglow on social media. Because the scenario I’ve described above forms the action of Kanye West’s visual manifesto for his new single “Famous.” The crew West gathered one way or another (more on that below) for his meditation on fame in America includes current and ex-lovers (Kardashian West, Rose), collaborators and extended family (Rihanna, Jenner), and those with whom he is simply partners in controversy. Of George W. Bush, the then president he accused on live television of not caring about black people, West, speaking by phone from L.A., now reflected, “Maybe in some alternative universe me and George Bush could have been friends. I could have been his O.J. Simpson black friend on the golf course.” What about the inclusion of Cosby? Is that an endorsement? West once tweeted: BILL COSBY INNOCENT!!!!!!!!!!. “It’s not in support or anti any of [the people in the video],” West said. “It’s a comment on fame.” Which brings us inevitably to Taylor Swift. The moment West debuted the track at the listening party for his album The Life of Pablo at Madison Square Garden in February, Famous became infamous because of that line. I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, he rapped. Why? I made that bitch famous. Since then West and Swift have been trading public barbs on how much he discussed it with her in advance, but West now refuses to be drawn further on the issue. Important to West was that he had his wife’s co-sign. “[I say] a lot of lines other wives would not allow a husband to say,” he said. “But my wife also puts up photos that other husbands wouldn't let them put up. One of the keys to happiness in our marriage is we’re allowed to be ourselves.” The video also reminds me of something West said about himself and Kardashian West in an earlier conversation: “Our life is walking performance art.” How much of what appears in “Famous” is real? The video, which was filmed over a period of three months and cycled through four different formats and several different collaborators until West felt he’d achieved the result he wanted, leaves you guessing as to which of the celebrities are really playing themselves and which are presumably only there by the grace of some advanced prosthetic wizardry (will the real Taylor Swift please stand up?). Speaking from an L.A. editing suite where he was still obsessively recutting the film the day before its premiere—while also shooting a new scene involving Caitlyn Jenner and a purple Porsche—West was loath to divulge too much of what went on behind the curtain. For him, the ambiguity goes to the core of what he’s trying to say about the mythos of contemporary celebrity. West has pushed the format of the music video before, most notably in 2010’s “Runaway,” the 35-minute-long mini-epic he made to showcase the album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. But, if you’ll excuse the expression, this is his most naked attempt to raise the music video to the level of an art piece. “Matthew Barney is my Jesus,” he said, referring to the artist known for his use of living sculptures in works like The Cremaster Cycle. (West was also directly inspired by the work of American realist painter Vincent Desiderio.) West’s video has some of the salacious trappings of a pop promo—the night-vision vibes; the presence of Ray J., who previously appeared in a sex tape with Kim, an epochal event that West hasn't been shy about referencing in his lyrics. But here he raises those expectations only to confound them. “We were very careful with shots that had [something] sexual to take them out,” he said. What we see instead is a moody, quasi-religious tableau of naked, vulnerable, strangely peaceful bodies at rest. Under the sheets, West seems to be saying, celebrities are just like us. Tonight’s premiere is just a prelude. In August, West embarks on a nearly 40-city North American tour to perform The Life of Pablo, and “Famous” offers only a hint at the spectacle we can expect. It’s too early to say what the reaction to “Famous” will be, but West has already won over one constituency. He has previewed the film for a few celebrity pals who don’t appear in it. “Guess what the response is when I show it to them?” he said. “They want to be in the bed.”I had some email correspondence with John Callender & it seemed like reproducting it would be a fitting way to mark the end of the U.S. Supreme Court's "OT '13" Term. John writes: I may be misinterpreting your views or applying them incorrectly. But I've been struck by your recent writings on the pernicious role of cultural meanings in individuals' attempts to assess expert knowledge when evaluating risk, and as a result I end up seeing that phenomenon in lots of other places. Most recently, I saw what looked like a similar effect at work in something blogger Kevin Drum wrote about: the tendency of US Supreme Court justices to agree with each other.: Drum was commenting on this item from the New York Times' "The Upshot": Drum wrote: When it comes to high-profile cases, you get a lot of 5-4 decisions. But on the majority of less celebrated cases, when the political spotlight is turned off, there's a surprising amount of consensus on what the law means. That makes me wonder if something similar to the effect that pollutes the cognitive process of those assessing expert opinion on things like climate change and GMOs might be at work in the case of Supreme Court justices. Granted, they are themselves experts reaching judgments about the thing they're expert in (the law). But it seems possible that the same bias that negatively effects peoples' ability to accurately assess expert opinion when cultural identity and status-maintenance gets tangled up in the question could be a factor in justices' tendency to disagree more in some cases than in others. My response: Thanks for sharing these reflections w/ me; they are super interesting & important. Let's say that it's true that we see more "agreement" among judges than we'd expect relative to divided views of non-judges. There would be two (at least) plausible hypotheses: (a) the judges are converging as a result of some conformity mechanism that biases their assessment of the issues vs. (b) the *people reacting* to the judges' decisions are being influenced by cultural cognition or some like mechanism that generates systematic differences of opinion among them, but the judges are converging on decisions that are "correct" or "valid" in relation to professional judgment that is distinctive of judges or lawyers. I elaborate -- only a bit! -- in this blog post: The idea that public division over controversial supreme court opinions might reflect a kind of "neutrality communication" failure akin to "validity communication" failure that generates division on issues like climate change etc. (hypothesis b) also figures pretty prominently in Also in our experimental paper Hypothesis (b) is in my view primarily an alternative to the prevailing view that (c) judges are "political" -- they vote on basis of ideology etc. The frequency of unanimous decisions -- or even ideologically charged ones that divide Justices but not strictly on ideological lines -- challenges that view. Hypothesis (a) & (b) both try to make sense of that, then! We need more empirical study -- both because it would be interesting to know which hypothesis -- (a), (b) or (c) -- is closer to the truth & because the answer to that question has important normative & prescriptive implications.Elections Canada paid out more than $100,000 to Conservative riding associations before the party's so-called "in-and-out" scheme was discovered, a CBC News investigation has found. Elections Canada paid out the expense claims of 17 "in-and-out" participants before noticing something was amiss, it says in court documents. That meant more than $100,000 in taxpayer dollars going out the door before it was stopped. Pay back refunds: Opposition Opposition MPs are demanding the Conservatives pay back the money Elections Canada refunded. "For years the Conservatives have been asking the Liberals to repay the money from the sponsorship scandal. Now it's up to them to tell taxpayers when they will pay back the money stolen by their system of electoral fraud," NDP deputy leader Thomas Mulcair said in the House of Commons Monday. "It is taxpayers' money and they stole it," he said. Liberal MP Wayne Easter pointed to two ridings in his home region of Atlantic Canada that appear to have received refunds. "Will the prime minister order these two Conservative riding associations to pay back the thousands they owe Canadians in dirty money?" he said. Pierre Poilievre, the parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, said the premise of the questions was wrong. "The reality is that the Conservative party and the Conservative candidates spent Conservative funds for Conservative advertising," he told the Commons Monday. Four high-ranking Conservatives, including two Senators, are charged under the Elections Act with moving more than a million dollars through local ridings to help fund the national campaign. Conservative MP Steven Blaney says he and all the other candidates who participated were following the rules. Court documents show Blaney's 2006 election campaign was one of those that received money from the national party, transferred it immediately back, and then claimed the money as part of its election expenses. A comparison of Elections Canada documents and the ones filed in court reveals Blaney's campaign received $18,000 more in reimbursements than it was entitled to. Blaney says his campaign did nothing wrong. "There is a difference of interpretation of the law between Conservatives and Elections Canada," he said. Elections Canada reimburses all candidates 60 per cent of their eligible expenses if they meet a certain threshold of votes. The money comes from the public purse. Riding reimbursed more than it spent Another riding that appears to have received some of that money is the Conservative riding association in Hull-Aylmer, Que. That association spent only about $12,000 of its own money in the 2006 election, according to numbers from Elections Canada, but received almost $34,000 in reimbursements because of the "in-and-out" tactic. David Herle, the Liberal campaign director in 2006, says the $1.5 million extra the Conservatives spent could have changed the outcome of a close election. "I don't know if it was decisive. It was influential," Herle told CBC News. "They clearly intended it to be influential or they wouldn't have done it. If they didn't think it would have made any difference, they wouldn't have gone to such great lengths." Andre Thouin, an official with Elections Canada, knocks on the door of Conservative Party Headquarters of Canada in Ottawa on April 15, 2008, during an RCMP raid of the office. ((Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)) Pierre Poilievre, parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, says all the parties use the same strategy. "The national party did indeed transfer funds to local campaigns, which is legal, ethical and commonplace among all political parties," he said in the Commons last week. But the NDP's national campaign director says in those cases the money goes from national to local and then stops. "That money then should be spent on local projects and that is not the case with the Conservatives. But that was the case with the New Democrats. That's why we're not up on charges," Brad Lavigne said. Beyond a leg-up in the 2006 campaign, the "in-and-out" scheme may have helped the Conservatives in the next one as well. All candidates who get at least 10 per cent of the vote are entitled to the 60 per cent reimbursement of election expenses. For some campaigns, the scheme could have been quite lucrative, landing them taxpayer funded reimbursements worth thousands of dollars more than Elections Canada says they actually spent — a surplus that could be retained by the riding association for the 2008 election.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Overeating, lack of health insurance access and comparatively high poverty are among the many reasons why Americans are less healthy and die younger than people in other wealthy countries, a report requested by the U.S. government showed on Wednesday. Women sit on a bench in New York's Times Square May 31, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid The United States spends more per person on healthcare than any other nation but lags on many important health measures amid higher rates of obesity and heart disease and worse infant mortality rates than other rich countries. The 404-page report by the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, which provide advice to U.S. policymakers, compared the health of Americans to that of people in 16 other rich countries. They included Canada, Japan, Australia and 13 western European countries including Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. “Americans are dying and suffering at rates that we know are unnecessary, because people in other high-income countries are living longer lives and enjoying better health. What concerns our panel is why, for decades, we have been slipping behind,” said Steven Woolf, a medical professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who led the panel that produced the report. Americans overall fared the worst among the countries in the report when it came to nine areas: infant mortality; injury and homicide rates; teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases; HIV infection and AIDS; drug abuse; obesity and diabetes; heart disease; lung disease; and disabilities. “No single factor can fully explain the U.S. health disadvantage,” the researchers said. The report, sought by the U.S. government’s National Institutes of Health, underscored what health experts have long known: Americans on average die younger than people in other rich countries and are in poorer health for much of their lives. Two-thirds of Americans are considered overweight or obese. The report also noted that Americans on average consume more calories than people in most similar countries and have lower physical activity levels. The United States also has a higher infant mortality rate than the other countries, with 32.7 deaths per 100,000, the report showed. Most similar countries have infant mortality rates between 15 and 25 deaths per 100,000. “The U.S. health disadvantage has multiple causes and involves some combination of inadequate healthcare, unhealthy behaviors, adverse economic and social conditions, and environmental factors, as well as public policies and social values that shape those conditions,” it said. President Barack Obama in 2010 signed a law vigorously opposed by Republicans in Congress intended to improve access to medical insurance and rein in healthcare spending. The U.S. healthcare system is a patchwork of private insurance often provided through an employer as well as public programs aimed at the elderly, disabled and poor. Tens of millions of Americans are left with no insurance to help pay for care. Some major parts of the U.S. law have yet to take effect and critics challenge many aspects of it. People in other rich nations generally get medical care through national healthcare systems. LIFE EXPECTANCY Americans on average are living longer than in the past, but the lifespan gains lag those of other nations, the report found. U.S. men ranked last when it comes to longevity - about 75.6 years compared to 79 years for men in Switzerland, the top-ranked country. U.S. women ranked next to last, living about 80.8 years compared to 86 years for women in No. 1-ranked Japan. “This disadvantage has been getting worse for three decades, especially among women,” researchers said. Americans fared better in some areas with fewer deaths from cancer and better control of cholesterol and blood pressure. Understanding the reason for poorer outcomes despite the roughly $2.6 trillion, and rising, that the United States spends annually on healthcare is a major issue as the nation struggles to revive its economy. “Shorter lives and poorer health in the United States will ultimately harm the nation’s economy as healthcare costs rise and the workforce remains less healthy than that of other high-income countries,” the researchers wrote. While part of the problem is likely linked to the increased gap between wealthy and low-income Americans and higher levels of poverty overall, the report said that does not fully explain the U.S. disadvantage. The report noted that even educated, upper income Americans with health insurance “are in worse health” than similar people in the other countries. The researchers said the United States should look at policies that work in countries “with superior health” to seek answers. Without action, they said, “the health of Americans will probably continue to fall behind.”Story highlights U.S. State Department condemns execution, questions fairness of trial Woman was sentenced to death for the 2007 killing of a former intelligence ministry employee Rights group says
and inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency – before it will consider a new round of six-party talks. The talks, which involved the United States, North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, fell apart in 2009. Beijing, however, wants to jump-start talks with North Korea without such preconditions, and Mr. Wu met with Washington officials to try to persuade the United States to return to the talks. Washington told Mr. Wu that would not be possible under the current circumstances. Can Mr. Wu bridge the difference between Washington and Pyongyang? Will he be able to find out what the North Koreans might be prepared to do to satisfy Washington? In the short term, that seems unlikely, although, since President Obama and the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, met in California last summer, Washington appears to be putting great store in using China as the broker that can best nudge North Korea forward. China has gotten tougher with North Korea, but not tough enough to elicit moves that would meet the Obama administration’s demands, said a senior administration official, who declined to be named in keeping with protocol. The administration is convinced that North Korea, which conducted a third nuclear test this year, has no interest in scrapping its nuclear arsenal. North Korea keeps reminding the world that it considers itself a nuclear state, and that its “military-first” policy requires that most of its resources go to its armed forces. With that in mind, the United States has enhanced its missile defenses in northeastern Asia, a buildup that brings these weapons closer to China, a situation distasteful to Beijing. For Washington, the stepped-up missile defenses can be used as leverage with China to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. The logjam has not deterred efforts outside official channels to ease a path back to six-party talks. Two former American negotiators, Stephen Bosworth and Robert L. Gallucci, recently attended meetings in Berlin and London where North Korean officials were present. The pair then wrote an op-ed piece saying that the Obama administration should abandon its hard-line posture and reopen talks with North Korea. That argument has gotten little traction inside the White House, the senior administration official said, where it is seen as having been overtaken by developments. Another former American official, Evans J.R. Revere, agreed in a paper for the Brookings Institution with the pessimistic conclusion of Mr. Bosworth and Mr. Gallucci that in the absence of dialogue there was little to prevent North Korea’s development of more and better nuclear weapons. But Mr. Revere counseled a different tack. Now is not the time to join talks with North Korea, he wrote. Washington should get tougher with North Korea, and stop relying so much on China, whose interests overlap but are not identical with those of the United States. Still, some are encouraged by the recent comings and goings over North Korea, especially since Mr. Wu is on his second visit to Pyongyang in three months. On Wednesday, South Korean and Japanese officials also met in Washington with Glyn T. Davies, the United States special representative for North Korea. Roger Cavazos, a former United States Army intelligence officer and North Korea watcher who is now with the Nautilus Institute, a group that studies international security issues, said, “The point is: Wu Dawei talks with North Korea in August, North Korea then talks with U.S. interlocutors” — Mr. Bosworth and Mr. Gallucci — “U.S. interlocutors back-brief the State Department, then State gives their answers to Wu, and Wu is now in North Korea relaying American answers/concerns.” All this movement bears resemblance to “a Ferris wheel with lots of up and down — lots of movement, but not getting anywhere,” Mr. Cavazos said. But on a more positive note, “This particular iteration may be the point at which the participants get off the Ferris wheel and meet again – or at least that is the hope.”The Conservative government is prepared to cut Telus Corp. out of a valuable auction of cellular frequencies if the big wireless player doesn't abandon repeated attempts to acquire spectrum that was set aside for new entrants, government sources say. This warning of unprecedented action is evidence tensions between the federal government and major telecom players are nearing a breaking point. Relations between the Conservative government and the Big Three incumbent carriers have eroded in recent years over the manner in which the Tories have tried to inject more competition into the wireless industry. The latest showdown between Ottawa and one of the Big Three telecom firms began this month when Telus announced that it's trying, for a third time, to buy Mobilicity, a small Canadian wireless company that filed for bankruptcy in September and which the government has already twice blocked Telus from acquiring. Story continues below advertisement "If Telus doesn't drop efforts to acquire spectrum set aside for new entrants, the Harper government is prepared to change the rules of the upcoming wireless auction that could effectively bar Telus or any incumbent from acquiring that spectrum," a senior government source said. Mobilicity owns spectrum that was earmarked for new entrants in 2008 and the Conservatives have been adamant they don't want to see this gobbled up by the big telecom players. Access to spectrum, the invisible radio waves wireless companies use to provide a range of services, is controlled by Ottawa. Federal government sources say Industry Minister James Moore will reject this latest bid for Mobilicity and if Telus persists in trying to acquire Mobilicity's spectrum, Ottawa will redesign a coming auction of 2,500 MHz frequencies to make it even easier for new entrants to gain spectrum. This could have the impact of excluding Telus from bidding, they say. Telus has defended its actions in recent weeks, saying it's playing by the rules. It has pointed out that a five-year moratorium on buying the AWS spectrum set aside for small players in 2008 has expired and that this attempted $350-million purchase will not have a major impact on overall ownership of spectrum. Analysts have expected Telus would be a big beneficiary of the 2,500 MHz auction, scheduled for 2015, because Bell and Rogers, the other two big incumbents, already own significant amounts. The auction rules put caps on how much spectrum companies can own in each region and Bell and Rogers are currently at or near their cap in most areas, government sources say. This leaves Telus as the only major incumbent eligible to acquire significant portions of the 2,500 Mhz spectrum in the auction. Federal government sources say Industry Canada and the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic arm of the Prime Minister's Office, are examining how the 2,500 MHz auction might be redesigned. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Officials are considering several options, including increasing the total amount of spectrum that would be earmarked for new entrants or even completely changing how they allocate the 2,500 MHz frequencies. They're also considering reviving an earlier "beauty contest" method where companies submit bids with plans for the spectrum to Ottawa and then Industry Canada selects the best one to achieve the government's objective of better promoting competition. Federal government sources say they are concerned Telus could tie up the future of Mobilicity's spectrum in court challenges – spectrum they want to be made available for new entrants instead – and that's why they're considering extra measures. "If companies like Telus think the government will allow them to stockpile spectrum that was set aside for a fourth player, and access new spectrum in future spectrum auctions, they are kidding themselves," a federal government source said. The government's rationale is that Telus tying up AWS-type spectrum through legal battles will upset its plans to foster new fourth players in each region. Revising the 2,500 MHz auction to earmark more spectrum for new entrants would be a way to rebalance the equation. AWS spectrum can be used by the latest broadband technology and Ottawa doesn't want it sitting idle. "The rules of the 2,500 MHz auction were designed under the assumption that AWS spectrum for new entrants would remain in the hands of new entrants. If that changes, we'll need to go back to the drawing board of the 2,500 MHz auction rules," a source said. "Telus should reflect on that."Colin Kaepernick has gone from Super Bowl quarterback to the headman of one of the worst teams of the league, with him being a big part of it. The QB who who into stardom when Alex Smith went down as a 49er is now struggling to complete simple passes to his receivers, in fact even missing a completely left open Torrey Smith and un-knownlingly handling the ball off instead during Sunday’s loss to the Rams. Many fans want Kaepernick out as QB of their team, so much so, one San Fran fan actually put their QB up for sale on Amazon.com. (Click images to enlarge) Kaepernick is listed for a reasonable price of 114,000,000 (his contract) and is complete with a few hilarious details for a description. That includes Has a fun last name that feels like it’s way more than 3 syllables Was really exciting a few years ago Doubles as a douche Well played 49ers fans, well played. Edit: We have just learned this is a fake listing created by Mandatory. Still extremely hilarious!Cleveland Browns rookie mini-camp is set to start on Friday and excitement is floating through the air. Coaches, media and fans alike, are all looking forward to their first glimpse at the 2013 Browns' rookie crop. The headliner will be Barkevious Mingo, our pass-rush weapon extraordinaire. However, there are gems to be found, and each year the pressure of the offseason helps to create a few diamonds for every NFL roster. Last year was no exception as the Browns saw the likes of L.J. Fort, Craig Robertson, Tashaun Gipson, and Johnson Bademosi emerge as UDFAs that secured a roster spot. I hope to provide a comprehensive but succinct look into this year's UDFA crop with all statistics courtesy of NFLDraftScout.com, unless otherwise cited or linked. Cordell Roberson (WR) - Steven F. Austin University Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile Cordell Robertson possesses impressive size, agility and solid production. At 6'4", he used his size to his advantage, especially in the red zone. During his senior season in 2012 Robertson hauled in 77 receptions for 9 TD's, 1,006 yards and etched his name on the Walter Payton Player of the Year Award watch list. "He finished his career at Stephen F. Austin University (2009-12) as the school's all-time leader in receptions (221), receiving yards (3,191) and touchdown catches (39)... His 39 touchdown receptions also set a Southland Conference record." If you haven't seen this video and interview courtesy of NFL Draft Zone, I suggest you take the time to do so. His wide receiver coach credits his success to working hard to do the little things right and his ability to overcome adversity in his life. Josh Aubrey (DB) - Steven F. Austin University Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile "4x All Conference selection who started 46 of the 47 games in which he saw action and totaled 255 tackles, seven interceptions, 29 passes defensed and 3.5 sacks... As a senior he recorded 65 tackles, two interceptions, eight passes defensed, two sacks, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble." If you haven't read this interview over at NFL Draft Zone, it's short and sweet and worth the 2 minutes because there's really no film out there on Aubrey that I could find, so any information is good until we see him in pads this offseason, and most notably this Friday. What I like about his statistics was his ability to get his hands on the ball by deflecting 29 passes in 47 games. Perez Ashford (WR) - Northern Illinois Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile One of my most anticipated UDFA's to follow this season based on a few criteria: 1) Catching and route running ability 2) The need for a developmental slot WR with play-maker ability 3) The fantastic analysis done by Matt Waldman convinced me he's worth some hype 4) Local Boy - Shaker Heights High Graduate I see Ashford likely being placed on the practice squad, but as seen in this YouTube highlight video in Matt's piece above, Perez has some skills that could demand a closer look from the Browns coaching staff. While I do not advocate watching highlight film, he shows a natural, almost effortless ability to track the ball in the air, then go up in traffic to catch the ball with his hands while maintaining field awareness and controlling his body. He doesn't have breakaway speed but seems to run good routes and catches the ball exceptionally well with his hands. Mike Edwards (WR) - University of Texas El Paso Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile When looking at the athletic measureables from his pro day, Mike Edwards doesn't pop off the charts as an overly explosive athlete. However, when you put on this film found on YouTube, you see a play-maker type that matches the productions numbers from his two seasons at UTEP: 101 receptions for 1,477 yards and 11 touchdowns. Edwards also helped Mt San Antonio College win the 2010 State and National Championship before transferring to UTEP. For the Browns, he factors into the developmental, slot receiver role and is destined for the practice if he is able to emerge during camp. Aaron Adams (OT) - Eastern Kentucky University Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile "Adams, a 6-5, 295-pound offensive tackle, was one of just two Ohio Valley Conference players to be recognized as a preseason first team All-America selection. The native of Lake Worth, Fla., started all 12 games at right tackle last season and helped EKU rush for more than 200 yards in six contests. A 2011 first team All-OVC pick, Adams also earned the team's Offensive Colonel Core Value award following his junior season" Adams will be one of many in the mix for depth at OL. There's not any specific film that I could find on just him so it boils down to what he can do to separate himself from the likes of Cave, Gilkey, and Faulk. Justin Staples (DL) - Illinois Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile Justin attended St. Edward High School which makes him a "local boy" with some hometown support. His productivity, however, was never anything to get excited about while at Illinois. I never scouted him and don't have access to his film, so it's hard to do anything but speculate about his potential fit here in Cleveland. I am inclined to think that with the depth and talent we already have across the front 7, Staples would really have to surprise Horton to find himself in contention for a roster spot. Travis Tannahill (TE) - Kansas State Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile From a Kansas.com blog: "Kansas State tight end Travis Tannahill is a superstitious guy. He grows his beard out every November, he tries to cut his hair as little as possible during the football season and he never changes or washes his gameday shirt when the Wildcats are on a winning streak". Well, at least we have that going for us. Dominique Croom (WR) - University of Central Arkansas Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile Another newly added undrafted free agent that I know very little about. The film available on Croom is similar to telecaster type film in that it shows you 2 vantage points for each play and is worth the look. He seems to be another smaller type WR that does well tracking the ball in traffic, catching with his hands and shows athletic ability and body control. Ricky Tunstall (DB) - University of Delaware Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile Ricky is one of my favorite players in the UDFA group. He seems to have been a versatile defender who showed ability to cover, roam as a free safety, had a nose for the ball, took really good angles and didn't shy away from contact. He would be an excellent pawn to insert into Horton's defensive scheme where versatile players who can hit and run fast are in demand. Whether or not he's ready to step up and compete at the NFL level remains to be answered, but he could be a player to stash on the practice squad or emerge to push 6th round draft pick Jamoris Slaughter. "Four year letterman at the University of Delaware (2009-12)... Saw action in 44 contests with 12 starts, registering 101 tackles, nine interceptions, eight passes defensed and one sack... Returned two of his interceptions for touchdowns, including a 91-yard return" These soundtracks are not work appropriate ( and again I don't advocate for basing an evaluation of a player off highlight films ) but take a look at these two highlight videos which offer some of the only looks at the new Browns safety: 1 / 2. Caylin Hauptmann (OG) - Florida International University Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile I don't know much about Caylin, but here is an excerpt from his NFL.com Draft Profile: "The graduate of Beverly Hills High School in Los Angeles and one-time karate proficient has, indeed, made an impact clear across the country in Miami, as well as making an impression on NFL scouts. Not only did Hauptmann play football at C.C., but he also threw spot put for the track squad. That natural strength, combined with nice agility, got him onto the field right away for the Panthers; he started 12 games at left tackle that season. Hauptmann then started all 13 games on the blind side in 2011, garnering second-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors for his play." 07/18/12 - 2012 OUTLAND TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST: Caylin Hauptmann, FIU, OT, has been selected to the Preseason Outland Trophy Watch List for the 2012 college football season, which goes to the best interior lineman in college football, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America. Hauptmann, a 6-4, 312-pound senior, anchors a senior-laden FIU offensive line that has helped the Panthers break several team rushing records the past two seasons. With Hauptmann at left tackle the past two seasons, the Panthers broke the program rushing record with 2,438 yards in 2010 and established the program's second-best rushing mark last year with 1,893 yards. The FIU offensive line also allowed the second-fewest sacks (15) in program history in 2011. Garrett Hoskins (TE) - Eastern Michigan Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile "Garrett Hoskins, Eastern Michigan, has been selected Second Team All-Mid-American Conference for the 2012 college football season. Hoskins played in all 12 games in 2012, leading the team in catches with 38 receptions for 542 yards and three touchdowns. His three touchdowns ranked second most among the All-MAC tight end nominees. Named 2012 Mid-Season All-MAC by Phil Steele, Hoskins finished with an average of 14.3 yards per catch." Jamaine Cook (RB) - Youngstown State University Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile While I have been made aware that "the sickness" from Pittsburgh has crept over the Ohio border and infected our good friends in Youngstown, I still get excited to watch "local" kids get a shot to come back to Cleveland; you know, for the "good guys". I am not sure where he fits, but we'll soon see. Take a look at one of Jamaine's only YouTube videos here. "Jamaine Cook - Played four years Youngtown State University (2009-12) and finished second in school history with 4,052 rushing yards and 20 individual 100-yard rushing performances, while adding 39 touchdowns on 811 attempts... Totaled more than 1,200 rushing yards and 11 rushing scores in each of his three seasons as a starter... Rushed for 1,279 yards with 15 touchdowns on 279 carries in 2012... Attended Midpark High School in Middleburg Heights, Ohio" Chris Faulk (OL) - Louisiana State University Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile Faulk had hoped to go as high as the 3rd round in this year's draft, but two torn ligaments changed his reality: "Faulk, who is 6-feet-6 and 325 pounds, had hopes of going as high as the third round. He was rated the No. 11 offensive tackle and the No. 112 player overall by NFLdraftscout.com. Going into the 2012 season Faulk was judged to be a sure first-round pick by the end of the season. But he tore two ligaments in his right knee during practice after LSU's season opener." Say what you will about Bleacher Report, but they did a great video breakdown of Faulk here. And here's the LSU offense vs Florida in 2011. His NFL.com Draft Profile can be read here and mostly describes a player that decided to come out early, who has potential and size, but will have lots of competition along the offensive line, which is a good thing. I think he is a guy that we will want to legitimately sneak onto the practice squad and develop but if he comes into camp in shape and completely recovered from his injury, he could be a kid who realizes his potential sooner than later and finds a roster spot. Martin Wallace (OL) - Temple University Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile Another big OL for the Browns to investigate, that's as much as I can tell you. Braxston Cave (OL) - Notre Dame University Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile Going into the draft, Cave was ranked as high as the fifth overall center and projected to be picked in the 5ht or 6th rounds. The Browns should be happy to have landed him due to his versatility on the OL and a back-up potential for Mack, if needed. Check out his NFL.com Draft Profile here. Paipai Falemalu (DL) - University of Hawaii Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile I'm not embarrassed to say that I live in Hawaii but couldn't tell you the first thing about Paipai because unlike the faithful, unwavering local fans, I don't watch UH football. He seems like he has some explosion to him based on his pro day measureables and this excellent - but long - 2012 highlight video. "Four year letterman at the University of Hawaii (2009-12)... Totaled 161 career tackles, 16.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumble in 41 contests... Tied for the team lead with 56 tackles as a senior, while adding five sacks" Dave Kruger (DL) - Utah Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile How can you not like the little brother of newly acquired OLB, Paul Kruger? Just before the draft both Dave Kruger and his brother Joe discussed the possibility of landing on the same team following the draft with desertnews.com. In fact, his family talked about how thrilled they would be if any of the brothers ended up playing on the same team. According to this same article, Browns defensive line coach Joe Cullen told Dave the organization really liked him. "Kruger, like Lotulelei, has never been a stats monster. He's averaged just 29 tackles over his three seasons as a starter and has only four sacks during that time. His length, strength and durability, however, will be sure to intrigue NFL scouts looking for either an interior run-plugger for the 4-3 or as a classic five-technique defensive end for the 3-4 capable of setting the edge" Keenan Davis (WR) - Iowa Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile "Appeared in 48 games at the University of Iowa (2009-12)... Totaled 112 career receptions for 1,470 yards and seven touchdowns... As a senior, registered 47 receptions for 571 yards with one touchdown" Here is his 2012 film vs Michigan State and Penn State. Here is his 2011 film vs Pittsburgh and Oklahoma. Tommy Smith (LB) - Boise State Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile Smith was a recent addition to the camp invite list. According to Jay Tust over at KTVB.com in Idaho, Smith could play fullback or ILB: "Smith will attended the Browns rookie mini-camp this Friday through Sunday. Depending on his performance, Smith could be invited back for OTAs. Although Cleveland is intrigued by Smith's ability to play fullback, a source says he is being brought in specifically to tryout at inside linebacker." "Smith, a redshirt senior linebacker from Atlanta, was the Broncos' third-leading tackler during the regular season, finishing with 55 (32 solo). He recorded four TFLs, a sack and broke up three passes" Mike Niam (LB) - Wofford Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile Niam has been invited on a tryout basis to the Browns, and could very well be competing with Smith for a contract as an outside linebacker for training camp. Niam has ties to the area after growing up in Hudson. From the Akron Beacon Journal: "The 6-foot-2, 243-pound Niam believes he caught the attention of the Browns during the NFL Super Regional Combine April 7-8 at Cowboys Stadium. He posted a time of 4.73 in the 40-yard dash and bench-pressed 225 pounds 25 times. Niam’s extensive experience playing inside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme certainly won’t hurt his chances with the Browns, either." Ryan McWethy (S) - Wisconsin Platteville Pro Day Results & NFL Draft Scout Profile According to Ryan's Wisconsin Platteville Football Profile: "Led the team with 84 tackles with a team-best 52 solo tackles. McWethy tallied a career-high 18 tackles against UW-Eau Claire (Sept. 20) and a career-best 10 solo tackles at No. 16 UW-Oshkosh (Oct. 13). He registered two and a half of his 12 tackles for a loss versus No. 4 UW-Whitewater (Sept. 29). He recorded two interceptions and three pass break-ups. In his 30-game career in the Orange and Blue, McWethy tallied 180 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, and five interceptions." Jay Taft, from the Rockford Register Star, gave a good summary of McWethy here. He seems to have some size and speed, but as a converted S from Quarterback I wonder how well he can adjust to NFL talent and game speed. Which of the undrafted free agents (or camp invitees) are you most looking forward to?Obama Campaign Operative Met With Russian Officials in Moscow Prior to 2008 Election Ambassador Michael McFaul with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya at a hearing in Washington DC after her meeting with Donald Trump Jr. in New York City. Deep State operatives and the liberal media have tried desperately to link the Trump campaign to Russia. Yet it was Obama campaign officials who were meeting with the Russians — In Moscow — during the 2008 election. The Washington Post buried this in their February 9, 2017 article on General Michael Flynn. Former U.S. officials also said aggressive enforcement would probably discourage appropriate contact. Michael McFaul, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration, said that he was in Moscow meeting with officials in the weeks leading up to Obama’s 2008 election win. The Obama campaign also reportedly met with Hamas terrorists, FARC terrorists and the Iranian regime during the 2008 election — but for some reason Deep State did not give it much notice.Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump doesn’t have a very high opinion of gun owners, if his joke about the potential assassination of Hillary Clinton was any indication, but “Second Amendment people” took a verbal blow from another politically prominent Republican politician this week. Former Ku Klux Klan leader and current U.S. Senate candidate David Duke was going over his upcoming schedule with fellow white supremacist Doctor Patrick Slattery when he casually mentioned that he’d be doing some “big gun shows” in the middle of his state, for reasons that are obvious to Duke, at least: We’re going to some of the big gun shows in the middle of the state, because that’s a great place to meet people of our, of our stripe, and we’ve been getting so much support from these places. Well, it’s a good thing Louisiana doesn’t require background checks for private sales at those gun shows. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.World of Kebab The falafel was unlike any I’d ever seen. If the waiter had not identified it as such to the customer seated next to us, I’m not sure I’d have even known what it was. Cylindrical, toasted dark brown, they could very well have been kibbeh, pinecone-shaped, fried bulghur wheat pastries, stuffed with onions, ground meat, and pine nuts. Delicately balanced upon a mix of rice, tomatoes and fries, the falafel stood out, as though they were some sort of consolation prize, awarded for knowing that of all the doner kebab parlors in Turin, this is the one place that gets it right. Offered by every local Mideastern establishment, falafel is on the list of must-avoid entrees. Not here. Watching the waiter set down an additional side of hummus, my wife smiles at me and says, “This is the third weekend in a row we’ve come here.” Straightening myself out in my seat, staring at the newly arrived dish, I respond hungrily, “You couldn’t ask for a better respite from Italian food.” “You mean for Italian food,” Jennifer jokes. That one might exchange northern Italian cuisine – Piemontese agnelotti and Ligurian focaccia – for such typically Lebanese-Palestinian mezze seems like a reasonable exchange. Equally rich fare, hailing from similarly iconographic Mediterranean cultures, for whom food is as central to local identity as religion, they make for ideal bedfellows. “I can’t imagine better dining options,” I said, as I sipped a tiny, Turkish-style cup of warm, sweet tea. “Of course you wouldn’t,” laughed Jennifer. “It’s about your biography.” Jennifer, was right. This was as much about affirming the sensual pleasures of my narcissism, as an Israeli, who’d also grown up in Italy, as it was having a tasty meal. We were consuming me. Our entreees arrive. None too soon, as our spectator role, being relatively recent arrivals to the city, had only served to enhance our appetite for something different. Recently relocated from Berlin, our objective was to dine on doner kebab, the Turkish-German dish, available on nearly every street corner in our neighborhood home of Neukolln. Jennifer gets exactly what she likes to eat back east: Kebab arrotelato, or doner wrapped in a piadina, best known in Germany as durum, or in the Americas as a tortilla. Otherwise boasting the exact same filling as its Turkish sibling, Jennifer is in heaven. The translation is 1:1, with the sole exception of sesame paste in the place of yogurt. Extremely picky about my doner – I always order it dry, like shawarma, with salad, but without sauce – my meal consists of a doner plate, rather than an archetypal Berlin street wrap. Thinking I am in a more Mideastern place, I forget to ask for it without sauce. When my dish arrives, I’m pleasantly surprised. Not only is there none. The meat, chips, and salad – yes, salad – sit on top of a thick bed of hummus and baba ganoosh. Adding hummus to a fork full of meat, I decide that the balance has been tipped. This place is more of a Middle Eastern restaurant than a German-style Turkish fast food restaurant. The doner is just cover, a way of making the Arab menu competitive with all the other doner-heavy places catering to fans of eastern Mediterranean cuisine. “Jews are model Middle Easterners in the West,” I recalled a Turkish lover I once had, telling me over her own homemade tripe soup, in Toronto. “We ought to be more like you.” I wondered if the owners of this restaurant were Arabs, not Turks, and imagined that Turkish food was a model for being model Middle Easterners in Europe. Hearing a family at a nearby table transition in between Italian and Arabic woke me from my thoughts. The kids spoke most of the Italian. The parents spoke back to them in Arabic. The waiter paid special attention to them, speaking in Arabic. The children ordered in their parents native tongue, Italian words for drinks erupting in the middle. Listening to the mix of languages, I was reminded of Yiddish, and wondered what an Arabic-Italian equivalent might sound like. I found myself engrossed in listening to the way the children mispronounced Italian words, and the parents, when speaking the little Italian that they did, pronounce syllables with their own regional Arabic accents. The only other time I’d heard anything comparable, was back in Berlin, listening to Turkish school kids speak to each other in a mix of Turkish and German. The lack of purity, the clumsiness, was reassuring, given that I too, am foreign, and am even less self-assured about trying to speak anything other than the languages I was raised with. Standing in line waiting to pay our bill, Jennifer and I surveyed all the other foods on offer. Tajines and couscous, sujuk, koshari, baklava and knafeh, roasted chicken, several different kinds of pizza. Every item on the menu was a stand-in for somewhere else: Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Italy. It was like driving from Turin to North Africa, and back. “Where are you from?” asked the chef, who doubled as the cashier. We told him. He didn’t look enthused. “What about you? I asked. “I’m from Egypt,” he said. “Cairo.” I wasn’t surprised. The other döner place we frequent, in San Salvario, is also run by Egyptians. Its offerings are similarly eclectic, though it is a lot more pizza heavy. I wanted to ask him about the menu. The variety of cuisines screamed out to me. Is it a mirror to the Turin immigrant community? Or is it a platform for educating Italians about the diversity of Middle Eastern life? The kind of diversity buried by rightist references to the encroaching “Arab world” as though it’s a culturally homogenous monolith. My sense is that it is the former. The latter interpretation of the menu, as though it might be some kind of covert tool, is more about my own politically-driven flights of fantasy. I was getting ahead of myself. My imagination was simply trying to impose a sense of deliberateness on something that would happen of its own accord, irrespective of ideology. Still, one can understand the impulse. Like my attraction to the idea of eating Arab food in Italy, it’s entirely driven by autobiography. The multiculturalism of the menu reminds me a lot of the kinds I used to see in Israel in the 1970s. My father, a well-travelled, Palestinian-born Jew, would point out where all the different cuisines came from to me. “The kibbeh soup is Iraqi. The pasta entree is Moroccan. Of course the schnitzel, you’ve had that before. It’s like the veal Milanese that you like to eat in Italy. I think the Italians got it from the Austrians. You know where the Black Forest cake comes from.” That was Tel Aviv, I think, in the fall of 1975. The idea, of course, was to give me some kind of idea about the breadth of Israeli Jewish society. Each one of these dishes denoted a point of origin, of immigration, for an Israel-in-the-making. Every time I see a menu like the one in Turin, I can’t help but stop myself from imagining a Europe that is already here. Turin doner truck photo courtesy of Joel SchalitEight streakers disrupt Ulster women's hockey match BelfastTelegraph.co.uk An investigation is to be launched after reports that streakers disrupted a women’s hockey game at Jordanstown at the weekend. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/eight-streakers-disrupt-ulster-womens-hockey-match-28706518.html Email An investigation is to be launched after reports that streakers disrupted a women’s hockey game at Jordanstown at the weekend. Around six men and two women ran on to the University of Ulster pitch during a match between the university’s Ulster Elks team and Randalstown. They are believed to be international students in their early 20s. At least two men were said to be naked, while the others were only wearing underwear. They were waving their arms in the air, shouting and waving French and Spanish flags. Umpires Lyn Morrow and Linda Coughlin stopped the game and allowed the invaders to make their own way off. The group are understood to have returned wearing coats to cheer on the Ulster Elks from the sidelines. Belfast TelegraphA Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer with a medical marijuana prescription thinks he should be able to smoke the drug while in uniform, but the RCMP says he can't smoke marijuana while in red serge or while wearing his regular working uniform. RCMP assistant commissioner Gilles Moreau said any officer with a medical marijuana prescription can take their medication, but should not do so in while in public in their uniform. (CBC) Cpl. Ronald Francis serves with J Division in New Brunswick, and received a prescription for medical-grade marijuana on Nov. 4. There’s no policy in the RCMP that prevents me from smoking marijuana. There’s no policy in the RCMP that says I cannot smoke in public. I have the right to smoke it in my red serge. -Cpl. Ronald Francis Francis told CBC News marijuana has helped him to calm down and reduces his PTSD symptoms. His prescription allows for three grams a day, which he estimates to be nine to 15 joints, though he said he doesn’t typically smoke that much. “I get up in the morning, have my coffee and the marijuana. I go at lunchtime, have a marijuana joint, and then again in the evening. That would be my medical regime. But that may change with my tolerance to THC. It may take two joints in the morning, I don't know," said Francis. "I'm just building
and coach Jason Taylor. “There’s a public perception that he’s the wrong player for any football side he plays in now and I don’t think it’s warranted,” Kimmorley told Fox Sports News. TAYLOR-FARAH FEUD RAMPS UP AGAIN Former Newcastle football manager Mick Hagan joins Ben Ikin, Nathan Ryan and Ben Glover on the Market Watch podcast to discuss the QLD Origin team and what’s wrong with the Knights roster. You can also subscribe via iTunes or for Android users, listen on the iPP Podcast Player app. “I heard a lot of people make comments that his Origin game was pretty poor — I thought he was good. “This carries baggage from what the media has written for a period of time, that Robbie’s wrong for the team, Robbie’s a bad player and selfish. “People have got it in their head that he’s a bad footy player. “I actually think he’s quite a good footy player. I would still have him in my side but as far as we know he’s probably departing to finish in England, that’s the other sad news.” After a failed attempt to punt the 32-year-old out of the club’s Concord headquarters late last year, the Tigers record with Farah in their line up is one win from seven attempts this season. That’s a win percentage of just 14.3 per cent. Without him in their line up the Tigers are batting four from six. The four wins that have come when Farah has been either injured or away on Origin duty have been against battling Warriors, Sea Eagles and Knights outfits, followed a depleted Brisbane side in round 12. Robbie Farah looks to pass as Tigers coach Jason Taylor watches on. Source: News Corp Australia Farah has recently been linked with a move to English powerhouse Leeds despite still having another year to run on his contract with the Tigers. Farah’s manager Sam Ayoub denied on radio on Monday morning that the hooker is heading to the Rhinos at the end of the year, yet whispers refuse to die that he’ll finish his career overseas. The latest instalment in the Farah-Taylor saga comes after the Tigers’ 32-18 loss to the Roosters on Sunday when the coach refused to confirm if Farah would be rushed back into the Tigers’ starting team for Friday night’s clash with South Sydney. Asked if a decision on Farah’s availability would be based on the veteran’s health or what was best for the team, Taylor responded: “Both things.” Having produced an 80 minute performance for NSW in the State of Origin series opener last Wednesday, Farah was rested over the weekend. While several players at rival clubs were also given round 13 off, Kimmorley made note that the likes of Cooper Cronk, Matt Scott, Matt Moylan and Aaron Woods were brilliant backing up for their respective clubs post-Origin. “The battle that’s been going on now for six to nine months is at the point where if there’s anything that’s commented on that’s not fully supportive of Robbie Farah then we assume there’s a problem,” he said. “I understand a little bit in saying he’s played a big game of Origin and made (45) tackles and needed to be rested but I thought all the players who went back to their clubs after Origin were the best players for their sides all weekend. Kimmorley also questioned comments Taylor made about the Tigers needing to be strong in the middle of the field. According to the Fox Sports Lab, Farah made 45 tackles for the Blues, second only to Queensland No. 9 Cameron Smith, who finished the game with 51. “In saying we need to be strong in the middle, is he questioning his defence? What’s going on if you need to be strong in the middle,” he asked. Robbie Farah of the Blues looks on. Source: Getty Images “I thought he was pretty good in Origin but I think he wears now some baggage from what has gone on for the last six to nine months from these dramas.” Just six months ago, Farah’s manager emailed the Tigers to request a release but with the club not willing to pay out the star hooker in full for the remainder of his contract, the release was denied. The Roosters emerged as a shock suitor for Farah before talks fell over. He stands to earn a significant chunk of coin by seeing out his contract at Concord, as he’s entirely entitled to do, and both he and Taylor are on the record saying they can work together in the meantime. Whether that’s in the best interest of all concerned depends on whether Farah can still fit in at the Tigers. The next few days will reveal exactly where Taylor stands on the issue. These writers are on Twitter @Nath_Ryan and @dan_walsh64 Download the new FOX SPORTS App to get the latest news and scores from your NRL team.Share! Fire up the #PEETAFEELS engines again, tributes, because thanks to Lionsgate, we’ve got a new Peeta-centric TV spot for you guys to flail and sob over! This morning, Hunger Games fansites got the exclusive debut of a fifth TV spot called ‘Peeta,’ which has a lot of footage we’ve already seen, but has a few very key bits we’ve never seen or heard before. Emphasis on ‘heard’ because you guys are going to flip over how Peeta delivers his lines. He’s quite clearly hijacked at this point, and as we’ve seen from the final trailer ‘Burn’ yesterday, this is probably from the same scene where he says, “They’re coming, Katniss. They’re gonna kill everyone. You’ll be dead by morning!” Peeta’s line in this spot, “How..will..this..end? No one can survive this.” is pretty similar to the book: At the mention of my name, Peeta’s face contorts in effort. “Katniss…how do you think this will end? What will be left? No one is safe. Not in the Capitol. Not in the districts. And you…in Thirteen…” He inhales sharply, as if fighting for air; his eyes look insane. “Dead by morning!” And holy cow, the bodies? Did that give you all chills??A few days back, MaryKay Carlson, Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy, sought help from the Twitterati in choosing a sari to wear on Independence Day. She finally went with the 'voters’ choice' and wore a maroon green Kanjeevaram. She shared a picture of her wearing the sari and wrote, "#SareeSearch success! Excited to attend #IndependenceDayIndia celebration wearing the voters' choice - Kanjeevaram. #WeWearCulture."MaryKay went sari shopping in CPEarlier this month, Carlson had tweeted about her love for saris and ran an online poll to help her select a sari to wear on August 15. She regularly posted videos and pictures of her selected saris. Carlson went shopping at Khadi Bhawan in Connaught Place in the first week of August and surfed more than three dozen sarees to finally select five best ones. The five varieties selected by her were jamdani, dupion, Kanjeevaram and tussar.Carlson's online sari campaign is another addition to the list of social media campaigns to promote Indian handloom. In the past, Smriti Irani's #CottonIsCool and #IWearHandloom have been a huge success.cantab Member Registered: Oct 2009 Location: England Distribution: KDE Neon, Ubuntu, Debian. Posts: 531 Rep: Office software stands out as the one area in which, if OpenOffice and LibreOffice are counted together as they are technically almost identical, there's least competition. In other areas no one program got more than 3/4 of the vote; OOo and LibO combined have over 7/8 of the office sector on Linux. I think that's crying out for some credible competition. In my experience, KOffice is not up to much, while Abiword's focussing on lightness rather than full features. If LibO and OOo diverge, we may see some competition, but not if LibO "tracks" OOo or if development on OOo ceases. I wonder if "Gnome-Office" lost votes from people unaware it means "Abiword and Gnumeric" though. Perhaps office software should be separated out? I for one have historically preferred OO Writer and Gnumeric, the latter used to be much more powerful for graphs than OO Calc. (OO's since caught up I think, but I still do like Gnumeric.) Other things to note: a remarkable result that RHEL+CentOS exactly tie Debian. Things that got zero votes shouldn't be on the pie chart I think. A bit surprised at VLC dominating its poll so much. I expected a more even balance between it and mplayer. I concur with folkenfanel's comment in the "Welcome to the awards" thread that we should have at least a category for mathematical and scientific software. Amongst the more obvious candidates, it might also be a place to put LaTeX, since while not limited to maths papers, it's very often used for them. Finally, I reckon it would be really nice to see some trends across the years. What's rising, what's falling, what's forked?For the first time in 65 years a Turkish president is visiting Greece amid hopes of a breakthrough on the Cyprus issue and other bilateral issues. Preparations for the Turkish President’s visit to Greece lasted seven months according to Euronews. As is well known, Erdogan’s visit was launched when the Greek Foreign Minister, Mr Kotzias gave him an oral invitation to visit the country during their meeting in Ankara at the end of October. Mr. Erdogan is scheduled to visit Greece, tomorow,on Dec. 7-8.A lot is at stake for this two-day trip.It is being billed as historic and may represent a chance to break the deadlock on Cyprus, and other bilateral issues for the two NATO members which on occasions in the recent past have come close to conflict. At the same time, a major security operation is being set up in the Greek capital ahead of his planned visit to the country. Mr. Erdogan has visited Greece before — twice as prime minister in 2004 and 2010 — and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim visited in June, but there has not been a visit by a head of state since Turkey’s third president, Celal Bayar, made a trip in 1952. Erdogan, since he came to power in 2002, displayed a deceptive mask. He appeared as a “light” Islamist and there was a reason: After the terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York, the West turned angrily against Islam. Erdogan, in the face of the so-called “Islamic democrat”, built the image of a “progressive” leader who sought to make a more “european Turkey” and integrate it into the European Union. Many in Cyprus and Greece, among them, N. Anastasiades, now the president of the Republic of Cyprus, were seeing in Erdogan a face of a “European” and “Democratic” leader, who was ready to solve the Cyprus problem and discuss all issues. Since then, the masks have fallen and the real face of Erdogan has been revealed: a real dictator, arrogant, a murderer of his own people, adopting expansive and aggressive policy against all Turkey’s neighbors and even corrupted most of the greek media report. According to sources and ekathimerini.gr, the Turkish president will be coming to Greece with a security detail of 200 officers. From the Greek side, the Hellenic Police (ELAS) will be dispatching 2,800 officers to guard the Turkish president, including special forces and bomb disposal experts. Snipers will also be posted all along Erdogan’s route, while motorists should brace themselves for delays and traffic jams, as his motorcade will be given strict priority. More than 60 Turkish officers have been in Athens since Monday and another 60 or so in Komotini, where Erdogan plans to meet with representatives of the Muslim minority on Friday. Greece and Turkey remain at odds on a number of issues, from territorial disputes to migrant policies. “Without a doubt, President Erdogan’s [forthcoming Greece] visit is historic. It comes at an extremely crucial time for the developments in the wider region” https://t.co/Uq2ALIR9x7 pic.twitter.com/a7wKV2RAxP — Al Jazeera News (@AJENews) December 6, 2017 Everyone seems really stoked about Erdogan’s visit to Greece pic.twitter.com/HaBs0B1UBu — Patrick Strickland (@P_Strickland_) December 6, 2017 “The expansion of communication channels, the development of a positive agenda between the two countries at a time when, as you can see, there are difficulties, are the issues that can have multiple benefits for both countries. Dialogue and diplomacy always bring results,” says Greece’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ioannis Amanatidis. “We hope that Turkey will respond to the Greek government’s position in order to start a meaningful dialogue between the two countries, so that through this dialogue we could see whether there is the necessary infrastructure to re-convene a new conference on Cyprus,” says the Cypriot government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides. Last July talks to reunify the divided island of Cyprus in Crans Montana in Switzerland collapsed amid acrimony and recriminations. Turkey also wants eight soldiers who comandeered a helicopter and fled to Greece after the failed 2016 coup handed over. Greece’s highest court has blocked their extradition. Ahead of Mr. Erdogan’s visit, the Greek police arrested nine Turkish citizens suspected of links to the extreme leftist group, the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) in Athens. Eight men and a woman were detained, news agencies reported. The group has been designated a terrorist group by Turkey but is known to have a presence in Greece. There is a joke in Turkey about Erdogan's visits abroad and that signals nothing for for Greece. Gaddafi gave a reward to the Turkish leader and Gaddafi's head was killed with stone just after. When Erdogan visited Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. When Erdogan addressed the Lebanese parliamen, the next morning Lebanon was occupied. When he visited Yemen, a civil war broke in Yemen. When the Jordanian prime minister arrived in Ankara he resigned without returning to Jordan. When the Saudi King gave a medal to Erdogan, he died shortly thereafter... What the Greek side is afraid of this visit: Analysis 1.This visit has turned into a political thriller for Greece. According to reliable information, the Turkish side demanded that Erdogan visit Thrace where lies some Turkish minority. The Greek consensus came under the strict condition that all the moves and statements of the Turkish President will be precisely pre-agreed. Where and how he will speak and of course what he will say. Athens said that if there are some reliable assurances regarding where he speaks and what he says, there would be no problem. It is remarkable that the Turkish side has an intolerance and by depositing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, because there are victorious battles of the Greeks against the Turks! The same had happened when he had visited Athens almost 30 years ago. But given that the protocol is specific on official visits, Erdogan will probably lodge a wreath, as Ozal eventually did, and as Greek leaders do when they visit Ankara as well. Some moves made by Greece and Cyprus are in the right direction. But they are undermined by other parallel mistakes, such as Nicosia’s government insistence on a solution to the Cyprus problem that will lead to a “finlandization” of Cyprus, since it will be obliged to follow Ankara’s policy as an international satellite. Greece also offers help to Erdogan in a very controversial time for him, helping him to get out of his “isolation” without giving any “gift” back to the greek side. Ankara continues the same policy in the Aegean, Cyprus and Thrace issues. Cyprus, by accepting Turkish-Erdogan’s standards as the basis for a solution of the Cyprus problem it puts directly itself under Turkey’s hegemony. 2.Tayyip Erdogan is not a reliable interlocutor for the West. His ambiguous politics and his unhurried reactions slowly and firmly divert Turkey from its traditional allies and friends. In this climate, the Turkish President seeks to maximize the benefits of his visit in Greece. Tayyip Erdogan visits Athens in order to present his plan for the so called “Eastern Mediterranean” region. Surely Erdogan will try to represent his country as a main regional force and not just a weak US satellite as it was before. And this will be attempted by taking again probably a pro-Western profile that will help him to build solid alliances that he needs in order to cope with the dangers which remain in his country’s southern and eastern borders (especially the Kurds). And the visit here is a good opportunity, as the Greek government is the second European one to invite him after last year’s coup. 3.Iran, Zarrab and Russia :Probably during Mr Tsipras’ recent visit to the United States, the Americans were pushing for a way to bring Turkey closer or to send them a message through Athens, a fervent US ally (or satellite). The Americans do not want to lose Turkey which they regard as a valuable geopolitical plot in the Middle East. According to reliable information, the question being addressed by the State Department is whether Erdogan’s shift from the US foreign policy stem came from his anger (some say that the US prepared badly the coup back in 2016) or is just a more mature strategic choice. If they are convinced that his moves for an alliance with Russia and Iran come from his anger, the US boys believe that the gap could be bridged. But if they are convinced that this is a mature strategic choice, then they will adopt another strategic line for Turkey, more agressive one and Erdogan might have to face the consequences at the same time that the Americans have the information that Erdogan’s health is showing signs of deterioration. At the same time, Erdogan faces now Reza Zarrab’s accusations that he personally ordered that two Turkish banks be allowed to participate in an oil-for-gold scheme that violated United States sanctions on Iran, according to Zarrab’s last week testimony in a federal trial in Manhattan. Mr. Zarrab testified that in 2012, a senior Turkish official told him that Mr. Erdogan — now Turkey’s president, at the time its prime minister — and a second official, the treasury minister, had given orders for the banks “to start doing this trade.” And themain opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said he would give President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan until Dec. 5 to reveal who exposed state secrets to Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab. End of November, the leader of Turkey’s main opposition has produced what he claims is evidence of millions of dollars held in offshore bank accounts linked to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the opposition Republican People’s Party, began addressing parliament regarding the alleged offshore accounts, the state broadcaster cut the transmission. Eyes on Cyprus Exploiting a coup d’etat of a still obscure origin perpetrated by the Athens junta –a regime inspired if not created, but then tolerated and openly assisted, by Washington and NATO–, Turkey invaded Cyprus twice in the summer of 1974 and occupied more than a third of its territory. Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı’s emergence in April 2015 as leader of the Turkish-Cypriot community generated optimistic expectations among many Greek-Cypriot, convinced that he possessed Social-Democratic moderation and, as an architect, civility and sophistication. Nicos Anastasiades himself started showering him with enthusiastic friendship and even brotherly affection, insisting that the two of them were ‘sharing a common vision’. But while naïve Greek-Cypriots were imagining that such a vision embraced a fair and functional Cyprus settlement, Akıncı seemed to be hiding some cunning under his polite demeanour. For he soon demonstrated that he was unwilling to resist succumbing to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s diktats. In fact, he progressively became Erdoğan’s mouthpiece, uttering all manner of demands, showing yet again that, for Ankara, a Cyprus ‘settlement’ can only be envisaged as long as it was tailor-made by Turkey for Turkey’s own (and not even the Turkish-Cypriots’) interests. It was, therefore, becoming crystallised that the so-called ‘bi-communal’ negotiations were taking place between a partially occupied state and its occupier and not between two free and autonomous communities. Today, Cypriot journals report that personal property and family interests in the North Cyprus (occupied by Turkey) have been created by Turkish President Erdogan himself, which combine with the policy steps of further political and economic integration of the North into the Turkish state. Accoding to reliable sources, Erdogan has set up a whole network of business associates in the occupied areas for financial and business activity of both his own companies and his friends. Only the settlers participate in this network, as, as he has often said, “does not trust the Turkish Cypriots”. Erdogan has co-ordinated his groom, Berat Albairak, who has the burden of designing and awarding works. A similar network of associates, much larger, is available to the family in Turkey as well. 39-year-old Berat Albairaq, who has also been in charge of the Turkish Minister of Energy’s portfolio, has recently made threats to investigate the eastern Mediterranean and extract hydrocarbons in parts of the Cypriot EEZ. As far as its occupation in the occupied areas, the same information indicates that the projects are made by companies in which the Erdogan family has interests directly or indirectly (non-registered).These projects are related to energy, water, construction (roads, buildings such as hotels, Tybu airport, homes, university, etc.). Watch Mr Erdogan’s interview in Greek/Turkish to the Greek channel of Skai (no english subtitles until now 😦 ). AdvertisementsChina’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, wants to make sure the Magic Kingdom doesn’t make any money in China. In an interview with Chinese talk show host Chen Luyu that aired on Aug. 26, the billionaire behind real estate giant Dalian Wanda Group showed off his Beijing headquarters, and shared a vision of destroying his best-known competition by outbuilding them. Wang said he hoped to make the mainland’s first Disneyland, which opened in Shanghai on June 16, “unprofitable in the coming two decades.” Wang, the world’s biggest commercial real estate developer, opened a rival amusement park complex that cost 22 billion yuan ($3.3 billion) (link in Chinese) in third-tier city Nanchang days after Disneyland’s China debut. Wang said Wanda plans to build 15 similar amusement park complexes in China and three to five abroad before 2020. His newest, in Hefei, northern China, cost over 35 billion yuan (link in Chinese) and will be welcoming guests from Sept. 24. Wang compared his strategy to playing mahjong, saying, “If Disney wants to win a hand, we will intercept it by building amusement parks.” Wanda’s theme park and Disney’s have already clashed: After characters that looked like Snow White and Captain America were spotted at the Wanda park, Disney said it would “take action” to protect its own intellectual property. Wang’s ultimate goal, he said during the recent interview, is to “change the world where rules are set by foreigners.” In other words, Chinese should make the final calls. He also criticized Chinese people who go to Disneyland, using an idiom that means “to be crazy about foreign things and obsequious to foreigners,” adding that “the once-glorified Disneyland is part of the past.” Wang embarked on a frantic acquisition spree four years ago and has not slowed down since. He is now worth $30 billion, after spending $2.6 billion for the world’s second-biggest theater group AMC in 2012, $52 million for a 20% stake in Spanish soccer team Atletico Madrid in January 2015, and $3.5 billion for Hollywood film studio Legendary Entertainment a year later, among other deals. Some of China’s netizens said they found Wang’s comments xenophobic (link in Chinese, registration required). “I am sorry, but what is Wanda?” wrote one. “People will spend money going to Disney in China no matter how expensive it is because it has a brand value… How can you just use a financial statement to downplay Disney’s cultural influence?” The first part of the interview is available on YouTube, but there are no subtitles in English:Skate or Die 2: The Search for Double Trouble is a skateboarding themed action/adventure game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, developed and published by Electronic Arts, who also developed the first game, which was ported by Konami's Ultra Games subsidiary. It is well known for successfully using digitized vocals and electric guitar in the opening theme (composed, along with the rest of the game's music, by Rob Hubbard), rarely seen on the NES. A 2012 three-part video interview on black metal revealed that the skater on the box art was young Jef Whitehead, the sole member of Leviathan. Characters [ edit ] The Hero: The unnamed hero of the adventure is a male skateboarder. At the start of the game, the player is armed with a paintball gun and a handful of weapons to throw at his enemies. CJ: The hero's girlfriend. Rodney: One of the characters from the original Skate or Die! He sells the player new and better skateboards. Lester: Rodney's son, he will teach the player new tricks in exchange for some of the goodies you pick up along the way (and if you can catch him). Icepick: A thug who is the main villain of the game. Gameplay [ edit ] Skate or Die 2 is a side scrolling game, though the player can retrace his steps and return to areas he has seen before. The hero has a variety of skateboarding moves and weapons at his disposal, the controls for which can be programmed by the player. The hero's primary weapon is his paintball gun, though he can also throw eggs and firecrackers at his opponents. The game also has a bartering system. During the journey the hero can pick up CDs, cassette tapes, french fries, and tacos. These items can be traded with Rodney and Lester for new tricks and skateboards. There are also a total of five skateboards in the game. The one the player starts with is slow and does not jump very high, but by meeting up with Rodney the hero can acquire two progressively faster and higher-jumping skateboards, with each one replacing the hero's current board. Later in the game Rodney can sell the player two boards that do not replace his current board. One is fast but has poor jumping abilities, the other jumps high but is slow. However, if the player does not acquire the boards on the first level, then Rodney will not appear in the third (this held true with Lester, as well. The player would have to buy the three moves he offered in stage one for him to appear in stage three). Rather than make the player have to complete the story portion of the game in order to unlock the Double Trouble halfpipe, the game offers the player the option to skip the story and play the ramp as a standalone portion of the game by pressing "Select". The option is displayed on the title screen as well as described in the instruction manual. Plot [ edit ] The game opens with a cut scene that places the story in a fictional town called Elwood. While out for a skateboard ride, the unnamed hero is distracted by Icepick. This causes the hero to run over the mayor's wife's poodle. In retaliation, she has her husband ban skateboarding. Somehow, the solution to this is to meet the mayor's wife in a warehouse and assault her with a paintball gun. Stage one takes place on the streets of Elwood. The player can meet up with Rodney and Lester to acquire new tricks and two new skateboards. He can also blast other skates to pick up goodies, paintball clips, and throwing weapons. The stage ends when the player finds and defeats the Mayor's wife in a showdown. The second cut scene shows the aftermath of the showdown. The hero heads to the local half-pipe only to find it being demolished. He is confronted by a construction worker, who informs the hero that since the half-pipe was built without a permit, it must be torn down. When the hero asks what they (the town's skaters) are supposed to do, the construction worker gruffly replies he should get a job so he can buy a building permit..."or take up knitting." Stage two takes place in a shopping mall. The hero has taken a job as a delivery boy to earn money for the new half-pipe. The player has a set amount of time to make each delivery in the two floor mall. If the hero makes his delivery on time, he receives a tip (more weapons or goodies). In addition to the other skaters, the hero has to deal with slow moving shoppers carrying stacks of boxes and a security guard. After completing his deliveries and getting paid, the hero visits Rodney, who is finishing the blueprints for the new half-pipe. In an unfortunate accident, the hero turns on a fan instead of the lights. The blueprints fly out the window and are scattered over the beach. This begins stage three. The hero must collect all the pages of the blueprint before they blow off the beach. While making his way past roller skaters, crabs, seagulls, and posing body builders the hero can meet up with Lester and Rodney again to continue learning new tricks and buy new boards. Once all the pages of the blueprint are recovered, CJ heads off the city hall with the money the hero earned in stage two. Fate once again conspires against our hero. After buying the building permit CJ is kidnapped by Icepick and his gang. Stage four takes place in the abandoned warehouse Icepick and his gang call home. Unlike the other stages, the warehouse is a four floor maze of rooms instead of one long screen the player can move back and forth on. After finding the building permit, the hero makes his way to the rooftop where he defeats his nemesis. With CJ rescued and the building permit found, the hero and his friends are able to build their new half-pipe, Double Trouble. The game ends with the player being able to use the ramp. Double Trouble [ edit ] The halfpipe Double Trouble. Double Trouble is a large half-pipe with a smaller spine ramp in the middle. Unlike the half-pipe in the first Skate or Die! game, Double Trouble is two screens instead of one. The player has three minutes to perform his tricks. If he wipes out three times the game is over (although there is a code a player can enter to attain unlimited boards). Should the player go on a scoring streak CJ appears in a window of a house in the background, doubling the number of points the player receives with each trick for a short amount of time. Once the run is finished, the player sprite would then react to the quality of his run, based upon how many points the player got during the run. The sprite had a number of reactions for each point total range. The worst possible reaction was the man slamming the board on his head (thereby shattering the board into pieces) before saying "No way, dude!" The best reaction (gained after exceeding 30,000 points in a run) would be the sprite doing a balancing act of the board on his finger while yelling "Way cool, dude!"6 years ago (CNN) - A new poll shows the former GOP standard bearer Mitt Romney and the Republican Party's image took a hit after the election. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll conducted one month after Election Day and released Wednesday indicates the GOP's favorable rating slipping with 30% percent of respondents viewing the party favorably, down from 36% before the election. Forty-five percent now view the party unfavorably, up from 43% before the election. Before the election, Romney's favorable rating was at 43%. The number has since dropped to 35%. His unfavorable rating has remained at 44% from before November 6. - Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker Romney drew negative headlines after the election for a controversial audio recording released of him on a private call with donors. On the call, Romney said President Barack Obama won re-election largely because of election season "gifts" he gave to certain groups, like undocumented immigrants given a chance to stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation if they enter the military or seek higher education. The poll shows an uptick in positive opinion of President Barack Obama since the election. Fifty-three percent of respondents approve of the job he's doing as president, higher than at any point during the campaign season, and the same percentage reported feeling "optimistic and confident" or "satisfied and hopeful" about the next four years. The poll also finds that the public overwhelmingly wants the White House and congressional Republicans to reach a deal to avoid the looming fiscal crisis. If lawmakers fail to reach common ground by the year-end deadline, automatic tax rate increases and federal spending cuts will go into effect, potentially dipping the U.S. economy back into a recession. Sixty-eight percent of respondents characterized the so-called fiscal cliff as a "serious" or "very serious" problem and two-thirds are willing to compromise on tax increases or spending cuts to reach a deal. Wednesday's poll falls in line with other recent polls suggesting Americans are looking to Washington for a deal to avoid the fiscal crisis. The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll was conducted from December 6-9 among 1,000 adult respondents. The poll's sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.Meanwhile, CNN saw its most-watched first quarter since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, both among adults age 25 to 54 and in total viewers. ADVERTISEMENT Among all quarters, CNN posted its second highest quarterly ratings in Total Day (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) in the 25–54 demographic in averaging 266,000 viewers, and its third highest in prime time since the fourth quarter of 2008 with an average of 411,000 in the category. On CNN, “The Lead with Jake Tapper” also showed the most growth in cable news in the time period (4 p.m.), up 56 percent in the demographic compared to the first quarter of 2016 and increasing 39 percent in total viewers. Overall, the theme continues a trend of split decisions between CNN and MSNBC in the race for second place behind Fox News, as CNN won every hour of the day in the 25–54 demographic outside of Maddow's 9 p.m. hour, while MSNBC topped CNN in the morning (6 a.m. to 9 a.m.) and in prime time in the total viewer category. MSNBC scored its highest-rated quarter in the network's 20-plus-year history at the beginning of 2017, according to Nielsen Research, while CNN registered its most-watched first quarter since 2003.In January, February and March, MSNBC enjoyed more growth than any other cable news network when compared to the same quarter in 2016, up 61 percent in primetime total viewers (1.43 million) and 49 percent in the coveted 24- to 54-year-old demographic (337,000).MSNBC was led by Rachel Maddow, who has finished first in the demographic each of the past three weeks in cable news, marking her longest streak on top of the ratings since December 2012, following the reelection of President Obama.CNN in particular has bolstered its political roster as a result.As we approach the presidential election next Tuesday, public interest in Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — and subsequently news coverage of the two candidates as well as advertising rates — is at an all-time high for most media companies. But though the 2016 election has led to record-breaking viewership and traffic numbers for most media companies, that gravy train won't last. Experts are skeptical that people are permanently interested in politics. "The two bases are very angst-ridden and emotional about this election and these issues," said Lenny Stern, founding partner of agency SS+K, which is working with a Super PAC that is working with female candidates. "Twenty to 30 percent on each side are still going to be at it hard after the election. I think that big moveable middle — which is what most Americans are — need a vacation." The top news websites saw a 13 percent increase in traffic this September compared to the year prior, according to Adobe Analytics. Compared to September 2012, the sites saw a 59 percent lift in traffic, Adobe said. The Washington Post's website in particular had its highest trafficked month ever in October, with 66.9 million visitors, according to ComScore. It also recorded 770 million page views, a 95 percent increase year over year. And, it's not just websites that are benefiting. In October, Fox News led the three major cable news networks with an audience of 3.1 million during prime time according to Nielsen, a 72 percent increase from last year. October was CNN's most watched month since 2008 in total daytime programming among adults 25 to 54. CNN also finished first among the advertiser-coveted adults 25-54 demographic, up 131 percent since last October. Higher-than-usual numbers for news media are expected for election years, said Merrill Brown, director of the Montclair State University School of Communication and Media. The 2000 and 2008 elections especially saw ratings bumps, though not quite as high as this year. "You've have two compelling characters worth watching," said John Harrison, global media and entertainment leader at Ernst & Young. "You've got this really steady flow of incremental dramatic stories coming out around them that are creating this spotlight and drama that is building towards a deadline." However, after the election, ratings should normalize with other programming like the NFL and other sports events seeing viewership increase, Harrison said. Advertising rates should drop accordingly for news media, as viewers turn to their regularly scheduled programming. For major media companies, staff levels should remain relatively normal, Brown said. However, smaller digital media sites that staffed up to cover new political coverage areas may be in more trouble, especially because many of these companies are already reconsidering their cost structures and head counts in light of lower advertiser interest, Harrison said. Digital advertising is also in a transition phase, since there is an excessive amount of advertising inventory online and more advertisers are opting to buy programmatically (or automated), Brown pointed out. In general, it's already meant less advertising revenue for media companies. "Advertising is not flowing to those sites as much as they thought," Harrison added.This is In Real Terms, a weekly
P = 0.002), by how much alcohol the participant consumed in an average week (F 2,29 = 5.63, P = 0.009), and whether or not the participant consumed caffeinated beverages (F 1,29 = 11.78, P = 0.002). PC2 was influenced by the length of time between the participant's experimental sample and their last ejaculation (F 1,31 = 7.14, P = 0.012) and by the participant's frequency of sexual activity in an average week (F 1,31 = 20.46, P<0.001). PC3 was influenced by the length of time between the participant's experimental sample and their last ejaculation (F 1,32 = 4.75, P = 0.037). All contributing lifestyle and collection variables were controlled for in subsequent analyses. Mate guarding and mate value In all subsequent analysis, a subset of 34 participants were analyzed as seven participants had missing or incomplete independent variables that necessitated exclusion. Female raters showed good consensus on their ratings of attractiveness (2.9±0.9, Cronbach's alpha =.97) and dominance (4.0±1.1, Cronbach’s alpha =.89). Self-perceived mate value did not correlate with either attractiveness (r 34 = −0.13, P = 0.468) or dominance scores (r 34 = 0.03, P = 0.853), but attractiveness and dominance were positively correlated (r 34 = 0.45, P<0.001). We found no evidence of a relationship between mate guarding and male quality, with mate guarding showing no significant correlations with self-perceived mate value (r 34 = 0.13, P = 0.481), attractiveness (r 34 = −0.16, P = 0.376) or dominance (r 34 = −0.28, P = 0.119). Relationship between mate guarding and ejaculate expenditure PC1 was entered as the dependent variable into GLMs with all three male mate value variables (attractiveness, dominance, self-perceived mate value) and mate guarding entered as predictor variables. A significant main effect of mate guarding was found (F 1,28 = 4.51, P = 0.043), with a negative relationship between the performance of mate guarding behaviors and PC1 (effect size: β = −.030, 95% CI [−.059, −.001], R2 change =.072, Fig. 1), indicating that participants who invested less in mate guarding behaviors produced ejaculates within which the motility of sperm was greater. None of the male mate value variables accounted for any variance in PC1 and were dropped from the final model. PPT PowerPoint slide PowerPoint slide PNG larger image larger image TIFF original image Download: Figure 1. Relationship between mate guarding frequency and PC1 (after accounting for the influence of lifestyle and collection variables), which describes ejaculates with a high percentage of motile sperm and high swimming speed. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0108099.g001 The same GLM was run for both ejaculate quality PC2 and PC3. There were no significant main effects of variables of interest on PC2, but PC3 showed a significant main effect of mate guarding (F 1,31 = 4.887, P = 0.035) with a negative relationship between the performance of mate guarding behaviors and PC3 (effect size: β = −.037, 95% CI [−.071, −.003], R2 change =.119, Fig. 2), indicating that participants who invested more in mate guarding behaviors had lower numbers of sperm in their ejaculate and sperm that moved more erratically. Again, male mate value variables were not significant and were dropped from the final model. PPT PowerPoint slide PowerPoint slide PNG larger image larger image TIFF original image Download: Figure 2. Relationship between mate guarding frequency and the unstandardized residuals of PC3 (after accounting for the influence of lifestyle and collection variables), which describes ejaculates with a high concentration of sperm and sperm that do not move erratically. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0108099.g002 According to guidelines from Field [66], PC1 and PC2 were acceptable for analysis as both PCs had high factor loadings with at least four loadings of 0.6 or greater. However, PC3 had only two factor loadings greater than 0.6: concentration and BCF. For this reason, to confirm the significance of the observed patterns of variation we also analyzed concentration independently. Concentration is the strongest predictor of fertility in men [61] and is the most widely used indicator of ejaculate quality in sperm competition research [4]. Concentration was not influenced by any lifestyle or collection variables and showed a significant main effect of mate guarding (F 1,32 = 5.087, P = 0.031, effect size: β = −.014, 95% CI [−.026, −.001], R2 =.137), indicating that participants who invested more in mate guarding behaviors had lower numbers of sperm in their ejaculate. This analysis corroborates our analyses based on principal components. Discussion Our study tested the general hypothesis that among males there would be a negative relationship between the use of tactics for the engagement in and avoidance of sperm competition, by examining the relationship between mate guarding and ejaculate quality in humans. Our results provide support for this hypothesis. Men who performed more mate guarding behaviors produced lower quality ejaculates, having a lower concentration of sperm, a lower percentage of motile sperm and sperm that swam slowly and erratically. These effects were independent of lifestyle or collection variables, and were not predicted by men's self-perceived mate value, attractiveness or dominance. Given the personal nature of the task required, recruitment of subjects for studies such as ours is difficult, and our study was limited in its sample size so that the 95%CIs on our observed effect sizes were broad. Nonetheless, the relationship was confirmed using two independent sperm quality indices, which together accounted for 59.1% of the variance in ejaculate quality. Previous research has found evidence for a negative relationship between male expenditure on tactics for the engagement in and avoidance of sperm competition, both across species [14], and within species with discrete alternative mating strategies [20]. Our results provide evidence for a continuous negative relationship between these opposing sperm competition tactics in a species without discrete alternative tactics [24], [67]. Shackelford, Goetz, Guta and Schmitt [37] found a positive relationship between the use of mate guarding and IPCs in humans. However, their use of IPC frequency as a measure of male engagement in sperm competition assumes that men control the rate of IPCs, which is not necessarily the case. Females will play a significant role in sperm competition and its avoidance [68], and women will initiate IPCs, particularly when at the most fertile point of their cycle [38]. The fact that women can initiate IPCs makes IPC frequency a relatively poor measure of male expenditure on sperm competition compared with ejaculate quality. Indeed, women may be selected to initiate more IPCs with males who show high use of mate guarding behaviors in order to ensure fertility, precisely because such males invest less in their ejaculate. For example, work on fishes has shown that male expenditure on mate guarding comes at a cost of reduced expenditure on the ejaculate with the consequence that female fertility is reduced [69]. Unlike IPC frequency, ejaculate quality is unlikely to be directly influenced by the female and certainly not in the context of our experimental design. For example, one possible reason for the negative relationship between mate guarding behavior and ejaculate quality could be sperm depletion. If frequent IPC is a behavior used by males as part of their mate guarding, or if females initiate more IPCs with mate guarding males, then those males who guard more strongly would be expected to have lower semen quality because of their greater mating frequency. However, we controlled statistically for variation in ejaculate quality that was due to the total amount of sexual activity men reported per week, and importantly the time since their last ejaculation. Therefore, the pattern of correlation we observe is independent of any influence of IPC frequency or sperm depletion. The negative relationship between mate guarding and sperm quality obtained here could potentially be explained by their mutual covariation with male mate value. High quality men (with better quality ejaculates) may invest less in mate guarding because their partners are less likely to seek extra-pair copulations. Conversely, men of low mate value (with poorer quality ejaculates) may invest more in mate guarding because they are at a greater risk of having their mate defect from the relationship. Our mate value parameters included independently female assessed measures of mate quality (attractiveness and dominance) as well as a measure of men's self-perceived mate value. These measures are likely to capture much of the variance in male mate value, yet none of them were associated with ejaculate quality or mate guarding behavior. The negative association between ejaculate quality and mate guarding behavior we have observed is thus unlikely to be mediated by their mutual covariation with mate value. The correlation between mate guarding and ejaculate quality we have observed could arise because of fixed genetic differences among men in their expenditure on these traits and/or through socially cued phenotypic plasticity. Cross cultural studies have shown how both men and women's sociosexuality — their tendency to engage in behaviors that generate sperm competition — are linked to personality types [70] that exhibit some degree of underlying genetic variation [71] and twin studies have found significant additive genetic variation for sociosexuality itself [72]–[74]. Likewise, ejaculate quality has been shown to exhibit significant additive genetic variance [75] Thus, on the one hand it is possible that men may have fixed, genetically determined expenditures on mate guarding and ejaculate quality, and future work should establish the extent to which mate guarding exhibits genetic versus environmental variation and the extent to which mate guarding and ejaculate quality are genetically correlated. On the other hand, men can also show phenotypic plasticity in ejaculate quality. There is considerable research to show that ejaculate quality can be context dependent [76], [77]. For example, Kilgallon and Simmons [34] found that both among and within subjects, when men viewed images depicting sperm competition scenarios they produced ejaculates containing sperm of greater motility than when they viewed images of women alone. Thus, environmental constraints on a male's ability to mate guard might generate plasticity in ejaculate quality. For example, males might respond to direct feedback from their mate; if a man's partner were to actively avoid being mate guarded, he may invest more in his ejaculate. Further research examining socially cued plasticity in both mate guarding and ejaculate quality is warranted. In conclusion, our findings suggest that male expenditure on mate guarding and on the ejaculate can represent alternative means by which males respond to sperm competition. Men who performed fewer mate guarding behaviors to avoid sperm competition had higher quality ejaculates for the engagement in sperm competition. This relationship between mate guarding and ejaculate quality was independent of male quality. Future research is needed, to replicate our findings, to determine the extent to which this correlated expenditure occurs across other taxa, and to identify the genetic, and environmental and ecological factors that influence the relationship between the use of tactics for the engagement in and avoidance of sperm competition. Supporting Information Table S1. Correlation matrix between all sperm parameters (Pearson's correlations are shown above the diagonal and Spearman's correlations are included below the diagonal for comparison). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0108099.s001 (DOCX) Acknowledgments Ethical approval was granted by the University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee (project number RA/4/1/5012). Author Contributions Conceived and designed the experiments: SL GR LWS. Performed the experiments: SL. Analyzed the data: SL GR LWS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: GR LWS. Wrote the paper: SL GR LWS.∆ Give us a Like if you love indie games ∆ What would happen if what people share in their social networks turns real? And best of all, if you could play with that? Well, if you like the idea of the twittersphere becoming a virtual universe, this is for you. Welcome to Tweet Land, the first set of videogames that plays with reality. This project was born because we always thought that it would be really fun if what people comment in Twitter could turn real. You know, from the serious stuff twitters sometimes talk about, to the really nonsense tweets people make daily. So we decided to start working on this idea, and that’s how Tweet Land was born. We have now advanced a lot and are really excited, but our resources are limited. So we need your help to make Tweet Land what everybody of us dream of. In this universe you will be able to play several videogames. Tweet Land will be launched with two initial games. A racing game called Route 140 and an action game called Love City. Check out the video to watch the action gameplay. Hope you like them. Enjoy! The game works really simple. Every time someone in the world tweets something, his or her tweets could affect the gameplay of Tweet Land by triggering certain action-keywords. It could be a "car accident" in your racing game, it could be your hate-gun gets reloaded in the action game, it could be anything. We have created tons of situations that are triggered by their relative keywords that people might tweet. Some of them are: car accident meteor shooting star tsunami volcano eruption fireflies zombie beach love hate shotgun lightsaber We have many many more, but we don’t want to spoil your game. And we will create even more. Many will be based on trend topics, many on actual events, and many others will be odd stuff people tweet (you know that happens a lot!). The sweet part comes from the fact that people around the world are always creating tweets for the game based on their real-life experiences; even if they are not playing; even if they don’t know anything about Tweet Land. So the events and the gameplay are always changing within the web and its thousands of conversations. Tweet Land is the first set of videogames that plays with reality, making it different every time you play and endlessly replayable. Its main features are: We have plenty of Tweet Land done. But we have many more work to do and many things to pay for. We plan to launch Tweet Land before mid 2011, for iPhone and web browser with two initial games. One of the games is a racing game called Route 140 and the other is an action game called Love City. With your support we can: secure the ongoing development and multiplatform release pay the dedicated servers necessary to run the Twitter integration correctly buy software licenses and lock the Beta-phase so we can launch on date As some of the rewards, we are giving to every pledge of $5 or more a pre-order of the game so you can download it when it is ready, and for every pledge of $15 or more we are giving Tweet Land beta-test access before the game is on public release so you can help us build it with your ideas. Check the other cool rewards on the top side-bar. We are a group of friends from sunny Costa Rica that all of our lives have been really passionate about videogames and the web. For this reason every one of us has specialized since years ago into web/software development, graphic design, audio composition, e-marketing, social media and digital creativity. We already have worked in award-winning projects (‘Romeria Virtual’ won Silver Cannes Lion; ‘Wackylands Boss’ became an AppleStore Top Paid Game; etc.) in our daytime jobs, but we thought it was time to jump out and start working in our own fun stuff. To stop the talk, and start the doing. Hope you share our vision, and either you help us with a pledge or by spreading the word (give us a Like or tweet about it), we will really appreciate your support. Gracias! Pura vida. You can subscribe to our newsletter or take a sneak peek of the ongoing development at tweetlandgame.com And by the way, everytime someone shares the Kickstarter link in Twitter, a fancy event will happen in Tweet Land site :D ********************************************************************************************* Y si sos de COSTA RICA, tambíen podés donar al proyecto mediante la cuenta corriente del Banco de Costa Rica 001-0289540-4 y la cuenta cliente para transferencias SINPE 15201001028954040 cédula 3102624038 WHY IDEAS LIMITADAIt's a story right out of Hollywood. The Los Angeles Kings are hosting open tryouts on Sept. 27 to find their emergency goaltender. "The NHL requires each home team to have an emergency goalie in the stands for every game and we thought this would be a good opportunity to see who in our area is best qualified for the job," Kings president Luc Robitaille said in a news release. "It will be interesting, that is for sure." The event will take place at the team's training facility; the team promises "a member of the Kings hockey operations department" will be on hand to evaluate. What are the Kings looking for in this understudy role? Someone at least 18 years old " who has played a high level" of amateur hockey but has not signed a contract to play in a professional league. Last season, two teams -- the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks -- found themselves signing emergency backup goalies. The Hurricanes used their 37-year-old equipment manager, Jorge Alves. The team let Alves make his professional debut for eight seconds in the third period, trailing by two goals.There were some victories, yes. In Ohio, Mississippi, and Arizona, ballot initiatives and recalls were successful in slowing some of the more aggressive metastasizing of the extreme-right agenda; in these cases, union busting and the war against women's right to choose.However, many far-right incumbents stayed in office, a fact that got lost in the hoopla over the rare progressive victories.The problem is that our computerized elections system is still fundamentally insecure -- open to centralized manipulation and outside hacking. So, small "wins" like we saw last week are, sadly and ironically, a setback to the Election Integrity movement, because we now have to fight harder to call attention to the fact that our electoral system is still out of our control.We know the machines that count our votes -- including Optical Scanners and Touchscreens -- are controlled by a small cartel of corporations that manufacturer them and program their software. Their owners, stockholders and key staff share, not only extensive criminal histories, but also alliances with the extreme right-wing.So my feeling is that the people who control our votes essentially just "let" us win these progressive victories. Why they let us win is the question, and we can only speculate.They may have had to let us win because it's too difficult to rig the votes undetectably with strong turn-out and citizen awareness of the issues. Which means that voting still matters because it's hard to manipulate results when the margins are wide. Therefore we can't boycott elections -- that's not the answer. On the contrary, we need to show up in armies, in an electoral insurgency. We must also, simultaneously, organize in 2012 to ban the Trojan Horse computerized voting machines, but meanwhile we can make it damn difficult for them to get away with rigging the results.However, realize that if the machines are pre-programmed to add a certain percentage of votes to Candidate A, it might mean that Candidate B still wins in a landslide, but by a smaller margin, which still does not reflect the true will of the voters. In practice this likely means that Independent or third party candidates -- or particular ballot initiatives -- are registering lower returns than the machines tell us. Ralph Nader won 3% of the votes in his last presidential bid -- or so we're told. He might have won the 5% needed to receive federal funding for his campaign. The Greens have been a demoralized party and yet they may be more popular than our elections results suggest.So, am I happy with the state of the nation these days? No, but I'm more hopeful than I've ever been. I support the Occupy movement, and I hope it develops into a force that can organize to help take down the Corporatocracy. One of the top demands -- if demands are ever officially presented -- must be a publicly observable hand-counted paper ballot vote count that supports the voter's right to know who actually won, and by what margins.Currently I'm compiling the best of the Election Integrity work together onto one webpage: http://www.votescam.org/the_evidence. This will narrow the field of research for people new to the issue, and show what an amazing body of evidence we have that our votes are regularly stolen through centralized computerized rigging.So, with the caveat that people who care need to start exploring that body of evidence themselves, I will point to some highlights about the crooks who manufacture our vote counting machines.Lynn Landes explains on her website that there is no government oversight of our elections, or the elections equipment industry:The two biggest corporations, Diebold and ES&S, were originally owned by two Russian brothers, Todd and Bob Urosevich. They took over other manufacturers until they were the major election equipment suppliers. In 2009, Diebold was sold to ES&S. Currently, the only other company of any significance is based in Canada.In Chapter 8 of Black Box Voting, Bev Harris delves more deeply into the right-wing, religious, military, media, and big energy connections of the ownership, key personnel, and stockholders of the manufacturers -- and the charges against them of bid-rigging, anti-trust evasion, kick-backs, money laundering, bribery, embezzling, price-fixing, stock scams, defrauding the government, tax fraud, computer fraud, and cocaine trafficking.These criminals are the people building our election equipment. Their machines count our votes in secret, completely unobservable within their "proprietary" software. Can you imagine anything more insane?Both Diebold and ES&S have also been caught installing uncertified software in their machines. Former Diebold bank machine auditor Stephen Spoonamore admits that Christian fundamentalists were, at one point, most of the people who programmed the Diebold and ES&S voting machines. And lest we forget, Diebold's CEO Wally O'Dell infamously promised to "deliver" the 2004 Ohio results to George W. Bush.And it's not just the manufacturers who are crooked -- it's also the companies that certify their machines.Harris writes, "You would expect that a company that certifies our voting machines would not have its owners running for office. You would also expect that no one who owns the certification company would be under criminal investigation. You'd be disappointed."I'll let the readers enjoy the rest of Chapter 8 themselves. I think you all get the picture.It's nice work if you can get it, right? Quite a racket. Now, getting to the second part of your question: Why don't most people know about this issue?The corporate media has not been reporting the evidence, except in a very few instances, which are almost baffling when you understand how involved the networks have been in manipulating our elections. In this, the Votescam investigation is unique because we are the only people to delve deeply into the media's role in vote rigging The Democratic party is also complicit in election rigging by -- at the least -- never exposing the total lack of safety and accountability in our system, and never challenging clearly fraudulent results, most glaringly Al Gore and John Kerry, who promised to fight their stolen elections, then promptly rolled over and played dead. Of course, both parties work beautifully together to keep third parties out of power, and that's what seems to matter most, at least at the top -- keeping the two most powerful gangs in control of the political turf.Some other reasons include:The apathetic nature of too many modern Americans who can't be bothered to care how democracy actually works, because Survivor is on.Politicians and NGO leadership complicity by silence. Both have a deadly fear of being labelled a "conspiracy nut" and losing their funding or constituent support. This effectively neuters them.And finally, the Progressive media's historic refusal to report on this issue. This includes The Nation, Mother Jones, Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky, and pretty much every other bastion of left-wing journalism. There are many possible reasons why, too complex to discuss here. But I encourage all your readers to flash-mob these media figures with demands that they do this issue justice.As I mentioned, my father and uncle uncovered election fraud in Miami in 1970 where the local T.V. networks reported phony results to the public, supposedly based on "projections" -- not actual returns -- that matched the final, "official" results with amazing (impossible) accuracy. They later discovered the poll worker's signatures had been forged, and the official results falsified. In order to give the public their "projections" the networks claimed the courthouse computer had broken down, and no actual results would be forthcoming. This was a lie, officially denied in a press release stating, "The courthouse computer was never down, and it was never slow."That was localized, centralized, corporate media-managed election fraud -- and there was reason to believe it was taking place across the country, in exactly the same pattern, beginning with the networkannouncement: "the courthouse computer has broken down... "Now, consider this:News Elections Services (NES) was created in 1964 as a media consortium of the major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, AP, plus the Washington Post, the New York Times, and later on, CNN and FOX News.The NES media pool gathered and tallied the national vote results, feeding them to the individual networks, who reported them to the public. The perception was given that each network was competing for results, but that was not really true after 1964.NES had the same secretive, incestuous, shady structure as the voting machine manufacturers, changing its name over the years but maintaining its small team of core personnel. When Voter News Service (VNS) was under investigation for its role in the 2000 election where they called the presidency for Al Gore based on their "projections," most Americans believed they were a relatively new company. But VNS was just the latest iteration of NES -- still the same private corporate media consortium controlling exit polling, vote gathering, "projections" of winners, and the reporting of final results.This uber-powerful cabal is the most secretive organization involved in our democratic process. I'm the only person to ever interview their former CEO, Bill Headline, who admitted that VNS had no intention of opening their process to democratic oversight. You can read the transcript online. The existence of NES/VNS means that the kind of media manipulation my father and uncle discovered in 1970 has been possible at a national level. Is it necessary to falsify the official results every time? Could NES possibly communicate via computer or modem with county-level centralized tabulators? Was that even necessary? Who the hell was watching the process? No one!So, the corporate press -- the same people we know are daily lying to us, censoring stories of government corruption and covering up election fraud evidence -- have been in charge of reporting the vote results on election night. And no one is checking to see if they're accurate. No one.Meanwhile, VNS has morphed again. It is now News Election Pool (NEP) -- and, to be honest, I haven't done any investigation into this latest incarnation, which appears to be just as shady, secretive, and mysterious as all the previous ones, without even a proper website or a brochure for that matter.Well, don't kill the messenger. We're in dire straits and we can wake up now, or after we've been hauled off to an activist detention camp with a bag over our head. It's good to have choices, right?Citizen exit polling helps us gain some kind of democratic record, which we can compare to the computer tallies. I certainly won't discourage people from helping with this effort -- it can uncover glaring irregularities in the count, and engage people in the democratic process in their communities. But in the end, we're going to have to organize to get hand-counted paper ballots, and that's all there is to it.Please remember this: It is not up to American voters to prove electronic vote fraud. It's up to our elections officials to provide us with transparency and accountability.To understand how "official" corporate exit polling is rigged to the right with the ingenious use of the Likely Voter Cut-Off Model, I'd refer readers to your great [October 27, 2010] interview on Op Ed News: Election Defense Alliance's Jonathan Simon with the Timely Lowdown on Our Elections The historic Votescam investigation began in Dade County, but for the next 25 years, Jim and Ken were the foremost election fraud activists in America, uncovering myriad scams using modern voting technology -- everything from lever machines to computers -- taking place all across the nation. I feel their most important work was the investigation into NES and its capacity to centrally manipulate our elections on a national level.But what their monumental efforts really exposed -- the devastating final analysis -- is how easy it is to corrupt our entire system with just a few well-placed criminals stationed as sentinels against justice at every level of our system.Jim and Ken filed lawsuits against ABC News, the Justice Department, and the League of Women Voters for their role in aiding and abetting election fraud. Finally they ran up against an Appeals Court judge named Antonin Scalia, who helped crush their case in a disgraceful back-room "star chamber" session. A tragic end to their work, vindicated somewhat by the publishing of the Votescam book in 1992. However, the book itself was then, quite amazingly, banned by the major corporate book sellers, who listed it as "out of print" in their databases! It also disappeared from the Library of Congress!The truth is that Votescam is one of the greatest conspiracy stories of our time, and still very hard for most Americans to stomach. But we've got to keep telling the truth, regardless. It's more important now than ever.Yes, I was a child at the time, and I was largely shielded from the struggles of their work until I was a bit older. Ken lost his family during those years. It's hard to keep a marriage together when you devote so much effort to unpaid, and dangerous activism. Their lives were threatened, and the editor of their newspaper was shot in his driveway.As I get older, I appreciate their sacrifices more deeply, and the greater understanding they left us, of how we lost this country.I can tell you that they were not off their rockers. While human and flawed, they were two of the smartest, most insightful, far-seeing men I've ever known. Black belts, chess masters, expert pool players. Strategists, in other words. And most courageous, not just in stealing government evidence, getting arrested, etc., but also for taking the heat from the larger culture which ridiculed them as "conspiracy nuts." After many years I think they got fed up, stopped caring whether they were believed, and just kept pursuing their own justice because they were in too deep to stop.I was most affected by their work once I realized I would inherit their Votescam legacy. I did not want it! But I was clearly also inheriting a broken country, with only a thin patina of democracy left. So, many of my personal plans began to dissolve as I realized we would likely see a revolution in my lifetime.Jim and Ken both died young. I took over after they were both gone.My personal activism was in the environmental movement, but I understood that none of the issues that mattered to me -- like ending the wars, or fighting Monsanto, or dealing with the catastrophe of climate change -- would be addressed until we broke the hold of powerful vested interests in our government. When we do that, then I believe we will win most battles at the ballot box. Most Americans don't want to live in a war-torn, toxic world, where a small percentage of elites hold all the wealth, our social services are gutted, our jobs disappear overseas for ample slave labor, and quality of life diminishes every year. As our weather goes more haywire, the population will begin clamoring for solutions on climate change. For this, we need real representation.As an activist, yes, I am less isolated than my father and uncle because the stolen presidency in 2000 blew the issue of election theft into the public spotlight. Unfortunately, we have two internally divisive camps in the EI movement: those who still support the use of computers to count ballots in some capacity, with a paper "back up," and those, like me, who demand hand-counted paper ballots (HCPB), cast and counted in the precinct, before the ballots leave public view.My HCPB team has been the underdog for about 12 years, but now we're growing quickly. Originally, there was hope among the techies that we could use open-sourced software or secondary machines to check on the first level of machines. But in reality, neither provide a publicly observable system, which must be the gold standard requirement for real democracy.When it comes down to it, democracy is not faith based. It's also not fast food. It's a slow and sometimes cumbersome system at the legislative level, and also at the electoral level. Counting ballots is not an area where we can sacrifice safety and transparency for speed.One thing we haven't talked about is how this is everyone's issue. I'm often told by well-meaning people, "Thank you for taking this issue on, we're so grateful." And I want to scream, "This is not my issue, it's our issue!" (Admittedly, sometimes I do scream it.)We've lost control of the democratic experiment through our own lack of vigilance, our own apathy. Democracy requires the participation of an educated, aware populace. Not only do we have to understand the issues of the day, we have to monitor and protect our democratic institutions and processes, or they will be corrupted and destroyed from within.While we've been sleeping, our electoral process has been stolen from us by essentially corporatists, extremists, and proto-fascists. Until we organize together to take it back, there's little hope for our future.Obviously we've arrived at the tipping point; the revolution has galvanized with the Occupy movement, and it will intersect with the pivotally important 2012 elections. I'm working to bring the issue of how our votes can be stolen by computer prominently into the dialog, so we can start organizing to Occupy Elections in 2012.People can join the dialog right now at Occupy Rigged Elections on Facebook.Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG says its eye care unit, Alcon, is accused of bribing doctors in more than 200 hospitals in China. The company says it is investigating the allegation. The bribes were allegedly part of a campaign to promote Alcon’s lens implants. This is the second allegation against Novartis of corruption in China this year. In August the company was accused of bribing doctors to promote its medications. Both this month’s and last month’s allegations were made by the Chinese newspaper 21st Century Business Herald. 21st Century Business Herald claimed that Alcon’s Chinese staff paid doctors “research fees” for fictitious clinical trials through a third party. Novartis said in a public statement: “Alcon does not tolerate activities that are not in compliance with the laws and regulations in the markets where we operate. When any inappropriate activities are identified, we take swift remedial action.” Several claims of bribery against different drugmakers The same newspaper claimed in August that Eli Lilly, based in Indianapolis, USA, bribed doctors. It quoted an ex-employee who said (under a pseudonym) that $4.9 million (CN¥30 million) were paid in bribes to encourage doctors to prescribe Lilly medications. Eli Lilly carried out an internal investigation which is ongoing. So far, the company has not been able to confirm or deny the accusation. In August, 21st Century Business Herald accused French pharmaceutical multinational Sanofi of bribing doctors at 79 hospitals in Hangzhou, Gangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. The bribes were allegedly passed off as “research grants” and occurred in 2007. In July, British giant GlaxoSmithKline was accused of bribing hospital doctors and officials in a price-fixing move. Executives were detained. Another British-based pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, said its employees were questioned by Chinese regulators. Novo-Nordisk of Denmark said that Chinese officials entered its production facility in Tianjin city and asked detailed questions about its operations. The company was not told why it was visited and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. According to the Wall St. Journal, China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce said in August that it would start a 3-month investigation into bribery in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries in response to growing public anger at the high prices of health care products. Update – GlaxoSmithKline sales in China drop 61% during the 3rd quarter of 2013 following bribery scandal.THANK YOU SO MUCH SECRET SANTA FOR MAKING MY CHRISTMAS! It is going to be my first Christmas in the UK, first one without parents but first one with my husband. As it was getting closer to Christmas I was feeling disheartened that I couldn't follow all of my Christmas traditions. I asked my UK friends what was their plans or traditions they were going to follow, and at most it was just a Christmas dinner with family. My husband doesn't have any traditions either. Felt like the Christmas spirit was dying! In my exchange information I asked my secret Santa what was their Christmas traditions. I got a lovely message about their Christmas traditions, I was so happy that there are others out there alive with the Christmas spirit and it was a lot of fun reading. Santa asked about mine, after I replied with a wall of text the next day my Santa finished shopping and already posted the gifts. Lightning speed! The first parcel arrived on the first of Dec, perfect timing because that is the day I put up the Christmas tree and decorations! Opened the box and inside was a bunch of wrapped gifts, a card and a bunch of choco coins scattered in the box, like opening a pirate chest of booty :P The first gift was a chocolate advent calendar, such a cute design! This is one of the traditions I mentioned to my santa, perfect timing so I could have the first choco on time. Next chocolate in the shape of Koalas! With a cute baby Koala on the back of the mummy Koala, ahhh too cute to eat! The gifts my santa got for my desk at work is a pin art sculpture, and battery operated Christmas star lights, in traditional red and green. Only 1
because of the way that food is produced and the consolidation and organization of the industry itself. Solving it means we must move beyond the focus on consumer choice to examine the corporate, scientific, industrial, and political structures that support an unhealthy system. Combating this is going to take more than personal choice and voting with our forks – it’s going to take old-fashioned political activism. This book aims to show what the problem is and why we must do much more than create food hubs or find more opportunities for farmers to sell directly to consumers. We must address head-on the “foodopoly” – the handful of corporations that control our food system from seeds to dinner plates. While the rhetoric in our nation is all about competition and the free market, public policy is geared toward enabling a small cabal of companies to control every aspect of our food system. Today, twenty food corporations produce most of the food eaten by Americans, even organic brands. Four large chains, including Walmart, control more than half of all grocery store sales. One company dominates the organic grocery industry, and one distribution company has a stranglehold on getting organic products into communities around the country. Further, science has been allowed to run amok; the biotechnology industry has become so powerful that it can literally buy public policy. Scientists have been allowed to move forward without adequate regulation, and they are now manipulating the genomes of all living things – microorganisms, seeds, fish, and animals. This has enabled corporations to gain control over the basic building blocks of life, threatening the integrity of our global genetic commons and our collective food security. Biotechnology has moved into the world of science fiction, as scientists actually seek to create life-forms and commercialize them. Reining in and regulating the biotechnology industry is critical to reforming the dysfunctional food system. These structural flaws are often overlooked by the good-food movement, which focuses on creating an alternative model from the ground up that will eventually overtake the dysfunctional system. However, this approach raises the question: for whom and how many? A look at the most recent statistics on local food illustrates this point. A November 2011 study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, using 2008 data (the most recent available), found: “Despite increased production and consumer interest, locally grown food accounts for a small segment of U.S. agriculture. For local foods production to continue to grow, marketing channels and supply chain infrastructure must deepen.” The study found that levels of direct marketing to consumers are highest in the Northeast, on the West Coast, and in a few isolated urban areas outside these regions. Direct marketing of local foods to consumers at farmers’ markets and CSAs, along with local food sales to grocery stores and restaurants, generated $4.8 billion in sales in 2008. This figure is infinitesimal in comparison to the $1,229 trillion in overall sales from grocery stores, convenience stores, food service companies, and restaurants. According to the USDA, only 5 percent of the farms selling into the local food marketplace are large farms (with over $250,000 in annual sales), but these large farms provided 93 percent of the “local foods” in supermarkets and restaurants. Eighty-one percent of farms selling local food are small, with under $50,000 in annual sales, and 14 percent of farms selling local foods are medium-sized, with $50,000 to $250,000 in sales. The small and mediumsized farms sell nearly three quarters of the direct-to-consumer local foods (both CSAs and farmers’ markets) but only 7 percent of the local foods in supermarkets and restaurants. Although the 5,300 large farms averaged $772,000 in local food sales, small farms sold only $7,800 and medium-sized farms sold only $70,000 local foods on average. Of special significance is the finding that over half of all farms that sell locally are located near metropolitan counties, compared to only a third of all U.S. farms. This illustrates the difficulty that farmers who grow corn, soy, wheat, and other feed or cereal grains for commodity markets have in converting their farming operations to direct sales to consumers. These farmers sell crops that re-enter the food system as a component of another food – as a sweetener, an oil, a starch, or as feed for animals. The lack of a local market, a distribution network, or in many cases the infrastructure needed to harvest, aggregate, or process local foods is also a tremendous hindrance to creating an alternative food system. Look at a map of the large agricultural middle of this nation to understand that the few remaining farmers who grow the millions of acres of corn and soybeans, fencerow to fencerow, do not live where they can sell directly to the consumer. Most farmers don’t have nearby affluent urban areas to which to market their crops. They can’t switch from commodities to vegetables and fruit even if they had a market, because they have invested in the equipment needed to plant and harvest corn and soy, not lettuce, broccoli, or tomatoes. Overly simplistic solutions are often put forward by some leaders in the good-food movement that take the focus away from the root causes of the food crisis – deregulation, consolidation, and control of the food supply by a few powerful companies. One of the most prevalent policy solutions put forward as a fix for the dysfunctional system is the elimination of farm subsidies. This silver bullet prescription implies that a few greedy farmers have engineered a farm policy that allows them to live high off the hog on government payments, while small farms languish with no support. Proponents of this response say that if we remove these misapplied subsidies to these few large farms, the system will right itself. Unfortunately, the good-food movement has been taken in by an oversimplified and distorted analysis of farm data. It is based on a misinterpretation of misleading U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics that greatly exaggerate the number of full-time family farm operations. A close look at the USDA’s Census of Agriculture shows that one third of the 2.2 million entities counted as farms by the agency have sales of under $1,000 and almost two thirds earn under $10,000 a year. These small business ventures are counted even though they are far from being full-time farming operations. In most cases these are rural residences, not farms, and the owners are retired or have significant off-farm income. They have a part-time agriculture-based business as part of their rural lifestyle – anything from having a vineyard to growing flowers or mushrooms. Counting these small ventures as farms not only skews the statistics on the number of farms in the United States; it also makes it appear that only a small percentage receive government payments. In reality, we have under a million full-time farms left, and almost all of them, small and large, receive government subsidies. This is not to say that the subsidy system is good policy. Rather that it is a symptom of a broken food production system, not the cause of the problems. If we penalize farmers for policies that the powerful grain traders, food processors, and meat industry have lobbied for, we will never create a sustainable food system. We need midsize farming operations to survive and to be transitioned into a sustainable food system. Midsize family farmers have an average income of $19,277 – a figure that includes a government subsidy. The cost of seeds, fertilizers, fuel, and other inputs is continuing to rise as these industries become more monopolized. Most farmers are scratching by, trying to hold on to their land and eke out a living. We are losing these farms at a rapid rate, resulting in the consolidation of smaller farms into huge corporate-run industrial operations with full-time managers and contract labor. Telling these farmers that all they have to do once the subsidies are taken away is grow vegetables for the local farmers’ market is not a real solution for them or their communities. Rural communities are seeing the wealth and the profit from agriculture sucked into the bottom lines of the largest food corporations in the world. Economically viable farms are the lifeblood of rural areas. Their earnings generate an economic multiplier effect when supplies are bought locally, and the money stays within the community. The loss of nearly 1.4 million cattle, hog, and dairy farms over the past thirty years has drained not only the economic base from America’s rural communities, but their vitality. These areas have become impoverished and abandoned, and the only hopes for jobs are from extractive industries such as hydraulic fracturing or from building and staffing prisons. Something is fundamentally amiss in a society that does not value or cherish authentic food that is grown full time on appropriate-size family farms. The benefits of farmers – rather than corporate managers – tending crops and the land are many. Fred Kirschenmann, a North Dakota farmer and a leader in the sustainable agriculture movement, along with his colleagues at the Agriculture in the Middle project write extensively on this point and poignantly outline the benefits of these vulnerable midsize farms in today’s economic landscape. They fall between the large, vertically operated commodity operations and the small-scale ones that sell directly to consumers. Farms in the middle also provide wildlife habitats, open spaces, diverse landscapes, soils that hold rainwater for aquifers, perennials that reduce greenhouse gases by removing carbon from the atmosphere, and crop and pastureland that reduce erosion and flooding. These are the farms that could be changed to provide sustainably grown organic food for the long term. Many are located in the Midwest and South, where there is no large population to buy directly from them, but they have the capacity to produce food for the majority of Americans – if given a chance. Changing farm policy to provide that chance is key to preventing our nation’s rural areas from becoming industrial sites and to truly remaking the food system for all Americans. We must address the major structural problems that have created the dysfunction – from the failure to enforce antitrust laws and regulate genetically modified food to the manipulation of nutrition standards and the marketing of junk food to children. We need to move beyond stereotypes and simplistic solutions if we are to build a movement that is broad-based enough to drive policy changes. Most people are several generations away from the experience of producing their own food. This leads to many misconceptions – from over-romanticizing its hard, backbreaking work to the dismissal of farmers as greedy, ignorant, and selfish “welfare queens.” Understanding the difficult challenges they face is critical to developing the policy solutions necessary for saving family farms and moving into a sustainable future. We need to develop a rural economic development plan that enables farmers to make a living while at the same time providing healthy, affordable food choices for all Americans. We have the opportunity, before it is too late, to change the course of our food system’s development away from factory farms and laboratories and toward a system that is ecologically and economically sound. We can challenge the monopoly control by fighting for the reinstatement of antitrust laws and enforcement of them. We have the land and the human capacity to grow real food – healthy food – but it will take a wholesale effort that includes restructuring how food is grown, sold, and distributed. It means organizing a movement to hold our policy makers accountable, so that food and farm policy is transformed and environmental, health, and safety laws are obeyed. It will require a massive grassroots mobilization to challenge the multi-national corporations that profit from holding consumers and farmers hostage and, more important, to hold our elected officials accountable for the policies that are making us sick and fat. We must comprehend the complexity of the problem to advocate for the solutions. We cannot shop our way out of this mess. The local-food movement is uplifting and inspiring and represents positive steps in the right direction. But now it’s time for us to marshal our forces and do more than vote with our forks. Changing our food system is a political act. We must build the political power to do so. It is a matter of survival. Copyright © 2012 by Wenonah Hauter. This excerpt originally appeared in Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America, published by The New Press Reprinted here with permission.(Houston) - The devout can be deceptive. But sometimes they are just blatantly hypocritical. And because the attendees of Rick Perry's and the American Family Association's (AFA) The Response event in Houston are human, there was an abundance of contradiction in Reliant Stadium. A lot of good comedy material, too. But too much sadness to ignore. The AFA might call itself Christian but its intolerance has gotten the organization labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center because of the nature of written and verbal comments from AFA leaders about gays and Jews. (Both are hell-bound, apparently; Jews because, well, you know, and gays because they have "chosen" an alternative lifestyle.) Of course, AFA says it loves gays and is praying for them to understand the sinful choices they have made. And Jews, well, you know. If AFA believes you can "pray away the gay," can you get rid of your Jewishness, too? Sounded like AFA founder James Dobson was also praying for President Obama. The prayers are needed since Dobson equated Obama's policies and his administration with the Nazis, but in a kind of loving, forgiving, Christian sort of way. Anyone looking at the crowd in the stadium, though, might have recognized the borderline mass hysteria as something they had seen on The History Channel's black and white films of the rising Reich, arms raised, chanting, stomping feet, tears. Perry, who wants to replace the president (regardless of his lack of a campaign proclamation), also prayed for Mr. Obama. He quoted scripture and mentioned suffering but he didn't mention all of the agony in Texas. As Hair Almighty took the stage with a nuclear smile and a red power tie, he had much to pray about, and most of it was in the state he has been running for more than a decade. According to researchers in the Texas Legislative Study Group, 17.3 percent of the state's population lives in poverty, 4.26 million people. 66 percent of Latino children and 59 percent of black children live in low-income families, compared to 25 percent of white children. 28 percent or 6.1 million of the population of Texas is uninsured, the largest share of uninsured in the nation. And if you are a woman with a child and in financial straits, don't come knocking on Uncle Tex's door for a handout. In 2010, the average monthly benefit for Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) recipients in Texas was $26.86, the lowest in the country. Yes, that's for a month. You want more, you better pray. But so far that hasn't worked in Texas. Perry didn't pray about any of that or the fact that Texas is 50th in workers' compensation, 50th in percent of women receiving prenatal care, 50th in percent of non-elderly women with health care, 50th in per capita spending on mental health, 49th in per capita state spending on Medicaid. Texas was sad before he became governor but Rick Perry has turned the state into a tragedy. Maybe that's because we aren't all doing our share to help our neighbors or perhaps we aren't praying enough to be heard. Perry, of course, wants to privatize much of government and believes that faith-based groups, individuals, and non-profits can help reduce the burden on government. This is what you'd expect of a conservative man of faith, and that he would do his personal part to help the less fortunate (since the government he is running clearly does not give a damn about "the least of these"). The evidence in Rick Perry's tax returns, however, indicates he may have missed some Sunday school classes on giving. In 2007, the governor of Texas earned $1,092,810. According to his IRS form, he gave $90 of that total to his church. He was a tad more generous in 2008 when the governor's adjusted gross income was $277,667 and he donated $2,850 to his church. Perry was feeling less magnanimous in 2009 when he earned $200,370 but shows all zeroes as a line item for church donations. For the years 2000-2009, Governor Perry's adjusted gross income on his tax returns adds up to $2,694,253 and church donations are $14,293. He did, however, manage to itemize each article of clothing and household items he donated to Goodwill, which amounted to a deduction of $30,768 during those same nine years. Perry isn't exactly troubled by daily expenses, either. He lives in a $10,000 per month mansion, which the state is leasing for him since fire destroyed the historic residence of the governor. No fretting about making mortgage payments, and health care is provided, along with all transportation costs, and he does not pay for utilities, food, or property taxes. Maybe he could have edged up those church donations a bit without much personal suffering. The information about Perry and the state he is destroying indicates he is both mean and stingy, and at The Response he proved that he hangs out with organizations that promote hatred against certain types of people. They all claim tolerance, of course, and inclusion, but take the folding chairs out of Reliant Stadium and roll out some prayer rugs for a Muslim Day of Prayer for America and see what happens. Perry has used his office, his tax-paid time, state letterhead, and the Texas brand to promote a single religion. The man who would protect the Constitution as president begins his campaign with a gross violation of one of its most basic tenets.In mid-April we published a post about Senate Bill 113 passing the Senate and moving to the House for review. We have good news: Governor Mike Pence signed Indiana SB 113 into law yesterday, May 4th. This bill was approved by the House with amendments by a vote of 91-7. The Senate agreed to these amendments by a vote of 42-5. The new law will go into effect on July 1, 2015. The House amended SB 113 in two significant ways. The House replaced “a proposed dramatic increase in the direct seller permit fee of $500 annually with a tiered fee ranging from $100-$500 based on the amount of wine directly shipped by a winery to IN consumers in the previous year.” This addition will help decrease costs for those wineries with smaller volumes of directly shipped wine in IN. Additionally, the House removed the current requirement on the direct seller to obtain a signed statement from the consumer affirming that he/she is of age at the point of sale. This makes the law “consistent with eliminating the initial face-to-face requirement contained in the Senate passed version of SB 113.” Also worthy to note, SB 113 eliminates the previous requirement to have a surety bond. This legislation is good news for those out-of-state wineries that are looking to expand their direct to consumer base to include Indiana and don’t currently have a relationship with an Indiana wholesaler. Unfortunately, wineries still cannot apply for an Indiana Direct Wine Seller Permit if they have: “…distributed wine through a wine wholesaler in Indiana within the one hundred twenty (120) days immediately preceding the applicant’s application for a direct wine seller’s permit and does not distribute wine through a wine wholesaler in Indiana during the term of the direct wine seller’s permit…” However, if your winery does not have or intend to have a relationship with an Indiana wholesaler, you are encouraged to apply for this seller permit. The Indiana ATC is already working to update their current application and processes. We will follow up with a more detailed blog post on applying for the new laws as soon as information becomes available. If you’re looking to expand your direct-to-consumer wine sales, we encourage you to sign up for a demo to find out how ShipCompliant can help.At 9am on June 4 head over to Dulwich College Beijing to witness the intensity that is 2016's Beijing Rugby Sino 10s. Organized by the Beijing Aardvarks RFC, the competition brings eight of Mainland's China's best rugby teams, both men and women, together to play for the ultimate title of Sino 10s champion. In this format, which has quickly become popular around the world, games last no more than 20 minutes each, with only 10 players on each side. The format has become a crowd puller mostly because of its lung-bursting runs and of course, bone-crunching tackles. RELATED: Girl Power in Action With Beijing She Devils' Rugby The games will be free to watch for visitors, and there'll be some food and drink for sale around the pitch, which makes a lovely day out of the city. The after party will head to Paddy O'Shea's for some suitably rugby-fueled hijinks. More stories by this author here. Email: [email protected] Instagram: s.xuagram Photo: rugbyworldcup.comA total of 34 Israeli Arabs have been indicted for offenses related to activities on behalf of Islamic State, a TV report said Thursday, adding that the terror group was steadily growing in popularity in Israel. The Channel 10 report said Islamic State has been working relentlessly to encourage a major terrorist attack in Israel. It said IS has some 100 activists in Israel at present. The report referenced the January 1, 2016 killings of three Israelis in Tel Aviv by Israeli Arab Nashat Milhem, and a stabbing attack the same month by a Sudanese migrant in Israel, as having been inspired by Islamic State. It also said 40 Israeli Arabs have left Israel to join up with Islamic State forces, largely traveling via Turkey. Ten Palestinians are currently “missing” from Palestinian Authority areas and believed to have joined up with IS, it added. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up The TV report came on the same day that the Shin Bet security agency released details of an alleged plot by two Arab Israelis inspired by the Islamic State to attack IDF soldiers. Bahaa Eldin Ziad Hasan Masarwa, 19, and Ahmad Nabil Ahmad Ahmad, 21, were arrested in a joint operation by the Shin Bet and Israel Police earlier this year. During their interrogations, the two confessed to having been inspired by IS, the security service said. “Over the past few months the two began praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on a weekly basis, and during one of their trips the two decided to carry out a shooting attack against security forces,” the Shin Bet said in a statement. The pair were from northern Israeli cities, Masarwa from Yafia and Ahmad from Nazareth. The two planned to shoot IDF soldiers in the nearby Israeli city of Afula and had begun collecting money in order to purchase a pistol for the attack, the Shin Bet said. In 2014, three residents of Yafia entered Syria through Turkey and joined the Islamic State. Masarwa and Ahmad were indicted in a Nazareth District Court for conspiracy to commit a crime and aiding the enemy during wartime. In addition, Masarwa has been charged with contacting a foreign agent and making contact with a terrorist organization.In the aftermath of the attack, a dispute broke out about what had happened. Several witnesses and Iraqi policemen said the attack was by a female suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest. An American military statement also later attributed the bombing to a suicide attacker. But hours after the bombing the Karbala police chief, Gen. Raed Shakir Jawdat, asserted that the explosion was from a large bomb that had been hidden in the area. He also told reporters in Karbala that he believed that the bomb was made in the city. The conflicting versions could not be reconciled. But if the accounts of other policemen and witnesses are correct, it would be one of the most devastating suicide bombings carried out by a woman. Photo The number of female suicide bombers has increased recently, facilitated by Muslim customs that do not allow men to touch women, so they usually cannot be searched at security checkpoints. In a religious center like Karbala, most women wear a flowing head-to-toe black overgarment, known as an abaya, which provides an easy way to conceal an explosive vest or belt. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Nor was it clear whether the attack was meant to upstage visits to Iraq by Mr. Cheney and by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who, like Mr. Cheney, is a strong proponent of keeping large numbers of troops in the country. Abdul al-Yassiri, the leader of the provincial council in Karbala, said the final toll was 43 dead and 73 wounded, including 8 Iranians. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. North of Baghdad, two American soldiers were killed Monday when a large roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle, the American military command in Baghdad said. The soldiers were part of a team working to clear a roadway of bombs and other threats, the military said. In Baghdad, Mr. Cheney signaled that a large reduction in troop levels was unlikely anytime soon. “It would be a mistake now to be so eager to draw down the force that we risk putting the outcome in jeopardy,” he said. “And I don’t think we’ll do that.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Violence has dropped sharply over the past six months, but attacks nationwide are running at 2005 levels, and American service members are still dying at an average of one per day. Some American officials in Iraq worry about whether the drop in violence is permanent. Much of the decline, for example, is attributable to a decision by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr to order his militia to stop fighting. In addition, thousands of former Sunni insurgents are now being paid by the American military to serve in neighborhood militias. It is not clear what may happen if Iraqi leaders disband the militias. After meeting with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the powerful Shiite party known as the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, Mr. Cheney suggested that the Iraqis had made a “tremendous amount of progress” not just on security but also on the political front. Privately, many American officials in Iraq are concerned that political progress has been limited, though. A bill intended to allow some former Baath Party members back into the government may end up causing as many problems as it fixes, for example. And another crucial bill that called for provincial elections by October was vetoed.The first report from the new women and equalities select committee was a dog that didn’t bark. Why was there so little reaction? It was on transgender rights, after all: a vital subject and a topical one, given Caitlyn Jenner’s and Kellie Maloney’s recent high-profile transitions. That it provoked so little discussion suggests one of two things: either that the recommendations were so commonsensical that there could be no opposition, or that too few people are prepared to engage with the detail. It’s quite easy to bang out 1,000 words on “why we should all support trans rights” but it’s harder to outline what those rights are, or what practical measures are needed to establish them in law and policy. The report contains many sensible recommendations that any progressive should support. NHS waiting times for surgery are too long and should be reduced; GPs would benefit from further training; and specialist provision, which is patchy outside London and overstretched within it, could be vastly improved. Police officers should also be given training and encouragement to record hate crimes and to pursue action against perpetrators; schools should institute strong anti-bullying measures. It doesn’t take long, however, before you notice the thread that links all of these aspirations: money. Public services need more of it to do more. Yet the committee doesn’t have any financial powers, so instead there is a call for an “action plan”, two words that should strike fear into any campaigner’s heart. It is hard not to suspect that a light coating of rainbow sparkles has been dusted over an unpalatable truth: at a time of austerity, helping a marginalised but electorally insignificant group of people is unlikely to be a government priority. After the report was published, the committee’s chair, Maria Miller, expressed surprise at how little pushback there had been, particularly over the criticisms made of the NHS. This suggests that many of its suggestions are less bold than they might seem; even mainstream Conservatives feel that they have to pay lip-service to providing more funding for the NHS. Instead, Miller said, the backlash came from “individuals purporting to be feminists”. She dismissed their concerns about the erosion of single-sex provision in, say, rape shelters as “extraordinary” bigotry; the Tory dinosaurs weren’t getting upset about it, after all. An alternative explanation is that those dinosaurs don’t give a tuppenny toss about rape shelters either way. The central debate here is slightly snoozesome if you’re not up on all the Equality Act buzzwords but the idea, in essence, is this. Currently, to change their gender in law, transgender people have to apply for a gender recognition certificate, which is issued by a specially convened panel after two years of applicants “living in their acquired gender”. Many trans people find this level of bureaucracy intrusive and they object to having to convince outsiders of something they feel is the inner core of their personhood. To me, the system has always seemed like a necessary evil, similar to the citizenship process: you might feel British but you have to take a test and an oath and pay taxes. Miller believes that this process should be scrapped and that changing gender should be as simple as filling in an online form. This would simplify and dignify a procedure that many have found dehumanising – yet there are potential downsides, as you would expect with any policy change. Take prison provision, whose present rules suggest that inmates be housed in the appropriate prison for their gender, but allow room for discretion. The committee’s press release glibly mentioned the “recent deaths in custody of two trans women” but a closer look at both cases (something that the report doesn’t bother to do) reveals just how difficult this area is. In November 2015, Vicky Thompson, 21, was found dead at HMP Leeds, a male prison. Thompson had not undergone surgery but had lived her adult life as a woman and had asked to be housed in a women’s prison. The second case was that of Joanne Latham, found hanging at HMP Woodhill, also in November. Latham, then Edward, was jailed in 2001 for the attempted poisoning of a woman; he received additional life sentences for attacking another inmate in 2007, then trying to stab a fellow patient at a secure hospital in 2011. He had a history of mental illness and was so dangerous that a court ruled he could be handcuffed to two nurses even when seeing his lawyer. Latham had only recently changed her name and had not requested a transfer; a prison officer told the inquest that it was hard to tell if her plans for transition were serious, as “he went through phases”. Despite this, the two cases have been smudged together as examples of the same thing – transphobic prison authorities denying someone the right to define their own gender. It’s not bigoted to ask if putting Latham in the women’s estate (which is ill-equipped for violent offenders) would have been the ideal outcome for her or for any potential cellmate. Yet that is the logical endpoint of Miller’s system: prison officials would lose the discretion that they have. (In January, a trans woman who raped a 15-year-old girl was sent to a men’s prison; there was less outcry about her case. Saying that it is obviously transphobic to question housing a sex offender with a penis in a women’s prison would require serious chutzpah.) The prison issue is an example of the hard choices and conflicting rights that we need to navigate when updating the law. I can see an argument for housing Vicky Thompson in a women’s prison; I struggle to do so with Joanne Latham. This debate needs fewer rainbow sprinkles, fewer accusations of feminist bigotry, and more recognition that sometimes there are no perfect solutions. Oh, and more money would be good, too.The recent rash of stories about excessive force by police, against black people, came to roost in Hammond, Indiana when a black man refused to get out of a car because he feared for his safety. As this amazing video shows, passenger Jamal Jones presented no threat to police when they smashed through the car window, pulled him out, and tased him. This is the full version of the video, which also features the driver, Lisa Mahone, calling the Hammond Police to explain the situation, as her two children look on from the back seat: ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website http://youtu.be/nIntkaXaq6o That video, shot by Mahone's 14 year-old son, was published this week as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit. The stop occurred on September 24. According to Mahone, she was on her way to visit her dying mother when she was pulled over for a seatbelt violation, and when cops asked her passenger, Jones, to show ID, he explained that he didn't have it, but reached into a backpack to show them a ticket he'd recently gotten. That's when the cops pulled their guns, Mahone called the police station, and her son started taping. The police account, at least the part that's shown on the video, does not match the plainly obvious facts. For example, they say they smashed the window because Jones kept reaching "towards the rear seats of the vehicle," but his hands are visible throughout the tape. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website This story has all the features we've come to expect from a black person's encounter with police. Bullshit traffic stop for seatbelt violation? Check. Furtive hand movements? Check. Cops drawing guns on children? Check. Cops tasing a black person for questioning their authoritah? Double-check. Frankly, it's a damn miracle no one got shot. The key difference here appears to be that, instead of being motivated by reflexive fear of a perceived threat, these cops appear to be reacting to Jones' refusal to obey their illegal order. In Indiana, it is legal to pull someone over for failure to wear a seatbelt, but not to hassle the passengers: Stopping, inspecting, or detaining vehicle; checkpoints Sec. 3.1. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a vehicle may be stopped to determine compliance with this chapter. However, a vehicle, the contents of a vehicle, the driver of a vehicle, or a passenger in a vehicle may not be inspected, searched, or detained solely because of a violation of this chapter. Unfortunately, what is legal in Indiana is racial profiling. A recent NAACP survey of state racial profiling laws (including prohibitions on profiling, bans on "pretextual" police stops, and data collection on stops, among others) shows that Indiana has none. The sort of data that Indiana doesn't collect is what prompted a federal investigation in Ferguson. This video is the culmination of the legitimate fears prompted by a string of terrifying incidents between police and black people, and it not only illustrates, once again, the need for body cameras, it also points up an urgent problem in post-Ferguson, post-Eric Garner, post-et-cetera America. If there's no way for certain citizens to tell the good guys from the bad guys, and the cops always assume those citizens are the bad guys, the citizen will lose every time. We need federal laws laying out citizens' rights and responsibilities during encounters with law enforcement, because the locals aren't cutting it..................................................................................................................................................................................... Copyright © 2017 Albuquerque Journal The Albuquerque Police Department is taking the unusual step of using its official Facebook page to criticize local judges and the news media because, officials said, the police are too often blamed for crime in the city. The department in recent months has started to use its online page, which is operated by the department’s public information officers, as the primary means of communicating with the public and local media. But some posts target specific actions by judges and the media, criticizing them and attracting hundreds of harsh comments from the public. In some cases, those comments have called for violence against judges or accused reporters of crimes. ADVERTISEMENTSkip APD says that unless a comment contains profanity, the department has no plans to delete it. In one post that has remained since February, a department Facebook follower wrote: “I would most definitely punch this judge in the face.” Another follower from earlier this month crowed: “I hope the next victim is a member of the judge’s family.” APD spokeswoman Celina Espinoza said, “We have to tell the whole story of what’s happening in our community. There are a lot of fingers pointed at APD, APD, APD, crime rates, crime rates, statistics, statistics, data. What is the entire encompassing story behind all of those things?” Last week, Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden seemed to echo that sentiment in a luncheon speech to the Greater Albuquerque Innkeepers Association. He said the department will try to raise awareness about the judges it thinks are soft on criminals. “I know it sounds like I’m blaming it all on the judges,” he said about crime in the city, “because I am.” The talk covered security at the coming Gathering of Nations Powwow, but the chief digressed into other topics, including frustration with some judges and the media. He said media coverage of police that is critical of officers is preventing him from fully staffing the department. The Journal reviewed Facebook pages for other law enforcement agencies in the state – including the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and police departments in Farmington, Santa Fe and Las Cruces – and couldn’t find a post that was critical of a judge or a news media outlet. One of APD’s posts that took aim at the media came after last week’s tragic collision involving a cruiser driven by an officer responding to a report of a violent crime in progress and a vehicle containing a mother and two children. The department in a Facebook post accused KOB-TV of refusing to give investigators video of the crash it had obtained from a nearby business. KOB alerted police to the existence of the video, and the station’s news director said she would have provided police with the video if they had asked her for it. APD has since taken the post down. In another Facebook post, followers are offered a link to an APD news release that says police were frustrated with a local judge’s decision to release, without bond, a woman accused of a violent felony. Neither entry mentioned the judge’s seven-page explanation for doing
water touch my chest. Which makes me smile while I stretch my arms out. Then I lean back and float. Riding the waves up and down. As soon as I stand up. A wave hits my body. Then I dive under, swimming with the fish. Swimming among the kelp. Swimming in deep water. The air is cold when I surface. And walk back to the sand. My body is wet and cold. The girls all giggle and stare. Pointing at my body, they whisper. They think I am cute. What do they see in me? I'm barely thirteen years old!On Monday, the Ontario Survey on Cannabis Legalization came to a close after a one month online consultation period. In the next two weeks, the Ontario government will also be holding in-person consultations to get feedback from a variety of stakeholders on the direction of some key policy pieces on how cannabis should be regulated and distributed in the province. It’s great the Ontario government is providing multiple avenues for consultation, but after reviewing the survey, there were a few places where more clarity and design could have been used to offer stronger data on the different policy elements discussed. The dichotomous option of the ‘type’ of cannabis user “Do you consider yourself a medical or recreational cannabis user?” In one of the first questions, the user is presented 3 options – medical, recreational and prefer not to say. This may be an unreliable way to frame this important question as research demonstrates that the distinction between medical and recreational is often blurred[1]. Many cannabis users who use it medically also enjoy some of the more recreational aspects of use, and vice versa. Further, although approximately 170,000 people are now registered under the federal medical cannabis program[2], over a decade ago, the Canadian Addiction Survey estimated one million Canadians used it “medically” or “therapeutically”[3]. A more reliable question may be to ask if users are “predominantly medical,” “predominantly recreational” or “prefer not to say,” and also include a follow up for those under the medical category that asks if they are registered with the federal medical cannabis program, the MMPR/ACMPR—or not—since we know many who consider themselves medical users may not be registered with the federal access program. Additionally, another great follow up question would be to ask where they predominantly currently access their medical supply—LPs, home cultivation (personal or designated), dispensaries, illicit market or other / prefer not to say. No mention of the criminalization of youth in the age debate: a key issue when considering age restrictions “When it comes to setting a minimum age to have, use, and buy cannabis, what are the most important things to you? Select all that apply.” An important omission in this category is the criminalization of young people who use cannabis. I’ve spoken about this at length elsewhere, but if age restrictions are too high, and young people are our largest cannabis using demographic, we are going to end up criminalizing many otherwise law-abiding young people. Reflected in our ongoing work with Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy and conversations on minimum age of access—particularly at our youth-only roundtable and our attendance at the official youth roundtable meeting with the Task Force in Toronto in September 2017—the predominant focus of these conversations, which included both youth and organizations who work with youth, has been on the potential for high age restrictions to criminalize young people who currently use cannabis regardless of the law. This is a primary consideration from a criminal justice standpoint since so many youth are already consuming cannabis despite its illegality in the 18-25 and 12-17 categories in Ontario[4], and they hold the highest percentage of drug-related arrests, predominantly for cannabis possession[5]. “Where people can smoke, vape or use any form of recreational cannabis”: the conflation of smoking and vaporizing This section collapses vaporizing and smoking into one question that would possibly result in different answers if the two modes of administration had been considered as separate questions. While respecting the rights of all Canadians, it should be acknowledged or considered in the consultation period by the province that vaporizing does not combust the plant material, does not carry the same strong, distinctive cannabis smell, and it’s generally safer and less likely to intrude on the rights as well as health of nonsmokers. We should be treating vaporizing as a harm minimization tool, particularly as we move to legalize cannabis. Many doctors I’ve had discussions with continue to encourage their patients to utilize alternative modes of consumption other than smoking cannabis, and many patients turn to vaporization instead. Another important question could include a consideration of ‘safe consumptions spaces,’ such as vapor lounges. Should they be regulated and allowed for adults who are unable to consume in their homes, condos, apartments, or co-op housing? Preliminary data from the U.S. would suggest this is an important consideration, because as we see in Colorado, while arrests have declined dramatically overall for cannabis related charges, tickets for public consumption have increased dramatically[6]. Safe roads: being more transparent about the “limits of technology” and using more precise language This section importantly uses language around “drug-impaired driving.” It notes: “There are limits to the technology used to test drug impairment. Given these limitations, which penalties should we consider for people who are impaired by cannabis while driving? Select all that apply.” But this was quite confusing. For example, while the question notes “limits on technology,” it is unclear if it is talking about the application of per se limits as proposed in federal legislation, which are actually not indicative of impaired driving, but rather presence of THC. Further, for people who don’t know too much about cannabis and driving, they may not clearly know what ‘limits’ are being referred to. As mentioned in a recent CFAMM report on impaired driving and medical cannabis use, we often see the term “impaired driving” used but it’s often not clearly defined[7]. It seems evident that Ontarians would support tougher legislation on drug impaired driving, but in fact the question is referring to how we will apply penalties associated with the detection or presence of THC, which is something different. In the government backgrounder for Bill C-46, the government’s aim is targeted at drug ‘impaired’ driving, yet the proposed legislation refers exclusively to testing for presence of THC in saliva and blood—what is meant by “limits of technology”—not impairment per se. The backgrounder goes on to state that “correlating specific levels of THC present in bodily fluids to levels of impairment is still debated related to recreational use…..[thus] speaking to the actual impairment of cognitive, psychomotor, and other functions necessary to safely drive—not simply a measure of previous use”[8]. Surveys involve balancing the survey length to increase engagement, with gathering the best quality data to help guide some of biggest issues for the province. Overall, it is still a good start to what will hopefully emerge as common sense regulations on many key issues related to cannabis legalization in Ontario. But it could still be further improved to allow for more precise feedback. Featured image by Peter Giesbrecht. [1] Bostwick, J. 2012. “Blurred Boundaries: The Therapeutics and Politics of Medical Marijuana”. Mayo Clin Proc 87(2): 172-186. [2] Health Canada. 2017. “Market Data”. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/medical-use-marijuana/licensed-producers/market-data.html [3] Canadian Addiction Survey 2004: Highlights. Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse. Ottawa, Ontario. [4] See OSDUHS. 2015. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health: Toronto, ON. [5] Cotter, A., Greenland, J. & Karam, M. 2015. “Drug Related Offences in Canada: 2013”. Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2015001/article/14201-eng.pdf [6] Gettman, J. 2015. “Marijuana Arrests in Colorado After the Passage of Amendment 64”. Drug Policy Alliance. Retrieved from https://www.drugpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Colorado_Marijuana_Arrests_After_Amendment_64.pdf [7] Zaid, J. & Valleriani, J. 2017. Medical Cannabis and Impaired Driving: A Preliminary Report. https://cfamm.ca/impaired-driving-report-1/ [8] Ibid. pg. 8Novelist Mark Twain once said, “Write without pay until somebody offers to pay." A century later, his advice still seems to hold. Storytelling happens to be one of the oldest professions, yet it remains one of the hardest to make a living from. Many writers have to hold day jobs to pay their bills. And then there are those who quit high-paying jobs just so that they can write.We speak to two writers, both of whom began their professional careers in different fields—banking and acting—and ask them what made them move to writing. They have quite a few tips for aspiring writers. Amish Tripathi. Photo: Aniruddha Chowdhury/Mint Amish Tripathi, 42 Mumbai Amish Tripathi worked 14 years as a banker before becoming a full-time writer. How he got here: After a postgraduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata (1997), Tripathi joined banking. He worked for several years in Mumbai, first at Standard Chartered Bank, then at DBS Bank and IDBI. “My heart told me that I wanted to pursue writing. My mind told me that I don’t have any inherited wealth, I need to be practical and pragmatic," he says. So he carried on working as a banker even as his first book, The Immortals Of Meluha, released in 2010, and the second, The Secret Of The Nagas, in 2011, both parts I and II of his Shiva trilogy. He went on to complete the trilogy with The Oath Of The Vayuputras in 2013. Around that time, he was paid a record advance of $1 million (around Rs6.5 crore) for his new Ram Chandra series, which he launched in 2015 with Scion Of Ikshvaku; the second part is slated to release in early June. On switching careers: “You must use your heart to decide the destination but use your mind to plot the journey. I found people who have not thought through the change that they want to make and just kick their job and jump right into something and fail at it and that becomes a source of dissonance and sadness in their life. At the same time, someone can just suppress their heart and just keep compromising and at age 50-60, when your career is over, you are unhappy with the way your life has been. So you need a balance of both," says Tripathi. For five-six years, he worked two jobs: a manager at IDBI Federal Life Insurance by day, and a writer by night and during office commute time. When he left in 2011, he made sure he kept his options open. “I gave my boss, the CEO, a long notice period. I hired my replacement. I trained him. So I left him on good terms. He gave me a lovely big idol of Lord Shiva as a gift at my farewell party. I also told him, ‘Sirji, if things go bad, I’ll come back to the job’," says Tripathi, who quit his banking job in 2011. By this time, he had two published books and the annual income in royalties from these was equal to the amount he had made in banking that year. He felt secure enough to leave banking and concentrate on writing full-time. He was then writing the third book of his Shiva trilogy, The Oath Of The Vayuputras. A typical day: Tripathi is an early riser, normally up by 5-5.30am every day. He sits down to write by 8.30-9am. Most of his writing is done in the study at his sea-facing home. He is currently working on the edits of his second novel in the Ram Chandra series, and also writing his first non-fiction book on the challenges India is facing. “Sometimes I might write all day, sometimes it may be for a few hours," he says. Later in the day, he may travel to his office in Matunga for meetings or marketing-related work. He travels quite a lot, mostly across India, often for book promotions or other events. And sometimes to write. “Much of Vayuputra was written in Kashi. I hired a place out there. I wrote much of (Scion Of) Ikshvaku in Nashik, in Panchvati," he says. Skills needed as a writer: “Banking helps improve business sense. Because there is a business side to books as well—there are contracts that have to be negotiated, there is marketing that needs to be done, there are strategic calls that need to be taken," he says. In a way, Tripathi is an entrepreneur. “I am managing the business that emerges from my books. So my banking experience has certainly helped me out there, because we did a lot of innovative marketing things which had never been tried before. For my first book, we distributed the first chapter of the book as a sampler, free of cost; that had never been done before. It worked really well for us. We made a trailer film, it worked well for us. That is certainly a learning, that you need to do proper marketing," he adds. Career advice for aspiring writers: Be a good reader. A good reader gets all the inputs, the knowledge, and the insights needed to become a good writer. “When you are writing, you must be true to the spirit of your book. You must write with the honesty of your heart. You should be detached from success or failure when you are writing because it is the voice of your soul." His reading list: Shashi Tharoor’s An Era Of Darkness: The British Empire In India. “I am half-way through it. It is a difficult book to read. I have read books on the British Raj before—Late Victorian Holocausts by Mike Davis, The Corporation That Changed The World, Will Durant’s The Case For India—and I always find these books difficult to read because I get angry every 10-15 pages and I am forced to put it down. A lot has been done to this country and I get angry—forget the Britishers, what the hell were we Indians doing? We allowed them to do this. I simply don’t get Indians today who believe that the British Raj was good for us. I am also reading Sri Aurobindo’s book The Foundations Of Indian Culture." Money matters: “Unless your parents have left tons of money for you, there is the practical matter of finances. I would suggest, have a job on the side while you write. A writing career is a bit like a movie career or a sporting career. Not just in India but abroad as well, most people actually don’t make that much money. In fact, they can’t even make a proper living out of it. There are very few people who make money beyond their wildest dreams," says Tripathi. Forbes India reported in 2012 that Tripathi had earned more than Rs10 crore. Twinkle Khanna, 42 Mumbai Twinkle Khanna says she wrote poems while she was in school but had no plans of becoming a writer. She entered the film industry as an actor because it was important for her to be independent. She had seen her mother (actor Dimple Kapadia) be self-reliant. “At the time, for a girl my age to make money, a career in films was better. I looked the part so I got a lot of work. Also, because of my parents (actors Dimple and Rajesh Khanna)." How she got here: Khanna started her career in 1995 with Barsaat. By 1999, despite good reviews and repeat film offers, she was bored with Bollywood. In 2001, she formally quit films and, a year later, launched her interiors store, The White Window, in Mumbai’s Bandra area. Writing came almost a decade later, in 2013, with a fortnightly column for the DNA newspaper, followed by one for The Times Of India. In 2015, she released her first non-fiction book, Mrs Funnybones. It sold over 100,000 copies, making Khanna India’s highest-selling woman writer that year. This was followed by a book of short stories, The Legend Of Lakshmi Prasad, in 2016. On switching careers: “I know being a famous actor and in the limelight is an aspiration for so many people. But I was born in this world. It wasn’t something I aspired to. I used to spend all day on the sets, reading or knitting. I remember my driver telling me, ‘please don’t knit, everybody will think you are an old lady’," she says. She started working part-time with an architect while she was acting—she didn’t have a degree in architecture but she had worked with an architect when she was still in college. After her first career switch from acting to interior designing, she was ready to add a new career by 2013. “Sarita Tanwar, the editor of DNA, knew I had an irreverent way of looking at things and asked me if I would write a column," says Khanna. The DNA column proved so successful that she was approached soon after by The Times Of India, where she began the Mrs Funnybones column, which went on to launch her career as an author. A typical day: Her day starts at around 6am, with yoga and some meditation. She sits down to write by 7.30am. Khanna says she can write anywhere.“But I do most of my writing downstairs, at a desk off my living room. I can write and also keep an eye on the children." And yes, she does get disturbed sometimes and irritated by interruptions like “Madam, aaj khane ke liye kya banana hai? (What should be cooked today?)." At which time she puts on a pair of earphones with white noise like the hum of machinery or the sound of a refrigerator. She writes steadily till 10.30am. She works on the fortnightly column she writes for The Times Of India. “Some days it’s easy. So much has been happening around that it is easy to get ideas and write. Then I finish my column in one sitting. Other days I struggle. My last column took me 6 hours," she says. Khanna says she sometimes gets into trouble with people for the things she says in her columns. Recently, she made fun of a superstar and his fans attacked her on Twitter. She says her husband, actor Akshay Kumar, occasionally gets calls from political personalities. “Tell bhabhiji to be careful," they remonstrate. She now runs her columns by her husband before sending them for publication. “He has a pulse on what works. Besides, we don’t want morchas (protests) outside our house," she laughs. When Khanna is not writing columns, she works on fiction. “I have three different ideas I am working on—they could come out as a novel, novella or short stories. Let’s see." By 11am, Khanna leaves for The White Window in Bandra, where she works till afternoon, meeting clients or making a site visit. Skills needed as a columnist/writer: “I read, and try and be aware of what’s happening in the universe. And then present my amalgamation of it to the world in a way that’s informative and entertaining," she says. Career advice for aspiring writers: “Write every day. Write 1,000 words. Then throw out 800 and keep the best 200 words. Look at life through the lens of ‘what if’—if you meet somebody or some situation, even if it has nothing to do with you, try and think of the backstory. Eat carbohydrates—it’s food for your brain. Read everything. All sorts of genres, whether they interest you or not. Read great books to see what you can achieve and terrible books so that you know you can do better than that." Her reading list: Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gold: The Final Science Fiction Collection by Isaac Asimov, Hot Milk by Deborah Levy (“recently read and fresh in my head"), Anthologies Of Science Fiction short stories (“that’s my love"), any P.G. Wodehouse novel (“they always make me laugh") and Jhumpa Lahiri’s short stories (“I love short stories"). Money matters: Columnists get paid anything between Rs7,000- 20,000 for a piece. Royalties are 8-12% of book sales Every month, we explore a profession through the lives of professionals at different stages in their careers.BLACK CARD: A coach for Indonesia argues with a court official after Indonesia were given a black card. The World Badminton Federation charged eight players with misconduct on Wednesday after each team in two women's Olympic doubles encounters tried to ''throw'' the matches to secure a more favourable draw later on. ''The pairs have been charged... with 'not using one's best efforts to win a match' and 'conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport','' the federation said in a statement. Spectators at the Wembley Arena shouted abuse and jeered at players from China, South Korea and Indonesia when they deliberately sprayed shots and duffed serves into the net to concede points in attempts to lose on purpose. The Chinese Olympic team is now investigating the incidents, state news agency Xinhua quoted a spokesman as saying. South Korea head coach Sung Han-kook said two of his pairings had attempted to throw their matches against China's world champion duo and an Indonesian team but added it was in retaliation against the Chinese team who instigated the farce. He said they had deliberately tried to throw the first of the tainted matches to ensure their leading duo of Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli would be sure not to meet China's number two pair until the gold medal decider. ''The Chinese started this. They did it first,'' Sung told reporters through an interpreter. ''It's a complicated thing with the draws. They didn't want to meet each other in the semi-final.''So we did the same. We didn't want to play the South Korean team again (in the knockout).'' CONSERVING STRENGTH Players were jeered as they left the arena, with the result putting Yu and Wang on the other side of the draw of their Chinese opponents. Bazuki Muhammad/ Reuters UNDERPERFORMING: South Korea badminton player Ha Jung Eun hits the shuttlecock in a game against an Indonesian pair. China's long-serving head coach Li Yongbo denied anything was amiss when cornered by Reuters at the venue. "This is nothing. It was just a game," said Li with a chuckle as he walked off, declining to comment further. Yu, who won doubles gold at the Beijing Games with partner Du Jing, claimed she and her team mate had eased off to conserve their strength for the knockout rounds. "Actually these opponents really were strong. This is the first time we've played them and tomorrow it's the knockout rounds, so we've already qualified and we wanted to have more energy for the knockout rounds," she told Reuters. "Really, it's not necessary to go out hard again when the knockout rounds are tomorrow." Boos again rang out from the crowd later in the evening session as the match between South Korean pair of Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jing and Indonesian pair Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari repeated the same farcical scenario. With spectators yelling "get off", another tournament referee emerged and waved a black card, indicating both teams were disqualified, prompting a roar of approval from the stands. However, the referee rescinded the decision moments later after coaches from both teams implored the contest to be allowed to continue, and South Korea's Ha and Kim ended up as reluctant winners in three sets over the Indonesians. The BBC quoted an IOC spokesman as saying: "The federation has a huge experience in refereeing their sport and we have every confidence that they will deal with the issue appropriately and take any necessary measures." Players and coaches of other teams expressed disdain and laid the blame on the Chinese camp. "It's because of those Chinese...," a Taiwan team coach who declined to be identified told Reuters. BIG SHAME Bulgarian singles player Alesia Zaitsave said China regularly manipulated results to avoid playing each other. "They did so many times last year, they did not play between each other like 20 matches. They do what they want." Germany men's singles player Marc Zwiebler said the South Korean team had manipulated their matches in the 2008 Thomas Cup in which national teams compete. "Against England, they wanted to get second in their group, so all the doubles players played singles and the singles players played doubles and they were just laughing on the court and let England win," Zwiebler said. "So England finished top of the group and had to play a stronger team." China's head coach Li told one of his women's singles players to throw her semi-final match at the Athens Games to allow her team mate Zhang Ning to be fresher for the final against Dutchwoman Mia Audina. Zhang duly won the gold. "If it was the case they wanted to purposefully lose, then it's a big shame... It's absolutely stupid and shameful sport, basically," Zwieber added. "I can understand the motives but that they have the guts to actually stand in a crowded hall and put such shame in the game, it's such a bad image of badminton." Organisers released the draw later on Tuesday, with all of the teams involved listed in the quarter-finals.WASHINGTON — On a Friday morning in June 2011, after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had waited more than 12 hours for a set of talking points to be sent to her, a top aide told her the delay was because staff members were having problems sending faxes that would be secure from probing eyes. “If they can’t, turn into nonpaper w no identifying heading and send nonsecure,” Mrs. Clinton responded in an email released early Friday by the State Department, one of about 3,000 newly released pages of Mrs. Clinton’s emails during her time as secretary of state. Of those, 66 documents contained classified information. The note she sent to the top aide, Jacob J. Sullivan, instructing him how to strip sensitive material of official markings and send it in a “nonsecure” way is heavily redacted, so it is unknown what the talking points were about. But that and other messages provide a window into Mrs. Clinton’s approach to handling email and other communications, at times cavalier, at times calculated to ensure information would not fall into the wrong hands. She even seemed taken aback upon learning that an officer, like herself, had used a personal email address for official business.LOATHED Europe chief Jean-Claude Juncker faces a humiliating court challenge for trying to unlawfully hinder Britain’s best breakaway deal from the EU. Days after the UK’s historic referendum the EU President used a big televised speech to claimed he was using a “Presidential Order” to stop his officials starting to negotiate Britain’s exit. Getty Images 6 EU president Jean-Claude Juncker faces a legal battle for attempting to stop Britain's exit from the EU The hated Eurocrat said no talks were allowed until Article 50 had been officially been triggered. But now The Sun can reveal the Commission boss faces a courtroom battle over the boast – after his team admitted they have no power to issue “Presidential Orders” under any EU Treaty. The Fair Deal for Expats group are set to bring an unprecedented case to the EU’s General Court accusing Juncker’s EU Commission of misleading and acting unlawfully. Getty Images 6 The President of the EU Commission told officials he was issuing a Presidential Order to halt Brexit negotiations The embarrassing case could derail Juncker’s presidency as he’s already blamed for Brexit by many in Brussels. Last night the group’s legal team said Juncker’s fake order “breaches the duty of ‘sincere cooperation’ that the Commission is required to abide by” as it “discriminates against the UK and its people”. They also claim the bogus order “infringes fundamental the rights of EU citizens who live in another EU country because no immediate and direct negotiations can take place to secure those rights.” Getty Images 6 But the Sun can reveal that Juncker had no power to issue the order under any EU treaty If they successfully lift the mythical “Presidential Order” Britain can begin negotiating Brexit immediately. Speaking the European Parliament in the aftermath of Britain’s historic vote to quit the EU, Juncker said he had “forbidden Commissioners from holding discussions with representatives from the British Government — by Presidential order, which is not my style.” He added his speech on the 28 June that he had “told all the Directors-General that there cannot be any prior discussions with British representatives. No notification, no negotiation.” Getty Images 6 The Fair Deal for Expats group are set to take the matter to court, accusing Juncker of discriminating against the UK Croft Solicitors, representing the Fair Deal for Expats, were later told by the Commission that there was no such thing as “Presidential Order”. In fact Mr Juncker had sent a simple note to his officials asking them to “strictly respect “the principle of no negotiation without notification”. Getty Images 6 If the group's lawyers are successful in lifting the order, Britain will be able to start Brexit talks immediately Yet the lawyers will argue there is no such principle in any European Treaty and the note “amounted to the President purporting (unlawfully) to make such a policy or create such a principle.” During the G20 meeting in China on Sunday Jean-Claude Juncker attacked Theresa May for holding trade talks with Australia. He told reporters: “I don’t like the idea that member states of the EU, including those who are still a member state of the European Union, are negotiating free trade agreements. Getty Images 6 Jean-Claude Juncker attacked Theresa May at the G20 summit in China this week, criticising her trade talks with Australia Last night a European Commission spokesman said: “President Juncker, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk, the European Parliament President Martin Schulz, and a series of national leaders have all made clear that the legal ground for exiting the EU is Article 50 of the Treaty and that negotiations begin after that is triggered.” They added: “President Juncker has instructed Commissioners and EC officials also to follow that principle.”The center of Hurricane Otto, an unusual late-season storm, is poised to strike southern Nicaragua or northern Costa Rica. Forecasters expect the storm will bring heavy rains, flooding, and landslides to these areas after it makes landfall on the morning of November 24, 2016. At 11:05 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (16:05 Universal Time) on November 24, 2016, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image (above) of the storm as it approached southern Nicaragua. The image below was captured by the same sensor at 11:15 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (16:15 Universal Time) on November 22, 2016. When the November 24 image was acquired, Otto had maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers (110 miles) per hour, enough for the storm to be considered a category 2 hurricane. Since Otto will likely pass over Lake Nicaragua after making landfall, it may retain enough strength that it will remain a tropical storm when it reaches the Pacific Ocean. Otto broke meteorological records. According to Jeff Masters of Weather Underground, meteorologists have never observed a tropical storm in the Atlantic basin achieve category 2 or higher intensity after November 20. NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using data from the Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE). Caption by Adam Voiland.112 SHARES Facebook Twitter Linkedin Reddit AMD recently unveiled a supercharged, small form factor PC at E3 this week, a futuristic-looking gaming rig that promises to easily deliver the 90 FPS required by VR headsets like the new Oculus Rift. They’re calling it ‘Project Quantum’, and is said could come to market “in the not-too-distant future.” Revealed by AMD’s Marketing Director, Chris Hook, at the company’s “New Era of PC Gaming” presentation earlier this week, Project Quantum not only signifies a push by AMD to get PC gaming out of the office and into the living room, but is a showcase for their most leading edge technology. “I challenged AMD’s engineering team. I said, ‘Look, give me all the performance that you get in a desktop tower PC, but put it in something small and compact and beautiful—something I can put in my living room … something that when I get those Oculus headsets that we’re delivering 90 FPS..'” – Chris Hook Hook calls the near console-size computer “whisper quiet,” a direct result of the rig’s water-cooling system that resides in the bottom half of the device. A singular fan in the top half of Quantum cools the heated water as it’s drawn across a radiator, allowing for the heat to dissipate well away from the unnamed dual Fiji GPUs (4GB of HBM RAM), and an Intel Core i7-4790K which is likely just a placeholder until AMD’s Zen CPUs are released next year. Its off-board power supply, a cumbersome-looking brick that may have to be hidden away if you want to keep up the device’s ‘Borg cube’ sci-fi vibe, reduces the system’s heat load even further. The prototype’s body is made of magnesium and black-painted aluminum, and is decorated with red LED’s to complete AMD’s vision of a 4K-playing, living room VR PC from the future. Devon Nekechuk and Victor Camardo of AMD spoke with PCWorld’s Gordon Mah Ung, telling him “Project Quantum is mostly a proof-of-concept from AMD.” Saying that Fiji’s use of HBM memory, stacked close to the GPU itself, means very tiny graphics cards can be built.” AMD says they’ll be joining up with their “most elite partners” to bring Quantum to market in the not-too-distant future.Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps saw Lewis Hamilton extend his massive championship lead as well as trouble the keepers of the record books on two matters: He grabbed his sixth consecutive pole position of the season (the first time this has been done in a single season since Mika Hakkinen in 1999) and also equalled his boyhood hero Ayrton Senna‘s haul of 80 podium finishes. Despite a threat of rain, Hamilton was to be denied the opportunity to shine in greasy conditions at Spa like the great Brazilian, which caused us to cast our minds back to 1985 and Senna’s first win there. However, we didn’t expect to find footage – not only of the race – but with the boy from São Paulo himself providing the commentary! The race took place without defending world champion Niki Lauda who’d damaged his wrist in a nasty practice session where the throttle had become stuck open on his McLaren and slammed the car into a guardrail. As such and despite stiff competition in qualifying from Senna, Alain Prost took pole although his start wasn’t the best and both Senna and Piquet shot past. With commentary available from the man himself it seems a bit pointless to explain further how things panned out on that rainy day in 1985, so we’ll leave you to take in Senna’s own description. What we would point out though is Senna’s amusement at Ferrari’s ill fortune, Mansell‘s dogged pursuit and the warm mutual congratulations between the two at the finish, with Prost having departed by then despite relations between the pair yet to break down as spectacularly as they did a few years later. The clip is only around five minutes long but, like us, you might want to set aside twice that amount of time so as to watch it twice. We did.With all the different end-of-the-world scenarios lately – we had two Raptures last year alone – it’s easy to forget that Tacoma had its own zombie apocalypse exactly one year ago. A frightful mess of blood, gore and science gone awry, the Zombie Tacomapocalypse was a huge success for the mad, world-ending geniuses at Treefish Studio. An art show to end all art shows (not to mention the world itself), the first Tacomapocalypse was a thing of surprising beauty, and the launch party was just the shindig to send the world out on. But, a year has passed and the world seems to have forgotten that it ended. So now – just like the Rapture – it’s happening for a second time: tonight, from 5pm-9pm, Tacomapocalypse II launches at Amocat Cafe. Described as “a humorously macabre art show” by one of the open calls for arms art, this year’s Tacomapocalypse will feature live music by Gibson Starkweather, a mob of fully re-animated zombies, tasty snacks (including your own brain) and a horde of flesh-eating artwork depicting zombies, ghouls, The End of the World as We Know It™, Tacoma and possibly a dash of love. Because you just can’t bring the world to an end unless you love it enough to tenderly caress it as you stab it to death, re-animate it and set about fulfilling your evil, sadistic plans of doom and mayhem. [Editor’s Note: The end of the world may or may not contain actual love. Possible alternatives include sadistic infatuation and bloodlust.] Though last year’s show failed to permanently end the world, 2012’s Tacomapocalypse II – predicted by the ancient Mayans long ago – is sure to stop the orbit of the Earth, freeze the sun solid and implode the very fabric of our reality. And if not, there’s always next year. Official Press Release: Tacomapocalypse II, the second darkly humorous group art show hosted by Treefish Studio and Amocat Cafe, begins February 3rd, 2012 at Amocat Cafe, 625 St Helens Ave, Tacoma WA. Two- and three-dimensional art featuring apocalyptic themes by local artists present a bold alternative to the Valentine decor more commonly expected at this time of year. Opening festivities begin at 5:00 PM, and will include snacks, additional artists on hand, live electronic music featuring Gibson Starkweather, a zombie horde, and other special features and shenanigans, to conclude around
2015 64 *THE LEGACY TRAP* // National Journal // Ronald Brownstein – June 12, 2015............................ 66 *POLITICAL INSIDERS POLL* // National Journal // Sarah Mimms – June 12, 2015....................... 68 *What Hillary Clinton Can Learn from Michelle Kwan's Figure Skating Career* // The New Republic // Elspeth Reeve – June 11, 2015............................................................................................................... 70 *With boost from Clinton, efforts to expand voting access advance* // MSNBC // Zachary Toth – June 11, 2015 71 *De Blasio says he will not endorse Hillary Clinton until she clearly opposes Trans-Pacific Partnership* // NY Daily News // Jennifer Fermino – June 11, 2015.................................................................................. 73 *Dem operative Woodhouse says NYT retracted charges of illegality in Clinton email story* // Politifact // Jon Greenberg – June 11, 2015......................................................................................................... 75 *Bill Clinton’s Labor Secretary Urges Hillary Clinton to Oppose TPP at Kickoff* // The Observer // Jullian Jorgensen – June 11, 2015.......................................................................................................................... 77 *Bill Clinton brushes aside foundation criticism* // CNN // Dan Merica – June 11, 2015.................. 78 *'Conversation' with Hillary Clinton? That'll be $2,700* // Daily Mail // AFP - June 12 2015............ 80 *Duggan's power now rivals Putin, Bill Clinton jokes* // Detroit News Washington Bureau – June 11, 2015 82 *Speech inflation: Why Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and others get massive speaking fees* // Fortune // Ben Geier – June 11, 2015......................................................................................................................... 83 *Clinton rally coincides with gun show at fairgounds* // The Des Moines Register // Josh Hafner – June 11, 2015................................................................................................................................................ 84 *Hillary Clinton Supports Women's Rights, Gay Rights in "Living History" Instagram Video* // E! Entertainment – June 11, 2015............................................................................................................................ 86 *Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett to sing for Hillary* // NY Post // Emily Smith – June 9, 2015............ 86 *Quote Of The Day* // The Skimm – June 11, 2015........................................................................ 87 *OTHER DEMOCRATS NATIONAL COVERAGE................................................. **87* *O’MALLEY................................................................................................... **87* *O'Malley: I haven't seen video of pool party brutality* // CNN // Alexandra Jaffe & Betsy Klein – June 11, 2015................................................................................................................................................ 87 *O’Malley touts progressive values, experience, results* // Quad City Times // James Lynch – June 11, 2015 88 *SANDERS.................................................................................................... **89* *Bernie Sanders Demands Hillary Clinton Take Trade Stance ‘Right Now’* // NYT // Alan Rappeport – June 11, 2015......................................................................................................................................... 89 *Rival Challenges Clinton to Say Where She Stands on Trade* // AP // Ken Thomas – June 11, 2015 90 *Bernie Sanders insists his momentum is no fluke* // Politico // Jonathan Topaz – June 10, 2015... 91 *Bernie Sanders: Hillary Clinton's Silence on Trade Deal 'Offensive'* // Bloomberg // Sahil Kapur – June 11, 2015................................................................................................................................................ 93 *Sanders Explains Obama’s Biggest Mistake And What Clinton Is Doing Wrong* // Buzzfeed // Evan McMorris-Santoro – June 11, 2015............................................................................................................. 95 *Bernie Sanders hires Elizabeth Warren 'draft' director for progressive campaign* // The Guardian // Ben Jacobs – June 11, 2015............................................................................................................................ 97 *Youth Unemployment and Dr. King’s Dream* // Medium // Bernie Sanders – June 11, 2015.......... 98 *Sanders hires key Iowa staff members* // The Quad City Times // Ed Tibbetts – June 11, 2015.... 100 *Sanders pushes paid vacation legislation* // Burlington Free Press // Nicole Gaudiano – June 11, 2015 101 *OTHER...................................................................................................... **102* *Bayh won’t seek Indiana Senate seat* // The Hill // Jonathan Easley – June 11, 2015.................. 102 *GOP............................................................................................................... **103* *BUSH......................................................................................................... **103* *Wall Street lining up for Jeb Bush campaign fundraiser in New York // WaPo* // Matea Gold – June 11, 2015 103 *Jeb Bush’s legally nonexistent campaign has had a lot of problems* // WaPo // Max Ehrenfreund – June 11, 2015............................................................................................................................................... 104 *In Europe, Jeb Bush sounds like Barack Obama* // Politico // Eli Stokols – June 11, 2015............ 105 *Sean Hannity scores first Jeb Bush interview* // Politico // Hadas Gold – June 11, 2015.............. 107 *Jeb Bush: 'Putin has changed' since brother George saw his'soul'* // CNN // Tom LoBianco & Dana Bash – June 11, 2015................................................................................................................................... 108 *Jeb Bush says view on unwed births ‘hasn’t changed at all’* // MSNBC // Benjy Sarlin – June 11, 2015 111 *Jeb Hated Easy Divorce. So Did Hillary.* // The Daily Beast // Betsy Woodruff – June 11, 2015.... 112 *RUBIO........................................................................................................ **114* *Marco Rubio, like a lot of Americans, is terrible with money* // WaPo // Jonnelle Marte – June 11, 2015 114 *Rubio And Five U.S. Congressmen Voted For Florida's 'Scarlet Letter' Adoption Bill* // HuffPo // Laura Bassett – June 11, 2015........................................................................................................................... 116 *Is the GOP heartland ready to embrace Marco Rubio?* // LA Times // Lisa Mascaro – June 11, 2015 117 *Liberals defend Marco Rubio against blistering New York Times attacks* // Fox News – June 11, 2015 120 *PAUL.......................................................................................................... **121* *How Rand Paul Has Already Changed the 2016 Race* // TIME // Joe Klein – June 11, 2015.......... 121 *Rand Paul Signs on to Amendment Barring Ground Troops Against ISIS* // Bloomberg // David Weigel – June 11, 2015........................................................................................................................................ 122 *WALKER................................................................................................... **123* *Scott Walker Says Supporters Have Suggested Walker-Rubio 2016 Ticket* // Bloomberg // John McCormick – June 11, 2015................................................................................................................................... 123 *CRUZ.......................................................................................................... **125* *Ted Cruz under fire for Tennessee campaign chairman* // Politico // Adam Lerner – June 11, 2015 125 *Ted Cruz fights GOP approach on Obamacare subsidies* // Politico // Manu Raju – June 11, 2015 126 *Cruz ramps up attack on ObamaCare* // The Hill // Sarah Ferris – June 11, 2015......................... 127 *CHRISTIE.................................................................................................. **128* *Chris Christie Lays Out Education Plan* // NYT // Nick Corasaniti – June 11, 2015....................... 128 *Top Chris Christie Aide Goes to His Political Action Committee* // NYT // Maggie Haberman – June 11, 2015 130 *Christie: Debt-free college is 'wrong'* // Politico // Allie Grasgreen – June 11, 2015...................... 131 *Christie slams rival for'scaring' voters* // The Des Moines Register // Jennifer Jacobs – June 11, 2015 131 *GRAHAM................................................................................................... **132* *Sen. Mark Kirk calls Lindsey Graham a 'bro with no ho'* // Politico // Nick Gass – June 11, 2015... 132 *Lindsey Graham Introduces Abortion Bill* // RealClearPolitics // Andrew Desiderio – June 11, 2015 133 *SANTORUM............................................................................................... **134* *Rick Santorum, moderate Republican?* // CNN // Alexandra Jaffe – June 11, 2015...................... 134 *Rick Santorum Says Economic 'Stagnation' Will Help Him Win in 2016* // Bloomberg News // Mark Niquette – June 11, 2015........................................................................................................................... 136 *Rick Santorum signs ATR tax pledge* // The Washington Times // David Sherfinski – June 11, 2015 136 *KASICH...................................................................................................... **137* *Is John Kasich Too Cranky To Be President?* // NBC News // Perry Bacon – June 11, 2015........... 137 *CARSON..................................................................................................... **139* *Ben Carson doesn’t want to talk about ‘the gay issue’* // MSNBC // Adam Howard – June 11, 2015 139 *Ben Carson’s hot mess of a campaign: A predictably dysfunctional mish-mash of fire-breathing rhetoric and insane policy ideas* // Salon // Simon Maloy – June 11, 2015...................................................... 140 *Ben Carson: ‘The people are frustrated — they’re waking up’* // The Washington Times // David Sherfinski – June 11, 2015................................................................................................................................... 141 *FIORINA.................................................................................................... **142* *Fiorina's campaign-trail attacks leave out her own ties to Clinton* // LA Times // Joseph Tanfani – June 11, 2015............................................................................................................................................... 142 *Carly Fiorina blasts media focus on her Hillary Clinton trolling* // The Washington Examiner // Ashe Schow – June 11, 2015........................................................................................................................... 144 *OTHER...................................................................................................... **145* *Fox News Adds G.O.P. Candidate Forum Amid Criticism of Debate Plans* // NYT // Maggie Haberman 145 *The Koch brothers and the Republican Party go to war — with each other* // Yahoo News // Jon Ward – June 11, 2015........................................................................................................................................ 145 *'16 At 30 Thousand* // NBC // Carrie Dann & Andrew Rafferty – June 11,..................................... 152 2015........................................................................................................................................ 152 *With Clinton bound for Sioux City, GOP piles on* // Sioux City Journal // Bret Hayworth – June 11, 2015 153 *Republicans release anti-Hillary Clinton ad ahead of her Charleston visit next week* // The Post & Carrier // Schuyler Kropf – June 11, 2015................................................................................................. 153 *Romney Hosting GOP Hopefuls at Utah Retreat* // RealClearPolitics // Courtney Such – June 11, 2015 154 *TOP NEWS..................................................................................................... **155* *DOMESTIC................................................................................................. **155* *Trade Fight Goes to the Wire* // WSJ // Siobhan Hughes, Kristina Peterson & William Mauldin – June 11, 2015............................................................................................................................................... 155 *Democrats block cyber bill, leaving measure in limbo* // Politico // Tal Kopan – June 11, 2015.... 158 *Dennis Hastert pleads not guilty on all counts* // CNN // Chris Frates, Bill Kirkos and Tom LoBianco – June 11, 2015........................................................................................................................................ 160 *INTERNATIONAL...................................................................................... **161* *Obama Looks at Adding Bases and Troops in Iraq, to Fight ISIS* // NYT //Peter Baker, Helene Cooper & Michael r. Gordon – June 11, 2015............................................................................................................. 161 *OPINIONS/EDITORIALS/BLOGS................................................................... **164* *Republicans must stop derailing the Benghazi committee* // WaPo // Elijah Cummings – June 11, 2015 164 *The Battle for the 2016 Middle Ground* // WSJ // Daniel Arbess – June 11, 2015......................... 166 *How Bill Clinton and Teneo duped the State Dept. ethics dummies* // Leader & Times // Dick Morris – June 11, 2015........................................................................................................................................ 167 *SOCIAL MEDIA* *Hilary Rosen (6/11/15, 9:13 am)* <https://twitter.com/hilaryr/status/608985338644697088>* - on the @usairways shuttle to NYC. Not a #HillaryClinton staffer in sight. #CheapTranspoIsANewThing* *Buzzfeed News (6/11/15, 9:52 am)* <https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedNews/status/608995282068623362>* - JUST IN: @CNBC reporting that @rupertmurdoch is preparing to step down as CEO from 21st Century Fox **http://www.cnbc.com/id/102730161* <http://www.cnbc.com/id/102730161> *Eli Stokols (6/11/15, 10:10 am)* <https://twitter.com/EliStokols/status/608999833639227392>* - Jeb says absent fathers "limit the possibility of young people to live lives of purpose and meaning."* *Benjy Sarlin (6/11/15, 10:17 am)* <https://twitter.com/BenjySarlin/status/609001507984449537>* - Asked Jeb Bush about 1995 book bemoaning lack of "shame" towards single motherhood. He said he'd "evolved" but restated importance of issue* *WSJ (6/11/15, 4:08 pm)* <https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/609089952115249153>* - Breaking: Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is stepping down July 1 * *http://wsj.com* <http://wsj.com> *Bernie Sanders (6/11/15, 5:01 pm)* <https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/609103144681897985>* - It's time to declare once and for all: #BlackLivesMatter* * —* * on the streets and on the job. Read my piece in @Medium: **http://bernie.to/dream* <http://bernie.to/dream> *David Drucker (6/11/15, 5:30 pm)* <https://twitter.com/DavidMDrucker/status/609110550270894082>* -.@tedcruz tells @hughhewitt that his super PACs have BANKED $37 million, Interview broadcast this evening.* *LAUNCH PREVIEW STORIES* *Story of Hillary Clinton’s Mother Forms Emotional Core of Campaign* <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/us/politics/story-of-hillary-clintons-mother-forms-emotional-core-of-campaign.html>* // NYT // Amy Chozick - June 12, 2015* Dorothy Howell was 8 years old when her parents sent her away. It was 1927. Her mother and father, who fought violently in the Chicago boardinghouse where the family lived, divorced. Neither was willing to take care of Dorothy or her little sister. So they put the girls on a train to California to live with their grandparents. It did not go well. Her grandmother favored black Victorian dresses and punished the girls for inexplicable infractions, like playing in the yard. (Dorothy was not allowed to leave her room for a year, other than for school, after she went trick-or-treating one Halloween.) Unable to bear it, Dorothy left her grandparents’ home at 14, and became a housekeeper for $3 a week, always hoping to return to Chicago and reconnect with her mother. But when she finally did, a few years later, her mother spurned her again. It took a long time for Hillary Rodham Clinton to fully understand the story of her mother’s devastating childhood. But now, four years after her death, Dorothy’s story is forming the emotional foundation of her daughter’s campaign for president, and will be a central theme in her big kickoff speech on Saturday. Sharing that story is a shift for Mrs. Clinton, who in her 2008 campaign was fiercely protective of her mother’s privacy and eager to project an image of strength as she sought to become the first female commander in chief. And in this campaign, her mother’s story may help address one of Mrs. Clinton’s central challenges: convincing voters who feel they already know everything about her that there is, indeed, more to know, and that she is motivated by more than ambition. “I think for Hillary it’s about learning, and her mother’s story is just one of the big motivators of who she is,” said Ann Lewis, a former senior adviser to Mrs. Clinton. “She couldn’t go back and do more for her mother, but she could do more for other children who need protection or who need a better chance.” At the rally on Saturday on New York’s Roosevelt Island, the biggest public event so far of her 2016 campaign, Mrs. Clinton will explain how her mother’s experience shaped her life and inspired her to be an advocate for children and families at the Children’s Defense Fund, and as a first lady, senator and secretary of state. Given the closeness of their relationship, it is striking that Mrs. Rodham has been such a limited part of Mrs. Clinton’s biography. Dorothy Rodham and her husband, Hugh, moved to Little Rock, Ark., in 1987 to help Mrs. Clinton take care of Chelsea when she was working full time as a lawyer at Rose Law Firm. After Mr. Rodham died in 1993, Mrs. Rodham spent more time at the White House, accompanying the first lady and Chelsea on trips to India, China, Paris and Hawaii. She avoided the spotlight but enjoyed her time in Washington, with movie nights, trips to the zoo and margaritas at the Cactus Cantina. At the 1996 convention, Mrs. Rodham vouched for her son-in-law, saying in a brief video, “Everybody knows there is only one person in the world who can really tell the truth about a man, and that’s his mother-in-law.” But she also berated Mr. Clinton in the midst of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and encouraged Mrs. Clinton to forge her own political career, said several people who worked in the White House at the time. After Mrs. Clinton was elected to the Senate from New York in 2000, Mrs. Rodham moved to Washington to be closer to her daughter. At one point, mother and daughter shared a two-bedroom apartment while the Clintons’ townhouse in Northwest Washington was being renovated to make a larger, private space to accommodate Mrs. Rodham. “Hillary would get home after a long day in the Senate and they’d just sit there and talk about their days,” said Patti Solis Doyle, who worked for Mrs. Clinton from 1991 until 2008 and was campaign manager for much of her first presidential run. When she was secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton would return from a trip and plop down on the couch with her mom to hear about the latest twist in “Dancing With the Stars,” her mother’s favorite television show. Mrs. Clinton plans to spend time talking about her mother in a series of campaign events in early nominating states next week. She wants to highlight not only her mother’s background, but also the people, like teachers, who were kind to Dorothy as a child as a way to pivot to Mrs. Clinton’s philosophy that government and communities need to do their part to lift the middle class. In her 2014 book, “Hard Choices,’’ Mrs. Clinton described how one teacher in elementary school, realizing that Dorothy was too poor to buy milk at lunchtime, would buy two cartons herself every day and then say, “Dorothy, I can’t drink this other carton of milk. Would you like it?’ ” The woman who hired her as a teenage housekeeper took an interest in her, urging her to finish high school and giving her clothes. Mrs. Clinton has said these seemingly small gestures showed her mother the presence of goodness in the world, and later made her a caring mother and grandmother. Talking so extensively about Mrs. Rodham signals an evolution for Mrs. Clinton, from a deeply private, reluctant politician to a 67-year-old candidate who, according to her friends and aides, is running the campaign she wants to run. Mrs. Clinton has spent weeks writing Saturday’s speech, with the help of Dan Schwerin, a longtime aide and director of speechwriting for the campaign. A sympathetic tale of her mother’s struggles could help Mrs. Clinton convince a struggling middle class that she understands their problems, aides said. A CNN poll released on June 2 showed that 47 percent of voters thought that Mrs. Clinton “cares about people like you,” down from 53 percent last July. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign aides have publicly shrugged off such polls as evidence that voters distrust Washington and politics in general, but privately they are strategizing about how to reframe the conversation. The idea of incorporating Mrs. Rodham’s story was floated during the 2008 Democratic primaries, when Mrs. Clinton’s advisers tested how Dorothy Rodham resonated with focus groups in Iowa; the response was overwhelmingly positive. But back then Mrs. Clinton was uneasy talking about her mother. “It would be uncomfortable for any of us to talk about the struggles of any of our family members in such a public way, especially when your family members are living,” Ms. Doyle said. “And Dorothy was a very private person.” Mrs. Clinton was also fiercely private. When her husband first ran for president in 1992, Mrs. Clinton vehemently shielded Chelsea and her parents from the spotlight. She lost her temper when aides proposed a video of Chelsea, to show that Bill Clinton was a good family man, to be broadcast at the 1992 Democratic National Convention. Mrs. Rodham died in 2011 at the age of 92. Her daughter has said that one of her mother’s heartbreaks was that she was never able to attend college. After she graduated from high school in California, her mother lured her back to Chicago with a promise that her new husband would pay for tuition. Dorothy dreamed of attending Northwestern University. But it turned out that her mother had lied, and actually wanted her back in Chicago only as a housekeeper. Eventually she found secretarial work. “I’d hoped so hard that my mother would love me that I had to take the chance and find out,” Mrs. Rodham once said. “When she didn’t, I had nowhere else to go.” *Hillary Clinton Plans to Show Her Roots in Rally Speech* <http://www.wsj.com/articles/hillary-clinton-plans-to-show-her-roots-in-rally-speech-1434066559>* // WSJ // Laura Meckler – June 11, 2015* Hillary Clinton plans to show how her policy prescriptions are rooted in her family’s personal history during the first rally of her presidential campaign, on Saturday. Mrs. Clinton’s speech, to supporters gathering on New York City’s Roosevelt Island, will portray her as a fighter who learned to navigate life’s challenges from her mother, who was abandoned by her own parents but went on to create a stable, middle-class upbringing for her children. Aides said Mrs. Clinton will cite her mother’s example in explaining that all children need someone in their corner. The story of Mrs. Clinton’s mother is meant to address what campaign aides say is the central question in the election-which candidate voters can count on to fight for them. “She’s not a quitter, and you can count on her to grind it out and get the job done,” said Jennifer Palmieri, the Clinton campaign communications director, said of Mrs. Clinton. “We think it’s important people understand where that conviction comes from.” Mrs. Clinton will use Saturday’s rally, before an expected crowd of thousands, in a sense to reintroduce herself to voters. After a long period in public life, Mrs. Clinton is known for controversies ranging from the so-called Whitewater scandal, an Arkansas land deal gone bad, during her husband’s terms in the White House to recent issues surrounding her use of a personal email account and server for her government work as secretary of state. Mrs. Clinton will focus on other aspects of her biography-such as her work as a young lawyer on behalf of children-to show that she consistently fights for those needing help. On Thursday, the Republican National Committee released a TV ad ahead of the Saturday speech saying that Mrs. Clinton has lost public trust. “Hillary Clinton’s latest campaign reset won’t change a thing,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. “Most people don’t think she’s trustworthy, and she’s still out-of-touch with everyday Americans.” From New York, she’ll travel to Iowa for a house party to be simulcast across the state and an organizing event in Des Moines. Visits to the other early voting states of New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada will follow.The Saturday rally marks a new phase of Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign. A candidate for two months, Mrs. Clinton so far has appeared at small events, such as round table policy discussions. For the first time in the race, Mrs. Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea, will appear with her on stage. Each day of next week will have a biographical theme, Ms. Palmieri said. The campaign is also producing a biographical video highlighting Mrs. Clinton’s work, starting with her advocacy for children as a young attorney. Aides said that Mrs. Clinton’s approach in reintroducing herself to voters will address concerns expressed in some polls that voters don't find her honest and trustworthy. “We think the question on voters’ minds is who can you trust to fight for you?” Ms. Palmieri said. No new policy details are expected in Saturday’s speech, though Mrs. Clinton will mention many of her priorities if elected. They include addressing college affordability and wage stagnation and expanding early childhood education, all topics she’s mentioned on the campaign trail already. So far, Mrs. Clinton has expansively discussed her views on social policy such as immigration, voting rights and gay rights, but she offered few details of her economic plan, such as how to approach Wall Street regulation, how much to raise the minimum wage and whether she would advance a pending Pacific rim trade deal. Aides said Saturday’s speech was the not the right venue to flesh out policy details and that more policy details will come in speeches beginning next month. Despite Mrs. Clinton’s long experience in the public eye, her advisers say many people still don’t know important parts of her personal history, including the story of her mother, Dorothy Rodham. Mrs. Rodham’s parents divorced, and neither one wanted their two daughters, Mrs. Clinton wrote in her book “Hard Choices,” where said her mother’s childhood had been marked by “trauma and abandonment.” The Rodham girls were sent to live with grandparents, who Mrs. Clinton described as severe and unloving. After high school, young Dorothy Rodham moved to Chicago in hopes of reconnecting with her mother but was spurned again. Mrs. Clinton wrote that she learned from her mother to face adversity through perseverance and to “never quit.’’ *With stories of mother's struggle, Clinton seeks reintroduction in first major campaign speech* <http://www.newser.com/article/4e9c2155b6424ee4be46e472bd8b17ca/with-stories-of-mothers-struggle-clinton-seeks-reintroduction-in-first-major-campaign-speech.html>* // AP // Lisa Lerer & Ken Thomas* Hillary Rodham Clinton, one of the best-known figures in American politics, will seek to reintroduce herself to voters on Saturday by telling the story of her mother's childhood struggles, pitching her 2016 presidential campaign as a fight on behalf of such everyday Americans. In the first major speech of her bid for the Democratic nomination, Clinton plans to pay tribute to the hard work of Americans who she'll argue helped the country emerge from the Great Recession, saying they deserve to be rewarded for their sacrifices. "It is your time," Clinton will say, according to aides who described the speech she'll deliver from New York City's Roosevelt Island. While Republicans have already spent months seeking to make the 2016 election a referendum on Clinton, her speech aims to present the decision facing voters as more than just an assessment of her career as a former first lady, New York senator and secretary of state. Instead, her campaign wants to cast the race as a choice about the economic future of the middle class. Among her campaign aides, Clinton refers to the election as a "job interview" and the question before voters as a "hiring decision." "We think the question is: Can I count on you to be that person who is going to fight for me?" said Jennifer Palmieri, the Clinton campaign's communications director. The speech, Palmieri said, will showcase Clinton's differences with a large, and what she will describe as a monolithic, Republican presidential field. Her remarks also represent an effort by her campaign to cast off the shadow of scandal that has dogged her over the past several months. Clinton has seen her personal approval ratings drop amid questions about her wealth, use of a private email account and server as secretary of state, and the financial dealings of her family charity. The emphasis on her late mother, Dorothy Rodham, is a change in course from Clinton's failed White House bid in 2008, when her campaign focused on her experience and toughness, presenting her as an American version of the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Rodham died in 2011 after a life that has been described as Dickensian. Abandoned at a young age by her parents, she was sent as an 8-year-old with her 3-year-old sister on a four-day journey to live with strict, unloving grandparents in California. At the age of 14, she left their house to work for three dollars per week as a mother's helper. She eventually arrived in Chicago, where she married Hugh Rodham, a traveling salesman, and raised Clinton and her two brothers. In her nearly four decades of public life, Clinton has often cited her mother as an inspiration, recounting how she pushed her daughter to stand-up for herself. One of her earliest memories, Clinton has said, is her mother telling her to challenge a neighborhood bully. "I said, just go out there and show them you're not afraid," Rodham said in a rare 2004 interview with Oprah Winfrey. "And if she does hit you again, which she kept doing, hit her back." While Rodham largely stayed out of the public eye, Clinton has long credited her mother with giving her a love of learning and a sense of compassion. "She has empathy for other people's unfortunate circumstances," Rodham said of her daughter in a 2007 campaign ad. "I've always admired that because that isn't always true of people." Clinton will be joined by her husband, former president Bill Clinton, and daughter, Chelsea, at Saturday's rally, marking the first time the family has been seen together in public since Clinton announced her intention to again run for the White House in early April. After the speech, she'll embark on a tour of early voting states, with events focused on her relationship with her mother, work as a young lawyer on behalf of poor children, and her father's background as a veteran and small businessman. In the coming weeks, her campaign will begin rolling out specific policy initiatives on issues including college affordability, jobs and the economy. Those policies, campaign aides argue, will help build Democratic enthusiasm for her bid, despite the lack of a serious primary challenge. "They're a great organizing tool," said Marlon Marshall, Clinton's head of early state strategy. *Clinton's launch speech to focus on her mother's life* <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/clintons-launch-speech-to-focus-on-her-mothers-life-118907.html>* // Politico // Annie Karni – June 11, 2015* After nearly two and a half decades in the glare of the public spotlight, Hillary Clinton will reintroduce herself on Saturday by highlighting her personal journey marked heavily by the deprivations faced by her own mother. Starting with the story of her mother’s abusive and traumatic childhood, Clinton will explain the role her family played in making her an advocate for other people, campaign officials told POLITICO, previewing the highly touted speech on New York’s Roosevelt Island that will set the tone for the rest of her campaign. (Chelsea and Bill Clinton will attend, but Bill Clinton will have no speaking role.) That personal focus will be driven home by the release, shortly afterwards, of a biographical video about Clinton’s career as a fighter for the middle-class, dating back to her work for the Children’s Defense Fund after graduating from law school. While Clinton has often spoken in recent months about her pride in becoming a grandmother, it is another matriarch, Dorothy Rodham, who will be the binding theme in her remarks Saturday. Dorothy Rodham’s dysfunctional and abusive parents shipped her off to live with her grandparents in California when she was 8. But the grandparents proved no more capable of caring for a young child. By age 14, Rodham had fled from her grandparents home to live with a family working as a housekeeper earning $3 a week. It was there that Rodham for the first time saw what a functional family acted like, Clinton will say. And it is her mother’s surrogate family, she will say, who first motivated her to be a champion for everyday Americans who need an outside advocate to help them achieve a better life. “Her story is wanting to be an advocate for other people. Where does it all come from? That’s where it all comes from,” said communications director Jennifer Palmieri, referring to Dorothy Rodham’s story. “We think that’s an important thing for people to understand. Some people know it, we think a lot of people don’t.” In her memoir, “Living History,” Clinton wrote of her mother’s tragic childhood: “I thought often of my own mother’s neglect and mistreatment at the hands of her parents and grandparents, and how other caring adults filled the emotional void to help her.” That is the theme she will strike Saturday. It’s been decades since Clinton lived a life that could be relatable to any of the voters she seeks to represent. Hillary and Bill Clinton together earned more than $30 million since 2014 alone, according to a recent financial disclosure. But the focus on her mother’s childhood and her own middle-class upbringing in suburban Chicago allows Clinton to draw on personal stories relatable to the “everyday Americans” she seeks to represent. She is also expected to strike an economic populist message in explaining her vision for the country. She will state that prosperity should not be reserved for CEOs and hedge fund managers, but should be available to everyday Americans, according to campaign officials. Her message to middle-class families struggling to make it: “It is your time.” Clinton is not expected to roll out and detailed policy proposals in the speech, which campaign officials described as the “foundational document” of her campaign. Those detailed policy proposals will begin to be rolled out in July, with her platform on student loans, and continue into the fall. But Clinton will outline some of the fights she wants to take on, including: college affordability, early childhood education, national security and wages, Palmieri said. And she will say frame the race as a clear choice for Americans, between Clinton’s ideas and the Republicans’ top-down economic policies, like lower taxes for the rich and fewer regulations for corporations. On social policies, she will frame the Republican field as out of touch with where the country has moved. “The question of the campaign is, who is the candidate in the race who understands what my life is like, what the problems are, has solutions and is going to hang in and fight for me everyday and get things done,” Palmieri said. “There’s not any candidate that’s better qualified than her to be that fighter for people.” Clinton, Palmieri said, is still in the process of editing her own speech, and has spent a lot of time figuring out how best to frame her first big-picture pitch to voters. Campaign officials said despite the fact that Clinton has been on the national stage for over two decades, it was important to her and to them to tell her family story again. “We’re starting from scratch here,” Palmieri said. “We’re going through all the paces and explaining why you’re motivated to have been an advocate in the first place. we think it’s an important part of the process.” Wonk Warrior *Inside the relaunch of Hillary Clinton* <http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/hillary-clinton-2016-wonk-warrior-118910.html#ixzz3cqIu3GIg>* // Politico Magazine // Glenn Thrush - June 12, 2015* Hillary Clinton hasn’t always been a profile in political courage, but she’s had her moments. One of them came in late December 2006, a month before Clinton announced her first run for the presidency, as she huddled with her team to discuss policy proposals to differentiate her from two rivals flanking her on the left, Barack Obama and John Edwards. The conversation, which included former Clinton White House aides like Gene Sperling and Neera Tanden, who still have the candidate’s ear today, bogged down on the biggest, nastiest policy fight of her life, health care. Several of Clinton’s top advisers, the ’90s debacle fresh in everyone’s mind, counseled her to avoid proposing an individual mandate, the politically unpopular requirement that the uninsured buy insurance or face penalties. When it came to the widely unpopular individual mandate, however, she was adamant about plowing ahead, according to a former aide who related the story. “If I run for president, I’m going to run on universal health care,” Clinton told the group—and authorized attacks on her Democratic opponent Obama for opposing a mandate (he would eventually embrace it as president, much to Clinton’s amusement). “What’s the point of running if I’m not going to run on universal health care?” she asked her team. Eight years later, on the eve of Clinton’s formal campaign kickoff in New York this weekend, the “what’s the point of running?” question looms over the presumptive Democratic front-runner and her campaign. Over the past few months, even some of Clinton’s most fervent and loyal supporters have fretted to me, over and over, that she hasn’t yet articulated a compelling rationale for her second race for the White House beyond the sense that it’s finally her turn and her political view that she’s facing a relatively weak Republican field. Clinton is no Teddy Kennedy, who suffered the most infamous case of lockjaw in political history when asked why he wanted to be president during the 1980 campaign; Her problem is that she’s far
spotted the intruder. Scroll down to see the terrifying figure they caught in the act… [H/T: The Dodo]'This is a time when people really come together' Lady Gaga will not be banned from speaking out about politics or Donald Trump during her upcoming Super Bowl half-time show, according to the NFL. With her upcoming and coveted performance at the Super Bowl half-time show approaching, reports emerged that the NFL would censor the star by banning her by making any statements about politics or Trump. However, a spokesman has since denied this to TMZ. “This is unsourced nonsense from people trying to stir up controversy where there is none,” they said. “The Super Bowl is a time when people really come together. Lady Gaga is focused on putting together an amazing show for fans and we love working with her on it; we aren’t going to be distracted by this.” 🇺🇸❤️I want to live in a #CountryOfKindness #LoveTrumpsHate He divided us so carelessly. Let's take care now of each other. A photo posted by xoxo, Joanne (@ladygaga) on Nov 9, 2016 at 1:57am PSTAfter seven months of being held hostage by the Taliban, David Rohde returned to The New York Times on Wednesday and to perhaps the most sustained ovation ever heard in the paper’s newsroom. Mr. Rohde, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, escaped from his captors two weeks ago, along with Tahir Ludin, an Afghan reporter who had served as his translator and escort. In an intensely emotional moment, the two men walked into The Times’s newsroom to enormous waves of applause from scores of reporters and editors. At Mr. Rohde’s side was Kristen Mulvihill, his wife of only two months when he, Mr. Ludin and their driver, Asadullah Mangal, were abducted on Nov. 10 outside Kabul. As the long ovation continued, Mr. Ludin wiped away tears. Some in the third-floor newsroom, in The Times’s building on Eighth Avenue in Midtown, seemed near tears themselves. Many, maybe most, had not been aware of their colleagues’ ordeal during the months that it lasted. The newspaper did not report on the kidnapping and persuaded other news organizations to follow its lead in the belief that publicity would have made Mr. Rohde more valuable to his captors as a bargaining chip, and perhaps reduced his chances of surviving. Mr. Rohde, 41, is low-key by nature, and he was in character as he spoke briefly to the newsroom gathering. He did not discuss details of his abduction or of his escape on June 19. But he allowed that Mr. Ludin had told the hostage takers that if they wanted to chop off Mr. Rohde’s head, they would have to chop off his own first. It was a chilling reminder of the dangers of reporting in Central Asia, where Daniel Pearl of The Wall Street Journal was murdered and beheaded in 2002. Mr. Rohde spoke of Mr. Ludin’s bravery and said he represented true Islam and not the “twisted” form of their captors, whose hard-line interpretation of religion, he said, made them less humane. He thanked The Times’s editors and its publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., for their efforts to win his freedom, and he apologized for the worry he had caused everyone. Having wandered into a dangerous zone mere weeks after being married, he said, “I cemented my position as the worst newlywed husband ever.” Ms. Mulvihill shook her head in disagreement. Mr. Rohde closed with a thought that he called “hokey,” but it clearly came from the heart. “Over the next day,” he said, “hug your spouse, kiss your child, call your relatives, watch the sunset, watch the sunrise, thank your God and relish your life.”MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin wants good news. FILE PHOTO: People look at a screen at a media centre during Russian President Vladimir Putin's live broadcast nationwide phone-in in Moscow, Russia April 17, 2014. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo The Russian leadership has told major companies to supply it with news stories that put its stewardship of the country in a positive light, according to documents seen by Reuters. A seven-page document spelled out the kind of articles required, with a focus on new jobs, scientific achievements and new infrastructure, especially those involving state support. It also detailed how the stories should be presented, and gave a weekly deadline for submissions. The instructions were sent last month by the energy ministry to 45 companies in Russia’s energy and utilities sector including Rosneft, Lukoil and Novatek, according to a second document, a list of recipients. The drive coincides with the run-up to a presidential election in March next year when President Vladimir Putin needs a strong mandate with high turnout to maintain his firm grip on power after dominating Russian politics for two decades. “Life for the majority of people has become calmer, more comfortable, more attractive. But many such examples often escape the media’s attention,” said the first document. “Our task, through a creative and painstaking approach, is to select such topics and subjects and offer them to the media.” That document, which did not mention the election, said the news items to be supplied were to feed a “positive news wire” and should correspond to two themes: “Life is getting better” and “How things were; how they are now”. Both documents were attached to an invitation, dated Oct. 9, sent by the energy ministry to senior executives in the public relations and government relations departments of the firms, of which 17 are state-controlled and 28 privately-held. The invitation requested they send representatives to an Oct. 12 meeting at the ministry in Moscow to discuss how to help the government’s PR effort. Reuters saw a copy of the invitation and spoke to three executives who received it. According to the invitation, the news initiative was requested by Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy chief of staff in the presidential administration. A spokesman for Kiriyenko did not respond to a request for comment. The energy ministry also did not respond, nor did Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Reuters sent requests for comment to the biggest five companies out of the 45, by market value - state-owned oil major Rosneft, state-owned gas giant Gazprom, private oil companies Lukoil and Surgutneftegaz, and private gas firm Novatek. No responses were received. NINE-POINT LIST Oil and gas provide Russia’s biggest source of revenue and energy firms are among the most powerful companies and biggest employers. Reuters has not found evidence that similar instructions were sent to companies in other sectors. The Oct. 12 meeting was chaired by Deputy Energy Minister Anton Inyutsyn, and an official from the presidential administration was also present, according to one of the sources who attended. The two officials went through and explained the instructions laid out in the seven-page document, said the source, who added that the election was not mentioned. Reuters reported in February that the ministry had enlisted energy companies to give it advance notice about developments that could influence public opinion. The meeting last month and the guidelines circulated in preparation for it show that, since then, the initiative has stepped up into a higher gear, with companies being handed highly specific instructions on how they are expected to help. It was not clear if the companies had acted on the instructions. The news guidelines document said the government wanted to highlight “victories and achievements”. It included a nine-point list of the kind of news that companies should supply. It asked, for example, for stories about business units “where it’s possible to say that state support helped lift them out of crisis, restored modern production, and re-equipped them with new equipment and gave work to local residents”. Examples given of the kind of events of interest to the government from elsewhere in the corporate world included state lender Sberbank hiring 700 people in the Volga river city of Togliatti, a festival funded by a company in Kaliningrad region for young people with hearing difficulties and a sports center being opened in Cherkessk, southern Russia. The document also held up the case of Yevgeny Kosmin as an example of a positive news story, a miner in western Siberia whose team extracted 1.6 million tonnes of coal in July this year, a monthly record. That carried echoes of Alexey Stakhanov, a miner who in 1935 extracted almost 15 times more coal during a shift than his quota required. Communist propaganda held Stakhanov up as a symbol of Soviet industrial prowess. MONDAY DEADLINE The instructions stipulated that companies should submit positive news stories every week - on the Monday, or Tuesday morning at the latest. They said the companies should present their items in the format of a table, with new additions highlighted in a colored font, and accompanied by a press release that could be passed on to journalists with minimal editing from government officials. The document also required each company to provide a contact person who could provide extra information to journalists, tell TV news crews how to reach the venue to report on an event, and organize access for news crews to the company’s sites. Reuters was not able to establish if the Kremlin had made similarly specific demands of companies in the past. Slideshow (3 Images) Putin has not yet declared his intention to seek re-election. Most Kremlin observers say he will. Opinion polls show he will win comfortably, with many voters crediting him with restoring national pride. The Kremlin’s biggest headache with the election, scheduled for next March, is ensuring a strong turnout, say many political analysts. With the economy weak and many people viewing the result as a foregone conclusion, voters may be tempted to stay away from polling stations. A low turnout could undermine Putin’s legitimacy in his next term, the analysts say.Artificial Intelligence will soon bring on another technological revolution, where machines may take your job and shake up the economy in the process. Drones are being used in warfare; Google, Tesla, and other companies are working on self-driving cars; and robots are designed to be superb conversationalists (similar to reality painted in the movie ‘Her’). On KPCB’s latest episode of Ventured, I spoke with Jerry Kaplan, author of Humans Need Not Apply, and John Markoff, author of Machines of Loving Grace, about their views of the benefits and consequences of artificial intelligence. We talked about the impact of artificial intelligence and its effect on society, as well as ways to design machines so humans aren’t left out of the decision making process. Take a listen to our conversation below. Machine Learning Can Solve Problems That Humans Can’t Thanks to the advancement of faster computers and the ability to compute large amounts of data, machine learning has evolved over the years. Machines can extract order out of large data sets replacing humans in the medical and legal fields. Is AI Really A Threat? The Future of Life Institute was set up by Elon Musk with a $10M grant to ensure that AI is used for good as concerns grow around the ethical risks of designing machines that replace human operators. As seen with weapon systems, AI is being used to solve problems, but the technology itself isn’t self-aware. We Are Half A Step Away From The Movie ‘Her’ Machines are getting much better at acting like humans. However, the ethical dilemma occurs when someone is fooled by the intelligent machines. While the machines may provide a functional connection, the emotional relationships aren’t lasting. Robots For An Aging Population An aging population and low birth rates will change society. People are relying on and relating to machines in a more intimate way. Ultimately, demographic changes in the population have a far greater impact than any influence of technology, such as in the case of China. With a rapidly aging society, robots could be introduced at a time when the workforce is contracting. Drones That Kill Machines can sense their environment and make decisions on who to kill. If machines don’t feel remorse, then the very human moral instinct is eliminated. In the wrong hands, there could be ethical concerns over how the technology is used. Robots Will Take Your Job Jobs may disappear as tasks become automated. Historically, the introduction of technology into the workforce has advanced agriculture, accounting, law, genetics, information technology and other fields. However, the people who were doing those jobs, have now lost their jobs. Social policies need to reflect what’s happening in the economy as well as technological advances. Self-Driving Cars Can Increase Productivity Uber has disrupted the taxi market through peer-to-peer transportation. What will happen when driverless cars enter the market? Will they replace Uber drivers? Kaplan argues that self-driving cars putting Uber drivers out of work isn’t the problem. By automating the commute, passengers are productive during that time and that is what is going to put someone else out of work. AI Isn’t The Existential Threat To Humanity If AI isn’t a threat, then the modification of the genetic structure is. Robots aren’t the problem, it’s people. These machines aren’t evolving by themselves. Humans are the ones designing the systems we are going to live in in the future.Richmond coach Damien Hardwick mulls sticking with same team for finals clash with North Melbourne Posted Consistency has been the key for Richmond this season according to Damien Hardwick and that theme looks set to continue at the selection table ahead of Sunday's elimination final against North Melbourne. In stark contrast to the Kangaroos, who controversially rested nine players in round 23 against the Tigers, Hardwick is banking on continuity when the two sides meet for the second time in just over a week. Reece Conca is pressing his claims for a return after overcoming a hamstring injury but the coach admits he will find it difficult to make many, if any, changes to the side that defeated North. "We'll still consider (Conca), he's been training fully now for two weeks but the equation we've got to take into it is that he hasn't played footy for the vast majority of the year," Hardwick said. "But he's an important player, he's a quality player - do we take a risk. We're unsure at this stage. "We'll see how he trains (on Tuesday) and Thursday and make an assessment." In something of a surprise, Hardwick revealed tall forward Ben Griffiths, who hasn't played since undergoing finger surgery after round 17, could come into calculations if the Tigers progress beyond this week. Richmond has stumbled at the elimination final stage of the past two seasons, having been bundled out by Carlton then Port Adelaide. But Hardwick is not interested in a history lesson. "We can keep going back into the record books but it's a completely different side that we're playing now as compared to 12 and 24 months ago," he said. "We've matured, we're a lot better side, we're a lot better placed, we've got a lot better players. You can't compare us to 12 months ago - it's irrelevant. "Those finals are in the history books, there's nothing you can do about them now, all we can build on is the consistency that we've put into the regular season." AAP Topics: australian-football-league, sport, richmond-3121, melbourne-3000, north-melbourne-3051, vic, australiaAt extremely low temperatures atoms can aggregate into so-called Bose Einstein condensates forming coherent laser-like matter waves. Due to interactions between the atoms fundamental quantum dynamics emerge and give rise to periodic collapses and revivals of the matter wave field. A group of scientists led by Professor Immanuel Bloch (Chair of Experimental Physics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and Director of the Quantum Many Body Systems Division at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching) has now succeeded to take a glance 'behind the scenes' of atomic interactions revealing the complex structure of these quantum dynamics. By generating thousands of miniature BECs ordered in an optical lattice the researchers were able to observe a large number of collapse and revival cycles over long periods of time. The research is published in the journal Nature. The experimental results imply that the atoms do not only interact pairwise -- as typically assumed -- but also perform exotic collisions involving three, four or more atoms at the same time. On the one hand, these results have fundamental importance for the understanding of quantum many-body systems. On the other hand, they pave the way for the generation of new exotic states of matter, based on such multi-body interactions. The experiment starts by cooling a dilute cloud of hundreds of thousands of atoms to temperatures close to absolute zero, approximately -273 degrees Celsius. At these temperatures the atoms form a so-called Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), a quantum phase in which all particles occupy the same quantum state. Now an optical lattice is superimposed on the BEC: This is a kind of artificial crystal made of light with periodically arranged bright and dark areas, generated by the superposition of standing laser light waves from different directions. This lattice can be viewed as an 'egg carton' on which the atoms are distributed. Whereas in a real egg carton each site is either occupied by a single egg or no egg, the number of atoms sitting at each lattice site is determined by the laws of quantum mechanics: Depending on the lattice height (i.e. the intensity of the laser beam) the single lattice sites can be occupied by zero, one, two, three and more atoms at the same time. The use of those "atom number superposition states" is the key to the novel measurement principle developed by the researchers. The dynamics of an atom number state can be compared to the dynamics of a swinging pendulum. As pendulums of different lengths are characterized by different oscillation frequencies, the same applies to the states of different atom numbers. "However, these frequencies are modified by inter-atomic collisions. If only pairwise interactions between atoms were present, the pendulums representing the individual atom number states would swing synchronously and their oscillation frequencies would be exact multiples of the pendulum frequency for two interacting atoms," Sebastian Will, graduate student at the experiment, explains. Using a tricky experimental set-up the physicists were able to track the evolution of the different superimposed oscillations over time. Periodically interference patterns became visible and disappeared, again and again. From their intensity and periodicity the physicists found unambiguous evidence that the frequencies are actually not simple multiples of the two-body case. "This really caught us by surprise. We became aware that a more complex mechanism must be at work," Sebastian Will recalls. "Due to their ultralow temperature the atoms occupy the energetically lowest possible quantum state at each lattice site. Nevertheless, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle allows them to make -- so to speak -- a virtual detour via energetically higher lying quantum states during their collision. Practically, this mechanism gives rise to exotic collisions, which involve three, four or more atoms at the same time." The results reported in this work provide an improved understanding of interactions between microscopic particles. This may not only be of fundamental scientific interest, but find a direct application in the context of ultracold atoms in optical lattices. Owing to exceptional experimental controllability, ultracold atoms in optical lattices can form a "quantum simulator" to model condensed matter systems. Such a quantum simulator is expected to help understand the physics behind superconductivity or quantum magnetism. Furthermore, as each lattice site represents a miniature laboratory for the generation of exotic quantum states, experimental set-ups using optical lattices may turn out to be the most sensitive probes for observing atomic collisions.Before her grandson's condition became clear, Margaret Palmer generally thought the best of people. Now she has a very different view. "The cruelty, the unkindness, the lack of understanding towards people with autism is horrifying. Not just police and social services, but people, the public," she said. "Adrian was lovely, a fantastic lad and so special to us. It's the way other people treated him that was the problem." A new survey carried out by the National Autistic Society (NAS) and to be published this week to mark the launch on Monday of its new campaign, Careless, shows just how hard life can be for adults with the disability. A startling 44% of those questioned admitted they stayed indoors as much as possible for fear of being harassed. Almost a third reported having had money or possessions stolen, while 37% had been forced or manipulated into doing something they didn't want to do by someone they thought of as a friend. Almost half (49%) of the 1,300 people surveyed reported having been abused by someone they thought of as a friend. A consultation is under way on the government's new criteria for eligibility for adults to access social care, and the NAS is deeply concerned that even as numbers of people being diagnosed with autism disorders rise, the legislation will see levels of support and care drop. "It's already incredibly patchy," said Tom Madders, NAS campaign manager. "Only half of local authorities even offer a pathway to diagnosis. We're starting to pick up kids who have autism a little better but for adults services are too few and far between. We hear a lot about harassment and isolation, about people being arrested when they haven't committed a crime, but these survey results, the abuse and the neglect, still shocked us," he said. "People with autism can find it difficult to interpret others' motivations, misjudge relationships, and left unsupported many are taken advantage of. Our key concern is that government plans for the care system could make this desperate situation even worse. The new criteria take away entitlement of support for people if 'abuse has occurred or will occur', but that is an essential criteria for vulnerable people with autism." Adrian Palmer was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at 14 and assessed for support by social services at 18. His family knew he was at risk from the people he was spending time with and needed help with the transition to adulthood. But although the assessment found Adrian struggled with interpreting people's motives and was easily led, the risks were not sufficient for him to receive support. At 21, he reported being raped by a man who had befriended him. His parents appealed again to the police and social services and finally a small amount of evening support was approved. Five days later in May 2006 Adrian was killed by the man he had accused of rape. Under the government's proposed criteria, Adrian would not have been eligible for support. West Mercia police were later found to have failed him by not properly investigating his complaints and social services apologised to his family. His killer, Ben Murphy, 23, was sentenced to four years in prison for manslaughter and served two. "It's horrible to think what just a little bit of support might have done, it might have changed everything," said Margaret Palmer. "You try your best but you need some support sometimes, not every family does but some do. We did. But the police do nothing, the social services do nothing. "Adrian's was a long, long story. He went through so much from when he was young, all through school people were horrible to him, teachers and pupils. It was awful to take him to school, his little heart pumping, so anxious. It would upset us terribly that no one would listen or try to understand that if you just treated him right he would blossom," she added. "When he was 18 he started to drink. We tried to say it's not the way to be sociable, to make friends, but social services just said he'll learn by his own mistakes. They advised us to make him homeless if we couldn't cope. I was shocked. People he was mixing with were horrible, but he couldn't see he was being manipulated." Another sufferer, Rose, 54, was diagnosed with autism 18 months ago. Her condition only became obvious when her husband left five years ago, forcing her to fend for herself. Her daughter, now 21, was diagnosed aged 19 and her son when he was nine. "It makes you very prone to depression," she said. "All of us are now on medication. It makes you feel worthless when you know you don't fit in. You feel like you're out on a limb." She has been targeted by people who have stolen from her and sexually abused her. "It's hard when you don't know someone's agenda. You just want to make friends but you feel out of your depth. I have battled hard to get any help at all. With my experiences over the last few years I have grown to mistrust people totally. It doesn't seem there are many decent people left."WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Conservative political advocacy groups supported by the billionaire Koch brothers plan to spend $889 million in the 2016 U.S. elections, more than double what they raised in 2012, the Washington Post reported on Monday. The newspaper said the goal was announced to donors at a weekend meeting in Rancho Mirage, California, hosted by Freedom Partners, a business lobby at the center of the Koch brothers' political operation. The Post cited a person who attended the gathering. The money will be doled out by a network of 17 organizations funded by industrialists Charles and David Koch, who have become a major force in conservative politics in recent years, and other wealthy donors. The network raised $407 million for the 2012 campaign. During the 2012 election cycle, the national Republican Party collectively spent about $675 million, according to election data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. The Post said the $889 million would be spent on field operations, technology, policy study and other expenses. The Freedom Partners network spent almost $300 million on November's congressional elections, in which Republicans won control of the Senate and retained their majority in the House of Representatives. The potential field for the Republican presidential nomination is fairly crowded and the Post said the Koch group was still considering whether it would support candidates in the Republican primaries, which could dramatically shape the campaign and possible lead to intraparty conflict. Senators Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, all of whom are mentioned as possible presidential candidates, took part in the Rancho Mirage meeting, the Post said.We've been brewing beers with Short's since 2010, when we discovered at a conference that we both hold a deep respect for the boognish. Powder Blue is a new one, an IPA featuring Mosaic, El Dorado and 130 gallons of pureed blueberry, drink it and set the course. The following are some excerpts from Ween's tour diaries. Nothing overtly special, just an investment in the oddity of everyday. 2003-07-25 Pittsburgh, PA – Club Laga - arrived the night before, back in old pittsburgh. aaron swears that i promised we'd never play pittsburgh again but i recall saying we'd never play club metropol again. either way, this club was better for sure, nice folks and a sold out show. experienced the backlash from our all request concert a few nights before, people were calling out for "where'd the cheese go" most of the night. i thought we played a little sloppy, but it was actually a pretty eventful show for opening night. topless girls all over the stage during lmlyp to close the show, a few fights, and some dude literally broke thru a wall to get into our dressing room before getting tossed from the club and pummeled by bouncers. ironically enough, me and glenn and this same guy (the wallbreaker) went down the street for hot dogs and french fries like 15 minutes after this incident. ween is all about pleasing the kids, everyone knows that. 2002-04-23 Lexington, KY - Kentucky Theatre - This was our first time in Lexington and I was impressed by how clean the city was---also, there wasn't a soul on the street after dark. Mick Preston and I generally will walk or drive as far as we have to go to find a Waffle House when we're on tour, but we ended up settling for a Huddle House instead, which to my surprise was every bit as delicious--even though it's an obvious rip-off of the real thing, right down to the pecan waffles and scattered and smothered hash browns and shit. This was a really cool old theater, and directly adjacent to the concert was the Miss Gay Kentucky drag queen paegant. I don't remember much about this show, except I thought we played pretty solid and we hit some bar afterwards and then some house party, and then a second trip to the Huddle House. 2003-10-08 Missoula, MT – MT University Theater - i don't remember much about this one either except that it was a good gig. some kids printed up counterfeit tickets and it caused a bit of a stir. i thought it was pretty punk rock and was honored in a way. we have been hearing about this town for awhile and finally made it there. unfortunately i didn't get to see any of it except for the hotel bar where i watched the yankees with some homeless guy who had a plate in his head. DETAILSIt was the first days of the new year, and thrumming through the soles of my feet was that distinctive, hard-driving rhythm—the dhol drum singing out its bhangra beat. The dance floor was small, swallowed whole in a corner of the underground ballroom, but we were all crowded onto it, celebrating the closing night of the wedding. The speakers strained and gaudy lights painted our bodies in splashes of color and soon, after leaving the dance floor, I watched as a young Indian man newly arrived from a Midwestern city stammered across the ballroom toward a girl he claimed he loved with the simple plan of asking her to dance. He’d come here with friends, three young men looking to discover India, reconnect with their roots, learn something of the land their parents came from. In a minute, he’d be sprawled across the floor, his face streaming blood and I’d be racing toward his attacker, a relative of mine, who now hoisted a heavy steel chair high over his head and was about to bring it down with all his might and crush the foreigner’s skull. Advertisement: *** My cousin’s wedding had been hastily arranged, though no one told me why, and I had trouble finding a flight from New York at such short notice. It would be my first time in Punjab in years, and though I wasn’t born here, my parents had been and I’d lived with the idea of the place from as far back as I could remember, side by side, as if I’d spent my life with a phantom twin whose pull on my imagination was made that much more powerful by his absence. That first morning after arriving, I immediately felt my own strangeness in these surroundings for walking out of the bedroom I was confronted by a servant on her hands and knees ferociously brushing the carpets. My aunt offered a perfunctory hello, and turned on the maid and started pouring out abuse. The young woman dropped her head and pulled her scarf tightly over it and nodded and pressed the stiff bristles so deep into the frayed carpet she was almost flattened against it. Whoosh-whoosh, whoosh-whoosh! My aunt walked on and the maid raised her head and smiled at me and returned to her previous, and still quite vigorous, pace. The Groom appeared at breakfast wearing a sheepish grin and offered a sarcastic roll of the eyes, as if to say he was nothing more than an onlooker to the spectacle unfurling around us and not at all the center of it. “Hullo,” he said, warmly gripping my hand, “I guess I’m getting married, eh.” He stood, slightly pudgy with a round, boyish face and a constantly embarrassed grin and said how glad he was I’d traveled all this way. Every now and then, that look of sarcasm mixed with suspicion returned and seemed to telegraph a feeling on his part of both bafflement with me and superiority. “I don’t know what it’s all about,” he said that first morning. “People are coming from everywhere. Who are they? If someone tells me what to do, I’ll do it, that’s all, I don’t care about the rest.” In his bedroom he displayed only two books. One was a body-building manual by Arnold Schwarzenegger and the other a work by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the spiritual cult leader who, some years before, had poisoned an Oregon town in order to rig municipal elections in his favor. Both books were popular in Punjab, I’d see them in bookstores everywhere, along with, to my alarm, copies of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” which were ubiquitous. I was glad my cousin didn’t display a copy of that. The Groom said he was interested in the Bhagwan, he made him think, and he was interested in things that made him think. Advertisement: We walked that evening around the gated park outside the house, and talked, me of New York, he of his recent years in the Ukraine where he studied medicine. His future wife was from Long Island, he said, but as a teenager, her family sent her to Delhi. “They wanted to make her a proper Indian girl, teach her our values, not American values.” He smirked when he said this, and I knew what he meant, to make her properly humble, to learn the roles of woman and future wife, to know her place, to say yes, to flatter, and above all, not to think. “It’s a good family,” he promised me, “import export, gem stones, that thing. We’ll settle in New York. She’s going to be MBA.” They’d met twice, both times chaperoned. “We’ll come visit you. We’ll go—how do you say it—clubbing. She likes that, this clubbing business. They have big clubs in New York, yes? They fill two floors. That must be cool. Do you go to them? Two floors of club-type people,” he mused. I’d been away from my family for so long I’d forgotten what it felt like to drown in them, all that punchy childishness, all those subjects we were not allowed to talk about and therefore everything we were not allowed to say or feel or think. Every word we spoke was shadowed by a hundred we didn’t or couldn’t or had not imagined because the possibility had been killed years ago, perhaps centuries, and I found myself wallowing in idiocies, unable to find a path out. *** The house offered two broad terraces, one opening from the second floor, the other on the roof, and the next day the former was covered in a great blue tent which stretched out over the back yard and streamed across the driveway, shrouding all the windows and creating a perpetual night indoors, so we sat now in gloomy, lightless rooms and moved about like great-eyed tunnel dwellers through the halls. Advertisement: The Groom’s father was Uncle Sits-On-Bed in my private lexicon for he did exactly that, all day long, cross-legged and in pajamas with a phone at his elbow, in the center of his continent-wide bed where he took his tea and meals. It was from here that he ran his medical practice, constantly receiving messengers and sending out lackeys, complaining of his own poor health, and finding himself, at all hours, on the receiving end of abuse and bitterness from his much-aggrieved wife, Sad-Eyed Aunt. An uneasy truce reigned between the couple, and the house was divided: he held the bedroom like a fortress, while Sad-Eyed Aunt laid siege throughout the halls with ever futile gestures, spreading tales about him to her children and the servants. Every day brought new arrivals who had to be found sleeping mats for and a corner on the floor and fed and given tea. Ceremonies were held, often in the afternoons, lasting hours, for everyone had to be photographed performing the same ritual with the groom, feeding him, bowing to him, standing with idiotic grins behind him, while the rest waited and watched, and throughout the house, despite all this seeming activity, a debilitating lethargy took hold. California Uncle arrived with his family in tow and a different Armani suit for every occasion and helped shatter the indolence. It was him, Mom told me, who had originally pushed Uncle Sits-On-Bed to pressure The Groom to get married, placed advertisements in Indian newspapers across the States looking for a suitable match, and sorted through the replies and sent along the likely prospects. He brought that same zeal to the moribund house, for on his first night here we were bundled into cars and off we zipped, plunging into noisy streets and alleys, all horns ablast, on a pilgrimage to the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. Advertisement: California Uncle marched us headlong, from shrine to shrine, with barely time to rush forward and drop to our knees and matha tek, a lowering of the head in supplication, all the while offering a rambling commentary on the saints and heroes these shrines were dedicated to. We scurried onward, in a shallow and vapid circuit, dropping to our knees, rising up, rushing forward, checking off the boxes on our pilgrim’s checklist, before one rapid-fire loop through the temple itself, and then hurry, hurry, back to the waiting cars. I’d begun to look on the wedding similarly, as an onrush of empty gestures and eye-glazing ceremonies, with no one caring one way or the other. We were repeating dead gestures, it felt to me, uselessly elaborated and echoing mechanically from an ill-remembered past. The Groom’s boyish charm had been oddly growing on me when one evening he decided to take an outsize interest in my having worked recently for a Jewish nonprofit in New York. He believed I must be privy to secret knowledge about how the world worked, having spent years in such close proximity to real Jews. An undigested anti-Semitism quickly poured out of him. The Jews were the cause of this, they did that, they controlled so-and-so, and of course, not one Jew died in the World Trade towers. Who else could pull off such a stunt but the Jews? Advertisement: It was an attitude I often encountered in other Indians and it always baffled me. The Groom had never met a Jew and should have no particular interest, good or bad, in Israel or the history of the Jews, and his attitude sounded canned and secondhand. It was as if he was proving his bona fides as a card-carrying member of the just gone 20th century, and this was his way of informing me he was modern, Western, forward-thinking. His hatred was real when he talked about Muslims. These he had met. “I lived for years in Ukraine,” he said. “We have them there. I walked into one of their houses.” He made a motion to spit. “Filth! You walk into a Muslim house it’s no different from walking into a garbage dump, but more disgusting. They live like cockroaches in their own shit. They
ialbyfiremovie.com Subscribe to our blog via emailNo labour today! Katy Perry relaxes with a beer and e-cigarette as she celebrates national holiday with a party for close pals She is more often than not travelling around the globe promoting or performing her music. But even Katy Perry sometimes takes a break and like the rest of America the singer took Monday off to celebrate Labour Day surrounded by her close pals. And showing she really knows how to relax the 28-year-old – who was dressed in retro shorts and top – treated herself to a couple of beers and an e-cigarette as she partied alongside Khloe Kardashian. Party time: Katy Perry threw a Labour Day bash for her close pals on Monday Showing off her usual quirky style the Roar songstress wore a sunflower print pair of high waisted shorts with a matching shirt which was tied around her stomach – revealing her toned abs. In keeping with the 50s vibe she wore her raven locks off her face with the help of a black and white striped headband, while she added a pair of hoop earrings. Clearly relishing the day off the American star kept her make-up to a minimum and ditching the heels she opted for a pair of flat brown ballerina pumps. She's a retro wonder: Katy wore a pair of sunflower print shorts with a matching shirt tied around her stomach Katy was spotted enjoying what looked like an e-cigarette, complete with stylish holder, and also a couple of refreshing beers. Looking in high spirits the Calfornian-born babe was seen mingling with her guests who as well as enjoying a few drinks, made the most of the table tennis. One such guest was Khloe Kardashian who took a well-deserved break from dealing with the drama surrounding her troubled husband Lamar Odom. Support: Katy was seen chatting to Khloe at the outdoor party Letting their hair down: Khloe mingled with other fellow party goers - no doubt pleased to have a chance to relax Laid back: Khloe wore a pair of cut-off shorts while carrying a fan to keep cool The 29-year-old reality star posted a picture of herself and some friends, including her ever present BFF Malika Haqq, at the bash on Instagram and looked like she hadn’t a care in the world. Wearing a pair of demin shorts with a black T-shirt and a check shirt tied around her waist Khloe showed off her trim figure. And as she arrived by car she flashed her hand – revealing she was still wearing her wedding ring. Making the most: Katy looked like she was relaxing as she chatted to pals while sipping on her beer Lets play: Jesse Metcalfe wasted no time in taking off his shirt to play ping pong at the party The Keeping Up With The Kardashian star will no doubt have been happy to have a distraction from the drama in her personal life, after reports emerged she has given her troubled spouse an ultimatum to seek help or move out of their home. She hopefully got the chance to do exactly that surrounded by the ever-happy Katy and the other guests. Jesse Metcalfe was also spotted at the party and never shy about showing off his body he whipped off his shirt to play a spot of table tennis. Strong bond: Despite her marriage troubles, Khloe's wedding ring was clearly visible as she made her way into the party One person however who wasn’t noticeably present was Katy’s boyfriend John Mayer, but things are clearly still going well as the musician opened up about her in a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine. He said: ‘The fact we’re on such different sides of the coin keeps conflict at bay. She’s a whole different vibration and I’m totally supportive. I can say, ‘Hey, how was work?’ and really wonder how work was.’ Labour Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers, which falls on the first Monday of September and is considered the official end of summer.Jacquelyn Maitland / Contributing Writer Updated 6:32 p.m. July 31, 2013 William Bernard Jacobs, 30, accused of trafficking a 14-year-old girl from Denton County, pled guilty and exchanged a jury trial for a 20-year prison sentence. His alleged accomplice Shayla Dawn Williams, 20, is on the trial docket and faces a possible five-year sentence, prosecutor Michael Dickens said. If accepted, she will be eligible to apply for parole in 30 months. In a statement, defense attorney Tim Powers said that Jacobs’ potential punishment range was a minimum of 15 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and a maximum punishment range of 99 years or life in prison. He explained that the role of a defense attorney is to zealously represent clients in order to get the best result through the facts and evidence they are able to present in court. “In this particular case,” Powers said, “had we taken the route of a jury trial, it was my estimation that Jacobs would have served the rest of his life in prison.” This is the first reported case of human trafficking in Denton County. Jacobs was indicted on charges of trafficking persons under 18 for purposes of prostitution and sexual assault of a child. Williams and the victim, “Berry Allison,” were expected to testify against Jacobs until the New Orleans man accepted the plea bargain. 6 p.m. July 30, 2012 A New Orleans man is being tried in Denton today for prostituting a 14-year-old girl to more than 30 men, including six who appeared to be from the Denton area code and used names including “UNT Frosh,” “UNT Frat Guy Kinky” and “UNT Teach,” according to court documents. This is the first human trafficking case in Denton County, Defense Attorney Tim Powers said. William Bernard Jacobs, 30, and Shayla Dawn Williams, 20, are accused of luring a young girl who wore a Tweety Bird shirt and pigtails in her hair into a world filled with drugs, money and prostitution. According to the affidavit, Jacobs and Williams transported the 14-year-old to five states from July 7, 2012 to July 31, 2012, to meet with more than 30 male clients for prostitution. Jacobs is charged with sexual assault of a child and trafficking of persons under 18 for purposes of prostitution. The now 15-year-old victim, who is using the name “Berry Allison” in court proceedings, is currently with her mother in Allen, preparing to testify. Shayla Dawn Williams In an interview with police, Williams said that this was not her first time being involved with prostitution. A 10th grade dropout from Chico, Texas, Williams said she began hanging out with “the wrong types of people.” According to the affidavit, Williams said she had corresponded with individuals on a site called ‘Mocospace.com’ who advised her “they could make a little money.” Williams then began posting photos of herself to an Internet site known as “Backpage.com,” which was used as advertisement for prostitution. Williams said she met Jacobs in May 2012 on Mocospace.com, where they began chatting. Jacobs eventually picked Williams up from a location in Fort Worth and told her a familiar phrase, “they were going to make a little money.” According to court records, between May 31, 2012, and August 31, 2012, Williams sold her body to clients and gave the proceeds to Jacobs. In July 2012, Williams met 14-year-old Berry Allison on Mocospace.com and began discussing the possibility of “making money” to her. Between exchanged messages, Allison told Williams she was 19 and having family issues with her mother and stepdad, according to the affidavit. Williams and Allison agreed that Williams and Jacobs would pick up Allison from her mother’s home in Allen and she could stay with them. According to court documents, Williams and Jacobs had been staying at an extended stay hotel in Lewisville, where they returned with 14-year-old Allison. When they arrived, the three of them smoked marijuana together and began taking photos of Allison to post as advertisements for prostitution, Williams said. The affidavit says on that same day, Allison’s mother Desiree Votaw had called Williams on her cell phone to ask them to bring her daughter home. Allison’s mother also told Williams that her daughter was only 14. Records state that when Williams and Allison were conversing online, Allison said she was 19. Williams and Jacobs ignored Votaw’s request and what she had conveyed regarding Allison’s age, the affidavit said. The next day, Williams and Jacobs left Lewisville and took Allison on a seven state tour of Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee, all for prostitution according to court records. Williams would set up Allison’s clients, and she or Jacobs would lease the motel or hotel rooms at various locations. The method of payment would be made in cash or on a pre-paid VISA card, according to the affidavit. The prices varied from $100 to $150 per session, depending on if the session was for 30 minutes or for an hour. Jacobs “called the shots,” according to Williams, and collected every penny the two girls made, the affidavit said. The affidavit says that Jacobs provided Williams and Allison with marijuana on a daily basis, but he would become angry and sometimes abusive if they didn’t do exactly what he asked. Evidence stated that Jacobs instructed Allison not to have sex face to face with a client, only have sex with a client in a “doggy-style” position, always wear protection and not have sex with any black men. On different occasions, according to legal documents, Jacobs also encouraged Williams and Allison to have sexual relations with one another or engage in a threesome with him. After nearly a month of exposing the 14-year-old to drugs, sex and abuse, the three returned to the hotel in Lewisville around July 30, 2012. With Allison still at the hotel, Williams and Jacobs fled, according to officials. Allison was soon located by Lewisville Police Department after a Missing Person Report had been issued by Allen Police Department. In August 2012, the Homeland Security Investigations led North Texas Trafficking Task Force to the arrest of Williams and Jacobs. Officials tapped Williams’ cell phone to find the location where she and Jacobs were at the time. Special Agent Keith Owens and Fort Worth Police Officer Manny Reyes arrested Williams and Jacobs in the parking lot of a hotel in Arlington. It became a Denton County case primarily because Allison was picked up and brought to Lewisville which is where she was first indoctrinated, Powers said. After the arrests and charges had been made against Williams and Jacobs, detectives found saved in William’s phone the alleged UNT students and a faculty member who appeared to have been customers of Williams and Allison. Powers said no charges would be made against any “Johns” in the case. “In cases like this, we primarily want the suspects and victims and the area in which prostitution is going on,” he said. “We’re not focused on the Johns.”Roy Sexton, Saline resident, has been cast as one of the principals in Legally Blonde the Musical at Farmington Players in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Sexton will portray Callahan, pompous and scheming head of the law firm that hires Elle Woods as a summer intern. The 2007 Tony-nominated musical is based on the 2001 Reese Witherspoon film from MGM. Callahan was played by Victor Garber in the movie. Farmington Players' production opens April 26 and runs through May 18. Tickets can be purchased at www.farmingtonplayers.org or by calling 248-553-2955. Sexton most recently had the lead role Georg Nowack in last summer's production of She Loves Me with Ann Arbor's The Penny Seats, a theatre company he co-founded. He has also appeared in Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), What Corbin Knew, Oklahoma!, The Pajama Game, Company, Bells are Ringing, Rags, Side by Side by Sondheim, The Taming of the Shrew, Fiddler on the Roof, The Fantasticks, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Ah, Wilderness!, God's Country, The American Clock, As You Like It, Tartuffe, The Battle of Shallowford, Trout, and The Merchant of Venice. He is also an active cabaret performer, and he holds a masters in theatre from Ohio State. In 2007, Sexton, a graduate of Wabash College, received his MBA from the University of Michigan. He is vice president of marketing and planning for Trott & Trott, PC, a real estate law firm in Metro Detroit. Photo Credit: Dawn Marie Kaczmar Related Articles Shows View More Detroit Stories More Hot Stories For You(Courtesy of TIME) Love or hate Roger Goodell, there is no getting around the fact that he is carving out a lasting and impactful legacy as NFL commissioner. No issue has been more front and center during the Goodell era than that of player safety. Specifically, Goodell, the subject of the cover story in this week's TIME magazine, has focused much of his attention on reducing the number of head injuries suffered during NFL games. That aim has driven a bevy of rule changes over the past few season. The most obvious include putting officials in charge of sending players out of the game if it's suspected they have suffered concussions and cracking down on high, dangerous hits. But is there more on the way? One of the more prevalent talking points lately has centered on the dangers of kickoffs. Prior to the 2011 season, kickoffs were moved up to the 35-yard-line, drastically decreasing the number of returns attempted. If at least one NFL coach has his way, the league won't stop there. According to TIME, Goodell recently discussed with Rick McKay, Falcons president and head of the NFL's competition committee, a radical rule change proposed by Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano. Instead of a kickoff, the team that scored would then take the ball on its own 30-yard line in, essentially, a 4th-and-15 situation. In other words, they could attempt to keep their offense on the field and try to pick up 15 yards, at the risk of turning the ball over on downs; or they could punt. "I don’t do things for public relations," Goodell said. "I do things because they’re the right thing to do, because I love the game." Limiting kickoff returns is one thing (even that drew groans from fans), but eliminating them completely in favor of an off-the-wall replacement rule? That might change the game dramatically, and not necessarily for the better. As Goodell pointed out to TIME, kickoffs arguably are the most dangerous plays in football because of the high-speed collisions that occur there. Tweaking the framework to add player safety, then, is smart... but Schiano's brainchild is an off-the-wall idea that may force the NFL to find a happy medium between that plan and the current system. Already in place for next season is a rule that will force all players to wear both thigh and knee pads. Many players have expressed frustration with that proposed thigh/knee pad mandate, arguing that the extra equipment would slow them down and, in turn, lead to a worse product on the field. Goodell is walking a very fine line between the noble cause of making football safer for the players and bastardizing the very game itself. Seemingly with each passing day, though, we learn more about how damaging the brutal NFL can be, both for players currently playing and those who have retired. The issue dove into the spotlight again last weekend, under the most tragic of circumstances. Saturday, Chiefs player Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, before turning a gun on himself in front of Kansas City's coach and general manager. Belcher had no prior history of concussions, but his tragic incident was another piece of evidence for those who would argue that the NFL does not do enough to protect its players -- physically, mentally or emotionally. Heavy criticism was cast, too, toward the decision for the Chiefs to take the field for a game against Carolina, slightly more than 24 hours after Belcher's murder-suicide. Goodell discussed with TIME his reasoning: "It was ultimately my decision," said Goodell, who, according to TIME's report, also arranged for grief counselors in Kansas City. "But it was important to get the views of the players and try to honor their wishes. Clark [Hunt, Chiefs chairman] got back to me and said Romeo [Crennel] and the captains felt that playing the game -- being together as a team and a community -- was important. So that’s exactly what we did." The Chiefs won, 27-21.Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Mr Paisley was a preacher before he became involved in politics Ian Paisley was famous for his thunder. He was known to his supporters as "the big man" whose most reported words were "no", "never" and "not an inch". Yet in a political career that spanned nearly 40 years, he went from throwing snowballs at one Irish prime minister to embracing another one; from political "never man" to Northern Ireland's first minister. He ended up leading a power-sharing executive at Stormont - although he had supported the strike to bring one down 30 years earlier. His biggest turnaround came when, as the leader of hardline unionism, he sat down with Gerry Adams - his former bitter enemy, the leader of militant republicanism - as the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein decided to work together in an executive. It seemed unimaginable to supporters who had followed him through years of protests that as Northern Ireland's first minister he would enjoy an easy relationship with his deputy first minister, Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, so much so that they became known as the "Chuckle Brothers". Image copyright AP Image caption Ian Paisley pictured outside Stormont in 1969 Image copyright PA Image caption Ian Paisley pictured on 11 July 1970 With his thunderous rhetoric and his bull-like voice, Ian Paisley was always the epitome of an American Deep South preacher. He was born in 1926 in Armagh. His father was a Baptist minister and his mother a preacher. He grew up in Ballymena, which was to become his political powerbase. But before politics, he was a preacher, delivering his first sermon aged 16 in a mission hall in County Tyrone. He was just 25 years old when he founded the Free Presbyterian Church. Prison sentence His early reputation as a Protestant extremist was forged in the 1960s. He once produced a Roman Catholic Eucharist wafer during a televised speech to the Oxford Union mocking it and those who who believed it sacred. When Irish Prime Minister Sean Lemass was invited to Belfast in 1965 by NI Prime Minister Terence O'Neill, Paisley was furious and led 1,000 loyalists to Stormont to demonstrate. Two years later, he famously threw snowballs at another Irish Prime Minister, Jack Lynch, when he visited Northern Ireland. Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Mr Paisley, pictured being arrested in Armagh in 1980 at a protest against a visit by Taoiseach Charles Haughey Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Mr Paisley, pictured in 1992 leading protest at start of Presbyterian General Assembly He often took to the streets. He was sent to prison for six weeks for unlawful assembly when he organised a demonstration on 30 November 1968 and forced civil rights marchers to cut short their parade in the city of Armagh. He was labelled a bullyboy. But thousands protested at his imprisonment, the membership of his church doubled and, on his release, he was greeted as a martyr. He stood as a Protestant unionist and was elected to the Stormont Parliament in 1970. Two months later he took the North Antrim seat at Westminster. Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Ian Paisley topped the poll in the 1979 European election Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Ian Paisley with fellow MEP John Hume of the SDLP, pictured in 1999 It was said his maiden speech in the House of Commons could be heard in the Lords as well, and was received in almost complete silence. By 1971, he had founded the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and he began a long battle with the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) for the trust of the unionist electorate. He opposed the formation of a power-sharing executive at Stormont in 1973 and became involved in the Ulster Workers Council strike that brought Northern Ireland to a standstill and led to the executive's collapse. In 1979, in his first European election, he topped the poll. He may have been anti-European but won a reputation as a hardworking MEP who lobbied for all his constituents, regardless of their religion. Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Mr Paisley, pictured with Peter Robinson at Ulster Resistance rally in 1986 Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Mr Paisley helped organise a so-called 'Third Force' in the early 1980s Though he could be kindly and amusing in private, to his enemies and critics Ian Paisley was a sinister figure, a bigot and a dangerous presence. They pointed to his involvement in Ulster Resistance. In 1981, he organised a demonstration of 500 men who paraded late at night on a County Antrim hillside, brandishing gun licences. Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Ian Paisley and Jim Molyneaux at a rally opposing the Anglo-Irish Agreement Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Mr Paisley resigned his Westminster seat in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Mr Paisley leaves Crumlin Road jail after spending two days in prison for non-payment of fines in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement The signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 saw him join forces with the then Ulster Unionist leader James Molyneaux. Thousands attended a protest meeting under the banner "Ulster Says No" in Belfast city centre. Together the two leaders adopted a policy of non co-operation, resigned their Westminster seats and forced by-elections which they later contested and won. The move was not a universal success from the unionist viewpoint, as they lost the Newry and Armagh seat to the SDLP. Good Friday Agreement Ultimately the Molyneaux/Paisley relationship turned sour when it became clear the Ulster Unionists were willing to go to Dublin to talk to the Irish government while the DUP was not. Paisley famously called Molyneaux a "Judas Iscariot", a slight that hurt Molyneaux deeply. He was totally opposed to the 1993 Downing Street Declaration between the British and Irish governments, and one meeting with John Major ended abruptly with the DUP being asked to leave. The party was convinced a secret deal had been done to secure the 1994 IRA ceasefire. Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Ian Paisley with UUP leader David Trimble at Drumcree in 1995 Paisley opposed the peace process from the beginning. He agreed to attend talks at Stormont in 1996, but when Sinn Fein was allowed in the following year, he walked out. He came back on the night before Good Friday 1998 to register his disgust. The Good Friday Agreement brought Mr Paisley into a battle for votes with Molyneaux's successor as Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble. Three years earlier they had staged a triumphal march at Drumcree, leading Orangemen down the Garvaghy Road. Now they were facing up to each other. The Yes camp won and, in a new assembly, the DUP was in the same political arena as Sinn Féin, even if they did not sit around a cabinet table together. Ian Paisley never hid his hatred of republicanism, but he did nominate two DUP ministers to a new executive. Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Mr Paisley holds aloft the Good Friday Agreement booklet When it was suspended and a new election loomed, the DUP overtook the Ulster Unionists at the polls. Mr Paisley's hardline stance of "no surrender" and "not an inch" seemed gradually less sure in his final years as other parties inched towards accommodation. He decided not to stand again for the European Parliament in 2004. The election in the following year saw the DUP become the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, displacing the Ulster Unionists who had dominated the unionist vote since partition. Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Mr Paisley led a DUP delegation to meet Catholic Archbishop Sean Brady In his career, he launched countless attacks on Catholicism and Irish republicanism. He condemned the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church as "the whore of Babylon" and staged a one-man protest against the Pope when the pontiff addressed the Strasbourg Parliament in October 1988. The leader of the Free Presbyterian Church denounced the pontiff as an "anti-Christ" and got bundled out of the chamber by scandalised colleagues. However, he later astounded his critics by meeting the Irish Catholic Primate Sean Brady at Stormont in 2006. Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption In May 2007 Ian Paisley and the DUP agreed to share power with Sinn Fein Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness became first and deputy first ministers Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption The two men got on so well that they were nicknamed the 'Chuckle Brothers' In May 2007, Ian Paisley became first minister of Northern Ireland with Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness as the deputy first minister. A year later, he stepped down from that role, handing over the reins to Peter Robinson, who also succeeded him as leader of the DUP. In 2010, he took his seat in the House of Lords, where he was formally known as Lord Bannside of North Antrim. Mr Paisley would subsequently claim that he was forced out by the party, blaming Mr Robinson and DUP MP Nigel Dodds for ousting him. Both men denied this. He leaves a wife, Eileen, who is a baroness, and five children. Eileen was never far from his side and his favourite slogan at election time was: "Vote for my wife's husband". Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Ian and Eileen Paisley, pictured on their wedding day Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption Ian and Eileen Paisley celebrate Christmas in 2010 The DUP remains the largest party in Northern Ireland and the dominant force in unionism. Despite poor health and advancing years, he never lost his thunder. Speaking about death during one of his sermons, he said: "If you hear in the press that Ian Paisley is dead, don't believe a word of it. I'll be more alive than ever… I'll be singing as I sang never before."Alright, this is a crash course in basic colour theory. If you’re a game programmer, or web developer or anyone who will deal with colour at some point in his programming career, what you will read here is crucial. Let’s begin. Colour models You will most often deal with the RGB model, where red, green and blue are the primary colours. It’s an additive model. This is the traditional “adding” of colours together to produce new colours. There’s also the CMYK model, referring to cyan, magenta, yellow and black. K is for key colour, and black was used. It’s also a subtractive model. It’s subtractive because mixing colours together prevents certain wavelengths of light from being reflected. [Short digression] When you see a blue cup, what happens is only wavelengths corresponding to the blue colour is reflected off the surface of the cup. All other wavelengths are absorbed by the cup. That’s why you see blue. You might find it helpful to review your science lessons… [End digression] Then there’s the HSV model, referring to hue, saturation and value. Some similar notations are HSL, HSI and HSB. The difference is lightness (HSL), intensity (HSI), and brightness (HSB). There are some differences between them. We’ll concentrate on HSV here, and you’re encouraged to read up on the others. Hue refers to the colour itself. Saturation refers to “how much” of that colour. And value is “how light” is that colour. It’s a bit hard to explain. I’ll show how this looks like in a section further down. What’s the deal with red, YELLOW and blue then? If I understand it correctly, it’s basically a misunderstanding (read more about RGB and RYB). RGB is used in light-related situations, such as television and computer monitors. The RYB model is a simplification of the CMYK model (as I understand it). It’s not easy for mortals to associate cyan with blue, or magenta with red… Can you imagine teaching a 6 year old to say “magenta” instead of “red”? The RYB (or CMYK) model is used in pigment-related situations, such as printing and painting. Our water colour and crayon art classes fall into this. Why do you need to know this? Normally, you don’t need to. Unless you’re writing code for a printer driver. Then this difference is crucial to your understanding. Colour representations You might have created colour wheels in your science class or art class (I created mine in an art class). It looks like this: [original image] Then there’s the colour cone. [original image] This is the usual HSV representation. Hue refers to the edge of the circular plane containing the “pure” colours. Saturation refers to how far the colour tint is from the centre of the circle. The closer a tint is to the centre, the whiter the tint. The closer a tint is to the edge, the more saturated the tint is with that particular “pure” colour. Value refers to how light the colour is. Visually, it’s how close a tint is to the circular plane. The lower the value (close to point of cone), the darker the tint. The higher the value (close to circular plan), the lighter the tint. You might find it useful to play around the colour control in Paint.NET: And then we have the colour cube, which might be easier to understand: Red, green and blue values are used as the 3 axes, similar to our 3D X-, Y- and Z- axes. We see more than is representable Humans see a greater range of colours than is represented. Have a look at this: [original image] You see that triangle there in the centre? That’s the representable range of colours. We see a whole lot more colours than our computers can represent. Notice how much more green we can see? A possible reason is our ancestors lived in an environment surrounded by plant life (no citations… remnant from my early student days…). Maybe we needed to distinguish more variations of green… It’s also a reason when colours are stored in 16 bits, green is given more priority. 5 bits for red, 6 bits for green and 5 bits for blue. We’ll look at this in a future post. Colour temperature This section deals with subjective opinions about colours. As a programmer, you’re probably not too interested in this. But if you’re a web developer, or a programmer pressed into design work, you should care about this. So, there are warm colours and cool colours. Warm colours typically include the reds, oranges and browns. Cool colours typically include the blues, greens and greys. Warm colours incite feelings. Cool colours calm feelings. There’s this internal web application I’m maintaining. The user interface is almost totally “warm”. The header is red. The datagrids are red. Buttons are pinkish. Oh my goodness, how can a user come to a screen like this and not get angry? On a usability point, how can an error message be displayed so the user takes notice of it? Error messages are typically in red, or highlighted with red (or warm colour) backgrounds. Since everything is reddish, nothing stands out. There’s no excuse for making a simple design mistake like this, even if you’re “only a programmer” and not a designer. Colour contrast A basic contrast principle is this: 2 colours opposite each other on the colour wheel form a contrast pair. For example, blue and orange form a contrast pair. It doesn’t mean they form the best contrast pair. But it does give you a starting point. Orange and green is fine too (I didn’t say they’d be pretty…). For web design, 3 base colours are usually chosen. (Sorry, I can’t find any reference on this. Purely from a vague memory in the recesses of my brain…) A rule of thumb is to choose 3 colours on the colour wheel such that they form a triangle. For example, red, yellow and blue. Or orange, green and magenta. This way, the 3 colours form enough of a contrast to each other. But it will look terrible if every colour on a web page contrast with each other. Which brings us to… Complementary colours Complementary colours enhance each other. For example, red, orange and brown. Or green, blue and yellow. How do you choose them? They are next to each other on the colour wheel, give or take a couple of colour steps. How does this work with contrast colours? Choose a predominant colour out of the 3, then choose complementary colours based on this predominant colour. Use the predominant colour and its complementary colours throughout the web page/application, and use the other 2 for contrast. End of crash course This has been quite long already, so I’m wrapping up. Understand the different colour models, colour representations and basic colour relations. This is ground work for future posts. My plan is to slowly work towards 3D programming, and I needed to start off with basic colour theory. It’s going to be hard to explain diffuse colours, ambience, and specular highlights without this. Which are used in understanding 3D rendering. Which is used in games. Exciting, right? Stay tuned.By Eric C. At the one We Agnostics meeting of AA anywhere within a three-hour drive of Traverse City, Michigan, we’re lucky if we have a dozen people in attendance on any given Friday at 7 p.m. That’s why I thought it would be a good idea for me to sign up as a speaker at the weekly AA “open speaker meeting” in the conference room of the regional medical center serving our community. With about 200 people in the room every Saturday at 8 p.m., it’s the largest single gathering of drunks any night of the week in our part of the state – fertile ground for spreading the word about our We Agnostics meeting and possibly bolstering attendance. Many of those attending the hospital meeting are drug and alcohol rehab patients. Some are bused in from local halfway houses and treatment centers. A high percentage is there to get their court slips signed. Interspersed among all the newcomers, of course, are the usual cadre of middle-aged mostly Christian white people with years of sobriety. A subset of those, I knew, feel responsible for protecting AA from the evil influence of those who don’t believe in “real” AA – whatever that is. So, I had them in mind, too, when I began to brainstorm exactly what I would say in my talk weeks before I was scheduled to appear on March 14, 2015. I was grateful for some extra time to think it through. The last time I’d been the featured speaker at a meeting a little closer to home was on the occasion of my 30th anniversary of sobriety in AA. I took that occasion to announce to my local AA community that I had decided finally to “come out” as someone who explicitly does not believe in God – an atheist. In retrospect, I know I could and should have done a better job of preparing for that 2013 talk. I’d decided that having a general outline of what I wanted to say in the form of notes in front of me at the meeting would suffice – just as it had on many other occasions when I’d related my “drunk-a-log”. But I’d hoped to accomplish more at that meeting than just relate the usual anecdotes about what it was like, what happened, and what it’s like now. I wanted to explain to my fellows in AA how I’d managed to stay sober for three decades without believing in God or buying in to all the religious nonsense in AA. My off-the-cuff explanation failed miserably however. In fact, it still embarrasses me to listen to a crummy recording someone made for me of that 2013 talk. Some in my tiny, rural community were scandalized by what I said and haven’t treated me the same since. Around the same time, I made a commitment to help keep a young and floundering We Agnostics meeting alive in Traverse City, about 20 miles from where I actually live, and make it my new “home group.” In the two years since then, I have given much more thought to the question of how you convince people in “mainstream” AA – whatever that is – to not only be more tolerant but actually show some support for AA’s burgeoning We Agnostics movement. That’s why I did not use a loose outline to deliver my talk on March 14, 2015. I wrote out a full, word-for-word script that I would deliver. I measured my words very carefully. This, after all, was not an occasion for me simply to tell a few anecdotes about my life as an alcoholic. I was trying to persuade people to begin thinking in a different way about AA – and at the same time recruit people who might be interested in attending our We Agnostic meeting. If you care to, you can view the entire script I used by clicking here: Our We Agnostics Meeting – PDF. And if you’d rather hear all 39 minutes of my talk – recorded live at the meeting itself – you can click here: Our We Agnostics Meeting – MP3. What’s not apparent from either my written script or the audio file is a sense of how the whole thing actually ended up. There wasn’t really time for a Q&A at the end as I had hoped. But what really surprised me was how the meeting did end. After I was done speaking, the guy who opens and closes the meeting suggested they close the meeting with a recitation of the AA Responsibility Declaration instead of “in the usual manner” with the Lord’s Prayer. That was pretty gratifying. We’ll see if any new people start showing up at our We Agnostics meeting.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. Sep. 8, 2016, 11:55 PM GMT / Updated Sep. 9, 2016, 12:00 AM GMT By Corky Siemaszko Donald Trump claims he could tell from the “body language” of his intelligence briefers that they are
game.[103] The final hunt of the Omaha Indians in Nebraska took place in December 1876.[104] Hidatsa rebel Crow Flies High and his group established themselves on the Fort Buford Military Reservation, North Dakota, in the start of the 1870s and hunted bison in the Yellowstone area until game went scarce during the next decade.[105]:14–15 Indian agents, with insufficient funds, accepted long hunting expeditions of the Flathead and Pend d'Oreille to the plains in the late 1870s.[106] In the early 1880s, the buffalo were gone.[107] Gros Ventre Indians left the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana for a hunt north of Milk River in 1877.[108] Chief Jerry Running Fisher enlisted as scout at Fort Assinniboine in 1881. "His camp stayed close to the troops when they patrolled, so they hunted undisturbed by enemy tribes."[109] Two years later, the buffalo were all but gone. In June 1882, more than 600 Lakota and Yanktonai hunters located a big herd on the plains far west of the Standing Rock Agency. In this last hunt, they got around 5,000 animals.[110] Bison population crash and its effect on indigenous people [ edit ] Following the Civil War, the U.S. had ratified roughly 400 treaties with the Plains Indians, but went on to break many of these as the Westward Movement ensued. The bison population crash represented a loss of spirit, land, and autonomy for most Indigenous People at this time.[111] Loss of land [ edit ] Much of the land delegated to Indigenous tribes during this westward expansion were barren tracts of land, far from any buffalo herds. These reservations were not sustainable for Natives, who relied on bison for food. One of these reservations was the Sand Creek Reservation in southeastern Colorado. The nearest buffalo herd was over two hundred miles away, and many Cheyennes began leaving the reservation, forced to hunt livestock of nearby settlers and passing wagon trains.[112] Loss of food source [ edit ] Plains Indians adopted a nomadic lifestyle, one which depended on bison location for their food source. Bison is high in protein levels and low in fat content, and contributed to the wholesome diet of Native Americans. Additionally, they used every edible part of the bison—organs, brains, fetuses, and placental membranes included.[113] The U.S. military strategically exterminated bison in masses for this reason; by ridding the Plains Indians of their primary food source, they would become further dependent on reservations for subsistence. Bison meat also supplemented the army rations, and commanders issued hunting passes freely to their troops to obtain fresh meat. Oftentimes military men would kill the bison and not take any of the meat from it. As Kiowa chief Santanta complained at the Medicine Lodge Treaty Council of 1867: "has the white man become a child, that he should recklessly kill and not eat? When the red men slay game, they do so that they may live and not starve."[91] By 1893, fewer than 400 wild bison were left—and Native Americans were pushed to reservations, relying on farming and waiting on scanty government rations for food.[114] Loss of autonomy [ edit ] As a consequence of the great bison slaughter, Indians became more heavily dependent on the U.S. Government and American traders for their needs. Many military men recognized the bison slaughter as a way of reducing the autonomy of Indigenous Peoples. For instance, Lieutenant Colonel Dodge, a high-ranking military officer, once said in a conversation with Frank H. Mayer: "Mayer, there's no two ways about it, either the buffalo or the Indian must go. Only when the Indian becomes absolutely dependent on us for his every need, will we be able to handle him. He's too independent with the buffalo. But if we kill the buffalo we conquer the Indian. It seems a more humane thing to kill the buffalo than the Indian, so the buffalo must go."[115] Even Richard Henry Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian School and a Tenth Cavalry lieutenant in the Red River War, discussed this strategy after his retirement: "the generation of the buffalo was ordered as a military measure because it was plain that the Indians could not be controlled on their reservations as long as their greatest resource, the buffalo, were so plentiful."[115] The destruction of bison signaled the end of the Indian Wars, and consequently their movement towards reservations. When the Texas legislature proposed a bill to protect the bison, General Sheridan disapproved of it, stating, "These men have done more in the last two years, and will do more in the next year, to settle the vexed Indian question, than the entire regular army has done in the last forty years. They are destroying the Indians' commissary. And it is a well known fact that an army losing its base of supplies is placed at a great disadvantage. Send them powder and lead, if you will; but for a lasting peace, let them kill, skin and sell until the buffaloes are exterminated. Then your prairies can be covered with speckled cattle."[111] Spiritual effects [ edit ] Skin effigy of a Buffalo used in the Lakota Sun Dance Most Indigenous Native American tribes regard the bison as a sacred animal and religious symbol. University of Montana anthropology professor S. Neyooxet Greymorning stated: "The creation stories of where buffalo came from put them in a very spiritual place among many tribes. The buffalo crossed many different areas and functions, and it was utilized in many ways. It was used in ceremonies, as well as to make tipi covers that provide homes for people, utensils, shields, weapons, and parts were used for sewing with the sinew."[116] In fact, many tribes had "buffalo doctors", who claimed to have learned from bison in symbolic visions. Also, many Plains tribes used the bison skull for confessions and blessing burial sites.[117][full citation needed] Though buffalo were being slaughtered in masses, many Indians perceived the buffalo as part of the natural world—something guaranteed to them by the Creator. In fact, for some Plains indigenous peoples, buffalo are known as the first people.[118] Many Indians did not grasp the concept of species extinction.[119] Thus, when the buffalo began to disappear in great numbers, it was particularly harrowing to the Indians. As Crow Chief Plenty Coups described it: "When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground, and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened. There was little singing anywhere."[115] Spiritual loss was rampant; buffalo were an integral part of Indian society and they would frequently take part in ceremonies for each buffalo they killed to honor its sacrifice. In order to boost morale during this time, Sioux Indians and other tribes took part in the Ghost Dance, which consisted of hundreds of people dancing until 100 persons were lying unconscious.[120] Native Americans served as the caretakers of bison, so their forced movement towards bison-free reservation areas was particularly challenging. Upon their arrival to reservations, some tribes asked the Government officials if they could hunt cattle the way they hunted buffalo. During these cattle hunts, Plains Indians would dress up in their finery, sing bison songs, and attempt to simulate a bison hunt. These cattle hunts served as a way for the Plains Indians to preserve their ceremonies, community, and morale. However, the U.S. government soon put a halt to cattle hunts, choosing to package the beef up for the Native Americans instead.[121] Ecological effect [ edit ] The mass buffalo slaughter also seriously harmed the ecological health of the Great Plains region, in which many Indigenous People lived. Unlike cattle, bison were naturally fit to thrive in the Great Plains environment; bisons' giant heads are naturally fit to drive through snow and make them far more likely to survive harsh winters.[122] Additionally, bison grazing helps to cultivate the prairie, making it ripe for hosting a diverse range of plants. Cattle, on the other hand, eat through vegetation and limit the ecosystem's ability to support a diverse range of species.[123] Agricultural and residential development of the prairie is estimated to have reduced the prairie to 0.1% of its former area.[113] The plains region has lost nearly one-third of its prime topsoil since the onset of the buffalo slaughter. Cattle are also causing water to be pillaged at rates that are depleting many aquifers of their resources.[124] Research also suggests that the absence of native grasses leads to topsoil erosion—a main contributor of the dust bowl and black blizzards of the 1930s.[113] Effect on intertribal warfare [ edit ] Crow woman Pretty Shield found something good in the new situation, namely the end of the intertribal wars. She had been raised by a mourning aunt, who had lost her man and two small girls in intertribal conflicts.[125] Repeatedly, sorrow darkened the life of Crow camps after Indian-Indian battles.[126] "Always there was some man missing... And then there were the orphans that war made... I am glad that war has gone forever. It was no good - no good!"[127] Resurgence of the bison [ edit ] Beginnings of resurgence [ edit ] William Temple Hornaday of the New York Zoological Park's "The Extermination of the American Bison" (1887) predicted that bison would be extinct within two decades. Hornaday founded the American Bison Society in 1905, supported by Theodore Roosevelt, to found, stock, and protect bison sanctuaries.[128] The famous herd of James "Scotty" Philip in South Dakota was one of the earliest reintroductions of bison to North America. In 1899, Phillip purchased a small herd (five of them, including the female) from Dug Carlin, Pete Dupree's brother-in-law, whose son Fred had roped five calves in the Last Big Buffalo Hunt on the Grand River in 1881 and taken them back home to the ranch on the Cheyenne River. Scotty's goal was to preserve the animal from extinction. At the time of his death in 1911 at 53, Philip had grown the herd to an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 head of bison. A variety of privately owned herds had also been established, starting from this population. In 1873, Samuel Walking Coyote, a Pend d'orville Indian, herded seven orphan calves along the Flathead Reservation west of the Rocky Mountain divide. In 1899, he sold 13 of these bison to ranchers Charles Allard and Michel Pablo for $2,000 in gold.[129] Michel Pablo and Charles Allard spent more than 20 years assembling one of the largest collections of purebred bison on the continent (by the time of Allard's death in 1896, the herd numbered 300). In 1907, after U.S. authorities declined to buy the herd, Pablo struck a deal with the Canadian government and shipped most of his bison northward to the newly created Elk Island National Park.[101][130] Also, in 1907, the New York Zoological Park sent 15 bison to Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma forming the nucleus of a herd that now numbers 650.[131] The Yellowstone Park Bison Herd formed naturally from a few bison that remained in the Yellowstone Park area after the great slaughter at the end of the 19th century. Yellowstone National Park is one of the very few areas where wild bison were never completely extirpated. It is the only continuously wild bison herd in the United States.[132] Numbering between 3,000 and 3,500, the Yellowstone Park bison herd is descended from a remnant population of 23 individual bison that survived the mass slaughter of the 19th century by hiding out in the Pelican Valley of Yellowstone Park. In 1902, a captive herd of 21 plains bison was introduced to the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone and managed as livestock until the 1960s, when a policy of natural regulation was adopted by the park. Many of the national parks, in particular the Yellowstone National Park, are a direct result of the guilt that many felt regarding the buffalo slaughter of the Great Plains.[80] The Antelope Island bison herd is an isolated bison herd on Utah's Antelope Island, and was founded from 12 animals that came from a private ranch in Texas in the late 1800s. The Antelope Island bison herd fluctuates between 550 and 700, and is one of the largest publicly owned bison herds in the nation. The herd contains some unique genetic traits and has been used to improve the genetic diversity of American bison, however, as is the case with most bison herds, some genes from domestic cattle have been found in the Antelope Island Bison Herd. The last of the remaining "southern herd" in Texas were saved before extinction in 1876. Charles Goodnight's wife Molly encouraged him to save some of the last relict bison that had taken refuge in the Texas Panhandle. Extremely committed to save this herd, she went as far as to rescue some young orphaned buffaloes and even bottle fed and cared for them until adulthood. By saving these few plains bison, she was able to establish an impressive buffalo herd near the Palo Duro Canyon. Peaking at 250 in 1933, the last of the southern buffalo would become known as the Goodnight herd.[133] The descendants of this southern herd were moved to Caprock Canyons State Park near Quitaque, Texas, in 1998.[134] The reverse of the buffalo nickel paid numismatic tribute, starting in 1913, to the American bison and its rescue from extinction. Modern bison resurgence efforts [ edit ] Many other bison herds are in the process of being created or have been created in state parks and national parks, and on private ranches, with individuals taken from the existing main 'foundation herds'.[135][136][137] An example is the Henry Mountains bison herd in Central Utah which was founded in 1941 with bison that were relocated from Yellowstone National Park. This herd now numbers approximately 400 individuals and in the last decade steps have been taken to expand this herd to the mountains of the Book Cliffs, also in Utah. One of the largest privately owned herds, numbering 2,500, in the US is on the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma which is owned by the Nature Conservancy. Ted Turner is the largest private owner of bison with about 50,000 on several different ranches.[138] The current American bison population has been growing rapidly, and is estimated at 350,000 compared to an estimated 60 to 100 million in the mid-19th century.[citation needed] Most current herds, however are genetically polluted or partly crossbred with cattle.[139][140][141][142] Today there are only four genetically unmixed, free roaming, public bison herds and only two that are also free of brucellosis: the Henry Mountains Bison Herd and the Wind Cave Bison Herd. A founder population of 16 animals from the Wind Cave bison herd was re-established in Montana in 2005 by the American Prairie Foundation. The herd now numbers near 100 and roams a 14,000-acre (57 km2) grassland expanse on American Prairie Reserve. The end of the ranching era and the onset of the natural regulation era set into motion a chain of events that have led to the bison of Yellowstone Park migrating to lower elevations outside the park in search of winter forage. The presence of wild bison in Montana is perceived as a threat to many cattle ranchers, who fear that the small percentage of bison that carry brucellosis will infect livestock and cause cows to abort their first calves. However, there has never been a documented case of brucellosis being transmitted to cattle from wild bison. The management controversy that began in the early 1980s continues to this day, with advocacy groups arguing that the herd should be protected as a distinct population segment under the Endangered Species Act. Native American bison conservation efforts [ edit ] Many conservation measures have been taken by American Indian Nations in order to preserve and grow the bison population as well. Of these Native conservation efforts, the Inter Tribal Bison Council is one of the most significant. It was formed in 1990, composed of 56 tribes in 19 states.[143] These tribes represent a collective herd of more than 15,000 bison and focus on reestablishing herds on Indian lands in order to promote culture, revitalize spiritual solidarity, and restore the ecosystem. Some Inter Tribal Bison Council members argue that the bison's economic value is one of the main factors driving its resurgence. Bison serve as a low cost substitute for cattle, and can withstand the winters in the Plains region far easier than cattle.[143] A recent Native American conservation effort that has been gaining ground is the Buffalo Field Campaign. Founded in 1996 by Mike Mease, Sicango Lakota, and Rosalie Little Thunder, the Buffalo Field Campaign hopes to get bison migrating freely in Montana and beyond. The Buffalo Field Campaign challenges Montana's DOL officials, who slaughtered 1631 bison in the winter of 2007-2008 in a search for food away from Yellowstone National Park. Founder Mike Mease commented in regards to DOL officials: "It's disheartening what they're doing to buffalo. It's marked with prejudice that exists from way back. I think the whole problem with white society is there's this fear of anything wild. They're so scared of anything they can't control, whereas the First Nations take pride in being part of it and protecting the wild because of its importance. Our culture is so far removed from that, and afraid of it."[114] Additionally, many smaller tribal groups aim to reintroduce bison to their native lands. The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, which was restored in 1990, has a herd of roughly 100 bison in two pastures. Similarly, the Southern Ute Tribe in Colorado has raised nearly 30 bison in a 350-acre fenced pasture.[144] According to Rutgers University Professor Frank Popper, bison restoration brings better meat and ecological health to the plains region, in addition to restoring bison-Native American relations. However, there is a considerable risk involved with restoring the bison population: brucellosis. If bison are introduced in large numbers, the risk of brucellosis is high.[143] Bison conservation: a symbol of Native American healing [ edit ] For some spokesmen, the resurgence of the bison population reflects a cultural and spiritual recovery from the effects of bison hunting in mid-1800s. By creating groups such as the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative and the Buffalo Field Campaign, Native Americans are hoping to not only restore the bison population but also improve solidarity and morale among their tribes. "We recognize the bison as a symbol of strength in unity," stated Fred Dubray, former president of the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative. "We believe that reintroduction of the buffalo to tribal lands will help heal the spirit of both the Indian people and the buffalo. To reestablish healthy buffalo populations is to reestablish hope for Indian people."[145] 21st century hunting [ edit ] Hunting of wild bison is legal in some states and provinces where public herds require culling to maintain a target population. In Alberta, where one of only two continuously wild herds of bison exist in North America at Wood Buffalo National Park, bison are hunted to protect disease-free public (reintroduced) and private herds of bison. Montana [ edit ] In Montana, a public hunt was reestablished in 2005, with 50 permits being issued. The Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission increased the number of tags to 140 for the 2006/2007 season. Advocacy groups claim that it is premature to reestablish the hunt, given the bison's lack of habitat and wildlife status in Montana. Though the number is usually several hundred, up to more than a thousand bison from the Yellowstone Park Bison Herd have been killed in some years when they wander north from the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park into private and state lands of Montana. This hunting is done because of fears that the Yellowstone bison, which are often infected with Brucellosis will spread that disease to local domestic cattle.To date no credible instance of bison to cattle transmission has ever been established, recorded or proven although there is some evidence of transmission between wild caribou and bison.[146] Utah [ edit ] The State of Utah maintains two bison herds. Bison hunting in Utah is permitted in both the Antelope Island bison herd and the Henry Mountains bison herd though the licenses are limited and tightly controlled. A Game Ranger is also generally sent out with any hunters to help them find and select the right bison to kill. In this way, the hunting is used as a part of the wildlife management strategy and to help cull less desirable individuals. Every year all the bison in the Antelope Island bison herd are rounded up to be examined and vaccinated. Then most of them are turned loose again, to wander Antelope Island but approximately 100 bison are sold at an auction, and hunters are allowed to kill a half dozen bison. This hunting takes place on Antelope Island in December each year. Fees from the hunters are used to improve Antelope Island State Park and to help maintain the bison herd. Hunting is also allowed every year in the Henry Mountains bison herd in Utah. The Henry Mountains herd has sometimes numbered up to 500 individuals but the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has determined that the carrying capacity for the Henry Mountains bison herd is 325 individuals. Some of the extra individuals have been transplanted, but most of them are not transplanted or sold, so hunting is the major tool used to control their population. "In 2009, 146 public once-in-a-lifetime Henry Mountain bison hunting permits were issued."[147] Most years, 50 to 100 licenses are issued to hunt bison in the Henry Mountains. Alaska [ edit ] Bison were also reintroduced to Alaska in 1928, and both domestic and wild herds subsist in a few parts of the state.[148][149] The state grants limited permits to hunt wild bison each year.[150][151] Mexico [ edit ] In 2001 the United States government donated some buffalo calves from South Dakota and Colorado to the Mexican government for the reintroduction of bison to Mexico's nature reserves. These reserves included El Uno Ranch at Janos and Santa Elena Canyon, Chihuahua, and Boquillas del Carmen, Coahuila, which are located on the southern shore of the Rio Grande and the grasslands bordering Texas and New Mexico.[152] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ]Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email A floating island of debris three times the size of BRITAIN is heading for the California coastline sparking huge environmental concerns. Five millions tons of rubbish made up of devastated homes, boats, cars and businesses is making its way across the Pacific Ocean following the 2011 tsunami in Japan. Scientists have already discovered debris on the west coast but their latest findings suggest California is expected to be hit with a deluge all at once. America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released their latest findings showing a huge island of rubbish floating northeast of the Hawaiian Islands. Boffins have been unable to say for certain when the debris will wash ashore but they have been closely monitoring its movements which stretches from Alaska to the Philippines. Seven months ago, the first documented debris from the tsunami reached Crescent City, California. A 20-foot boat belonging to the marine sciences program at Takata High School in the north east city of Rikuzentakata was discovered washed up. NOAA spokeswoman Keeley Belva said more than 1,600 reports of debris had been firmly traced back to the tsunami. They included a small boat found in Hawaii, a motorbike washed ashore on the coast of British Columbia and large pieces of a dock in Washington state and Oregon. A football was also discovered on an Alsakan island still with its owner’s name it. The boy was traced to Rikuzentakata. The tsunami devastated the east coast of Japan in March 2011. Caused by the massive T?hoku earthquake it sent a colossal undersea “megathrust” creating waves up to 41 metres tall crashing on to the shoreline. The tsunami was so powerful scientists measured it had moved Honshu - the main island of Japan - eight feet. The Fukushima nuclear power plant was left destroyed sending three of its reactors in to meltdown. It led to hundreds of thousands of residents being evacuated up to 50 miles away. However despite the leaking radioactive reactor water from the plant, none of the floating debris has tested positive for radiation. Check out our before and after pictures of the areas devastated by the tsunami in our gallery below.It seems that the “social justice” crowd is at it again, trying to subtly suggest that because Detroit has a white Mayor, that blacks are being discriminated against. Via NBC News black division: Downtown Detroit has been fashionably in redevelopment and undergoing resurgence since the economic downturn, but not everyone is feeling welcome. With its shiny new facades on chic eateries, cafes and microbreweries, the bright transformation and new attitude has often been called “New Detroit.” It’s all a point of pride for Mike Duggan, the first white mayor elected in 40 years who took office last year. His efforts ranging from urban landscaping to lowering the crime rate to incubating booming businesses have brought new hope for the Motor City—consistently plagued for decades with scandals, crime and blight. Yet, many black Detroiters are crying foul, saying Detroit is becoming a tale of two cities; while young, white residents enjoy a stylish, prosperous downtown, black business owners say they are being systematically forced out of business. Not everyone is buying that little lie however: Charlie Beckham, Detroit’s Group Executive for Neighborhoods, who invited the first group of business owners to talk, is adamant there is no effort to push out black businesses. Instead, he said, the economy has changed, and people are repositioning. “There are plenty of successful black business owners doing the right thing. They scratched and saved and paid their workers before they bought the Cadillac,” said Beckham, who has served six mayors since the late Coleman Young, the city’s first black mayor. “The responsibility is on us. When you’ve had a month-to-month lease for 25 years, and you get pushed out of your lease or when you lose your property because you didn’t pay your mortgage or taxes, that’s just bad business.” Meanwhile, Smith negotiated a lease with new building owners and Spectacles is staying put. Mo’ Better Blues, which in October won a $50,000 Motor City Match grant from the city of Detroit, is celebrating its grand opening in another downtown location on November 7. The Mongos continue to run Café D’Mongo’s Speakeasy, a downtown bar/restaurant. “We’ve got to tighten up in this new environment,” Beckham said. “Buy the building. Negotiate a strong lease. If the economy goes up or down, you will not get pushed out. Is there still racism? Yes. But we can’t let that be an excuse.” Here’s what I wrote in the comments section of this story: Amazing, the same people that are largely responsible for the downfall of my great city are now @!$%#ing because they’re not being allowed to do it again. How quaint. The truth is, if you don’t have the money to be in business, you shouldn’t be in business to start with! NO ONE is entitled to anything! If you can’t hang with the big dogs, get off the porch! Racist? No. Racial Realist? Yes. If you ain’t got the flow to be in business, than take your broke black a$$ on down the road and let someone who does have the building, it is just that simple. Amazing how blacks think that they’re entitled to everything. This is what happens when you give them special treatment. Give them an inch and they try to take a mile. I stand behind that comment 100%.I hate to harp on one speech by Mitt Romney, but it was quite illustrative on another count. This unintentionally revealing statement is getting a lot of scrutiny today: “Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the G.D.P. in Israel? Eight percent,” [Romney] said. “You spend eight percent of G.D.P. on health care. You’re a pretty healthy nation. We spend 18 percent of our G.D.P. on health care, 10 percentage points more. That gap, that 10 percent cost, compare that with the size of our military — our military which is 4 percent, 4 percent. Our gap with Israel is 10 points of G.D.P. We have to find ways — not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to fund and manage our health care costs. And why would that be? I just cannot imagine. How does Israel’s health care system differ with the United States, in a way that enables them to spend so much less on health care? Whatever could be the reason? Well, it turns out that Israel has what amounts to a single payer health care system. Israel created a national health care system in 1995, largely funded through payroll and general tax revenue. The government provides all citizens with health insurance: They get to pick from one of four competing, nonprofit plans. Those insurance plans have to accept all customers—including people with pre-existing conditions—and provide residents with a broad set of government-mandated benefits. Health insurance does not, however, cover every medical service. Dental and vision care, for example, fall outside of the standard government set of benefits. The majority of Israelis—81 percent —purchase a supplemental health insurance plan to “use the private health care system for services that may not be available in through the public system,” according to a paper by Health Affairs. This isn’t the most direct single payer system in the world, but citizens pay into a fund and get a menu of health coverage options as a result. They can then layer on private coverage on top of that for additional services. The cost to the government is kept down because they bargain for the services of the competing non-profits and pay for it out of a centralized budget. The country sets the rates for the health care plans, caps hospital revenue, and uses its influence to bargain for cheaper prices. Taxes fund the system and create the budget. Oh by the way, Israel has a higher life expectancy than the United States, so quality of care is not sacrificed, and the public has a high degree of satisfaction with the system. I don’t want to pick on Mitt Romney. It’s not like single payer was featured as part of any Democratic debate on health care. In fact, several areas where the government could have bargained down prices were given up in the Affordable Care Act. And for all the talk of an individual mandate, the system does not guarantee affordable coverage, given all the exemptions and hardship controls. This kind of a debate, informed by evidence, about the best possible health care system in terms of both quality and cost is completely off the table in the United States. And even when a Presidential candidate inadvertently praises what amounts to a single-payer system, that debate is sure to not get kick-started, because the major parties here simply don’t agree with that approach.LOWER EAST SIDE — When bar and standup comedy joint Old Man Hustle gets a little quiet, owner Mike Jarmuz likes to enlighten his customers on the virtues of Bitcoin. The Essex Street bar recently started accepting the digital currency as payment for wine and beer, and a TV inside often shows a ticker with real-time ups and downs in the international Bitcoin market. "Cryptocurrencies [digital money like Bitcoin] are here to stay and that's that," said Jarmuz, 31. "Bitcoins are fun. They are revolutionary." Old Man Hustle has joined a growing group of dozens of businesses across the city using Bitcoin, a decentralized currency with no physical form. Bitcoin has gained in popularity — and value — over the past year, with a single unit of the currency briefly trading for more than $1,200 cash in December. "It is increasing exponentially," said Marco Santori, 31 a digital currency lawyer for the Midtown firm Nesenoff & Miltenberg. New Yorkers can now get their backs adjusted by chiropractor Dr. Steven Schram in Kips Bay, eat at O-Crepes in DUMBO and guzzle a beer at EVR bar near Bryant Park, all by paying in Bitcoin. Bitcoin transactions do not require a bank and are made person to person through phone or computer applications, such as BlockChain.info. Websites like CoinMap.org offer lists of businesses that accept the currency. Santori, who is also the chairman of the Bitcoin Regulatory Affairs Committee with the Seattle-based Bitcoin Foundation, said he has conducted thousands of dollars in Bitcoin business with dozens of his clients, mostly tech firms. "It's still a very young thing — it's a baby in its crib," he said. One of the early adopters in New York was xCubicle, a computer repair shop at Essex and Hester streets, which started accepting the currency in mid-2012. "It could literally change the world," said Pat Cheng, 32, co-owner of the shop. "It is mind-boggling what people are doing." xCubicle, which specializes in repairing gaming consoles, has one or two customers each week who pay with Bitcoin, and they receive a 10-percent discount to encourage its use, Cheng said. Each sale brings in about one-tenth of a Bitcoin, equivalent to about $100, depending on the market. xCubicle also runs a regular Bitcoin social hour where aficionados can share news and tips on using the currency. Many of the attendees work in finance, Cheng said. The currency's origins are mysterious, with the invention credited to an anonymous person or group that uses the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin has caught the attention of Congress, which held hearings on the currency last November, but it remains unregulated by governments or banks. Despite the recent hype, some local business owners, like Jarmuz at Old Man Hustle and Schram, the chiropractor in Kips Bay, are still waiting on their first Bitcoin customer. Schram compared the slow spread of Bitcoin to the dawn of the Internet era, when early email adopters had only a handful of potential correspondents. "It is like there are [only] 20 people doing emails, so I don't have anyone to send to," said Schram, 62. Bitcoin can also be tricky to fit into a business's bookkeeping. The EVR bar near Bryant Park automatically exchanges its 10 or 15 Bitcoin sales each week into regular cash the business can use, according to owner Ian Magid. And whenever xCubicle receives Bitcoin from a customer, Cheng adds the currency to his own collection and puts an equivalent amount of cash into the business. "The accountant would get very confused," he said.AMERICAN PIE Don McLean wrote the song "American Pie" in 1971. What do the Lyrics mean? Verse 1 A long, long time ago... American Pie was written in 1971 and the time McLean is going to talk about is the 1950's. This seems like a long time ago 'cause of all the turmoil that occurred in the 60's. I can still remember how that music used to make me smile. McLean's favorite music was that of the 50's. And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make those people dance, and maybe they'd be happy for a while. In the 50's, the major purpose of music was for dancing (sock hops). He wanted to play rock & roll so people could have a good time. But February made me shiver Buddy Holly died on February 3, 1959 in a plane crash in Iowa. He was McLean's hero. With every paper I'd deliver Donny boy's only other job besides songwriting was a paper boy. Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step This story was obviously on the frickn' front page and made McLean freeze in his tracks. I can't remember if I cried He can't remember if he cried. When I read about his widowed bride Holly's wife was pregnant when the accident occurred and soon after had a miscarriage. But something touched me deep inside I don't even wanna know! The day the music died. The crash took the lives of three current rock legends: Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper, so now Feb. 3, 1959 is called "The day the music died." The music that died is considered the standard rock & roll songs. The crash was the final blow («--keyword) to this music 'cause these three were that only major artists left. Elvis was drafted, Little Richard (or "Little Dick") turned gospel, and Chuck Berry was arrested for screwin' a prostitute. Verse 2 Did you write the book of love? "The Book of Love" was a hit in 1968 by the Monotones. And do you have faith in God above, if the Bible tells you so? In 1955, Don Cornell wrote "The Bible Tells Me So" and there is a Sunday School song "Jesus Loves Me," with the line "For the Bible tells me so." Now do you believe in rock & roll? This is from the great song "Do You Believe in Magic?" by the Lovin' Spoonful, written by John Sebastin in 1965. One of the lines is like trying to teach a stranger 'bout rock & roll," and another is "the magic's in the music and the music's in me." The "magic" this Johnny was talking about is the ability of a song to stick in your head. Often times songs bring back memories of the past, this is what the magic is. This magic is especially in rock & roll, 'cause you experience it without thinking about it or trying to analyze the bloody lyrics (like some asshole is right now). Another lyric is "so just blow your mind." (Don't think about it). Can music save your mortal soul? Given all that, can music help you get though life? I'm sorry I can't answer that. All of these questions ask about life and if God exists. And, can you teach me how to dance real slow? Dancing in the 50's wasn't like it is today. If you danced with someone, you
, Barcelona, London and New York and has worked for Il Sole 24ore, Newsweek, Internazionale, Vanity Fair, Viva Magazine, ElPeriodico, Yo Dona, Glamour, Sette and Altair. Related links Alvaro Deprit – OnOff Picture Photo AgencyOn the measuring and mis-measuring of Chinese growth Hunter Clark, Maxim Pinkovskiy, Xavier Sala-i-Martin Unofficial indicators of Chinese GDP often suggest that Beijing’s growth figures are exaggerated. This column uses nighttime light as a proxy to estimate Chinese GDP growth. Since 2012, the authors’ estimate is never appreciably lower, and is in many years higher, than the GDP growth rate reported in the official statistics. While not ruling out the risk of future turmoil, the analysis presents few immediate indications that Chinese growth is being systematically overestimated. For analysts of the Chinese economy, questions about the accuracy of the country’s official GDP data are a frequent source of angst, leading many to seek guidance from alternative indicators. These non-official gauges often suggest Beijing’s growth figures are exaggerated, but that conclusion is not supported by our analysis, which draws upon satellite measurements of the intensity of China’s nighttime light emissions – a good proxy for GDP growth that is presumably not subject to whatever measurement errors may affect the country’s official economic statistics. Doubts about the data In the eyes of many observers, China’s economy seemed to be entering a tailspin in 2015, with a stock market crash in June followed by a surprise currency devaluation in August. And yet, the official GDP data showed growth slowing hardly at all, ticking down to 6.8% at the end of the year from 7.2% in 2014. The financial press pounced on these ‘questionable’ statistics, often citing a now-famous 2007 exchange between Premier Li Keqiang, then the Communist Party secretary of Liaoning Province, and US Ambassador Clark Randt (Rabinovitch 2010). Li admitted that he preferred to assess the state of Liaoning’s economy by averaging the growth rates of electricity production, rail freight, and bank loans, adding that official statistics were “man-made” and “for reference only.” Li’s metric – since dubbed the ‘Li Keqiang index’ – has declined for four of the past six years, recording an especially precipitous drop in 2015. Such signals have prompted many observers to believe the Chinese economy is weaker than official statistics portray it to be (notwithstanding the fact that the index rose over the course of 2016). Sceptical of the official numbers, many Wall Street analysts have constructed their own models of Chinese economic growth, combining elements of the Li Keqiang index with statistics on retail sales, construction, and other types of activity. Many of these measures suggested that Chinese economic growth in the last quarter of 2015 was indeed much lower than the official rate of 6.8% - with the ‘true’ figure often claimed to be less than 5%, or even below 3%. Imperfect alternatives These non-official indices are all based on assumptions about and models of the Chinese economy that are difficult to express, let alone test. Each model implies a particular set of weightings for a particular set of economic indicators, and changing these parameters would have profound implications. As Figure 1 shows, the components of the Li Keqiang index – the growth rates of electricity production, rail freight, and bank loans – have followed separate trajectories over the past 12 years. Placing greater weight on any of these inputs would produce a much different stream of GDP growth estimates. Figure 1 Growth rates of Chinese output indicators We see that the growth rate of bank loans has been very stable over time, hovering around 12-13% year over year, except during the financial crisis of 2008 and its immediate aftermath. Meanwhile, the rail freight growth series has shown a sustained decline over the past 12 years, reaching a low point in December 2015. This precipitous deceleration was one reason that market participants a year ago were so concerned that official statistics were not reflecting the true state of the Chinese economy. However, there are more innocuous explanations for the decline of rail freight growth, such as the structural transition of the Chinese economy from heavy industry toward services. In light of the structural changes under way in the Chinese economy, we might devise a modified Li Keqiang index, placing more weight on the bank loans series than on the rail freight series (instead of weighting the three growth rate series equally). This approach would have sparked much less cause for concern at the end of 2015. But what weightings would be statistically sound? And, more fundamentally, how can we tell what the best set of weightings would be? Satellite readings To resolve these issues, we need to develop a transparent, data-driven procedure centred on an independent gauge of Chinese economic growth – one whose measurement error is unrelated to those associated with the components of the Li Keqiang index. We argue that such an independent measure exists in the form of satellite-recorded data on the brightness of nighttime lights across Chinese provinces over time (Ghosh et al. 2010). It has been well established that growth in nighttime light intensity is a good proxy for economic growth (Henderson et al. 2012, Pinkovskiy and Sala-i-Martin 2016). By gauging how well changes in different economic variables correlate to fluctuations in nighttime light intensity, we can see which series are more reliable as growth indicators. The task of measuring the relationship between nighttime light intensity and true unobserved economic output is complicated by weather and atmospheric disturbances, both of which affect how light is captured by orbiting satellites. These errors are plausibly unrelated to those that dog conventional statistical measures, which are subject to systematic reporting errors by people and businesses, mistaken decisions by statistical agencies, or, in some cases, outright manipulation by government officials or economic actors. Hence, nighttime lights are useful as an ‘independent referee’ to determine the quality of conventional statistical series. The heart of our analysis – as detailed in our recent paper (Clark et al. 2017) – is a regression of growth in nighttime lights across Chinese provinces and over time on the growth rates of the various statistical series used to calculate the Li Keqiang index and the various indices devised by Wall Street analysts. Under our key assumption – that measurement errors in nighttime lights are independent of the measurement errors of the other variables utilised – the regression coefficients we obtain on the statistical series are proportional to the optimal weights that should be applied to these measures in order to derive predictions for true Chinese GDP growth. This hypothesis holds for a variety of possible interrelationships between true GDP growth and nighttime lights growth. In particular, as long as true GDP growth and nighttime lights growth are correlated, we can allow this correlation to change over time or vary across different areas of China. The correlation between official GDP growth and nighttime lights growth is documented in Figure 2. Our regression also includes flexible factors that absorb any nationwide changes in nighttime light intensity (or economic growth). For example, if Chinese lighting technology changed during the time period of our analysis, leading to a proportional brightening of all Chinese lights, the weightings we derive for the components of our new GDP growth proxy would not be affected. Figure 2 Lights growth and GDP growth in Chinese provinces Reweighting the Li Keqiang index We find that the components of the Li Keqiang index should not be assigned equal weighting, as is typically supposed. In fact, our analysis indicates that bank loan growth should be given six to eight times more weight than rail freight growth, with the optimal weighting on electricity production growth somewhere in between. Under additional assumptions (specifically, if we normalise our proxy to match the level and trend of official Chinese GDP growth before 2012), the implications of this reweighting on our optimal estimate of Chinese GDP growth are profound. We find that since 2012, our estimate of Chinese GDP growth was never appreciably lower, and was in many years higher, than the GDP growth rate reported in the official statistics. Adding other series besides those incorporated in the Li Keqiang index does not change our results. Figure 3 presents the path of official Chinese GDP growth alongside our modified Li Keqiang index (with the weights determined by the nighttime lights regression). We place a 95% confidence interval around our prediction. Figure 3 Official and predicted Chinese GDP growth, 2004-2016 Looking back at the prediction for the end of 2015, we can reject the dire growth-collapse scenarios that were suggested by some of the Wall Street indices at the time, with it being very unlikely that the true growth rate of China was much below 6%. On the contrary, while we generally can’t reject that the official growth estimates are correct, we also can’t reject that they have understated Chinese growth since 2012, with the true level being closer to the average seen in the 2005-12 period. Our results are consistent with work by Rosen and Bao (2015), who argue that Chinese statistical services have chronically underestimated the size of the service sector. Rosen and Bao’s hypothesis is consistent with our finding that rail freight growth should receive less weight than the other indicators in the Li Keqiang index. Hence, as the Chinese economy becomes increasingly service-oriented, the (conventional) Li Keqiang index will likely send increasingly faulty signals about the state of China’s economy. In fact, our estimate for Chinese growth shows an appreciable acceleration in 2016, even as the official growth rate remained virtually unchanged. It is important to understand the limitations of our analysis. While we present evidence that China’s growth was not as weak as claimed by some analysts in 2015 and is not experiencing a sharp slowdown right now, we have no way of saying whether the current pace of growth will be sustainable far into the future. The fact that bank loan growth appears to have been such a durable predictor of China’s overall economic growth raises some cause for concern (Dawson et al. 2017). Should lending decline for some reason – if, for example, the assumptions underlying existing lending are found to be unwarranted – then the Chinese economy could experience considerable turmoil. Rather than dismissing such risks, our research simply indicates that, at present, there are few immediate indications that Chinese growth is being systematically overestimated. Editors’ note: This column first appeared in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Liberty Street Economics blog under the title ‘Is Chinese Growth Overstated?’ and is reprinted here with the Bank’s permission. The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System. References Clark, H, M Pinkovskiy and X Sala-i-Martin (2017), “China’s GDP Growth May Be Understated”, NBER Working Paper No. 23323. Dawson, J, A Etra and A Rosenblum (2017), “China’s Continuing Credit Boom," Federal Reserve Bank of New York Liberty Street Economics, 27 February. http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2017/02/chinas-continuing-c.... Ghosh, T, R L Powell, C D Elvidge, K E Baugh, P C Sutton and S Anderson (2010), “Shedding Light on the Global Distribution of Economic Activity”, The Open Geography Journal 3: 148–161. Henderson, J V, A Storeygard and D N Weil, (2012), “Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space”, American Economic Review 102: 994–1028. Kawa, L (2015), “Six Ways to Gauge How Fast China’s Economy is Actually Growing”, Bloomberg News, 2 November 2. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-02/six-ways-to-gauge-how-... Pinkovskiy, M and X Sala-i-Martin (2016), “Lights, Camera, Income! Illuminating the National Accounts-Household Surveys Debate”, Quarterly Journal of Economics 131: 579–631. Rosen, D H and B Bao (2015), Broken Abacus? A More Accurate Gauge of China’s Economy. CSIS Report. Rabinovitch, S (2010), “China’s GDP is ‘man-made,’ unreliable: top leader”, Reuters, 6 December. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-wikileaks-idUSTRE6B527D2....PM: What are the aims of the Chaitanya Natya Manch? Lenj:. The people’s art and literature are a rich cultural heritage preserved by the people since ages. But now they are getting destroyed by the imperialist consumerist culture. People’s cultural heritage is being gobbled up by the exploitative rotten culture permeating to all corners. So some important tasks have come up before us. On the one hand we have to preserve the ancient cultural heritage among the people. We have to study deeply and thoroughly what is outdated and what is fine in it. Chetana Natya Manch (CNM) is a revolutionary mass organization consisting writers and artistes. It has many opportunities to study and revolutionize the people’s arts. It should study the arts and literature of the people. This should be done subordinate to the task of building the base areas. Every mass organization should strive to advance the war. And war should help every organization to carry on its activities efficiently. There is an inseparable bond between the two. So cultural front should help the war efforts in building the base area. Likewise people’s wars are going on in adjacent states like Jharkhand, Bihar, etc. We have to study their efforts in the cultural front and pass on those experiences to the cultural movement here. In other words our effort will be to destroy feudal and imperialist culture and develop a new democratic culture. PM: Is the formation of CNM helping in the centralization of cultural work? If so how? Lenj: Definitely. We could bring forth many new artistes and writers. We are studying people’s art forms and trying to revolutionize them. We are preserving the people’s cultural heritage. Likewise we are studying the cultural efforts going on in other areas. Recently we went to another area to study the revolutionary movement and the cultural front there. We are trying to study and understand the changes in the cultural front in other states. On various occasions like parliamentary elections, March 8th, party classes, July 28th etc, we are preparing and sending the necessary songs, dance forms and plays that fit the occasion, to the cadres. We are trying to print song books. We are even trying to record the co operative movement and the collective movement going on here in a documentary form. The formation of CNM has enthused artistes in this field theoretically, politically and in cultural matters. Since this consists of members with specialized experience in the cultural field, it is helping in developing it in the right direction and giving leadership to the cultural movement. PM: Comrade, tell us the background for the birth of CNM in Dandakaranya. Lenj: To answer this question we will have to go back right to the days the revolutionary movement set its foot in the DK area. Revolutionary cultural activities entered the DK along with the revolutionary movement 25 years ago. As you know, the DK area is totally an adivasi area. Here arts are an indivisible part of the peoples’ lives. So the revolutionaries, from the beginning many art forms like songs, dances etc; to arouse the masses. In fact, no meeting ever took place here in DK without a cultural performance. In the earlier days only the guerillas were giving cultural performances, based on songs and dance forms of AP Jana Natya Mandali, of course, translating them into local Gondi language. Later the guerillas started composing songs based on the tunes of the traditional adivasi songs,. By then, the revolutionary movement has already became a mass movement, with hundreds of people coming forward to take various responsibilities. Many among them started composing songs and started giving expression to their new revolutionary fervor through various art forms, thus bringing in a transformation both in form and content. In this way hundreds of new writers and artists emerged from the masses during the course of the rapid development of the revolutionary movement. Until 1997, cultural teams comprising of artists drawn from the guerilla squads or from various mass organizations, or dawn from both were giving performances in villages as and when needed basis. So the party decided to form the CNM so that all the energies of these hundreds of artists can be channalised in to a single organization so that a concentrated emphasis can be given on the work in the cultural field PM: What were the tasks of CNM when it was formed? Lenj: Party propagates its goals and tasks through its various departments. So the cultural front also has the task of propagating them through art forms and various writings. So the first task is to take the tasks of the movement among the people on a large scale. The second is to study the people’s arts, third is to revolutionize people’s art forms. When CNM was formed there was only one team for the whole of DK. So we took up the task of forming more of such teams and training up many new artistes in large numbers. This was the fourth task. PM: Will you explain the progress you have achieved in fulfilling these tasks? Lenj: The last ten years effort was a process of development of the movement, changing ideas, changes in understanding, the ensuing results in practice and that again developing our understanding. In practice it took us some years to develop CNM as a mass organization in DK. Since the past three years it is getting consolidated as a mass organization at the grass roots level in villages. It is able to unify and consolidate the adivasi, non adivasi writers and artistes in the villages. At present we have consolidated thousands of artistes and writers in CNM. This was a great achievement by itself. It was a good progress that CNM was developed at the village level as a revolutionary mass organization and a manifesto and constitution were drafted and a flag was decided. Another achievement was that ‘Jhankar’, the cultural magazine which was started in 1994, became the official organ of CNM. We are developing people’s culture and are revolutionizing their art forms. The task of building base areas was given by the 9th Congress of the erstwhile People’s War Party. Accordingly, the cultural front has also formulated its task of playing its due role in fulfilling this task and consolidating the people’s power springing up here as part of it. So CNM work is done in tune with those four tasks and those coming up in the course. We feel this is a good progress. PM: What are your efforts in building CNM teams? Lenj: There was only one CNM team in South Bastar in 1997. Gradually some more teams were formed all over DK. The results were promising and so teams were formed in all divisions (roughly districts) by 2003. Area teams were also formed under these division teams in some areas. At first we formed teams with the persons having artistic and cultural talents from among the youngsters joining the movement. Now teams and units are formed at village centre (4, 5 villages) levels too on a large scale. Another aspect is that those artistes –both men and women- whose consciousness level is high and are ready to work with dedication for the people are opting to work full time for CNM. They are working at area and division level in accordance with its manifesto and constitution. Training is compulsory to develop any organization. Now the district teams are concentrating on consolidating and developing the area teams in the cultural sphere. Similarly area teams are concentrating on developing local teams and teams working within a centre. Thus CNM is putting efforts to develop the cultural movement and train up teams at various levels. PM: How are you trying to build up CNM as a mass organization? Tell us about the structures. Lenj: Till now we have been able to consolidate five to six thousand cultural activists separately. In DK, in general, there are small hamlets. Every hamlet has 20 to 30 huts. The men and women are members of DAKMS and KAMS, the peasant and women organizations respectively. But there are no restrictions that they cannot join other organizations. A peasant becomes a member of peasant organization, but he may be interested in cultural activities too and may join CNM. The only principle is that they should not be in leading positions in both organizations simultaneously. This was written into the constitution keeping in view the practical problems in fulfilling responsibilities. So we thought of forming cultural units not at the village level but one for every 4 or 5 villages. We came to the conclusion about this keeping in view the emerging new power also. An organ of people’s power is formed for 500 to 3000 people. This is taken as one unit. People of 4, 5 villages elect a people’s government. So a CNM unit is formed with those interested within these 4, 5 villages. In big villages we are forming a unit for the village. Executive committees are elected above these. There are district and area ECs. In future we will have a DK (Zone) level EC too. Thus we are trying to consolidate the structure by forming ECs from the village to Zone level and by strengthening the mass organization. PM: Tell us the details of the training camps and workshops conducted by you till now? How are the results? Lenj: There were two DK wide training camps – in 1998 and 2001- conducted with the help of JNM. After the All India Workshop in May 2002 we conducted a DK wide workshop in December 2003 on the topic ‘Let us revolutionize Adivasi arts’. We placed the draft manifesto of CNM before the delegates here and took their opinions. We revolutionized some dance forms out of a myriad of them in DK and tried to take it into the people in a systematic manner. We even trained people to create more and more revolutionary literature. We also trained delegates in producing plays by discussing with them on that form and the need to take it among the people. After this workshop, training camps were held at district, area and village level. These helped, to a great extent, in achieving uniformity in the cultural field in the whole of DK. A workshop and two training camps were held in S.Bastar in 2002. As a result a revolutionary atmosphere was created where youth formed teams on their own and performed in neighbouring villages with those songs. Keeping these results in view we conducted many training camps in N.Bastar, W. Bastar and Maad division. Due to these youth are writing songs on their own in many areas. Between 2002 May and 2003 December nearly 1500 artistes were trained in the training camps conducted by the area and district CNM teams. We mainly trained youth in the villages under RPCs (Revolutionary People’s Commitees) or those from villages where RPCs were to be formed. DCSC conducts political, theoretical and cultural classes for the CNM teams. These teams are taking the message into the masses. Thus we are achieving positive results due to all these kinds of collective efforts. PM: What is CNM’s role in the All India workshop? How did the workshop help you in your efforts? Lenj: The drafting of a perspective paper in the workshop was a good thing for the cultural movement. Since comrades leading the cultural movement in various states discussed that document it helped in achieving theoretical clarity. CNM shared its ideas and experiences with cultural organizations from various states and played its role in discussing the document. We discussed the various problems, challenges, experiences which came up in the DK cultural movement. It is a fact that the influence of the workshop is very much there in the functioning of CNM as a mass organization today. PM: What kind of training are you imparting to the young men and women and to children in the villages? Lenj: We impart training to all members of CNM. Children from the age of 10 years to elders are members of CNM. We invite them to special camps according to their activities and enthusiasm. We are trying to teach marching songs, songs with simple words to increase scientific thinking and dances to children. We are concentrating more on young men and women. We are facing severe police repression in giving training. Especially it is a big problem to give training in places like Gadchiroli (Maharashtra). We go to the villages and mobilize the CNM members. We fix a schedule of 4, 5 days or two days according to their agriculture works, wage earning or collection of forest produce works. We participate in production work along with them and give them training. We don’t teach them many songs, dances, steps or instruments at one go. We teach one song or a dance or an instrument one at a time. We give training by keeping in view their talents, interests and learning capacity. This is giving good results. Some times we are teaching them to write songs also as part of training. For example we held a five day training camp in South Bastar in 2002. We concentrated on encouraging them to write. The people here are experts in singing songs extempore. So we concentrated on revolutionizing the songs they sing from their own experiences and problems. The men and women who attended the camp wrote the song ‘Palapitta keyamuntha’ on martyr Com. Ranadev and ‘Errajanda dadimithe’ (under the red flag) in this camp. This song described how new people’s power is developing under the red flag. The inspiration, the fact, the practice that these new power organs are coming into existence for their own sake was reflected in this song. Their confidence in writing new songs is increasing. That is what we want. It is very important for them to say with confidence that we are able to write and sing and reflect the revolutionary movement in our traditional forms. This phenomenon has a great future. This is worthy of mention as CNM’s guiding principle is - ‘People are the makers of history and people are the creators of new culture’. PM: Explain the main characteristics of adivasi culture. Lenj: Adivasi arts and literature are mainly oral. Their literature is extempore. Its greatest quality is that everything is collective in it. On moonlit nights, especially in winter when the fields are thriving - before harvest and after the rainy season- the whole village gathers happily around fires and dances with joy. Everybody participates cheerfully in this. It is a collective feeling. There are no restrictions that some could participate and some could not. If one starts singing, all the dancers join in the chorus. In adivasi culture there is song for dance and dance with instruments. But there is no fusion of song, instrument and dance. This has to be developed. When the people dance to the music of instruments it is very rhythmic and they all look like one entity. They play the instruments in a melodious and harmonic way. The most important, common and noteworthy characteristic is the collective spirit in everything. There is no parasitic class of court artistes, court writers or court poets like outside. This is a significant feature. PM: What is the programme of CNM in these concrete conditions? Lenj: We are taking care not to damage the collectiveness. So when we are forming CNM teams we are not giving importance to the number of members whether there are eight or ten or whatever. Especially once the team enters the villages the whole village turns up. So they are performing plays by taking all of them or some of them to play the roles. So people become the performers. CNM activists make the whole village participate in dance and are thus developing dances. When a singer sings a song not only the team members, but the whole village gives chorus. We are teaching songs collectively. We have introduced a new form. In the oral tradition one person sings extempore and another answers her or him. Now what we have done is - one is preparing the first stanza and the direction for the song. Another prepares the next stanza and two or three persons continue it. Then another follows. Thus all of them together write a song. If there are ten members in a CNM team all ten of them are writing a song i.e. collectively. The song ‘Narayanpur atum the baathal naiku keyantha’ was written sarcastically on the police and their repression. There are many such collectively written songs. Then there is the oral tradition. The songs which they sing extempore are our new writings. They are mixing revolutionary practice with their life experiences. We are writing them down. Everything is done collectively. Meanwhile we are trying to develop poetry writing too. PM: How are you recording the adivasi art and literature? Lenj: Especially we are collecting materials on some ancient art forms like Gotul Paata and Gotul Peto. We studied in history that the primitive people expressed their joy and other feelings with sounds. We can still find this in Maad. Now they are becoming extinct. Even Gotul Paata and Gotul Peto are vanishing. Only a few Gotul Peto Gurus are left. When we go to those areas we enquire from people and know who the old artistes are, how many village elders are there, what kind of artistes are available in that area etc. We meet them and spend time with them and study their art. We attend marriages. We go to their Karsads (village fairs). We attend ceremonies for birth, death, naming the newborn etc. We are observing and recording them. We take photographs when camera is available and record audio cassettes. Since 4, 5 years the process of preserving picked up. After the formation of DCSC this gained momentum. PM: What is the role of women in CNM? Lenj: During marriages and festivals or in the evenings when youth gathers at Gotul they sing songs. Though they did not receive any training in classical singing, the adivasi women sing clearly, melodiously and in one voice. There are nearly 50 percent women in the DK movement; in CNM also right from the village to the division level the number of women exceeds 50 percent. Among the leading cadres in CNM also more than half are women. In the social conditions prevailing here women are free till they are married. So generally the role of women in arts is considerable. This is a positive aspect for CNM. Their role is increasing in writing literature. CNM has formed special women teams to increase their role in the cultural movement. This came into existence first in South Bastar. We are getting very good results through them. In every village the women artistes feel this is our team. They are providing protection to the team. Many women are rallying behind it and getting consolidated. The number of women teams is increasing in the areas in various divisions. PM: Tell us about the dress and the instruments you use? Lenj: We have a dress for dances. In the plays, as you know, it will be according to the scene or the character portrayed. Though we tried to adopt the dress of the Guru in the popular art form called the ‘Gotul Peto’ while portraying his character it did not go down well with our cadres. They thought that the dress was not attractive enough. We failed in convincing them. The dresses of various cultural organizations seemed more attractive than the Guru’s dress. Gradually CNM thought it should have a special dress while performing. We decided the dress according to the task of DK. Since liberated areas were to be built up here everything is linked to the people’s war and military activity. We will have to perform amidst repression. So we chose a dress which blends with the forest and protects us. Our artistes wear a green ‘Ger’ (lehenga). They wear a banian or jacket of the same color as top. Women wear a half saree over it. Green reflects the beauty of the forest and blends with it. The instruments of DK are very ancient. There are 18 kinds of them. Only a few are in use now. We are using these instruments and also some modern ones. The importance of instruments cannot be underestimated. We did not put any restrictions that only the local instruments should be used. We are using a combination of various instruments. Music should not dominate the song and its lyrics. So we are using modern and local instruments according to the needs of the performance and in a way that it is enhanced. The main ones are the ‘Dappu’ (a percussion instrument) and the ‘Melam’ (wind instrument). PM: How are your relations with the people? How do you apply mass line in your work? Lenj: CNM is achieving fine results in this aspect. If a team goes to the village all of them including children cheerfully gather around them. They look after the team with great love and affection. The news of the arrival of the team spreads rapidly and everybody tries to finish off their work quickly so that they can meet the team. They are very popular with the villagers. CNM activists also go into their homes, mingle with them, take part in their work and build up close relations with them. CNM follows mass line as well as class line. CNM is expressing the sufferings, the problems and solutions to these problems in its songs, dances and plays. It is also raising the consciousness of the people and fighting against the consumerist, imperialist culture permeating to all corners. CNM develops closeness with the people by taking up their problems. PM: What kind of repression is CNM facing? How are you overcoming it? Lenj: CNM was born amidst repression. It is becoming the victim of all kinds of repressive measures adopted by the central and state governments – directly or indirectly. Enemy surveillance on CNM teams is increasing by the day. If they come to know of a performance, they are alerting the forces and conducting combing operations. Sometimes they tried to surround the camping places of CNM teams. But they turned into futile exercises due to the support of the people. In areas like Gadchiroli there were firings on the teams too. When the youth of the villages dance collectively during festivals or marriages, they are attacking them indiscriminately thinking they are CNM members. But the people are guarding CNM like the pupil of their eye. CNM also has ample support of the militia. On special occasions PLGA forces are providing protection. Under militia protection CNM teams are giving performances even at a distance of one or two kilometers from the police stations on demand from the people. People’s artistes are carrying on revolutionary propaganda amidst severe repression. On April 19th Chhathisgarh government banned CNM. PM: Let’s talk about ‘Jhankar’ now. Explain the background of its formation, its history and your efforts. Lenj: Since the inception of the DK movement in 1980, there were some writers and artistes among the revolutionaries and they produced some literature in the form of stories, poems, articles and small novels. All of them were written due to the pressing needs of the movement. Revolution demands everything. Who will fulfill all these demands? A few people outside (revolution) cannot fulfill these. The revolutionary movement has to fulfill the demands of the revolution and people. Then only the revolutionary movement can develop in all fields. The language is different here. The problems are different. There is difference in backwardness. There is some specificity. Literature is being produced keeping all this in view. To encourage these writers and artistes and to record their writings depicting people’s life and preserve people’s literature we thought of publishing a magazine. As a result Jhankar was started in July – August 1994. Every comrade here is involved in bringing this. This is being brought out amidst repression. Since the enemy attack is multi faceted our resistance should also be multi faceted. Comrades write in Gondi, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Telugu in this magazine, this is another special feature of Jhankar. They can write in whatever language they fell they can express. There are adivasis, non adivasis, Bengalis, Telugus, Marathis and Odiya i.e. people belonging to various areas and nationalities in the DK movement now. So Jhankar is a multi lingual magazine. We are trying to make writers not only out of people but out of cadres also. Regarding people since they are already extempore poets the need is more to revolutionize them than to make them into writers. They express excellently all their problems, sufferings, happiness and feelings in those songs. Mainly we have to give them the revolutionary vision to write about solutions too in them. CNM members are also learning to read and write now. We are correcting and publishing their writings and developing them. There are some shortcomings in this effort too. We are not able to concentrate fully on what the new writers are writing and on improving them. By correcting this we can produce better results. PM: What are the goals you aim to achieve in the context of publishing the tenth year issue of Jhankar? Lenj: The publishing of the tenth anniversary issue of Jhankar is a happy occasion. We mentioned the problems faced by our writers in the issue. Mainly the writings are in the same mould. So we have to change that. So our main goal is to help the writers in taking up people’s issues and expressing them in an outstanding manner and to make them write in new literary forms. There are many problems here. Though there are only limited literary forms in this society we should take other forms from the outside world. There is no development anywhere without exchange of ideas. We should express the sacrifices, struggle experiences and problems of people in art and literary forms. We are not able to catch up to all these needs. So we have to give a direction to our writers to catch up. Jhankar will play a role in moulding them as writers. PM: What are the goals you formulated in relation with the developing people’s war in DK? Lenj: If we have to achieve something in this field then we have to develop ourselves first. Our advancement is linked to the advancement of the people’s war in this field. When people’s war is in the initial stage the artistes and writers should be a step ahead and prepare the people for it. They should improve their writing standards and language style. All their writings should help in advancing the war. Here as we are working with a base area perspective we have to explain to the people through writings and art forms what a base area is, how people’s power is exercised, how two classes fight for power and how revolution means political power to the people. Since the consciousness of the people in these areas is relatively higher the level of the writings should also rise accordingly. They in turn should raise the level of the people. So our revolutionary writers should be a step ahead than ordinary people and envision the future for the people. PM: How will the formation of CPI (Maoist) boost up the efforts in the cultural field? Lenj: The merger of two streams raised the hopes of all working people. Similarly it inspired and stimulated the
of different chips for different applications, and its happiness in lower-margin businesses, may well give its federation an edge in this business too. Its long experience of producing low-energy chips should be another advantage. Tiny embedded processors “will not use huge amounts of processing power, but power consumption will become more and more critical,” says Ganesh Ramamoorthy of Gartner, a research and consulting firm. ARM already makes a quarter of its revenue from embedded chips. And for the newer embedded processors in what the company calls the Cortex-M family, nine-tenths of the licences so far sold have yet to lead to products, and thus royalties. Having your own fabs can be handy. But when it comes to invading virgin territory quickly, having lots of allies to help you is absolutely fabulous.Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka is in court today for a hearing to determine whether the retired pro wrestler is mentally competent to stand trial in his mistress' 1983 slaying in Whitehall Township. Five things to know about the Snuka hearing: •To find Snuka incompetent, Judge Kelly L. Banach must agree that he is unable to understand court proceedings or assist in his defense. •An expert previously said Snuka, 72, was incompetent but the Lehigh County grand jury didn't buy it. •Snuka has not spoken publicly since the investigation began, and did not testify before the grand jury that recommended his arrest. If he takes the stand today it could be the first time he talks about the charges. •People who are in prison when they are found incompetent are usually sent to a mental hospital until their condition improves. Snuka is out on bail, so the judge may have to craft a treatment plan in his case. •The prosecution and defense submitted experts' reports this week and two doctors are expected to testify today.The first trailer for 20th Century Fox’s live action Assassin’s Creed film debuts, detailing the many changes from Ubisoft’s source material the movie has made. Expectations for the Assassin’s Creed franchise have likely never been higher. In prior years, the fact that Ubisoft boldly claimed that no Assassin’s Creed games in 2016 would make the upcoming movie even better by comparison might not have been difficult to justify. However, hot on the heels of an Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate game that breathed new life into the series, such a statement has served only to increase fan expectation for the Assassin’s Creed film. Ubisoft and film producer 20th Century Fox have been hard at work maintaining that expectation and translating it into palpable anticipation, between the tantalizing release schedule of movie stills or the $1,200 Assassin’s Creed movie ticket combo that includes a replica crossbow. Today, however, the Assassin’s Creed movie marketing endeavor began in earnest, as 20th Century Fox released the debut trailer for the upcoming film based upon Ubisoft’s incredibly popular stealth-based adventure game. The trailer demonstrates what Michael Fassbender’s role as the movie’s protagonist will entail, as the versatile actor navigates between roles as the Callum Lynch of the film’s present and the assassin Aguilar in 15th Century Spain. While it is abundantly clear that Assassin’s Creed will borrow heavily from the first game’s Desmond and Altair narratives, there are some key differences as well. Besides the difference in time period for Altair and Aguilar, Fassbender’s Lynch appears to have a much darker personality, or at least background, than Ubisoft’s Desmond. The debut trailer also flashed scenes of combat that looked as fluid as fans of the Assassin’s Creed series have come to expect, and those planning on seeing the movie can also expect a heavy dose of the parkour and free-running elements found in Ubisoft’s game series as well. Just in case gamers wanted a shot at scaling the buildings Fassbender climbs in the film, however, Ubisoft will also be releasing a VR “experience” based around the Assassin’s Creed film later this year, although details on the project are scarce as of this writing. Ultimately, it appears that the Assassin’s Creed film will have a noticeable impact in a few different mediums. On top of the stellar debut trailer that is already garnering high praise, Ubisoft is also toying with the idea of rescinding the Assassin’s Creed annual release schedule in favor of more developed and cohesive games. While that notion might have already been in the works, it likely didn’t hurt that the Assassin’s Creed movie forced Ubisoft into examining the feasibility of such a drastic change to its current business model. What do you think of Fassbender’s performance in the Assassin’s Creed trailer? Is it enough to convince you to go see the movie on opening day? Let us know in the comments below. Assassin’s Creed will debut in theatres on December 21, 2016. Source: YouTubeMADRID — The politician whom King Felipe VI has picked to try to form Spain’s next government, after the current prime minister declined, is considered a long shot — a very long shot. Yet this is the country that gave the world Don Quixote, and if the politician, Pedro Sánchez, the telegenic Socialist leader, succeeds, especially after facing near open rebellion in his own party, it will be considered something approaching a miracle. If Mr. Sánchez falls short in a crucial vote on Wednesday, however, the country can expect a continuation of the uncertainty and paralysis that began with parliamentary elections in December that left no party dominant and underscored the fragmentation of Spanish politics. And elections will most likely be held again. “It really looks improbable that Sánchez will now make it and even if it does, it would be a very fragile deal,” said Antonio Barroso, a Spanish political analyst at Teneo Intelligence, a think tank in London.Tomorrow marks the return of the Amy Pond's raggedy man with the Doctor Who Christmas Special, albeit without Amy and her husband Rory. But that doesn't mean he's alone! As we've already seen in the Christmas Special minisode, The Doctor is being shadowed by fan favorites Vastra, Jenny and Strax. But is this the last time we'll be seeing this trio? Will Vastra, Strax and Jenny return? Will they have a bigger role in the new season? How is hhis new companion Clara different from all the others? Is River Song going to get jealous? We took our questions to Executive Producer Caroline Skinner, and tried to pry up a handful of new details about tomorrow's Christmas special and the second half of series seven in this exclusive interview. How is this new companion able to get the Doctor to open up? Caroline Skinner: I think that's one of the really exciting things about this Christmas episode. Is seeing Matt's Doctor in a very, very different place at the beginning. Different from where we've seen him before. He's lonely, and he's taken himself out of the fight. He's almost Scrooge-like, really. He's off on his box, on a cloud. I think it's a really beautiful, sort of romantic story, to a certain extent. But a really magical story about destiny and meeting the right person. Advertisement There is a lot of flirting going on between Clara and the Doctor. Isn't he married? Are we going to address this married Doctor and this hot companion? Well, I think a lot of the flirting is certainly [in the vein of] a lot of Christmas-y, Victorian romance. But yeah, there's an awful lot of places in the Spring series that we'll be taking the Doctor and his relationship with Jenna [Louise-Coleman], who plays the new companion. Rest assured there will be more where that came from. Is River the jealous type? You'll have to see what happens when they meet. In the Christmas special you guys talk a lot about "Victorian Values." Why? Why were those themes in the episode? Advertisement I think that Richard E. Grant's character is just a fantastic Doctor Who villain and I think that him and Matt (as the Doctor) just bring the screen to life. It's this heightened but fun, fun stand-off. It was really important to all of us on the team to try and find that very Christmas-y, very Victorian feeling. And I think there are certain elements of Richard E. Grant's character as a Victorian entrepreneur who really wants to, not only to take over Victorian London, but the world, with snow. It's got that real kind of heightened Dickensian quality to it. We loved Vastra, Jenny and Strax in the prequel and they're great in the Christmas special. Why did you choose these three characters to be the Doctor's guardians in this dark period of his life? I think it just felt right. Ever since "A Good Man Goes to War," they had such an amazing dynamic between the three of them and the Doctor. I think there's something touching and very fitting to the fact that when he is completely alone in the world, and he's missing his longest companions for a long time, he's hanging out with Vastra, Jenny and Strax who themselves are slightly out of place and out of time, and aliens, for a better expression. It feels as if they're kind of fitting companions for him. The Doctor is always a Time Lord, he's always slightly out time and place that he's in. But particularly at the moment you'll find him at his lowest point, his most alienated. I think that he's most comfortable with those friends around him who, to a certain extent, although in a much more jovial way share a lot of those boundaries. Advertisement It feels like you're setting these three characters up for more time this season, or perhaps their own web series. Are we going to see more of these three? We will certainly see more of these three. Absolutely. In this series they are really key to who the Doctor is and to some of the serial plots in the Spring run. I'm not going to say anymore than that. I genuinely could watch Vastra, Jenny and Strax reading a telephone directory. I just love the dynamic that they've got between them. It's always so warm and so funny. The more the better, really. How complicated is this new companion's backstory in comparison to other complicated characters from the past such as The Last Centurion? Advertisement Clara's back story is something that, I'm hoping, everyone who watches this series will be able to work out how on Earth she was once a Dalek, and now she's the Doctor's new companion. How does that work? That will form a huge part of the Christmas episode. That mystery is part of the dynamic between the two of them, the Doctor and Clara. It's big. I think it's really unusual to see the Doctor with his new companion, finding her something to wonder in terms of who she is and where does she come from. As opposed to the same way every new companion thinks about the Doctor, when he turns up in his mad blue box. It's a fun twist. With the Ponds, Matt Smith had a familial sense to him, he was like the wacky Uncle. With the Ponds gone, are we going to see a different kind of Doctor? Can we expect a tonal shift? It's very interesting, when you bring a new companion into the show everything inevitably changes… I'm very comfortable with that dynamic. I loved "The Power of Three" where you got to see the Doctor from Amy and Rory's point of view, jumping in and out like a madcap relative. And I think the moment that we get to Christmas and Clara walks into the Doctor's life, it's almost like everything is reset to a slightly more classic Doctor Who format. Yes there's only one of her, but she doesn't know what a Time Lord means, and the TARDIS is bigger on the inside, or that he's got a sonic screwdriver and two hearts and all that. And this all happens before she's taken to space for the first time. I think there's a real joy to that. We've all been having a great time just spending a bit of time with those classic Doctor Who tropes. He's Doctor Who! I think there's a real joy for her and for the audience rediscovering all of that. And of course with a new companion he will inevitably become a bit of a different Doctor with Clara than he was with Amy and Rory. Advertisement Are we ever going to see any of the unhinged-ness that we saw in the 10th Doctor again? You're going to have to wait to see, I'm not going to tell you! You've mentioned that this is a return to the "classic" Doctor Who, and called each episode a mini-blockbuster. Is there an overarching, larger story? The last few seasons have had larger plots about something trying to destroy the world or change the human race. Are we still going to have that in the background this season? Advertisement You're just going to have to watch the episodes. It's far too early for me to give. They are absolutely huge. Is there a monster that you think can compete with the Weeping Angels in the new season? The new is particularly [full of] hostile monsters. We've got some very cool new ones and some classics. I'm excited because Neil Gaiman's done a new Cyberman episode. There's lots and lots of new monsters. There's a monster we've invented for the final episode which I think is probably one of the scariest things I've seen set. Advertisement Are we going to see any more women writing for Doctor Who? I certainly hope so. Absolutely, it's very much my intention to see that. We're actually just looking forward to the next thing at the moment. We just called wrap on series seven. It's very much in my mind.It appears that the Apple App Store, on both mobile and desktop, is experiencing some technical difficulty. The outage is reported to have started around 3:30pm ET, and Apple’s Support site confirms the outage. At first, it was only the App Store that was malfunctioning, not allowing users to download new apps or search through the store. Users attempting to surf the App Store are immediately told that “The iTunes Store is unable to process purchases at this time.” Folks have also reported that Apple Music iCloud functionality is down. Now, however, it appears that a number of other Apple services are experiencing trouble, including Apple Music, Photos, Apple TV, Find My iPhone and iTunes in the Cloud, among a number of iCloud services (Backup, Bookmarks & Tabs, Calendar, Contacts, Drive, Keychain, Notes, Reminders and more). In other words, now might not be the time to do any heavy lifting (software updates, resets, backups) on your computer or iPhone. Based on Twitter, the most widespread issue seems to relate to the App Store and Apple Music. Apple Support tweeted that they are aware of the issue: @ChristianLeshko We’re aware of this issue and are currently investigating. To check the status click here: https://t.co/7NVrDovSd8 — Apple Support (@AppleSupport) June 2, 2016 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js We’ve reached out to Apple and will update this story as things progress. Update 5:30pm ET: Some of Apple’s services are back up. The App Store, however, is still down. Update 7:45pm ET: The App Store seems to be back up.Morrissey Might Run for Mayor of London Published Mar 04, 2016 After recently getting into a public spat with Supreme over a photo campaign, Morrissey is apparently ready to put up a fight as a potential mayoral candidate in London. The UK singer is reportedly considering an invitation to run this spring as a candidate for the Animal Welfare Party As fan site True to You reports, Morrissey was invited by the party to consider running as a candidate. He would need 330 signatures of support to do so before entering the election campaign. The election itself will be held May 5.A statement Morrissey gave tosuggests he is, at the every least, thinking about how animal rights should affect politics. A noted activist, Morrissey explained that a political dialogue needs to be started in regards to the ties between animal welfare, slaughterhouses, the meat industry, and climate change."The meat industry, after all, shows no compassion towards the planet, towards climate change, towards animals, towards human health," he wrote. "It is diabolically contrived and is the world's number one problem. It is also the number one issue stifled from any political debate, which, if anything, highlights its importance."Morrissey's position on animal rights has been well-known for decades, from the lyrics to early Smiths' songs like "Meat is Murder," to his work with PETA, to a continued Canadian concert boycott over the seal hunt Fittingly, the potential Animal Welfare Candidate semi-recently proclaimed oncut "Earth is the Loneliest Planet": "humans are not really very humane."Whether or not Morrissey will officially enter the race and become a candidate is unclear, but you'll find his statement in full below:ALBANY, N.Y. -- An emotional rally, tweets from presidential candidates and NFL players, all spurred by an alleged hate crime --one that police now say didn't happen. Police released bus footage from the morning of January 30. While the video is only part of the extensive amount of footage, police say at no point did a white male throw a punch or make a racial slur, as the women claimed. Police say the three purported victims of the attack were actually the ones attacking, and that their story was false. Aria Agudio, Alexis Briggs and Asha Burwell were all charged with third-degree assault, while Agudio and Burwell face additional charges of falsely reporting an incident, as evidenced by 911 calls: CALLER: I am now at Empire Commons at the University of Albany, but it happened on public transportation along the way, so I guess it's a City of Albany crime. DISPATCH: (pause) I think we have two people on the phone ahead of when you called. CALLER: Yeah, well, we do but -- actually, I hung up. I needed to make sure someone was coming because no one called the cops when we got jumped, at all, no one cared, and all three of my friends were against ten people and I just feel like this needs to go someone. DISPATCH: Where are you right now? CALLER: It was a racially-fueled (inaudible). We were three black girls jumped by like 20 white people, so I just think it's important that we call. Three weeks of interviews, hours of audio scrubbing in the State Police Crime Lab and a flurry of punches caught on video are what led to the charges that will see those three women in court Monday.An ad promoting the Israeli military’s acceptance of gay officers. (Image: blueStarPR)The openly gay mayor of Seattle, Ed Murray, recently repealed a boycott of Indiana he’d initiated over that state’s anti-LGBT legislation. From January through April 2015, Seattle city employees were barred from using any local funds to travel to Indiana, in a campaign also supported by the mayors of Oakland, Portland and San Francisco. “Seattle stands in solidarity with everyone who fights for recognition and equal protections under the law,” said Murray. “I realize LGBT people in Indiana face a government whose mission was clear – they wanted to legalize discrimination in Indiana – and to some degree they have. Yet, rarely does wholesale change happen overnight. It is important that we celebrate these small victories as we advance toward our ultimate goal of full equity for all.” Murray clearly believes in the power of boycotts. Now, some queer people want to see Murray apply the same rhetoric to Israel. This June, Murray headlines an LGBTQ conference in Tel Aviv, a conference that queer activists recognize as just another public relations play by Israel to appear progressive on gay issues, while obscuring the nation’s policy of apartheid against Palestinians. Murray’s travel to Tel Aviv illuminates the double standard among the US’s gay elite: “We’re here, we’re queer, but don’t expect us to get behind your liberation struggle.” Forty miles south of the conference’s rainbow flags lies a cage made for human beings, fenced with 25-foot concrete walls. Noam Chomsky called Gaza “the world’s largest open-air prison.” Here, Palestinians, regardless of gender or sexuality, are forced to live in conditions that black South African politician Baleka Mbete described as “far worse than” those experienced by South Africans during apartheid. Oppression is oppression is oppression. Murray’s travel to Tel Aviv illuminates the double standard among the US’s gay elite: “We’re here, we’re queer, but don’t expect us to get behind your liberation struggle.” A lot of Seattleites are angry over the hypocrisy, including Dean Spade, a law professor at Seattle University who is also founder of New York City’s transgender legal aid group, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and the author of the recently reissued Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law. Spade just finished post-production on a documentary film that examines “pinkwashing,” which he describes as: A term used by activists to describe an explicit strategy taken up in recent years by the government of Israel to portray Israel as a leader in gay rights and a gay tourism destination as a way to deflect attention away from the extreme violence of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Through a campaign called “Brand Israel,” Israel has tried to change its public image, promoting itself as a “modern democracy” – and projecting a “LGBT-friendly” image is just one part of this. Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back is the story of a movement against double standards, where the struggles of queer and straight oppressed people intersect. Spade spoke with Truthout about the film, Israel’s backlash brigade and political deception. Toshio Meronek for Truthout: You went to Palestine in 2012 – what were some of the things you saw that really moved you to become active around the occupation? Dean Spade: I visited the West Bank as part of an LGBT Delegation; we were invited by several LGBT Palestinian organizations to come witness the conditions of the occupation and meet with Palestinians and Israelis who are working to stop the violence and oppose the use of pinkwashing to obscure it. The existence of this more conservative LGBT politics creates space for many public officials, not just the gay ones, to appear simultaneously “pro-gay” and aligned with very conservative politics. What I saw was utterly devastating. I visited a Palestinian village, Nabi Saleh, where the Israeli military uses tear gas and skunk water to harass families engaged in protest against the theft of their land and water every week and met a family whose son had been killed in December from a tear gas canister fired at his head. I sat in their living room and watched video footage of Israeli soldiers waking their children from bed at gunpoint in the middle of the night, arresting children and shooting gas canisters into their homes. I visited homes and villages where the apartheid wall is being constructed to separate Palestinians from their farmland, from their families, from their jobs, from health care and schools. I passed through checkpoints where Palestinians are humiliated every day trying to get to work or school or a hospital. I witnessed the apartheid road system, where Israeli settlers are allowed to drive on certain roads and Palestinians are barred. I saw the use of elaborate permit systems to enforce apartheid and imprison Palestinians. I walked the streets of Hebron, where a barricade separates the part of the sidewalk Palestinians are allowed to use and the rest of the road, which Israeli settlers may use. Plenty of queer people recognize how oppressions are linked: Here in the Bay Area, many of the people doing activism around Palestine are queer. Many of the organizers with Black Brunch and Black Lives Matter identify as queer. So where does someone like Ed Murray come from? While many people doing anti-colonial, anti-prison and anti-border work are queer and trans, I think the more visible LGBT politics these days is not one that is deeply invested in racial justice and decolonization. We see queer and trans politics as part of a broader political orientation that wants to end the brutal suffering caused by poverty, colonialism and racism. Over the last 40 years, a conservative gay politics has gained enormous ground in the US and has also attempted to influence queer politics globally. This politics is the one that says that we will be free when we can get married, join the military, become cops, and generally uphold the status quo even though we aren’t straight. That is not the vision that queer and trans activists, who I work with and am inspired by, hold. The existence of this more conservative LGBT politics creates space for many public officials, not just the gay ones, to appear simultaneously “pro-gay” and aligned with very conservative politics. A Bay Area example of this was when Gavin Newsom, as mayor of San Francisco, won national attention for his pro-gay marriage stance while he was implementing the city’s anti-poor Care Not Cash program. I see Ed Murray’s upcoming trip to Israel in the same vein as other elected officials who, while being gay or touting themselves as LGBT-friendly on certain limited issues, are still aligned with significant harmful agendas that hurt queer and trans people, people of color, people with disabilities, colonized people and poor people. An ad promoting the Israeli military’s acceptance of gay officers. (Image: blueStarPR) We see queer and trans politics as part of a broader political orientation that wants to end the brutal suffering caused by poverty, colonialism and racism. We know that queer and trans people who are in the most danger from violence, poverty and imprisonment will not benefit from a narrow inclusion politics that primarily benefits propertied people. We don’t want to fit into current systems that produce and maintain brutal maldistributions of land and wealth and get accepted and recognized by them; we want to dismantle those systems and build new ways of being, and we are part of movements that are doing that in all kinds of ways. That includes anti-pinkwashing work. Can you describe some real-world examples of pinkwashing, for people who have never heard the term? Common examples of pinkwashing include portraying Israel as an awesome gay tourism destination and funding films that portray Israel as a safe haven for gays and portray Palestinian culture as a homophobic culture that queer Palestinians need to be rescued from by Israel. Portraying other countries or populations as “more sexist” or “more homophobic” is a classic strategy of racism and orientalism. I should note that while the term “pinkwashing” is most commonly used to talk about Israel, we can see lots of countries engaging in the same strategy to cover up the realities of their violent regimes. The Obama administration has promoted itself as “gay-friendly” to make it look progressive while it has deported more people than any prior administration, persecuted government whistleblowers, kept Guantanamo Bay open, brought more troops to Afghanistan and generally failed on key progressive reforms that were hoped for by many voters. The end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” can be understood as a pinkwashing of the US military, whereby the military has been rebranded as a site of liberation and freedom for gays, when it’s actually a brutal force of harm globally and a racist, sexist, terrible workplace for people who are enlisted. Current surface-level efforts to hire gay cops or make jails and prisons “safe” for LGBT people can be seen in the same light – rather than getting our communities out of prison, they just shift the public image of institutions that are in crisis, using LGBT people as a topic that is supposed to flag reform and equality. Another element of pinkwashing is the Israeli consulate funding events and delegations to tour the US and promote this propaganda about Israel, which also often includes portraying Israel as a gay rights haven surrounded by homophobic cultures and countries – a very directly anti-Arab and anti-Muslim portrayal. As we know, portraying other countries or populations as “more sexist” or “more homophobic” is a classic strategy of racism and orientalism. Another example would be when the Bush administration delegated Laura Bush to promote the war in Afghanistan as “a fight for the rights and dignity of women.” One problem with these Consulate-sponsored events is that many well-meaning LGBT organizations jump on board to cosponsor, excited to support international dialogue on LGBT issues, without realizing that the events are state propaganda for a brutal colonial regime. This is especially problematic because there is an ongoing boycott strategy, similar to the boycott of South Africa during apartheid, being utilized by activists all over the world to address racism and violence perpetrated by the Israeli government, and these events are a violation of that boycott, in addition to being a misuse of queer politics to advance propaganda. Pinkwashing is relevant to everyone because it is an example of the way that regimes currently maintain brutal, violent hierarchies under a cover of inclusion and equality. What I saw during my trip in 2012 helped me understand why Palestinians have called for a boycott of Israel, utilizing the strategy taken up against apartheid South Africa. Israel is so threatened by this strategy of worldwide solidarity against apartheid that it passed legislation in 2011 outlawing the boycott to intimidate people within Israel out of participating in the global movement. I understand why an enormous range of writers, speakers and artists, including important queer icons like Judith Butler, Alice Walker, Adrienne Rich and Angela Davis, have publicly supported the boycott and refused to participate in events in Israel. Some feedback I’ve gotten when pitching articles about pinkwashing is that it’s a subject that’s too “niche,” by which I assume editors mean that white, straight readers won’t be interested. Why is pinkwashing something that everyone should care about? Trailer: Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back! from Pinkwashing Exposed on Vimeo. Pinkwashing is relevant to everyone because it is an example of the way that regimes currently maintain brutal, violent hierarchies under a cover of inclusion and equality. Today’s methods of implementing colonialism, racism, and sexism are not solely the old-school, explicit apartheid versions (although that does exist in Israel, and de facto apartheid exists in the US in housing, school systems, health care and key public services). These days, the brutal methods of occupation and colonialism that governments like the US and Israel use – imprisoning dissidents, employing brutal racist policing methods, displacing indigenous people, etc. – operate alongside a rhetoric of multicultural inclusion. We’re told that marginalized groups are now protected by law from discrimination, that the courts, cops and the military are here to protect women and people of color. Our governments tell us the jails and prisons they want to build will specially protect women and LGBT people. Obama grants immigration relief to parents in the same breath that he promises to target criminalized immigrants with enhanced enforcement. This is an explicit strategy to maintain occupation and apartheid by embracing a liberal or progressive image where possible and bringing in the people that might be moved by the BDS movement. We all need to learn how to read state rhetoric that promises to promote our interests – uses our images and our struggles’ terminology – in order to preserve and expand the violence of racist, colonial regimes. Pinkwashing is one overt version of this politics that we can identify and resist in our work to build real transformation rather than celebrating when governments simply change the window-dressing in order to shut us up and keep justifying and expanding harm. How intentional a tactic is pinkwashing, as used by the pro-Israel lobby? The Reut Institute, a pro-Israel think tank, has produced research arguing that what Israel should do to improve its brand and prevail against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is to cultivate relationships with liberals and progressives on issues where Israel can connect with them. This is an explicit strategy to maintain occupation and apartheid by embracing a liberal or progressive image where possible and bringing in the people that might be moved by the BDS movement – people who oppose racism, colonialism and militarism – and “branding” Israel as progressive in their eyes using targeted issues. This kind of strategy is something we all need to understand so we can be more discerning readers, able to spot propaganda and seek deeper understanding. This strategy does not solely use gay politics in this way. Another example is how Israel has courted animal rights activists by portraying the Israeli military as vegan-friendly, allowing vegan soldiers to eat a vegan diet and wear non-leather boots. How far does this go – who is involved and what are some of the organizations that we should all be looking out for? In Seattle, we’ve learned to look for three main names on flyers and posters for events that are pinkwashing events: A Wider Bridge, StandWithUs and, of course, the Israeli Consulate. In 2012, it was these three players that were responsible for the “Rainbow Generations” tour of Israeli gay and lesbian activists to the Pacific Northwest. The corporate media drastically misrepresents the issues and our responses to them. Supporting independent journalism and making our own media is essential. StandWithUs is a right-wing Israeli advocacy organization that has strong ties to Christians United for Israel (CUFI). CUFI is infamous for the rampant homophobia of its founder, televangelist John Hagee, who made headlines when he said that Hurricane Katrina was God’s retribution for New Orlean’s Gay Pride celebration. StandWithUs partnered with A Wider Bridge, an organization focused on connecting LGBT people in North America with Israel. It aims to get LGBT invested in Israel by taking people on tours of Israel and bringing Israeli speakers to North America to talk about gay activism in Israel. A Wider Bridge is behind the big pinkwashing conference in Tel Aviv in June, with the gay mayor of Seattle, Ed Murray, headlining, and significant figures from gay organizations like Lambda Legal, the Point Foundation and the Williams Institute participating. Seattle activists are planning our response now. The Israeli Consulate funded the Rainbow Generations tour, and is often behind the pinkwashing propaganda that masquerades as intercultural exchange, but is actually about presenting a very particular view of Israel to drown out the realities of occupation and apartheid by associating Israel’s “brand” with the progressive issue of LGBT rights. On the topic of the Rainbow Generations tour, you received a lot of hate mail and death threats when you and other activists in Seattle called out the tour for what it was – pinkwashing. Some even wrote to your employer, trying to get you fired. Can you talk about some of the common silencing tactics the pro-Israel lobby uses when people try to expose Israeli apartheid? Hate mail and media targeting are common responses utilized by Zionists in backlashes against anyone who airs the truth about Israeli colonialism and apartheid. People who publicly question Israeli propaganda or disrupt the Zionist narrative often receive hate mail and death threats, attacks on social media, and media stories calling them anti-Semitic and/or misrepresenting their statements or activities. Sometimes they also experience people trying to get them fired or threatening them with frivolous lawsuits. There’s the recent case of Steven Salaita, a professor who lost his job because of tweets that were critical of Israel. Your documentary focuses on the BDS activism to protest events on that tour. You show how the mainstream Seattle media centered pro-Israel voices in the controversy. Was making this film sort of a response to that? As activists working to dismantle racism, militarism and heteropatriarchy know well, the corporate media drastically misrepresents the issues and our responses to them. Supporting independent journalism and making our own media is essential. I wanted to make a film about this 2012 controversy in Seattle because I know that many people are curious about what “pinkwashing” is but don’t know that much about it, and there were no existing films that helped break it down. This film is useful, I hope, because it tells a story of what some local activists did to speak truth back to propaganda, and how we made our city confront uncomfortable truths. It doesn’t spare the details of the backlash – and it was ugly – because being prepared for backlash is part of doing work against well-organized opposition. But I think it demonstrates that despite the backlash, our work built a great deal of awareness and relationships and strengthened our resistance network. Ideally what do you hope people who see the movie do after they leave a screening of the movie? I hope that people will screen this movie in their local activist groups and social circles (it will be available to watch free online) and use it in classes studying LGBT politics and social movements. I hope people will watch it when they realize that a pinkwashing tour or film is coming to their town and they want to get together with friends and think about responding. I hope people will study it when they want to think about what queer activism looks like that is non-funded, ad hoc, and based in community relationships. I am excited to screen it in Seattle, and I hope it will be a chance for us to keep on healing the wounds that the backlash created, especially between large LGBT and HIV organizations that participated in the backlash and alienated many community members by doing so. We still have a lot of work to do to hold the public official and organizations that got swept up in the backlash accountable and build more capacity in the queer and trans communities here to discern propaganda and stand strong against backlash. Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back premieres in Toronto on May 3; in Seattle on May 11; and in San Francisco as part of Outside the Frame: Queers for Palestine Film Festival on June 20.The University of Miami will host Illinois on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 9 p.m. on ESPN2 or ESPNU in the 16th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presented by DICK'S Sporting Goods, ESPN announced today. ESPN networks will combine to cover every game of the event during the first week of December. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will televise the 14 games of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge – including all 14 Big Ten schools and 14 of 15 ACC teams – from Monday, Dec. 1 through Wednesday, Dec. 3. The UM game is a rematch of the 2013 NCAA Tournament Third Round game when the Canes defeated the Fighting Illini, 63-59, to advance to the Sweet 16. In that game, Rion Brown knocked down five 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 21 points. The only returning Cane from that team, then-freshman Tonye Jekiri, had four points, two rebounds, a steal and an assist in seven minutes. Since joining the league for the 2004-05 season, the Canes have played in seven of the 10 Challenges. Overall, Miami is 2-5 in the Challenge, with a 2-1 record at home and 0-4 mark on the road. In Larrañaga's three seasons at Miami, the Canes defeated No. 13/14 Michigan State in 2012, and traveled to Purdue (2011) and Nebraska (2013) as part of the Challenge. UM's first victory in the event was against Minnesota in 2009. The ACC and Big Ten have split the past two events, winning six Challenge games each in 2012 and 2013. In the event of a tie, the Commissioner's Cup remains with the conference that won the previous year, which was the Big Ten in 2011. The ACC won the first 10 Challenges (1999-2008), while